Features

Brendan Hall

Staff Writer

Throughout the entertainment world, a common thread that is discussed is about separating the art of an artist to their personality. This is usually driven by scandals that the artists and entertainers catch themselves into. Multi-talented artist Chris Brown is one of those artists who has a past plagued with legal trouble and controversy. Many thought of the young artist’s past as something that was problematic In 2009, Brown was charged with domestic abuse against his then-girlfriend, Rihanna.

But,  there are another group of people who wish to separate the content from the artist because they believe the consumers will make superficial judgments and dictate the quality of their creative ability.

Someone who follows this belief is the enigmatic rapper and producer, MF DOOM. DOOM is well-known in the underground hip-hop scene due to his incredible rhyming ability that few have been able to replicate. However, what is even more compelling is his persona. DOOM wears a mask to cover his face to rebel against the culture of consumers putting emphasis on anything about the artists besides their art.

DOOM’s rebellion is intriguing and raises a fair point there is still validity in having interest in the artist’s personality.

On the contrary, Youtube commentator “D Respect” is someone who finds the artist as a person crucial to their art. i. He often discusses his opinion on rappers and Hip-Hop culture on his Youtube channel. In one video, Respect stated his thoughts on Rapper Earl Sweatshirt, analyzing Sweatshirt’s awkward personality and claimed it, “Outlives the actual work of the artist.” While this may come across as unfair to some, he was able to make an excellent point, defending his choice. D Respect stated, “Why are we supposed to divide the artist from the work as if one isn’t a cause of the other?”

SLA Junior and avid music follower Avi Cantor was interviewed about this topic and served as a middle ground for the controversial topic.

He stated, “If it mattered what they do outside of music then I’d be lying.” He elaborated on this statement giving examples of artists who have been accused of gruesome charges such as XXXtentacion (he was accused of domestic abuse). He also stated that wouldn’t listen to anyone that had intense charges of battery assault or possession of a weapon. However, during the latter portion of the interview, he admitted that the personal struggles of Kid Cudi helped him connect with his music. This helped him feel attached to Cudi’s music persona than most other acts.

It is truly impossible to come to an overall answer to this question. However what is interesting about the music industry is that their art is usually very personal. This is why music gives a sense of persona that acting does not. Since that is true it is difficult to ignore an artist’s personal life entirely. On the contrary, when an artist doesn’t make personal music it comes across as superficial to make judgments about their life.

Taylor Green

Staff Writer

It is expected that the students of Science Leadership Academy demonstrate their knowledge by completing a benchmark for every class each quarter. Although this has been expected of the students since 2010, this requirement can be quite strenuous.

On average, an SLA student has five classes a day. That would mean five benchmarks due before the grading period ends.

Many teachers assign more than one benchmark per quarter, like History teacher Mr. Todd and English teacher Mr. Kay. Some even assign mini projects to be due as well. Some students find this workload to be overwhelming.

Junior Matthew Milligan explained the added stress that extra projects bring saying, “I can usually expect anywhere from 1-3 extra projects on top of other benchmarks. It really depends on the quarters because the quarters are different lengths.”

Despite teachers encouraging their students to take advantage of extensions, some students decide to just push through it and manage to complete all their work on time or a day late.

“I feel as though if I get an extension, that gives it more time for the projects to start piling up. I usually just power through it and get everything done.” Milligan shared. The consistency of when benchmarks are assigned has also become a problem for students like Milligan.

“Sometimes, teachers give benchmarks in the beginning of the quarter and sometimes they wait until the very end. One week I have nothing to do and the next I have six benchmarks due,” Milligan reported.

Teachers can be very unorganized and sporadic when it comes to assigning projects.

On the other hand, some students are able to handle stress better than others during benchmark season. Junior Kimberly Gucciardi-Kreigh is one student who has been able to effectively balance her benchmark workload.

“I know that for a lot of people it can be really hard to balance all of their projects along with things going on in their everyday life. But for me, it doesn’t seem to be a problem,” Gucciardi-Kreigh explained.

The average amount of time that Gucciardi-Kriegh is given to complete her benchmarks is at least a week. This is common among many of the students at SLA.

“I’ve never submitted a benchmark late or ever asked for an extension. I think that they can tend to pile up at some points. But I don’t ever feel as though I have too much going on at once,” she stated. Gucciardi-Kreigh also thinks that the deadline for projects is fair most of the time. However, other students align more with Matthew Milligan in their frustration with the amount of work that they’re getting. But sophomore Juliana Long is taking a slightly different approach to this problem. She’s giving suggestions as to how to fix this system.

