Issue iv

Standard

the

January/February 2015 | Volume XL, Issue IV

raising the stakes The betting culture within the student body, both legal and illegal, comes forward in all its forms, from video games to casino floors Zack Longboy | Lead Features Editor Gabriel Ruimy | Senior Editor Article on pages 16-17

The American School in London | One Waverley Place | London NW8 0NP U.K. | standard.asl.org PHOTO BY YARRA ELMASRY

CENTER SPREAD ON PAGES 14-15: Read about varying sibling relationships present at the school by Opinions Editor Zack Ashley and Culture Editor Nadia Sawiris

News Page 2

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THE STANDARD | January/February 2015

Math competition Future curriculum

Paris attacks increase security

Left: Freedom of speech protests in Paris after the shootings at Charlie Hebdo and a kosher supermarket. Right: Students now have to use their ID cards to enter the school as a result of the increased security measures. LEFT PHOTO FROM WIKIPEDIA.ORG, RIGHT PHOTO BY YARRA ELMASRY

Michaela Towfighi Staff Writer Renata Wilson Staff Writer In response to the attacks made by al-Qaeda trained terrorists on the Charlie Hebdo magazine’s office in Paris on January 7 and the increased level of a national security threat in the U.K., the school’s security team has implemented new procedures to ensure the safety and protection of the school. All adults in the school must now wear a visible school ID in the building. In addition, all High School students must enter and exit the building using their ID cards.

With the new security measures, people who belong inside the school can be distinguished from those who do not.

While it is unclear how long these measures will be in place for, authorities in Europe first need to ensure there are no other imminent threats to the U.K. before these new protocols are lifted at School. With these new measures, Head of Security Barak Favé said, “It is just adding another layer of security, to tighten it a bit.”

Due to the name of the school and the word “American” being in the title, it could appear to be a threat to some. “If Americans are targets anywhere else in the world, an institute with the word American in it would be a legitimate target for extremists,” Favé said. However, with the added security Favé

believes this will try to prevent a situation from happening at school.

The attacks in Paris highlighted the ways in which terrorists are able to attack a “soft target” Favé said, which is a place that is not a military or police station or headquarters.

With the increased attacks on civilian areas, the new security measures add extra protection to prevent a similar situation from occurring at the school.

Midday on January 7, gunmen dressed in black bulletproof vests attacked the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo’s headquarters in Paris.

While chanting “God is great” in Arabic, the gunmen killed 12 people. This was in response to the Prophet Muhammad being depicted in crude scenes in past issues of the publication.

Following the attacks on the magazine’s office, the gunmen proceeded to shoot a police officer after being stopped further down the street. In addition to this, a man identified as Amedy Coulibaly carried out another act of terrorism on January 9 when he attacked a kosher supermarket and held shoppers hostage. During this attack, four hostages were killed as well as Coulibaly himself.

Students have strong opinions regarding the Charlie Hebdo attacks. For some people, such as Marie Boussard (’16) the recent attacks hit very close to home. “I grew up there, so it’s very shocking to hear these things,” she said.

Following the attacks, Boussard noticed a huge sense of community and solidarity developing in France. “It has become about a lot more than what it used to be,” Boussard said.

Boussard noticed how at first, the concern was for the victims, but since then it has developed into a larger issue of politics and freedom of speech.

“When you behead someone, you are trying to silence them. The terrorists have beheaded several British and Americans over the past few months. Killing journalists that were satirizing extremists is just another way of silencing people,” Boussard said.

Following the attacks, Principal Jack Phillips’ main concern is the safety of students at the school. While Phillips believes students are more endangered by “typical” behavior from teenagers, such as the use of drugs and alcohol, rather than terrorists, the school was still briefed following the attacks.

Phillips was briefed on general safety and terror alerts in the U.K., specifically London.

In addition to this, he was also notified of how other international schools such as The American School in England [TASIS] and ACS Cobham are responding to the attacks, as well as the American School in Paris’s plan.

Director of Operations Jim Heynderickx, who was at the security summit, also told Phillips about the outcome and topics discussed during the leadership summit that occurred two weeks prior to these attacks. At this summit, regional security officers from

the U.S. Embassy, counter terror advisory officers, the school’s security consultant, ACS Cobham and Southbank International security managers were present.

While Phillips was informed there is no indication that the U.K., international, and high-profile schools are going to be attacked, but nonetheless, he hopes the new security measures at the school will ensure safety of students and the community.

“I hope, more importantly, that people are vigilant. The best thing that we can do is have people being aware. Just people talking to someone, letting an adult know if something is out of place, if a person who is here who doesn’t belong. But in general, we hope that vigilance and alertness does not come with the expense of raised anxiety, or of nervousness,” Phillips said.

As a community, Philips believes “perhaps a more important and perhaps a more immediate interest would be thinking about how we got here.”

Looking at the underlying issues of what led to the attacks on Charlie Hebdo, Phillips hopes people are now able to reflect on cultural and ideological assumptions, the freedom of press versus the freedom of religion, and how and when different rights and values collide, in hopes this can be prevented in future situations. “That kind of smart, thoughtful dialogue is how we can engage in what it is and try to grapple what has happened in Paris,” Phillips said.

THE STANDARD | January/February 2015

News Briefs

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Page 3

News

ASL hosts math competition

Jack Jameson Staff Writer Kendel Craig (’15) Honored In December, students in Graphic Design had the opportunity to design the cover of a book about tapeworms for the Natural History Museum. Kendel Craig’s (’15) design was selected for publication. Craig’s cover was part of her final project and will be featured in her graphic design portfolio. Katherine Morris (’17) and Murad Jah’s (’18) designs were also noted. As gratitude for the students efforts, all three students will have the opportunity to take a private “behind the scenes” tour of the museum.

Basketball Fundraiser

On January 23, the varsity girls basketball team hosted a bake sale in honor of Mount St. Joseph college basketball player Lauren Hill, who has recently been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma.

The money raised was donated to “The Cure Starts Now Foundation” in Hill’s name. In addition, the junior varsity girls held Hill’s layup challenge called #Layup4Lauren, where participants spun around five times before attempting a layup with their nondominant hand. The team was able to raise over £1,000.

Dance Showcase

On February 28, ASL will host the first annual dance and cheer showcase. This will be during the LSSA tournament with ACS Cobham and TASIS also participating. Athletic Director John Farmer hopes that this will showcase the hard work of the two teams as well as be a lively and entertaining event. Before and after the showcase, the basketball teams will be playing games. Come show your support to the dance and cheer teams.

Psychology Proposal

After learning about the adverse effects of missing sleep, students from Social Studies Department Head Todd Pavel’s psychology course sent Principal Jack Phillips proposals to change the start time of school. As a result of instituting an advisory system next year, there will be an opportunity to examine the schedule.

Because of this, Phillips encouraged psychology students to formally propose changes to the start time of the school day and a committee has been formed as a result.

This year, ASL hosted the International Schools Mathematics Teachers Foundations (ISMTF) Senior competition from January 30 through February 1. The mission of the competition is to support the learning of mathematics at international schools.

There were nine ASL students who competed: Ali M. Ahmed (’18), Jonathan Wang (’17), Isobel Bohmer (’16), Emma Abele, (’16), Rebecca Brunsberg (’15), Tarush Gupta (’15), Veronica Lim (’15), Jack Roth (’15) and Lizzie Shaffran (’15), with the team placing sixth overall out of 58 teams.

Gupta didn’t expect ASL to do as well as they did in the competition.

“We won a couple years ago, but realistically, I [didn’t] think we [were] going to win,” he said.

ASL has participated in ISMTF competitions annually for over 13 years. The school placed second in the 2009 Senior Competition and had a first place finish in the 2012 Junior Competition.

Prior to the event, the math team met during lunch or after school and worked on practice problems.

Before the competition, Bohmer felt her greatest strength was her different perspective. “With solving difficult problems it’s good to have multiple perspectives on how to go about solving it,” she said.

The competition was broken

Thirty-six different international schools competed in the event. PHOTO BY ALEX GANDHI up into three different stages. The first part was a written individual test where each student competed against one another. Wang placed 13th overall out of 171 competitors.

Roth found the test challenging but not overbearing. “It was harder than a lot of the practice tests that we had done, but I was still able to get answers and it wasn’t impossible,” he said.

The second stage included team problems where students from the same school worked together to solve more difficult problems which can take up to 15 minutes to solve.

The third stage occurred on Sunday, February 1 and was a scav-

enger hunt known as the Sunday Chase. Math Teacher Mark Barsoum organized the competition and describes the Sunday Chase as “logic-based and puzzle-based problems.” Students from different schools combined to form teams and were given a map of the school along with a list of 15 classrooms with problems in them. They were limited to one hour and 10 minutes to answer the questions.

Math Teacher Doug Poggioli was responsible for writing questions for the competition. The task took him over five months to complete.

However, Poggioli didn’t write the questions alone, citing help from ASL math teachers along with math

teachers at other schools partaking in the competition. “About 30 to 40 percent of the questions are from coaches who submitted them. The coaches from the other schools submit questions, and I either like it, don’t like it, change it or I keep it and then I have to come up with the other ones. So really, there’s lots of collaboration,” he said.

The next opportunity for ASL’s math students to compete will be at the Junior High School competition, which is for students under 16 years of age. The Junior competition will be hosted by Webster University in Vienna, Austria from March 13 - March 15. ASL will be sending six students to compete.

Library and Technology merge Sourna Daneshvar, Jr. Staff Writer

Due to overlapping curriculum areas, such as literature, research skills and students ability to use applications like iMovie, the library and technology departments have been combined.

Head of School Coreen Hester, along with other members of the administration, made the decision which she then announced to both of the departments at the end of last academic year.

Head Librarian Karen Field believes the merging of the two departments will make her job and the job of all librarians easier. “The last few years we’ve felt as librarians, that it’s really hard to have the

two departments separate because so much of what we do, we need technology to do it,” she said.

High School Technology Coordinator Mariam Mathew feels uncertain over the merge as it’s in the early stages of implementation.

“Probably my number one question is how does it look with these two teams together, and what does it mean for our individual roles?” she said.

While the merge has occurred, there are no clear-cut ramifications of the decision.

Director of Technology Russell Layton considers it his responsibility to lead this change. “Any major reconstruction like this takes time. The decision was made, now it’s my job to lead that... I would

hope by the end of the year we have a clear and agreed vision for the library-technology merger,” Layton said.

A major development of this unification could be a reconfiguration of the library. Nothing is imminent, yet a change of the space that is not “very functional,” appears feasible, Field said. “It’s really difficult to use the space as a classroom. It’s kind of a fixed space, a lot of that needs to change. I think we could use the space better.”

After current Director of Operations Jim Heynderickx vacated the position filled by Layton at the start of the year, it seemed like an appropriate time for the union to take place,” Field said.

Improving student learning is

the unified purpose of this merger. “What I hope it will mean and what the intent of this is that [students] will have more opportunities to use technology to support their learning,” Layton said.

To aid understanding of what should be done for the future, the new department recently underwent a review process after collecting information from students in a survey. Meetings took place on January 22 and January 28 to discuss the most important findings of the merge. During this time, the joined department began the process of creating a mission statement. “The next stage is to come with a vision and essential questions for this merger,” Mathew said.

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THE STANDARD | January/February 2015

News

Examining the future An exploration into the future changes in the school’s curriculum, regarding AP classes and standards based assessments Ian Scoville | Editor-in-Chief Charlotte Young | News Editor The High School’s curriculum, like that of most other schools – and nearly all other features of ASL, for that matter – is an ever-evolving structure. “We never stop growing as a school, as a faculty, as a community, and as that process is constantly ongoing, those decisions are made by the people who are in the best place to make them,” Assistant Principal Karen Bonthrone said.

With the start of the second semester, the next several years’ curriculum has already begun to be discussed.

Aiming toward being viewed as a more academically rigorous school, changes are expected to occur in the coming years regarding the standards which classes in different departments will be aligned to. In addition, there is an ongoing debate regarding the necessity of Advanced Placement (AP) courses at ASL. The discussion developing about AP courses is part of a broader conversation about the High School’s curriculum that is taking place, one that is expected to take several years. “All departments are working hard on establishing our

standards based curriculum; that is a multi year process. And as departments go through that process, they will look at the AP as part of that, and that will be part of the decision that’s made,” Bonthrone said.

The main purpose of an AP program now, besides offering challenging courses in many subject areas, is the AP program is seen an external benchmark for admission to universities around the world. “We don’t have many of those in the American system, unlike, for example, the British system, where there’s multiple external measures, so it is one way of establishing an external measure,” Bonthrone said.

As Bonthrone explained, the AP system is necessary for students who would like to apply to British universities. Students who apply to these universities cannot be accepted with just internal grades, they also required to submit AP scores.

And this function extends to schools in the U.S., albeit with a different viewpoint. “It also sends a message to U.S. colleges, although they look less at the

actual scores, but it does establish where we are in terms of rigor in our program,” she said.

With ASL comparing itself to other independent high schools in the United States, an easy mode to do so is through AP courses. Social Studies Teacher Mike McGowan sees ASL as making an effort to match curriculum in the U.S., and a way to do so is through the school having AP courses. “In my short experience here it’s [clear] that ASL is trying really hard to be an American high school and the belief is that many American high schools are using the AP program,” he said.

While there are drawbacks to having AP courses, Principal Jack Phillips sees potential flaws in other types of curricula in other schools which are deemed as difficult as AP courses. “I think there are certain frustrations that we have and there are tensions that are created when we’re at an AP school,” he said. “But that’s going to be the case if we were an IB [International Baccalaureate] school, that would be the case if we were an English system.”

McGowan, who has eight years of ex-

perience with teaching AP social studies courses sees both negative and positive aspects to this curriculum. “For me, the big drawback [of teaching an AP course] is having to rush through the content.

You really sometimes let the content of the exam drive the course and it can be a real problem,” he said.

Additionally, McGowan sees certain courses as better fits for the AP exams than others. “I see it more with AP U.S. History than AP Economics. It’s [AP U.S.] so much content and you really don’t know what the test is going to focus on.

I’ve had experiences in the past where the document-based question is something I’ve zeroed in on in 15-20 minutes,” he said. “It’s kind of like playing Russian roulette on a certain level.”

But for some courses, such as AP Calculus AB or AP Calculus BC, the structure provided by the AP curriculum matches up almost entirely with how the teacher would seek to teach the course. “If you were telling me that you wanted me to teach a more advanced [course] for students who wanted to study engineering,

THE STANDARD | January/February 2015

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News 100

AP math students

212

AP science students

149

AP social studies students

74

AP language students

PHOTO BY YARRA ELMASRY

go into math, [or] physics, AP Calc BC is really what a first semester course would look like,” Math Department Head Neil Basu said. “And if you wanted a calculus course that students who would enter college and take a calculus, maybe retake calculus, at that or a higher level, or might be doing calculus in a field like economics or medicine, [AP Calculus AB] is exactly the calculus course that I would develop. So, it

High School’s curriculum is the movement toward English and mathematics classes re-aligning themselves with the Common Core State Standards Initiative and having standards based assessments. This means that in the future, assessments will be designed according to a rubric.

