September 2010 Pine Needle

UVA Athletic Commitments, A4

Holy Land, A6

Saints in Service, A7

INSIDE

The Pine Needle

Volume XCII

Richmond, Virginia

September 2010

Number 1

Building Project Recast as Leadership Center Photo - Kurt Jensen, Editor in Chief

Alumni Hall Moved, Administration Plans Groundbreaking for October

By Kurt Jensen Editor-in-Chief

Any clouds of dust that students will have to pardon on their return to school will be portentous of great things to come.

The administration plans to break ground in October on the Upper School’s new Leadership Center, the culmination of almost five years of planning regarding the centennial celebration and adaptation of the school’s role in educating the whole modern boy.

So far, preliminary action has moved Alumni Hall to its new home next to the Murrell Bookstore.

The project, which has been detailed previously as a student center, maintains much of the same functionality. It simply stresses the same integration of technology, interaction and collaboration with a new direction.

The originally planned “loud library” will be designated as a collaborative center for student leadership, for example.

Upper School Head Tony Szymendera explained that a curriculum committee and a thinking-skill task force were

assigned to outline a way to instill “21st century thinking skills and leadership” into the school’s teachings. This outline includes a new emphasis on creativity, global awareness and strategic thinking, combined with modern technological capability.

Headmaster Charles Stillwell added that the developments in curriculum and capability will stay true to the fundamentals of Dr. Chamberlayne’s mission in educating the whole boy. “All the things that have been important since our founding are still such a big part of who we are now and are still going to be a big part of who we are as we move forward,” he said.

At the same time, the realities of a changing world require development of the existing platform. Dr. Chamberlayne’s emphasis on proper communication, verbal and written, are being developed with a new understanding of communication in a world of social media and instant information. “To be a leader or to make a positive difference, you have to be a really effective communicator,” said Mr. Stillwell. The new platform will stress visual and techno-

logical communication on top of verbal and written presentation.

“The functionality of the building has anticipated that,” said Mr. Szymendera.

The project is summarily designed to create the spaces necessary to integrate these ideas into the existing curriculum, he said. “It will allow us to teach in different ways.”

The adaptation will also emphasize creative thinking and problem solving in a modern world, and bring a new digital arts lab as well as a black box theater and presentation center. “[The building] will be bringing the arts into the heart of the campus,” said Mr. Stillwell.

It will add new functions to the school on top of updating existing functions, he said.

Before the project can begin, however, the administration must meet a fundraising goal.

The school, as a member of the Diocese of Virginia, is required to raise 75 percent of the cost of a project before it begins. “Great progress has been made from January through now,” said Mr. Szymendera. As of Aug. 26, the

administration is approximately $500,000 away from being able to break ground, but they are confident in their ability to raise the money by October.

Meanwhile, the project is going ahead in preliminary action to have “everything ready to go” for the planned date, according to Mr. Szymendera.

Also, the project has been set for bid for potential contractors, meaning plumbers and electricians will be able to give official estimates that will define the cost of the project in “real numbers,” according to Mr. Szymendera.

From its planned ground breaking, it is predicted that the project will run 12 to 14 months, and the Leadership Center will be able to open as part of the centennial celebration of the coming year.

This celebration will usher in the significant, exciting changes behind the administration’s five-year plan to adapt the curriculum for the modern boy.

The new block schedule will give classes more time to explore the technological capabilities of collaboration that the building will facili-

tate. “It’s all coming together at the same time,” said Mr. Szymendera. “The Upper School is at a beautiful moment.”

The building project is very simply the ultimate embodiment of how the school hopes to position its students for life in the modern world. “[The building] is a critical piece to the whole puzzle,” said Mr. Stillwell. “So much of [our plan] will be brought to life.”

As the heart of a unified campus, the building will be a place where relationships can be forged more deeply between students and teachers. “We’ll have the space to move the teachers and students closer together,” said Mr. Stillwell. “It’s a place where we’re all going to eat together... and it’s a building essentially designed for students and teachers to bump into each other... We want to put [students] in a position to build close relationships with the teachers here.”

An added bonus to the project will be a flexibility of space that should make daily life a bit more comfortable See Building Project, Page A2

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News

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September 2010

]

Building Project Continued from A1

Knowles Field To Go Pink

By Wells Baylor Senior Editor, News

This year the football field will go pink and yard numbers will no longer play a passive role. The numbers, along with two pink ribbons in each end zone, will be sold to raise money to help fight breast cancer.

The idea of using the football field as means to raise funds was started by Pioneer Paint company, but Zac Cressin, who works in maintenance, spearheaded the effort here at St. Christopher’s. He introduced the idea to the school and persuaded members of the maintenance staff to join in.

St. Christopher’s, like any community, has been directly touched by breast cancer. “I’m sure everyone’s

been affected by it,” said Cressin.

Bernie Whitlow, who will help paint the field, mirrored Cressin’s sentiments. “We all have mothers, sisters and wives, so what better thing to raise money for?” he said.

The numbers and ribbons will be sold with the money going to the Massy Cancer Center. The numbers will cost $100, and the ribbons will cost $250.

Ms. Susan Mistr and Mrs. Cricket O’Connor, who both work in development here, got the clearance needed to get the project underway.

Money will run through the Missionary Society with the chaplains handling the finances.

The numbers and ribbons will be featured on the football and soccer field (only

ribbons will be on the soccer field) for the month of October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Hopefully, the pink numbers and ribbons will debut before the Oct. 8 game against Fork Union Military Academy.

This project will be executed in the unique spirit of St. Christopher’s. Although Pioneer Paint provides the paint how a school or team uses it is left open, and the idea to sell numbers came from the school.

Mr. Whitlow, a self-described traditionalist in field maintenance, was reluctant to join in the program, but is now fully supportive. He promised, “Come Oct. 8, my golf shoes will be painted pink.”

McGuire Gets Burned

By Jay McChesney Senior Contributor

“It’s like waking up with little corn flakes on my pillow,” said Mr. Billy McGuire about the discharge he finds every morning from the ear he almost lost.

Students passing Mr. McGuire in the halls recently may have noticed a slight tan sleeve protruding from the end of his shirt or the discoloration and scabbing around some of his neck but my guess is that most students felt a little too uncomfortable to approach him and simply ask, “What happened?”

What did happen was a minor lapse of judgment that could have resulted in death. The McGuires live in Goochland County, and like most people who live in the country Mr. McGuire finds himself in an endless battle with the brush and excess vegetation that invade his land.

One scorching August day Mr. McGuire decided to rid the property of one rather large pile of brush.

He borrowed what was supposed to be a can of kerosene, poured it and proceeded to attempt to light the pile. It was at this point that he realized it wasn’t kerosene, a much slower burning fuel, but rather gasoline that burns on contact, so he took a fire log, lit it and threw it onto the fire which then proceeded to burn shortly and go out.

Or so he thought. McGuire’s natural inclinication to rush prompted him to pour more gasoline onto the fire which instantly ignited

for students, teachers and collaborative groups. Some decisions have been finalized regarding the redefinition of spaces that will be vacated when moved to the new building, according to Mr. Stillwell. “Some still have a number of competing concepts,” he said.

For the students of this current year, the project’s effect on daily life will be minimal, but a new temporary dining

area will be introduced with the demolition of the current dining hall.

While it was originally planned that the project would be built around the dining hall, the limited feasibility of this construction plan has had the administration looking for spaces to place a temporary and portable dining facility. Its new home will be the basketball courts in front of the Middle School.

Gene Bruner Conducts Teaching Study for IBSC

By Wells Baylor Senior Editor, News

Gene Bruner can now connect with boys on new levels.

One of 25 teachers around the world to participate in The International Boys School Coalition Action Research Committee, Mr. Bruner has found a great way to get boys “to become more powerful, prolific and confident writers.”

