Volume X, Issue V

Gryphon GazetteTheThe Newspaper of St. George’s Independent School

April 2012

For better or worse, race and gender play a role in college admissions

Continued on pg. 6 Continued on pg. 7

Virginia Whittsit ’14As time progresses and racial diversity

becomes more common in society, colleges across the nation have been taking extra precautions to ensure that their schools are diverse. As a part of the Affirmative Action movement, which refers to equal employment opportunities for all United States citizens, universities have taken steps to make certain that their schools remain diverse in race and gender, while also remaining fair to their applicants.

In 1978, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Regents v. Bakke that public universi-ties could not set a forced quota, but could still consider race and gender in admis-sions decisions. Since then, colleges often have racial or gender preference admis-sions policies when considering who to ad-mit into their school, and who to decline for the following year.

Race and gender can also potentially af-fect awarded scholarships. For example,

Tales of Proms Past

The Secret Life of College Guidance Ashley Moody ’12College Guidance. It is the office

where students go to find their perfect college, talk about class schedules, and for many, seek life guidance. The coun-selors we all know and love, Mr. Timo-thy Gibson and Ms. Beverly Brooks, make up the infamous Team College Guidance, but what do they do when they are not listening to students’ ev-eryday crises, or calling a college to sort out an issue? “I like to kick it old school,” says Mr. Gibson. They also like to involve themselves in “mayhem and foolishness,” states Ms. Brooks.

On a more professional note, the team works hard to ensure each student is given an abundance of personal atten-tion throughout the college search, as well as planning and executing many events.

“March is a big month in college guid-ance,” says Mr. Gibson. Not only do they to multiple different colleges, but both Ms. Brooks and Mr. Gibson are leading the National Association for College Ad-mission Counseling (NACAC) planning for this year. For the NACAC, they are making arrangements for 100 different colleges and universities to visit the mid-south. This will allow over 4,000 high school students from throughout the region to have the opportunity to learn about these colleges and explore different opportunities.

Additionally, the team planned and executed College Guidance Week from March 19-23. During this week, the two spent their nights working with parents and students to prepare them for the challenges of the college appli-cation process. The week began with a case study on Tuesday, which allowed

students and parents to read mock applications and learn the basics of the admissions process. Not only was this available to St. George’s families, but also to those of Briarcrest, Laus-anne, and Soulsville Charter School. Wednesday night, the pair had an evening of cookies, cupcakes, and con-versation in order to touch base with families and go over special programs available for tenth and eleventh grade students. Thursday, Ms. Brooks and Mr. Gibson planned a college coffee af-ter dark and finally ended the week in a senior celebration.

In addition to planning after school meetings and working to plan giant conventions, the team meets with ju-niors to make their college lists and

initiate the college process. Further-more, they have met with fifty addi-tional students to plan schedules this year. Mr. Gibson also serves as the advisor for the Upper School Student Senate and Ms. Brooks is the Latin Club advisor. Also, both go out of their ways to attend “underrepresented school sports events.”

When asked about their free time, Ms. Brooks simply remarked, “We don’t have free time.” However, when there is time they plan exciting esca-pades.

“I bought a chair with Mr. Gibson at Pier One, and then students came over and took my toilet paper,” said Ms. Brooks. After all, who doesn’t get excited about buying a new chair on a

Saturday morning? Mr. Gibson added, “I like trashy, re-

ality television.” Ms. Brooks shared, “I prefer a good BRAVO show. I actually pay more for my cable so I can have BRAVO.” So, if you ever need a good conversation about the ridiculousness of teen moms, Mr. Gibson is the man to see. Needless to say, this is a pretty spec-tacular team. With so many things on their plate, such as planning regional events, week-long learning sessions, attending sports events, supervising clubs, touring universities, providing emotional support for students, and watching trashy TV, it is clear that the team does much more for students and parents than many of us realize.

race, ethnicity, native language, social class, geographical origin, parental at-tendance of the university in question, and/or gender can be taken into consid-eration when college admissions offices are considering who to grant scholar-ships for the following school year.

This process has not gone uncriti-cized, however. In 2008 Abigail Fisher applied to UT Austin, and was rejected in part because she was not a minority. Hundreds of colleges use similar “pref-erences” in which admissions officers consider an applicant’s skin color and ethnicity above other factors.

The Supreme Court sanctioned this arguably unjust practice in 2003 in the Grutter v. Bollinger case. This case presented the argument that the Uni-versity of Michigan wanted to promote class diversity within their school in or-der to help “underrepresented minority

Zoe Leake ’14Prom season is bittersweet for

freshman English teacher Zack Ad-cock. During his senior year at Ur-bana High School in Urbana, Illinois, Mr. Adcock escorted an ex-girlfriend and close friend, Sandi, to his senior prom at the University of Illinois ballroom. Sandi was a year older and attended Ohio State University as a freshman. The pair had gone to two other proms together the year be-fore, one at his school and the other at hers, and there was hope that they might rekindle their relationship that night.

“The problem was that regard-less of all the promise we showed as a couple, I was a horrible date for someone whose primary goal was to dance and have fun, because ap-parently, as an angsty high school

College guidance counselors, Timothy Gibson and Beverly Brooks, discussing seniors’ college decisions. Photo by: Melissa Grant

A young Zack Adcock prepares to dance the night away at his high school prom.

Editorial Page 2

April 2012 St. George’s Independent School

Editor-in-Chief Copy Editors Layout Editors Advisor Photo Editors Sophie Kennedy Erika Zurburg Samer Istanbouli Margaret Robertson Mary Kathryn Philips Nathalie Vacheron Erika Zurburg Melissa Grant

Features Editor Opinion Editor Entertainment Editor Sports Editor Student Life Editor Nathalie Vacheron Jamie Roche Claire Peeler Ian John Ashley Moody

Worth Every Penny: Invitation to an Education

Dear St. George’s Community,

With April comes the freshness of spring, the yummy-ness of Eas-ter eggs, and the emotional and intellectual vulnerability of college admissions decisions. Once we get beyond the smell of new flowers, the taste of sweet marshmallow bunnies, the mixed emotions of de-cision letters, we think we’ve set-tled into the final dip of the year, no more stress, no more exhaus-tion— then we open our financial aid packets.

Many have been saying for the last few years that the cost of higher education has been steadily rising, but it is not until you open that packet that reality really hits. Yes, between loans, scholarships, and clever budgeting, the cost of a college education is manageable. But that number, that raw, bottom line number, is still nothing less than daunting.

As of late, critics say that the cost of higher education is too high, that higher education isn’t worth its price tag. But what we forget

when we nod our heads in agree-ment, or feel tempted to toss that financial aid packet and its accom-panying acceptance letter into the trash can, is that higher education has infinite value because a college education can be more than just college.

See, there is a difference be-tween going to college and getting an education. Though the two are often used interchangeably, gain-ing an education is much more difficult, much more complex, and much more valuable.

College is a place. It’s a place young people go after high school for a few years until the world deems them ready for reality. At that time, they receive a little piece of paper that says, “Yes, this indi-vidual went to college.” But that little piece of paper and those four years say very little about whether or not that young person actually got an education. That little piece of paper may prove that the test of college has been passed, but it is not until the real world hits that the education examination begins.

College is about the experience. College is the going away from home, the living in a dorm. It’s the getting up on your own and the figuring out how to work a coin-operated washing machine. Col-lege is the staying up all night to finish a paper and the spending all day studying for tomorrow’s test. College is the professors who don’t know your name unless you tell them, and the learning that doesn’t happen unless you do it. College is growing up and stepping out. It’s taking chances. College is a powerful opportunity to live as your own person. Though a million unexpected lessons will be learned in college, finishing college does not necessarily mean you have re-ceived an education.

Education is slightly more enig-matic, trickier to pinpoint, but it is just as important as college. Education isn’t facts and figures, or charts and maps. It doesn’t need grades or a rubric. Educa-tion is about expanding who you are in relation to the world around you. It is about drawing you out of yourself and inviting you to think

differently.

The world is a different place for people who have an education. For those individuals, it is a place of endless possibilities, constant stimulation, infinite potential, and unbounded inspiration. People who have an education are able to look at the world not only as it is, but as it could be. Then, maybe, they are able to connect the two.

Education is when you don’t just understand what you are learn-ing, but you understand why you are learning it. And all the while, you are questioning, and challeng-ing both what you know, and what you are being taught. It is this insa-tiable curiosity and creativity, inevi-table as a result of education, that makes education so valuable.

