Mimi McCann ’14: A recent journal from the American Academy of Neurology noted that abuse of ADHD medication in the US is on the rise. Other data shows that college and high school campuses have become havens for use of the addictive and often abused ADD/ADHD medication, Adderall. Adderall, an amphetamine based prescription drug to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), has become popular on college campuses in the past few years. According to the U.S. Drug and Enforcement Agency, “Amphetamines are stimulants that speed up the body’s system,” or, in other words, help students focus harder for longer. However,…
Author: TECHALERT
Leah Yao ’13: The Episcopal Academy Mock Trial Team has come to the forefront of everyone’s attention this spring with its recent string of successes. In the Delaware County District Competition, the team defeated Delaware County Christian School in the quarterfinals and Strath Haven’s second team in the semifinals. This win put the team into the District finals against Strath Haven’s first team. Despite a loss against this team, which made Episcopal the runner up in the district, as the largest district in the region, Delaware County sends not one, but two teams to the regional competition, which allowed the…
Timmy Freese ’14: In Episcopal’s ninth year as a part of the Annenberg Symposium, a group of Honors Biology students recently presented their research on epigenetics to an audience of students, parents, and doctors. The symposium, designed to help students learn more about the modern applications of biological advancements, has grown to include sixteen schools at four different hospitals. Epigenetics, according to Andrew Hayes, Biology teacher and co-advisor to the group, “is part of a budding field. It deals with molecules and ‘triggers’ responsible for turning genes on and off.” Such advances can help aid those who suffer from previously…
Alex Archambault ’14: A long hallway adorned with beautifully designed class shields leads to the locker rooms in the Dixon Athletic Center. Each shield has its own unique twist and represents the true nature of each graduating class. According to Assistant Athletic Director Jim Farrell, this tradition dates back to 1907. He stated, “The names of the seniors that received a varsity letter are on the shield and then the number of letters they received are on the shield. It is not necessarily every single person, but the majority of each class is up there.” The number of stars represents…
Alex Archambault ’14: A long hallway adorned with beautifully designed class shields leads to the locker rooms in the Dixon Athletic Center. Each shield has its own unique twist and represents the true nature of each graduating class. According to Assistant Athletic Director Jim Farrell, this tradition dates back to 1907. He stated, “The names of the seniors that received a varsity letter are on the shield and then the number of letters they received are on the shield. It is not necessarily every single person, but the majority of each class is up there.” The number of stars represents…
Courtney Carpinello ’14, Amanda Paolino ’14: Many Episcopal underclassmen are unaware that senior project rules changed this year. Although Episcopal’s new policy for senior projects in some ways helps students to learn more effectively during their two-week project interval, this policy also restricts student creativity and limits possible project ideas. The senior project is an opportunity for students to spend time exploring their interests and look toward the future in terms of career goals. However, the ability to accomplish both of these goals is severely limited by the new senior project standards. In the new rules, students are required to…
Courtney Carpinello ’14, Amanda Paolino ’14: Many Episcopal underclassmen are unaware that senior project rules changed this year. Although Episcopal’s new policy for senior projects in some ways helps students to learn more effectively during their two-week project interval, this policy also restricts student creativity and limits possible project ideas. The senior project is an opportunity for students to spend time exploring their interests and look toward the future in terms of career goals. However, the ability to accomplish both of these goals is severely limited by the new senior project standards. In the new rules, students are required to…
Roshan Ravashankar ’14: Even though the New York State judiciary rightly turned down a ban on large sugary drinks, the battle is not over and judges must stand firm in their decision, as this bill suffers from several major loopholes and claims jurisdiction in a matter outside the city government’s domain. Although Judge John Milton stated that the ban “was fraught with arbitrary and capricious consequences,” New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has vowed to appeal the court’s decision, citing New York City’s alarming obesity rates. The ban that Michael Bloomberg has proposed would restrict the sale of sugar-filled drinks…
Roshan Ravashankar ’14: Even though the New York State judiciary rightly turned down a ban on large sugary drinks, the battle is not over and judges must stand firm in their decision, as this bill suffers from several major loopholes and claims jurisdiction in a matter outside the city government’s domain. Although Judge John Milton stated that the ban “was fraught with arbitrary and capricious consequences,” New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has vowed to appeal the court’s decision, citing New York City’s alarming obesity rates. The ban that Michael Bloomberg has proposed would restrict the sale of sugar-filled drinks…
Andrew Jannetta ’14: In his recent proposal to increase the minimum wage, President Obama neglected the burden that such a raise would impose on businesses of all size as the raise in pay would come out of business owners’ own pockets. The president insists on charging private business and industry with fixing insoluble social ills, when an adjustment to the earned income tax credit is a much more reasonable approach. President Obama suggested, during his State of the Union, a raise of minimum wage, initially to $9 an hour, then up to $10.10 an hour by 2015. After that, the…