As a result, teachers, when designing assessments, will know exactly what the learning outcomes should be, which are

and we’re going to institute a new teacher evaluation system that if your students can’t pass the standardized test, you’re going to get paid less’,” Young said.

However, because ASL is an independent school, it does not have to follow the rules put in place by U.S. schools. “We think this is a really good document of skills and we are not impacted in any way about the political ramifications in it [as

STATISTICS COURTESY OF THE OFFICE OF ACADEMIC ADVISING AND COLLEGE COUNSELING

Standards] are written down so there’s a progression from grade to grade,” Young said. “The standards will help us decide things like what type of essay prompts should a ninth grader work with versus an eleventh grader, what types of citations we should have at certain grade levels.”

But even though the school knows the direction the curriculum is going in, there’s still a certain amount of uncer-

“WE NEVER STOP GROWING AS A SCHOOL, AS A FACULTY, AS A COMMUNITY.” ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL KAREN BONTHRONE doesn’t vary from the types of learning that we’re going for.”

For Director of Academic Advising and College Counselling Patty Strohm, there’s an important difference to note between AP courses and AP exams. “If ASL can show rigor, we don’t need AP courses,” she said.

But, because of the fact that students apply to UK universities, which require AP exam scores for admission, “we need AP exams,” Strohm said.

A second part of the evolution of the

based on the outlined standards of the particular course. Associate Director of Curriculum for Assessment and Data Alethea Young explained that, “standards say what students know and should be able to do [at the end of a unit].”

The Common Core, which is being implemented in public schools across the United States, has political controversy for to a variety of reasons. “Some States have said, ‘We’re going to use this document and write our curriculum to it,

seen in the U.S.]. We have our own internal evaluation system which is created by ASL, and we’re going to keep it,” she said.

The purpose behind the realignment of the standards in academic subjects is to avoid redundancy and ensure that students have certain skills at the end of each unit and school year. “The standards are just there to ensure that the basic content and skills are a progression. Most of the standards we’re already teaching, it’s just the idea that these [the Common Core

tainty with regards to what will actually be taught in five years.

And it’s that uncertainty that excites Phillips. “I would imagine [that] as we are engaging in these really meaningful conversations – I know that a lot of them are sort of behind the scenes, they’re in departments with just the teachers right now – but I think ultimately that will lead us to creating opportunities that we can’t even imagine right now, and that’s going to be really exciting to see.”

Opinions Page 6

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THE STANDARD | January 2015

Religious profiling Education

Introducing an effective advisory system STUDENT INVOLVEMENT LIMIT TO STUDENTS FROM ONE GRADE NO STRICT STRUCTURE

If there’s one thing that everyone knows about and yet simultaneously knows very little about, it is the plan to implement a High School advisory system next year. What has been confirmed is the arrival of such a system in the coming school year, that much is clear, but, from what we understand, the details of it are still being decided.

As an Editorial Board, we are admittedly skeptical about the idea to implement advisories. However, we do understand that this decision has already been made, so instead of dwelling on the past, we instead would like to discuss the most beneficial way, we believe, that this system can be implemented.

What we do know is there is a healthy and organic procedure being followed as to the implementation of the advisories. The administration fully plans on including both the faculty and student body in the decisionmaking process to decide aforementioned unspecified details. This will provide a much needed forum of student input by which

our perspective can be heard in sculpting the incoming advisories. If a student has something they want to suggest or say about them, the administration will be providing all the outlets for them to do so. In short, this will be a community-driven addition to our schooling, rather than a top-down imposition.

Taking this into account, we urge students to take advantage of this opportunity – after all, it will be us that this change most deeply affects. There are certainly a lot of positives that can come from this system and so our plea is that the students, faculty and administration work together constructively to realize this system’s full potential.

With that, this Editorial Board would like to put forward the manner in which we see advisories should be implemented into our curriculum.

Our dream model for an advisory program would resemble something like a high school adapted version of Grade 8 advisories. Advisories would be formed contain-

ing students from only one grade level, in a maximum group of 12. Having students of the same age and grade experience would nurture a grade-wide spirit that would ultimately pander to the general High School; we think an attempt to mix grades would only create a forced awkwardness between an already disjointed student body.

We also urge an avoidance of over-complication. There is no need for us to incessantly meet with our advisories – once a cycle will do. Similarly, there is no need to force advisories to follow some set curriculum or to force bonding time of whatever sort, (circa pre-Alternatives group meetings). If the main reason behind creating advisories is to improve connections between different students and teachers, and we do believe that advisories are a great way to do this, let it happen in a casual, organic manner.

This is all this Editorial Board really wants. We do not want advisors to be given lists of activities, we don’t want advisory curricula, we do not want a list of goals or

Standard

criteria for an advisor or students to reach.

All we want is a place where natural relationships and connections can develop. If it means seniors discussing their plans for the next semester with a teacher for a half hour, that’s great. If it means discussing what we did on the weekend as an advisory, that’s great too.

We understand, though, that some guidelines must be provided to ensure every student has the same advisory experience.

To that end, we would like a curriculum that only guides advisors, allowing teachers to have freedom and creativity in leading their advisory. It should cover things such as ensuring that students discuss goals at least twice a year, and activities to aid the bonding process.

In the end, an advisory just needs to be a place where students can make bonds and form a support network, and not much else.

In the end, who could really argue against a system that achieves these types of goals with minimal disruption?

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THE STANDARD | January/February 2015

Page 7

Opinions

Advocating year-round schooling IAN SCOVILLE

ian_scoville@asl.org

“

We are faced with a painfully short first semester, followed by a ridiculously long second semester, interspersed with awkwardly timed breaks that almost always put students at a disadvantage.

In Grade 7, I participated in a write-off competition at the National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA) journalism convention.

The topic? Year-round schooling.

I remember at the time thinking it was a pretty weird – and quite honestly, ludicrous – idea. The idea of abandoning long summer vacations scared me. But since then, times have changed, and I’m actually here to advocate for the introduction of year-round schooling at the school.

Year-round schooling can take many different forms, but at its core, it consists of having a set number of weeks attending school – say nine weeks – followed by a set number weeks of vacation – in this case three. And this cycle continues all year long, so instead of having a few one and two-week vacations throughout the year and a 10 week summer vacation, students and teachers are provided with breaks more evenly throughout the year. Everything besides timing is the same: We still move up a grade each year (the year would officially end, say in June, and we would then have a break the same length as the others before returning for a new year), we have the same amount of school and vacation days, and we can still celebrate the holidays we celebrate now.

Progress Report BANANA

TEMPERATURE

BABY PHOTO

COBHAM

I’m not going to deny that this plan could cause some problems. Coordinating schedules with other schools for things like sports could be a challenge. Some summer programs may no longer line up their timing with our summer break. But I think the benefits offered to students far outweigh the negatives. Sports teams would still be able to attend ISSTs, and regular season games would only have to be rescheduled at the beginning of the year, in late September and early October, when we would have our first break of the year; everything else would remain the same. Students would still be able to attend all June and early July summer programs and work experiences, and because our breaks will be longer and timed with few other schools, students would have an advantage if they chose to apply for work experience outside of summer break.

So why do I think the change is necessary, even with all these potential problems? Put simply, the school’s calendar right now is broken. We are faced with a painfully short first semester, followed by a ridiculously long second semester. By introducing yearround schooling, with four evenly split terms throughout the year (two in each semester), balance could be restored.

I realize it’s radical to suggest a calendar change. But the calendar we’re using now doesn’t work effectively for learning.

It means cramming incredible amounts of information into a time where students are working on college applications and standardized tests, leaving too long a semester for seniors to use, and creating burnout during both semesters – burnout in the first semester because it’s too fast paced, and burnout in the second semester because it’s too slow.

But the advantages go far beyond just restoring balance. Instead of having that awkward point at the beginning of each year, where students are re-taught some material, new material could be tackled straight away.

Without a 10 week summer break for students to forget everything they’ve learned, valuable time can be saved in the rest of the year. And for an international school like ours, having four breaks where families could easily fit in a trip abroad, is even more beneficial.

The benefits offered by a year-round schooling calendar are too great to pass up: It would help every aspect of our educational lives. The rest of our education system is progressing to further benefit students. It’s only time our calendar catches up.

PHOTO 1 BY TANIA VELTCHEV, PHOTOS 2, 3 AND 6 BY YARRA ELMASRY, PHOTO 4 BY ELIZA MOYLE, PHOTO 5 BY COLIN BRIDGEWATER

1

2

3

4

5

6

Banana with Peanut Butter: (A) After a long hard 1. at school I open up my refrigerator to find a snack 4.

The staff of day that will make all the pain go away. Little did I know

perfect combination has been staring me in the The Standard give the face this entire time. The perfect balance of protein, sugar and potassium. Tyler Skow ASL its first report of Fluctuating Temperature at the School: (C-) School way too hot or freezing. Middle ground? Hey 5. the second semester. 2. isDaz,either remember that speech you got elected on? Back in umm… 2012? Yarra Elmasry feat. Gabriel Ruimy

3.

Breakfast in the Cafeteria: (B+) A great source for our most important meal of the day; hugely underutilized. The only reason the grade isn’t higher is that it isn’t offered past conference time. Zack Ashley

6.

Baby Photo Assembly: (A+) After all the controversy and acrimony surrounding the supposed cancellation of the assembly, it was great to see that common sense prevailed: We got what we wanted, with tweaks and additions that merely improved the whole experience.

Credit where credit’s due. James Malin Cobham: (F) Booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooo! (Respectfully, of course).

Zack Longboy Winter: (C+) I somehow forgot how depressing London in the winter is. A lack of snow days only compounds an already dismal season. Ian Scoville Post Scriptum: ASL is burning down...

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THE STANDARD | January/February 2015

Opinions

Being aware of our prejudices

SEBASTIAN MAYR

sebastian_mayr@asl.org

“

The importance of reserving judgements, particularly those directed toward members of certain religions, has never been more present.

TYLER SKOW

tyler_skow@asl.org

“

To avoid the possibility of failure, too much emphasis has been placed on how to pass tests, at the expense of undermining what we are really trying to learn.

It’s 3:20 p.m., and I’m sitting alongside my brother and father, watching Chelsea produce an unusually mundane display at Stamford Bridge. A man adorned in a thick jacket temporarily blocks my view as he takes his seat ahead, naturally causing me to divert my attention from the game. His beard, trimmed with the exception of his chin and sideburns, bears a striking resemblance to that of Saïd Kouachi, one of the two gunmen involved in the fatal shooting of 12 people at Charlie Hebdo’s headquarters in Paris in early January.

The recent surges of terrorism throughout France and the globe alike cultivate a deep sense of trepidation among other spectators sitting around me. Could this man, his identity unknown, be the next perpetrator of a heinous crime? He begins to fumble with his jacket, poking his fingers through various holes and pockets. Unable to continue watching his persistent hand motions, I leave my seat and rush into the concourse.

A total of 15 minutes passes before I return to the game, maintaining a watchful gaze over the man’s actions. As he begins to search through his jacket once more, I turn to my dad and motion towards the exit adamantly, signalling I’d had enough. Beckoning my brother to follow, the man uncovered an odd object before holding it up in the air: His iPhone. Consoled by his apparent innocence, I sat back down and was able to watch the remainder of the game in relative comfort.

As I walked home, I couldn’t help but feel extreme disappointment and humiliation.

How could I possibly have found it justifiable to have likened the man to the two brothers

involved in the Charlie Hebdo attack? Have I truly been pushed far enough that I now equate bearded men with acts of terrorism?

Religious bigotry has most certainly taken an abrupt turn for the worse since the recent surges of terrorism in the Middle East and North Africa, with groups such as the Islamic State (IS) and Boko Haram continuing to spread fear and carry out mass killings throughout Iraq and Nigeria.

When I spoke to my brother about the incident, he admitted having shared similar sentiments, causing us to further question the causing factor behind our contemptible and absurd accusations. What struck me even more is that people around me expressed similar uncertainty, constantly looking at the man with an uneasy disposition, unsettled by his presence.

The lingering question remains on many people’s minds: Is there something innate within Islam’s principles and belief system that leads its followers inexorably to commit acts of violence, and terrorism? The 2004 Madrid train bombings, which lead to the death of 191 people, followed by a similar act of violence carried out in London in 2005, claiming the lives of 52, serve as a stark reminder of the ever-present peril unfolding globally. Terror incidents such as the most recent one involving Charlie Hebdo may lead many Westerners, including myself, to perceive Islam as inherently extremist.

But I think that such a broad generalization is far too simple-minded and unfounded. Whereas small numbers of terrorists employ Islam to spread their religious ideol-

ogies, their acts of terror are not a fair representation of the complex and diverse religion currently comprised of 1.6 billion peaceful adherents.

However, terrorist organizations such as IS, Boko Haram, even al-Qaeda and countless others, continue to result in unprecedented victimizing of completely innocent Muslims, which has led to the outbreak of violence in Sweden in early January, targeted at Muslim mosques, and anti-Muslim demonstrations gaining a foothold throughout Germany, with the Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident (PEGIDA) experiencing substantial gains in their followings. These groups seem to be missing the point however: The vast majority of Muslims are far removed from the insanity of terrorist attacks.

My experience provided a profound moment of realization: Reserving judgements, particularly those directed toward members of certain religions, has never been more important. Many of us have been guilty of having committed religious profiling, consciously or not. While I certainly learned from my mistake, the temptation of surmising circumstances without sufficient knowledge can be very persuasive. Therefore, I maintain the importance of refraining from making biased conjectures based on physical appearance. The logic behind my initial fear was completely skewed, but were enough to prove the impact religious profiling has had on me, and more importantly, the urgency of refraining from partaking in religious prejudice.

Since day one of High School, the importance of a thesis driven five-paragraph essay and test-taking strategies have been force fed to me. And for what purpose? I love school, and I love learning, but I do not love the way I am being taught. I want this school to embody academic excellence just as much as anyone, but in order to get there, some things need to change.

When I am studying in one of my academic classes, and I ask my teacher, “How do these two things relate?” and their response is “Oh, don’t worry, that is not going to be on the test,” I wonder what the point is in me being here at all. Just preparing to pass a test is not the point of coming to school.

