Whittier Awards 2014

The Awards 2014 Since 1884

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Wilmington Friends School's Community Newspaper

Mendinhall for the Marvelous Julia Rhodes Merritt Gates ’16 Awards Writer Congratulations to this year’s Mendinhall Award recipient, Julia Rhodes ‘14! She has shown her community what it means to be an independent, innovative, constructive thinker, and a leader.

The Mendinhall Award was founded in honor of John Marshall Mendinhall, a former first lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps, and Wilmington Friends School student.

Today, the award considers all the qualities of this man: service, leadership, devotion towards his or her community, commitment to academics, and overall virtue. It has become the most prestigious award a student can receive at Wilmington Friends. This year’s winner, Julia Rhodes ‘14, perfectly embodies what the award is all about, and has truly earned it.

Over the course of her high school career, Julia participated in several clubs. In Whittier, she was a columnist and editor by 10th grade, and editor-in-chief the next year. Julia was the clerk and treasurer for Best Buddies. She also did her required service hours at the Mary Campbell Center, a place that serves disabled kids and adults.

She has clerked Amnesty International, a club focusing on raising awareness of human rights crises around the world, for two years. Through this club, Julia has arranged two collections featuring international speakers. Kathleen Martin, college guidance counselor, reflects on Julia’s process of organizing one event: “[Julia] was inspired to bring the author, Blaine Harden, to WFS. On her own, she fundraised the money to pay his fee and worked with the administration to schedule the event.” The two guests spoke about their personal struggles and stories that relate to their country’s difficulties, letting both the students and teachers gain a deeper understanding and awareness of crises abroad. Julia sponsored and coordinated Lunch-and-

Learns as well, giving students the opportunity to speak with the guests on a more personal level.

Julia has also participated in multiple extracurricular activities. She played on the varsity tennis team until she was a junior. In class, teachers consider her a friendly and inspiring role model for her classmates. Rebecca Zug, head of the Upper-School and Theory of Knowledge teacher said, “I could always count on Julia to reflect on the topics and connect them to her IB classes.” Julia’s work, including her blog titled “Algeria to Afghanistan,” has even been used as a learning tool in the 9th grade Peace classes.

Julia goes beyond the school environment to share her knowledge and leadership abilities. She was one of very few students selected to participate in the Delaware Youth Leadership Network, which is a “year long intensive program engaging in service and activities with Delaware mentors around various state issues.” In addition to this prestigious selection, she also was granted the opportunity to give a TEDx Talk at Solebury School just this past spring. There, she presented a speech entitled “Introvert to Activist,” which showcased her journey to becoming a student activist.

Incredibly, this just skims the surface of what Julia has contributed to both our school and the larger community.

She will undeniably be missed next year. She has made such an impact on our school, and everything we have learned from her will certainly stay with us for years to come. After completing her senior exploration this spring interning with Senator Coons, coordinating phone banks—“an activity that she is finding rewarding,” says Kathleen Martin—Julia will be attending Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service in the fall.

Julia is excited to get involved in the Center for Social Justice at Georgetown, where she is sure to pass on her knowledge and good nature to her new peers. It is clear that she is moving on to do great things in her near future.

Congratulations, Julia!

Mannke and Beard Seize Starkweathers Olivia Garber '16 Awards Writer Now, as a community, we have the opportunity to step back and take a look at our well-earned achievements.

Throughout the school year, many students work diligently towards their goals. These students’ efforts do not go unnoticed. They will be rewarded for their academic, leadership, and service related accomplishments.

Wilmington Friends School is a community that gives. Each student is required to do 50 hours of service which becomes an enormous contribution under the WFS name. This in itself is impressive, but the impact of a couple students that go above and beyond, is outstanding.

Each year, the school presents the Starkweather Award to a student(s) from the upper school for outstanding contributions in community service. The Starkweather Community Service Award is one of the most honored awards in our school community. Named for a former Trustee of Wilmington Friends School who contributed 20 years of service to the school, this prestigious award was created by our school’s trustees.

This award was made in an effort to congratulate and acknowledge the efforts of hard working students who dedicate their lives to service. The award recognizes the upper school student who has given outstanding service to the wider community of Wilmington.

The recipients of the Starkweather service award have achieved the highest level of adeptness and have stretched the bounds once again of a persistent and passionate student and community member. Their ceaseless labor will not only be reflected in this award but will be something the winners will be able to carry with them for the rest of their lives. This year the Starkweather

award has been granted to Peyton Beard ’14 and Bevyn Mannke ’14.

The decision for the recipient of the award is made by the service program coordinator and the upper school faculty. When asked about the awardees, the service program coordinator, Behnaz Varamini, was elated to talk about the chosen students. She said, “Peyton Beard has performed service for a wide variety of organizations in the local Wilmington area. Her mission to deeply impact these organizations is inspirational to her peers and exemplifies the definition of this award."

Peyton worked for over 400 hours donating her time to the Brandywine Zoo, Nemours Hospital, Ronald McDonald House, and Ehlers Danlos Awareness. During this exceptional amount of service, Peyton says that she “learned about others and myself throughout my volunteering.” She stated, “I feel that not only have I been able to help people, animals, and the environment, but those who I reach out to have helped me as well.” Peyton has certainly learned a lot from her experience in service.

Her experience is an example of how important service is in our community.

Bevyn also has worked both in our school community and in the greater Wilmington area to help improve the lives of others, something she calls her ultimate goal in her high school career. Their efforts were extremely impressive. Over 1,000 hours total shared between these two girls is incredible and WFS is proud to honor them for this work.

There is no doubt these two students will continue to serve their communities while in college and beyond.

Our school, and other communities around the world, constantly benefit from people like Peyton and Bevyn, who selflessly contribute their service to improve the world.

Wilmington, DE

Ganse and Kohli Receive the Hukill Award Allie Fulginiti ’17 Awards Writer It's not very often that the middle child of the Upper School, the Junior Class, is recognized for their outstanding contributions. The Hukill Award is a recognition of a Junior student, or students, who have demonstrated exceptional participation, work, and understanding in their science course.

This award is presented in honor of Robert P. Hukill, Wilmington Friends Class of 1949. The two recipients for this year’s Hukill Award are Conor Ganse and Meera Kohli. They were chosen by the science department for being role models for fellow students and have demonstrated their exceptional science skills.

Meera Kohli has proven her dedication to self-improvement and excelling inside of school.

Students and teachers alike appreciate and admire all that she has accomplished during her time at Friends. Matt Cauchy appreciates her hard work, saying, “ Meera is a role model science student. She is conscientious, focused, and very good at problem solving.” Not only is Meera considered a leader in the science community, but she is also a leader in our student body. She is the clerk of several clubs and has planned events such as the B+ Dance-athon to raise money for childhood cancer. She is also associated with Best Buddies and is the new communications clerk on the 2014-2015 business team. Meera continues to show incredible leadership in her studies in science and is an extremely well rounded student. We congratulate her on receiving the Hukill Award!

In addition to Conor Ganse being a leader for his teammates in football and baseball, he is a leader in the classroom. He is looked up to by his peers and respected by students and teachers alike. Conor has shown outstanding work in the sciences in the past three years and has gone above and beyond the expectations in his classes, proving his hard work and dedication to his studies.

Ms. Smaniotto admires his accomplishments, saying, “What really makes Conor stand out in the sciences is his great enthusiasm and interest for the subject matter. He does much research into different scientific fields of interest on his own. He is able to bring that information to class and link it to the topic we are discussing, making that connection for himself and his classmates, which, as a teacher, is wonderful to watch! His enthusiasm for science led him to compete in the Dupont Essay contest, and hopefully he will take this research and develop it into an independent study for next year.”

