Jessica Hao ’19: Four EA musicians will show off their skills and audition for States at the Regional Pennsylvania Music Educators Association Competition (PMEA) from March 17th to March 19th. PMEA hosts music festivals for bands, choruses, and orchestras of students in tenth through twelfth grade across the United States. Students audition within their district first. The top twenty individuals in their respective groups are then accepted into the District Honors Choir/Orchestra. If the students are selected into Districts, they will have the opportunity to audition for a spot in the top ten and move on to the Regional level. The…
Author: TECHALERT
Sonam Saxena ’17: The EA community already loves the seeing-eye dogs on campus, so we will love the goats joining us as well? Recent plans have been discussed to bring goats onto campus, in order to unify the three units of the school. The goat conversation began when a group of students and faculty traveled to Haiti with Chaplin Elect Reverend Tim Gavin. The students discussed their plans for bringing something they learned back to the EA community. Carolyn Bell ‘16, member of this Jterm, explains, “Upon our return, Father Gavin asked us what we wanted our project to be, and…
Jessica Bai ’16: The “Ben Read Scholar” Award is annually awarded to a junior who is an outstanding scholar in history courses, and, upon sending a project proposal, the student can receive a grant to pursue this endeavor nationally or internationally. Chuck Bryant, a critical member of the Ben Read scholarship selection process and History Department Chair says, “The program, both the scholarship and the lecture series, exemplifies the very best of Episcopal’s commitment to service, whether through our Community Outreach program, within the school, or in life beyond Episcopal.” Alexa D’Ambrosio ‘17, as the 2016-2017 award recipient, illustrates this purpose…
Maddie Hughes ’16: Music: As the weather finally gets warmer, and spring infects us with that necessary jolt of joy, we definitely need some new music to blast in the car with the windows down (finally)! Thankfully, spring is also bringing us some great new hits to sing loudly. The 1975, a British band that creates an amalgamation of indie pop and alternative music, has released a new album, i like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it. Quite a mouthful, but the songs on this album are a great follow-up to their…
Amy Chen ’19: Seven schools in Delaware were recently evacuated after they received computer-generated phone calls issuing bomb threats and a possible mass shooting, on January 11, 2016. Eleven schools in New Jersey received similar computer-generated threats eight days later on January 19 and acted similarly. Although these threats were traced back to Bakersfield, California and fortunately never went any further, they still brought attention to the issue of school safety. Despite the similarity of the threats issued, the methods schools used in dealing with these situations varied. According to the news source PIX11, some schools chose to evacuate their…
Abby Baggini ’18: With the school year advancing into its sixth month, Governor, Tom Wolf, and his Republican controlled legislature still have yet to resolve the state budget impasse that has left Pennsylvania schools without the funds for textbooks and other much needed school supplies. While the budget impacts everything from roads, to hospitals, and taxes, one of the most time sensitive aspects is the state textbook funding for both public and independent schools. Across the state, private schools like Episcopal were forced to start the school year without nearly $30 million in state funding. Despite being a private school…
James Tang ’18: President Barack Obama declared the city of Flint Michigan to be in a federal state of emergency on January 5th, 2016. Since April of 2014, when the city changed its water supply from the Detroit Water and Sewage Department system to the Flint River, roughly one hundred thousand people, including six to twelve thousand children have been exposed to extremely high levels of lead contaminated water. A total of ten people are reported to have been killed and another seventy-seven injured as a direct result of this switch. Middle and Upper School Nurse, Anne Ravreby, explains, “There…
Brooke Kelly ’18: Faculty have long considered financial aid on their children’s tuition at Episcopal an important part of their compensation package. A recent announcement, however, indicated that this financial aid system has changed. In an email sent out to faculty on February 10th, 2016, Dr. Cathy Hall, Assistant Head of School, wrote, “For all faculty and staff who began work at EA before July 1, 2015 there is no change at all to the way financial aid or remission is processed for their children, both born and unborn.” Jennifer Maier, Upper School teacher and mother of two EA students,…
Nina Stavropoulos ’17: Snow days may seem like relaxing days off from the stresses of the school week and a few more hours of sleep, but for the administration and maintenance crew, they are anything but that. The night before any indication of snowfall, T.J .Locke, The Greville Haslam Head of School, and the maintenance crew go through extensive preparations and evaluate the possibility of a possible delay or snow day. Locke says, “I’m on the phone usually late in the night with our maintenance team. The crew gives me the green or red light in terms of whether we can…
Amanda Turner ’19: For the last thirty-eight years, the name “Episcopal” has almost been synonymous with Reverend Squire, Head Chaplain. After the announced retirement of Squire, a new Head Chaplain has been named: Tim Gavin, previous Lower School Chaplain. As new Chaplain, Gavin will assume the responsibilities of Squire next year, a seemingly big role to fill from someone so acclaimed at Episcopal. With this in mind, much of the EA community wondered about the process of choosing Squire’s replacement. First, Squire described the requirements for the role by saying, “The most important part of my job is making sure…