In nearly all of my classes, with only a few exceptions, my teachers are preparing me to pass tests, not to truly master the material. Of course to a degree passing a test requires mastery of some level, but mastery is also often misconstrued with memorization. I believe wholeheartedly the shift in academic emphasis towards passing tests is a direct response to the fear of failure that pervades most students. Because of our strained college preparatory environment the focus in the classroom has taken a shift for the worse.

Because of this when I leave high school I will have no idea how to vote for the next president of the United States, or pay taxes. These critically important life skills have been put on the back burner at the expense of preparing me to mindlessly spew

information so I can get into the best university possible. While I will be unable to do essential tasks, I will be able to write an excellent argumentative essay in 80 minutes.

Last I checked few jobs have this in their job description. I fully acknowledge that deadlines are important, as a journalist there is little I value more, but can anybody produce their best work in such a constrained time?

To avoid the possibility of failure, too much emphasis has been placed on how to pass tests, at the expense of undermining what we are really trying to learn. A dangerous mentality has began to take over our academic world, a mentality where we treat high school more like a test of survival than a place to learn.

Halfway through high school, I have not failed any major assessments, and very few small assignments. For some reason I’m not skipping through the hallways dancing at this idea, but rather I am questioning how I could go four years without really failing? I should have failed; multiple times. But because failure is no longer acceptable, as a result of the emphasis on perfection in our college-preparatory environment, I will never properly experience failure in High School. I am not suggesting teachers should start grading harsher, that would solve nothing; but rather we need to foster a community where I can look at an F and think, “Okay I need to work on this” instead of, “Now I will never get into this

college.”

Beyond the issue of academic motivation within the High School, there’s also a sense of college resumé building that detracts from the learning experience.

Entering high school as a nervous freshman the plethora of opportunity that surrounded me was thrilling. But the longer I walk through the hallways of the High School the more I realize the expectation is that every decision I make for my extra curricular choices should be made based off of a cold and calculated commitment to my college résumé. When a cringe wrinkles across my parents’ faces because I do not want to overbear myself with highly academic activities over the summer, I question the culture I am being raised in.

My solution to the issue at hand is not easy. The bottom line is the pressure for what comes “after” high school should be on the back burner. Focus on the four years you are currently in, and most importantly, enjoy them. Our academic system would also benefit from offering feedback to students that extends beyond the raw score. Assessments that offer a clearer benchmark of learning, with written feedback and possibly meetings would cause students to focus more where they need to improve rather than the impact of the score. Most importantly though, academics are not a competition. Your academic achievements should not be comparable to anybody else’s, we are all individual learners, so learn to become your own person.

Is our education failing us?

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THE STANDARD | January/February 2015

Page 9

Opinions

Quashing our false definition YARRA ELMASRY

yarra_elmasry@asl.org

“

The Data Do you consider there to be a negative connotation regarding the word feminist?

meaning of feminism has started to alienate people who would have originally been part of the movement. The negative connotations that are associated with being a feminist today are estranging half of the puzzle in solving gender inequality: Men. Feminists should be made up of all kinds of women, and all kinds of men. I like to think that all decent humans believe in something as simple as equal rights for both men and women.

Man-hating isn’t what feminism is about, and it shouldn’t be what feminism is about. The definition of feminism is: The advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of the equality of the sexes. This means equal status, equal responsibility, equal pay between men and women, and simple equality in every aspect of life, most of which, if not all, aren’t currently happening.

The topic of gender inequality needs to be discussed, but it needs to be discussed in an environment where women who are feminists aren’t viewed as aggressive or overly opinionated. This topic needs to be brought up where both

Buzz

The

The way society has changed the meaning of feminism has started to alienate people who would have originally been part of the movement.

I am a feminist. I believe in equality between men and women in every aspect.

I don’t have a problem with the word feminism, or the meaning behind it. I do have a problem with the way society has changed the meaning of the word and the fact that it is now associated with manhating and overly aggressive women.

For the longest time, I didn’t consider myself a feminist. I’m not sure why I didn’t, because when I look back it is clear to me that I was, and still am, based on everything I believe in. Now I understand that I thought this because I felt that when I said I was a feminist, that people automatically assumed I was overly opinionated and aggressive. The image that has been created for feminists has changed into a tarnished one, something that should not have happened.

Sixty-nine percent of 214 polled high school students believe that the word feminism and being a feminist have a negative connotation. Despite this perception, there is no difference between the definitions of the words gender equity and feminism.

The way society has changed the

men and women are taking part in equal roles, otherwise no change will happen the way it needs to. Women need to allow men into the conversation and contribute; it is a two-way street.

Men need to understand what feminism actually is, and women need to be more welcoming and accepting of their ideas, rather than disregarding them as wrong.

I want men to not be afraid of joining the movement, and to realize that the pre-conceived negative notions that they have isn’t what being a feminist and believing in feminism is about. And I want women to realize that men need to be included in making progress in gender equality, and to allow them into the conversation.

Gender inequality is an important problem of discussion for our generation, something that we all need to be involved in fixing through discussion and action. Whether we use the word gender equity or feminism, the beliefs are the same and the goals are the same, and we must not allow society to hinder this movement.

WITH OPINIONS EDITOR ZACK ASHLEY

Do you think that there is a difference between gender equity and feminism?

The Voices

“I think that the word feminism can come off in the wrong way because it involves the word feminine and some people think that it’s a movement only for women, but I think that when the word gender equality is used people are more inclined to form a movement so I think instead of using the word feminism, gender equality could be used instead to encompass the idea that genders are equal.” - Caroline Schneider (’15) “It just means a lot to me because there are a lot of people who are privileged including myself and in some ways and I think it is important to acknowledge those privileges and fight to put everyone on an equal plane.” - Dima Fayyad (’16)

“Feminism is OK and it is something that I fully support but I do not support it when they [feminists] have different views of 52.51% - Yes 47.49% - No equality. If you vouch for equality and then turn around and say 69.19% - Yes 30.81% - No men are suddenly too advantaged or if you turn around and start taking rights away to make things equal I think Data taken from a survey of 214 students Additional reporting by Online Editor Ankit that it is wrong.” - Rizal Zakaria (’16) conducted by The Standard.

Mehra and Staff Writer Jack Jameson.

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Page 10

THE STANDARD | January/February 2015

Opinions

No one is exempt from criticism

ZACK ASHLEY

zack_ashley@asl.org

“

This word (Islamophobia) has become a defense mechanism used to deflect criticism and any criticism thrown toward this set of ideals, and I cannot stress enough how dangerous that is.

Nothing angers me more than the arrogance of people or groups of people who consider themselves exempt from criticism.

This arrogance can often perpetuate itself in the form of violence and attacks towards those unwilling to point out their faults.

When we take ourselves too seriously, and the ignoramuses of the world refuse to accept that just maybe they aren’t perfect we hinder our ability to improve as a society.

There are two instances that have occurred recently that have been at the center of this debate.

The first instance occurred when hackers, widely suspected to have been employed by the North Korean government, hacked into Sony Pictures database, in retaliation to the planned release of their film, The Interview.

The film attributes a lot of mockery toward leader Kim Jong Un as well as providing a scene depicting his assassination. The hack included the release of sensitive information about some of Sony’s employees. Sony, and certain theaters, subsequently decided not to publicly show the movie out of a fear of safety. Sony later released the film online.

A few weeks later, a despicable attack was made on the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which culminated in the deaths of 12 people, including cartoonists and the Editor-in-Chief of the publication.

The attack was motivated by a desire to retaliate for the publication of cartoons that mocked the Prophet Muhammad.

The response to the deaths of these martyrs from around the world, and the publication itself, was admirable, including the barrage of cartoons from other cartoonists defending the magazine and mocking the extremists who carried out the attack.

But most impressive, in my opinion, was the release of the magazine itself, a few days later, with the same satirical style that had been used before the attack, depicting an image of Muhammad. This act was not an act of hate or an act of war against all Muslims, it simply and heroically screamed that the magazine would not be intimidated by anyone and anything. It may sound cliché, but I cannot state emphatically enough, especially after their response to these attacks: Je Suis Charlie.

But where was this response to the attacks

by hackers on Sony? The writers of this film needed to be backed up by others in the film world, but more importantly the company they worked for. There needed to be some form of showing the oppressive North Korean regime that terrorist attacks (and I usually like to use this word lightly, but it could not be more precise in these two situations) like those committed by the hackers in North Korea and Islamists in Paris will not frighten us to an extent where we stop speaking out against what we believe to be wrong. As scary as it may be, we need to stand up to extremists and oppressive regimes and make it clear that we will not succumb to terrorism.

If a journalist publishes a cartoon of Muhammad, to attribute criticism about the way a set of ideals has been used to promote violence and murder by a very influential group of people, it is not Islamophobia. This word has become a defense mechanism used to deflect criticism and any criticism thrown toward this set of ideals, and I cannot stress enough how dangerous that is. When we

ILLUSTRATION BY MICKEY SCHULKES fail to criticize those who deserve criticism, like violent Islamic extremists, or oppressive dictators, then we fail to push each other to improve and shun those who damage our society.

What is wrong with these two groups of people is evident in their reactions to this criticism. Any civilized or intelligent person would counter using articulated debate or otherwise put, as we are all taught in the most rudimentary stages of our education, to use their words. These two groups had no argument, so instead they used terror tactics to try to silence this criticism.

If we truly care about improving our society, it is important that we counter these detriments to society by only making the criticism louder. We can’t allow ourselves to be intimidated by barbarians. Acts like these, and people who try to deflect any criticism put towards them or their ideals, and intimidate the critics, need to be told their actions and attitudes don’t have a place in democratic societies. They can’t silence all of us.

Living in the moment ANKIT MEHRA

ankit_mehra@asl.org

“

There is no point living for the future if you can’t enjoy the present.

Recently, one of my inspirations, Stuart Scott, lost a battle with cancer. Scott, a game-changing SportsCenter anchor, broke the norms of reporting through his unconventional dialect about sports while inspiring many through his story relating to his fight against cancer.

But while changing sports in his own way, his largest contribution to the world was his ideology: Live in the present.

Throughout his battle with cancer, Scott refused to accept defeat, stating his desire to live each day as if it were his last.

Taking Scott’s teachings in mind, we must implement them into our own lives.

With the stress high school presents in the form of Advanced Placement (AP) tests, extracurricular activities, athletics and the college process as a whole,

students can get lost thinking about the future, or even the past in some cases, making it hard to understand what is happening in the present.

Recently, in Health class, we were discussing mindfulness and its impact on daily life. What struck me was the simplicity: Being able to take a step away from the buzzing life of a teenager and just focus on oneself for two minutes can be beneficial.

Mindfulness, can be defined as “a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment.”

Easing yourself out of the stresses of school and personal life for just a short period of time allows you to take yourself out of your daily stresses, enabling a more focused, concentrated mindset moving forward in the day.

Those two minutes I took to just plug out thoughts about upcoming commitments or assignments led me to understand the importance of stepping out of High School and into your own bubble.

Having had no previous experience with any such activity prior to that day, I found that it was not only a new feeling, but a newfound sense of concentration that set the tone for the rest of the day.

For everyone attending the school, our future is always trying to be shaped.

However, it is important to take that short period of time in a day to just realize what is actually happening in the world around you rather than focus on what is coming up. That is what will allow you to get through High School.

After all, there is no point living for the future if you can’t enjoy the present.

THE STANDARD | January/February 2015

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Tutors Failure

Features Page 11

LINGUAL

A look into the daily lives of multilingual students at a monolingual school

W

hen Eugenia Cavarretta (’18) goes home after school, she immediately switches from speaking in English to speaking Italian. Fluent in both, Cavarretta is one of the many students at the School who speaks multiple languages.

The school as a whole represents 63 countries and of those different nationalities, students speak a total of 31 different languages other than English.

Cavarretta spoke solely Italian until the age of 7, when she moved to a British school. “The biggest challenge is that when you are 7 and you are at a new school, it is already hard to adapt, but it was even harder for me because I couldn’t communicate with anyone, not even the teachers,” Cavarretta said.

Speaking two languages at times has proved to be a challenge for Cavarretta; after spending two months in Sicily during the summer speaking only Italian, Cavarretta finds it difficult to switch back to English during the first few weeks back at school. While it may be hard to switch back and forth, “I never forget what language I am speaking because they are two different and distinct languages.”

Thinking in a particular language depends on Cavarretta’s location. When in Italy, she will think in Italian, however at school and in London she finds her thoughts are in English. “It sometimes can be very hard, but like many things you just have to get used to it,” she said.

Although she speaks English at school, Cavaretta is still able to maintain her

connection to Italy. As well as travelling to Sicily during every holiday break, Cavaretta feels that speaking Italian in her home helps her sustain ties to her Italian heritage.

EAL Teacher Christine Wilson explained that one of her students’ biggest challenges is the loss of connections to their native culture and language. Wilson fears students like Cavarretta may not be

63 32

Michaela Towfighi Staff Writer

[with] academic English as well as maintaining your heritage language,” Wilson said.

Through the help of students and teachers, Cavarretta feels that the community is accepting of those who do not natively speak English. “I’ve noticed [at ASL] that people are very understanding, and teachers really support you,” she said.

Within a diverse, multilingual commu-

different nationalities are represented at ASL different languages are spoken at ASL

as in touch with their heritage due to them fact that they speak English at school.

Starting the Heritage Club in the Lower and Middle Schools, Wilson hopes students will have opportunities to not only speak their native languages with one another, but also celebrate their cultures.

For non-native English speakers, “there is that struggle of becoming competent

COURTESY OF ADMISSIONS OFFICE nity, there are often advantages to speaking multiple languages. Despite challenges that may arise with learning languages, students like Cavarretta have noticed the benefits.

Shaurya Prakash (’18), who speaks Hindi, has noticed that being bilingual has enabled him to learn other languages with greater ease, as he understands the struc-

ture of other languages and is able to relate to different cultures.

Marie Boussard (’16) was raised speaking French, having lived in Paris, France for the majority of her life. Through a foreign exchange program last year, Boussard had the opportunity to live in America for the year with a host family in order to improve her English. Despite learning English progressively in school, Boussard felt there was still a language barrier between herself and her host family. Now in London, she is able to speak English at school and with friends but communicate in French at home with her family.

Due to students’ desire to learn multiple languages, Head of the World Languages and Cultures Department Lanting Xu is trying to find as many different opportunities as possible, for students to learn multiple languages and also learn about the accompanying cultures of these places. “The language department has been working over the years, making sure students not just acquire a language like a tool, but rather acquiring it as a cultural and a set of practices,” Xu said.

Living in a global community, Xu and Wilson believe the skill of being bilingual is appealing to many. “We live in a global economy and it is a requirement to know all of these languages to get around and understand the issues and problems we have around us,” Wilson said.