Conor will go on to do great things in his last year at Friends in addition to all of the examples he has set for students at the school already.

We wish both Conor and Meera the best of luck in senior year and congratulate him on being selected to receive the Hukill Award for their work in the science department.

Meera and Conor are respected by many as students, classmates, and friends. They have excelled and succeeded in their first three years of high school and are sure to keep improving and making contributions in their senior year.

Community Conley Wins Gehret Andrew Conces ’16 Awards Writer Every year since 1992, one or two upper school students at Wilmington Friends School are selected by the members of the mathematics department to receive the Gehret Mathematics Award. The Gehret Mathematics Award is presented in memory of Amanda Spackman Gehret, ‘51. The award is granted at the end of every school year to a student who exhibits outstanding mathematical achievement through development of ability and commitment to the experience of the whole class. This year, senior Chase Conley was selected to receive the Gehret Mathematics Award for his achievement and dedication to the math program at WFS. Year after year, Chase has proven himself to be an outstanding math student who is always willing to do the extra work to succeed in the class. When asked about Chase, Mrs. Patterson said, “Chase is just pretty incredible. He goes above and beyond to succeed in every math course he takes.” In school, Chase is always the student who wants to know more.

Mrs. Patterson said, “He is always asking questions and is quick to understand new concepts and ideas in class.” Chase was also the only student in the senior class to write an extended essay on mathematics. Mrs. Patterson, who was also his IB mentor, was impressed when he decided to write his essay on math. “Chase was the only student to do an extended essay in math and his essay was top notch. His desire to learn more and his dedication to the subject really stood out to me.” Chase’s hard work and mathematical achievement throughout his time at Friends earned him the Gehret Award. He continues to impress teachers and students alike here at Friends. Congratulations, Chase!

The

The Whittier Miscellany Awards 2014

Affirmative Action Turns the Tide of Education Brian Zittlau ’15 Freelance Columnist There is hardly a more controversial topic in modernday Constitutional law study than the legality of affirmative action. Affirmative action is means “preferential treatment to any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin.” Universities factor in race, sex, color, ethnicity, and national origin in order to diversify their campuses.

Affirmative action is a controversial topic in today’s world, especially due to the recent Supreme Court ruling in the case Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action. In the case, argued from 2013 through 2014, Michigan voters had voted 58% in favor of a law that banned affirmative action in public Michigan universities; however, a lower court ruled this ban to be illegal. The Supreme Court reviewed the case and decided that there is no legal basis to strike down the law banning affirmative action, thus giving legal precedent for a state to successfully ban affirmative action.

It is almost ironic that the lower court ruled the ban illegal because, if anything, affirmative action is reverseracism, discrimination of whites in favor of other minority ethnicities. Based on the moral principle of equality, affirmative action is now an outdated and improper method of diversification for institutions of higher learning. Thirty years ago affirmative action made sense because of the harsh and extreme discrimination against minorities across the board, which limited their abilities to go to university.

Now, it limits the potentials of thousands of high school student applicants who are denied, not because of their qualifications, but because of the color of their skin.

Affirmative action is one of the policies which politicians often argue in favor of because they feel it can change the socio-economic landscape for minorities by allowing some of them to go to selective universities.

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hittier Miscellany Founded 1884 Volume CXXXI, Number I Homecoming, 2014

Editor-in-Chief Shannon Skibicki ’15 Awards Editors Assistant Editor-in-Chief Alex Del Tufo ‘16 Jodi Lessner ’16 Chris Stanborough ‘16 Sports Editor Entertainment Editors Martha O’Brien ’15 Meera Kohli ‘15 Maddie Ireland ‘16 Features Editor Jacob Gagliano ’15 Freelance Columnists Brian Zittlau ’15 Copy Editor Martha O’brien ’15 Grace Gannon ’15 Photo Editor Jessica Saunders ’16 Staff

Merrit Gates ’16 Jordan Perkins ’17 Blair Atkins ’17 Sarah Gooderham ’17 Sadie Proud ’17 Katie Bodycot ’17 Thomas Hilder ’17 Monika Rodiqi ’15 Andrew Conces ’16 Maddie Ireland ’16 Katrina Skibicki ’17 Allie Fulginiti ’17 Quinn Kirkpatrick ’16 Margaret Sullivan ’17 Olivia Garber ’16 Sydney Gardner ’16 Caroline McGinnis ’17 Evelyn Wakeley ’17

Advisor Peter Wenigmann

The Whittier Miscellany is published six times during the school year by the upper school journalism staff of Wilmington Friends School, 101 School Road, Wilmington, DE 19803. To access the online publication, go to http://www.wfswhittier.com.

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In my opinion, this idea is an illusion.

In order to positively and decisively improve the socio-economic outlook of minorities in the long term, we must invest in and promote public K-12 education.

Currently, there is still a prevalent lack of well-serving primary and secondary education for heavy minority populations. A prime example is just miles away in Chester, Pennsylvania.

Chester High School is drowning in a tsunami of millions of dollars of debt.

According to the No Child Left Behind legislation, Chester High has 26 NonHighly Qualified teachers, and they have disturbingly low standardized test scores. The average SAT scores for high school students at Chester High are 372 in Verbal, 358 in Math, and 323 in Writing. This is astonishingly lower than the national average of 497 in Verbal, 514 in Math, and 489 in Writing.

Students cannot be expected to succeed in those kinds of environments.

Politicians often neglect schools like Chester High in fear of becoming entangled in an educational mess. There must be recognition of this horrible quality of education that exists for many minorities in urban and rural areas. A comprehensive reinvestment is necessary for the country to move forward with improving the socio-economic status of minority citizens.

In addition to a reinvestment in primary and secondary education, there must be a fundamental shift in values in areas that have high percentages of low-income earning families. Academic success must be praised above all else in order to persuade parents, friends, and students that success in school is positive. This cannot all be achieved at once, but it can be started with a faithful investment in the schools by the federal and state governments.

Affirmative action is like putting a band-aid on a heart attack victim; it will

not fix the major problem. With the attention that this Supreme Court ruling has gotten, there is no question it is a controversial topic in the modern United States, but the real focus should be centralized on improving educational opportunities for all lower socio-economic citizens. This will allow students to compete with students from schools like Wilmington Friends who are very lucky to have tremendous educational resources. They will be students who can get into these universities based on their own academic achievements.

Spring Stress Remedies Martha O’brien ’15 Sports Editor The deceiving month of May has an especially torturous effect on high school students as they approach the end of the school year. The weather gets warmer and the sun shines longer, luring students out of their cave-like bedrooms where they study frantically for finals.

May is by no means a laid-back month, and sometimes students need to find a way to escape the stress and schoolwork. For many, that means going on runs or taking part in laid-back athletic competitions. For non-athletes, reading new summer books or improvising on the piano are alternative ways to release some dopamine before returning to schoolwork. Although less obvious, there is another way to go about relieving stress: baking.

A new summer recipe, unlike any other you can find on the Food Network, has passed through the classrooms and hallways of Wilmington Friends School faster than ever this May. Start out with a big bowl, one less restrictive than your typical muffin tins or Bundt pan. Place the pan in the freezer, but just for a little while, so it becomes chill to the touch.

Now it’s time to take out the ingredients. This is where you can improvise. Perhaps it’s a humid day and the watermelon your mom just picked up from the farmers’ market is calling you. Or maybe you’re not a fruit person, so you pick Double Stuffed Oreos and Chex Mix. Now that you have all your ingredients laid out on the counter, start cutting. If knives scare you, grab a friend, parent, or sibling, and make this a bonding experience!

