The Newspaper of St. George’s Independent School Volume XI, Issue I

TheAugust 2012

Gryphon Gazette• •

GryphonewsN

Renovations conducted over the summer have St. George’s looking good! Efforts to bring the three campuses closer together in appearance have been successful, and our school is looking amazing.

Renovations inside the buildings on the Collier-ville campus have freed up more space for teach-ing and learning, and students are enjoying the extra breathing room

Gryphons are looking forward to the coming year. With many of the programs growing at our school, 2012-2013 will be a year to show our true Gryphon colors.

TopStories

Opinion

Sports

Features

Student Life

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Nathalie Vacheron, your Editor-in-Chief

Perks of Being a Cross-Country runner

The Mind of Luther Mercer

Dagny Vaughn’s experience at Parson’s

Luther Mercer

Alexis Harshbarger ’13

The Mind ofLuther Mercer

Dagny Vaughn ’14We all know him. The man

with a permanent smile, the one who strolls through our halls and often haunts our classroom windows. Some of us know Mr. Luther Mer-cer simply as the Citizenship Institute teacher, while others have had the opportunity to see the deep, inspirational person that he is. It was my job to bring you the story of what exactly such an inter-esting individual does with his summers.

When interviewing him, I discovered a man with a pas-sion for improving our world and an inspiring message that still remains in my head to-

day. So I bring you, straight from a Starbucks conversa-tion, the stories of not only Mr. Mercer’s fabulous sum-mer, but also the driving force inspiring them all.

To start off a busy two months, Mr. Mercer met with a friend that represents the

Bill and Melissa Gates Founda-tion to discuss the future of ed-ucation. Waiting in a coffee shop near the White House, Mr. Mer-

cer described this important friend as an “unassuming, yet focused person with a dedicated idea that educa-tion is the window.”

Michael Phelps Swam Here The Olympian Has Ties to St. George’s

Did you know that the swimmer who many people consider the greatest Olympian of all time, Michael Phelps, swam at St. George’s? He did in the spring of 2002 for the opening of the Compton Aquatic Center.

The Compton Aquatic Center is one of a very small number of Olympic-sized pools in Tennessee. “The Compton Pool has a Eu-ropean design and is built for speed and fast times,” said Director of Special Gifts and Stu-dent Ambassador Rick Ferguson. “Mr. Bob Compton and Mrs. Janice Compton, parents of St. George’s alumni, wanted to give the pool to St. George’s to help our school develop rec-reational and competitive swimming among students at school and in the broader commu-nity.”

Phelps, Gabrielle Rose, and Misty Hyneman were invited by the Comptons to come for the opening of the pool. While Phelps had no prior connection with St. George’s, Gabrielle Rose’s father, Mr. Mike Rose, has been an important supporter of St. George’s for many years. He had three sons who attended St. George’s on the Germantown campus.

Before the opening, the swimmers taught swimming lessons in the pool for anyone in-terested. Then an appreciation dinner was held for the swimmers downtown. Mr. Fergu-son interviewed Phelps and the others. They talked about working hard, discipline, and always maintaining a positive attitude. Phelps was asked how many hours he was in the pool a day, and he responded that he practiced five

hours a day and loved every minute of it. Mr. Ferguson decided that he should chal-

lenge one of them to a race, so he challenged Phelps. They agreed that Mr. Ferguson would have to swim the length of the pool and back, while Michael would have to swim the length of the pool and back twice.

“I remember swimming across the pool thinking there is no way he would be able to beat me,” recalled Mr. Ferguson. Phelps won the race by twenty feet, reminding everyone why he broke so many world records that year.

Many years later, the only visible records of it are in the Stokes Fieldhouse. By the back doors are posters of the famous swimmers. Take a closer look at them the next time you pass through the fieldhouse.

Miriam Brown ’17

Superhero SummerThe Return of Batman and Spiderman“Why do we fall, Bruce?” … “So

we can learn to pick ourselves up.” And boy, oh boy, is Bruce Wayne good at that by now. “The Dark Knight Rises” is a beautiful continuation of, ar-guably, the best su-perhero trilogy that DC Comics has ever created.

Director Christo-pher Nolan gave us a first look into the Bruce Wayne that we all came to know and love circa 2005 in “Batman Begins.” In this year’s summer blockbuster, the audience is shown a glimpse of Wayne’s twisted

past once more as we find out how he and several new characters’ lives are intertwined. Without spoiling too much, one thing that was most impres-sive to a Batman enthusiast as myself

was the incorporation of some of the most classic Batman players. For ex-ample, Anne Hathaway does an adequate perfor-mance as Cat Woman, the audience is reintroduced to Bruce Wayne’s mentor

and toward the end, Nolan reveals the boy who will ultimately become Bat-man’s renowned sidekick, Robin.

Emily Dickey ’14

Cont. on Page 6

“Why do we fall, Bruce?”

Waiting in a coffee shop near the White House

Cont. on Page 4

2 Editorial

Newspaper Staff• •

Editor-in-ChiefRegan HewittVirginia Whitsitt

Samer IstanbouliKayce Hyde

Alexis HarshbargerLindsey Cayce

Margaret Robertson

Dagny Vaughn

Emily Dickey

Ian JohnJamie Roche

Meredith GatlinMaggie Courtney

Nathalie Vacheron

Zoe Leake

Copy Editors

Layout Editors

Photo Editors

Features Editors

Opinion Editor

Sports Editors

Student Life Editors

Advisor

And the Moral of the Story Is...

August St. George’s Independent School• •

Hello all,

I hope your summer was refreshing and left you reju-venated for another year of writing portfolios, monthly fire drills, and misplaced navy blazers — all quirks of attend-ing our beloved St. George’s. Isn’t it wonderful to delve back into the world of 12:07s and 3:18s?

For some of us — including myself — this is our last year to salute our mighty mascot, Garth the Gryphon (yes, he actually does have a name) and to embrace the cardinal and gold colors of our school. Every year, the seniors are re-minded that the months will go by more quickly than we can imagine. For me, the last three years of high school basically hap-pened last week … which means, senior year will be over by tomorrow. Let’s take the advice of our elders and the graduates who have gone be-fore us. This is only the begin-ning of a wonderful end; let’s not wish senior year away just yet.

