Lauren Nicolella

Avi Cantor

Staff Writer

The Science Leadership Academy community is no stranger to budget cuts and overall financial issues. From having a small donor base to pull from for fundraising events, to not having enough money to have teachers for Spanish 3 and 4, SLA and every other Philadelphia public school has had to wrestle with funding issues.

The latest victim of such problems is the SLA and Ben Franklin sports teams.

According to SLA athletic director Matt Kay, all teams will merge with the exception of the boy’s and girl’s basketball teams.

“[The merge was decided upon] to save money so that they don’t have to pay all the coaches,” Kay stated.

He continued by explaining that there were no meetings with the President of the Public League Jimmy Lynch, to debate this issue. “We didn’t have a choice,” he explained.

While the veteran English teacher’s statements may have been a bit blunt, he has a point. For years, the school district has been finding new ways to cut certain programs that aren’t directly tied to the required curriculum for public schools.

Such cuts include the defunding of art, computer science, drama and theater programs across the city that have left schools across the city without creative ways to express themselves outside the classroom.

However, when it comes to athletics at SLA, this decision could have several different implications.

Possibly the most optimal would be that the sports teams could become more competitive. Given that teams will now have more players who will be able to try out, there is a higher likelihood of creating a stronger, more competitive team.

For example, at least two SLA students–freshman Zahfir McCullough and sophomore Kyree Yates–plan to try out for the Ben Franklin football team and will likely prove to be useful assets for a developing squad that went 7-5 last season.

However, the downsides are much more abundant than the upsides.

Junior Amani Harb explained that the SLA volleyball team needs very few if any new players. She added that creating a junior varsity team likely comprised of mainly Ben Franklin girls might make for ineffective practices for the girls who already know the game quite well.

“Practice isn’t practice it’s you being a teacher to people who don’t know volleyball,” Harb said.

Another issue that this competitive edge may create is a decline in students who just want to try a sport out. If an under experienced student saw a highly competitive baseball team, for example, they may not want to try out fearing that they’ll be well behind their higher skilled counterparts.

To say that this decision is definitively bad or good is hard to say but how both schools approach sports will forever be altered.

Lauren Nicolella & Sukainah Hasan

Staff Writers

Every teacher at SLA has their own grading policy, which is usually introduced at the beginning of each school year to lay down baseline expectations for grading, late work, and absences.

But how do teachers develop these policies? And how do they affect their students?

History teacher, Jason Todd, who teaches half of the sophomores and seniors, explained how there are more individual grading policies for each classroom, and it differs from the other Sophomore World History teacher, Dan Symonds.

“The dynamic of each class is different, and there are a number of factors that go into that. I play a role in creating that, and some classes seem more engaged than others.” says Todd.

All sophomores go through the Cortez trial, where they are given a role to defend in a simulation that lasts for at least a week. Because no class or teacher at SLA is the same. Each of the classes works through the project at their own pace with different approaches.

Mr. Todd explained that the project is a product of SLA’s combination of collaboration and autonomy for teachers.

“The trial is something Mr. Symonds and I have collaborated on and shared ideas on, but outside of collaborating on the unit, we haven’t touched base on reflecting on how it went during each class.” said Todd.

Mr. Todd has not expressed any concerns with students or streams, but instead is always looking for ways to improve his classroom and receive feedback from students about assignments and benchmarks.

“If I feel like the students are overwhelmed or I look at the calendar and I see other teachers have projects I’ll usually try to pull back and not give as much homework. I’ve been trying to give more time for longer readings, so they can be broken down and give more time to do a second part.”

Mr. Todd also takes personal feedback seriously, using emails from students and an end of the year survey to improve on specific units and benchmarks.

“I do listen to the general consensus and feedback. If I get a few emails from kids, I’ll pull some aside and try to engage in how overwhelmed they are.”

Symonds has also made student health his top priority when starting this school year.

“For the first day for freshmen, I assigned sleep as their homework. I try to make room so it’s equally as important to focus on learning,” Symonds explained. “I try to be very accommodating when it comes to health.”

