Lodge Issue 6.1

Co-Editors-In-Chief

Anna Schmiedicke ‘23

Sienna Lightman ‘24

Arts Editors

Trinity Cannon ‘23

Erin Johnson ‘23

Photography Editor

Seth Taub ‘23

Design Editor

Natalie Howard ‘23

Web Editor

Hannah Morrison ‘23

Copy Editor

Mary Beth Skelton ‘23

Staff

Mayyadah Alzaben ‘23

Libbie Davis ‘23

Reese Dlabach ‘23

Jordan Giles ‘23

Reagan Goodwin ‘23

Ella Straub ‘23

Lauren White ‘23

Darryl Williams ‘23

Kate Winstead ‘23

Olivia Vitale ‘24

Emily Zhao ‘24

Kirklyn Moore ‘25

Livi VanSteenburg ‘25

Abbi Whitehead ‘25

Advisor

Mr. Zack Adcock

About Us:

The Lodge and gryphonlodge.com are dedicated to serving as an unbiased and authentic voice for the students of St. George’s Independent School. We at the Lodge strive to be an open forum for student expression, to act in the best interests of the student body and to embody the principles of journalistic excellence. The Lodge is affiliated with the Tennessee High School Press Association and the National Scholastic Press Association. The Lodge is funded by advertisers, donors and St. George’s Independent School and is published once every eight weeks during the school year by schoolprinting. com. The Lodge prints and distributes 300 copies of each issue to 700 students and faculty on the St. George’s Collierville campus. Bylines indicate the primary writer(s) of each article, and additional contributors are indicated in the shirttail. All of our content is written, edited, and designed by our staff unless otherwise clearly stated. The Lodge provides free advertising for student clubs, events and activities and paid advertisements for local businesses. The Lodge welcomes letters to the editor and article submissions. To submit a letter, article or request for advertising, email our staff at thelodge@sgis.org.

FLIK Adds New Marketplace

By Jordan Giles

The first time students entered the dining hall for the 2022-23 school year, they may have noticed the addition of the marketplace where the teacher’s lunch table was previously situated.

This new addition to the lunchroom came as a solution to two problems brought up over the summer: lengthy lunch lines and a food option for all students before, during and after school – even after the lunch period is over –regardless of the meal plan they are on.

When asked about whether there were any ideas that didn’t come to full fruition, Chief Financial Officer Beth Porter said, “I think one of the ideas was to do an all-inclusive plan that was required for everybody, and so this was us providing more opportunities and options for everybody.”

Head of School Timothy Gibson added to this, mentioning that “this was an opportunity for people whom the meal plan does make perfect sense…and people who wanted a different kind of flexibility,” with the end goal of every student having access to a range of food options no matter what meal plan they are on.

In addition to the benefits during lunchtime, the marketplace proved to be useful outside of lunch hours, which Mr. Gibson himself believed is “a great value add.”

“There are far more options for students to choose now at the end of the day, and especially for our middle school students going to sports who often need it the most,” he said.

Because of the marketplace’s expansive hours, being open before and after lunch serves as an upgrade from the old Spirit Shop for any students needing a quick

bite in the morning before classes or in the afternoons before sports start.

Mr. Gibson and Ms. Porter were not the only ones who saw the benefits of the new marketplace. Even upper school math teacher and head varsity cheer coach, Mrs. Lott, praised this addition.

“I think that it’s been nice to have more options.”

Likewise, Junior Ava Burns liked the marketplace because of its efficiency and flexibility for all students.

“I think it’s a good option if you don’t want to do the meal plan because it’s easy and fast.”

Photography by Seth Taub

Illustration by Trinity Cannon

A student reaches for lunch in the new marketplace.

Lev Hills ‘24 gets lunch at the salad

Brandon Hayden ‘24 waits in line to check out at the marketplace.

bar in the servery.

Campus Connected

Everyone has their sites on better internet connection. Is it possible?

By Trinity Cannon

Frustrating. Glitchy. Overburdened.

Can you guess what everybody at the SG Collierville Campus is talking about? If you guessed the internet, you’d be right.

Students and faculty alike have all experienced the infamously poor connection to the school Wi-Fi. The internet connects this campus as a whole, through education and entertainment alike. For people whose daily life, assignments and jobs revolve around the speed of the internet, why is it so incredibly slow?

Scott Garmon, Director of Technology, had much to say. Some might know him better as the guy whose office is diagonal from the library. He’s usually the next stop for people with computer troubles when the tech lab is closed.

He’s been at St. George’s since 2002, keeping a close eye on technology here and

making sure it runs smoothly.

“Internet is a broad topic,” said Mr. Garmon, Director of Technology.

For people who don’t know much about this technology, this subject can be difficult to grasp. To give a better understanding, he gives an excellent example by using tubes.

“We’ll say the Memphis Campus has a two inch pipe. Germantown has double that and Collierville has a ten inch pipe. The bigger the pipe, the more data down that pipe. We provide a bigger pipe to each campus based on what they need. Each campus also has their own data so that we don’t interfere with each other.”

With all of these systems in place, what’s the hold up?

“Since networking and bandwidth usage is a very broad discussion in terms of why something works or doesn’t work it’s hard to say,” but our tech wizard boils it down mostly to too many people using the bandwidth.

Bandwidth is defined as the ca-

pacity of data transfer of an electronic system. In short, the more bandwidth, the higher speeds and the more people can use it. Even so, people are overwhelming this system despite Collierville’s data compared to the lower campuses.

