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Amelia Benamara

Ramadan at SLA – 2019 Edition

May 16, 2019 by Amelia Benamara Leave a Comment

Opinion Editor

Amelia Benamara

The month of Ramadan has started off yet again at SLA Main for the third time in the month of May. Monday, April 6th of this year marked the first day of what’s known as the holy month for the Muslim community.

Ramadan is a time to detach from worldly pleasures and focus on one’s prayers. Many Muslims dress more conservatively during Ramadan and spend more time at the mosque than at any other time of the year. Beawiharta, Reuters Fasting during Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam, along with the Muslim declaration of faith, daily prayer, and charity.

Muslims are expected to put more effort into following the teachings of Islam. The fast begins at dawn and ends at sunset. In addition to abstaining from eating and drinking during this time, Muslims also increase restraint, such as abstaining from sexual relations and generally sinful speech and behavior.

In 2019, a large number of students participate in the fasting process where for a full month no food or liquids are permitted to enter your body until the sun sets during the prayer, Maghrib.

Coincidentally, the end of the year’s activities that the entire school participates in fall around the same time as Ramadan fasting. This keeps students from participating in school-related events such as class potlucks, sports parties, and even field day.

“It isn’t as difficult as I expected it to be especially since some of my friends are fasting with me so we get to share the experience together,” Senior Aysha Siddiquee tells us, “it’s getting harder now with all of the end of the year parties and events including food since we are and will constantly be surrounded by food.”

Even though people do have their fair share of questions and concerns at the end of the day the Muslim students do understand it comes out of curiosity and wanting to learn which makes it that much more exciting to share new knowledge and in general the community that they have of Islam.

Although there is a large group of SLA students who have been fasting for a long period of time now who claim that Ramadan isn’t as been as difficult this year specifically, compared to all of the other years.

“When it comes to the activities around the school, I fasted for many many years and some days are easier than others, especially when week without walls comes and the temperature rises to 80 and 90 degrees.” Junior Mamadou Samassa speaks on his experience so far.

“Now we have a system in place in order to make it easier on us to go and pray which makes our fast that much more complete.” Aysha goes in depth on the community in general.

This year, along with last year, SLA allows students to make use of space in the building to perform their prayers during school hours. This year especially, students were overwhelmed when the principle, Mr. Lehmann, allowed a small group to leave school grounds to pray at the Masjid Al-Jamia, located on 42nd and Walnut.

“This year was a really unique experience, the principle actually let us last Friday. It proves that the school shows general understanding and respect o all religions and all values that students have.” Mamadou Samassa expands.

Image result for ramadan 2019
Photo Courtesy: Google

As far as respect goes in the SLA community, many Muslim students feel overly comfortable fasting and gain a lot of support not only from their peers but also from the staff and teachers — even Chris Lehmann, SLA’s founding principle.

Although there are few students who went in depth on the lack of help their peers provide.

“For the most part, my friends don’t exactly help my fasting process but not on purpose. For example, we’d be playing a basketball game and convince me to play another round — sometimes they forget which is completely okay.” Samassa continues.

As a student who surrounds herself with many Mulsim friends, Senior AIlin Li goes in depth on the support she attempts to provide throughout the entire month.

“I try not to eat around those who are fasting just because it doesn’t feel right while they’re doing it for a good reason. I support the idea of Ramadan and my friends even influenced me to fast myself because of how healthy it is and to, of course, support them.” Li expands on her experiences this year with her Muslim companions.

Ramadan is a time for prayer. SLA has been able to create a space that respects religion and allows people to have a place to pray and find others who share the same beliefs.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

What’s With All The Babies?

May 16, 2019 by Amelia Benamara Leave a Comment

Staff Writer

Mo Kelly

It seemed like a normal day. I had just finished algebra and was running down the stairs so I wouldn’t be late for Biochem. I’ve gotten used to the filth of the back stairwell, so nothing seems too out of the ordinary. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something… interesting to say the least. It took a minute to register what it was I was really seeing, but then I realized, it was a small figurine baby.

I walked into my next class, still confused, and immediately I was asked if I had seen the babies. It gave me relief to know that I wasn’t going crazy.  Apparently, they were all around the school. Hidden in lockers, stairwells, or any small crevice that they would fit in. The babies were the main topic of conversation for the next hour and five minutes.

It felt like I couldn’t escape the babies. Everywhere I turned there were either actually babies or people talking about babies. Even my advisor knew about them. She had picked one up in the middle of one her classes, and she was also very confused.

