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Jayla Wright

Clash of the Arts and STEM: Does SLA Have Any Biases?

May 16, 2019 by Jayla Wright Leave a Comment

Jayla Wright

Copy Editor

Photo Courtesy of Jayla Wright
Photo Courtesy of Jayla Wright

When people first hear of SLA they think it’s a school based in STEM. This assumption makes sense. The school is called Science Leadership Academy. Plus, we are known for our well-rounded science and engineering programs. However, SLA is not just filled with STEM-aligned kids. Students interested in the arts have a place in the community as well.

A problem arises when the students find that there is a divide between the arts and STEM at SLA.

A sample survey finds that a majority of students do find that STEM classes receives more respect and attention than the arts at SLA.

Forms response chart. Question title: Do You Think One Subject Gets More Positive Attention Than The Other At SLA?. Number of responses: 27 responses.

Where does this idea come from? Most likely budget cuts. Budget cuts causes fine arts to receive less funding. Leading to less resources in the art department. There’s also only one art class students are required to take in one half of their freshmen year. Other art classes are delegated as electives.

A majority of teachers do find that STEM and the arts are mostly equal at SLA. The problem lies less in SLA and more in the district and societal expectations.

Science teacher Surinder Kaur states, “A lot of the courses that fall under STEM are required for graduation where as [the] arts is like an elective. So that’s probably part of the reason why there’s more funding towards STEM than [the] arts.”

Dig Vid teacher Anna Walker-Roberts finds that the budget cuts targeting the arts can be due to the reliance of state testing.

Walker-Roberts states, “It’s really hard to test the humanities. It’s really hard to test anything with higher order thinking skills, even in the STEM world. It’s easy to test knowledge and what people can memorize like basic skills. And I think schools put such a focus on that kind of stuff because that’s what the state testing was, that’s where our funding came from, and that caused them to pull away from investing as much in these things that aren’t measurable. But it turns out that human well-being isn’t measurable.”

Many of the teachers consider humanity classes to be a part of the arts. Which is what causes them to see art equal to STEM due to the balanced ratio of arts and humanities classes to STEM courses. This mindset works when considering how strong SLA’s English program is. However, we still only have two language art teachers causing students who want to continue to learn foreign languages to use Rosetta Stone. A program which doesn’t come close to teaching the valuable skills gained from human teachers.

With budget cuts and the well-being of students in mind, teachers try to integrate the arts into their classes. For example, Dig Vid students use both technical and creative skills to create films while those in Advanced Computer Science can code games that allow someone to draw.

Math and Computer Science teacher Victor Hernandez tries to involve self expression in all of his classes. He has his own definition of art, stating that, “It’s the expression and communication of a creative idea or thought.” With this in mind, he opens up the idea of what art can be.

As well as integrating Stem and the arts, Engineering teacher John Kamal tries guide kids away from defining themselves as just art or STEM students.

Kamal states, “There’s some groups of kids that see themselves as that, and I try to actually encourage kids to think of themselves more broadly, and more holistically, and try to develop themselves as whole people, and I most admire and most enjoy being with people that the particular interest that they have like that is just a part of a broader look of the world and enjoyment of all aspects of living and of nature and relationships with people. The teaching cohort at this school is particularly interested in developing whole people and we celebrate especially when we see crossover between STEM and art programs.”

Students are the most affected by the perceived divide between the arts and STEM. They find that the art program needs some changes before it’s at the the same level as STEM’s.

Some of the biggest concerns are resources, art courses offered, and collaboration between art and STEM.

When students look at the art room, they find that it leaves a lot to be desired. Materials, such as paint and paint brushes, look worn and old. They find that updating these and other tools every few years can enhance the program. With new art supplies, those in art classes would be less likely to find the comparisons between the art and STEM courses so extreme.

There is also an issue with just having one art course. Students stated that those who have an interest in the arts either have to take the one art class offered, or look for electives in the humanities to satisfy their creative urges. While the art and humanity classes allow expression, students yearn for more specific mediums of art offered. Taking a general art class and electives that don’t align with a student’s interest makes it harder for them to know for sure what kind of art are they are interested in.

Art oriented senior capstones struggle under both of these issues. With low resources, students have to try their best to get materials they need and oftentimes use substitutions that don’t fit their artistic vision. And without specific art courses, art students have to teach themselves techniques through trial and error to make their craft better. This causes their progress to a completed capstone to be slow and arduous. If they had a source closely related to their topic they could question and learn from they would stumble less on understanding their interest and have a more satisfying capstone.

