April/May 2023

EDITORIAL: Reconsider Sexual Education at Strath Haven

think support for students.

EDITORIAL BOARD

The unsigned editorial represents the opinion of the Editorial Board, which consists of the student editorial staff listed on this page.

Students have sex. It’s a fact.

According to the CDC, more than half of teens will have sex before they are 18.

To both reduce the risks of sexually transmitted diseases and to work towards a supportive community for students, the Editorial Board believes that Strath Haven should adjust its approach to teaching Human Sexuality by ensuring that health courses are truly comprehensive.

the CDC. Roughly half of these infections were in people between the ages of 15 and 24.

The lifetime risk of contracting HIV is especially high in LGBTQ+ youth, according to GLSEN. One in six white young men who have sex with men and transgender women have a risk of being diagnosed with HIV.

Students want to learn about their own bodies, and the benefits of having comprehensive sexual education are clear.

Human Sexuality is currently listed as one of the four units in the “Healthful Living II” syllabus, which is a required health course for all students.

We believe the topics addressed in the syllabus are important and necessary. However, we believe other topics like addiction take precedence over sexual education, leading to students experiencing a condensed version of sex education.

Furthermore, when critical topics like sexually transmitted infections, sexual harassment, and sexual orientation are addressed in class, students report that the discussions merely touch the surface without defining terms within a modern adolescent context.

The rates of sexual harassment cases are also increasing. There were 14,938 incidents of sexual violence in K–12 schools in 2018, representing a 55 percent increase from the previous year, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.

and Sexuality Alliance (GSA) taught LGBTQ+ matters and definitions in health classes. This year, they stopped due to the amount of planning required and a feeling of exasperation: they should be supplementing the curriculum, not picking up for its deficiencies.

Although we believe student-led discussion is important, GSA’s termination of teaching further exposes the fact that educating on human sexuality topics, including LGBTQ+ topics, is overlooked in Strath Haven’s health curriculum.

About

The Panther Press is the student-run publication of Strath Haven High School in Wallingford, PA. The Panther Press publishes 500 copies bimonthly in print and is distributed to classrooms and students at Strath Haven High School. The publication is also online at www. shpantherpress.com

Our school district has the opportunity to set a positive precedent in the state and nation.

For example, students report that certain videos used for sex education in health class are outdated. The Editorial Board also believes that some conversations about sex in class are too brief and unhelpful, with the overarching theme simply being: “don’t have sex”.

Proper education on sexuality is particularly critical right now. In 2018, 26 million new sexually transmitted infections were reported, according to

Just as alarming is the number of LGBTQ+ students experiencing harassment in schools. 85 percent of LGBTQ+ students were verbally harassed in the past year and 56 percent experienced discriminatory school policies and practices. Reconsidering how the health curriculum is taught is necessary for both reducing the number of sexually transmitted diseases as well as creating a school culture where all students feel understood. Students want to learn about their own bodies, and the benefits of having comprehensive sexual education are clear. According to a report from the CDC, quality sexual health education means a delayed initiation of sexual intercourse, fewer experiences of unprotected sex, and an improvement in academic performance.

To provide this education, the Editorial Board proposes the following changes:

First, LGBTQ+ topics should be given more thoughtful emphasis in the curriculum. For ten years, the Gender

OPINION: Take a fun class!

Second, we propose that teachers and counselors actively try to be a one-on-one resource for students. Because students often lack someone to turn to for advice, leading them to rely on the internet or word of mouth, having a knowledgeable and sensitive teacher as a resource would provide students with a space to both learn and feel supported.

Strath Haven and WSSD have the opportunity to set a positive precedent. Pennsylvania’s public schools are not required to include information about sexual orientation, gender, consent, or other topics described in the K-12 National Sexuality Education Standards.

Our district prides itself on supporting its students. School board policies and administrative regulations specifically ensure that gender expansive and transgender students should be provided with equal opportunity and access to programs, services, and activities. On April 17, WSSD promoted the GLSEN Day of Silence on their social media, a day that highlighted the discrimination of LGBTQ+ students in schools.

By changing its approach to sexual education within the curriculum of health classes, not only can Strath Haven catalyze support for students in its own community, but also for students all across Pennsylvania through a positive example.*

As I near the end of my high school career, I can’t help but think back on the classes I took… and the classes I didn’t.

Charles Bogert ‘23

Sports Editor

Strath Haven offers a myriad of academically challenging and rigorous courses and most members of the district advocate that students should challenge themselves in the classroom. While this sentiment is in good faith, it is rare to see the promotion of taking a step back in school and caring for oneself.

Strath Haven has always been ambitious and successful. USNews ranks Haven as the 27th best school in Pennsylvania. For reference, there are about 2,700 high schools in the state, putting us in the top 1 percent. With

this comes expectations to succeed, and those expectations breed a culture of hard work and high achievement.

This culture can become dangerous at times, and I fell victim to it though my high school career. Whenever it came time to choose classes, I always felt mesmerized by the plethora of AP classes and challenging opportunities that presented themselves. Never once did it cross my mind to pick a class that didn’t seem to present a rigorous workload, giving me a block to have fun and take a breath

In the grand scheme of things, your health and well-being are much more important than a challenging schedule.

in an otherwise difficult schedule. As I look back, I wish I had taken one of these classes at least once. I wish I had a chance to cool down during an otherwise stressful school day. But, most importantly, I wish that everyone who reads this would keep these classes in mind because, in the grand scheme of things, your health and well-being are much more important than a challenging schedule.*

The Panther Press is first and foremost a reflection of the opinions and interests of the student body. For this reason, we do not publish any anonymous or teacher-written submissions, and we do not discriminate against any ideology or political opinion. While we are bound by school policy (and funding) and we will not render any article neutral, although individual points may be edited for obscene or inflammatory content. Finally, the articles published in The Panther Press do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors or advisers.

Submissions

All Strath Haven students are welcome to learn the basics of journalism and become contributors to The Panther Press. Our 2022-2023 Google Classroom code is irwrlgv. Interested students should join the page to learn about upcoming meetings and training sessions.

Letters to the editor are encouraged. Any reader may submit a letter to the editor via email to strathhavenpantherpress@gmail.com. Anonymous letters will not be published. Editors reserve the right to contact letter writers or edit submissions for reasons of space or clarity.

Our staff also welcomes feedback in the comments section of The Panther Press online or via our social media. Each comment is subject to review by a student editor with support from the adviser. Online commenters on our website must have a verified email address, and comments are reviewed for defamation, profanity, obscenity, libel, and invasion of privacy. Not all comments are published.

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All contributors are listed in the bylines of stories that appear in print and online. Photography, graphics, art, illustrations, and other creative work will be given attribution. Unsigned editorials, when published, feature the byline of the Editorial Board

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2022-2023 Editorial Staff

Editors-in-Chief

Matthew Chen ’23

Julia Gray ’23

Copy Editor

Health & Sciences Editor

Kaitlyn Ho ’26

Media & Video

Sylvan Prey-Harbaugh ‘23

Haven Happenings

Editor Rhys Hals ’23

Haven Arts Editor

Imogen Sharif ‘23

Sports Editors

Jillian Thomas ‘24

Charles Bogert ‘23

Detours Editor

Matteo Ventresca ‘25

Opinions Editor Sasha Binder ‘24

Adviser

Ms. Kate Plows

In light of increasing sexual-related incidents nationally, Strath Haven should re-

Senior lot sidewalk gets decked out in colorful pawprints

Weeks of planning by Haven Helps paid off in a fun, light-hearted painting session on Sunday, April 16.

Evelynn Lin ‘25 Contributor

On March 23, 2023, Haven Helps club adviser and math teacher Mrs. Beth Benzing sent an email to school staff regarding a new Haven Helps event.

The email said that any school club could sign up and have a paw designed and dedicated to them on the sidewalk near the senior lot.

Around 30 clubs signed up and donated money to participate in this event. According to Benzing, the twenty dollars collected from each club was used for paint and supplies.

On Friday afternoon, Haven Helps members painted white paws onto the senior parking lot sidewalk. Inclement weather postponed Saturday’s intended painting time. On Sunday, April 16, 2023, students all gathered to paint their passion for their clubs into the pavement.

“The kids have done an amazing job of coming through,” Benzing said. “I think the reason why they’re so successful is because the kids are so passionate about their clubs. They’re proud of what they do that they wanted to show up and advertise something that they are really proud of.”

The morning was full of smiles and laughs. Many of the students who turned up were seniors, glad to enjoy a morning where they could leave a mark on the school and possibly return to visit it after graduation.

“I think it’ll be very nice to come back and be able to see this permanently here,” senior Emma Wei said. “It’s fun being the one to be painting because it’s like you leave a

physical mark on the school, and that’s pretty cool.” For senior Erich Boerth, who was helping to paint paw prints for Swift Society and Knitting Club, the painting session would also leave a mark on his shorts.

“I accidentally got some paint on my shorts, but I just rolled with it since it’s not washable. So now, I’m getting very painted shorts, and it’s a lot of fun,” Boerth said. “I’m hoping to take the shorts with me as a bit of a memento.”

It’s not just the little things like the oil paints, the baked goods, and the miniature details of the paw design that made the overall Paw Print event enjoyable, but also the bigger picture of what this event was about: representation and pride.

“I’m looking forward to seeing everyone’s designs and how it all goes together because I think it shows a lot of what happens at Strath Haven,” Haven Helps leader Grace Kelly said.

The success of the event and final results of the current paws has many of the Haven Helps members excited and looking forward to what may come next for the remainder of the sidewalk left empty.

“I’m so excited for everyone to walk down this path, and just be like, ‘Oh my gosh, look at this,’” sophomore event organizer Madison Benzing said. “I’m also really excited for it to go well, so we can do it again next year.” *

Chess Club grows in popularity

NEWS IN BRIEF

PUPPIES VISIT AGAIN

Hosted by the Counseling Department, puppies returned to the hallway outside of the library on April 21 with the purpose of boosting students’ mental health. The dogs were provided by To Love a Canine Rescue.

SILVERTONES PERFORM AT PENNSYLVANIA MUSIC EDUCATORS ASSOCIATION

On April 20, the Silvertones were selected by audition to perform at the 2023 Pennsylvania Music Educators association (PMEA) convention. They celebrated after with a trip to New York to see the Broadway musical “Kimberly Akimbo.”

THIRD MARKING PERIOD ENDS

The third quarter of the 2022-2023 school year officially ended on March 31. More seniors have solidified their post high school plans, and all the seniors celebrated having one more quarter left in their final year at Strath Haven.

COSTA RICA TRIP

A group of Spanish students spent their spring break in Costa Rica from April 2 to April 9. They spent the trip immersing themselves in the culture of the area through food, hikes, and spending time with their host families.

MOCK CRASH

Firetrucks and police cars parked in the bus lane on April 20 to stage a mock crash with the goal of informing the junior class on the dangers of drunk driving. The event featured student and local professianal actors alongside local EMT and fire departments.

GONZALEZ-DIAZ RECOGNIZED AS STATE CHAMPION

Junior Leah Gonzalez-Diaz, co-editor of Jabberwocky Literary and Art Magazine, earned top honors for literary magazine artwork at the Pennsylvania School Press Association Student Journalism Competition in State College on Thursday, March 30.

STUDENTS ATTEND SUBSTANCE ABUSE SEMINAR

During a morning activities schedule on Tuesday, April 25, all students attended an educational assembly on the health risks of vaping, tobacco, and marijuana abuse led by educators from Caron, Treatment Centers.*

Over the past year, Strath Haven Chess Club—like the game itself—has seen big expansion.

Gabriel Ball ‘24

Contributor

In 2022, the game of chess grew to unparalleled popularity. Online streamers and content creators devoted to chess experienced a surge in viewership. Chess is an ancient game which began in India around 600 AD. It spread to Europe and throughout Asia in the subsequent centuries and became popular among the nobility and those of the upper class. Chess has long been associated with intellectualism and the elite. Then why all of a sudden has chess become a cultural phenomenon?

One of the newer members of the Chess Club is senior David Hagan. Hagan has been playing chess for just a couple months now, as he started playing at the beginning of the second semester. A lot of people in his classes had been playing chess, so he picked it up as a hobby.

“I think it’s a really interesting game because it takes

a lot of skill and strategy and also time to develop that skill, and it’s a game that you can work at and improve like any other game,” he said. “But I think it has its appeal because of the way it’s a very cerebral game.”

Sophomore Cormac Tracy joined Chess Club earlier this year, and started playing chess this past summer during downtime at his job.

“It really makes you think, you know?” he said. “It works on your focus and your critical thinking.”

Chess’s connotation with intelligence and strategy can seem intimidating to some, but Tracy believes it’s all about practice.

“For me it was just mostly Chess.com,” he said. Just play as many games as you can. Practice is everything. Learn an opening, play it every time, and I guarantee you will get better.”

An opening in chess is the sequence of moves at the

beginning of the game which sets up the first part of the game. Some openings such as the Vienna opening and a Centre opening can be played by players of all levels, while others like the French Defense or the Scilian opening are a bit harder to manage.

Mr. Babcock, the faculty sponsor of the Chess Club, has watched the club develop and expand in recent months.

“This year it has grown substantially,” he said. “Kids are coming Mondays and Fridays and some days even trying to catch a quick game in the middle of the week.”

If you come to the club, you might see students playing music, hanging out with friends, and sometimes even bringing snacks, all on top of playing chess.

Chess Club runs on Mondays and Fridays during 5th block for those interested in joining. Players of all skill levels are encouraged to join and have some fun. *

CREATIVE HELP • Sophomores Wendy Chen and Madison Benzing bend over the Marching Band paw print, beginning to paint out their design for the Paw Print event on April 16, 2023. PHOTO: EVELYNN LIN

“It’s fun being the one to be painting because it’s like you leave a physical mark on the school, and that’s pretty cool.”

Emma Wei ’23

Speech and Debate Team has successful season

Elise Molloy ‘24

As the school year begins to wrap up, students on the Speech and Debate team are working hard to end their successful seasons by achieving an important goal—a Nationals win.

Haven Speech and Debate has a very successful history. Members of the team acknowledge that this is due to the workrate of students, dedication of advisors and mentors, as well as the positive and supportive environment of the team.

At Speech and Debate tournaments, there are multiple events, highlighting different skills among the students. Depending on how well they do in their respective events throughout the year, students have the opportunity to qualify for a National competition.

There are two Speech and Debate leagues that Haven competes in. The first is the Catholic League, who will host their National Competition this May in Louisiana. The second is the National Speech and Debate Association, which will be hosting their National competition this June in Phoenix, Arizona.

Both leagues host different events throughout the year that all students have the opportunity to compete in. Multiple Haven students competed at the Tournament of Champions this April, which they qualified for by succeeding in multiple tournaments throughout the year.

For students participating in speech, they have been researching, reworking, and revising their speeches throughout the year with the goal of improving each time. As the National competitions get closer, their speeches are reaching their final state.

On the other hand, debate students have a variety of different topics assigned to them either every month or every other month, depending on the event.

“They’re constantly starting from scratch and relearning a whole new issue, doing all this research, repair, figuring out what everybody else is going to say,” Haven Speech and Debate advisor and social studies teacher Mr. Jefferey Kahn said. “The kids who succeed are the ones who put in the effort.”

Mr Kahn’s support for the team has played a vital role to their success. It was the support that Mr. Kahn provided for his students that contributed to his own win of “Coach of The Year” at Districts.

“The main thing that I do is make sure they can get to all the places they want to go,” he said. “So if there are tournaments they want to get to, if there’s goals that they have, then we make a plan to get them to that spot.”

The team is also very supportive of one another, utilizing peer-coaching as a tool to grow. It is especially important for upperclassmen to mentor and support the

underclassmen, using their own experiences to assist the younger students on how to become the best they can be.

“I don’t think I would be nearly as good as I am today if it weren’t for the seniors when I was younger, who helped me through it,” senior Supraja Sudarsan said.

As a senior, Sudarsan feels she has grown a lot since her first tournament.

“I’ve become more comfortable with myself as a person because of it,” she said. I’ve grown as a speaker, significantly, and my research has gotten better, I’m able to actually articulate my thoughts and put it into words. And most importantly, I’m comfortable speaking in front of people and…between college interviews and class presentations, it’s so so important in the future.”

Sudarsan also acknowledges that confidence plays a crucial role in success when it comes to speech.

“Honestly, it’s just like, being able to block everyone else out and just being confident in yourself,” she said. “You have to fully commit in speech...when you’re not afraid of what other people think, that’s when you break that barrier and go for it.”

Sudarsan has had a notable season and has qualified for three different National tournaments this year, one of which only the top three students in the district qualify for. She encourages anyone who is interested to give it a try.

“Speech and Debate is what you make of it and you have to make sure that you’re doing something you love, whether it’s an event, or just, you know, going to the smaller tournaments where you can spend more time with the team,” Sudarsan said. “if Speech and Debate is something that even remotely interests you, you just have to try it out and not be afraid. Because that fear is always going to be there.”