Begin slicing until you feel like you have finished. Once all of your ingredients match the desired size, throw everything into the chilled bowl.

If you have not already picked it out, grab a lemon from the fridge and squeeze a little over your mix. Memories of lemonade stands, sweet lemon squares, and trying to get blonde highlights but failing miserably, will surely engulf you. For a nice splash of color, zest some of the lemon on top.

Finally, find your favorite spread: peanut butter, whipped cream, Nutella, or caramel sauce, and drizzle it over your ingredients. Grab the biggest spoon in your house, take your cooled bowl, and sit outside to enjoy your creation straight from the source.

No one can tell you it’s too big, not sweet enough, or just plain wrong because you followed the recipe and no one could ever make it as good as you just did.

And there you go! You’ve spent at least ten minutes cooling, mixing, cutting, drizzling, and zesting, enjoying the smells and colors of the masterpiece you created.

Maybe in the past few minutes you succeeded in forgetting about that biology exam next week; or maybe with the help of a friend, you experimented and created a delicious treat glazed with laughter and joy. Whatever it may be, I hope this recipe brings you one thing: relief from overwhelming stress.

Throughout the year you might feel swamped with essays, debates, and tests, while simple joys like baking stay locked in a recipe box in the back of your cabinet for a long summer day. But why should the year be divided into nine months of stress and three of relaxation?

So if you are finding yourself slowly burying yourself deeper under a stack of textbooks and growing paler as the sun shines brighter, take out this recipe, and give it a go. You will be surprised at the difference it will make.

Chris Stanborough ’16 Awards Editor The Wyeth Brothers Award, which is presented by the performing arts department, is given each year to two seniors who have made considerable contributions to performing arts here at Friends.

These students have demonstrated qualities such as commitment, leadership, and passion in performing.

They have truly worked towards improving themselves and contributing to the artistic community around them. This year’s winners of the award are Chase Conley and Molly Marcus.

Chase has played in the band for nine years, He is extremely involved in music and actively plays the clarinet, alto sax, baritone sax, and the piano. When asked about Chase’s commitment to the performing arts department, Mr. Verry answered, Chase has been in every pit band since eighth grade, and has played in twenty-four consecutive informal concerts, as well as nearly every upper school choir concert since ninth grade.” Chase has greatly contributed to the artistic community at Friends and will be going to Tufts University next fall.

Molly has involved herself in the performing arts department for the four years she has attended Friends. She is humble about her abilities, but her list of achievements continues to grow each year. Aside from acting in all of the last four musicals, playing lead roles in “By Bye Birdie” and “The Sound of Music”, Molly continues to have an avid interest in music. She is an excellent student in IB Music, who is never content with just doing the assignment. She has sung in chamber singers for three years, the Allstate choir throughout high school, and represented Delaware in a national honor choir last fall. When asked about Molly, Ms. Butterfield replied, “Molly holds herself to a really high standard and always wants to improve her experience for other people as well as herself. She sets such a fine example for her peers; in fact, she is always the first person during practice that is off-book for performances.”

Molly will be going to Brandeis University next fall.

Congratulations to both of you!

Endo and Rizzo Win the Wyeth Alex del Tufo ’16 Awards Editor

All students have subjects in which they thrive, and for some that doesn’t include a notebook and calculator, but a sketchbook and pencils. The art students of Wilmington Friends have never had the chance to be recognized for their amazing work, but now they do. The Wyeth Brothers Award is given to the student(s) that display a clear focus with their artwork, towards a goal of gaining respect for oneself, and the people around them. The Wyeth Award is provided to a student with the creativity and determination to go beyond the objectives they are required in their course. This award is presented to an art student who is an artist.

This year the Wilmington Friends School visual arts department chose to present the Wyeth Brothers Award to two outstanding seniors: Maria Rizzo and Kenji Endo. Rizzo and Endo are involved in the IB HL Visual Arts class. IB Art is known to be extremely rigorous and time consuming. Endo and Rizzo were both capable of making deadlines and working creatively with their pre-determined topics. Each artist had an underlying theme that they brought all of their pieces back to. Maria will be staying nearby and attending the University of Delaware in the fall while Kenji is moving north to Brown University.

The Wilmington Friends School students and visual arts department wish Kenji and Maria the best of luck with their future artistic endeavors!

The Whittier Miscellany Awards 2014

Three Qualified Juniors Win Bush Award Sadie Proud ’17 Awards Writer As the school year wraps up with an exciting close, it is time to announce the awards winners for the 2013-2014 school year! At the close of each year, several exceptional students are recognized for exemplifying values of our community. Named after a former principal of Wilmington Friends School, the Charles W. Bush Award is given to the junior boy and girl that most clearly demonstrate the school’s ideals of scholarship, character, and service.

For the female winner of this year’s Bush Award, the committee selected Meera Kohli as the student that best exemplified all three aspects of the award. Meera is viewed as a leader and an excellent student in all classes. In the process to decide the award winners, many teachers described her as intellectually curious and a very hard worker. She is a member of the Delaware Youth Leadership Network. For service, Meera has gone above and beyond, both in and out of school. Meera is also a founding member of the B+ committee at Wilmington Friends. Junior grade dean Sarah Patterson described Meera’s leadership for the B+ Dance-Athon as “nothing short of incredible.” Her work with the Dance-A-thon this year not only strengthened our school community, but also raised awareness as well as over $19,500 for the Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation In school, she is a leading member of multiple clubs and committees, including Best Buddies, Whittier, and Bioethics. Outside of school, Meera has also volunteered at the AI Dupont Hospital for Children and at the Hindu Temple. Meera’s character was highlighted by each of her teachers not only in her leadership and work ethic, but her sensitivity to others in a group setting. Meera is described as an all around excellent student, person, and is a great member of our community.

For the male winner of this year’s Bush Award, the committee has named both Jimmy Carney and Steven Ly. When asked why the committee chose to select two students instead of one, Mrs. Patterson replied, “The boys

are both very strong but different, which is why it was decided that the award should go to both of them.”

Jimmy has been involved in many aspects of our school community since the beginning of his high school career. In terms of scholarship, each of his teachers commented on his pursuit of independent study, especially in computer science and his extended essay in math. Mrs. Patterson described him as, “Overall a fantastic student.”

Jimmy stood out in terms of service to his teachers and coaches alike in his multitude of extracurricular activities.

He has participated in numerous sports and plays since freshman year, often taking on a leadership role. He is also a member of the robotics club and has taken extra leadership responsibilities with the Middle School’s “Egg and Toast” program. In addition, Jimmy participated in the Dominican Republic service trip over the past summer. In terms of character, Jimmy leads by example and supports his teammates both on and off the field.

The other junior boy award was given to Steven Ly for demonstrating extraordinary effort in his studies and service. Before he came to Friends in his freshman year, he had never read a book in English. “To see how far he’s come is really extraordinary,” Mrs. Patterson pointed out.

Steven has excelled in his athletics and academics alike.

In addition to placing as a top runner in cross country, winter track, and track and field, Steven also holds very high standards in each of his classes. In addition to his extraordinary work ethic in school, Steven’s dedication to service stood out to the committee. One example of this is his participation in Hawaii Overland over the past summer to protect Hawaii’s fragile ecosystem. His character has shined through in every aspect of his life, especially in Global Connections. Steven has proven himself to be one of the top students and members of our community throughout his past three years at Friends.

It is clear that these students have demonstrated the characteristics described in this award. The Charles W. Bush Award is one of the most prestigious awards given at Wilmington Friends and there is no doubt we can expect great things from all three of our winners!

