” F A t r a v e l s t h e g l o b e p a g e 3 Fredericksburg Academy l Fredericksburg, Virginia l Volume XXI l Issue 5 l April 2013 The F alCon Flier “ “Continue to stand up and let your voice be heard when hate is present.” TOP 3 Ice Creams 1 2 3 around town FALCONS Fly quotable Catch up on the latest rules for sports practice Page 7 Back Page Page 4 - Karen Moschetto, page 9 Cookies n’ Creme Maple Cotton Candy Celebrate Virginia Live Billy Currington: May 17 Sheryl Crow: July 12 Trace Adkins: August 9 “These poems, she said” And she said them well, according to the judges at the Virginia State Poetry Out Loud Competition. On March 14, senior Mimi Wack became the first FA student to win the state competi- tion, defeating 15 other high school students to do so. After reciting “A Valediction Forbidding Mourning” by John Donne and “These Po- ems, She Said” by Robert Bringhurst in the first two rounds respectively, Wack was se- lected to continue into a final round of eight contestants, where she recited “Fierce Girl Playing Hopscotch” by Alice Fulton. “When they said Mimi Wack for first place, I had a kind of mental blue screen of death and sat there for five seconds before getting up,” said Wack. Wack’s English teacher Susanne Nobles, who attended the competition with Wack’s mother Veronica Kelly, said when she got up on stage “she had that Mimi smile, that sheer full-on grin.” FA has participated in Poetry Out Loud for seven years, four of which have produced student wins at regionals (alumna Nia Jones ’10 and sister Imani ’12 twice). “I just was not sure that FA would ever be able to break through that level,” Nobles Senior Mimi Wack is CHAMPION in poetry contest said. “There have been a lot of people who have built Poetry Out Loud to where it is to- day and the fact that Mimi took advantage of that and pushed it even further is just awe- some.” Kelly, who discussed with Wack the po- ems’ meanings and how to recite them, said that she has loved reading and writing poetry since middle school, but has fallen in love with reciting poetry because of Poetry Out Loud. “‘These Poems’ was a gateway poem to feeling more confident … It enabled her to explore what she could do,” Kelly said. “That was a fantastic journey for her ...” Wack agreed, saying she discovered new aspects of her personality. “It’s a very effective way of finding parts of myself I didn’t even know were there … In order to recite the third poem [“Fierce Girl Playing Hopscotch”] well, I had to look at myself and accept that I’m a competitive person … for that poem you have to stare at your opponents in the face and say, ‘you’re good, but I’m better,” Wack said. “Fierce Girl Playing Hopscotch” was the most complex and compelling poem to recite for Wack. “A large part of the poem is an older ver- sion of the girl looking back speaking to her younger self and making this promise that someday you are going to die, but something by ISABEL STEVEN the falcon flier Vinyl is back! I t has been a month and a half since Cory Radley, a member of the class of 2011, died. His death was the first of any FA alumnus. Cory Neville Radley died March 4 at the age of 20. He was attending the Culi- nary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, N.Y., one of the highest-ranked cu- linary schools in the country. Many of his fellow FA alumni, as well as faculty and staff members, attended his memorial service on March 9. His Facebook page remains active, with 40 of his friends and acquaintances posting their feelings and wishing that he rest in peace. Many members of the fac- ulty taught Radley, some for multiple years. The small setting of FA gives teachers the opportunity to make per- sonal connections with their students. In this case, it made his death even harder to com- prehend and move on from. “After I heard the news of Cory’s death, I found myself reviewing the many fond memories I have of Cory,” said upper school his- tory teacher Jeff Eckerson. “He had an appreciation for history honed from many hours of watching the His- tory Channel. Cory had, I think, one of the best senior exhibit projects in the history of the program, and definitely the only one that had to be driven to FA on a trailer! Cory’s family and friends lost a young life way too soon.” Head of Upper School Tony Durso said that even though some time has passed, the FA com- Remembering Cory Radley by MATT KIRCHNER the falcon flier Cory Radley, ‘11, with senior AJ Topps, Kahlil Gedin, ‘11, and senior Justin Safarik while in China 2011 PHOTO BY SIMONE WICKER PHOTO COURTESY OF RONNIE BROWN Senior Mimi Wack recites at the Virgina Poetry Out Loud competition. Community supports Moschetto after threats For the third time, de- rogatory drawings were found last month com- menting on Head of School Karen Moschetto’s sexual orientation. Simi- lar sheets were found in the fall of 2011 and the spring of 2012, however the most recent drawing included a written threat on Moschetto’s life. Be- cause of this threat ex- tra security precautions have been put into place. As written in the letter sent out to FA parents on March 28 from Board of Trustees President Stephen Norair, the school was placed on a lockdown, canceling all events until April 8, the end of spring break. This gave the ad- ministration time to as- sess security measures. The school filed a re- port with the Spotsylva- nia Sheriff’s Office and a deputy was stationed at campus on March 28. On April 2, the admin- istration met with two FBI agents, Robert Hilland and Mollie Treadway. An inves- tigation was opened for the incident and the adminis- tration is actively involved. As Norair wrote in his email updating parents, “Hilland fully supports FA’s desire to keep our school community in- formed as thoroughly as possible as the investiga- tion continues. As any find- ings become available, we will share them with you.” Hilland told the admin- istration that he doesn’t believe there is an immedi- ate threat on anyone at FA, and that school should con- tinue as normal with all se- curity procedures in place. When Moschetto spoke through tears to the up- per and middle school student body, she received a standing ovation from the students and faculty. “I am grateful to the FA community—parents, students, faculty and staff, alumni, and others—who have been so supportive of me and of the school following the latest inci- dent. I have the utmost faith in the FBI and local law enforcement in their investigation of the case,” Moschetto said recently. by ALLEGRA MASSEY-ELIM the falcon flier Come out and support your falcons after the pep rally Friday, April 26. Girls varsity lacrosse, boys varsity lacrosse and boys varsity tennis all have home games after school! Continued on page 4 Continued on page 4
Transcript
”
FA tr
avels the globe page 3
F r e d e r i c k s b u r g A c a d e m y l F r e d e r i c k s b u r g , V i r g i n i a l V o l u m e X X I l I s s u e 5 l A p r i l 2 0 1 3
The FalCon Flier
““Continue to stand up and let your voice be heard when hate is present.”
TOP 3 Ice Creams1
2
3
around townFALCONS Fly quotable
Catch up on the latest rules for sports practice Page 7
Back Page Page 4
- Karen Moschetto, page 9Cookies n’ Creme
Maple
Cotton CandyCelebrate Virginia LiveBilly Currington: May 17Sheryl Crow: July 12Trace Adkins: August 9
“These poems, she said”And she said them well, according to the
judges at the Virginia State Poetry Out Loud Competition.
On March 14, senior Mimi Wack became the first FA student to win the state competi-tion, defeating 15 other high school students to do so.
After reciting “A Valediction Forbidding Mourning” by John Donne and “These Po-ems, She Said” by Robert Bringhurst in the first two rounds respectively, Wack was se-lected to continue into a final round of eight contestants, where she recited “Fierce Girl Playing Hopscotch” by Alice Fulton.
“When they said Mimi Wack for first place, I had a kind of mental blue screen of death and sat there for five seconds before getting up,” said Wack.
Wack’s English teacher Susanne Nobles, who attended the competition with Wack’s mother Veronica Kelly, said when she got up on stage “she had that Mimi smile, that sheer full-on grin.”
FA has participated in Poetry Out Loud for seven years, four of which have produced student wins at regionals (alumna Nia Jones ’10 and sister Imani ’12 twice).
“I just was not sure that FA would ever be able to break through that level,” Nobles
Senior Mimi Wack isChAMPionin poetry contest
said. “There have been a lot of people who have built Poetry Out Loud to where it is to-day and the fact that Mimi took advantage of that and pushed it even further is just awe-some.”
Kelly, who discussed with Wack the po-ems’ meanings and how to recite them, said that she has loved reading and writing poetry since middle school, but has fallen in love with reciting poetry because of Poetry Out Loud.
“‘These Poems’ was a gateway poem to feeling more confident … It enabled her to explore what she could do,” Kelly said. “That was a fantastic journey for her ...”
Wack agreed, saying she discovered new aspects of her personality.
“It’s a very effective way of finding parts of myself I didn’t even know were there … In order to recite the third poem [“Fierce Girl Playing Hopscotch”] well, I had to look at myself and accept that I’m a competitive person … for that poem you have to stare at your opponents in the face and say, ‘you’re good, but I’m better,” Wack said.
“Fierce Girl Playing Hopscotch” was the most complex and compelling poem to recite for Wack.
“A large part of the poem is an older ver-sion of the girl looking back speaking to her younger self and making this promise that someday you are going to die, but something
by Isabel steven the falcon flier
Vinyl is back!
It has been a month and a half since Cory Radley, a member of the class
of 2011, died. His death was the first of any FA alumnus.
Cory Neville Radley died March 4 at the age of 20. He was attending the Culi-nary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, N.Y., one of the highest-ranked cu-linary schools in the country.
Many of his fellow FA alumni, as well as faculty and staff members, attended his memorial service on March 9. His Facebook page remains active, with 40 of his friends and acquaintances posting their feelings and wishing that
he rest in peace.Many members of the fac-
ulty taught Radley, some for multiple years. The small setting of FA gives teachers the opportunity to make per-sonal connections with their students. In this case, it made his death even harder to com-prehend and move on from.
“After I heard the news of Cory’s death, I found myself reviewing the many fond memories I have of Cory,” said upper school his-tory teacher Jeff Eckerson. “He had an appreciation for history honed from many hours of watching the His-tory Channel. Cory had, I think, one of the best senior exhibit projects in the history of the program, and definitely the only one that had to be driven to FA on a trailer! Cory’s family and friends lost a young life way too soon.”
