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Youthful Girls’ Basketball Team Prepared To Head into 2016-17 Season

December 16, 2016 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Benjamin Simon

Sports Editor

Three years ago, coach Erin Giorgio compiled one of the best girls’ basketball teams in the Public League. After opening up the season 7-0, the Science Leadership Academy Rockets finished the regular season 9-3 and earned themselves a playoff appearance. A year later, while in the top division, the team went 7-7 in the regular season and ended the year on a 5-1 run.

But after losing multiple seniors and two transfers last year, the team struggled, ending the regular season with a 2-12 record. Following a tough season, there isn’t a better time for coach Giorgio’s harpings on team unity. This comes naturally for her, as she has been organizing, coaching, and playing sports for as long as she could remember–although her history is largely with a sport other than basketball.

“When I grew up, I recognized there were a lot of basketball teams out there,” Giorgio said, who is a native of Long Island, New York. “When I started playing lacrosse, I really found that was more of my speed. And I was really disappointed that it wasn’t available in my town. So when I was in 10th grade, I started a Police Athletic League [program] for girls’ lacrosse in my town.”

The experience taught Giorgio some of the resilience she shows in her work with the SLA girls’ team.

“We initially didn’t have enough girls for the first team,” she explained. “We had a clinic of, I think, ten kids that first year, of kids who were going into third and fourth grade. And then the following year we had a couple teams. By the time I left for college, my dad took over managing the program and I think we had two teams per age group, so we had six teams.”

Despite playing varsity basketball for two years in high school, where she was a defensive stopper, lacrosse was where coach Giorgio had the most success. She thrived, earning a spot on Yale’s Division 1 women’s lacrosse team. While she played pickup and intramural with her friends during college, she really didn’t get back into basketball until she came to SLA, where she has built one of the public league’s most successful programs in recent years.

The team began as a junior varsity team during her first year at the school and the next year, they advanced to the varsity level, but had trouble competing. It wasn’t uncommon for them to lose by 65 or 70 points on a regular basis. But years of intensity and continued growth have helped to further advance the girls’ basketball tradition at SLA.

“I think [the program] has gone in waves,” Giorgio added. “When I first got here, kids were used to not showing up to practice regularly. It definitely took a couple years to get kids on board. When the class of 2015 came in [as freshmen], that was our first class where I had kids showing up on a consistent basis. It wasn’t the only class…but that was the first time we had a more kids showing up regularly and really committing to playing basketball and not just being on the team. Then over the course of the years, we’ve built. And again, now as we’ve added Beeber the last couple years, it has been great being able to work with both campuses. Now as Beeber is in its fourth year we have a lot more kids interested in playing and our talent level has gone up.”

One of the toughest parts has been installing the 6:30 AM practices every morning at Greenfield.

“When you practice every morning at 6:30, you’re either in or out,” she commented. “You’re not going to show up at 6:30 if you don’t really care about it. You’re in or out and that’s it. I’m sure we’d have some different players if practice was after school. But I like what we have and we have a really good, dedicated group of kids. And unlike other teams, we only have an hour and fifteen minutes everyday.”

Early morning practices are all part of her message to the players about learning how to better themselves through sports.

“Building character through sport and having kids learn real life lessons through playing basketball [is important to me,]” she added. “I want them to recognize the transfer that basketball or sports has on other aspects of their life and the importance of having a growth mindset. When you make a mistake, don’t shut down. Learn from your mistake and do better. [I like] having kids be able to take leadership positions in sports in a way that they oftentimes don’t feel confident in the classroom. I think being a coach is a great opportunity to see kids excel in many different aspects of their life. So a kid I may teach in math class, that might not be their most confident area, but then all of a sudden I see them step onto the basketball court and I get to see them in a different light.”

Junior guard Tia Roberts also commented on Giorgio’s intensity and how she instills a lot of the principles she teaches.

“Ms. Giorgio is very aggressive and she has an [impactful] voice,” said Roberts. “She makes you run a lot.”

Junior forward Madison Harris agreed, adding to coach Giorgio’s pet peeves.

“She focuses on hustling,” said Harris. “It really bothers her if we don’t run back. If we miss a lot of layups at a time, that bothers her. [Bad] attitudes bother her too.”

However, this year, the early morning practices are more important than ever. With no seniors and only two returning starters, the team will be youthful. In preparation for their first game, coach Giorgio and her coaching staff of Wynetta Ward, the mother of Phoenix and Nile Ward, and tech room worker, SJ, who previously coached girls basketball at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, are working tirelessly for one hour and fifteen minutes everyday to help get the team ready.