Five Winners of Three Humanity Awards

high personal standards, Julia and Ellie both excelled. We particularly appreciated the scholarly qualities of Ellie’s historical investigation into the British role in the October As the school year comes to a close five upperclassmen Revolution in Russia and Julia’s building on her learning are receiving awards for being distinguished individuals from her own investigations into the 20th century roots of in English, History, and Foreign Language. For the first Middle Eastern, Korean and Ukrainian history.” year, the members of each subject department got together

The upper school foreign language award is given to pick students who they felt excel in their particular to students who, in the study of language, demonstrate subject. These awards are given to students who not only both a distinctive level of proficiency and a passion for master at the work given them, but they look to apply learning. In character as a learner, the students further this knowledge to help their demonstrate cultural openness community. and empathy, and value This year, Kenji Endo opportunities for personal is receiving the Eden Wales connections with cultures and Freedman ‘99 English award. communities representing This award is given to a the target language. The junior or senior who makes recipients of this award are positive contributions to Luke Morgan-Scott ‘14 and his/her English classes. It Hannah Caspar-Johnson ‘15. is given to someone who Both of them have excelled in demonstrates intellectual their foreign language classes and curiosity and skill in both are leaders in them as well. Luke literary analysis and writing, Morgan-Scott skipped levels in as well as an understanding of both French HL and Spanish SL, and appreciation for literature and for someone to do that in as an art. In giving this award History, English, and Foreign Language are all a one IB language is impressive part of the humanities. to Kenji, Jake Rashkind, one let alone two. He took a school of Kenji’s English teachers, year abroad and became fluent in said, “Kenji was such an asset to our class. He is an French also. Bradey Bulk, the head of the foreign language excellent writer, both in literary analysis and his creative department said, “Luke was very helpful and generous work and is bright and articulate. It has been a true with his classmates.” Luke also spent time in the French privilege working with Kenji.” speaking country of Bénin, where he helped build a school.

Ellie Mcginnis ‘14 and Julia Rhodes ‘14 both received Hannah Caspar-Johnson ‘15 took Chinese. She reached a the Jordan Wales ‘97 History Award. This award is given to high level of oral and written proficiency. When describing a student(s) who have shown and achieved an exceptional Hannah, the foreign language department noted, “Hannah skill level in history research, analysis and interpretation, has been kind, helpful, and inspirational to her classmates debate, and writing. They also demonstrate an awareness by helping them speak and understand both in class and of societal issues and consequences related to historical out.” events. When speaking about both winners the members of Congratulations to the first five recipients of the the history department noted, “It became clear to us that, English, History, and Foreign Language Awards! through conscientious, consistent application of extremely Quinn Kirkpatrick ’16 Awards Writer

http://humafterlife.uchri.org/

Performing Arts Award to Conley and Marcus

Awards

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Monika Rodiqi ‘15 Features Writer I remember my first meeting for worship. I had heard quite a lot about this concept, but I did not know anything about it until I found out I was going to Friends. Actually, when I first saw the name, “Wilmington Friends School,” it seemed like a strange name for a school, since I was unfamiliar with the Friends religion/philosophy. I remember I went to the meeting room with my friends, sat down, and all of a sudden a silence fell upon everyone in the room. I whispered, “What’s going on?” to one of my friends who signaled me to stay silent. Only then it occurred to me that it was my first meeting for worship, the first of many to come. That time, I promised myself I would stand up in one of the last meetings and formally thank the school and everyone else who had helped me during the year. However, having missed the last chance to speak up in a school-wide-meeting, I decided to write a goodbye letter to the school as my last article in the Whittier.

I consider Friends School to be the central part of my exchange year. It is because of Friends’ worldly view and promotion of diversity that its students benefit from having people from different cultures live and interact in their environment, not to mention the honor AFS students get, attending a school like Wilmington Friends. I, for one, felt immense Quaker pride when WFS got the ‘Top AFS School’ award

by American Field Service, for its welcoming of AFS students every year since the first year of AFS (1947). I am sure that none of the students at Friends had ever met someone from Kosovo before I came to the school. The student body at WFS is exceptionally open and welcoming to AFS students, seeing them as a vital part of their high school experience. I am very thankful to all those students who have reached out to me during the year, especially those who have become my friends and my rocks during this year with its ups and downs.

Even though I still do not consider myself to be a particularly athletic person, while playing sports I discovered a favorite after-school pastime, which combines physical activity and hanging out with friends. Never having been on an athletic team of any sort before, I really enjoyed the team bonding exercises and sleepovers.

Being in the musical and spring drama gave me the chance to explore my artistic side, which had been previously unexplored.

At Friends I have found the most supportive group of teachers I have ever encountered. The teachers clearly love what they do, which is reflected in the students’ attitudes toward the classes. No matter if they personally taught me or not, teachers were always willing and ready to help. I am extremely grateful to the teachers I have worked with this year, for helping me grow as a person and as a student.

Continuing on that matter, the college guidance counselors at Friends were always ready to help, answering every question I had and encouraging me to explore the U.S. college system. The entire administration has been very positive and supportive throughout the whole year, making sure I had and knew what I needed.

Last, but not least, finding a host family for AFS students each year proves to be a difficult task. I have been blessed to have not one, but two host families to whom I am most thankful for this opportunity.

Opening up their doors and welcoming a new person into their families is something I greatly appreciate and will always remember.

I have to admit it is indeed hard to say goodbye.

This has been the greatest year of my life so far, challenging me to step outside my comfort zone and be comfortable with being uncomfortable. In fact, I am positive I want to study abroad again in college.

(Excuse the cliche) It’s not goodbye, it’s ‘til next The Whittier Miscellany Awards 2014

Evelyn Wakeley ‘17 Features Writer This article is dedicated to the man who has been the head of the International Baccalaureate (IB) program and has served as the supervisor for The Whittier Miscellany for almost seven years. Peter Wenigmann has worked at Wilmington Friends for twenty years and has served the school well for each one of those years. Wenigmann began his Friends career as the head of the Lower School and later moved to the Upper School where he has helped the community in many different ways. Mr. Wenigmann became the Assistant Head for Academics at the school, the head of the IB program and, finally, supervisor of the Whittier.

Next year, Mr. Wenigmann will take on a new position: coordinator of accreditation and institutional planning.

This comes because the Pennsylvania Association of Independent Schools (PAIS) and the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (MSA) will be accrediting WFS. Even though PAIS is located in Pennsylvania, the organization works with a variety of independent schools across both states. To prepare for next year, the school will have to answer a questionnaire and address topics such as school leadership, programs,

facilities, and health and safety that will all be checked and reported on. In November 2015, when the school’s MSA accreditation ends, a team of educators will come to Friends to check up on everything.

Mr. Wenigmann will be busy with this position, as he leaves his responsibilities for Whittier and IB. “I have mixed feelings about taking this new position,” said Wenigmann, as he explained the new opportunities that he will have. Daniel Scott will supervise Whittier next year, and Ken Aldridge (the new assistant head for academics) will head the IB program.

Finally, we asked him about the impact that he has had on the Whittier. He said that when he first came, Whittier was a graded course. Some things are still the same though; he informed us that the sectionals have remained the same, and the format of the paper has not changed either. However, now the class is pass/fail, and a lot of the articles now focus on news outside of the campus, which he is happy about. Lastly, he said that his main goal in Whittier was to have the students run the paper, “In being the Whittier advisor, I’ve wanted the students to own the paper and take as much responsibility as possible.” Whittier will miss Peter Wenigmann, and everyone hopes that this new position suits him well as he enters his twenty-first year at Wilmington Friends.