In an 18-month study, Mr. Bruner definitively confirmed that visual cues help students write. Because each visual cue creates a different response for each student, these cues provoke “individual and original thought.” Also Mr. Bruner found that the assignments created pride and discipline in students.

The students were given a visual checkpoint to look back on whenever experiencing a bout of writer’s block.

The visual aspect created a relaxed atmosphere that allowed students to be more creative. He found that the more complex the assignment, the more proud the

students were of the result.

The assignments were complex to say the least.

Many assignments mixed writing with creating or viewing other artistic works.

First the student was presented with a challenge or visual cue and then was asked to write using the first part of the assignment as a prompt.

In one assignment, students viewed an autobiographical clip of a student in the grade above them and were asked to create a clip about themselves. After that they were asked to write an essay based around the question: “Who are you?”

After the study was completed, Mr. Bruner then had to play the student and present his results -- that these visual cues foster better writing, to a committee of “two Ph.d’s who [take] their roles pretty seriously and [have] no qualms chipping away at my thesis and research,” he said.

At the end of the process, Mr. Bruner connected with his students. “Mostly, writing and researching like this placed me back into the shoes of the student. I have a greater appreciation of what you guys do.”

The Pine Needle Staff and burst into an inferno.

Mr. McGuire knew instantly what had happened and using knowledge gained from teaching fire safety and working as a firefighter, he instantly shut his mouth (which saved his vocal cords as well as the lining of the esophagus and trachea) and proceeded to do the standard stop, drop and roll. However it was not the gas itself that was ignited at this point but the fumes that engulfed most of the left side of his body.

His son, J.P. McGuire ’12, saved his life, grabbing a hose and dousing the rest of the fire. “It didn’t take me long to realize my skin was peeling off,” said Mr. McGuire. Regardless he was still hesitant to call the rescue squad in fear of “bothering anyone.” However better judgment soon got the best of him and he was whisked away to the MCV burn unit where he spent eight days in intensive care and received skin grafts to mend the sec-

ond and third degree burns that covered much of the left side of his body.

Most people might take a more somber if not depressed attitude after such an experience, but Mr. McGuire has remained the same upbeat and energetic science teacher this school loves so much. “It really hasn’t affected him at all,” J.P. McGuire said. “He’s still the same person.”

Mr. McGuire’s life has retained its normalcy. He was back to work the day school started, 13 days after the accident.

Meanwhile, he has retained the usual upbeat personality that anyone picks up on after just spending a few seconds with him, referring to his scabbing as “my great big puss-sicle.”

Mr. McGuire admits that good can be seen even in the darkest of situations and there is a moral to every story saying, “Every now and then, it’s important to slow down.”

Kurt Jensen Editor-in-Chief

Senior Editors

Wells Baylor, News Jack Borkey, Sports Jabriel Hasan, Features Ben Resnik, Online Senior Contributors Henley Hopkinson Henry Ilnicky Jay McChesney

Junior Contributors

Cameron Barlow Harrison Houlihan Will Turner

Faculty Advisor

Mrs. Kathleen Thomas

[

September 2010

By Jabriel Hasan Senior Editor, Features

His office ornaments speak volumes for his character.

It seems that Mr. John Gordon is always, like the crafty Chinese character that hangs on his office wall, in search of wisdom. He always tries to add a little “color and life” to his surroundings like the spirally plant that rests quietly waiting for attention behind the armchair.

In addition, St. Christopher’s new athletic director is constantly inspired.

The picture of John F. Kennedy, displayed directly above the Chinese character, says more than any boring caption could. It depicts a man of contemplation, Mr. Gordon said, a man of great responsibility. John F. Kennedy had all of the traits that inspire him. He was ambitious, and he had dreams.

Mr. Gordon’s father was a person of similar character in that respect. He was a teacher, a coach and an administrator, and he practiced his craft with a sense of duty and purpose. His father is his hero.

Athletic teachers also acted as definitive examples.

“The coaches in my life were really meaningful…even [with] school choices,” he said. “Coaches were powerful role models for me.”

He has been given the opportunity to emulate them. ***** During his first conversation with Mr. Stillwell, Mr. Gordon felt welcomed by his energy. He liked his message and his personality. Making a good connection with the headmaster was a major part of his decision to choose St. Christopher’s.

Season Opener Varsity Football vs Trinity W 38-13 (2 - 0)

Sports ] Being John Gordon

The concept of educating the whole boy was also intriguing. He appreciates the school’s mission and its steadfast passion to achieving its goals, and that is why he chose our little town—a far cry from the frigid, rocky shores of New England.

Mr. Gordon began his life in Portland, Maine. He went to high school at Fryeburg Academy, where both of his parents were teachers. He was on the wrestling and track teams and played football. After graduating in 1980, he moved on to a small college in New Hampshire called Plymouth State University. There, Mr. Gordon received his bachelor’s degree in history, and later, his master’s in educational administration.

In 1984, he began his journey. He had decided to return to Fryeburg after college to work. Interestingly enough, his parents were still teaching there, and as a once-student turned faculty member, it proved to be “difficult wearing a different hat.” He described it as being both “wonderful and challenging.”

He worked as a dorm parent, a history teacher and a football and wrestling coach, and after nine years, he decided to move on to Dublin School in New Hampshire. He maintained his job as history teacher and continued to coach wrestling. He was also given a chance to use of his educational administration degree as dean of students there, and then at New Hampton Prep from 1995 to 2001.

In 2001, Mr. Gordon made a major move further south from his native New England to Kingston

Scoring TES STC

0 0

0 18

0 14

13 6

13 38

STC – Moore 74 pass from Vozenilek (kick failed) STC – Farinholt 22 pass from Vozenilek (run failed) STC – Moore 37 pass from Vozenilek (kick failed) STC – Brown 76 pass from Vozenilek (Williamson kick) STC – Jackson 38 run (Williamson kick) TES – Markunas 3 run (run failed) STC – Farinholt 12 run (pass failed) TES – McGill 17 pass from Drayton (Swift kick)

A3

in northeast Pennsylvania, teaching at Wyoming Seminary for nearly 10 years before coming here.

“There was never a plan to be this mobile,” he said. “Those experiences were really important in my development, and I was exposed to different ways of doing things.”

Now, Mr. Gordon is entering another stage in his journey-- here at St. Christopher’s-- where there will be even more, totally different experiences and ways of doing things, but he is ready for the challenges.

“I couldn’t be more excited to be at St. Christopher’s,” he said. “No school community that we’ve joined has shown more outreach to make my entire family feel welcome. What a great place to be.”

His wife is teaching and coaching right up the street at St. Catherine’s Middle School, and his daughter Allie and son Nicky are enjoying their junior and sophomore years, respectively, in neighboring Charlottesville at the University of Virginia.

His goal is to have an impact here. In that, he will find fulfillment.

“If you had asked me in my 20s what my life goal was, I’d probably attach it to ‘head of school,’ but now I attach it to behaviors: to understanding my role and responsibilities, affecting the school community in a way that’s good for students and faculty,” he said. “The way you conduct yourself, the way that you approach your work, can have a dramatic impact on a school community.”

Rushing STC: Jackson 10-94; Turner 3-26; Vozenilek 6-3; Hollerith 2-5; Hingst 2-4; Williamson 1-1; Farinholt 1-12.

TES: King 12 carries 47 yards; Markunas 7-29; Swift 6-13; Burston 2-4; Black 2-17; Adams 1-8; Patton 1-4; Larson 1-minus 6.

Passing STC: Vozenilek 11-22-296; Farinholt 1-2-16.

TES: Swift 9 completions 27 attempts 88 yards 1 interception; Drayton 3-71.

Receiving STC: Moore 3-144; Farinholt 4-52; Thompson Brown 1-76; Tucker Bown 1-17; Hingst 1-3; Barlow 1-4; Turner 1-16.

