Courtney Carpinello ’15, Amanda Paolino ’15: By rewarding random acts of kindness with school shield pins, senior leadership group Esse Quam Videri (EQV) has successfully encouraged students and faculty members to live the stripes. Moreover, honoring members of the community who are a daily embodiment of Episcopal values has motivated others to follow in their footsteps. However, as successful as the shield pin initiative has become, EQV’s impact can be most clearly seen during athletic contests, as its new house system has increased both game attendance and school spirit. Over the past several months, EQV has launched a new initiative…
Author: TECHALERT
Anthony Thai ’14: In order to realize the true potential of the Folio program and make sure that teachers are performing at their highest level, faculty members need to seriously prepare students for the annual Folio sessions while students need to recognize the importance of such sessions and give honest, direct feedback. As an integral part of the school community, teachers, coaches, and faculty need feedback from their colleagues and students to improve their teaching abilities. To this end, the school introduced the new Folio program last year to allow students to provide faculty with constructive criticism and suggestions for improved…
Toni Radcliffe ’14: A succession of conversations concerning diversity and community life followed this year’s annual Can Drive skit due to a Vestry member wearing a Kanye West mask as he portrayed the famous singer. Senior Warden of the Vestry, Connor Boyle ’13, remarked, “To clarify, the mask was a last minute addition to the skit. However, every member of Vestry saw it before the skit went up and the decision was made on the fly to proceed with it. The entire Vestry takes ownership of the use of the mask.” The mask resembled what is commonly referred to as…
Timmy Freese ’14: This year’s Haverford/AIS weekend welcomed a new, yet aged, face to Spirit Week. Willy White, the school’s new mascot unveiled himself to the student body during the pep rally on Friday. Taking the spot of our old mascot, the “Churchmouse,” Willy White has strikingly similar features to the founder of the school, Bishop William White, as well as to the current school chaplain, Reverend James Squire. When asked about the new mascot, Reverend Squire replied, “I think he’s a great addition to our school’s spirit.” Jack Keffer ’14, close friends with Willy remarked, “Willy is a better mascot…
Chester Thai ’14: Following President Obama’s re-election, many Republicans have demanded change in the GOP platform in order to appeal to a greater number of minority voters and stay competitive in future elections. “The central problem for Republicans is that the Democrats’ biggest constituencies are growing,” wrote Michael D. Shear of The New York Times. In the recent presidential election, over 70 percent of African American, Asian, and Latino voters voted for Obama. According to Nate Silver of the FiveThirtyEight blog, 45 percent of Obama voters were minorities. Non-whites now make up twenty-eight percent of the electorate, up from twenty percent…
Michael Smerconish ’14: Despite tension with the federal government, Washington and Colorado have recently become the first states to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. On November 6th, both Colorado’s Amendment 64 and Washington’s Initiative 502 were passed, allowing adults to possess up to one ounce of marijuana. However, despite immense support for the legislation within the states, the bills still fail to reinforce the disparity between federal and state law. Though it may now be technically legal for individuals to own marijuana in Colorado and Washington, possession is still a violation of federal law and can be punished as…
Mimi McCann ’13: Several Radnor High School students are at the center of a criminal investigation after allegedly disseminating an explicit video from a stolen phone. Upon discovery of new information, more students, including those in the tape, will be subject to investigation. On Wednesday afternoon, a fight broke out in the cafeteria of Radnor High School between two male students. Jack Lunger, Radnor High School ’15, recounted, “There was a fight at school on Wednesday between a sophomore and a junior. The principal broke it up and brought the kids into the principal’s office.” When the principal asked the…
Erin McCarthy ’13: Geoffrey Wagg, who has served as Head of the Upper School for ten years, recently announced that he will be leaving at the end of this academic year. Beginning July 1st, he will serve as Head of the Waynflete School, an independent school in Portland, Maine. This 2012-2013 school year also marks the last for L. Hamilton Clark, who has served as Episcopal’s Head of School for eleven years. Wagg formally announced his future endeavor in an email to parents on October 15th. He wrote, “[the Head of School position at the Waynflete School] is a terrific…
A few weeks ago, the administration officially announced that next year Upper School students and faculty will take part in a two-week interdisciplinary program in January, commonly known as J-Term. With over fifty proposed courses and the potential for inter-disciplinary courses to be taught by teachers from different departments, J-Term would “enhance our school’s education” according to Aggie Malter, co-chair of the J-Term committee along with Marc Eripret. The implementation of a J-Term into the Upper School has been discussed in past years, but it is now in the final stages of development. Beginning in the 2013-2014 school year, a…
A few weeks ago, the administration officially announced that next year Upper School students and faculty will take part in a two-week interdisciplinary program in January, commonly known as J-Term. With over fifty proposed courses and the potential for inter-disciplinary courses to be taught by teachers from different departments, J-Term would “enhance our school’s education” according to Aggie Malter, co-chair of the J-Term committee along with Marc Eripret. The implementation of a J-Term into the Upper School has been discussed in past years, but it is now in the final stages of development. Beginning in the 2013-2014 school year, a…