Some of my friends pulled out multiple babies that they hoarded. Admittedly, I took one as well and am probably going to keep it for a very long time.

Soon after the initial fiasco, posters about the babies had appeared. They said that it was a game. “Find a baby. Hide a baby.” This made sense, but I didn’t quite buy it. Why would the posters go up after the babies had already been planted? Now I was determined to solve this baby mystery.

Right off the bat, I had a suspicion on who it was. The wording of the poster was written exactly in the style of one of my friends. I texted him, and my speculation was correct. He told me he created the posters but did not plant the babies, just as I suspected. But the question still remains, where did the babies come from?

A few days later, it is still a mystery to me. I’ve tried asking around, but no one else seems to know. Or perhaps they are hiding something. Still, I don’t think I will ever find out. Interestingly, there is now an “SLA Baby Blog” on Instagram, documenting all of the babies that were found and where they were eventually re-hidden. Many people of SLA are excited about these babies.

All in all, this is definitely one of the creepier things that has happened at SLA.

Photo Courtesy of Mo Kelly


Filed Under: Uncategorized

My Experience with SLAmbassadors

May 13, 2019 by Amelia Benamara Leave a Comment

Staff Writer

Mo Kelly

From April 7th through the 14th, 10 students from Toruń, Poland came to Philadelphia to participate in the annual SLAmbassadors exchange program. The program runs between SLA and schools in two sister cities: Toruń and Frankfurt, Germany.  Early this year, I was chosen along with 9 of my classmates to be apart of the Poland program.

I got my partner match in January. Her name was Natalia. Our first contact was through Instagram, where we just talked about our basics likes/dislikes. We both had the same favorite show, and that was a great jumping off point where we could talk about that and other stuff. I thought of her as just a normal teenager and I couldnŕ wait to meet her in person.

The months leading up to when they came seemed like years. But finally, the big day came. The entire morning and afternoon was filled with me cleaning every square inch of my house and getting everything perfect for my guest.

Finally, it was time to pick them up from 30th street. I met all of the other students in the lobby and we were all so excited we couldn’t stand still. But of course, their bus was delayed from New York, so there was a lot more waiting to do. We eventually moved outside into the slightly cold air and waited for the bus to arrive. My friends and I  sang songs and did a couple of dances to pass the time. But then, we saw a bus come around the corner. It said “New York to Philadelphia.” It was their bus. People got out signs they had made and we begin to cheer. The bus pulls into the spot and we watched as people slowly came out and grabbed their luggage. Nobody could see any of our people yet. The bus began to empty and still, our people weren’t there. After 5 minutes of confusion, we realized that it wasn’t their bus. Another long while of waiting.

Finally, for real this time, their bus pulled in. They walked out of the bus and instantly ran to their partner. Natalia and I finally saw each other and we gave each other a big hug. I instantly felt comfortable with her, especially after talking with her for months beforehand. For some reason, I was surprised to hear her accent. After talking to her through Instagram, I forgot that she might have an accent. It threw me off at first, but soon I got used to it.

My parents were equally as excited as I was to meet her. But, they never talked to her like I did so they had no prior impression of her. They immediately asked her tons of questions about her family, her town, and much more. Just as I did, they found themselves comfortable with Natalia after a short period of time.

The next day, our Polish students came with us to school and shadowed us for the day. I got the chance to officially meet the other students and the two chaperones. Most of them said that they were surprised on how laid back all of the teachers were, even the teachers we thought were the strictest. They told us that in Poland, they weren’t allowed to take out their phones, talk to their friends and they never sat in table groups like us. I knew that there were schools like that in Philly, but it was interesting to hear the students talk their first-hand experiences with it. It gave me and many others a new perspective.

When we weren’t with our chaperones, we would try and find the fun “Philly things” for them to experience. The week was so full of things that we did with each other; a Phillies game, Macy’s, the Art Museum, Wawa, and so much more. The polish students had so much fun spring things for the first time and we had fun watching them experience it.

My favorite moments were when the entire group of students would go out and just walk through the city. I especially enjoyed talking to some of the students I haven’t really met before. One student talked to me about clothing, makeup, and our respective styles. These moments made me realize how similar we all were to each other. Most always assume that people from different countries have different cultures and are completely different than we are. But, that’s not true. There might be some differences, but we’re really just humans at the heart.