Head of Upper School To n y D u r s o s a i d t h a t even though some time has passed, the FA com-
Remembering Cory Radleyby Matt KIrchner
the falcon flier
Cory Radley, ‘11, with senior AJ Topps, Kahlil Gedin, ‘11, and senior Justin Safarik while in China 2011Photo by Simone Wicker
Photo courteSy of ronnie broWnSenior Mimi Wack recites at the Virgina Poetry Out Loud competition.
Community supports Moschetto after threats
For the third time, de-rogatory drawings were found last month com-ment ing on Head of School Karen Moschetto’s sexual orientation. Simi-lar sheets were found in the fall of 2011 and the spring of 2012, however the most recent drawing included a written threat on Moschetto’s life. Be-cause of this threat ex-tra security precautions have been put into place.
As written in the letter sent out to FA parents on March 28 from Board of Trustees President Stephen Norair, the school was placed on a lockdown, canceling all events until April 8, the end of spring break. This gave the ad-ministration time to as-sess security measures.
The school filed a re-port with the Spotsylva-nia Sheriff ’s Office and a deputy was stationed at campus on March 28.
On April 2, the admin-istration met with two FBI agents, Robert Hilland and Mollie Treadway. An inves-
tigation was opened for the incident and the adminis-tration is actively involved.
As Norair wrote in his email updating parents, “Hilland fully supports FA’s desire to keep our school community in-formed as thoroughly as possible as the investiga-tion continues. As any find-ings become available, we will share them with you.”
Hilland told the admin-istration that he doesn’t believe there is an immedi-ate threat on anyone at FA, and that school should con-tinue as normal with all se-curity procedures in place.
When Moschetto spoke through tears to the up-per and middle school student body, she received a standing ovation from the students and faculty.
“I am grateful to the FA community—parents, students, faculty and staff, alumni, and others—who have been so supportive of me and of the school following the latest inci-dent. I have the utmost faith in the FBI and local law enforcement in their investigation of the case,” Moschetto said recently.
by allegra Massey-elIMthe falcon flier
Come out and support your falcons after the pep rally Friday, April 26. Girls varsity lacrosse, boys varsity lacrosse and boys varsity tennis all have home games after school!
Continued on page 4
Continued on page 4
news The Falcon FlierFredericksburg Academy
April 2013
A new program starting next year will allow upper school students to bond with children from local nonprofit organizations during sports practices, play rehearsals and organized event days.
The Service Organization of FA recently received a $3,000 grant from the Duff McDuff Green Jr. Fund of the Community Foundation of the Rappahannock River Region with the understanding that it will be used to develop a mentor program with local organizations such as the Hope House, the Thurman Brismen Center, and the Rappahannock Big Brothers Big Sisters.
“We’re excited that we have this oppor tunity,” Director of Development Linda Catullo said. “I think that it will be a wonderful transformational program for these disadvantaged youth and it’s a wonderful opportunity for our students as well.”
SOFA president and junior Rachael Hoffman agreed, hoping that the program would benefit FA students as well as the children in a longer and more meaningful way than the annual Falcon Fest that SOFA has annually hosted.
“Since FA doesn’t have a service requirement, we try to think of fun ways you can get involved,” Hoffman said.
“[The mentor program is] awesome because it’s not only affecting yourself, but it has an impact on the kids you’re playing with. We’re giving other kids opportunities to have fun.”
The fund’s program director Lisa Biever said that FA was awarded the grant because it had the potential to improve local youth.
“Mr. Green created the fund to support three areas in the community: Preservation, recreation, and youth,” Biever said. “We looked at the proposal from FA in the youth category. We could see it had the potential to have a great impact on the youths that attend FA and the young people that would be connected with FA through the mentoring program.”
According to Biever and Catullo, FA will be launching a pilot program, meaning
Students who usually participate in both spring sports and the spring play faced a diff icult choice deciding between the two.
This choice was the result of the new schedule for play rehearsals, which have been moved from after sports practices to directly after school, the same time as sports practice.
Director Todd Pristas said the switch in scheduling has resulted in almost entirely positive consequences.
“People are on t ime, rehearsal seems more effective in terms of getting things done, no people are eating
dinner during rehearsal, and people get to go home earlier.” he said.
One of these students who had to decide between the play and lacrosse was senior Alex Kangas. “I chose the play because it is something I have never done, and it was my last chance to join. It was new,” he said. “It was a difficult choice, but I decided that only doing play was better, because it gave me more free time, and I wouldn’t be as stressed.”
However, some students like junior Sarah Eadie were able to participate in both a spring sport and the school play. Eadie was able to work out a schedule that allowed her to do both because she
does not have a large part in the play. Although Eadie is able to participate in both, the situation still has its disadvantages.
“I’m worried I won’t get to play in a lot of the games because I won’t be practicing a lot, so I won’t be improving as much in games or practice as I would just playing lacrosse,” she said.
Overall Eadie is content wi th her busy pract ice schedule.
“I am able to learn about what I am going to do next year, and this allows me to try and manage my schedule better. This is the perfect way to learn for the future, when I am given the choice between the two next year,” she said.
that they will be trying out an untested idea that will hopefully serve as an example to other schools. The participants will be surveyed and there will be several meetings to determine the overall success of the program.
“The kinds of results we’re a looking for are evidence of the benefits of the program,” Biever said. “We like to see that our grantees are successful and that when they are running into challenges, they a re adapt ing and changing and growing.”
According to Catullo, the program will begin in the fall when a relationship is set up between the boys varsity soccer team and a group of disadvantaged children. The children will get to practice with the team for a day and learn about sportsmanship from the players and coaches.
A few weeks later, the children will return to watch a dress rehearsal of the fall musical where they will be given the opportunity to talk with the cast and director about the work put into performing a play.
“We hope that it affects the students in that they get to see what it’s like to be involved in serving the community,” said Catullo. “It’s very powerful seeing the effect you have on a young child. Hopefully, it will excite the students to want to pursue community service beyond FA and into the future.
We also hope that it has an effect on those children,” she continued. “They can see there are other options and opportunities out there. Hopefully, it will spark an interest in them and provide them with new opportunities.”
T h e s t u d e n t s w i l l
participate in several other events throughout the year, including a revamped Falcon Fest.
“We always felt like we wanted to expand Falcon Fest,” said Catullo. “Students love doing it but it’s just a half-day program … [Now we’re] turning Falcon Fest into a full-day event.”
During these programs, FA students will be partnered up with some of the children in a sort of mentor program, keeping the same buddy in various events throughout the year. Students will be encouraged to keep in touch with their buddy both in and out of school.
SOFA sponsor Jennifer Clark Evans hopes to see a lot of student involvement in the new program.
“I know that FA upper school students are very busy people,” she said. “[But] this is an opportunity that can really make a difference in someone else’s life and even in your own, so it’s worth considering, and I hope lots of students will be interested in volunteering.”
If the pilot program proves successful, SOFA may be awarded the necessary funds to continue it in the future.
“We are able to go back and reapply each year for the grant,” Catullo said. “So this grant is for next year but if we build a pilot program and show what we’re doing, we’ll have a great proposal for [the] next year.”
by Wyatt Falcone
the falcon flier
by alex Workmanthe falcon flier
Students start mentor program
‘Cinderella Waltz’ comes first
AUCTION Fredericksburg Academy’s
annual auction is a big source of income for the school. Last year was the school’s 20th anniversary and largest auction yet. This year was another success,
the auction earned about $182,000 for the school.
“Per person, people spent more at this auction [than last year],” said Director of Development, Linda Catullo.
According Catullo it is still growing and becoming an event people do not want to miss.
¨This year, the c lass projects were much more popular than in years past. Many of them went into the thousands, and sold more than one per class,¨ she said.
There were 377 people came, many of which were not connected to FA. This auction also had the largest alumni attendance ever.
EARTH DAYDuring the ‘60s, Americans
were polluting at a very high rate without thinking twice about it. On April 22, 1970,
Americans celebrated their first Earth Day. It was made to help raise awareness about the negative effects of pollution.
Here at FA, the Green Team reminds everyone to be green year round.
“I think [Earth Day] is very important to help remind people to be green and conscious of the environment,” said senior Mary Fried.
VMI CONFERENCEOn March 3, the Honor
Council went to VMI for a three day conference. While there, they talked with many other schools about ways to improve the honor systems.
“We got together with many other schools, both public and private, as well as a few universities, and we discussed honor in our society and schools,” said Junior Honor Council representative Jase Davis.
According to Davis, the Council learned a lot at the conference. He explained that, although nothing has been planned yet, the Honor Council is hoping to incorporate some new ideas that were presented at the conference.
by Brad HoFFmanthe falcon flier
BRIEFS
Honor Council members pose in front of VMI.
Photo by samantha king
Seniors Andrew Murphy, Alex Kangas, and junior Sara Eadie in a dress rehearsal of the play.
Student volunteers pose with the Falcon Fest sign in front of the Sports Center on April 13.Photo by suzi Valentine
Photo Courtesy of Jase DaVis
2
$30,050/yearJustin Safarik: Case Western
$25,000/yearMimi Wack: Mt. Holyoke
$20,000/yearMimi Wack: Smith College
$20,000/yearIsabel Steven: Rhodes College
$18,000/yearAndrew Murphy: Catholic University
$16,000/yearMary Fried: Lawrence University
$18,000/yearEmma Vance: McDaniel College
$15,000/yearAkbar Khwaja: University of Dallas$15,000/year
Seth Rapkins: Allegheny College
$15,000/yearIsabel Steven: Kenyon College
In the spring of 2014, FA students will discover an ancient city named for the Greek goddess Athena and explore the Roman Colosse-um. In the summer, students will visit the land of koalas and kangaroos, and head to a place known for geother-mic activity and geysers.