With that in mind, this is a good time to share with all of you a few life lessons I pro-cured this summer. I hope these lessons will stay with you throughout the year as I am sure they will stay with me.

1. Be prepared. Sometimes, Nashville morphs into Seattle and a torrential rain pour will occur during a college tour of Vanderbilt. And you will re-alize that you are umbrella-less right before the walking tour of the campus. And you will realize that the sandals you just bought become quite bendy when wet.

Being proactive seems like a lot of work sometimes, but re-ally all you have to do is check the forecast. Or, in many cases this year, check the portal ear-ly in the week so you can be aware of upcoming tests, quiz-zes, and assignments. Write it all in your planner on Sunday night so you can’t possibly

forget. However, continue to check the portal frequently for new or changed assignments throughout the week. While teachers already expect stu-dents to be responsible, they know that people are people and sometimes students slip up by accident. Make it your goal this year to be extra pro-active so these slip-ups are minimized. Your life will be-come less stressful.

2. Be perseverant. Some-times, you will read a Sev-enteen magazine at the nail salon and see that for every day of July, Seventeen will be giving away free bathing suits

— that is, if you submit the free-bie codes online that are printed in the magazine. And you will go home and eagerly search for the July issue of Seventeen that you received

in the mail two weeks ago, but then realize that you acci-dentally threw it away. How-ever, while searching, you will stumble upon the August issue and voila! — Seventeen is giv-ing away free jeans for every day of August.

Being perseverant in your academic and athletic endeav-ors may not al-ways give you the results you desire, but you will have better results than if you hadn’t tried at all. Not every-one is a stellar athlete, and not everyone is stel-lar at every subject. No one is perfect. However, push for ex-cellence, so even if you do fall short, your results will still be something to be proud of. You may not fall short at all, and your perseverance will pro-duce results you can be very proud of.

3. Be patient. Sometimes, your grandmother from France will come and visit America, and since she doesn’t speak any English, commu-nication will inevitably be difficult. And it might take

you thirty minutes to teach her how to play the Spanish-themed game of UNO (you will later realize it was maybe not a good idea to bring an-other foreign language into the picture). However, once she learns, and even though you begin to play UNO for an average of eight times a day, it is all worth it — because Go Fish gets really boring.

Patience will be required of you when helping others or while waiting to be helped. It is a part of being in a learning environment — and it is sim-ply a part of life. Also, when you are feeling frustrated, re-member that your exaspera-tion is not going to help you move forward. If you just take a deep breath and remind yourself to be patient, calm, and collected, chances are you will get more accomplished in the long run. It is also ex-tremely hard to concentrate on anything when you are frustrated.

So, now that those three very important P’s are forever embedded in your mind, the 2012-2013 school year is sure to kick off to a great start. Even though lazy summer days are over, they will return with sur-prising spryness if you face the next nine and a half months as a prepared, perseverant,

and patient St. George’s stu-dent.

I am blessed to be Editor-in-Chief of The Gryphon Ga-zette this year, and I can’t wait to further share my thoughts

with the wise and wonderful St. George’s community. Fel-low classmates, I strongly en-courage you to keep flipping through these pages as the year progresses; this paper is not only written by you, but it is also written about you.

Finally, I want to thank ev-eryone who has taken the time to read this issue — I sincerely hope you continue to do so in the following months.

Cheers,Nathalie VacheronEditor-in-Chief

Nathalie Vacheron ’13

Isn’t it wonder-ful to delve back into the world of 12:07s and 3:18s?

Be prepared.

Be perseverant.

Be patient.

A New Year, A New Beginning

The ringing of the Hamer Bell signals the start of a new year on the Germantown campus.

Students arrive eager for the first day of school on the Mem-phis campus.

3OpinionAugust St. George’s Independent School• •

Summer Enrichment: It Is What You Make It

In recent years, there has been an im-mense amount of increasing pressure on teenagers to succeed. Teenagers are ex-pected to have exemplary grades, great work ethics, outstanding social lives, and to be all-round amazing people. It is quite a load, to be honest. Not to mention that summer, those few blissful months of the year, is supposed to be our time off.

The concept of summer has become a two-sided argument. One side argues that summer should be a fun, worry and work-free time, because for nine months of the year, the majority of students work hard and have a lot of responsibilities. The other side of the argument is that students need to stay productive and focused on learn-ing and that there is no wasted time. Some parents and teachers support this by say-ing that summer should be about staying engaged with schoolwork and that fun should be a bonus or reward.

This second argument is encouraged

by the competitive nature of colleges and the idea that summer programs enhance a student’s application by promoting the student’s interest in his or her education and his or her dedication to learning. The answer to the summer dilemma depends on the individual teenager and the sum-mer program they are attending.

There are an endless number of sum-mer opportunities and programs available for students. Ranging from art and music classes to academic enrichment programs in scientific fields, there is something for everyone. Summer programs can be a great opportunity to learn something new, improve yourself, or devote more time to furthering your knowledge in a specific field. Although there are countless sum-mer enrichment opportunities and classes that are available for students to attend, you must truly invest yourself in what you are doing in order to get as much out of the experience as possible.

It is quite obvious that there are two types of students who participate in sum-mer programs. Those who are excited to be there invest more time and effort into

learning and are able to improve more than those students who just go through the motions and complete the minimum amount of work. Motivation is the key to being successful in summer programs, and genuine investment is very different than simply participating. Participation in a summer program does not mean that the students are committed to education nor does it mean that they reap a benefit from attending. It takes more than just being there to actually learn something. “The class was all right, but not what I wanted. It was the people I enjoyed most,” said Chase Reid, a participant at Rhodes Sum-mer Writing Institute. St. George’s senior Alexis Harshbarger said, “I aspire to be an artist and going to Governor’s School really helped me improve my abilities as well as my knowledge of art.” Harshbarg-er attended Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts.