Mr. Kahn agrees with Sudarsan, noting that Speech and Debate helps develop important skills and it’s never too late to give it a try.

“There’s so many different events, we’ll find something that you like, and the team is open for people who want to win nationals and people who just want to try it once,” he said. “There’s something that anybody can get out of it. So if you want to do well, it’s going to take time and effort. You have to put in effort like for anything else, but you can show up with what you probably learned in class and do a debate and give a speech and just see what it’s like.”

Junior Meredith Seidman attributes a portion of the team’s success to their team chemistry.

“We’re a really good team,” Seidman said. “We are all pretty good friends with each other and at tournaments we all hang out and talk. We’re all very sociable with each

other and we just get along really well. We do a lot of team bonding, like after tournaments we’ll go out to eat dinner sometimes and it’s just a lot of fun”

Overall, excelling in Speech and Debate requires dedication, commitment, and confidence. But at the end of the day, it is about having fun. Haven Speech and Debate students have been so successful because they enjoy what they are doing and continuously find passion in their events.

“I think that we have had some really dedicated kids each year, who have taught other people how to be dedicated kids,” Kahn said. “Some of them go to camps, some of them just go to lots of tournaments, they work together. But they just kind of get addicted to it like people do in any activity. And then it’s just fun”*

PERSPECTIVE: Haven beats Penncrest in Central League Writing Contest

In case you were curious about what the inside of Penncrest looks like.

Kaitlyn Ho ‘26

Copy Editor/Health & Sciences Editor

On April 19, Strath Haven sent eight students, two per grade, to the Central League Writing Contest, a creative writing contest hosted by Penncrest.

Freshmen Edward Gebhardt and Kaitlyn Ho, sophomores Mali Rao and Luke Malaczewski, juniors Sharron Richardson and Alex Piech, and seniors Olivia Coyle and Lydia Pita competed.

Twelve schools attended, each paying an entrance fee of $200.

The contest took place in the Penncrest library, which has a very nice skylight and a whole shelf of manga. The hallways have a lot of posters of their Physics Olympiad wins.

Fun fact about the Penncrest bathrooms: They actually have specific ones only used for special events. According to some Penncrest students, these special event bathrooms are much nicer than their actual bathrooms. Appreciate our janitorial staff, please.

After being fed breakfast (on a one to ten scale, food was a six), we were given a writing prompt and one hour to write. The writing prompt included a picture of the Mona Lisa and asked us to write a short story on why she was smiling.

‘Make sure you have a beginning, middle, and end!’, the picture had been captioned, as a strange sort of good luck, perhaps.

And then we wrote. This part was not particularly exciting, but I enjoyed it. Note to my fellow writers: take a break from your

schoolwork and answer some writing prompts every once in a while. In the midst of crazy school, writing can be a welcome distraction.

We converged in their auditorium afterwards, and kids began to talk about their response to the prompt. There were some seriously crazy ones. In many, the Mona Lisa was a crazy murderer— so to answer the prompt, she’s smiling villainously in the portrait due to her successful kills. It was a bit concerning.

Guest author Jim Zervanos spoke with the contestants. He wrote the book That Time I Got Cancer, and a copy of the book was in each 1st place and 2nd place winners’ gift bag. That, and two Hershey bars.

They served slices of cake with Shakespeare’s face on it, as well! After an hour of tireless scribbling, the cake was a welcome and delicious reward.

Apparently Penncrest is our biggest rival? We beat them in the freshman category. We did it to avenge all of our Central League losses.*

Slabs of buttery sunlight stretched along the chestnut floored, their golden color tinted by stain glass. “We are gathered here today to mourn the passing of a beloved son, brother, and friend.” Maria did not look up. She did not feel the light.

“He is remembered by his mother, Maria Avesco, who will now speak the prayers to let his soul pass peacefully.” Maria did not move.

They mites of dust were as clouded as her passing thoughts. The black-veiled mother stood up and simply left the church, her feet carrying her down the cobbled streets. She barely registered the gasps, the hands reaching out for her.

Haven Speech and Debate is coming to the end of its season as students continue to excel in their events.

Contributor

TROPHIES ALL AROUND • Senior Supraja Sudarsan, junior Jillian Thomas, junior Aditi Halpe, senior Lydia Pita, junior Meredith Seidman, and coach Mr. Jeffrey Kahn pose with their trophies at an invitational tournament at University of Pennsylvania in February.

PHOTO: @STRATHHAVENSD INSTAGRAM

“You have to make sure that like any club you do, you’re passionate about it and if you’re not, it’s honestly not worth doing.”

Supraja Sudarsan ‘23

Excerpt from winning entry in the Central League Writing Contest by Kaitlyn Ho ’26

THE WALL: Alumnus David Buck reflects on musical inspiration

Have you ever stopped to catch a glimpse at the Wall of Honor? We continue a series of noted alumni interviews with a profile of the Principal Flute of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.

Matteo Ventresca ‘25

Detours Editor

David Buck is the Principal Flute for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. He has played in various orchestras across America, including the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Oregon Symphony.

Buck graduated from Strath Haven in 2000 and from The Juilliard School in 2004.

“Strath Haven and the WallingfordSwarthmore School District just has a really exceptional music program,” Buck said. “I’m a professional musician, and I would never even have had started playing music if not for that program.”

Buck started playing the flute at SwarthmoreRutledge School. He immediately realized that teachers are a very important asset to have in your life, especially in music.

“Mr. Scott Kiener, who’s retired now, but he was the band director at SRS. So, he’s the one who taught me how to hold the flute and gave me my first lessons,” Buck said. “Then, Mrs. Dandruff, Mr. Pearlberg, and Mr. Henry Shaw—the orchestra director at Strath Haven Middle School at the time. They were all just wonderful in helping to sort of direct me towards taking private lessons.”

Even though all these teachers helped Buck learn and play the flute well, there’s one person who stood out to him the most. Buck was taught by a former musician who played for 4 years in the Philadelphia Orchestra.

“Dave Kramer was probably the biggest influence on my flute playing when I was a teenager, and he played with the Philadelphia Orchestra for four years,” he said. “He’s the one who took me from being the first chair in

the school band to have the opportunity to go to Julliard to study the flute as an undergraduate.”

When he got to middle school, Buck realized that he enjoyed playing an instrument. He started to take it seriously, and the band director took notice.

“When I was in sixth grade, Mrs. Dandruff—she used to be the choral director at Strath Haven Middle School— took me aside, and she said, ‘You should think about taking private lessons’,” Buck said. Come high school, Buck still wasn’t positive he wanted to be a musician.

“I think my goals were pretty vague,” he said “I really liked playing music, and I wanted to get better at it… I auditioned for Philly Youth Orchestra and thought maybe I could actually play in an orchestra one day. So, I’d say by the end of freshman year, I sort of started to think maybe that would be a goal.”

Later in high school, he coached a small high school band that was thriving in the late 90s. This experience taught him much about what being a teacher meant.

“I coached the String and Flute Choir, and that actually gave me some really amazing experience as a teacher that I would never have had as a teenager,” Buck said.

He has managed to keep in touch with some friends and returns to the Delaware County area to spend Christmas and other holidays with his family.

“A good friend of mine, who’s the same year as me, is also a professional musician. He’s a horn player. He plays with the Colorado Symphony,” he said. “We get in touch every now and again, but unfortunately, because of music, you kind of have to go where the job is. So, I’ve

ended up living really far away from Philadelphia.”

According to Buck, anyone wanting to pursue this career must put their hard work and dedication into music.

“The most important thing is that you have to practice— a lot,” Buck said. “The exact amount you need to practice varies based on your goals, and also on the instrument you play, but practicing every day is fundamental for pretty much any kind of career in music.”*

Wallingford Elementary School launches student newspaper

Panther Press Editors-in-chief met with the papers’ staff

Sylvan Prey-Harbaugh ‘23

Media & Broadcast Editor

On Tuesday, April 11, Panther Press Editors-in-chief, Matthew Chen and Julia Gray, traveled to Wallingford Elementary School to discuss the school’s new student-run newspaper, Rusty’s Ramblings.

The Rusty’s Ramblings’s first issue was written completely by fifth graders and covered a wide range of WES-specific and general topics such as teaching tools, popular brands, nature, sports, and more. The paper also made sure to showcased students’ creative work, dedicating pages to literature, art, poetry, and a 21-question crossword puzzle

After her initial read, Gray was impressed.

“I was honestly amazed by how fifth graders could produce such a well developed publication,” she said. Gray reached out to the editor-in-chief of Rusty’s Ramblings, fifth-grader Siona Talekar, to compliment the staff and ask if they needed anything.

“I know that if I was a fifth grader, then I’d probably want that kind of connection with someone. And I thought that, if I could provide it, that would be nice,” Gray said.

The staff of Rusty’s Ramblings and editors-in-chief of The Panther Press traded questions, answers, and advice around a conference table in WES’s main office. The fifth-grade editors took notes as Gray and Chen explained how The Panther Press team goes about laying out the paper, and they eagerly asked questions such as “what made you want to get into journalism?”

“They were taking notes and that really touched me because it made me feel like what I was saying was actually important,” Gray said. Being at the meeting compelled Chen to compare the students with his own elementary school experience.

READ THE FIRST EDITION OF RUSTY’S

“I remember when I was in fifth grade, I was probably the polar opposite of the students I met.” Chen said. I was kind of that student who is always in the principal’s office and getting in trouble, So when I was interacting with these students, and they were holding such dignified conversations, sharing their experiences, and speaking so professionally, I was extremely blown away.”*

ALUMNUS DAVID BUCK ‘00 • As the principal flute player for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Buck emphasizes the importance of practice. “Practicing every day is fundamental for pretty much any kind of career in music,” he said. COURTESY PHOTO

“The most important thing is that you have to practice—a lot.”

David Buck ’00

JUNIOR JOURNALISTS • Top: The editors-in-chief of the Panther Press pose with the editors of Rusty’s Ramblings: senior Matthew Chen; fifth graders Adrianna Ho, Siona Talekar, Lauren Montague, Isabella Neri, and Carlie Millard; and senior Julia Gray.

Bottom: Talekar and Montague listen as Gray discusses the ins and outs of student journalism. PHOTOS: SYLVAN PREY-HARBAUGH

“I was honestly amazed by how fifth graders could produce such a well developed publication.”

-Julia Gray ’23

RAMBLINGS

International events celebrate student cultures

Alumni performance, community food sampling were highlights of evening event.

Julia Gray ‘23 Editor-In-Chief

The theme was color: shining through in the intricate clothing, foods, and cultural performances at the March 23 International Night and March 24 International Day.

Last school year hosted the first International Day assembly, but this year’s coordinators, seniors Aashna Pandey and Dyvne Lee, decided to expand the event so all community members could participate.

“Last year we received so much positive feedback from International Day, and my parents also came to me and said, ‘Oh I wish I could have seen it too,’ That got us thinking that we should try to expand it so it is not just a student thing,” Pandey said.

In addition to the showcase, which students who watched the March 24 assembly also watched, International Night featured tables where community members highlighted their cultures through food and activities.

One community member, Vitali Eskenazi, father of junior Carolyn Eskenazi, managed a table.

“We brought some food from the Turkish store. I am from Turkey… we displayed and people were interested. Everybody had a sample,” he said.

Compared to last year, alumnus and former International Day coordinator Joyce Huang noticed that overall interest and participation increased. She returned to Strath Haven this year with her dance group H4T to perform on International night.

“There are a lot more performers. Last year I felt like I was scrambling and begging people to come perform at International Day… this year my group was supposed to perform at the school [assembly], but they said that there were too many performers,” she said.

Dancer Ryan Thach, who performed with Huang in H4T, was happy to see student engagement.

“I definitely enjoyed seeing the other performances and seeing everyone enjoying themselves out on the stage… I’m glad the students came, did their work, and the parents came out and supported them,” he said.

The student engagement continued the next day. The March 24 school day assembly featured additional performances and a fashion show.

For students, International Day means sharing their identity and being proud of it.

“We are more than just what we look like.” Senior Dyvne Lee said. “Like I said in my speech, I am Kenyan. I am from the Kikuyu tribe in Kenya, Same for everyone else who just looks white or just looks brown. They are more than just Indian, they are more than just Asian.”

“It is about really knowing who people are and not just putting people in a group because of what they look like.”*

How Strath Haven students code-switch, integrate

culture Students share their personal experiences interacting and transitioning into a

Matthew Chen ‘23 Editor-in-Chief

Senior Michaela Santisi has had to work extra hard in school.

In an environment where there are “two categories of black people,” she felt she needed to get ahead in order to not confirm a stereotype.

“I felt like I’ve had to have the best grades my entire high school experience because I don’t want to feel like that black girl who’s like loud or not taking it seriously,” she said.

For many students, the motivation for getting good grades is simply being accepted into college; for others, good grades are a social rite of passage. On top of doing well in school, Santisi said she needs to code-switch in order to break away from stereotypes.

in our own environments because other people just wouldn’t understand. And they’ll take it the wrong way.”

Strath Haven students experience cultural differences on a global scale as well.

Senior Euriklea Taraj immigrated to the US from Albania when she was seventeen years old, coming to Strath Haven in the last month of her junior year. She noticed a difference in how friends interact in the US versus in Albania. In Albania, friends greet each other with a kiss on the cheek, while in the US, friends might give a handshake or say hi.

Code-switching involves adjusting one’s style of speech, appearance, behavior, and expression in ways that will comfort others.

Code-switching involves adjusting one’s style of speech, appearance, behavior, and expression in ways that will comfort others, according to the Harvard Business Review.

Code-switching is different for everyone, Santisi said. For her, it often happens unconsciously and automatically.

“It’s just matching the environment and reading the room, which is sometimes extremely hard because sometimes I feel like I’ll say something to the wrong crowd,” she said. “I feel like everyone does that but with black people, it’s like we have to hide more because of our backgrounds. We can’t act the way we do at home

Additionally, in Albania, students stay with the same class throughout the school day; even if initially students might not like one another, over time “you familiarize with them and you’re like brothers and sisters.”

Though there are some cultural differences between Albania and the US, Taraj said that people sometimes assume that you are more different than you really are. “You don’t get bullied about your background,” she said. “But I feel like people might think that you don’t know stuff…like you’re kind of behind them. I feel like people tend not to talk first or just keep their distance.”

Junior Xing Liu felt a similar sense of ostracism when he first immigrated to the US from China when he was ten.

Liu attended the McCall K-8 School in Philadelphia. For Liu, the main cultural difference there was the language barrier.

“Without language, there’s no way to understand [peoples’] personality and whatnot,” he said. “Additionally, Americans have their own circles, they have their own friend groups, [and] it’s not easy for you to join.”

At McCall, Liu said, not understanding English was problematic.

“[My peers] knew I was from a different country and knew that I didn’t know English,” he said. “They knew no matter what they said I wouldn’t understand. So whatever they wanted to say, they said.”

Despite the apparent cultural barriers and differences, Taraj said it’s important that people first recognize our inherent similarity in being human.

“We are the same,” she said. “You should treat the other [person] the way you would treat your best friend of the other American friends that you have.”

Taraj said that conversations are important.

“I feel like people should talk more with each other,” she said. “Because everyone has a unique story to tell.”*

CLASS ACTS • TOP: Alumnus Joyce Huang’s dance ensemble H4T performs at the evening performance on March 23. BOTTOM: The final act of the night takes to the stage to perform Bollywood fusion. PHOTO: JULIA GRAY

into popular

community.

Haven to transition to Schoology, saying goodbye to Google Classroom

A learning management system will be adopted next year, connecting online assignments directly to gradebooks through the Powerschool owned service, Schoology.

Yash Singh ‘23 Contributor

Wallingford Swarthmore School District’s school board recently approved the investment of over $49 thousand dollars in initial costs for a new learning management system, according to the February 27 school board minutes.

The school is switching from Google Classroom to Schoology, which is expected to provide a more streamlined and efficient experience for both teachers and students

The change in platforms is expected to take place in January 2024.

Schoology provides a centralized location for teachers to manage course materials, attendance, and grades.

“Google Classroom is not a learning management system,” Assistant Superintendent Dr. James Conley said. “Schoology is going to provide more interaction with teachers, parents, and community members.”

Google Classroom does not feature any student discussion boards and it does not enable teachers to design new content within the tool, which is why it is not considered a learning management system.

Schoology is designed to provide a more interactive and engaging learning environment for students, according to Conley, and it offers features such as course management, collaboration tools, and advanced analytics. It gives teachers access to student information such as class schedules and transcripts all from one site, eliminating the need for teachers to switch between multiple systems to manage their classes and access student information through PowerSchool.

Schoology also allows teachers to directly upload grades to PowerSchool, eliminating the hassle of copying grades from assignments to the grading platform, according to Conley.

“When Schoology comes into effect next January, everyone’s schedule will be populated, and you will not need to invite people to classes,” Conley said. This will make it easier for teachers and students to

manage their schedules and access the content they need to be successful in their classes.