Students will spend nine to thirteen days exploring Rome, Athens, and the an-cient world. Participants will visit the Vatican City, the Parthenon, and see the Swiss Guard, protectors of the city. The cost of the trip is $2,900 per student.
Over the summer, stu-dents will travel approxi-mately 17 days to Australia and New Zealand. Theywill not only see Australia’s wild-life, but Sydney, host of the 2000 Olympics and home of the Sydney Tower, the sec-ond tallest building south of the Equator. Students will also discover New Zealand’s cultures, spectacular land-scapes, and learn more about why the country is home to over 55 million sheep. Also, there is a possible two day extension to Honolulu, where students can visit the USS Arizona Memorial. The cost of the trip is $4,500 per student.
According to upper school teacher and travel coordina-tor, Keith Wamsley, students can’t go wrong with any trip.
“They expose students to other people’s geography culture, other places, other times, and other pieces of history,” he said.
According to Wamsley, trips are not randomly se-lected; feedback from FA students concerning their interests, educational value and availability are factors used in selecting upcoming places .
Junior, Kendra Nedell, who is traveling to Australia and Italy said, “These trips are all educationally focused but it is kind of consumed by the adventure part of explor-ing new and amazing places. They can enforce things we have learned in history class, but also just expand your knowledge of the world and other cultures other than our own.”
“You can step out of your comfort zone and learn so much about all of these plac-es you have never been to or deeply studied before,” Ne-dell said. “If you go to anoth-er country on your own, it is harder to tour and organize and you don’t know as much about all the places you see or may not hit all of the hot spots.”
Nedell has been on many of past trips sponsored by FA. Her first school trip was to Costa Rica through Glob-al Explorers in eighth grade. She also went on the China trip her freshman year and the Ecuador and the Galapa-gos the summer after sopho-more year.
“These trips were all so awesome, not only because we saw all of the best places in the country or explored the unique lands, but I was with some of my best friends on all of them which made the travel even more fun,” said Nedell.
FA students are encour-aged to take advantage of all sponsored trips, and ap-ply for any available scholar-ships to help cut some of the trip costs. Wamsley said stu-dents need to write an essay and demonstrate a financial need for scholarships.
“The trip to Italy and Greece will visit sites from Greco-Roman world. We will be visiting…the mod-ern cities of New Zealand and Australia, and signifi-cant natural sites, such as the Great Barrier Reef, vol-canos in New Zealand, and rain forest in Australia,” said Wamsley.
The early response to both trips has been overwhelming. According to Wamsley, this is a big plus and the first time 13 students are signed by the end of February of the previ-ous school year.
“I'm planning on going on both trips,” said junior Anna Bacon. “I've never been out-side of the country and since these trips will be held during my senior year, this is one of my last chances to travel abroad.”
Although this will be Ba-con’s first trip to another country, she looks forward to using this experience to learn more about her own culture.
“I hope to learn a few more words in Italian and Greek, but I mostly look forward to discovering more about New Zealand's culture,” said Ba-con. “I'm Native Hawaiian, and Hawaii has close bonds with New Zealand since they're both Polynesian. I want to learn more about New Zealand's culture to in turn learn about mine.”
Bring on the big bucksby Wyatt Falcone the falcon flier
The hard work and dedication of certain members of the senior class paid off as they received scholarships to various colleges. The majority of scholarships came as a com-plete surprise to students—a reward for their good grades and noteworthy achievements.
“The types of scholarships FA students usually get are ones given out by the admis-sions office,” Director of College Counseling David Weiner said. “Students don’t apply separately for [them]. The admissions office reads the student’s application and they de-cide to award a scholarship.”
For students like senior Andrew Murphy, scholarships came as a complete shock.
“I just got a letter in the mail,” Murphy said, in reference to his $18,000 per year scholarship to Catholic University. “I got ac-cepted near the end of November and then, mid-December, I got a letter from them. I thought it was just going to be a welcoming thing, and I opened it up and it took me a bit to figure out what it was. Then it told me what I’d earned.”
For many students, scholarships, while not the deciding factor, play a significant part in their final college decision.
“To go to a college that values you as an applicant so much that they would pay you money, it makes you feel like you accom-plished something and they’re taking no-tice,” Murphy said.
Senior Emma Vance said that her three scholarships, a $15,000 per year award from Duquesne University, a $10,000 per year award from Allegheny College, and an $18,000 per year scholarship from McDaniel College, helped her to develop a greater in-
terest in those schools. “It made me want to go and check out the
schools,” she said. “Me and my mom went on a road trip to go visit schools. Being able to look at the school at a stand point and know you’re already accepted, definitely made the whole experience of visiting schools better.”
Senior Catherine Estes credits her ability to attend her number one college choice, Se-wanee: University of the South, to the $5,000 per year scholarship she received.
According to Weiner, scholarship oppor-tunities should always be considered when evaluating the cost of colleges.
“Because of merit scholarships out of state private colleges and universities can of-ten end up being as cheap as or as economi-cal as in-state public universities. That’s why I encourage students and families not to be shocked by the sticker price, which is the cost of full tuition,” Weiner said.
Weiner says students should begin put-ting serious effort into getting scholarships between junior and senior year. However, freshmen and sophomores can also work to increase their eligibility.
“I would say most scholarships are based on good GPAs or test scores, so obviously, your entire high school career you should be working to get a good GPA,” Estes said.
“If a student spends a lot of time searching for those scholarship opportunities,” Weiner said, “they can amount to money. But it takes a lot of hard work and dedication on the part of the students … Many of our stu-dents don’t have time to do it.”
According to Weiner, there are many dif-ferent ways to locate and apply for school or-ganized scholarships, as well as third party scholarships from various organizations. A good place to start is online at fastweb.com or scholarships.com.
The Class of 2013 in total received $1,306,000 in scholarship offers. Here are some of the scholarships that our seniors were offered:
Upcoming travel opportunities for upper school students
SUMMER 2013:World War II and the Holocaust in Europe
SPRING BREAK 2014:Italy and Greece
SUMMER 2014:Australia
Students traveling to Australia will have the oppurtunity to experience native wildlife .
Photo courtesy of sxc.hu
Photo courtesy of creative commons
SEnIorS rEcEIvE collEGE mErIt ScHolArSHIp offErS AvErAGInG $46,000 pEr StudEnt
News4 The Falcon FlierFredericksburg Academy
April 2013
Robotics team overcomes challenges
PHOTOS COURTESY OF STEPHANIE HENKE
by Isabel steven the falcon flier
A f t e r s i x w e e k s o f construction and testing, and the death of a core member of the team, Robotics came in twentieth out 64 teams in the March 14-16 Virginia Regional FIRST Robotics Competition.
The team designed an approximately two foot by two foot robot to attempt to climb the three rungs of a nine foot metal frame pyramid, one of the competition’s two challenges (the other was to throw discs into certain goals).
“We decided to do one challenge because we don’t have the resources to drop frisbees, and we earn more points with the pyramid,” said senior business manager Alex Kangas. “We did well because we focused on something we knew we could do reliably well … and focused on one task instead of focusing on too many tasks.”
While team parents came in on the weekends to chaperone, the only other adult help came from senior captain Alex Hatch’s father, Danny Hatch, who was a part of the team since Hatch’s older brother Chad participated. However, Danny Hatch died Dec. 21, before the construction season started in early January.
“It’s been difficult because
he did so much in terms of building and ideas. He was very resourceful. He provided so much in the past that we were not sure how it was going to go,” said Kangas.
For Alex Hatch, who became interested in robotics because of his father’s and brother’s involvement in the team, “it didn’t feel the same without him there.”
“He was pretty much like me, pretty realistic about the whole situation. There were no giant ideas; we agreed on everything. He had the know-how as to building it, so there were never any big disagreements on design or how we were going to follow through,” he said.
Outside of robotics, Hatch and his father spent time together “working on projects around the house,” hunting and fishing. He worked part time as a programmer analyst at Stafford County and volunteered for the local chapter of the Order of the Purple Heart, which he was awarded twice, as well as a Bronze Star, for his service in the U.S. Marine Corps during Vietnam.
“He was outgoing. He was pretty different than me in that area. He liked to volunteer, liked to help people. He helped veterans he knew get their benefits and walked them through the process, brought them to
doctor appointments…,” said Hatch.
Despite the loss, the team worked hard to design their robot and as a result, won five out of their eight matches.
“The team rallied this year. I had a lot of help. Spencer, Henke and Wyatt [Davies] all showed up and they did what I needed them to do and helped it run as smoothly as it could,” said Hatch.
However, with half of the core team members graduating this year, the rest of the team is nervous about next year. Wyatt Henke is poised to be head captain, replacing Hatch, while Davies will take over for Kangas as business manager.
“I foresee difficulties in actually getting stuff done. I’m more of a programmer so I’m not as good in the mechanical. I’ve been trying to learn this year,” said Henke.
However, Henke also has some ideas to increase membership and projects to work on during the team’s offseason.
“I’m hoping that we might work more with the middle school since there’s a Lego competition they can compete in,” said Henke. “I was also thinking about piggy-backing off advanced engineering to do something in the offseason like a challenge activity that’s not for competition but for fun.”
(Top-from left to right) Juniors Wyatt Henke and Wyatt Davies, senior Sam Bradshaw, sophomore Spencer Marshall, and seniors Alex Kangas, Matt Kirchner, and Alex Hatch spent six weeks building their robot to compete as team 2021 at the Virgnia Regional FIRST Robotics Competition. (Bottom) Kirchner, Marshall, Henke, and Bradshaw driving their robot during the tournament.
