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Laptop Tips and Tricks For Freshmen (and Upperclassmen Too)

November 1, 2011 by lpahomov 4 Comments

By Marina Stuart

Staff Writer

At SLA, laptops are the pencils, the paper, the textbook, the calculator, the most efficient way to communicate with anyone, anywhere in the world. They are the most important tool ever, and should be treated as such.

This article will help teach underclassmen and remind upperclassmen how to take care of and use the laptop to it’s fullest extent.

How to Properly Treat a

Laptop
How to carry it: in your bag, or with two hands.
What not to do: carry it by the lid, carry it with one hand, type and walk at the same time, or anything else that could endanger the life of your lappie. All of the previous example could ruin your laptop or cause it to someday end up in the tech office, where once it goes in…you won’t see it for about two weeks.

How to Preserve Your Battery

– Do not always keep your computer plugged in. Letting the battery drain is a natural part of life and is healthy for you laptop. Now in school your laptop might be losing power quickly so here are a few ways to keep it from doing that.
– Do not keep your brigh

tness up to the fullest extent.
– Remember to quit applications, too many open will drain your battery and make your computer run slower.
– When you are not using your computer for long periods of time, shut it down, this saves battery power.
All of these habits will serve you well in later years. By the time you ar a senior your battery could be at 8 percent by lunch, and that is never fun.

General Safety Tips
– Keep your computer clean by not eating or drinking around them. If your computer does get dirty, spray expo board cleaner on a paper towel and wipe it down carefully. Keyboard covers do work, but are not necessary for keeping your computer safe.
– Chargers break when used for long periods of time, almost every SLAer will need a replacement changer sometime during their four years. To avoid, try to save up for when you do need to replace it.
– Wrapping the thinner cord around the “wings” on the charger actually hurts it more then helps, so try to avoid doing that. An alternative is to wrap the smaller cord in the “bunny ears” style. With a part of the cord looped in the air and the rest wrapped around the actual battery.

Screen shot 2011-11-01 at 1.26.45 PM — A properly wrapped laptop charger.

Other Useful Tricks
– Go to your iChat preferences and turn off the sound. This avoids awkward situations when you open iChat in class and everyone knows it. Or, don’t use iChat in class.
– Before submitting anything in a text box on Moodle, highlight the entire thing and copy it. Then submit. This will avoid situations where you might lose your work because Moodle has logged you out.
– If you aren’t using the internet, please turn off your WiFi, this makes it easier for everyone else to get on the Internet.
– Save everything, every 10 minutes.
– If an application isn’t working, force quit by typing “option” + “command” + “esc.”
– Bring headphones, they make everything better.
– Get a USB drive, life will be so much simpler during benchmark season.

Proper Vocabulary
“Spinny wheel of doom:” the rainbow wheel that appear when an application is not responding.
“Red light of death:” the light that appears in the headphone jack of your computer when it is not working.
“Apple c” and “apple v:” the shortcut keys for copy and pasting. On the newer computers, the apple key was renamed the “command” key. But it does the same action.
“Apple q it:” the shortcut key for quitting out of an application. Usually it is used as a verb.

Everyone should remember these rules when it comes to laptop conduct.

For Seniors: You already know these rules, but it doesn’t matter. Your computers are almost utterly useless now, but they work very well as heaters, paper weights, or flat surfaces
.

Soccer and Cross Country Advance to Playoffs

November 1, 2011 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

316566_1859969478354_1814433352_1250181_1050138661_n — Junior and Cross Country Team Captain Matthew Ferry with his trophy for placing at the Public League competition.

By Natasha Ashby

Staff Writer

Soccer

For the first time ever at SLA, the Boys Soccer team qualified for the playoffs. Their record this season was 6-6 and the players’ range from freshman to seniors.

The team consists of various skill levels, and come together on the field to play in unison. Before they begin their season, they spend an immense amount of time conditioning from workouts to running up Lemon Hill multiple times.

The Rockets were thrilled to qualify for playoffs this year. Unfortunately, they lost their first playoff game against Lincoln High School on Thursday October, 20th, knocking them out the PIAA playoffs. They also lost against Masterman on October 26th, which was their last chance of clinching a district title as a team.

Douglas Wallace, a senior and two-year goalie, has accomplished something all on his own. He has been named all public as a goalie by all C division coaches. This season alone, he has made between 80 and90 saves, allowed only ten goals and has had three shutouts.Wallace was named to the all public team on October 17th. “I was shocked,” he said. “That’s kinda crazy. It means I am one of the best goalies in my division.” Compared to last year, the way he prepared himself was very different, because he put in more effort to get stronger and faster in order to be ready for the season. Thanks to Coach VK for training him and giving him the confidence he needs to do well. As a goalie, he educates himself and his team about the pros and cons of the game as a way of mentally preparing them for future games.