Through the college experience, a person will gain the skills he or she will need to pass the LSAT, get a teaching certificate, or gain admission to medical school. But it is the education that can evolve out of college that fosters ingenu-ity, critical thinking, ambition, and inquisitiveness. These products of education are what will turn that LSAT not just into a law degree, but into a powerful, ethical firm. It is education that makes a teaching certificate not just a piece of paper and the sign of potential tenure, but a day-to-day endeavor to challenge and inspire young people. Educa-tion makes the MD on a business card more than a sign of a chosen profession, but an ongoing effort to improve quality of life and to push the limits of the current medical frontier.

College is an invitation to the world of education but it is no guar-antee of entry. That said, even a glimpse into that world is worth ev-ery penny. Because, life is worth ev-ery moment, especially those lived with the whole world in mind.

Sincerely,Sophie KennedyEditor-in-Chief

Photo by: Samer Istanbouli

Opinion Page 3

April 2012 St. George’s Independent School

What Would Jasmine Do?Dearest Jasmine,

I think I speak on behalf of all seniors when I say we need your help! Senioritis? Senior year ending? Graduation? College life? Roommates?

WHAT WOULD JASMINE DO?!

Sincerely, Scared Ol’ Senior

Dearest SOS – and seniors everywhere (as well as all you underclassmen — take note of this golden advice),

I know many of us are blown away by the fact that we’re finally about to get the heck out of here. We’re all feeling a combination of two things — total panic and total excitement.

Senioritis (a common widespread illness that seems to affect seniors with symp-toms such as laziness, lack of attendance, and utterly no interest in all things high school) seems to have finally reached the whole grade. As someone who has been battling Senioritis since freshman year, I feel your pain. But with lots of time resting in the senior lounge and a few unnecessary absences, we can make it through this.

Graduation is less than a few months away, and that my friends, is completely terrifying (well for you, not me – I’m not afraid of anything). We’re all about to go off to new places and do new things. Another thing we have in common is whether it’s your best friend, boyfriend, girlfriend, trusty old pet dog, (or for me, my house-keeper), we’re all leaving something important behind. I know it doesn’t sound great but hey — everyone’s doing it!

For everything you’ll be leaving behind, you’ll be gaining ten times more in new experiences once you arrive at college. The most crucial thing that will set the tone for the beginning of your college years is finding the right group of friends. It’s really not that difficult darlings, you’ve done it once before – just think back to kindergarten. It’s the same thing: The first friend you’ll meet is the one your mom (random roommate assigning, orientation, or pure fate) plops you down next to. You two hit it off and cling together. Emphasis on the cling. Sure, you may feel safe together, but keep in mind there’s only so much time you can spend with one person, so you better branch out (you know I’ve always been a fan of playing the field). Next, you come across that girl who always has a backpack full of candy and the good snacks. Sure, she’s fun for a while, until she makes it through that third pack of skittles and throws up in your cubby. My best advice is to pick your friends like you pick your designer jeans: high quality, a good fit, and just enough space for comfort.

Don’t fret seniors — we’ll be great in college. The Class of 2012 is one to watch out for, for many reasons. Okay, mainly because I’m a part of it, but still. Here are some of my last words of advice: Appreciate the time left, leave with no regrets or “what ifs,” be adventurous, be brave, and when in doubt ALWAYS ask “What Would Jasmine Do?”… And in some cases, do the opposite.

You know you love me (and always will), Jasmine

Tattoos and piercings are a wide-spread occurrence in today’s culture. It is ordinary to see them on a va-riety of different people, and often-times these body modifications have significant symbolism. In years past, tattoos and piercings have been frowned upon and seen as a sign of rebellion against older societal norms, but that simply is no longer the case. Professions and schools are becoming increasingly lenient on employees and students with pierc-ings and tattoos in efforts to respect individual decisions.

As we all know, St. George’s is a big advocate of not only allow-ing, but encouraging, individuality. However, there is a question in dire need of answering: Is St. George’s living up to its goal of allowing each student to truly express their indi-viduality with a flexible dress code when the dress code discourages tat-toos and piercings? Or, is the school policy still outdated with boundaries too strict for each student’s true per-sonalities to shine?

The best place to start answering these questions is with Associate Head of School J.P. Culley. Mr. Cul-ley explained that while tattoos and piercings are a means of expression, “at some point it has to hit a bound-ary.”

“Anything faddish is something we oppose,” Mr. Culley said, and re-minds the students that, with the exception of earrings on ladies, body piercings are not allowed. However, how can we say that tattoos and piercings are a fad? Fads are behav-iors that normally fade quickly once

the perception of novelty is gone. Tattoos and piercings, like ev-

erything else in the world, can be a fad for some people, but they can also be something one has commit-ted to and sees as a representation of their personality or life experi-ence. For example, those individu-als who receive tattoos as an hon-or for time served to the country. School is meant to prepare us for the professional world, but there are many well respected, profes-sionals at this school and in the community who sport tattoos, so where’s the issue?

St. George’s students are finding new ways to express themselves every day. St. George’s students and teachers, fortunately, have the opportunity to attend or teach at such a school. However, there are some who feel, that the school’s policies, which are lenient in many ways are still too strict and form creative barriers for students.

“I thought it was strange at first just because I was told that I could not have a small diamond stud in my nose, but I guess some places are still old-fashioned,” said senior Candace Bolton, and many stu-dents agreed that piercings and tattoos on students should not be a matter of dispute as they are not distracting and are just as much a means of self-expression as the color of a shirt they choose.

Tattoos and piercings are part of the times, so why is St. George’s stuck in the old ways of years long gone? When asked how students view the school’s policy, senior

Tara Schulz said, “It goes on the assumption that administrators think it is trashy, when it is re-ally an awesome means of ex-pression. Just because you have a tattoo or piercing doesn’t mean you’re trashy.”

I doubt the administration is against tattooed and pierced in-dividuals personally; it is sim-ply school policy. But, in chang-ing times amongst innovative minds, is it not time that we revise the code? Is it unreason-able to claim that the school’s boundaries are, perhaps, a little too tight?

This debate reminds me of something a wise man, St. George’s Independent School President William Taylor, dis-cussed at the beginning of the year. Our school is more like

mustard than it is like ketchup. There are so many kinds of mus-tard in the world and we should be encouraged to value each kind for what it is and how it express-es itself. Mustards are different in flavor, color, and texture. So why does St. George’s have a bunch of French’s classic yellow walking the halls?

“Let the outer self reflect your inner self”: St. George’s certainly strives to achieve this goal, but tat-toos and piercings are not distract-ing and oftentimes are the ulti-mate means of self-expression. It is time for St. George’s code to be al-tered. Boundaries are meant to be stretched; that is how great things get started! It is time to spice up the mustard at St. George’s and truly allow our outer selves to re-flect our inner selves.

Spicing up the mustardIt’s time for tattoos and piercings at St. George’s

Ashley Moody ‘12

A St. George’s student shows their tattoo which holds a special meaning.Photo by: Mary Kathryn Phillips

Page 4

Entertainment

April 2012 St. George’s Independent School

The Cat in The Hat. Horton Hears A Who. How The Grinch Stole Christ-mas. The amazing Dr. Seuss penned the original texts of all these familiar stories, which have been adapted to feature films. The Lorax is the newest movie from Uni-versal Pictures and director Chris Ren-aud.

The PG movie uses the original tale to create an Inception-esque story with-in a story. It focuses on the journey of a 12-year-old boy named Ted, voiced by Zac Efron, trying to obtain a “truffula tree” to impress an older girl, Audrey (voiced by Taylor Swift). During this expedition to find a real tree in a town made of plastic, Ted must visit the creepy Once-ler, learn the tale of the Lorax, voiced by Danny De-Vito, and avoid the repressing forces of Mr. O’Hare and his henchmen. Along with the stars listed above, the movie also includes Betty White voicing Grammy Norma and Ed Helms as the Once-ler.

I will caution everyone to understand that this is a children’s movie. Those skep-tics and critics of a meaner, less-forgiving

nature will not enjoy this movie; there are not many moments of true “adult” humor. I admit it is not in line for any awards nor is it an inventive ground-breaking piece of cinema. If you expect The Lorax to be a revolution, you will be sadly disappointed. However, if one views the movie with the mindset of a child, it will be an enjoyable film experi-ence.

