Whittier April 2018

The

Whittier Miscellany APRIL 2018 • WILMINGTON FRIENDS SCHOOL’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER • WILMINGTON, DELAWARE

Cell phones: do we really need them in school?

This past month, two members of the junior class, Connor Miller ’19 and Tristan Pantano ’19 debated the necessity of the use of cell phones, both in and out of school. This was a debate organized by the World Affairs Club, which has arranged for many of these lunch-time debates over current world and school topics in the past few months.

The World Affairs debates always surround an issue of current events, and are often focused on a controversial topic.

Miller argued that cell phones are not more beneficial for society than they are harmful and that we should limit our use of them, while Pantano argued the opposite, giving examples in which mobile devices have given users safety and protection.

While Tristan ultimately won, it was a lively debate in which both students made quality points and refutations. Pantato shared his thoughts on the debate: “I think the debate went well. It was a lot harder than I imagined it would be. Connor had really strong arguments and was very confident speaking and very confident in his arguments.

He had me backed against the wall for most of the debate, was clearly more prepared than me, and probably should have won.” He also added: “My main arguments were that cell phones keep us safe, keep us connected, create jobs, and are very convenient.” The debate was attended by the majority of the upper school student body, and the teachers and students had a say in who won by popular vote.

Though many World Affairs debates are seen as centered around global issues, this particular time, the two students debating chose focus on cell phones and mobile devices here at school, and in students’ lives. As many are aware, here at Wilmington Friends, students

are allowed to have their cell phones on them, but not out in the classroom without permission from a teacher. Additionally, though it pertains more towards laptops, the technology policy in the student handbook states: “The Wilmington Friends’ technology program seeks to empower you to be an ethical, independent, and innovative user of technology throughout your

should be allowed to be used during class because they can be very distracting for many people. We should definitely be allowed to use them during break and in between classes because they are not a disturbance at those times,” commented Kate Saber ’20.

“I think there’s no reason that the school should have power over what websites we go to on our phones because it’s our property. I understand it on the computers though so I think they should make the guest wifi block-free and block inappropriate sites on the student wifi,” shared Joey Mullen ’19.

“It’s good that we can have [phones] with us, but some people rely on them way too much,” remarked Carson Davis-Tinnell ’19.

Zareef Khan ’19 stated, “I think the cell phone policy is good as it is, as it doesn’t encroach on students’ freedoms to use phones a lot of times, but I think teachers should have the same rules with how they approach cell phones in class, and how they enforce the policy is handled just to make sure there isn’t any major variance with how punishments for improper cell phone use occur. While I don’t really know the cell phone policy, teachers usually don’t care much if I’m on my phone at any point, so whatever the rules are now is fine by me.”

As the students’ input shows, most people are very happy with the cell phone policy as it is, and wouldn’t suggest much improvement, though the consistency of rules does seem to be a bit flawed. Be sure to congratulate both Tristan and Connor on their great debate, and try to be aware of your own use of mobile devices -- how much do you really need them?

Photo by Evie Kortanek

Ellie Bradley ’19 News Writer

WFS Student uses both phone and computer simultaneously

life. Our core values, Interpersonal Respect/Policy on Harassment and Conduct and rules for routine behavior encourage students, faculty, and administrative personnel to exhibit personal integrity, responsibility to themselves and others, and respect for cultural and individual differences in all interactions. These same principles of behavior inform our decisions to use technology ethically and appropriately.”

To better discover how this is received by students, several have been willing to share their feelings on the policy: “I think we should be able to have them on us for several personal reasons, but I don’t think they

COMMUNITY

beyond the birds and the bees: sex-ED TODAY before having sex for the first time. This gap in education is despite the fact that an overwhelming majority (90%) of parents believe sexual education in schools is important.

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the curricula encompass too many different topics to cover sex in depth,” argued Hannah Blackwell ’20.

One activity in particular sparks controversy among It’s high time to talk about sex. students. In her class, Puritz-Fine invites a speaker I missed the “sex talk” in school when I was from Planned Parenthood and another from A away for fifth grade. What I didn’t know was Door of Hope, from which she hopes students that, by American standards, I essentially missed “can learn about contraception and sexually the entirety of my formal sexual education. In transmitted infections from the former and can the six years of public and private education I hear the ‘wait until marriage’ perspective of the received later, the closest I came to formal sexlatter.” For some students, this approach is what ual education were terrifying fact sheets on STD makes Friends’ education unique: “I believe that symptoms and ominous finger wags to “make the school makes a genuine effort to show kids good choices.” And, maybe worst of all, silence. all their options, be it safe sex or abstinence,” As a responsible, resourceful student, I informed offered Blackwell. For others, the speakers were myself independently. But I did wonder: how an all-too hasty presentation of a nuanced and many other students in our country felt similarimportant issue. “I remember being left with the ly abandoned by their schools’ sexual education message that women had full responsibility for programs, a topic with critical physical, social, getting protection, watching out, and and makThis is a photo that displays a pile of books with an apple that has the female and male sex and psychological impact? ing sure nothing happens. Our culture of leavsymbols, emphasizing sex education in school.

As it turned out, sexual education is at an ing men off the hook teaches women to protect all-time low across the country. 80% of teenagers themselves, but not men how to behave right. It’s who have sex don’t get one sex-ed class first. Students What’s happening here? up to schools to provide that equal balance in educatoday are hardly learning the basics about safety and One answer is the lack of a nationalized sexual tion,” emphasized Mia Wilson ’18. protection. Take a look at birth control: the percent- education curriculum. Currently, every state decides A poll of our student body revealed a largely unfaage of teens educated about forms of birth control has for itself what to teach children. While each state does vorable evaluation of the school’s sexual education in dropped 10% in the last decade. About one half of require some form of sexual education, only thirteen terms of “helping you to be informed, prepared, and American teens said they have had sex, yet one half of states even have laws requiring that such a curricu- aware of sexual health.” From a scale of one to five, teens also say they did not learn about contraception lum “be medically accurate and based on scientific 44% of students judged their education to be at a two evidence.” States pick and choose what or below. The smallest proportion of students were they want children to be taught. For fully satisfied, with a mere 6% giving the school a five some, this means basing sexual edu- out of five. Apparently, many students would dispute cation entirely on abstinence (teaching Puritz-Fine’s statement of “[pride] that we begin this children to avoid sexual activity until conversation early and present information and difmarriage). In Mississippi, discussion ferent perspectives regarding it to our students”-- or of effective birth control is flat-out perhaps believe more should be done. Yet in comparbanned; the only time condoms are ison to public schools around the country, WFS does mentioned is to point out their failure at least present essential and accurate information in a rate. Today, more students are learning methodical and appropriate manner.

Abby Kleman ’18 to say “no” to sex than how to safely However, I would argue that a comprehensive sexual practice it, which only furthers igno- education calls for more than just the basics of human JUNIOR EDITOR: Mike Coons ’18 anatomy and safety. Sexual health also involves serirance and risky behavior.

NEWS EDITOR: Leah Johnson ’18 These issues have enormous reper- ous issues such as gender roles, consent, and positivity.

SPORTS EDITOR: Alice Irwin ’18 cussions: one in four girls will become “I really wish they had taught us about consent and ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR: Matt Byer ’18 pregnant at least once by their 20th responsibility,” agreed Maya Powell ’18. “There’s such FEATURES EDITOR: Connor Miller ’19 birthday. Of those pregnant girls, only a double standard between men and women about PHOTO EDITOR: Evie Kortanek ’18 40% graduate high school. Today, the sex. People are constantly warning and judging girls United States has the highest teen birth for sexual behavior, and then whenever there’s an inCOPY EDITOR: Evie Kortanek ’18 cident, they excuse the guy’s behavior by saying he has rate in the industrialized world.

WEB EDITOR: John Blackwell ’18 naturally uncontrollable urges. Our culture basically So what about our school?

After FACULTY ADVISOR: Daniel Scott the “plumbing” of sexual intercourse prioritizes men’s sexual needs over women’s safety.” in 5th grade, 8th graders discuss the Schools lay the groundworks for how society handles ENTERTAINMENT STAFF Emma Landis ’19 topic with Dean of Students Lynn Pu- sexual health. “In fifth grade when we started sexuNEWS Honor Dearlove ’19 ritz-Fine as part of the “information” al education, the guys would get uncomfortable and Ellie Bradley ’19 Lucy Knudsen ’19 corner of a Decision-Making Triangle. try to change the subject. Today, nothing’s changed.

Nick Urick ’20 Puritz-Fine’s goal is for students “to I try to be normal with my guy friends about things SPORTS Carlin Beskrone ’19 make informed sexual decisions for like menstrual health, but it’s a conscious effort on my Dylan Roskovensky ’19 themselves, also keeping in mind their part. Stigmatizing natural bodily functions doesn’t Jack Coons ’18 FEATURES own personal values... and the external help anything,” Wilson ’18 affirmed.

Elise Johnson ’21 Yet sexual stigmatization is an essential element to factors that might be influencing their COLUMNISTS Jimmy Butterfield ’20 abstinence-only sexual education, which is dominant decisions. ” The conversation is further Cecilia Ergueta ’18 Henry Wieman ‘21 Marley Morton ’18 carried on by Sue Kampert in 9th and across the nation. “What’s really problematic [about Olivia O’Donnell ‘18 abstinence-only education] is that people are actual10th grade.

Among Friends students, reactions ly being taught to be afraid of their sexual impulses, The Whittier Miscellany is published six times during the school year were mixed. Some students are very that they can’t regulate them, and gender stereotypes,” by the upper school journalism staff of Wilmington Friends School, pleased with their Friends educations: explained sociologist Amy Schalet, who studies cul101 School Road, Wilmington, DE 19803. To access the Whittier “I feel my education, particularly Deci- tural attitudes towards adolescent sexuality. But most Miscellany online, go to www.wfswhittier.com. sion-Making, adequately prepared me. importantly, it doesn’t work. Studies show that abstiBy presenting different perspectives, nence-only programs do not delay the average age of Check Whittier Miscellany online for Weekly Updates! the class was a helpful and a valuable the first time a person has sexual intercourse, prevent experience that taught me a lot,” of- the spread of STIs, or reduce the number of sexual The Whittier Miscellany welcomes responses in the form of letters fered an anonymous male student ’18. partners someone has during adolescence. Yet over to the articles, editorials, and features of this paper.