“We dropped down a league from last year, and I think that if we play up to our potential, we should be leading this league,” Giorgio said. “And I’m hopeful that’s what we do. Then when we go into playoffs, we play against the teams from the higher league and show them how much we’ve grown as a team.”

After last year, Roberts has higher expectations for the team as a collective unit.

“I want everyone to flow better and be able to work together throughout the whole season,” Roberts said. “We have some good people and some people that require more improvement and I feel like we can’t just single out people who need improvement. We all need to find a medium where we all communicate and work together.”

Giorgio’s tone is noticeably echoed by captains Roberts and Alexis Perkins. Roberts is a defensive specialist and a really good motivator. She is an extension of Ms. Giorgio on the court. Similar to Roberts, Perkins is an extremely hard worker with raw basketball talent, who “does a great job of finding the open lane,” according to Giorgio

A young player with extreme athleticism, Karrine Tucker is another major piece coming back this season. As one of the two returning starters, she has legit college basketball potential and will be relied on for lots of scoring and steals this season.

“She has so much potential,” Roberts said of Tucker. “If she puts her mind to it, she can definitely dominate this season.”

Harris added another player that feels like could play a big role this season.

“I have big expectations for Diamond [Wallace],” said Harris. “She is a freshman. She is really good, but she likes to make sure people don’t look bad while they’re playing. She tries to make sure everything is perfect. She can’t do that; someone is going to mess up. But overall, I think she’s a good player and her head is in the right place.”

Harris will also play a major role on team. After not playing much her freshman season, Harris emerged as the sixth man last year as an attacking and rebounding big. Although they are in good hands, the team is still trying to establish a starting point that will push them to the next level. But that’s all part of the process.

“The team is much younger,” Giorgio said. “I think, in some weird ways, we’re faster and taller…I think we’re really quick. I think defensively, putting on some pressure, we can end up with a lot of steals. We’ll play some really aggressive defense up and down the court.”

The Rockets open up their season this Friday at Math, Civics & Sciences.

Photo courtesy of Jesse Shuter

Finishing Third In the Disney Half Marathon

December 14, 2016 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Meymey Seng

Staff Writer

Covering 13.1 miles in the incredible time of 1:21:22 was done by Jeremy Spry! Every year he runs the Disney Half Marathon in California. He has the determination of trying his best before going each time. With all his hard work, he managed to earn the place of being the third male in his age group to finish!

“I was excited. I was really happy. It was an unexpected thing,” said Excellence Coordinator Jeremy Spry. “The race went off and I was running my hardest. I thought I had a good chance of winning my age group and then between hard work and luck, it kind of worked out. It was really cool.” One of the most thrilling things was that he was running alongside Jenny Simpson, an Olympic medalist who got bronze in the 1,500 meter RIO, representing the U.S. “I got to talk to her and I talked to her about SLA and about Students Run Philly Style.”

The Very Beginning

As a big fan of sports, he played ultimate frisbee during high school and college. After he graduated from college, he decided he no longer wanted to play ultimate frisbee, but he still wanted to be apart of a team. Eight years ago, when he first started working at SLA, he noticed Students Run Philly Style posters hung around the school by former Physics Teacher Rosalind Echols. Seeing those posters, he automatically wanted to be a part of it.

Jeremy remembered sitting in his house, before coming to Philadelphia, and seeing the New York City marathon pass by every year. From then on, he always wanted to run a marathon. “The furthest I’ve ever traveled to run was Washington State as a part of a relay race,” Jeremy said.

The Transformation

When Jeremy first started training with Students Run, it was very difficult. After he ran his first marathon, he admitted that he would’ve never wanted to run again. Although, he had already signed up for the Walt Disney World marathon and realized that it was a lot easier to stay in shape than to get back into shape. Now, he has run about twenty-seven half marathons and twenty-two full marathons, all in the span of eight years! After more years of being with Students Run, which starts back up in March, he noticed how running was able to transform students. The students were able to gain the confidence to run marathons at the ages of 15, 16, and 17. They could later use that confidence to succeed in life.

Running became his favorite. He loves running, loves making kids run, and generally loves everything about running; it’s a part of his identity. He has ran many races and the furthest he’s ever traveled to run was for a race called the Ragnar Relay. “We ran from near Canada all the way down to Washington State. We were a relay team that covered about 200 miles in twenty-seven hours.”

