December 2011

St. Paul Academy & Summit School 1712 Randolph Ave. St. Paul, MN December 2011. Vol XXXIX. Issue III.

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St. Paul Academy and Summit School

December 2011. Vol XXXIX. Issue III

Debate team’s successes are unquestionable

Debaters continue racking up awards at tournaments without showing any signs of stopping

All Photos Credit: Rebecca Xu

Debate team coach Tom Fones displays awards in his classroom. “Mr. Fones and (assistant coach) Mahesha Subbaraman are...the primary reason SPA debate has experienced so much success during recent years,” senior debater Daniel Porter said.

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Some debaters will lose their focus...they need to make it clear what the most important points are and debate those.

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US debate head coach Tom Fones

Junior Sam Wood and senior Peter Coetzee debate students from Eastview High School. Coach Tom Fones says debate is important because “people don’t talk about politics civilly… You really should be debating the issue and not be making personal attacks,”

Thomas Toghramdjian

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Staff Writer

It’s December, and fall sports are a distant memory. However, one squad that began practice and competition this fall is still in full swing.

The debate team has continued to excel under the leadership of head coach Tom Fones. The teams of senior Daniel Porter and junior Sam Wood and seniors Sam Rosenberg and Danny Foussard are ranked in the top five in state for public forum debate.

Debate team is the apple of coach Fones’ eye Veteran coach honored with award at the MinneApple Tournament

Fones has taught debate at St. Paul Academy for sixteen years.

During his tenure here, both the game and the team have changed.

Originally, the school focused on Lincoln Douglas debate, which is a one-on-one debate on ethical issues. However, Fones and the team gradually switched to public forum debate, the exclusive division that the SPA competes in today.

Fones’ classroom is arguably the most colorful in the school.

The table-banging, wisecracking coach uses his class time to go over new arguments and evidence

on the current topic. The relaxed atmosphere and often replenished candy bowl combine to make debate a favorite class of many of Fones’ students.

“I think Mr. Fones and Mahesha Subbaraman (our assistant coach) are the two best debate coaches I’ve ever met, and their instruction is by far the primary reason SPA debate has experienced so much success during recent years,” Porter said.

A public forum debate begins long before the debaters walk up to the podium to deliver their arguments. When a new resolu-

Ellie Fuelling

do really well over a long period of time.”

Junior Chinaza Nwaneri has her own words of praise for Fones’ teaching. “He allows us to experiment, and write our own speeches.”

Cass agreed with Nwaneri: “He always engages his class, so it’s more fun. He doesn’t make the class serious.”

Fones said he won’t change anything about the way he teaches because of this award.

“I do what serves the kids the best and adjust to what is best for them,” Fones said.

He is very pleased to have won this award, “but I’m still the same teacher.”

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Co-Feature Editor

Upper School Debate teacher Tom Fones has won the Golden Apple, an award presented to a debate coach, judge, tabulator, or program supporter for dedication and service to high school debate.

“He definitely deserved this award,” junior Michelle Cass said.

Fones has been teaching at St. Paul Academy and Summit School and coaching debate for 16 years.

Fones said he feels great about receiving the award. “It’s a tribute to my students,” Fones said.

“That’s why you win an award like that; because your students

tion (statement to be argued) is released, debate teams read and research extensively, formulating cases on both sides of the issue.

A debate is held between two teams of two. One team, the “pro” team defends the resolution, while the con team attacks it. The debate starts with a speaker from each side reading the prepared speech. This is followed by a period of crossfire, in which the debaters each other clarifying questions and try to point out flaws in the opposing case. A rebuttal speech proceeds the cross fire, in which Debaters defend their case and attack their opponents’.

Sophomore Connor Allen began debate this fall as a novice but has since moved on to the Varsity division. He lists the con rebuttal as his favorite speech to give.

“The con rebuttal is considered the hardest speech in debate and it’s the challenge of the speech that makes me enjoy it,” Allen said.

Summaries are next. The first speakers again take the stand and deliver two minute summaries of the main points of the debate,

which explain how their side has won those arguments. Then, all four debaters participate in “grand crossfire.” Grand crossfire is generally the most heated period of a debate. After one incident in which a chair was thrown by a frustrated debater, teams now sit down during crossfire to keep it more civil.

The final speeches of the debate are the two-minute final focus speeches, which tie the whole debate down to one over arching theme. A tournament usually consists of five debates for each team.

As a judge, Fones enjoys debates in which the participants stay focused on the most important aspects of the topic, and are not distracted by minor arguments.

Overall, the team agrees that debate will help them develop skills that will serve them well later in life. Meanwhile, they’ll just continue winning and enjoying themselves every step of the way.

Picking Apples The Golden Apple was first awarded in 2000.

Which state has the most recipients?

US debate coach Tom Fones holds the Golden Apple award he received this fall. “It’s a tribute to my students,” Fones said.

News 3 December 2011. Vol XXXIX. Issue III.

St. Paul Academy and Summit School

Newsbrief Academic WorldQuest takes state... again

Ford plant’s end takes history, taxes Photo Credit: Alicia Little

The Ford plant looms over the intersection at Ford Parkway and Cretin Avenue. The plant is scheduled to cease production this month. “With [the plant] closing more people will lose jobs,” junior Peter Driscoll said.

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Op/Ed Editor

The Way Forward. The phrase inspires advancement, innovation. So it is paradoxical that it should be the title of Ford Motor Company’s restructuring plan, which calls for significant downsizing and up to 30,000 layoffs.

Among the plants scheduled to close is Ford’s oldest foundry, the Twin Cities Assembly Plant.

Established in 1924, the plant, located in the Highland Park neighborhood, holds a great deal of history. But a factory cannot be kept alive by its history alone.

The Twin Cities Assembly Plant is now the main source of Ford Ranger pickup trucks, which are

Black Friday echoes economy Allison Wang

rCover Story Editor

Black Friday, this year on Nov. 25, represented the single most attended shopping day for bargain hunters.

This year, statistics show a 16% increase in shopper attendance as well as an influx of earlier store openings.

Stores like Best Buy, Kohl’s, Macy’s, ShopKo, and Target opened at midnight.

According to John Long of the firm Kurt Salmon, stores open earlier every year “because to some degree, the only growth that retailers are seeing in the marketplace today is growth off the backs of competitors.”

Stores did attract more customers, according to the National Retail Foundation.

Nearly one-quarter (24.4%) of Black Friday shoppers were at the stores by midnight.

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Ibad Jafri

With [the plant] closing, more people will lose jobs.

Junior Peter Driscoll

scheduled to cease production on Dec. 22, 2011. The property also houses a dam which has powered the plant via hydro power since the early 1930’s. Advocates of the plant’s destruction have proposed that a high-end neighborhood be built where the plant currently sits.

Not all are satisfied with the current plan to abandon the property. “The taxpayers have subsidized this Ford plant to the hilt,”

Alan Maki, Director of Organizing for the Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council said.

“We powered the Ford Plant for free. If nothing else, that Ford plant should now be used to provide power to the public schools and public buildings.”

Maki is a chief proponent of public ownership of industrial works. “If Ford doesn’t want to continue building its Ford Rangers here, they’re currently being

built in Thailand… [taxpayers have paid for] a $30 million dollar research and training center that’s attached to the Ford plant right now. All of that’s going to be bulldozed over.”

Junior Peter Driscoll has his own concerns about the plant’s destruction. “With [the plant] closing more people will lose jobs,” he said.

The Twin Cities Assembly Plant has been bought out by Canada-based Brookfield Renewable Power.

Minnesota legislators have proposed a bill that would keep the property in working condition for two years in the hopes that the land can be used. The bill has sat in the courts since 2007 and is unlikely to pass.

Occupations fall to violence

For the second year in a row, the St. Paul Academy and Summit School WorldQuest team has taken First Place in the state of Minnesota. At the Fall Recognition Assembly on Dec. 5, US history teacher Andrea Sachs announced that the team won in their age bracket, plus took Second Place overall in the state of Minnesota, beating even the adult teams, except one.

The team will travel to Washington, D.C. to compete in the national WorldQuest competition in April 2012. Team members includes freshman Thomas Toghramadjian, and juniors Ibad Jafri, Hagop Toghramadjian, and Jeremy Tong.

The WorldQuest competition is a flagship program of the World Affairs Council. This is the 10th Anniversary of the contest, which focuses this year on the six top National Security Issues facing the United States in the run-up to the 2012 presidential election, according to their web site.

Exam Schedule Last week wrapped the end of the semester, with final quarter 2 assignments due on Friday. After two review days, students begin exams this week. The schedule is as follows: Tuesday, December 13 History exams: 9:00 – 10:30 am, Language exams: 1:00 – 2:30 pm Wednesday, December 14 Science exams: 9:00 – 10:30 am, English exams: 1:00 – 2:30 pm

Noah Shavit-Lonstein

Thursday, December 15 Math exams: 9:00 – 10:30 am, make-up exams: 1:00 – 2:30 pm

The future of the Occupy Wall Street movement is uncertain after a number of recent police crackdowns in cities such as New York, Portland and Oakland. .