Others were less enthusiastic: “I do the last 25 years, Congress has spent over $1.5 billion Contact: wfswhittiermiscellany@gmail.com not think that the sex-ed is adequate at ‘Like’ Whittier on Facebook at ‘WFS Whittier’!

Continued on page 7 Friends. In our Decision-Making class, cecilia ergueta ’18 columnist

The

Whittier

Miscellany EDITOR-IN-CHIEF:

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april issue 2018 THE WHITTIER MISCELLANY

news

Seniors explore interests before leaving WFS

which every human can understand (except for psychopaths)”. Gutsche’s project seems like a lot of work, but also a lot of fun.

Do you have a hobby that you’d like to learn more Mary Agne ’18 has a lot on her plate for her senior about? Is there a big project you always wished you exploration. Agne remarked: “I’m shadowing a senate had time to take on? Wilmington Friends offers the staff member and a pollster, both women with a focus senior class the opportunity to take on these challengon service to the community and equality in the workes with the senior exploration program. A senior explace”. Agne added: “I’m also interviewing the conploration is a project that each senior chooses individgresswoman and lieutenant governor.” Lastly, Agne ually based on interest. Each senior is given the month concluded: “I’m going camping with Tim Arnold at of May to explore the topic of choice. At the end of the Shenandoah National Park, where we will employ the allotted time, each student gives a presentation about Quaker spice of simplicity by unplugging for several the project they undertook and what they learned. The days”. Agne’s project seems like a great opportunity to students are asked to incorporate the Quaker spices explore a potential career path, but includes an eleinto their projects. The senior exploration program is ment of fun and simplicity. a great opportunity for each stuMs. Gutstein, senior advisor, dent to learn about something of remarked on the importance of interest before graduation. senior explorations: “I didn’t have Elizabeth “Lizzie” Kane ‘18 comanything like this when I was in mented on her choice of a project high school, but I think senior exfor her senior exploration: “For ploration is a wonderful opportumy senior exploration I’m explornity to explore a passion or potening how I can live a healthier lifetial career path”. Friends students style while still being realistic to are lucky to be given such a fun my obligations and needs. I think opportunity. Gutstein also menthat physical and mental health is tioned what she has learned from so important. It is especially imher past advisees: “I tell my adviportant to make sure that your sees that the experience is what healthy habits last”. Kane also gave they make of it, and often they do some advice about picking a sesome pretty cool things”. Gutstein nior exploration to future seniors: mentioned an interesting exam“Consistency is important, so you ple of what one could do as a seshould choose a senior exploration nior exploration: “Two years ago, that you enjoy, but also that you’d the most memorable presentation get something out of later in life. was from a student who learned It’s not worth it if you don’t enjoy sand sculpting. It was amazing!”

Person plays piano, as some seniors may do for their senior exploration. it”. Thanks to Kane, we know to This example shows that not evtake our interests seriously and ery project has to be super serious to keep our respective futures in mind when picking ranging from classical (Beethoven) to romantic or practical. Do what you think you will enjoy! something to do for senior exploration.

Friends students are lucky to be awarded such an in(Debussy and Mendelssohn) to ragtime (Joplin!!!)”.

Timothy “Tim” Arnold ‘18 mentioned the oppor- Furthermore, Gutsche seems to be looking forward credible opportunity to learn more about their intertunities that the senior exploration program opens to her senior exploration: “I’m super excited but also ests. Given this opportunity, seniors are able to learn up: “Senior exploration is a really great chance for kind of nervous because learning and memorizing more about their interests and take on new projects. us seniors who are about to go out into the world so many songs in a month is cutting it pretty close”.

In choosing a project to undertake, one must keep in to start pursuing some of our interests”. Arnold also Lastly, Gutsche connected her project to the Quaker mind what could be helpful or interesting in one’s fucommented on his project of choice: “I chose to do SPICES: “I feel like it connects to several of the Quakture. It is also a good opportunity to implement the photography, which is something that I have become er SPICES, specifically community and simplicity.

Quaker spices into one’s life. However, some students interested in during the past months. The prospect of Music is an engaging medium for communication choose to do a senior exploration without many pracbeing able to delve into an entirely new aspect of art which transcends language and is capable of bringtical applications, and have a great time anyway. To the excites me”. Arnold also mentioned what he will be ing together diverse communities. Additionally, one senior class: best of luck in your senior explorations! using to take his photos: “I’m using a Nikon D5500”. could say that music is a very simple form of commuWhen asked for more specifics on his plan, Arnold nication because it communicates through emotion, answered: “My plan is to travel to remote places and take photos that convey the emotions that I feel when I get there”. This project seems like a great chance to explore art in interesting places. How exciting to see Friends students taking on new projects!

Serena Gutsche ’18 described the project she will be taking on: “I am going to be putting together a repertoire of piano pieces, learning them, and performing them in a recital. It’s going to be super rad but also difficult because I’m learning and memorizing upwards of 10 pieces, which probably adds up to about 50 minutes of performing.” Gutsche also mentioned a few more details of what her project would entail: “I’m going to be performing all sorts of genres,

Photo by Famarayoga.com

Lucy Knudesen ’19 News Writer

#Getrid! Best buddies run/walk returns to wfs Nick Urick ’20 News Writer This year, the Wilmington Friends School Best Buddies club will continue a well-respected tradition by hosting the second annual ‘RID the R-word’ 5k run and walk. The race will take place on May 12th at Rockford Park in Wilmington. The current student clerks of the club have arranged partnership with the Best Buddies Delaware organization to end the derogatory use of the R-word in Delaware. This 5k event will include many other fun events fit for children and adults, making it an educational and inclusive occasion for all.

The run/walk will begin at Rockford Park and loop around to the local A.I. Dupont Middle School. The run is being described as a ‘fun run’, meaning there will be no chip timing of each individual runner. The lack

of chip timing allows for participants to focus more on supporting the cause and enjoying the run, rather than focusing on competition. The popular hashtag being used to campaign for the event is ‘#getRID’. This hashtag is meant to ask people to literally, get rid of the R word, yet also the RID in ‘getRID’ stands for Respect Individuals with Disabilities. Kalyn Nix ’18 , the original founder of the 5k run, commented on the run’s official website that “The goal of my 5K is to educate teens and their families on the hurtful nature of the R-word(retarded), to advocate for the equal treatment and respect of those with IDD (intellectual and developmental disabilities), and to introduce local schools to programs like Best Buddies.” Clearly, the run holds a strong mission statement that benefits many.

This year, the run is supposed to be huge, and will include three aspects. These three aspects are the race, family fun, and education. In terms of the race, reg-

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istration begins at 11:00 am, or those who desire to participate may register online beforehand. The actual race begins at 12:00 PM, promptly an hour after registration. The organizers of the race also included a family fun aspect, which is described as a “family friendly fun filled day”. Many family friendly activities will be integrated into the race day, such as games, food, and whole family events. The race venue will also include an Education section, where participants will be able to visit booths to receive free information on the Best Buddies organization as well as the #getRID campaign. The education aspect of the event will also include an area where those in attendance will have the opportunity to sign the ‘Spread the Word to End the Word’ banner to pledge to get rid of the R-word.

These events all have been intriguing to members of the WFS community. Ruth Hazzard ’19, a potential atContinued on page 10

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FEATURES

National Association of independent schools Speaking with Aldridge, he talked about some significant subjects at NAISAC this year: “A major theme that I took away was focusing on innovation, but also focusing on world leadership. Adam Grant, author of Give and Take and a keynote speaker at the conference, talked about this notion of give and take in schools, and what it takes for school leaders to think about serving as leaders to our students and our faculty.” Aldridge also commented on other aspects of NAISAC and how his participation helps him as an

Evie Kortanek

schools are set up the way that they are. A subset of us are part of the MSON, about twenty two schools, and we also had a three hour meeting to talk about A strong and effective administrative team begins the different course offerings that are available, how with strong minds with passionate qualities who are schools are responding to being members of the netable to be efficient leaders. The National Association work, and emerging trends. I was also a panelist in two of Independent Schools’ Annual Conference (NAIworkshops. One workshop was about what it means SAC) gives those in positions of leadership the tools to be a school leader, which was geared more towards to be efficient leaders. The National Association of Inother heads of schools.” Additionally, Aldridge stated dependent Schools (NAIS) is a nonprofit organization that his attendance at NAISAC “gives me an opportuthat provides annual workshops and connity to talk with other heads of schools ferences for independent schools in the and to get their perspectives of what is United States and abroad. This year, NAIhappening at their schools. It also gives SAC was hosted from March 7th to March me a sense of how we at Wilmington 9th in Atlanta, Georgia, which Head of Friends School are doing compared to Upper School Rebecca Zug and Head of other schools. It makes me think about School Kenneth Aldridge attended. things that we can, and should, avoid According to their website, “NAISAC doing at school.” is the premier professional development Pertaining to administrative leaderand networking event for administrators, ship, Cole Opderbeck ’20 commented trustees, and teachers at independent on important values that a leader should schools.” Through workshops and keynote manifest and the significance of such speakers, the conference offers many fulcharacteristics: “I definitely think that filling opportunities for faculty to seek to honesty is a huge part of being a leadimprove educational aspects at their reer or a role model for people to look up spective schools. to. With honesty comes loyalty, which is Zug commented on her past experienca big responsibility. It is also important es with NAISAC, saying, “I find it to be a for a leader to have composure.” Also revery professional development experience lating to our administrators and faculty as an administrator. It’s a great opportuleadership, Opderbeck mentioned that nity to talk with other administrators and the administrators at WFS “are definiteHead of Upper School Rebecca Zug pictured with Head of School Ken Aldridge. also to go to workshops on topics such as ly very important people at our school. education and technology, international What truly makes them excellent leadstudents, how to run effective service trips, enroll- administrator: “Before we gather for NAIS, a group ers, is that you can go to them. They definitely make ment management, communication to parents, hiring of head administrators at other Malone schools gets decisions to better the community at WFS.” and retaining faculty, etc.” She also spoke about some together for about three hours, and we have converOryem Kilama ’20 also shared his thoughts reof her encounters at this year’s conference: “This past sations with one another, driven by an agenda, usu- garding administrative leadership: “I think that good year, I went to a good workshop on parents and com- ally it’s the host state’s Malone school. The head of leaders need to be charismatic and assertive, and need munication and a legal workshop. I also listened to that school will lead the discussion, and a big part of to be able to understand the people they’re working a very good featured speaker--a Syrian refugee who our discussion was about recent events, such as stu- with while accomplishing what needs to be done.” In now runs a soccer school somewhere in the South for dent protests about gun violence. Some things we dis- relation to administrators at WFS, Kilama also stated: displaced immigrants. It was inspiring to hear her. cuss include social media in the lives of our students, “I think they should listen and attend to students and I often get inspired by hearing about new ideas and school safety, but most of the conversations we had faculty members’ problems to help enrich the comleadership innovation.” were around best practices at schools and hearing why munity at Wilmington Friends.” james butterfield ’20 Features Writer