As an almost-adult, I did not enjoy the many musical numbers interspersed within the movie. I found them to be pointless as they did nothing to further the plot of the movie. They were down-right irritating, even through the eyes of a child. Also, the movie threw the moral of the story into the audience’s faces too soon and too often. The respected qualities of Dr. Seuss’s children’s books are the underlying tones of politics, eco-nomics, social strife and environmental issues; The Lorax, as a movie, was too blatant with the environmental issue, to the point where I began to not care sim-ply because I hated the responsibility of

saving the “truffula” trees. However, I was impressed by the

screenwriters, especially the talented Ken Daurio, who entranced me with his ability to transform a short children’s book into an 86-minute film that was both lively and informative. Along with the screen writing, I liked the colorful nature of the film, as well as the famil-iar animation techniques that remained true to the drawings in the original sto-rybook.

Overall, The Lorax was a delight-ful children’s film, albeit focused solely toward a younger audience. It brought my favorite Dr. Seuss story to life. The Lorax speaks for the trees through tal-ented voice actors, especially Helms as the Once-ler, and interesting animation techniques. If you are someone who en-joys children films, go see The Lorax. If you’re a skeptic, wait for Netflix. How-ever, the message of The Lorax remains the same: “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

The Trouble with TruffulaRegan Hewitt ’14

When St. George’s students are tired of visiting such restaurants as Osaka and El Mezcal, and such shops as those found in Saddle Creek and are ready to venture beyond the shelter of the Collierville/Ger-mantown scene, they turn to the magic of midtown. To escape from awkward run-ins with administrators, teachers, and parents, we travel to the outskirts of downtown Memphis to enjoy the relaxing atmosphere of midtown. Whether we choose to visit the revital-ized Overton Square area or any one of the many BBQ restaurants, students seem to be mesmerized by the diversity this part of town provides.

If you are interested in a night of fine dining during your next visit to this unique part of town, you should considered visiting The Beauty Shop to satisfy your taste buds. Located in the Cooper-Young area, The Beauty Shop provides not only a unique atmosphere, but also delicious food that will leave you wanting to unbutton your pants by the end of the meal. When one enters this modified 1960’s beauty shop, one can-

Midtown Magic: The Beauty Shop delivers on taste and style

Few places can rival the college campus in terms of freedom; newly independent students can let their hair grow long, attempt to live off Ramen noo-dles, and, most importantly, delve into the pursuit of musical greatness by starting a band. Believe it or not, some of the most iconic groups of our time strummed their first chords on a university cam-pus. College has proven itself a breeding ground for rock n’ roll immortality since the days of groups like The Doors and Pink Floyd. We’ll take a quick look at some music legends that grew out of the college

scene — the rest, as they say, is history.Queen — Imperial College: “Is this the real life….

or is this just fantasy?” Queen’s lead guitarist, Brian May, was likely thinking after meeting bassist Tim Staffel and drummer Roger Taylor while studying at one of London’s premier universities. The group named themselves Smile, added singer Farrokh Bul-sara (who would later change his name to Freddie Mercury), replaced Staffel with John Deacon, and began recording original songs in 1971. The band’s second album Queen II would hit the UK charts in 1974, only after May had graduated with upper-class honors.

R.E.M. — University of Georgia: Singer Michael Stipe met future band-mate guitarist Peter Buck at a record shop in the sunny town of Athens, Georgia, home to the beautiful University of Georgia campus. The pair would later team up with drummer Bill Ber-ry and bass player Mike Mills, also students at the school, and begin touring the vibrant Athens music scene. They named themselves “R.E.M.”, which Stipe picked at random out of a dictionary, and achieved cult success with their hit single “The One I Love”. While the group dropped out to work on music, it never would have happened without help from higher education.

The Pixies — University of Massachusetts Am-herst: One of the most influential groups in alterna-

Striking the Right Chord: College musicians get more than just an education

Joe Holley ’12

Claire Peeler ’12 not help but marvel over the atmosphere. The dis-tinctive lighting, beauty shop-like glass, and hair-dryer chairs make this restaurant a favorite among Memphians. It is also located in what I would call one of the most “hip” areas in Memphis.

The Beauty Shop’s dinner menu contains mostly meat with a few vegetarian options, so if you are looking for a place to eat with a huge variety in cui-sine, then this isn’t the place to go. However, every item on the menu looked intriguing. I ordered the applewood-smoked, Cuban-style chicken, and saying that it was delectable would be an understatement. After finishing my meal, I was a little ashamed of my empty plate that once held a large portion of food. It was obvious that most customers visiting this res-taurant felt the same way. Everyone around me had only positive things to say about the cooking.

Between the location, atmosphere, and food, The Beauty Shop is a must-visit. Next time you want to escape the Collierville scene and head to midtown, visit The Beauty Shop. You won’t be disappointed.

tive music history, The Pixies, were founded after a successful jam session between singer/guitarist Black Francis and lead guitarist Joey Santiago, who lived in the same suite at the University of Massa-chusetts-Amherst in Boston. The duo dropped out of school, picked up bassist Kim Deal in response to an advertisement, and named themselves “pixies” because they liked the connotation of “mischievous little elves”. They would garner massive success in Europe until their highly public and bitter break-up in 1993, though they later regrouped in 2004.

MGMT — Wesleyan University: MGMT’s trade-mark mix of pop and psychedelic rock was born when Ben Goldwasser and Andrew Van Wyngarden were hanging around campus at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, sharing musical interests. They would spend the rest of their college years experimenting with different sounds, finally developing their mu-sical identity after graduating in 2005. They would tour with indie group “Of Montreal” before achieving their own success with 2006’s Oracular Spectacular.

The college music scene has given the world more than a few of its most iconic acts. I know I’ve got my fingers crossed that some St. George’s students will find smash musical success in higher education... hint hint.

The Beauty Shop never fails to please its customers.

Page 5

April 2012 St. George’s Independent School

Not so golden after all: Golden Coast RestaurantIan John ’13

Accuse me for being overly critical if you wish, but I have my opinion and you have yours. Unlike the coined phrase of Margaret Wolfe, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” there is truly only one eye through which you can look at the Golden Coast restaurant and that eye will see disappointment.

Located on Germantown Parkway in Cordova, Golden Coast Chinese Restaurant is a small place that attempts to infuse traditional Chinese style into modern American-Chinese food.

Although Golden Coast has a plethora of choices on the two different menus that describe well over 36 dishes, the restaurant comes up a little short in the taste department. I realized this when I ordered the Hunan Chicken and Singapore noodles. Golden Coast’s attempt to recreate a traditional dish was a failure in my opinion, as the Singapore noodles were bland and the Hunan chicken was bitter.

I also noticed a common trait among the dishes; they were all oily and greasy. In that aspect, however, Golden Coast did stay true to the traditional roots of terrible American-Chinese food that has lingered too long here in Memphis. Although Golden Coast has a

scorecard of 87, the reality may be much lower just by my glimpse of the kitchen when the waiters (or should I say just, “waiter,” since only one was work-ing there at the time) moved in and out through the kitchen door. Much like the food, I found the service to be unpleasant, gross, and quite honestly, unap-pealing.

But, not all is lost at this place as Golden Coast does introduce a very different dish that is not found in many other local Chinese restaurants. Dim Sum are small appetizer items that would be the equiva-lent to Spanish tapas. They are small plates of food varying from unique dishes like rice paper shrimp dumplings to the more familiar items such as the fried egg roll. Dim Sum means breakfast and brunch; therefore, many of these savory dishes are actually eaten in the morning in China. Oddly enough, these cheap and unassuming dishes may have been the best thing I ordered there. Another positive point is that many of the dishes, including Dim Sum, are very inexpensive, ranging anywhere from three to nine dollars.

I have been known to be overly critical and I accept

that. However, when it comes to food, I know what my palate likes and what it doesn’t like, and it did not like Golden Coast. It wasn’t just the food that I disliked, but the terse service and the gaudy, flam-boyant décor. I would not recommend wasting your time going to Golden Coast; it just wasn’t good.

Entertainment

With out a doubt, Undefeated is one of the best films I have seen in quite some time. According to recent events, it seems that many Americans agree with me. The film has already won an Oscar for best documentary, though it was only just recently released to the-aters. The movie centers on the 2009-2010 season of the Manassas High School Tigers.

The Tigers had been ridiculed for sometime, but this season was differ-ent. The documentary explains how current St. George’s dad and assistant football coach Bill Courtney helped pull together a group of young men that had the odds stacked against them. These players formed a true team that looked out for one another and worked for one goal: to become better men through the game of football.

This was no easy task; the Manas-sas football team had multiple play-

ers shot and arrested before the season even began. However, Coach Courtney persevered because he knew that they had potential, especially offensive line-man O.C. Brown. Coach Courtney then set out to make them the best men they could possibly be, and along the way better football players.