To ensure a smooth transition, the school is planning training sessions for teachers. One teacher from each department will be selected to attend these sessions and will be trained on how to use Schoology. These teachers will then be required to teach their colleagues in the department how to use the new system. While this change will take some getting used to, the administration believes that the benefits of switching to Schoology outweigh any initial challenges. With consistent training and support, teachers should be able to use the new system effectively.

The switch to Schoology is not without cost. In addition to the initial costs, the board has approved over $24 thousand dollars in annual ongoing subscription and professional development costs. However, the school sees this as a necessary investment in improving the educational experience for its students.

“Look at Delaware County, for example,” Conley said. “Every other school has a learning management system.”

By adopting Schoology, the Strath Haven School District will be joining a growing community of schools that are using learning management systems to enhance the learning experience for teachers and students, according to Conley.

Students should expect to receive more information about the transition from their teachers soon. While it may take some time to adjust to the new system, Conley said the school is committed to making the transition as smooth as possible.*

WRITE US!

We welcome letters to the editor. Any reader may submit a letter via email to strathhavenpantherpress@gmail.com Anonymous letters will not be published. Editors reserve the right to contact letter writers or edit submissions for reasons of space or clarity.

PA House proposes lowering permit age to 15 Pennsylvania potentially lowering the permit age sparks reactions among community members.

Jason Zhang ‘26 Contributor

Pennsylvania legislators may be making major changes to the structure of the driver’s permit.

Proposed House bill number 460 encapsulates all the changes that are planned for the permit, which includes a reduction in the required age by one year— from 16 to 15. No other changes are proposed to the safety and training measures already in place by the Department Of Transportation.

“My first reaction is, why the reversal?” social studies teacher Ms. Xaras Collins said. “There was a string of really bad accidents involving teenagers at night and it coincided with the introduction of things like the cell phone too. I remember a lot of restrictions in place.”

Ms. Collins’ concerns are not unsupported. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among teenagers in the United States.

In 2019, there were 2,141 people killed in crashes involving a teenage driver. Crashes don’t just impact those driving; of those deaths, 1,754 were occupants of other vehicles or pedestrians.

Freshmen Yuhang Li expressed trepidations about the potential change.

“I feel like I do a lot of stupid stuff,” he said. “High schoolers in general probably do a lot of stupid stuff. Yeah, it still applies to sixteen-year-olds, but I mean, this is like the first year of high school in most high schools, especially Pennsylvanian ones. You’re probably going to do stuff that you’ll regret and ideally that stuff probably shouldn’t be sitting in a one ton metal box, a death machine.”

them better for the future.”

READ THE BILL

Even though concerns about having fifteen-year-olds behind the wheel are being expressed, this proposal points toward a potential increase in employment for young adults. With an earlier driver’s permit, teens will be able to get to work easier.

“It’s hard to get a job without being able to drive,” senior Julia Knapp said. “I think lowering the age allows kids to go out and do a lot more than get jobs too, you can become independent in a lot of ways. I think it’s good that kids are becoming independent earlier, it prepares

While some agree that the change could be beneficial for teens with jobs, questions arise if fifteen-year-olds truly are mature enough to drive around in an area that is closely populated.

“Just imagine a fifteen-year-old zooming down I95,” Li said. “I feel like fifteen is too young. I mean, yeah, I’m not sure if sixteen is right. But it really depends on where you live. In states like Idaho, there is less risk, so that’s why their permit age is so low.”

The bill has been referred to the transportation committee.*

PHOTO: SYLVAN PREY-HARBAUGH

REALISTIC LESSONS • Senior Jessica Farhat watches the scene in horror as she participates in the mock car crash on April 20. First responders, actors from Hedgerow Theatre, and senior students collaborated to portray the immediate aftermath of a drunk driving accident, including a staged student fatality. Farhat’s role was to be “the only person in the situation who hadn’t done anything wrong,” she said. “So my role was mostly to seem like I was frantic and panicked.”

PHOTO: GEORGIA GIANOPULOS

THE HEALTH AND SCIENCES SECTION

May I present to you, with much fanfare, the littleanticipated section you’ve probably haven’t been waiting for: the health and sciences section.

You may have noticed that we didn’t have one before. The paper has been functioning wonderfully in the health and sciences section’s nonexistent state. However, we are dedicated to giving you a wide variety of topics while also organizing our articles so that you can choose which ones to ignore (just kidding, please read every article you can in honor of our dedicated staff).

I would like to emphasize this is in no way created to distract from the arts community. SHHS is super cool, with a robust music program and a swelling arts program. The liberal arts and the sciences are not mutually exclusive. We are hoping that we can show the ways STEM can become STEAM.

What’s that? What news will be in this section? I’m glad you asked, hypothetical Panther Press reader. We’ll be localizing major science news, reporting on the latest sicknesses, giving a space for talk about mental health, and spotlighting sciencerelated clubs and student endeavors, among many other fascinating topics that I’m 100% sure you are absolutely dying to hear about.

In a constantly changing world, there is still so much to learn. From my very thorough search on the internet, I discovered a lovely little quote.

“We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology.” -Carl Sagan.

We certainly realized this during the pandemic, when health was at its most prevalent. How many of you knew the definition of ‘quarantine’ three years ago? How many of you had ever worn a mask before, or checked the news so constantly?

And, on a smaller scale, aren’t you curious to know what the community is naming the latest sickness sprung from the school dance?

A number of you will not read all of this. A number of you don’t like science, and the mention of it alone makes you cringe from the memories of your assignments and tests.

A fraction of you might just open this newspaper to a random page in a fit of boredom, and a fraction of that fraction might see something that makes them curious.

We’re excited to learn more about the SHHS science community, and we’re hoping you can learn something from us, too.

If you have any questions or ideas regarding the health and sciences section, send me an email at kho@ wssdgmail.org. *

Philly residents get mixed signals after Delaware River chemical spill

The

Kaitlyn Ho ‘26

city

Copy Editor/Health and Sciences Editor

On March 24, there was a chemical spill from a Bucks County plant into the Delaware River, supposedly contaminating the water used in Philly.

Clean drinking water disappeared from the store shelves, even around Delaware County, at a rate reminiscent of the 2020 toilet paper disappearances. Constantly changing information made it difficult to discern whether or not it was safe to drink the tap water.

Philly resident and science teacher Ms. Hannah Holt first found out about the spill through a text message on her phone from the city government.

“This initial message said that there was a chemical spill somewhere in the Delaware River and that people should buy bottled water,” Holt said. “But then a few hours later, another text message was sent. They said to not buy bottled water because there were a bunch of grocery stores that were being ransacked for all of them because people were scared. Then they’re like, ‘Oh, actually, like your tap water is fine’. Until 11:59pm on Monday. And I’m like, ‘How do you know what time the chemicals could possibly affect the water?’ ”

The fluctuating news forced Ms. Holt to do some of her own research. She discovered that the chemicals in the river were similar to the ones released in Eastern Palestine, Ohio, after the recent train crash there.

After the events in Eastern Palestine, her students became curious about the possibility of acid rain, which Holt was able to convert into a teachable moment. She gave them reading materials, and they discussed how the students might feel if they knew there was a chance that their water was contaminated.

A month later, it actually happened half an hour away in Philadelphia. But how

Nuclear Energy 101

much danger was created when those unknown chemicals hit the water?

“Because it was from a plastic polymer resin plant, it was just some organic materials that had spilled, which are dangerous if you consume them in large quantities,” Holt said. “But I think in the end, the majority of the chemicals were cleaned up before it reached any of the water sources in Philly.”

To get more technical, the two main compounds that were put into the Delaware River were butyl acrylate and ethyl acrylate. One of their properties is that they partly dissolve in water. It would be worse if they fully dissolved in water because then it would be dispersed all throughout the river and would be harder to find.

“They also are less dense than water, so they will float on water. That is one way to tell if it is in your water. I mean, there’d be like, white looking stuff, or particles in your water. Also, if it’s present in high enough concentration, it could also be flammable,” Holt said.

Senior and Philly citizen Sylvan PreyHarbaugh was on his way back home from a college trip when his phone began to blare an alarm.

“It was a public safety alert…‘Do not drink the water,’ basically, because of the chemical spill. I was like, ‘Oh, so this, it’s like, a real thing’. Because it seems really science fiction-y, you know, that there’s a chemical spill, you can’t drink the water,” Prey-Harbaugh said.

He also got conflicting information as to whether the tap water was safe to drink or not.

“It was kind of up and down,” PreyHarbaugh said. “They’re like, ‘There, you can drink the water’. And then you can or

maybe you can’t. So we just really tried to stay away from the tap at all. Even things like washing our dishes, we had to be careful and think about if we wash our dishes with this possibly contaminated water, will we actually be cleaning it?... Which is something you don’t really think about, so I think this really showed me how much we used the water that comes out of our tap.”

Prey-Harbaugh was lucky to have a prepared dad who had long planned for this moment. There were already jugs of water (albeit slightly strange-tasting water, since it had been stored in a closet) stacked and ready to go.

They went out to get more water—and then the callback to the pandemic began. Just replace toilet paper with clean water.

“When we got there, there was only distilled water and the really fancy water because everyone around, even—and we stopped in a store that wasn’t even in Philadelphia— but people outside of Philadelphia were still cautious and scared that their water would be contaminated,” Prey-Harbaugh said. “So people must’ve just rushed to the store right away and bought all the cheap, just regular water.”

Imagine not being able to get simple, pure, clean water. Not from your house or the grocery store.

“We had to get fancier-than-we-wanted water or water that had like special things added to it because the shelves were kind of just bare, which is something I hadn’t really seen since the beginning of COVID when people were out of stuff,” PreyHarbaugh said. *

Here’s everything you need to know about nuclear energy to be a self-certified pro!

Jason Zhang ‘26

Contributor

Nuclear energy, while not a new source of renewable energy, has been gaining popularity because of its ability to create safe, and reliable energy.

Nuclear energy, by definition, is the form of energy that originates from the nucleus of an atom. Utilizing the concept of nuclear fission, when the nucleus of an atom is split into smaller components, a large amount of energy is released. This new energy is used to generate heat and steam. The steam is then used to turn a turbine, which powers a generator to produce electricity.

There are many uses for nuclear energy in modern-day society. As it gains popularity, it becomes more widespread in countries like our own and others worldwide.

Nuclear power plants, when measured, generate a large quantity of electrical energy used in the US. In 2020, nuclear energy generated enough electricity worldwide to power 178,710,000 homes for a year, making it the second-largest source of low-carbon electricity, after water power, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. In the United States, nuclear energy accounted for 19.7% of the country’s electricity production in 2020.

With nuclear energy being such a big energy producer, it makes use very widespread throughout the globe, but worries about the environment arise with this widespread use of the energy source. According to a study conducted by Pushker A. Kharecha and James E. Hansen, nuclear energy has acted as a significant factor in ceasing the weight of 12,800,000,000 elephants’ worth of CO2 emissions since the start of the 1970s. This

statistic is similar to the annual CO2 emissions deployed into the atmosphere by Europe and the United States combined. However, nuclear energy produces less air pollution compared to coal plants according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency. It also produces less waste, with nuclear waste accounting for only a small bit of the total waste produced by the industry.

Safety is the number one top priority in the nuclear industry when it comes to designing nuclear power plants. Modern power plants are designed with lots of safety systems in place to prevent accidents from occurring. According to the World Nuclear Association, the risk of a nuclear accident causing fatalities or illnesses in the general public is extremely low.

Safety concerns are minimal due to engineers designing reactors with multiple fail safes in order to prevent accidents that could be life-threatening. But some may wonder if all this even is more efficient compared to standardized energy sources.

Nuclear energy is incredibly efficient. According to the MIT Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, a small uranium fuel pellet, which is roughly the size of a fingertip, can produce the same amount of energy as one ton of coal or 17,000 (around 3 ½ football fields) cubic feet of natural gas. Nuclear power plants require much less fuel than traditional power plants, making them cheaper in the long run.

Nuclear energy is important to consider when it comes to creating sustainable energy sources. It has the potential to produce large amounts of energy with lower air and water pollution than most conventional forms of energy production. *

sprawling

sprung into action, warning everyone within its limits to not drink the tap water—until it changed its mind.

“I think this really showed me how much we used the water that comes out of our tap.”

Sylvan Prey-Harbaugh ‘23

Haven takes third in Envirothon competition once again

Haven

Rhys Hals ‘23

Haven Happenings Editor

Tuesday, April 25, marked the 40th year of Pennsylvania Envirothon, an environmental-based academic competition. Haven has been sending teams for over fifteen years. Tuesday was the second year in a row that students from the high school have traveled to Ridley Creek State Park to compete, after missing two years due to COVID.

Senior Envirothon leaders Nicholas Cardi and Caitlin McManus and adviser Ms. Kathy Freeman organized the club members into three teams, with thirteen students competing total. There are five topics tested, and each team member devotes themselves to a different topic. This year the topics were wildlife, aquatics, forestry, soils, and climate change.

Stations were set up throughout the area for each topic, and the paper tests are proctored by local park rangers, fish experts, game wardens and other such knowledgeable outdoor experts. Students had twenty minutes at each station to complete the tests, which consisted of animal identification prompts, questions on given soil texture charts, and what countries will be most affected by rising sea levels.

The low-intensity competition draws schools from all over Delco, although since COVID, its participant numbers have been low. This year the Strath Haven teams were joined by a Sun Valley team and two Penncrest teams.

For the 28th year in a row, one of Penncrest’s teams, Penncrest Gold, came in first with a score of 479/500 (each topic is scored out of 100), closely followed by Penncrest Red.

Haven’s A team, this year called “The Big Green Cats” was comprised of Cardi, senior Imogen Sharif, junior CJ Chen and sophomore Jaden Hunter. They were awarded bronze for third place with a final score of 342.

The other two Strath Haven teams, “Got Dirt?” and “The Plant-hers” ended up with 313 and 309 points respectively. *

TOP: HOW TALL? •“The Plant-hers,” sophomore Ella Liberi, senior Mackenzie Murray, freshman Will Reitmeyer, and senior Owen Brennan, hold up a Biltmore stick, a tool used to find the volume of a tree, in order to answer a question on the forestry test.

RIGHT: RAWR!•“The Big Green Cats”, seniors Imogen Sharif and Nick Cardi, junior CJ Chen, and sophomore Jaden Hunter pose with their third place trophy and bronze medals.

PHOTOS: CHARLOTTE HORETSKY

THE ORGINAL ISSUE INCLUDED AN ARTICLE ABOUT THE END OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY ALLIANCE’S PRESENTATIONS IN SOPHOMORE HEALTH CLASSES. THE STRATH HAVEN ADMINISTRATION QUESTIONED THE CONTEXT AND FACT-CHECKING OF QUOTES IN THE STORY. THE PANTHER PRESS IS CURRENTLY WORKING WITH ADMINISTRATION TO COME TO A COMPROMISE SO THAT WE CAN PUBLISH THE STORY IN THE FUTURE.

HAVEN ARTS STUDENT PERSPECTIVES

Dance masterclass energizes performers of any experience level

Participants keep their bodies moving as they shake the stress away.

Sylvan Prey-Harbaugh ‘23 Media and Broadcast Editor

SEE VIDEO AT SHPANTHERPRESS.COM

Loud music reverberated through the auditorium on Wednesday, March 29, as new and experienced dancers alike danced to the beat of Rihanna’s “Don’t Stop The Music.”

The class was hosted by studentorganized club, Dance Haven, and ran from 6-8 pm. Dance plays a big part in the members of Dance Havens’ lives, and they wanted to share that with others “We’re not fundraising for anything and its not a volunteer thing either. It’s literally just because I think it would be fun and its really nice to be able to share the joys of dancing with the greater community,” senior Dance Haven leader Emma Wei said.

The student-run club announced the

class over the morning announcements and on social media with an Instagram post captioned, “Don’t just stay home and eat chips… make sure you pop out to Dance Haven’s first-ever masterclass.”

Though she didn’t know what to expect, senior Ani Smith was convinced by Wei to attend the class.

“I thought it was going to be just a big dance party, but I actually learned a few dance moves I didn’t know,” Smith said.

The dance instruction was fast-paced, filling the newcomers with energy.

“I definitely was a little bit behind but that wasn’t really the point of me going,” Smith said. “I just had a good time and I came away feeling proud of myself.”*

Students grateful for Haven teachers

Matteo Ventresca ‘24, Julia Gray ‘23, Matthew Chen ‘23 Detours Editor, Editors-in-Chief

We have to go to school whether we like it or not. The teachers we meet there, though, sometimes acutually make it worth while. Teacher appreciation day was May 2 and teacher appreciation week started May 8. We asked students two questions: “How do you show appreciation to your teachers” and “what do you appreciate about your teachers?”

“Recently, when I like a teacher, maybe I’ll say hi to them after class. Just say how I’m doing, kind of like make myself known by them, I guess. I like that my teachers are very caring, and they very much enjoy teaching… I think when they feel that their students are engaged, they have a better time teaching.”