Continued from front page
community is still feeling the pain of losing Radley. Like so many others, Durso was stunned when he heard the news.
“It still has much of the same impact. I struggle to even wrap my mind around the situation. I struggle to think about what his parents are going through,” Durso said. “It’s still very raw.”
Durso said the way the entire school came together afterward was inspirational. He found that being in a smaller environment brought out some of the characteristics
get into the Culinary Institue of Ameria. Rapkins said that he was informed by a coworker of Radley’s passing.
“It was a shock, of course. I think my first thought was just wondering what had gone on since I’d last seen him,” Rapkins said.
Tony Washington, also from the Class of 2011, said that Radley had one of the most dynamic personalities of anyone he knew.
“I’m gonna miss trading good music and ridiculous stories with him,” he said. “At least I know he’s resting in peace.”
that make FA a special community.
“It went both ways. Because we are smaller, it hit the entire community. In doing that, it made it very clear how caring the community is. To see so many of his classmates and their parents [at the funeral] was just a clear demonstration of the nature of the school and the people who define it,” he said.
Senior Seth Rapkins worked with Radley at Castiglia’s in downtown Fredericksburg just months before his death; Radley worked as an intern there when he was trying to
so m e t h ing g o o d wil l come of your des t r uc t ion ,” sa id Wack. “It encompasses t h i s i d e a t h a t i s both amazing and unutterably tragic.”
Wack is also using “Fierce Girl Playing H o p s c o t c h ” t o strengthen her stage presence, which the states judges marked down.
“As the title implies, [ the poem] has a fierceness. It’s hard to embody that if you’re apologizing for your stage presence,” said Wack.
On April 29, Wack will compete in one
Continued from front pageof the three semi-final rounds of 18 contes tants a t the national competition in Washington, D.C. At FA, students will watch a live stream of the competition at 9 a.m. If Wack continues to the final round, she will compete against nine other students on April 30 at 7 p.m.
Regardless of how she does at nationals, Wack says she’s taken away a deeper level of self-actualization from studying these poems.
At its most intense level, reciting poetry is about analyzing and exposing our own emotion,” she said.
Student wins POL
Community mourns alumnus death
Students deal with deferral disappointments
PHOTO COURTESY OF RONNIE BROWN
PHOTO COURTESY OF SANDY TURMAN
Corey Radley is presented with his high school diploma in 2011 by his mother, Karen Radey
Senior Mimi Wack (right) waits for her turn to perform at the state Poetry Out Loud finals.
by CarolIne PonChoCkthe falcon flier
Studying hard for every test, preparing well for SAT’s, and applying to college are all thoughts that go through an upper schooler’s head. But some of those upper schoolers get defer red from the college they have been striving for. As more students apply to college,
early-decision deferrals are becoming more common nationwide.
According to USA Today, “Nationally, 72 percent of colleges with early action options reported increased applications for fall 2010, with only 38 percent reporting increases in acceptances, according to the most recent annual report of the National Associat ion of Col lege
Admission Counseling.” Students struggle with the questions of how to enhance their chances of getting accepted to the college that they were deferred from.
D i r e c t o r o f C o l l e ge Counseling, David Weiner, explained to students that most deferrals come from reach schools.
“Part of my job is to counsel them on what they
can do to increase their chances of getting admitted through the regular decision process. Students write follow up emails to admissions representatives and I call schools to advocate,” he said.
Weiner also shared that the reasons behind students’ deferrals, whether they were academic or scholastic. Academic meaning a student has a low GPA for the specific
school, and scholastic meaning a student has a low SAT or ACT for the specific school.
Senior Alex Kangas b e l i e ve s p e r s o n a l i t y is reflected through the application and writing process of applying to a college. He believes colleges see a student’s personality
As sophomores, students prep to take the PLAN, which predicts how well an individual will do on the ACT. Ad-ditionally, juniors are also required to take the PSAT as a precursor to the SAT. With the two predictor tests under their belt, Director of College Counseling David Weiner can guide a student to the test which will provide a better score.
Even though equal amount of preparation is needed, the approach to each test differs. The SAT calls for a more analytical way of reasoning.
“The SAT calls for more test strategy preparation,” Touchstone Tutoring owner Angela Williams said.
Angela Williams has founded one of the few tutoring centers that specialize in SAT prep in the Fredericksburg area.
The ACT, on the other hand, is a knowledge-based test. “Students from FA typically do better on the ACT because of what it assesses,” Weiner said.
Unlike the SAT, there is a science portion in the ACT, in addition to reading, English, math and an optional writing test. With the SAT, only writing, math and critical reading are tested.
Every year juniors and se-niors have to take tests in order to get into college. These aren’t just any tests. These can deter-mine a student’s future.
The SAT consists of critical reading, math and writing. The ACT contains English, reading, math and science. In order to prepare for each of these tests, students at FA took classes with tutors in order to get the high scores needed for college ad-mission.
“The two main programs students use are Kaplan, which has been around since the eight-ies, and Princeton, but Freder-icksburg Academy doesn’t use those. We use smaller programs such as Revolution Prep, which is an online Skype call with a tu-tor. All of these programs do a great job in creating ways of figuring out the test,” said Di-rector of College Counseling David Weiner.
Weiner says FA parents are having a tough time adjusting to Revolution Prep. Many par-ents believe the technology may be unreliable and are concerned whether their kids will learn as well from an online tutor, rath-er than meeting with a tutor in person. However, senior Justin Safarik and junior Kendra Ne-dell both used Revolution Prep and earned high scores on their tests.
“Revolution Prep really pre-pared me well. I got a 2190 out of 2400 on the SAT with all three scores combined, which is
The library in the Middle School has stacks upon stacks of books and yet, many up-per school students have never been there. Despite its exten-sive amount of research mate-rial, few upper school students use it.
The internet is much more convenient as all the informa-tion in books is available online and so much more. If a book doesn’t have it, the internet most probably will.
However, despite not using the books, upper school stu-dents do use a few of the other services offered by the library.
The library itself lends out objects such as flip cameras for filming, microphones, head-phones, and headsets. They also hand out a few movies or documentaries that are shown by the teachers. The book cart is also accessible to teachers for research projects on a specific topic.
According to middle school
very good. I received a 730 on reading, 800 on math and 660 on writing,” said Safarik, who took both tests but focused more on the SAT.
Nedell, on the other hand, preferred the ACT.
“I took the ACT and the SAT because the SAT is required for our school, but I focused more on the ACT. Revolution Prep really helped me go over prob-lems and understand the ques-tions the tests were going to ask,” said Nedell, who got a 31 out of 36 on the test.
The library slowly fades away
by Matt Vance
the falcon flier
by Kelsey WilliaMsthe falcon flier
by Kat sparKsthe falcon flier
Group Reading Math Writing TotalAverage of U.S. public schools 491 505 481 1477
Average of U.S. idependent schools
539 580 548 1667
FA Class of 2012595 589 595 1779
librarian Michele Redding, more middle school students use the school library than up-per school students.
To them, it is more conve-nient due to the fact that it is lo-cated in the same building while upper school students have to walk all the way across campus to reach it.
Redding believes that the middle school students see the library and computer lab as one place and that is why they visit so often. They do not differen-
tiate between the library and the research and thus, visit more of-ten.
This is because they do not have their own computers that they can use at school. With the computer lab, they can also print out their assignments while at school.
But, despite the low numbers in the school’s library, some high school students still visit public libraries, such as sopho-more Elma Adusei.
She visits the England Run branch of the Central Rappa-hannock Regional Library in order to check out books and entertain her younger brothers. This branch has several inter-active activities for children. It is also used by some people to “chill,” according to Adusei.
“I still think libraries are cool because they have clubs meet-ing with video games and board games so [they] are cooler now,” Adusei said.
Still, when it comes to re-search projects, she stays home and uses her computer.
Upper school english teacher Jennifer Clark Evans also uses the library and has her students do so, too. Recently, she took her students on a trip to the li-
brary for their research paper in order to teach them the differ-ence between print and online resources.
“While many print resources are available online, some are not, and I want my students to understand the value of going to a library…and how librar-ians can help them in their re-search,” she said.
The library also provides more insight into how an online database works, such as their organization system and how to find specifically what a student is searching for.
Clark Evans also prepares her students for college by teaching them to rely on college and university libraries.
And now, most of the collec-tion of books that the library has is now located online and available to students. Students are able to reserve books and some eBooks at http://fali-brary.follettdestiny.com.
For research, Redding also has links up to helpful sites for research, most including articles and clippings. One such site is Gale Database while another is CQ Researcher, which stands for Congressional Quarterly Researcher.
Take ACTion get SATisfactionSAT vs. ACT
source: the college Board
Students worry over final examsFinal exams are right around the corner and some students are be-gining their studying. We got a handFul oF students to share their concern. hoW Will students prepare? hoW do Finals Feel compared to the midterm? What Will they do diFFerently this time around?
Photo IllustratIon by brad hoffman
I feel more pressure to do well on the finals than on the midterm, even if I didn’t do that well
on it there’s still a chance to raise my grade in the second semester.”
The only thing differently I would do is just review the material more.”
I don’t plan on changing anything, I plan to continue on the path I am. I usually work hard anyways.”
—Freshman Maddie Albertson
—Junior Jeff Good
—Sophomore Michael Murphy“
“
“
is colleges are looking for students that have a plan,” shared Vance. “Throughout my entire academic career, it definitely helped me get into some schools.”
Helping students who get deferred, Weiner said he has students write a note to the admissions representative for the state of Virginia, visit the school again, have an inter-view, or Weiner will call the school on the student’s be-half.
