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Volume 15, Issue 5 www.facebook.com/sagehillschool
Sahale Greenwood Fostering faculty-student connections. President Gordon McNeill talks with students in Town Square which is what he hopes to do more of in his new position. By having a greater connection with students he can better realize the first priority of the strategic plan to “dynamically enhance the student experience,” he said.
Keep Your Eyes and Ears Open By Hawken Miller editor-in-chief
Gordon McNeill, former professional basketball player in Australia and history teacher at Corona del Mar High, is determined to continue the strong and strategic growth of Sage Hill School following his selection as president for the 2014-15 school year. This selection has already prompted change within the administration as Patricia Merz stepped up to fill the void that McNeill left at the head of school position. They still work closely together. “I have a close partnership with Ms. Merz,” McNeill said. “We collaborate on everything.” McNeill’s new role as president takes on a lot of responsibility. “I primarily advance the mission of the school,” McNeill explained. His new role carries a newfound weight for the future of the school. “My goal is to fully execute the strategic plan, which outlines the goals of Sage Hill from 2014 to 2018.” There are five priorities for the next four years according to the strategic plan: “1) dynamically enhance the student experience, 2) fully realize our commitment to diversity, inclu-
sivity, equity and justice, 3) foster an environment where great educators come to thrive, 4) strengthen the dialogue around our mission, values, program and expectations and 5) to actualize our vision by completing the campus Master Plan, expanding the endowment and building Sage Hill’s national reputation.” Part of the success of McNeill and Sage Hill lies in the increased connection among alumni. Just this year he has already traveled to schools in Chicago, Boston, New York and San Francisco bringing past, present and future students together in order to better build Sage Hill’s national reputation, he said. “I see myself as the ambassador to Sage Hill,” McNeill said. “I want to visit colleges to offer up what our students are like, and connect with alumni to see how I can best support them as they launch out into the world.” Many of these alumni have started their own families and businesses. Raj Sidhu ‘09 has created his own coding board game, Peter Frankuchen ‘09 and Peter Bishop ‘07 have started a sustainable gardening program called Aquaponics and Paolo Leon ‘04 is on the Board of Trustees. “I am constantly helping with making connections, finding internships and connecting alumni to potential employers,” McNeill said. The future is open to numerous
possibilities and ideas in order to foster future educators and students, and it is McNeill’s job to make sure that they are realized. An innovation space known colloquially as “The Space” by administrators and faculty, six tennis courts and a new pool with locker rooms are all on the future agenda. The new innovation space is the focus of future learning at Sage Hill. “During the in-service faculty session on Monday, Jan. 5 we discussed our innovation space as a faculty and staff,” McNeill recounted. “It will be a place to get your hands dirty as a student. When you actually do the hands on work yourself, learning tends to goes through the roof.” And McNeill turns these dreams into reality by spearheading fundraising from donors and garnering community support. “We have approved the Master Plan and now we want to build it out while at the same time increasing the amount of financial aid for students,” said McNeill. One might wonder where the money comes from in order to pursue these enormous endeavors. It comes from one of two places: the annual fund, which supports annual operating costs, and the endowment fund, which supports future financial aid. The true cost of attending Sage is actually more than the tuition charged. “The tuition only covers 93 percent of the actual cost of educa-
tion,” McNeill said. “That is why the annual fund is so important.” The fund covers that remaining 7 percent and is capped at $1 million annually. “The endowment, on the other hand, is a pool of money that the school raises to fund specific projects,” McNeill explained. “The goal is to never touch the principle and to then take a 4 percent draw off of the targeted 7 percent of growth in order to support programs like financial aid. Right now we are have a $13 million endowment and our goal is to raise an additional $10 million, primarily for financial aid.” That’s a lot of money. But McNeill is confident that it is being used in the best way. “In order for Sage Hill to remain one of the best independent schools in the nation, we will need to continue to offer extraordinary programs and we will need to draw in extraordinary students,” said McNeill. Already McNeill has been asked to fill a large void, but has been largely successful so far, raising $50,000 to help digitize curriculum and entering into the early stages of fundraising for the tennis, aquatic and innovation facilities. Hopefully McNeill follows his own advice to outgoing seniors with the future of Sage Hill resting on his shoulders: “Keep your eyes and ears open. You never know what might be around the corner.”