For instance, 20 people streaming videos uses up a lot more bandwidth than twenty people surfing the web. Not to mention teachers constantly pushing resources online for their classes.

There doesn’t seem to be a chance that St. George’s will revert back to pencil and paper for the sake of Netflix streaming, so is there a way to increase the bandwidth? Unfortunately, it’s a very slim chance. If it did miraculously come into play, it sure wouldn’t happen overnight.

In order for that to happen, Mr. Garmon says that St. George’s would have to externally and internally replace their network infrastructure. If the tech-vocab tripped you up, never fear. To sum it up, it’d take a ton of time and a whole lot of money. Though, if

the internet ended up coming back to byte us, rest assured, the administration would try to pull enough money to make it happen.

But, for now, the tech department is trying their best to manage the existing infrastructure the best they can. They’re literally holding this school’s education in the palms of their hands. Imagine doing all your homework with no internet! Hopefully uncovering this mystery in Collierville will keep you from RAM-ing your head in a wall. Next time you get the spinning wheel of death, think about all the reasons why you might not be connecting. It could be your computer. It could be that someone crashed into your utility pole. But here at the busy campus of St. George’s Collierville, it’s most likely that just way too many people and devices are connected!

Rumor Has It…

Students vouch for more communication to dispel financial rumors

By Reese Dlabach and Emily Zhao

As each school year starts, new students aren’t the only ones who have to adjust to change. Being undoubtedly unique from any other private school in the Memphis area, when St. George’s makes adjustments, navigating each step of the process is much more convoluted than one might think. The school is a living, breathing entity, forever changing and growing to be the best it can possibly be.

As developments are made, one of the most important repercussions is how they affect the student

Admissions Director – who was teaching at the Germantown Campus at St. George’s at the time – felt “lots of pressure from our families that they didn’t want to go somewhere else.”

“So in doing some research to see: ‘could Memphis support another independent high school and have enough student body’…a donor group came forward who was trying to raise the level of education in Memphis for everyone and said, ‘We are willing to help you build the middle school and the high school if you will replicate your lower school within city limits

“I’ve actually heard.. students ask for more transparency in the budget. I think that that would be one thing that would really help [students] be more confident in what’s going on.”

-Parker McClain

Collierville,” said Mr. Gibson.

Mrs. Ballard expanded on that, clarifying that what families pay “is on a major scale based on what their income is” and that “families there receive typically more financial aid than they can at… Germantown and Collierville, simply because the donors earmarked that money.”

Athletic Director Will Bladt explained that in order to sustain their goal of providing independent school education to families who cannot afford it, the donor group “contribute[s] money every year.”

fieldhouse project… is designed to sort of provide a better experience for student-athletes but also students who are thinking about health and wellness more broadly.”

According to Mr. Bladt, St. George’s is “expanding the strength and conditioning room by 50%... putting in new stateof-the-art equipment for strength and conditioning training… [and] redoing two locker rooms. What used to be the middle school locker rooms… are now going to be varsity team rooms.”

-Paige Fernandez and provide that education to families who typically could not afford an independent school education,’” Mrs. Ballard recalled.

body. But with recent changes in the school community came outlandish rumors: rumors about financial aid, buses and even copy machines. Where did these rumors come from? Could it be that some of them are true?

To understand changes coming to St. George’s, we must first understand the school’s foundations.

St. George’s was established in 1959 as a K-6 school with a singular campus in Germantown. Families quickly grew to love the school’s accepting community, the focus on Judeo-Christian foundations and the reinforcement of character values. In fact, families were vocal about their reluctance to leave the St. George’s community as their children graduated sixth grade.

Andrea Ballard, Assistant

The donors that helped fund the building of the lower school within Memphis city limits also provided matching funds to help found the Collierville campus.

Finally, in 2001, the doors to the Memphis campus opened for the first time.

Though the Memphis campus is a part of St. George’s, it operates a little differently from the Germantown and Collierville campuses.

Timothy Gibson, Head of School, explained the main difference.

“There’s a donor group that provides a significant amount of support there that is separate from the budgets of Germantown and

But that rumor was not the only one spreading. For the past four months, students and faculty passing through the fieldhouse have seen and heard the sounds of construction. Whispers about the costly renovations and concerns that they had put the school in debt spread like wildfire.

The fieldhouse project is an $800,000 renovation project that is completely donor-funded, meaning that no money was pulled out of the operating budget to fund the fieldhouse project.

Mr. Gibson explained that “the

Junior Parker McClain appreciates the efforts to expand the weight room.

“Space was one issue [in the weight room]…if there was a team in there, you’d never have space to work out individually,” he said. As a three-sport athlete, McClain is in the weight room “twice, three times a week during football season, and almost every day in other parts of the year,” and is looking forward to the new equipment.

The fieldhouse is growing, but another obvious change came to the St. George’s bus service, which used to bring students from the

“[The bus] would break down literally in the middle of the road last year... It was really embarrassing.

Memphis or Germantown campuses to the Collierville campus and then back again.

The bus service was terminated this school year, and with this change came a rumor that the school cut the bus service without reason.

Sophomore Paige Fernandez, who rode the bus daily last year, reflected on the state of the dilapidated buses.

