SLA Media

SLAMedia is a publication of the news for the Science Leadership Academy community. Writers come from the student body in 10th, 11th, and 12th grades. We work in unison to create a functioning paper with biweekly postings on a variety of events.

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Editorial: Pop SLA’s “Liberal Bubble”

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The 2012 Presidential election is near and SLA students are talking about it — but that doesn’t mean they’re doing a good job.

SLA prides itself on an environment that allows for diverse students, but when a student speaks out with Republican views, there’s some surprised faces. It’s assumed that the community is predominantly liberal.

This is troubling for a number of reasons. As adolescents, we know the candidates, but we don’t always learn their ideas, goals, and views. And due to ignorance, once again we have a distorted perception of the election and its candidates.

The Internet and social media in particular — so critical to SLA’s culture — reinforce this “liberal bubble” we live in. Facebook News Feeds carry a lot of mockery pertaining to the main candidates. To Obama’s advantage, he’s more invested in the social media scene, which gives avid Internet users, like us, a skewed view of potential nominees.

Another example is Googling “completely wrong” and in the images section, there are a plethora amount of images presenting Republican candidate Mitt Romney.

Social media is not the only influence on teen views. One’s parents and community all affect how interested young people are in the elections. Because the majority of the community is liberal, it is perceived to be 100% liberal. This is what leads to the “bubble” at SLA.

One way to burst the bubble is to take a closer look at the policies of who you support. For example, take Obama’s “Race to the Top” program. According to the U.S. Department of Education, “Awards in Race to the Top will go to States that are leading the way with ambitious yet achievable plans for implementing coherent, compelling, and comprehensive education reform.” [Via here]

This means that states with the highest test scores will be funded more than those who don’t. This program is likely to increase education inequity–not something at SLA believes in, but something most of us don’t know about.

So, what can SLA students do to pop the “liberal bubble”? Here are some suggestions:

  • Tear away from Facebook News Feeds and search for unbiased information from Committee of 70, League of Women Voters, or FactCheck.org
  • Read both liberal and conservative sources; If you’re going to watch Fox News, watch MSNBC as well, or if you’re going to read The New York Times, read The Wall Street Journal too.
  • Be more open to conservative voices, especially Republicans at SLA.
  • Decide what issues matter to you personally, and then get the facts.

Unsigned editorials are written and approved by the SLAMedia Editorial Staff. They do not reflect the opinion of Science Leadership Academy and its employees.

Ghosts and Ghouls: SLA Spooks on Halloween

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Science Leadership Academy celebrated Halloween in style

Ahora, Los Estudiantes Aprenden Español de Rosetta Stone

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Tucker Bartholomew in Mr. Sanchez’s Rosetta Stone class.

DeShawn McLeod & Melanie Harrington

Staff Writers

Introduced to the new 2012-2013 school year at SLA, Spanish classes 3 and 5 have been given the substitute opportunity to learn another language by using Rosetta Stone.

Spanish teachers Melanie Manuel, Juan Sanchez, Pearl Jonas, and Mark Bey all facilitate these classes and assist students for help.

Due to a budget decision, Spanish teacher Jillian Gierke was laid off from the Spanish department. In her departure, it was decided that language software Rosetta Stone would suffice.

Principal Chris Lehmann believes, “SLA is a unique position, due to the 1 to 1 laptop program and the tech savvyness of SLA students, to leverage Rosetta Stone in ways that are powerful.”

Teachers are hoping the software will be well received. However, students participating in the program and have mixed feelings.

Junior Sara Nesbitt commented, “I don’t like the switch. I’d rather be in a classroom with a teacher teaching.”

Sophomores Micah Getz and Maggie Hohenstein both echoed Nesbitt’s point.

Not all students are negative about the change. Junior Dejah Harley said, “I do like the switch because you can go back and redo it and then by redoing it you can really solidify it in your head.”

Nesbitt agreed that there are advantages to have Rosetta Stone in classroom.

“I don’t have to do any homework because we don’t take the headphones home so there’s plenty of time to do it in class,” Nesbitt commented, “which works out better because I can focus on other classes.”

Along with Nesbitt, Getz agreed, “Yeah, [Rosetta Stone] works pretty well with my schedule. I can do it at home. I can do it at school. And I have a whole entire period to get it done unlike most online courses I’ve done.”

Different types of resources Rosetta Stone has to offer ranges from talking to native speakers to conquering matching games.

The usual process of learning from Rosetta Stone consists of, “Core lessons. And these core lessons are 30+ pages of questions with maybe six or seven questions each page.” Harley stated.

After, “They offer a milestone at the end of each unit to see if you comprehended what you learned,” Junior Byshera Moore-Williams said.

Although students are compliant with the work, that doesn’t mean that Rosetta Stone will stay.

“Is it something that will continue? I don’t think we know yet,” said Principal Lehmann. “I think it depends. I think this is going to be a really interesting year to listen to students, to get a sense from both students and from teachers what they thought were the potential positives of the program, what they thought the drawbacks of the program.”

There is no long-term plan for keeping the program — yet.

“I think come the next budget cycle we’re going to have to really revaluate and get a sense of what worked and what didn’t and whether or not this is something we want to continue,” Lehmann stated.

