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Dear Keough family,

 

This is letter/article serves as a reminder that Shamus will never be forgotten. I hope you enjoy it and get to understand what he meant to the SLA community.

✦✦✦✦✦

A blue baseball cap with the word “Moose” embroidered on the front, a sweatshirt related to running, baggy grey sweatpants, socks sporting the Kraft Macaroni and Cheese box, gold Crocs and an unmovable grin plastered to his face.

All of these elements of a typical Shamus outfit represent the personality of the charismatic, funny, wonderfully weird, meme god/decorated runner/masterful video editor that the SLA community and beyond has gotten the privilege to spend the last three-and-a-half years with.

First, the hat

Moose, a nickname that his mother gave him as a kid, is a moniker that he takes pride in. When his mother comes in for student-teacher conferences and calls out across the cafeteria “Hey Moose, you ready to go?”, Shamus doesn’t storm over and demand that his mother stop calling him that. He wears it with pride. He even made that his Instagram username for his video game edits page. However, this hat has more than one meaning.

The consistency in this hat’s appearance is astounding and speaks to the loyalty that he showcases day after day. You can always spot Shamus making his friends laugh with corny jokes, an excessive amount of ridiculous memes, and hilarious mid conversation poses emphasized by his party favor-esk sunglasses that often find their way onto his hat.

Second, his sweatshirt

If you didn’t know Shamus is a runner, then you must not know Shamus. He’s participated in several half marathons since 8th grade and is not shy about wearing his medals, and accompanying jacket, in school. The tall and slender senior has a perfect running build and conquers his competition.

His finishing time in the Philadelphia Marathon Race Weekend’s Half Marathon has gone down nearly 35 minutes in total since his 8th-grade year. But running isn’t about killing his competition for Shamus. In a project he did for Ms. Pahomov’s junior English class, he explained that after finishing his first half marathon he was “really happy when I got to be around my parents and my team and just being congratulated by them.” His jacket also represents a lack of care for being the center of attention through his clothing.

The gentle giant wears very similar outfits every not because he doesn’t care about what he’s wearing but because he lets his personality do the talking for him.

Finally, his Mac and Cheese socks and gold Crocs

Such articles of clothing might be deemed weird or unusual if worn by other people. But for Shamus, these are essentials. They exhibit the bubbly, hilarious, quirky, and joyful elements of his personality. Shamus is can frequently be spotted before school outside of Mr. Kamal’s classroom making his friends with some of his cheerful antics. He is seldom seen unhappy, alone or stressed out, even if those around him are.

When one of the fights orchestrated in the short-lived and ill-thought out fight club went too far, Shamus made sure to make sure both parties were ok and could go on being friends. On another occasion, Shamus selflessly sacrificed his position on one of the teams so that he could cheer his friends on during a pre-winter break football game.

As this ode comes to a close, I want you to notice that none of the language describing Shamus was used in the past tense. That’s because the elements of Shamus that all of the people close to him have had the pleasure to experience will never die. His stoic happiness, friendliness to any and everyone, his undying loyalty, and his love of life, among many other things, has taught me and everyone around him how to be a better friend, a better person and a better human being.

Know that Shamus continues to be loved by all of the communities that have been lucky enough to experience all the things he had to offer.

— The SLA Community

In most schools across Philadelphia calling a teacher by something other than their last name would get a student in trouble.  

 

This is yet another way that SLA is not a typical school. While the official policy is to call teachers by their last name, nicknames are often  accepted and encouraged.

 

“Depending on the level of consent with a nickname, they can be either a symbol of connection or endearment, or a cause for distance and resentment”, said African American and World History Teacher, Daniel Symonds, also known as “Symmy or Sym Sym,” who has been teaching at Science Leadership Academy for three years.

 

In a more traditional setting, a nickname can reflect respect not being delivered.

 

“I am hopeful that students take my work seriously, and that a nickname doesn’t indicate my being any less of a teacher than those without nicknames.” Symmy added.

 

But at SLA,nicknames usually consist of an inside joke or reference a story with that teacher.