Xu echoes this thought and believes, “In order to prepare students for the 21st century it is definitely more desirable to have different linguistic skills.”

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THE STANDARD | January/February 2015

Features

Reinforced classroom instruction R

ushing through course material, not skipping a beat, leaves some students sitting at home lost and confused after a class.

Representative of the many sessions English Teacher and tutor Mark Mazzenga has with the students he tutors, he starts by identifying the issue that needs to be tackled. Once the issue is clear, Mazzenga spends time talking the problem through.

After the exchange goes on for a while, Mazzenga shows the student what they said. “Look at all the stuff you said, let’s start thinking about how you can turn that into [something]” he said.

The clouded expression that was initially across the student’s face starts to lift and the ideas start to flow.

For Mazzenga, a tutor’s job “is to help, and support each students dependent on [his or her] various needs.” The emphasis being on support as Mazzenga explained “my job is not to make sure that the homework assignment is necessarily completed to get an A, my job is to take that homework assignment as a platform, so that they can learn the basic skills and develop those basic skills that need developing.”

Emmet Keeffe (’17), who is tutored in Spanish, agreed with Mazzenga. “[My tutor] never does my work, which I know people who have had that happen but usually he’s just kind of there to back me up if I have a question or if there is a new concept that I don’t understand,” Keeffe said.

With Mazzenga it can be as simple as asking “Hey, do we have a folder for this?” Or, “‘Have you completed these assignments?’

And other times it involves prioritization of work, and talking through difficult ideas that they are struggling to get onto paper.”

English Teacher Kimbalena Zeineddine sees that tutoring is additional support that works in tandem with what she teaches in the classroom. “On occasion there are students who need to have their skills bolstered or knowledge bolstered in certain areas, so in that case it may need to go beyond just supporting what is happening in the classroom,” she said.

That very case is where tutors like Mazzenga come and lend support to students. “I can really slow down the process and break it down for them in a way that a classroom teacher may not be able to because of time constraints,” he said. “I can individualize something based on a student’s particular

Many students find that working with a tutor can enhance their comprehension of course material. PHOTO BY TANIA VELTCHEV

In short:

To get a tutor at ASL a student must have struggled in one specific subject area, having communicated with the teacher previously and a need for individualization.

Tyler Skow | Features Editor [needs].” The individualization that Mazzen- them. “Some kids use their tutor way too ga refers to is one of the many distinguishing much and if you were to remove their tutor features of tutoring, as unlike teaching in the you would see the difference,” Keeffe said. classroom, a tutor can cater individual learnWhile this has happened to Zeineddine, ing profiles. she has faith that the systems in place have eineddine has no problem with stu- the best intention of giving a student the dents receiving help on their home- support they require. In fact, the process of work assignments for rudimentary acquiring a tutor is a formal process dealt tasks like editing and with by the Student organization, however Support Team, made she explained that, up of admin members, “when [a tutor] starts primarily deans, lead dictating ideas and you

by Psychologist Helen can obviously tell this Jackson. isn’t exactly the way The process of recthat particular student English Teacher ommending tutoring [writes],” it becomes Kimbalena Zeineddine to a student is scrua problem. The issue pulous, and students with this is that it obscures the actual level must meet a particular criteria. Grade 11 Dean of comprehension of that student to their Jennifer Craig explained that tutors are recteacher. ommended when a student is struggling in a Keeffe concurred with Zeineddine saying isolated area of study. that it would be inappropriate for his tutor “If there is one specific place that we are to do school work for him. “When they start really, really concerned with and it seems literally doing the problems, or they tell you to be limited to that one area, then often we what to say, it becomes an issue. If you have will meet as a small group, the SST,” Craig the ideas and you know how you want to say said. The SST will investigate how specific it and their just there to double check what the concern is by meeting with all of the stuyou are doing, that is what a tutor should be dent’s teachers. If the SST finds that the issue for.” is specific and there are “fundamental gaps” Unfortunately, Zeineddine, and other in the students learning, then a recommenteachers in the school have been in the posi- dation for a tutor is often made. tion where a student’s work was heavily alCraig said that, “It’s not that hard to get tered or even completed by a tutor. [a tutor],” and although they do not always Keeffe also believes that there is a culture approve requests, most often denied appliat the school where some students have ex- cations are because of communication, or cessive amounts of tutors who do work for lack thereof between the student and teach-

Z

“On occasion there are students who need to have their skills bolstered”

er. “There have been kids this year, eleventh graders [who are requesting tutoring] where I have said, ‘well have you actually met with your teacher?’ And they will say ‘no’.” In this type of situation they “just needed extra help”, which is obtainable through communication with the teacher as opposed to acquiring a tutor.

Zeineddine echoed this point saying she has experienced students not using teachers as their number one resource. “I get the sense that some [students] are reluctant to go to the teacher and would rely on a tutor,” she said.

While all students are requested to declare to the school that they do have a tutor, receiving tutoring on standardized tests such as the SAT and ACT are out of the school’s jurisdiction. riadne Papamarkakis (’17), is one of many students who sees a tutor outside of school in preparation for standardized testing. With the SAT changing in 2017, Papamarkakis has made the decision to “push” to take the test a year early. Because of this, she feels some extra support from a tutor is necessary.

Papamarkakis believes success on the SAT is possible without a tutor, however, having one relieves a great deal of pressure. “It depends what time you want to put into it yourself, ” she said, explaining that it can be difficult to complete practice tests without the additional incentive a tutor offers.

Papamarkakis has also noticed a stigma attached to having tutors within the High School. “I think having a tutor in general is kind of looked down upon because you need outside help to do well,” she said.

Both Keeffe and Papamarkakis identified that having a tutor can be an unfair advantage. “It is easier for a student who uses a tutor to get a higher grade, but then again, if that student needs extra help then it is fair, it levels the playing field,” Keefe said.

Mazzenga thinks of it differently. “I understand that we are a college preparatory school and there is a sense of competition, but [for me it is] about the individual student and the individual progress that they need to make as a students.”

Mazzenga understands that tutoring is just bringing a student into an environment where they may be able to learn more successfully. “They are not getting an advantage per se, they are learning an important academic and life skill that every student needs to learn.”

A

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THE STANDARD | January/February 2015

2x5 Questions:

Page 13

Features

Unsung heroes

Alec Ashley | Staff Writer What does your daily routine look like?

Usually I check-in to make sure all the staff are [here and] if not I have to book agency staff. Then I check if there any events on the day. If there are any food concerns then the Head Chef will handle that and not me but I am always available during lunch time to be an extra set of hands on the counter.

How would you describe your relationship with the students?

Quite a lot of the High School kids I’ve known since Grade 5 and so, with this consistency, I have gotten to know the kids. I would say my relationship with the kids has greatly improved although part of that is consistency.

What is something most people here don’t know about you?

One of things that I do throughout the year is I volunteer at Crisis [a national charity for single homeless people] which is something most people hear about during Christmas.

During the year, they have a base in Hackney called Skylight and every Friday I try and leave work early and I teach a class to homeless people on how to sew. I know that sounds bizzare because if someone is homeless why would they want to sew? But, just because someone doesn’t have a permanent home [doesn’t mean they don’t need these skills], they may be living on someone’s sofa.

Do you enjoy cooking and food outside of work?

What is a passion of yours outside of I love cooking and that is something I enjoy doing outside of work. Because I don’t have a family and I don’t have children work?

General Catering Manager Christine Kent

I am a big rugby fan and so I do go to the rugby games with [Building Services and Maintenance Coordinator] Graham [Bracey] and [Facilities Manager] Kevin [Moffat]. I am a [London] Wasps fans, which is a shame as they just moved from London to Coventry. I’m also friends with [PE Teacher] Gwendolyn [Williams] since she is also into sports.

living with me I don’t tend to cook a lot at home but if I have family or friends over, I love to host a dinner party. I would say Thai food is my favorite although I am a pescatarian. I’m a big fan of [Chef ] Delia Smith – I suppose Delia Smith is the English version of Barefoot Contessa. It would be roasted peppers and salmon as one of my favorite dishes.

How have you connected with the ASL tween Bombay and Delhi. It’s a retreat to come together as a religious community. We have seminars in London community over the years?

Since 1999, I have seen every High School production and about 70 percent of all the Middle School productions. I try to go to most of the basketball games if I have a break. I also go to Canons Park to watch the International Scholastic Sports Tournament (ISSTs) when they are hosted in London.

What is your relationship with students?

Before I took over at Waverley [Place front desk] I did not know many students but now they say I am “the face of ASL.” I know probably 90 percent of the upperclassmen and they give me a yearbook each year and [the classes] of (’10), (’11), (’12), (’13), (’14) [have signed] my yearbook and become my friends on Facebook. If you are a student right now I can’t be friends on Facebook but most of the students in the class of 2014 I keep in touch [with].

What is an important part of your life outside of ASL?

Access Control Officer Bhupendra Patel

Outside of ASL I regularly go to Hindu temple every Sunday for most of the day. My mother took me everyday to temple when I was a child. I go to a temple in India once a year to stay at a religious camp in Pundrag which is be-

as well for people from the U.S. and India to come and I take 10 days off for this.

What do you and your co-workers do for fun?

I played cricket in [high] school and in college and I played for my company before I got to ASL. But, once I got to 40 I stuck to watching. The security team plays soccer in the blue gym every Wednesday but I watch. I don’t play as they are too rough and are all young army trained people whereas I am 60. We, the security [team], also go out somewhere once a month, normally bowling.

How much longer do you see yourself as part of this community?

I’ve got five years left and, after that if ASL still wants me here I [will] stay but if not I will retire. I’ll spend six months in winter in Mogri, India and then six months towards the summer in London. I have a sister in the [U.S.] and the rest of my family is here in London. I have lived in the U.K. for the past 45 years. I was born in Kenya and lived there [until] I was 8 and before I moved here I was in India.

PHOTOS BY YARRA ELMASRY

As close as

A look at how siblings int both within their families and the

Zack Ashley | Opinions Edi Nadia Sawiris | Culture Edi

M

ichael (’15) and George Fares (’17) couldn’t imagine living without each other. “I’m fortunate to have many friends who I get along with and who I quite like but I don’t think any of them compare to my brother, especially in the long run,” Michael said.

This feeling of love is transcendent in the Fares brothers’ relationship. Personally, George loves the fact that Michael is always there for him. “He’s there everyday, if I ever need anything he’ll help me out. My first time I went away [from home] I was 10.

I went to a camp and he was always helping me out and texting and calling me to make

‘‘

have a lot of fun together and even though we’re very different, we have a very close and unique relationship,” he said.

Their relationship is such that Spencer feels that he and Charlie don’t even need to be together to maintain their close relationship. Spencer spent time abroad in Australia that spanned through Grade 8 and Grade 9. During that time, he saw his brother only during holiday seasons but their relationship did not change. “We can be away and call each other to see how we’re doing just because we genuinely care about how the other is doing and that’s unique, most kids wouldn’t do that,” Symonds said.

Symonds does acknowledge that his

I feel like there’s always someone that’s in the school; you never really feel alone when you have a twin brother.

Alexandra Dell’Anno (’15)

sure I was OK,” he said. “He’s like a wise man, I don’t know what I would do without him.”

Despite being the older brother, Michael still feels there are numerous ways in which George helps him out as well, even in ways as simple as having someone to eat dinner with or hang out with when his parents are out. “It makes me more confident to know there’s always going to be someone, even if my life goes down the toilet, I’ll still have him,” he said. “Everyday he’s always there making me laugh, he always compliments me.”

Similarly, Spencer Symonds (’17) gets along very well with his older brother, Charlie, who is also two years older. “We

relationship is different to those of other siblings, especially in how reciprocated their bond is. “I imagine most older brothers treat their younger brothers as lesser to them and I feel like my brother treats me as an equal which I appreciate and in this way I think our relationship is very unique,” he said.

Michael feels the same way about the uniqueness of his relationship with George. “The one difference I see is that, don’t get me wrong George and I argue a lot, but we never put each other down. I think when I see my other friends argue with their brother[s] they

put each other down and are really harsh on each other,” he said. hey are not wrong. Brad* has always had a “tense” relationship with his older brother. At its worst, he would come home from school, his brother would barge into his room and yell at him for something that he had done that indirectly embarrassed him or affected him. When he would tell him to calm down and that it wasn’t a big deal, “he would put me on the floor, put his knees on my arms and slap me across the face repeatedly until I had hand marks on my cheeks,” he said.

Brad is not certain about why his brother hurts him, although he thinks that it stems from his brother’s insecurity and competitiveness. “At the time I was doing better than him at school and I had more going on than he did so I think it’s insecurity compared to me and insecurity compared to his peers as well. I was kind of the punching bag,” he said.

As opposed to the Symonds and Fares brothers, Brad and his brother’s closeness in age is a factor of their strained relationship. “We’re two years apart, we’re both boys, we have very similar interests, I think it [our conflict] has always come from a sense of competition, at least for me. It always tends to follow big achievements, the big fights at least,” he said.

The big achievements

T

ILLUSTRATION BY ISABELLE PREDDY

that either Brad or his brother achieved would further damage their relationship as the brothers are competitive and spiteful of each other’s achievements. This would often occur when he countered one of his brother’s achievements with one of his own. “He would say ‘stop being so arrogant’, I would reply saying ‘I’m not being very arrogant’ and then he’d punch me,” he said.

Since Brad’s brother has moved

s it gets

Birth order’s effects on personality

teract, eir social lives

itor itor away, their relationship has improved.

However, Brad believes that it is only because they no longer spend much time together. “It has definitely gotten better but I think that it’s just because he’s more physically distant so it’s not that constant interaction.”

Though it has improved, their relationship is still “very shallow”: When Brad’s brother is back home, their relationship will be chummy but towards the end of his stays, the tension returns as though nothing changed. “Whether it be through playing a game of FIFA or going to a similar social gathering, the aftermath will always result in him physically hurting me,” he said.

In Couns e l o r Stephanie O l i -

ver’s personal experience, she has seen this exact theme as a key reason behind sibling conflict. “I think that probably the biggest threat to a sibling relationship is when one sibling feels that the other one is favored by parents or by a school community because that’s when jealousy happens,” she said. “I’ve seen some siblings feel as if they have to follow in their siblings footsteps or be as successful as their siblings or better than their sibling was, because they’ve seen things that the other has accomplished.”

While not as extreme as the case of Brad, Connor Dell’Anno (’15) also believes that he and his siblings, Alexandra (’15) and Bryce (’17), could treat each other better. “We’re not very nice people to each other,” he said.

“We just end up fighting a lot. They [the fights] usually originate from really stupid stuff, like what you’re supposed to use for a recipe for something and she’ll say it’s this and I’ll say it’s that and she’ll bring out the big guns and say ‘you’re stupid’ or something,” he said.