If a student attends a summer program just to say they did or because their par-ents forced them to participate, they may not take as much away from the experi-ence as a student who is invested and in-

Alexis Harshbarger ’13Regan Hewitt ’14

terested in the program they are attending. “It was obvious who wanted to become

a better artist and who was just there to say they went,” said Luca Tanaka, another par-ticipant in Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts. Skye Irish, a participant in Rhodes Summer Writing Institute, reflect-ed “It was such an eye-opening experi-ence, actually,” of the institution.

In selecting a summer program, students should choose one in a field in which they are interested in as opposed to one that would just look good on a college applica-tion. Summer programs are useless unless students apply themselves or express an interest in the program. Forcing a teenager to be engaged with any activity related to learning or self-improvement isn’t benefi-cial to anyone. If a teenager does not want to be there, they will not learn anything. If a student is planning to attend a summer program, they should have the opportu-nity to attend one of their own choosing. If you really are interested in learning some-thing, summer is an excellent opportunity to do so — just make sure you do it for the right reasons.

PresidentialIssues• •

Once again, we find ourselves in the midst of campaign ads, new budget plans, and policies to fix our country. With the 2012 presidential election just around the corner, it can seem over-whelming to try to navigate through their politi-cal platforms while coming to grips with their underlying values. On August 11, Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts, announced state of Wisconsin representative, Paul Ryan, as his running mate.

Many Republicans who knew of Ryan’s bud-get proposal applauded the choice. The stag-nant national economy has become a key point in this year’s presidential race. When the United States’ domestic economy is in trouble, incum-bent presidents historically have had a more dif-ficult time being reelected. To further complicate matters, a faltering European or Asian economy could adversely affect the United States, which again could hamper President Obama’s reelec-tion chances.

Representative Ryan’s budget proposal aims to ultimately balance the budget by 2040, with no new revenues. One of his stated goals is to achieve a reduction in the national debt of 85% by the year 2050. The plan would repeal “Obam-acare” — officially known as the Affordable Care Act — and instead offer bankrolled private insurance plans. He also seeks to somewhat simplify the Internal Revenue Code, and keep military spending at a higher level than would President Obama. Overall, this plan would cut roughly $6 trillion from government spending over a 10-year period. Also, this plan would call for a $4 trillion cut in revenues by dropping cor-porate and personal income taxes.

With all these drastic changes, Ryan says that they will still try “to make sure we can save Medicare.” However, President Obama sug-gests that, if elected, Governor Romney would “end Medicare as we know it.” This declaration may influence voters in key swing states such as Florida, Iowa, New Hampshire, Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Democrats are using this point to inform Americans of what the end of Medicare might mean for them — higher costs and lower quality care for retirees. The Repub-lican ticket is strongly pushing for reform. “The truth is we simply cannot continue to pretend like a Medicare on track to go bankrupt at some point is acceptable,” said Governor Romney in Miami.

Emily Dickey ‘14

No Paper or Plastic Left Behind

“There is no doubt that, through-out the years, the St. George’s com-munity has showed deep respect and reverence to the upkeep of the world around us,” said sophomore Emily Dickey. Students and teachers alike take advantage of the convenient re-cycling bins in classrooms and in the cafeteria, as they should.

In the upcoming year it is my per-sonal challenge to take recycling from a routine job to an enjoyable task to be done with friends. I would love for the club to have a revival of members, middle and upper school.

This year, members of the recy-cling club will hopefully put on their janitor suits — equipped with the St. George’s recycling symbol — and collect material from classroom bins with shopping carts or large bins. It is hoped that we will be able to collabo-rate with the art club so that artists in the school can help design a new re-

cycling symbol and perhaps deck out our collection materials.

We also look forward for an action-packed week leading up to Earth Day. “We should always celebrate our Earth, but especially during the week of Earth Day,” said Ms. Julene Reed, Director of Academic Technology.

Director of Special Gifts and Stu-dent Ambassador Rick Ferguson has brainstormed ideas such as a canoe-ing trash pick-up along the Wolf Riv-er, a mountain bike ride through the new cross-country course with fresh and natural refreshments along the way, as well as a student and faculty campout on campus to kick-start the week. Other daily activities might in-clude riding bikes to school, no lights in classrooms for a day, chapel servic-es held outside for the week, or wear all green for a day.

The Recycling Club hopes that during this week we can work with SGGO, Lumberjack Club, and even

the Citizenship Institute to celebrate not only making the world a more beautiful place through awareness, but also the great outdoors — and therefore the Earth as a whole.

When consulting biology teacher Mr. William McClain about the up-coming year, he replied, “Every year I have high hopes for the recycling club, but really what would be great is just a regular and consistent pick up.”

By recycling more this year than ever before (with help from all stu-dents), the recycling club’s goal for the school this year is “No Plastic or Paper Left Behind.” With constant space available in the classroom recy-cling bins, there will be no reason not to recycle every bottle, can, paper, or container. Mr. McClain and the mem-bers of the club challenge each and every one of you to do your best to recycle every possible item, whether at home or at school.

Zoe Leake ’14

The opinions expressed in this section reflect the views of individual writers and are not necessarily those of the Gryphon Gazette or its staff.

4FeaturesAugust St. George’s Independent School• •

New Seniors, New Senior Independent Studies

As the years come and go, so do our seniors. As the Class of 2012 said “goodbye” to all of the memo-ries that dwell in these halls, the Class of 2013 said “hello” to what may be one of the most stressful parts about senior year: Senior In-dependent Studies.

Each year, our beloved seniors set out on a summer experience and research a topic that may relate to their career one day. Needless to say, our faculty and admin-istration give them a small taste of the real world. Each student takes interest in various opportunities. With this aspect of individuality being one of the won-derful parts of St. George’s, we see students studying what intrigues them most.

“Art is a very important aspect in my life, and always has been,” says senior Alexis Harshbarger. When asked to describe her SIS, she said, “Art not only gives people a way to express themselves and be creative, but it teaches them life lessons and skills that are necessary in any field.” Harshbarger continued to state how she planned to go about performing her SIS. “In order to ex-press my ideas and back them up with facts, I plan to interview sev-eral artists and art teachers to ask them their opinions.”