 

For example, Math Teacher Brad Latimer, or “Latty Daddy,” got his nickname from his first advisory, shortly before his first child, Zooey, was born.

 

“I nickname students, so it’s only fair they return the favor” said English Teacher and Poetry Coach Matthew Kay, also known as Kizzy. which some student have called him in the past.

 

“We have a running joke with Mr Kay where he’ll say something and I say K or MK or Matt Kay,” said Sophomore Londyn Edwards. “I don’t have a problem nicknames as long as it’s mutual and  the teacher is cool with it, I think it shows the relationship with the teacher.” she added.

 

“Teachers should definitely be appreciated , it depends on how you feel about them personally, but teachers should be appreciated in any regard because they sacrifice a lot.” said Edwards

 

“(Sophomore) Caresten Moses has a nickname for Ms. Walker Roberts, she’ll walk in the class and say ‘hey mamas’ and Ms Walker Roberts responds with ‘hey honeys’ I think that’s the cutest thing ever, it’s hilarious to me.”

 

The general goal for teachers the goal is to make sure students understand class material not always connect. At SLA teachers hope to build community with students with the hope that a nickname does not let them stray away in class.

 

“Sometimes if it’s a nickname between students it can be mean and can be making fun of the teachers” said Sophomore Taj Walter.. Several students agreed that such nicknames also exist at SLA, but declined to share what they were.

 

“Some teachers are dead set on having a strictly professional relationship especially at schools I’ve been to in the past, like Discovery Charter school,” Edwards added.

 

“Teachers will get mad ‘I’m a teacher you’re a student, I’m an adult and you’re a child, you’re going to respect me as an adult’, if you want to be a robot by all means…:”

“I give kids nicknames all the time, so I feel like it’s just something that happens…and as long as the nicknames are appropriate and not hurtful, they can help build community” said science teacher, Tim Best, or “Mr Worst.”

 

“Language is amazing and fun and meant to be played with,” said Symmy.

 

“I am hopeful that students take my work seriously, and that a nickname doesn’t indicate my being any less of a teacher.” he added.

 

Jayla Wright

Copy Editor

In the past, I would spend my weekend mornings slipping out of my warm covers to search for my coveted remote that would turn my TV on an episode of Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Now, I’m still spending my mornings watching the Spellman family but instead, as a reincarnation of the original.

Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is the latest reboot of the 90’s classic.

I first heard of the Netflix reboot in September where I learned one major fact about the show, it was going to be darker than its whimsical counterpart. This was not what I expected when I saw the show was coming back. Instead, I assumed it would keep the same cheery mood as the original.

 

That aspect of the reboot concerned me, as I wasn’t much of a fan of horror… or dark themes… or more like to watch my movies without being scared, essentially. However,  when I started the show there were plenty of bloody scenes that made me flinch, but after a few episodes, I have gotten used to it.

As for the plot, it takes a while before it really kicks off.

The first few episodes of the show are held back by its fast pacing, which makes the episodes’ events feel overwhelming and occasionally meaningless. Oftentimes, early episodes would reveal something about Sabrina — such as her character being trained for a greater purpose. and follow it with a scene exposing a plot twist involving her friends. This combination would make any revelations about side characters feel unnecessary to the overall plot.

Only about halfway through the season does the show start to be great.

Sabrina’s character growth is what really drives the show. Sabrina makes decisions that would have me yelling at my TV, like when she refused to listen to her aunts. I would only get more frustrated when she somehow couldn’t hear me through the screen and ended up doing something I heavily disagreed with.

As the show goes on, she really pushes the limits of who she is and what can she do. One of the main themes of the show is power versus freedom. Sabrina is constantly told she can only have freedom and no power and vice versa. This theme truly sets Sabrina’s development in motion.

The idea of freedom and power connects to its other theme of feminism and the idea that women can only have freedom or power in society, never both. Just like in the original show, Sabrina has to learn to balance both her girl and witch-hood. This duality in the reboot is a metaphor of the idea of women balancing their freedom and power.

The reboot goes deeper than the original in that it tackles social issues through the metaphor of witches.

Although it had a rough start, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina turned into a show deeper than its original.