Cross CountryCross Country runners competed in the Public League on Thursday October 20th against all public schools in the Philadelphia School District. Matt Ferry, captain of the boys team, who has placed twice during his years running in the Public League, and Maggie Long, captain of the girls team, have long prepared their team members for this meet and many meets to come such as Districts and States.

During Public, the entire team qualified for districts — Seniors Tyler Hankinson, Rick Kinard and Mustapha Idriss, Juniors Maggie Long, Matt Ferry, Tenzin Ngawang, Sasha Myuzaki and Katherine Hunt, Sophomores DeShawn McLeod, and Freshmen Amy Chen and Reggie Simmons.

Ferry is fully aware of what it’s like to be a leader and a competitor. Having been apart of the team for two years now, he has learned how to be a captain.

“Many responsibilities are placed on me, all of which I love. Whenever my teammates need help, I give them racing strategies, warm-ups, and just someone who they can depend on. During both the boys and girls races I’m along the course cheering my teammates on. As soon as I finish my race, I go right over to my coach and wait with her to help motivate my teammates to stay strong till the end.”

In 2010, he came in 8th place and had a personal best time of 18:25. Now, this year he placed 13th, qualified for Districts and is now on his way to the State competition on Saturday, November 5th in Hershey, PA.

The team attributes its success to the fact that they are like a family. Whether it was while stretching, warming up or during the race, an SLA student voice could always be heard cheering on another. According Maggie Long, “Running clears my mind. It’s good exercise and I love my coach. It’s a team sport but individual at the same time. I don’t have to rely on others to win. My whole goal is to beat myself and improve each time I run.”

SLA boys soccer players and cross country runners are quickly rising through the ranks of the public league, while staying true to themselves and to their team.

SLA Slam Poetry triumphs in San Francisco

November 1, 2011 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

By Mike Dea

Staff Writer

Mr. Kay never expected that one of his students would win the San Francisco poetry competition. Up until the group started to advance in the rounds, his poetry team was just happy to be there. However, Philadelphia Youth Poetry Movement (PYPM) went on to win at the National Competition this past summer.
This was a big moment for Mr. Kay, who started SLA’s Poetry team at the school’s inception almost six years ago.
He created the poetry team for a simple reason: “I had a background in spoken word and wanted to share this passion with my students.”
Since its first year, the SLA poetry team has been growing. The group now stands at about 15 students who meet and practice on Saturday mornings. A handful of the team members are not even enrolled at Science Leadership Academy for high school.
The students who participate in the poetry team also find it immensely beneficial, enabling them to interact with their fellow students and create a sense of community.
Freda Anderson, an SLA alumni and former poetry team member, has learned how to talk in front of crowds and work through her nerves: “I just kind of forced myself to get through it in the beginning. And then Kay and my teammates were really supportive of me and that helped a lot.”
As time passed, the team began to change and evolve, growing to a league, an event offering students the ability to exercise their voice and teachers across the city the chance to network events dedicated to poetry.
These opportunities began last year, when Mr. Kay started up the SLAM League, which later became merged with PYPM, the winners of this past summer’s competition.
The SLAM competitions occur in the spring of each school year, attracting schools from across the area to recite poetry with fellow writers. Students participating in the SLAM competitions had originally recited individual pieces in its early stages, but as time progressed, the kind of poetry shifted from individual pieces to also include group pieces.
In the beginning, the SLAM League consisted of six schools, including SLA. However, within a year, the league jumped from six schools to 18. (possibly name well known schools)
In addition to the SLAM competition run by Mr. Kay, which focuses primarily on group poems, the poetry team has the option to compete in another sort of SLAM league, where they are able to read their poetry solo rather than in groups.
This league is more extensive than the group SLAM league, holding competitions across the nation, and holding a national competition where the best from across the country can compete against one another.

When asked what SLA poetry slammers do to prepare, Mr. Kay said the team members “practice various writing and performance techniques – sprinkle in some drama and work with emotional authenticity.”

The next big event for PYPM is participating in the First Person Arts festival on Friday, November 18th, 2011. The show is called 215: When Generations Unite, and will be at the Painted Bride Arts Center, located at 230 Vine Street.

SLA adapts to life without a librarian

October 31, 2011 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

By Ryan Harris

Staff Writer

Mainly known for being a 1:1 laptop school, SLA also has a wonderful, and more traditional, source of education and relaxation for students: a library. The library is nothing on the scale of a Free Library, but through donations it has become a adequate source for information for the school. With all that, who is the one that keeps the information in check? The Librarian.