TES: McGill 6 receptions 77 yards; Burston 3-26; Patton 1-8; Markunas 1-2; Willett 1-46.

Vance ’11 Takes Second at RGA Juniors Adam Ball ’13 Wins VSGA Junior Medal

Homecoming Recap

Cross Country Comes Home, Football Wins

By Jack Borkey and Ben Resnik

Senior Editors, Sports, Online

The Saints used 18 unanswered fourth quarter points to stun St. Stephen’sSt. Agnes 27-17 during last week’s beautiful September Homecoming Saturday. An aggressive fourth quarter defense, led by sophomores Jack English and Marshall Hollerith, led to two takeaways for the Saints.

A botched punt led by pressure from English was followed by a 4-yard run from senior Rob Vozenilek.

During the next STSA possession, Hollerith intercepted a pass, which led to a 46-yard touchdown run by junior Miles Jackson.

Jackson finished with 133 rushing yards for the game.

Vozenilek and Thompson Brown started the game with a 46-yard touchdown.

After STSA tied the game, the Saints went up 9-7 after a punt snap went through the back of the end

zone for a safety.

Coming out at halftime, STSA scored 10 straight points and held the momentum. However, after a Vozenilek interception ended the third quarter, the Saints defense and offense came alive and shut down STSA. Down in the fourth quarter, the Saints displayed a resilience that impressed Captain Thompson Brown. “[We played] a good game. I was really proud of how we responded when they got up [late],” Brown said.

English led all defenders with 12 tackles, while Brown added seven tackles and a forced fumble. Jackson and Vozenilek both had one rushing touchdown a piece, and junior Charlie Williamson nailed a 23-yard field goal to seal the game for St. Christopher’s.

The Saints move to 2-0 for the season and will travel to Goochland to take on Benedictine (1-1) next week.

Football wasn’t the only event going on that day. For

the first time since Bruce Nystrom began coaching, the cross country team held a meet on the school campus.

Coach John Green felt that the meet was a resounding success despite losing to Woodberry Forest.

“We all agree we’d like to continue this in years to come,” Coach Green said. “It was a wonderful way to have our guys run on campus and be part of Homecoming and have our community participate in a race.”

Woodberry, the strongest team in the Prep League, was given a run for their No. 1 position as senior James Busch raced neck and neck with the Woodberry superstar for the first two miles and clearly demonstrated his potential after a summer of triathlon training.

Besides Busch, Senior Jamie Ball also ran a competitive race, and freshman runner Coleman Adams received accolades for his first 5K race.

By Will Turner Junior Contributor

This past July, Harrison Vance ’11 competed in the Richmond Golf Association Junior Championship at the Salisbury Country Club in Midlothian.

Despite tough weather conditions and a few stoppages of play, Vance did very well, posting a 71 and 70 in the two rounds of the tournament and finishing in second place out of 40 competitors.

“My favorite part was having a chance to win,” said Vance. “I had never been there before and it was nice to see that I was able to compete under pressure.”

Vance certainly had to deal with a large amount of pressure, as he tied with another player and only finished two strokes behind the winner. “The most important

thing I learned was to keep my emotions in check,” he said. “Once I let my emotions out of control who knows what happens.”

Vance hopes to continue this success into his senior year and is poised to have an impressive final golf season at St. Christopher’s.

A new member of the St. Christopher’s community also had golfing success during the summer.

Sophomore Adam Ball earned a Virginia State Golf Association Junior medal, receiving the top seed in a Match Play Championship at Nansemond River Golf Club.

In two days, Ball recorded a 135, 9-under-par, with a stellar second round, shooting 6-under-par 66.

This was the second year in a row Ball medaled in the VSGA Junior Championship.

He will be a great addition to St. Christopher’s Varsity golf team in the spring.

Sports

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September 2010

Brown, Wesley Commit to UVA Brown’s Combine Success Shines Despite Limited Season

By Kurt Jensen Editor-in-Chief

Raw numbers won’t tell scouts and coaches everything about a prospect, but in senior Thompson Brown’s case, they paint a picture hard for colleges to ignore.

Sidelined with injuries for much of his junior year, Brown found a way to catch the eyes of scouts without the advantage of film. Making the trip to Charlotte, N. C. for an UnderArmor combine, he hoped to show colleges what they missed from a limited junior season.

“Early college football scholarship offers are based almost exclusively on junior film,” said Varsity Football Coach, Michael Turner.

“Thompson had to rely heavily on his performance at spring combines.”

Brown was aware he needed to perform. “I had some film, but it wasn’t a great year,” he said.

Under significant pressure, Brown managed to post big numbers and show a big frame to match.

“At 6’4”, 230-ish pounds, he immediately triggers the attention of big time programs,” said Turner. To hold that attention, Brown posted a 4.59 40-yard dash, a 32.5 inch vertical leap, a 10’1” broad jump, and a 4.29 short shuttle.

On these statistics alone, Brown drew interest from Boston College and Virginia. He was even labeled “The Richmond Sleeper” by ESPN’s Craig Haubert.

Numbers can’t tell the whole story, however. Brown shows a maturity and understanding of the game beyond his raw talent. Couple that with his incredible work ethic, and you have a top-ofthe-line prospect.

Despite a handful of offers, Brown’s heart is set on playing for Virginia.

Citing a long family

legacy and a liking for the coaching staff as well as the school’s academic program, he explained how committing wasn’t a tough decision to make. “I’ve always gone up there for football, basketball and lacrosse games my whole life,” he said. “It’d be awesome to play in the stadium I went to as a kid.”

Brown joined the ranks of 15 commitments Virginia had already signed from the 2011 class pool, as of June 27. He is slotted to play as a defensive end.

Even locked for play at the next level, Brown doesn’t show any signs of letting up for the coming year. “I’m ready to get back in there,” he said. “I have a bad taste in my mouth from last year.”

Coach Turner added that the outlook for both Brown and the Saints is a good one.

“We are all chomping at the bit to show what we can do,” he said.

Wesley Plans to Tackle Tenth State Title Before Joining Virginia

By Jack Borkey Senior Editor, Sports

Since coming to St. Christopher’s in the eighth grade, David Wesley has quietly become one of the most consistent and decorated wrestlers in school history.

In his four years on the team, he has been selected to the National Preps All-American team twice and earlier this year was the VISAA State Champion, in the 152-pound division. More importantly however, Wesley and the Saints have been State champions every year he has wrestled here.

Naturally, Wesley’s accolades and talent attracted attention across the United States, including schools such as Old Dominion, Arizona State, Virginia and Vir-

ginia Tech. After narrowing his choices to Old Dominion and Virginia, he decided on the 24th ranked Cavaliers, coached by Steve Garland.

“I chose UVA because it’s only an hour away from my house,” said Wesley. “I really liked the coaches and their personalities, and the campus life is awesome.” Wesley also has family there. His cousin is a sophomore middle infielder for the Cavalier baseball team.

Athletics at the University of Virginia are known for their high level of competition, their tradition and sportsmanship. Wrestling is no exception.

The Virginia wrestling team is coming off their fourth ACC title and is hungry for a top 10 finish at the NCAA Championships this season. Although redshirting his freshman year, Wesley hopes to help continue the Cavalier’s excellence

when he starts competing in the 2012-13 season.

“I’ll bring hard work day in and day out, and I’ll stay focused throughout the year,” he said.

Wesley’s long-time wrestling coach, Mr. Frank Kiefer added, “David brings a fearless, can-do attitude to the team. He is a leader by example.”

One of Wesley’s biggest concerns will be his work load when he arrives in Charlottesville. “The biggest challenge for me will be keeping up with the combination of academics and athletics because they both will be really demanding at UVA,” he said.

However, before he starts his collegiate career of the Cavaliers, Wesley is committed and ready for the Saints’ 2010 campaign. “I want the team to win their tenth straight state championship,” he said.