“[The bus] would break down literally in the middle of the road last year, and we would all have to get out of the bus and sit on the sidewalk and wait for the other bus to come get us. That happened more than once. It was really embarrassing. The buses would always be in disrepair,” she said.

Following the removal of the bus services, Fernandez explained, “it’s really only affecting a small amount of people, but I feel like it’s such a big effect on the specific person’s life.”

Fernandez emphasized that some members of our community “are here on financial aid” and can’t afford alternative modes of transportation, “and taking away the bus is, I feel like, a jab directly at those people.”

Mr. Gibson urged students not to think that we “cut” buses.

“We had buses that had reached the end of their lifespan coupled with an inability to find bus drivers,” he said. “You can’t…just drive a bus… It takes a specific license that is hard to get. And as there are sort of hiring issues everywhere right now… we tried for

an entire year to hire bus drivers and got one bite, I think, over the course of a year, maybe.”

Regardless of the school’s reality, Fernandez’s frustration is rooted in the feeling that “it’s really mostly affecting people of low income.”

The academic building experienced its fair share of changes as well. In August, students stumbled upon a new addition to the usual hallway decor: unused copiers lining walls and gathering dust in stairwells. Noticing the strange sight, some students immediately jumped to the conclusion that St. George’s was throwing away unused copiers.

Upon hearing this rumor, Mrs. Ballard was shocked. “Gosh, Heavens, no,” she said. “We went with a new [copier] company. And the company that we were renting [the copiers] from… would only pick them up if all of the copiers were in one location. So we had to get the copiers from the Germantown campus and the Memphis campus all here.”

Mr. Gibson explained that “[the copiers] sitting in the hallways… were waiting to be picked up.” In fact, leasing copiers is a standard practice among private schools, he adds, “because that way when they become obsolete, you’ve replaced them with new ones.”

This slew of rumors has spread like a virus throughout the school, infecting students with doubt and distrust in the St. George’s administration. Like a sickness, these rumors are detrimental to the overall health of the school. So what measures can we take to heal our community?

Communication is preached as a crucial element of success. Our community is built on this

idea through the expectations to check our emails, monitor Canvas and exchange ideas in class. The expectations of students are abundantly clear, but the need for communication between the administration and the student body has never felt so dire.

Students believe that establishing transparency when changes are underway within the school will lower the spread of rumors and create a more united community.

Because Fernandez’s concerns are rooted in equitable support of all St. George’s students, she emphasizes that she would be less frustrated if she knew more.

Fernandez clarified that “knowing where your money is going

praised, it sparks contemplation of what it takes to fulfill that promise.

Part of that reality is a functional trust between the adults who make decisions and the students who are impacted by those decisions. With information being so scarce, it leads students to weigh the costs—both literal and otherwise—of making those promises a reality.

Without students, there would be no school. The student body isn’t asking for more power to make decisions, they only want to be allowed to understand them.

Recognizing that the students are the foundation of our community, Mrs. Ballard emphasized, “bricks and mortar don’t make a school. What makes the school is you all.”

is a big part of [the frustration]” felt by students and families in the community.

McClain agreed, saying that “a lot of the things that the students are asking for is more transparency with the budget.”

“Knowing where the money is going, I think, would help because [students] know that there is money going into the school because of the amount of people who pay tuition and stuff—like they know that there is money going into the school—but I don’t think people are seeing where that’s going, and so I’ve actually heard… students ask for more transparency in the budget. I think that that would be one thing that would really help [students] be more confident in what’s going on,” he said.

Ballard shared that one of the most frequent comments she gets when touring families interested in St. George’s is “‘It’s such a beautiful campus!’”

These material aspects are created to, in Ballard’s words, “benefit the students and families,” but they also represent a promise of community. Because the physical features of our campus are often

“Bricks and mortar don’t make a school. What makes the school is you all.” -Ms. Ballard

Where does our money come from?

77% from tuition and fees

18% from private gifts

2% from investment earnings

2% from afterschool and summer programs

9% to buildings and grounds

7% to improvements

7% to student programs

4% to general and administrative

MAKING IT UP AS WE GO

A

look at traditions new and old

By Livi VanSteenberg

After years of the “new normal,”

a somewhat theoretical version of life after the coronavirus pandemic, students and faculty alike are taking back the St. George’s they knew. Pickup games of all kinds have sprung up across the front lawn, including soccer, ultimate frisbee and so much more.

The largest and most impressive of these is the lunchtime kickball game.

“That’s a recent thing that I think will continue,” said Mr. Smith Ferguson, Director of Student Connections.

The importance of traditions in the school’s community is difficult to overstate, especially one as visible and physical as this.

The game fosters a relationship between grades that

is not regularly seen; on the daily, the junior-sophomore rivalry is demonstrated through aggressive throws and swinging kicks that only sometimes connect with their targets.

Students make teams, jostling for a spot in the kicking order to inevitably knock the ball into one of the trees in the front of the campus. Score doesn’t matter, and there’s no real idea of what counts as a ball or a strike until the bickering begins. It’s just 30 people standing in the hot sun sliding full-speed into second base.

Sophomore Ari Taub is frequently involved in the games.

“It’s been going on for a few weeks now,” he estimated, referring to the rivalry. “I’m friends with them, so I can make fun of them [during arguments].”

Behind him, people shout at each other over a missed kick,

and one calls for Taub to come over. He waves them off for the moment and adds, “I think traditions are a big part of the school community because you keep doing them over and over again.”