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OPINION/EDITORIAL staff editorial
The Clock Strikes Eight How We Start the School Day
It’s 6 a.m. and the sound of alarm clocks ringing can be heard as teens everywhere struggle to leave the comfort of their warm bed for school. Snooze buttons are pushed as parents are greeted with the all too familiar groans of “just 5 more minutes.” For 40 percent of high schools in America, with the average school day beginning earlier than 8 a.m., this situation has become an unavoidable reality. According to a recent statement by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), it is highly encouraged that schools begin around 8:30 a.m. at the earliest. This would produce a large amount of advantages for students, among these being reduced sleep deprivation, fewer car crashes, increased attendance, better grades and a smaller likelihood of teens developing obesity or depression. Some people may think that the solution to sleep deprivation in adolescents is a simple matter of making sure to get to bed at a reasonable time. However, studies show that this is not as easily done as it is said. In agreement with AAP, studies indicate that a teen’s body chemistry makes sleeping prior to 11 p.m. more challenging. This is due to a change of sleeping patterns around puberty. The later production
of melatonin, a hormone that stimulates sleep, in the brain alters the time which students are accustomed to waking up and sleeping by about two hours. This makes both going to bed and waking up early more difficult for teens than adults. Postponing the time at which schools commence would substantially improve the focus of students in class. For most
start later would help them become more alert and attentive during the school day. Consequently, this would make absorbing knowledge and understanding lessons easier. AAP has also stated that teenagers should receive between 8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep on average. Unfortunately, according to the results of a National Sleep Foundation poll, this is not the case for 87 per-
teenagers today, trying to concentrate early in the morning presents a serious challenge, and most are not functioning to their fullest capabilities. “Sometimes, especially in the morning, I have trouble staying awake,” sophomore Krystal Gallegos said. Allowing students to get more sleep by having school
cent of high school students. This lack of sleep has been identified by AAP as an official problem, suggesting as an alternative that high schools adjust their starting times in accordance with the health and best interests of their students. “Studies have shown that delaying early school start times is one key factor that can help
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adolescents get the sleep they need to grow and learn,” pediatrician Judith Owens said. Aside from delaying start times, another potential solution could be reducing the amount of homework given to students. Although it’s good to use homework as a way of enhancing education, teachers should keep students’ tight schedules and activities in mind. “Often, stress from my classes or assignments like projects cause me to lose sleep,” Gallegos said. “Sometimes, if the workload is especially heavy, I’ll go a little over midnight to finish it.” Nonetheless, there is just as much fault from students. Sleep deprivation can be easily resolved with student efforts as well. Making sure to not take on more than one can handle and procrastinating less could help with these issues as well. “One of the issues is that kids are overscheduled,” Owens said. All in all, sleep deprivation prevails among teens today. While there are many influences that contribute to this lack of sleep, studies have proven that having school begin later can be significantly rewarding for some high school students. If students are expected to do well, more should be done by schools to guarantee their wellbeing. And what better way to start than ensuring sure they get more sleep?
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publications staff Academics Editor: Claire Goul Alumni Editor: Hannah Hong Executive Editors: Namita Prakash, Kristin Saroyan, Amanda Ong, Arts Editor: Tess Hezlep Lifestyle Editor: Bailey Super Stephanie Min Opinion Editor: Ingrid Dickinson Senior Editors: Liz Farkas, Selin Karaoguz Associate Editors: Claire Dwyer, Celine Wang, Jackie Nam Sports Editors: Maddy Abbot, Brittany Murphy Underclass Editor: Lauren Fishman Social Media Coordinator: Tommy Lee Reporters: Elizabeth Alvarez, Liam Murphy, Claire Lin,Vale Lewis, Eliana RodriguezTheologides, Julia Dupuis, Marina Anderson, Christina Acevedo, Steven Du, Donna Afrasiabi, Farooq Ansari, Jo Farkas, Catharine Malzahn, Ava LeWinter Graphic Artists: Lynn Fong, Chance Kuehnel Photographers: Kandis McGee, Genesis Gonzalez, Kate Kim, Sahale Greenwood, Chloe Henson, Maddy Nadelman, Sahar Emtiaz Photo Editor: Kellen Ochi
EICs: Nellie Hamadani, Hawken Miller, Michelle Min
Video Editor: Amelia Tanner
Adviser: Konnie Krislock
OPINION
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The Charlie Hebdo Crisis Passion Played Out by Two Sides
The New York Times
Unity for liberty. Thousands of people rally together in France and hold up Charlie Hebdo editor Stéphane Charbonnier’s ‘eyes’ to remember those who died in the massacre and support the freedom of speech.
