• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

SLA Media

SLAMedia is a publication of the news for the Science Leadership Academy community. Writers come from the student body in 10th, 11th, and 12th grades. We work in unison to create a functioning paper with biweekly postings on a variety of events.

  • News
  • Features
  • Sports
  • A&E
  • Op/Ed
  • Multimedia
  • About

Nicknames, how do they build SLA?

November 20, 2018 by Sanaa Scott-Wheeler Leave a Comment

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.

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

* Copy This Password *

* Type Or Paste Password Here *

123,975 Spam Comments Blocked so far by Spam Free Wordpress

Primary Sidebar

FacebookInstagramTwitter Snapchat

Features

New Teacher Profile: Alexis Clancy

Braylon Dunlap Staff Writer As many people know, there are a few new additions to SLA’s staff this year with a brand new member being History Teacher Alexis Clancy. If you’re in her advisory or African American history class you may have already met her but there are some other interesting things about Ms. Clancy […]

New Teacher Profile: Mercedes Broughton-Garcia

By Maya Smelser Staff Writer SLA recently welcomed Spanish teacher Mercedes Broughton-Garcia, or Ms. Garcia to her students. After spending 7 years as a science teacher next door at Ben Franklin High School, she is transitioning to life at SLA. Background & Family Life “That’s a loaded question,” Ms. Garcia replied when asked where she […]

Wardrobe of SLA

By Harper Leary Staff Writer Philadelphia is a diverse city, and the student population of Science Leadership Academy reflects that fact— not just with their identities, but also with their fashion choices. If you walk down the hallways of SLA, your head will turn every which way to get a glimpse of all the different […]

How the Pandemic has Changed Live Events

By Maya Smelser & Anouk Ghosh-Poulshock Staff Writers Everyone remembers their first concert. But when the pandemic hit, many tours were canceled or rescheduled. There was a hiatus from live music as people adjusted to their new lives– so many teens missed out on their early concert experiences..  In the past few months, however, concerts […]

How Are SLA Students Are Dealing With Their Last Quarter?

Leticia Desouza Staff Writer After a long yet quick year at SLA, students from different grades have experienced many new things they weren’t able to experience during the 2020-2021 online academic year. After almost 10 months of being back in school, students have encountered difficulties and new experiences that further molded how the rest of […]

Categories

  • A&E
  • Cartoons
  • Covid
  • Faces of 440
  • Features
  • Movies
  • Movies
  • Multimedia
  • News
  • Op/Ed
  • Photos
  • Sports
  • The Rocket Record
  • Uncategorized

Recent Comments

  • martin on Song Review: “Origo”
  • Mekhi Granby on Album Review: Restoration of An American Idol
  • Meymey Seng on Album Review: Culture by Migos
  • Kelsey Brown on Album Review: Restoration of An American Idol
  • Angela Rice on SLA’s New Building Engineer, Ikea

Copyright © 2025 · Metro Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in