He is known for giving students some extra time to do work, only when he sees that they are being genuine about struggling rather than making up a false story that is just a fault of being lazy and procrastinating.

On a personal level, it is difficult for teachers to create time to grade, as they are constantly finding ways to improve their schedules and plan out lessons that can align for when grades need to be due. They try to accommodate to the students without damaging their sleep schedule too much.

“I made a pledge to my world history class that if I don’t grade it within two weeks, it’s an automatic 100%,” says Symonds.

After speaking to some teachers, we decided to interview a freshman and a sophomore to see if students feel the same way about the grading policies that their teachers have. The first question that we asked both students was: How do you feel about the grading policies for each teacher?

“Some of my teachers grade slower than others,”  sophomore Ami Doumbia started to explain. “The ones that are grading slower than others, are making an effort to grade faster since lots of students are complaining about it.”

When we asked freshman Imajay Harvey the same question, he also stated that some of his teachers grade slowly.

The second question that we asked both students was: Do different grading policies make it harder to work in certain classes?

“Yes, because since some of my teachers grade slow, sometimes I don’t get to see my overall grade, until the end of the quarter,” Imajay stated. “Since this is the case, it doesn’t allow me to make up any assignments to make my grade higher than I want it to be.”

When I asked Ami the same question, she also stated: “It does make it harder to work in certain classes, because the more that teachers grade slower, the more students won’t have a chance to change their grade, and see what they can actually improve on.”

Based off of these responses, it shows how it makes it harder for students to work to get a good grade in certain classes, because of how some teachers grade. The next question that I asked both students was: Does your teacher grade at a pace that makes you satisfied or annoyed?

“Most teachers grade at a pace that I’m satisfied  because the grades that we get is what we deserve” Ami explained.

When Imajay was asked this question, he stated, “The way some of my teacher’s grading pace are makes me annoyed, because of how slow I receive feedback on assignments.”

So how should students deal with these challenges?

“The ability to communicate about your education is important,” Imajay said.

When we asked Ami this she also said: “Communication with a student and teacher is important, because some teachers grade harshly without knowing the mindset of a student. A teacher might say something, but students may have taken it the wrong perspective and it faulted into their grade.”

SLA teachers are very open to criticism, and receiving feedback so they understand what could be better for those apart of their class the following year. Mr. Symonds explained how he uses methods like anonymous surveys, email individuals, or personal conversations — but that those comments do take a toll sometimes.

“I try and open myself to feedback and criticism, but that’s hard to do. Every time I say ‘Be honest, what do you think?’ and somebody’s actually honest, it still hurts.”

Despite this challenge, Mr. Symonds and other SLA teachers feel the effort is worth it because they’re constantly trying to improve their classrooms.

“I think people are more willing to give me feedback because they understand I am still learning. Every teacher really is still learning.”

Juliana Long, Avi Cantor & Sanaa Scott-Wheeler

Staff Writers

Ever since Temple’s Mumps outbreak began in March of this year, Philadelphia schools have been forced to confront the issue of parents who choose not to vaccinate their children — and SLA is no exception.

So, what’s the big problem with choosing not to vaccinate your kids? Are there unvaccinated students at SLA? And how does that affect the student body? School Nurse Onnie Kelley explained that having unvaccinated students in the population puts those with autoimmune disorders, who physically can’t get vaccinated, in danger.

“You don’t want those kids to be in jeopardy because of parents who won’t vaccinate their healthy kids,” she said. “It’s just terrible.”

SLA Math teacher Bradford Latimer, who has two elementary school-age children, has experienced this situation on a more personal level. When we asked him if his children were vaccinated, he didn’t hesitate to confirm this. “

They are vaccinated because there are a lot of easily preventable diseases that we’ve eradicated and I feel very very strongly that it’s our responsibility as a society to make sure that those diseases remain eradicated.”

Addressing the “larger community health issue” is another reason why he vaccinates his kids. He doesn’t want these types of diseases reappearing in society when there’s a clear solution to continue their eradication. Mr. Latimer says he worries about kids who physically cannot get vaccinated being in public school because kids around them may not be vaccinated due to their parents’ personal choices.

