News

Spirit Week at SLA!

June 10, 2014 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Since Monday, June 9th, Science Leadership Academy has been celebrating its 2014 spirit week. The school event was organized by sophomores Melissa Alvarez, Amanda Thieu, and Joie Nearn.

SLAMedia met up with one of the planners, Amanda Thieu. Here’s what she had to say about it:

“I wanted to plan spirit week because I felt like SLA was lacking a lot of normal high school things like spirit week, pep rallies, homecomings, and I thought that spirit week was reachable for SLA students, and plus it costs no money at all.”

Planning for spirit week began in April when Melissa and Amanda were wondering why SLA never had their own spirit week, or many popular school events in general. They took to the popular social media site, twitter.com, and tweeted their principal about it.

10402853_787368787948710_4469578087865031966_n Mr.Lehmann informed the girls that SLA has had spirit weeks in the past when students had organized them. The two decided to take lead, and created a google form with a list of fun spirit week days for the students to vote for.

When the form was closed, the SLA student body had chosen their five favorite days:

Decades Day, Twin Tuesday, TV/Cartoon/Movie Character Day, International Day, and Pajama Day.

“I was like why are we doing TV/Movie Character day? But Twin Tuesday’s gonna be poppin. I was very excited. It knew spirit week was gonna be poppin’,” planner Joie Nearn said.

On Monday the 9th, the students showed up in outfits from their favorite decade. Hippies, 50’s girls, and even 80’s boys walked the halls of SLA for the day.

“I honestly wasn’t expecting as many people to dress up that did. Just from past experience here, like Halloween for example, there was only a handful of people that actually showed up in costumes. So to see students roaming the halls looking like they’re fresh out the 80’s really made me happy,” planner Melissa Alvarez shared.

Today the school celebrated Twin Tuesday. A shoutout from the Principal on the intercom yesterday about SLA’s spirit week seemed to hype the students up about twinning with their friends. The turnout was quite exciting for the girls that planned it.

SLA will continue it’s multiple themed week tomorrow with “Dress like a TV/Movie Character Day.” Only the students know what’s in store for the next few days.

Solar Panel Roadways

June 5, 2014 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Staff Writer Claudia Bonitatibus

panels only

Scientists have recently invented a technology that would allow concrete and asphalt on the roadways to be replaced with solar panels. The solar panels have a tempered glass exterior, which has been particularly designed to withstand the weight of cars and trucks. The main attraction to the proposed solar roadways is that they use the sunlight to create energy and save money as well. If all the roads in the U.S. were replaced with solar panels we would be producing three times the amount of energy we are currently using.

The panels produce clean energy and help fight against pollution and limit our carbon footprints. They actually help pollution because not only do they produce clean energy, but they are made out of recycled materials as well. Whenever a unit breaks or stops functioning it is easy to reinstall, opposed to have to repave an area, which can take months.

Of course there are also many other benefits, one of which is the fact that these panels always stay a couple degrees above freezing. This ensures that instead of the roads freezing over in the winter the panels would melt any snow and ice, making commuting and transportation in general much safer and easier.

Another safety precaution is that the panels have LED lights, which would make driving at night much less dangerous. The LED lights in the road would improve visibility and have been designed to detect when an animal is crossing or if a tree has fallen on the road ahead and warn the driver.

The main deterrent is funding because replacing all of the roads is not something that can happen overnight. If you look at it from a purely financial viewpoint, using solar panels on our roads would not just save money because the sun is a renewable energy source but it would also create more jobs. The manufacturing and installation would provide millions with green tech jobs.

Like all solar panels, the energy production would be less stable during the winter when there is not that much sunlight. However the production of excess energy in the summer would be enough to support us during the winter. Also, something that needs to be taken into consideration is the fact that it will take a lot of money and time to install them, since this is a long-term solution. The benefits of solar panel roads outweigh the disadvantages by far. In the long run, they are worth the time, effort and even the money that it would take to install them.

Lights Out at SLA!