“I call the admissions rep-resentatives I have relation-ships with to advocate for our students,” he said.
Despite the disappoint-ment of deferral, as of March 6 every student in the senior class has been accepted to at least one college.
College acceptances for the Class of 2013 include many selective and highly selective schools, including the University of Virginia (five acceptances, two Echols Scholars), The College of William and Mary (five ac-ceptances), the University of Chicago, University of Michigan, Georgetown Uni-versity, and Amherst College.
clearly by reading their ap-plication, and sees how that student would fit into the college. Senior Alex Kangas said the main reason he was deferred from Cornell Uni-versity was because his SAT scores weren’t as high as he wanted them to be.
“In high school, I had one of the hardest classes and I did very well.” said Kangas. “Academically I was fine, but my SAT’s weren’t as high as I would have liked.”
Senior Emma Vance shared her thoughts on get-ting deferred from JMU. She believes it has gotten more competitive. She explained getting deferred from JMU made her realize that it isn’t where she wants to be.
“I changed my entire col-leges I wanted to go to be-cause it made me take a sec-ond look. It’s not so colleges can take a second look; it’s so we can take a second look,” she said.
Vance also believes col-leges should look at both per-sonality and grades to deter-mine a well-rounded student.
“What I have found, also,
Deferrals more commonContinued from page 5
Feature6 The Falcon FlierFredericksburg Academy
April 2013
Summer is almost here, which means many people have their minds set on getting in shape before hot weather ar-rives. A student and faculty member have shredded the pounds and pushed themselves in order to accomplish many of their personal goals.
“Turning 40 made me real-ize that my health will become much more importance as I get older, and if I wanted to have a long and full life I was going to have to get healthier,” said up-per school history teacher Jeff Eckerson.
Eckerson did not follow any weight-loss program or guide; he just made the healthy deci-sions that he knew would make a significant difference.
“I stopped eating between meals, during the night, and I made small changes such as changing my salad dressing from ranch to oil dressings,” said Eckerson.
Being healthy doesn’t mean you have to go to the gym ev-ery day, but for senior Adam Abilmona that was the case. Abilmona had to pass a physi-cal test for the Virginia Military Institute, where he has been ac-cepted. The test required push-ups and sit-ups for one minute
and running a mile under nine minutes. Abilmona went to the gym almost every day in order to train. He successfully made it through pushups and sit-ups, and ran a six minute and 30 second mile. Throughout all his training, Abilmona lost 26 pounds. Now the only chal-lenge he faces is staying healthy.
“I always watch what I eat. I make sure I eat very little junk and a lot of natural food. To keep my body in shape I go to the gym every morning and play lacrosse in the afternoon,” he said.
The Center for Disease Con-trol’s definition of overweight is having an excess amount of
To stay or go
With the 2012-2013 school year coming to an end, FA students will focus their attention and energy on completing assignments and work-ing hard to get “good grades” before the school year is over.
Students will have their own personal motivation for want-ing good grades. Some want good grades to make parents for proud, for graduation, for col-lege, for a future job, due to peer pressure, or to show that they really understand the subject.
Sometimes teachers wish that they don’t have to give grades, like Up-per and Middle school math teacher Jennifer Garbutt.
“I wish I didn‘t have to give letter grades for work done by students. I do understand the ne-cessity of grades as a
motivational tool for some stu-dents and for enrollment pur-poses. I often feel that grades cause some students to focus more on GPA than on actu-ally learning the concepts,” she said.
There are students who try to be the best, and there are some who try to maintain good grades, and not compete with others.
“Each person has their own expectations, and I don’t base what I try to get done off of others. I’ve set the goal of A’s and B’s, so as long as I get ei-ther one I’m fine,” said junior Jeff Good.
Most students want an A or B on their paper, but according to upper school English teacher Jennifer Clark Evans, a C could be a good grade depending on the course.
“In general, a B is a good grade and a C is leaning toward a bad grade. Obviously, the ideal is an A, but not everyone should get an A. In AP classes, a C is a very good grade,” Clark Evans said.
Garbutt concurs that a good
grade may be a well-earned C. “Sometimes a C is an appro-
priate score and well deserved. If a student has struggled ex-cessively with a concept, and earned a C on the assessment, then that is a good grade for the student,” Garbutt said.
Good says that students should get help when struggling and to meet with the teacher.
“Get help, it sounds a bit cli-ché, but meeting with a teach-er for even a few minutes can make all the difference in the world,” Good said.
Garbutt agrees. “In math, my best advice is to meet with the teacher to clear up any mis-conceptions, practice problems with answers to check, take good notes, and discuss ques-tions with peers. It’s important to keep working until the con-cepts become almost like com-mon sense and memorization is no longer needed. Also, just because a student understands a concept during the class lesson, does not mean that they know the concept when left on their own to apply,” she said.
Many students are concerned about the effect five faculty depar-tures will have on the upper school next year.
FA has seen a lot of teachers leave over the past few years, and this year is no different. With science teacher Daniel Moulton, col-lege counselor David Weiner, history teacher Jeff Eckerson, band director Ben Titus, and chorus director Elizabeth Eschen leaving, the upper school is losing a significant portion of its faculty.
The faculty who are departing have different reasons for doing so; some have taken jobs at schools in other states to be closer to family, some are moving because of family demands, and some are pursuing new challenges. The school has hired a new college counselor and is interviewing for the other positions.
Tony Durso, head of upper school, says that although it can be difficult on a school community when a teacher stays only one or two years, teacher turnover is a natural occurrence in any school environment, especially for an independent school like FA.
“FA does what it can to make sure teachers feel supported in terms of work load and professional opportunities,” Durso said. “Teaching is a demanding profession, and the types of individuals
Teachers not only have to deal with students’ questions regarding good grades, but also with parents.
“If I feel that the student or the parent don’t understand the purpose of the course, I resolved it by talking to the student and telling the student what my expectations are in an A. We give interim reports, for everyone, so the parents under-stand what a good grade looks like,” Clark Evans said.
Garbutt explained that more goes into a good grade than just one assessment or cumu-lative average. Students who demonstrate on a daily basis preparation, participation, and application of concepts but do not always score A’s or B’s on written assessments have to be considered in a different man-ner than simply a numerical av-erage.
“Grades are supposed to re-flect the adequate learning of a concept and this can be dem-onstrated in different ways that other students are not necessar-ily aware of,” Garbutt said.
According to Clark Evans, FA students should not worry about grades.
“I think grades are really complicated and everyone has a little dif-ferent idea about what a grade is. I think it’s probably better to think of a grade as a guidepost and try not to worry too much. If you as a stu-dent are taking action to improve in the way your teacher is telling you to, then you are in great shape. If you are work-ing for an A on one par-ticular assignment, and you don’t get it, then you aren’t working to learn, you are working for a letter, and I don’t think that is very rewarding,” she said.
Teachers clarify what makes a good grade
body weight for a particular height from fat, muscle, bone, water, or a combination of these factors. Statistics show that 36 percent of adults and seventeen percent of children ages two to 19 are obese. The CDC predicts that by the year 2030 the obesity rates in every state will rise to 44 percent, which will lead to an increase in cases of diabetes and heart dis-ease. With these diseases and ill-nesses the obesity related costs will rise about 66 billion dollars.
Through their weight loss and fitness efforts, Eckerson and Abilmona have made sure that they won’t be part of these statistics.
who become teachers tend to be those who if they have and extra minute in the day will reinvest it in their students. FA is always looking for ways to do more, but we definitely do not employ a ‘sink or swim” model.’
Eschen feels that a teacher staying at a school for a long period of time is deeply important for the development of students.
“If a teacher wants to truly make a difference where they teach, they should be there for a minimum of three to four years.” said Eschen, who has been at FA for six years as chorus and English teacher, Student Life Committee advisor, and coach. She is leaving to pursue her vocal career.
Senior Mary Fried, one of the school’s star vocalists, has been close with Eschen during her four years in upper school. She said teacher turnover affects all students.
“I think it is very important that teachers stay at FA for longer periods of time. You may not know it at first, but if you live your high school career alongside the same teacher, the teacher might become a role model to you and greatly inspire you, ” Fried said . “I wouldn’t know a fraction of the things about music and vocals if it wasn’t for Eschen. I started off only knowing some chords on the piano, but now I know so much more.”
Students and faculty shaping upby Matt Vance
the falcon flier
by SaMantha Kingthe falcon flier
Several upper school teachers leavingby ForeSt WilSon the falcon flier
by JuStin reedthe falcon flier
As the school year ap-proaches its conclusion, the question of re-enrollment reappears in the minds of students and parents, particularly among rising freshmen.
This year, the cost of middle school and upper school tuition is $17,990, next year it will be raised to $18,975. This $985 tu-ition increase may make or break some families’ deci-sions of enrollment.
The greatest dilemma for some students, however, is the choice between public and private. The size of the upper school sometimes drives kids away, as does their perception of limited athletic opportunities.
But Athletic Director Eyal Fierst wants students to realize the strength of FA athletics. ”I think peo-ple need to realize how strong we are. We’ve had four teams make it states, four teams win the DAC,” he said.
Eighth- grader Lucy Castles has been thinking of leaving FA to go to an intensive tennis academy to prepare for Division I ten-nis. “I haven’t completely made my mind up about leaving, but I’ve been look-ing at places like Bolitary,” said Castles.
Fierst wants students thinking of leaving for ath-letic-related reasons to con-sider that “there is no disad-vantage to public or private school when it comes to re-cruiting, because a big por-tion of recruiting is done outside of their high school season.”
Director of Admission Ana De Leon Calef focuses on attracting new students to FA. Recently she has re-ceived authorization from the U.S government to is-sue I-20s to international students, allowing them to receive student visas.