By Celine Wang Executive Editor
P
assion. It is honestly what motivates us to step out of
comfort zones. Without this explosive zest that lights up the world, life becomes meaningless. In the Charlie Hebdo attack on Jan. 7, both sides were acting on passion’s influence. The intrepid journalists and cartoonists continued to be fervent in expressing their satirical perspective on religions through their magazines, while the Islamic extremists were determined to suppress all things that they deemed as “insults” to Muhammad by any means possible, which happened to include massacring 12 people from Charlie Hebdo. Charlie Hebdo, has always been known as that idiosyncratic French magazine that always seemed to offend someone, if not everyone at some point. Each issue has something different to offer—and each one shows the magazine’s raw and unflinching stance on issues like religion (including Islam, Christianity and plenty others).
The cartoons that mocked Muhammad particularly insulted jihadists involved in the Al-Qaeda terrorist organization, and they decided to uphold Muhammad’s name by sauntering in the magazine’s headquarters with pulsing guns and kill people. Two of the suspects of this attack, brothers Chérif and Saïd Kouachi, had long been part of many Islamic extremist organizations. According to BBC News, the brothers have been involved in the Buttes-Chaumont network in northern Paris. This circle recruited jihadists from France to be sent to Iraq during 2003 to fight against US troops. In 2005, Farid Benyettou mentored them, and his influence radicalized their jihadist passion. In addition, the French police has arrested them in the past for militant Islamic activities. As the French police caught up with the trail left behind by these suspects, they were caught in a shootout with the Kouachi brothers. The brothers were holding a man, Michel Catalano, hostage in his office in Dammartin-en-Goële, France. As police surrounded the premise, the they eventually killed the brothers during the standoff.
The murderers were caught on tape immediately after their killing spree, and according to the New York Daily News, they were triumphantly shouting, “We have avenged the Prophet Muhammad.” This event had brought the world to wonder what sort of monsters would do this sort of thing. In truth, the Kouachi brothers were humans, just like you me. Neighbors had even described Cherif as friendly and helpful, according to BBC News. So if they aren’t heartless robots or abnormal monsters, what possibly drove them to this madness? The answer is passion, a human quality that everyone has inside of them. The brothers died knowing that they were martyrs of the jihadist movement. They believed that they had avenged Muhammad by mass murdering cartoonists. This kind of passion, however, is weak. Yes, it leads to massacres, yes, it leads to wars, and yes, it leads to torture and so many other accounts of horrific violence; but it is a symbol of vulnerability. The extremist Islamic jihad movement is weak because people who have to resort to bombings and mas-
sacres and other news-breaking forms of violence explicitly demonstrate that their belief is desperate for attention. The passion that people should strive to hold within themselves is the one that fills Charlie Hebdo’s headquarters. They may be outlandishly rude or offensive, but no matter what they did, they expressed this passion through one of their inalienable rights: freedom of speech. The Charlie Hebdo massacre did not suppress the magazine’s cartoons and opinionated stance. The journalists are now even more willing to express their ideas because they are unwilling to succumb to the threats of terrorist organizations. Terrorists can take lives, but they cannot take away the power of freedom of speech. Passion is something everyone should have; its vigor and strength gives definition to each every person’s life. In order to make this a powerful and effective force, it must remain in the spectrum of respecting others’ inalienable rights and allowing each voice to be heard.