“I like to [give] occasional gifts or something like that, and just obviously the saying thank you and stuff outside of the classroom. Usually when they like listen to your concerns and like, work with you through problems and kind of see you as a student and there’s a genuine student [and] teacher relationship.”

“I show kindness and I’m nice to them and I get my work in.

I appreciate how nice they are and how accommodating they are for my late work.”

“On a daily basis I just say ‘thank you.’ I don’t know— well, when you leave the classroom you’re like ‘thank you for teaching me today.’

Putting up with me. Because I’m a hassle. And always being nice. Most of the time, most of the time being nice.”

“I could give them a sticker. I could say thank you for working hard and teaching me a lot.

I appreciate answering my questions when I ask them.”*

sent three teams to Ridley Creek State Park to compete in an environment-based competition.

BOOGIE • Junior Dance Haven co-president Claire Ross dances along to Rihanna’s “Don’t Stop The Music,” a hiphop style dance choreographed by fellow co-president Jaina Livingstone. PHOTO: SYLVAN PREY-HARBAUGH

HENRY REACHER ’24

GREG GURON ’25

LUCY KARN ’24

NOEL BLANCHETTE ’24

CATHERINE CARUSO ’24

Middle school Science Olympiad team hopes for competitive high school program

Members of middle school Science Olympiad team reveal the beauty of competition— bringing the fun back into learning.

CJ Chen ‘24 Contributor

On Friday, March 10, 25 middle school students participated in the regional Science Olympiad tournament at Penn State Abington and received fourth in the southeast region. Each middle school season culminates in a Regionals tournament and usually involves moving on to a weekend away at States, in which Pennsylvania shows off some of the most competitive teams in the country.

The nationwide Science Olympiad program consists of twenty-three events categorized as lab, build, and hybrid events. The different events allow members to study advanced science topics, take written tests, test a pre-built structure, and a combination of both. Most events rotate out every few years so that new (but similar) events are introduced and the competition stays fair The future for these bright young minds is hopeful, as the team comes together after two years of COVID to compete in person again.

The success of the team depends on the student’s ability to individually (or collaboratively with a partner) plan, organize, and make time for the hard work that goes into practice for competition.

“I always tell everybody, it’s like a travel team. [it’s] the varsity sport for nerdy kids who actually completely enjoy it. And it’s an opportunity for them to shine, so they need that venue,” Head Coach Marc de Jong said.

It’s no surprise that many Strath Haven students are drawn to Science Olympiad, even those that didn’t expect it to be such an intense program. Coach de Jong noticed the popularity of build events among students, which require careful design, construction, and testing within the parameters set for the event.

“It doesn’t take much to tell a sixth grader that you’re going to build balsa wood bridges, and that’s interesting, whether you’re into science or not,” de

Jong said.

And if that same sixth grader ends up trying it out, they would find that there is physics and a scientific process behind constructing a bridge. Science Olympiad naturally encourages students to dive deeper into advanced topics that interest them but haven’t been exposed to yet.

In the past, it has been difficult for the team to score high when it comes to the Bridges event, so it is especially exciting to take home a medal at the regional level.

Seventh grader Kyle Markey and his partners can be credited with that fourthplace title. Markey has been practicing for Bridges and Flight this season, both of which are build events. According to him, the best part of Science Olympiad is the satisfaction of seeing his structures succeed at competition.

The build events are successful at recruiting in new members, such as now eighth grader Emily Zhang, who joined early on to participate in them. Even though she never ended up building, she finds that participating in study-heavy events has prepared her for higher-level science classes.

In the regional competition, Zhang medaled in fourth place in all of her events (Crime Busters, Can’t Judge a Powder, WIDI, and Experimental Design). She emphasizes the importance of having experienced members, particularly on the higher level teams, continue their participation in the program and to mentor the younger members.

“I feel like when I first started, I literally, I learned the ropes from like, the eighth graders and the high schoolers because they really helped me out… that’s how I learned to do my notes for all of Crime Busters,” she said.

For seventh grader Alex Garfall, his participation in the Anatomy and Physiology event came from an inspiration close to home.

“My father’s an oncologist at the

University of Pennsylvania so I feel like it was kind of an obligation, but I’ve also found the medical sciences as interesting,” Garfall said.

In addition to anatomy, Garfall competes in the Fast Facts event, which is different from any other written test event because of its unpredictable nature.

“They’re both study-based events so really just the past few months I’ve been studying, studying, studying,” Garfall said.

He enjoys Science Olympiad because it puts a purpose to learning— he’s doing that “studying, studying, studying” to see how he matches up to competitors. The goal to keep doing better than last time is a prime motivator for Garfall.

“I want to see how the rest of the season turns [out], and you know, but I think it’s something I want to continue. The whole process of studying and competing is probably my favorite part of it, really,” he said.

According to Coach de Jong, “It’s a really bright future for our middle school. And hopefully… that translates into more participation at the high school level as well.”

With many students graduating out of the middle school team next year, there is potential to reconfigure a competitive high school team, which will require a lot of additional effort from both members and coaches.

“The high school team [members] were excellent role models for leaving that space open for the kids coming from the middle school to continue that tradition into the high school,” he said.

“I would love to see someone be able to get someone on the high school, a teacher from the high school, [to] be able to support that program like it had been in the past. Just to give the kids a space, a physical space there at the high school, because I think that’s a big barrier right now.”*

Robotics team competing to bring home trophy

Anatomy and Physiology (Written Test)

Biology

Goal: Understanding of the human digestive, respiratory, and immune systems

Bridges (Build)

Physics

Goal: Hold the most weight (by filling an attached bucket with sand until the structure breaks) with the lightest weighing bridge constructed with only wood and glue

Can’t Judge a Powder (Lab)

Chemistry

Goal: Observe and determine properties of unknown powdered substance

Crime Busters (Hybrid Lab and Written Test)

Chemistry

Goal: Given a scenario with suspects, use the evidence provided and solve the crime

Experimental Design (On-site)

Scientific Process

Goal: Given a specific set of materials, design and perform an experiment including a full lab writeup

Fast Facts (On-site)

General Science

Goal: Give fast and accurate answers to science trivia questions within six minute rounds

Flight (Build)

Physics

Goal: Achieve the longest flight time of a rubber band-powered aircraft

Write It Do It (WIDI) (On-site)

Scientific Process

Goal: One student describes an object and writes instructions to build it, the partner uses only those instructions to recreate structure accurately

The Positronic Panthers have built a robot under the guidance of Mr. Brown, but will it survive to the end?

Kaitlyn Ho ’26

Copy Editor/Health & Sciences Editor

Starting a few weeks ago, the robotics team of around 20-30 people has gone to competitions each weekend, and will continue to compete over spring break.

Mr. Brown, robotics teacher and advisor at Strath Haven, calls the team a tight-knit family. Although the team is not as large as it was before the pandemic, Mr. Brown believes their robot will be able to recover a title from 13 years ago.

“[Robotics] is using a machine to do a task that humans would be able to do, normally. But a machine that could do it either better or more efficiently, or in a more dangerous place,” Brown said.

That is just what their robot will need to do in the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition in Science and Technology) robotics international competition, an international robot competition founded by a man named Dean Kaman. He had noticed a low count of engineers while looking at candidates for his company, and as is the ethics of an engineer, wanted to find a solution to this problem. He decided to create a robotics competition for students, pairing them with engineers from real companies, to generate more interest in engineering.

The objective of each round is to do a task, such as

placing blocks onto shelves, or to simply attack another robot.

“We have one engineer from Boeing, and we have an engineer from the Department of Defense that come help us on Saturdays with a robot,” Brown said.

Teams are labeled by how many other teams had signed up before them. SHHS’s Positronic Panthers are team #486. According to the website, there were 3,225 teams in total during the 2021-2022 season.

“It was 1999. They decided to start a robot program, and they didn’t know how to do it,” Brown said. “They were invited by Dean Kaman to come up to Manchester, New Hampshire to learn about this program. And when they came home, they had a box full of parts and a team number 486.”

They didn’t exactly take home the trophy the first year. Or the year after that. But in 2003, they won the Philadelphia Regional and went to the World Championships, going against the best teams in the world. Seven years after that, they went to the World Championships again.

This year, the robot the team is building is about 125 pounds, with some students coming in every day after school to work on it. Even so, it will be difficult for the robot to compare against the more well-funded teams.

“There’s a team from Downingtown, called Sabotage…1640 is their team number,” he said. “And they have 72 students on the team and started much earlier. It costs $625 a year to be on the team, so they start with $45,000.”

Newer equipment in the robotics team could be beneficial for future years as well. Sophomore Jacob Jurkech, who is hoping to continue his time with the robotics team next year, outlined the need for updated tools.

“We have a lot of old machinery, not newer compared to other teams,” Jurkech said. “So getting the 15 year old parts, some of them to work…Some of them are older than me.”

Jurkech formally joined this year. His aim?

“Enjoy myself and get better because I personally like messing and tinkering with electronics and metal and stuff. I already do that. Whenever, you know, whenever I have some project to do. I enjoy it,” he said.

Sophomore Jaden Hunter is on the build team as one of about three or four girls on the robotics team altogether. She also believes in the camaraderie of the team, though there is room for improvement.

>CONTINUED, 11

Junior prom prevails and succeeds, despite heavy rain

After months of planning, outfit shopping, and fretting over dates, flowers, and rain, junior prom brought smiles and long-lasting memories to the Class of 2024.

Evelynn Lin ‘25 Reporter

Heavy rain and thunderstorms didn’t stop this junior class from experiencing their prom to the fullest on April 24 at the Waterfall Banquet Hall in Claymont, Delaware.

From a buffet dinner and baskets of candy available for students to strobing lights illuminating the dance floor and even a red carpet photo booth, junior prom was a night to remember for both students and staff alike.

“I was online last year, so this [junior prom] is everything to me. I love it all,” junior Adia Qualls-Houston said. “My favorite part of tonight was seeing everybody just so happy with no worries at all and no schoolwork. Just happy.”

Over 300 students showed up that night in glamorous dresses, ready to dance the night away. The dance floor was noted to be a highlight of the night by many of the students.

“It was really fun just because I don’t get to do that really often,” junior Sachin Goindi said. “So the dance floor was one of those things that when you get to do it, you just go all out.”

Prom isn’t just known to be a dancer’s jam, but it’s also a sweet night for couples to dress up and spend time together.

“Prom was just nice because we got to spend time with other people and with each other,” couple Cecily Heisy-Terrell and Wyatt Staley-Bischoff said. “It was a great social event, and we got to dance together, which was a really nice experience.”

Not just students enjoyed the event. For junior class adviser Mrs. Carly Reid, overseeing the event and watching students enjoy themselves was very rewarding.

“I really enjoyed prom. Just seeing everybody transform from a student to glamor, everyone all looked phenomenal,” she said. “I’m just really proud. This class lost a lot in the pandemic and to be able to give this… I’m glad they embraced it and had fun.”

Unforgettable memories were made, and much of the junior class is looking forward to their senior year, where they’ll have another fun and special prom.

“If it’s [senior prom] going to be like this year, then yeah, I’m definitely looking forward to next year,” Goindi said.*

SCENES FROM THE WATERFALL • Juniors and their guests enjoyed the ambience, food, music, and occasional crowdsurfing at the junior prom on Saturday, April 24.

PHOTOS: JESSICA FARHAT

MORE PHOTOS ON SMUGMUG: SHHSPHOTO.SMUGMUG.COM

>ROBOTICS, 10

“Honestly, for the most part, it’s pretty fun,” Hunter said. “I like the guys, but there are moments where I have to experience some, like, a tide of misogyny. For instance, just when I come up with an idea, and they don’t listen to me, and they don’t appreciate the idea or don’t think that it’s worth it. And then I talked to someone else about it, and they’re like, yeah, that’s important, you should be doing that…That feels like— I don’t know if it’s because I’m a girl, but it is something that I’ve experienced.”

Brown understands the need to let his students persist, and tries to let them be as independent as possible in face of the difficulties.

“I helped build the robot,” Brown said. “I don’t know anything about the electronics on the robot. The students did all that. I don’t program. I don’t know anything about Java code. The students program our robot. That team from Delaware. They have a software engineer that programs a robot. We have a 17 year old.”

Throughout the challenges, comparing themselves to other teams, and keeping in mind the scarcity of diversity in engineering these days, the robotics team holds together as they continue to dream about winning that trophy.*

UPCOMING ARTS EVENTS

INSTRUMENTAL CONCERT • MAY 18

The band and orchestra concert will be hosted in the auditorium at 7:30 p.m. on May 18.

REHOBETH BEACH BANDSTAND FESTIVAL • MAY 19

The Panther Jazz and Modern bands will travel to Rehobeth Beach on May 19 for this annual high school jazz tradition.

DANCE HAVEN SPRING PERFORMANCE • MAY 19

Student-choreographed performances take place on stage in the auditorium at 7 p.m.

CHORAL CONCERT • MAY 24

Listen to the beautiful voices of the Cantata, Camerata, and Silvertones fill the auditorium at 8 p.m. on May 24

GEORGE SLICK RECITAL • JUNE 6

Junior Nathan Sepinwall will perform in the SHHS auditorium at 7:30pm on June 6.

A Different

Julia Gray ‘23, Kaitlyn Ho ‘26 Editor-in-Chief, Health & Sciences Editor

Arecent CDC report found that the percent of teen girls who have felt persistently sad or hopeless hit 57%, a near 60% increase from 2011, and the highest reported level over the past decade.

At Strath Haven, this rise in mental health issues hasn’t gone unnoticed.

“This is my sixteenth year in mental health, and the trend is definitely upward of females suffering from mental health illnesses,” Ms. Marlena O’Kane, one of the SHHS school counselors, said.

“It has definitely increased in my 16 years. I think what is primarily contributing to it is this demand on girls to be a certain person, to act a certain way. And now that they see it in their face all the time through social media. I think it’s taken on a different beast.”

Students agree.

“There is a very heavily pushed idea of the ‘beauty standard’ on social media for women. That can somewhat negatively affect me. It’s just like a subconscious thing but it does [trigger] my body issues,” freshman Pearl Tweedy said.

Freshman Anna Warley added that social media ‘teaches girls to be ashamed of themselves”.

It’s hard to distinguish the connection between social media and depression.

“I think social media definitely causes depression, but then people with depression also go to social media,” junior Francesca Clark said.

SOCIAL MEDIA

T he lines are blurry. Social media can connect and it can harm. According to Dr. Kathleen Ethier, the director of Adolescent and School Health at the CDC, people have a lot more to understand.

“[Social media] provides important opportunities to get information, but it also poses a lot of dangers that we don’t yet fully understand. It also, I think, can pose really, especially for girls, unrealistic expectations about body image and looks,” she said.

Girls aren’t the only ones affected by social media. Junior Francesca Clark believes the negative effects of social media harm everyone.

About Panorama Education

“Seeing people being happy all the time or seeing your friends hanging out without you can definitely be something that hits you inside,” Clark said. Dr. Either also noticed a rise in sadness in general at the national level.

“Even though we saw differences between boys and girls, in terms of mental health, no one in our survey was doing particularly well. We saw pretty high rates of persistent sadness and hopelessness, which is a very good measure of depressive symptoms,” she said.

SURVEYS & STRATEGIES

Locally, Megan McCullough, the director of student services for behavioral health at SHHS, said mental health concerns are increasing in and around Strath Haven’s community. A social worker for the district has observed a similar trend.

A rise in mental health concerns means an increase of referrals, where, sometimes, a social worker gets involved, visiting students and families and getting them help.

Shayne Young, a social worker for the school district, looks for “buzzwords” and actions when she visits a student.

Feelings of hopelessness, an unhappy mood, reports of increased sleeping, or neglect of self-care can prompt Young to follow up on a student.

To be referred, students must be identified as being in need. Strath Haven uses Social Emotional Learning (SEL) surveys to identify these students. O’Kane also spearheads the development of these questionnaires that look for similar warning signs.

“The SEL that we did this year are through a platform, a mental health platform called Panorama. What the surveys are sort of aiming at is for us to sort to catch maybe students that might not be on our radar, but who need support, because not every student obviously is comfortable walking in to see us,” O’Kane said.

To O’Kane, the surveys seem to be making a difference in our community.

“From doing the survey for a number of semesters, we’ve luckily caught students

• Hosts SEL surveys completed by students each semester

• Education technology company geared towards helping schools collect data in order to deepen knowledge about their students’ wellbeing

• Used by 25,000+ schools

• Survey data is turned into charts and graphs

• Counselors and administrators can examine student body data or individual results.

• Primarily centered around gathering information. Does not provide curriculum to districts.

BEAST

Alarming CDC report shows increase in teen girl depression

that we were not aware had needs. Even if we catch one student, it serves its purpose,” she said.