When asked about how the film came to be, Coach Courtney said, “We had nothing to do with making the film. Jason Smith, a reporter with the Com-mercial Appeal, wrote a story about O.C. Brown living with Coach Ray, my offensive line coach and good friend. Rich Middlemas, the Undefeated pro-ducer, read the article and came to do a story about O.C. When he and the two directors, Dan Lindsey and T.J. Martin, showed up from Los Angeles they found out about the larger story of the team and decided they wanted to do a movie.”

From there, the producers filmed the

Undefeated at the Oscars: Local Film Brings Home Honors

Blake Carruth ’13

team at school, at practices, at games, and even occasionally at their homes.

Rich Middlemas told me that many things inspired him to make Undefeat-ed, one being the fact that he had been reading The Blind Side. He then came across an article about O.C. Brown in the Commercial Appeal by complete luck. From there, he got his fellow pro-ducers together, and moved to Memphis for the next nine months to acquire over five hundred hours of footage that would take almost a year to edit into the inspiring film it is now.

The film gained huge amounts of at-tention at small film festivals and even with celebrities. The sudden actions of the prestigious Weinstein Company to buy the rights to the film stunned the producers and many others involved in the process. This showed that not only was the film getting positive reviews, but also that there would be much more

to come. In January, Undefeated was nominated for an Oscar for best docu-mentary, and the producers were ecstatic. In February, Undefeated faced its biggest challenge yet, and came out victorious. It won the Oscar, and now actor/singer/songwriter/producer P. Diddy is seeking to have the story made into a full-length movie with professional actors.

When asked about the entire Oscar ex-perience, Coach Courtney said, “It was surreal. Never in a million years did I ex-pect to be involved in that world. It was a lot of fun and will be a memory that I will always be fond of, but at the end of the day, you gotta keep it real. I’m not an entertainer; I’m just a guy who had his story told. So, we enjoyed it, but it doesn’t define us.” For a man as full of character as Coach Courtney, this short statement shows why he was such a driving force in this amazing movie.

Ian John gives Gold Coast a thumbs down.Photo by: Isaac John

April 2012 St. George’s Independent School

FeaturesPage 6

As juniors begin the process of se-lecting a college, and as seniors make their final college decisions, many fac-tors help students narrow down the choices.

We all know that there is a college out there for us—the “perfect fit.” We all want to find a college that has the qualities, characteristics, and ideals that we are looking for. But, how do we find that one college that is our idea of “perfect”? Some factors that both juniors and seniors should consider before choosing the “perfect college” may include location, size, academics, athletics, scholarships, student life, re-ligious affiliation, and more.

To many students, size is an impor-tant factor. Some would prefer to at-tend a large, public university, while others, prefer a small, liberal arts col-lege. Some students look at colleges in the south, while others want to head farther away from home. The amount of scholarship money that a college offers also plays a major role in a stu-dent’s decision.

Many juniors and seniors choose a college based on its athletic rank-ings, while others narrow their college search by identifying those colleges that only accept the highest ACT and SAT scores. For some, student life ranks amongst the most important factors. This includes the presence of sororities and fraternities on campus, restaurants and fun places to hang out during free time or on the weekends,

and even intramural sports like ulti-mate Frisbee or co-ed volleyball.

We are all different and we all have different requirements that a college must meet before it can be-come the absolutely “perfect fit.” We decided to interview a couple of se-niors about the personal factors that they take into consideration before choosing or even looking at a poten-tial “perfect college”.

Senior Justin Kilgore says, “I think that size, location, and ath-letics are all important factors that I will definitely take into consider-ation before choosing a college. Ath-letics are very important to me also because I am planning on partici-pating in a sport when I am in col-lege. I also think that Greek life is important because I plan on joining a fraternity as well.”

Junior Taylor Fitzgerald also com-ments, “I will be looking at the size, location, expenses, and majors that a college offers.” These are some of the most common factors that stu-dents look at when choosing a col-lege. However, others narrow their searches with more specific charac-teristics that they would like their college to have. While there may be a similar trend in the factors that students take into consideration be-fore choosing their “perfect college” the college process is different for everybody searching for their own unique and “perfect fit.”

Factors to consider when choosing a college

Kara Miller ’13

groups.” While this did not amount to a quota system, it did display what is now a major trend within hundreds of Unit-ed States college admissions offices.

When asked what their opinions on race and gender roles in the college admissions process, college guidance counselors Ms. Beverly Brooks and Mr. Timothy Gibson agreed in saying that, “Good students get into good schools. In the admissions process, it is all about what the school is looking for.” Later, Mr. Gibson defined that as “something only the admissions office will know.”

Ms. Brooks agreed with Mr. Gibson when asked what she thought about what schools look for in students. How-ever, when asked on how this would af-fect scholarships, she said, “Typically, different scholarships come from differ-

ent pools. It would not really have any effect on students.”

Both college guidance counselors agreed in saying that St. George’s stu-dents would not be greatly affected by the role played by race and gender in col-lege admissions. “The challenge is that we will not have a clear understanding in application review. You can only con-trol yourself, not the school and with that, you have your options,” says Mr. Gibson.

Overall, the St. George’s community is in a wonderful situation with college admissions. With our strong academic program, as well as our student-life op-portunities, we have been well prepared to take on the college admissions offices.

Continued from page 1

Times, they are a-changin’: What I wish my parents knew about applying to college

When it comes to the college pro-cess, parents certainly enjoy put-ting in their two cents: where to apply, what to say, what to wear to interviews, how to turn our high school experience into an impres-sively articulate resume, and so on.

While our parents have been through this process before (a fact I’m sure we’ve all been reminded of one too many times, it is impor-tant that they realize) that times have changed. Several decades ago, when most of our parents applied, the outbreak of home-accessible technology had not yet occurred and thus, when applying to col-leges, applications had to be hand written and meticulously scoured for grammatical errors. Their ap-plications required a great deal of time to be written, edited, re-edited, and mailed off in time for the cut-off date.

I’m not sure about other people, but a good number of my appli-cations progressed from start to finish the night of the due date. This, of course, repeatedly sent my mother into a tailspin of panic filled with reprimands and nostal-gia for the past. In the end, despite my mother’s doubts, I clicked sub-mit, typed in an American Express number, and turned everything in on time.

These days, if a transcript or let-ter of recommendation gets some-how lost in cyberspace, we merely send it off again. Our parents, on the other hand, convinced that the ways of the past still exist when the applications were taken as is, and that now we have no hope for a future, pick us up a job application for McDonald’s on the way home.

In contrast with our generation’s point-and-click culture, our par-

Carol Anne Weaver ’12ent’s past with the U.S. Post Of-fice influenced also their views on which colleges to apply to. When writing and re-writing essays in pen, it must seem prudent to ap-ply only to colleges about which you are passionate or for which you know that you are qualified. With the common application, and also due to the great number of schools that no longer require essays, we are now free to apply to a variety of different colleges (up to seventeen in some cases).

Of course we still apply to “safety schools”, universities we root for in football, and “reach” schools; however we can also apply to, as I like to call them, “filler” schools. “Filler” schools are those universities and col-leges from which we receive mail from everyday and who manage to convince us, through some

sort of subconscious postal brain-wash, to apply “just because.” To us it is no big deal if we get in our not, but it certainly expands our options. However, to our parents, every school applied to, is a school aspired to. I myself have had a few humbling talks with my parents that involved preparation for rejec-tion letters from my “filler” schools. What they don’t understand is that it won’t crush my creative spirit or drive for life if I don’t manage to get in.

Whether it’s as a result of our gen-eration’s increase of procrastina-tion and careless nature, or merely a change in technology, the appli-cation process has drastically im-proved. I think we all wish that our parents would get with the picture, let us take off the training wheels, so to speak, and finally grow up.

Race and gender in college admissions

ST. GEORGE’S SENIORS ARE GOING PLACES!BUT HOW FAR?

Farthest North and West: University of Montana

Farthest East: Lehigh University

Farthest South: Eckerd College

THE MOST POPULAR CHOICES SO FAR?

1. University Mississippi2. University of Alabama3. Baylor/Mississippi State

Features Page 7

April 2012 St. George’s Independent School

A Letter to My Younger Self

Hello, Tom!