Each student will take a differ-ent approach according to his or her different interests. Senior Mat-thew O’Bar says, “I am doing a

few things; I am shadowing my friend at his internship in a record-ing studio in Jackson for a day, and helping him record a song. I will interview a professor about the re-cording industry. I will also help Elijah Poston make an album. I am recording him, and then I will mix and master the songs, and possibly put the album on iTunes.”

Senior Samer Istanbouli took a more scien-tific approach to his SIS. “My senior indepen-dent study will revolve around

genetic research on the impact of genetically-modified foods on the environment and human health.”

He continued to explain how he plans to fulfill this idea, and the question he wishes to answer. “I would like to con-duct a semi-research experiment on the difference between these two and how they affect the en-vironment, and hu-man health. I want to answer questions such as, how does the chemical structures in both foods benefit the diet of humans — is one better? Can we genetically modify foods to help patients with diseases by giv-ing them more protein to help them with treatments such as radiation therapy for cancer?”

Istanbouli plans to work with BioWorks in Memphis, TN, and

he plans to describe his research through interviews with scientists and environmentalists in a docu-mentary he will put together.

Senior Wil McMillian has an “avid interest in international af-fairs, in particular the military as-pect,” and has chosen to separate his SIS subject into two halves. The first half will be on the life of military personnel. “I plan on in-terviewing several veterans such as the Reillys, Mike Smothers, Tim Thomson, and John Sims to envi-sion how the United States Military conducts its operations and to col-lect two primary sources from the First Persian Gulf War.”

For his second half, McMillian plans to compose a research paper inquiring, “how the economic ex-pansion of China forces the Pen-tagon to change its Asia-Pacific strategy.” He continued, “The sec-

ond part will be researched through the reading of three separate foreign affairs and his-tory books while also utilizing the websites.

Underclassmen, teachers, and the administration can look forward to seeing what all of our seniors do with their SIS projects. As we look forward to this next year, we also anticipate what will happen in the lives of our diligent seniors, and the fieldwork and studies they will con-tinue to do.

Virginia Whitsitt ’14

We also anticipate what will happen in the lives of our diligent seniors.

As the years come and go, so do our seniors.

The Mind of Luther Mercer, ContinuedTogether, they talked about

how to help further the idea of justice in an education sys-tem for everyone. Mr. Mercer’s friend oversees 90 million dol-lars given by the foundation to Memphis City Schools.

Later in the summer, Mr. Mer-cer met with the Russian ambas-sador at an event in Washington, D.C. celebrating the Russian Fed-eration (he is cur-rently working on creating rela-tions with SGIS). He also spent time talking to a family from Iran, as well as a woman from the Mexican em-bassy.

As you can tell, Mr. Mercer is very concerned with the well-be-ing of our future generations. He best illustrated this by describ-ing a meeting he had this sum-mer on creating ways to foster a better world. His goal is to create opportunities for people and a

culture that strives to be life-long learners.

“We live in a different time now, we keep trying to fit into a twentieth-century box, we need to move forward, we need a new way of thinking,” he said.

Even with such an excitement for the future, Mercer admits

that creat-ing such a world will take work. “ T h e r e ’ s some re-a l i t i e s about the world that I ignored,

I’ve always tried to look at life through rose colored glass. I still do, but you also have to consider other factors.”

But what exactly causes Mer-cer to view life in such a posi-tive, progressive way? About seven years ago, after teaching at the Beijing University, he lived in a Buddhist temple practicing Vipassana meditation for eleven

Dagny Vaughn’14

“We need to move forward, we need a new way of thinking”

A Summer of Service• •

This summer, I had the wonderful opportunity to travel to Haiti on a mission trip with my family and some of our close family friends. While in Haiti, I was blessed to be able to meet and work hand-in-hand with some of the sweetest and most joy-filled children I have ever met. It may sound cliché to say that this was an eye-opening experience for me, but there are really no other words that I can use to describe what I felt after boarding the plane to go back home. I will never forget all of the friends that I made while I was in Haiti and the impact that this ex-perience had on my life.

Many people also had similar experiences this sum-mer, and others were able to engage in service activities right in their own backyard. Lots of people were given the opportunity to have a posi-tive impact on the commu-nity of Memphis and didn’t have to go far to perform acts of service.

Members of the Ali’s Way Club volunteered one week of their summer to help run a camp at the Ronald McDon-ald House during the month of June. The volunteers that participated in the camp were able to work with the kids on arts and crafts activi-ties and even take part in a karaoke-singing contest.

Kara Miller ’13

Speed BumpsThe theater department

at St. George’s is having some tough luck this year with the decrease in its ac-tor/performer base. The of-ficers on the thespian coun-cil, consisting of junior Kate Sweat, junior Zoe Leake, junior Regan Hewitt and myself (senior Samer Istan-bouli), are looking to recruit many new and fresh faces for the upcoming school year, in hopes that many of them will audition.

Most people think that in order be an actor, you have to learn how to act, when really it is your personality that is doing the acting for you. The council is looking for many interesting people who have an exuberant per-sonality. With the upcom-ing sophomores having a few new faces in the theater world, we hope Preston Vi-hlen will want to join on the crew for this year since his

Samer Istanbouli ‘13• •

first debut in the musical caba-ret last year.

We were impressed to find a few great actors last year when Zoe, Regan, and I graded the Theatre I class on their acting performance for their final ex-ams last year. Two impressive actors that made an impact on all three of us were Troy Taylor and Mathew Turner from the sophomore class.

On a side note, the thespian council is planning on creating a skit and/or improvisation night that any student can be a part of — the council would like to increase thespian-relat-ed after-school activities for the student body. Regardless of having a few speed bumps in the thespian world of St. George’s, we hope that this year will be filled with exciting performances and opportuni-ties for all students, whether they consider themselves ac-tors or not. Everyone should have a chance to be a thespian.

Members of the Ali’s Way Club also helped serve breakfast to the families stay-ing at the Ronald McDonald House during the months of July and August. Those who participated in service op-portunities offered through Ali’s Way were able to have a positive impact on the great-er Memphis community.

Other students were able to leave an influential mark on the St. George’s commu-nity over the summer. Many students had the opportunity to participate in service activ-ities around the school cam-pus. Some of these included the following: trailblazing, Impact Camp, sports camps, and many other fun service activities.