Mr. Taylor Cao, Director of Student Life, emphasized on the importance of community and culture.

“Traditions are what make a school unique and exciting and fun, and it doesn’t have to be school all day long,” he explained. While he is the head of many school-sponsored events, he recognizes the importance of what students create themselves.

Mr. Ferguson agreed, saying, “It’s super important for the overall culture of a school. Traditions as a whole, I think, are important for having some community feel.”

To the students, it’s not about making a lasting impact.

“We just wanted to do something to pass the time with lunch,” Taub admitted. “When you come outside, there’s nothing to do.”

Nothing to do, but a wide open field lends itself to action. And, with equipment short in supply, people eventually come together.

Almost every school has homecoming, prom and spirit weeks — but those aren’t what define them. The small traditions they carry embody a school beyond the pictures and pamphlets they send out and offer a greater sense of connection.

Student-led activities require a deeper commitment to the community because there’s no official framework for them to turn to; there has to be a drive to start something, and an even greater force within others to accept and build upon it.

Mr. Cao explained, “I think students are more invested in them because they came up with

the idea.”

Unlike other activities created by students, such as the House System, however, this beginning is almost completely outside of what the administration can control—ironically, had it not been student-organized, it probably would have long since fizzled out.

“I think student-led traditions thrive longer at the school and actually become a tradition,” said Mr. Cao.

Fall Fridays are the holy grail of high school sports. Students crowd into the stands to watch the Gryphons face their weekly opponent—often with speakers, bullhorns, and flags. While this year the team has a disappointing lack of home games, the display of community shows up in various ways such as the rollercoaster, the pushup board and “Wagon Wheel.”

“Wagon Wheel” is the ultimate reward for winning a home game.

In the last 20 seconds when a win is guaranteed, the student section empties entirely, draining onto the path below. For a first-timer, it looks as though everyone is leaving just before victory is achieved. The crowd presses against the gate until the clock hits zero before flooding the field, climbing the fence and rushing out to greet the football team — it is always a charged moment.

Everyone congregates until the opening notes strain and the huge circle forms, the entire student population swaying back and forth as one. Parents and opposing team members look on with mild confusion as people run into the middle and do backflips while the football players play air fiddle solos.

Holden Shuping gets ready to roll the ball to the juniors during one of the daily lunchtime kickball games. (Photo/Sienna Lightman)

Although it came to be less than two decades ago, the tradition seems to be shrouded in mystery. There is a different origin story for almost every person.

Hunter Cowan, class of ‘08, knows how it truly began. He was on the varsity football team in one of its first years, taking St. George’s to their first state championship.

“Our players called a practice outside of our normal practice to come together as a team and…we stumbled across [“Wagon Wheel”] while playing… a CD from our vehicle over the practice field,” he explained.

Soon, “Wagon Wheel” was not just onfined to the practice field.

Mr. William Taylor, the former Head of School, explained, “That became the thing that after every victory, that song would get played. You know, I didn’t… instruct anybody to play it. It just played.”

“To this day, I get goosebumps every time I see that wagon wheel formed after a victory on the field or when the student body comes together as one off the field,” said Cowan.

Somehow, whether by the invitation of the team or the willpower of students, it morphed. Fans are not invited down to the field to listen to after-game lectures or hear the conversations players have on the field, but somehow this tradition grew beyond what they originally intended it to.

Being on the team was no longer required to run on the field.

“After maybe a couple of games, the football players would start putting their arms around each other and, and then it was the whole student body [that] would go in there,” clarified Mr. Taylor.

Today, the circle is huge. Middle schoolers come from the soccer field to join hands with students who are sometimes six or seven years older than them, people whom they’ve never met. Not everyone knows the lyrics

by heart, but nonetheless. they scream “Johnson City, Tennessee!” together in the third stanza. It is one of the only times that one student will wrap an arm around another — perhaps a total stranger — and bask in their victory. The fiddle plays, the crowd sings and the seniors dance.

A perfect moment, carried over 20 years from the building of the Collierville campus until now.

“Wagon Wheel” has carried the student body through seasons good and bad. It is a calling card, a hallmark, a home. Graduates decades apart can return home together, wrap their arms around each other, and sing the refrain:

St. George’s students gather around for the wagon wheel. (Photo/Ashley Lott)

“Rock me mama like a wagon wheel Rock me mama any way you feel Hey, mama rock me.

Rock me mama like the wind and the rain Rock me mama like a south-bound train

Hey, mama rock me.”

growing with cheer team

By Emily Zhao

The St. George’s cheer team is no longer just on the sidelines. Just four years ago, the program was dying, but now with both a competitive and non-competitive team, it is more alive than ever. When senior Elizabeth Kilmurray joined the cheer team in 2018, the program was losing most of its traction.

“People weren’t interested in it, and it used to spark a lot of interest,” she said. “We used to have tryouts, and then it just became a sign-up.”

In 2019, the team was down to a meager 10 people. The following two years hardly saw an improvement, with 11 cheerleaders in 2020 and 12 in 2021.

Now St. George’s has added a competitive team to the cheer program. With the opportunity to compete against other cheer teams across the nation, interest in the program was renewed, and the cheer team grew from 12 to 28 people – double the size that it was last year.

Sideline — or non-competitive — practices consist of the cheerleaders learning a multitude of cheers and stunts for Friday

the

night football games. They have 40 cheers and six dances that they must memorize.