In one particularly controversial incident, students obstructing a walkway at the University of California-Davis were peppersprayed by campus-employed police. According to a letter from UC-Davis professor Nathan Brown, one student had his mouth forced open and pepper spray shot into his throat, causing him to cough up blood for forty-five minutes. The police are currently on administrative leave from the school.

Occupy Seattle made national headlines after police pepper-sprayed a crowd standing peacefully on a sidewalk. Those sprayed included an 83-year-old woman and a pregnant 19-yearold. Dorli Rainey, an 84-year-old activist and one-time mayoral candidate, was photographed for the cover of the New York Times.

Students should remember to bring any materials that their teacher requires for completion of the exam, including pens or pencils. Students can bring a bottle of water and gum or mints to the test. Books, notes, phones, hats, and music players are prohibited in the testing area.

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Music Scene Editor

Illustration Credit: Rebecca Xu

Occupy Wall Street faces an uncertain and precarious future. After several violent interactions between police and protestors, many wonder how long the protest will endure.

His face was oozing fluids after being pepper-sprayed. Nineteenyear-old Jennifer Fox miscarried after police kicked her in the stomach and pepper-sprayed her as she shouted, “I’m pregnant, I’m pregnant!”

At least four people have been found dead in Occupy encampments, and Occupy Wall Street created a women-only tent after a woman was sexually harassed by

a fellow protester.

Furthermore, the protests are chaotic. Zuccotti Park has become a loud and unsanitary place.

New York City’s mayor Michael Bloomberg defended the clearing out of Zuccotti Park in a recent press conference: “The first amendment protects speech.

It doesn’t protect the use of tents and sleeping bags to take over a public space.”

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4 Opinion/Editorial December 2011. Vol XXXIX. Issue III.

STAFF the rubicon

Editor-in-Chief Rebecca Xu

Managing Editor Online Editor-in-Chief

Staff Editorial

St. Paul Academy and Summit School

Real involvement in real issues

Awareness of current hot topics is necessary in a functioning society

Rachel Kinney

Chief Visual Editor Dani Andrusko

News Editor

Andy Monserud

Op/Ed Editor Ibad Jafri

Sports Editor Aditi Kulkarni

Cover Story Editor Allison Wang

Feature Co-Editors Saif Ahmed Ellie Fuelling

Sci/Tech Editor Lucy Li

August King

A&E Editor Liz Rossman

Music Scene Editor

Noah Shavit-Lonstein

Online Visual Editor Nick Scott

Illustrator & Photographer Alicia Little

Webmaster/Videographer Hannah Ross

Staff Writers

Kaia Findlay Hannah Johnson Emma Rogerson Thomas Toghramadjian

Adviser

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Kathryn Campbell

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ubicon

the student newspaper of St. Paul Academy and Summit School 1712 Randolph Avenue St. Paul, MN 55105 Memberships Minnesota High School Press Association National Scholastic Press Association Columbia Scholastic Press Association Awards JEM All-State Gold, 2004-2008 JEM All-State Silver, 2009-10 MHSPA Best in Show, 2004-2008, 2010 NSPA First Class with 3 marks of Distinction 2010 CSPA Gold Medal, 2010

Recently, the Occupy Movement spread from Wall Street to more than 82 countries. Occupy Minneapolis is still going on, as people crowd around the US Bank and Wells Fargo buildings and proclaim that they are “the 99%.” The movement is believed to stem for growing dissatisfaction with the income inequality that permeates American society, although the uprising has seemed rather unfocused.

Major cities aren’t the only places hosting movements. Students at universities and colleges such as Harvard, Cornell, and Michigan State have also organized protests, to name a few.

Our generation has not seen such an enormous movement like this before. It is an ugly movement that has seen an influx of violence and police brutality, but it reminds us of one thing: we

should advocate for what we believe in.

Even though the movement hasn’t yet reached any of its goals, it has raised an issue of income inequality and the financial crisis that can be seen right in front of people’s eyes.

Students at St. Paul Academy and Summit School need to be more involved in what we are passionate about. Not all of us are informed about local, national, and international events and issues, but we should be. We must vocalize our opinions in a civil, lasting manner. As an American -- moreover, as a human being -one possesses the right to be angry, sad or snarky when they see fit. It’s our First Amendment right to assemble peacefully.

As we gradually transform into adults, we can’t shy away from issues like we did when we

were little kids. No more crayons and coloring books -- this is the real world, where we have to face real world issues like the Occupy Movement; we can’t just wait for them to pass by. Although not everyone has a passion for debating and politics, everyone should at least be aware of what’s going on.

Act according to your opinion.

Open up your local newspaper once in a while and educate yourself on the recent issues. Be aware. Post your opinion on the Opinion Board. Don’t be afraid to make suggestions. Write a letter to the Editor. Join a group that shares your beliefs.

As the temperatures drop and Occupy Movement subsides, people are still trying to keep it alive. Pepper-spraying, violence, and other types of police brutality aren’t keeping them away from promoting their intense passion

Compromising freedoms in the name of defense

Society moves Sorry, kids: Presents will take forward as Ford hits the brakes longer to ship

60 members of the US Senate recently voted to uphold a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act - the bill that funds the Pentagon - which gives the government the ability to detain anyone suspected of terrorism indefinitely. This provision is indisputably unconstitutional.

Under the First Amendment, all are entitled to free speech and under the 1895 Supreme Court ruling in Coffin v. United States, all are assumed innocent until proven guilty.

It was bad enough that USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 granted the government the right to track people, tap into their phones, and monitor e-mails. But until now, the government was not allowed to arrest someone without obtaining a warrant. Allowing this ruling to persist endangers the civil liberties of Americans everywhere. Such a provision cannot pass, as it effectively cracks down on unalienable rights.

On December 5, United States Postal Service announced their plan to cut costs by closing 50% of their processing centers, just in time for the holiday season. Less processing centers means a longer delivery time for a package to travel. The Rubicon doesn’t think that this will be much of a problem because nowadays we find fewer and fewer people sending and receiving letters. According to The Nielsen Company, the average teen communicates electronically with his/her peers, sending and receiving an average of 3,339 texts a month, and Facebook boasts over 800 million users. In an effort to reduce carbon footprints and save postage fees, companies have switched either partially or completely to e-billing. As for sending and receiving packages, most companies go through a private company like FedEx and UPS to ensure a faster and protected delivery. USPS has become just another service America can leave in the past.

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In-Depth Editor

Editorial Cartoon: Alicia Little

It is a sad sight when the current generation lacks a voice for the truly important issues that plague society.

We at The Rubicon have noticed some controversy surrounding the soon-to-shut-down Twin Cities Assembly Plant, which has built Ford vehicles since the 1920s and is the oldest Ford plant in the nation. This mourning seems a bit asynchronous, as little has happened at the plant in several years. But losing this factory does not have to be taken as such a profound negative. Yes, the loss of jobs and taxpayer money is unfortunate for the Highland Park neighborhood. Still, we are optimistic that future development in the cavernous lot near a bustling business district will bring jobs and interesting new businesses into the area, and in the long-term can rejuvenate the area through current economic hardships.

Parting with such a mainstay of the St. Paul streets is rather melancholy, yet may prove to be necessary as our current economy becomes less and less dependent on manual labor.

about the state of our country’s economy.

As individuals, we each have our own passions. Find your passion and ask yourself, are you willing to defend your opinions with the same tenacity as activists from all ends of the spectrum, from Occupy protesters to Tea Partiers?

Students like Clara Stahlmann Roeder, who acted upon her passion for climate change and polar bears when she visited the Arctic, and many SPA student groups are all examples of student awareness. Such entities keep their opinions firm no matter what challenges come their way. Without such firmness, people’s opinions would be useless and issues that inspire passion. would die out. That is the last thing anyone wants.

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Editorial Policy

The Rubicon editorials are representative of the opinions of the Staff Editorial Board, which is made up of all students in the Journalism and Editorial Leadership classes. All other opinion pieces are the opinions of the authors themselves.

Letters Policy The Rubicon welcomes letters to the editor. All letters must be signed and should be limited to 150200 words. Letters may be edited for length and grammar and are published by discretion of The Rubicon staff. They can be mailed to us or e-mailed to rubicon.spa@gmail.com.

Opinion/Editorial 5 St. Paul Academy and Summit School December 2011. Vol XXXIX. Issue III. Personalities not always worn on sleeves Judgment based on clothing choices is often brutal and unnecessary a higher price. Often, more time is spent ensuring the garment’s Sports Editor quality.

The criticism today is that “Don’t be shallow,” they tell those who buy name brand kids. “It’s not all about how you clothing judge those who don’t. look. There’s more to life than But shouldn’t that criticism extend both ways? There are indithat.”

But what if that kid wants viduals on both side of the specto look good? What if wearing trum who will judge anyone who a Diane von Furstenburg dress wears anything different from makes her feel good? What if his their garb of choice.

A wide variety of people are new Nikes give him confidence that he didn’t have before? That present at St. Paul Academy and doesn’t mean they should be Summit School. There are hardconsidered shallow for wanting core name-brand shoppers, and there are people who swear by to do so.

Today, name-brand clothing shopping for clothes without a has a stigma associated with it. name. Sometimes, there are peoThe glitz and glamour seen in ple that fit into both categories.