I hope this letter finds you well and ready for this next step in your jour-ney toward wherever it is you will end up down the road. Perhaps that journey includes a family, perhaps it does not. Perhaps you will commit yourself to serving others, perhaps you do not. Perhaps you choose to serve your country, perhaps you do not. You have no idea what the journey facing you will bring. Regardless of where your journey takes you, there is some (hard won) advice that I would like to pass on to you as you navigate your college experience.

1) The “social road” is the easy way out. Don’t take it. Find ways to get involved in the life of your college. The more productively involved you are in the life of the college, the better your experience there will be.

2) Find those people that challenge you to grow and think. Surround your-self with them.

3) Find professors that challenge you to grow and think. Never again will you have the liberty to simply explore new ideas and new experiences. 4) Push yourself toward academic success. Develop relationships with pro-fessors. Allow those relationships to further your academic experience.

5) Find and foster relationships that are positive. Move on if a relationship is not rooted in shared positives.

6) Study abroad.

7) Learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable.

8) Celebrate your successes and learn from your failures. Don’t dwell on either.

In short – challenge yourself to grow and learn. You will be better for it!

Sincerely,Thomas P. MorrisUpper School Director

Advice. Something we all have come across in our lives from various teachers, parents, the occasional inspirational tweet. We are expected to listen with care and take these messages to heart, yet how are we supposed to deal with all this information? What if other people’s ideas don’t match your own?

From the conflicting opinions of parents to what is socially acceptable, even the most level-headed person can get confused in a time of uncertainty and change. There comes a point when one must live, make mis-takes, grow from them and fig-ure things out on their own.

The daunting college process is one of these occasions of change when one must learn to deal with the stress of the whole or-

Erika Zurburg ’12

senior, I wanted to do neither of those things,” says Mr. Adcock. Because of these simple facts, Sandi decided that she no longer wanted to spend her night with Zack; she preferred one of his best friends, Nathan.

“Sparing you the details of how it felt to sit with another loner friend of mine while Celine Dion’s ‘My Heart Will Go On’ played for the second time that night (this was around the time that it was really cool to have seen Titanic about 800,000 times), I’ll just say that things ended bad-ly, as you might imagine.” In any case, it is hard to get a good man down. “I can’t say I blame them,” he says.

Mr. Adcock imagines prom today is much the same as it was when he was in high school, even though he has not at-tended this special dance in twelve years. Back then, guys rented a tuxedo smelling of the cleaners and girls spent too much money on a dress they would wear once — all still true today.

“Sometimes you have a date and some-times you go with a group. You go to a nice dinner. You go to prom and you maybe dance. Some people have good attitudes about it and some don’t. But really, it’s all about the spectacle of the thing – of not just you and your date (if you have one) dressed this way, but an entire room full of people dressed this way; a room decorated immac-ulately, with loud music that forces you to dance or stay silent in lieu of conversation,” Mr. Adcock says of the experience.

Mr. Adcock’s opinion of prom now is that the dance has potential, and, if you plan to attend the dance, it is important that you make the most of it. “I’m not saying it will be a life-changing experience or anything; after all, though it is ‘the’ dance of your high school career, it is really only ‘a’ dance during your high school career.” Mr. Adcock hopes that everyone who attends prom will remember one little thing — to “Get over yourself and just have a little fun.”

deal and make life-changing deci-sions. At the end of the day, it is the next four years of your life that you are choosing, no one else’s. We are all capable of managing this process, it just depends how much effort you are willing to put forth individually.

When applying to college, there seem to be endless possibilities and way too many details to handle on your own. However, once you are pointed in the right direction by a parent or a college guidance coun-selor, you must personally set goals and deadlines or else your future will potentially be in jeopardy.

Of course, you will have people looking out to help along the way, but if you are suppose to be living independently in possibly a differ-ent state in just a few months, you should be capable of finishing an

application in a timely manner. The process is not fun and even tedious at times, but the end re-sult is worth the hard work and determination.

Not to be pretentious, but some wise advice would be to take a chapter from the Class of 2012’s book: be proactive with this pro-cess. With multiple people mak-ing decisions even in the winter trimester, much earlier than the expected deadline, those people were able to relax and coast to graduation much sooner than other seniors.

Essays are not only the most time-consuming portion of the ap-plication, but also can be the most influential in the college board’s decision. Therefore, spending quality time on them is a smart choice rather than saving them

to the night of the deadline and not submitting your best work.

While a little guidance and a few suggestions are always ap-preciated, the college process is a step towards being an adult, and one that allows students to start making decisions before they are totally on their own. Parents should see this as a great learn-ing process for time manage-ment as well as prioritizing since their children will be working to-ward an important goal. Parents should also give them some room to figure out the process on their own.

Once the process is over and you are heading off to one of the many schools you applied to, you will feel a sense of great accom-plishment that you got there rel-atively on your own.

Continued from page 1

Words of advice on the college admissions process

Tales of Proms Past

SportsPage 8

April 2012 St. George’s Independent School

The start of a great season for Spring sportsBrandon Horne ’12

Student-led groups bring special energy to the Gryphons baseball

There is a certain vibe around the baseball team this year that hasn’t been felt in recent years. Many student-led groups such as Andy’s Army and the Diamond Girls have contributed to this energized aura. Senior Prefect Terry El-eazer heads Andy’s Army, named after the head coach Andy Scott.

According to Eleazer, this idea was spawned in weight-lifting class last year and blew up into a full-grown move-ment. Coach Scott feels that it is “hum-bling and an absolute honor” for Andy’s Army to be named after him. He states that as long as they continue to be re-spectful, Andy’s Army is a great advan-tage to have at home.

Recently, seniors from Andy’s Army — Duncan Monger, Pearse Deaton, Sam Glosson, Hugh Stephens, and of course, Eleazer himself — spent three of their packed afternoons to build an amazing new deck beyond the right field. Terry hopes “some classes down the road can undertake a project like that.”

Joining Andy’s Army is the Diamond Girls. Seniors Kim Sammons and Abbey Harbert started the Diamond Girls in 2010. They and other volunteers work the concession stands at home games and are a tremendous help to the base-ball players and parents. They also trav-el to many of the away games, which can

sometimes prove to be a troublesome task as well. Harbert comments she is really looking forward to the baseball season.

Aside from the team’s support groups, the real question remains: is the team ready for this upcoming season? Senior Zach Hodgkiss does not shy away from this question and answers with his usu-al confident attitude when asked about the upcoming season. He said that he will be surprised if they ever lose a game and that he will be hoisting the state trophy after their 50th consecutive win.

After talking with Hodgkiss, a coach’s “realistic” viewpoint seemed like what was needed. When asked about the hype surrounding this year’s team, Coach Scott said he really does not pay atten-tion to it. Coach Scott explained, “We can’t control what other people are go-ing to say about us, and I try to avoid it if I can, but I think the success of last year’s team has definitely increased the positive talk about the baseball program here. Because of that, there might be more ‘hype’ this year, but our internal expectations are the same. We expect to compete in every single ball game and take a solid approach to every pitch.”

Coach Scott concluded by saying that he is really looking forward to the sea-son, and says it looks promising with the largest senior class of baseball play-ers St. George’s has ever had, along with an exciting group of juniors and under-classmen. There has certainly been much time and effort put into this base-ball team, and with Hodgkiss’ predic-tions, it certainly looks like right field, home of Andy’s Army, will be the place to be during the spring.

Hayden Tupman ’12

Spring sports are off to a strong start as athletes push through to the end of the year. The spring sports include softball, baseball, boys’ soccer, boys’ and girls’ la-crosse, tennis, and track.

The boys’ soccer team is look-ing forward to striving for an-other successful season after get-ting knocked out in sub-state last year. They are a young team, but still have some experienced play-ers as well as veteran coach, Tony Whicker, to lead them. Senior captain Timothy Donovan said, “We have a really good team this year and if we all come together we have the potential to do great things.”

The girls’ softball team is look-ing to have the most successful season in its short history. In the past, the softball team has strug-gled. However, they are making

improvements and, since they are switching divisions this year, are looking to be competitive. Senior Caroline Giddis said, “We have a young team with a lot of fresh-man, but pretty much everyone on the team is pretty good so we should be a lot better this year.”

The past few years the girls’ la-crosse team has been one of the best in the state. The team won the state championship two years ago, and last year had a disap-pointing loss in the semifinals. Senior co-captain, Christie Zettler said, “We lost thirteen seniors from last year’s team, but the rest of the team has really stepped up. This year’s team looks promising.”

The boys’ lacrosse team is look-ing forward to major improve-ments as well. They are now in a new division with larger schools, but think they have the best boys

lacrosse team in St. George’s his-tory. The only senior, Alex Crump, leads the team this year. He com-mented on the upcoming season by saying, “It is going to be tough in our new division, but I still think we have a good chance of being competitive.”