Katie O’Reilly ’14, Alex Rice ’13: The time: 12:45 PM The place: Tierney Dining Hall. Fifth period has just ended, and a flood of Upper School students has just broken over the Campus Center, intent upon achieving one common goal: lunch. Some students head straight for the sandwich counter, while others step in line for hot the day’s hot meal. Still more grab pizza, salad, yogurt, soup, or bagels. In the midst of the lunchtime chaos, Episcopal’s athletes are planning, carefully curating the meals that will serve them best in a few hours’ time, on the field, court, or course,…
Tim Pope ’13: The Burch Ranch, an airy, open space that gleams in the sunlight and disappears under the star-soaked night sky, fills with jet-lagged students from Episcopal, Haverford, and Agnes Irwin each October. They come to join local Montana high school students for three days of art workshops in creative writing, photography, visual art, and theater. Each year, artists, photographers, writers, and actors travel to the Hobble Diamond Ranch in Big Timber, Montana for the annual Big Timber Arts Roundup. The trip allows students to express themselves through their work in an accepting environment, as well as to appreciate…
Jessica Bai ’16, Sarah Barr ’16: The Domino Club came to Episcopal Academy’s Merion Campus in the early-to-mid 1990’s as an adaption of a club for girls at the Springside School. Since then, the club has evolved into an outlet for aspiring actors and skilled crew members, allowing them to plan the Upper School’s theatrical productions while also building relationships with others who share their passion. The Domino Board leads the club of actors and crew members. This year’s Domino Board members are Connor Boyle ’13, James Costalas ’13, Megan Kilcullen ’13, Margaret LeBoeuf ’13, Francesca Matarazzo ’13, Jon Barr…
Suzy Chen ’14: Episcopal is a school flourishing with artistic and literary talent; Epolitan, the school’s literary magazine, serves to encourage these gifted artists to exhibit both their creative writing and visual artwork. Each year, Epolitan compiles student work, ranging from 2-D and 3-D visual art to photography to poetry and short stories. Timothy Pope ’13, one of the magazine’s editors stated, “We feel that arts at EA are not represented too well. Epolitan showcases the art of those at EA to those students who don’t normally have a chance to see what’s going on inside the arts studios.” Epolitan…
Tyler Haab ’14, Moose Recktenwald ’14: The Episcopal boys cross-country team has been competing strongly this season, looking forward to EA/Haverford glory for, what would be, the 11th time in a row, under Coach Jim Farrell. It therefore comes as no surprise that this month, Scholium has decided to give the Boy’s Athlete of the Month honor to none other than the consistent first place runner, captain of the cross-country squad, Steven Lucey ’13. Going into his freshman year, Lucey choose to run cross-country because, “[He] felt the need to do a sport during [his] first season at Episcopal Academy…
Andrew Stone ’14, Jack Keffer’14: The Episcopal varsity girls’ soccer team is off to a great start this year, threatening to win the league title for the third time in four years. Behind the team’s success is workhorse Kaitlyn DiMarco ’13, Scholium’s November Athlete of the Month. DiMarco has been involved with the sport since she was in kindergarten, and has since played for high-end club teams like FC Europa and FC Delco. DiMarco, along with playing center back, a position that demands leadership and composure, is also one of the three senior captains this year for the Churchwomen. When…
Dimantha Andrahennady ’14: Over the last few years, the Modern Language Department has seen growing success and increased diversity in its curriculum, especially with the recent addition of Mandarin Chinese. Despite the inherent difficulty of the language, the Mandarin program has grown to 37 students across five levels of courses. As Mandarin is the most widely spoken language in the world and China is becoming an increasingly prominent country in business and politics, Mandarin was introduced to keep students in line with global trends. In light of Mandarin’s success, the Modern Language Department should consider offering more languages, particularly Arabic,…
Although there was uncertainty concerning the religiosity of this year’s Chapel theme “With God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26) at the start of the academic year, the Vestry has addressed skepticism by providing diversity in speeches and broadening the scope of the theme to appeal to more people. While Episcopal has traditionally maintained a faith-based, Christian Chapel theme, last year was a departure from convention, as the theme was adapted from a quote from Mahatma Gandhi. The Vestry faced opposition from the community regarding the theme’s secularism and lack of a faith component. Consequently, this year’s theme aimed to…
I opened my laptop, adeptly activated my Freegate [an application that enables Chinese internet users to view government blocked websites] and logged into Facebook. As I waited for the webpage to show up, a fact suddenly dawned on me: I don’t need a proxy server anymore. After a fourteen-hour flight halfway across the world, I was already outside the great firewall of China. I wanted to yell with joy. This was after my first day at the Episcopal Academy. The nine months passed as if in a flash, and now I’ve been back home for another five months. Reflecting on…
Chloe Kinzig ’14: The Episcopal Academy is welcoming eager exchange students from the countries of China, South Africa, Spain, Australia, and Norway for the duration of this academic year, a fact that demonstrates yet another successful year for the foreign exchange program. “The short of it is, why not! I am always looking to broaden my perspective and I can’t resist challenges,” commented Joanie Hofmeyr ’14, when asked why she chose a yearlong exchange program. Hofmeyr can be recognized by her powerful voice and unmistakable accent, but Maria Burke ’14, Hofmeyr’s student host, described her as “not shy at all,…