LIFESTYLE
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Humans of Sage Hill Chris O’Brien By Claire Dwyer associate editor
Have you ever watched a movie and felt your life become suspended, your heart pounding along with the hearts of the characters, your mind consumed within a story? It is similar to the feeling you might get when reading a really great book, or performing, or when you’re out on the soccer field and you’re suspended between the moment when you score the winning goal and when your team rushes out to congratulate you. It is the silence of creation, of power. Junior Chris O’Brien knows this silence well. He has loved movies ever since he can remember and spent 6 weeks last
summer at Interlochen camp for the arts, studying film-making and meeting some of the best friends of his life. “I love films because films are pieces of art. A good film can serve as a unique experience for a viewer (like myself). Also, you can learn a lot about life from watching movies. Films are the ultimate escape from reality for me.” O’Brien said. And that reality is one most high school students couldn’t even imagine, since O’Brien has been deaf since birth. In order to maintain partial normal hearing, O’Brien wears surgically implanted hearing aids. “My experience at Sage as a deaf person has been challenging, both academically and socially. Teachers do help me by posting notes on canvas or putting visuals on the board in class. My classmates also help me by letting me copy their notes…I got surgery recently to replace the internal magnet
inside the area of my right ear…The hearing on my right will eventually catch up and soon it will be better than ever.” O’Brien said. However, it is his love for films and not his disability that defines him. “I don’t really have a number one favorite movie, but some of my top favorites are Pulp Fiction, Do the Right Thing, La Haine, Trainspotting, and Annie Hall…Future careers I’m thinking about are: screenwriter, film critic,
Jade Blevins
director, artist, and movie poster artist.” O’Brien said. As a member of SAME at Sage, O’Brien is a clear role-model for younger students who might be afraid since they’re different. He acknowledges that he is different, does not complain about it, and deals with it maturely and responsibly, all the while pursuing his dream of creating the next Walter White or becoming the next Alfred Hitchcock.
By Marina Anderson staff writer
Sheridan Rhee By Celine Wang executive editor
Even after devoting hours to equestrian competitions and schoolwork, junior Sheridan Rhee still finds time to explore her creative side through art and fashion. Sheridan brings originality to every project she tackles and has a spark that captivates others. She was first noticed for this talent during her freshman year, when she used cake fondant to build Greek columns for her National History Day project, an innovative approach inspired by her love of cooking. “When creating a project, I put no restrictions on my artistic expression and do whatever I feel,” she explained. Sheridan also expresses her personality through her style, which she calls “preppy and simple, but chic at the same time.” Wearing bohemian sandals, blush cigarette jeans and a lacy cream blouse, she certainly symbolized young sophistication. Her quiet and sweet charisma is expressed through her meticulous choice of hues, which often fall in the delicate, pastel range. For Sheridan, clothes are another form of art, a way to show people exactly who she is without uttering a single word.
“She’s a freshman!” If you’ve been to at least one girls’ varsity volleyball game this year, then you’ve probably heard the crowd wildly chant that mantra every time Jade Blevins made a kill against an opposing team. Volleyball runs in the family for Blevins, and it’s been in her life since she was born. “My mom and my sister play volleyball,” says Blevins. “It’s the main sport in our family. I’ve been in the gym since I was little because my mom has always been a coach.” Blevins says she chose to attend Sage “because [she] loves the environ-
ment. All the students are supportive and accepting of everyone”. She also loves how Sage Hill students and faculty loyally support the girls’ volleyball team at every game. “The games are so much fun and the crowd is crazy. It’s awesome!” Blevins proved to be a valuable asset to the girls’ team this year. Although she was a newcomer to both Sage Hill and the team, Blevins quickly grew close to her teammates who supported her as she became accustomed to the school. “We are all so close to each other… we are definitely a family in that sense,” Blevins says. “I remember how
nervous I was when I came in at the beginning of this year. The team was so accepting and encouraging. [They] immediately made me feel welcome.” She credits seniors Maddy Abbott, Halland McKenna, Ingrid Dickinson and Kekai Whitford as her role models throughout the season. For Blevins, they led by example and showed her the true meaning of being on a team. “No matter what was going on in their lives, they always put the team first. They set the standard for the rest of us, while still keeping [the volleyball season] fun and lighthearted. The seniors this year have paved the way for a great future.”
LIFESTYLE
Chance Kuehnel
Standing over the crowd at 6 feet 3 inches tall while sporting a dreadlock ponytail, Chance Kuehnel is hard to miss. One can see him showing off his vertical size by “parkouring” around campus or dunking basketball hoops in the Ube. His athletic skills have been put to
good use. Kuehnel plays for the boys’ varsity basketball team during the winter, starting at the center position. He recently played a big game against St. Margaret’s Episcopal School, scoring 16 points and getting 17 rebounds. “The basketball team is doing really well,” Kuehnel said.
5 By Steven Du section editor
“I think I’m improving and learning new things. We’ve got big goals and high expectations this year.” Kuehnel is also on the track and field team. He set the record for the fastest time for the 110-meter hurdles at Sage. Besides playing sports, Kuehnel is also a man of many hipster interests.