Andrew Jannetta ’14: In his recent proposal to increase the minimum wage, President Obama neglected the burden that such a raise would impose on businesses of all size as the raise in pay would come out of business owners’ own pockets. The president insists on charging private business and industry with fixing insoluble social ills, when an adjustment to the earned income tax credit is a much more reasonable approach. President Obama suggested, during his State of the Union, a raise of minimum wage, initially to $9 an hour, then up to $10.10 an hour by 2015. After that, the…
Rohan Gulati ’13, Daniel Saedi ’13: Obama’s proposed raise of the minimum wage protects workers during economic downturns, allows families to live above the poverty line, and benefits the economy through increased spending and borrowing. President Obama recently introduced the idea of gradually raising the minimum wage in his State of the Union address. His plan called for either a gradual increase to $9/hour, or a cost of living adjustment that would be applied at the discretion of Congress. Though the federal minimum wage was raised in 2007, when they is adjusted for inflation, nominal wages are actually at their…
Melanie Kovacs ’15: When first hearing her sing, it would cross the mind of few that the voice coming out of Joanie Hofmeyr ’14 could possibly belong to an eighteen-year-old girl. Rather, one would expect that hers was the voice of a professional opera singer. Incredible talent is one of the many reasons Hofmeyr has made such an impression over the past seven months on so many of her peers, teachers, and others both in her home country of South Africa and at the Episcopal Academy. “I’ve been singing and dancing since I can remember,” Hofmeyr recalled.. She explained, “[A…
Suzy Chen ’14: At this time each year, the Domino Club’s annual musical production starts to generate excitement at the Episcopal Academy. This year’s musical, Thoroughly Modern Millie, will whisk EA back to Manhattan during the Jazz Age in a high-spirited musical romp. The year is 1922, and young Millie Dillmount (played by Caroline Hunter ’14) has just moved from Kansas to New York City in search of a new life for herself at a time when women were entering the workforce and the rules of love and social behavior were undergoing dramatic changes. According to Daniel Clay, upper school…
Jessica Bai ’16, Sarah Barr ’16: As everyone is by now well aware, next year the “J-Term” will be made a part of Episcopal’s curriculum. Proposed J-Term courses cover a variety of topics ranging from sustainability to chemistry and cooking; however, there are also a number of courses that will appeal to Episcopal students who are artistically inclined. “From Thin Air” is an acting course taught by Daniel Clay, Upper School acting and film teacher. “The idea [of this course] is to work in collaboration with other students to develop a play or series of plays,” Clay stated. This J-Term…
Kayla Coleman ’14: Jackie Tileston’s “Encounters Upon Walking” is the latest exhibit to adorn the walls of the Crawford Campus Gallery. The exhibit focuses Tilestons oil paintings as well as her mixed media on linen. At first, viewers may just be attracted to the exhibit’s bursting blur of colors with streaks, splashes and smudges of designs in between, but Tileston’s work has more meaning that just its energetic aesthetic. Her work for this gallery was inspired by Taoist landscapes, regal colors and concepts of Indian artwork, and models of contemporary science. Tileston also incorporates Western traditions, including post modernism, 20th…
Drew DeBacco ’14: From a very young age, the family of Caroline Giles ’13 guided her towards softball. In fact, the sport was in her blood. Her grandfather, William (Bill) Giles is the Chairman of the Philadelphia Phillies and her great-grandfather served as the President of the National League. Therefore it is easy to surmise that she was ‘always’ going to be on the field. However, Giles’s parents did not push her into softball; rather they simply hoped that their child would possibly come across this interest by herself. As we see today, it did not take long until Giles’…
Katie O’Reilly ’14: The Episcopal Sustainability Committee helped to install a food composter in the cafeteria in December 2012 not only to recycle excess food material but also to maximize the school’s ability to become completely sustainable in terms of solid waste. Despite the hundreds of people who dine in the cafeteria on a daily basis, much of the prepared food is left unused. This leftover food is composed through a shoot from the kitchen and then used to help fertilize parts of the campus, ultimately reducing the solid waste of the Episcopal community. The composter, called the “Earth Tub”…
Michael Quinlan ’14: Beginning in the 2013-2014 school year, Episcopal will change its college guidance program by assigning students to their college counselors during the sophomore year. The current college process begins during the second semester of the junior year, when students are paired with one of the five members of the college guidance office, whom they will work with for the duration of the college process. Matt Essman, who has served as Director of College Guidance at Episcopal since 2010, explains that the change was made by “myself and [Head of Upper School Geoffrey Wagg] a couple months ago.”…
Ryan Quinlan ’14: In light of both the ongoing investigation into the situation involving an unidentified photographer in the Dixon Athletic Center and the recent Association of Delaware Valley Independent Schools (ADVIS) school safety meeting held at Episcopal, Scholium decided to update the community on EA’s evolving security procedures. ADVIS represents over 130 schools in the region, many of which recently convened at Episcopal in order to discuss school security policies. As Mark Notaro, Director of Facilities and Operations, stated, “We’ve always taken security seriously here. Certainly with Sandy Hook and [then] with the unknown photographer, we decided to revisit…