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Movie Review: Life

May 2, 2017 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Caroline Pitone

Staff Writer

Life is a Science Fiction movie that has recently came out. I went to see this movie on a Sunday. My expectations for this movie weren’t too high, because there are already many movies out there that have attempted at a similar concept. Although I do like things that are Science Fiction , I was excited to see what this movie had in store.

The plot of this movie is for the astronauts to capture some samples of the planet mars to test. They soon see evidence of Life that they weren’t expecting. They see that the cell they find, is made of all muscle and all brain, which blows their mind and allows them to classify them as an Ëxtraterrestial. In Life, we see some well known actors such as, Ryan Reynolds and Jake Gyllehnaal. The are companied along with some great actors; Rebecca Ferguson, Hiroyuki Sanada, Ariyon Bakare, and Olga Dihovichnaya. They all played great roles and were the main characters. Each role was very believable. The actor that played their role the best in my opinion was Ryan Reynolds. He really sold most scenes for me and did nothing but contribute well to every scene with his talent.

The thing that stuck out to me in this movie were the insane graphics. The animations and camera angles were so mind blowing. A movie I could compare these graphics to is the famous Avatar.
After seeing the movie, I have to say I was a bit disappointed, but also was not expecting the best movie in the world. The beginning of the movie was slow but everything soon started to fall into place, after about half way into the movie, it lost all of my attention. As good as the graphics were, and as good as the filming was, the content did not show through. I believe they could have made the movie so much better with the plot they had.

Eat.Right.Now Initiative Begins at SLA

May 2, 2017 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Avi Cantor

Staff Writer

For years, The School District of Philadelphia has teamed up with an organization called “Eat.Right.Now”, whose vision is to “end hunger and improve nutrition and health.”

This year, they came to Science Leadership Academy for the first time but their agenda didn’t exactly go as planned.

During one week’s program, advisories were given plain bags of arugula.

At first, members of the Estey advisory thought that this was a weak attempt for Mr. Estey to provide his advisory snacks. This would’ve made sense because many students had complained that they wanted snacks in advisory.

“Mr. Estey, you brought us grass!” Sophomore student Raymond Rochester exclaimed when he saw the bag of limp arugula sitting on a table.

Students later learned that many other advisories had received bags of arugula as well. They learned that the Eat.Right.Now initiative had supplied SLA with those bags, which left students confused. For an initiative that boasts a fifteen year run of “providing nutrition education for a healthier future”, their best idea was bags of plain arugula?

Interestingly, a development in Philadelphia gave SLA some answers about the different angles to Eat.Right.Now’s programming. The high school program is managed by Allison Haughney, a program manager for the Eat.Right.Now initiative, who works in the Department of Nutritional Science at Drexel University. However, there is a more complex version of the program run by ten full-time teachers for elementary school students. These teachers have worked with the Eat.Right.Now initiative for 15 years and helped build a strong foundation for the program.

What’s more, The Eat.Right.Now initiative’s ten full-time employees have recently been forced to write up a petition to the School District of Philadelphia to keep their jobs. The ten employees would be replaced by fourteen employees who would be paid less. The school district is vying to replace the ten employees because it would save money. The replacement employees would cost less to pay because they’d only work part time. According to a petition from the ten existing employees, tearing them away from the program would “take away all the experience, expertise, and the long, successful relationships built over many years with students, school staff members, and the communities they serve.” They are asking the school district to “keep our experienced, excellent nutrition educators and keep the Eat Right Now program a success in so many of our schools.”

If this were to happen, the Eat.Right.Now initiative would much less successful than it has these last 15 years. Even though SLA seemed to get the short end of the stick with the initiative, other schools benefit heavily from this program, especially for lower income students. The initiative provides students with healthy recipes on their website for food that students can cook at home, school trips to farms, a program called ‘Eat the Alphabet’ that every week for 28 weeks allows them to “learn about a new healthy food that corresponds with a letter of the alphabet.”

With the Eat The Alphabet program, “Students practice writing the letter, do a craft focused on the food they are learning about and will be able to taste a sample of the food that they are learning about as they make their way through the alphabet.”

Even though SLA students were not impressed with the high school version of the program, this program is popular among younger students and has made a strong impact on public schools around Philadelphia. Sign the petition here to keep the Eat.Right.Now initiative as influential and successful as possible.

It’s Time To Quest Once More

May 2, 2017 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Fatu Castillo

Staff Writer

Have you ever stopped and wondered lately, “Man, I sure wish I could enjoy a game of Dungeon and Dragons right now.”

