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Column: Women’s March in D.C.

January 24, 2017 by lpahomov 1 Comment

Chiara Nemati

Opinion Editor

I woke up to the sound of ducks quacking at 4 a.m. and walked out of the house half asleep to the OCF coffee house, the meeting place for a group of 451 protesters on our way to D.C.

As soon as I arrived at the coffee shop, I was invigorated and ready to go. I was, and will forever be, touched by the people who were there. It is a new era of activism. There were girls in strollers, women in wheelchairs and every age in between. By 6:30 we were on our way out of Philadelphia and on the road to D.C.

A silent excitement bubbled through the bus for the next four hours, and as soon as we reached RFK Stadium in D.C. (our parking destination) the bus erupted with cheers. . Thousands of buses were parked in the lot, and out of them flowed even more people than I thought possible. All that was visible was a sea of pink pussy hats and busses coming into D.C.

The metro was packed, I used to think the most crowded subway I’d ever see was in New York, I was mistaken. By 11 A.M. the D.C. Metro reported it had 275,000 riders which was eight times the amount of riders on a regular weekday. This number beat out the number of riders for the Inauguration, which only reached 193,000 riders by 11 A.M. The number of riders continued to grow as the day went on.

I stepped off the metro and was met with a crowd moving towards the capitol. At first I was busy reading signs and soaking in the experience of all these wonderful people (not just women) coming together to march that I did not even take notice of the people sporting buttons or sashes representing the different states. 600,000 people (a rough estimate) came together to stand in unity and represent their concerns for this new government.

Unfortunately, I was not able to make it close enough to the stage for the rally to hear the speakers. Every turn brought me to a blocked-off section, often crowds came to a standstill, and once the march was set to begin there was no space for the crowds to move. The group I was with decided to take a small detour and make our way to the White House through an odd route. Avoiding the standstill crowds, we were able to make it to the National Monument. Here, the march was actually moving, and we joined in. There was various chants, most of which I am sure were heard here at the Philly march and at marches across the globe. But incase you missed any of these marches here are a few of the chants:

“Tell me what democracy looks like–This is what democracy looks like!”

“Keep your tiny hands off my healthcare plans!”

“Hey hey ho ho Trump has got to go.”

“We are the 99% and so are you!”

“Hands too small, can’t build a wall!”

“My body, my choice.”

While this was not my first march it was my first women’s march and my first march in D.C. The experience was a moving one and while I do not enjoy that this is something I need to protest, I am excited to do so again. I enjoyed meeting people from different states such as New York, Florida, California, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Texas. There was also a group of marchers from Canada!

Coming home, there was a sense of fulfillment and a new fire in the people around me. I read up on a few articles on my way back and while most were informative and supportive, I was disappointed to read an article that described the march as unorganized. It stated that there were so many different signs talking about a wide range of topics that no real message was getting out.

My response to that article is this: you got the message wrong.

We were not marching for a sole issue, our message was that we are here and we will not be ignored. We were not there to fight solely for one issue. We were there to make our voices heard. We were there to show that we will not be sitting quietly during this presidency and watch our rights and beliefs be ignored. We are here to defend healthcare. We are here to protect our climate. We are here to defend LGBTQ folks. We are here to defend the rights of immigrants and our nation’s foreign relations. Our message was that we are here and we cannot be silenced. We will be here united, fighting for our basic human rights until we are heard.

Not only was the women’s march able to gather 600,000 people in the nation’s capitol, it sparked a worldwide march in over 150 cities. The world united, and fought for their fundamental rights.
Now we cannot just fall back into our everyday patterns. We need to continue to come together to protest. We need to remain informed about the actions that the government is taking. For those who wish to continue fighting outside of protests should check out the first 100 days challenge on the Women’s March website. Get involved and work with others in your community!

Monkeys in Space

January 24, 2017 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Ella Petersen

Staff Writer

Sometimes students can forget that teachers have a life outside of school. That’s why principal Aaron Gerwer’s band has been big news floating around SLA. A couple students are even some of “Chimpgrinder’s” biggest fans.

What is the Band Like?

Chimpgrinder is a band consisting of Mr. Gerwer and a few of his friends that started in 2011. “I had a friend who joined this band and they had booked a show in Brooklyn but they didn’t have a singer so only two weeks before they asked me if I wanted to come sing with them and play the gig. We only practiced twice before we went on stage,” Mr. Gerwer explained. Though he only sings in Chimpgrinder, he has played the guitar, bass, and drums in bands since he was 13. “I don’t play other instruments in Chimpgrinder because for this kind of music you want your singer to be able to run around and get in people’s faces and all that kind of stuff.”