According to McCullough, around 8090% of our students require Tier 1 level assistance. Tier 1 assistance promises a quality learning environment, where students feel comfortable. Haven offers two other tiers of assistance, however.

Tier 2 is more intensive and targeted. Around 15-20% of our students may need this kind of support, according to McCullough.

“They need more instruction in self esteem, managing anxiety,” McCullough said. “They may do group therapy.”

Tier 3 assistance, which 5-10% of our students need, is “very intensive mental health support,” according to McCullough.

“Tier 3 is through a company called Effective School Solutions. And we have two therapists who work in the building full time with company. Those students are scheduled for individual and group therapy more intensively. The therapeutic component is sort of the primary component of that programming and then the academic piece is there as well,” O’Kane said.

MAKING CONNECTIONS

McCullough traveled to the Student Mental Health Congress in 2022 to learn more about how to support students in every tier.

She learned about PBIS, Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports, a set of ideas that emphasize positivity in interactions.

“One thing [I learned] was that for every adult to student interaction, you have four positive interactions for one correction. While I think we all try so hard to be positive with students, I think if we tracked ourselves, we wouldn’t be doing as well as we think we’re doing,” McCullough said.

PBIS also emphasizes connectedness among the school community.

“The other part is like finding some common themes of school spirit and connectedness. They call it the ‘Panther Pride is found inside’ at the middle school level. That’s just sort of starting to come, they’re starting to get training on that at the high school,” she said.

According to Dr. Either, helping kids in need feel connected to their community

and to resources is key.

“We know in your school that what happens to you all day, every day in school, and whether you feel supported and connected to your teachers, and your counselors, and your administrators, that makes a huge difference in how you feel,” she said.

McCullough observed this connection in action at a high school during her trip to the Student Mental Health Congress in 2022.

“It was kind of nice for us to see in action, how it was used in a high school, and how kids were buying into it. They stopped kids in the hall and said ‘What are the three values of our school?’. And every kid could repeat them,” she said. Dr. Either has seen the benefits of this connection in action in her own research too, the What Works in School Program, which has been implemented in 28 schools.

“We know from years of research, that when young people feel like adults and their schools cares about them, cares about their well being, cares about their success, they do better. They feel better. They feel engaged; they feel connected,” she said.

FUTURE IMPLICAITONS

Either believes it is important that adults understand the breadth of what teens are experiencing so they can guide students to creating brighter futures for themselves and for the world as a whole.

“When that happens, not only do young people do better, while they’re adolescents, but our research shows that up to 20 years later, they have better mental health, and they are less likely to be victims of violence,” Dr. Either said. According to Dr. Either, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all plan that will guarantee this positive experience for teens. Instead, it is key that adults continue to find ways to foster a supportive environment.

“Our next step is really to try to understand what we, as adults, can be doing to support young people better, and what do they need in their schools, to make them feel more connected, more engaged, more supported, to get them services that they need.”*

• Supplies mental health programs for school districts, including therapy for students.

• Utilizes the MTSS (Multi-Tiered Systems of Support) Framework for School-Based Mental Health–the three-tier model that SHHS utilizes.

• ESS staff provides the administration with specific updates on the wellbeing of individuals, like a student’s current emotional health and discipline.

• Two ESS therapists work full-time at Strath Haven

About Essential School Solutions

WE ASKED: How does social media affect your mental health?

“Deleting all forms of social media is helping me manage my time better at helping me be more productive. And it’s also helping me spend my time doing things that make me happy, and doing hobbies and spending time with family.”

Minori Saito ‘26

“The more the more you spend on it, you sort of develop this sort of insecurity [that] everyone’s else’s life is perfect and your life isn’t. But yeah, so you kind of have that, like, sort of insecurity, and we also are sort of pressured to post every once in a while. So I feel like that affects my mental health.”

Jason Zhang ‘26

“Okay, I didn’t take any pictures during junior prom. So when I saw a lot of junior prom pictures, I was like, ‘Darn, maybe I should have taken pictures’. But at the same time, I feel like it’s overrated. So it’s like, if it’s an event everyone’s attending and you see pictures, you’re kind of comparing yourself to your experience versus their pictures, even though it’s glamorous, glorified, you’re still comparing.”

Sophie Liu ‘24

“I only had Tik Tok for like three weeks and it was bad. It definitely gives you a view of the world that’s very echochambery…I feel connected, but I feel like that definitely has a trade off to it. I know a lot of people are on social media at school a lot of the time.”

Scott Saxe ‘25

If you need support, or if you want to find support for a friend, here are some 24hour resources:

CRISIS TEXT LINE Text HOME to 741741 crisistextline.org

NATIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION LIFELINE Call 988 988lifeline.org

SAFE2SAY

1-844-SAF2SAY safe2saypa.org

School counselors are always available to support you—reach out or drop in.

‘25

ILLUSTRATION: Marilyn Ashley

Creative Course Recommendations

PLANNING TO TAKE AN ELECTIVE COURSE? INTERESTED IN DEVELOPING YOUR CREATIVE SKILLS? TAKE A LOOK AT SOME OF THE INTRODUCTORY ART & MUSIC CLASSES OFFERED AT HAVEN!

Instrumental Music

Meaning to work on your instrument? This class allows the freedom to learn music for credit.

Imogen Sharif ‘23

Haven Arts Editor

Do you play an instrument? Do you want to learn how to play an instrument? Instrumental Music is a great way to make musical progress for an arts credit. Whether you are training for perfection or just playing a song you enjoy, music teacher Mr. Nick Pignataro praises his class for being graded on having fun and making progress.

“Instrumental music is designed to let students choose whatever it is they want to work with and learn, and do that,” Pignataro said. “It’s for people who are starting instruments for the very first time, people who play an instrument in an ensemble and want to get better at it, people who are good at instruments but want to change instruments, or people who are going to conservatories for their music and want to become pros.”

Students are able to receive specific individual critiques and instruction, no matter if they are learning the basics or more complex musical composition.

“Maybe once, or twice, or three times a week, a student will get five to ten minutes of feedback from me, the instructor, but they spend their time in a practice room getting better,” Pignataro said.

For many students who already play an instrument in one of the many ensembles at Haven, Instrumental Music is a time to practice that music. Senior Georgia Gianopolus appreciates this time set aside.

“I like that I have designated time to practice my instrument because otherwise I know I won’t think of it when

Graphic Design

I get home. So I have time built in for me to play, which I appreciate,” Gianopolus said.

Gianopolus has been playing flute for Haven’s band since middle school, joined the marching band early on, and plays for the wind ensemble. This semester, she decided to try something new for her Instrumental Music class.

“I picked up bassoon, mostly as a joke, but I like it so I’m sticking with it,” Gianopolus said.

Her new instrument not only has a completely different shape and size, but also uses a completely different cleft, meaning that Gianopolus is learning a new way to read music as well as to play. She recently started playing bassoon with the symphonic band and continues playing flute with the wind ensemble.

The freedom provided to students is “like an independent study”, Pignataro said, and allows students to relax and play their instruments for a full 80-minute block.

“It’s a relaxing class. It’s not a very strict class at all and it gives you a lot of musical freedom,” Gianopolus said.

Instrumental Music is a great class for a student who has been meaning to pick up the bass guitar or wants to get really good on saxophone or anything else musical. Students get the opportunity practice and have fun, for a grade.

“Playing music is so enjoyable, and it’s inherently fun. You get to start your day just playing an instrument, getting your mind ready for school. It’s the one time in your life where the only thing you have to do is play an instrument,” Pignataro said.*

Ceramics

Imogen Sharif ‘23 Haven Arts Editor

Want to try out a new skill?

Ceramics, taught by art teacher Mr. Scott Rodgers, is a fan-favorite among students at Strath Haven. In a class where you learn all about clay, it’s a great class to split up your academically challenging semester. Ceramics is a unique class offered to all students. The curriculum is based around the craft, and students will not only create pieces of art, but learn about the history of ceramics.

“I teach kids how to make things out of clay. I teach kids why we make things out of clay. I teach kids where we make things out of clay. I do the where, how, why, all those H’s and W’s,” Rodgers said. Students explore multiple methods of molding clay in order to create unique and sturdy pieces of art, including different techniques to make sculptures, bowls, mugs, and plates. Students are even lucky enough to use one of the ten pottery wheels, allowing them to create symmetrical and study pieces. “We start out with an intro to handbuilding, so just sitting at your desk with a couple pounds of clay, making things with your hands and simple hand tools. Then after the kids get comfortable with the clay and get a feel for it, we move to the wheel-throwing process,” Rodgers said.

Senior Ezrin House enjoys the in-depth teaching of Ceramics offered at Haven, as it allows him to create art that not only he is proud of, but his peers are excited about. “It’s a very hands-on activity and I get to make things that are actually useful in my everyday life. You don’t learn how to make fifth-grade pinch pots you learn

how to make good pinch pots that make your friends say ‘Wow, you didn’t throw that on the wheel?’ and I go ‘No, I didn’t!’” House said.

Being able to create art that you are proud of is a major aspect of Ceramics. Students, such as senior Lydia Pita, also appreciate the class for it’s different and enjoyable classwork.

“It’s basically like playing in the mud, but school-sanctioned, which I think it very fun,” Pita said.

Ceramics acts as a split in the day between the rigorous academic classes offered at Haven, providing many a much-needed break in the day.

“It’s a completely different part of your brain than like history or physics or something like that,” Pita said.

Most students are not used to something like ceramics, so it allows them the chance to expand their own skills and take a block to relax and make whatever they want to.

“If you want to get outside your comfort circle, that’s a good reason to take this class. If you want to get messy and if you want to build stuff, that’s the great thing about this class, you pretty much come in and make what you want,” Rodgers said.

If given the opportunity to, Mr. Rodgers and his students urge those with an undecided block to consider Ceramics. Taking this class as early as you can leaves you with room to take more advanced ceramics classes and enjoy more claythrowing and mud-molding than your peers.

“I wish I’d taken this freshman year,” House said.*

In a modern spin on art class, students learn how to create graphics using a variety of software.

Imogen Sharif ‘23

Haven Arts Editor

If you’re not sure if you want to take on an art class with paint and clay, consider taking Graphic Design. With a technological spin on art, you’ll get to explore a variety of software that professionals use daily, preparing you with real-world skills.

Art teacher Ms. Regina Iannello describes her class as a creative art course on a computer, which allows students to not only learn a lot about technology but also learn to be capable in a medium readily available in the modern age.

“It’s a good opportunity to try something creative with a material that is always going to be in use. It’s great for 21st-century skills, you learn a lot of the Mac platforms, so you learn a lot of technology but there’s a huge amount of creative freedom to it,” Iannello said.

The curriculum of Graphic Design revolves around teaching students how to maneuver various Adobe products to create works of art, prints, advertisements, and even GIF animations.

“[Students] basically learn industry-standard computer software for a graphic design profession, so they’re

learning Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, and we do a little tiny bit of Adobe InDesign, which is a program for designing publications,” Iannello said.

Sometimes the class can be intimidating and difficult, as the medium is nothing like most students have ever experienced. Getting used to the programs can be a hurdle, but junior Gabby Verona believes the process of creating art in Graphic Design is worth the challenge.

“I just like the artwork that I get to do every day, it’s a little hard but I still enjoy it. It’s just very relaxing,” Verona said.

Graphic Design also appeals to students who maybe aren’t confident in their drawing skills, as it doesn’t include charcoal, colored pencils, acrylics, and other traditional materials. Many students, like sophomore Andrew Mennig, leave Graphics surprised by how much

they learned and how artistic they really are.

“For some people, such as myself, if you’re not the best at hand-drawing things, you get an opportunity to do it on the computer, which I’m much better at. I just really enjoy that aspect,” Mennig said.

This class offers freedom and independence in what you want to create by supplying you with the software and supportive guidance. Students get to make whatever they want with what they are taught, giving them a break in the day in between academically rigorous courses.

“I have a lot of work to do at school, and this gives me the time to just relax and to create some artwork,” Verona said.*

Get your hands dirty with a class on the how-tos of clay, perfect for a busy class schedule.

Students work in the relaxing environment of the graphic design classsroom. PHOTO: IMOGEN SHARIF

“I picked up bassoon, mostly as a joke, but I like it so I’m sticking with it.”

Georgia Gianopolus ’23

Seniors Sophie Kersun and Julia Steere handle clay during Ceramics class. PHOTO: CONNER VAIL

Evelynn Lin ‘25 Reporter

It’s always a fun time in Room 328 with the hustle and bustle of pencils scraping against the sketchbook paper, the sound of paints being poured then bristled onto canvases, and hands getting black and dusty over sketches of charcoal.

In Art 1, this is an everyday reality— getting to tune out the rest of the world and dedicating yourself to finding the passion and creativity for creating art.

Art 1 is an art elective course for all grades 9-12 where students can learn the different aspects of art and experiment with different mediums to apply them to their pieces.

“It’s a wonderful introductory course to learning lots of different art-making techniques and materials,” art department leader Mrs. Jennifer Rodgers said. “It gives you a broad spectrum of different things you can do.”

New artists, seniors, freshmen, or any grade in between, can attend the class to learn and build upon their skills.

Sophomore Hannah Loyd first began drawing during the pandemic and took Art 1 in her freshman year to help her develop her artistic interests.

sophomore Ivy Li said. She took Art 1 in the fall semester of 2022. “My favorite piece was when we did stuff with charcoal because it reminded me that being messy is part of the art process and trying new things.”

Of course, art can be tedious at times. Many people develop creativity blocks while drawing, and it can be difficult to commit time and finish projects. It’s easy to get unmotivated and even feel isolated from your work.

“I learned many different, new mediums and had access to many different, new supplies. I got to develop my painting and sketching skills, and I’ve developed a really good foundation.”

Hannah Loyd ’25

“I learned many different, new mediums and had access to many different, new supplies,” she said. “I got to develop my painting and sketching skills, and I’ve developed a really good foundation, my artwork was definitely much better after that course.”

The Art 1 course not only covers art fundamentals, like drawing with a pencil, charcoal, using watercolors, acrylic paints, and even printmaking, but it also incorporates important lessons that students recognize while drawing.

“My takeaway after every art course is that it reminds me that art isn’t perfect and that all art is good art,”

Digital Photography 1

However, senior Kate Noto, who first took Art 1 in her freshman year, and has completed all of the art courses, found ways to overcome such obstacles after having taken Art 1 and so many other art electives throughout her high school years.

“Sometimes I just don’t feel like painting, and I don’t want to push myself to do that,” she said. “I feel like sometimes I just need to step back. Like with any piece, you want to step back. You don’t want to paint a piece in a couple of hours because if you’re so up close, you can’t see what it’s like from a distance. I find that going on walks helps me a lot.”

Rodgers recognizes all these challenges students overcome to inspire themselves and is proud of their ethic to embrace a new perspective of themselves as artists.

“It’s really rewarding. I think that’s the most rewarding part of teaching art is seeing that growth and hopefully inspiring a few of them to continue taking more art

courses,” she said.

Many of the students recommend trying this course, where anyone can have the chance to discover the fun of making an artistic splash.

“I feel like it really covers the basics of art,” she said. “It is good, especially if you want to get into art in high school. It also reminds me that you’re never too late or too old to start art.”

Art 1 is a stress-free environment to be in, and a place to make a mess and find a safe place to express yourself.

“Art is a safe refuge for me,” Loyd said. “It helps relieve school stress and is a good way to expand my mind in a different way. At school, it’s a lot of academics and a lot of facts, but in art class, you can express that creativity.”*

Stuck on how to fill your last elective spot? Digital Photography 1 is a fun and practical elective course to take.

Evelynn Lin ‘25 Reporter

Most people know of photography as taking out their phone, pulling up the Camera app, and clicking a singular button to capture a memory. But in Room 223, digital photography is much more.

Digital Photography 1 is an art elective available to all high school students who are interested in learning how to use a DSLR camera and expanding their photography skills.

From compositions to using Lightroom and Photoshop, Photo 1 teaches students all the basics that go into taking a photo.

“Everybody is going to continue taking photos after the class,” photography teacher Ms. Kate Plows said. “It’s possible that not everybody is going to keep doing chemistry after their chemistry class, but everybody’s going to keep taking photos because we all have cameras in our pockets.”

“So if the skills we learned in Photo 1 can help people to be able to just take better photos, then we’ve done our job,” she said.

school as well and there’s a lot of different places outside I’d never been before.”

Not only that, Photo 1 presents many opportunities that go beyond the classroom.

For instance, earlier this year, freshman Orli Schoff won an award for a photo from Photo 1 that was displayed at Delaware County Community College. It was the first time Schoff realized she could be honored for her photography work.

“I was really surprised because I’d never really done photography before,” she said. “And I was like ‘Oh my gosh, I’m so happy’ because this was my artwork, and it’s being displayed. I think it was so cool and a nice experience having your work picked for something.”

“The freedom is unlike any other class at the high school. You get a photo pass, and you get to go around basically anywhere.”