The tennis teams are both look-ing forward to very successful seasons, as well. The boys’ team is led by coach Mark Bran. This is probably most talented team the school has ever had. Senior Stephen Hayden said, “This will be our deepest and most talented team. Our freshman class is really good, and our top two seeds Albert Vacheron and Marshall Sullivan are very good. We should have a really good year.”

The girls’ team is looking for yet another strong year as well. Se-niors Corky and Britt Paul anchor

a strong team that is looking to have another good year coming off a very strong one last season. Senior Corky Paul said, “We are looking to have a good season. We have worked very hard and hopefully we can win a champi-onship.”

Finally, the track team is look-ing for a good year under the new coach, Aaron Hayden. New assistant coach Cole Hoppe, who coached softball last year, also joins the track coaching staff. The new coaching staff is look-ing to make major improvements to the track program and they hope to continue having success-ful years. Senior Omar Williams said, “I really like what Coach Hayden has been doing. We have been working hard and I think we will be very good this year. It should be a fun season.”

Seventh-grade girls’ basketball team finishes strong season

with championship win

The success of St. George’s sports teams spreads through both the middle school and high school. The recent cham-pionship win by the Gryphon’s seventh-grade girls’ basketball team is evidence of the hard work and dedication the team has shown throughout the sea-son.

The seventh-grade girls’ team showed their strength through-out the entire season with a record of 17-3. Though they faced a few tough losses dur-ing the season, they were able to pull together and ultimately achieve success.

Their coach, Juliet Hellman, a middle-school foreign language teacher, is very proud of their accomplishments as a team. When asked about the cham-pionship and the season as a whole, Coach Hellman stated that “the girls worked hard and were dedicated to being team players. They put their team-mates above themselves and

Jamie Roche ’13

always gave 100%.” She continued, “We put in a

lot of hours in the gym practic-ing free throws and organiz-ing offense and defense, and it worked out in the end.”

This team showed that they were one of the best through-out the entire season, and so-lidified their position at the top through their hard work and willpower.

Hard work and dedication by the team players are two aspects of success for a basket-ball team. This team not only won the championship, but they showed that they could get through many tough times by working together as a team.

Coach Hellman said, “I’m very proud of how the girls strived to be the best by put-ting forth their greatest efforts. It was a great first season as a basketball coach.”

SportsPage 9

April 2012 St. George’s Independent School

The strenuous life of a student athlete is often overlooked. In fact, a college athlete’s schedule is fre-quently completely booked from the sound of the morning alarm clock to the final out of an eve-ning ball game. St. George’s Class of 2011 alumni, Cole Evans, is a member of the University of Ken-tucky baseball team. He offered some insight into his daily sched-ule during the fall and spring se-mester.

Since there were no baseball games during the fall, Evans’ schedule consisted of weight lift-ing, conditioning, practices, and scrimmages. Evans did not have baseball on Mondays and Wednes-

A Day in the Life of a Collegiate Athlete:University of Kentucky Freshman Pitcher, Cole Evans

John Marc Shelly ’12

St. George’s has always had a strong athletic program where ath-letes have excelled in many differ-ent sports. Throughout the years the program here has given stu-dents an opportunity to move past high school sports onto the larger stage of college athletics. Sports have given students something on which to build their leadership and character skills. Past and current students agree, playing a sport in college has its benefits, as well as its disadvantages.

Senior Omar Williams is a star football player that has chosen to take his talents to the next level at Austin Peay University. There are many advantages to playing col-lege sports, but to Omar the big-gest is just getting to play the game he loves. The only disadvantage to playing in college is that he will have to juggle both academics and athlet-ics. However, he also looks forward to the challenge of academic life in college and will take anything that is right for him in regards to classes. Williams was a great player for St. George’s in his single season at the varsity level and will look to contin-ue his success at Austin Peay.

Laurence Bowers is a well-known alum from St. George’s who starred on the basketball court for two years on the Gryphon’s basketball team. Currently, he is a senior basketball player at the University of Missouri. For Laurence the biggest benefit to playing college ball was receiving

a free education by being on full scholarship. The only disadvantage is having his career being planned out for the rest of his life. Bowers recalls the recruiting process was fun for him.“ It was great, especial-ly seeing how everyone wanted you on the team. Makes you kind of feel good about yourself,” he said.

The typical schedule for Bowers during this season is: Wake up no later than 8 a.m., eat breakfast and be at the arena for rehab, go to all his classes then come back in the af-ternoon and rehab again for about another hour. Laurence knows that he has a possible future in the NBA, but he will savor every last moment while at the University of Missouri.

St. George’s alumni excel in college sports

Hunt Seabrook ’13

St. George’s hosts its first-ever fencing tournament

For the first time in the history of the school, St. George’s has a fenc-ing team, thanks in large part to se-nior Jake Doan. Realizing that this was his last year at St. George’s, Jake decided to leave behind a leg-acy by becoming the founder and leader of the fencing team. Other members of the team include Mi-chael Porter, Michael Doan, Court-ney Harshbarger, and Alex Merino.

The team participated in its first tournament at St. George’s on Sat-urday, March 3rd. Two other schools were represented (Memphis Uni-versity School and Houston) as well as a team made up of homeschool-ers. It was a round-robin tourna-ment with each fencer competing against fifteen others.

Jake Doan was the only St. George’s fencer to place, winning first place in foil and second place in epée. Considering this is St.

Heather Haase ’13George’s first year to have a team, they should not be discouraged, but rather look forward to the big things ahead.

Even though fencing is not a team sport offered by many high schools in Shelby County, it is one of the only four sports featured in every mod-ern Olympic Games. Fencing has a noble tradition and St. George’s was lucky to feature competitions with all three forms of fencing: epée, foil, and saber.

Watching the competition was ex-citing and educational. Hopefully, interest in fencing will grow and more students will have the oppor-tunity to participate in this sport in the future. If the turnout at the St. George’s tournament is any indica-tion of the growing interest in fenc-ing, then it has a bright future at our school.

days, but still had class. He says, “There are basically no days off. It is pretty much a given that even on our ‘off days’ that we have to show up at the field and hit.” He continued by saying, “So Mon-day and Wednesday are consid-ered our ‘off days’ and Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays are weight lifting and practicing days.”

A typical fall practice day for Ev-ans is roughly the following: wake up at 5:30 am, weight lifting from 5:50 am to 7:20 am, class from 8:00 am to 8:50 am, class from 9:00 am to 9:50 am, class from 11:00 am to 12:15 pm, practice/ scrimmage from 1:15 pm to 5:30

Courtney Harshbarger and Jake Doan fencing each other in a duel during a school assembly.Photo by: Melissa Grant

pm, dinner from 5:45 pm to 6:00 pm, night class from 7:00 p.m. to 8:15 p.m., academic tutor from 9:00 p.m. to 9:50 p.m. (required study hall hours), and then start-ing on homework around 10:00 p.m.

A typical home game day in the spring for Cole is just as arduous. Evans wakes up at 7:45 am, has class from 8:15 am to 9:15 am, an-other class from 11:00 am to 12:15 p.m., a team meal from 12:15 p.m. to 1:00 p.m., a team stretch from 1:05 p.m. to 1:45 p.m., bat-ting practice from 1:45 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., locker room team meet-ing at 3:00 p.m., infield/outfield pre-game at 3:15 p.m., and game

time at 4:00 p.m. The game ends roughly around 7:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and is followed by a team meal in locker room. Then Evans heads back to the dorm around 9:00 p.m. so he can do homework from 9:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.

Throughout the year, there is little time in a day to do anything other than go to class and play baseball for Evans and his base-ball team. “Being a college base-ball player is very difficult. The schedule is demanding and much different from high school,” ex-plains Evans. “However, I really enjoy being up here in Lexington, and playing college baseball is definitely a dream come true.”

Omar Williams signs to Austin Peay.Photo by: Emmy McClain

Student LifePage 10

April 2012 St. George’s Independent School

Shrine School Prom: Double the dancing, double the funThis is an exciting time of the

year; flowers are blooming, and prom is coming. Now ladies, you might want to consider buying an-other prom dress because there is an additional event coming soon that is just as exciting—the Shrine School Prom! Many students from St. George’s participate in this spe-cial event and all of them enjoy ev-ery moment of it.