Each type has their benefits the fashion world has fostered a common belief that designer and drawbacks. But neither side clothing is worn only by those should brutally judge another for who are wealthy, and often su- what they wear.

“I don’t shop at one specific perficial.

But name-brand clothing of- store. I go to lots of different fers positive traits that other stores and buy what I think is types of clothing do not. Certain comfortable and cute to wear,” brands are trusted more than said sophomore Alev Baysoy, others because of the quality whose favorite stores are Holthey promise. In addition to this, lister Co. and American Eagle. name-brand clothing tends to “[They’re being] well-known incorporate more of the newest definitely contributes to why I go there, but it’s mostly because fashion trends.

Despite many existing doubts, I like the clothes they have.”

Judgment is inevitable. Howthere is a reason the clothes have

Aditi Kulkarni

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Infographic of the Month

ever, the byproducts of such judgment need to remain nonhurtful and controlled. Freshman Mychal Morris can agree with this. “I’ve probably judged [people who wear name-brand clothing] before,” Morris said.

Morris, who doesn’t frequently wear name-brand clothing, is not alone in this. In fact, he is in the majority. People often judge based on appearances, and no one is to be blamed for such a phenomenon. Morris is not overly direct in his judgment, and that is how it should be.

It will never be easy to change another person’s opinion; once they have one, it is firmly set.

What can be changed, however, is the manner in which they go about formulating those opinions. Judging someone based only on their clothes, cheap or expensive, is wrong. How accurately do ones clothes represent them as a person? In most cases, not at all. Personality has an influence on clothing, but there are other factors that have a much greater influence, and whether one wears brand name or no name, people had best judge the individual on more important traits.

This month, The Rubicon polled the student body to find out what kinds of winter clothing students were most fond of. The results of the survey offered a unique insight into the clothing tastes of students. Girls had a strong tendency to wear more winter clothing (boots, hats, gloves) than boys, and the majority of boys wore no more than a jacket. Some of the most popular brands included The North Face, Ugg, Columbia, and Nike. Enjoy your winter, and do bundle up!

Illustration Credit: Nick Scott

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Cover Story

December 2011. Vol XXXIX. Issue III.

St. Paul Academy and Summit School

Eat your heart out over winter break curb the implications of overeating with helpful tips to stay active over the holiday season

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It’s the time your waistline constantly fears and the time your scale senses the fear: the winter holiday season. Filled with buttered, stuffed hams, homemade Santa cookies and freshly baked pumpkin pies, the six week period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, a time of celebration, has now become a time for overeating.

With consuming high-calorie and high-fat foods, both during the “main” dinner and as leftovers, it’s no surprise Americans experience weight gain. “The holiday season doesn’t represent one day of overeating. You have this period that extends through the new year where there’s more snacks, more finger foods and appetizers that are energy dense,” Holly Hull said. Hull is a lead researcher at the University of Oklahoma who studied holiday weight gain among University of OK Reasercher college students during the Thanksgiving break.

Senior Gabe Chang also the George Mateljan Foundation, believes that the holidays are filled turkey can make up to 68.2% of with more food and snacking. “Be- one’s daily protein value in just ing on winter vacation means that four ounces, and unlike their red I might have relatives in town so meat counterparts, turkey has not we will go out with them to restau- been associated with increased risk rants. Also, there’s a lot of grazing of heart disease or type 2 diabetes opportunities with leftovers and in a majority of research studies. other holiday food laying around,” “Turkey is hands down my faChang said. vorite holiday food, its so good my According to a study conducted mom makes it for Thanksgiving by the United States Department and Christmas. Since she cooks it of Agriculture (USDA) Human all morning, my house gets a nice Nutrition Research Center at Tufts turkey smell, so when you do eat it University, during the holidays, it’s even better because you smell weight gain was greater among it cook all day. It’s making me hunindividuals who are overweight or gry already,” sophomore Frank Naobese. On average, those who were hurski said. overweight or obese gained more Most students have different than five pounds. In addition, the habits and techniques for getting study found that “among the entire out of the post-eating state. “I’ve population, weight gain during the learned some things to avoid in the 6-week holiday season explained holiday feasting though, or else I 51% of the annual weight gain.” don’t feel good... like eating way It’s not unusual for people of too much at once and eating just normal weight to gain a couple because food is there,” Chang said. pounds, and at St. Paul Academy In January, Myers-Kelly reand Summit School, most students verts back to healthy habits. “I get are able to get the necessary exer- back into a routine by trying to cise from sports or extra-circular make myself healthy lunches over activities during the winter. “I have break,” she said. gained a couple pounds over the Nahurski admitted to the presholidays, but as long as I go back sure he feels after the holidays: to a healthy eating schedule I get “I’m usually so scared by the the pounds off in a month or so,” amount of eating that I never want junior Sophia Meyers-Kelly said. to eat again.”

According to The New England Healthy portion sizes, picking Journal of Medicine, the average healthy choices, and as Chang put American will gain seven to 10 it “not eating just because food’s pounds before the New Year. Keep- there,” are some tips that will even ing up with exercise and watching make your scale a friendly place one’s body weight are crucial in for the holidays. losing the holiday-gained pounds,

Turkey(1 cup)

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A&E Editor

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but approximately one half of the U.S. adult population and the proportion of those with obesity, defined as a body-mass index of 30 or more, has increased by 50 percent during the past decade. The NEJM states, “because obesity, once established, is difficult to reverse, the development of effective strategies for prevention is imperative.”

“When I’m in town I’ll be in captain’s practices, at a training camp for a sport, or just keeping in shape so I don’t die at practice when everyone gets back,”Chang said.

Most meals will be centered around some kind of protein, most presumably turkey. According to

19 g (29%) total fat

Liz Rossman

Fitness gurus on Youtube

2 mg (1%) 26 g cholesterol carbs

116 mg (5%) sodium

13 g sugar Illustration credit: Allison Wang

Weight gain during the 6-week holiday season accounts for 51% of the average person’s annual weight gain, according to a study conducted by the USDA Human Nutrition Center at Tufts University. Nutrition facts for common holiday foods came from nutritiondata.self.com.

local fitness options

corepower lifetime

local trails

Stay healthy and prevent overeating’s effects Noah Shavit-Lonstein

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Music Scene Editor

Warning: Your prospects for holiday weight loss don’t look too good. According to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the average American gains only about one pound over the holidays. However, the study continues, most of those Americans never lose that pound- it’s a mark of weight that accumulates over a lifetime. What’s a food lover to do?

The University of California in Los Angeles distributes a brochure explaining how to stay healthy over the holiday season. During a holiday meal, it suggests, focus on socializing instead of eating, and chew food slowly, allowing your body to feel full. Some people also decide to plan out what they will eat before coming to the meal. The brochure also has food ideas, like eating turkey or chicken instead of beef.

There are other ways to avoid gaining weight during holiday indulgence. For example, some people try to skip meals to compensate for the large holiday meal. However, this is counterproductive; it just intensifies hunger. If you’re headed to a potluck, make a fruit or vegetable based dish, like roasted veggies or a compote, to benefit everyone’s health.

Around the holidays, many people choose to continue outdoor activities like running, sometimes transitioning to snowshoeing or skiing. To avoid the side effects of winter running, the Mayo Clinic has a few recommendations.

When dressing, exercisers should pay particular attention to covering up hands, feet, and ears, which get frostbitten easier. Due to the increasingly early night, athletes, especially runners, should also wear more reflective gear. Running coach Jenny Hadfield recommends dressing fifteen to twenty degrees warmer than the weather to account for internal heating during

exercise. In open spaces, those who wish to exercise can snowshoe or ski. In more plowed areas, people can continue running routines.

In the Twin City metro, many dedicated bicyclists chose to continue biking during the winter. Adherents to the practice enjoy not having to work to heat up cars or worry about getting stuck in the snow. Those who shy away from it, however, worry about the potential of slipping on ice and the increase in wind chill when biking.

For those without the stamina for outdoor winter exercise, plenty of heated options exist. Basketball is the an indoor option, and the school has usable facilities for it, as well as a weight and cardio room.

Local recreation centers, in addition to their own basketball courts, include everything from a walking and running track at the Hillcrest Rec Center to a racquetball court and weight room at the Edgecumbe Rec Center.

Some community centers and gyms have found creative ways to help people exercise indoors.

Kettlebell routines, which involve large spherical weights, are taught at St. Paul’s The Sweatshop and Woodbury’s Kinetic Edge Performance. Intense yoga routines can be found at countless spots around the metro, including for free at the Midtown Global Market. Vertical Endeavors, on St. Paul’s east side, features thousands of square feet of climbing space for starting or experienced climbers.

Ice skating is a major option.

Drake Arena is a popular option for SPA students, with an open skate from 11:45 to 2:00 most Sundays for $4 (plus $2 for skates). Wells Fargo hosts the outdoor rink WinterSkate during the winter in the middle St. Paul’s Rice Park, surrounded by festively decorated skyscrapers. Use of the rink is free, and skates are available for $2 and free to Wells Fargo members.

Whatever your techniques, know that you need a combination of diet and exercise to keep off holiday pounds.

weight room Gingerbread photo used with permission from Parée Erica

Photo Submitted by Margaret Merrill

Senior Margaret Merrill attends a yoga session at CorePower Yoga. Located on 680 Cleveland Avenue South and 867 Grand Ave, both the Highland Park and the Grand Ave location feature one free week of unlimited yoga classes for new, local students.