SLAMedia approached a student we knew to be unvaccinated, but they declined to be interviewed. Seeking answers about  the anti-vax community at SLA – or potentially the lack thereof — we turned to Nurse Kelley for more information

Later we found out from her that there actually is a very strong presence of anti-vaccination parents at SLA.

When asked about experiences with SLA parents who refuse to vaccinate their students, she says that “It’s very, very, very hard because I can’t imagine that people that don’t vaccinate in this community don’t love their children. They do, and they have been persuaded by some literature or some philosophy, and you can’t really dispute that.”

She spoke a little bit about specific but anonymous cases of SLA anti-vaccination parents, “Surprisingly, they’re really educated people. They have taken time to think this out, and they’re convinced that they’re on the right side of thinking.”

We asked her about her efforts to educate SLA parents about vaccinations, about which she feels as though there’s only so much she can do, stating that “It’s very, very hard to confront a parent on strong beliefs about their children and I think it needs to be done way above my level.”

She also mentioned that some parents “look down on me and say, ‘Well, you’re just a nurse. What do you know?’ So I try to point people in the right direction, but it usually doesn’t end well.”

Nurse Kelley is solemn about the potential ramifications of not vaccinating.

“As long as the law allows kids without a medical exemption, for just a philosophical exemption, to come to school unvaccinated, there will be parents who are poorly informed and possibly disenfranchised, who do not understand what they’re doing when they don’t vaccinate their children.”

It was made clear to us through these interviews that refusing to vaccinate children is a generally very controversial and harmful decision for parents to make. The health department claimed that it is doing all that they can do to improve this issue at SLA.

Avi Cantor

Staff Writer

The DIY revolution is taking over as modern businesses model for many young entrepreneurs, including SLA students.

Senior Bronwyn Goldshneider and Junior Sanaa Scott-Wheeler have both utilized their talents to create successful companies.

Both businesses target young adults, have made substantial profits and were self-made based off of something they were passionate about.  

In Scott-Wheeler’s case, Natural Y’U was born in her aunt’s kitchen and started due to a need for money to pay for a trip she was going on.

“It was something I always wanted to do, but I kept putting it off,” Scott-Wheeler explained.

The SLA junior makes lotion designed to “help boost your mental state”. She uses coconut oil, shea butter, almond oil– which she may switch to accommodate those with allergies–and cocoa butter.

She melts that mixture freezes it, and then whips it up to give it the smooth consistency needed for lotion. This is all done by her hands and her hands only.

Back in late 2018 when the business began, she would make enough lotion for five mason jars. This endeavor would take upwards of two hours and caused a lot of pressure on her arms.

But this isn’t merely a hobby for her.

Scott-Wheeler sells mason jars of lotion for $10 in school and $12 outside of school. She approximates that she’s made around $300 in under four months. However, this isn’t even her main job or her true passion.

The young entrepreneur has her sights set on the aromatherapy field and considers this business a good entry point for her beginnings in the field.

Senior Bronwyn Goldshneider started her own company, Chiaki (pronounced: SHEE-YA-KEE) Designs, last summer after interning for a tailor on South Street.

After hand making her own prom dress for junior prom, her friends and peers flooded her with requests to make their prom dresses. The 18 year-old went to work and made dresses for several of her SLA friends, along with girls from GAMP and other Philly schools.

Despite starting in the teenage market, Goldshneider doesn’t exclusively target her age group.

“I’m not quite sure what my target base is,” she stated.

However, unlike Scott-Wheeler, she wants to pursue this as a career.

“That’s what I want to do for the rest of my life,” she said jubilantly.

Goldshneider has gotten into both academic schools like Clark, Temple, Fordham University as well as Parsons School of Design, Pratt Institute and Case Western Reserve University so she’s well on her way to achieving her goal of “making high-quality clothing”.

This emphasis on quality over quantity is one of the driving principles behind her company. Her distaste in “fast fashion” outlets like H&M and Forever 21 fuels her drive to create “ethical, well-made clothes” that “portray your personality to the world”. However, this isn’t all that surprising considering her past business venture.