Many St. George’s stu-dents devoted their time this summer to helping others in their community. While sum-mer is a time for fun and re-laxation, it is also a time for students to give back to their community. St. George’s stu-dents are committed to mak-ing a difference in their com-munity as witnessed through their multiple acts of ser-vice. Colossians 3:23 states, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as work-ing for the Lord, not for hu-man masters.” This verse re-flects the light that many St. George’s students were able to share with others over the summer.

hours a day. Through this experi-ence, he had the opportunity to analyze his life.

“There’s a level of understand-ing I have gained about not only the world around me, but myself, that hopefully is leading me to be a better person.” Mercer ex-plained to me that by looking deeply at yourself and facing your fears, you open yourself up to helping others, focusing out-ward instead of inward. Not only will such a mindset create a better world, it will make life happier for all who embrace it. This has been Mercer’s inspiration in all that he does.

“Because I learned to not live life in fear. There’s a belief that the majority of people’s choices are based on fear and not on a paradigm of living and enjoy-ing life. It’s not looking at life in a negative way. Because of that a lot of people can’t embrace life fully — this has been a driver for my philosophy in life. Apprecia-tion, respect.”

1. The mascot was the “wen-lock,” which looked like it was half lava lamp and half Teletubby. I think there is a reason it did not appear very often. 2. At the first Olympics in 776 BCE, the winner of the only event, the sta-dion, was a naked chef.

5FeaturesAugust St. George’s Independent School• •

Parsons School

Dagny sits outside during a break with her friends at Parsons.Dagny Vaughn

My Summer at Parsons

Dagny Vaughn ’14

To most people, spending sum-mer in New York City sounds like a dream. I was no exception; I was ecstatic from the moment it was planned in November to the moment the plane took off in July. More ecstatic than most perhaps, because not only was I spending a month in the city that never sleeps, but I was also studying at Parsons, The New

School of Design, one of the most prestigious design schools in the United States. Expecting a month of painting classes and shopping, I packed up my beautiful new art supplies and flew off to Manhat-tan. However, I quickly discovered that living and studying in New York City is quite different than you’d expect it to be. So, here is a look at my life at Parsons and the

Most prestigious design school in America.

harsh reality of New York City. In my dorm, I had five room-

mates who were from China, Turkey, Kentucky, Los Angeles, and Mexico. This proved to be one of the most exciting, yet frus-trating parts of the experience. Meeting people from all over the world opened my eyes to what teenagers from different cultures are truly like. Having lunch with the daughter of the CSI director, and listening my friend’s stories of living in Thailand, I saw how small our southern Memphis cul-ture really is.

However, being in a place so diverse can also become frus-trating, as people with different cultures lead different lifestyles. I had to quickly adapt to living with people I might think do ter-rible things, learning that life in the real world won’t always be as comfortable as it is at St. George’s and Memphis.

Living in the city itself was a thrilling experience. It truly is a great deal different to see the city from a resident’s perspective than a tourist’s. I quickly memorized the

subway lines, figured out the least crowded route from 1st and 15th to 5th and 13th, and had a “regular” order at the local coffee shop on Broadway.

The truth about the city, how-ever, is that it is a paradox of being very crowded, yet very lonely at the same time. People are so used to being surrounded by crowds that they begin to mentally block out human existence. When you live in New York, you form this small circle of familiar people. There’s the family you pass on the street every morning, the guy who makes your crepes… all of the people you know, but never know anything about.

The strange thing about the East Village where I lived is that every-one basically falls into three catego-ries. You’re either an NYU Student, an art student, or homeless. It’s

a college-town-in-the-middle-of-Manhattan kind of thing. I fell into the “art s t u d e n t ”

category, lugging around my port-folio and paints across town every

morning. Art school is a weird place,

basically indescribable to those who haven’t experienced it. Imagine sitting in a room for roughly nine hours a day, solely painting. No matter how much you enjoy something, doing the same thing for that long every-day can drive you crazy. Not to mention the homework load of Parsons; I often found myself staying at school from 8 a.m. until midnight working. This is what changed my mind about art school. There was a point where art became work instead of enjoyment, where I was paint-ing under stress, not because I wanted to. This was the point where I realized that art school isn’t where I want to spend my college years.

Even though I might not have had the ideal summer experi-ence, I’m so glad I was able to attend Parsons for a month. I learned so much about myself, about interacting with different people, and being independent. I realized my dreams and expec-tations weren’t the reality of art school, an epiphany I’m thankful to have had now, instead of later.

Olympic 2012 Fun Facts

3. The United States had the most med-als, with a total of 104.

4. The slowest re-corded Olympic marathon was Shizo Kanakuri with a smashing time of 54 years, 8 months, 6 days, 32 minutes, and 20.3 seconds.

5. McKayla Maroney became fa-mous with her scowly pout as she

received silver for the vault. McK-ayla Maroney was not impressed.

6. Michael Phelps became the most decorated Olympian of all time, rounding out his career with 22 medals. It is about time for him to take a break.

7. The 2012 Olympic Games were the first to include women’s box-ing.

8. The gold medals have been made of 92.5% silver since the 1912 Olympic Games.

1. Britain broke its Olympic record with 29 gold medals since 1908.

2. Kofi Annan resigned as U.N. special envoy, leaving Syria in a greater unrest with the rebels.

3. NASA successfully landed a Mars rover named Curiosity.

4. Paul Ryan joined Mitt Romney on the campaign trail, while stirring controversy over their plans for Medicare.

5. Great Britain gave 4.7 million dollars to Malawai for food aid as more than 1.6 mil-lion people in the South African nation are impoverished and starving from food short-ages.

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6EntertainmentAugust St. George’s Independent School• •

Summer Reading Review

Summer reading is, for most, a dread-ed task that can easily put a damper on an otherwise long, sunny vacation. You buy the books (or, let’s be real here, your mom buys the books) early in the summer, but soon enough, they end up in a corner somewhere gathering dust. If you are like me, it’s because you were reading your own books. Most likely though, you are not a nerd and thus, you were doing something else.