A common offered solution to this problem was a CTE program for art. This would allow art students to hone in on the different types of art they’re interested in and leave highschool with a certificate, just like the Engineering and Dig Vid students.

Senior Kiah Johnson drew inspiration from Spain’s education system, “In Spain, they have an interest and they stay throughout their interest throughout the whole high school career and then they take a test on that and then do whatever. So I think it should be some aspect of that after you reach a point, so maybe Sophomore year. Sophomore year you should atleast have an idea of what you like. So that would be simpler to just have a whole bunch of electives people have to take so they know what they like.”

Senior Eric Valenti believes the proposed art CTE program could allow for more direct collaboration between art and STEM students

Valenti states he desires, “more things are shown to people where art and STEM are doing STEAM and we learned more of how you can incorporate art and STEM. I wish there was a third track in SLA, like how there’s Dig Vid and Engineering, and maybe there is this art thing. There could be a project where we’re combining the programs. Like this week we’re doing an Art and Engineering thing where the Art and Engineering kids have to work together and create something which is one of their benchmarks. Or the art and Dig Vid kids are like ‘You guys have to make a movie’ and then combine all three of them.”

STEM courses are mostly considered by the student body to be given more attention than the arts. However this is not an issue made by our teachers and staff, but one made by the decisions of the district. SLA still can bridge this divide. Moving into a new building is an opportunity to create improvements in the art and STEM classes, and the environment at SLA encourages students to share opinions that can guide any future changes.

The teachers want both the arts and STEM to succeed, as the lives of students would benefit. Spanish teacher Joselyn Hernandez states, “I do believe that art should be maintained in schools because it fosters creativity.”

Filed Under: Features

Movie Review: Avengers Endgame

May 16, 2019 by Jayla Wright Leave a Comment

Jayla Wright

Copy Editor

Photo Courtesy of Dolby/Marvel Studios

Avenger: Endgame takes place directly after the events of Avengers: Infinity War, in which a purple alien named Thanos eliminates half of the universe’s population with a single snap. Those who survived are left with the rest of their lives to fulfill, only now they’re trying their best to move on from the pain of losing their loved ones.

When I went to see, Avengers: Endgame there wasn’t an empty chair in sight. Avengers movies tend to draw in big crowds, but I’ve never seen one as big and emotive as the one for Endgame.

This particular Marvel movie is becoming a growing success. At the time of writing this, it has become a box office hit, ranking in at second place, with Avatar remaining in the lead. This development isn’t too surprising when considering that Marvel films gain more popularity with each release. Each film comes with a new wave of fans that strengthen the overall love of the franchise. This can be observed during the first two weeks of a film’s release where theatres tend to be more full.

I was used to people clapping and cheering with the occasional loud whisper to their movie companion. However, Endgame watchers were a different breed of moviegoers. They were more expressive and loved to yell their unfiltered opinions. Yes, Blockbuster movies tend to get this type of reception, but pretty much every scene made the crowd react. As the movie progressed, I could feel the rising excitement from waiting for its release bubble over.

Now, if you want to experience that too I suggest you run to the theatres quickly. The rest of this article will include spoilers.

ENDGAME SPOILERS BELOW

I would say that Endgame was a satisfying end to the current collection of movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It did a good job of utilizing most of the characters’ emotional development to move the plot along.

Some time after Thanos’ snap, the remaining Avengers are all doing whatever they can to move on with their lives. Tony Stark has started a family, Hawkeye is out doing vigilante work, Black Widow is trying to command disinterested superheroes, Steve Rogers holds a support group, and mostly everyone else is moving into a their own life routine.

The exception to this would be Thor who has neglected his rule over Asgard and has instead subjected himself to eating, drinking, and playing Fortnite. This characterization of Thor stems from Thor: Ragnarok, where he was shown as more humorous and silly. This interpretation of Thor works well in Ragnarok, but in Endgame I found that some moments of his could’ve been stronger if they toned the jokes down.

Now, I don’t think there’s an issue of having a more light-hearted Thor, as a lot of his scenes were funny. This seems just a issue that stems from the MCU having multiple directors. In Endgame’s case it seemed like the Russo brothers tried to work with the version of Thor that was made from Taika Waititi, however for them their concept was not as strong.