Competitive practices look a little different. They focus on perfecting one long routine instead of learning various short ones.

Varsity head cheer coach, Ashley Lott, explained the four different parts of the competitive routine.

“The competitive routine has four different parts: it’s a band chant, followed by a sideline cheer, followed by a traditional cheer, followed by a fight song, and it’s three minutes total,” said Coach Lott.

Freshman Kinsley Coleman said that the girls need lots of endurance to be able to perform for 3 minutes straight.

“We’re doing a 3-minute routine and we’re not calling any cheers; we’re doing dances, waving flags,” she said.

Because of this, the girls run build-ups, which is when the girls sprint for 30 seconds to a minute, walk for a minute and then repeat for eight minutes “to build up [their] stamina,” according to Coleman.

As the cheer team strengthens their numbers, individual

cheerleaders also see developments in their physical strength.

Coleman said, “I’ve gotten more flexible and I’ve definitely gotten a lot more muscle in my arms, just becoming stronger, and being able to pick up people that I thought I wouldn’t be able to pick up.”

Like Coleman, junior Olivia Lyons feels proud of the growth that she and the team have accomplished as well.

“We had a rocky start just because of the new learning curve. Going from a team of 11 people to 28 people- it’s a big change. It’s a change for everybody,” she remarked.

But Lyons is most proud that her confidence in her cheer abilities has grown.

“I remember in 9th grade I was so scared to cheer in front of the student section because there were a bunch of seniors and I was like ‘I don’t know what they’re going to think of me,’ and ‘If I do this I’ll look stupid,’” said Lyons. “But now I’m just realizing, it doesn’t matter.

Nobody’s gonna remember this one moment from this one football game of this one cheerleader.”

On top of her renewed mindset,

she sees herself as an advisor to the younger cheerleaders, especially because of the abundance of new recruits.

“I’m glad to be at a spot where I can advise other people and kind of calm them down and make them a better cheerleader.”

And with seventeen new girls added this year, she has plenty of new opportunities.

The sideline and competitive aspects have not only revitalized the cheer program, but also caused the cheerleaders to grow and flourish in new ways, which leaves everyone wondering: What’s next for the cheer team?

R

Y

Photography by Seth Taub and Jordan Giles

St. George’s cheerleaders practice for the upcoming game.

Cheerleaders lift up their flyer, Gabrielle Booth ‘26.

Cheerleaders pose for a picture.

PEmma Porter ‘25 cheers enthusiastically.

LIVING THE DREAM

Lifelong Gryphon plays for local pro team

By Darryl Williams Jr.

For most kids, becoming a professional athlete is an accomplishment that is only attainable in their dreams. But after years of hard work and sacrifice, senior Logan Haddad is within arm’s reach of that goal.

He has been a starter on the St. George’s varsity soccer team since he was in eighth grade, and the 18-year-old goalie has been holding it down for some years now. During his highschool career, Haddad has played a crucial role in the back-to-back regional championships for the Gryphons.

Haddad has been labeled by the St. George’s soccer coach, Tony Whicker, as “special” because of his, “IQ, work rate, physical ability, height, range and his fearless approach.”

Because of this he has won a generous number of awards in these last four years. These accolades consist of Region MVP, first team all metro and first team all district, just to name a few. With all the recognition Haddad has received, it’s only right that he’s earned opportunities to play at the next level.

He is currently being recruited by numerous division one powerhouses. Programs such as Wofford College, West Virginia University and University of Alabama at Birmingham all have offered Haddad athletic scholarships. Wherever Haddad decides to take his talents, he will have a major impact.

Obviously, this journey could not have been done alone. Haddad has attributed all the success he has come across in these last few years to many people in his life, whether it be his family, friends or coaches.

Haddad credited his father in the crucial role in instilling his love for soccer.

“It’s my dad’s favorite sport,” he said. “So I wouldn’t say he pushed it on to me, but he set me up.”

His mother, Cindy Haddad, remarked on how he became a goalie after countless competitions in the backyard with his brother.

“His brother just wanted to score, so Logan just wanted to keep him from scoring,” she said. “He wanted to be a goalkeeper since he was four years old.”

Haddad also had the wisdom and training from professional

According to Haddad, one of the main factors in his selection was his reputation for being known as “one of the better guys in the area.” Also, there was another crucial thing that needed to be taken into consideration: there was a shortage at the goalie position. Due to their backup goalie suffering an Achilles tendon injury, the goalie was sidelined indefinitely as the season progressed.

While Haddad has yet to play an official game with the club, he has had the luxury of playing in preseason games and being a part of the club’s practice squad. However, with the progress Haddad has made, he’s on track to sign an official contract in the near future.

After all that time spent with

time being with the team and the boys,” he said. His mother, on the other hand, acknowledged that if Haddad has the chance to reach his goal, he’s going to take advantage of it. “He wants to play soccer in college, and maybe after, so since he was given this opportunity, we really wanted him to accept it.”

Whether or not Haddad continues to lend his talents to the St. George’s soccer team, the SG community is standing behind him to support him, whatever his future holds.

Logan Haddad ‘23 prepares to catch an oncoming soccer ball.

Logan Haddad ‘23 looks around with the ball in his hand.

Logan Haddad ‘23 clears the ball during a pickup game.

Photography by Seth Taub

Collaboration Creates Success

The success of AME develops from various student talents

By Kirklyn Moore

Photography by Seth Taub

St. George’s music arts program is truly different from other schools. This is largely because of the American Music Ensemble here at St. George’s.