“The goal is to enroll five international students in the upper school each year; we’ve received a handful of inquiries already,” she said.
Calef also explained the financial aid programs of-fered to make tuition more affordable: need-based fi-nancial aid grants that are currently used by 30 percent of students, as well as half-tuition merit scholarships for rising ninth-graders.
AfterBefore
Photo by creative commons
Photo courtesy of Jeff eckerson Photo by samantha king
Basketball at FA seems to be an un-stoppable sport.
Both boys and girls varsity teams have shown measur-able improvement each year, and show no signs of slowing down.
Both varsity girls and boys teams claimed DAC Cham-pionship titles in 2012. The girls gained the title again in 2013 and were ranked in the state for the first time in FA basketball history. The boys made it to the DAC cham-pionship game, and lost to rival Tandem Friends by one point.
Earlier in the season, some thought that the loss of last year’s players would hinder the girls varsity team, but that did not appear to be the case. The team lost six seniors, four of whom were starters. But Head Coach Jeff Ecker-son had faith in the returning players.
“Even though we were ex-
by allegra massey-elimthe falcon flier
“Since the beginning of time,” junior Kelsey Gedin said, “[spring athletes] have been driving over to the fields for practice.”
The new Athletic Director Eyal Fierst created a rule prohibiting the upper school spring athletes from driv-ing to the fields for practice.
“At first, it seemed unreasonable, but then we found out the real reason,” Gedin said. Fierst had to deal with two car crashes concerning student athletes at previous schools. In hopes to prevent another inci-dent, he implemented a regulation which caused up-roar among FA spring athletes.
“We are responsible for students until they are done with practice,” Fierst said.
Fierst consulted with all of the spring coaches who felt the new rule improved the safety of students. “The students are technically driving off campus and I don’t want to risk anything,” he continued.
After the rule was created, many students felt it was irrational for their privileges to be taken away.
“The first day, Mr. Fierst pulled us all together and told us we all have to walk and not drive,” junior Kelsey Gedin said. “My initial reaction was negative,” she continued.
Many of the spring athletes saw the ability to drive to the fields for practice as a rite of passage. “I was definitely looking forward to participating in the tra-dition,” said senior Kirstie Harry who just got her li-cense in December.
Some students have tried to justify the reason they should be able to drive over to the fields. “If your par-ents trust you to drive to school, then they must trust you to drive across the street,” freshman Colleen No-rair said. While some spring athletes have felt the rule change is unreasonable, Athletic Director Fierst cites two major incidents from his previous school.
When Fierst was an assistant baseball coach at Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, Maryland, three baseball players were involved in an accident while driving to on off-campus practice. Two of the three athletes involved in the crash were injured.
The second incident occurred at the American He-brew Academy in Greensboro, North Carolina. Fierst was conducting an irregular practice since there was damage to the field. The change in location caused the coaches to give the students permission to drive to practice. While driving to practice, an accident which involved four students occurred.
“It was not their fault at all,” Fierst said in regards to the incident. These two experiences have made the athletic director wary about student athletes driving to practices after school.
After getting the full story, students began to realize Fierst’s reasoning. “I understand that it’s a safety is-sue,” freshman Colleen Norair said. Parents also seem to be supportive of the new athletic director in his pur-suit to prevent injuries on and off the field.
“I know a number of students have expressed con-cern,” Mr. Fierst said. “But I just hope they can see my perspective.”
pected to make it that far it doesn’t diminish the accom-plishment of winning the two consecutive champion-ships,” he said.
After taking home the DAC championship title this year, the girls were faced to play the Broadwater Acad-emy Vikings for the first round of states. After the Vikings traveled over three hours to take on the Falcons, the Vikings pulled out the win, 42-36, and moved on in the state tournament.
The girls varsity basketball team made history by being state-ranked. “It shows how the program has improved. Each year we have showed more and more success, and I am happy I got to be part of the team that made FA history,” said Junior Kelsey Gedin, who has played with the varsity team since fresh-man year.
The boys varsity basket-ball team lost two starters coming into this season, but players were still confident.
“We have a really talented team and I knew we had the potential to win the DAC
title again this year,” said ju-nior Nathan McDermott.
The last few seconds of this year’s championship game play out in the boys’ minds time after time. Senior players Justin Safarik and Brandon Atikins retold what happened: Brandon caught the second rebound of the Tandem free throw. Sopho-more Matt Vance, the point guard, caught the ball and dribbled across center court, then passed to eighth-grader Librado Anglero, who was in the corner. Brandon was cutting down towards the basket. Librado tried to pass it to Brandon for the layup. Then Tandem boy guarding Librado tipped the chest pass to Brandon which made the ball go towards AJ’s defend-er and Tandem recovered the ball. With the final seconds ticking off the clock, FA was unable to steal the ball. The final buzzer sounded; they lost by one point.
Graduating eight basket-ball- playing seniors in 2013, both teams hope to have as much success in the follow-ing years.
After the varsity boys la-crosse team scrambled to find a replacement for their injured goalie heading into the first round of playoffs, it was agreed that a back-up goalie is a must. Junior Mar-shall Steven was eager to step into the spot. Senior and cur-rent goalie, Matt Kirchner, and Coach Brandon Perry were happy to see the posi-tion being filled.
Even though Steven is the back-up and hopes to be next years starting goalie, he knows following Kirchner will not be easy.
Not only has Kirchner
by allegra massey-elimthe falcon flier
been the starting varsity goalie since eighth grade, he is also state ranked for his abilities and talents in the goal. He has been playing for 10 seasons and doesn’t plan to stop; after graduation he hopes to play on the West Virginia University’s Club Lacrosse team.
“When I was eight, I start-ed my first game as a defen-seman, but then switched to goalie at half time, and I’ve been there ever since,” Kirch-ner said.
Coach Brandon Perry, who is a new coach this year, sees what an asset Kirch-ner is to the team. Kirchner started off the season show-
ing off his talent in the 8-0 win against Tandem Friends, where he had 14 saves.
“Matt is a phenomenal goalie. He is extremely quick and has great vision on the field. We have a strong de-fense that force outside shots and Matt consistently stops those,” Perry said.
Perry doesn’t only com-mend Kirchner for his talent in the goal but for his lead-ership on the team as well. Kirchner has stepped up to help train Steven as a back-up goalie and to potentially fill his spot as starting goalie next year.
“Matt has been a major help with training Marshall
as a goalie. He helped Mar-shall early on with the basics and continues to help Mar-shall improve and hone his skills,” Perry said.
Perry agrees that back-up goalies are vital. “I was ex-tremely pleased when Mar-shall came to me asking if he could switch to goalie,” he said.
Steven wanted to take a more supportive role in the team. “I’ve been playing midfield and attack since middle school and decided I wanted to be the one saving the shots not making them,” he said.
He initially wanted to play defense but was beat out by
the bigger, more defensively built members of the team. So when the opportunity to become a goalie arose it was exactly what he was looking for.
“Marshall has been doing a great job. He catches on quickly and strives for im-provement. He also seems to be having a lot of fun as goalie,” Perry said.
Perry is hopeful for the season.
“We have a great team this year. They have been working extremely hard and are beginning to believe in themselves and realize the greatness they are capable of,” he said.
- everyone
Girls team is conference champion for second year; boys team loses final Game by one point
Basketball teams compete in DAC championship
Photo by CAtherine estes
New rule prohibits driving to practices
Girls varsity basketball team poses after winning the DAC championship against Randolph Macon Academy.
sports8 The Falcon FlierFredericksburg AcademyApril 2013
FA tries to keep students active in the community. The students are expected to participate in as much as possible, and sports are no exception.
Here at FA, students are required to do two sports for their freshmen, sopho-more, and junior years. For senior year, only one sport is required. These sports take the place of the physi-cal education course that is not provided in the upper school.
Students who do not wish to participate in school sports are given many other options to fill the require-ment. They can participate in fitness, be a team manag-er, be in the play, participate on the robotics team, or pe-tition to do a sport outside of the school.
“[Students] have to com-plete a fitness portion and a team portion,” said athletic director Eyal Fierst. This means that if they do not do a sport, they must par-ticipate in something physi-cally challenging as well as something team oriented.
“If a student does fitness, for example, that completes the physical portion but does not complete the full requirement,” he said.
Fierst keeps a record of which sports students have participated in. If a
student does not fulfill the sports requirement in a year, then it will roll over into the next year. If a student falls far enough behind,it could threaten graduation. Some students, however, do not feel that that this rule will ac-tually be enforced.
“I don’t do any sports, and nobody has talked to me about it, and I don’t think anyone cares,” said former student Mara Evans, who went on to say that she does not understand why the school needs the require-ment.
Senior Seth Rapkins has a very different perspective. He understands that the school needs a requirement in order to field teams, even though he personally does not enjoy doing sports.
“Junior year Mr. Durso confronted me with the fact that I wasn’t doing sports,” he said. Rapkins then had to join the tennis team in order to fill his requirement.
If the student has some sort of extenuating circum-stance that they discuss with the school they may get out of the sports requirement.
FA alumnus EA Geyer ad-mits to not fulfilling the sports requirement. “I was worried about being stretched too thin,” said Geyer. After talk-ing to Head of School Karen Moschetto, she was able to graduate without fulfilling the sports requirement for her senior year.
After school, many students take to the fields and courts to participate in school sports. Some students, however, don’t do school sports because their passion is with a sport that FA does not offer. Among these students is Abby LeMaster.
LeMaster participates in aikido, which is a form of Japanese martial art. She devotes hours to aikido every week at her dojo Ai-kido in Fredericksburg.
LeMaster started aikido when she was 13 years old. Before starting aikido, she prac-ticed Shaolin Kempo Karate.