“I feel as though when it comes to benchmarks, there are some kids who need more guidance and I think that some teachers need to improve their skills in helping kids and making sure that they have time to help them,” Long described.

Other students feel that there needs to be a change in collaboration. They think that teachers should try to plan more so that their benchmarks aren’t overlapping.

Teachers can feel to realize that students will have other work for other classes besides their own. “They have this mindset that we can work on their project one hour a night throughout the week, but if you have 6 other classes that’s 6 more hours of working each day,” Milligan says.

However, teachers have made an effort to work together so that their projects so they don’t pile up. History teacher Pearl Jonas stated that “We do try on our end to be transparent with each other. We have a benchmark calendar where we try to organize so that we’re not assigning multiple benchmarks.”

The calendar has helped the teachers a lot with organizing but it doesn’t always work out. “It’s an imperfect system.” Jonas admits. “If not everyone puts their benchmarks on the calendar, we don’t have a clear picture of what exactly is happening.”

Not all teachers will assign their projects during the same week, but it can be expected that students will receive more benchmark towards the end of the quarter because that’s when grades are due.

“I think that it’s inevitable that at the end of the quarter there’s going to be more benchmarks. We at least try to spread them out so that they aren’t due on the same day or even in the same week.”

There isn’t a concrete consensus on how many projects are too many. It comes down to several different factors. There are some quarters that are longer than others, so it’s easier to get things done in that specific span of time.

The number of projects that can be managed by one person depends on the nature of the projects, how they are interpreted, how much time is required and the person themselves.

Matthew Milligan

Staff Writer

SLA’s Class of 2018  will graduate on Friday, June 8 of this year. As with any graduation ceremony, the event has to be planned, and part of that planning involves the enlistment of a speaker to address the graduating class.

Having a graduation speaker is customary in any ceremony that one would go to, but do they really matter?

Guidance Counselor Zoe Siswick has her own opinions as to why a guest speaker is important.

“The point of having a graduation speaker is to pull together some world-wide societal issues that may be happening in current events but also to help students who are at a pivotal point in their lives to think about moving forward and what their next steps will be.”

Senior and School  President Tamir Harper agreed, saying, “We’ve always had a keynote speaker that had motivated us to do amazing things after we graduate SLA.”

Typically speakers who are chosen to address students have to resonate with the class. Ms. Siswick kept that in mind when she helped to obtain Latina poet Denice Frohman to speak at a ceremony a few years back.

”It was really important to me . . . that we had someone who represents an underrepresented group speak to us,” Ms. Siswick stated.

This year, the senior class has taken on the challenge of recruiting their own graduation speaker. Their desired candidate? Marc Lamont Hill, an African American academic, author, and businessman from Philadelphia.

Dr. Hill has strong beliefs in education, as he teaches at Temple and is involved with youth education and the Philadelphia Student Union. In addition, Dr. Hill owns a bookstore in Germantown, Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee &  Books, in dedication to the impact that black bookstores have had on his identity.

“I wanted someone that understands what it feels like to be in Philadelphia but someone that also can empower and someone that’s a powerful speaker,” said Harper.

Dr. Hill is known for his political commentaries. To Harper, who feels as though his class was hit particularly hard by the Trump election due to them growing up in the Obama era, this makes Dr. Hill all the more appealing.

“I kind of want someone that’s gonna motivate but also someone that calls out bigotry and will implore us to be great students inside and outside the classroom and to be activists.”

Ms. Siswick agreed that Dr. Hill would be a great speaker.

“He has strong connections to Philadelphia so it would be a really cool opportunity for our students to be able to hear him speak.”

Harper, along with some other students, have been making a coordinated effort to get the attention of Dr. Hill. Letters have been sent to both Dr. Hill’s office and his store, and emails have been written to all of his public addresses. In addition, Harper, who would like to secure Dr. Hill by February, plans on using social media to his advantage in the form of a Twitter campaign.

When asked as to who was directly in charge of finding a speaker, Ms. Siwick called the process a “group effort.”

“A lot of times it’s just from the staff or the students having personal or professional connections with those people.”

Once a speaker is chosen, SLA does its best to ensure that the process goes smoothly. One hurdle is cost.

“We don’t have the capacity to pay people, so what we try to do is make it a really positive experience for the speaker,” Ms. Siswick said. This means making sure that the speaker knows when and where the ceremony is at, as well as giving them additional guidance if they are not used to addressing a larger crowd.

As of the writing of this article, Harper and the other seniors had not yet received a response to their request, but they remain hopeful. SLA Program Manager Jeremy Spry may have a connection to Dr. Hill through a friend, and Harper aims to meet with Dr. Hill at his store sometime soon.