Throughout the last two years, Goldshneider and several of her SLA and GAMP peers have run Racial Unity, an initiative that spreads racial awareness and positivity in order to combat the racial divisiveness that she and her peers experienced as a result of the Trump campaign. She is now integrating that vision into the fashion world.

Through her senior project, a fashion show with models of all races, shapes, and sizes, she is promoting this message of inclusivity and diversity in a powerful way that incorporates her fashion, natural talent, and friends.

The entrepreneurialism found at SLA is a prime example of how passions can make a difference. Whether that is promoting mental and physical health or equality, SLA students are at the forefront of meaningful innovation and that train isn’t derailing any time soon.

Jayla Wright

Copy Editor

The Nintendo Switch has swept SLA into a frenzy. Whenever students seem to get a chance they huddle together with their consoles and get ready to fight in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. One of these students is senior Ameer Johnson, whose love for the fighting game pushed him to create a Smash Tournament at SLA.

Starting from the beginning of the school week, kids face off in head to head battles and advance through a bracket system. Players are placed based on skill and previously beaten matches with the highest ranked players fighting the lowest ranked first. This is to prevent higher ranked players from knocking each other out in the first round. By Friday, everyone gathers in front of a big screen to watch the best players battle until a winner emerges.  

Johnson played casually after the game’s release and realized there was no good way to gauge a person’s skill. To solve this issue, he created the tournament so players at SLA could improve.

A similar attempt was done in the past with Smash 64, but it wasn’t a success. Johnson tried again with Ultimate, but this time was different. Now, the tournament was made with a schedule and restrictions all adding up to fun and organized experience.

The tournament’s well-crafted system is what allows it to run smoothly. Interested players fill out a Google form stating their schedule so the tournament can be planned around whenever they’re free. Restrictions, such as players having to fight the day they’re in school, are placed to allow the tournament to run its course without any hiccups.

This system allows players to not stress over the technicalities of the tournament and instead focus on the matches and each other.

Smash opened Johnson to talking and hanging out with kids he usually doesn’t interact with, forging stronger relationships. He states “Even when I’m having issues with some different people, I think just playing Smash helps me mend the relationship with some of these people. I felt like I’ve gotten closer to certain players that I otherwise probably wouldn’t talk to if I didn’t play Smash and there’s a lot of people who were in the tournament and I’ve had to talk to face to face and we’ve been more cool outside of Smash.”

A mutual spark for Smash draws SLA students together. Most members of the tournament would cite Johnson as the reason for joining. Such students like senior Sarah Berg who finds herself a minority in the tournament.

“I am the highest ranked girl, I am the best girl in the tournament by far…  I am the only girl on the tournament.” states Berg.

Gaming, especially fighting games, is seen as more masculine and aggressive which can deter girls from joining tournaments. Berg has one message for any girls considering to join.

“I wish there were more girls cause it is a stereotype that girls can’t game or whatever and I joked about it before during matches when I’ve messed up, like ‘Oh I’m a girl’.” states Berg.

Despite being the only girl, Sarah appreciates the tournaments. The more she participates in, the better she gets. She wins more and more matches while being cheered on by her teammates. The tournaments provide a space away from the workload of school and a way to be with others.

Tournaments can involve blasted music, jokes, and people laughing. Some players see this as an opportunity to have fun, others a chance to be competitive, but for senior Sean DeSilva, he prefers to use it as an opportunity to learn.

Like Berg, DeSilva was also recommended to join by Johnson. He had been playing Smash casually on his own before deciding to apply what he practiced into the tournament. Players who are not top-ranked mostly play for the experience.

While there is some focus on getting better, rank is not everything. The players come together for the love of the game first and foremost. Moving up in the tanks is a fun challenge, not a sole goal.

DeSilva states “No one really thinks of the rank or anything like that. Everyone is treated equally.” He continues and says, “There’s a silent acknowledgment of everyone’s rank and nothing is really said because that would just be rude, so everyone understands each other’s capabilities in the game.”

Smash can be more than a game. It starts communities, provides a challenge, and creates friendships. This is evidently shown by the players in the tournament. If you want to have the same experience talk to Ameer Johnson about joining. You’ll appreciate the friends you make on your path to victory.