“Shrine School is a school for kids with physical and mental disabili-ties. St. George’s plans events with the school like basketball games and proms,” junior Elizabeth De-Gutis says. DeGutis has been a part of the Shrine School Club since her freshman year at St. George’s and has enjoyed going to all the events she participates in.

“The prom is so much fun! I get to dance with them and have a good time with them. It is important that the Shrine School students

do not feel like their disabilities have to hold them back from doing fun high school activities,” she ex-plains. DeGutis also loves it when she goes back to see the Shrine School kids. “I go back every year and they remember me. It is fun to see familiar faces.”

The president of the Shrine School club is senior Jennifer Lin-coln. She has been involved with Shrine School ever since she came to St. George’s her sophomore year, and she loves all of the stu-dents there. It was very important to her to get involved in a club for disabled children.

“My uncle was mentally dis-abled and I remember seeing peo-ple look down on him because of his disability. My uncle went to a boarding school for the mentally disabled and when I heard about Shrine School, I thought it was cool because it provides transpor-

Ehi Ike ’13tation, and the kids don’t have to leave their family,” Lincoln says. She loves helping plan all of the events. “Honestly, I look forward to the Shrine School prom more than the St. George’s prom,” she said, laughing. “They don’t get to have a normal teenage experience and the prom gives them a chance of normality.”

Lincoln truly adores all of the students at Shrine school and is so happy to have gotten to meet every one of them. “They are genuinely good souls. They find joy in every-thing they do no matter what cir-cumstances they have. I definitely have formed relationships with them and would call some of them one of my good friends.” Lincoln continues as president in her last year in high school and is going to miss the club while in college.

One of the faculty members who plans Shrine school events is

French teacher Ms. Elizabeth Bu-chignani. “Mr. Gorham asked me for help and I accepted,” she says. When she was in high school, she participated in events with Madon-na Day School and did something very similar to what the students at St.George’s do. “They were amazing. When we first got there, they gave us a blessing and I remember being so touched by that,” says Ms. Bu-chignani.

“The faculty at Shrine School has told me that they have students from other schools do activities with them and the students are scared to inter-act with them” she continued. “The St. George’s students are not at all. They have a very natural interaction with them and bond with the kids.”

The Shrine School prom seems like it would be a fun experience for ev-eryone. So ladies, go ahead and buy another prom dress. I promise you won’t regret it!

A St. George’s education often takes stu-dents off the beaten path. Recent trips to Heifer International and Victory Ranch for the sophomores and juniors were expe-riences they will never forget.

Regardless of who you ask, Heifer Inter-national is an experience. For some, the experience is good and for others…not so much. The St. George’s sophomores have been visiting Heifer International for five years. It’s a rite of passage in many ways – something sophomores both dread and anticipate.

This year’s trip to Heifer was interest-ing, including hospital trips, “diss” wars and raiding for food. On the bus, every-one was excited at the prospect of Heifer; however, when the buses pulled in, there was one collective thought: “Oh. That’s where we’re staying.” After being sorted to our respective countries, everyone fo-cused on getting food, water and firewood, which resulted in bartering and stealing. As sophomore Colton Morgan said, “The biggest challenge was trying to reason and

Juniors enjoy a team building activity at Victory Ranch. Photo by: Mary Kathryn Phillips

trade with people. People went crazy; it was ridiculous.” Alliances became popu-lar after the first few raids “Things work out better when you share food instead of steal it. You end up with more,” said sophomore Calla Michalak.

The Heifer employees held classes to educate the grade on the poverty and hunger that engulfs the world. Heifer wanted to explain the serious conditions that afflict people worldwide. When asked what she took from the experience of Heifer, sophomore Alexandra Smith said, “I learned to appreciate running water. And toilets.” Grissom had a wider view on his experience; he said, “Every-body is not as blessed as we are; we need to respect what we have access to.”

At the end of the trip, everyone was glad to go home to running water and soft beds. Some common complaints were sleeping on the hard floor, the cold, and the food. When asked what he will remember in twenty years, Andrew Gris-som laughed and said, “How much I ate

on my first meal after Heifer Ranch.”The junior trip to Victory Ranch was

also an experience. This is the first year that the juniors have gone to Victory Ranch; prior to this year, the junior class visited Team Trek. Their experience was built around gaining leadership skills and bonding as a class. Victory Ranch’s sched-ule included ropes challenges along with discussions and personal reflection time.

“The point of Victory Ranch was to get the juniors ready to lead the school and get more united as a class,” said junior Ehi Ike. The junior class was challenged with low and high ropes courses, includ-ing a zip line; the “spider-web” course seemed to garner the highest “fail” rates, in the sense that many groups were un-able to complete the challenges success-fully.

The juniors took a personality test be-fore going to Victory Ranch, which sorted them into four colors: blue (caring), green (intelligent), orange (adventurous) and gold (leaders). These colors determined

discussion groups at Victory Ranch; these groups explored the weaknesses and strengths of the class, as well as how to improve in order to be a great senior class. The juniors also received letters from par-ents and wrote back to them, “reflecting positively on family relationships,” said history teacher and junior advisor Dr. Marianne Leung.

Despite the full schedule, the juniors had time to relax with friends; numerous juniors cited “free time” as their favor-ite part of Victory Ranch. Other favorite memories included the ropes courses, es-pecially the zip line. The most common long-term memory, thinking twenty plus years into the future, seemed to be bond-ing with friends.

Both Heifer and Victory Ranch gave the respective grades opportunities to bond as a class and better themselves for the ben-efit of the school. The St. George’s sopho-mores and juniors will remember these experiences for the rest of their lives.

Regan Hewitt ’14

Heifer International and Victory Ranch inspire and challenge

Page 11

April 2012 St. George’s Independent School

Student Life

My elation brought about by the conclusion of exams and the commencement of the third trimester was quickly replaced by poorly masked apathy brought about by the inexorable expediency with which prom approaches. I, like many of my compeers, ap-preciate the idea of prom – a formal social gathering which celebrates the inevitable end of the school year. Prom, like theoretical communism, looks

good on paper; alas, paper is a flimsy thing. It seems as though drama and “insur-mountable” problems of all sorts are an inherent part of the prom-going experience.

I’ve been informed by semi-reliable sources that there is no shortage of unassuageable challenges accompanying prom – much in the same way that guilt and indigestion ac-company a trip to Muddy’s.

Many, specifically those of

Perplexed by prom problems?Just go with the flow

Albert Cantu ’12

Lower schoolers strut their stuffRachael Smith ’13

Gryphons Soar to ItalyJennifer Lincoln ’12

Over spring break a group of St. George’s students including Eli-jah Poston, Spencer Glass, Sarah Buechner, Elizabeth Rose, Eliza-beth Degutis, Jennifer Lincoln, Julia Spinolo, Andrew King, Anna Lewis Matson, and Jane Shelby Bragg traveled to Italy accompa-nied by St. George’s faculty mem-bers Mr. Aaron Thompson and Ms. Traci Erlinson, as well as St. George’s parents, Ms. Rose, and Ms. Degutis. The group visited Rome, Verona, Florence, Assisi, Venice, the Vatican, and Murano and experienced the statue of Da-vid, the Sistine Chapel, a Salva-dor Dali exhibit, a glass-blowing demonstration, amazing shop-ping, and way too many churches and museums to count.

Every year, St. George’s holds a talent show for first through fifth grade stu-dents from the Germantown and Mem-phis campuses. The talent show gives each student a chance to shine and show off their unique creative and entertain-ing abilities. To ensure that each stu-dent is recognized for their obvious hard work, the talent show does not have a first place winner. All participants re-ceive a medal for their participation and outstanding performance. Students are allowed to perform by themselves or with a group and have a wide range of acts they can book. There are always an abundance of different kinds of perform-ers, including, but certainly not limited to, dancers, singers, piano players, and gymnasts.

The talent show is actually not only for the students. Every year, the lower school teachers perform a skit. This skit really gets the crowd riled up. Sometimes it will be performed live, but it can also be a video production if the teachers opt for that route. This year’s teacher skit for the talent show was an iMovie en-titled “What Teachers Do on Saturday?” The audience learned that teachers ap-parently spend their Saturdays playing in School President, Bill Taylor’s office, performing beauty pageants, playing on the playground, and other silly things. By the end of the presentation, parents, students, grandparents, and teachers all gave it a thumbs up. The entire audience was applauding and laughing at the end.