Since it opened its doors to students six years ago, SLA has had four different librarians. The most recent full-time librarian, Joshua Newman, started at SLA as the librarian and then music teacher in the 2010-2011 school year. However, due to budget cuts imposed by the School District of Philadelphia, he along with other a number of other SLA teachers, faculty and programs were elminiated.

When asked recently how he felt about being let go, Mr. Newman replied that, “employment is never a guarantee and things happen that are beyond anyone’s control. It cemented an idea in my head that was larger than my own situation, and that feeling was, ‘this educational system is broken.’”

In the wake of Mr. Newman leaving, students and even teachers were overcome with confusion and sadness. “I felt like we lost something really valuable. He played a huge part in revitalizing SLA’s music scene. now that’s he’s gone, I don’t see anyone playing instruments the way they used to.” says Abe Musselman, a junior at SLA.

At the same time he lost his job, Mr. Newman was expecting a child on top of having to find new employment. “Its not just about me and what makes me happy, but a new responsibility in my life taking hold,” he said.

His son William was born at the end of last school year, and Mr. Newman is now the librarian of Olney Charter High School. “The school is not much like SLA,” he said of his new placement. ‘It’s a neighborhood school, so most everyone comes from this area. There were big problems with truancy, fights, and gang activity.”

As for his experiences at SLA, Newman says that his year at the school “was amazing for me, because I have these dual passions of pursuing library science and music, and I got to engage in both and call it a job.”

He also complimented the students at SLA. “Not every High School student is as gregarious as your average SLA student, and I really value the model that is established there. It is a tremendous place. And getting to play music with students and faculty was very rewarding.”

Now in the new school year, the new “librarian” is Brenda Chhin, a senior. Although she isn’t being paid for her job, she and other parent volunteers fill the spot of Newman. As the librarian she’s faced with the burden of handling books, dealing with students, among other things.

When asked about the current state of the library she responded with: “At times, I get frustrated due to students not following simple rules such as no eating, pick up your trash. It’s pretty frustrating.”

While it’s her Capstone, she doesn’t feel that it is something she’d like to pursue as a final senior project. “I wanted to help out in the school just to be more involved and Lehmann was wondering if it could have been a capstone.”

Chhin has tried to keep the traditions that Newman created, such as First Friday, no food in the library, and respecting the music room and its contents. However, she admits that “without a real librarian, it is kind of tough. No student will listen to a student.”

One can see where she’s coming from. Most high students will only listen to people they identify as teachers or a high authority figure. As of now our library is the good hands with Chhin, but it’s not something that she will be able to continue with once she graduates. Students and staff are both hoping that a full-time librarian can be restored to SLA in the coming years.

New addition to SLA: apartments?

October 31, 2011 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

A view of the 4th floor of the building, where construction is currently taking place.

By Isabela Supovitz-Aznar

Staff Writer

Loud drilling. Occasional hammering. Construction workers in the stairwells. All of these things have made students wonder: what’s going on in the building at SLA?Unfortunately, this construction work will not be benefiting the school, but is a project to turn part of the building into apartments.The division of ownership of 55 N. 22nd street is an unusual one. The School District of Philadelphia owns all but the fourth floor of the building that SLA is located in, and Philadelphia Management owns the fourth floor. Since the School District doesn’t own the whole building, it is not their decision what happens to the other floor.

In the spring of 2011, Philadelphia Management decided to build apartments in it so that they can make a better profit off of the building. But how will this development affect the school?

Officially, the whole plan of renting out the fourth floor is still under negotiation. If it does end up happening, Mr. Lehmann assures the school that he will try to keep SLA life as completely separate from the apartments as possible.

If the apartments are completed and rented, the school’s environment won’t be changed drastically. The only major concerns about the apartments being in the middle of SLA are the conjoined stairwells, since they would be open for people who lived in the building and students, which Lehmann said is “not appropriate”.

The construction itself has been a disruption at times. English and History teacher Joshua Block said that, “it’s a little unrealistic to have classes going on with all that noise.” English teacher Matt Kay also confirmed that he finds the noise distracts some of his students, and is annoying to deal with in general.

Senior Sam Sirochman agreed. “The noise from the construction workers makes it hard to concentrate sometimes, but it’s been getting a little better lately.” Teachers have been asked to keep track of when and how often the noise is causing a problem, in case a formal complaint needs to be issued.

Even if the apartments are rented, another factor is that SLA’s lease on the building is only for another three years, so the issue of sharing space could be very temporary, if the school seeks to move locations.