Photos - http://www.stchriswrestling.com/

September 2010

Sports

A5

Alumni Spotlight Alumni Drafted, Sign to MLB

Wates ’07 Taken Third Round

By Jay McChesney Senior Contributor

Before this year’s major league baseball draft he was ranked as the 24th best major prospect by ESPN. com. This is due in large part to Wates’ stellar record while at Virginia Tech where he led the team in batting average (.373) and steals (17 of 20).

Considering there were 1,525 total players drafted this year over 50 rounds, this was no small feat.

Wates was a third round draft pick and the 90th pick overall and was picked up by the Houston Astros.

Facing such high and daunting expectations one might feel a little anxious.

However, he feels like he’s

up for the task. Wates said the jump from high school to college ball is bigger than the jump into pro baseball.

“In college everybody is there for a reason, and is there because baseball is something they have always wanted to do,” he said.

“Whereas in high school a lot of kids are just out there because it’s enjoyable.”

After signing, he went to Troy, N.Y. where he is playing for the minor league Tri-City Valley Cats. Austin has enjoyed an incredibly successful first season there, continuing his excellent record at the plate by leading the team batting average (.316) , playing an integral role in their run to the playoffs after winning their division.

The Valley Cats beat the Batavia Muckdogs 2 - 1 in a three-game series to make it to the championship where they beat the Brooklyn Cyclones in the first game, putting them one win away from the title.

One of the immediate changes Wates noticed was the competitiveness of his new job. “People are essentially fighting for their lives…. It’s a business, and a job, and you have to treat it that way,” said Wates.

Even after hitting the big leagues Wates has not forgotten his roots. “The thing I learned the most from St. Christopher’s is the importance of hard work,” Wates said. “When you earn something because of hard-work it is that much sweeter.”

Fleming ’10 to Gulf Coast League

By Jack Borkey Senior Editor, Sports

The world moves pretty quickly for alumnus Kurt Fleming ’10.

Fleming was selected in the 8th round of the MLB draft by the Atlanta Braves, and he found it an easy decision to make. “It was an awesome experience to be signed,” said Fleming. “It’s been a dream of mine to play professional baseball since I can remember.”

Fleming was quickly flown to Orlando, Florida to join the Gulf Coast Braves, Atlanta’s rookie league team. “Going to Orlando immediately was great because I got to jump right in and get my feet wet,” he said.

The rookie league gives

newly drafted players a sense of professional baseball. The season is a short one, lasting only three months, from June to September. This doesn’t allow much time for players to impress scouts and earn a promotion.

For Fleming, adapting to the professional game posed several challenges.

“The pitchers throw harder, and the breaking stuff gets better, but the strike zone from high school to the pros immensely shrank,” Fleming said. “Also, the fielders have more range and better arms, so it’s harder to get leg hits in the pros.”

Fleming seized the most of his opportunity and in 48 games, hitting a solid .262 with four home runs and 15

RBI. “I felt my performance was okay, [but] I was learning a new stride in my swing early in the season and struggled a little,” said Fleming. “Once I got it down, my swing just clicked, and I felt that I finished really strong and made enough {of an] impact to move up a couple levels.”

With the season now over, after spending a little time playing in Danville, Fleming looks to improve for next season. “I will work as hard as possible to achieve my goal of playing at the major league level,” he said.

“I won’t be happy until I’m a Major League baseball player.”

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Summer Life

Hopkinson ’11 Learns Sixth Language

By Wells Baylor Senior Editor, News

Henley Hopkinson ’11 can now correct your grammar in six languages.

Hopkinson has had formal training in French, Latin, Spanish, Greek and “a tiny bit of Arabic.” He will not stop with just six languages, though, as he is hoping to move onto Hebrew soon.

A true linguistic perfectionist, Hopkinson would not say he is fluent in any langue besides English, but rather that he has “significant speaking ability” in Spanish, French and English.” He can speak conversationally with ease in those three languages.

During the summer, Henley Hopkinson went to the University of Virginia Summer Language Institute, and over the course of only eight weeks with 7.5-hour days,

Hopkinson has done what many students have been trying to do since Middle School, speak French. Although the days were brutal, Hopkinson found the course to be “very enjoyable and the teaching excellent.”

For the first three weeks English was allowed in limited situations.

After that, every student had to sign a pledge to speak only in French all day long.

Out of everyone in the SLI program, Hopkinson was the only one in high school; everyone else was in college or graduate school.

Hopkinson will keep foreign language a major part of his life as an adult by doing something related to “linguistics or comparative literature.”

He was able to answer every question asked during the interview in French just as completely.

Pace ’11 Attends Spanish Boot Camp

By Henley Hopkinson Senior Contributor

Anyone who has ever made it through at least half a year of Spanish II can tell you that being required to speak only Spanish for 45 minutes can be tough and obnoxious.

Senior Farrar Pace did it for three weeks this summer.

Pace was invited to attend the Maggie Walker Governor’s School Spanish academy at VCU, or as he called it “Spanish Boot Camp.” The core of this program was a pledge, taken by all attendees, to speak only Spanish for the entirety of the program.

“It was Spanish at all times, even in the dorms,” said Pace.

“I didn’t hear or speak English for three weeks.” Even in the rare forays into the English speaking world, the students had to wear signs attached to their nametags that said they were strictly forbidden to speak anything but Spanish.

Aside from the pledge, the program consisted of a rigorous academic schedule, which included six classes, with three meetings per day.

These classes focused on grammar, dance, art, phonetics, the study of immigration, and Italian. Pace found Phonetics most interesting, but noted the difficulty of Italian. In accordance with the pledge, Pace only communicated in Spanish, so his course instruction for Italian was all in Spanish.

So, in this busy schedule was there time for any fun?

“I’d say it was 99 percent class time and 1 percent leisure time,” said Pace. However, in this small amount of time Pace and his roommates were avid players of “capitalismo,” (the card game Capitalism).

Another pastime, which will sound familiar to St. Christopher’s students, was complaining about the VCU dining hall. “It was actually pretty good, but we said it was bad,” he said.

Also, students listened to lots of Spanish music, and Pace is now a self-proclaimed Enrique Iglesias aficionado.

Receiving letters was also a favorite activity. “ Mail was a big deal, at night when we got it, we would tear it open,” he said. Letters were the only form of communication that was allowed in English.

As for the other people in the program, Pace mentioned that most of the student body was from Northern Virginia.

Nonetheless, Pace said that they all “got along really well.” The teachers, however came from a wide range of places, such as the United States, Colombia, Puerto Rico and Southern California (or “Northern Mexico,” as the teacher called it). Pace claimed that the lead instructor talked “faster than Ms. Varner” and aspirated her vowels “at 100 miles an hour.”

So, did Pace actually learn anything?

“My conversational Spanish has improved a lot,” he said. Furthermore, he learned to speak “more practically,” and that while Mr. Nystrom’s old handwritten past impersonal subjunctive phrases, may require a sequence of tenses, their usage is very limited in everyday speaking. Overall, Pace said the experience was worthwhile, and he advises anyone who has the chance to attend this program do so, because while you may have reservations about speaking in Spanish for three weeks of your summer at first, “you’ll get really into it.”

[

September 2010

]

Martin ’11 Selected as Virginia Aerospace Science and Technology Scholar Press Release Staff Writer - NASA VASTS

Patrick Martin ’11 was selected to participate in the 2010 Virginia Aerospace Science and Technology Scholars (VASTS) Summer Academy held July 10-16 at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va. In December 2009, Martin was one of 350 high school juniors chosen from across Virginia based on academic excellence, leadership qualities and teacher recommendations to be 2010 VASTS scholars.

Only 120 of the top performing VASTS scholars

were invited to the weeklong Summer Academy at NASA. Martin finished the program in the top 5 percent of this year’s participating scholars.

He was selected to attend the Summer Academy based on his performance during the semester-long VASTS course and on the merits of his final project.