Oliver concurs, having noticed this as a trend in her personal experiences. “I think silly daily things are the biggest cause behind conflict between siblings,” she said.

Brigitte Fink (’16) and her younger sister Chloe (’17) have done everything together and get along well “most of the time”. Brigitte explains that it is inevitable for her and her sister to get in fights due to their closeness in age. However, this in no way impacts the way she feels about her. “She’ll always be my best friend. We go through everything together,” she said.

Connor maintains that he does have good times with his siblings, but the issue rather is the lack of time spent together, especially with his sister. “Bryce and I, because we’re closer together in terms of our house layout, I’ll go to his room a lot more to just chill and annoy him, but I can’t really do that

with my sister because my sister gets too frustrated if I try doing that,” he said. lexandra also believes her relationship with her brother could be closer, but thinks their lack of bonding comes more from his end. “He doesn’t want to be like ‘oh she’s my best friend’ guys just aren’t like that but he tries to be really subtle about it. If we do anything, we both try to hide that we’re friends,” she said.

This is not to say she cannot remember plenty of times that Connor has been there for her, “I feel like there’s always someone that’s in the school, you never really feel alone when you have a twin brother,” she said. “It was more when I was younger, if something in school happened and I was crying, my friends would all go tell him.”

Regardless of the form of the relationship, a sibling lasts forever. For some, this is not an issue at all, but rather an asset. “In the future we know we’ll be with each other,” George said. Though he acknowledges that it will be difficult for him when his brother goes to university next year.

Connor too, realizes the inevitability of this fact, but doesn’t think his siblings will have an extreme impact on him later in life, “The thing is we don’t keep in touch that much now. My sister is always working in her room, she spends a lot of time in her room, so does my brother, so do I,” he said. “All in all, we’ll probably keep in touch, but we won’t be talking every day or every week.”

And for Brad, knowing this fact only makes him hope that the relationship with his brother improves. “I obviously really hope that we’re close [in the future] because he’s my brother and as much as I do get mad at him and as much as he is very mean to me, at the end of the day, he is family.”

A

*Editor’s note: Names followed by an asterisk are aliases used to protect sources’ anonymity.

Being born first, last, or somewhere in the middle is outside of one’s control. What many do not realize is that birth order can actually play a significant part in one’s success, character and disposition.

Being the oldest “Being older and looking out for him has shaped my personality; I tend to get really protective of kids.”

Kenley Smith, English Teacher “There’s a lot of pressure on your shoulders [to be the eldest sibling].”

Andrew Bake (’15)

Being the youngest “It’s very nice to be the youngest because whenever I’m having trouble I have sisters to give advice because they’ve already gone through it.”

Anna Kopfler (’20) “[My younger brother] is the baby so I think there’s a lot of attention paid to him. He has a very young attitude about things...”

Kenley Smith, English Teacher

By Staff Writer Dana Mardenstein

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THE STANDARD | January/February 2015

Features

A game of chance A revealing exploration into the various forms of gambling within the student body, shedding light on its rising prevalence Zack Longboy | Lead Features Editor Gabriel Ruimy | Senior Editor

The Urge t’s fast approaching midnight, but the top floor casino is still very much alive. Chris Saltzgaber (’15) is a long way from the worn pack of cards and gummy bears of his grandfather’s kitchen table. Surrounded by greenfelt tables, he’s indulging in a game that can make or break lives.

Near the casino’s cash machine, a man waits anxiously for the clock to strike midnight and the maximum withdrawal on his bank account to reset; the atmosphere is mature and daunting. Yet Saltzgaber trusts himself enough to resist temptation, to circumvent the risks and play poker for what it is: A card game.

Though resolute, Saltzgaber too sometimes wavers: The temptation to never stop, to keep gambling through the night, is one he has felt. He believes that, for those who gamble in any capacity, the lure of the cards is vivid. It’s a feeling you get, he said, which “works both ways. If you win a lot you feel hot and you want to keep playing, and if you lose a lot you think you can make the money back.”

The risk, however, is evident for Saltzgaber. “It’s not for everyone, either because they’re not good [at the game], or they get hooked or they don’t know when to stop,” he said.

First-hand, he has seen the way gambling can exploit individuals with a weaker resolve. “[A relation of mine] doesn’t play anymore because she got, not hooked, but she was playing and didn’t know when to quit so she lost more money than she wanted to,” he said. Saltzgaber feels confident he could make the same decision if the situation begged so.

Both in online poker tournaments and at the casino tables themselves, Saltzgaber holds himself to one rule to make sure temp-

I

tation is never fulfilled: “I never put in anything that I’m not willing to lose,” he said.

And, if the urge ever reaches a certain point, he will not hesitate to walk away. “In the case of, ‘oh, I won a lot of money last night, I want to play again,’ it becomes about the money and that’s not really what I want it to be about,” he said. Poker, for Saltzgaber is simply about the game, pure and simple. The strategy – the bluffs, the bets, reading his opponents – this is what he loves. For some however, it is the money, not the game that drives their interest.

Home-schooled Poker hen we play poker, it’s really chill at first,” Blake*, an underclassman, said.

It’s a Saturday night and there’s not much to do for Blake and his friends, so, as they’ve become used to, the six or seven of them play a game of poker. Not long ago some of their friends acquired amateur poker tables for their homes, an addition to chase away their boredom with the sometimes sweet, sometimes bitter lure of cards.

The game begins with a £50 buy-in, the

“W

doing the betting and putting big money,” Oscar*, one of Blake’s friends, said.

In fact, Oscar continued, the boys share similar hobbies and interests outside of betting and were introduced to the realm of gambling by another friend. This friend happened to introduce poker, and ultimately other forms of gambling, such as sports betting, after seeing relatives and acquaintances from outside of school participating in such entertainment.

Over time, however, even though Oscar, Blake and their friends do not seek to exclude anyone, it has becomes a sort of differentiating factor between their group and other students. “The people who don’t play with us just want to do other things, or they live in different areas than us – it’s not [that they don’t hang out with us] directly because of our hobbies,” Oscar said.

As the night develops, the number of players at the table dwindles and the bets and blinds swell. This is “when it gets heated,” according to Blake. On this particular night, Blake is facing off with one of his friends: The last two standing. The table has been stagnant, neither opponent faithful enough to trust the cards he’s holding.

nent, throwing a meager pair on the table, begins shouting. According to him, Blake has cheated. He throws the cards and chips together, frantically waving his arms across the table – even though it’s obvious who the winner is, the bet doesn’t materialize and no one wins the money.

“Sometimes it just gets really heated,” Oscar said.

Serious bets, Casual Games he poker table, though sometimes physical, is often lighthearted fun for Blake, Oscar and their friends; where tempers really flare and the bets foray into the triple, and sometimes quadruple figures, is in the video game FIFA. The game itself is quite entertaining for Blake, but the thrill of thrashing a friend at a video game doesn’t offer the same thrill as a bet of, say, £2,000 might.

“Really, I bet on anything. I don’t care what it is [we’re wagering on], even if it’s a race around the house, as long as there is money involved. If there’s money, there’s more excitement; what’s the point if you don’t have money on the line?” Blake said.

The competitive nature of FIFA, however, carries a greater weight in both respect and financial backing than a foot race. “The bets speak for themselves,” Blake said. “Couple of grand usually.”

It has become almost formulaic for Blake and his friends: Two of the boys will play a few FIFA matches, sometimes with staggered bets – where one player will use the best team available and the other one of the worst – with the stakes raising and raising, as the two repeat, “double or nothing,” at each other.

The stakes, naturally raise, and so does the boys’ confidence. “I’ll win and make a lot of money so I feel more confident, it feels easy.

T

“He’s lost £20,000,” on a series of FIFA bets he’s made over a year.

OSCAR* usual bet for a weekend “winner takes all” game of poker.

Blake and his friends have been playing poker for more than a year now, though he insists that it is not what brought them together in the first place. “At first our group of friends were just guys who didn’t really meld with the others. And only then did we start

Then the lucky hand comes out. Blake goes all in. His friend (and current opponent), perhaps because of bluff, intimidation or sheer abandon, matches him. The tension is palpable at the table, where all of Blake and Oscar’s friends watch patiently and respectfully.

Blake shows a full house while his oppo-

THE STANDARD | January/February 2015

•••

Page 17

Features

Students are gambling thousands of pounds on card and video games.

PHOTO BY TANIA VELTCHEV

So then I bet about £1,000. And the stakes keep going until it blows up,” Blake said. “We only stop until someone gets [angry], really, it’s not about the money; the highest we’ve been, it’s quite high.

“Once I went to a friend’s house, I had a whole case of money, a whole thousand [pounds]. After an hour I left without it,” Blake said.

The astounding stakes that often occur at the whim of FIFA matches are always expected to be paid back, perhaps not immediately, but certainly in full. “If we bet up to a few thousand pounds, you’re expected to pay that money. Bets are only forgotten when we make absurd wagers as jokes, like each other’s houses,” Oscar said.

“If someone fails to pay,” Oscar said, “it’s disrespectful. We never get into fights over it because really it just doesn’t happen – everyone pays up, though sometime it takes a few days or more.”

These bets, often skirting three to fourdigit figures, are incomprehensible for some ASL students. “Some people at ASL, it won’t hurt them to lose the money, which is a very unhealthy thing to do because you’re throwing away money just because...” Saltzgaber said. “I feel like [those people who bet large sums] need a value, they need to know what it’s worth and I feel like that’s kind of lost at ASL.” High School Math Teacher Tony Bracht often plays poker with friends and co-workers, but solely for its entertainment value as a strategy game. “If you look at poker as a game of strategy then it’s very fun, just like any board game. But when you’re playing to gamble it can become dangerous,” he said.

Bracht believes that money spent on poker should function within the same budget as money spent on other activities. “I think it’s dangerous for students to play for any substantial amount of money, especially if it’s money they’re not willing to lose.

“If you look at the money they lose as money they would otherwise spend to go see

a movie or go to dinner then that is healthy and fine. But a lot of kids getting into gambling spend money they should not be losing.”

When speaking of one of the friends he has played with, Oscar said, “He’s lost £20,000,” on a series of FIFA bets he’s made over a year.

Wagering on Sports hile Cameron Swanson (’15) does enjoy gambling – in his case betting on the outcomes of sports games – he stays away from what he considers the more highstrung forms of betting. “I don’t go near the ‘gambling’ like poker or blackjack, mainly because I don’t like the odds of it, but also because I find it more nerve-wracking than exciting,” he said.

Now that many seniors are 18-years-old and can legally bet, Saltzgaber feels that “sports betting, especially senior year, is getting bigger, because it makes the games more interesting.”

The biggest draw for Swanson is the fact that it intensifies the sporting event that he is watching as, since he started, “I’ve watched games and I’ve cared about games that I never would before.”

Despite its casual nature, Swanson always keeps in mind the fact that, “everyone thinks they can always make a profit gambling, but obviously these websites and these compa-

W

nies aren’t staying up because they are losing money. They want to hook you in.”

Swanson, Saltzgaber and other 18-yearold seniors can legally participate in betting simply by showing up at a local bookmaker.

For Blake and Oscar, however, this becomes a bit more tricky. “When we bet we need to use fake IDs,” Oscar said.

“We go to the same place again and again, because they know us. We don’t get checked again after,” Blake said.

Like Swanson, Blake and his friends often bet on matches for entertainment value. Although he admits sports betting, of all the other ways he gambles, is the only one in which he seeks to make money. “Only with [popular betting company] William Hill do we try to make money, but we’ll never bet more than £100 on that.”

Blake and his friends only flirt with greater risks when the wager is not so much a question of money as a competition between two friends. “The big gambling is only when it’s not about the money.”

By the numbers, Blake, Oscar and their other acquaintances lose more bets than they win. However, they remain positive on earnings; by betting on accumulators, or a series of match outcomes, the pair raise the stakes and effectively convert sums of, for

example, £28 to £800.

Sometimes the gambling errs on the wrong side of intent, when profits begin to trump entertainment, and the risks enlarge.

But for the most part, the pair and their friends know how to hold back. Poker, for them, is just a source of fun, and so is most of the gambling they participate in. Beyond the financial thrill of the soccer bets, Blake, Oscar and their friends look to betting for added adrenaline – every game becomes weighted, otherwise they might feel their wager-less entertainment to be bland.

Oscar and Blake don’t fear repercussion in their future, cognizant of the both unethical and risky nature of what gambling they’re participating in; their self-control has developed with continued exposure to gambling. “I’m not scared that I’m one of those losers who will play for 8 hours and spend £30,000, I know how to control myself and have fun. That’s what I do,” Oscar said.

*Editor’s note: Names that are followed by an asterisk are aliases used to protect sources’ anonymity.

Staff Writer Alec Ashley contributed to reporting.

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THE STANDARD | January/February 2015

Features

Recovering after the fall Students and staff members who have experienced failure discuss the process of bouncing back Nadia Sawiris | Culture Editor

G

PHOTO BY YARRA ELMASRY

eneral Catering Assistant Sergio Pimental knows how to deal with failure.

Born in Angola, Pimental’s family had to flee to Zimbabwe in 1977 after the Angolan Revolution only for the same thing to happen a few years later in Zimbabwe.

Without their possessions and wealth they had accumulated in Africa, Pimental’s family arrived in Portugal in 1982 to start a new life. Pimental’s beloved mother soon died, devastated by all she had lost in Africa. To cope, Pimental found a distraction.

“I focused on [soccer] and [soccer] was like my family,” he said.

At age 14, Pimental signed his first professional contract, entering a world completely different from the one he was used to. He attended school during the week, but trained after school and during weekends.

However, Pimental’s soccer career was short-lived. He was manipulated into signing a contract with two different soccer clubs, and ended up being ousted from both of them.

After his experience with manipulation and corruption within the soccer league, Pimental decided that he was no longer interested in a career in soccer. Along with four other friends, Pimental formed a business, which included a restaurant and a book store.

But Pimental’s world soon collapsed again when Portugal’s economy crashed, and Pimental was forced to work as many as 16 hours a day to earn enough for him and his family.

While Pimental was working long hours at his business–his wife soon became suspicious. With a failing marriage and struggling business, Pimental decided he needed to start a new life; for him and for his teenage son, who he cites as his biggest motivator in his life. However, doubts about his future emerged. “I didn’t know if I was able to do another kind of life,” he said. “My CV was just my football career and my manager career. I thought I knew how to do everything, but I didn’t have the papers to show it. I was a little bit afraid.

For the first [time] of my life, since I was 14, I was unemployed.”