However, if you skimmed this year’s books or even skipped them altogether, I encourage you to pick them up again and actually read them. Some are hard-er to get through than others, but all of the books on the summer reading lists make some sort of impression on you.

For example, this year’s division-lev-el book, “The Alchemist” by Paolo Coel-ho, is a sincere and simple story, packed with profound truths. To sweeten the deal, it is also less than 200 pages, mean-ing the only legitimate reason you have for not reading it is illiteracy. As we get caught up in the craziness of day-to-day living, we can lose sight of the impor-tant things; this book strives to remind you of what you truly believe, without telling you what to believe. This book is a truly insightful read and one to keep close to your heart. “I really loved it,” senior Elijah Poston enthused.

The rising freshmen were eased into high school this year with two books, besides the division-level book. They were given the choice between “Speak” by Laurie Halse Andersen or “The Ab-solutely True Diary of a Part-Time In-dian” by Sherman Alexie, along with one pick from the suggested reading

Leann Beard ’14• •

list. While “Speak” may seem like more of a “girl” book, it remains a refreshing and honest read from a less-heard point of view. “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” with its distinctively long title, offers more humor than “Speak,” without relinquishing any of the insightfulness, and students can connect with Junior, who worries about girls, fitting in, and sports, along with his own unique struggles as a “part-time Indian.” This grade’s list contains a score of books to suit every single fresh-man’s taste.

No longer “fresh meat,” this year’s sophomores had a choice between “A Prayer for Owen Meany” by John Irving and “Great Expectations” by Charles Dickens. “A Prayer for Owen Meany,” a well-written book about a pecu-liar boy and his belief in God, is a memo-rable book, whether you wind up loving it or hating it.

Its alternative, “Great Expectations,” is a classic story about a poor village boy named Pip, who dreams of wealth and fame in his future, and the people who help him. Sophmore Lexie Marotta read “Life of Pi” as her suggested reading and enjoyed this New York Times best-seller immensely. “I originally thought that ‘Life of Pi‘ was just the story of a boy was stranded in the ocean with a tiger. After reading, I realized the author had creative-ly tied the importance of faith and religion into what I thought was just a typical sur-vival story,” she concluded.

With the introduction of more AP class-es, the rising juniors were presented with

The Middle School Prepares for “The Reluctant Dragon”Zoe Leake ’14• •

This coming school year, the Middle School Producitons are putting on a spectacular show entitled “The Reluc-tant Dragon.” In this play, a dragon-loving boy leaves his home and family in search of a dragon that is wreaking havoc on a faraway town. Instead of finding the terrorizing, man-eating dragon the boy had sought out for, he instead finds a friendly dragon. The boy befriends this dragon and many more

on his travels, making it a life-changing experience.

The middle school has an exceptional number of rising stars, including the cast from last season’s “Treasure Island.” One former “Treasure Island” cast mem-ber, seventh-grader Chloe Boggan, says she is “totally going to audition!”

The middle school will also be adopt-ing two thespians this year from the Germantown campus. Rachel Umansky and Blair Smithwick have a reputation for excellence in their performances

during their time at the Germantown campus, and we look forward to them joining the Collierville crew.

Mr. Marques Brown, the Collierville campus theater teacher, has said that he is “very excited about ‘The Reluctant Dragon,’ as this year’s middle school play, and our season’s first production, because I feel it is a story that resonates with the mission of our school in many ways. It is a story about social stereo-types, being different, but special, and about recognizing the gifts and talents

we all have as individuals. Not to men-tion that St. George himself is a pivotal character in the story! Last, but certainly not least, I am very excited about the construction of a new and unique Drag-on costume/puppet that will be the cen-terpiece of the production! It should be a lot of fun!”

I personally cannot wait to attend this exciting middle school production, so put it on your calendars and be sure to bring your full support for our middle school thespians.

more books and more variety this year. AP English students read “Slouching Towards Bethlehem” by Joan Didion, a collection of poignant and genuine re-flections from a woman who has led a fascinating life, and “A Moveable Feast” by Ernest Hemingway, the personal ac-

counts of this classic author’s life in Paris after World War II.

Those taking English III read “The Autobiography” of Benjamin Franklin, which illu-minates the life of an American hero and his many accomplish-ments. Junior Jason Crawford was impressed with this year’s selections, saying, “I think this year’s books were better than what we had last year.”

For their last summer of St. George’s assigned reading, this

year’s seniors had a variety of books to start their year. “Frankenstein,” by Mary Shelley, a book that needs no introduction, was a required read for the whole class. In addition to that, AP English Literature students read “One Hundred Years of Solitude” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, a renowned novel that follows the story of the dysfunctional Buendía family.

Reading does not come easily to ev-ery student, but we would do well to listen to Dr. Seuss, who once said, “The more things you read, the more things you know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” Every single one of these books, whether dry or lively, long or short, has something to impart upon you. If that still does not encour-age you, then remember that summer reading is, hands down, infinitely bet-ter than math packets.

A Superhero Summer, Movie Review: ContinuedAlthough much of this movie harps

on how physically and mentally weak Batman has become, in my opinion, this only reinforces why Wayne put on the mask in the first place — because “Anyone can be a hero.” Except for the destruction of most of Batman’s New York City-esque Gotham, Nolan neatly ties up all the loose ends as the audience waves goodbye to this Batman trilogy.

The superhero remake of the sum-mer was “The Amazing Spiderman,” in which we see the unlucky New York citizens being terrorized by yet anoth-er super-villain. This time, our hero is Spiderman. Usually the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of this blue-and-red-clad crime fighter is Toby

McGuire’s renowned performance in the original three movies. There is no doubt that he is the spitting image of Spiderman, much like Christopher Reeve’s portrayal of Superman. How-ever, if you can get past the fact that our superhero is now a skateboarding high school nerd, Andrew Garfield does not do a bad job.

Emma Stone puts a new spin on Peter Parker’s love interest, maybe even one-upping Kirsten Dunst in the 2002 superhero film, Spider-Man. An obvious critique of this revamped Spiderman movie is the fact that ev-ery problem that arises in the story line is completely Peter Parker’s fault. Maybe the directors overlooked the fact that the average moviegoer may

find it difficult to sympathize with such irresponsibility. Overall, the ac-tors did a fine job with the characters they were given, but the movie as a whole would possibly benefit from a name change; perhaps The Amazing Spiderboy is more fitting.