Robert Leigh and Jake Laven
He is a film enthusiast, LEGO collector, costume creator and even a self-proclaimed “world-renowned turtle racer.” “You just gotta do what you gotta do,” Kuehnel said. “Everyone else is doing normal things. I just want to be out of the box.”
By Jo Farkas staff writer
For almost two years, best friends Robert Leigh and Jake Laven have been accepting the popular saying ‘hardcore parkour’ as a challenge. Similar to gymnastics, parkour is an athletic hobby that consists of quickly running through an area ignoring obstacles by running, jumping or flipping. Laven’s lifelong love for comics and YouTube videos of professionals flipping off of buildings were what gave him the inspiration to become a real life Spiderman himself. After a few days of working in the gym, Leigh joined Laven and instantly fell in love with the idea. The two of them train at the Firestorm Gym in Santa Ana about three times a week. “It’s more fun than anything; it doesn’t feel like training if you are having a good time doing it,” Leigh explained. They demonstrated parkour examples, with Leigh holding a handstand and Laven showing off his standing back tuck. The boys support each other through every practice. “We do this thing where if I’m too scared of a move I’ll make Robert do it first and it’ll make me feel better,” Laven said. “He has been with me from the beginning and has definitely added to my training.” Leigh’s favorite move is called Laché, which consists of swinging from one bar to the next continuously. On the other hand, Laven also has a love for all kinds of flips. “I like incorporating them into technical runs with more parkour-based movements,” Laven said. Neither of the parkour athletes have plans to go professionally with the sport, but rather use it as a way to be with friends, get into shape and use it as a lifelong skill.
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ARTS
‘Fearless’ Voices
Taylor Swift Speaks out Against the ‘Free’ Music Industry as an Ambitious Business Woman By Claire Dwyer Associate Editor
When people think about pop stars, they don’t normally consider them as intelligent business people. We look to the corporate world for that—the aging men (and some women) in business suits at the head of large corporations. We look to numbers and banking and books for politics, business—and law and pop culture icons for lascivious drama, for stories of affairs and for the bright pop music we listen to on our commute home. The average consumer doesn’t consider the difficulty the average performer faces in promoting themselves. To be successful, especially in pop music, artists must be smart about arranging a business empire around them. As much as it seems like Ke$ha is a not-too-bright party-crazy pop star, she had a nearly perfect score on her SATs and an IQ of more than 140, classifying her as a near genius (true story!). So pop stars aren’t the pawns of the industry they seem to be. The business guile of pop stars has become apparent recently with Taylor Swift’s fight against the infringement on intellectual property and the lack of payment for artists in today’s pop culture. There are three main parts of the intellectual property law meant to protect artists’ rights to payment for their work and to protect their successful ideas from infringement. The patent law, which applies mostly to inventions, is a piece of pa-
‘We are the heartbeat of the movement and the industry, and we are a large part of the problem’ per issued by the U.S. government to an inventor that excludes others from the production of the invention for 20 years. The trademark law applies to the protection of the logos and symbols used by corporations in business. The copyright law applies to pop stars and other musicians and protects their rights to the distribution, use and display of their work and endures for the life of the artist plus 50 years.
But unfortunately, with the constant use of online music services such as Youtube that allow consumers to access music for free, artists do not often get the payment that they deserve for their work. So Swift, currently the best-selling pop artist in the music market, is rebelling. Swift refused to put her latest album “1989” on the free music streaming part of Spotify, arguing that it inadequately compensates her labor and the labor of other musicians. And for a singer whose net worth is already $200 million, this fight definitely indicates a business-minded performer who is looking out for her own financial success. One could look critically at Swift’s refusal to release the album so people could listen for free and view her as a shrewd businesswoman hording her wealth. However, such a view would fail to recognize the power of Swifts’ pronouncement. Less visible, more alternative artists also suffer at the hands of the industry, and they need a highprofile artist such as Taylor Swift to protect them and their rights. Even popstars can use their fame and wealth for good, it turns out. As you might imagine, this crisis in the pop industry has affected many members of our student body, since young people are the major reason why pop music has attained such success. We are the heartbeat of the movement and the industry, and we are a large part of the problem in using illegal music downloads but have the potential to also become the solution. Sage students have contrasting perspectives on music copyright law. “Free music from online servers seems very suspicious to me. Not only do I believe that downloading free music is extremely unfair to artists, it is also very easily set up as a trap for gullible downloaders to suddenly have malware on their devices as a result from visiting that website,” junior Hannah Peck said. However, some students are reluctant to relinquish the privileges free music has to offer and see the benefit it may hold for artists. “I think free music is fair to artists because it advertises their music so that more people purchase it to listen whenever they’d like,” junior Shelby Rindenau said. So, in truth, it is up to the consumer to decide what is the fair and just interpretation of the law because the internet is expansive and individual users are hidden.