Despite that, the film was filled with small moments that made the film memorable. Such as any of the oddly Bruce-Bannerfied Hulk scenes, when Ant-Man reunites with his daughter, and when Tony Stark talks to his father after going back in time.

Bigger moments impacted all viewers. Steve summoning Mjolnir, Tony Stark’s final scene, and Steve going back in time to reunite with his old love, Peggy.

I found that ending on these ideas was satisfying. I was sad to watch a few characters go, but I found that this was the best way to end their narratives. It also opens up more opportunities for future Marvel movies.

Avengers: Endgame is not only a farewell to characters we love, it’s also an introduction to new stories we’ll cherish.

Filed Under: A&E

Trailer Reviews: Detective Pikachu V.S. Sonic The Hedgehog

May 16, 2019 by Jayla Wright Leave a Comment

Eric Valenti

Jayla Wright

A&E Editor

Copy Editor

Photo Courtesy of ScreenRant

Detective Pikachu

On May 10th, the Detective Pikachu movie will come out. I am super excited to see the film mostly because I am a huge Pokémon fan and kinda geeked out when I heard about the movie. But I was a little skeptical when I saw the first trailer. In the past, films that have used CGI animated creatures and asked real-life actors to conversate with these creatures usually ends up being a total dumpster fire. Mixing animation with real life can sometimes be a little unappealing to the eye and its difficult for the audience to bond with something that is not real.

At first, the trailer definitely seemed slightly off-putting. The textures used for some of the  Pokémon were done tastefully and made them look like mythical creatures. Pikachu, for example, looked pretty good. I thought that the animators did a good job at making Pikachu look both cute but also still make it look real. However, Pokémon like Mr. Mime had a more skin-like texture that made me want to gag a bit because of how leathery and artificial he looked.

Besides the animation, I appreciated that the film used a lot of new actors. The main character’s (Tim Goodman) actor has been in a few big name films, such as Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Paper Towns but in both of those films, he played quite small roles, so hopefully, this film will help improve his career. There was a good blend of new and experienced actors. Choosing Ryan Reynolds to voice Detective Pikachu is both hilarious and really fitting. They took what appears to be one of the cutest characters in the gaming world and gave him the voice of one of the crudest, yet lovable actors. Might I just say that this is: perfection.

From what I could gather from the trailer, the plot seems to be about Tim Goodman, a young kid who lives in Rhyme city. Due to mysterious circumstances, Tim’s father goes missing and with the help of Detective Pikachu, hopefully, with Pikachu and some other friends and Pokémon Tim will be able to find his father. I think a simple plot like this really allows the audience to get more invested with the extravagant world building that we get to see in the trailer. Mysteries always keep people’s attention so I think that a lot of people will come whether or not their Pokémon fans.

I have high hopes for the Detective Pikachu movie. The movie may end up having a lot of flaws and may not do well on Rotten Tomatoes but ultimately I think audiences will definitely appreciate it. There has never been a live-action Pokémon film and there isn’t a lot of good live-action films in general. I am super excited to see this film and I definitely think this is what good CGI look like. Grab your magnifying glass and your Pokémon plush, and give Detective Pikachu a chance.

Sonic The Hedgehog

I was idly scrolling through various social media apps before I was hit by a wave of blue furry men. Figuring that the trailer for the upcoming Sonic The Hedgehog movie had caused all of this uproar I decided to check out the trailer myself before making any judgments.

The trailer shows a cop helping Sonic escape the clutches of the government and Dr. Robotnik who want to use Sonic’s powers for evil purposes. The trailer was pretty routine for an action movie. There was comedic moments, dramatic scenes, and Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise” playing in the background (Yeah…  that was an interesting song choice).

As for the look of the speedy hedgehog. Sonic’s hands, feet, and body seemed awkward, but I overlooked this fact as I believed the rest of his design couldn’t be too bad. That thought lasted until I saw his teeth. Gah! It’s best described as if there were a human’s teeth stuck onto the face of a semi-realistic hedgehog. His overall look gave the impression that there were attempts to make him cartoony, but over time he was given more and more realistic traits until he was entrenched in uncanniness.

What saved the trailer was Jim Carrey’s role as Dr. Robotnik. Despite how bizarre the film seems to be, I believe Carrey will put his all into it. He seems to be having fun playing the scientist and the trailer has an after credits scene where Carrey looks more like the familiar Robotnik from the Sonic franchise.