After a tumultuous journey, which included a brief spell in Holland, Pimental found himself at a London job agency. He did manage to find work, however, despite his experience being soccer player and manager; they put him in a kitchen as a porter, washing plates and other utensils.

Although Pimental was overjoyed to have a job, he often struggled to accept his new

Maya Jotwani | Culture Editor

career, one that was a far cry from the prestige he had enjoyed while playing on the soccer pitch.

While Pimental has encountered a lifetime of stopping and starting again, students at school are tasting their first bites of failure. For Alisha Gandhi (’15), failure came within the realm of academia: College. The day after Gandhi got rejected from her early decision school, she arrived at school unsure of what her peers would

“

ASL promotes this ‘if you fail, always try again’ [mentality] but the kids in the school are more like ‘you failed the first time, so you’re obviously [bad].’

ISOBEL SHEIL (’16) think. However, she now credits her peers for their support. “I’ve never felt that I was being judged for not getting in,” Gandhi said. “When you go through it, with a hundred other kids, people are getting rejected, accepted, we are all going through it, so no one is judging you.”

While ultimately Gandhi felt that her peers and the greater community were supportive and understanding when she did not achieve her goal, Isobel Sheil (’16) didn’t feel quite the same. Sheil was cut from JV volleyball her freshman year. Afterwards, she felt as if she was being judged by peers for failing to make the team. “ASL promotes, ‘if you fail, always try again’ [mentality] but the kids in the school are more like ‘you failed the first time, so you’re obviously [bad]’,” Sheil said.

College Counselor Ivan Hauck agrees with Gandhi and cites embarrassment as the major factor for students fear of failure; students care a lot about what each other think so the stakes are high.

Varsity soccer Co-captain Dariush Yazdanpanah (’15), experienced failure in the form of a second-place silver medal at the 2014 varsity boys soccer ISSTs. The loss was especially painful for a host of reasons. Yazdanpanah points to the proximity of the trophy as the chief source of the team’s grief. “We wept because of how near to the gold medal we were,” he

said. After an undefeated season, the team played, as Yazdanpanah described it, “one of the worst games played in the past two years.”

In his room at night, the silver medal is not a token of a successful season, but often a haunting reminder of the final outcome. “When I look at [the medal] I look at it for a couple of seconds and say ‘I wish it was gold’,” he said.

Hauck believes that high school is the best place for students to experiment with failure, whether it be related to sports or to academics. “Learning how to deal with that sense of rejection now is actually really important because there are so many support structures in place here, you’ve got your parents, you’ve got your friends, you’ve got college counselors, you have deans, you have other faculty,” he said.

Though it is almost always hidden, Hauck believes that there is always something positive that comes out of failure.

Athletic Director John Farmer sees the importance of failure due to a person’s ability to grow and learn from it. “At the end of the day, strictly from a competitive standpoint, not losing is rarely a good thing,” he said. “You need to understand when you lose, how to bounce back, how to face adversity, how to deal with setbacks, and how you respond.”

Yazdanpanah sees his perceived failure at ISSTs as a learning experience. “The tournament helped me mature,” he said.

“If you had asked me two months ago ‘what would you do if you got to the final and won a silver medal?’ I would have said that it would be a failure, but now that I have experienced it, I wouldn’t call it that.”

As for Pimental, many of his friends have asked him in disbelief, “Sergio, why did you quit football? You are a big guy; one minute you are on TV and the other minute you are serving coffees?”

But Pimental doesn’t regret a second of it, but instead, chooses to focus on the positives. “If that didn’t happen, I wouldn’t have my son,” he said. [He] is the best thing I have.”

Thinking back to all of the failure he faced, all the mis-steps and unfortunate events he dealt with, Pimental does looks gratefully at his experiences. “I achieved everything I wanted, even if it was not the correct way,” he said.

For Pimental, the failure of his business gave him a priceless opportunity: “At 46 years old, I have the chance to have a second chance, a second life.”

THE STANDARD | January/February 2015

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Cu ture Page 19

Religion Music Profiles

Oscar predictions

Visual Arts Department Head Erik Niemi and film enthusiasts PT Clement (’16) and Hannah Link (’16) reflect on who they think deserves to win Oscars this year

BEST PICTURE:

BEST ACTOR:

BIRDMAN: It has all of the elements that make great cinema including an engaging and inventive story, great cinematography and a group of very good actors giving outstanding performances. It’s just not like any film I’ve seen before. From the unusual single-take style of filming to the magic realism of the main character’s imagination, it stands above the other very good films on the ballot this year. Erik Niemi

MICHAEL KEATON: He deserves this Oscar for Birdman. He had to create not one, not two, but EDDIE REDMAYNE: Few actors this year have three distinct and powerful characters in this managed to immerse themselves as completely ‘role’ and each was equally powerful. Erik Niemi in their parts as Redmayne did for his role as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything.

EDDIE REDMAYNE: The winner of Best Actor In order to portray Hawking, who suffers from should be Eddie Redmayne for his work in The Motor Neuron Disease, Redmayne worked tireTheory of Everything. The task of portraying an lessly to accurately portray the progress of his individual with a physical or mental disability is condition. Using subtle gestures and mannerdifficult for any actor. Redmayne was asked to go isms, he manages to hint artfully at what the the extra mile, and not only portray Motor Neu- audience is aware of, bringing tension and inron Disease, but show the escalation of its sever- trigue to a story that many people feel like they ity in Stephen Hawking’s life. It was a role that already know. Hannah Link

BOYHOOD: It is the obvious candidate; it was made hugely in response to the increasing “spectacle” of modern film. The point of the story is to bring out the beauty of human life, in all its normality. There is no major conflict, and no plot, the character is not driven to complete a task or achieve anything. However, humans often have no greater purpose in life, which makes this story beautiful and relatable. PT Clement BOYHOOD: The novelty of this movie (which took 12 years to film) on its own is worthy of recognition. Paired with the great performances by both the lead and supporting actors, this film is the clear leader in the Best Picture competition. Hannah Link

BEST ActrESS:

JULIANNE MOORE: Julianne Moore should win this award for her work in Still Alice, a role in which she shows all too well what it’s like to battle Alzheimer’s and to still keep some connection to the person she has been. Erik Niemi AMY ADAMS: Adams’ has been nominated for five acting Oscars since 2006, and is yet to have a victory. Adams’ ability to remain believable in states of dramatic emotional transition, made her performance in Big Eyes one to remember.

The film was dependent on the honesty of her performance, and she is given many prolonged close-ups, where her acting alone determines the scene’s tone. However, once again Adams has been snubbed and was not even nominated for her stellar performance. PT Clement

if done correctly was Oscar-bound, and Redmayne really hit the mark. He acted out most of the movie while dramatically contorting his body and it seemed like a part of him. I never questioned the honesty in his performance. PT Clement

BEST SCREENPLAY:

BIRDMAN: Birdman is driven by twisting, unpredictable plot, but also by the wit and the wordplay of its writing. Each distinctly voiced character has their own needs and wants that turn the story in all different directions.

Erik Niemi GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL: The script for Grand Budapest Hotel is one of the most charming and unique scripts made this year. The simple roots of the main character in contrast to the flamboyant individuals around him, provide us with somebody to identify with so that we take on the role of the main character, and attempt to experience the elaborate adventure he embarks on as if we were him. In addition, the film is filled with infinitely many complex subplots, ROSAMUND PIKE: Rosamund Pike’s terrifying and the dynamic between the wild characters portrayal of “cool girl” Amy Dunne leaves view- makes for some great exchanges. PT Clement ers with more than enough to think about in Gone Girl. With the slightest smile, Pike manag- BIRDMAN: This incredibly thoughtful movie es to chill the viewer to the bone, and she carries tells its intricate story and shares its profound out each of Amy’s convoluted schemes with a messages without becoming overly complex, calculated calm that would disturb even the vet- thanks to its masterfully written screenplay. eran horror-movie viewer. Her performance car- From profound monologues to fast-paced diaried the unsettling, weighty storyline, along with logue, this screenplay is truly a masterful work. the performances of her fellow cast members, The story is as fascinating and thought provokand made for a great adaptation of the original ing as the dialogue is entertaining, making for an all-around excellent movie. Hannah Link book. Hannah Link

ALL PHOTOS FROM BIRDMANTHEMOVIE.COM, BOYHOODMOVIE.COM.AU, GRANDBUDAPESTHOTEL.COM AND GOOGLE.COM

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THE STANDARD | January/February 2015

Culture

FAITH Students with diverse religions give insight on its effect on their day-to-day lives

Tyler Skow | Features Editor

Nadia Sawiris | Culture Editor

Lorenzo Maglione | Staff Writer

“Look, this kid’s Muslim,” yelled a Grade 7 student as she cornered Rami Kablawi (’16). “Look,” she said as she brought out a Jewish student, “this guy’s from Palestine,” pointing at Kablawi. Kablawi looks around, hesitating before he says more. “She explained who I was, as if she expected a fight and an argument to break out,” he said.

In Grade 9 students learn about major belief systems, including Confucianism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity and Judaism.

PHOTO BY MAYA JOTWANI

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THE STANDARD | January/February 2015

B

orn in a Muslim household and raised in an Islamic nation, Kablawi grew up in an environment that was both accepting and tolerant of his faith.

When he first moved to London from Abu Dhabi, it took him time before he could adapt to a community where he was a minority.

“Moving here was very different because suddenly I was not in a great majority with my religious beliefs, and so it took time for me to adjust,” he said. “I have constantly found myself trying to repeat my religious views and justifying my beliefs with people.”

Faith and religion are notions inexplicably important to a great deal of students.

Social Studies Teacher Christopher Wolf defines faith as, “a set of beliefs that one holds based on a presumption rather than fact about what really motivates or operates the world.”

This concept of faith, however, manifests itself in many different

tory job representing all religions, however, he does see an imbalanced attitude towards religious equality outside the classroom.

This year, Hanukkah and Christmas were recognized but Eid, a Muslim holiday, was forgotten.

“It’s not [during the same season] so it’s not part of the festive season but at the same time I felt a little bit left out that there were people who were celebrating Christmas and it was brought up to the student body. Islam and the Muslim tradition was not even an announcement,” Kablawi said.

But Islam for Kablawi is more than just a religion. “It provides a balance, maybe not directly a moral code but it gives a lot of answers to a lot of faith-based questions,” he said.

Marisa Etre (’15), one of the Christian students in the High School, echoed a similar feeling.

Rather than interpreting the Bible verbatim, she uses it as a moral compass. “I don’t read the Bible

causes for me not to turn to drugs, but it was definitely a factor.”

Hinduism also serves as a means of reassurance for Dhir, especially when in times of need or uncertainty. “If I’m in doubt or if I’m in a situation where I feel tense or uncomfortable, I feel as though I can automatically rely on God or the general concept of God,” he said.

While 49 percent of surveyed students classify themselves as ‘religious’, some feel as though religion is an evaded topic. “There does seem to be an assumption that religion is a private matter and not necessarily a matter for this school,” Wolf said.

Dhir believes that the lack of religious presence inside school could be because most students don’t practice a religion. With atheism on the rise in most major European countries and America, according to a 2015 sudy by The Telegraph, it’s no surprise that 51 percent of those surveyed are non-religious.

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Culture

dhism, Islam, Christianity and Judaism. The students are not taught these religions as an element of faith per se, but rather “we are looking at it historically, so we want to talk about the origins, we want to talk about the influence, the diffusion and spread of the religions,” Wolf said.

While religious education in school often differs from what students may learn in their faith circles, some subjects contradict students faiths. ith such a rich profusion of religious students at school, sometimes it can be hard for students to accept certain aspects of both religion and science, as just over 20 percent of High School students do not believe science and religion can coexist.

High School Science Teacher Jude Ruff remembers one instance when a student of her’s who was extremely strong in science suddenly began dropping in his grades. Af-

that may have occurred but apart from that there is no underlying data that supports the religion,” he said. “Science, you have people doing research day upon day and so you have tons of data but with religion it’s inevitably just a collection of stories.”

Etre has also struggled in the past with contradictions in her religion.

She recounts how at her old school her teacher, who was Jewish, would often make underlying comments about religion as she was teaching, which would sometimes confuse Etre. “I felt really conflicted and I remember going home and saying to my mom that she’s saying this part is not true and then it kind of made me realize that there’s a separation in some ideas,” she said.

But Etre has found a solution to her problem, focusing on the way faith affects her as a person rather than trying to understand the literal meaning of Christianity. “Because I am not so focused on the literal meaning of everything in my

ter a private conversation, she discovered that the topic of evolution conflicted with the teachings from his religion, and thus it was interfering with his ability to learn.

“We did not resolve it,” she said.

“The main thing was for me to explain to him that I don’t judge him based on [his religious beliefs] and we tried to work through it and he did ok.”

Because of experiences like these, Ruff tries to keep her religious views out of her work and teaching, as she believes that it’s important not to use her authority as a teacher to assert what one’s faith and religious views should be.

“When students have questioned [religion] I try and skirt it for that reason, without going into the big details,” she said.

Dhir has also felt unsure about his religion because of science, explaining that there are times when the beliefs of science and his religion disagree with each other. “At those times I find it harder to fully believe in Hinduism because in reality, people might talk about experiences or miracles or coincidences

religion and what we’re taught in church, I think I realize that it’s more of the way your faith affects you as a person rather than the historical teachings in the Bible,” she said.

Kablawi has also found it arduous at times to stay committed to his faith, but for reasons other than science. As he recently came out as gay, Kablawi was conflicted as he believed this was something his religion did not tolerate. “I have questioned my faith a lot, mostly related to my sexuality because [being gay] that’s not something that is really appreciated in Islam at all. I know what I feel is right so why should faith tell me that it isn’t?” he said.

But Kablawi realized, just like Etre, that instead of trying to understand the literal meaning of Islam, the core values and pillars of what Islam teaches were more important. “Looking back and reading the Quran, it’s a lot about acceptance and tolerance and using the faith to become yourself,” he said. “It’s about following God as he made you, and that’s given me the opposite effect that I previously had,” Kablawi said.

W

Students at ASL practice various religions including Christianity, Hinduism and Islam.

TWO PHOTOS ON THE LEFT BY MAYA JOTWANI, PHOTO ON THE RIGHT BY YARRA ELMASRY

ways throughout the school.

Although 86 percent of respondents to a survey sent out by The Standard involving 227 students believe the school is a safe environment to express one’s religious beliefs, there are some who think differently. One anonymous survey responder says that his friends portray highly anti-Christian behavior, which he believes to be disrespectful.

“They treat Christianity like it’s a joke, celebrated and practiced only by fools and those without knowledge,” he said. “They show little knowledge in which to even begin to explain this behavior, and when asked to stop, have only continued in this ridicule of religion and beliefs.”