Phoebe Barr ’19: After nearly forty years of serving as Head Chaplain at the Episcopal Academy, Reverend Jim Squire is retiring at the end of this school year and starting a new chapter in his life. Scholium recently got the exclusive about his plans for life after EA. “At this point in time, I don’t know what they are,” Squire shared. “They’re still to be determined. But I know a couple of things. I know that I’ll be volunteering here. I’ll do a bit of traveling for the school next year, and my wife will be with me doing that. But…
Minjee Cho ’19, Bryce Nabulsi ’19: When driving into Episcopal something people tend to notice are the athletic facilities; whether it is the turf fields, tennis courts, or athletic center. However, there is one thing missing: an ice hockey rink. There have been many attempts to create a rink that can be used during the winter season and be easily taken down when spring comes. In the 2015-16 season, the plan was to put the rink on the tennis courts, but there was a major obstacle. “The tennis courts were not level: we would have had to fill up one side…
Neha Mukherjee ’18: The Sadie Hawkins dance was canceled for the first time this year. Matt DePillis’ 16, President of Student Council, explains, “The complaints from the students have been heard through the attendance at Sadie Hawkins. It’s very simple: students will show whether or not they want to attend an event by going to it or not. We figured since attendance and enthusiasm for the dance were low that there were not many kids who cared about it, and that was justification enough for us to cancel this year’s Sadie’s.” What does this leave for the rest of the school…
Avi Shah ’17, Connor Gunsalus ’17: The topic of facial hair has become controversial over the past few years at EA. Should students be allowed to grow facial hair? If so, under what circumstances should facial hair be permitted? Currently, it is against dress code for male students to grow facial hair unless required by that student’s religion. Many students have found fault with this rule. They assert that this rule is burdensome, costly, prohibits freedom of expression, and even raises health concerns. Some EA students believe they should be able to wear their facial hair however they would like,…
Isabella Sanchez ’16: A familiar 51-foot paintbrush towers over Broad Street, standing between two buildings that showcase and cultivate creativity. Both a museum and art school, The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA) is committed to creating and appreciating American artists. To the right of the crashed airplane is the main entrance to the famous art school’s academic building. President, CEO and interim Museum Director, David Brigham, keeps the oldest museum in the country vibrant. From the Paint Torch sculpted by Claes Oldenburg in 2011 to Jordan Griska’s PAFA class of 2008, Grumman Greenhouse, there is art showcased everywhere on campus.…
Nick Sustersic ’18, Justin Hershey ’18, Michael Zeng ’19: Throughout this winter season, Caitlin Jorgensen ‘19 has been a standout runner for the Girls’ Winter Track team. Last year as an eighth grader, she immediately separated herself from many runners her age as she had the opportunity to run for Episcopal’s fall varsity cross country team as a middle schooler. Winter Track Co-captain Kathryn Wilson ‘16, observed that “as an eighth grader Jorgensen was a little tentative but now that she is one of the top runners in the Inter-Ac, she has begun to feel more comfortable.” After Jorgensen moved on to high…
Sarah Keffer ’17: Over the past ten years, the paddle program at Episcopal Academy has grown from a six person team to a group of over 30 athletes. Jack Brinker ‘16, along with his co-captain Bella Echevarria ‘16, have been crucial members of creating the program Episcopal has established. Brinker recalled that he “started playing paddle sophomore year, when I came to Episcopal.” He mentioned that when he started playing paddle, “it was only offered at Episcopal.” Now Brinker participates in 18-and-under tournaments, but his training and the majority of games he participates in are played through EA’s program. He acknowledged…
Phoebe Barr ’19: Dystopian literature is very popular. From The Hunger Games to The Giver to 1984, they are well-loved stories with chilling themes. Horrific things, or what we would consider horrific, are considered normal in these societies. We read about how children are picked from bowls of names and made to kill each other in televised arenas. We read about how old men and women, troublesome toddlers, are killed, without a second thought, by people whose job it is to do this every day and to lie about it to the world. We shudder at the thought of where civilization…
Anaya Cherry ’18: Episcopal’s rigorous athletics program is one of the powerhouse programs in the area. The time and dedication of athletes, families, and coaches have given the program its great reputation. But, why do we not have Volleyball teams? Why don’t we have a sailing team as well? Sailing and volleyball have been popular interests amongst students at Episcopal. Director of Athletics, Regina Buggy noted, “For a school of our size, we have a lot of teams. At some point in time, you have to decide how many athletes you can efficiently, effectively, and productively accommodate. How many sports can…
Lilly Shaner ’17, Jacqueline Dzwonczyk ’17: The Episcopal Academy spring sports teams are gearing up for the spring season. As they do so, we are previewing their season and main competitors. Boys’ Tennis After losing many of its leaders from last season, the boys’ tennis team is ready to move forward using their youth and coachability to generate another successful year. When asked who will be the team’s biggest competition, Coach Powell replies, “Haverford. It starts and ends with Haverford-almost any other team is irrelevant.” Boys’ Track The boys’ track team will face tough competition this year in meets against Haverford, Malvern…