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.

Owen Grzywinski

The Faces of 440

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By Marnae Penn

Have you ever wanted a friend who was so thoughtful? Someone who listens to you and cares for you. This girl will play alternative music, bring you chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, and watch That 70s show all night. Her name is Avery Buglione. Her last name is pretty hard to pronounce so, for now, we’ll call her Avery B. Avery B. is a girl who keeps you smiling. She’s sweet and nice. Whenever you’re around her you’ll be surrounded with pets, from cats to dogs to a cute guinea pig. Need a morning refresher well she’ll have Dunkin waiting for you. Want to go shopping? She’ll take you to Brandy Melville in downtown Philadelphia on Walnut Street. Want to grab a quick bite to eat? Well grab her and get some Chick-Fil-A but only those waffle fries. She’s a vegetarian. What’s your sign? Like Pisces? Well, that’s her sign! Her birthday, which is in the heart of spring, is the perfect time for her hobbies. Her favorite hobby is frisbee and she can teach you the correct way to throw and the proper way to catch. Another one of her hobbies includes homework. Avery would be an excellent person to ask for help in English and history. Avery plans her future well. Before jumping to adulthood she attended The Waldorf School of Philadelphia, which she called a “cult.” Now she attends a school she loves which is Science Leadership Academy. She wants to get married and work in the medical field. 

The Faces of 440

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By Dougie Oliver

Tristan Mayberry is a junior at Science Leadership Academy. He’s lived in South Philly his whole life and was born on July 9th. He grew up with older and younger siblings. Before transferring from Central High school he played baseball and SLA asked him to come to join the team; he went into depth about his time at his previous school. “It was big, people didn’t know each other.” When coming here he spoke about how it wasn’t too bad as he knew some people from previous clubs he played for. He spends his days going to his friend Nuala’s house, eating Mexican food, going to the gym, or practicing baseball. When he’s out of high school he may pursue contracting as a profession instead of his childhood dream which was to be a professional baseball player. When discussing the SLA move to Ben Franklin, Tristan didn’t seem to mind the move at all to a new building as he didn’t attend the previous one.

The Faces of 440

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By Daijah Fleming

Rahmir (Rocky) Powell attends Science Leadership Academy as a senior. He lives in Upper Darby with his mom, dad, and little brother. At school he participates in all sorts of sports such as basketball, baseball, and football. He enjoys playing sports, going out to eat, going to the movies, and hanging out with his friends. When interviewing Rocky, I asked him about the move and his thoughts toward it. “I was happy to hear about the move. I thought it would be a nice fresh start,” Rocky said. We continued discussing the move and I asked him if there were any negative impacts about the move. “The only thing it affected was my college preparation and a lot of my college work,” said Rocky. 

Officer Anonymous

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By Yasir Thomas

I had the pleasure of interviewing a school officer who can’t be named because of her job position. She has 21 years of work experience so far. When I asked for the steps it took to get this job, the answer was that she had to go to the police academy for six weeks and then she applied. The easiest and most difficult thing for her to do on this job is to make sure people are doing the right thing. I also asked her how the transitioning has impacted her, and she replied, “It was positive because for two weeks I went to different schools and met different people.” She described her relationship with staff and students as warm, friendly, accepting, and purposeful. She also receives respect from people here, too.

The Faces of 440

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Profile on Ms. LaBan

By Nuala Cowen

On the afternoon of Tuesday, October 22nd, I sat down with Ms. LaBan, the assistant teacher of my journalism class. Being a professional in the journalism field, I wanted to get a deeper insight on the art of writing. Growing up in a suburb, north of New York City, she loved to read books with an interesting plot such as, “The Outsiders” and one of her favorites, “That Was Then, This is Now,” both written by S. E. Hinton. From here, she grew a passion for writing, “I wanted to create characters that readers could relate to,” she said as she explained her key to becoming a successful writer. “I just released my book today,” she said excitedly as she pulled out from her bag one of the several books that she had written. “Beside Herself ” the book read. The book is about a woman who discovers her husband has had an affair, further demonstrating her hopes of writing something that the readers will relate to. “As a journalist you get to see so many things and because of that you get so many new ideas,” she explained.