Photo Courtesy of TREE PAINE
Screaming in Color. Taylor Swift markets herself with polaroid photos in her new album, 1989, with pieces of song lyrics as titles. She is unapologetic and confident with her fresh start as an artist and feminist in 2015, making bold statements in all areas.
SPORTS
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Strong Start to the Season High Hopes for Boys’ Varsity Basketball By Liam Murphy staff writer
Kellen Ochi
Taking it to the house. Junior Griffin Vrabeck drives to the rim in a dominating 64-34 victory over Tarbut V’Torah on Dec. 4. The team had a similar blow-out win in a league game against Calvary Chapel Downey on Jan 13.
The varsity boys’ basketball team has gotten off to a strong start this season, with an 12-5 overall record, and a 3-2 record in league games. Their highlights include a 70-37 win over Avalon High School on Nov. 29, a 64-34 triumph over Tarbut V’Torah on Dec. 4 and a 71-33 victory over Calvary Chapel on Jan. 13. The team is building off a solid campaign from last year when they went 15-10 overall before losing 63-44 in the CIF Southern Section playoffs. This year’s team has seven seniors, Aryan Assar, Chance Brooks, Zachary Drobenko, Tyler Hague, CJ McCord, Mario Nark and Krishan Tarsadia, on its roster, and head coach Jeff Beeler is confident that they can build off last year’s strong run. “We will be successful if we play up to our abilities and for each other. We will go to the playoffs again this year for the third straight year. Our hope is that we will host a home game this year, something we haven’t done since 2010-2011,” Beeler said.
“However, if we have to play on the moon, I’m confident that the team will be ready.” Junior Chance Kuehnel is also confident that the team will continue to improve and grow stronger. “I think that all the departing seniors will create lots of new opportunities. The juniors now [himself, Alfonso Corona, Kurt Krueger and Griffin Vrabeck] will have a chance to step into a leadership role,” Kuehnel said. “We have a lot of really talented guys waiting in the wings [on junior varsity] that I’m confident will be able to step in and fill those voids.” “It will change the dynamic significantly, but I wouldn’t say in a negative way,” Beeler added. “We have plenty of underclassmen including a great group of sophomores [Gregory Park and Dominic Sadeghi on varsity, plus 10 more on junior varsity] that I’m excited to coach up and get the most out of. Kids graduate and teams change every year. That’s the fun part of coaching, building new relationships and developing new athletes and leaders.”
Other Sports Action Photo essay by Dave Siegmund
In winter sports. Juniors Claire Novotony and Janis Jin lead girls’ varsity soccer to a perfect 4-0 league record, 7-3-1 overall (top left). The boys’ varsity soccer team takes a huddle during a pregame warmup; they are 4-7 overall and are undefeated in league as well (above). Sophomore Julia Dupuis sinks a jumper during a girls’ varsity basketball game (right). Dupuis was also named girl’s athlete of the week during Town Meeting.
BACKPAGE
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Spending More Time With the Family For most people my age this translates to getting into a relationship or at least getting a date. It’s a more common New Year’s Resolution than most people will admit. This is one, however, that you can’t always voluntarily follow through with. You can pursue it (most people will spend all year at least attempting to), but you can’t exactly force people to date you. This resolution is usually achieved through luck, circumstances and maybe a little extra push.
This cute little resolution becomes more important as we near the end of high school. Students start to realize that they only have so long left at home with their families. It’s a hard one to follow through with, considering you also only have little time left with your friends, but I believe this is one most people will get around to eventually. It’s something I hear discussed quite often among senior classmates, and I really hope it’s not just talk. Everyone could use a little more family time.