She wanted something different, some-thing more applicable. Aikido is a challenge mentally, and is not as strength-based as ka-rate.
“There was an aikido class that met in the back room at the same times as the kempo class, run by a man working for the U.S. Marshall Service… I became interested in trying his aikido classes,” said LeMaster, who was told she could not join until she got her black belt in karate.
When she got her black belt and could finally join the aikido class, she attempted to balance both karate and aikido, but eventu-ally she gave up karate. After nearly three years of doing Aikido, LeMaster went on to be the youngest black belt in her dojo, at age 16.
“Hardly anyone ever gets a black belt un-der 18,” said LeMaster’s sensei Aviv Gold-smith.
LeMaster explained that her past experi-ence in karate helped her with aikido.
She also says that being small is an ad-vantage.
Goldsmith, however, credits much of her
success to her dedication.“She is skilled but also she is very dedi-
cated,” said Goldsmith.Now she works at her dojo as a program
assistant. She is responsible for the majority of the dojo’s filing, outreach, and commu-nity projects. LeMaster works eleven hours over a course of four days every week. She also spends the night at her dojo every Monday.
LeMaster struggles to balance school, aikido, and her social life. However, even with the struggle, LeMaster says that aikido is something that she wouldn’t want to give up.
“I’ve done most of my growing up at the dojo. Still doing the growing up, I sup-pose. But it’s fun, and I wouldn’t have it any other way,” she said.
JUNIOR ABBY LEMASTER BALANCES ACADEMICS AND SOCIAL LIFE WHILE STAYING COMMITTED TO HER PASSION, THE JAPANESE MARTIAL ART OF AIKIDO
Students aim for collegiate sports
While every student is an athlete during their time at FA, some are looking to take their talent, soul and dedica-tion to the collegiate level.
Though it is not offered at FA, sophomore Grayson Batsche wants to sail at col-lege. Batsche has been sail-ing for about eight years, and he has recently started to increase his participation in races.
“Over the last few years, I’ve been participating more and more in races near our dock. Quite a few yacht clubs will have regattas spe-cifically for my age group,” he said.
Though Batsche is includ-ing schools with sailing pro-grams in his college search, he understands the impor-tance of balancing sports and education.
“My main focus is my ma-jor, so what school has the best education. [However] I definitely would spend more time considering a school
with sailing rather than a school without sailing,” he said.
While Batsche stated that schools in New England have high-caliber sailing pro-grams, he said he needs to do more research to narrow his choices.
Freshman Colleen Norair wants to continue her field hockey career after high school. Norair has played for many years both for FA and her travel team High Voltage.
Considering how early it is in her high school career, Norair is unsure of the exact schools she wants to look at.
“I know that I want to play DI and go to a pretty big school, but my mom always says, ‘pick the school, not the sport!’” Norair said.
Norair has been very pro-active in her attempts to be noticed by college coaches. “Before a big tournament, I email them [the coaches], and send them my schedule, the team I play and my num-ber. Just basic information so they can watch my game and know who I am,” she said.
Junior Jase Davis is also looking to continue his FA sports career at the collegiate level.
“Ideally I’d like to play la-crosse in college, but it’s not the end all be all. I want to be going to the best school possible, but I would really like to play,” Davis said.
So far on his college search, Davis has been in contact with Dartmouth Col-lege, Dennison University and Tuffs University.
“I have highlights of me playing online, I’ve been emailing [coaches] and try-ing to get them come out and see me play as much as pos-sible,” Davis said.
Like Batsche, sophomore Maya Schattgen is interested in a sport not offered at FA. Schattgen is looking at col-leges that offer horseback riding. Schattgen has devel-oped a passion for the sport after participating in it for many years. In her college search, Schattgen says that the school “definitely should have horseback riding”.
So far, Schattgen is inter-ested in Bridgewater College.
by Wyatt Daviesthe falcon flier
Freshman Colleen Norair plays in the VISAA Division II semi-final game against Carlisle School.
This year, several upper school athletes have left the varsity boys tennis team, and as a result, it is largely made up of new eighth grade members.
For the past few years, the tennis team has been well balanced with players from all grades, but with several large grades coming through the middle school, the team is forced to rethink their strategy and focus on making a new foundation of eighth-graders, paving the way for a strong and confident team in later years.
Former boys varsity ten-nis player Seth Rapkins thinks that the lack of up-perclassmen will benefit the team.
“The team will be able to focus on building for future years more than just seeing upperclassmen on their way out. It might seem less op-timal for the current time, but it is a good investment for the future if the eighth
Tennis serves up new talentby alex Workman the falcon flier
by BraD Hoffmanthe falcon flier
PHOTO BY MONICA BUTLER
by BraD Hoffman the falcon flier
graders stick around,” he said.
Even though the team is comprised of younger play-ers, a few have played tennis all their lives, and are look promising as future team leaders.
“What some people don’t know is that our younger players have a lot of expe-rience, and we may have lost a few upperclassmen, but we have gained many younger and equally skilled players,” boys varsity tennis team captain Ismael DelaR-osa said.
Although this is a rebuild-ing year for the team, their determined approach and confident new members hope to send it in a new di-rection.
“We have a strong set of rising middle-schoolers so I think that there are good years ahead. Additionally, others that have been with the team longer now have an opportunity to show their worth,” Rapkins said.
PHOTO BY WYATT DAVIES
Eighth grader Sutton Mahon works on his serve at practice.
The doors fly open and through the light marches our fearless leader: Coach Mickey. He is the glue that holds this bunch together. We are a group of individu-als so fit that no spring sport can fulfill our potential. This is fitness.
It started as a typical day in fitness. A group of fifteen or so gathered in the up-per school lobby awaiting instruction. Then Mickey said the words no person (no matter how fit) wants to hear. “Today we are working on planks.” No one needed to say anything. We simply looked at each other in hor-ror and knew that this sea-son, fitness would be no joke.
As the group made their way into the weight room, I made a bee line to the rack
of free weights. I had to make sure I secured my five pound dumbbell so that I would not be forced to strain myself with the ten pounder.
We staggered through-out the room and I took my spot directly behind Mickey. This was a strategic move on my part. I had a good view of the rest of the group, but Mickey would not be able to see my arm trembling under the stress of my five pound weight. We went through the various exercises and then broke off into groups to work on cardio.
Just when we thought we were home free he remem-bered the dreaded planks. Our faces showed sheer ter-ror and it seemed as if Mick-ey delighted in this.
I got into plank position and waited for the timer to start. I had to stay in this posi-tion for one minute, a whole minute! Let me just say that I am a fit person. I run cross country, I go to pilates, but planks are my downfall. Ten seconds in my arms started trembling. By thirty seconds sweat was dripping off my face and by 50 seconds my whole body was shaking. When the timer went off my lifeless body dropped to the floor.
When I finally got the strength to pick myself up off the floor I gathered my belongings and headed home hoping that tomorrow I would not be subjected the horror of planks.
by Meggie Rochethe falcon flier
Fitness is a serious sport
In lieu of a typical Staff Stand editorial, the Falcon Flier is publishing FA’s Equity and Justice Policy and the first of five beliefs listed in the school’s Mission and Beliefs. We are doing this in light of the derogatory drawings aimed at Head of School Karen Moschetto found on campus March 28. The Falcon Flier staff fully supports and stands behind Moschetto.Fredericksburg Academy Equity and Justice Policy:
Faculty, staff, and students will not engage in activities which dishonor the race, gender, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, or religion of others. Such activities consti-tute a level of misconduct that will bring serious disciplinary consequences, possibly including suspension, expulsion, or, in the case of faculty, dismissal.
The teacher, coach, or administrator in charge will first report incidents of this nature to the appropriate Divisional Administrator, who will investigate the nature of the offense. The Head of School or Divisional Administrator will see to immediate corrective action.
As with other types of misconduct, it is essential that stu-dents, faculty, and staff receive adequate counseling regarding the harmful nature of negative stereotyping, sexual harass-ment, gender bias, demeaning idiomatic expressions, or simi-larly improper characterization of racial, gender, ethnic, or re-ligious groups. It is the Academy’s intent to inform students, families, and staff of the harm of such actions and the need to condemn and correct them as soon as they occur. First of five beliefs listed in the school’s Mission and Beliefs:
An inclusive school community, in which differences in people and ideas are appreciated, creates greater awareness, understanding, and growth.
All my life I’ve always heard how tough junior year is, how once junior year is over high school is basically a breeze. At the be-ginning of the year I was quite jealous of my senior sister Emma, thinking that she was go-ing to have an easy last year of high school.
But as the semester went on I quickly began to realize, through my sister’s experi-ence, what a challenge senior year actually is. What makes senior year so stressful for my sister is not only taking AP classes, but applying to colleges, work-ing on senior exhibit, being the leader for Model UN, playing three varsity sports and having a job.
My home environment has definitely changed since my sister became a senior. Now my parents stress the word “responsi-bility”. That word sums up senior year in my point of view. You must be “responsi-ble” for getting the grades to get into col-leges, you must be “responsible” to get your
by Matt Vance
the falcon flier
Life with a senior
I felt the tension rise as January approached and
Emma awaited her colleges’ responses.
“”
-Matt Vance
After overcoming difficulties of fitness, members receive recognitionMosh thanks FA community for love and supportLetters to the Editor
The Falcon Flier is produced by the Fredericksburg Academy upper school newspaper staff to inform and entertain the 197 middle and upper school students.