WFS students have major success with lls Connor miller ’19 Features editor

With the 2018 annual Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) Student of the Year campaign wrapped up, Wilmington Friends School can celebrate an extremely successful campaign. The team, which consisted of 18 juniors, collectively raised over $46,000, which will fund research and help victims recover.

The Students of the Year Campaign hosts a competition in every state to determine who can raise the most money for LLS. This year, WFS placed third in the state with $200,000 raised total, but raising money for charity is always to be celebrated.

This year, Grant Sheppard ’19 and Lisa Dobber ’19 were the teams captains and WFS’ candidates for the Student of the Year award after being asked to carry the torch by last year’s candidates, Mike and Jack Coons ’18. When first asked to take on the responsibility, Sheppard was hesitant, but he ultimately accepted the challenge: “Although it was a huge time commitment, I also recognized it was an incredible cause.” Sheppard continues, “A few years ago there was someone in the Wilmington Friends community who lost their battle with blood cancer, so it was important to me.” Dobber was also hesitant at first say-

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ing, “I was initially quite confused on what LLS was.

That being said, my first message back to Jack Coons was that I’d gladly do it and that I was super excited.”

The reason Dobber was so excited was because LLS is parallel to her future interests. “As my passion lies with medicine, and I most likely want to become an oncologist, raising money for a non-profit organization that advances blood cancer research surely was an amazing feeling.” Clearly, Dobber’s ambition towards this area helped her to work well with the team, and she “kept everything organized and running smoothly” according to Sheppard. With Dobber’s great success in the campaign, her career in medicine is already off to a great start!

For some, managing large groups of people can be seen as a daunting task, but Sheppard and Dobber made it look effortless and fun. Both candidates had a strong affection for the team: Sheppard noted, “I am also thankful for our incredible team. They were committed and effective from start to finish. I was inspired by the incredible support and all those willing to chip in.” Adding to Sheppard’s point, Dobber mentioned, “Our team was the best! It’s safe to say that we couldn’t have done it without them. Grant and I are so proud of them. We recognize that it is quite a lot to ask someone to send emails and make phone calls to their

own families and friends to further advance the cause.

I hope I’ll be able to work with this group of people again soon!”

The original goal for the team was $40,000, which they reached and passed by $6,000! Reflecting on the event, Dobber summarized, “Knowing that the $46,000 our team raised in less than seven weeks is an incredibly rewarding feeling. All the hard work, late night phone calls with Grant to discuss numbers and make plans on how to proceed, and the support from our team made it all so worth it. It is so rewarding because while I not only bonded with Grant and the team members, seeing the cancer survivors smile at the Grand Finale Event was amazing. Knowing that our incredibly hard work will literally save lives is incredible. I wish the campaign to have continued success for much longer!” Sheppard agreed and concluded, “The best part of the campaign was us hitting our goal and seeing all of the money that everyone raised for LLS. One of my favorite parts of the campaign was seeing how much survival rates have gone up in the past 50 years. With efforts like this, that change will continue to come.”

Sarah Stock Patterson shared, “I am impressed with the exceptional dedication of these students throughout the campaign.” Congrats to all!

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FEATURES

the issue of decreasing club participation Clubs are the heart of the Friends community: they allow students to be a part of a group of people with a shared interest or goal. Whether that goal is helping others, competing, raising awareness about an issue, or discussion, all types of students can be found in clubs. However, students have begun to notice a decline in club membership.

When asked if she has noticed this decline, Hailey DiCindio ’18 spoke from her experience as a clerk of Prism, Quaker Care, and Science Olympiad. She explained, “Yeah definitely. When I joined clubs my freshman year, there were a lot of people who were excited. Then as clerks passed down, people started going to less clubs and there has been less interest in spending lunches involved in a club.”

The recent classes to enter the upper school have not shown the same interest in clubs as previous classes. This can present problems for passing on clerk membership and can even lead to clubs disbanding.

Many freshmen in particular, prefer to spend lunch by hanging out with friends. When asked if he is in any clubs, Samuel Boulos ’21 explained, “No. I just don’t really want to.” There is no pressure to join clubs, so many choose to spend their lunch time free to go wherever they want. As lunch is the only free period available to them during the day besides study halls, many underclassmen view it as a time to take a break from any form of academics, including discussion, planning, or preparation for an outside event.

Many clubs meet outside of the school day. Some clubs, such as Robotics and Mock Trial, meet outside of school once or twice a week for as long as three hours on the weekend as well as at events. Boulos also noted that other than the general encouragement

from advisors and Link Crew, no one had really tried to encourage him to join clubs. Clubs require a large time commitment, but there is generally no pressure to join them or to participate actively.

When asked whether he had friends in clubs, Boulos said, “I don’t think so. I mean a couple of them are in the B+ club, but not a lot, and they don’t really go a lot of days.” Another cause of decline is passive membership. Many students attend clubs infrequently enough that they can barely be considered part of the club. A lack of interest in clubs makes it harder for them to

pass on the clerkship and ensure the club’s future.

Besides the benefit of participating in the community and interacting with people, clubs also have college application benefits. Kathleen Martin, College Guidance Counselor, explained that, “Colleges want strong students who can be academically successful, however, college experience is more than just the classroom; colleges seek students who will enrich their community in a variety of ways. Colleges seek leaders, athletes, actors, musicians, activists, and kids who start organi-

zations. This wide variety of interests creates a vibrant dynamic where students can learn from one another.”

Martin also added that, “Colleges don’t expect kids to have one hundred clubs and activities, but they want to see that students are engaged in something that matters to them. Colleges also like to see students who grow over time, perhaps taking on a leadership role or taking the lead on a club project or activity. The most selective colleges and universities are looking for students who have it all.”

Though some clubs have experienced this decline, that is not the case for all clubs. Matt Cauchy, upper school physics teacher, noted, “I have not noticed that. We have had a good enrollment in Science Olympiad and a good year in Robotics.” It should, however, be noted that both Science Olympiad and Robotics have their own middle school counterpart, that are gateways to upper school participation.

The middle school offers Lego League as a sport where students can learn to build and program robots to compete in a game that is presented by FIRST Lego League. Science Olympiad also has a middle school team which prepares and competes in competitions. Having a form of these clubs in the middle school allows students to develop an interest in these activities which they may carry into the upper school.

The Robotics team also held a Lunch and Learn for middle school students, and many of the students who attended the session joined Robotics, and now compose a large percentage of the team. Cauchy commented that “I definitely think we should do that again.”

Cauchy concludes, “We have an amazing number of clubs so that is obviously going to dilute things.”

Without a larger number of students in WFS, it is natural that clubs do not have as many members as they would like, and the recent lack of interest or enthusiasm in clubs has only added to the problem.

has focused on fundraising, at least according to faculty sponsor Sarah Stock Patterson. “The [Prom Committee] has sacrificed hours of their time on Fridays to run Babysitting nights for the school community,” she says. The Committee does a lot when it comes to planning prom, be it planning, fundraising, or dealing with surprises along the way.

The planning process for prom does not come without its fair share of surprises, and it’s often up to the Prom Committee to deal with them. Regarding the location the committee selected, Nicholson says, “The location that we chose was a little more expensive than in past years, and so that was sort of a shock to me because it felt like it was in the same, ranking as other places we’ve had in the past.” The buses were also more expensive this year than in the past. “Even the people used to dealing with buses were [surprised]” says Patterson. Although they faced many setbacks, the Prom Committee managed to continue with their goal of giving the student body a night to remember.

Through all the planning, layouts, fundraising, and setbacks, the main goal of the Prom Committee is to ensure the student body has fun along the way. This includes, building excitement with secretive planning, trying to make sure everyone is represented, and getting student input for the dance’s music choice. “In most years, the Prom Committee sends out a link for

a Google form, and then you put in song requests, and then at that point, we send the requests to the DJ so he knows what kind of music people want to hear throughout the night,” says Nicholson. According to Nicholson, the student body’s confidence in the Prom Committee is a huge boost. “I appreciate how open people are, and how they are so willing to put trust in us, and that’s why I’m putting in all the effort that I can to make sure it’s a good experience for everyone,” she says. And it seems that all this work seems to have paid off. Jason Handwerk ’18, has gone to prom every year of high school. “While the concept of prom may not be entirely appealing to me,” he says, “I go to be part of the community, and make sure others have a good time as well.” Though they face difficult choices, along with moments of fun and joy, the Prom Committee always has delivered on its goal of giving Wilmington Friends School a terrific high school prom.