The focus of this year’s summer academy was the design of a long-duration manned mission to Mars.

Martin’s assigned area of expertise for the Academy was radiation protection. He was assigned to the Mission Integration Team.

Each team at the academy had key decisions to make that impacted the other teams and ultimately the feasibility of the mission architecture. The Mission Integration Team was charged with constructing an operational concept, integrating all the teams’ information into the closing ceremony presentation, and ensuring that all teams’ systems integrated and operated in a single mission.

His team was first place in the Robotics Competition.

For more information on the NASA VASTS program, visit their website at www.vasts.spacegrant.org

Ilnicky ’11, James ’12 Closer to God

By Jabriel Hasan Senior Editor, Features

The privilege of walking the same path as Jesus of Nazareth and seeing the Holy Land was given to senior Henry Ilnicky this past summer and it proved to be much more than a spiritual awakening. Through his trip, he was exposed to the world at large, personally viewing the hardships and the hopes in what many call the religious capitol of the world.

It was one of those life changing experiences—one that may never be replicated because of it momentousness. It began in downtown Richmond at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. The youth group program that Ilnicky has been a part of since sixth grade culminates in a sort of rite of passage mission trip after the junior or senior year in high school. Eleven young adults chose to take part this year along with three adult chaperones.

Upon arrival in Israel, he was struck by the most obvi-

ous difference: the incredible culture shock. Israel, though strongly allied with America, is a country where religion is not excluded from government. Preservation of their biblical homeland is actually a major part of Israel’s decision-making. The Star of David is a significant element of the state’s flag, and it is quite obvious that it is very much a Jewish state, though two other major religions (Christianity and Islam) lay claims to the land also. Israel, needless to say, is unique.

“It was incredible. It’s pretty hard to describe the culture shock from going to the Middle East just because it’s not like Europe or anything in the western world,” said Ilnicky.

His experience, however, was not one based on the Jewish perspective. He spent most of his time in the West Bank, and one of his group leaders from St. Paul’s happened to be pro-Palestinian, so Ilnicky’s views, both literal and mental, were admittedly more sympathetic to the ev-

eryday Palestinian cause—a cause that is rarely, if ever, expressed in the American media.

“We had a very different view from a lot of the people who travel to Israel because we saw it from the oppressed side,” he said.

Oppression it seemed to be. For one night Ilnicky stayed with a Palestinian family and he learned about the division that is Israel at the moment. The matriarch of the family described their desperate situation: how they must register to pass through Bethlehem into Judaeo-Christian Israel, how drinkable water is taken from the West Bank and then sold back to the Palestinians, and how if Palestinians are unable to pay their bills to the Israeli government, there water and electricity are turned off. To outsiders like Ilnicky, it almost seems like “the birthplace of Jesus is now a prison.”

Ilnicky admits that “as Americans, we’re not exposed…Palestinian, in my mind, used to mean ‘terrorist’ because of seeing groups like Hamas,” he said. However, he did make clear that there was desperation on both sides: the Israelis are desperate to protect, and the Palestinians are desperate to survive in a world that promises to be increasingly unfriendly.

The other aspect of his experience was religious. He walked the Twelve Stations of Christ early in the morning in Jerusalem. The walk, conducted by the Reverend John Peterson of St. George’s See Israel, Page A7

September 2010

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Saints in Service, Tanzania

Photos - Dr. Andy Smith

By Henry Ilnicky Senior Contributor

Dr. Andy Smith has some powerful advice for the rest of the St. Christopher’s community.

“You need to get out, you need to travel,” he says.

“You need to find out how the rest of the world is.”

Dr. Smith, along with Mr. Buck Blanchard and Middle School Assistant Principal Ken Miller led a mission trip to a small village in Tanzania in June. The group included two post graduates from the class of 2010, six seniors and a junior.

The trip correlates with St. Christopher’s involvement in a program called “Carpenter’s Kids” that partners one of 200 Tanzanian villages

in the Diocese of Central Tanganika with a church or school in the United States.

The school then agrees to raise $4,000 annually for five years to assist the 50 neediest children in the village, usually orphans, in attending school. The money, which comes from fundraising and support from the diocese, is used to pay for the school uniform, a required kit of school supplies, one hot meal a day and a small amount of medical care.

Mr. Blanchard, who serves as head of operations for mission and outreach for the Dioceses of Virginia and is father of Mac Blanchard ’11, brought the program to Virginia, and St. Christopher’s has had a huge impact working with the Tanzanian village Nyhinila. Our school is ranked No. 2 in fundraising and was the first school to visit Tanzania. It was also

the first group to stay for an entire week and to work while there.

The work involved painting the inside of the classrooms, but for both the students and faculty who went and for the villagers, it was about so much more. It was about rising above cultural differences and making connections with people. It was about finding common ground despite differences in background, lifestyle and language.

From the moment the group arrived, they were shown utmost hospitality. The villagers literally waited along the roads leading to the village, celebrating and playing music. Eventually, everyone got out of the car and walked the rest of the way side by side with the locals. They also ate two meals a day with the Tanzanian people, played games with the children and even got a brief taste of daily

life through experiences such as carrying water up and down a hill from their water source, a broken pipe.

However, despite all the positives, it also brought to light the harsh realities of the conditions in which these people live.

“These are people who have almost literally nothing,” Dr. Smith said. “Their homes are made primarily of mud and sticks. The floors are always dirt. There is no electricity.

There is no running water.”

The people of Nyhinila live a style of life foreign to almost all Americans, especially those with the privileged lives of most in the St. Christopher’s community. “And yet, I cannot imagine anyone could be more welcoming, more generous, more open,” Dr. Smith said.

Even though the villagers had almost nothing, they were eager to give as much

of it back to their visitors as they could. By the end of the week, they even insisted on painting the classrooms themselves while their guests watched in awe and admiration.

“The fact that on our first day working at the village they all worked together as a community to welcome us, prepare us foods that they rarely or ever eat themselves, and perform a threeto four-hour ceremony for the sole purpose of welcoming us and telling us how they appreciated our coming to their village was more than inspiring,” said Chase Gunter ’11.

Hopefully the rest of the St. Christopher’s community can share in our classmates experience and take inspiration from the people of Nyhinila.

Israel

peration.

Ilnicky’s pilgrimage was indeed life-changing.

His discussions with his youth group minister, Bryan Appel, and his fellow group members, like Junior Douglass James and Si Wofford ’10, were the culmination of each day. These discussions were where he and other group members attempted to make sense of all of the religion, the madness, the confinement. Obviously, they struck a religious chord.

“It was a completely different experience just seeing how people in Middle Eastern countries live,” James said.

He was made more conscious just as Ilnicky was.

“I’ve definitely felt a deeper spiritual awareness since I traveled to the Holy Land,” said Ilnicky.

He came as a learner. He saw the place of Moses, of Muhammad, and of Jesus. He saw the crisis and the courage, and from it, he changed.

Continued from A1

Cathedral in East Jerusalem, was a major part of his experience in the Holy Land.

While his group walked the twelve stations, they took turns carrying a cross, as did Jesus on his walk to crucifixion. At every stop, there was a bible verse and short service to be read. The Twelve Stations were definitive.

“We walked though the same sights that we had seen through a historical eye and we now saw them through a spiritual eye,” said Ilnicky.

While in Jerusalem, he saw all of the famous sites of the three major religions, including: the Dome of the Rock, the Churches of the Nativity, Ascension, and Holy Sepulchre, the Mount of Olives, the Wailing Wall--and, at last, the twenty foot wall surrounding Bethlehem: a reminder of the intense des-

Summer Life

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September 2010

Top Left: Ilnicky and Friends lounging outside of the Louvre after intense art appreciation.

Above: Holleran and Ilnicky enjoy the view from the Eiffel Tower with a gaggle of girls.

Above: Holleran and Ilnicky join a protest at the Arc de Triomphe.