Mr. Sanchez has a positive attitude with the indefinite implementation of Rosetta Stone.

“One of the things that we stress here at SLA is students become more independent in their learning and self driven and using technology,” he said, “and Rosetta Stone definitely moves in both of those directions.”

Ms. Manuel also believes there are positives to the software.

“It gives them the option to redo all the quizzes and gives them the option to go at their own pace. It gives them the option to choose where they want to start. Because, you could be in Spanish 5, but you might even want to start at the Spanish 2 level,” she said.

Teachers are aware that student have mixed feelings about receiving the software.

“It looks like a lot of them are actually enjoying it. Some of them get frustrated with it because they’re not used to it,” Ms. Manuel said.

Mr. Sanchez acknowledged student frustration:” I think most [students] realized that this was a cost cutting measure and they do want to go back to actually having a teacher.”

But, on the bright side, “They’re doing their work, they’re doing fine,” he said.

Students are starting to figure out strategies for succeeding in the course, like doing verbal assignments at home and teachers regulating the class’ progress so the majority of the class is on the same page.

Overall,  “It was the best fix to a really bad situation,” Mr. Lehmann said.

Boys Ultimate Team Expands, Prepares for Spring

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By Sara Nesbitt

Staff Writer

The SLA Boys Ultimate Team has just finished their second season with Principal Lehmann as coach.

This year, the team saw a major expansion, with about 30 players joining the fall season.

Team Captains and Juniors Rob Jenkins and Matthew Marshall are confident about how the year will play out. The fall season is mostly a time for training, as the regular game season happens in the spring.

“As the season goes on, we’re improving. The fall is just about getting better.” Marshall said.

The team is now getting used to their 6:30am practices, and conditioning through the hallways before school starts.

“Practices are sleepy, but by 7:30 it gets fun, “ said Jenkins. “Once you get into the habit they are pretty easy to bare with, but if you don’t commit its hard to adjust.”

The latest tournament that took place on Oct. 20th ended in victory. The team won 3 out of their 4 games played.

“Tournaments are a blast, when you have to play 4 games in a day or 7 games in a weekend, thats where the conditioning and the depth really comes through.” Principal and Coach Lehmann said. “Those are really the moments where you see the teams heart come through.”

Lehmann is more than happy with the expanding group.

“I am thrilled with how hard the team is working and the growth of the team.” he said. “I couldn’t be more thrilled with the way Rob and Matt have stepped into their leadership roles.”  Jenkins and Marshall moved up to captain status after the previous captains graduated last year.

“It’s amazing being captain, especially when you come up from the first year learning that the sport existed to the leader of the team.” Jenkins said.

The team is working together for a great spring season, and they are all advocating Ultimate for new players.

“I expect most if not all wins this spring. Everyones going to be getting better.” Marshall said.

Lehmann says, “You can’t help but see the boys and the girls come in from a morning practice sweaty and muddy and smiling. They really had the passion for it, and they are really the natural leaders.”

Combatting the filth at SLA

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Teachers and Students agree: SLA had been getting dirtier.

Many people at SLA have been overheard talking about some of the “trouble spots” in the school. Common spots to find litter are the pool and the ballrooms, where students leave packaging and food from lunch.

Things get more extreme in places like back stairwell, where people have left litter, extra chairs, and other messes. Even in the bathrooms, weaves, unsanitary napkins, and other trash have been found on the floor and in the sinks.

The littering has resulted in some gross consequences. Senior Winston Wright has a tale about bugs.

“During the beginning of preseason for soccer we wanted to use first floor bathroom in the morning but couldn’t because there was like 4 or 5 cockroaches running around,” he said.

As popular as SLA is, there are constantly visitors viewing our school and speaking with students. Staff is concerned about how the school looks to outsiders.

“As somebody who has to give tours all the time, it’s embarrassing when the school’s not at its best,” Said ILP Coordinator Jeremy Spry.

“The truth is that the majority of the school is clean most of the time there is just some trouble spots–everybody finds it gross but no one tries to change the culture, we are living in our own filth.” Said English teacher, Mrs. Pahomov.

In response to this problem, Health and Fitness Teacher Mrs. Martin thought of an idea to keep the school in tact and cleaner: have the students take care of the space in which they must work every day.

SLA’s new Space Adoption program officially started on the first day of school, where advisories picked…

Advisories must now clean up that space and make a sign posted there, encouraging others to keep it nice.

“You are not the new janitors for that space,” Ms. Pahomov said. “The idea is that you help beautify it, and convince others to keep it nice. Plus you have to remember that every space in the school belongs to an advisory — if you mess with it, you’re messing with them.”

One of the biggest problems at SLA is with trash and leftover mess from lunch. It’s not really noticeable to students since it’s such a normality to them now. The cleaning ladies are then left to clean up the student messes. Their job is to clean the school in general, not to clean after the disrespectful students leaving their trash behind.

SLA students seem to have some mixed feelings towards the project.

Senior Alex Johnson said,” Somewhat at first I believe it will help, but well see how it ends up as the months go on.”

“I think this is just a step towards becoming the best school we can be,” Mrs. Martin said. “When you have limited resources, your people are the best resource.”

 

Written by Isabela Supovitz-Aznar & Jamie Murphy