The prom is a major event in any high school, and members of the Prom Committee take time away from their lives to make sure the planning process gets the attention it deserves, enjoying the task along the way. When asked about what her favorite part of planning prom was this year, Patterson responded without hesitation “working with the Prom Committee.” With a group as dedicated as this one, it isn’t difficult to see why.

Students meet in an empty design lab.

Evie Kortanek

Elise Johnson ’21 Features Writer

prom: the commitment of a committee Henry wieman ’21 Features writer Another prom has come and gone, but do you ever stop to think of the intricacies of prom, and how much work goes into planning and set up of such an event for the whole student body? If you did, you would probably learn to appreciate it even more.

Throughout the year, the Prom Committee works to make sure every student, regardless of grade or taste, can enjoy prom, and make it their own. Along the way, these students make sacrifices of time and effort, but still have fun and enjoy the experience.

Prom Committee consists of a group of juniors dedicated to its success. Such a monumental task takes quite a long period of time and a lot of early preparation; student clerk Mycah Nicholson ’19 mentioned, “We started planning in August which is actually kind of known, because venues book so quickly.” This time is used to pick decorations for prom, and decide other integral parts of the event, not just venues. Planning is just one of the tasks the Prom Committee performs, along with fundraising.

Although the teachers deal with most budgetary issues, it is the Prom Committee that takes care of most everything else, including raising money for the event. This year especially, The Prom Committee

April ISSUE 2018 The WHITTIER MISCELLAny

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Sports

women’s basketball fundraises for coaches vs. cancer 25 years ago, Norm Stewart, former head coach for the University of Missouri Men’s Basketball Program and cancer survivor, created a foundation called Coaches vs. Cancer. Coaches vs. Cancer is a program which, through collaborative efforts with the National Association of Basketball Coaches, has worked to improve and save lives of those suffering from cancer nationwide. Across the country, high school and college basketball teams are working hard to raise money and help those afflicted. Since 1993, Coaches vs. Cancer has raised over $100 million for the American Cancer Society. This year, the Wilmington Friends School women’s basketball team was able to be a prominent contributor for this organization’s cause.

“At the beginning of the season, Coach Connors approached the seniors asked if it was something that we wanted to do. We weren’t exactly sure what it was at first, but it sounded like a really good cause, so we signed up for it. We sought pledges, donations, sold wristbands over the course of the entire winter; we did anything we could do to raise money for this foundation. As the season progressed, we started to see ourselves climb up in the actual national leaderboard, and we saw that this was actually a big deal and something that we could make a difference with,” explained captain Natalie

DePaulo ’18. The team raised a lot of money and was recognized as the top fundraising team in Delaware and the 10th top fundraising team in the country.

In addition to the ways people typically fundraise, the team was able to raise money for the organization through every foul shot they made in a game. “The foul shots were significant because each foul shot we Photography by Sean Greene

Carlin Beskrone ’19 Sports Writer

WFS women’s basketball team receives a trophy and banner from the Coaches vs. Cancer organization.

made in game had a certain amount of money with it [that was donated]. I think that the amount per foul shot eventually reached about $30,” commented Ajala Elmore ’20.

A lot of credit for the success of the fundraiser needs to go to Coach Carolyn Connors. “Coach Connors introduced the team to the Coaches vs. Cancer

fundraiser. Her team did a wonderful job working hard to raise money for this worthy cause, and they represented Wilmington Friends as great stewards of the community,” stated Jeff Ransom, WFS Athletic Director. Through both a dedicated coaching staff and committed players, the team was able to have a great impact.

Though the season-long fundraiser was was full of hard work and commitment, the team was able to follow through, end up with an impressive performance, and gain a valuable lesson. “It was an incredible experience because at the end of practice or in the huddle whenever coach said that we were the leaders in fundraising of our entire state, I felt really good because I knew that we were genuinely making a difference. It was also great that we could do it through doing something that we all loved: playing basketball,” added Kat Nix ’19.

At the end of the season, the women’s basketball team received an award for being the top fundraiser for Coaches vs. Cancer in Delaware and as the 10th top fundraiser in the nation. This impressive title could not have been obtained without the hard work, commitment, and general high spirits of the WFS women’s basketball program. The women’s basketball team really took the words of Jay Wright, head men’s basketball coach at Villanova University and prominent member of the Coaches vs. Cancer Organization, to heart: “We need you on the team.

Come play for us.”

WFS Sends four athletes to the The 2018 WFS Blue-Gold games so far this year spring Sports Davis has been the varsity field hockey goalie all four years of her high school career and her natural talent was shown as she was the only goalie selected in the state to After every sports season in Delaware, senior ath- play in the Blue-Gold game and the only goalie selected letes who stand out have the opportunity to play in the to an All-State team.

Blue-Gold game; all of the best high school players in DePaulo was chosen to represent WFS basketball as the state are split into two teams and play their sport she has been a member of the varsity team for 5 years, for their school one last time. The Blue-Gold game is played AAU basketball for years, and was one of the four highly regarded and is an incaptains this year. She has been a drivcredible honor for those selected. ing force within the women’s basketball Four athletes from Wilmington program as soon as she arrived and evFriends School have been choeryone agrees that this recognition is sen to participate in the games well deserved. “I was pretty excited beso far this year: Daniel Adebi ’18 cause I know a lot of the players and for football, Natalie DePaulo ’18 some of them I have played travel basfor basketball, Max Okolo ’18 for ketball with. After scoring 1,000 points basketball, and Emma Davis ’18 and our team being the top fundraiser for field hockey. in the Coaches vs. Cancer challenge this The Blue-Gold game for footseason, the Blue-Gold game was a perball will be held on June 23, 2018, fect culmination of my time as a WFS set more of season than the Bluebasketball player,” explained DePaulo.

Gold games for other sports.

The women’s basketball Blue-Gold game Adebi will be representing the was played on March 17, 2018.

WFS football team this year, Okolo played in the men’s basketball celebrating all of his hard work Blue-Gold game that was also played on Okolo and DePaulo receive their plaques at during the WFS football season. one of the several Blue-Gold banquets.

March 17, 2018 directly after the womAdebi was academic All-State en’s game. “I was really happy to be sefreshman through senior year, was first team All-Con- lected, especially because I didn’t think I was going to ference DT/DE (defensive tackle/end) junior and senior make it,” stated Okolo. “This served as an accumulation year, and was third team All-State DT/DE this year. Also, of my hard work and dedication to the men’s basketball Adebi will be continuing his football career in college as program at WFS.” a member of the team at MIT. These athletes’ statewide recognition was well de“Just interacting with the other guys is so cool because served after countless hours at practice and immeasurit’s all of the guys you’ve been playing against for years, able effort. Overall, it was an extraordinary experience but now you get to play with some of them,” commented for extraordinary players and members of the Friends Adebi. community.

Photography by Jeff Ransom

Dylan Roskovensky ’20 Sports Writer

PAGE 6

Jack Coons ’18 Sports Writer This spring, the Wilmington Friends athletic program fields many teams with not only have ambitions of winning records, but of conference titles and playoff runs.

All teams have high expectations of not only representing the Quaker uniform, but also what it means to be a student at Friends.

The men’s lacrosse team has made the state tournament the last three years in a row; each year advancing a round further. This year they look to bring home the school’s first lacrosse state championship.

The men’s baseball team hopes to win their first conference title since the 2005 season. Wyatt Nelson ’20 is a new student at WFS this year as a sophomore and, as he comes off of a baseball state championship win in 2017 with Caravel, hopes to help lead the WFS team towards this goal.

Both tennis teams look to continue to send several players to the state tournament, including Jake Morris ’18. Despite not playing last year, Morris is hungry for a chance to assert himself as one of the states premiere tennis players.

The men’s track and field team returns reigning state champion Connor Nisbet ’19 and future DIII runner at Dickinson College, Aaron Brick ’18.

The women’s soccer team looks to continue holding a strong presence within Division II. The team will return from a 7-6-1 season after a tough loss in first round of the state tournament 1-5 to Tower Hill.

This year the women’s lacrosse team is coming off of a 7-8 regular season record last year, failing to make the playoffs. They hope to make their presence known this year with plenty of young as well as older talent.

Continue reading on the Whittier website.

April issue 2018 THE WHITTIER MISCELLANY

community

beyond the birds and the bees: sex-ED (Continued)

on abstinence-only programs in schools.

Another area where the U.S. needs significant help is in LGBTQ+ inclusivity. Today, seven states require schools to disseminate exclusively negative information about sexual orientation, and subsequently homosexual intercourse. “If the adults that queer students are meant to trust and look up to can’t teach them about [their sexual health] how are they supposed to accept themselves? Kids are always going to have questions; I would much rather they learn the answers early on rather then they find out in a situation where they could get hurt,” advocated Hareena Houston ’18, co-clerk of the Gender-Sexuality Alliance (GSA) club at WFS. These “no promo-homo laws” mean a teacher could get in trouble just for mentioning homosexuality in a positive light. “Creating negative connotations around sexuality at a time when kids are trying to explore who they are can steer them to extreme, entirely preventable measures, including suicide,” worried Katrina Nix ’19, GSA co-clerk. Yet for most queer students, secrecy and shame shape their sexual educations. Nationally, just five percent of LGBTQ+ students report having health classes that included positive representations of LGBTQ+-related topics, even as an increasing percentage of American youth is identifying as non-cis/-hetero.

So what would an ideal sexual education look like?

One model can be found in the Netherlands, where all students receive “sexuality” --not “sex”-- education.