Kablawi noted that while he does feel safe voicing his religious beliefs, it does depend on person to person. “I’m [justifying my religious beliefs] less often now but it’ll still happen where I’ll say I’m Muslim and people will make certain assumptions,” he said.

Kablawi believes that, overall, classes at School do a satisfac-

every day, its more just the basic ideas of kindness and morality,” Etre said.

Surya Dhir (’17) feels the same way about his religion. Going back generations, Hinduism is a line that can be easily traced through the ancestors and family members of Dhir. Although it was only natural that Dhir was also raised believing in Hinduism, he feels as though it was his choice entirely and not forced by his family.

Similar to Etre, Dhir has accepted Hinduism because he believes in the principles and ideals that the religion entails. He recounts how the Hindu theory of Karma is something that has constantly affected his decisions in life, and how it has “turned him off some of the more unjust actions that he would have otherwise committed.”

“At my old school in [Grade 9], kids were starting to experiment with drugs, and so were even some of my friends. Without Hinduism I probably would have at least experimented one time,” he said. “Hinduism by itself wasn’t one of the

“I’d say that the majority of my friends, at least a lot of them, don’t really have [a faith], a lot of them are just atheists, and when I’ve brought up the issue of religion they did say that they did not have a God,” Dhir said. tre’s choice to remain slightly more conservative about her religious expression comes from not wanting to cause controversy. She explained she tries to avoid “conversations [about] my religious beliefs versus someone else’s, because there are so many different religions and we all kind of have different beliefs.”

Wolf understands religion’s downplayed presence to be because of western intellectual culture. “I would say that yes, students need to be educated to what these various religions are to understand the people around them and to be sensitive to their religious concerns, but I don’t know that the school needs to proselytize.”

To Wolf’s knowledge, the school does just that. In Grade 9, students learn about major belief systems, including Confucianism, Bud-

E

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THE STANDARD | January/February 2015

Culture

CENTER STAGE Diving into the worlds of serious student performers and their aspirations Martha Collins | Staff Writer

H

ayden Victor (’15) and Emie Nathan (’15) are huddled around a single music stand in the band room, rehearsing their performance for January’s Baby Photo assembly. Victor strums chords on the guitar, whilst Nathan effortlessly sings her rendition of “Here Comes the Sun”.

Although Victor is a fully capable guitarist, his primary instrument is the tuba.

“I started pushing myself more freshman year, and then especially junior year. I started practicing hard every day,” Victor said.

The motivation for the extended periods of time Victor devotes to his tuba comes from his ultimate goal of becoming a professional musician.

Victor has gotten a taste of the professional performing arts industry. Patrick Harold, a tuba player in the London Symphony Orchestra, recently accepted Victor as his student, providing him with regular lessons. “[Patrick Harold] agreeing to take me on as a student has probably been my biggest accomplishment so far,” Victor said.

Another avid musician, Nathan appreciated singing from a young age. However, she has never taken an official vocal lesson. She was able to cultivate her skills and knowledge by growing up in a musical household.

“I grew up on jazz,” Nathan said. Her father, who had wanted to be a professional singer himself, often overheard her singing as a young child and encouraged her to pursue.

She began to sing regularly when she was about four years old.

Nathan looks up to her father, as “He’s insanely talented and he’s my inspiration for a lot of things. He sparks my ideas and pushes me to do things.”

The father-daughter pair often duet together, recording music in the vicinity of their home. “I like singing with my dad. It’s something nice that I like to do and I feel proud when I do,” she said.

Milo Rechler (’15), like Nathan, has been a performer for as long as he can remember.

Telling funny stories has always been something he loves and is what sparked his passion for acting. “I think a complete actor needs to be able to do everything. I’ve been told that people find me funny and comedy is sort of what got me into acting,” he said.

At his previous school, Rechler and his peers were required to participate in semiannual plays. For Rechler, it was less of an obligation and more of an opportunity to do what he loves: Perform. He acted in his first

professional theater performance called “Miss Lilly Gets Boned” the summer before his Grade 8 year.

Ariadne Letrou-Papamarkakis (’17) was also exposed to her passion–music–early on. She recalls always having a piano in her house. Since then, Letrou-Papamarkakis has reached grade six in singing and grade seven in piano on the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) exams. She practiced for long hours to prepare for these extensive assessments, with testing components ranging from sight reading to performing prepared pieces.

kids learn music,” she said.

The funding for the school’s music department was suspended so she decided to take initiative. “It was nice to see because normally they wouldn’t get that kind of opportunity because they don’t have a space to perform or they don’t have a teacher. I felt really happy to see that I contributed to that,” she said.

Letrou-Papamarkakis is part of the Main Choir in the London Youth Choir. This past March, Letrou-Papamarkakis and her choir performed at We Day. The event is an annual celebration of

L e trou-Papamakarkis is currently preparing for her next ABRSM piano exam, working towards attaining the eighth and final level.

This past summer Letrou-Papamarkakis started a small two-week music school on

young adults’ volunteering through community service conducted by Free the Children, a charity that globally advocates to empower youth as catalysts of change. Many noteworthy figures were attendees, including Malala Yousafzai and Prince Harry.

the island of Paxos in her native Greece. “The music school would be the accomplishment that’s stuck with me the most...I like combining where I’m from and community service and what I love to do and helping other

Nathan is part of a professional choir as well: The Capital Children’s Choir. Nathan has sung at numerous events with the choir, including performances at St. Paul’s Cathedral and at a Lily Allen concert at O2 Acad-

emy in Brixton this past December. “It’s a proud moment for me when I can stand up and sing for people. I’ve done a lot of things through the choir and those have been proud moments, but they haven’t been mine,” Nathan said. In the future, Nathan hopes to establish a solo career in music.

Nathan, Victor and Rechler are all planning to pursue their art beyond high school.

“The first step would be getting into a good school with a teacher that can get me to the level that I need to be to be a professional [musician]. That’s all I’m thinking about right now,” Victor said.

Victor is interested in the educational aspect of music too, as he currently teaches Grade 5 Band as an independent study. He also shares his musical knowledge with students through ASL’s Music Mentorship Program, an initiative for high school students to gain experience in teaching and for middle school students to gain additional music help outside of the classroom.

Nathan envisions herself majoring in music and gaining experience through internships, whilst continuing to sing and compose music throughout her four years of college.

Rechler plans to major in acting, and is in the midst of preparing for university auditions. He will be travelling to New York at the start of February to attend the National Unified Auditions [Unifieds], where associates from the schools that Rechler has applied to will observe his audition.

“I definitely want to be in the arts. I may find, when I’m in college, that performing every night may not be for me,” Rechler said. “[But] as of now that’s my goal, to be an actor.”

Although Letrou-Papamarkakis is slightly further away from the college process, she knows that she wants to major in music. “I am interested in cultivating my music skills, but I’m more interested in the business side,” she said. Her dream job is to be a music producer. “I’m not really sure about performing, obviously I’d love to do that in my free time, but I don’t think I’d want to be a performer for the rest of my life.”

Even if Nathan doesn’t end up pursuing music as an adult either, she will continue singing for the rest of her life, eve if it’s not professionally. “I’m pretty much [singing every day], and even if it’s in the shower, I’m still singing.”

“It’s a proud moment for me when I can stand up and sing for people.”

EMIE NATHAN (’15)

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THE STANDARD | January/February 2015

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Page 23

Culture

Sneaker Culture

The emergence of sneakers as the new collectors item Ankit Mehra | Online Editor Jack Jameson | Staff Writer

Z

eb Berg (’17) is part of a growing movement that has taken the U.K. by storm: Sneaker culture. Berg believes that being a part of the sneaker movement is “[to have] a common interest in sneakers.

It’s not just owning a couple pairs of sneakers, but also knowing the history, understanding the purpose, and recognizing different styles and models.”

Being a part of sneaker culture can mean that you compli-

A large aspect of buying and selling shoes is sneaker events.

These events are large conventions where thousands of people attend. People can set up a table and buy or sell shoes, or just talk with fellow sneaker aficionados.

At these events, sneakers are often available for purchase at inflated prices.

Antonio Pineda (’17), a sneaker collector, believes the reason behind the sneaker’s sky-high prices is its limited quantity and

went to a sneaker event called Crepe City and that’s how I got intrigued by the concept [of sneakers collecting].”

For Hoyt, sneakers play a significant role in his life, whether buying, selling or collecting.

Hoyt started collecting sneakers at the mere age of 13.

Hoyt, though, does not believe the sneaker culture at school is that strong. Instead, Hoyt believes there is a direct correlation between sneakers

Nike SB Flom Dunk High

go look for a better deal online,” Brandes said. “I went on the computer and started looking at all types of shoes, expensive and cheap, which then sparked my interest.”

Berg has been into sneakers for five years and considers himself a casual collector. However, Berg has done some selling of his own, selling a pair of Nike Yeezy Red October 2’s for $3,000, which retailed at

Justin Hoyt ('18) once sold 10 shoes and made over $2,000 at sneaker convention SneakerCon in New York City. ment people’s sneakers as they walk through the hallway, or it can mean developing friendships through a mutual passion for sneakers.

Khari Brandes (’16) believes that sneakers are “as much a part of the identity of the students as any other culture that is represented.”

“I think there is a really strong relationship with the fashion culture of ASL, as in general the people who buy into sneaker culture, such as myself, are doing so to complement their wider clothing styles,” Brandes said.

Sneaker culture has become a well-defined movement across the United States with people camping outside shoe stores for days before releases. People even resort to violence, with numerous muggings and killings revolving around sneakers.

However, the movement is making its way overseas slowly but surely. Now, sneaker-based Facebook groups have been created in the U.K., containing tens of thousands of members.

its celebrity endorsers. “With some sneakers being released in limited quantities along with celebrities such as Kevin Durant and Kanye West endorsing these shoes, people want to buy them and they are willing to pay for them.”

London’s most well-known event is Crepe City whereas events known as SneakerCons are held across the United States, bringing together buyers and sellers as well as collectors.

Justin Hoyt (’18) recently went to SneakerCon in New York City.

At the convention, Hoyt sold 10 shoes and made over $2,000. He described the atmosphere at the convention as “spectacular” due to the wide array of shoes available and the different personalities represented.

Sneaker events can not only encourage buying and selling, but also can get people interested through their unique experience.

Danyal Mahmood (’15) was first introduced to the culture because of a sneaker event.

“When I was in [Grade 10] I

and basketball and believes that is why sneakers are more popular in the United States.

Magnus Allan (’17), another sneaker collector, believes that his passion is driven by his music taste, primarily hip-hop, where his favorite artists have their own collections.

Hoyt cites rapper Wale, who owns over 1,000 sneakers, as one of his initial reasons for getting into sneaker collecting.

Sneaker trends vary from city to city. Brandes believes that his taste has changed since he has moved to London. “Living in suburban California, I was mainly interested in skating shoes like Etnies, Vans, and even Converse. Then, when I moved to London, I became more interested in urban shoes by Nike and Adidas because this is more or less what people around me were wearing.”

Berg’s interest in sneakers developed because of his mother.

“When I was little I really wanted a new pair of basketball shoes but my mother said they were too expensive, so she told me to

$7,500

$245. Berg bought the pair of shoes from a link he saw on Twitter; a common approach for many sneaker enthusiasts.

Much like Berg, Brandes got into sneakers through his mother. “My mom bought my first pair of Jordan’s, for when I used to play peewee basketball, when I was quite young, I think around five. I can’t even remember them that well and didn’t understand the significance of the brand. After that, around the ages of six and seven, is when I started to pick out my own shoes.”

Sneaker culture has different identities, and can appear in different ways but it is a growing phenom not only in the U.K. but in ASL as well.

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$6,000 Nike air mag

$5,152 rick owens geobasket

$2,350 Jimmy choo belgravia

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Sports

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THE STANDARD | January/February 2015

Skateboarding offers a chance for many students to relax and have fun.

PHOTO BY ALEX GANDHI

T

he nighttime emptiness of London’s busy streets is perfect for skateboarding and serves as Houston Parke’s (’15) cure for restless sleep.

“The fact that if it’s midnight on a weekday and I can’t sleep, I can grab my skateboard and go out on Exhibition Road and just skate, is a great feeling… Late at night there will be no one on the street, and it’s really relaxing,” Parke said.

Parke started skating five years ago and has always found

skateboarding is easy to pick up and is very creative, with endless tricks and styles. “I got into skateboarding because I loved watching all the tricks that my friends were doing, so I thought that it would be fun to learn some of those tricks,” Koski said.

Now, six months after having started skateboarding, Koski has a passion for the sport and has even created his own Facebook skating blog, Halfpipe London Extra, with Kian Tadjbakhsh (’18) and Alex Veselinski (’18). On his blog, Koski posts videos of him-

tions the limited availability of skating time in London, especially during the winter season, as being a barrier. “The timeframe of [light] is so slim that you have such a small time to actually skateboard, because it gets dark by 5 p.m.,” Koski said.

Tadjbakhsh also finds London’s weather an obstacle as he believes the rain to be a constant source of interference. Tadjbakhsh, who started skating while living in France, admits that he has not been able to skate as much due to the wet roads.

bigger in London and that although street skating is hard in the city, there are good parks to skate in. “The community is really good here, a lot of people skate and they are really friendly,” Veselinski said.

“It’s very nice to have so many community obstacles that you can use to skate. There are also so many spots and parks to skate throughout London with lots of rails and stairs to practice on,” Koski said.

Alternatively, Parke enjoys skateboarding, not for the tricks,

since been converted into a more fervent passion and part-time hobby. Parke also believes that the sport contains a more spiritual component too. “Skateboarding gives me peace of mind at night,” Parke said.

Similar to Veselinski, Parke believes that there is a big skating community in London, but not specifically at ASL. He believes it is hard to bring the school’s skaters together without a club and that making a club could potentially pose to be a challenge.

“There isn’t really a skateboard-

The fact that if it’s midnight on a weekday and I can’t sleep I can grab my skateboard and go out on Exhibition Road and just skate, is a great feeling...

HOUSTON PARKE (’15)

it to be a great way to wind down and have a good time.

Skateboarding’s carefree and social environment has attracted many new skaters looking for a way to relax and clear their minds. The sport has recently gained popularity within ASL, with many students drawn to the casual skater lifestyle.

Jordan Koski (’18) believes that

self, as well as other skateboarders learning new tricks.

Koski uses his own blog for inspiration on more tricks he can do. He hopes that this blog also gives inspiration to other skaters in the ASL community and London.

While the opportunities to progress as a skateboarder remain unbounded, Koski men-

Although the restricted lighting and poor weather conditions in London pose considerable challenges to the skateboarding community, Koski and Tadjbakhsh still find London to be a great skate city compared to other cities they have skated in.