American Music Ensemble, or AME, is a class taught by the band teacher, Mr. Tom Link, teaching the instrument players, and Mr. Nathan Dumser, the choir teacher, teaching the vocalists. AME differs from traditional choir and band classes in a few ways.

AME focuses on a different type of music, away from the classic choral, gospel music like choir and more towards what is already around us as Memphians, but students might not notice in the bubble of their own music taste.

“It’s tied into the fact that this is Memphis, and we’re in the middle of the Mississippi Delta and all of the roots of all of the American popular music anyways,” stated Mr. Link.

This aspect of the class makes AME different from the traditional band many people might think of. Its music leans more towards jazz, blues and pop, as well as soloist style songs accompanied by a band. This is possible because of AME being a smaller group, so fewer people have to be singing in a song for everyone to be included in the concerts.

Another attribute of AME that makes it unique to other music programs is that the students are treated as dedicated musicians. Instead of being taught the basics and simpler things, they get to take a deeper dive into making themselves better as serious musicians.

Sophomore Lorelai Michael, a new singer in AME, is dedicated to improving her singing and understanding music.

“You know how to do this. You’re decently good at it, and

we can help you build more. And that you’re less of a student and more of a musician and taken in that seriousness,” she said.

Sophomore Alex Smith, a musician for most of his life, also chose to be a part of AME by playing the guitar.

“We’re pushed farther. We play harder songs,” said Smith about his experience in AME.

Being pushed to improve makes AME stand out as a way to build skills in creating music from finding it in classes before. It allows students to truly learn more from the classes and see what path they want to take in music.

Another distinction AME embraces is the closeness that band has. As such a small group of musicians that work together to create their music, singing and playing instruments becomes a vulnerable thing. A student can easily make a mistake, but AME does well to create a sense of comfort and no judgment that’s necessary for students being able to push themselves and come up with great ideas.

Senior DeJa Harris, a choir and AME singer, works hard to find her own voice. She appreciates the sense of community and closeness it holds as they cheer her on for every song she sings.

“You get really close really fast because you have to know these people,” she said. This community is shown easily in day to day AME.

“[The vocalists] can all do each harmony, so if anyone’s ever sick then I can take your part because I know it because we’ve gone through and practiced it,” Harris added.

Michael also noted the group aspect of AME, and how powerful coming together with different talents is.

“I like all the different instruments and people can come together to make something so beautiful even if they have their own abilities and quirks. Together, combining us as a group creates something so awesome,” Michael said.

Because of this sense of community and comfort, students feel free to be themselves and make AME their own in a way, working together fluently.

“A lot of our song choices come from the players who are guitarists who are like, ‘Oh, I think I can do this song, and it’d be really cool if you had a solo in that,’” said Harris.

This aspect of bouncing ideas off one another creates a personalized aspect to AME.

Combining soloist style and different genres to the more common choir and band contributes a whole new and exciting layer to the music arts program. Each collaborate with one another to make our music program even more diverse and interesting. This collaboration the choir, band and AME have with one another makes St. George’s music arts and concerts special.

“It was serendipitous that the two of us work here together because we’re both open minded and strong enough musicians that we appreciate collaboration and enjoy the challenge of putting both of our seemingly separate divisions together,” said Mr. Dumser of his collaboration with Mr. Link.

These collaborations make more than one group or voice to listen to and makes the possibilities endless for what kind of music they want to put in a concert. Through these things, Mr. Dum ser, Mr. Link and our musicians create a bigger audience for the concerts at St. George’s.

“Because we have [choir, band and AME] separate we can do both of those things at the same time, and then we put them together, and then you have this huge concert with all of these dif ferent pieces of music that people can come and see and enjoy,” Harris added.

This cohesiveness between the programs makes it important to a lot of the musicians but also

creates a bigger audience. AME’s most recent concert on September 27, 2022, showed this, as a large number of people came to support the concert.

“We were really happy to be able to welcome people onto this campus to see the students perform. People’s appearance really developed this place, this campus gives it a sense of community and lets people come on to it and see performances here and it obviously went well, it was packed,” said Mr. Link.

Not only was it packed, but people were turned away from the chapel because they couldn’t fit anyone else.

This success is great for the music arts programs, but they are always aiming high and working to improve each year. With this, AME will get better and better not only with more and more people becoming a part of the band in the next years, but also being awarded with the amount of attention it deserves.

A group of St. George’s choir students sing during their fall performance.

Jeremiah Boggan ‘25 and Alex Smith ‘25 jam out during the September 27 American Music Ensemble performance.

Building a Mystery

Opening the curtain on a new season with the Gryphon Players

With a fully recovered theater department, it makes sense that the cast and crew are working harder than ever to make a great production.

By Ella Straub

Amurder is afoot. Was it the dependable colonel? Does the professor have a dark side hidden behind those intelligent eyes? Is Mrs. Peacock a little too poised? The cast of Clue is working hard to help us find out “who done it”!

Mrs. Karen Dean, the Theatre Director, has gone through a lot to put together this play. This is her sixth year working at St. George’s, yet Clue had one of the biggest straight play audition turnouts she has ever had with the school. A straight play is one that has no music involved.

“COVID was a killer,” Mrs. Dean remarked about previous audition turnouts, “A lot of times… six people try out so I just have to figure out who fits in what part and go with it.”