Losing Weight and Staying Healthy
New Year’s Resolutions
This is definitely a popular one among teenagers, although we’ll probably call it “getting in shape” or “working out more,” because most of us don’t actually need to lose a ton of weight. In fact, the typical high school student choosing this resolution is probably already pretty fit. It’s rare that you’ll actually see many people stick with this resolution though; it tends to be a cycle. Most will start out the year doing pretty well. Maybe they get a gym membership and work out every day or start eating vegetables for all three meals. This stage usually lasts about a month. After that it turns into a week-by-week thing: one week they’re hitting the treadmill and the next they’re binge-watching Netflix. It’ll probably continue like this until 2016 when the cycle restarts.
The new year is an interesting time for everyone: it’s a time to start over, recreate yourself and become a better person. Or for some people it’s just another day. But if you’re one of those people who enjoys following the New Year’s Resolution tradition, you’re probably hoping to accomplish at least one of the following during 2015: • Losing weight • Getting organized • Saving money • Enjoying life to the fullest • Staying healthy and fit • Learning something exciting • Quitting smoking • Helping others • Falling in love • Spending more time with family According to Fox 59, these are the top 10 most popular New Year’s Resolutions. Are they accurate? Well, we did a quick little comparative survey with the Sage senior class. About 70 percent of students said they plan to get in shape, 11 percent said they want to spend more time with family and another 11 percent want to save up money (along with a few other random answers here and there). So yes, for the most part Fox 59 was correct. But how do these resolutions apply to our lives as high school students?
Falling in Love This isn’t a resolution that most high schoolers will come up with. We’re all in that weird in-between stage, slowly coming out of childhood egocentrism and beginning to realize that there are other people in this world. If you’re the type of person that chooses to focus on helping others, then you’re way ahead of the game. You’re probably very mature and empathetic and high school needs more people like you. I imagine most of these people follow through because they’re already unbelievably dedicated and thoughtful.
Getting Organized In the mind of a student, getting organized is more along the lines of “pull yourself together and keep your grades up.” As a second semester senior, this may not seem to matter as much, but for all the other grades it’s a pretty common resolution. After seeing their first semester grades, many students realize they need to make a change or they may not be getting into their college of choice. Following through with this resolution really varies, but the trend seems to be somewhat parabolic. It starts off strong, then the grades drop off a bit, and effort finally picks back up towards finals. So to some extent it’s a successful resolution.
Saving Money
Helping Others You’d be surprised how relevant this is for some teenagers. It’s kind of sad actually that it applies to anyone this young but it does. If not smoking, then drinking, partying or other bad habits. I think it’s a good thing that people actually make the resolution to stop, but from what I’ve seen it’s not often that people actually quit. As everyone knows, smoking is addictive; if people can’t follow through on a resolution to stay in shape, it’s unlikely others will be able to break an addiction.
Kandis McGee
Money tends to be a bigger focus of resolutions as you become an upperclassman. People start realizing that maybe they need to focus on being a little more independent whether it be through making money, saving money, or just not spending so much money. Considering where we live it probably doesn’t have much of an effect on anyone, but being moneyconscious is a good habit to practice.
Declaration to the Future. Sophomores Carlos Orozco, Chloe Henson, and Elijah Soto declare their goals for the year on the white board behind them.
Quitting Smoking
To be honest I think this more of an “old people” resolution but it’s a great idea. We learn exciting things every day that we don’t take advantage of. So be a good student and use this opportunity that your parents would give anything for: actually listen and learn something.
Learning Something Exciting
Every New Year’s Resolution may be a little different: some are hard to follow through with, some take a certain type of person, some just aren’t that applicable to everyone. But every single one of these 10 resolutions is meaningful, if and only if you really try to accomplish them. So my advice to
Personally I believe this is the most important resolution. It’s one that everyone should have no matter what age, gender, body type, etc. It’s harder than it sounds, that’s for sure, but doable. As high school students, we all get moody and pissy and grumpy. It happens. But just looking at the world with a slightly more positive view can have a big effect. Next time you’re upset about a break up or crying over a bad grade, remind yourself that you’re lucky to be alive, so get up and do something productive.
everyone: follow through with your resolutions. Only 8 percent of Americans are successful in achieving theirs every year, and I think we can do better than that. I’m expecting that 70 percent of Sage to be in great shape by the time 2016 rolls around.
Enjoying Life to the Fullest