Photo Courtesy: Peter Keo

Filed Under: Op/Ed

2019 Met Gala

May 13, 2019 by Amelia Benamara Leave a Comment

Staff Writer

Lauren Nicolella

I’m a simple person, I hear Harry Styles and my attention is instantly grabbed. For months, I have been highly anticipating this moment since I missed seeing Harry’s majestic Gucci suits from his 2018 tour.

I do not know a lot about the famous designers that attend and dress celebrities, but I do love that each of them has their own approach to the themes that happen each year. This year’s theme was Camp: Notes on Fashion, which is a very theatrical and glamorous that allows individuals to express what they want in any way they want. From what I understand, Camp can be interpreted in many different ways, with extravagant colors and large body pieces that essentially capture the theme.

Many months ago it was released that Lady Gaga, Serena Williams, Anna Wintour, and Harry Styles would be the larger names co-hosting the event. With them being some of the biggest names of the night, they were the ones who I was looking forward to the most.

Needless to say, Lady Gaga blew my mind. With being the first to attend, her grand entrance set the standards for what to expect on the pink carpet for the rest of the night. Her hot pink parachute dress was revealed into three other looks, with quick prop additions to showcase her team, Haus of Gaga. The extended metal-looking eyelashes exaggerated her theatrical poses and facial expressions, giving an Effie Trinket from the Hunger Games vibe.

Harry Styles has become idolized by fashion fans because of his love for custom Gucci suits, but this was not all glitz and glam that everyone was expecting. He arrived with Alessandro Michele, who was in a stunning pink bow outfit that shimmered from the paparazzi camera flashes. Styles was in a black sheer one piece that showcased his sleeve of tattoos and a delicate pearl earring dangled from his right ear. It was more simple, but it was interesting to see his personal take on the theme since he was held at such a high standard. I personally wish it was more over the top since I had based my expectations off his looks from his tour.

The entire night I was waiting for Zendaya because every single year she has shown up in iconic outfits that make me pay more attention to her style and what she decides to do. I never would have expected her to show up dressed as a modern Cinderella, which definitely is defining the theme of Camp. When the dress started lighting up in that famous light blue, I gasped so loud that technology has advanced to make an entire dress move and expand. This was the time to be extra!

When learning about Camp, I noticed that drag queens and ball culture are the underlying elements that influenced this theme, but the queens that attended did not go all out as I expected. Their makeup was beautiful of course, but I wish the dresses were more over the top like when they’re competing on RuPaul’s Drag Race. Someone who did shock me was Ezra Miller. His face makeup was so beautifully scary, taking extra to a whole new level that perfectly embodied what it meant to be camp and deliver it in a special way.

I’m glad that I was interested in watching this year’s Met Gala because it was truly a weird one. It’s helped me see what can be done in fashion and how personal style can be taken up a notch than what people are used to seeing at an event.

Filed Under: Op/Ed, Uncategorized

Farewell, SLA

May 13, 2019 by Amelia Benamara Leave a Comment

Staff Writer

Lauren Nicolella

I can’t believe how fast high school flew by! Being a part of the Journalism class since my sophomore year has opened up my eyes to the different information and perspectives on stories around the city and within our school. It’s been a ride with many highs and lows.

I would have never thought that I’d be interested in anything writing related, especially journalism and social media related. I pushed myself a lot within these years of being in the class because with the elective being only twice a week I had to figure out how to manage time. I’m definitely still trying to improve that, as I could especially relate my struggle to all of the senior year events and assignments that were constantly thrown at me.

Being able to obtain the title of Features editor and being able to run the SLA Media social media pages has been the highlight of my journalism class experience while getting insight on what others are creating. I love being able to get closer with some of the underclassmen, as there are not many people apart of the SLA Media crew in the first place so it makes it much more personal.

I wouldn’t have been able to get this far without the help of my English and Journalism teacher, Ms. Pahomov. I enjoyed her classes so much that I asked to be her senior assistant teacher because she made my English class experience much different than others I had been apart of before. She’s taught me tips and tricks about reading and writing that I will always remember, and made me feel uncomfortable with my writing in a way that helped me improve as soon as I stepped into her class sophomore year.

I hope that once SLA moves, our legacy is passed on to those who will join the class next year and future years to come. As a whole, we have produced amazing articles this year that have made high school more interesting and eye-opening. It’s amazing of how the inside of things were able to be shared freely and someone could choose to build upon ideas, and having that freedom of exploring a new topic or section is what made us powerful as a whole.

Farewell, SLA. It’s been a great four years of growing and I’ll only continue to do that.

Photo Courtesy:
DepositPhotos


Filed Under: Op/Ed

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