“Our show is very set-heavy,” described St. George’s senior Madline Clarke, “And there’s so many props… everybody’s got their own murder weapon and notes and letters and knicknacks and stuff that they use throughout the show… figuring out how to take those props and get them on us so we can use them in a timely manner is difficult.”

The play is not only demanding of the crew, but also the cast.

Sophomore Bennett Davis says that the play’s uniqueness is what makes it a bit difficult to act in.

“This play is much more focused on the characters,” Davis stated, “I have to do an accent the entire play… trying to keep that up while also evoking the actual character is not easy.”

Clue has been a challenging production to put on, not only because of the content, but also because they share the stage with the Goin’ Buggy play.

The high school play does not get to set up for their production until two weeks before opening night. “Considering their production comes before ours they need their whole stage to do it,” said Clarke, “but we work around it every time and we make it work.”

Despite the challenges, the cast and crew have a lot of fun getting ready for this play.

“Mrs. Dean does a really good job trying to get everyone to really play to their strengths, and I think that a lot of the cast is very fun to just be around,” said Davis.

This kind of camaraderie is exactly what Mrs. Dean loves about theater.

“I love the camaraderie of the kids that are working on a play,” said Mrs. Dean. “You do better theater when they bond.”

Whether it’s solving the mystery or putting on the production that brought the cast together, Clue is bound to be a fantastic show that will keep the audience at the edge of their seats as they try to muddle out this mystery.

Actress Madline Clarke ‘23 gives her fellow cast members a look while eating dinner.

Photography by Seth Taub

Mrs. Dean leads the Gryphon Players in a warmup.

Madline Clarke ‘23 and John Hudson ‘27 as Miss Scarlet and Colonel Mustard in Clue.

Bennett Davis ‘25 takes center stage as Wadsworth while Katelyn Murphy ‘24 and O’Neal Starrett ‘24 look on.

Respect the Contract Chapel beyond the sermon

By Libbie Davis

Illustration by Kate Winstead

When a school follows a certain religion or set of religious ideas, it can spark backlash within its community. There is often a discussion of if it’s fair to the students who may not follow said religion or those who feel forced into it, especially when the school incorporates it into everyday life.

When reading the school’s mission statement, it states that “St. George’s Independent School is an Episcopal school dedicated to the pursuit of excellence…[through] an inclusive learning community that nurtures outstanding academic achievement, relationships, leadership and character reinforced by Judeo-Christian values.”

Our school incorporates worship into our lives once a week through a chapel service. However, there are students who might question if that should be required to attend.

As an Episcopal private school, the school itself has a right to establish a religion within the school and to expect their

students to respect that. When someone chooses to attend St. George’s, they choose to follow the guidelines that align with the school’s beliefs. Part of that means attending chapel. It’s not out of line to expect students to attend chapel once a week for 30 minutes.

Some students might see attending chapel as being disrespectful to those who don’t follow Christianity. While that could be the case at some private schools, St. George’s makes an effort to be inclusive in the way they worship. On October 11th, a rabbi came and spoke about Judaism’s high holy days and the choir sang a Jewish hymn to honor his being there.

Chapel is valued by the St. George’s community in a lot of ways. Worship is sacred in every religious setting, and the faculty of St. George’s does its best to keep it that way. The beneficial aspects of chapel are important to understand and respect. For some people, our once a week service may be the only time they have during their week to worship.

The intentions the school has when it comes to making chapel a school wide expectation are not nefarious. It is likely that they simply want to strengthen the students’ faith and give them a break from all the chaos of school.

It’s understandable that students who don’t follow Christianity may be uncomfortable during chapel, but they and their families made an agreement to respect that guideline when they chose to be a part of our community. It has never been a secret that worship is a big part of our everyday lives on campus.

It’s a respect that goes both ways. The school itself respects that not everyone agrees with Episcipalian views, and they adapt to it as best they can. Those same people have to understand that faith is what our school is built on. It clearly says so on our website for everyone to read before they decide to attend here.

There’s a set of values that St. George’s was built on, and there’s a set of expectations

that the school has set for their students. When you choose to attend our school, you choose to respect those values, and to respect the system behind it. You also choose to attend chapel once a week.

It’s fair for our school to make chapel mandatory, all things considered. When a school is founded with certain principles and values, the students and families who choose to attend it also agree to respect those principles and values. It’s not that anyone is trying to make students with other religious beliefs uncomfortable in chapel, it’s that they are upholding the faith instilled in the school and the faith students chose to respect from day one.

OPINION POLICY: The Lodge opinion section is a venue for the free expression of the student views at St. George’s Independent School. The opinions represented in this section are those of the authors alone and do not nessesarily reflect those of the Lodge staff or of the St. George’s community at large. The Lodge strives to be an open forum for the thoughtful and deliberate exchange of comment and criticism and therefore welcomed letters to the editor. Letters to the editor will be printed in the opinion section of the newspaper, should not exceed 300 words and must be signed amd accompanied by a verifiable email address. These letters will not be printed if the content is judged obscene, violates the privacy of others or encourages physical disruption of school activities.

Practice What You Preach Respect Religious Diversity

By Olivia Vitale Illustration by Mayyadah Alzaben

If you asked a St. George’s administration member what quality of this school they are most proud of, chances are several of them would say the school’s diversity.

