Avi Cantor

Jayla Wright

Staff Writer

Jayla Wright

Staff Writer

Link to Video

On April 25 two black men were arrested from of a Starbucks. The two men were waiting at the cafe for a meeting when the staff called the police because they were considered trespassing after not ordering anything and trying to use the bathroom.

Starbucks issued a tweet that gave an apology for the arrests as well as promising that they will “… try to ensure these types of situations never happen in any of our stores.”

Melissa DePino was a customer at the Starbucks at the time of the arrests and posted a video of it that was filmed by her friend, Michelle, to Twitter. That tweet ignited a national uproar that was expressed with protests and boycotts. This eventually lead to Starbucks announcing that during an afternoon on May 29 they planned to shut down more than 8,000 of their stores for racial bias training.

At that moment at Starbucks DePino decided that she wanted to share that event to create a wide discussion and awareness of racism in America, “This caught my attention and we wanted to continue that conversation with people that are paying attention.” She stated.

Sharing videos or photos of minorities facing injustice has become common in this day and age. For some, this is a requirement for them to believe that discrimination still occurs.

“It’s just really unfortunate that their shame and anger, or whatever they were feeling in that situation, had to be exposed to the world,” said DePino. “That they had to be put in that vulnerable situation for people to pay attention. I mean it’s really awful, and it’s terrible that they have to go through that.”

To Junior Ben Seing, the reasoning for the arrests seemed ridiculous. “The idea that they arrested a couple of men of color just because, from I have heard, were waiting for someone and using the bathroom is ridiculous. Starbucks doesn’t need to change, it’s the employees. The policy did change but I find the issue is within the employees that were working.”

Despite this one Starbucks being extremely hostile towards the two men with the reasoning that they were in the store without making a purchase, there are times where people have done the same as the men without any consequence.

According to Junior Vivian Pham, “There were a few times where I️ sat in there when I️ had to be picked up and nothing really happened.”

Seing has seen situations like Pham’s in the past, “To my knowledge, I’ve seen people wait for their friends or family to come because they are the ones going to buy something. But it was always rush hour and some of the people working didn’t even bother to say anything.”

Starbucks is not only a place for food. It’s also a place where people spend time, without making any purchases. It was not too much of a leap for the those who heard of the incident to think that the arrests didn’t happen due to the breaking of a policy, but instead due to discrimination.

The video of the Starbucks incident circling the internet surprised some of its viewers. Many wondered; How could this happen in Philly?

Seing was one of these viewers. “The one thing that shocked me the most was that it was in Philly. It was to my surprise that there are people who are unaccepting. I expected Philly to be a little bit more supportive than other places.”

For DePino the incident happening in Philly was no surprise. “I think that this happens every day, everywhere. Just because I don’t experience it doesn’t mean that I can’t acknowledge that it happens every day, everywhere. I think that on that day it happened to Philly, it happened to be Starbucks. It could’ve been anywhere.”

DePino continued, “Even that it was Philly, it just goes to show you that it wasn’t Alabama or Mississippi it was Philly! It’s so pervasive, everyday racism, that it’s often the precursor to much worse. It filters into our education system, our criminal justice system, it filters into our house, and all factors of American society.”

For many residents of Philly, these arrests were a wake-up call that this city is capable of producing and housing racism. And for the rest of America, this was a sign that even liberal areas can breed racism. Nobody is free from it.

After sharing the arrests DePino has taken to activism, dedicated to uniting people of color and white people in the fight against racism. She is determined to educate white people on how to respond to racism and racism in the media.

“You saw that Starbucks story in the news and it caught your attention and you understand that that was wrong and if you care about social justice and anti-racism then I would ask you to show up, against that, against racism, and against social injustice.” DePino stated, “There are many ways in which you can show up. You can show up and educate yourself, understanding where your privilege lies by speaking out, by following and reading people of color on your social media, by having conversations with your friends who are people of color,  by amplifying the voices of people of color. There are lots of places in that range where you can show up.”

“Whatever you do, helps.”