Favorite Thing About Running

“My favorite thing is watching people become more healthy, both mentally and physically. Running is not something that could be faked, it’s clear that you get what you put into it,” said Jeremy Spry. ”I believe that everyone can run because most of the time, if someone has the ability to walk, there is a ninety-nine percent chance that they would be able to run.”

One of the biggest transformations that he loves to see is when people say that they’re not able to run a mile to being able to run Broad Street Run, half marathon, or full marathon.

“I love what the Philadelphia marathon represents. I love Students Run Philly Style and I love the next day after the marathon weekend when everyone comes in with their medals and their shirts. It’s like finally over and everyone’s happy.”

Making Everyone Proud

Many different members of the SLA community are impressed with Spry and everything he has accomplished.

“The one thing you will always hear Jeremy say is, ‘I love running!’ And he really does. Nothing makes him happier,” said English teacher Amal Giknis. “He’s super fast, too, so his photos are always awesome and show him all alone on a really cool course.”

Science Teacher and fellow Students Run Philly Style Coach Shannon McCullough agrees. “He is a very committed athlete who demonstrates both persistence and endurance. These are two key ingredients for any long distance runner. As for his performance in the Disney marathon, I’m not surprised at all.”

“I think it’s amazing that he was able to place third in the race, especially since it was a half-marathon. I know he’s run so many full and half marathons, and that makes me feel inspired and motivated to have someone like him as a coach,” said sophomore and participant in Students Run Lauren Nicolella. “It’s also cool to see that Jeremy is spreading his knowledge and skills to kids on the running team, helping them to improve with not only their running, but with their attitude and mentality towards running in general.”

“I am incredibly proud of him. It makes me so happy to call him my running coach. He’s so hardworking and deserves the recognition,” said junior and participant in Students Run Kaamil Jones.

“I was thankful for him before, but this is like icing on the cake.”

Saving Your Money

December 13, 2016 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Mekhi Granby

Staff Writer

How important is saving money?

For most teenagers, saving money is easy, but some teens still long to purchase things that aren’t always in their budget range.

Students at Science Leadership Academy report a range of experiences with saving money. Some of them say they’re no good.

“It’s hard for me to save because if I see something I like most likely I’ll buy it,” said Sophomore Justin Stewart. Senior Kobe Nabried has a similar pessimistic sense about his ability to save. “I’m not good at saving and never have been. ” he said.

Other students report having an easy time saving their money.

“Yes, I only use a certain amount of money weekly, and I’ve been doing so since sixth grade,” said Junior Malachi Johnson. Junior Christian McCormack has a different way of saving, he stated “Yes I’m good at saving money, I keep it in my book.” Someone who can relate to that is Senior Cassandra Northrope who said “Yes, I put money in my bank and have been saving college funds since I was really young.”

However, saving money isn’t just about the cool new thing you want to buy. Your attitude towards saving money will have an influence on your income, salary, occupation, and future goals.

Saving money can be a challenge though as one gets more independent and less reliant on others, a.k.a your parents. College Counselor Karina Hirshfield can relate as she states “I always try to save, but it’s not always easy because cost of living is so high (mortgage, utilities, food, children, etc.) and sometimes unexpected things come up.”

The thought of the cost of living can be solved by simply saving less, just because you make $300 every two weeks doesn’t mean you have to save $150. Save what you can, it’ll add up in the long run.

Saving money does not mean that you have to be frugal. You can spend your income provided you pay yourself and save first. By putting a percentage of what you earn in savings you will continuously have money. It doesn’t necessarily mean that one needs to have a steady income, it just means that when one has access to money an amount should be stored away.

Saving money gives protection for unexpected circumstances. If you lose your job at least you have money to sustain your needs until you obtain a new one.

So why do teachers choose to save?

For Hirschfield, the reasons are in the future. “I’d like to accomplish certain goals such as paying for my children’s education and also having enough money for retirement.”

English teacher Larissa Pahomov is also thinking about the long term. “I don’t have a lot of faith that my investment and pension will actually be there for me when I retire… but I still save, because I also don’t think it’s very important to spend money when you have it. As long as you can pay for the basics, that’s enough.”

Saving money has multiple ways of doing so. Both Hirshfield and Pahomov save money through a pension plan but that isn’t the only way. However you choose to save your money is the best way for you, as long as it works. Every penny counts and it’ll all add up.