No? Well neither did I! In fact, I kept my thoughts as far away as humanly possible.

The closest I ever got to that game was back in my middle school days when I quested, with all my might, to defeat the Enderdragon in Minecraft. Good times, getting chased by Spiders and killed by Creepers.

I never killed the Enderdragon, surprise, but the concept remains the same. Dungeons and Dragons is just too nerdy for me to pursue, that stays in my middle school years. How could I ever look my mother in the eyes if I spent the night before in a basement, with plenty of snacks and lots of friends, questing as a Rogue to save the kingdom?

Thinking about it now, quite easily.

But now is a chance at redemption, now I found a way to immerse myself in Dungeons and Dragons without feeling nonexistent shame.

I’m going to be honest here and admit that it took me awhile to get into The Adventure Zone. I had seen it all over Tumblr, watched as every other Thursday it would flood the tags as a new episode wreaked havoc. I stupidly looked as spoiler after spoiler came my way.

A word of advice, if you ever think “This spoiler won’t ruin anything for me, I don’t watch the show.” Slap yourself in the face, those are evil thoughts that will haunt you for life.

But back to The Adventure Zone, because it definitely is worth reviewing.

It’s produced by the McElroy Brothers, Griffin, Travis, and Justin, and their father, Clinton. Griffin plays as God, or the Dungeon Master, and the other three have to figure out how to get over the plot devices he throws their way.

I expected it to be predictable the first episode, it was only supposed to be filler episode in between their normal podcast.

They journey to a distant land, confront an evil tyrant, maybe kill a dragon, and save a princess.

Nope.

Instead I got to bruise my ribs laughing from listening to Travis argue on whether or not he could name his character Magnus Burnsides, Justin stealing gold and shoes off of anyone and everyone, and Clinton casting Zone of Truth in the most inappropriate situations.

All the while, Griffin had to voice about a dozen different characters and constantly forgot which was which, leading to hilarious situations.

It isn’t just a laugh-fest, by the way, there’s an actual plot happening that is really starting to heat up. So it’s good for laughs and gasps, like when Justin casts a spell that topples the entire sequence that Griffin had laid out.

If you do decide to listen to The Adventure Zone, it won’t be what you expect, that’s for sure.

Seniors Dealing With College Decisions

April 25, 2017 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Maddie Etxebeste

Staff Writer

When twelfth grade arrives, Seniors have to think about their future. Therefore, they start applying to colleges. But, how do they feel about the process?

As Senior Aaron Watson-Sharer said: “It’s extremely stressful because you are trying to do the best for your future”.

Senior Jared Bauer explained “The process is really frustrating, especially when you have to deal with the deadlines. You also have to be careful, project yourself in the right way, etc.”

The process of college acceptances can be broken into several phases, described below.

The Waiting

World History Teacher and Senior Advisor Jason Todd added: “It’s a nervous tension when they are waiting for acceptances. For example today, many of my advisees were going to receive the acceptance or rejection from important colleges, such as the University of Pennsylvania,” he said.

“I’m glad that many of my advisees who applied for Drexel University were accepted and it was very exciting. On the other hand, we also have very hard conversations with students who got into the colleges they wanted to but they can’t afford it.”

Bauer explained “I have already been accepted by five colleges, and it feels good because you know that they are appreciating your work for the past couple years; I was really excited when I knew that I had been accepted by UPenn. But anyway the waiting makes me more anxious, I have also noticed I have less hours of sleep, and I can’t focus on my work.”

Bauer also expressed some concern about the process and how it affects social life at SLA:

“I think that we are a really good class because we support each other but sometimes it’s impossible not to be jealous of some people who have been accepted by certain colleges.”

Dealing With Senior Year

Seniors also try harder in their last year, to earn good grades and be able to opt for the best colleges. They also have to take their SATs, which makes their year even more stressful as Bauer explained: “The SAT exam is extremely stressful because it can dictate the rest of your life.”

Todd said what he noticed as a Senior teacher and advisor that they are sometimes not able to concentrate well, and that:

“I can see that they are stressed for other things like college acceptances and not only benchmarks when we are in class. I couldn’t describe how do they actually feel, but we, teachers and Senior advisors, are the ones who feel bad for them.”

The Acceptances

Most of the students are yet receiving news from the colleges they applied to and some have already been accepted by their dreamed college. For example, Senior Jared Bauer, even if he didn’t get accepted in all the schools he applied to he got accepted into eight, one of them being the Wharton Business School in the University of Pennsylvania, which was his top choice.