“Sexuality is so much more than [intercourse]. It’s also about self image, developing your own identity, gender roles, and it’s about learning to express yourself, your wishes and your boundaries,” stated Ineke van der Vlugt, an expert behind the Netherlands sex education curriculum (Rutgers WPF). Starting with age four, students learn about intimacy, love, bodies, and relationships. By age 11, students are expected to be comfortable discussing topics such as reproduction, safe sex, and sexual abuse. By teaching children about the fundamental ideas of rights, responsibilities, and respect, and equipping them with trustworthy information, Dutch educators hope to combat negative media sexualization and “show that sexuality also has to do with respect, intimacy, and safety.” And it works.

Dutch teen pregnancy rates are among the lowest in the world, with nine out of ten teenagers using contraceptives during their first sexual experiences, and the same percentage characterizing their experiences as “wanted and fun.” Compare that with the U.S.? American pregnancy rates are five times higher, and six out of ten American teens wish they’d waited longer to have sex the first time.

So, yes, we need to talk about sex-- and bodies, and contraception, and health, and gender, and decision-making, and relationships. The USA’s slack in educating youth on these central issues is a crisis in terms of protecting and informing future generations.

It is a scandal that this “greatest nation” should be leading the world in rates of teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, attributes more readily associated with “developing countries.” Meanwhile, countries such as the Netherlands provide comprehensive sexuality educations that equip and empower

encouraged people to become vegan for the month of January, which would hopefully inspire them to continue beyond the month. Veganuary first launched in 2014, where 3,300 people signed up. Over 100,000 people pledged to go vegan this past January. This only confirms the increased interest in veganism, as more restaurants and supermarkets must respond to this new demand for plant-based products. The Veganuary coordinators encouraged people to go vegan this past January to help reduce the suffering of billions of animals, protect the environment, and find delicious and nutritious vegan recipes. The Veganuary official website also includes a surplus of helpful resources, such as a vegan starter kit, vegan recipes, a guide to eating out, and educated responses to vegan myths.

Most people go vegan for three main reasons: the animals, the environment, and health. The Veganuary official website includes background information about these three reasons and provides evidence that a plant-based diet is nutritionally abundant. Many people believe that being vegan means having an automatic deficiency in protein.

However, beans, soy products, lentils, nuts, and seeds are all packed with plantbased proteins that will make people feel energized and satiated without all of the extra animal fats. In Dr. Michael Greger’s book, “How Not to Die,” the plant-based doctor correlates animal products to the foremost causes of death in the United States, including the leading killer of Americans: heart disease.

There are innumerable resources that prove a vegan diet is one of the most ethical, affordable, and efficient way of living. For example, in the documentary, “Cowspiracy,” filmmaker Kip Anderson asks environmental companies about how people can help save the environment. To his surprise, nobody mentioned animal agriculture, which scientifically is the leading cause of greenhouse gas emission. One of the largest issues regarding animal agriculture is people’s lack of communication regarding its repercussions, especially people in the large corporate organizations.

Not only is veganism becoming more prevalent worldwide, but it has also become more popular in Wilmington Friends School. The student-run club “Ethical Eats” was established in September and strives to teach students about leading a vegan lifestyle. The club partners with the largest animal rights youth group, peta2 to provide information packets, posters, stickers, and recipes. Ethical Eats has also partnered with the school cafeteria, which now offers vegan macaroni and cheese, vegan cookies, and vegan coffee creamer. Emma Davis ’18, who has been a vegetarian for ten years and is a member of the club, commented on how her diet impacts her life from an ethical standpoint: “What I love about being a vegetarian is that I am not only helping my diet, but I am also helping animals. Standing back helped me learn about how we torture and hurt animals, and I love that I am not participating in this cruel act.” Ethical Eats encourages non-vegans to join club meetings, and a large amount of people attended the club’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day presentation. Club member Natalie DePaulo ’18 shared, “Although I’m not actually vegan, I have found it really interesting...

Alabama Today

cecilia ergueta ’18 columnist Continued from page 2

youth, with spectacular nationwide results. We have a responsibility to our children’s health and safety to push nationwide legislation that upholds elementary biology, instructs in sexual precautions, and addresses social aspects. By ignoring these fundamental lessons, we endanger youth well-being. So let’s redefine the “sex talk” to a prolonged discussion about nature, respect, and autonomy. Let’s teach youth how to take ownership of their bodies through knowledge and intentional decisions, not ignorance and shame. Let’s start opening up a new conversation around sex.

This is a photo showing a blackboard that says ‘Sex Ed.’

Sources used throughout article: Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) Guttmacher Institute Not Under My Roof: Parents, Teens, and the Culture of Sex by Amy Shalet Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) The Atlantic Monthly Mississippi Legislature

romaine calm the vegans are taking over!

Abby kleman ’18 editor in chief

Veganism is defined as “the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products, particularly in diet, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals.” The largest animal rights’ organization group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, otherwise known as PETA claims, “Animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, use for entertainment, or abuse in any way.” While a vegetarian is somebody who does not consume meat or fish, a vegan is someone who does not consume meat, fish, dairy products, eggs, or honey. Vegans also do not wear fur, purchase products that were tested on animals, or support the use of animals for entertainment. While a vegan diet and lifestyle might seem restrictive, the demand for plant-based products is undeniably increasing every day. As more people are jumping onto the plant-based bandwagon, veganism is already becoming more popular and realistic in 2018.

In January, a registered charity called “Veganuary”

april issue 2018 THE WHITTIER MISCELLANY

To read the full article, please visit www.wfswhittier.com

PAGE 7

Entertainment

To See or not to See: hamlet’s significance today “To be or not to be” is arguably the most famous phrase in all of English literature. Theaters around the nation recently screened National Theatre Live’s Hamlet, starring acclaimed actor, Benedict Cumberbatch, in the role. The performance was filmed in 2015, which to the average person may seem quite recent for a work originally published in 1599. So, what compelled the company to produce the play 416 years later? Why have cultures across the world reinterpreted Shakespeare’s Hamlet and continue to today? The WFS community shared thoughts about and insights into a timeless work and explained why it is important for people to experience it.

For those unfamiliar, Hamlet by William Shakespeare is a play in which the titular character finds his father murdered and his mother remarrying the murderer, his uncle. The story explores a range of human emotion, notably including: grief, betrayal, and madness.

National Theatre Live is one of countless companies that have taken on the work. Tim Arnold ’18 had the opportunity to see it in theaters: “My reaction to National Theatre Live’s production of Hamlet was honestly just shock. It was the first time I had seen a performance [of Hamlet], and I was completely floored by it. The acting, costuming, directing completely immersed me in the lives of these characters.” He went on to explain the significance of the work: “the work itself is important, because it can inspire people to continue to be creative and express themselves of their surroundings indirectly through a performance art of some other medium. To me, Hamlet represents a pinnacle of art, theatre, and production that should be used to inspire people to continue those traditions and to create their own, because, without art, our society is kind of boring.” To Arnold, it appears that this production of Hamlet was a successful one, but what makes an effective interpretation of the piece?

Jacob Rashkind, Head of the English Department, says, “I think you have to have come connection to

Hamlet himself [for an adaptation to be successful]. important part of the production: being able to balEven though it’s easy to be frustrated with him as a ance those different tones.” character, I still think seeing him shrouded in selfWhile there are clear components that should be doubt and also working through processing the trage- included in any rendition of Hamlet, the story, like dy. I think you have to feel some pathos for him and the with much of Shakespeare’s works, allows for sigactor playing him. Otherwise, I don’t think [a produc- nificant innovation. Gutstein reflected on her high tion of Hamschool production of let] would hold Hamlet, which had together very an unusual twist. “It well, if you saw was done when I was him as just this in high school. I rewhining kid.” member there being However, the some innovative castdepth of charing,” she says, “the acter and emoparts of Hamlet and tion, he notes, Ophelia were played is not limited by multiple actors. I only to Hamthink actually havlet himself. “I ing multiple people think a lot of approaching those the characters characters was a cool are complex in way of showing how the sense that their perspectives even Hamlet’s shift throughout the Benedict Cumberbatch in Hamlet mother wresplay, having a new tles with her conscience in the way that she interacts actor bringing in a new shade of the character.” No with her child,” he says, “so, I think the idea that char- matter one’s personal preferences, a well-executed acters can be multifaceted and are not ‘evil’ or ‘good,’ performance of Hamlet will almost certainly incite but rather have those [ambivalent] pieces, and I think an intense reaction. Bella Stuccio ’19, who has actuthe actors need to be able to convey that.” Lauren ally acted as Hamlet, attested to this: “My reaction to Gutstein, Upper School English Teacher and Theatre Hamlet has always been that it’s an incredibly cathartic Director, also explained what, to her, makes an effec- piece of work. It’s obviously full of tragedy that inductive interpretation of Hamlet: “An important part [of es a great amount of emotion in the watcher or reader a successful Hamlet production] is being able to bal- of the work. I feel that this piece is important because ance the really difficult parts with the comedy. As in it portrays an intense amount of raw human emotion with a lot of Shakespeare’s plays he’s putting a lot of that isn’t shown in much of present day acting.” This things together and Hamlet is known as a tragedy, but illustrates the potential power that the piece can have, it can’t just be two, three hours of despair. I think of- however, even by itself the work is remarkably comten the most memorable characters from Hamlet end pelling and timeless. up being the ones like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Further comments were made on what exactly it is and the gravedigger, some of the characters that give that makes Shakespeare’s Hamlet so historically... you that more comedic side, that give you––in some ways––that gallows humor. I definitely think that’s an continued on page 9 flickr.com

matthew byer ’18 Entertainment editor

Thoughts and reactions to Lil Yachty’s Newest album followers and lots of popularity.