The band’s music genre is called ‘sludge.’ “It’s like a mix of punk rock and black sabbath-type metal,” Mr. Gerwer clarified. He writes the lyrics while the other members of the band write the music. They will often play him songs first so that he can figure out what the lyrics should be based off of what the music is making him feel.

The members of the band are a software designer, an engineer, an HVAC worker, and of course a high school principal, with the eldest member being in his 40’s. They mostly play 21 and over shows. Their most frequent venue is “Kung Fu Necktie,” a place for food and live music on 12th and Front street. While they mainly play in center city Philly, they have also done shows in Brooklyn and Delaware.

What is the Inspiration for the Name?

The inspiration for the name Chimpgrinder came from the first place that they practiced. “[It was] this old space…a preparation research facility. They had one of those big centrifuges where you get in and it spins you really fast to prepare you for space. The place where we were practicing was where they used to train the chimpanzees for outer space, our room was actually on the old animal wing. It had tiled floor with a drain in the middle so it was probably a place where the chimpanzees would actually be,” Mr. Gerwer recalled. Since then, many songs for Chimpgrinder have told stories of a Chimpanzee who travels through different dimensions.

What do Students Think About It?

Sashoya Dougan and Meeghan Kersten, 10th graders at SLA, are some of Chimpgrinder’s biggest fans. “One day a bunch of my classmates were talking about it and just as any other curious student would, I looked up the band and thought it was pretty cool,” Sashoya recounted, “It’s a bit different, but due to the vast genres that I listen to, I quickly became accustomed to it and ended up enjoying it.” Sashoya and Meeghan bought the Chimpgrinder t-shirts and record and took a picture with Mr. Gerwer the day they wore them.

As for Mr. Gerwer, he appreciates that students can connect with the music, but he’s not sure how this will affect the new music going forward: “When we produce a new record, I’ll know in the back of my mind that there are students listening to it so I’m interested to see how how that’s going to change things.”

The Three Mobile Games You Should Download

January 24, 2017 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Mekhi Granby

Staff Writer

As of now mobile games aren’t all the rave as they used to be. On July 6, 2016 the world had been introduced to “Pokemon Go,” this game single-handedly impacted millions of people worldwide. It was a global phenomenon that had everyone going outdoors in attempts to catch pokemon. Pokémon Go is a free-to-play, location-based augmented reality game developed by Niantic for iOS and Android devices. Since Pokemon Go mobile games haven’t been as popular.

iOS devices have a “top charts” section within the app store that shows the current most popular apps. I won’t be discussing those games because there’s a higher chance of more people knowing about them already and the goal is to introduce games that other’s may not be familiar with. In this article I will be reviewing my top 3 free mobile games as of January 17, 2016.

“Smashy Road: Wanted”

Smashy Road: Wanted is a free-to-play action-packed single player game developed by Bearbit Studios B.V for iOS and Android devices. The goal is to avoid the police as long as possible. You start off with one star (not many police) and as time passes the stars increase along with the police. The controls are simple, you press on the left side of the screen to go left and press right on the right of the screen to go right. As the cops are chasing you, there are obstacles such as traffic and buildings. There is in-game currency that you can obtain while playing which allows you to unlock more cars, some with different abilities. Overall this game is relaxing and entertaining, I would recommend this game to someone who enjoys action and fast-paced gameplay.
“Stack”

Stack is a free-to-play single player arcade-like game developed by Ketchapp for iOS and Android devices. The goal is to create a stack of tiles as high as possible. What makes this a challenge is that the tiles move back and forth to make them harder to place and the higher the stack is the faster it moves. The controls are simple, you just tap anywhere on the screen to place the tile. It’s a challenge to beat your own high scores and/or a friend’s high score. Overall this game can be stressful and frustrating but it’s fun and time-consuming. I would recommend this game to someone who enjoys arcade games and likes to challenge themselves.

“The Impossible Letter Game”

The Impossible Letter Game is a free-to-play single player puzzle game developed by GammaLateral LLC for iOS and Android devices. The goal is to find mismatched letters amongst a page of letters that look similar. It gets really difficult as the levels increase but the purpose is to be an eye exercise as it states in the game’s description. The controls are the simplest of the three games as you just tap the letter to select it. This game is unique and simplistic. I would recommend this game to someone who likes eye games or games stuff like “spot the difference.”

Obama Out

January 24, 2017 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Tamir Harper

Staff Writer

On Tuesday, January 10th, President Barack Obama delivered his final speech as President of the United United States from an auditorium in his hometown of Chicago. In just eight days our President Obama, First Lady Obama, and daughters Sasha and Malia will be leaving the White House as our first family to become “normal citizens” again.

