Seniors Destination Map
Eight ’Stoga staffers retire
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See pages 6-7
THE Conestoga High School, Berwyn PA
Volume 69 No. 7
June 4, 2019
Spoke.news
MARCHING IN MEMORY
Marching band performs for Memorial Day observation in Washington, D.C.
Courtesy Stephanie McAlaine
Pioneer pride: The Conestoga Pioneer Marching Band marches down Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C. Over 100 members debuted brand new uniforms at the 2019 National Memorial Day Parade, with the parade broadcasted live on national television.
By Richard Li and Sophia Pan News Editor & Copy Editor
The Conestoga Marching Pioneer Band took a trip to Washington D.C. after a nomination from Jim Kenney, Mayor of Philadelphia, to participate in the largest Memorial Day event in the United States. The band arrived in Washington D.C. on May 26, engaging in a variety of Memorial Day activities that included visiting the Arlington National Cemetery, attending the National Memorial Day Concert on the
west lawn of the U.S. Capitol and marching in the National Memorial Day Parade. Band director Chris Nation believes that the experience allowed students to better understand the observance of the holiday. “I think they gained an understanding about what Memorial Day really means and the purpose of the holiday and the significant sacrifice that generations of people have made for us to have the freedoms that
we have,� Nation said. “I think it was an incredible experience for them to be able to see that firsthand in the capital at the parade and the concert and at Arlington.� The band’s assistant director Cassandra Hesse felt that the trip promoted a sense of togetherness for the students and the faculty that accompanied them. “I think it was really important that we were all in the parade together as a unit,
always wearing our uniforms and kind of showing solidarity with that,� Hesse said. “It was a once in a lifetime opportunity to be in Washington, D.C. on Memorial Day, and it was a really powerful opportunity for them to really feel what it really was about by doing it all together.� Continued on page 3
School’s out: students pursue personal interests during vacation time Tiffany He & Melinda Xu Co-Managing-Editors Design by Reese Wang The Spoke surveyed eight homerooms regarding their summer activities, separated by grade level and chosen randomly. In total, The Spoke collected 101 responses. The floor is a bright red and white checkerboard pattern. Large freezer boxes line the walls, filled with water ice. Standing in the middle of the floor is junior Rebecca Rountree, busy filling the orders of the long line waiting for her in front of the counter. Leaning down, she scoops water ice into bright red, white and green striped Rita’s cups before hurrying back to the waiting crowd. Rountree will continue working once school is out and summer begins. In total, 57% of respondents, in a survey taken by
The Spoke, said they were planning to work at a job this summer. More people are travelling than working, however, with 75% of respondents planning to travel this summer. Next in popularity was volunteering, followed by playing in a sports team or league, participating in test preparation, attending summer camp, taking a course and, finally, working in an internship, as seen in Figure 1 (see page 3). Nevertheless, despite the variety of options available to students, it seems that the guiding force in choosing a summer activity is personal interest. As seen in Figure 2 (see page 3), out of multiple choices, including academic and college pressures, personal interest had the highest aggregated percentage of respondents at 75%. Counselor Jenn Kratsa promotes personal interest as the primary factor in deciding what to do over the summer.
“We just encourage kids to do what they want first and foremost and take it from there,� counselor Jenn Kratsa said. “I think it’s important to give kids permission to do what they have to do and do what they want to do.� Junior Jack Troy plays basketball for Conestoga, and his passion motivated him to continue doing sports over the summer. He plans to attend multiple sports camps, including a sleepaway goalkeeper camp and several college ID camps, along with playing club soccer and basketball. “I’m doing this mostly for self-improvement and to help keep in shape. Plus, sports are a ton of fun and I enjoy being out on either the field or court. You get to meet a lot of new people who may surprise you with what they can teach you,� Troy said. Sophomore Nusayba Chowdhury was inspired by her in-
volvement in the Speech and Debate Club to attend the Debate Institutes at Dartmouth, a one-month program dedicated to the activity. “I want to improve my debating skills for the Speech and Debate Club that I’m part of,� Chowdhury said. One common thread in each of these activities is the pursuit of self-improvement. Even for Rountree, who spends her summer employed at Rita’s, working is a positive experience. “I love my job, coworkers and my boss (so) it doesn’t feel like a job,� Rountree said. “I think Rita’s has helped with college and career preparedness due to learning responsibility. Also, it helps me learn to balance everything I have and how to make sure it is all done right and not just enough to make it pass.� Continued on page 3
Alex Gurski/The SPOKE
Ice Ice Baby: Working at Rita’s Italian Ice, junior Rebecca Rountree hands junior Meghan Wolfe vanilla custard. In a survey conducted by The Spoke, working at a job was the second most common summer activity.
Audrey Kim/The SPOKE
Town Takeover: Fox 29 anchor Bob Kelly addresses the crowd gathered at Diane’s Sidewalk Deli in Chesterbrook. Kelly’s show “Town Takeover� visited FLITE at the deli on May 13.
FLITE featured on Fox 29 program
Audrey Kim & Sophia Pan Co-Editor-in-Chief & Copy Editor The smell of pancakes and steaming coffee filled the air as visitors laughed, greeted and shook hands in the small space at Diane’s Sidewalk Deli in Chesterbrook. Between the table occupied by a Girl Scout troop, St. Norbert School’s STEM students in the front and the veterans sitting in the left corner, there was no shortage of people in the restaurant at 7 a.m. on May 13. “It was exciting to see so many people out. There were a lot of different groups there from our community,� said TESD superintendent Richard Gusick, who attended the event. “Being in a room with a lot of folks who were excited to be in our community and represent how they do such good work was very rewarding.� All organizations that attended the event gathered for one purpose — Fox 29 anchor Bob Kelly’s program “Town Takeover,� which gives various groups an opportunity to spread awareness about their work in the community.
At the back of the room stood a display board featuring achievements and work of the nonprofit organization FLITE, which stands for the Foundation for Learning in Tredyffrin/Easttown. Members of TESD administration, the FLITE board and other community individuals arrived to support the organization. Anchor Bob Kelly walked around the room with a microphone and cameraman. “Well, every Monday we go to a different town, and we call it the ‘Town Takeover’ and give the opportunity for all the great groups and organizations within that town to show off the positive side of the news,� Kelly said. “This is an opportunity for the community to showcase, whether it be the FLITE program, something that’s happening at Conestoga, the Girl Scouts, the grade schools or the library — all positive — and we give everybody the chance to do that on Fox 29 in the morning.� Founded in 2006, FLITE backs and funds a variety of programs such as kindergarten enrichment, after school homework clubs, academic and leadership summer
camps, and the purchase of music and learning equipment for students in the district. “We (FLITE) are interested in helping kids make sure that they can take advantage of all the fine academic aspects of the district,� FLITE board member and co-founder Tom Colman said. “There are kids who have financial difficulties, difficult situations at home or a variety of things that may keep them from taking advantage of all the wonderful programs of the district. We want to make sure that every kid has a good shot in life and has an opportunity to succeed.� After the segment aired live to the Philadelphia area, Colman said that they started to receive emails from individuals asking how to volunteer for the organization. “The community who saw it (the program) on TV got an awareness of the number of organizations in Tredyffrin/Easttown, what they do to support their community and that it’s a very vibrant and cooperative community with people with varied interests in supporting a whole variety of causes,� Colman said. “The increased visibility for all the local organizations was terrific.