When I came back to social media I saw the usual fans upset about the trailer, but also artists making fanmade redesigns of the movie’s version of Sonic. They all looked great, but it made me disappointed that fans did better than the movie’s producers at capturing the right look for the character. It gave the impression that the movie did not get enough passion as needed. Which is a shame, as live-action CGI films tend to not do well and this one could’ve strived to break that mold.

There’s added humiliation to the movie’s negative reception when you compare it to the Detective Pikachu. Both movies are live-action CGI, but only one has made something with love and dedication. The current Pokémon movie is an example of what the Sonic movie could have been.

After facing backlash, Sonic The Hedgehog’s Director tweeted on May 2nd, “Thank you for the support. And the criticism. The message is loud and clear… you aren’t happy with the design & you want changes. It’s going to happen. Everyone at Paramount & Sega are fully committed to making this character the BEST he can be…”

This decision sounds good in theory, but the movie’s release date hasn’t been changed, leaving animators 6 months to create improvements. All in all, this seems like a recipe for disaster.

If you’re curious towards how Sonic The Hedgehog will pan out, see it in theatres November 8th. But I won’t blame you if you do literally anything but that.

Filed Under: A&E

Open Campus Privilege at SLA

May 9, 2019 by Jayla Wright Leave a Comment

Opinion Editor

Amelia Benamara

As the fourth quarter school year continues, the seniors at SLA Center CIty made it their goal to bring back the infamous open campus during lunch bands.

Throughout the school year,  rumors have circulated that the open campus policy was not to take place this year due to multiple reasons.

Although nothing was confirmed, many students went around saying that the School faculty had decided to put a stop to the plan because of many times students were caught sneaking out of the building during lunch hours. Another rumor suggested that it was  the senior class from last year who had ruined this year’s class’ chance for the privilege of leaving school during lunch.

The answer was much simpler.

“Somebody asked either Mr. Lehmann or Jeremy, and one of them responded ‘that’s not a thing anymore, we aren’t doing that’, whatever we felt like saying at the time — but it wasn’t true.” health teacher SLA’s principle, Ms. Lennese states.

In reality, open campus was something that faculty would wait for students to bring forth, and then decide to make it happen or not,rather than something that automatically happens every year.

The offer is not automatic, because it also hasn’t been entirely successful.

“There is no senior class that has maintained it for the whole fourth quarter,” Ms. Martin mentioned about the seniors in the past years. “That doesn’t mean I do not have hope that this year’s senior class will make it further, long as they follow the rules.”

This year, the issue was brought to school administrators by multiple senior students like Kyianna Thomas as one of the members of SLA’s Black Student Union as well as Bronwyn Goldschneider.

“After talking with a group of seniors, I emailed Ms. Martin about open campus. She then told me to meet her after school to talk about a potential plan. Later on, I met with her again to discuss the finalized proposal.” Goldschneider continued to explain, “After a good proposal was drafted up, I was told it would have to be approved by Ms. Leanness/Mr. Lehmann. The plan must have seemed fair because it was approved fairly quickly.”

Then, on April 6th, the senior advisories had an advisory meeting in the cafe where advisors validated the open campus for the quarter. Permission slips with the rules that needed to be followed On April 11th, students had the opportunity to go out  for lunch for the first time.

According to the seniors who took advantage of the privilege, the first day of open campus went really well. They enjoyed the change to  get fresh air even if it’s just for a couple minutes especially when students are stuck in a building for 7 hours straight.

“It felt very good to just be out of the building and to be able to sit down and talk with two of my friends at Arch Gourmet.” Eric Valenti confessed, “Even towards the end of lunch, I saw a number of my peers rushing to make it back in time — and I think this shows the dedication and care they have towards following all of the rules for open campus.”

Several seniors stated that they  deserve to be let out during lunch due to their improved behaviour.

“It isn’t deniable that our past has made a lot of trouble, but we’ve come a long way and our class is definitely way more unified than the other gardes.” Senior Eric Valenti stated.

Now that the door is open, will the senior class maintain the 4th quarter open campus privilege by following all of the rules that apply?

The rules listed on the advisory sheet that students and the faculty have negotiated for include:

  • You must be on track to graduate to be eligible
  • No interim report 4th quarter
  • No school or class cuts from time of announcement
  • Submit permission slip signed by parents to advisor
  • Must sign out and in
  • Can not sign in or out another student
  • Must not be late to class
  • Students who receive interims lose off-campus privilege.
  • Administration has the right to review any students’ privileges.