Garman Talks About Future Plans Sarah Gooderham ’17 Features Writer With the recent completion of the school’s new theater, atrium, and gymnasium, the whole school came together to celebrate the opening of this new space on May 18, 2014. In addition, the Friends of the Future campaign kicked off recently. This campaign raises money to transform and improve the learning environment for the students. One improvement in particular that this campaign raises money for is a Global Learning Center, which will be built between the Jones House and the library. This new

As soon as students pass through the threshold of this hallway, which will be past Mr. Ergueta’s new room, the idea is that it will be a “no English zone.” Two Spanish classrooms will be built, along with two additional French and Chinese classrooms.

However, building a new wing is not the only improvement that the school has planned with the Global Learning Center. The library will be renovated as well, improving its functionality and use of space. A staircase leading up to the library balcony, which is currently being used for storage, will also be built. The balcony itself will be transformed into more study space for students. wilmingtonfriends.org

Rodiqi Says Goodbye

Features Wenigmann Leaving Whittier and IB

Artistic Representaion of Global Learning Center wing will create much needed classroom space and also allow for renovations to happen elsewhere in the building.

We caught up with Bryan Garman for the scoop on what the new Global Learning Center has in store.

“The really neat thing about this addition is that it will produce more energy than it uses,” Mr. Garman told us.

How? Geothermal wells. “There are caves in the ground that have air in them that’s around room temperature, something like 25° Celsius. This allows the building to maintain that temperature year round, making it easier to heat in cold weather and cool in warmer weather.” Mr. Garman explained the other components of environmental design, “Extra thick walls and triple glazed windows will help to insulate the buildings; solartubes in the roof will provide natural lighting; and new solar panels will generate additional energy.” He also talked about a porch that will be located outside of the new classrooms, providing additional lighting and ventilation for the building. “One of the main goals of this project is to create more outdoor space for students.”

This new wing will consist of five classrooms: four for language and one for history. “Mr. Ergueta’s room will turn into a design/STEM lab for the Robotics team, and a new history room will be built for Mr. Ergueta.” The wall next to the current Junior lounge will be knocked down, and a hallway to the new classrooms will be built there.

In addition, a separate hallway leading to the two library classrooms (Mr. Clothier’s and Mr. Morton’s rooms) will be constructed so that students in those classes will not disrupt anyone in the library.

Individual study rooms, or “ice cubes,” will also be created for students who wish to study in groups. These cubes will have glass walls and allow students to study in small groups without disturbing the quiet of the library.

Another improvement related to this project will be on the third floor, where all of the language classrooms currently are located. As the addition will contain four new language classrooms, there will be room to renovate the third floor space. “The idea is for this floor to become language classes for the Middle School,” Mr. Garman explained. “Some of the more cramped classrooms, particularly the ones facing the front of the school, will be expanded.” Walls between the classrooms would be removed, allowing for bigger classrooms.

“The hope is that construction could begin as soon as the summer and be done in the 2015-2016 school year, but we are still in the process of raising funds for the project.”

Mr. Garman explained that he did not know how much money needed to be raised for this project because the budget has not yet been finalized. From what he knows so far, the new Global Learning Center will be an amazing addition to our already wonderful school environment.

04

Entertainment

Krispy Kreme grievers, tear down your donut shrines and false “secret recipe” bookmarks made to recreate a pastry that simply cannot be recreated by a mere mortal. Finally, all of our donut-obsessed dreams may have just come true. The cravings, tears, and mourning have finally come to an end, and after all of this time, we can now visualize a green hopeful light at the end of this long donut-less tunnel. The late night dreams of a perfectly puffy, sweet, and flaky donut, caressed with the classic green Krispy Kreme light, will soon be a reality.

If your mouth is not already watering and your hands are not trembling and outstretched as to reach for this perfectly manufactured pastry with excitement, we might just have to double-check for a pulse. Our insatiable cravings for this exceptionally crafted bite of heaven will at long last be satisfied.

That is right; the long-extinct and forever missed donut palace has returned. In fact, there will be our very own safe donut-filled haven right here in Delaware as of this summer. This yearned-for classic donut arcadia is bound to be a success, for there is no greater joy than to partake in the consumption of a fried halo of bliss.

With this unlikely comeback, elated customers across America will flock towards their donut mothership and devour their incomparably assembled circle of pure love and happiness. Biting down into a Krispy Kreme donut is a wondrous sensation of believing that the world is a perfect place. In that one moment, the Krispy Kreme donut and its owner share a bond of utopia, a euphoria that can only be recreated by inhaling another box of Krispy Kreme donuts.

This reopening is so tantalizing, even the members of our own community cannot resist the excitement. Margaret Kane ‘16, says, “I am super excited for the reopening and I have missed going there so much! The moment is reopens, I am sure to be there.” Many other students agree that this reopening should be a vibrant and delicious new addition to our community.

The Drowsy Chaperone Maddie Ireland ’16 Entertainment Editor Are you interested in theater? Do you find musicals comical, family-friendly, and all around a great time? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you will most likely love The Drowsy Chaperone, a musical comedy featuring songs

by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison. The show revolves around one musical theatre fan’s obsession with a fictional show from the 1920s – The Drowsy Chaperone. As he listens to the recording, the characters come to life in his apartment. This story follows Broadway actress, Janet Van De Graaff, who wants to marry debonair Robert Martin and give up her stage career. Janet’s producer, Mr. Feldzieg, must stop the wedding because if she quits show business, he will lose his job. In addition, gangsters threaten Mr. Feldzieg, as they fear that they will lose their investment if Janet quits. Delaware All State Theatre will perform in this specific production of The Drowsy Chaperone. Two of its performers include WFS students, Wyatt Thompson ’15 and Eliza Durham ’14. Production times for The Drowsy Chaperone are Friday, June 20th at 7:30 PM, Saturday, June 21st at 7:30 PM, Sunday, June 22nd at 2:00 PM, Friday, June 27th at 7:30 PM, Saturday, June 28th at 7:30 PM, and Sunday, June 29th at 2:00 PM. Mrs. Tottendale said, “Guaranteed laughs or your money back!” To buy tickets, call the DAST Ticket Line at 302.635.0754 or purchase them online!

The Whittier Miscellany Awards 2014

addition to Weezer, the Lumineers, a Great Big World, G-Eazy, Phantogram, and many more. Patrick Pearce’15, who will attend the festival in June, raved about this year’s As summer approaches, music-lovers from all over lineup: “I’m excited to see Cash Cash, Foo Fighters, The the world will prepare to pitch their tents and pack their White Panda, Jack Johnson, basically everyone”. camping gear for one of the biggest festivals of the year: Firefly promotes some of the most popular musicians Firefly Music Festival. In 2013, twenty-four countries from a variety of genres; however, it also provides and all fifty states were opportunities for unsigned represented at the festival musicians to showcase by excited fans. Although their talent. Stop Light it will be difficult to top Observations, Breach the last summer’s performers, Summit, and Christian including Red Hot Porter, who competed Chili Peppers, Vampire and triumphed in Firefly Weekend, Ellie Goulding, Music Festival’s “The Foster the People, and Big Break” contest, will Passion Pit, fans have have an opportunity to high expectations for play their first real set at the colorful assortment the festival this summer. of talent featured on the At Firefly, fans with highly anticipated 2014 4-day passes have the lineup. This summer, option to camp overnight from June 19th-22nd, on the site for the the third annual Firefly weekend. Abby Deardorff Music Festival will take ’14, who attended the place at its usual venue, festival last year, strongly the Woodlands of Dover advocates driving up International Speedway. each morning versus The Lumineers camping. She claims and Imagine Dragons, there are several benefits Twenty-One Pilots take the stage at last summer’s Firefly. who were scheduled to for driving. “Showering perform at the festival last year but made the impromptu is essential,” she insisted, and later elaborated on her decision to cancel, are back on the lineup for this summer. experience, “Wawa is also an amazing place to people Girl Talk and Twenty-One Pilots will also return after watch at 2am. And there’s nothing better than a F’real taking the stage at last summer’s festival. While no lineup after an intense day of various festival activities.” Ellie headliners will perform on Thursday, the opening day of McGinnis ’14, who also attended Firefly last year, believes the festival, Local Natives, Aer and Amos Lee, and more, that camping overnight at the venue enhances your overall guarantee to leave fans wanting more. American Rock experience. She recommends that anyone who plans to Band and headliner, Foo Fighters, along with acts such as camp should prepare to not sleep for four days, and pack Young the Giant, Cash Cash, Arctic Monkeys, Bands of comfortable walking shoes because the closest source of Horses, and American Authors, who recently performed air conditioning is usually at least a mile away. at the Wilmington Flower Market, will follow on Friday.