Photo Submitted by Drew Whitaker

Senior Drew Whitaker practices tennis with a couple of friends at Lifetime Fitness, which is located in Highland Park at 2145 Ford Parkway.

Lifetime Fitness is an athletic club that requires a membership but features exclusive exercise equipment and athletic facilities.

Photo Credit: Ellie Fueling

Although the weather outside might be frightful, students can elect to walk, jog, or run outside to enjoy the scenery and save some money. The St. Paul side of the Mississippi River has trails along the majority of its length. Another common route is along Summit Ave.

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Photo Credit: Rebecca Xu

Sophomore Sam Carlson works out in the SPA weight room, which, along with the cardio room, will be open for one to two hours over the winter break on Dec. 19, 21, 28 at 9:30 a.m., Dec. 29 at 10 a.m., Dec. 30 at 10:30 a.m., Dec. 2 at 3 p.m., and Dec. 27 at 4 p.m.

2 Sports

St. Paul Academy and Summit School

December 2011. Special Edition

Alpiners focus on rebuilding team by acclimating new skiers Liz Rossman

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A&E Editor

From the same ski hills that once hailed 2010 Olympian Lindsey Vonn, the Upper School Alpine Ski team hits the slopes of Buck Hill bundled in the newest Northface attire for the upcoming season. As seen in any team, with lots of practice comes lots of success, something the Alpine Ski team might be falling short of.

“Something that’s always been a challenge for us is getting enough practice time; we have practice time at Buck Hill on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but our races are also on Wednesdays so we have to forfeit our practice time on Wednesday for most of the season,” Hannah Ibele, senior and captain of the Alpine ski team, said.

“Another challenge that we face this year is our loss of Ross Baker. He was an incredible skier and will be missed,” sophomore

captain Jonathon Sogin said.

On the days they have practice, a lot of time is taken out of their afternoon. “On practice days, we leave SPA at around 3:30 for Buck Hill. Most kids take the bus, and those with cars drive themselves. We arrive anywhere between 4 and 4:15, and kids do homework and eat dinner.

We meet at the top of our practice hill at 5, and then we run gates until 7. At 7, whoever takes the bus heads back to school and the rest of us head home,” Ibele said.

Although skiers dedicate a lot of time to practices and competitions, in which some competitions fill up the whole day, it doesn’t stop new skiers from coming in.

“This is a rebuilding year for the team,” Hannh Ibele said. “We have a lot of new skiers, which is great, so initially we’re going to be getting everyone acclimated to the routine and helping build confidence in the course.”

Courses and runs differ for each event. According to Ibele,

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Girls approach season with confidence

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From the looks of it, the Girls Varsity Basketball Squad are teeming with confidence for the upcoming season. “I am also looking forward surprising a lot of teams with our ability to be very competitive this year,” senior captain Maggie Johnson said.

After finishing a strong season last year, the Girls Basketball team is heading into this year with their heads held high and looking to achieve multiple state recognitions.

Senior captain Jenna O’Brien

Boys and Girls Alpine at Wild Mountain Dec. 16

Saif Ahmed

Photo Credit: Dani Andrusko

Feature Co-Editor

Upcoming meet:

Photo Credit: Rachel Yost-Dubrow

Senior captain Hannah Ibele gets ready before her race “Skiing is one of the best parts of my year, and has taught me about perseverance in the face of adversity,” she said.

Boys Basketball warns other teams to look out

Coach Anna Voltmer talks to the team during practice. “We’d like to win more games, become a tougher and stronger team, and make it farther into the section playoffs,” senior captain Maggie Johnson said.

Saif Ahmed

the practice course “essentially looks like a plinko board.”

Each practice consists of skiing through a slalom course, a run filled with mounds forcing skiers to make sharp, jagged, and rhythmic turns.

In Alpine skiing, good form equals speed and speed leads to success. “The adrenaline rush I get when I ski is like nothing I’ve ever experienced. Skiing one of the best parts of my year, and has taught me about perseverance in the face of adversity, a.k.a the freezing cold,” Ibele said.

Ibele says that it is not essential to have experience. “[Needing racing experience] is absolutely not true. When I joined the team in ninth grade, I hadn’t raced a day in my life and now the team is a huge part of my life.”

is maintaining the team’s spirit as well as she can. “[I want them] to remember that the end product is what matters most and to always keep our heads up,” O’Brien said.

Johnson hopes that the team will win more games this year than before. “We'd like to win more games, become a tougher and stronger team, and make it farther into the section playoffs,” Johnson said.

Upcoming game:

SPA vs. Visitation at SPA-Randolph Campus Dec. 16- 6:15 pm

Feature Co-Editor

“Let’s go, let’s go!” “Hurry up!” “Hustle, hustle!” “Put some effort into it!” These are the words that can be heard during a Boys Varsity Basketball practice.

Fortunately, the boys are used to this and are jumping into the season with a surprising amount of gusto.

Junior captain Spencer Egly is hoping for an increase of enthusiasm from the team. “This year, we are hoping to increase the team spirit, represent the team and school positively at games, and become mentally and physically tougher,” Egly said.

According to junior captain Josh Gray, the team is hoping to achieve Championship Conference, Section Championship, and State Championship. “It starts with everybody getting on board and believing we can accomplish anything and putting in the hard work,” Gray said.

This year, over 40 students from the community tried out for the team, as opposed to last year where only 20 students tried out.

The benefit of this is that each team, Varsity, Junior Varsity, and the C team all have complete rosters. Last year, some of the team members had to play multiple games on different teams. For example, a varsity player might have had to play a game for the JV team. This year however, each team has complete rosters.

Captains are warning other teams to be wary. “We will have to figure out everybody’s roles on the team but once we completely find our identity watch out,” Gray said.

To learn more about the Boys Varsity Basketball team, follow them on Twitter at @SPABBALL or keep up with the team’s blog at www.spahoops.blogspot.com/.

Upcoming game:

SPA vs. Duluth Marshall at SPA-Randolph Campus Dec. 17- 2:00 pm

All basketball photos submitted by Josh Gray

Junior captain Spencer Egly goes up for a lay-up in the SPA/MPA basketball game in the 2010-11 season. They went on to win the game 46-41.

Sports 3 December 2011. Special Edition

St. Paul Academy and Summit School

Dance team kicks off season

Andy Monserud

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Photo Credit: Liz Rossman

Junior Melanie Luikart sharpens her skis in preparation for the Nordic season. “I think people underestimate skiing as a sport because they think of it as a leisure thing- cause that’s what a lot of people do. Skiing is actually a hard core sport that requires a lot of both upper and lower body strength, and people should know that,” junior captain Lily Rogers-Grant said.

Nordic Skiing hopes to come together as team Liz Rossman

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A&E Editor

Pass Ms. Scott’s desk and you will notice the array of medals, awards, and trophies that expand across and along the wall of the Mathematics department. This is the Upper School Nordic ski team.

The boys team will face a challenge with numbers “Our boys team is the smallest it has been in my memory,” Ben Palmer, captain of the Nordic team, said. “We have four Upper School skiers, not even enough to score as a team at most meets.

Our girls team is young, but they have numbers. On their side there are several new skiers, but with several talented veterans to learn from.”

“What I really hope for this season is to come together as a team, because a lot of people joining our team are coming from [this fall’s] Cross Country,” said junior Lily Rogers-Grant, the newest captain of the team. Palmer agrees, “as a team, our main goal is to develop. We have a very young team and many of our athletes are just learning how to ski.”

Once the snow floods the previous fall grass of the Como Park and Highland Golf Courses, the

Nordic team will begin their allintensive workouts.

If there’s anything to be taken away from passing Ms. Scott’s desk, it’s the sense of community the Nordic team carries. It may be from the many bus rides the team takes or the ridiculous zebra and leopard print infused dress-up days the team fills in on. Either way, it is evident that community will be the backbone of this year’s Nordic Skiing season.

Upcoming meet: Boys and Girls Nordic at Theodore Wirth Golf Course Dec. 13- 3:45 pm

News Editor

It’s a sad fact that activities that require the most dedication to participate in often don’t get nearly as much attention as they merit. Few people know that fact better than the members of the Spartan Dance teams.

The dance teams, headed by captains seniors Catricia Morris and Allison Wang, junior Claire Samuelson, and sophomore Jessica Wen will kick off the season on Dec 17. “We look really good this year,” Morris said. She also notes that the team tends to improve as the season goes on.

The dance team is split into two groups: the larger blue team that does “kicks,” which are exactly what they sound like: routines primarily consisting of high kicks. The gold team, which is made up entirely of veteran dancers, does “jazz dancing.”

In part because of the commitment involved, competition

is often poorly attended. Driving to high schools across the metro area can be a hard sell for three minutes of dancing. However, the teams do have the opportunity to perform at other events, such as basketball games. “It’s always fun to dance at basketball performances, because then we have an audience in the school,” Morris said.