On several occasions, the chapel speakers have talked proudly about the school’s racial, gender and religious diversity in chapel to bring the school together. With religious diversity specifically, SGIS has stated in the “Being an Episcopal School” section of their website that they have an“uncommon commitment to inclusion, in an atmosphere that welcomes families of any faith.”

That’s a pretty strong statement, right? You’ll see why I brought it up soon enough.

For some students, going through the prayers, standing up when told and listening to sermons might be no big deal. However, for students who are not Christian, they might feel left out, bored, annoyed or even uncomfortable.

Therefore, one might make the decision to stay behind and hide out, as they don’t want to go through chapel while not being a Christan. And this isn’t far-fetched, because you know… the school has religious diversity!

So why do students get in trouble for skipping chapel, when it might not have any religious meaning to them? To make the students feel like the school is religiously diverse, you must respect the religious beliefs in question. This is why assemblies that revolve around chapel should be optional.

One might argue that most of the school is Christian and I’m only speaking for the few, but I wouldn’t be so sure about that.

St. Georges has a lot of religious diversity. I know several students who are not of the Christian faith, and others would probably say the same.

Some people might bring up that if you choose to attend a Christian school, you should understand that you must attend chapel. There are several reasons why students would go to SGIS which are not religion-based. Firstly, when you are a kid, you cannot entirely choose what school you go to. Not only that, St. Georges makes a point to be

welcoming and inclusive of all faiths, not just one. A lot of kids can also benefit from going to a smaller school and having more time for oneon-ones with teachers. The students who decide to go to a religious school for any of the above reasons should not be forced to follow that religion.

I’m not saying that we shouldn’t

learn about religion. Learning about other faiths can absolutely help us become more open-minded as people. That is why we are required to take a full-year religion class. However, we should not be forced to go to Chapel and worship certain religious beliefs. If we want to do so, we should do it of our own free will.

OPINION POLICY: The Lodge opinion section is a venue for the free expression of the student views at St. George’s Independent School. The opinions represented in this section are those of the authors alone and do not nessesarily reflect those of the Lodge staff or of the St. George’s community at large. The Lodge strives to be an open forum for the thoughtful and deliberate exchange of comment and criticism and therefore welcomed letters to the editor. Letters to the editor will be printed in the opinion section of the newspaper, should not exceed 300 words and must be signed amd accompanied by a verifiable email address. These letters will not be printed if the content is judged obscene, violates the privacy of others or encourages physical disruption of school activities.

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OPINION POLICY: The Lodge opinion section is a venue for the free expression of the student views at St. George’s Independent School. The opinions represented in this section are those of the authors alone and do not necesarily reflect those of the Lodge staff or of the St. George’s community at large. The Lodge strives to be an open forum for the thoughtful and deliberate exchange of comment and criticism and therefore welcomes letters to the editor. Letters to the editor will be printed in the opinion section of the newspaper, should not exceed 300 words and must be signed and accompanied by a verifiable email address. These letters will not be printed if the content is judged obscene, violates the privacy of others or encourages physical disruption of school activities.

Illustation by Mayyadah Alzaben

“Don’t Stress It”

The pressure students face trying to suceed

It’s no secret that students are stressed out. Freshmen are adjusting to the workload that highschool brings, sophomores study and prepare for the next two years, juniors power through what is arguably the hardest year of highschool and seniors submit applications that determine their fate for the next four years.

It’s not exactly easy for anyone. And yet, we’re all expected to perform at our highest possible potential. Our futures depend on it, in fact. There’s an entire section on most college applications dedicated to explaining any “irregularities” in our transcripts, but that’s just a nicer way to say “explain why you weren’t perfect for all four years of high school.”

The expectation is that students dedicate their entire existence to making themselves look good on a

piece of paper that will get looked at for a grand total of ten minutes, if that. Isn’t that ridiculous? How could we not be stressed out? If that wasn’t bad enough, taking a moment for yourself is looked down upon. Why weren’t you spending that time in a club, volunteering or studying? How can you expect to get into your dream school if you aren’t prioritizing it above everything else? People like to say that they have compassion for students — that they understand the stress — but they can’t, not really. In this digital age of endless opportunity, every single opportunity you don’t take advantage of is held against you. If you spend too much time on schoolwork, you’re not building a well-rounded resume. If you spend too little, you’re neglecting your academics. Students just can’t win.

What is a staff editorial?

Stress is inevitable. We can’t even take the weekend to forget about schoolwork because emails clog up our phone’s notifications and remind us of all the things we aren’t doing right now. It’s nice to have access to your assignments on-demand, but we have to stop somewhere.

We’re not saying that we shouldn’t ever have homework or anything like that. Although appealing, it’s an unrealistic request to make. We just want compassion. Be kind. Understand that students have lives too. We aren’t machines that can work endlessly. We get stressed, tired and burntout. It isn’t easy to be a student, but with enough support, compassion and understanding, we can do it. Just help us.

From, Editorial Board

Editorials represent the opinion of the editorial board and do not nessesarily reflect those of the Lodge staff or of the St. George’s community at large.

The Editorial Board: Anna Schmiedicke, Sienna Lightman, Trinity Cannon, Natalie Howard, Erin Johnson, Hannah Morrison, Mary Beth Skelton, and Seth Taub

CORRECTIONS AND RETRACTIONS:

The Lodge strives for accuracy in all articles. However, mistakes are sometimes made. When this happens, you will see corrections here.

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