There are DVDs of the lower school student’s talent show. And believe me, folks, in the words of third grade teacher Ms. Kathy Knowles, “The teacher iMovie is worth watching.”

the feminine persuasion, tend to appreciate the relative merits that prom has to offer, and thus often prove to be the catalyst for much of the ensuing drama. It follows then, that female prob-lems such as being taller than your date, various wardrobe mal-functions, and booking a limo for the night are widespread, and needless to say, stress-inducing.

I believe that it is important, however, to remember that prom is ultimately about having fun and enjoying yourself and you should not allow your night to be ruined by tedious and banal details. In most cases just go-ing with the flow is the ideal response to the stresses and strains of prom night.

This event is, after all, sup-posed to be a party. So let’s party like the wholesome, attractive, and classy (always classy) St. George’s students we are! Just remember not to lie, cheat, steal, or excuse those behaviors in others…It’s a good thing we’ve never done any of those before, right?

Albert Cantu poses for a photo. Photo by: Mary Kathryn Phillips

The group that traveled to Italy over Spring Break take a shot in front of the Coliseum.

SeniorsPage 12

April 2012 St. George’s Independent

Grapes Prove You Can Do Better in a Bunch

With competition at the heart of the Class of 2012, the senior scavenger hunt provided the perfect arena for the spirited natures of the senior class. From the Angry Birds to a big happy family to the grape joke girls, the se-nior’s creativity was out in full force with the thought of bragging rights on the line. Those with the most competi-tive mind sets in the fun-loving senior class were able to thrive in this activ-ity.

The senior scavenger hunt has been a tradition at St. George’s since the first graduating class and one to which all seniors look forward. Not only does it mark the beginning of the last tri-mester, but it is also one of the last events in which the entire grade meets outside of the classroom setting. Upper school mathematics teachers Ms. Page McMullen and Ms. Amy Beatty, along with Mr. Tom Morris, Upper School director, graciously volunteered their Saturday to help the seniors along their ways. It was their job to choose a winner after the chaos was complete.

Students of the senior class were in-structed to choose a group of four peo-ple as well as a junior to judge them throughout the day. One junior judge, Samer Istanbouli, stated that, “I didn’t really know what to do, or what I would be doing on the team, but once we found out that it was just judging, it was a really fun experience.” Not only was this an entertaining event for the Class of 2012, but it also gave the junior class a unique perspective as to what they will be doing next year. With tasks ranging from local activities to downtown escapades, the seniors were required to use their navigational and tactical skills and step out of their comfort zones.

When talking with several of the groups who participated, it was dis-covered that not only were some of the tasks difficult, but also time consum-

ing. Senior Davis Black stated, “We didn’t even get close to finishing all the things on the list.” His group, con-sisting of Alex Bran, Brenna Woods, Carrie Schaefer and junior judge Henry Cowan, called themselves the “Dream Team”, and planned to take this concept all the way to the finish line. While some groups had their eye on the prize, others ran into some un-comfortable situations along the way. Senior Kim Sammons, a member of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, explained her time downtown. “While we were getting on a trolley, a random lady took out her camera and took a quick picture of us.” There were defi-nitely moments of awkwardness, in-cluding senior Emily Smith’s impres-sion of a growling gargoyle outside the FedEx Forum which lasted for ninety seconds. Some groups, who wish to re-main anonymous, trespassed on the Children’s Museum property.

After exams, and while some seniors still await their college acceptance let-ters, this was the perfect way to let out stress and some pent up energy. When asked about the experience and in particular one of the most challeng-ing activities on the list (leap frogging from Mr. Taylor’s desk to Walgreens), senior Rachel Stevenson of Waldo’s Wannabees stated, “It hurt! I feel quite accomplished!”

Accomplished—that is how the se-nior class should feel with the major-ity of the year behind them and their futures brighter than ever. The senior scavenger hunt was a reward and a testament to all the hard work that the Class of 2012 has put in over the years. While every senior put in their best ef-forts, the winning team, The Grapes, made up of Sophie Kennedy, Claire Peeler, Emily Smith, and Erika Zur-burg, walked away with the $15 dollar lunch prize.

The Roommate DilemmaOnce applications are in, acceptance

letters received, financial aid packets reviewed, and a school chosen, the next step for college-bound students is choos-ing a roommate. This process can be many things: exciting, awkward, scary, joyous, and, of course, nerve-wracking.

As I see it, there are three ways to find a potential roommate. The first is to accept a random assignment from the school you plan to attend. Depending on the school, this can be a good or a not-so-good thing. At a smaller school, the college will usu-ally take more time to ensure that pro-spective roommates are compatible. For me, if I end up choosing a smaller school, I will most likely utilize this approach for finding a roommate.

People are more apprehensive about this method at larger schools because, with so many students, the roommate chosen for you could potentially be a bit bizarre. Senior Meredith Compton, who will be attending Vanderbilt University next fall, says, “I don’t trust the random roommate selection system because there is no criteria that will ensure compatibil-ity.”

Due to this fear of the unknown, it is common to have people elect to room with a good friend from high school. Seniors Rachel McNeil and Mary Margaret Skud-der have made the decision to attend the University of Alabama and to room with one another. While some people want to go to college and find someone new to room with, Skudder said, “We are best friends and are lucky enough that we are going to the same college together next year. Who wouldn’t want to live with one of their best friends?” Many people have the same opinion as Skudder.

Going off to college can be very scary and knowing that you can always go back to your room and have your best friend around is very comforting. McNeil jok-ingly adds, “I am just hoping that Mary Margaret finds a solution for her snor-ing problem.” While she may have been kidding, it is important to consider what

habits that may need to be changed before moving in with someone new. For some people, this means keeping a cleaner room, while others will need to condense their wardrobe so that there is adequate closet space for both roommates.

Finding a roommate through Face-book, or another school website, has be-come another popular method for finding a roommate. Senior Carrie Schaefer, who is attending Furman University next year, found her roommate through a site called Furman Engage. “In a sense, it’s like Facebook for Furman,” says Schae-fer. Programs similar to Furman Engage are starting to become more common because they connect students based off their interests. It is the same process that a university might go through when randomly assigning a roommate, but this way, the students are in control and it provides them with multiple matches. It also allows students to meet new people whether they are looking for a roommate or not. When describing her new room-mate, Schaefer says, “We have a lot in common and she also has a good sense of style, which is definitely a must for me. But I think the thing that really sold me is that she doesn’t care that I sleep with a noise machine!” Programs such as Fur-man Engage are making it much easier for students to find well-matched room-mates.

All in all, when trying to decide how to choose a roommate, it really depends on the student and what type of school he or she is attending. If you go to a larger university, you might enjoy the company of a familiar face. On the contrary, if you choose to attend a smaller school, it may be a good idea to room with someone you do not know in order to start meeting new people right away. Regardless of how you choose your roommate, remember to look for opportunities to make new friends and to get involved around campus. A roommate is just the start of the many new relationships apparent in college life.

Amanda Bennett ’12

Erika Zurburg ’12

After weeks riddled with endless nights and cold days, the third of Janu-ary signaled the inevitable end of a glo-rious Christmas Break. This short Holi-day season concluded with the dawning of a new disease, senioritis.

What is this wretched sounding ill-ness, you may ask? Well, my dedicated readers, that it is too complicated for a lowly sophomore like myself to describe on my own. I turned to the kindhearted seniors of the Class of 2012 to help me describe this miserable disease. When questioning senior Caitlin Adams she morbidly recalled, “After Christmas Break it all started…”

One could claim senioritis to be an imaginary excuse to slack off on the many post-vacation assignments rolling in. But there are, it turns out, some tell tale signs to prove its existence and to determine if you have it. Senior Amanda Poole described the feeling by saying, “No one has any motivation by the time the second trimester ends. It is just time to sit back, have fun, and chill.”

So, it would seem that the key to bat-

tling the sickness is keeping your eyes on the prize and finding that motiva-tion buried deep down inside you. But what could ever pull a studious St. George’s boy or girl from their school-work? For many, it is the all to far off date of graduation.

Senior Prefect Brenna Woods ex-plained the mental impact of college acceptance letters. Once a student is accepted to their college of choice, it is easy to simply feel done with high school and mentally check out. Fellow senior Justin Kilgore presented the odd concern of too many study halls— but let’s get real, we all know there is no such thing as too many study halls.

Juniors: When asked for advice for next year, current seniors came to the same conclusion—don’t wish that last year of high school away. One way or another, you’re going to reach May, so savor your days and hold fast to these memories. Soon they will be all you have left of these four daunting and life-changing years.

WARNING: Senioritis Strikes Class of 2012Emily Dickey ’14

Seniors participate in the scavenger hunt all around Memphis.