A few changes in the lineup have altered the team’s approach to the season. “We have a lot of new girls this year,” Morris said, so the team’s ambition is “to get comfortable” in meets and other performances. Because the gold team is entirely made up of dancers who were on the team last year, the advantage there is that “we’re starting from where we left off last year,” Morris said.

Upcoming meet: Blue and Gold Dance Teams at Maple Grove HS Dec. 17

All dance team photos submitted by Claire Samuelson

The dance team gets into their starting position for their song “Magic.” Despite many new girls, senior captain Catricia Morris thinks the dance teams “look really good this year.”

Trojans want to take it to the top and set new records Hannah Ross

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Webmaster/Videographer

When most people think of swimming, they think of warm weather and sunscreen. For senior Nico Olson-Studler and the boys preparing for the upcoming Boys Swimming and Diving season, swimming is a winter sport.

The Trojans, a cooperative team of students from St. Paul Academy and Highland Park, practices at the Highland Park high school pool.

Olson–Studler joined the diving team last year and enjoyed it, choosing to participate again this year. “It’s really fun and a great way to learn sick aerial skills,”

Olson-Studler said. “[Diving has taught me] how to move gracefully through the air. Like a swan.”

The Trojan swimmers had an impressive season last year, as well, setting new records and placing high in sections. “A relay team of Danny Wojta, Matt Nelson, Steven Wendeborn and Flynn Franzen set a conference relay meet record for the 850 meter freestyle relay. We had athletes make top 16 in almost every event at sections,” coach Heather Lendway said. Lendway hopes that Nelson, a senior beginning his sixth season on the Trojan swim team, will continue swimming as well as he has in the previous seasons, saying “...he's been all-conference and all-region in the past.

He did some training outside the season this year so he should have a head start on being in shape so we look forward to seeing him progress even more this season.”

Fans are encouraged to come and watch the team. “It's cold in the winter and it's nice and warm in the pool!” Lendway said. “It's exciting to watch the races when they come down the last few yards. Kids can be loud and cheer as much as they'd like; they're close to the deck so it feels like they're almost in the pool.”

Upcoming meet:

SPA vs. St. Paul Harding at St. Paul Humboldt HS Dec. 15- 6:30 pm

Photo submitted by Heather Lendway

Highland Park junior Flynn Franzen, SPA senior Matt Nelson, Highland Park senior Danny Wojta, and SPA class of ‘11 Steven Wendeborn set a conference relay record last year for the 850 meter freestyle relay.

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Sports 4 December 2011. Special Edition

St. Paul Academy and Summit School

Fencing looks past lack of spectators and still finds success Andy Monserud

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News Editor

Epees, foils and sabres.

Grilled black masks and starkwhite jackets. Blood. Sweat.

Tears. The roar of the crowd - the rumble of the crowd - the gentle hum of the crowd?

As the winter season of sports kicks off, St. Paul Academy and Summit School’s Spartan Fencers look forward to another successful season to follow up last year’s two state championships, which unfortunately went largely unnoticed.

The truth of the matter is that fencing suffers from low attendance. Spectators are usually limited to family and a very few friends. “It’s not really a spectator sport,” junior Captain Marie Siliciano said. “We love to have support and cheering...but it’s kind of complicated and hard to follow.” Fortunately, the fencers are used to small crowds. “We encourage people to come,” says

Siliciano. Siliciano adds that the team spends more energy working on improving their fencing than trying to gain spectators.

A much more pressing issue is numbers, particularly on the girls’ team. Due to their depleted numbers, many fencers are forced to use more than one weapon to fill out slots in tournaments. Fencers generally specialize in one weapon; epee, sabre or foil, and most agree that having to use two tends to detract from practice time with one or the other. Despite this, Siliciano believes the girls’ team will still be strong, and younger students are joining the team. “We have a lot of middle schoolers, which bodes well for the future of the club,” Junior Francesco DiCaprio said.

A few changes have been made to the rules of the State tournament this year, presenting fencers with yet another challenge. In previous years, the state tournament has been an individual tournament, with fencers going one-on-one bouts to five or

fifteen points. Now, the tournament is based on teams of three competing in round-robin, relaystyle matchups. To clarify, three fencers are chosen for each team, the teams are matched up, and each member of the teams fencing goes a bout with each member of the other team. The scores of each bout are added together to make the team score.

The first fencing event of the season will be the SPA invitational on the first weekend after winter break. Because SPA tends to perform well at this meet held on its own campus, it is an ideal tournament to attend. DiCaprio encourages spectators to come to this match or others. “You get to watch people hit each other with swords,” he said, grinning. What more could fans ask for?

Upcoming meet: SPA Invitational at SPA- Randolph Campus Jan. 7

Photo Credit: Wafa Qureshi

Junior Henry Swanson blocks an opponent’s lunge in the State Tournament of 2011. The team eventually placed 2nd in the state.

Young, skillful team faces injuries and close losses Allison Wang

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Cover Story Editor

Academy Boys Hockey this season: young, injured, but ready to excel.

Co-opted with Mounds Park Academy, the team is 1-3-0 as of Dec. 6, with one win against Redwood Valley High School and three losses against Waconia, Simley High School, and Richfield High School. Unfortunately, the team’s disappointing losses resulted from 1-point loss outcomes after being ahead of the opponent teams early in the game.

According to junior Matt Littler, the team this year is really young. “Most are ninth or tenth graders,” he said. It’s difficult at the beginning of the season to introduce new and young players to high school level hockey, according to Littler.

However, junior captain Cameron Causey believes that the team will do well. “We were a little worried because we lost eight seniors, but we have a lot of skill this year,” he said.

Additionally, Causey will be out for six weeks due to his knee cap and quad injury from sliding

into the boards. “I just couldn’t bend my leg at all,” he said.

This year, Causey hopes to have a winning record for the season. To do so, Academy Boys Hockey is focusing on making sure everyone buys into the system, which means each person has their own job, plays their own part, and finds their role within the team, Causey said.

In regards to the hockey coaching, Littler said that Boys Hockey Coach Joe Dziedzic is “really experienced. He’s knowledgeable, intense...and enthusiastic” about the hockey season. According to Causey, “he knows the game very well” and is both serious and demanding as well as funny.

With an experienced coach as well as a tough mental attitude, this team should succeed. “We’ve had some complications with injuries and close losses, but I think we can turn [our season] around,” Causey said.

Upcoming game:

SPA vs. Prior Lake at Dakotah Ice Arena Dec. 17- 3:00 pm

Photo submitted by Alev Baysoy

The United Girls Hockey team transitions into defense in their 20102011 season. This year the team hopes to score a lot more goals.

Girls Hockey wants to score more goals Allison Wang

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All Hockey Photos Credit: Chris Causey

Sophomore Jake Westfield moves the puck to a teammate while on a power play during their game against Simley. They ended up losing 5-6 in overtime.

Cover Story Editor

With younger faces and a new coach, United Girls Hockey is ready to score a lot more goals this season.

The girls hockey team is expecting to follow up on last year’s season with more wins. They are working towards a winning record this season. With new United Girls Hockey Coach Carrie Halldorf and incoming talented players, senior Justine Soukup expects a winning season.

According to Soukup, Halldorf “pushes us a lot harder [than the previous coach],” she said.

“She’s very serious about win-

ning and pushes us past our potential.”

The United Girls Hockey team opened the season with a win on Tues, Nov. 15 against Totino Grace.

The hockey team is in a coop with Visitation because there aren’t enough players from St. Paul Academy and Summit School to support a whole hockey team. This season, the team gained many players from Visitation as well as from SPA, totaling 22 varsity hockey players. Many players are still in middle school.

Upcoming game:

SPA vs. Dodge County at SPA- Drake Arena Dec. 16- 7:30 pm

8 F e a t u re

St. Paul Academy and Summit School

December 2011. Vol XXXIX. Issue III.

Teaching math, midpoints and means for over 40 years

Boulger shares tales of the school’s transformation in his years of teaching

Lucy Li

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Sci/Tech Editor

Through the giant windows of the Math area, students often see a white-haired, whitebearded man pondering over an interesting geometry problem or helping a student understand a trigonometric identity.

For 43 years, Upper School Math teacher Bill Boulger has taught at St. Paul Academy and Summit School and watched the school evolve to what it is today.

In December, Boulger will have taught 99 semesters of classes.

Before coming to SPA, Boulger taught math at St. Thomas Academy (STA), an all male military school in Mendota Heights.

He decided to leave STA because he was against the Vietnam war.

Late in the summer of 1969, he spotted an ad in the newspaper for new teachers at SPA. At that time, SPA was in the process of merging the boys’ school, St. Paul Academy, and the girls’ school, Summit School, and needed extra teachers. Soon enough, Boulger got a job as a math teacher.

Boulger is a well-respected member of the faculty and has invested a lot of his time on students and teaching. “He’s very empathetic and tries to understand the needs of the students,” senior Ashlee Johnson, who had Boulger as a Geometry teacher, said.

In the beginning of Boulger’s career at SPA, the math pro-

Photo Credit: Lucy Li

Bill Boulger goes over an Honors Geometry test with his class.

Photo Credit: Lucy Li

Upper School Math teacher Bill Boulger teaches Honors Geometry classes. “I get to pose interesting questions to students and watch them take those questions on and understand things that they hadn’t seen before,” Boulger said.

gram looked very different from today. Math classes were separated by gender, partly due to the merging of the two schools.

