News

Debate team goes to states!

April 13, 2016 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Sean Morris

Staff Writer

This writer recently had the honor and privilege of getting to go along with our own Anna Sugrue and Nashay Day and SLA’s debate coach Andrew Gegios to go up to Lewisburg PA to compete in the debate state championship! We left school early on Thursday to St. Joe’s Prep, then headed on a three hour bus ride to Louisburg! From there we had a nice buffet dinner and prepared for the next day of debating!

On my own end, I was doing impromptu. For anyone who doesn’t quite knows how that operates allow me to explain. You receive a topic and within a prep time of 5 minutes you prepare a argumentative speech that would last for 5 minutes. For example, one of my topics was simply “books or movies” and from there I prepared for 5 minutes an argument for my own preferences of movies- based on things like visuals, sound and more- and when I got to the room for the judges and performed my speech for 5 minutes. While I didn’t break, our debate coach complimented me and said I did sincerely good, and it was very nice time for me.

Now let’s move onto the real champs- Nnna and Nashay, who debated PF style on the topic of whether priority spending should be in welfare or infrastructure for relieving income inequality in the united states. Both of the debaters were able to give me their account upon the events. “We probably got qualified to go to state tournament… probably about a month ago… And it was really exciting to get to go to states and to be the first SLA team at states” says senior Anna Surgure. “We were going up against some pretty fierce competition, but we placed in the top eight (of 28 in the state)!” Says her debate partner and fellow senior Nashay Day. This also meant that they were qualified to quarter finals. Despite their advanced placement and ability to do SLA proud- they felt totally cheated of a round that both of them- and our coach- believed they should have won. Against the team “State College”- a team famous for being challenging but in this one they “didn’t have a very compelling case”, nor weren’t even debating that well. Despite this they lost to their competition on a 2-1 vote and were unfortunately unable to move onto semifinals.
Despite this everyone was able to enjoy themselves overall. “When I got my award I dabbed which was really fun” nashay admitted. And Anna gave a good reason for being proud. “We were the only pf team from the philadelphia school district represented, first SLA team to go and we were facing teams that have full time debate coaches are getting full time help, people on their staff who do research for them, drills with them and nashay and I have none of that; it’s all self taught, self made and we feel really proud of ourselves for having gotten this far and being able to compete against kids from rich, resourceful debate teams and do well. ” and added that overall “it was a fun weekend” – and being there, I can certainly back this up!

What the Flint is Going on Here?

February 25, 2016 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Staff Writer: Arielle Moore

In the last couple of months, there have been some incredibly disturbing images coming out of the city of Flint, Michigan. The orange particle-infested water has been all over the covers of magazines and newspapers. Due to this, there has been one question on people’s minds: Is that water really coming from people’s drains to drink and use?

The answer, unfortunately, is yes. This issue has been a stain on the small city for close to 2 years now, when the decision to use untreated water from the Flint river was made in 2014. As a result, the water corroded the lead pipes of Michigan’s water system and therefore resulted in a toxic concoction flowing from the faucet.

Even now, citizens of Flint are still being taxed one of the highest rates in the United States for their poisonous water which many would agree is an undeniable crime. Flint Mayor Karen Weaver plans to execute her mission to replace the city’s corroded pipes in an attempt to produce clean water sometime next week. In the meantime, many people have contributed their time and resources in order to provide bottles and jugs of clean drinking water to the people suffering.

In a city within the United States you would think the lack of clean water would even be an issue, right? Exactly. You wouldn’t. People would argue that a “first-world country” shouldn’t be dealing with such a thing as this since we have access to the resources and more than enough exports for such necessities. This is true-to an extent. While the change managed to save Flint a considerable amount of money, it came with many harmful effects.

So, is this something we should be worried about in Philadelphia? Even though Flint citizens have visual proof of the contamination in the water, studies show that there is an undeniable amount of lead in our water supply. The reason being our aging pipes and our inability to replace them has had some noticeably dangerous outcomes that have been reflected in the blood tests taken by some Philadelphian citizens. The growing number of infected residents poses great threats to those who have no idea what is really in their water supply. It also causes people to demand stricter regulations on what comes from the tap.