Riley May ’24

While taking and editing photos are part of Photo 1’s grading system in the curriculum, students have the freedom to explore school grounds for inspiration.

“The freedom is unlike any other class at the high school. You get a photo pass, and you get to go around basically anywhere,” junior Riley May said.

May took Photo 1 in the fall of his sophomore year.

“I got to explore the middle school because we were able to go over to the other side. I also got to explore the high

However, there are many challenges to the course, like weekly practices and finding ways to stay creative. These difficulties have helped sophomore Marilyn Ashley, who took Photo 1 in the spring of her freshman year, improve today.

“It really taught me how to manage my time and work. Especially as a freshman, you need that balance and you need to learn that pretty quickly,” she said. Besides high school photo opportunities and understanding the photo essentials, Photo 1 could set a path toward the future after high school.

For senior and Panther Press editor-in-chief Julia Gray, her taking Photo 1 in her fall semester has opened her to a new college opportunity she’d never anticipated.

“Photo 1 totally changed how I perceive my future and what I thought I might go into,” Gray said. “I definitely

thought that when I was going into senior year, I’d be an English major, but double-majoring in photography or journalism wasn’t something that I anticipated until this year. So, it certainly has gotten me excited and really passionate about this subject, and pumped to learn and keep learning,” she said.

Of course, Photo 1 opens the door to a variety of choices beyond, but it also gives students the chance to showcase their vision of the school and change their perspectives. For many of the past Photo 1 students, the class has changed the way they view and apply photography today. “I learned so much from taking pictures of random things. Now I know how to take photos of different things, like taking a photo of a chair in a million different perspectives. I definitely will take that in my life,” Schoff said.*

Follow arts electives on Instagram: @havenbandorch @strathhavenceramics @strathhavengraphicdesign @shhsart @medialab223

Like to make a mess and create work you can be proud of? Art 1 teaches the fun and valuable artistic basics that go beyond the classroom.

Freshmen Pearl Tweedy and Josie Wieland work on artwork during art class. PHOTO: IMOGEN SHARIF

Seniors Dynve’ Lee and Kallilynn Dewees work on a flower lab assignment during photography class. PHOTO: MS. KATE PLOWS

Good vibes only: Nathan Sepinwall talks passion for percussion

Junior percussionist’s path from start to finish amidst PMEA State festival and upcoming George Slick performance.

CJ Chen ‘24

Contributor

Although he is often seen in the background at Haven music performances, junior Nathan Sepinwall has finally been brought to the spotlight due to his exceptional musical dedication both in and outside of Haven.

Percussionist Nathan Sepinwall specializes in playing the vibraphone, a metal instrument similar to a xylophone and played with mallets. This unique interest started because he’s always enjoyed playing music— well, it might not have been exactly music.

“I think from a very young age, I was banging on things,” Sepinwall said. “I guess for me, it just kind of evolved from that into thinking [about] things maybe a little bit more musically.”

Throughout his endeavors, Sepinwall has had the support of Wallingford-Swarthmore School District’s music program, specifically from music teacher and director Mr. Nicholas Pignataro.

The two first met at a joint audition for two orchestras, when Sepinwall was in 6th grade.

“Nate at the time was too short to play the snare drum, so he did his audition on a chair so it would be at the appropriate height because the thing wouldn’t go any lower,” Pignataro said. “ My first memory, and probably my most prominent memory of his early days is him standing on a chair, playing his snare perfectly well. He wasn’t fazed by it at all.”

Sepinwall continues to play in the orchestra five years after his standing-on-a-chair audition experience.

In addition to this local district ensemble, he has also been chosen for the district festival by the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) program, a state affiliate of the national program for music education. The program allows percussion students like Sepinwall to reach higher levels based on auditions— from Districts to Regionals to States and beyond.

“[At the festival] you get to rehearse for a couple of days with people from a ton of other schools who have all also auditioned for it, and then at the culmination of it, usually on the morning of the last day, you play in concert,” Sepinwall said, “If you did well enough in your audition, then you’ll move on to, kind of the next round, and do it all again.”

He participated in the Orchestra and Band Districts in February, moving forward to Regionals for both ensembles last month, and anticipates an exciting State festival at Kalahari Indoor Waterpark on April 22 for Wind Ensemble, a branch of the band program only offered at the state level. This is the first year he has made it this far in the PMEA festivals, making the experience all the more thrilling.

music,” he said. “And then also to be around people who are, you know, kind of putting in the same kind of time.”

And he really does put in the time. He doesn’t take breaks in the summer. In fact, things get even more intense.

“Last summer I did the Philadelphia International Music Festival. I did a, like, two-week summer percussion intensive at Juilliard. This summer I’m doing an orchestra program at the New England Conservatory and a percussion intensive at Boston University [that] has a festival at Tanglewood,” he said.

Applying for and providing auditions to these programs take a lot of preparation on Sepinwall’s part, both musically and mentally.

“Obviously, I still have nerves, I mean going into an audition… [but] I know I’ve done everything I could at that point, there’s nothing more I can do. And so I’m going to go in, I’m going to play, that’s going to be that,” he said.

Nevertheless, the effort is worth it. He finds that music programs are incredibly accessible and cater to a variety of interests.

“Even weird ones, like the bassoon,” Sepinwall said.

“I think I came out of each one that I’ve done so far, like, a significantly better musician just because you get to, you know, like work with professionals, and then work with like, people who are playing your instrument who are very kind of serious about it. So yeah, definitely would recommend,” he said.

“My first memory, and probably my most prominent memory of his early days is him standing on a chair, playing his snare perfectly well. He wasn’t fazed by it at all.”

Mr. Nick Pignataro

“It’s really kind of stimulating, to be in that kind of environment where everyone you know has so much passion and love for playing music, for listening to

Not only is Sepinwall a talented musician himself, but he is also a notable inspiration to others. Pignataro sees this dynamic in the music classroom often.

“He’s a really nice guy. And I think that helps him communicate with other people. And because people like being around him, they’d like to learn from him. And as he teaches other students, he gets better at it because to teach means to sort of master before you can do it,” Pignataro said.

Even mastery of an instrument doesn’t mean you can skip practicing. With his days packed with hours of it, Sepinwall continues carrying his passion for music throughout each day, motivated by two main factors.

Section leaders now implemented into musical ensembles

“There’s just kind of [an] intrinsic enjoyment in playing music, but I would also say that yeah, there’s definitely kind of a want to always just kind of be better,” Sepinwall said. Despite all the hard work involved, he urges others to always keep in mind the most important pillar of music: fun.

“[My] overarching piece of advice would just be to have fun. Then, secondly, maybe not to be intimidated by, you know, people who seem like their skill level or something is unachievable, because you know, it’s practice, and if you put in the time, you can be up there too, not that I’m saying that I am at all, but I definitely had those experiences before,” Sepinwall said. As for his professional interests, Sepinwall knows that he wants to continue the fun and keep music in his life. He is interested in finding a joint music program in college as an addition to his academic pursuits, but there’s nothing in particular that he’s set his heart on yet.

With five years of history behind them now, Pignataro offers his own hopes for Sepinwall’s future.

“He’s exactly the kind of guy everywhere would want in their percussion program. If he wants to do anything else, his percussion learning is going to translate.” Pignataro continues, “I know he’s an incredibly hard worker, so I have a feeling that whatever he wants to do, he’s gonna be just fine.”

As he prepares for his upcoming George Slick performance on June 6th, Sepinwall is hard at work carefully crafting each section of the recital. His ability to play a variety of styles will translate into the pieces he chooses to perform.

Sepinwall’s music journey serves as a reminder to find what you enjoy, because with it comes an incredible passion.

“I guess having fun is the most important thing… there [are] so many opportunities and so much fun stuff out there,” Sepinwall said.*

Students who sign up contribute to music program by completing various tasks.

Quinten Saylor ‘25 Reporter

Strath Haven’s music program has always been filled with opportunities, but leadership positions among students are usually only found in the marching band. However, a new leadership position called a “section leader” is being offered to students in any of the symphonic bands or orchestras who wish to improve the music program.

A section leader in either the band or the orchestra has the ability to tackle tasks anywhere from setting up chairs and equipment to creating new spirit events that have been requested by either music teacher Mr. Nick Pignataro or any other section leader.

These roles exist to set a good example of being a helpful leader to the other band and orchestra members, and to make the music department run more smoothly.

Sophomore Anwen Liu became a section leader this year.

Liu has been putting in long hours after school to organize the music cabinets and occasionally shift the band room chairs into place. She believes that these section leader roles are a vital piece to the success of the music department.

“I signed up for section leader because I wanted to mostly just help anybody that’s struggling and to help Mr. P with anything that he needs,” Liu said.

Junior Henry Reacher also adopted the role of section leader. He did this not only

push his music career further, but to also see the music department flourish.

“I’m someone who’s always been very interested in music but I definitely wanted to take the next steps in terms of getting more involved,” Reacher said. “I have a genuine interest in helping people out with music and promoting the music program.”

While Reacher has only been a section leader for a few months, he’s already begun to help with organizing the band room, teaching others music material, and even creating his own spirit events.

He encourages anyone who is interested in taking on a leadership role in the band to give applying for a section leader position a shot.

“If you’re thinking about applying for section leader, you don’t even need to audition next year,” Reacher said. “Anyone who’s a leader is good. And if you want to take the next steps to become a better, more committed musician, this department gives you so many options.”

Going further, Stath Haven’s music program will take value to the many section leaders, as they can be used to set a proper example to others and tackle new tasks specific to future band events.*

PRACTICING PERCUSSION • Sepinwall poises his mallets over the vibraphone during Panther Jazz Band rehearsal.

PHOTO: CJ CHEN ‘24

Composer Jordan Jinosko returns for

spring instrumental concert

Composer Jordan Jinosko returns to watch a performance of “Three Sketches of Unblemished Earth.”

Julia Gray ‘23

Editor-in-Chief

You can hear the voice of Freya, the Norse goddess of war and magic, in an unlikely place: the oboes of a high school’s symphony orchestra.

Much of award-winning composer Jordan Jinosko’s music is inspired by mythology, including the piece “Freya’s Chariot” which debuted at last year’s spring concert at Haven.

“[Freya’s Chariot] essentially shows her leading the charge for these Norse Vikings against their enemies. It musically allows for a lot of imagination and a lot of interesting textures,” Jinosko said.

When it was showcased, music director Mr. Nicholas Pignataro decided to restart the piece after the orchestra began playing it.

Jinosko appreciated that Pignataro decided to let the orchestra try again.

“You know, anytime you’re doing a performance, there’s the chance that things could get off on the wrong foot. I think so often it feels like a terrible thing, like a last resort, to start again, but in a lot of situations, it’s actually the best decision,” Jinosko said.

Jinosko is returning to Strath Haven for this year’s spring concert where the orchestra will be performing her piece “Three Sketches of Unblemished Earth,” which recalls a trip she took along the Appalachian Trail. The movements correlate with different moments and experiences on her trip.

“The first movement, water, recalls the early mornings

OPINION

when I was hiking the trail, I would get out of my tent, and I would look and I’d see the mist that gathered over the nearby lakes and, and I would just be drawn to introspection, you know, and meditation,” Jinosko said.

The second movement picks up the pace.

“The second movement is essentially folksy travelling music, and it’s kind of represents a more active time of day, you’re hiking along the trail, and you see squirrels scurrying,” she said.

The third movement is height, and it not only connects with the scene, but it serves as a reminder of our current climate crisis.

“It’s the music that I started to hear in my head when I was looking out for the top of these mountains, and hills, and cliffs. And really, ultimately, I want the piece to be a reminder of the beauty of the earth and, a reminder of everything that we have to lose if we don’t change as a society and fight the global climate crisis,” Jinosko said.

Not only her work, which comments on current issues like climate change, but her experiences speak to students and listeners.

“It’s really important for me to just be able to connect with students,” she said. “Growing up doing music, I didn’t actually have any representation for anyone that looked like me or felt like me in any way. I think what I saw at Strath Haven was that I think some people saw themselves reflected in the programming.”

“I think it’s amazing to be able to be a composer and be

Fifth block schedule isn’t ideal

Mark Ball ‘26

Contributor

How would you feel if you invited 10 friends to a party and only 6 of them showed up?

That is what Mr. Nick Pignataro, the high school orchestra and band teacher, experiences every day during his 5th block string and band ensembles.

According to Pignataro, these absences are almost never the fault of the students. The issue is the current fifth block schedule, which forces students to choose between extracurricular activities, as well as academics.

“Clubs can save kids’ lives because they form a community, especially if kids are fighting a lot of issues at home or are suffering from illness. There’s something wonderful about clubs, and I hate to say, ‘Well, you’re in orchestra, so you can’t join that club,’” Pignataro said.

When students miss rehearsals, they can come to make up lessons. However, this does not make up for the time they missed.

“Even the greatest musicians in the world still rehearse, even though they know the music. They do that because you have to learn to sync up with the other people,” Pignataro said. This problem could be solved by shortening all blocks slightly to incorporate music into the

school day. There could also be a rule limiting the number of clubs students can join.

“I know that music is not a keystone class. I get that. But to me, music is just as important as any other class in this school and to some of the students. So it’s really difficult when everything happens during that class time,” Pignataro said.

Freshman Josie Wieland is involved in Symphonic Band, Jazz Band, Speech and Debate, GSA Club, and Ultimate Frisbee, among other activities. She cannot participate in every extracurricular activity with full commitment.

“I have GSA and Speech and Debate on Mondays but I normally go to GSA since I also go to Speech and Debate on Fridays,” Wieland said.

Assistant Principal Andrea LaPira has not been to a meeting where 5th block is directly discussed. She thinks the schedule can be improved by collective understanding.

“Mr. Pigantaro has one perspective because his schedule is so busy. But another teacher might have a different view,” LaPira said. *

Asian American, and to be transgender,” she said. Pignataro has been working to expose students to a diversified repertoire of composers.

“I just think that our curriculum should look like the people that we’re teaching, or that we’re trying to be. I know that so many of our orchestra and chorus, they’re not necessarily old white men, in fact, none of them are. In particular, I just feel like so many people are orchestras are so diverse, and I just feel like the music should definitely be too,” Pignataro said.

Pignataro has noticed the effects of including diverse music in the concerts.

“She’s a transgender Asian woman and, her ability to talk about that while she was with us, resonated with a lot of students whether they identify as transgender or not. So much of her visit had nothing to do with music to me, actually like, she stayed for hours and talked to individuals,” he said.

Jinosko thinks these connections are key, and urges students to contact Pignataro if they are interested in receiving more information about composing or music theory.

“Maybe some students aren’t as engaged in orchestra, or maybe some of them aren’t planning on going into music in terms of their vocation, and some of them are, but connecting with students is a really important part of visiting the schools for me,” she said. “So I’m really excited to be a resource for any students that would like to have a little window into the life of a full-time composer.”

Students and community members will be able to hear Jinosko’s music live at the Spring Concert on May 18.*

Marching band provides opportunities for students to connect

As the 2022 marching band season came to an end, many new students and returning members already began to prepare for the next season.

Luci DiBonaventura ‘25, Riley Smith ‘25 Contributor, Social Media Editor

The marching band is a great way for students to socialize, learn and get leadership. As the 2023 season for marching band approaches and auditions coming up, many new students are joining, along with seasoned band members, eager to advance their position by trying out for leadership.

Sophomore Sydney Williams has done marching band for two years and wants to join leadership.

“I applied for leadership this year because I really enjoy band and I want to be a bigger part of something,” she said. “The process for applying was pretty simple, all you had to do was fill out a google form and answer a couple open-ended questions to help judge if you could be a potential leader.”

Being a part of the marching band opens up many opportunities to students, giving them a chance to socialize and letting them meet new people. There were parades such as the Halloween parade and different volunteer opportunities students could sign up for. Students were also able to play their instruments and do stand dances in the bleachers which allowed students to socialize and talk with each other.

Sophomore Noel Blanchette enjoyed having that time to spend with his peers.

“My favorite part of the marching band was playing in the stands during the game,” he said. “It was fun playing our instruments as a way of cheering on our team. I also felt like it was a good way to socialize with others.”

Everyone that is on band front has to re-audition for their spots again. This can be done in person in front of the band front directors or a video can be sent in. Some students are fine with reauditioning while others wish their spot on their team was secured.

Sophomore Ella DiBonaventura thinks the band auditions are a good idea, but admitted the

system could be difficult to work with.

“I think it’s important to have people try out so they make sure they deserve a spot on the team,” she said. “I also think that it’s a great way to try the skills that the other teams do. Although, I think that it can be a little stressful having to learn three different routines and retrying for your spot.”

While many students are returning to the marching band, there are also new students that will be joining.

Sophomore Julia Martin decided to audition for a spot on band front.

“I want to join the marching band because a lot of my friends do it and there seems to be a lot of fun opportunities for me,” she said. “I’m excited for the Orlando trip next year and overall just being able to learn something new and socialize.”