“It was thought that the girls could not do the boys’ math,” Boulger said, “and then a few girls changed everybody’s mind by just doing so well.”

Throughout the years, Boulger has watched students become talented mathematicians and eventually use their skills to work at large companies including Google and NASA. Some of the stellar math students have become scientists, including Dr. Karen Ashe, a faculty member and Alzheimer researcher at the University of Minnesota.

“I get to pose interesting questions to students and watch them take those questions on and understand things that they hadn’t seen before,” Boulger said. “I can put things in front of students and they can learn and I can learn at the same time.”

Boulger is the chair of the math department, a position he held about twenty years ago. “It’s interesting, being department head, watching what’s happening in all three divisions of the school and getting to know the broad math program again,” Boulger said. However, being department chair means he doesn’t teach classes as much, and he misses the class time with the students.

Boulger is also the coach of the Upper School Math Team.

This Thursday group competes in the Minnesota State High School Mathematics League. “That has been a highlight of all of the times I’ve been here ever since it began,” he said. The Math Team started in 1980 and has gone to state almost every year since.

Outside of teaching, Boulger enjoys reading lengthy books such as The Autobiography of Mark Twain. He has been part of a book group for over twenty years. Upper School math teacher James McVeety is also part of this book group, and they read a wide genre of books, including Cleopatra and The Big Short.

Photo Credit: Ibid

Bill Boulger is featured in the 1971 edition of the Ibid.

Overall, Boulger has gained a lot of experience and memories in the past 43 years. “There have been lots of changes in this school and sometimes this school’s been in some internal ill but the island of tranquility has always been in the classroom,” Boulger said.

“No matter what was going on in other parts of the school, the focus always goes back to the classroom. That’s where you work with the students. That’s what the whole thing’s all about, and that’s where the focus ought to be.”

Students experience the thrill of the hunt Thrifting for good deals can lead to uncovering gold mines Emma Rodgerson

“It’s all about the hunt,” freshman Lily Hammer said about thrifting, the act of shopping at vintage or thrift stores. The appeal lies in the feeling of being unique, reviving an outdated piece of clothing, and developing a style that’s outside of the ordinary or mainstream preferences.

“There’s always a risk that someone isn’t going to like it, and I love that,” Hammer said.

“You know no one else is going to be wearing what you’re wearing. You feel really original,” junior Serena Hodges said.

“I always find really cute clothes

for cheap prices,” sophomore Anna Matenaer said. It’s undeniable that the prices of thrift stores are far easier to handle than the average store.

It’s true that you will run into a rather pricey vintage dress or necklace, but there’s always something in the store that fits your budget, without compromising on looks. “It’s cheap and fashionable,” Hodges said.

It’s not just the excitement of being original and reinventing an old piece of clothing, or the insanely cheap prices that attract people to thrift stores; the general atmosphere and scene of the stores themselves add to the experience. “You can meet some really interesting people,” freshman Leighton Heegaard said.

“Also, thrift stores play some really good music, stuff you normally wouldn’t hear,” Hammer said.

Those looking to start thrifting don’t have to go far from school to find a store. Everyday People on Selby is a great place to start looking, and besides that, there are plenty scattered through out Saint Paul and Minneapolis such as Shag Studio, a hair salon with a thrift store in the back. “I love Opitz and Rewind!” Heegaard said.

So if you’re looking to find something to wear that’s completely original, to buy a $50 shirt for $5, or maybe even just go have fun digging through the wacky clothes, don’t rule out thrifting.

Rewind

Shag Studio

Everyday People

Vintage and Contemporary Clothes and Accessories 2829 Johnson Street, Northeast Minneapolis.

Hair Salon and Vintage and Thrift Boutique 799 Raymond Ave., St. Paul

Consignment and Vintage store

Rewind has a selection filled with only the best, which makes it easy to shop without the hindrance of needing to do all the digging. It’s difficult to leave the store empty handed.

“I love Rewind! I find something every time I go there.”

Leighton Heegard said.

Shag Studio combines a cute hair salon with a unique thrift store. It’s fairly small, so there’s no need to spend hours digging through everything, and the prices are insanely cheap. “Shag is definitely one of my favorites,” Lily Hammer said.

Everyday People, rather than only looking for really “out there” pieces that are extremely unique, focuses on contemporary trends.

“They had really reasonable prices, and the people were really nice,”Catherine Riley said.

Where to go:

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Photo Credit: Emma Rodgerson

Catherine Rile shifts through racks of clothes at Everyday People. “I really like it here! There’s so much to choose from,” Rile said about the thrift store. It was Rile’s first time at this particular store and she liked the employees and great prices.

Staff Writer

1292 Hennepin Ave. South Minneapolis 1599 Selby Ave., St.Paul

F e a t u re 9 December 2011. Vol XXXIX. Issue III.

St. Paul Academy and Summit School

A new sweet spot arrives in town

Students flock to Menchie’s, a newly opened frozen yogurt store Hannah Johnson

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Staff Writer

“Have a smiley day,” a grinning Menchie’s employee says as you exit the store with a full stomach. Ever since the frozen yogurt chain opened its doors on Oct. 8 in St. Paul’s Highland Park, St. Paul Academy students can’t stop raving about this new hot spot. “It’s always packed with teenagers and families,” sophomore Alev Baysoy said.

Menchie’s is the newest ice cream-alternative store to pop up in the Twin Cities. It is following the footsteps of Red Mango, Freeziac and Leeann Chin’s Red Cherry. Its web site boasts of “a rotating selection of eclectic frozen yogurt flavors and every topping under the sun.”

Photo Credit: Hannah Johnson

A Rising Franchise Frozen yogurt stores have been stylish additions to trendy cities like Los Angeles and New York for the past few years. The Highland Park location is the only Menchie’s in Minnesota.

The Menchie’s franchise has over 100 locations in the United States alone. New stores are opening soon in countries from Jordan to Costa Rica, and Japan to India.

Customers enjoy dishes of frozen yogurt with a variety of toppings at the popular new frozen yogurt show, Menchie’s. “It’s delicious. It’s much more sweet than regular ice cream and it’s smooth,” freshman Maddie Flom-Staab said.

Fantastic Fro Yo SPA students agree

that

Menchie’s frozen yogurt has an appealing and unique taste. “I like that it’s sweeter and a little more sour. You can get mixed flavors and more toppings can go with it.

[The frozen yogurt] is softer and it melts in your mouth, and there is more variety of flavor,” senior Erica Miller said.

“It’s delicious. It’s much more sweet [than regular ice cream] and it’s smooth,” agreed FlomStaab .

Frozen yogurt is a healthier alternative to ice cream. Yogurt has many minerals and protein that are essential for health. According to Shape magazine’s web site, www.shape.com, most frozen yogurts have little to no fat.

Fruit toppings also provide a lowcalorie burst of flavor.

“It’s a lot more nutritious and tastes just as good,” freshman Kevin Patterson said.

The Menchie’s Experience Going to Menchie’s is an experience like no other. The store has 12 flavor selections that vary day to day. The frozen yogurt is emitted from different dispensers, two flavors to each dispenser, with a mix of the two in the middle. Customers can mix and match flavors to their liking, by either using the twist feature on the machines or by loading their dish with multiple flavors. The vast topping bar is a highlight of the store: dry top-

pings, fresh toppings, and sauces line one wall of the store.

Baysoy enjoyed the endless variety of toppings. “You have to get the cookie dough, Reese’s, Golden Grahams, Kit Kats, marshmallows. You literally load it with toppings,” she said.

Unlike most ice cream shops, at Menchie’s, you pay by the weight of your frozen yogurt. The SPA students had high reviews for this technique. “I think it’s pretty reasonable,” said Flom-Staab.

Frequent customers can also gain smileage points by joining the “mysmileage club” online or in store. One dollar spent equals one smile, and earning 50 smiles earns you five dollars to redeem in the store.

“You get 25 smiles for saying that it’s your birthday online,” Miller said.

An Addicting Addition to the Highland Village It is hard to go to Menchie’s only once. “It’s just a block from my house so it’s very convenient,” Baysoy said.

Groups of SPA students and other teenagers are often seen hanging out at Menchie’s after school and on the weekend. Aside from the social aspect, Menchie’s is a great place to satisfy a sweet tooth.

They dabbled in lab work, historical research and book sales

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Teachers reveal stories about their first jobs and the experiences gained before becoming educators

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Staff Writer

In 1969, the New York Jets won the Superbowl against the Baltimore Colts, the Beatles released their “Yellow Submarine” album, and Upper School Math teacher George Leiter got his first job labeling and sorting blood and urine samples at a medical laboratory in Wichita, Kansas.

Leiter was sixteen when he got the job, a time when many students start looking for their first job as well. As students enter higher degrees of schooling and grow more independent, many of them find themselves turning to employment to earn spending money, jump start their career, or just as an activity.

Here is a step by step process to a first job from US teachers who’ve been there, done that.

Step 1. Finding a Job Start with what you are interested in. “I was kind of a sciencey kid,” Leiter said. “I thought the medical stuff was kind of cool.”