Senior Imani Weeks also stated “I was denied at 2 or 3 schools, so I was initially disappointed. But the other acceptances counter acted that and I was able to focus on them to see where I will go”.

Many of the Seniors feel better now that they know the colleges they have been accepted to. In the end, Weeks got into Harvard and accepted their offer.

“It’s a giant weight off my shoulders now that I know what schools I was accepted into,” she said. “My anxiety is relieved. The anxiety of ‘Am I good enough?’ has worn off with my acceptance letters. It feels nice not to have to stress about it anymore.”

Bauer’s response was similar.

“I feel relief. A burden that has been weighing on me for years, especially this last year, was lifted off my shoulders. I did not enjoy the waiting and even if I hadn’t gotten in where I want (which I did) I think I would be happy that the process is over.” explained Bauer.

The Waitlists and Denials

Not everything is happiness and joy, disappointment is or has also been present in Seniors. Being denied or waitlisted “feels the same way” as Watson-Sharer said.

“I bet most people feel great relief. In my case I feel disappointment because the outcome I have is not what I sought,” he said.

Most of the Seniors explain how being denied or waitlisted feels like being told that “they’re not good enough to enter their college”.

“Getting denied is not fun,” Bauer agreed. “The schools that denied me I don’t really mind as much now because I’m where I wanted. But at the time it was very frustrating because I personally felt that I did all I could to get into these places.”

He also explained a different situation for his some of his friends: “I am disappointed for some of my friends who worked very hard and didn’t get in where they wanted. This has stopped this time from being completely joyful for me.”

Even if being waitlisted or denied is a tough pill to swallow, it should just be a motivation for students to work even harder and show to the colleges which denied them what they have missed out on.

“I just have to keep striving to do better,” Watson-Sharer said. “The only person I can improve upon myself was yesterday and I keep this in mind.”

Music Review: Sign of the Times

April 22, 2017 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Lauren Nicolella

Staff Writer

Screenshot 2017-04-22 at 11.37.59 AM — The single art for Sign of the Times.

Harry Styles released his first solo song on April 7th titled Sign of the Times. It was played for the first time on BBC Radio 1, with the host Nick Grimshaw. There was a lot secrecy surrounding the song, because of the fear that it would have been leaked before the initial release date. A lot of excitement was building up for the day to finally come, because the fans weren’t exactly sure of what he would be dropping.

In case you have been living under a rock, know that Styles is a part of the famous boyband One Direction. Like the other membe rs, he decided to release a song during their hiatus. But don’t worry, fans. Just because they chose to release their own music doesn’t mean that they are broken up. It is a part of them having their granted break from touring and producing music as a whole, nonstop, for multiple years. This is allowing all of the members to go into their own personal tastes of music instead of the genre pop that One Direction is focused on, and have more control of what they want to do as well.

Now is the part of the review where I have to identify myself as a One Direction fan, and let you readers know that there has been a very high bar of expectation set in my mind for this song. I’m happy to report that Harry definitely cleared that bar. I have had the song on repeat ever since the first time I listened to it. I couldn’t stop talking about it to others.. It even affected my routine of walking home after getting off of the bus, taking my slowest stride to make the song last until I finally reached my house.

Screenshot 2017-04-22 at 11.38.11 AM — Harry Styles with Nick Grimshaw on the day of the release.

The song is almost six minutes long (which is great, more to listen to!), having an older British-rock sound. It kind of reminds me of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”, only because of the way that it starts out: slow with a piano and ending with an intense and colorful chorus. You can hear the obvious influences and direction he was trying to take.

Harry’s voice has matured a lot over the years, and you can hear it through every One Direction album. In his earlier recordings, he sounds like he is very young. Now that he has grown more as a singer, he showcases falsetto and a very strong voice, giving everyone a taste of what he’s really capable of.

I’ll be the first to admit that it is weird to hear him singing alone in a song, but this felt perfect. I do not think that there are fans who are upset, since that mainly happened when Zayn officially left the band. There has been lots of support, even though there are requests for the boys to come back. I’m glad that they all are exploring different genres and are allowing the fans to hear different a larger variety. His is more of the type of music that I listen to, so it was awesome to hear this. I needed some new music.

From what I’m seeing on social media, a music video for this song is coming out towards the end of the month, which is another thing to look forward to from Harry Styles.