Veselinski, who has lived and skated in Moscow, believes that the skate community is much

but for the peace of mind that accompanies the sport. Parke originally started skating so he could get to school faster. “It was really convenient for me because my old school was 15 minutes away by walking, whereas with my skateboard it took five minutes,” Parke said.

What initially began as a method of reaching school has

ing club at ASL because of all the safety regulations,” Parke said.

Even though Parke sees obstacles to setting up a skateboarding, he maintains the benefits a skating club could offer. “It would be great to see a skate group form at ASL, it would help get people together with common interests and everyone would improve,” Parke said.

THE STANDARD | January/February 2015

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Page 25

Sports

Dedicated Fanaticism Two Grade 11 students share their respective sports team passions Sebastian Mayr | Sports Editor

A

s Jack Glen (’16) awoke, the incessant ringing of the alarm from his headphones continued to drown out any external sounds. The headphones ensured both of his parents wouldn’t be disturbed by the events that would follow long into the remainder of the night.

Glen looked the at the time on his phone, for reassurance, hoping he hadn’t somehow overslept: it read 1:30 a.m. While the majority of students lay fast asleep, fatigued from a challenging day’s work, Glen’s next one had already begun, commencing with a Boston Celtics game.

Glen retrieved his laptop from the neighboring room before returning to his bed, and watched his favorite team in action.

Coping with the NBA’s game schedule has become a strenuous task of late for Glen.

Whereas missing a Celtics game in his freshman or sophomore years was a rarity, Glen’s attempt to balance the rigor and difficult schedule accompanying his junior year has led to him missing more games than before.

“

Even though my motivation to watch the games is still as high [as before], I have to sort out my priorities and ensure that my work gets done beforehand.

Jack Glen (’16) Despite being physically detached from the games, the simple notion of being able to watch the games is enough to sustain his passion for the Celtics. The ability and opportunity for Glen to watch the games through alternate means such as handheld devices, originally enticed him to wake up early in the mornings. “[When] I’m watching the games it’s for my own personal understanding that I’m there and that I’m still a part of the Celtics organization,” Glen said.

For Glen, supporting the Celtics organization has included him contacting the coaches and the general manager of the team.

Born and bred into a culture dominated by basketball, with his father and grandfather originally from Boston, Glen admits that although supporting the Celtics follows a certain familial tradition, neither attempted to impart a sense of fanaticism onto Glen.

Prioritizing between academic workload and games has become increasingly important throughout Glen’s high school years.

Although he seldom missed a game until the second semester of his sophomore year, the disconcerting imminence of the college process provided a stark moment of insight for Glen: He would have to mediate more often between work and Boston Celtics’ games.

Glen’s incentive to wake up often depends on the magnitude of the game and the opposition of the Celtics. “Even though my motivation to watch the game is still as high [as before], I have to sort of out my priorities and ensure that my works gets done beforehand,” Glen said.

An avid basketball player, Glen is currently a part of the varsity boys basketball team.

Another component which has increased pressure and reduced viewings of regular season drastically, Glen remains adamant on watching the Celtics perform in the NBA playoffs, the culminating tournament of the NBA league year, workload aside.

With college applications and standardized tests approaching, Glen plans to continue following the Celtics regardless of forthcoming commitments. He believes the importance of finding a club or team and maintaining one’s fanaticism for it throughout, cannot be understated.

“I think it’s good to have that attachment to a team, and if you want to be a fanatic of any team, I think whatever sport, it’s important that you not only love the sport but that you also have that enduring love for the team and the city and its people,” Glen said.

Although the Celtics dominance in the NBA has gradually subsided since 2008, Glen has stood by the team during an arduous reconstructing phase.

“They’re in a rebuilding phase and I’ve stuck by it, and I think that’s the important thing. You defend that team no matter what the situation is,” Glen said.

For Ilay Sheves (’16), little has provided more excitement than the upcoming prospect of being able to watch another routine soccer match at Stamford Bridge on a Saturday afternoon. A fervent Chelsea FC supporter since moving to London in 2005, Sheves’ enduring commitment to the team has included travels to some of the country’s less known cities, such as Stoke-on-Trent and Wigan.

Sheves recollects his introductory Chelsea game in 2005 as an unbelievable encounter, citing it as the moment that instigated him to further support the club. Since then, Sheves has become a regular season ticket holder.

While Sheves acknowledges his father al-

ready supported Chelsea since the 1960’s, his initial temptation to become a Chelsea fan ultimately resulted from the team’s riveting style of play, and not from familial pressure.

“My dad tried to breed [Chelsea FC] into us, but the passion that we’ve accumulated over these past eight years or so with that we’ve been living here is unreal,”he said.

Despite attempting to sustain his passion for the club, academic conflicts have forced Sheves to reallocate his time and divert his attention elsewhere. Whereas in the past he missed the occasional game due to family vacations, Sheves has recently prioritized between academics and Chelsea games more strictly.

“It really depends on the magnitude of the game. The bigger games I’ll definitely go to,” Sheves said.

Adamant on preserving the family’s tradition of attending games, Sheves regularly travels to away matches, often spending entire weekends devoted to soccer games.

“There are home games where you sit in your comfortable seat and are a civilized person, but when you go to away games it’s more of a culture. You stand up and sing all match. It’s very different to the home game experience,” Sheves said.

Reflecting on his proudest moment as a long-standing Chelsea supporter, Sheves cited Chelsea’s victory over Bayern Munich in the 2012 Champions League. Winning the Champions League provided some gratification for Chelsea fans despite a lamentable season overall.

“MY DAD TRIED TO BREED [Chelsea FC] INTO US, BUT THE PAsSION WE’VE ACCUMULATED OVER THESE PAST eight years or so living here is unreal” Ilay Sheves (’16) Although Sheves acknowledges the rising magnitude of his academic workloads, he maintains the importance of preserving his fanaticism for Chelsea. Saturdays in Sheves’ household are dedicated to soccer from around the globe.

Glen hopes to continue his support for the Celtics and imagines the team to be an integral part of his life for years to come.

“Because of education purposes and the situation of applying to college, my ability to watch the games may be limited. ,” Glen said.

Glen has not missed a single playoff campaign of the Celtics’.

PHOTO BY YARRA ELMASRY

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Page 26

THE STANDARD | January/February 2015

Sports

Promoting New Competition A look into how ASL is branching out and facing new teams throughout London Sourna Daneshvar, Jr. | Staff Writer

O

n December 12, the varsity boys basketball team defeated William Ellis School 47–40. This was the first of many games during the basketball season against teams which ASL has not traditionally played. Traditional sport teams in the past have included The American School in England (TASIS), ACS Hillingdon, ACS Cobham and ACS Egham.

The High School’s teams have started branching out by facing entirely different teams, such as Portsmouth Ladies club side for varsity girls soccer earlier this year, and the Jewish Free School for boys basketball more recently.

The decision to expand ASL’s game schedule to different schools was made by the Athletic Department at the beginning of the year. The initial contact was made when Athletic Director John Farmer received emails from schools and then brought forth these approaches to the rest of the Athletic Department. “When I first got these emails I thought, ‘You know what, let’s give this a shot’,” Farmer said.

Once the Athletic Department decided on the inclusion of outside competition, other sections of the school became involved in the decision. “Everyone [the Athletic Department, Principal Jack Phillips, Head of School Coreen Hester,

“If we played the same teams over and over again as we do with the London schools, we would stop growing; we would fall into a stasis.”

Varsity Girls Assistant Soccer Coach Becca Fransen the Booster Club] recognizes playing local competition is advantageous for them and for us,” Farmer said.

Wanting to establish ASL within a broader context of the community, as well as saving on travel expenses, were key components of Farmer’s decision to organize games against new schools.

“Basically, my view is that we live in a major world capital. There are a lot of schools, a lot of athletic opportunities and we should be, for a number of reasons, playing local competition,” Farmer said.

Extending students beyond the “ASL bubble” was another critical factor of this decision.

“Part of the experience of being here and around ASL is to learn about London and be a part of the fabric of London,” Farmer said.

Claire Noel (’17) believes playing outside teams bolsters ASL’s reputation in London. “Let’s be honest. No one would know who we were besides Cobham, TASIS, etcetera, so it’s nice to get our names out there,” varsity girls basketball and soccer player Noel said.

Most beneficial for Varsity Girls Assistant Soccer Coach Becca Fransen was both facing a variety of teams and experiencing a multitude of new playing styles.

“Expanding into playing club teams was an excellent opportunity for us this year.

Things tend to get standardized in the ISST schools. By expanding out it made our game better,” Fransen said.

Varsity girls soccer player Courtney Welch (’16) believes the gold-medal winning season was greatly progressed by facing Tottenham Ladies club, more so than the usual fixtures against other American schools throughout London.

“It was an amazing way to prepare us for ISSTs. It helped us the most when we came to ISSTs and saw teams we didn’t get to play [during the season] like Cairo [the team we played in the final],” she said.

Generally, outside teams pose more of a threat than “traditional” teams.

“There’s always an element of surprise when you play a club team. You usually don’t know how they play. When we play teams who are in our league it's much easier to implement plays that would work,” Noel said.

Playing non-traditional teams was a tool used to develop the varsity girls soccer team’s skills, by improving their physicality and their ability to adapt.

Such improvements would not have been possible without the competition posed by outside clubs.

“If we played the same teams over and over again as we do with the London schools we would stop growing; we would fall into a stasis,” Fransen said.

Farmer hopes to continue this model for the future and will further develop the plan of playing outside teams based on results from this year.

One compromise of playing outside teams – due to lack of familiarity – is the

PHOTO BY COLIN BRIDGEWATER Owen Gaynor (’17) slides for a tackle in a game against Stanmore College. game-day atmosphere. Welch believes there is likely to be less support when playing non-traditional teams as a result of this.

Although Farmer maintains the importance of diversifying ASL’s sporting experience, there are specific aspects that will influence which teams will be played again.

“The criteria will be a convenience factor, and then also looking at competition level and deciding was it worth it to take an afternoon for this team when as much as I’d say I want to get out in the community... it could be more worthwhile and beneficial for [our] teams to be practicing than playing a team that they’re just going to [beat convincingly],” Farmer said.

Even though some teams will be removed from next year’s schedule due to not offering enough competition for ASL’s teams, Farmer is not concerned about branching out to other schools in upcoming years. “It’s not just about winning and losing it’s about having the different competition and extending ourselves, ASL, into the community,” he said.

This model and introduction to new competition is strongly encouraged from a players’ perspective. “I think the Athletic Department should definitely consider getting more games against other teams,” Welch said.

During the winter and fall seasons,

ASL teams played over 40 non-tradtional teams. These games have been both home and away and also in tournament settings.

Fast Facts

32

Outside Games

20

Teams Played

Total Games so far

167 Opposition Breakdown

19%

81%

Outside

Traditional

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THE STANDARD | January/February 2015

Page 27

Sports

The Hiring Process The Athletic Department’s selection process and criteria for prospective coaches Sebastian Mayr | Sports Editor arsity Boys Basketball Coach Josh Davis is one of many recently hired coaches for the 2014-2015 school year, following the departure of eight varsity coaches last year.

Although new to the staff, Davis’ experience with the basketball team dates back to his time as a high school basketball player for St. Johns International School (St. Johns). Despite beating ASL at ISSTs in 2005, the championship and senior year in his high school, Davis ascertains that the relationship between both schools was and continues to be one of respectful admiration.

Settled into his new role as head coach, Davis admits basketball was an integral aspect of his childhood, although his father never attempted to force the sport on him. An eager player since a young age, Davis would often study the game from a coaches perspective rather than simply play the game, a premature habit that would soon evolve into his current profession.

While Davis believes that the hiring process at ASL was not as strict compared to past ones, he admits his educational background at St. Johns and Yale University as well as past coaching experiences played pivotal roles in his ultimate selection.

Attracted by the location and prestige of the school, Davis’ decision to apply for the boys basketball coaching position also stemmed from a desire to be a

V

part of ASL’s sporting program, enticed by the schools appreciation for sports.

The hiring process commences with the school advertising openings and Athletic Director John Farmer sending weekly newsletters to the entire faculty, mentioning the availability and vacancies of certain coaching positions. After receiving a sufficient number of candidates, Farmer or Assistant Athletic Director Heidi McCune conduct interviews and examine the candidates’ previous playing and coaching credentials.

school. We’re not a club, and need to factor in things that are really important like character building and teamwork, and making sure that students’ behavior and their demeanor is very important,” Farmer said.

Although Farmer believes in the importance of enforcing student character and values through athletics, there is also a major emphasis on the coach’s understanding of the game and principles of teaching the game.

A large criterion for incoming coaches is their ability to establish a communal relation-

"I would never put a person who is working in the school in a position to coach if I didn't think he or she was going to be the best person for that job."

Athletic director JOhn Farmer Farmer maintains the importance of hiring people that have garnered coaching experiences in addition to having played in the past.

“Well it’s really important that people have a philosophy, recognizing first and foremost that we’re a school and that athletics is a part of their experience as a student athlete at this

ship between themselves and studnets. Whereas external coaches are more detached from ASL and not as large a presence in the community, hiring coaching staff from within the school is both more convenient in terms of communication but also allows the coaches to be a more centralized part of the school and emphasize the im-

portance of student athleticism and character building.

While Farmer favors hiring people within the school, given their credentials are sufficient for the job, he retains the possibility of hiring candidates from exterior sources.

“I’m always going to hire the person who is going to be the best person for the job. So, I would never put a person who is working in the school in a position to coach if I didn’t think he or she was going to be the best person for that job,” Farmer said.

Farmer believes student athletes need to be surrounded by coaches who can impart new knowledge onto them and demonstrate the various intricacies of the sports offered at the school.

Due to the school’s transient community and teachers regularly shifting from o n e school to the next, Farmer acknowledges the challenge of hiring coaches for long term positions. Therefore sporting contracts remain on a season–by–season basis, as coaches are given individual contracts for a given year.

Whereas other sporting positions require the coaching staff full-time, ASL’s part time athletics schedule has provided difficulties in hiring people in the past.

“People need to earn a living.

It does make it challenging to

get people to make that commitment, especially from outside of school, which is a reason why it’s a lot easier to put people in who work at the school. Their day ends when the students’ days end,” Farmer said.

Although Farmer attests to the the community’s transitory nature, he does believe the Athletic Department’s current hiring mode is sustainable for years to come. He remains steadfast on hiring people with a desire and understanding to coach.

Sports Page 28

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THE STANDARD | January/February 2015

Skateboarding Fanaticism

NOW HIRING Examining the hiring process for coaches Sebastian Mayr | Sports Editor Story on page 27

PHOTO BY YARRA ELMASRY