Peter Woodville ’21 As academic dishonesty continues to be a major problem at EA, administrators endeavor to address the problem through new policies. This year in particular, the administration has tried to reduce cheating by implementing a phone basket in every classroom and requiring students to place their phones in the basket before every class. Teachers are also required to make a new test for students who miss the original test date due to sickness. Despite these measures, cheating remains a great subject of concern. Michael Wennemer, Class of 2021, weighs in on the issue, stating: “I think that cheating…
Author: TECHALERT
Ella Sundstrom ’21 Cecilia Murphy ’22 Alaina Klachn ’22 The Scrooge Chapel is considered one of the most memorable chapels of the school year. Known for its pop-culture references, shown in the three ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future, the Chapel provides a comical introduction to the holiday season. The Scrooge Chapel is based off of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. In the novel, the miserable and greedy protagonist Ebenezer Scrooge, known for his memorable line, “Bah humbug,” is visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future. The ghosts try and enable Scrooge to have a more…
Hollis DuPont ’21 Kathleen Mark ’21 Mariah Islam ’21 As EA student interest in community service has continued to grow, many new projects have been implemented to give students a chance to serve different communities this winter. Some service opportunities this month include: UCHC, Adopt a Student, and ACLAMO. Ms. Brinks, the Director of Community Service has established the Community Service Corps, an expanded version of the board. Brinks said, “Like the Peace and Marine Corps, the name speaks more to a body of people who have a purpose in mind.” She also said, “The expansion has grown out of…
New Congressional Districts In January of 2018, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court deemed the previous Congressional district lines unconstitutionally gerrymandered to favor the Republican Party, and the district lines were redrawn. During the 2018 PA midterm elections, many Pennsylvanians voted in new districts, including those in Newtown Square, which has switched to the new fifth district from the old seventh district, which was described by The New York Times as what “might have been the most gerrymandered district in the nation.” After these past midterms, Pennsylvania now has eight Democrat and ten Republican representatives. Out of the twenty PA members of…
Trisha Tsundupalli ‘21 Journalism and writing are, undeniably, meaningful aspects of life in the EA community. Mandatory English classes inform student writing skills as they progress through all four years of high school, and the student-run Scholium informs students, teachers, and alumni alike. Through such creative opportunities the Epolitan, Open Mic Night, and the Creative Writing Club, Episcopal provides a strong foundation for students to express writing ability and become more knowledgeable about community goings-on. As Morgan Bramwell ‘21 says, “I believe writing is… another way to truly express oneself as an individual, which is one of the things EA…
Amanda Palmer ‘20 Each year since 2016, the D’Ambrosio Fellowship has awarded special recognition to those teachers at the Episcopal Academy who go above and beyond. Here at EA, students are fortunate to have highly qualified teachers to help them grow in mind, body, and spirit, and the Fellowship aims to recognize them. Kris Aldridge, a member of the first class of Fellows, says, “I would say the intent of the Fellowships, as set up by the D’Ambrosio family, is to give teachers the opportunity to reflect on teaching excellence and to think about what it means and how to…
Noble Brigham ‘20 This year’s Mock Trial case addresses the underlying issue of the opioid crisis, which has taken the United States by storm. Pain lies at the root of the issue- pain, which takes such a personal connotation for different individuals. Some have a high endurance for it, but some become dependent on or addicted to opioids in order to cope. Nicole Chaikin, Upper School Psychologist, says, “There are different neural pathways for pain, and we also try to differentiate a pain threshold versus a pain tolerance. For example, some chronic pain would have a lower threshold, but they…
Ella Sundstrom ’21Hollis Dupont ’21Maiah Islam ’21 This year’s club fair was one of the biggest in school history, featuring seventy-six diverse clubs, including both old and new favorites. The familiar faces of JUNTO, Prism, and Speak Up!, as well as younger clubs like Cheese Club, Financial Literacy, and Farming, all took to the green to recruit eager students. JUNTO, the debate club, is popular among students who wish to learn the basics of debate and grow their thinking skills. When asked about the benefits of joining JUNTO, Brendan DePillis ‘20 said, “JUNTO is really good if you want to…
Owen Maier ’20 Drastic changes have occurred in one of the most popular courses at Episcopal: AP World History. In response to recent underperforming student essays on the AP exam, the College Board is changing the curriculum to covering material from 1200 CE to present, instead of the 10,000 years that were taught in the past. This change, which was announced in July of this year, will be in effect for the 2019-20 school year, so current freshmen will be the first impacted. The revised course will take the name “AP World History: Modern” to reflect the new periods. In…
Krissie Essilfie ’21Avani Narula ’21 The price of evening dinners for cast members of the play and musical during Production Week has doubled since the arrival EA’s new dining system, SAGE; just one of the many brisk changes entering the EA community in the past few years. Last year, the Familetti family, who were in charge of EA’s general dining services, charged five dollars per meal per student during Production Week. The dinner cost was completely taken care of by EA’s theater budget in previous years. However, this year, SAGE is charging ten dollars per meal per student, meaning that…