Upper School English teacher Andy Hueller found one of his first jobs at the Wild Rumpus bookstore. He was led there because of his love of books. “I liked the excitement of every kid who came into the store” he said.

Parents or friends working in an environment of inter-

The whole [lab] was a great learning environment…

People were really good about saying, ‘Hey, come check this out!’

“

Kaia Findlay

US Math teacher George Leiter est can be a great way to find a job. Leiter got his first job because his dad worked at the lab. “He hooked me up through his connections,” Leiter said.

Then again, there is always the good old-fashioned “Help Wanted” tactic. US History teacher Sushmita Hodges found her first job as a research historian in the classified section of an Indiana newspaper.

Step 2. Getting Hired Often, getting hired is easy as calling up and asking for a position, as it was for Hueller and the Wild Rumpus job.

Step 3. What You’ll Experience The People: “If you work with

Photo Credit: Kaia Findlay

Upper School Math teacher George Leiter didn’t originally start out teaching math, his first job was at a medical laboratory in Wichita, Kansas.

a bunch of people every day, you just get to know them very well,” Leiter said. “The people at the lab were nice people, and they were all a little bit crazy because it was people who all came to work at 5:30 in the morning.”

Hodges admired the director of the program she got to work with. “Working around someone who was in charge and had expertise in [history]…was illuminating for me” she said.

The Learning Opportunities: In the down time during the day, Leiter got to go watch the

other, older employees working. “I could just go watch the people work,” Leiter said. “The whole [laboratory] was a great learning environment…People were really good about saying, ‘Hey, come check this out!’”

The Unexpected: Hueller worked at an indoor golf and tennis facility for a few summers in high school. Two years later, he made a surprising discovery. “The guy I worked for turned out to be a murderer,” Hueller said. It turned out the man had been on the run from

the authorities for three years.

Hueller used to lock up with him every night at the end of the day.

Leiter also had a surprise when one day he was unloading boxes at the medical laboratory. “[I unpacked] a box and just [pulled] a human foot out,” Leiter said. “This guy just put a severed foot in a little box of plastic peanuts and mailed it to us.”

Most of all, “You’ll have stories later to tell and…a worthwhile experience,” Hueller said.

10 S c i e n c e & Te c h n o l o g y

St. Paul Academy and Summit School

December 2011. Vol XXXIX. Issue III.

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Potential Energy

Senior Ashlee Johnson prepares to throw a Nerf boomerang in the Lilly Courtyard.

Yo-yos are set in motion when one jerks up the string increasing the force of friction. The axel grabs on the string, causing it to spin.

All Photos Credit: Rebecca Xu

Slinkys

Slinkys function differently with varying lengths. When Upper School Science Teacher Steve Heilig revealed an extra long slinky, he said “for physics they’re great, but for actually playing with a slinky, it’s not as great.” Slinkys are bound together by several coils of metal.

If you set the first loop in the motion, the second soon follows the bath of the first loop. Since all of the loops are connected, pushing one also means pulling the one behind it. Newton’s third law of motion prevents the slinky from going wild and ensures a nice transition.

Once the slinky reaches the last loop, it has nothing to hold it back.

As it comes down, it pushes the tail of the slinky over, explaining why slinkys can travel down staircases. So if you want to race slinkys down steps, just find the right length of metal and give the toy a good push.

Physics will do the rest.

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Boomerangs

part of our lives. We’ve all played with yo-yos, boomerangs, and slinkys, whether it was when we tried to “walk the dog” with a yo-yo, pushed a slinky down the stairs, or scrambled to catch a boomerang as it came flying back. Although some of us no longer play with these childhood icons, the toys have not left our side. In the past, they were playtime objects. Now, they’re examples and applications of physics.

Sophomores (from left to right) Yusra Murad, Robert Bohjanen, Sam Lodge, and Ben Morris play with a slinky.

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Boomerangs return to the thrower because of the arched shape of the blades. Trajectory is impacted by the wind and the angle of the throw.

Ever since we were little, they’ve been a

Newton’s Third Law of Motion and allows a slinky to travel smoothly down the stairs in the Summit Center. The slinky acts like a row of dominos.

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Editor-in-Chief

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et i in

Rebecca Xu

TOYS K

od y n a

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Laws of physics hide in children’s

Inertia

Sophomore Charlie Rosenblum plays with his glow-in-the-dark trick yo-yo, attempting to learn some new tricks.

This wacky toy focuses on two principles of science: aerodynamics and gyroscopic precession.

Upper School Science teacher Steve Heilig demonstrated the physics behind a boomerang with a giant wheel. When one throw a boomerang, it spins away at first, and then spins back towards you.

Boomerang blades act like airplane wings. Following Newton’s third law of motion, air and wind apply equal and opposite magnitude of forces upon the boomerang blades. As it spins, the wind pushes the air in a direction, which results in the wind feeling a force from air.

“When it’s spinning, it’s moving straight. If you push it one way, it doesn’t stop spinning. Instead of moving straight forward, it’ll turn to the side if there’s a force to the side,” Dr. Heilig said. Since boomerangs rely on the forces of wind and air to work, Heilig recommends throwing boomerangs at an angle to get the best experience.

Yo-yos

“It’s inertia and friction,” Dr. Heilig said. To explain the mysteries behind a yo-yo, Dr. Heilig brings in a giant spool with a string attached to it. Since yo-yos are waxed pretty well, they spin when you set it in motion. Yo-yos slow down at a very gradual pace, which creates the illusion that they never stop spinning. A force exists between the contact of the string and axel. If one wants to set this toy in motion, one jerks it to pull it up and increase the normal force, or force of contact. This increases the force of friction, which causes the axel to grab the string instead of letting it slide. Due to the yo-yo’s inertia, the yo-yo wants to keep spinning once it grabs onto the string. In this process, the yo-yo also gains potential energy and looses kinetic energy. When one spins the yo-yo extra hard, it goes down so fast that it makes an extra hard contact and recoils right away.

The what, why and how of lead poisoning in kids’ toys Andy Monserud

r

News Editor

Over winter break, many students will exchange gifts with friends or family for holidays such as Christmas or Hanukkah.

But gift-givers should always be on the lookout for dangerous toys—particularly those with excessive lead, a recurring problem that has been sensationalized by a steady flow of recalls.

In recent years, more and more toys are being recalled for lead contents exceeding legal limitations. Lead, a heavy metal used most commonly in paint, can cause dizziness and vomiting in the short term and potentially neurological damage or kidney

damage in the long term. There’s a little bit of irony in lead exposure from paint: lead is used in paint in the first place to prevent fungi from embedding themselves in coats of paint. “Lead’s good at preventing that because it’s toxic,” says US Chemistry teacher Beth Seibel-Hunt.

Lead’s presence in toys is especially worrying because lead poisoning is much more severe in the developing bodies of children than in adults. Flaking paint is often ingested by children, either unknowingly from the atmosphere or due to young children’s tendencies to put almost anything in their mouths.

Recently, many people have begun removing lead paint from their homes, often with the help of government-supported lead re-

moval programs.

In addition to paint, lead is often used for toy jewelry and similar products because of its malleability.

Fortunately, lead poisoning, once recognized, is fairly easy to treat. “If you have lead in your body, we can get it out,” SeibelHunt said. Physicians use a chelating agent such as dimercaptosuccinic acid to remove lead. The agent binds to heavy metals from outside the patient’s cells, attaches to them and forms a chemical that can then be excreted without causing damage to the patient’s tissue. “One of the keys for these particular compounds is that if the doctor prescribes too much, you’re probably okay,” SeibelHunt said.

By the Numbers

micrograms of 6is the age under which 10 lead per deciliter of blood children are most at risk of lead poisoning

is the level which public health actions are initiated

15,000 toys

total have been recalled by the U.S Consumer Product Safety Commission

3children under 6

years old had blood levels greater than 70 µg/ dL in 2008 in MN

250,000 children under 6 in the

U.S have blood lead levels higher than 10 µg/dL

7.4IQ points decline in

children aged 5 when blood lead levels increase 1-10 µg/dL

100ppm is the maximum amount of lead a toy can contain

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

M u s i c S c e n e 11 December 2011. Vol XXXIX. Issue III.

St. Paul Academy and Summit School

Murray shares Reflections on the rock life Junior to join national tour with metal band this April Ellie Fuelling

Set list: Cam Murray

Feature Editor

This coming fall Junior Cam Murray will be touring around the country, playing death metal to a crowd of screaming fans, and living the rock star life.

It may be hard to believe that Murray, a talkative, unsuspecting new kid at school, is a member of a hard-core death metal band.

However, when you talk to him about his passion, drumming, it is clear he is destined for fame.

The band, Reflections, will be going on two national tours this year, and an upper-Midwest tour in April.

Murray’s interest in drumming began when he discovered Guitar Hero. “Once I stopped paying attention to the notes the first thing my eyes went to was the drummer sitting in the back,” Murray said, “I thought that anyone who could dress like that and get away with it was instantly awesome.” He first joined the band Silent Weekend and then moved on to Dethrone the Pacifist, both of which had a death-metal quality.