Left: The gang gets together for a group picture outside the Duomo in Florence.

A Tale of Several Cities: Reporter’s Notebook

By Henry Ilnicky Senior Contributor

When asked to write a piece about my experiences on the Europe trip for The Pine Needle, I was told to focus on the beautiful cities.

As I struggled to make the article interesting, it dawned on me that the story of the trip has nothing to do with the beautiful cities.

Obviously they weren’t irrelevant. We had the rare opportunity to experience some of the finest cities Europe has to offer, and they certainly played a large role.

But as I sat writing the piece, I knew that 10 years from now it wouldn’t matter exactly which towers I climbed and which museums I browsed. My memories from the trip will come from the innumerable experiences I had bonding with my classmates, some of them my best friends and some I barely knew, in an experience unlike any I have ever had.

As Mr. Richard Towell and Mr. Rich Hudepohl, who led this year’s trip to Paris, Florence and Nice along with Mrs. Peggy Boon and Mrs. Marion Halladay, explain to prospective participants and parents, the trip is about learning how to travel abroad in hopes of preparing the students to have the necessary skills and knowledge to one day travel independently.

In essence, then, the trip, a 10-day excursion through three cities, is not about visiting every single site. It is about the experience traveling abroad with a group of young people without much guidance from adults.

Although all the travel arrangements and accommodations are secured by the chaperones, the Europe trip differs from many similar trips in that we the students

decide what we want to see and do while we are there.

There is no sitting on a tour bus or following tour guides around a city (although some chaperones do offer specific guided walks.)

We were able to decide both what we wanted to do each day and how we would accomplish it. Where we wanted to go and how we would get there. What we wanted to eat and how we would manage our money.

The experience of the trip came from this independence, a level of responsibility most of us had never had before in our lives. Rather than give a dull listing of what we saw in each city, I will share a story that brings out the spirit of the trip.

The account takes place on our first full day in Europe. After landing in Paris early in the morning, the rest of the day was spent sleeping off jetlag and getting a feel for the city. When we woke up the next morning, we were refreshed and ready to embark on our first real adventure.

A group of about 12 of the 19 of us that went on the trip decided the night before that we would take a day trip to Normandy the next morning to see the American cemetery and Omaha Beach, the site of the D-Day inva-

sion. As we tried to enjoy the sparse breakfast the hostel offered, Mrs. Halladay and Mrs. Boon began to rush us.

They guided us to the train to Normandy and gave us our Eurorail passes (it was about the only help in navigation we would receive the entire trip.)

As we set off from the hostel they warned us that the Paris subway system would be crowded and confusing. That turned out to be a complete understatement.

We left the hostel around 8 a.m. or so, and the train was set to embark at 8:40. What transpired over the next 40 minutes can only be described as hellish madness.

For anyone who thinks the metro system in NYC is confusing and chaotic: stay off the metro system in Paris during morning rush hour.

It is a complete cluster. The system itself is an absolute maze –some sections of the metro contain entire underground malls - not to mention it is written entirely in French, of course.

As for the crowds, that is another story altogether.

Hundreds of people moved in literally every single direction. As we struggled to follow Mrs. Halladay and Mrs. Boon, (which usually meant sprinting through the tunnels, trying desperately

to dodge and dart our way through the crowds) members of the group began to break off.

We could not even tell if everyone was getting onto the same subway lines at some point, and once we were on we were packed in so tightly we had to strain to see where the chaperones were getting off.

By the time we broke out of the metro into the fresh air at the train station, I was standing alone with about three other people.

The crowds had gotten even more dense and neither the chaperones nor any other members of the group were anywhere in sight. We began to panic.

Not only did we not know where the train was, we had no clue where in Paris we were. As we wandered aimlessly around the station, we eventually figured out at which platform our train was located thanks to the minimal knowledge of French of some of the people I was with, and we quickly sprinted over, hoping that everyone else had the same plan. They did not. No one else was there. We began to panic again.

What were we supposed to do? The train left in less than five minutes and we had no idea where anyone

Ilnicky (second from right) and friends waiting for a taxi in Normandy.

else was and the chaperones had the passes that would allow us to board. Buying another ticket would cost hundreds of Euros. We began to worry that in our hurry to the platform we had passed them and they were waiting for us at the other end of the station. Somehow, as if by miracle, everyone eventually showed up in small groups to the platform within the next few minutes, including the chaperones, and we were able to board the train.

We made it. We made it despite the language barrier, despite our lack of cell phones to communicate with (a refreshing aspect of the trip). As we boarded, we shared rounds of highfives, and everyone furiously gave their own account of how they had made their way through the throngs of people and hectic madness to arrive literally minutes before the train left. We sat on the train, drenched in sweat and rainwater, panting, laughing and basking in the glorious outcome of the incredibly stressful trip through the metro.

As the train rolled peacefully through the tranquil French countryside, I couldn’t help but think of how the soldiers must have felt as they hit the beaches in Normandy. Their sense of confusion, terror and helplessness was mirrored in a small way by the journey we had that morning. Just like so many soldiers landing on foreign soil that distant morning in June of 1944 had fought their way up the beaches, we had braved the chaos and the confusion of the Paris metro and had victoriously arrived at the platform on time. History had come alive for me, and we had not even reached Normandy yet.

September 2010

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Bandal Wins Scholarship, Experiences Spain

By Ben Resnik Senior Editor, Online

In Spain, being a student is just as likely to consist of allnight fiestas as it is day-long classes.

Such was the experience of St. Christopher’s Spanish teacher Ms. Asha Bandal, who spent most of the month of July in Spain.

“It was crazy being on their schedule,” said Ms. Bandal, who more than once experienced the Spanish propensity for not leaving the house until midnight and staying out until well after the dawn.

It wasn’t all party, though.

Ms. Bandal was only able to go to overseas in the first place because of her notable skill as a Spanish teacher.

She was the winner of the National Scholarship for the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese, an award she applied for two years previous but whose moment finally came this year. The prize was a month-long, all-expenses-paid trip to Madrid, complete with room, board and lectures on how to better teach Spanish.

“It was exciting,” said Ms. Bandal, in something of an an understatement.

Those lectures, which lasted five hours at a stretch, proved to be a central part of Ms. Bandal’s experience there.

“Every day I would walk half an hour to school, then back right before lunch in the 100-plus degree heat, starving,” she said. “It was as hot as Richmond.”

According to Ms. Bandal, the switch from teacher back to student was a disorienting one. “I had to study for exams. It was weird!” she said.

Besides classes, Ms. Bandal and the rest of her group explored the city proper, visited museums and shopped.

The experience of wandering a Spanish city is not new to Ms. Bandal – she has lived in Spain several times, and received her master’s from the University of Salamanca in western Spain – but the trip did offer two new and unique experiences: witnessing the World Cup Finals in Madrid and watching the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona.

Both happened in the first half of her month in Spain,

while she was still getting oriented. “The first week that I was there was total chaos,” she said.

Ms. Bandal arrived on Independence Day (“not a very patriotic way to spend the 4th,” she quips), and just three days later found herself in the Real Madrid stadium, surrounded by a churning mob of native Spaniards, all hoping to see Spain defeat Germany in the semifinal match of the World Cup. When Spain succeeded, the already energized city erupted. The public transit system for the entire city had to be shut down for the night because the roads, the bus stops, the subway stations and everywhere else was clogged by celebrating fans.

“People were jumping on cars, letting off fireworks, throwing everything you can think of in the air,” said Ms. Bandal.

Compared to the events of the semifinals, the final match against the Netherlands was almost anticlimactic. “People were so stressed they couldn’t be excited,” said Ms. Bandal. The entire crowd was quiet this round – there

would be no celebration until the whole thing was over.

But victory was Spain’s, and celebration there was even greater than after the semifinal match. Bandal, trying to be a good student, left the party early to sleep, but was kept up until past 4 a.m. by the jubilating Spaniards.