Column: Turn on the News

December 13, 2016 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Caroline Pitone

Staff Writer

During election season, politics is the talk of the country, but even more so for this year’s election. The rivalry between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton has been all over the media. The difference of opinions has split the country. The country went out and voted for who they believed could run our country for the next 4 years. Apparently that is Donald Trump. But does the majority of the country really want him as president?

I have a confession to make: I was not so into politics, I thought it was a tricky topic to talk about. I knew that [describe what you DID know about the election, but I was turned off by the whole thing because [describe what candidates did or said that worried you]. There has been bonds broken over this election. This topic of discussion has been eating people alive and has started social media riots.

Even though I wasn’t paying much attention during the election, I was still surprised when Trump won because… When the election results came out, I decided it would be worth talking to other people like me — who hadn’t taken the election that seriously prior to November 8th.

What did those people have to say?

So what conclusions did I come to after talking to students?

After talking with students, I saw how passionate some were and how uninvolved some were. With that being said, everyone has a different pace and different way of going about things.

The way people sometimes go about things while trying to change someone’s opinion, if they are strong about it, is difficult. If you didn’t know already, people are very stubborn, and trying to demand a vote for Hillary or Trump from another being, is a hard task to conquer. Trying to inform people is a good step, and trying to get people more woke is an amazing step as well.

So why is it good to stay educated on the topic of politics?

Being a good citizen of the U.S. requires active participation when it comes to politics. The habit of constantly shutting out important topics of the nation has progressed over the years. I have gone through not knowing enough about what has been going on, and I have learned a lot from it. Being surrounded by so many people who are involved in the news have opened my eyes. I enjoy debating on politics, because it gives me a different point of view, it is exciting. Even though I will not have the option to vote until the next voting season, I will stay on top of what has been occurring in our political world, instead of hearing the opinions from others.

Review: Moana Redefines the Disney Princess

December 13, 2016 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Deja Harrison

Staff Writer

Beware: unavoidable spoilers in this review!

As a girl growing up, I had the craziest obsession with Disney princesses. Every year for halloween I was a Disney princess until the age of 12 when I had pretty much did them all from Cinderella to Tiana. But as I got older, I noticed the lack of diversity in the princesses I grew up adoring. Disney princesses are typically portrayed as skinny, white and fawning over a prince. This bothered me because I could never relate to the princesses I grew up adoring, none of them looked like me.

This year, however, Disney got my attention again with the release of their latest film. Recently Disney has been trying to mix things up a bit and portray different races and body types of young women.

Their newest princess, Moana, is a polynesian teenager on a mission to save her people from the destruction of the world. Moana is less of a princess and more of a chief to her people on her island of Motunui, which is an early settlement in the North island of New Zealand. She is heir to her father who grooms her into becoming a proper leader of their homeland.

The movie starts with showing a story of how the world was formed: in the beginning Earth was just oceans, until the island goddess Te Fiti came about and used her heart (a small green stone) to create life. Without it all life would die. Her heart was stolen by a shape-shifting demigod named Maui who wanted to give it to humans so that they would be able to create life on their own. Maui was then battled by Te Ka, goddess of lava, for the heart. He loses, leaving him and the heart lost in the ocean. The ocean chooses Moana a few years later to sail the oceans, find Maui, and have him return the heart.

The only problem with this quest — and, being a Disney movie, there has to be some kind of challenge — is that Moana doesn’t know how to sail, and her father won’t let her or anyone else leave the reef because of the dangers of the ocean. Moana finally decides to leave after the sudden death of her grandmother who tells her she has to save their island or it will die because the heart of Te Fiti has not been returned. The rest of the movie revolves around Moana setting out on her quest to save the world. With Maui, her pet rooster Hei Hei, and the ocean as her allies she is unstoppable.

Overall I found the movie very enjoyable. The story that was told is based off a real Polynesian legend about the oceans and islands which I find very interesting. I think that Disney did an amazing job portraying the culture and a young woman of color. Unlike earlier princesses of color like Tiana, Moana doesn’t look or act like every other Disney princess and I think that’s what makes her stand out a lot more. She is strong and doesn’t need a man or anyone else to rescue her, she is the rescuer of her own people. The only negative aspect of this movie is the confusing portrayal of Polynesian and Hawaiian culture. I was very unaware that she was polynesian until I looked at the plot of the movie and it said so; Disney gave the impression that she and her people where Hawaiian. I wish they would have done a better job of making it very clear that she was Polynesian and not Hawaiian because children should know the difference. Still the movie completely exceeded all of my expectations and I applaud all those involved. It is a very good movie for children of different culture, body types, and goals to watch.