Phoebe Barr ’19 In response to questions about EA’s changing student body size and the admissions decisions behind it, Peter Anderson, Director of Admission and Enrollment Management, gave Scholium new perspectives on the admissions data for recent years. “For each grade, pre-k and up, we have patterns for yield,” Anderson explains, referring to the number of students, out of those accepted, who choose to come to Episcopal each year. “We take a long historic pattern, and we make a determination about how many students to accept.” He discusses the year 2015, in which the yield was unusually high: “I talked…
Theodore Vadot ‘19 Over the past few years, the seniors have established a tradition of painting a mural on Episcopal’s campus. Usually involving class spirit, the senior class adds their own twist to it, leaving their mark at EA for everyone to see. On September 30th, 2018, students in the Class of 2019 gathered to paint their mural over the previous mural, painted by the Class of 2018. The Class of 2019’s mural includes a new addition to EA’s fanbase, the Thunder Dome: The Dome Gnome. Quinn Chambers ‘19 came up with this idea; when asked how he was inspired,…
Tom Hogan ‘20 Lacey Rivera ‘20, a Junior at the Episcopal Academy, is October’s Artist of the Month. Her visual artwork comes from her Honors 3-D Design III Class where, Rivera said, “the assignment was to create “A flat sculpture that had a realistic and believable figure.” Rivera’s masterpiece is a 3D bas-relief of an octopus that she spent countless hours crafting and perfecting. With the help of Ms. Hilary Hutchison and many long hours in the art studio, Lacey was able to create stunning visual artwork. According to her classmate, Hadley Debruyn ‘20, “She’s very articulate with her hands…
Tom Hogan ‘20 Lacey Rivera ‘20, a Junior at the Episcopal Academy, is October’s Artist of the Month. Her visual artwork comes from her Honors 3-D Design III Class where, Rivera said, “the assignment was to create “A flat sculpture that had a realistic and believable figure.” Rivera’s masterpiece is a 3D bas-relief of an octopus that she spent countless hours crafting and perfecting. With the help of Ms. Hilary Hutchison and many long hours in the art studio, Lacey was able to create stunning visual artwork. According to her classmate, Hadley Debruyn ‘20, “She’s very articulate with her hands…
Michael Bai ‘20 On October 19th, 2018, at auction house Sotheby’s in New York, a painting by anonymous British graffiti artist Banksy was sold for $1.4 million. Moments later, the painting self-destructed by shredding itself in front of several witnesses, attracting widespread media coverage. The shredded piece was a copy of one of Banksy’s most famous works titled “Girl with Balloon.” In a later statement, Banksy said that the piece was supposed to be completely shredded, but the shredder built into the frame stopped halfway. His artwork is well-known for its political and social commentary as well as their satirical…
Morgan Reese ’21Morgan Bramwell ’21 Despite the previous statements, AIS day will no longer have a delayed opening and will begin at 8 AM as it has in the past. As of last week, it was known that AIS Day would start late at 10 AM and begin with chapel followed by the pep rally. From 8 to 10, the varsity teams were allotted the time to warm up, practice, and prepare for their upcoming games. This also offered non-varsity students the opportunity to rest for the long day ahead. Despite public knowledge, Zach Richards, Form Dean of the Sophomore…
Anjali Bose ‘20 Tim Gavin, the head chaplain of the Episcopal Academy, has published a small collection of poems, Lyrics from the Central Plateau, revolving around his experiences with the people and culture of Haiti. This was not his first experience writing poetry or being published. “I’ve been writing poetry since my sophomore year in high school, and had my first poem published when I was a freshman in college,” Father Gavin explained. “The poem was called ‘Pennsylvania Pathway’ with, I think, the publication Pegasus. Not a lot of people read poetry, but there are many online journals and small…
Sejin Park ’20Justin Chen ’20 As of recently, Harvard has been challenged and brought to court due to what many see as its discriminatory selection process, particularly pertaining to Asian-American applicants. This effort has been primarily led by Edward Blum. According to the Boston Globe, Blum has become the “face” of the effort to end Affirmative Action (the practice of using an applicant’s minority status as a positive factor in determining their acceptance) and has believed that Affirmative Action violates the basic ideals of equality this nation so heavily emphasize. Representing Harvard is the school’s dean of admissions, William Fitzsimmons.…
The Thunderdome, Episcopal Academy’s student section, has been instrumental at Friday night football games, giving all of the athletes on the field endless motivation and energy. At these games, however, not only does the Thunderdome support the football team, but it also fosters a close community and culture for the many Episcopal students in the stands. Nishant Thangada ‘19 explains, “I love going to the games on Friday. It is really fun to watch my friends out there on the field and cheer in the stands with the Dome. I feel like it really brings out the school spirit.” While…
Pro-AP: Jonathan Huang ’19 Nishant Thangada ’19 Luca DiLeonardo ’19 AP classes strongly bolster EA’s curriculum and help in fostering the best possible education for students. They provide a college-level rigor that cannot be found in curriculums that do not provide such classes. Garrett Cooley ‘19 confirms that “AP classes are definitely challenging, but still manageable all in all”. Upper School French teacher Christele Furey states that the course rigor found in AP classes is appealing. “From a teacher’s perspective, I love APs! It makes sure teachers don’t lose track of what needs to be taught, keeping the integrity of…