If you are interested in fighting racism while uniting people of color and white people. Visit DePino and her friend Michelle’s twitter @privtoprog for more info.

Sanaa Scott-Wheeler

Staff Writer

By the time they are juniors, Most students Science Leadership Academy are aware of The Philadelphia School District’s policy that requires one full sports credit in order to graduate This can be earned either through the physical education course or by playing district sports. At SLA, students have until the end of their sophomore year to complete two seasons of a sport. If this credit is not earned in this manner,  the students are then rostered into PE in junior year with Health Teacher Pia Martin.

Because of this requirement, many underclassmen try to play school sports in order to avoid a year of PE. However, For student-athletes, balancing life and high school has can be challenging.

Sophomore Eithana Gonzalez had difficulties when she started playing softball.  ¨I would have to manage my time with sports and homework,¨ she explained. ¨I would get home at like 8 from games and there would be no time to do my school work, then I would fall behind. It’s difficult because I live like an hour and a half away from the field and we have to be there 6:30 in the morning, but I make it work.¨

Freshman cross country runner Anthony Castro says ¨For the sake of me not failing, right after practice I would go home. I had no time to socialize. You can balance it out you just wouldn´t have any friends, because you don´t have time.¨

Sophomore cross country runner Jack Eagen reported a similar situation in his life.

¨I have to go to practice every day, and I had no time to do anything. Sports takes up most time after school so it’s hard to get stuff done. Once sports season happens, you have no life.¨

Junior and students runner Eric Valenti says ¨Sometimes I don’t feel well but I know if I don’t show up I won’t get the credits I need, that kept me motivated.¨

When asked about their experiences the athletes offered advice.

¨Don’t let sports take up your life, don’t over commit, You still have school work and you need to pass your classes.¨ said Eagen.

Castro says ¨Consider the situations you are going to be in when doing a sport. Don´t pick a sport you can´t you won´t want to do in certain conditions¨ he went on to say ¨Pick a sport that you know you´re going to stick with, don´t do a sport because your friends are doing it, take time out of your day to learn about that sport¨

Although Valenti plans to earn his credit through Students Run, he was complimentary of Ms. Martin’s class.  

¨I have heard PE is not that hard if you’re not the athletic type that’s fine. Try to find a sport that you like. If you don´t like SLA sports and have to do PE, it’s not that bad, Ms. Martin is nice.¨

When interviewed, Heath and PhysEd teacher, Pia Martin reflected and passed on knowledge about student-athletes.

“There are athletes who come into SLA as athletes, they participate in sports outside of school and usually have a better handle on how to be a scholar-athlete, students who are new to the game tend to struggle if they get involved in athletics while they are in high school.”

Martin continued on to say, “Don’t wait, get it over with, participate because you like to, don’t participate because you want to avoid PhysEd. I will never ask you to do something I do not believe you are capable of. Your ability to move is your ability, it can always be improved but that is something you control.”

Sarah Berg

Staff Writer

As the class of 2018 prepares to graduate, there has predictably been an uptick in the phenomenon known as “senioritis”. This is a situation where we see many seniors’ focus in school dwindle as they draw closer to the end of their days in high school.

Known symptoms of senioritis include showing up late, showing up less frequently, not doing work, and not trying as hard in academics. However, an unexpected side effect, unseen until this year, is a dinosaur.

This is a dinosaur that has proven itself elusive to a frankly frustrating degree. Although seniors were throwing around plans to buy more dinosaur costumes and all show up wearing them, since the fateful day the first dinosaur was spotted, I have not laid eyes on anymore. In fact, it seems as though the SLA dinosaur has gone extinct.

But this may not be a bad thing. For Geometry and Statistics teacher Ms. Gasser, it may be a relief. The day of the dinosaur was a traumatic one for her. “I was teaching one of my classes and Opoku [the owner of the costume] came out of nowhere into my room and scared me half to death with the dinosaur because I wasn’t expecting it,” she recalled, further describing the experience as surprising and shocking.