March 18, 2014 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Melissa Alvarez

Staff Writer

At 7:55 AM on March 17th, there was a power outage in the SLA center city building. Not to the surprise of many teachers, the students were ecstatic hoping for an early dismissal. Everyone was sent up to their advisories to wait and hear what would happen next.

At around 8:45 AM all the lights went on and the power returned leaving students disappointedly trudging to their first period classes.

This begs the question though, what happened?

ILP Coordinator Jeremy Spry told SLA Media, “Our power went off and about three hundred other residents’ power also went out. We don’t know the cause of it. Once the power went out we contacted Philly Management who are our landlords and they went to PECO to try and get an answer. We had no real time frame of when the power was going to return so Mr.Lehmann contacted Dennis Creedon who is his boss to ask for guidance. But we are not allowed ever to release students from school without approval from the School District of Philadelphia.”

We also asked a few students what they thought about the black out, here’s some of their responses:

“It was so depressing like you should’ve seen how it was. The light came on and everyone was like “AWWW” and no one said anything. We all just packed up and went to class.” Junior, Khadijah Fofana

"I didn't really care that much. I thought it was annoying when everyone was like screaming and stuff. The room was so hype about it. But I didn't really care if we got out or not." Sophomore, Avery Monroe — “I didn’t really care that much. I thought it was annoying when everyone was like screaming and stuff. The room was so hype about it. But I didn’t really care if we got out or not.” Sophomore, Avery Monroe

If you have an opinion or story to share about past SLA black outs, comment below!

Brewer Vetoes Arizona’s SB-1062

March 13, 2014 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Jan Brewer, Governor of Arizona vetoed SB-1062 that would allow businesses that assert their religious freedom the right to deny service to gay and lesbian customers.

This bill was highly controversial from day one and Arizona faced major backlash, including a super bowl bid that was threatened to be withdrawn. In addition, the state began losing business quickly. According to the New York Times “The Hispanic National Bar Association said Wednesday that it had canceled plans to hold its annual convention of 2,000 lawyers here next year, citing the bill and saying in a statement” Even Senator John McCain of Arizona told Brewer to veto the bill.

Governor Brewer said the bill would “Cause more problems than it hopes to solve and divide Arizona in ways we cannot even imagine and no one would ever want.” The executive director for the American Civil LIberties Union, Alessandra Soler, said “We’re grateful that the governor has stopped this disgraceful law from taking effect, and that Arizona will remain open for business to everyone.”

School Security in Philadelphia

February 28, 2014 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

By Desmond O’Donovan

Staff Writer

On January 17 2014, two students were shot at Delaware Valley Charter High School. The bullet hit a boy and a girl in the schools gym, seriously injuring them. The students survived, but had to go to the hospital for their injuries.

At first the police were unsure who fired the gun. On that same friday they questioned some students who they later found out were innocent. The next day, Seventeen year old Raisheem Rochwell turned himself into the police, admitting that he had fired the un.

Rochwell was arrested for two accounts of assault, since the bullet had hit two students.

Like many Philadelphia high schools, Delaware Valley Charter has metal detectors that the students walk through when entering the building, for security. This left the police wondering how a gun was able to get into the school. The police later found out that Rochwell did not bing the gun to school. It was brought by eighteen year old Donte Walker Delaware Vally Charter Alumni.

Walker did not have to go through the metal detector because he was an alumni,and was therefore treated as a guest, not a student. Because of this he was able to bring a dangerous weapon into a school ,which injured to students.

After these events, Delaware Vally Charter increased school security. Alumni now have to go through metal detectors, just like students. Students were subject to search after the shooting, and there is more school security. Students are actually encouraged to arrive at school early so that they can get through security.

School security has been an issue in Philadelphia schools. all school district high schools have metal detectors except for SLA. SL is a pretty safe place, so these security measures have not been enforced. But if security in schools isn’t in placed until something happens then it is already to late. Hopefully SLA will remain a safe place for learning, and will never need more school security.

Donte Walker (left) Raisheem Rochwell ( right)