What do you think? Do you think this issue could have been prevented? How should the government handle the situation?

Image source: http://www.dogonews.com/2016/1/20/the-water-crisis-in-flint-michigan

Muslim Stereotypes Within SLA

December 23, 2015 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Allison Kelly Staff Writer

In early November, all of our tv’s were tuned in to one of the many news channels trying to learn more about yet another terrorist attack. This specific attack happened in Paris, killing a total of 130 people.

In the evening of November 13, 2015, an organized series of terrorist attacks struck Saint-Denis, the northern suburb of Paris. The attacks included suicide bombings and mass shootings in various locations. It was later learned that this attack was at the hands of Islamic extremists.

As these terrorist events overwhelm the news channels and all topics of conversations, something that can be just as harmful comes along with them, stereotypes of the Muslim community.

Since 9/11 especially, any sort of terrorist attack of Islamic extremists seem to automatically be blamed on the entire Muslim community. This can cause great harm to those who can be identified in public as being part of the Muslim community, specifically women wearing identifying pieces such as the hijab. These women can be victims of very harmful stereotypes and treatment from those who are ignorant enough to believe that the intentions of one terrorist of a certain religion are the intentions of that entire community of. After the attack on Paris, research was done within SLA to see the change in behavior of those towards students of the Muslim community.

Senior, Gabrielle Smullen, was not always Muslim and did not convert until her Sophomore year. When asked about what general stereotypes she faces on a daily basis Gabby states, “When I’m out in public sometimes people will give me strange looks that I did not receive before converting and wearing my hijab out. I can also tell sometimes that people can be uncomfortable to sit next to me on public transportation. It’s really just all little things.” She was then asked about the difference she has seen from people since she has started wearing her hijab. “I feel that I have gained a lot of respect from the people who already knew me since I’ve started wearing my hijab, but some have taken a while to adjust. From people that I don’t know, it’s pretty much just looks that I receive that allow me to know they are judging me based on my religion.” Lastly, Gabby was asked if she has seen a change in behavior specifically after the attack on Paris. “I haven’t really been paying much mind to people I don’t know out in public, but I don’t recall seeing anything other than the normal looks I receive. Within SLA, though, I don’t feel like anyone has acted any differently towards me since the attacks.”

In conclusion, it’s great that students of the Muslim community can attend SLA without feeling as though that they are subject to negative stereotypes especially after attacks like the one in Paris, but, the truth is that, this is not always the case for them when out in society. The stereotypes that these terrorist attacks cause for the entire Muslim community to have to deal with can be very harmful and, as a society, we should be working to educate ourselves on the topic in order to know the difference between the intentions of one person or small group of people and those of an entire community and that these intentions do not have to be, and are usually not, the same.

SLA Interviews: Why we do them

December 14, 2015 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Chuckie Copeland

Staff writer

The months of November and December are very busy here at SLA. Over two weekends, 1,002 students from all over the city came to this campus and be interviewed as prospective students. The part of Interviews that students at SLA are really are eager for, is signing up to volunteer as a helper for those days.

According to english teacher Larissa Pahomov, SLA had a record number of student sign ups to help out with the interview days as floaters, interviewers, and other jobs. This was in part because SLA Beeber students who signed up as well. But why did a record number of students want to “waste” their weekend to help out with the future of the school?

For some like Junior Aldo Caushaj, Interviews bring back a sense of nostalgia. “ I remember my interview and I remember being so so nervous and the students in the writing room helped me calm down.”

When asked about his look on interviews Caushaj described it as, “a great experience, I actually like the interviews cause your getting a look at a student, and not a piece of paper.”

His reasoning?

“A student could have good resume, but where’s the personality. When you go work you have to communicate with others. I want to see the person who is going to be the new part of this school.”

Seniors Bella Mezzaroba and Osman Bangura wanted to make the whole process as stress free as possible.

“Interviews are integral to SLA, but they are tricky when interviewing stressed kids,” said Mezzaroba.