Ms. Gasser said that despite this, she didn’t think the costume was disrupting class time, as students got used to its presence fairly quickly.

The costume was passed around a bit throughout the day, with Ms. Gasser recalling her student Tamir wearing it during another class. She was subject to violent attacks from the dinosaur at that point, which had proven itself an aggressive beast. It “was hitting me and making weird noises,” the survivor spoke out.

Junior Eric Valenti witnessed the dinosaur’s appearance in the hallways before class. He was confused by the sight, but not very taken aback. “I was like, ‘why is there a dinosaur? That’s weird!’”

He said that the response throughout the school was similar. People were posting about it all over social media, especially Snapchat, but they weren’t talking about it for long afterward.

The same reaction may have partially been due to the climate at SLA where something new is always happening. Valenti joked that he originally thought it might have been a political statement, justifying that in his experience, “SLA is wild”.

Valenti also brought up his thought that the dinosaur might have been an attempted senior prank. Junior Autumn Lor shared this instinct but questioned it as well. “If this was a senior prank, why did only a few people know about it? Isn’t it supposed to be something for the whole grade?” she wondered.

If the small amount of participants in this event leads it to not fit the usual definition of a senior prank, then something else to consider is that SLA rarely participates in senior pranks, as Lor also pointed out. Because of this, there is no real precedent of what a senior prank at SLA looks like. Maybe this is the start of a new trend, and future classes will embrace the pranking.

As to why the dinosaur vanished so suddenly, the world may never know. I reached out to the owner of the costume but did not receive a response. It appears that the life of every dinosaur in this world is sure to come to an abrupt end.

Taylor Green

Staff Writer

With summer just around the corner, getting a job is now a priority for a lot of teens. Within the SLA student body, there has been an everlasting search for jobs.

Whether it’s from people who need their first job, want to try something new, or want to diversify their resume, many people are in search of summer positions.

Junior Lauren Nicolella is one of those teens.

“For the summer I have applied to around five jobs, but so far I have not heard anything back. The earliest I applied was around March for one and was rejected. The others were more recent and I haven’t heard anything,” Nicolella shared.

A popular reason for teens to want a summer job is so that they can be financially independent and enjoy their summer by being able to make plans with friends. Nicolella spoke about how obtaining her first job would not only be a proud accomplishment, but it would help her become more independent.

“It makes me feel bad to have to depend on my parents for money in order to do the things I want, especially during the summer when I have more things in mind to do like go to concerts,“ Nicolella said.

Although many people want a job that they can keep year-round, some teens would rather start in the summer. Starting a job once school is over allows teenagers to focus more on their studies and not get stressed out by their workload.

“I have running practices four times a week and that would limit my availability. It would make me really nervous and overwhelmed to be so filled up in a schedule involving athletics and a work schedule, “ Nicolella explained.

However, some students can manage both. Junior Kimberly Gucciardi-Kriegh who works for All Point Surveying Company, spoke about how she doesn’t find it difficult to manage a part-time job during the school year.

“The only time I don’t work is during the winter/snow, or rain. I like working whenever I can because it gives me a steady amount of money and it hasn’t interfered with my school work too much.” Gucciardi-Kriegh shared.

Although Gucciardi-Kreigh works year around, she prefers working in the summer.

“It gives me something to do over summer break. I don’t like being cooped up in the house all of the time. I also need more money in the summer because that’s when I hang out with my friends more.” Gucciardi-Kreigh explains.

Although it is a personal preference, only having a job in the summer can be a disadvantage sometimes.

“I feel like there’s a huge disadvantage for only working a summer job. I can’t really see businesses wanted to hire someone for about three months and then that is it. It also doesn’t give you that much experience to add to your resume.” Gucciardi-Kreigh shared.

Overall, a summer job seems to be the best option for a lot of teens. It’s a way for them to start making their own money and to get real-world experience. Keeping the job for longer than just a few months in the summer will also be more beneficial.

“People should definitely try to find a job during the school year that they can keep during the summer or vice versa. It’ll really get their foot in the door for many other places.” Gucciardi-Kreigh said.