The most popular songs in his new album are “66”, “she ready”, and “NBAYOUNGBOAT.” However, RollRight before students were released for spring break ing Stone commented that “Lil Boat 2’s best moments on March 9th, Lil Yachty’s new album was released. are when he reverts to the familiar, like the wavy flourishes of ‘Self While his previous album, “Lil Boat,” Made,’ and was a large success, the reception the dewy pito this album seems to be in a gray ano-flecked area. The album, named “Lil Boat romance of 2,” has 17 songs and has been a topic ‘Love Me Forof much debate in the Wilmington ever.’ ” Even Friends School halls. While some Rolling Stone students have really enjoyed the new recognizes songs, others have disliked them. the differing This is not only a controversy for opinions on Wilmington Friends students, but to this album, every Lil Yachty fan. showing that Miles Parks McCollum, or Lil Lil Yachty at a performance this is not just Yachty, is a 20 year old American a WFS controversy.

Ruth Hazzard ’19 commented on rapper from Atlanta, Georgia. He began his music cathe controversy: “I can’t get through a school day withreer in 2015 after dropping out of Alabama State University, his first songs being “One Night” and “Min- out hearing about it, or being asked about it. People nesota”. He first album, “Lil Boat”, was released in need to calm down. It’s really not that big of a deal!”

March of 2016. He has also worked with many other Obviously, some people care more about music more popular artists such as Kyle in “iSpy”, and Tee Grizz- than others, but tensions on this topic are very present.

Speaking about the album, Quentin McAbee ’19 ley in “From the D to the A.” His best known physical says, “It has a couple of good songs. I don’t like every feature is his red hair, with clear beads at the end. Over song, but for the majority, I like it.” Another WFS Stua very short span of time, Lil Yachty has gained many www.twitter.com

Emma landis ’19 entertainment writer

PAGE 8

dent, Joey Mullen ’19 , said that “overall it’s extremely mediocre.” When asked how he feels about Lil Boat 2, another student, Mason Tschantz ’19, commented: “That album is actually whack.” Other opinions received when interviewing students ranged from “it has some bangers” (Tristan Pantano ’19 ) to to calling the album “trash” or “a beautiful piece of art with some awesome accompaniments” (Grant Sheppard ’19 ). These extremely varied responses show the wide range of opinions on the topic, and the differing tastes in music in the WFS student body. Other students at WFS have similar opinions to this particular group.

Remy Stewart ’20 commented, “it is original and cool and he’s been making a lot of progress with his music.”

Many students share Remy’s opinion, and admire the slightly different step that Lil Yachty has taken with this new album.

It is clear that Lil Yachty has been progressing throughout his new musical career. While some people have enjoyed his new music, others haven’t, but it is certain that Lil Yachty will continue with his career and keep fans wanting more. Whether you like the new album or not, you definitely can find someone who shares the same views as you. If you haven’t listened to it, it might be a good idea to try it– there’s a chance you might be surprised by what you hear, since this album is quite different from Lil Yachty’s previous album.

April issue 2018 THE WHITTIER MISCELLANY

Entertainment

continued from page 8 ...engaging to the majority of audiences and why the play has survived for centuries. “It’s true of a lot of Shakespeare’s plays [that they’re retold many times]. I think he was someone who was able to access human experiences that were very common. [His works are] universal in some very basic thematic way and made them more specific, as a lot of writers do,” Upper School English Teacher, Kathryn Kenney, notes, “for instance, grief over the death of a loved one, very common, every human experiences that, but he channels that into this slightly different scenario where the father has been murdered and that grief gets channeled into anger, and there’s a sense of injustice. So, it’s still something that everyone can relate to but he puts the flesh on that skeleton in a way that’s interesting and engaging. But I think he does it with a lot of his plays.” Gutstein, in addition, remarked on the allure of the work: “I think we’re very drawn to the dilemma of Hamlet as being indecisive and not knowing how to proceed and get what he wants. He not only questions the situation that he finds himself in, but his purpose in general. Those are timeless themes, and it’s fascinating to watch him go through that on stage.”

Rashkind’s comments correspond with Gutstein’s.

“It’s about this existential crisis, which he epitomizes in the soliloquy, ‘to be or not to be.’ But [it is also about] the idea of what he’s actually going to do, and he, in a lot of ways, is a character who is ruined by contemplativeness. He’s a character who can’t act and therefore he waits until it’s too late. He has this debate within himself that we all can relate to, when we weigh things more than just act.”

It is also worth noting what distinguishes Hamlet from other works of Shakespeare. “I think part of [what distinguishes Hamlet] is that coming of age,” says Kenney, “one of his other more famous works is Romeo and Juliet, and I think part of what is attractive about both of them is the coming of age theme. It’s perennially popular. People love to think about what that entails, what it entailed for them, and what it might entail for their children. It’s a very popular topic, and I think Hamlet addresses that. He’s a young man still. He’s searching for his father, and he’s trying to understand what that means in terms of his own identity and his place in the world.

So, I think that theme, again, is just so accessible and always interesting for readers or viewers.”

Rashkind gave his opinion: “I think it’s one of Shakespeare’s weightier works, and the characters have a lot of moral ambiguity. [Shakespeare] delves deeply into human nature and all of its complexities, rather than making this seem like a story of ‘good vs. evil.’ The idea of someone who’s contemplative and unsure. In a case like this, one might say the obvious thing is that [Hamlet] would want revenge, and obviously he does, but at the same time, he’s exploring the whole nature of life and death and what role we have in being the arbiters of it.” These qualities make Hamlet standout amongst other works from a playwright with an impressive portfolio.

Hamlet has been told and retold countless times to countless audiences. The power, compelling nature, and raw emotion of its words, words, words has managed to thrill and engage audiences for centuries. If one finds themselves asking to see or not to see, choosing the former may provide them with an intense experience or, at the very least, the ability to say they’ve seen it. After all, all the cool kids like Shakespeare.

D.e. choral festival a success! john blackwell ’18 web editor Last Wednesday, the Wilmington Friends Chamber Singers had the opportunity to take part in the Delaware Choral Festival, sponsored by the Delaware Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association. Students from many different schools came together to share their musical talents for each other here at Friends School.

This year, the event was co-chaired by Middle School Music and choir director Sarah Gaines and Upper School Music and choir director Margaret Anne Butterfield.

When asked about their time as the co-chair, Margaret Anne Butterfield responded, “We are very pleased we can host it at Friends for two reasons.

First, it makes it easier for the Chamber Singers and other choirs to come here and also gives us the opportunity to use the facilities we have. It also gives our choirs opportunities to listen to the other choirs in the state and to learn how we can improve.” Ms. Butterfield is excited to be a part of the event again next year as well.

The Chamber singers performed three songs during their event. First they performed Hine Ma Tov, which is a Jewish song about unity. Next, they performed Mohlong ke Kgotlelang Hae, a Sesotho folk song song about homecoming. Lastly, the Chamber Singers performed Hold Me, Rock Me, a soulful, spiritual piece.

The Delaware Choral Festival grades each performance for constructive criticism of the choirs. The possible grades are good, excellent, and superior.

This year, the Chamber Singers received a “superior” grade from the judges, which is one of the best grades that the Chamber singers have ever received.

Great job, Quakers!!!

There was excellent reception from the Cham-

April issue 2018 THE WHITTIER MISCELLANY

ber singers all around as well. Davis MacKelcan ’18 exclaimed his opinions and experience on his day with the choirs: “It was lit. We got to sit and listen to the various choirs perform the pieces and judge them on the same scale that judges judge them. The Mount Sofia Madrigal choir performed amazing pieces. They were clearly very invested in their music and it was a pleasure to listen to them perform.”

Another student, Hannah Blackwell ’20, seemed to also have a great time at the event. She says, “The choir festival last week was really fun! Chamber singers went first in the morning at 9:00, and we were finished by 10:00. After we had our workshop with one of the judges, we went back in the theater. We watched the other choirs sing until 1:30. There were a lot of memorable choirs, but there was a group from Mt. Sofia that really stood out. Mt. Sofia is an activity and resource center for home schooled kids. They had a lot of energy and sang very well. At one point, two students walked down from the risers and started speaking to the audience in French. Crazy. They sang a song that sounded like a massive barbershop quartet. While we were watching the other schools, we judged their singing to become more aware of our own flaws. All in all, it was a constructive and fun experience.” Clearly, there was much fun and learning to be had throughout the day by all.

Here at Friends, there are always many opportunities for students to share their artistic talents. If they are not in the Chamber Singers, students may share their singing or musical instrument playing at the seasonal Informal Concerts or the annual PRISM Night. Also, they may participate in the theatre program. The excellent experience will hopefully inspire music students everywhere to improve their talents by learning from others through listening and teaching. As a Friends community, we hope we can have the same excellent experience next year during the next Delaware Choral Festival.

BASKETBALL COACH HAMLET PROM CHOIR CONTRACEPTION MATH VEGANISM CLUB EXPLORATION PHONES YACHTY

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news Continued from page 3 -tendee of the event commented “I really like how the event seems to include everyone from everywhere. It’s not like an event where you have to think that maybe since you’re not the fastest person that you should skip it. The event holds a great cause, and seems to have many aspects of it that allow everyone to enjoy it.” Clearly, the organizer’s attempts at being inclusive have been very successful.

The Best Buddies club at Wilmington Friends has been a successful and effective club at Wilmington

Friends through all of its events. During a conversation about the club, Remy Stewart ’20, a current member, commented “I’m really excited for this year’s race.

Last year, I helped organize and run it, and it was very successful. It was super fun even as an organizer, and I believe this year’s event will only be better because everyone has more experience. I am very confident that the club will be super effective with educating those who attend about the cause, and that everyone will truly have a great time.” As the community gets closer to the event, the hope is that many will attend in order to spread a great cause, and raise a sufficient amount

of money so the Best Buddies organization can continue its honorable work.

Overall, the race is a very exciting event for all.

