The Patriot May 2012, Issue 6, Vol 47

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Dance Academy rehearses The Patriot investigates for final performance student spending The Academy of Performing Arts and Dance prepares for its end of year performances.

A&E 7

The Patriot breaks down students’ expenditures in relation to class year. In-Depth 8-9

The John Carroll School 703 E Churchville Rd Bel Air, MD 21014 Volume 47, Issue 6 May 2012

Photo courtesy of Mark Ionescu

Photo courtesy Mark Ionescu

Prom-goers take a break from dancing and relax in the dolphin room. Having Prom at the National Aquarium allowed attendees to explore aquarium exhibits.

Precautionary Prom measures pay off Maggie Cassidy Print Chief

For her first Prom as principal, Principal Madelyn Ball had one key task: keeping drugs and alcohol out of the class of 2012’s Prom. To accomplish this task, the administration decided to take new precautions for the class of 2012. According for Ball, seniors who wanted to attend Prom were required to complete the second portion of AlcoholEdu and sign a Prom contract, agreeing to not bring or partake in drugs or alcohol. Without doing so, students could not purchase Prom tickets. At Prom, each attendee was required to have his or her bags searched, and two teacher chaperones supervised each bus that took the students to the National

Aquarium in Baltimore. “That’s kind of a typical thing to do. We just want to check the bags to make sure that we don’t start the evening with drugs or alcohol. That way it makes it safe for everybody, everybody can have a good time,” Ball said in an interview before Prom. In an interview the Monday after Prom, Ball said that the class of 2012’s behavior was “phenomenal. I have been doing Proms for twenty-some years and it was without a doubt the smoothest running, no hitches event. I’ll have to say this, this is the first Prom I’ve been to where there hasn’t been an issue of some sort.” Social studies teacher and Prom chaperone Tony Del Puppo agreed with Ball’s assessment of the class of 2012’s actions. “They were very well behaved, though their dancing techniques left something to

be desired,” Del Puppo said. According to Ball, the wait staff at the National Aquarium also appreciated the class of 2012’s behavior. “They were very complimentary. They had never seen a group that well behaved. They were just so impressed,” Ball said. After Prom occurred, Ball believed that the new changes and protocol encouraged good behavior. “Our expectations were absolutely no drugs no alcohol. It was our responsibility to make sure those expectations were met. For the little bit of inconvenience in the beginning, I think it paid off just fine,” Ball said. The process of checking bags did not bother seniors Colin Brooks and Elaine Jansing-Kaestner. “To me, it really didn’t matter. They checked our pants and stuff but that was

it,” Brooks said. “The security slowed everything up, but it allowed everyone to be able to catch their buses,” Jansing-Kaestner said. However, the heightened security bothered senior Becca Falter. “They put my bra on the table [when searching my bag], that was really inappropriate,” Falter said. Despite the increased security and precautions, Ball said that the administration will continue with this same format for the class of 2013’s Prom. “It worked beautifully. So we’ll just continue like this. I think it was a good year to make a change with a new, grouchy, old principal. In fact, when I speak to classes next year, I’m going to tell them that we have pretty high expectations, because not one problem occurred at Prom. Not one,” Ball said.

Ball, Seiler expand International Students Program Grace Kim

Online Chief The International Students Program is evolving. Beginning with baby steps in Korea, then China, it is now opening up to the rest of the world. Ball has yet to solidify the mission statement with President Richard O’Hara, but there are a few general ideas that the administration is aiming for. “Definitely to branch out...[it’s] critically important for us as a school with a global perspective,” Ball said. According to Ball, there is no set goal for a desired amount of international students. Right now, the program is just focusing on how many host families are available to be matched up with as many international students as possible. According to Coordinator of International Students Program Sandi Seiler, the International Students Program replaces foreign language classes with English as a Second Language (ESL) classes, which is a part of the program. “Beginning [this] fall, [ESL] will be a one credit foreign language course for students that have not achieved an 80 on the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Lan-

Photo by Grace Kim

Current Chinese exchange students Jinyu “Maggie” Hunag, Yi Yang, and Xiaozhou “William” Du talk with Chinese teacher Lei Wei and Coordinator of International Student Program Sandi Seiler about their opportunities at JC. Next year, more international stuguage) exam. Our hope is that by the end of their sophomore year, they will test out of my class by getting an 80,” Seiler said. According to Seiler, a score of 80 is the “exit score” because it is the minimum that most colleges and universities require for entrance. Another aspect of the program is the availability and participation of host families. “[Seiler] has done a wonderful job working with host families. We had our first host family get together a couple weeks ago so everyone could get together

and talk and see if anyone was having any problems. The new host families are coming here on May 14. [We will have] host family orientation here. On that night, we tell the host families what to expect, and we then Skype the students in China and their families so everyone can meet face to face,” Ball said. “A lot of host families are incoming families. . .We have quite a few freshman international students coming in, so parents think that it's best to have an exchange student at the same grade level as their stu-

dent,” Seiler said. “At this point, what really controls the numbers [of international students] is housing. We only have so many host families and so many spaces in the dorms,” Ball said. According to Ball, people involved with the program are “putting together a packet of things that will explain what life will be like in the dorm in terms of outings, going places, doing community service...and the responsibility of the dorm parents.” “There's just an awful lot to go into this, rules as to how to sign in and out, and if you're going somewhere...The Archdiocese must see [the information packet], so within a month it will be sent to them,” Ball said. In regards to the current status of the program, according to Ball and Seiler, they are still in the process of waiting to hear back from students regarding their acceptances.

INDEX NEWS..........2 LIFESTYLE.....4 A&E............7

IN-DEPTH...... 8 OPINION.......11 SPORTS........14


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