He spoke on many topics, from our economy to foreign relations, but humbly did not speak about how him and First Lady Obama empowered and inspired so many young people to get involved with politics. Instead, he just encouraged citizens to “[You are willing to carry this hard work of democracy forward. You’ll soon outnumber all of us, and I believe as a result the future is in good hands.” Just like his first campaign for President in 2008, he told young people that yes, they can.

As they say goodbye to the president that has filled most of their lives, student at Science Leadership Academy had many sentiments to share with the world.

Junior Kaamil Jones made a facebook post about how inspiring the First Family was. “you have inspired me and so many others. I’m so proud to be apart of a generation that’s so inclusive and you have done nothing but push us forward. Since 3rd grade you’ve showed me class, dignity and true leadership. Thank you for showing me that I could literally be anything I want to be. Yes We Can! Yes We Did!”

Sophomore Kenzie Hopkins gave us in the inside of how she felt when President Obama was elected.

¨ I felt good because he got reelected and he was the first Black President to serve and be reelected. He showed no matter who you are or where you came from that you can do anything.”

Teacher Larissa Pahomov weighed in about President Obama effect on our students. When Pahomov was asked about the uproar in politics and social change from SLA students she said ¨It was inspiring to some students but did not cause an uptake in direct political engagement I think that ironically it was the election of Trump that mobilized students to do something about their political situation because they no longer felt safe and secure.”

She also described an unusual game that SLA students played when the Obamas first moved into the white house.

¨Eight years ago, there were a set of Juniors that would pretend to be the Obama’s. It was a joke but also it wasn’t a joke. There was one girl that would pretend to be Michelle Obama and one that would be Sasha and Malia.”

President Obama said he will continues to serve us and represent us as an advocate and a believer. “ I won’t stop. In fact, I will be right there with you, as a citizen, for all my remaining days.”

Me Myself and Internet Access

January 17, 2017 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Aaron Watson-Sharer

Editor

When I enrolled at Science Leadership Academy almost four years ago, my friend Jacob assumed I decided on SLA for the free computer. I’ll confess that it was a perk, because I was certain a Macbook Pro was on the way. We all know SLA is a school founded on technology, it’s our way to ensure every student receives a laptop to complete most of their assignments. Our technology gives us a chance to collaborate, one of our core values, and get a better taste of the world right from the classroom.

In my experience besides math classes it is vital to have a working laptop everyday. When the internet is very slow, or even disappears, the classroom becomes desolate. So you can imagine how I felt when I couldn’t get immediate access to the internet. All of a sudden we were Internet-less and terrified. My brothers and I went hunting for internet, it became our sole objective.

That Sunday we left my grandfather’s house to go across the country. My mother has been trying to give us the most authentic experience so we had an all day adventure to reach our destination. I endured a bus and boat ride for ten hours worried about my incoming emails, feeling as if I was letting down my classmates and teachers with my unexcused silence. The worst may have been missing my favorite team, The Pittsburgh Steelers playoff game.

When we arrived in Bluefields, I thought I was saved from a deserted island, seeing a router in the home in which we stayed. But to continue my unlucky weekend, there was a power outage. If you’ve ever visited a developing country, especially in remote areas, you would know that power outages are fairly regular. Have you ever seen the episode of Spongebob where they got lost and stared into the woods expressionless and absolutely stuck? My brothers and I felt that way.

In Philadelphia that Sunday it would have been 11:30 p.m and I had not known what to do about my assignments, nor did I know the outcome of the football games. My mind was racing in the worst way. At the time I had no light, I kept telling myself “9329560aaa3”, the lengthy password for the wifi in anticipation for the lights to return. When the lights came, the internet was slow, but at least it was something.

Despite more power outages and internet with the speed of a tortoise, I learned a lot about myself and people who live and die by technology in the process. We have become captive to our devices. Without them, your afternoons become barren, and even your pockets feel incomplete.

Excessively using your devices is an addiction just like drugs or gambling. And it was an addiction I never knew I had until I was stuck in Nicaragua. All I could think about when there wasn’t internet; even on the plane rides, was when the hell I would get my next “fix” of internet. My next meal didn’t matter. All I would do was think of elaborate plans to load the next page.

I cheated myself out of a vacation. We all did. Dessler, Luke and I saw the worst in everything as we were blinded by the only thing our minds could care about. When we would leave the home with internet, we couldn’t leave our phones behind, just for the slim chance we might get another taste of access to the world.
Before this trip, if you had asked me what basic needs were, I would have said food, water and shelter. I now have to extend that popular phrase to food, water, shelter and around the clock internet access. I’m ashamed that I rely on a commodity, a privilege that most of the world hasn’t come to receive. All I could think about was getting back to Philadelphia, where I know my odd addiction could be fulfilled.