Ms. Bandal also got to experience the Festival of San Fermin, which culminates in the famous Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, a city in northern Spain. The city of 200,000 was packed with 2 million people, all there to see the dangerous main attraction. She and her group were situated in the “Plaza de Toros,” which provides an excellent vantage point for the running, which typically takes less than three minutes. “I was happy no one got killed this year,” said Ms. Bandal.

Ms. Bandal’s experiences promise to have a significant impact on her activities in the school year and beyond.

She plans to decorate her classroom with memorabilia from the World Cup, and to “share her love of Spain with students.”

Perhaps most importantly, Ms. Bandal plans to incorporate her time in Spain into the new schedule. She and St. Catherine’s Spanish teacher Mauricio Pava plan to bring students back to Spain during the inaugural year for the new X-Term.

“It’s nice to be really learning about the culture firsthand,” she said.

As Ms. Bandal readjusts to U. S. culture through traditional American means (upon her return, she and her family attended a Minnesota Twins game), she will carry her experiences with her into the coming school year. She wrote a blog about her time overseas and will incorporate methods of teaching she learned at her lectures in her own classroom.

While her experiences in Spain may have been “total chaos” at times, Ms. Bandal is ready to harness its energy, and use it in her work to come.

For a slideshow and video, see pineneedleonline.com Read Ms. Bandal’s blog at adventurasconasha.blogspot.com

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Arts

By Kurt Jensen Editor-in-Chief

[

scares me to death,” he said. “Jazz hands make anything look good.”

While Mr. Morgan treats the subject with characteristic modesty, he clearly stood out from the crowd of performers behind him with his pitch-perfect singing voice, even reportedly working out of his range, and his fresh exuberance.

Recent alumnus Jamie Ruml ’10 worked as a spot light operator on the production and noted Mr. Morgan’s commanding presence on stage.

“Every night I would notice something new,” said Ruml. “He was able to bring to life some of the really interesting and hilarious aspects of his character.”

The Arts section would love to feature your artwork.

Send us a picture and we’ll run it!

with Sophomore Album, “None Too Ready”

Junior Contributor

Alumni Release Mixtape During the summer, a group of St. Christopher’s alumni schooled themselves in rap music.

Tyler Franz ’09, Ric Lampkins ’10, Carlton Logan ’09 and Tyler Douglas ’09 joined together to create “Summer School,” a 15-track production featuring original and sampled beats mixed by

Franz, DJ Shake.

Lampkins, Charles R, Logan, C-Lo, Douglas, T.D. and their producer Franz have released their mixtape through facebook and have already garnered a reasonable following.

The songs are defined by particularly humorous trains of thought combined with witticisms and obscure references to video games.

Mr. John Winn, Upper School jazz instructor, was also involved with the production as a member of the orchestra. “I have a great respect for [Winn’s] talent,” said Morgan. “It was great to have a fellow Saint looking out for me.”

Mr. Morgan brings a spirit of performance into his second grade classroom. “Being a teacher, you have to be a performer every day,” he said.

Beginning his fourth year at St. Christopher’s, he hopes to inspire his students to give voice to what they’re reading.

“My big goal is to teach my boys how to read with expression,” said Mr. Morgan. “I want them to hear it.”

The Moores Rock the National

By Harrison Houlihan

Editor-in-Chief

]

Jim Morgan Shines in Dream Role at Dogwood Dell

Before a crowd of folding lawn chairs and picnic blankets, Lower School teacher Jim Morgan shone as the star of “Pippin” in the 54th annual Festival of Arts at Dogwood Dell.

Aspiring to the role, Leading Player, ever since he sat behind the soundboard of his high school’s production of the play, Mr. Morgan jumped at the opportunity to perform the part on a Richmond stage. “It’s the only role I’ve ever coveted,” he said. “It was my dream.”

Mr. Morgan has been performing on Richmond stages for 25 years, and while all of his experience has been with musicals, he wouldn’t call himself a song-and-dance-man. “Singing in front of people

By Kurt Jensen

September 2010

The stage of The National has been home to many high profile bands and artists, from Snoop Dog to ZZ top.

Now The Moores can be added to the list.

The Moores are a band comprised of juniors Preston Cochran, Scottie Prudhoe and Carl White. The band has been through many name changes and line-ups, but it has been this line-up that really propelled the group into success.

On Aug. 13, The Moores took the stage for what would be the biggest show of their career. They played their second album “None Too Ready” in reverse to a crowd of nearly 200, and by all accounts completely blew them away. Live performances have always been the band’s specialty, and this one was no exception.

In true Moores fashion, the set started out with some difficulty as Prudhoe’s amp flat out broke about fifteen seconds into the

first song. A new amp was quickly brought up and without missing a beat, they started up again. The set truly began and The Moores played with an incredible energy and enthusiasm familiar to anyone who has ever seen a truly great live rock show. The solos were fast and fierce but still contained emotion, and it was obvious to anyone in the audience that this was a group who truly enjoyed playing together.

A band enjoying their music almost always translates in to the audience enjoying the music, and this show was case in point, with the audience erupting into cheers and applause at the end of every song. The Moores captivated the Audience for the full 35 minutes they were on stage.

It was a busy summer for The Moores. In addition to the show, they recorded and released their second album and with the help of former St. Chris student Chris Lohr, filmed a music video for their song “Memorabilia.”

Lohr has been a tremendous asset to the group. Utilizing his skills as a director, he directed, filmed and edited the video single handedly.

The video can be seen at pineneedleonline.com It is incredibly rare for a band to release two full albums, shoot a music video and play a nationally renowned venue before any of the members even leave high school. In fact, it is incredibly rare for any band to do any of those things ever. ninety-nine percent of bands will never leave the garage.

As students at St. Christopher’s we all have a great opportunity to witness a truly great band in the making. Don’t miss your chance to be able to say that you knew them before they were famous. Next time they have a show I encourage everyone to attend. You will most likely be hooked.

Their new album is available as a digital download free to anyone who wants it.

Just Facebook message or talk to any member of the band.

[

By Kurt Jensen Editor-in-Chief

September 2010

Opinion/Editorial

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Editor’s Note, Mission Statement

As a freshman, I expressed my interest in writing for The Pine Needle. I loved to write. I loved the idea of learning about something so I could write about it and inform others.

At the same time, I loved photography. I loved every different way of capturing and telling a story.

Journalism at its basic level is simply that – learning, teaching and telling stories. It will always be the most important function of language.

My sophomore year, I witnessed the efficiency of Christopher Alexander’s regime in the student publications office, and every paper that came out that year was absolutely gorgeous and professional. You hardly realize it without paying much attention, but the layout of the paper is what immediately draws the interest of the reader.

Last year, it seemed likely that the layout would have returned to stick-it-where-it-fits, and I hated that idea. I became the Junior Editor of The Pine Needle due to my interest and natural talent in layout and design. Beginning with the first paper, I designed, adjusted and learned on the fly how to make an article look interesting. I owed it to every great writer who works on our staff.

I also learned quickly that layout was the most time-consuming, frustrating and difficult part of the job. I learned how it took four straight hours of staring at a computer to wear you out. You have to

take breaks to spin in your chair, recline and rest your eyes.

I learned it took six straight hours to lay out a paper, start to finish. Finally, I learned that this was a terrible way to go about constructing and designing a paper.

I think it was fitting that the paper was so good my sophomore year and so lax my junior year. I learned what makes a paper great, I learned what to avoid when managing a paper, and by the end of the year, I learned exactly how to go about design systematically, from top to bottom.

I figured I could do a full page spread in 20 to 40 minutes if I had a great article and great pictures.

That way, I could put together the pages one at a time. I could fill in pages until, very simply, there were enough pages.