For the next band season, students will go to band camp starting August 21 for a week. This allows students to meet everyone who is doing band and learn the new pieces.

Sophomore Zoe Likely enjoyed last year’s band camp, even if it could be hard at times.

“Band camp was tough but overall I enjoyed it,” she said. “It can be tiring and it’s really hot but I really like meeting new people and I think everyone does a good job at making it a fun experience.”

With high expectations, Mr. Pignataro is looking for his leaders to be “really selfless” this coming season. He said that he needs students who are willing to devote their time and effort to working behind the scenes of the marching band.

“We’ve done everything we could in the past few years to get the ‘big picture’ down, and I think we have the big ‘big picture’ down,” he said.

“We’ve shown in the past few years that we can be successful, but what we need to do now is work on the small things.”*

JORDAN JINOSKO

PHOTO: KAI LINCKE ‘22

The 5th block schedule is a hassle for everyone and can be improved.

REPORT CARD

PANTHER PAW PRINTS

+ Colorful addition to the senior lot path

+ Built community

+ Strong leadership by Benzing & co.

SEL PRESENTATION VIDEO (March 10)

- Long and lecture-like

- No discussion during or after video

+ Gave useful resources and information

BATHROOM CAPACITIES

+ Usually tissue rolls in each stall

+ No sophomores sitting on FLOORS of stalls

+ Nice quiet place to cry

NEW WATER FOUNTAINS

+ No lines

+ Easier access than bathroom fountains

- The one downstairs outside the cafeteria: Is it being filtered?

BLACK WIDOW SPIDER VISIT

+ Very cool! Big drama!

- A little scary

- Don’t love that it was in the cafeteria

When Lunch Is Not Enough

Students talk portions and feeling unheard.

Anjali Robinson-Leary ‘23 Contributor

On Friday March 31, the last day before spring break, students and faculty huddled around the exits of the commerce area of the cafeteria with their eyes set on the pockets of the students streaming out.

Stealing food in the lunchroom has become commonplace, with lemonades and small snacks going missing left and right, but on March 31, all of the theft was brought to light.

Senior Aïssata Koné witnessed the questioning that the initial few students were underneath.

“After that, a lot of people were being checked,” she said. They were also asked to empty the contents of their pockets.

“If we had increased portion sizes and food options, [the student body] wouldn’t have to steal,” Koné said. Insufficient lunch portions have been on

the radar for students since the return of paid lunches following the beginning of moving forward from pandemic.

Meanwhile, the administrators have focused on the contents of our lunch this year. The topic was on the table for discussion at a recent Neighborhood Council meeting hosted by Assistant Superintendent Dr. James Conley

However, students like sophomore Hannah Loyd seem to be more concerned about the size of our plates rather than what is in them.

“The general consensus is that the portions are a little too small for a growing teenager,” Loyd said.

There is just one thing she would say to administrators if they agreed to listen.

“The cost of lunches should be lowered and the portions should be increased.”*

* Editors

World Religions is the elective you never knew you needed

Current students and Mr. Peterson discuss the popular and heavily sought-after World Religions elective.

Aïssata Koné ‘23 Contributor

Mr. Dan Peterson is well-loved as a ninth grade English teacher, but more widely recognized as the instructor of World Religions. Current and former students alike rave over the course. So what is it that makes the course so popular?

As a high schooler, it is easy to lose yourself in the curriculum. We commonly forget to break up our schedules with interesting and fun electives. With so many amazing elective choices, it’s difficult to find one that suits your interests.

But one size fits all in Room 206.

The World Religions course is open to any upperclassmen with no prerequisites. It is known especially for its unique and powerful impact on graduating seniors.

“If you want to get a lot from it you can get so much, but if you want a relaxing block this is also for you,” senior Emma Wei said.

There are no essays or tests, allowing students to learn intrinsically. Mr. Peterson emphasizes learning and having fun.

“It’s almost like a mixed media course,” said senior Winnie Kenney.

While the title of the class suggests that the course is a theology class, Mr. Peterson suggests the course is more of an open space for students to talk about meaningful topics.

Mr. Peterson says he wants students to “foster an openness and curiosity about all of life, not just religion.”

However, if you are, in fact, interested in learning about different religions, students say this is the place to do it. With two field trips, Socratic seminars, guest speakers, and plenty of interactive projects, you are bound to learn something.

Students say their favorite trip was visiting a Tibetan Buddhist Temple in Philadelphia where they met a worldfamous monk, Losang Samten.

“Losang Samten is like the best person I’ve ever met in my life,” Wei said.

“He was awesome,” Kenney added.

According to former students, encountering Losang is not only rare but also comforting in nature.

“If you’ve been there, you know. But if you haven’t, you’re like, ‘Oh, that sounds neat.’ But it’s more than ‘it sounds neat’,” said Mr. Peterson.

The unique learning-centered nature of the course is what separates it from more strict academic electives and attracts students from all backgrounds. It is known to connect students who may have never had a class together before and that span grade levels.

Overall the buffet-style course seems to gain great interest from the student body, and one can see why: It’s all you can eat. *

CARTOON: CJ CHEN ’24

Girls’ lacrosse team travels to North Carolina

On Friday, March 31, the lacrosse team set out on a five-day excursion to play against Durham Academy.

CJ Chen ‘24 Contributor

Aspring break together provided a fun-filled team bonding experience that paid off.

The girls’ varsity lacrosse team visited North Carolina over spring break to continue the annual tradition of playing matches against out-of-town teams over the break.

This year, the team decided to reach out to some Haven connections and travel a few miles further than last year—which was near Penn State—for the five-day stay. They arrived on Friday night, and the following day attended a women’s lacrosse game to watch a game between Virginia Tech and Duke University, which was junior Grace Kelly’s favorite part of the trip.

“It went into triple overtime, so the energy was really high and everyone was really into it,” she said. “And it was just a really good game overall. Virginia Tech ended up winning and then we walked

around the Duke campus with a Strath Haven alum who goes there now.”

Junior Megan Nichols enjoyed the opportunity to get to know her teammates off of the lacrosse field.

“The second day, we went to a ropes course,” Nichols said. “It was a lot of fun. You got to see who is scared of heights.”

Haven played against the Durham Academy on the final day in North Carolina, winning 20 points to 10 before making the trip back on Tuesday.

The lacrosse team’s bonding activities translated well back on the field. On April 11, they beat Radnor, a top team in the state.

“I think coming back and playing like that, I think it showed how much closer we got and how it helped us on the field too,” Kelly said. *

Senior achieves accomplishment of a lifetime in track and field

Alexa Brown’s journey to All-American status.

Eddie Tevlin ‘23 Contributor

Competing at the highest level in sports is not uncommon at Strath Haven, but being selected as an All-American is almost unheard of. Alexa Brown has earned the title, and it was because of her exceptional skills in shot put.

The title of All-American is an annual award bestowed upon exceptional high school athletes in each sport. In Brown’s case, shot put.

Shot put is a track and field sport, where the player will throw a heavy sphere, known as a shot, as far as possible from a marked spot.

To achieve such a feat, one must not just be an exceptional athlete, but a person that goes far beyond expectations, a person you look at and admire.

“It’s incredible, I never thought I would get to have this feeling,” Brown said. “It is less about the title and more about proving to myself that if I put my mind to it I can make my dreams a reality.”

Throughout Brown’s high school career, judgment has been extremely prevalent. She said she constantly faces the doubts of others.

“The fact that when I walked through life, people had predetermined my life story by looking at me,” she said. “But when I stepped into that circle, I

proved everyone wrong.”

Brown uses judgment as a point of improvement, as she believes allowing judgment to affect her negatively might take away her love of the sport. Brown’s optimistic thinking has allowed her to view her future in shot put as far from over.

“I will be competing in Division One for the next four years,” Brown said. “I’m planning on switching to rotational put which will increase my distance. I want to win collegiate titles and become stronger and faster. I want to go professional and make it to the Olympics one day. Truthfully, I want to be seen as the greatest shot putter ever.”

Although she does have great confidence in herself, she doesn’t deny that reaching this point was difficult. She acknowledged the fact that she, like anybody else, has failed.

“There will be days that you will want to quit the sport and never look back, but those are the days you need to push yourself the most,” Brown said. “Trust yourself, believe that you can do it because if you don’t believe in yourself, you can’t expect yourself to perform well.

Brown’s determination is vivid in the way she interacts with her sport.

“Being competitive is a great quality, but you must remember your competitors are people too,” she said. “It’s fine to make friends on other teams but once the match begins, they are no longer friends. Winning is fun, but if you can’t accept or learn from your failures, you risk holding yourself back.”

Her love for the shot fuels not only her desire to win, but also her dream to inspire others.

“I just hope people see my picture and it motivates them as all the other athletes on the wall did for me,” Brown said. “I’m glad I can be remembered in Strath Haven’s history.” *

New York University-bound fencer started in sixth grade gym class

Senior Feliz Zhao made strong connections along his journey— and earned a nickname.

Matthew Chen ‘23 Editor-in-Chief

At the club where senior Felix Zhao started fencing, everyone had a nickname.

Zhao was first introduced to the sport in middle school P.E. teacher Ms. Pixie Roane’s 6th-grade gym class, where fencing is an educational unit. Interested in the sport, he joined the Wallingford-Swarthmore Panther Fencing Club, where Ms. Roane is the head coach. During practices, Ms. Roane noticed Zhao’s upbeat and energetic nature and gave him his nickname: Frisky.

In 2018, when Zhao was in seventh grade, he qualified for the Summer Nationals tournament located in St. Louis, Missouri. After placing 235th out of 254 fencers, he decided he needed a change in his fencing education. He joined the Fencing Academy of Philadelphia, a larger club with more coaches and better competition. There, he doubled down on Epee as his fencing discipline of choice.

Fencing utilizes a rating system based on letters: U (unranked) is the lowest rating followed by E, then going up alphabetically to A, the highest rating in fencing. Zhao first earned his A in November of 2021 at a regional tournament in New Jersey.

On April 8 of this year, he renewed his A and earned himself an A23, placing 7th out of 94 fencers and reaching the pinnacle of fencing status.

Zhao values the dual components of fencing.

“It’s a very good way to exercise,” he said “It’s a good mental exercise and a physical exercise. “It’s like physical chess—good for the body and good for the mind.”

Having trained at FAP for six years, he’s earned a reputation for being intensely dedicated to the craft of fencing. Mark Doraszelski, a teammate of Zhao’s and a student at the Germantown Friends School, said Zhao’s best trait is his lunge, a critical move in fencing and one often used to score a point.

“It’s fluid but explosive at the same time,” he said. “If you watch his tape, a lot of times the opponent will feint an attack, and [Zhao] will just calmly start an advance lunge and still catch them.”

Zhao is continuing his fencing career at New York University this fall. *

TEAM BONDING • The Strath Haven girls’ varsity lacrosse team poses together outside Kenan Memorial Stadium on University of North Carolina’s Chapel Hill campus.

PHOTO: SHGIRLSLAXX ON TWITTER

JAB! • Zhao readies an attack on the piste at the January North American Cup.

PHOTO: MATTHEW CHEN ‘23

FELIX ZHAO

APRIL CROSSWORD

Kaia Smith ‘25

Contributor

ACROSS

2.Fairness in a courtroom

4.“If you don’t stop and look around once and a while, you’ll miss it”

8.1 down as a larva

9.An insect and the world’s secondmost popular sport

11.Location of the 2016 Olympics, for short

12.Without further ___

13.Nickname for the UK’s withdrawal from the EU

14.The type of comedy of Rock and Hart

17.Vanity, though Jane Austen wrote that they aren’t synonyms

18.Marvel movie that our school’s mascot could represent

20.Necessary pencil number for exams

21.Sacred ninth Islamic month

DOWN

1.Kendrick’s To Pimp a _____

3.The makeup of a picnic basket

5.The sour athleisure brand

6.The president’s address?

7.Like flowers or perfume

10.Describing fries with many toppings or the very wealthy

15.Limb

16. Backstreet Boys “I want it……”

19.The dry erase marker of blackboard ANSWERS AT

Ultimate Frisbee builds national rankings

With tournament play and team spirit comes recognition

Charles Bogert ‘23, Jake Sherman ‘23

Sports Editor, Contributor

On March 25 and 26, the Strath Haven girl’s ultimate frisbee team competed in the Youth Ultimate League of Arlington (YULA) East Coast championships in Arlington, Virginia.

Going into the tournament, the team was 15th in the country, and by placing third in the tournament, they are now 13th.

“Technically we are the third best on the East Coast,” sophomore captain Lilly Hodges said. “However, there were quite a few teams that could not make it or simply were not invited. This makes it hard to say we’re the third best so early in the season.”

Hodges acknowledged the importance of regular season tournaments, where the team plays nearby schools like Lower Merion and Radnor, citing them as an opportunity to get better.

Tournament play allows the team to diversify their competition, and out-of-state tournaments allow for experimentation and new tactics.

“We get a chance to play teams from other states in tournaments, and this is great because we get to try out new strategies and play new teams that we don’t normally play.”

Noting the team’s greater success this year, Hodges attributes this to a greater commitment to the team.

“We have a lot more commitment this year,” Hodges said. “Everyone is showing up and we also seem to have a better bond. We gel really well together which makes us play better.” The season isn’t done, though, and the team has high hopes for the remainder of the year. “Next for the team is a bunch of practices and a tournament that helps to get so much better,” Hodges said. “We also hope to go to the national tournament and if we do well at this tournament, it could improve our chances of going.”*

SOARING• The girls’ Ultimate Frisbee team gears up to pass and intercept the frisbee during their game against Radnor on April 14. PHOTO: JULIA GRAY ‘23

Two of Haven’s wise seniors offer advice to students with burning questions

Anjali Robinson-Leary ‘23, Aïssata Koné ‘23 Contributors

Q:Dear AnA, I don’t particularly want to double up in math, but I feel like I have to because it’s kinda unspoken at Haven that you’ve gotta. Should I take both math courses? I want to get a good understanding of basic math, but also want to do things I find fun.

*humanities luver

Dear Humanities Luver, A:

It’s important to consider your future plans. If you plan to go on and do a very math-heavy profession, then yes, you should double up. In addition to that, if you’re planning on post-secondary education, it’s important to consider what’s expected of you at your preferred institution. With a quick Google search and outreach to your counselor, you can find what pathways you should take in high school to create an attractive college application for your specific major and schools. Highly selective schools appreciate additional math courses, but if you aren’t interested in that, it really isn’t necessary.

You don’t have to take any courses you don’t want to; taking a surplus of classes you don’t enjoy can be unnecessarily stressful. While it might seem like high school is about stress—it isn’t. It’s supposed to be a time to grow and take your first steps into whatever is next for you.

So don’t feel like you need to conform to Haven culture.

Good luck!

PS: We love the humanities too!

With Love, A&A

Q:I applied to a college and I got accepted! I want to accept their offer, but they didn’t offer me enough financial aid. What should I do? It’s my dream school!

*Colorful and confused

Dear Colorful and Confused,

A:The college application process is difficult! Be proud of yourself for getting accepted to college in the first place.

We suggest writing an appeal letter. An appeal letter is a letter requesting a second look at your financial aid award and usually results in a larger reward. Depending on what school it is, of course. It’s as easy as a Google search to

find out if your school accepts appeals. And even if they don’t, try anyway. Let them know you’re interested. Be sure to include your name, school, and review some of the demonstrated interest you’ve had in the school before. Outline your financial situation in detail and be sure to make it clear what’s holding you back from being able to pay the remainder price. Worst case scenario, they’ll send you some scholarships to apply to.

Either way, you get insight on what next steps to take! Good Luck and Congratulations!

With love, A&A

Q:How do I get back into reading? I used to be a huge reader in elementary school, but once I started to get graded on reading I lost interest. I want to read more but either can’t find the motivation or the right book. What should I do?

*Regretful Ex-Reader

Dear Regretful Ex-Reader,

A:We suggest trying to remember the genre that you like the most and looking for a book that isn’t necessarily challenging, but enjoyable. That way you can start off with an easy read to get the ball going. Revisit authors you enjoy, ask English teachers for recommendations, or even re-read books; as Ms. Plows says, “stories change based on your maturity and experience.” So it may be fun to revisit your favorite reads!

Remember that this should be a relaxing or fun experience—so don’t force yourself to read if you aren’t in the mood and DON’T force yourself to read a book you don’t like. Hopefully, this will help you remember why you liked reading in the first place! Happy Reading!

With Love, A&A

Q:How can I get myself motivated to keep working hard in school and outside of school?

*Jellybean22

Dear JellyBean22,A:Great question….we’re trying to figure that out too! We’d say to first establish a sense of where you want to be at the end of high school and what you like to do.

Then, work backwards to figure out what you need to do to achieve your goals and create a plan.

We like to write out to-do lists, use the Pomodoro method, and reward ourselves! Anjali likes to treat themself to a snack after hard work. Aïssata, on the other hand, likes to make attainable daily goals. Our friends have found comfort in using to-do list websites like Canva.com or Cheqlist. But we prefer writing it out. It’s true what they say, writing something down locks it into your mind. Finding what works for you will take time, but the result of knowing your limits and motivations are worth the time. Invest in yourself and success is sure to come!