Since this is the only the second annual race the WFS Best Buddies club has organized, the goal is to continue to spread the word in order to strengthen and continue these events. The current chapter president of Best Buddies at WFS, Evie Kortanek, believes strongly in the message the club conveys, and will surely be an effective leader of this event. The race venue includes fun and family friendly events for all, while still maintaining a serious and important cause.

math challenge poses intriguing questions Leah Johnson ’18 News Editor Ever wondered how to use math to solve real world problems? It’s easy to wonder what the use of math is when one only sees it being taught in a classroom.

However, there are ways for students to use what they learn to solve real problems posed by the MathWorks Modeling Challenge. This organization identifies problems that affect many communities and gives students around the world the opportunity to work as a team to solve them. The cool aspect of these problems are that there isn’t necessarily one solution. The winners are the projects that propose the most creative or efficient solutions. Every year a new problem is released for eager young mathematicians.

The MathWorks Math Modeling Challenge (nicknamed the M3 Challenge) is a competition that seeks to encourage young mathematicians to use their creativity and mathematical abilities to solve real world problems. As the name suggests, participants create mathematical models of real situations that (if the math checks out) can actually be used to make a difference in their communities. Sarah Stock-Patterson, Head of the Math Department commented, “The Math Modeling Challenge is an exciting opportunity for those students interested in pursuing a math related career to use mathematics to represent, analyze, make predictions or provide insight into real-world phenomena. In a group of four, students experience what it’s like to work as a team to tackle a complicated real-world problem under time and resource constraints, akin to those faced by professional mathematicians working on research teams or in industry.”

While judges do decide which papers win, it is very likely that in the process of researching and modeling the problem participants will be inspired to be more

the issue of food waste. The problem, titled “Better Ate than Never: Reducing Wasted Food” encouraged students to mathematically model ways to identify and limit food waste in a variety of situations. According to the EPA, more food reaches landfills and incinerators than any other single material in trash. There are many reasons for this, including that people buy extra food that they later discard or food is deemed unattractive and disposed of.

This year at WFS James Tallman ’19 participated in the challenge and remarked, “I decided to participate because I am interested in math, and have never had the opportunity to apply pure mathematics to a situation. This math modeling challenge was a unique opportunity for me to try something new, and I ended up loving it. While the fourteen hours of working on the weekend was difficult, the day was fun because the problem was interesting (as food waste is a subject I do not usually think about), and my teammates were awesome. Our final product was a fourteen page answer to the questions. My impressions were that it was a hard challenge, but throughout the day we were able to put together something which my team and I are genuinely proud of. I got many things out of this experience. For starters, this made me think about mathematics in a totally new way. Not that I didn’t like math in the past, but this was applying it in a way which felt more ‘real’ than calculus feels. I also learned many new techniques about how to manipulate data and examine immense data sets for just things that you need.

It was a really fun and difficult challenge.”

This challenge is a great experience for students to explore the math they have learned and use their creativity to solve problems in their community. It’s important to encourage students to take advantage of opportunities like this to further their academic skills.

active in their communities and find ways to use what they love to make a difference. From the perspective of a highschooler it might be hard to see the real world applications of math and in what professions math is used. However, this program seeks to give students the opportunity to explore the limits of the math they have learned while also getting a taste of what it is like to be a mathematician as a profession.

In terms of the problem’s logistics, the organization encourages participants to work in teams to solve that year’s problem. Each year the problem is released during Challenge Weekend and students can work for 14 consecutive hours on the problem.

In these fourteen hours participants must read the problem, conduct research, decide on how they will apply their math, and then write a paper (totaling no more than 20 pages) detailing their findings and their work. Daniel Adebi ’18 commented on the work load, “I thought it was rather stressful, but also pretty fun. Working for fourteen hrs straight took a toll, but the process was pretty cool.” Submitted papers are reviewed by more than 125 Ph.D-level applied mathematicians who serve as judges and review the math the students come up with. However, what is most interesting about some of these problems is that often there is no right answer! Oftentimes the question is very open ended, which enables participants to use their creativity to come up with the best solution. In addition to the thrill of working on a math problem for fourteen consecutive hours, the top six winning papers are rewarded college scholarships ranging from $5,000 - $20,000.

In keeping with the pursuit of encouraging students to consider how math can be used to solve real world problems, the 2018 Challenge Problem tackled

NEWS FOR DUMMIEs: WFS edition Leah Johnson ’18 News editor

WFS HOSTS TEDX WILMINGTON LIVE IN OUR VERY OWN THEATER

US MUSICAL IS A HALLMARK OF THE WFS EDUCATION

HISTORY BOWL PARTICIPANTS HEAD TO THE NATIONAL COMPETITION

On Saturday April 28th WFS will host the TEDx Wilmington event. The theme of this event is the “Age of Amazement” and, according to their website, they plan to “showcase a wide variety of live speakers.” In this event there will be three 90 minute sessions. These sessions will present 24 speakers. There will also be another 90 minute session where the TED 2018 in Vancouver will be streamed. This is a great opportunity for WFS students to enrich their academic careers and have the opportunity to hear amazing speeches on a variety of intriguing topics!

An integral part to many students WFS experience is the US musical. Many remember the fun of their fifth and eighth grade musicals and look forward to continuing to develop their theatrical skills in upper school. For the last few years the US musical has taken place in the fall and was presented in November.

However, the directors Margaret Anne Butterfield and Lauren Gutstein decided to mix it up this year.

The US drama took place in the fall and the musical took place in the spring. Weekly rehearsals are a great opportunity for students to bond and mingle between grades. The directors strive to create an ensemble amongst the group, and often this collaborative spirit breeds close friendships. Goofing off can be seen backstage during rehearsals, but also often during the show itself. Many seasoned WFS actors help out those newer to the stage and try to create an energetic atmosphere on show night. There is almost always chaos backstage as participants prepare their hair, make-up, and costumes. Ultimately, many remark that the time commitment of rehearsals is worth it so see the show come together in the end.

After emerging victorious from the regional history bowl competition hosted by WFS, the winning teams plans to head to nationals to compete against students all over the country. Members of the teams include Alex Patterson ’18, Cecilia Ergueta ’18, Lucy Knudsen ’19, and Jake Morris ’18, as well as Team B, which consisted of Mike Coons ’18, Jack Coons ’18, Robert Baldwin, and Dalton Ramsey ’18. The national competition will be held in Washington DC, and the competitors are looking forward to heading down for the weekend. The tournament is much the same as what they participated in regionally. While WFS students have never won the national event, the participants and their coach, Javier Ergueta are not discouraged. They are looking forward to the fun of testing their historical knowledge and getting to know other students. For them a victory is not dependent on winning because they will consider a fun time a success.

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IB CANDIDATES PREPARE FOR FINAL EXAMS While the end of the school year may herald the beginning of summer, IB seniors must first get past exams. Seniors who are striving to earn the IB diploma face as many as 14 exams in May stretched over four weeks. The first exam begins as early as April 27th, so many students are already preparing themselves for the month ahead. However, seniors will not let this interefere with their explorations.

April issue 2018 THE WHITTIER MISCELLANY

Community

The Red Carpet Project: a Chance to impact the environment katie bryan ’24 ms writer On February 14th, the sixth graders made a change in Mr. C’s sixth-grade science class. The kids were supposed to do at least 3 actions to help the environment, and document their work to show their peers at the end of the project. Mr. C set the kids free and let them work in pairs if they wanted.

First, to get some inspiration for it they watched a documentary called No Impact Man. No impact man was about a family of three living in New York City and trying to go completely off-grid. This movie greatly inspired the kids The children had to document the changes that they made in the environment. Most people took the approach of taking pictures and inserting them into a Google slideshow. The rest of the people made videos using iMovie.

Many people made presentations to show to other people as a way of spreading the idea of being “green”.

This was to help other people make a difference. There was a wide range in age for presenting. Going from 10th grade to kindergarten. Jemima Smith, 24’ who presented to the 4th graders, says, “I thought to present to the lower school was a helpful way to spread information and it helped to practice presenting skills.” On the whole other side of the school, Collier Zug presented to the 10th graders. In the Theory

of Knowledge class that Rebeca Zug, Head of Upper School, Collier’s mom teaches. He commented,” The 10th graders were really good listeners. There were no side conversations, they were really focused, and they answered questions we asked them. We used Google slides to present to them. We talked to them about how to reduce waste, how to compost, use cloth napkins, and use reusable water bottles. We used many visuals, pictures, to show our point.” There were many ideas for the presentations. Lots of people talked about how many animals were killed because of plastic (Over 100 million marine animals are killed each year). That seemed to really hook the people in to listen to what they had to say. Some people also made videos using a website called PowToon. But many kids made presentations on Google Slides.

Some people made compost bins with scrap materials and put all of their compostable food in them.

These compost bins were all very unique and could hold many pounds of compost at a time. Duncan Roskovensky built a compost bin out of an old bucket and put soil, worms, and leaves into his bin. He commented, ”I cut holes all over the bucket using an Exacto knife to let the air flow. I chose this project because it seemed like the easiest way to help the environment.” This was a great way to turn your extra food scraps into the nourishing soil for your garden.

Another way kids helped the environment was by doing a river clean up or school clean up. They had to

recruit at least 5 people and go around the area to pick up all the trash they found. Then they sorted it into the recycling and trash bins. One group of about 6 boys went around our school campus and picked up an entire trash bag full of in less than 45 minutes! The most popular thing that kids found were aluminum cans.

One more change that the kids did was making pieces of art, toys, or any useful objects out of plastic bags. Devin made a cat toy by braiding some strips of plastic together. Devin says,”I made the braid without knowing what it would actually but then it struck me! Cat toy!” Grace Mooney-Doyle took the artistic approach and made a spread rug out of twisted strips of plastic bag. It had all different color plastic bags in it and it looked really cool. Another person knitted a hat out plastic strips. The hat was a little small to actually wear but it was perfect for dolls! This was a creative way to make something that may look ugly into something beautiful or useful!