“The Dark Knight Rises” and “The Amazing Spiderman,” despite my own critiques, were both great sum-mer superhero action movies. With all kinds of fight scenes for various types of audiences, they both took two very different approaches to two of our favorite crime fighting superheroes. “The Dark Knight Rises” is, as the title suggests, a much darker and more se-rious flick. Children would, of course, enjoy it but its target audience is the

Emily Dickey ’14 more mature group of fans who have been with Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale since Batman Begins.

The target audience of “The Amaz-ing Spiderman” is a less mature group. Placing Peter Parker in high school with all the cliché bullies and awkward encounters with girls leaves room for much more silliness. Light banter between dueling super-crea-tures and uncomfortable conversa-tions with the girlfriend’s father–who just happens to be a cop–make for a more light-hearted superhero film. Both movies are now big time sum-mer blockbusters, and the Batman and Spiderman franchises will be the talk of the year among superhero lov-ers.

Collierville Campus “The Reluctant Dragon” — October 25-27“13” — February 7-9; High School Musical “The Foreigner” — May 2-4

Germantown CampusMother’s Day Chapel — May 10; 5th GradeReelfoot Presentation — October 2; 4th Grade Rain Forest Presentation — March 7; 3rd Grade Biography — February 7; 2nd Grade“Goin’ Buggy!” — October 11; 2nd Grade“Animal Play” — March 27; 1st GradeMother’s Day Treat — May 10; Senior Kinder-garten “Circus Play” — March 7; Junior Kindergarten Spring Program — April 18; Pre-Kindergarten

Germantown and Memphis CampusLower School Talent Show — February 21Tennessee Play — May 16; 4th Grade Memphis Musical — March 21; 2nd Grade

Holiday Programs December 5 — Junior Kindergarten December 7 — Senior Kindergarten/1st GradeDecember 13 — 3rd & 5th Grade

Mark Your Calendar: Upcoming

Theater Events

7SportsAugust St. George’s Independent School• •

The Perks of Being a Cross-Country Runner

Cross-country (XC) is a fall sport in which teams par-ticipate in 5k (3.2 mile) distance races through hilly parks and trails. Due to the fact that it is a difficult endurance sport, cross-country lives in the shadows of more spec-tator-friendly games. As a cross-country runner, I strive to give the sport its well-earned fifteen minutes of fame and answer the everlasting question of “What do cross-country runners do, anyways?”

Devote our lives to the sport — As every new runner knows, there’s this point of an important decision. Usual-ly about a month or so into the season, everybody begins to realize what they’ve signed up for. Either you’re ready to sell your soul to running…or you get out while you still can. The truth is running takes HUGE commitment. Unlike most sports, there really is no off-season. The sum-mer is spent training for the fall season, and the winter for the spring track season. You have to truly love the sport. I can guarantee that most of us don’t enjoy running mile after mile in 105° heat or getting up at 6 am every Satur-day for a race, but we do it because we love it; because once the decision is made, it’s a love/hate relationship we stick with for the rest of our running life.

Mind over Matter…or Matter over Mind? — One of the never ceasing arguments we hear is, “Why is cross-coun-try a sport? All you do is run, there’s no skill involved!” Many people see running as simply a small aspect of their sport, not one on its own. In their defense, it is true that unlike most sports, running does not require great techni-cal skill. However, it does mean facing the toughest op-

ponent out there — mentality. Running as part of a game is very different than long-distance racing. Usually in a game there is some sort of distraction from the running, such as scoring a goal. During a cross-country race, there’s nothing but a quarter of an hour of continuous hard racing. This is what makes long-distance running so challenging, learning to have mental strength and not listening to your negative thoughts. On the bright side, once you’ve mastered this concept of matter over mind, you are able to push yourself and achieve things you never thought possible.

XC: More Dangerous than Football…? — Wait, what? Running through a field can injure you more than get-ting tackled by two-hundred pounds? Well, maybe. The New York Times recently did a study showing that girls’ cross-country has the highest injury rate of any sport, including football (boys’ XC ranked 5th behind football, wrestling, and girls’ soccer, with about two-thirds the injuries of girls’ XC.) So what makes it so injury-prone? Basically, your bones really don’t like the excessive im-pact from extreme training. It can result in knee tendi-nitis, shin splints, stress fractures, hip problems, and worse. I read once that each stride taken during a run is the equivalent of hitting your shins with twice your body weight. One word. Ice-baths.

EVERYTHING ELSE — So if I haven’t convinced you that XC is just some terrible combination of pain-fully early Saturdays and shin-splints, that’s good, be-cause it’s not. Though all of this may be true, there are so many more pros that outweigh the cons. For start-ers, the team. Though I’m sure every team is close, there is something about running beside someone everyday and sharing their pain that brings you closer. Universal suffering creates unbreakable bonds, as well as talking for an hour long run. Plus, people do some pretty crazy things when forced to run extreme distances. Whether it’s stumbling upon a bobcat or wondering what exactly the boys’ team is hiding in the woods, there is never a lack of entertainment on the cross-country team. But if life-long friendships and hilarity just aren’t convincing enough, getting to eat whatever you want, whenever you want, is always a great thing.

Though I may not always enjoy running hilly laps at Shelby Farms or running the risk of getting seriously in-

jured, I can honestly say that joining the cross-country team was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. So, “What do cross-country runners do, anyways?” Well, we run too much, eat a lot, and have funnier stories than your average comedian … but most importantly, we love our sport and our second family called a team.

Dagny Vaughn ’14

Hot Hoops in SummerOf all the many wonderful

camps St. George’s had to of-fer this summer, the middle school boys basketball camp was arguably the biggest hit. Rising fourth through seventh graders came from all over the city and even out of the state to participate in this camp.

A huge reason for the suc-cess of this camp was due to the student coaches. This year, the student coaches included graduates Asa Toney, Jona-than Coleman, Alex Bran, and Alec Mulvihill along with ris-ing seniors Hunt Seabrook, J. Morgan Harter, and Nicholas Sims.