In the end, whether you choose to camp or commute, Hip-hop duo, Outkast will electrify the stage on Saturday, Firefly is an amazing music experience with acts that as will Grouplove, the White Panda, Beck, Pretty Lights, represent a wide variety of genres. You can learn more Smallpools, and others. The festival will conclude with about Firefly Music Festival and buy single day tickets at folk rock singer-songwriter Jack Johnson on Sunday, in https://fireflyfestival.com/.

Katrina Skibicki ’17 Entertainment Writer

www.irocktheshot.com

Olivia Garber ’16 Entertainment Writer

Firefly Returns To Dover For 2014

The Fault In Our Stars Hits Theaters share the same level of hype as the rest of the world?

Freshman, Ted Ganter’17 said, “No man, that’s a chick flick!” Another freshman, Andrew Jaworski’17 said, The upcoming film, The Fault in Our Stars, by director “No, No, No, No.” A third freshman, Simone Veale’17 Josh Boone will hit movie theaters this summer on June added, “Yeah, I would see it if it’s not too sappy.” There 6th. The film, based on the book written by John Greene, seems to be a huge divide between males’ and females’ focuses on two teenagers, Hazel and Augustus, who interests in seeing the film, but is it really a chick flick? both struggle to cope with their cancer diagnoses. They The film premiered occurred on May 3rd and received eventually fall in love, overcoming mostly positive feedback. After their disabilities. The book was met seeing the film, fans tweeted with critical acclaim when it was things such as, “Heartbreaking originally released, and the film and painful, #TFiOS will break rights were hastily bought. Will the you and make you weep but it film adaption live up to the books will change you for the better.” name; and is anyone at Wilmington and “Think every person in the Friends School interested in seeing theater cried during The Fault the film? in Our Stars including me. Fans The Fault in Our Stars follows loved it. Going to be a big hit the life of Hazel Grace Lancaster, for Fox in June.” The writer of who is diagnosed with cancer and the film, Andrew Sims, attended forced to attend a cancer support the screening and said, “I can’t patient group. In these meetings, say much about #TFiOS, but she meets a boy named Augustus remember the open sobbing in Waters. Augustus was diagnosed the theater with Deathly Hallows with cancer and forced to have his Part 2? Expect that. It’s obvious leg amputated to save his life. As from the reactions of the fans that the plot develops, the two form a the film will be very emotional.” strong relationship, and learn many The Fault In Our Stars hits theaters June With the incredible amount 6th. important lessons that change their of hype and a devoted fan base, lives forever. The film seems to have a very engaging and The Fault in Our Stars is obviously going to be one emotional storyline that evidently appeals to many people. of the biggest movies of the summer. Students at WFS Since its announcement, the film has been met with stand divided, mostly between sexes, many believing the a massive amount of hype. The trailer of the film, which film to be a “chick flick.” The film has been met with a was recently uploaded to YouTube, is the most “liked” tremendous level of anticipation, but will it meet up to it? movie trailer in the site’s history. Do WFS students WFS students will have find out this summer, on June 6th.

Thomas Hilder ’17 Entertainment Writer

www.wikipedia.org

Krispy Kreme Makes a Comeback

05

Sports

The Whittier Miscellany Awards 2014

WFS Spring Sports Highlights

Thomas Connelly Runs D1 this Fall

Katie Bodycot ’17 Sports Writer

Jordan Perkins ’17 Sports Writer

This year, the girls soccer team was especially proud of their outstanding 5-0 win against rival Tower Hill, along with winning all of their conference games. The soccer team had the privilege to have senior Constança Eiras, an AFS student, on the team. Danielle Kuller ’14 said, “The team is awesome! We have fun on and off the field, and when it’s game time we all rise to the occasions and play our hardest. It has surely paid off!” The soccer team ended their regular season 12-3, won conference, and stood as a strong states competitor.

The biggest game this season for girls lacrosse was their upset against Tower Hill; Meryl Gatti had the buzzerbeater goal. The team was led by their new coaches, Jessica Franklin and Dick Kittle. Meryl Gatti ‘15 said, “The new coaches have been great so far this year. They do a great job finding our weaknesses and making sure we work at them to improve. Because of that, we had our most successful season in years!” The girls lacrosse team ended the season with an 11-4 record and tied for conference with Tower Hill. The team will miss senior captain, Grayton Downing next season, but they hope to come out stronger than ever in 2015.

The boys lacrosse team welcomed nine freshmen this year, all of whom played key roles in most games. The boys played exceptionally well as a team, always putting dedication and time into improving their skills. Coach Jake Rashkind said, “I am very proud of this group. We were very young, and we play a very difficult schedule.

The leadership and face-off work of senior captain Conner Armstrong really got us going. Jakob Katzen was sensational in the goal. We return a lot of players

Rick Desrosiers

As the 2013-2014 school year comes to a close at Wilmington Friends, seniors gear up for the next step in their lives: college. Some of our fellow students will participate in athletics at their respective colleges: Sophia Clark (Cornell University: rowing), Bill Gordon (Hamilton College: football), Danielle Kuller (Ursinus College: soccer), Grayton Downing (Haverford College: lacrosse), Elena Veale (Haverford College: field hockey), and Gil Connolly (Bates College: football). One senior in particular will run cross country and track at Ivy League school, University of Pennsylvania, this coming fall. This issue’s Athlete Spotlight focuses on Thomas Connelly.

Thomas’s journey at Wilmington Friends School was a successful and memorable one. When questioned what he would miss most about Friends, the studentathlete stated, “The beauty of a school like Friends is that individuals have the opportunity to apply themselves in a variety ways. At Friends, it is not only possible to play three sports and pursue extracurricular interests each year, but it is encouraged. As a result, it is not uncommon to make new friends across different grades and different interests. This is one quality of Friends that I will miss and that I hope to find again in college.”

When asked what he will miss about athletics at WFS, Thomas answered, “I’m going to miss the team that I’ve had the opportunity to run with over the past four years. It has been exciting to see the team evolve, and an honor to be a part of its evolution. Also, I will dearly miss Coach Paul, who has been an incredible coach and mentor to me.”

Thomas will head to one of the most selective institutions in the United States this fall. When asked about what he looks forward to next fall, Thomas commented, ”On the academic front, I am looking forward to taking advantage of the resources Penn and the city of Philadelphia have to offer. I am still not decided on what I want to study, but I am looking forward to taking a variety of classes next year with high hopes of finding something that I fall in love with.”

From a more athletic standpoint Thomas noted, “I am looking forward to contributing to a team ‘on the rise.’