They agreed that when you interviewed a nervous candidate, it took away their time to shine as an individual and made the candidate feel more monotonous. The point of interviews is to make people comfortable and calm in a very stressful time, but it’s not just the students who play a big role in this process, the teachers are working harder than ever.

Her first interview process for this school was in 2008, and since then veteran teacher Larissa Pahomov has seen a lot change since then.

“The biggest change is that now we interview kids with students from both campuses.” The new SLA Beeber may have opened not too long ago but this is the first time that students from both places interview prospective eighth graders and it certainly is not the last year.

Pahomov stated that one of the greatest things about interviews is, “seeing current SLA students blossom” and taking interest in the future of their school. However one challenge that she brought up, and other students did as well, was “keeping interviews personal.” To crank out interviews in ten minutes is what she described as a “meaningful machine.”

Interviews are done for the year, but the effect of them will reach far into the future. Of the many students who interview, only 250 will end up coming to SLA Center City or SLA Beeber next year — so for most of the 8th graders who interview, this is their only real connection to the school. Making a good impression and not feel stressed about the whole interview process is very complicated when you are taught that your high school determines the rest of your life. So many students here care about each interviewee and their success of getting into this school which is only something that you can find at SLA.

The Naked Truth: Sexting Scandal Slams Colorado School

December 12, 2015 by lpahomov 1 Comment

Arielle Moore

Staff Writer

Nowadays, picture and video media apps such as Twitter and Vine have become increasingly popular with the new wave of social networking and technology. With this discovery, teens and young adults have discovered new ways to communicate with friends, like pictures or articles, and even display their own content. In these instances, social media can be harmless, but for one Colorado school Instagram is for more than just snapping selfies.

At Cañon City High School, activities such as parties and football games are normal aspects of everyday life as adolescents. Of course communication is a large part of teen interactment, and with phones at their disposal it’s quite easy to send a ten-second invitation to the park for the weekend. At Cañon City high school, a few creative teens decided to turn the use of an innocent photo sharing app into one of the largest scandals the school has ever seen.

For hundreds of students, social media has been used to exchange racy images of themselves between their friends and classmates via “PhotoVault”. Photovault is an app used to send and receive photos that are only visible to you. With this information at their fingertips, the students decided to turn their snapshot-taking into a game, using a point system depending on the level of value the image held. Because of this, many students were pressured to take part in the game which slowly evolved it into a school-wide phenomenon. Within a few months, thousands of photographs were taken and the exchange system between classmates had exploded. With the scandal finally surfacing, a large percentage of the school’s population was suspended and many families have been hurt upon finding out that their children or their children’s classmates had participated in such a scandalous pastime.

So what does the SLA community think of such an ongoing trend? Most students deemed sexting as something that is simply not for school, or even for minors in general. “I don’t think it’s appropriate,” says sophomore Destiny Patton. “You shouldn’t be taking nude photos in school.”

Some though, took a more diplomatic approach to the situation. Junior Jaiye Omowamide says: “Minors shouldn’t be sending nudes unless they’re in strong relationships. They need mutual communication, but must also be made aware of the consequences.”

SLA technology teacher Marcie Hull also had a few comments to include about our school and how teens should be handling such situations if ever involved. “The line between protecting student privacy and protecting them from their own dangerous behavior moves and changes shape! It is really a student by student decision making process. I try very hard to explain, to students, in a overarching way, how to protect themselves online,” she explains. ” This explanation has to start with the basics of how the internet works and making students realize that if a photograph leaves your hard drive, even if it is put in a cloud storage, the student no longer has control over who sees or could possibly see that photograph, now and forever in the future. That is the long way of saying there is no line as long as the student is aware of how these tools work and how to protect themselves. It is way better for everyone if the lessons learned turn on an intrinsic motivator to keep one’s online life squeaky clean.”

What do you think? Is sexting just some passing fad or do you think it’s just another activity on the list of teen past-times?

Image: http://www.savvykidsofarkansas.com/savvyblog/is-your-teen-sexting/