Murray believes drums are an underrated instrument. “When people think of drums, the first thing they think of is the instrument that everyone can play or the instrument that doesn’t require any musical talent.” According to Murray, it’s the exact opposite; “It’s one of the more challenging instruments.” The challenge is being able to adapt to multiple styles. There is no single genre associated with drums “because every genre of drums pulls from every style so for that reason

This month, instead of a playlist, we’ve got a set list: a couple songs that Cameron Murray might play live.

1. “Picture Perfect”- An original that threatens to be their trademark.

2. “Take on Me”- This enjoyable cover of the ‘80s band a-ha can be found fully metal-ized online.

3. “Advance Upon Me Brethren”- A slow, heavy tune you may have heard Reflections play in concert.

Photo submitted by Cameron Murray

Junior Cameron Murray (above) jams with metal band Reflections (right). Murray’s interest in drumming developed from images of drummers in Guitar Hero. “I thought that anyone who could dress like that and get away with it was instantly awesome,” Murray said.

it’s universal,” Murray said.

Murray auditioned through Facebook. From the very beginning, Murray and his band members were very close. “I felt more of a connection in the first two hours of rehearsal with these guys than I had developed for months with [previous band] Dethrone the Pacifist,” Murray said. The band consists of Jacob Wolf on vocals, Patrick Somoulay on guitar and Francis Xanyana on bass.

He quickly discovered that the band’s music is not for the faint of heart. “It’s really technical,” Murray said, “With a harmonic feel, but darker.” Rehearsals are filled with running through the set and working on stage presence.

Murray’s favorite song they are playing now is “Picture Perfect”, which he described as “technically aggressive.”

He is currently balancing schoolwork and rehearsals. Atop both, he participated in the fall play. He describes his life as busy, but “it’s a good kind of busy. You know you always have something to do, and 90% of what you’re doing is what you love to do.” The nation-wide tours will most likely interfere with school, but Murray is confident that he can still get the education he needs.

Murray enjoys using his cre-

“new Christmas classic” that uses the word “shawty”. While I’m sure swarms of girls are extremely jealous of the actress who kisses Bieber at the end of the video, Bieber also shows his creepy side. He somehow sneaks into the girl’s room to hide a dress (no further explanation needed).

Also, he continually flirts with this other girl in the video, but it’s okay, because at the end she’s dancing with another boy…while still touching Bieber’s shoulder?

While Bieber’s classic covers are pretty nice to listen to, I feel like pressing stop when he wants to change things up. For example, in “Drummer Boy”, Bieber raps.

He should not rap, ever. “I’m surprised you didn’t hear this in the Bible / I’m so tight you might go psycho” are not exactly the lyrics I want to hear in a Christmas classic. In his song “Christmas Eve” he says that it “sorta feels like it’s Valentine’s”. At least I know he wrote the lyrics himself.

One bright spot is his collaborations, specifically with Usher in “Chestnuts” and Mariah Carey in “All I Want for Christmas is You”, because Usher and Carey

both have the classic, beautiful voices that pair perfectly with Christmas tunes.

Michael Bublé’s “Christmas”, on the other hand, is beautiful the whole way through. It is exactly what I want Christmas music to sound like: a deep, pitch-perfect voice sweetly singing all the classic songs I listen to every single Christmas season. His voice is like a blanket of snow covering a rooftop, or a fire crackling in the fireplace, or the comfort of being surrounded by people you love. In essence, almost exactly the opposite of Bieber’s.

In an interview posted on YouTube, Bublé mentioned that he wanted the album to sound “oldschool” and “Disney”. And he truly does create the perfect combination of the two, with the oldschool sound he has always had mixed with his Disney-ballad, love-oriented style. He continues on to say, “I want to hear what my family had playing in the house,” which is exactly what I want during the holidays. Classic Christmas music can instantly transport you to a world of endless holiday

4. “Ms. Communication”- An especially torturous number that plays with colliding guitar noise.

Photo submitted by Cameron Murray

ativity to write a song. “When there is a crowd of people that reacts to [your lyrics] and enjoys them, and will come to you and express those feelings, that is absolutely the greatest feeling ever.” With Murray’s acceptance into Reflections, his career as a drummer has reached the next level. “It’s at the point where people know you and people in public will just recognize you. As for the next step, I want to take it to a really well-known scale,” Murray said.

5. “Good Push”- A more complex tune that shows the talent of the band’s guitarists.

Compiled by Noah Shavit-Lonstein Created at qrcode.kayla.com

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Scan this QR code with a smartphone to access Reflections’ YouTube channel.

Naughty, nice Christmas music hit holiday market Rachel Kinney

Editor rOnlineManaging Editor-in-Chief

Thanksgiving is over, and now some Americans finally feel free to begin celeAlbum Review brating Christmas.

Trees are bought, decorations are put up, music is played. Fortunately, Christmas CDs started coming out even before Thanksgiving.

This year, two are battling it out on the charts and in reviews.

“Under the Mistletoe” by Justin Bieber came out Nov. 1, to the delight of preteen girls everywhere. It’s sugary-sweet and perfect for little kids, but doesn’t make the cut for a future Christmas classic. Christmas music has always been sung in crooning, low-pitched voices akin to that of Frank Sinatra.

Bieber’s single, “Mistletoe”, came out in October as a music video. It’s a semi-sweet song, but I can’t get behind any supposed

Illustration credit: Alicia Little

Justin Bieber and Michael Bublé both released Christmas albums in the fall. While Bieber’s style of Christmas music confuses many, Bublé creates the perfect, melodic mix.

spirit with falling snow, cookies, presents, and family, and Bublé’s vocalization does just that.

Despite Bieber’s failure, he could one day mature to Bublé’s style. They are both sweet, have

women (or girls) falling at their feet, and are good-looking. However, until Bieber learns what is okay in Christmas music and what is not, I’ll be playing Bublé on loop.

Front Cover Design: Dani Andrusko Back Cover Design: Rebecca Xu

Come together

Saif Ahmed

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for Pops Concert 2011

Staff Writer

It’s the Beatles like you’ve never heard them before. Fused together into the perfect finale for the Upper School Pops Concert 2011 are their songs, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”, “Michelle” and “Lady Madonna”.

With the idea of the orchestra, choir, and band all coming together to perform a Beatles medley, a lightbulb lit up in junior Rachel Ketz’s head. She instantly knew what to design for this years’ Pops Concert t-shirt. “I wanted to find a way to bring all of the sections together,” Ketz said. Ketz designed the t-shirt with the Beatle’s iconic Abbey Road crossing. Each member holds a different insturment, representing the distinct music groups.

In the midst of a snow fury, this year’s Pops Concert featured performances by the Senior Strings, Orchestra, Blue Jazz Ensemble, Gold Jazz Ensemble, Summit Singers, Summit Chamber Group, Academy Chorale, and Academy Chamber Group at St. Catherine’s O’Shaugnessy Auditorium on Sat., Dec. 3.

Senior Alto Saxophonist and Gold Jazz band member Andrew Merriam expressed great enthusiasm towards the performance. “This year’s Pops Concert has been the best Pops Concert that I’ve had the pleasure of being in,” Merriam said.

Junior violinist Jeremy Tong enjoyed

performing on stage as opposed to only being an audience member. “I have to admit, this year, everyone sounds a lot better,” Tong said.

The crowd cheered when the orchestra strung to the Pixar Medley, when the blue jazz band jammed to “The Final Countdown,” originally performed by the Swedish band Europe, and when the choir belted to “Rolling in the Deep”, “Someone Like You”, and “Turning Tables”, originally sung by English artist Adele.

“We’ve had never a medley that was so up to date. Adele was something different

that we mashed together” senior Soprano II singer Sydney Carlson said.

Junior Alto Saxophonist James Hargens really appreciated the participation from the audience. “At first, my solo didn’t sound like it went well with the audience, but when I heard the reaction, I was pleased,” Hargens said.

When the musicans return from a long deserved winter break, they will delve right into early-morning, enduring rehersals to prepare for their concerts in the spring.

Featuring

Summit Singers Adele Medley Happy Days You Can’t Always Get What You Want Summit Chamber Singers One Voice Academy Chorale Adele Medley Sing You Can’t Always Get What You Want Academy Chorale Chamber Hey, Soul Sister Upper School Orchestra Lion King Thriller Pixar Medley Senior Strings Jacob’s Theme Song Beach Boys Queen Blue Jazz Ensemble Baby, It’s Cold Outside Yesterday I Heard It Through the Grapevine Final Countdown

All Photos Credit: Saif Ahmed

The Upper School band, choir, and orchestra “come together” to perform a Beatles medley for the Pops Concert on Sat., Dec. 3. “This year’s Pops Concert has been the best Pops Concert that I’ve had the pleasure of being in,” Merriam said.

Gold Jazz Ensemble Brick House Blues Brothers Birldland

Senior Boys Choir

Masters of Ceremonies

Upper School Orchestra

From Adele to the Bealtes, and back around to the Blues Brothers, students across all grades perform at O’Shaugnessy Auditorium in the biggest performing arts event of the year.

The show was hosted by seniors Malika Dale and Dylan Perese, who modeled this year’s t-shirts. “I wanted to find a way to bring all of the sections together,” Ketz said. Ketz designed the t-shirt with the Beatle’s iconic Abbey Road crossing, where each member holds a different instrument, representing the all of the orchestra, choir and band sections.

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