Penn has recently made changes to its running program that have proved to be successful over the past couple years. Steve Dolan has been the head cross country coach at Penn for two years now and he has already changed the program around.”

Thomas also shared his most memorable time at WFS: “Athletically, my favorite memory might have been in cross country at the Six Flags Invitational in 2012 where, as a team, we placed third and won medals.

We spent the rest of the day at Six Flags with high spirits and with medals around our necks. It felt good and it was certainly a confidence boost that motivated us to work hard the rest of the season” WFS students and faculty are confident that Thomas Connelly, along with the other athletes that will play at the collegiate level in the upcoming school year, will make many more great memories.

Thomas Connelly runs in a Cross Country race at Killens Pond, Fall 2013

06

World Cup Preview

Blair Atkins ’17 Sports Writer The 20th annual FIFA World Cup comes to Brazil this June. Since the first competition in 1930, the World Cup has been held every four years. The World Cup is the biggest single-event competition in the world; 32 senior men’s national teams from the 208 Member Associations of FIFA battle in the game of soccer with hopes to win the cup. Every four years, millions of people go to watch the World Cup, making it the world’s most widely viewed sporting event.

The FIFA World Cup competition takes place over one month, as 32 teams compete for the title at different venues within the host nations. The Qualification Phase and the Preliminary Competition determine which teams qualify for the next tournament.

Scott Clothier, Upper School history teacher and varsity girls soccer coach, seemed very excited about the World Cup: “I want USA to win. Football isn’t just a sport, but it is a religion.”

Freshman soccer player, Meggie Flanagan ‘17 said, “It would be great to see the USA go further, especially with their new coach.”

This year’s World Cup is going to be very lively.

Brazil and Croatia will kick off the Cup, playing the first match. Team USA will play its first match against Ghana on the 16th of June. The United States’ second match is six days later, against Portugal, and the third takes place on June 26th against Germany.

The US is ranked 14th overall, but in the past the US has had many ups and downs. At the very beginning of the World Cup in 1930, the United States had the nickname “shot putters,” due to their muscular and burly nature in their games against Paraguay and Belgium, which put them in third place, making them the highest placing team outside of Europe and South America.

Some key players on the team this year include, Jozy Altidore, Clint Dempsey, Roma’s Micheal Bradley, and Tim Howard. However, many were outraged by the new US coach Jurgen Klinsmann’s decision to cut Landon Donovan from the roster.

Team USA has been a very unpredictable team in the past, but this year they should not disappoint loyal fans. This year’s World Cup is sure to be an exciting one, full of upsets and triumphs, so make sure to tune in on June 12th!

Check out “Should college athletes have the right to form unions?” by Sydney Gardner ’16 online!

next year, and they are committed to getting back to the tournament and improving in the off-season. The future looks bright.” The boys lacrosse team ended their season with a 6-9 record.

The track team ran excellently this season. For many of the runners, going to the Penn Relays was the highlight of the season. Eleven freshmen ran this year, making track the team with the most freshmen of all the spring sports. The track team had exceptional leadership from senior captains Thomas Connelly, Kenji Endo, Bobbie Atkins, and Quinn McNeill. The team set eleven new school records this season, and Emily Freilich and Thomas Connelly competed in the Meet of Champions, hanging with the fastest runners in Delaware. Congrats on a successful season!

The baseball team fought hard this season to win big games against conference teams Sanford and St. Andrews and ended their season 3-15. This year, the baseball team did not have any seniors, so juniors Scott Davis and Jake Erskine, led the team. Jake Erskine ‘15 said, “We had a lot of potential, it showed in an early game against a top ten team, A.I. Our entire team is returning, so we have a lot of potential, and are very hopeful for next season.”

Both boys and girls tennis had an amazing season.

Ben Fischer ‘15 said, “Tennis has been very fun for me!

We all work very hard in practice so we can do well in the matches! Also, I have made a lot of new friends and everyone has bonded as teammates!” Jack Kempner ‘14 and doubles team Myles McDevitt ‘14 and Ryan Chompre ’18 made it to the semifinals in states. Girls doubles team Joslyn Gardner ‘16 and Alicia Thompson ‘17 came out on top in states, and Annie Jaskulski ’15 won her second singles state championship! Together, both teams finished their season with a 9-6 record.

Sports by the

STATS Martha O’Brien ’15 Sports Editor

5

Shutouts by the girls soccer team in their regular season, including big conference games a g a i n s t S t .

Andrews and Tower Hill.

0

The number of seniors on the baseball team this year.

10

Top ten finishes by the boys and girls track team in the state meet.

194

Saves by Jakob Katzen ’16 during the boys lacrosse season.

124

Career goals by Meryl Gatti ’15 in three years of WFS lacrosse.

2

First place titles for girls tennis. Joslyn Gardner ’16 and Alicia Thompson ’17 in doubles and Annie Jaskulski ’15 as the singles champion.

Community

Friends Hosts the Fifth Annual Israel-Palestine Panel Jodi Lessner ‘16 Assistant Editor-in-chief

“First ground rule: helping students to learn is center stage today. Second ground rule: remember that we are all at different places in our journey with this work.

And finally, be respectful.” With these words by Scott Rhodewalt, teacher and organizer of the conference, the fifth annual Israeli-Peace Colloquium began.

Rick Grier Reynolds, former history department chair, created The Israeli-Peace Colloquium in early 2010. The event centers on a panel of experts that come to answer Peace students’ questions about Israel and Palestine. Since Grier Reynolds’ retirement, Rhodewalt has taken over as organizer of the conference.

Nine speakers served on the panel this year, each with a wide range of knowledge and experience relating to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Some of the panelists were strongly pro-Palestine, others strongly pro-Israel, and others did not take sides, but rather promoted peace for both countries.

The panelists were first asked to share a two-minute vision of Israelis and Palestinians five years from now.

Rabbi Krantz, a civil rights activist, believes that in five years, the parties in the conflict will be forced to come up with a solution: “We have some choices to deal with.

Five years from now, Israelis and Palestinians are going to be sharing the same land. They are going to be drinking water that they will figure out how to share. It does not matter if there is war or peace, they are going to be on the land together. They are going to raise their children, either

segregated or integrated. They are going to figure out what to do with the physical wall, and the psychological wall of estrangement that is between them.”

Other panelists did not have such an optimistic outlook. One of the panelists, a student from Ramallah, spent this year studying in America. “My vision for 2019 is that more and more settlements are being built in the West Bank, even though they are not legal. Palestinians are being kicked out of their houses, which will cause tension between Israelis and Palestinians. It is going to be like this for a lot of years.”

A former Israeli soldier, and current certified Israeli tour guide spoke to the justification of Jewish people on the land that is Israel: “I know that I am not religious but I am still Jewish. Judaism is not a religion; it is an ethnicity.

There is room for Judaism in Israel. Even though my grandparents aren’t from Israel, my ancestors are.” He later called for a harmonious solution between both the Israelis and the Palestinians, where both groups would sit down and peacefully talk together in order to solve the conflict.

Sandy Rea, a psychologist who lived in the Middle East and has served on the panel for years, spoke to the methods of gaining peace: “I believe if you want peace, you work for justice, if you want justice you are for equality. Understand that there is forgiveness that has to be a part of these things, as well as compassion. Peace cannot come when people are denying the rights of others to exist. Peace cannot come when there are two different political enemies vying for Palestine. Peace cannot come

when human rights abuses continue. Justice cannot be built on fear. Reducing fear will take compassion, forgiveness and peace.”

When asked why he finds this colloquium important, Rhodewalt replied, “It brings to life what for so many students would otherwise only be a dry, distant conflict.