The camp began with rotat-ing stations working on the basic fundamentals of basket-ball. These stations included lay-ups, free throws, drib-bling, and rebounding. The student coaches would walk through plays for both offense and defense while the camp-ers watched and learned.

After going through all of the drills, the campers were put to the test. The campers were separated by grade for contests that included 1-on-1,

hot shot, and 3-on-3 games. Near the end of the camp, the fourth and fifth graders went to one gym, while the sixth and seventh graders went to the other for a full 5-on-5 basketball game. These 5-n-5 games were very intense with the student coaches both leading them and refer-eeing them, as well.

Student coach J. Morgan Harter said, “By the end of the week, you could see a huge improvement in the skills of all the campers. There isn’t anything more fulfilling than helping a young kid succeed in the great game of basketball.”

Fellow coach Hunt Seabrook added, “It is always fun to help younger players improve their game, as it was not too long ago I was at that camp getting help from NBA star Elliot Williams and oth-ers.”

It is clear that this camp was not only successful in teaching young players the fundamentals of basketball, but also in giving these kids some positive role models.

Lindsey Cayce ’14

Gryphons Swim Strong in Florida

From June 8-10, three girls from the St. George’s var-sity swim team travelled with the Memphis Thunder Aquatic Club to the University of West Florida to com-pete in the 2012 SE GPAC Tom Lalor Invitational. The swimmers travelled first class via a luxury motor coach and were fortunate enough to be seated far from the on-board restroom. Junior Brynna Bartlett swam in ten events, with her personal best event being a fifth place finish in the 800-meter freestyle. Senior Kara Cooney competed in nine events, with a 4th place finish in the 200-meter butterfly being her best event. The final fe-male competitor was sophomore Lexie Marotta who competed in nine events, with her best event being a 4th place finish in the 200 meter backstroke, where she achieved a qualifying time to compete at the Southeast-ern Championship in Knoxville, TN.

All three girls had great performances, finishing in the top twenty in every event. The girls shared a room on Pensacola Beach, which was closed due to torrential downpours, local flooding, and dangerous rip currents. However, the girls managed to pass the time by shop-ping, dining out, catching a movie, and socializing with friends. All three girls represented St. George’s Inde-pendent School at State in spring of 2012 and are look-ing forward to another great high-school swim season.

• •Brynna Bartlett ’14

Starting in late July, the St. George’s football team was hard at work putting in long hours to get back to the cham-pionship caliber that they possessed last year. Despite the constant triple-digit heat and humidity that Memphis puts them through, these football players spent all week training to become the best. They start out in the morning by having their normal practices with the offense, defense, and special teams. In between this first practice and their second practice, they have lunch, meetings, Pilates, talks, and dinner, all at the school. It takes some pure dedication to the team to spend every weekday at the school from about eight in the morning to eight at night. After dinner, they have more meetings and another practice to end the day. To express the difficulty of these sum-mer practices, returning starter and senior Dylan Young says, “It’s the hardest part of the year, but it’s what takes us to that next level to compete for a title each and every year.” Indeed, these football players are taking part in rigorous training before school starts, which shows their dedication to their team and their determination to win back-to-back state titles.

A Long Day’s WorkJamie Roche ’13

8Student LifeAugust St. George’s Independent School• •

“It’s a Revolution”It’s the year every St. George’s student

dreams of. The year when the senior lounge is called home, tardies are collected, and chicken biscuits are in full supply. It’s senior year, and it’s finally our turn.

“It’s a revolution,” senior Samer Istanbouli said of the upcoming school year. “We have new classrooms and parking spaces; this is all good news, but most importantly, I am finally a senior!” Istanbouli has been at St. George’s since freshman year and has had a blast. The schoolwork has been challenging over the years, but now as a senior, he is thrilled for all the new responsibilities he will be faced with as a Prefect and Student Senate President. “Ac-ademically, this year will not be challenging. I am used to the workload, but upholding my positions while applying to colleges will be de-manding.”

Being a senior at St. George’s comes with some awesome privileges. “We have the senior lounge. Every year you are always viewing it from the outside, and now we finally get to be in it,” senior Albert Vacheron said. Vacheron is ready for the lounge and the other privileges such as coming to school late when given an independent study for first block, and leaving school for lunch.

“I’m going to have to reduce my amount of time in the lounge if I plan on getting into col-lege!” Celia Healy, senior, told me. This is be-cause the lounge is not exactly a studying en-vironment; it has been given a more sociable reputation. In the past, seniors have been known to play video games or socialize through-out their independent studies. So seniors, if you plan on studying for an English test, I personally advise you to not go to the lounge!

College applications seem to be the most frightening aspect of se-nior year. “Applying to colleges will be pretty scary. It all appears to be complicated and a lot of work,” Vacheron explained. Although he is excited for senior year, he fears the col-lege process the most. Healy agreed. “College applications are terrifying. I don’t know how I am going to balance my workload, college applications, and spending my last year at St. George’s with my friends.”

However, some students aren’t afraid of the applications. “I used to be scared of the essays,” another senior, Alexis Harshbarger, told me. “Now I look at them, and I don’t understand

why I was so afraid. I’m not afraid of college. I’m actually pretty excited about it, but I’m not ready to be an adult; I’m not ready for change.”

“I didn’t realize how much I enjoyed St. George’s until I realized it would be over soon,” Healy said. Healy has been at St. George’s since sixth grade along with many

other seniors, some of whom have been here even longer. They have grown up in the environment and have been used to the same people and friends. For many of the seniors, it’s all

they know. “It will be hard saying goodbye to St. George’s,” Istanbouli exclaimed. To many seniors, St. George’s has given students enrich-ing opportunities and has honored individual-ism.

I am a senior myself and I agree that this school has taught me principles that will be with me forever. I thank St. George’s and my peers. “I feel like our class will leave a good impression on the school and I hope to come up with traditions that will be upheld for years to come,” Istanbouli stated. As past classes have done, the Class of 2013 is ready to leave its mark!

Ehi Ike ’13

Being a senior at St. George’s comes with some awesome privileges.