In a strange way, we were looking at design too broadly. We saw it as a chore, when it should be an art. We saw it as a way of putting articles on a page, when it should be a way of capturing their essence – telling the story from every angle.

This is the focus for this year’s Pine Needle.

Beginning with photography and in-depth writing, we will involve ourselves entirely within the St. Christopher’s community. We will go to events to capture them and tell others what they’re missing.

Working from page to page, we’ll systematically make papers and tell the news.

We released four papers in the previous year.

My initial goal for next year is at least six. If our staff is committed, interested and willing to do the work it takes, writing maybe three solid articles in two weeks, each, we could do a Pine Needle every month.

If it’s taken seriously.

But how could the Pine Needle be taken seriously if only four are released a year? They aren’t timely, involved or even interesting. They’re old news before they’re published, and they aren’t picked up from the desk in the main hall.

Now, with the introduction of www.pineneedleonline.com, along with a more in-depth approach in print, we can maintain immediacy, relevancy and depth of interest. We can report the news immediately and explore the boundaries of the print and online mediums.

From the ground up, The Pine Needle has to be reinstated as a force in the community. Our writers have to seek out news where they’re interested.

We have to stay ahead of the curve. We have to entertain and tell stories. We have to show the art our students are making and the initiative our students are taking.

We have to capture our community on paper.

That is the reason The Pine Needle exists, and yet, it has been simply filled in with text for years. It’s time for that to change.

Stumbling

By Ben Resnik Senior Editor, Online

With autumn upon us, St. Christopher’s students are looking ahead to the 201011 school year, and its most conspicuous difference from previous years: the new, partial block schedule. While the shift should eventually be beneficial, several factors may combine in the coming months to make the newlyformed schedule a tough one for students and faculty alike.

One reason for a potentially tricky year is the teachers’ lack of experi-

ence with a block schedule.

While some teachers may have worked under such a system before, here they have become accustomed to dividing their daily workloads into 45-minute increments. In the first few months of a block schedule year, with almost twice as much class time several days a week, teachers may find themselves merely slowing down their course in order to take up more time. This will certainly not be a long-term issue – our teachers are very adaptable – but at the beginning of such a drastic change in time management, faculty

members could find themselves losing time they’d rather not while struggling to adjust.

Another problem may be this year’s class. The class of 2011 has gained a reputation over the years for being a fairly rowdy and energetic bunch, well-suited to the buzz of six to eight classes a day. With the more depth-centered focus of block classes, and their considerable extra length, the class of 2011’s energy may turn on them, leading to loss of attention or disruption of the class, especially in subjects individual students don’t

find interesting.

The largest potential problem is the combined attitude to the new approach. Many students are skeptical to say the least, and, though I don’t know the personal opinion of members of the faculty, it is safe to say that significant change is rarely met without doubt. If one or both parties aren’t willing to fully commit to the new approach – and, coming back from summer break, most students won’t be ready to fully commit to anything – people may miss the new opportunities block schedule gives immediately out of the gate in adjusting

to a schedule they don’t feel sure about.

With all that in mind, the M.O. of the administration this year should be patience.

Students are going to be cranky, teachers are going to take a little while to adjust, and the school year won’t immediately be as streamlined as idealistically imagined. But, as the year progresses, time-management strategies and opinions will stabilize, and we’ll begin to see the trumpeted benefits of the new schedule – hopefully.

Straight News a Thing of the Past?

By Wells Baylor Senior Editor, News

Opinion and news have become too mixed with one another. Every network seems to have an agenda and a spin to put on its stories. Opinion pieces are beginning to be framed as news, and news is becoming more and more corrupted by opinion.

In preparation for this story, I decided to watch the news network with the highest ratings, Fox News. Glenn Beck was doing a report on how reporters come into a piece with “the story already written in their mind.” He touched on something important. Partisan politics have found their way into news outlets.

Mixing political agendas with the news hurts people’s ability to decide for themselves. People should go into the news to learn about the world around them and then form their opinion based on what they see, but when opinions are placed alongside the truth, inter-

pretations become too closely mixed with the facts and often appear to be legitimate news items.

The mixing of fact and opinion is often subtle, and usually opinion simply shades a story instead of outright distorting it.

The controversy over the “Ground Zero Mosque” is an excellent example. Calling the proposed Islamic community center, the “Ground Zero Mosque” creates an image of a mosque being built on the site or at least within view of ground zero.

The truth is that the mosque is not only two blocks away but is not even a mosque because it contains areas not reserved for prayer. The “mosque” in question is an Islamic community center.

The way the story is framed affects the way the facts are perceived. This defeats the inherit point of news reports—to simply provide the story.

Fox News and MSNBC are the worst examples of partisan news reports. From 5 to 10 p.m. during the week, Fox airs three opinion

based shows, Glenn Beck, O’Reilly and Hannity as well as two news reports. Shepard Smith of “The Fox Report” said, “We’re conservative and on the Republican side.”

According to “Outfoxed,” a documentary, at the beginning of each day, a memo is sent out to the heads of programming outlining how the news should be framed.

MSNBC falls into the other side of the political spectrum with their entire primetime block limited to solely liberal commentators. There is no news show

in MSNBC News’s prime time schedule, just opinion pieces. The key difference is that these shows are clearly opinion based and not news reports. However, if people were to only rely on MSNBC for information, they would have a warped understanding of the news.

The reasoning behind this new trend of polarized news is controversy sells. America wants to see angry newscasters denouncing the opposition. It’s entertaining. It’s why Fox News beats CNN in ratings; it’s why Glenn Beck and Keith Olbermann have a show, and it’s also why our nation is so polarized.

Historically, major networks expected to lose money on their nightly news shows. It was the responsibility to report the news that kept these shows running.

Now with the advent of 24 hour news networks, news reports are more entertainment and political opinion than actual news.

A12

The Back Page

Where’s Kernodle? Bonus: find Kernodle in all 4 pictures.

[ The Pine Needle ] September 2010

The 7 People You Find in the Dining Hall Guy you don’t know.

Oh, hey! I know you have absolutely no idea who I am, but I’m still going to tell you about my cat’s birthday last weekend. I know you were having a good time talking about the game, but letting you know about Mitten’s birthday is a must for me. Don’t leave…

No place to sit.

The Pine Needle <3s Baylis, and the ladies should, too.

Save me a seat! Oh that’s fine, I’ll sit somewhere else. Hmm… Pretty packed here. There’s a spot! Oh, wait, Kernodle. Let me just stand here looking lonely, holding my plate and cup, while I make everyone avoid me, because I’m in the middle of the aisle. Why are there middle schoolers still here? Oh, wait those are freshmen.

“Hey, it’s better than Public School.”

I hate when people complain about the food. We are SO privileged to have this gorgeous cafeteria, and the kielbasa and sauerkraut is absolutely delish!

I can see the disgust on the other student’s faces, but I need to tell them how fortunate they are. I’m sure they’ll appreciate it.

Three cups.

I know the cafeteria only has 12 cups to begin with, but I think I’ll take three.

God forbid, I have to get up and refill my Powerade/fruit punch combo. I get thirsty…

Brings his own lunch.

I like both kinds of Iced Tea, get off my back.

I dare to be different. You got lasagna? Well joke’s on you; I brought a turkey sandwich and a juice box. My mom doesn’t even make it for me all the time; sometimes I do it by myself.

Lingerer.

Hey…? What time does class start? Five minutes? Cool, that’s enough time to sit right by the exit and eat crackers, right? Is it okay if I sit down right as you are getting up, so you feel like you have to stay another five minutes?

Cool, thanks.

Six pieces of toast.

FREE BREAD! Six slots for delicious toast all for me. I know the line stretches 15 people, but you can wait. I have to go do something at the other end of the cafeteria, so you’ll just have to stand there and wait for me to come to claim my prize. You better not take my bread, or I’ll cut you.

Swanky new toasters reduce average wait time from 10 minutes to 8.

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