The day the project was done everyone went up and presented either their slideshow or their movie to the class. They got to see what everyone else did and their process. Mr. Charriez the Science teacher behind this entire process says, “I hope in the end more people will make a difference. Also, I was amazed at what some people did that I hadn’t thought about or seen.”

In the end, the students did not see the project as a grade; they saw an amazing chance they got to make a difference.

don’t forget Black Lives in the Conversation about Gun Violence Black teens have been demanding gun reform for years. The decades-long crusade that black advocates nobly push is no stranger to diligent organization--well-planned demonstrations, anti-violence rallies, meetings with prominent political figures, and the development and support of policies that curb violence form the backbone of their movement. The advocates’ goal: more equitable state and federal gun laws; the result: their cries for reform and accountability in policing sink lower on our nation’s to-do list as the next viral video of a dancing cat assumes top priority.

In a 2017 study by the Journal of Pediatrics, data analysis showed that “African American children have the highest rates of firearm mortality overall.”

The study also found that black children are 10 times more likely than their white counterparts to be killed by guns although they make up only 14 percent of the US population. This statistic reinforces the pleas of black activists for gun control reform: change needs to happen, and it needs to happen now.

But change for who? Clearly the success of the student activists from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL in rallying masses of people to action has created a sense of solidarity nationwide. Yet the Never Again movement seems to have left out the necessary voices of black people as it relates to crime in their own neighborhoods.

Young black activists, despite their continued efforts, have not garnered nearly as much attention or mass appeal as the Parkland teens, most of whom are not black. Indisputably, the voices of the Florida students should be celebrated; however, we should recognize the eagerness of our nation to legitimize a certain movement and treat the other with “skepticism, restraint, and apprehension” according to Teen Vogue

writer Lincoln Anthony Blades.

Sarah Ruiz-Grossman, a reporter at Huffington Post, similarly wrote, “There’s been comparatively little attention and outrage focused on the even more common reality of routine gun homicides in the

lation as it puts a price tag on lives. Prejudice is the currency of our times; unfairly, black lives seem to be on the clearance rack.

Young black activists, in rallying behind a cause that disproportionately affects their race, have been met with taunts, riot gear, tear gas, and handcuffs. They are labelled ‘extremists’ by the FBI while their white counterparts in Parkland speak with lawmakers and accept the support of the American public.

We must also not forget that mass shootings are only a portion of overall gun deaths. The Gun Violence Archive estimates that up to 15,500 gun deaths occurred from 2014 Students across the country protest for gun reform from their to 2017; according state and national legislators to Ruiz-Grossman, black people account country, which disproportionately affect communifor “more than half the country’s gun homicide victies of color, and specifically black Americans.” tims” and are “far more likely than their white peers Florida State Representative Jared Moskowitz to be killed in encounters with police.” shared the sentiment, “The slow drip of children getGun violence against the country’s black poputing killed by guns day in and day out should be no lation must be discussed with the same urgency as different than when it all happens at once… We know school shootings. If we are going to initiate stringent we’ve done nothing for them.” gun reform, it must include all communities of gun The heroification of the student activists from violence. As the nation and politicians focus on this Parkland and the vilification of the young black activ- disturbing phenomenon, non-white communities ists protesting gun violence, especially concerning the should not be overlooked because for too long they lethal force of guns used unduly by police, spells out have borne the brunt of this tragedy. an ugly truth: our nation continues to let her history define her as an oppressor to her non-white popu-

April issue 2018 THE WHITTIER MISCELLANY

flickr.com

olivia o’donnell ’18 columnist

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COMMUNITY

The Censorship of Climate Change in american media

Today, If you search the words “climate change” online, it will take until the second or third page of results for the page to display a link to the Environmental Protection Agency’s website. Six months ago their site would have been, essentially, the whole first page of results. That was before the Trump administration. Google specifically does not direct you to the site or even a related page. In their place is a page which states “We are currently updating our website to reflect E.P.A.’s priorities under the leadership” of President Trump and the administrator of the agency, Scott Pruitt.

Within days of his inauguration, alterations were made that did not reflect the environmental activism that the agency had been rooted in for decades. Alterations that included scrubbing mentions of climate change and tweaking language -- described by some critics and scientific censorship. This website, which was a leading source of information on a global issue, was labeled a “hoax” by the president in his candidacy.

Redirecting pages, missing links, and buried information now riddles the EPA’s website. Terms such as “greenhouse gases,” “global warming,” and “fossil fuels,” have been excised within the past year. “Science” is not even a safe term.

President Barack Obama’s top White House advisor on energy and climate change and senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center, Heather Zichal, told time, ““In my experience, new administrations might come in and change the appearance of an agency website or the way they present information, but this is an unprecedented attempt to delete or bury credible scientific information they find politically inconvenient.”

Donald Trump vowed to “get rid” of the Environmental Protection Agency altogether during his run for office. Since being in office he has done things such as propose gutting the budget as much as 31%, appoint

a well known climate change skeptic as head, and issue a series of executive orders aimed at decimating work impediment to energy production. According to Reuters, the removal of climate change information form the website was an immediate order. It appears the the administration appears to be controlling terminology

Secondly, federal agencies are striking “climate change” from websites. The phrase “climate change” has been disappearing from government websites since Trump took office. Agencies such as the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Transportation have all had websites or press releases scrubbed of references to humanity’s role in rising average temperatures. The White House also removed references to risks from extreme weather and rising seas in its most recent National Security Strategy, only referencing climate change as a threat to sales of fossil fuels.

Thirdly, HHS is now in the business of protecting “family values,” starting from conception. The Trump administration’s 2018-’22 draft plan for Without legislative change the Earth continues to be threatened by our actions Health and Human Services offered another insight into how language to suppress truths in sciences. Also health language is being used to chart the priorities and guide policy in an ideological direction -- a direction that has the from the White House. For the first time, the plan sugpossibility to harm Americans. According to Vox.com gested the federal health agency will now be “serving here are the four most important examples. and protecting Americans at every stage of life, beginFirst, the CDC asked employees to refrain from ning at conception. using words such as “fetus” and “transgender” in And lastly, “Abstinence only” is now called “sexual budget documents. The words that were not to be risk avoidance” in some government documents. used in documents included “evidence-based,” “sciDespite whether this censorship is coming from ence-based,” “vulnerable,” “entitlement,” “diversity,” above or below, the result is an effect on discussions of “transgender,” and “fetus.” These language sensitivities controversial topics that could take a toll on advances around gender identity belie the work the administra- or taint the policies that stem from science. tion has already been doing to undo many of the gains for LGBTQ rights that were made during the Obama era. pixabay.com

marley morton ‘18 colummnist

The Festival of Words: A Haven For Young Readers Rohan Mandayam ‘23 ms writer At a first glance, the reception before the 2018 Delaware Festival of Words would appear to be a blur of color, with middle and upper school students hurrying in every direction, talking, eating pizza, and swigging water from disposable bottles. However, if you looked at the reception as a participant in this annual event, you would see youth from schools all across Delaware who all shared one common characteristic: they love to read. In fact, Jeff Zentner, author of Goodbye Days and The Serpent King, called the Festival of Words attendees “book people” during his opening keynote speech at the festival. The charismatic author continued by saying that “book people” are the people who will make American society better, for they are the empathetic people in this world.

After the opening speeches and performances, students headed off to the first of their two “breakout sessions.” These 40-minute periods allowed students to receive professional writing instruction while spending time with critically acclaimed authors. Available sessions included “Write the World You Want to See,” “Creating a Graphic Novel,” and “Unlock your Creativity with Improv,” each with a different author as a host.

During the breakout session led by Nic Stone, author of Dear Martin, aspiring writers learned

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about the acronyms that Stone uses during her writing process. “Even Rats Avoid Icky Cauliflower”-or “Exploration, Respect, Authenticity, Imperfection, and Collaboration”-is one of these acronyms, which states some of the necessary occurrences and practices while writing a novel. Stone also led an exercise where participants had two minutes to compose a story from the perspective of someone/something that they were not. Different writers shared their secret personalities as roads, droplets of water, lamps, and more!

After both rounds of breakout sessions, everyone gathered in the Audion (the equivalent of the theater at WFS) for the closing keynote speech, which was delivered by Nic Stone. After the speech’s conclusion, each author was asked a randomly selected question (the questions came from a collection of questions written by the authors prior to the event’s commencement) and gave a brief answer to the entire group of “festival-goers.” (Maggie Thrash, when asked to advise writers about their futures, said jokingly, “life is dark and full of terrors.”) After this “Meet The Authors Panel” finished, parties rose from their seats and either lined up to get their books signed or departed the building, to return to the Festival next year, eager to learn more.

Several WFS students gave overall positive reviews of this year’s Festival of Words. An anonymous student affirmed that he/she would “definitely recommend” this event to aspiring writers. He/she contin-

ued by saying that “it was cool to learn about all of the books the authors wrote.” Juliana Melnik ‘22 had a similar review, declaring “of course” when asked if she would recommend this event to WFS students.

In addition, Stephanie Knudsen, the faculty chaperone for the WFS participants in the festival, stated, “There were so many notable authors there who had inspiring messages. I wish more people from WFS and from the greater community would attend.”

Here’s a bit of advice should you find yourself at the Festival of Words in 2019. First of all, don’t plan on eating a filling, nutritious dinner there. They supply pizza and water at the event, and that’s basically it.

Secondly, be prepared to sit for long periods of time.

There is not a lot of moving around once the event has begun. Thirdly, read some books written by the authors that are participating in the festival. Some of the authors might reference their books for examples in their breakout sessions, and it’s good to know what they are talking about. And lastly, have fun! The Festival of Words is truly a safe spot for young readers to share their knowledge and to learn more, so I hope that you will jump at the chance to attend the next Delaware Festival of Words.

For More Information On The Festival of Words Visit www.festivalofwordsde.com

april ISSUE 2018 THE WHITTIER MISCELLANY