With Love, A&A*

One more issue to ask A&A a question! Link in @shpantherpresss Instagram highlights.

CHEESE CORNER:

Parmigiano Reggiano offers depth, versatility

This is the cheesiest column that you’ll see in this issue.

Matteo Ventresca ‘25

Detours Editor

It’s about time The Panther Press brings back a classic after 10 years. The Cheese Corner was a column published in the nineties where one type of cheese was highlighted every issue.

For this edition of the Cheese Corner, I bring to you the king of all cheeses, Parmigiano Reggiano.

This cheese is made exclusively in a city called Parma, found in Northern Italy. Get it? Parma, Parmigiano.

Parmigiano Reggiano is produced in wheels. A wheel is in the shape of a cylinder with a diameter of 14-18 inches and a height of 8-10 inches. It can weigh up to 92 pounds. Each wheel uses about 145 gallons of milk.

The milk comes from the morning and is poured into the old-fashioned copper vats shaped like a bell. The milk is slowly and naturally mixed with rennet and whey starter, made with starter cultures from the day before. The curd is then broken down into small granules using a special tool called a “spino”. This is where the fire comes in. The cauldron heats up to 131 degrees, and the granules fall to the bottom, forming a single mass.

When a wheel is produced, it needs to be salted. It will be immersed in a solution of water and salt, which is a process of salting by osmosis.

After the wheel is ready, the fun begins. The maturation time for a wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano takes a minimum of 12 months and can take up to 40+ months.

In terms of taste, it has a gritty texture and a crisp, subtle fruity/nutty flavor. It might also be bitter, yet plenty of cheeses lack the depth of Parmigiano Reggiano.

Personally, I find this cheese to have many purposes. I eat this cheese almost every day—whether I put it on pasta, soup, salad, or just eat it in pieces. It is very appetizing no matter what you eat it with (or without).

It’s like a piece of heaven that came down to earth. *

A&A • MATTHEW CHEN

A SLICE OF HEAVEN • MATTEO VENTNRESCA HEAR MATTEO PRONOUNCE THIS CHEESE:

THE TASTE BUDS

We’ll

CJ Chen ‘24, Lucy Karn ‘24

Contributors

Each of the set of three restaurants in this edition is rated out of five stars, which averages the overall ratings for each item ordered. Additional criteria include taste, environment, and Bang for your Buck-ness, which indicates how reasonable the price is for the product.

THE JUICE POD

Location: 9 minutes from SHHS at 237 Milmont Ave, Folsom

Hours of operation: Mon. - Sat. 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.; Sun. 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Specialty: Healthy, light food

Rating: HHH

With a bustling menu on the chalkboard wall, The Juice Pod Ridley is marketed as a quick stop for a healthy meal. We came looking for a filling lunch meal and, of course, fresh juice.

The interior is clean, bright, and plant-filled, with hanging light decor fitting for an Instagram photo-op. However, the young, hip energy of the restaurant may be a little over-hyped. Packaged in disposable paper bags, plastic bowls, and given plastic utensils, we expected a little more from The Juice Pod Ridley, which advertises itself as a healthy and locally sourced/environmentally conscious restaurant.

However, the truth ultimately lies in the food. Starting with the Superfood Acai bowl, with toppings spilling over the sides, the bowl had an overpowering taste of peanut butter. The All Star Acai bowl was no different; with a puddle of peanut butter under the toppings of granola and banana, its vanilla protein powder flavor dominated the meal.

But first, to get to the actual acai, one would have to go through a heap of toppings, which inevitably made a mess falling out of the small bowl. The acai bowls were very filling and, in both cases, could not be finished in one sitting. For the confusing taste and hassle caused by the toppings, it did not make a very good impression and neither did the price. For the Acai bowls, The Juice Pod missed the mark for a meal worth the steep price point of twelve dollars.

Onto the warmer options, the Margherita Panini was surprisingly delicious. It was the slowest of all the orders to be received, but the wait was well worth it. At first bite, the sandwich was dry, but with the mixture of the gooey melting cheese, the balance in the panini was near perfect. The portion size was also satisfactory for a lunch meal, and the overall experience of the Margherita Panini was delightful.

Unfortunately, the Lean and Green bowl was the worst out of all four meals, with an unexplainable mix of ingredients that did not taste well together, like a scoop of every non-salad vegetable at a salad bar. The Green Goddess dressing tasted almost exactly like ranch, which was paired with unappetizing raw broccoli and cold, hard edamame. The brown rice underneath the cold vegetables on top was similarly bland and did not mesh well due to its weirdly hot temperature. The texture in the bowl was a mess, which, in addition to the lack of flavor, was not worth the price point of fourteen dollars.

To finish it off, the staff-recommended Pineapple Mint Juice was a perplexing juice that appeared yellowishgreen and had a strong aftertaste of mint. While the menu warned of its green apple, pineapple, and mint ingredients, its sweet taste was appealing to some and overwhelming for others; only order it if you have a sweet tooth and are not afraid of the dominant smell and taste of mint.

Plan your trip accordingly to the Juice Pod Ridley, as it had a hit-or-miss menu that left us a little less than satisfied. Our best tip: come for the panini and juice combo, and leave the smoothie bowls out of it.

SU XING HOUSE

Location: 27 minutes from SHHS at 1508 Sansom St, Philadelphia

Hours of operation: Mon. - Thurs. 11a.m. - 10 p.m., Fri.Sat. 11 a.m. - 10:30 p.m., Sun. CLOSED

Specialty: Vegetarian Chinese Cuisine

Rating: HHHH

The emptiness of the Su Xing House on a Saturday lunch hour shocked me as I first walked in. Located in Center City, I expected a good food place to be bustling with customers. However, the booths were empty except for the one staff member that patiently waited at the front desk area.

I was brought to the Su Xing House on the recommendation of my father, who provided a testament that the restaurant is more of a weekday lunch place, which would account for its emptiness, but was still disappointing to see.

Sitting down, with Chinese pop songs playing in the faint background, the menu unfolded to a large selection. I was impressed by the inclusion of both a Mandarin Chinese and English translation of the dishes, always a good sign of an authentic Chinese food place. The menu held a wide range of classic Chinese dishes, which I was surprised by due to the lack of the variety usually found at an all-vegetarian restaurant. Most notably, the restaurant incorporated traditional Chinese ingredients such as soy protein and tofu, cooked in various ways that made each dish authentic to the cuisine and coincided with its vegetarian nature.

I ordered Number 27, “Soy Bean Protein Sliced and Broccoli in Brown Sauce”, which totalled twelve dollars, and my family had the “Chow Mein Fun Style Singapore Style Dish” and “Asparagus with Wheat Gluten in Brown Sauce”. The lunch options came with a choice of soup, a side, and rice.

I slurped up my small bowl of miso soup, which had, as expected, a good balance of flavor and salt, and a few pieces of seaweed. My family had the hot and sour soup, which was also decent in taste. Once the main dishes were brought out though, there was a distinct difference in quality.

The weakest dish was the Chow Mein dish, which lacked all flavor and had a few measly pieces of cabbage and carrot under the heaping pile of dry noodles. This dish was standalone and thus did not come with any sides to redeem its rating.

The ‘Asparagus with Wheat Gluten in Brown Sauce’ was very similar to my order, which had the same brown sauce. Both dishes were authentic in flavor and had a good portion size for the price. The seaweed salad side was delightful with the taste of sesame oil and spices.

Overall, we agree that the Su Xing House has excellent dishes— if you avoid the noodles. Its meal pricing is fair for the large portions that come with the soup and sides, so its Bang for Your Buck-ness is a full rating for me. I recommend checking out the Su Xing House any time you have a problem that Chinese food can fix and carefully selecting your meal of choice. They offer takeout and delivery options, but I can also safely say that the longer trek to this Philly restaurant is a trip worth making.

WILLOW GARDEN CAFE

Location: 8 minutes from SHHS at 23 S Jackson St, Media

Hours of operation: 8 a.m. - 3 p.m. everyday

Specialty: Breakfast and Lunch food

Rating: HHHH

As soon as I walked into the cafe, my mouth started to water from the sweet smell of their pastries only to be hit by the warm scent of fresh coffee. This cafe reminds me of a classical Parisian cafe with a tad of talkative American service. The staff was helpful and kind by offering suggestions and chit-chatting with guests. The staff usually takes orders at the register but also makes accommodations for other guests by waiting and serving tables.

This cafe had many small tables where people were studying and working. While at the larger tables, I could hear friends chit-chatting and a first date in process.

I ordered the Garden Patch Panini at my server’s suggestion, and they had no problem preparing my order quickly after finding out I was in a time crunch. This sandwich consisted of roasted veggies, mozzarella cheese, and pesto in between two slices of toasted bread. The roasted vegetables were peppers, onions, and mushrooms. These vegetables were cooked perfectly and were just warm enough to melt the mozzarella cheese. The peppers were the star of the sandwich because they were juicy, fresh, and tasty, but the mushrooms provided plenty of flavor. The melted cheese also created texture and a familiar flavor for those who don’t always munch on pure vegetation.

This panini lets the vegetables be the center of the consumer’s attention while also being supported by the perfect amount of mozzarella cheese and lightly crisped bread. This sandwich offers the feel of a homemade lunch and comfort food while also being quite healthy and made with fresh ingredients. It is simple and uncomplicated without being bland or boring. It is a sandwich for vegetable lovers and anyone looking for a stick-to-your-ribs kind of meal. The price was slightly higher than ten dollars which can be expected for lunch at a nice cafe but can still be considered expensive. When looking at Bang for your Buck-ness, I would say that this establishment charged a fair price for a well-made sandwich with fresh ingredients.

I was a fan of The Willow Garden Cafe and would definitely like to return to try some more of their food, and I would recommend it to anyone else looking for a good sandwich. The service was great and the whole experience was very enjoyable and pleasant. For a small cafe in a random corner of Media, I would say they exceeded expectations. *

introduce you to the quick and easy lunches of your dreams, located nearby.

A fundraiser with HEART

Julia Gray ‘23, Story Sylvan Prey-Harbaugh ‘23, Photos

It isn’t every day, or every school event, where you get to see your peers in speedos, showcasing their singing skills, or their lip-sync talents.

You saw this all, and more, however, on April 14 at the second annual Haven Heartthrob, an event that raised money to support MiniThon in their fight against childhood cancer.

English teacher Ms. Reagan Lattari, an advisor for MiniThon, wants the community to remember what the event is really about.

“We always want to be stressing that, as fun as this is,it is all to raise money for the children who are suffering from cancer,” she said.

The leaders of the club stress a similar sentiment.

“Every dollar you donate to MiniThon is used to help better the lives of the children and families affected by cancer,” copresident Meredith Seidman said.

Combined from this year and the last, the club has raised over seventeen thousand dollars for Four Diamonds, an organization whose mission is “to conquer childhood cancer by assisting children and their families through superior care, comprehensive support, and innovative research,” according to its website.

This year, there were ten contestants vying for the title of Haven’s Heartthrob in a Miss USA-like pageant.

Contestants were judged in talent and Q&A portions on the day of the event, but, in preparation, each contestant had to raise 50 dollars. The extra money that they raised contributed to their overall score.

Audience members could weigh in. During the talent portion, MiniThon members raced up the stairs of the auditorium collecting tickets that audience members received upon entry which, ultimately, contributed to an act’s final score.

Thewinnerofthisyear’scompetitionwasseniorColinMcLaughlin, who showcased his lip sync skills when he performed a mash-up of “Singing in the Rain” by Gene Kelly and “Umbrella” by Rihanna.

The event raised $3,236, bringing Mini-THON’s total amount of fundraising this year to $15,374.74, and surpassing their $15,000 goal.*

ABOVE Senior Ben Holtman holds the mic and senior Archie Bracegirdle’s clothes while Bracegirdle adlibs and solves a Rubik’s Cube. Bracegirdle’s next act was to solve it while he held his breath under water.

RIGHT Seniors Ben Orye and Bobby Fooskas energize the audience in wrestling uniforms during the fashion strut category.

RIGHT Senior Colin McLaughlin death drops to end his performance of Rhianna’s “Umbrella.”

TOP Junior Henry Reacher points to the roaring crowd during his time on stage in the fashion strut category.

BOTTOM Senior Mackenzie Murray passionately lip-syncs to the song “Man or Muppet.”

Jabberwocky lauches SONNETPALOOZA

Julia Gray ‘23 Editor-in-Chief

Buz buz buzzzzz…

You might have seen them barging into rooms throughout the day on Friday, April 21, wearing Shakespearean garb, buzzing kazoos in hand, to deliver sonnets to unsuspecting students and a few teachers, too.

These sonnets were the work of Jabberwocky, Haven’s literary and art magazine, designed to fundraise for their publication. In total, they delivered 35 sonnets throughout the day.

Jabberwocky members sold sonnets during lunches leading up to April 21. Mad-libs style sonnets were available for $4, while fully customized sonnets could be purchased for $7. The fundraiser was designed to support the printing of the annual literary magazine.

It was a lot of work to make this day-long event a reality.

“We stayed during fifth block for about two weeks,” senior and Jabberwocky co-editor-in-chief Nuala McHugh said. “We were up until like 11:30 last night working on the sonnets.”

“I dreamt sonnets,” junior and co-Editor-in-Chief Leah Gonzalez-Diaz said.

Next year, they hope to expand the palooza.

“We will overtake singing valentines. This is an official challenge, with our swords,” Gonzalez-Diaz said. “More things will be coming next year.”*

GREASE: We’ll Always Be Together

Seniors express their love for Grease as well as their favorite aspects of performing.

Sasha Binder ‘24 Opinions Editor

At the beginning of March, Strath Haven’s Theatre Department held six performances of “Grease.” The musical was a huge success in the community with a packed auditorium at each show.

According to some of the cast members, this show was special for many different reasons. Not only was it the first large cast/ensemble-production since Covid-19, but it was also the last high school musical for the seniors who have been performing since middle school.

Senior Sammi Quinn, who played Sandy, said that after more than ten performances, she’s met all of her best friends and that her favorite part of being in theater is getting to watch them sing and perform. She said the overall feeling among the seniors is bittersweet since it’s their last show together.

“I feel very grateful and with it being my last show in the high school, I’m just focusing on making the most of it,” she said.

When talking about their favorite memories during the show, most of the performers agreed that just spending time with their friends was the best part.

“I’ve always liked the really long rehearsals during tech week. We’re all so tired and we’re doing so much work but it’s so fun because everyone’s together and there’s really nothing else to do besides hang out with each other,” Sophie DeCristofaro said, who played Jan.

Colin McLaughlin, who played Kenicke, shared that being able to perform with his sister, junior Riley McLaughlin, was a highlight for him.

“It’s been great to share this experience with her especially because it’s her first musical at the high school and my last musical at the high school. It’s good to have been talking to her and her friends and being able to share this whole experience with her as

well as the rest of the cast,” McLaughlin said. In addition to spending time with close friends, a lot of the cast members indicated that having a large cast was really fun and enhanced the experience for them.

“My favorite part about being Grease was the camaraderie. This was our first show, in my career here, that had a big cast like we used to have in middle school and it was good to make connections with new people who haven’t been in prior shows,” senior Alex Pollard, who played Doody, said.

Pollard also discussed how the show was even more special to him and other seniors because it’s all about friendship and connecting with each other.

All of the show’s leads felt strongly about being able to work with their closest friends and talked about how much love they have for each other after years of performing with one another.

Both Ella Grossman, who played Rizzo, and Archie Bracegirdle, who played Danny, agreed that Grease was a more fun and upbeat musical which they, as well as their fellow seniors, loved.

“We really got to focus on the interpersonal aspect of the show and it was great to just have fun singing and dancing to music everyone knows,” Grossman said. “The overall tone of the show is very different from our past shows, it was just fun. And then there’s the acknowledgement of it being our last show together, which added this other layer of this is going to be great. It’s just a good experience that we get to cherish together.”*

With the start of a new tradition, literary magazine makes a challenge to Silvertones.

ABOVE • Juniors Leah Gonzalez-Diaz and Quinn Kuzemka deliver a sonnet during class.

PHOTO: JESSICA FARHAT

TOP RIGHT • Music teacher Mr. John Shankweiler receives a sonnet at sword-point.

PHOTO: CHARLOTTE HORETSKY BOTTOM RIGHT • Juniors Katie Foca and Meg McManus deliver a sonnet to senior Ani Smith.

PHOTO: SYLVAN PREY-HARBAUGH

TOP • Senior Alex Pollard plays the guitar during his performance of “Those Magic Changes” during Grease.

PHOTO: JESS FARHAT BOTTOM • Senior Assane Wade throws senior Nailah Sweeting in the air during the dancing scene of Grease.

PHOTO: CHARLOTTE HORETSKY