ANSWER FOR ALZHEIMER’S
2018 IN MUSIC
NUEVA COFFEEHOUSE
FIGHT HATE
Freshman Jack A. continues his quest to end Alzheimer’s through a win of $20,000 from the Broadcam MASTERS Competition. p. 3
Filled with catchy tunes from Ariana Grande to Childish Gambino, each month of 2018 can be represented in a song.
Swirling hot chocolate, glimmering fairy lights, and acoustic guitars filled the WRC during the first-ever coffeehouse event. Learn what went into the tasteful evening. p. 6
Check out this article and find out how you can make the coming year more meaningful by focusing on supporting the victims of hate crimes. p. 8
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The Nueva Current DECEMBER 14, 2018
During a science unit examining the human eye, lower school students learn how to use microscopes to examine slides. (Photo by John Meyer)
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Antonetta T. & Amanda W.
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How our teachers are supporting femaleidentifying students in STEM classrooms
CULTURE
Fumbling with family and forgiveness
The Resting Place tackles difficult questions, lacks finesse Grace H. When the lights go down for the first time at the Magic Theatre’s production of Ashlin Halfnight’s The Resting Place, nobody is sure whether they ought to clap. The characters seem to deflate as they begin the slow process of removing the current set, a sparse arrangement of furniture and personal effects meant to evoke the Wilbur family’s living room; silence reigns as the carpet is rolled up from the floor and borne, casket-like, out of the room, which remains quiet even as the back wall is lifted to reveal the expanse of darkness beyond. It is a stark contrast to the yellow-orange light and intense, palpable emotions that had characterized the play until
Volume 2, Issue 3
that point; the aggressive, motivating grief and gnawing guilt felt by the characters has given way as easily as the seemingly-fixed backdrop to the set, leaving the stage—and the philosophical purpose for which the show had seemed to be searching—empty and dissatisfying. The show revolves around a white, middle-class family and their struggle to determine where and if they ought to bury Travis, the recently deceased eldest child of the family, with respect to the recent discovery of the horrific acts of sexual assault against minors that he committed during his lifetime. The family members—Annie (Martha Brigham), the older sister and a hotheaded and idealistic environmental
activist desperate to ensure that her brother is buried; Macy (Emily Radosevich), the younger sister looking to avoid conflict and hold the family together without ruining her political career; Mitch (James Carpenter), the guilt-ridden, overly aggressive father who believes the family’s best option is to cremate Travis and keep a low profile; and Angela (Emilie Talbot), the drunken mother who at times seems to be the most reasonable member of the family—are forced to confront their own actions and avoidance of the truth as they attempt to reconcile their perceptions of Travis with what has come to light about his life. CONTINUED ON PAGE 7
When upper school associate biology and Interdisciplinary Studies of Science (ISoS) teacher Jehnna Ronan was a junior at Harvard University, she took an upper level science course taught by a male professor who often gave the impression that he favored male-identifying students in the classroom. “It was a feeling of who the professor would turn to first to answer a question or who they would ask advice of in front of the room,” Ronan recalled. Small acts of inequity often go unnoticed, but it is these unintentional microaggressions that have an outsized impact on female students interested in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and allow for sexism to persist in the workplace when women ultimately go on to pursue careers in those fields. According to data from Code.org, there was an increase in the number of females who took the AP Computer Science Exam from 2,600 in 2007 to 29,000 in 2017; however, the 29,000 females only accounted for 27 percent of all students who took the test. Academic classrooms, which are often the first settings in which students might be introduced to STEM subjects, can do much to support women in today’s society. Jeremy Jacquot, who teaches chemistry in the Upper School, says that one of his goals as a STEM teacher is to become aware of those unintended, subconscious biases and to act as a “cheerleader” for all of his students, giving both male- and female-identifying students the same opportunities to succeed. He says that making girls feel like they have a place in science classes would help them gain the confidence to pursue more advanced STEM courses. “Having now been an educator for several years, I have had the opportunity to learn a lot more about the stark gaps in gender across STEM fields and about how female-identifying students can be steered away from these fields—both explicitly and implicitly—at a young age,” Jacquot said. “As a result, despite being equally—and sometimes more—capable as their male-identifying peers, [some] do not develop the confidence to pursue their studies in these fields.” When schools fail to counter sexism in STEM classrooms, the consequences carry over into post-education professional environments. On Nov. 1, more than 20,000 Google employees from around the globe joined together in a walkout to protest the leadership’s handling of sexual harassment within the company. Their demonstration, an indicator that female-identifying employees didn’t feel valued in the workplace, was just one of many walkouts, protests, and marches that have occurred in recent years, signalling a need for action, which can start before women reach the workplace. Dan Cristiani, the academic dean for grades 5-12, describes the problem as an “equity issue.” “In the Silicon Valley, [we’re seeing] companies that are dominated by males and male culture sort of turn[ing] away females directly or implicitly,” Cristiani said. CONTINUED ON PAGE 10