Once they learn about their own country’s pivotal role in continuing the status quo, it’s easier to imagine that several students attending this colloquium will bring about change as adults.”

Freshman Peace student, Gustavo Silveira, gave a similar response: “I think that this colloquium is very important. We have been looking at both narratives of this story, and this is the culmination of all of that. You see the culmination of experts in the Israel Palestine conflict, and their unique and individual experiences are what will allow us to theoretically come up with solutions for the conflict.”

This colloquium, unique to Wilmington Friends School, can be emulated on a larger scale. The first step according to Rhodewalt is “for Delaware’s congressional delegation in Washington to commit to attend. The price of admission, however, is that these three political leaders agree to learn both narratives, as rigorously as our ninth graders learn both the Israeli and Palestinian narratives during the month of April each year.” The IsraeliPalestinian Peace colloquium is scheduled to continue next year on May 8th in the new theater, and hopefully we will see potential for a more peaceful tomorrow between Israel and Palestine.

Whittier’s Summer Wish List 2014 mormonmommyblog.com

88. Build something 89. Break something 90. Join a cult 91. Get off the grid 92. Adopt a pet 93. Learn how to play an instrument 94. Learn how to knit 95. Plant a garden 96. Kill all plants 97. Visit a museum 98. Touch everything 99. Get kicked out 100. Buy a goldfish 101. Volunteer at an animal shelter 102. Play with sparklers 103. Go to Six Flags 104. Go on Kingda Ka 105. Try new food 106. Be a tourist 107. Get a farmer’s tan 108. Become a farmer 109. Slam poetry 110. Make a wish with a coin 111. Make a wish on a star 112. Be an extra in a movie 113. Disney movies 114. Karaoke 115. Get a henna tattoo 116. Find a Krispy Kreme 117. Become a lifeguard 118. Watch the sun set 119. Eat fondue 120. Color 121. Paint 123. Do yoga 124. Treat yourself 125. Walk the boardwalk 126. Any boardwalk 127. Dig a hole in the sand 128. Collect stamps 129. Relax 130. Listen to a new song 131. Listen to an old song 132. Follow your dreams 133. Be yourself 134. Eat a cronut visitphilly.com

The Whittier Miscellany Awards 2014

42. Sun tan 43. Star-gaze 44. Picnics 45. The Fault in Our Stars 46. Cry 47. Strawberries 48. Go to Woodside Creamery 49. Go to UDairy 50. Go to Sweet Lucy’s 51. Eat as much ice cream as you can 52. Avoid working out 53. Flip flops 54. Talk to a stranger 55. Avoid strangers 56. Roadtrip 57. Watermelon 58. Corn on the cob 59. Pizza 60. Make new friends 61. Keep the old 62. Find some silver 63. Find some gold 64. Sell your gold 65.Go broke 66. Make a summer bucket list 67. Do half the things on the bucket list 68. Lose bucket list 69. Go skiing 70. Or not 71. Barbecue 72. Go fishing 73. Long runs 74. Try a new sport 75. Fail new sport 76. Get a summer job 77. Leave Delaware 78. Find a new look 79. Go to a place that starts with X 80. Get an X-Ray 81.Play a xylophone 82. Learn how to cook 83. Ride a boat 84. Fall out of a boat 85. Play frisbee 86. Meditate 87. Get bored onlybackground.com

1. The beach 2. Go to Firefly 3. Catch fireflies 4. Learn how to surf 5. Go surfing 6. Go someplace new 7. Go someplace old 8. Learn how to play ukelele 9. Buy a lot of sunscreen 10. Get sunburned 11. Read a good book 12. Ice cream 13. Fireworks 14. Fireworks on the beach 15. Seashells 16. Go on a hike 17. Sleep all day 18. Forget everything you learned 19. Binge watch Netflix 20. Go camping 21. Build a campfire 22. Roast marshmellows 23. Go to a baseball game 24. Have a water baloon fight 25. Re-do your bedroom 26. Fly a kite 27. Loose your kite 28. Ride a bike 29. Find your kite 30. Go to Made in America 31. Go to New York 31. Pick wildflowers 32. Go to the zoo 33. Swim in a pool 34. Swim in the ocean 35. Build a sandcastle 36. Crush a sandcastle 37. Rainbows 38. Spotify 39. Listen to the same song over and over and over 40. Ritas 41. Sunglasses

07

Community

The Whittier Miscellany Awards 2014

Conley Thomas Connelly Georgetown University

College List: Class of 2014

Williams College

New York University

Caleb Aerenson.................................University of Denver Elizabeth Anderson.......................... Elon University Conner Armstrong............................Elon University Roberta Atkins..................................Pennsylvania State University, University Park Peyton Beard.....................................Pratt Institute William Beardell...............................University of Delaware Ryan Beneck......................................University of Delaware (Honors Program) Ian Brooks.........................................Boston University Sophia Clark.....................................Cornell University Chase Conley.....................................Tufts University Thomas Connelly..............................University of Pennsylvania Arthur Connolly................................Bates College Haverford College Wesley Connors................................ Roanoke College Christopher Damon .........................The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Honors Program) Abigail Deardorff............................. The George Washington University Maria Delzingaro..............................Marist College Akili Dorsey-Bell...............................Ithaca College Grayton Downing.............................Haverford College Ryan Dubowy....................................University of Pittsburgh Eliza Durham....................................Pace University, New York City Caroline Ehman................................Ithaca College Colvin Endo...................................... Brown University Zachary Falcon.................................Miami University, Ohio James Flanagan................................ University of Delaware Emily Freilich....................................Pomona College Laura Gates.......................................Pennsylvania State University, University Park Daniel Getty...................................... Berklee College of Music David Gobris.....................................Sarah Lawrence College William Gordon................................Hamilton College Caroline Grover................................University of Maryland, College Park James Harper....................................Ursinus College Emma Hartley...................................Northwestern University Graham Haubert..............................University of Virginia Emma Hilder.....................................Gap year, then University in the UK Zachary Hinderhofer........................University of Delaware Aisling Horan....................................University of Delaware Kierra Jenkins.................................. North Carolina A&T State University Roth Johnson.................................... University of Colorado at Boulder Mitchell Juers................................... University of Delaware Eleni Kalaitzoglou............................ University of Delaware James Kempner................................ Ithaca College Danielle Kuller..................................Ursinus College Sonia Kumar..................................... University of Pennsylvania Delaney Lee.......................................Clemson University Rachel MacKelcan............................Merrimack College Nicole Mangan..................................Wake Forest University Bevyn Mannke..................................Pennsylvania State University, University Park Molly Marcus....................................Brandeis University James Martelli-Raben......................Duke University Myles McDevitt.................................Connecticut College Helen McGinnis................................Duke University Quinn McNeill...................................New York University Jesse Miller........................................Johns Hopkins University Luke Morgan-Scott.......................... Harvard College Tate Muratori-Levit......................... Ursinus College Forrest Narwold................................High Point University University of Delaware Matthew O’Brien..............................Northeastern University Julia Rhodes......................................Georgetown University Maria Rizzo.......................................University of Delaware Kevin Roux....................................... Marist College Olivia Saber.......................................New York University Matthew Schmittle........................... University of Delaware (Honors Program) James Sepelyak.................................Drexel University Daniel Shaw.......................................Cornell University Gregory Szumel................................Williams College Lindsay Thompson...........................Gettysburg College Bron Todd......................................... Lynchburg College Elena Veale........................................Haverford College Emari Vieira-Gunn...........................University of Delaware Joseph Woodward............................ University of Delaware

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