“We have already lasted longer than some previous classes and as far as I know we haven’t had many if any strikes yet. We’re definitely really close as a class and it will be easier for us to be on top of each other if one of us isn’t following the rules.” Valenti speaks on his hopes for his class.

Filed Under: News

Environmental Consciousness at SLA

March 23, 2019 by Jayla Wright Leave a Comment

Photo Courtesy of Kin Cheung/NPR

Amelia Benamara

Staff Writer

On March 15th the People’s Climate March was held in City Hall, where hundreds of students left school early to show their passion for the environmental change. Organizations Friends of the Earth and Plan B are challenging the government’s plans to expand climate change through gatherings such as the march.

The Climate Change protest  involved students coming together to push elected officials towards creating policy changes regarding our treatment of the environment and the prevention of further climate change. Dozens of posters arose, visible with puns and quotes that reflected the level of worry by many individuals in the School District of Philadelphia.

The environment has been at risk for many years now, as we could see with the recent weather. In these most recent weeks, the SLA community has noticed a dramatic back and forth switch with the weather.

“I did my own research on climate and it scared me because there is so much talk about how many years left to live and how the Earth is no longer livable,” Junior Laila Kerbag expresses her fear.

Although some may be oblivious to the sudden changes, many students at SLA’s main campus are taking multiple actions to bring back the healthy Earth that once was.

“Honestly, I’m afraid for the future of our environment and am alarmed at how the problem is dismissed by people everywhere, whether that be government officials or just everyday people. Senior Olivia Musselman speaks upon her worries, “in America, we brush off the effects of climate change and plastic pollution because we often aren’t seeing those effects that much on our soil.”

It has reached the point in life where the climate change in our environment is completely noticeable as well as the ability to feel it happening around us. A number of SLA students have very strong opinions about the things they do personally to avoid these changes.

“There is plenty of factual, scientific evidence supporting that greenhouse gasses, plastic pollution, runoff, dumping, the overproduction of cattle, landfills, the release of greenhouse gasses from landfills, the textile industry, and a multitude of other things prove that humans are the cause of climate change and other negative changes in our environment,” Musselman expands on the scientific aspect.

The SLA body can see the differences and affects around us, as well as all over the world. Climate change is no longer just an “issue” that needs repairing before it damages us because as people are going about their daily lives, climate change is destroying our world.“

The younger generation, isn’t being informed enough about the matter. It affects their age groups most, because climate change is a slow process that will eventually affect their future. At SLA, students declare that the community doesn’t exactly do an acceptable duty of keeping up with climate change news and doing everything in their power to prevent it.

Like many are aware of, the school doesn’t recycle — rather they pay to do so. As a community, students and the faculty can do better considering we are in the heart of the city where the Climate March was held.

Although there was an acceptable amount of students who attended the walk out to show their support and dedication, there was a handle full of students who used the protest as an excuse to skip class rather than because than to show their support.

“The reason for skipping school and going to the strike was planning for a change that we may not have due to climate change,” Laila Kerbag stated, “everyone gathered around city hall with signs and a couple of people were speaking.”

As a community, the SLA center city campus needs to prioritize the environment’s health, as well as getting students used to taking care of the atmosphere.

“Students at SLA should push the district to provide recycling bins where students can sort out the trash into plastics, glass, and more. The faculty in the building should support the students as well as speak up the administration about energy efficient practices. And together, students, teachers, and administrators need to be on the same page to reduce a smaller ecological footprint at SLA,” stated science teacher Surinder Kaur.

Increasing mindfulness around sustainability is one change. Introducing a recycling system is a good idea, but ultimately, only 9% of trash is actually recycled (https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/07/plastic-produced-recycling-waste-ocean-trash-debris-environment/). With this being a proven fact, a student suggests a possible change the community can act upon.

“A better solution to that problem would be to try using more sustainable materials in our school, such as having teachers have all assignments online instead of on paper. In an ideal world, school lunches would be served on reusable plates with reusable utensils to reduce our use of styrofoam and plastics, but that requires more funding from the district,” says Olivia Musselman.

As we move forward, the smallest changes people make will implement a big change within the environment — even with it being a slow improvement.

Filed Under: News

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