Students or faculty who wish to express their views in The Falcon Flier are encouraged to submit letters to the
editor to:
The publication is a member of the Columbia Scholastic Press Association and the National
Scholastic Press Association.
falconflier.net
10800 Academy Drive, Fredericksburg, VA 22408April 2013Issue 5, Volume XXI 540.898.0020
Isabel Steveneditor-in-chief
Matt Kirchnermanaging editorMeggie Roche
design editorAllegra Massey-Elim
business managerKelsey Williams
copy editorWyatt Davies
web masterSamantha Kingphoto coordinator
Beth Hunley adviser
Mimi Wackcartoonist
In the past four months, we have been reminded way too often of the hate that permeates our world. It has come in the form of guns, notes, and now bombs. I am saddened by these events, not for me personally, but for you the students. I feel that I led a pretty carefree childhood. While my father was an NYC police officer and I worried about the job he did because at times it put him in harm’s way, I never had a sense that the world around me was a dangerous place. In this post-9/11 world, you certainly have a much different reality to face. However, I also believe that you are well-equipped to deal with this current reality—you know life can be cruel and unpredictable, and the way to combat that is to open your hearts.
college applications turned in on time, you must be “responsible” as captain of your sports teams, and you must be “respon-sible” to complete your senior exhibit.
As I sat on the sidelines and watched my sister talk with my parents about col-leges and applications, and as we visited many college campuses, I saw how quickly points of views on colleges can change. I felt the tension rise as January approached and Emma awaited her colleges’ respons-es. Then came the excitement and joy of acceptances and scholarships, which con-trasted with the disappointment of defer-rals.
As a sophomore I can’t ignore the benefits of being a senior: leading by example for the un-derclassmen, cap-taining sport teams and going to states for the last time, go-ing to senior spring break (if you are re-sponsible), having
delicious senior breakfasts and lunches. Plus once you take your AP exams your high school career is done.
Senior year is when students are put to the test. If they can power through and still be standing strong, then they have successfully passed the test into adult-hood. Responsibility and accountability alongside independence and opportunity, which is the life of a successful adult.
I wanted to thank all of you for the incredible love and support you shared with me these past few weeks. You really have no idea how much the notes, cards, baskets of candy, hugs, etc. meant to me. It didn’t just mean a lot—it meant everything. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for that. I also ask that you always have that love and support available for those around you—friend or foe—who need it. Continue to stand up and let your voice be heard when hate is present. Take full advantage of the opportunities life presents you and move forward with the honesty and courage you recently shared with me; you will surely then never face the uncertainties awaiting you alone.
—Head of School Karen Moschetto
MVP: Grayson Batsche
Most Improved: amanda smithson
Most Spirit: mary Fried
Fitness Awards
The Staff’s Stand
Spring play censored for vulgarity
by Wyatt Daviesthe falcon flier
backpage the
Tables turn for vinyl The ultimate rivalry: two Japanese sushi restaurants across the street from each other, both extremely popular and fighting over customers.
Miso Asian Grill and Su-shi Bar, and Umi Japanese Fine Dining are both located off of Route 1 in very close proximity to one another. Each offers an almost iden-tical menu, including similar prices. I went to both of these places to decide once and for all which one was better.
I went to Miso first on a Wednesday night with fellow Falcon Flier reporter, Allegra Massey-Elim and junior John Hazel. Massey-Elim and I split the Tempura Sweet Pota-to Rolls for $4 and an order of shrimp fried rice for $11. Hazel ordered the beef ribs as an appetizer for $8, and the General Tso’s Chicken as his main entree for $11.
I found the rice to be a little dry and the shrimp seemed a bit oversized, not to mention they left the tails on. I would not have found this a problem if they had given us a knife to cut them with. I also sampled some of Hazel’s beef ribs and found them to be the perfect balance of spicy and sweet. I have never been a huge fan of sushi so understandably I did not enjoy that very much.
Miso has a charming at-mosphere, but was not very crowded. However, accord-ing to hostess Tiffany Cheng, who has been working at Miso ever since it opened
The prelude of crackles and pops to music tracks
has begun to find its way back to people’s ears. Vinyl records are back in the groove, and they just might get stuck.
Vinyl record sales have been going up in the past five years in the United States, seeing a 17.7 percent increase in 2012 to 4.6 million records, according to a Neilsen report. While there is a visible spike of youth interest in records, music fans of all ages are looking to get their hands on the unsurpassed sound qual-ity and music rarities found on vinyl.
A Long Play (LP) record, more commonly known as vi-nyl, is an audio storage medium. Created in 1948, vinyl became the standard of playing music until the introduction of the 8 track, cassette tape, CD, and the current king of audio, the MP3.
Upper school English teacher and yearbook adviser Susanne Nobles does not purchase new records but still has her collec-tion. She believes that this for-mat won’t be six feet under any time soon.
“I have been through every new technology, from cassettes to CDs to MP3s, but there has always been a core of vinyl lov-ers. There are some things that are only available on vinyl, such as the Stray Cats and Sid Vi-cious’ first albums,” she said. “I can say that I choose to listen to vinyl because vinyl has a sound quality that shows the layers
more than MP3. The layers are still part of the whole, but they are not blended beyond recog-nition.”
Like Nobles, middle and up-per school history teacher Heidi Wilbrandt’s love for vinyl has never faded. Wilbrandt has been hunting down records since the discovery of her parent’s album collection in the eighth grade, and she’s not slowing down.
“I think vinyl has proven it-self as a meaningful and lasting platform, one that has gained prominence as younger gen-erations return to it after ex-periencing other media forms. There is a level of purity and authenticity associated with vi-nyl, and it’s certainly appealing to those seeking a return to sim-plicity. The shift of popularity in music genres will determine the rise and fall of vinyl. No one is really interested in listen-ing to electronica or screamo on vinyl, but Mumford & Sons? Absolutely,” she said.
Wilbrandt also likes hav-ing her collection in a physical form.
“There is something to be said about purchasing music and receiving a hard copy of that album. With MP3s, there is nothing tangible that’s re-ceived, and I value music, much like books, as an investment for the present and the future. Vi-nyl is a way for me to value the past with the hopes that my col-lection will be valued by future generations as well,” Wilbrandt
said.Junior Forest Wilson is a part
of the youth movement that has sparked the resurgence of vinyl, and he is optimistic about the future of vinyl.
Vinyl’s saving grace has been independent music stores. 67 percent of record sales come from these stores. This is be-cause many vinyl fans prefer purchasing their music at inde-pendent record stores to online retailers.
“I prefer buying vinyl through record stores, but since they’re scarce, [I use] the inter-net,” Wilson said. “Just like buying vinyl itself, you’re using it for the experience. Buying it at the store, it just feels better.”
Wilbrandt goes to multiple locations, both online and physical, to find the albums that she is looking for. Part of her excitement in buying these re-cords is the hunt for them.
“Older vinyl records pro-duced in the pre-CD era can be found in lots of different plac-es: resale and antique shops, ga-rage sales, people’s basements and actual record stores. Really, it’s about knowing what you’re looking for and being willing to put in the time to hunt down old vinyl,” Wilbrandt said.
Locally, vinyl records can be purchased at Horseshoes & Hand Grenades Vintage Bou-tique, and Populuxe. The stores are located at 1009 Princess Anne St., and 107 William St., respectively.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Miso versus Umiby Meggie Roche the falcon flier
Photo by meggie rocheRoche ordered the crab and cream cheese rolls at Umi.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Top Selling Vinyl Albums of 2012Blunderbuss by Jack White- units sold 34,000
Abbey Road by The Beatles- units sold 30,000
Babel by Mumford and Sons- units sold 29,000
El Camino by The Black Keys- units sold 25,000
Sigh No More by Mumford and Sons- units sold 23,000
three years ago, this is because their busiest time is on the weekends.
The next Sunday I went to Umi with my dad, and I liked it better. We ordered the crab and cream cheese rolls to start for $5. I was a bit skeptical when my dad decided to order it, but I was surprised to find that unlike most sushi, it was warm, and I actually loved it! I was shocked how well the fla-vors went together.
For our main entrees I or-dered the chicken fried rice for $8, and my dad ordered the basil chicken for $15. I thought my meal was perfect. The rice was moist and sticky and the chicken was cut into perfect bite-sized pieces. Ac-cording to my dad, his meal was “delicious.”
One thing I noticed at Umi is that there was seating at the sushi bar for costumers to sit there and eat, and at Miso there was not. Otherwise the decor and atmosphere was similar to Miso’s, the only difference that it was more crowded. But as the Cheng at Miso pointed out, that may be because I was not there at the busiest time.
While neither of these res-taurants were bad, if I had to pick which I would rather eat at, it would be Umi. The food was only slightly bet-ter, but the friendly staff was what really put them over the edge. They were very attentive and genuinely seemed to care about the customer.
Monday- Pajama Day Prom Theme: Masquerade Tuesday- Pair Day
When: 7 p.m.-11:30 p.mWednesday- Rap vs. Rock Day
Where: Seacobeck, UMW Thursday- Blast from the Past Day
Price: $75 Friday- Beach Day
“I think they’ll use a lot of bright, vibrant, deep colors because it is a masquerade. I think it would be cool if they used a lot of colored lights.”
-Senior Katy Glance
AfterpromTheme: Casino Night
When: 12 a.m.-5 a.m.
Where: Gym
“Afterprom is a time where I can relax in something comfortable. I can have fun and hang out with all my friends.”
-Junior Sara Eadie
by Wyatt Davies the falcon flier
Umi Japanese Fine Dining Miso Asian Grill and Sushi Bar
SPRING SPIRIT WEEK, PlANNED By SlC AND STUDENT AMBASSADoRS, KICKS oFF APRIl 22, lEADING UP To PRoM AND AFTERPRoM ThIS SATURDAy AND SUNDAy. ThIS SPIRIT WEEK’S CoMPETITIoN IS BETWEEN ThE EIGhT ADvISoRy FAMIlIES. SPRING SPIRIT WEEK:
