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

TheDecember 2012

Gryphon Gazette• •

It’s Christmastime and everyone is anticipating the wonderful holiday season! St. George’s is showing its holiday cheer by filling the school with beautiful decorations. Helpful moms volunteered to hang up wreathes and festive decora-tions all over the school.

The students at St. George’s have also gotten in the Christ-mas spirit. The chorus in-spired families with the an-nual service of Lessons and Carols, and Junior Rollin Ro-satti has initiated a weekly Upper School “Turtleneck Tuesday” to keep students’ necks warm and festive for the holiday season.

This is the most wonderful time of the year, so remember to be careful out on the road. Please enjoy our various ar-ticles on the season’s festivi-ties and safe driving as well. Happy holidays!

TopStories

Opinion

Sports

Features

Student Life

•

•

•

•

The Strangest ThingsHappen at Red Lights

Gryphons Look to Rebound from Senior Losses

Driver Safety on Campus: Are We Stopping or Not?

Grand-Gryphons Pay a Visit to St. George’s

Team “Q”

Lindsey Cayce ’14

“Q” Conquers Cancer

Lindsey Cayce ’14

White blood cells, red blood cells, platelets, and absolute neutrophil count are not words your typi-cal eighth-grader is used to hearing. For Quinterras Woo-ten, though, these words have been a part of his daily routine for the past eight months. Quinterras, or Q, as he is known to his peers, was diagnosed with cancer in May of

2012. After multiple tests, it was determined that Q had Embryonal Rhabdo-myosarcoma, a cancerous tumor found in smooth muscles. From the very begin-ning, the odds of survival were definitely in Q’s fa-vor; however, he still had a long road full of doctor appointments and twen-ty-four weeks of chemo-therapy treatments ahead

Not Your Traditional Traditions

With the holiday season al-ready in full swing, people have begun to hang their mis-tletoe and pull out their ugly Christmas sweaters. It is nice to fanaticize about the traditional stockings hung by the fire, or being lulled to sleep every year by Frank Sinatra’s Christmas al-bums—but I think we all know, deep down, that these are not really the Christmas traditions we partake in. They are often much more odd than we like to admit.

When I asked my classmates for their strangest Christmas traditions, I honestly think the

Cantu family takes the cake. Now, keep in mind that this occurs every single Christmas Eve, no matter how old junior Catherine Cantu and freshman Bella Cantu are.

“My mom has this ceramic baby Jesus that she bought in Mexico, and she makes Bella and me put it in a basket on Christmas Eve and walk down the stairs with it, while we sing ‘Silent Night.’ ...My mom video tapes it every time.” Because why not, right? You are never too old to carry Jesus down the stairs while singing Christmas carols with your sister.

Emily Dickey ’14

Don’t Drive DrowsyKyle Kihnl was a junior at

Houston High School and was on the wrestling team. One night in May of 2002, Kihnl and his friend decided to go on a walk around his neigh-borhood.

But sadly, Ki-hnl never made it home that night. He was hit by car whose driver had fallen asleep at the wheel. It was a shocking and devastating moment for his family.

After Kihnl’s death, his mother, Joni Fox, and the rest of his family started the “Don’t Drive Drowsy” campaign in order to spread awareness about drowsy

driving and how to pre-vent it.

Ms. Fox said, “Peo-ple from the ages 16 to 24 have

a higher risk of falling asleep at the wheel.”

Cont. on Page 6

Kihnl never made it home that night.

The odds of survival were definitely in Q’s favor.

Cont. on Page 7

GryphonewsN

Meredith Gatlin ’14

Cont. on Page 6

St. George’s Supporters of Quinterras Wooten gather to run the St. Jude 5k in his honor.

of him. Once a treatment plan

was in place, it became clear that Q would not be able to attend St. George’s this fall. Since Q was not able to attend school, he had a teacher at St. Jude who helped him keep up with what his classmates were learning on the other side of town and stay on track

so he would be prepared to re-enter the classroom in January.

Instead of getting to sleep in everyday, Q had to wake up

just as early as he would have had to for school in order to get to St. Jude in time for his early morn-ing appointments.

2 Editorial December St. George’s Independent School• •

Newspaper Staff• •

Editor-in-Chief

Regan HewittVirginia Whitsitt

Samer IstanbouliKayce Hyde

Alexis HarshbargerLindsey Cayce

Margaret Robertson

Dagny Vaughn

Ian John

Jamie Roche

Meredith GatlinMaggie Courtney

Nathalie Vacheron

Emily Dickey

Copy Editors

Layout Editors

Photo Editors

Features Editors

Opinion Editor

Sports Editor

Student Life Editors

Advisor

We Are Not in ControlHello all,We’ve all seen them—those com-

mercials. It starts with clip of a car driving down the road. The car sud-denly veers off the road and into a tree. Cue the sad music. Cut to a clip of a dejected-looking girl explaining how she’ll never hear her little six-teen-year-old sister’s bubbly laughter again. All because of one text, a text that read something as trivial as “ok.”

These impactful ads serve as re-minders that we, as teenagers, are ac-tually not invincible. Unfortunately, we are reminded too often of our pre-carious existences by something even worse than an ad on television—the actual deaths of kids in the Memphis community in car accidents. These deaths have been caused by all sorts of driving “infractions”—texting, talking on the phone, not buckling up, drag racing, and even things like fiddling with the radio or leaning down to pick up a CD case on the floor.

We all know that we must be careful on the road and we must always be paying attention. Our parents and mentors ham-mer the words “be safe” into our heads over and over again until we begin to roll our eyes. We roll our eyes because we know—we know how to drive, we know we can’t trust other drivers, and we know not to text and drive.

But if we know these things be-cause we hear them so often, when are we going to get it? How many “Don’t Text & Drive” ads to we have to see to get it? How many kids in the Memphis community have to die before we, the teenagers, the future of America, muster up a little bit of responsibility and actually make our-selves ignore the text we just received as we’re driving down Poplar?

I’m making an early New Year’s Resolution, and it’s a safety resolu-tion. I don’t care if there’s no one around. I don’t care if I’m driving in a neighborhood with 20 mile-per-hour

speed-limit. That’s not the point. I am going to make a pact with myself to ignore every text I receive while driv-ing untilI at least reach a stoplight. Because it’s all about habit. Once you begin texting and driving, it becomes an uncontrollable temptation…which is ironic, because we all think we have control.

And now comes the time when I want to really press the theme of this issue’s editorial—we are not in con-trol. The minute we think we’re com-pletely in control is going to be the minute we lose what little control we originally had.

Imagine this: you are driving down Wolf River Boulevard on your way home from school. There are dozens of cars all around you. Each and ev-ery car has a human being in it. Each and every human being has a family, a home, a life, just like you. You don’t know these people, but you have es-sentially everything in common with them.

Maybe the Toyota Highlander behind you is being driven by a boy from Briarcrest, and he’s just now get-ting out of school, too. Maybe he plays soc-cer, is on the Honor roll, has a little broth-er who looks up to him, has parents who

work for FedEx, and a cousin in the military who is about to go overseas to Afghanistan. His cousin is coming over at 3:30 to say goodbye, so the boy is rushing home.

But you don’t know this. All you know is that he’s tailing you, and you’re mad. You are deliberately driving slowly. You’re concentrating so much on this that you don’t no-tice the girl driv-ing the yellow jeep who’s pulling out of the El Mezcal parking lot. She doesn’t notice you either—she’s look-ing at her iPhone because she just received a text from her friend about their plans for the weekend.

At the very last moment, you re-alize what is happening, and you press the accelerator in panic. It’s not enough—you still get hit, by the girl in the yellow jeep, and by the boy be-hind you, because he was tailing you so closely.

The sound of ripping metal and squealing brakes lets you know that the back of your car is totaled, not to mention the fact that you were just violently thrown forward and then pulled back by the seat-belt across your chest—and that actually hurt, a lot. But the worst part of it all is that the girl in the yellow jeep hit the driver’s side of the Toyota Highland-er straight on.

You can see in your cracked rear-view mirror that the girl is sobbing uncontrollably behind her airbag, and she seems okay besides that, but there’s a horrible sinking feeling in your stomach that the boy is the op-posite of okay.

And just like that, in a matter of seconds, a life is lost, a life is ruined, and one life—yours—is changed for-ever as you realize how lucky you were to come out alive.

I’m not trying to come up with a dramatic scenario to scare anyone.In fact, the reality of the matter is that, well…this scenario is a real-ity. Whether you’re texting or not, you’re not truly in control of what is going to happen out on the road. What you need to do—what we all need to do—is to get ourselves into the habit of being patient and wait-ing on that text message. Because if we all do that, and we all do it consistently, people aren’t going to die because of texting and driving, whether it’s a text they’re receiving or a text the person in the car next to

them is receiving. My challenge to

you is to break your habit, and break it now. It’s a challenge I’m taking on as well, and I hope you can join me. Be safe over the holidays!

Always,Nathalie VacheronEditor-in-Chief

Nathalie Vacheron ’13

I don’t care if there’s no one around.

Break your habit; break it now.

Need a

SHOUTOUT?If you need to advertise any clubs or make any announcements, please e-mail Samer atsistanbouli13@sgis.org!

Zoe LeakeEntertainment Editor

Greening Up for ChristmasAs the holidays approach,

houses will turn red and green with decorations and lights. Ev-eryone should make an effort to make his or her car green as well. If you feel your car is not eco-nomical or beneficial for the envi-ronment, I have advice on how to improve your car’s value.

The easiest option is to buy an eco-friendly car. Multiple hybrid cars, like the 2012 Ford Fusion and 2012 Toyota Camry, are well-priced, have high mileage rates, and high efficiency ratings. Most electric vehicles are more expen-sive, but they make a great im-pact. The 2013 Chevy Volt, 2012 Nissan Leaf, and 2013 Ford Fu-sion Electric are the most popular cars that can run purely on elec-tricity.

Kellen Young ‘14 While cars always make great gifts, you do not need to buy one to help the environment or save money. These smart driv-ing practices can improve your car’s fuel economy and decrease its effect on the environment.

1. Organized Driving Habits – For more efficient performance, you should have calm driving habits. Keep your engine speeds between 1,200 to 3,000 RPMs (revolutions per minute), keep your up-shifts between 2,000 to 2,500 RPMs, and plan your er-rands. It is beneficial to avoid stops and starts, speeding, and dangerous driving as a whole.

2. Good Car Care – It is better for the environment to take care of your car. If a car has a clean air filter, it burns less gas and emits less pollution. If you keep your tires inflated, you can also im-

prove your fuel economy.3. Smart Temperature Regula-

tion – While using the a/c unit is better at high speeds, opening the windows is a better option at low-er speeds and in traffic. In order to reduce the amount of gas used by a/c units, you can buy electric or solar fans, and you can also buy reflective windshield shades.

4. Cleanliness – You can increase your efficiency if you have a clean car. The weight that accumulates from items in a trunk is a common problem that affects the mileage of a car.

5. Cruise Control & Idling – You can improve a car’s mileage sig-nificantly by using cruise control more often. On the other hand, idling consumes more fuel than when you are actually driving. It is a good idea to completely avoid idling.

SeniorMoments

• •

In the spirit of Mr. Gor-ham’s thoughtful chapel re-flections a couple weeks ago, we take time during this spe-cial season to celebrate the Class of 2013 with observa-tions of their unique contribu-tions to school, whether they take place in the senior dining room or outside its cozy con-fines. For, like the “re-gifted” gravy boat, blender, or Santa mug, our seniors give us many reasons to celebrate them because they are indeed the gift that keeps on giving. We celebrate them because:

•Mary Henley Green stayed strong, fending off the corrupting influence of one of her projects.

•The tables in the senior dining room are starting to re-semble camps in a “Survivor” All-Star competition, with the table in the middle occupied by those secretly planning al-liances across tribes.

•Michael Fields, James Heard, and Wil McMillian, bless their precious little hearts, are all learning that

Anonymous adults in meetings prefer to be uninterrupted, and that entry to the faculty room is by invitation only.

•Caleb actually had a conversation about the col-ony he would start, and of course, lead in dictatorial fashion.

•Michael Pigors was an online participant in a TV show. He was able to do so because his iPhone has been surgically implanted in his head, allowing him to com-municate with Siri without speaking.

•They lament the block-ing of Hulu and Netflix. You know who you are.

•One of them actually asked one of their peers if their outfit constituted a unitard.

•Bailey drives a “real” pickup truck. Very useful when navigating the occa-sional pothole or sand in the Sonic parking lot

Happy Holidays!

• •

3OpinionDecember St. George’s Independent School• •The opinions expressed in this section reflect the views of individual writers and are not necessarily those of the Gryphon Gazette or its staff.

The Strangest Things Happen At Red Lights

We all feel inconvenienced when that pesky light turns red at intersections, and we must stop mid-route on the way to our destinations. It is at these times when we take a moment to ob-serve our surroundings…or realize there are people in other cars observing us. I went around the school asking students the most awkward things that they have experienced or done at a red light… Here’s what they said!

“I have full blown conversations with my pet rabbits, and act like they can understand and interpret it. So, I guess that’s kind of weird.” – Wil McMillian (’13)

“So, I was in Vancouver, and we were on our way back from a Josh Groban concert. We got stopped at a red light, and this guy

Team Edward or Team Jacob:Where do you stand?

With the buzz around the com-munity over the new Twilight movie, “Breaking Dawn: Part 2,” we decided to ask two adoring fans, senior Alexa Roe and junior Alexa Basinger, the impending question of whether or not they are “Team Jacob” or “Team Ed-ward”? We asked each interview-ee their opinion on the movies as well as specific questions about Bella Swan and other supporting characters.

Who would Bella be safer with?AB ’14: I think that she is safer

with Edward, because in so many instances he has saved her from “bad” vampires, a group of guys that were messing with her, and even when he left her in the book “New Moon,” it was because he thought she would be safer. So, Edward really cares about her safety more than Jacob does.

AR ’13: Technically, Bella would

be safer with Jacob because that way she would not have to worry about the Volturi. She would nev-er be hunted if she was with Jacob, contrary to her life with Edward.

Who deserves her more? AB ’14: Edward deserves her, no

doubt. He loves her so much and even though for a long period of time he did not want to be with her, it was because he thought that he wasn’t good for her and that he might hurt her. When he left Bella, it took everything in him to leave the love of his life just so that she could be happy.

AR ’13: Edward is the one that deserves her. He has been waiting for hundreds of years for the per-fect girl and he finally finds her.

Do you find it weird that Jacob is in love with Bella’s daughter?

AB’14: Well, yeah, duh. But for the longest time one of the big-gest questions was “Why is Jacob in love with Bella?”, even though she clearly wasn’t about that life? But when we see Jacob imprint on Renesmee (Bella’s daughter), you see the underlying reason that Ja-cob could not leave Bella. He had this strong attachment to Bella, and it wasn’t completely clear un-til he imprinted on Renesmee.

Ian John ‘13

Virginia Whitsitt ’14

Here in the South, snow is not something to which we are accus-tomed. Stifling hot summers melt into jokingly “cold” winters that limit us to maybe two “snows” a year over the winter months. We can dream of snow, though—and man, do we ever.

The fairytale Christmas—fluffy white snow, icicles on the roof, snuggling up by the fire while you open gifts with your family—was confirmed as the perfect way to spend your Christmas morning by a couple of select students.

Remembering the true meaning of Christmas is very important as well. We often become distracted by the gifts and delicious food, but the love and appreciation for what we already have should still take precedence in this Christmas sea-son. Junior Colton Morgan said it is important to stay focused on what matters, saying “I would want my family around me, such as my aunt and uncle or my sick relatives.” Ju-nior Michael Kutteh seconded the idea that family is the most impor-tant part of Christmas morning, with snow being the second most desired factor.

The real question is, “What does this perfect Christmas atmosphere really look like?” So, I asked ju-nior Lindsay Abrams and she said, “When I’m with my family and we’re drinking coffee and we’re opening gifts and I’m wrapped up in a warm blanket with my dog in my lap, is when its truly magical and wonderful. Especially, when the tree is lit and the fire is a-blazin’!”

So, family, snow, and the fire blaz-ing in the fireplace is our ranking for most essential elements to the ideal Christmas morning, so far. But what about the gifts? Senior Ehi Ike already knows what she wants: her acceptance letter to Bard College. “It would be so awesome if Santa left it under the tree, and then I’d be like ‘OMG I got a present!’ So then I would go under the tree, and then I’d open it, and then I’d scream and be like ‘AAAHHH!’” Morgan sec-onded Ike’s opinion that one very special and meaningful gift for each person is all you need.

So pull out your fuzzy blankets and start your fireplaces, because if we do have the white Christmas dream this year for the first time in our lives, it will be snow-mania. I hope for no less on my Christmas morning than a horizon dotted with snowmen and children sled-ding. Merry Christmas!

The PerfectChristmas

came up, took off his shirt and had a spray bottle with him. He started spraying our window—we didn’t ask him or anything, he just started wiping it with his shirt. We were really grossed out.” – Ian John (’13)

“Someone took off his shirt and started rubbing his stomach… I pretend like I pass out sometimes.” – Casey Schneider (’14)

“Some man opened up a cap of lipstick and started putting it on in front of me. Then acted normal about it... That was probably the weirdest thing I’ve seen. What I’ve done, personally, is wear Elvis glasses every now and then and sing Elvis songs with the window rolled down. Sometimes I get people to sing with me.” – Byington Rhea (’14)

“The most awkward situation is where you look over and make eye contact with somebody, and then you turn around because you think they’re done, and then you look back and they’re still looking at you.” – Libby Heflin (’13)

“So, I pull up to a red light with my sister. Then, I turn around, and who’s sitting there but the girl who bullied me in the third through fifth grade! It was very awkward, and I tried hiding behind the visor thing, and it was just disastrous. She didn’t recognize me, so that was good. But it was absolutely terrible.” – Alexis Harshbarger (’13)

AR’13: Yes, this is very weird, but I feel like it finally connects Jacob to the family because he has been on the outside just waiting on Bella. Fi-nally, he has a piece of her.

Don’t both Jacob and Edward seem a bit obsessive?

AB ’14: I think that they are both super drawn to Bella, one more than the other, but they both have their reasons that no one should ques-tion.

AR ’13: Yes, they both seem ex-tremely obsessive over a seemingly average girl.

Which movie was your favorite?AB ’14: I LOVE THEM ALL TOO

MUCH TO JUST PICK ONE!!

AR ’13: “Eclipse” without a doubt.

Alexis Harshbarger ‘13

Zoe Leake ’14

4 EntertainmentDecember St. George’s Independent School• •

New Album Screams “Take Me Home”

Five boys walked into the UK X-Factor waiting for the news that would pos-sibly change their lives. Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlin-son, and Zayn Malik were just average teenage boys who loved to sing. They came into their auditions confident, yet nervous to see if they would make it through or not.

After all five of them cleared the first stage of audi-tions, they were soon individual-ly kicked off the show. But little did these boys know that a week later, they would be put to-gether as a band called One Direction, and continue on to finish third on the show.

On November 13, 2012, One Direction released their sophomore album

Kirby Betchik ’17• •

“Take Me Home.” Fans first got a sneak peek into the more mature sound with their sin-gles “Live While We’re Young” and “Little Things.”

It is evident that they are steering away from the sound of “What Makes You Beautiful,” choosing songs with deeper meanings and more intricate instrumentals.

One song from the new al-bum that shows their maturity is, “Back for You.” It is directed to-wards some of the band mem-bers’ girlfriends while addressing

the hectic schedule that comes with their fame.

When asked about her opin-ions about the new album, junior Camden Betchick said she feels that it is “the perfect CD to jam to in the car. Betty,

Stars in Our Backyard• •

If you have ever strolled around during a morning flex period and heard melodious guitar strumming drifting down the hall, it was more than like-ly St. George’s seniors Elijah Poston and Becky Flax. Having discovered their mutual passion for music during their fresh-man year, Poston and Flax have been playing together in several bands, and as back up for each other as well.

Though well-known as musi-cians around the SGIS commu-nity, many people do not realize how involved the two are in the music scene outside of school, playing at several midtown ven-ues such as Otherlands Coffee Shop and Hard Rock Café.

With a professional French horn-playing dad, Flax has been immersed in the music world since she began playing violin at four years old. Later, she picked up piano, playing for seven

years, until she began to grow bored with it.

“A guitar player came and played at my school and I stayed to talk to him after,” she said, de-scribing the spark that launched her interest in guitar. “He told me he could feel the vibrations running through the guitar as he played, and that made me want to play.”

Now, years later, her love of guitar still burns brightly, play-ing for her band 20-Word Ex-change, the Kidz Do Pozitive Things band, and as a solo art-ist. “I’m not good at explaining my emotions. When I’m playing music, I want it to be so power-ful that you have to stop talking and listen to it. I like the connec-tion I get with people. My guitar talks for me,” she said.

Also starting from a young age, Poston learned to play vio-lin, drums, guitar, and bass in childhood. He now performs as a drummer for Becky’s band

20-Word Exchange, the Kidz Do Pozitive Things band, and as a solo artist.

“It’s all about expressing my-self. It’s an art form. For me, playing music is the best pos-sible way to express myself to another person. When I listen to my favorite bands I think, that’s what I want to be like. I want to have that effect on people,” he said.

Both Flax and Poston are com-pleting Senior Independent Study projects revolving around their love of music. Flax is build-ing her own guitar, an idea that inspired her by listening to Yo-Yo Ma play his cello. “Every sound was like him talking to us. I was thinking about how beau-tiful it sounded and how if he had a bad cello, it wouldn’t have been so spectacular,” she siad. “I wanted to start making guitars, making voices, something that was so good that when someone picked it up they’d be able to

have a beautiful voice.” Poston, on the other hand, is

recording his own EP album of songs that he wrote. The EP al-bum is being produced by fel-low senior Matthew O’Bar. “I always said I’d have an album recorded by senior year, and that never happened, so this is it. I have about eleven recorded songs to choose from which all have different feels. Some really acoustic, some electric, and out of these, I’ll probably pick about six that will actually be cohe-sive.”

When asked which recorded song was his favorite, he re-plied, “One called ‘Here I Am’, which was inspired by recogniz-ing pain and beauty in life and coming to terms with it, know-ing that sometimes good things are going to be there and some-times not, but regardless, you’re still going to be alive.” The EP is scheduled to be released in January.

Emily, and I love to rock out to it on a daily basis.”

Some students have praised the new sound, while others are resistant to the cliché boy band.

I myself am a huge fan of

the band, and grew a strong love for them over the sum-mer. Being the fan-girl that I am, I went to Target the morning “Take Me Home” came out and I bought it.

I think the new sound is perfect for the boys and that it will sound great live in concert. Also, in this album, I feel that everyone gets an even spread of solo singing time. This is respectable be-cause all five members of the band are talented enough to share their gifts with every-one who listens to their mu-sic.

Collierville Campus “The Foreigner” — February 7-9; Upper School Play“13” — May 2-4; High School Musical

Germantown CampusBiography — February 7; 2nd Grade Rain Forest Presentation — March 7; 3rd Grade “Circus Play” — March 7; Junior Kin-dergarten “Animal Play” — March 27; 1st Grade Spring Program — April 18; Pre-Kin-dergarten Mother’s Day Chapel — May 10; 5th Grade Mother’s Day Treat — May 10; Senior Kindergarten Germantown and Memphis CampusLower School Talent Show — February 21Memphis Musical — March 21; 2nd Grade Tennessee Play — May 16; 4th Grade

Mark Your Calendar: Upcoming

Theater Events

On November 13, 2012, One Di-rection released their sophomore album.

I think the new sound is perfect for the boys and it will sound great live in concert.

DAgny Vaughn ’14

5EntertainmentDecember St. George’s Independent School• •

Life of Pi: A New Chapter

Meredith Gatlin ’14• •

For all of the movie lov-ers at St. George’s, one re-cent release that everyone must see is Life of Pi. Yann Martel’s famous book is brought to life in this mov-ie. For those of you who have never heard of the book, it is about a teenage boy from India, named Pi-scine (Pi), who is stuck in a lifeboat with an adult Ben-gal tiger named Richard Parker.

I have read the book, and it is one of my favor-ites. However, I thought the movie was better. Most movies based off a book have some differences, but the changes in this movie were not drastic. The mov-ie really brought out the important life lessons that Martel was trying to get

across.The director, Ang Lee,

did a good job with this movie. He chose an amaz-ing cast. Suraj Sharma played the role of Pi Patel (when the character is 16), and Sharma did a fantas-tic job of showing the is-sues someone faces in Pi’s situation by making it feel real. Irrfan Khan also did a fantastic job playing the role of the adult Pi Patel. I enjoyed the whole cast of the movie.

I do not want to give anything away, but I seri-ously suggest that people see this movie. I feel like this movie will become an instant classic that people enjoy watching. If I were a professional movie critic, I would give “Life of Pi” a 3 ½ out of 5 stars.

Memphis:A Winter Emporium

The holiday season has arrived! You know what that means—it means that Christmas is just around the corner. There are a lot of activities around Memphis that you can take part in to ramp up your Christmas spirit.

To kick off the “season to be jolly,” you can see the annual Collierville Christmas tree lighting on November 27 beginning at 5:30pm. The Mayor of Collierville will be serving hot choc-olate, so bring your family, friends, and pets to listen to the live enter-tainment and experience the beauti-ful tree being lit. Make sure to bring your camera, because Santa Claus will be there to take pictures!

The Enchanted Forest at The Pink Palace is a great way to help Le Bon-heur this Christmas. By going to the Enchanted Forest, you are doing your part to help raise money for the children’s hospital and at the same time, are able to enjoy the decorated Christmas trees, houses made of gin-gerbread, and so much more.

Holiday parades are a great way to

get in the holiday spirit (as long as you do not mind sitting in the cold, that is). Bring your blankets and hot cocoa to the Collierville Pa-rade on November 30 to watch the wonderful floats and listen to the local marching bands as they pass by. A little ways down the road, on December 8, you can catch the Ger-mantown parade featuring horses, floats, car clubs, and even an ap-pearance by Santa Claus!

On the weekend of December 2nd, you can go down to the Or-pheum in Memphis and watch the magnificent production of The Nutcracker. This national ballet has been called “refined…radiant…and accomplished” (or-pheum-memphis.org) and is loved by many throughout the United States.

This 2012 holiday season is filled with so many great events that it will be hard to catch them all. Pick your favorite and make a Christ-mas memory today!

Dwarves Dumplings

Jingles for the Sleigh

Zoe Leake ’14Dani Cafferty ‘14

Ingredients: -Pastry Dough -Filling (jam, fruit or meat

mixture) Directions: Roll pastry dough into

squares and brush edges with melted butter. Place 2-3 tablespoons of filling in center and fold over, crimp-ing edges together. Brush top of filled pastry with an egg wash and place on greased cooking sheet. Bake in pre-heated oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until gold-en brown.

Calling all who have ever wanted to travel to Middle Earth! Unfortunately, there is no 5:30 pm train to visit Hobbiton. On the other hand, with the new movie “The Hobbit” coming out this December, the Lord of the Rings fans can rejoice in the return of all their favor-ite characters such as Bilbo and Gandolf on the big screen!

Junior Dani Cafferty can-not wait. Starving for an early taste, she decided to stir up some “dwarves dumplings,” an original sweet treat recipe from

Middle Earth! “The dumplings were

delicious! I filled them with a homemade rasp-berry jam, but anything could be used. Pork and vegetables to Nutella—you name it. The dump-lings were crispy on the outside, soft and buttery on the inside. A perfect end to any meal!” said Cafferty.

Before you head out to feast your eyes on some new Hobbit mayhem this December, satisfy your hunger with these deli-cious little dumplings.

Emma Sisson ’13

Jingle Artist“O Holy Night” Glee Cast“Baby, It’s Cold Outside”

Leon Redbone and Zooey Deschanel

“The Little Drummer Boy”

Harry Simone Chorale

“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”

Sugarland

“Ave Maria” Harry Connick Jr.

“Home for the Holidays”

Perry Como

“Mistletoe” Justin Bieber“Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”

Michale Bublé

“Joseph’s Lullaby” MercyMe

“Jingle Bell Rock” Bobby Helms

Sarah Barkowski ’16

Recognizing All Religious Holidays

Throughout the holiday season, Christmas is the subject that reigns throughout commer-cials, stores, radio stations, and among the friendly conversations at the grocery stores around Memphis. However, the holiday sea-son, throughout the months of November, De-cember, and early January, does not only con-sist of Christian celebrations.

This holiday season is also a time for recon-ciliation and self-evaluation among popular religions such as Judaism, Islam, and Hindu-ism, just to name a few. Their celebra-tions during this season focus on founders, gods, and historic cultural events.

For the past two years, the Islamic New Year has been a holiday celebrated by Muslims dur-ing the month of December. However, since the Islamic calendar changes like any other calendar every year, Muslims celebrated the Islamic New Year this year in Novem-ber. The celebration involves focusing more on devotion and worship in hopes for believers to further purify their souls. It marks the day that Prophet Muhammad started his journey from Mecca to Medina, known as the Hijra.

Hindus celebrate Pancha Ganapati, a five-day festival to honor Ganesha, the god of the beginnings and obstacles of life. This fes-tival is full of gift-giving, sweets, and appre-ciation for Ganesha. Hindus often decorate a shrine in the main family room of their home, adding a specific color to the display during each of the five days. Each color and day fo-cuses on and represents one of Ganesha’s powers, which are harmonious and show love for the community entities around the world.

Hanukkah, also known as “The Festival of Lights,” is probably the second most recog-

nized holiday throughout these few months. It is celebrated for eight straight days, com-memorating the eight days in which the Holy Temple in Jerusalem during the second centu-ry BCE was lit, despite the little oil the temple had left (which was only expected to light the temple for one day). Jews light one candle on the menorah for each of the eight days during the holiday, representing another day of light.

Throughout the next few weeks, people will be more in touch with their religious beliefs, more than any other time of the year. Embrace the peaceful aura that the holiday season possesses because it is rare when you find multiple religions worshiping and celebrating so close to-gether, which is one of the reasons why our nation is so unique. Even though

you may not agree with the other holidays, it is of the utmost importance that we are rever-ent and respectful towards other religious hol-idays—because what is the point in judging and discounting the other holidays, when the whole point of the holiday season is about be-

ing full of love, happiness, and thankfulness?

We should be thrilled by the fact that celebra-tions in the Unit-ed Stated are re-

ligiously diverse. We should also be thankful that we are able to worship and praise whom-ever we want among others who believe dif-ferently. To do so without being ashamed or punished is a privilege.

Furthermore, we need to reflect on what each and every one of us personally believe and be thankful for what that belief provides for our lives during this holiday season.

Maggie Courtney ’14

We should be thrilled by the fact that celebrations in the US are religiously diverse.

Hanukkah, also known as “The Festival of Lights”

Not Your Traditional Traditions Now, some traditions are

not quite as rare. Many often include fun games to see who gets to open the first present on this merry holiday. For ex-ample, in the Sellers family, junior Katie Scott Sellers and her college-aged brother both frantically search through their Christmas tree for a pickle ornament. Whoever finds the pickle, picks the first present to open. How invigo-rating!

There are some who pre-fer a more business-like ap-proach, such as the Merino family. Anna Merino, junior, explained that she and her brother, freshman Alex Me-rino, create a spreadsheet to characterize presents by size, shakability, density, et-cetera, and try to guess them based on the probability rate of each. Whether the method

is through pickles or spread-sheets, a common theme men-tioned among many Merry Christmas-ers was the excite-ment surrounding presents and present opening.

One tradition that is dif-ferent for every family is the Christmas morning meal. My family, for example, has a fan-tastic brunch—prepared by Santa, of course. However, junior Gracie Livingston’s family enjoys a nice juicy sau-sage pinwheel every Chritmas morning. Livingston says she is a big fan of the sausage pin-wheel.

Junior Alexa “Betty” Bas-inger’s family loves their fancy French toast, and the Betchick sisters, junior Cam-den and seventh-grader Kir-by, enjoy some wonderful Sis-ter Schubert rolls as they sit on the stairs, patiently awaiting their mother’s okay to come see Santa’s gifts!

Continued from page 1

Don’t Drive Drowsy• •

This is because teenagers have school, sports, jobs, and social lives. It is a very demanding schedule that causes teens to get very little sleep. Ms. Fox said, “People, especially teenagers, need eight hours of sleep.” She feels that this is very impor-tant because people who sleep for six to seven hours are twice as likely to be in a sleep-related crash as some-one who sleeps for eight.

Ms. Fox also mentioned, “A lot of people do not real-ize how common sleep-re-lated accidents are.” Former President George W. Bush’s wife, Laura Bush, fell asleep at the wheel when she was 18 and killed someone. The year after Kihnl’s death, one of his wrestling teammates also died in a sleep-related car crash on a road trip with his friends to the Grand Can-yon. It happens all the time, but most police officers are not able to report about it be-cause it is hard to determine if that is why the car crash happened.

Kihnl’s family has many ways to keep Kyle’s memory alive. Since Kyle was a wres-tler, a scholarship named the

Continued from page 1

A Big MistakeParents are constantly telling their kids who can drive

to “always be careful” and that “driving is a serious thing that should not be taken lightly.” When most of us hear this, we just roll our eyes and act like what they are saying is important. Even though most of us think it isn’t, trust me when I say it is. I was one of those kids that didn’t re-ally listen to their parents, and I thought nothing would ever happen to me behind the wheel. Boy, was I wrong.

During the month of September, I got in a car wreck, and sadly it was my fault. After a half-day of school, I was on my way to lunch, driving behind fellow junior Byington Rhea. Because I was driving too closely behind him, when he slammed on his brakes due to Poplar construction, I ran into him. This, in turn, caused him to run into Zach Lane, another junior. Luckily no one got hurt, but I felt awful. Zach got a dent on the back of his jeep, Byington’s truck’s tailgate broke, and the front of my car was ruined.

The wreck was horrible and the consequences from this accident were also pretty bad. I received a ticket from the police, and on top of that, I had to go to court. At court, I was given a lecture by the judge, six hours of community service, and a four-hour driving class. Going to the court-house in Germantown was embarrassing, and I felt like a delinquent.

I know my car accident may not seem as serious since no one got hurt, but it is still a big deal. It is scary and it affects everyone involved. Anyone in a car accident would agree with me that drivers should drive carefully and safely.

Meredith Gatlin ‘14• •

“Kyle Kihnl Exceeding Ex-pectations Award” was cre-ated and is given to a wrestler at Houston High School each year. It is named this because Kyle won the “Exceeding Ex-pectations” award. His aunt, Kathi Wright, started it and is in charge of the Eye Open-er 5k to help raise money for the scholarships they give.

Hopefully, Kihnl’s story and the family’s campaign will help everyone remem-ber how dangerous it is to drive drowsy. Please remem-ber to get a good night’s sleep and to be safe when driving!

Probably the most creative tradition of them all belongs to none other than the Cayce family. Junior Lindsey Cayce describes her family’s Christ-mas ritual with a shimmer of anticipation in her eyes. “Af-ter church on Christmas eve, my family and grandparents come to my house for ‘Pizza on Earth.’ We make homemade pizzas and cookies for Santa!” Pizza on Earth? Like “Peace on Earth”? How clever! Mr. Mc-Graw would be so proud.

No matter how strange—I mean unique—your family traditions may be, they are the things everyone looks forward to each year. Whether you are whipping out Excel or har-monizing for a ceramic doll, traditions are set in stone. No matter how odd they seem to us, they add that special some-thing to the holiday season. And I, for one, am quite thank-ful for them.

6 FeaturesDecember St. George’s Independent School• •

Ways to prevent drowsy driving:

1. Never drive alone. Designate a rider to stay awake while others sleep.2. If you feel sleepy, drink caffeinated beverages. 3. Pull over and jog a couple of laps around your car.4. Pull over and take a short nap, if you are in a safe environment.5. Do NOT eat sugary foods but food with pro-tein, like peanuts.

Lindsey Cayce

“Q” Conquers Cancer

If all went according to Q’s treatment plan, a typical chemo day was packed with different tests to make sure Q was prepared to receive the chemo, along with some studying for school work. According to Melanie Winfield, Q’s mother, “While battling cancer, there is no official sched-ule,” so every day was different.

After Q finished his last week of chemo, he had one additional week of evaluations to determine how effective the treatments were. On Thanksgiving Day, Q and his family were able to share the wonderful news that he was officially cancer-free. This news meant that Q could resume playing sports once he regained his strength and start school again in January. Q said, “I am very excited to go back to school, because I finally get to hang out with all my friends again. Also, I look forward to playing sports again, especially basketball.”

One of the greatest things that came out of this experience for Q and his family was the outpouring of love and support that came from all of Q’s friends. “The support I received from my friends, including the St. George’s teachers and parents, has been very important. Everyone supported me throughout this whole process, when they did not have to. I am thankful for all of the support they gave me.”

When asked how hard the past eight months have been, Q said, “The hardest part about going through cancer was going through chemotherapy and thinking there was a possibility of me not surviving.”

Despite the effects of chemotherapy and having to be away from his friends so much, Q handled everything with a positive attitude. “This experience has strengthened my faith in God, who an-swers prayers and can do all things if you trust Him.”

7FeaturesDecember St. George’s Independent School• •

Driving statistics at St. George’s: These observations were made by members of the Gryphon Gazette staff over a period of five days during both morning and afternoon carpools.

-Drivers who fully stopped: 35%

-Drivers who rolled: 38%

-Drivers who didn’t stop: 27%

-Drivers on cells (parents): 36%

-Drivers on cells (students): 14%

Nathalie Vahceron ‘13

Every year, after presents are opened and Christmas’s golden glow begins to fade, we quickly abandon Santa and his reindeer in preparation for yet another holiday around the corner: New Year’s. I don’t know about you, but as fuzzy red hats are traded for 2013 glasses and party planning is begun, I’m floating in a little bubble of somber reminiscence.

I think back, amazed by just how much things change in the course of a year, and feel overwhelmed by the fact that it will never be “this year” again. But no matter how much I’d like to hold onto my little collection of memo-ries, I’m eventually reminded that a new year brings the opportunity to cre-ate even better ones.

As far back as I can remember I have been making New Year’s Resolutions. When I was little, the list tended to in-clude an infinite number of goals rang-ing from “get a cat” to “go to Alaska” (what I didn’t realize is that I was ac-tually writing bucket lists but the dif-ference was trivial at the time). But every year, the goals were forsaken after roughly a week or two and even now, years later, the same thing tends to happen.

So why do we make New Year’s resolutions if we never intend to keep them? Perhaps we actually do make them with the intention of keeping

New Year, New Start?Dagny Vaughn ‘14

them, but don’t realize what they mean until we’re running miles a day and not drinking soda. Or perhaps it’s simply the ritualistic symbol of a new start; the act of making the goal, not keeping it.

Only about forty percent of people are successful in keeping their resolu-tions, and according to TIME Maga-zine, the most commonly made (and commonly broken) New Year’s reso-lutions include losing weight/eating healthy, quitting bad habits, learning new things, saving money, volunteer-ing, getting less stressed, traveling, and spending more time with family. But with such great intentions, what can we do to be more successful in keeping them?

The New York Times states that there are, indeed, several steps that can better the chances of sticking with a resolution. Studies show that people that are able to keep their goal through the month of January will be more successful throughout the rest of the year. Also, using strategies such as digital reminders and group support can be beneficial in the out-come of resolutions.

So if you’re one that’s a fan of new starts, try to beat the odds and make resolutions that are realistic, planned, and (hopefully) successful.

New Flashing Lights: Thanks to advocacy from school president Mr. William Taylor, St. George’s parent Mr. Frank Fitzgerald, and Collierville mayor Mr. Stan Joyner, Jr., flashing school lights have been installed on Wolf River Boulevard and will soon be installed on Houston Levee. For the time being, the lights will be flashing between 7:30 a.m. and 8:15 a.m. in the mornings, between 3:00 p.m. and 3:45 p.m. in the afternoons, and between 2:45 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. on Wednes-days. These times may be adjusted as needed in the future.

Driver Safety on Campus

Faculty Spotlight: The Lovely Lisa TaylorOn a cold afternoon in November,

the front desk is bustling – papers stacked around the desk in an orderly fashion, the phone ringing and one line on hold, pen scratching on Post-It notes – and the lovely Mrs. Lisa Tay-lor, the friendly face all St. George’s students know and love, is sitting in the middle of it all. She conducts busi-ness from the front desk like a queen completely in charge of her kingdom, aware of all that happens within the St. George’s community. She is the go-to person for any questions, concerns, or problems.

But what do we really know about Mrs. Taylor? We know she’s fairly sympathetic to our pleas of why we’re late (not so much to get us out of a tardy, but she’s nice about it) and always busy. She’s Southern, sweet, and everyone likes her—that’s for cer-tain. However, there is so much more to Mrs. Taylor than meets the eye.

Q: What do you do here at St. George’s?

A: I am the welcome desk and I do the attendance here and I do all the vacation time and just everything that needs to be done at the front.

Q: How long have you been work-ing at St. George’s?

A: I’m going on six years. It’s been great.

Regan Hewitt ‘14

Q: Do you like it here?A: I love it! The kids are great and

it’s just a lot of fun.

Q: Could you describe a typical day here at St. George’s?

A: Oh, gosh, a typical day at St. George’s for me is busy in the morn-ing with all the kids coming in and checking in tardy, and trying to get me to feel bad for them and give them a late…

Q: Do you ever hear weird excus-es? Could you tell me any of them?

A: All the time! Well, they just al-ways say “and I had to…” This one student said that he had to, um, had to chase down his horses at home! And I said, “Well, that was good, but I can’t let you…” So, yeah, they always try to make me feel bad and I do, and it’s just busy on the phone all the time and taking care of peo-ple’s needs.

Q: How late do you stay here? A: I get here at 7:30 and leave at

4:00 every afternoon. A little bit lon-ger than a school day.

Q: Before you starting working at St. George’s, what did you do?

A: I worked at Christian Brothers High School, doing the same thing I do here. But it’s more fun here

because I have boys and girls and I have the middle school kids, yes, and they’re very sweet and they love you and give you hugs and notes and stuff like that. You know, it’s nice! But you know I have a senior at White Sta-tion, so I know how it is having a high schooler.

Q: What is your daughter like? A: I have three girls. One’s 28, one’s

25 and one’s 18. My oldest is a nurse, and my middle daughter lives in At-lanta and she’s a hairdresser and she just got engaged—yay! And then my baby is at White Station and she’s gon-na graduate. She’s looking at Univer-sity of Memphis—she’s going into the nursing program.

Q: Okay, so if you could change any-thing about St. George’s, what would it be?

A: I wish we had four day weeks! Wouldn’t that be great? And being off in the summer would be good too.

Q: If you could do any other job, ei-ther here at St.George’s or elsewhere, what would you do?

A: I think I would really like to be… um, I’ve never really thought about it, um, I’d think I’d like to be, like, a mod-el. I want to be tall and skinny and can eat anything I want! But’s it not gonna happen!

Continued from page 1

8SportsDecember St. George’s Independent School• •

Gryphons Look to Rebound from Senior Losses

As we see the fall sports come to a close, we look ahead to the winter. The boys’ basketball team is look-ing to have a good season despite unjust projections. Having lost nine seniors from last year’s team, includ-ing Alex Bran and Alec Mulvihill, who are both play-ing this year at the college level, there are several un-knowns for this year’s group. For the most part, every player on this year’s roster is coming into the season with limited varsity experience.

Despite the lack of experience, the team is filled with players who have spent several years in Coach Ruf-fin’s program. The team features six seniors, two ju-niors, one sophomore, and two eighth graders. It will be a new look for the St. George’s basketball team. Due to the obvious lack of height (having only five players standing at least six-feet tall), the Gryphons will have to take advantage of their depth at guard and their speed advantage over most teams. The Gryphons will feature a much more balanced attack, spreading the scoring amongst several capable players.

Because of this team’s lack of experience, there is a wide window for each and every player to contribute. This team will improve in great strides from game to

game as they begin to become more accustomed to playing at the varsity level. At the end of the season, they hope to be at top-form for division play.

The main competition comes from the western side of DII-A, which features the strong Evangelical Christian School and Lausanne teams. ECS is a team filled with great size, including 6’10’’ sophomore Skal Labissiere, who recently received a scholarship offer from the University of Kentucky. St. George’s travels to ECS on January 22 to take on Labissiere and the Ea-gles. Lausanne is a very athletic bunch as well, high-lighted by Murray State commit Cameron Payne. The division will be competitive at the end of the season since several teams have realistic shots at a state title.

St. George’s boasts a difficult non-division sched-ule to go along with their division schedule. The Gryphons have already beaten an athletic Memphis University School team earlier this season. On Janu-ary 15, in the classic “Battle on the Levee,” the Gry-phons take on a talented Briarcrest team. Briarcrest is led by 6’ 9’’ Memphis commit Austin Nichols. These are only a few games of many that highlight an excit-ing basketball season, so come out and support the Gryphon boys’ basketball team.

Grant Optican ’13

Hockey in the South: What You’re Missing out on the Ice

As you take your seat, you’re greeted by a cacophony of sounds: the long, smooth slicing of blades against ice, the reverberating snap of a wooden stick against a solid rubber disk, and the deafening crash of a six-foot-tall man against a plexi-glass wall at 30 miles an hour. It’s hockey night at the Lander’s Center in Mississippi, and there is no place you’d rather be.

For as long as the sport has been around, ice hockey has never been accepted in the South. Many here dismiss the sport as the past-time of Canadians and Yankees, unwelcome in the land of football. However, those who hold this belief are missing out on what is perhaps the most exciting sport on the face of the planet.

Last Friday I, along with several friends, ventured down to DeSoto to catch a RiverKings game. After pay-ing the modest entry fee of $16, we made our way to our seats and settled down to watch the fireworks. Immedi-ately upon sitting, a fight broke out involving four play-ers from both teams. The ensuing brawl lasted around two minutes and ended with bloody noses and players ejected from the arena. My friends and I looked at each other and knew that it was going to be a good game.

The excitement only grew from the early fighting. Players from both sides smashed each other into the un-forgiving walls, vying to set the puck free. Goalies from both teams endured barrages of shots, sacrificing them-selves for the good of the team. The crowd screamed with joy every time the RiverKings scored, and sank into silence at every opposing goal.

I encourage everyone, whether or not you are a sports fan, to go out and give ice hockey a shot. Tickets to the RiverKings games are inexpensive and the constant ex-citement and action make the journey worthwhile. Go out and watch some ice hockey, I promise you it will not disappoint.

• •Tyler Durniak ’13

Big Changes for Winter CheerBasketball season is finally here! And with basketball

season comes the girls’ winter cheer squad. But, what ex-actly is winter cheer? What used to be the Pom team has evolved into an enthusiastic, non-competitive cheerlead-ing squad. The squad will mainly cheer and support the boys’ basketball team, but will also be encouraging the girls’ basketball team.

Even someone with no previous skills in cheerleading, like me, can give this sport a shot. I have never cheered be-fore in my life, and I am not particularly skilled in the area of dancing. Yet, I feel like I have been groomed into a real cheerleader—thanks to the wonderfully talented coaches, Darrion Walker and Sharon Lathum.

They have been whipping us into shape since early Oc-tober. In fact, Junior Catie Wilcheck said, “My favorite part about winter cheer is Darrion, our coach!” The winter cheer coaches this year have really pulled the girls together and created an amazing program. It really is a beautiful sight to see the progress that the winter cheer girls have made.

The team has been working extra hard in the last couple of months in order to prepare the St. George’s students to get a little bit R-O-W-D-Y! Winter cheer has not only cre-ated a close-knit team, but it has also created friendships amongst these girls. Junior Alexa Basinger says that her favorite part of the team is the “energized girls that make it so fun!”

Not only are the girls excited, but the basketball boys are too! Varsity player, junior Jack Matula , expresses his excitement for the cheerleaders by saying, “It is good be-cause they cheer really loud and make the fans crazy!” Be-cause let’s be honest here—what guy doesn’t love a bunch of girls jumping around and shouting his name, cheering him on?

The winter cheer girls cannot wait to cheer on the bas-ketball team this season. Make sure to show your support for both boys’ and girls’ teams at the basketball games this year. See you there, and go Gryphons!

Anna Merino ’14

Lindsey Cayce ‘14

Lindsey Cayce ‘14

Winter Cheer practices for future game-time performances.

Gryphon players look on as senior Hunt Seabrook shoots a free throw.

9SportsDecember St. George’s Independent School• •

Believe in the Grizzlies

With one of the hottest starts to a sea-son in franchise history, the Memphis Grizzlies are bringing a new sense of hope to the Memphis area, and it’s only December. Although the Griz-zlies opened their season with a loss to Clippers, creating a bitter rivalry, they were able to quickly rebound and win their next eight games. They have been beating quality teams such as the Houston Rockets, Miami Heat, and the previously undefeated New York Knicks.

The Grizzlies have taken their popu-lar slogan “Grit n’ Grind” to a whole new level. Many people are saying that the Grizzlies take on a rough style of basketball that simply bullies their op-ponents into surrendering. Although this might be true, you cannot take away the cold hard stats that the Griz-zlies have shown so far this season.

In nine games, the Grizzlies allow just 92 points per game by holding

opponents to 44% from the field and force more than 16 turnovers, not in-cluding blocked shots. On the offen-sive end, the Grizzlies are proving to be just as strong. They have one of the lowest rates in the NBA in turn-overs at just 12.4% and have a 30.9% offensive rebound rate. As a team, the Grizzlies are shooting 82.4% from the free-throw line, which puts them in second in the entire league.

It goes without saying that this year should turn out to be something pretty special. It has been clear that the Griz-zlies are a quality team for a while, but this is the first year that they haven’t had any major injuries to a key player. On top of that, the Grizzlies bench is on fire. Whether we know it or not, this city puts a lot of hope and faith into this team come playoff time, and even though it is just the beginning, this is proving to be a season unlike any other.

Fantasy Football Exceeds Expectations

I do not watch NFL foot-ball. And though my fam-ily has always been pretty invested in college football, we have never really gotten into the professional league. Honestly, sometimes, I don’t even watch the Super Bowl.

I have never really had any emotional attachment to a specific team because they change players (and some-times cities) so often. Thus, when I was approached about joining a fantasy foot-ball league this year, I was expecting to draft a terrible roster and not get invested in the game. Oh, how naïve I was.

Since my league is made up of rather busy people, we did our draft over a period of about four days. General-ly, however, the draft is done all in one day. There are stipulations for how many players you are allowed to draft at each position and there is a specific order that the picks take place in. Once you have your team drafted, you are ready to begin your season as a coach.

Every week, each team is matched up against another team in the league and your fantasy point values go head to head. You can pick and choose which players you want to start in a week and there are points systems set up based on different sta-tistics for different fantasy

point values. Often, one of the most frustrating parts of each week is looking at the fantasy points that the play-ers you kept on your bench scored and realizing how much higher you could have scored that week. I remember one week in particular when my bench outscored my starters and I would have won the game that I lost.

Rankings are put togeth-er after each week based on who has won the most games since the start of the season. After thirteen weeks, the rankings are cal-culated for a final time, and then the teams are put into playoff brackets for the last several weeks. The win-ner of the playoff bracket is declared the winner of the league. In some cases, they win money. In my league, however, they win brag-ging rights for an entire year.

As I stated before, I do not watch NFL football. My emotional attachment to my team was completely unexpected. Despite my hesitant start this year, I be-gan to be devoted to win-ning the league around the second week. I became at-tached to my players and they kept winning, so I con-tinued to care about how they performed. As a re-sult, my team, “For Narnia and for Aslan,” is currently leading my league.

Calla Michalak ’14

Gryphon Athletes Make Their Talents Public

The athleticism of the juniors and seniors at St. George’s Independent School extends much farther than your typical winter varsi-ty team. Everybody knows about the winter varsity teams—such as the boys’ and girls’ basketball teams, boys’ and girls’ swimming teams, and the boys’ wrestling team—that are going on throughout the winter trimes-ter. Despite these popular sports, not many people know about the winter recreational basketball teams that many students in the St. George’s community are participating in.

Two of these teams include the junior team known as the “Swans” and the senior

Jamie Roche ‘13

• •

team known as the “Gypsies.” The Swans are headed by junior William Brown, and consist of several other juniors looking to make a name for themselves out on the bas-ketball court. The Gypsies are led by seniors Wil McMillian and head coach Nicholas Sims. The Gypsies also consist of other se-niors who have been on the team for several years.

Both of these teams have been playing for about three years, but nothing is as exciting as the competition in the Collierville Youth Athletic Association (CYAA) this season. Looking forward to the competition, Mc-

Millian said, “We are looking at a champi-onship season because we are returning all of our old players, and our experience from the last couple of seasons is really important to our team’s success. Basically, there is zero chance that we won’t win the champion-ship.”

That is surely a bold prediction for the Gypsies, especially since they will have to get through the tough Swans team to get there. This Gypsies-Swans rivalry should be an exciting one to watch throughout the en-tire winter in addition to the winter varsity athletics at St. George’s.

Lindsey Cayce ‘14

Lindsey Cayce ‘14

The Grizzlies take down the Lakers 106-98 in their November 23 matchup.

10Student LifeDecember St. George’s Independent School• •

Grand-Gryphons Pay a Visit

While the turkeys were roasting in preparation for Thanksgiving, St. George’s celebrated their annual Grandparent’s Day. As an intriguing spin on “Bring Your Kid to Work Day,” the Memphis and German-

town campuses invited the students’ grandparents to come to school with their grandchild. It was a day filled with fun and excitement for the students and the grandparents. We ventured to the Germantown campus, and got the chance to see what it was all about.

Walking down the hallways, we were able to see the artwork and assignments that our soon-to-be Collier-ville Campus friends have been working on throughout the year.While admir-ing the always-adorable artwork, we ran into the Hawkins family. Walker Hawkins’s grandfather com-mented on the day saying, “Walker couldn’t wait for us to get here. He has been talking about it all morning.”

Needless to say, there was a great amount of excitement on both ends of the spectrum. The grandparents were

happy to see what their grandchildren have been up to, and their grandchildren were happy to show them. Moreover, they were both happy to get to spend the day together. Fifth-grader Mary Margaret Rain-er’s grandmother said,

“Today has been fabulous! We have seen everything on Mary Margaret’s list!”

Besides seeing the classrooms and students’ schoolwork, the grandparents were also able to enjoy a presentation made the students. Grandparent’s Day was a wonderful occasion for everyone in the family. Starting out the holiday season, we are reminded what this time of year is truly about – our family.

Of course, St. George’s exhibited such a wonderful reminder on such a great day in dedicating it to family and fun. There is no question in our minds about the importance of Grandparent’s Day to the St. George’s community.

...cheek pinch-ing aunts, poten-tially fit-throwing children, and burnt turkey dinners...

The Do’s and Dont’s of Holiday Dinners

As the holidays draw ever closer, I start to think about the importance of the holiday season. I think about what the season re-ally means. It is trivial, repetitive, and thor-oughly over-done when people regurgitate the sentiment that the holiday season is not about the presents and the food, but about love and family and friends. However, I cannot help — as irritating as it is — agree-ing with them. I believe wholeheartedly in the giving, loving, and accepting spirit of the holiday season.

Don’t get too excited, though. Even the holidays have rules — and these rules come to the fruition during large or small family/friend gatherings. So, to help you through this nightmare of cheek-pinching aunts, po-

tentially fit-throw-ing children, and burnt turkey, here’s a do-and-do-not list for holiday gather-ings.

1. DO NOT sulk when asked to sit at the kids’ table. If you are lucky, those younger cousins will remember you

as their favorite cousin, which is always a lovely accolade.

2. DO listen to everyone when they talk, regardless of whether or not their mouths are full. You will learn so much by listening to those around you.

3. DO NOT try and unfreeze water pipes by yourself. Or with anyone less-experi-enced than a professional plumber.

4. DO keep a list of restaurants that are open for eating in or delivery on certain holidays. Just in case your meal doesn’t turn out like anyone planned…

5. DO NOT bring up controversial issues. In the spirit of the holidays, accept and love, without judging.

6. DO smile for any pictures taken. You’ll regret it later if you don’t, and pictures look ten times nicer if you smile.

7. DO NOT turn down any sort of food, regardless of “dieting” or “watching my weight.” It’s the holidays — lighten up and eat some cake!

8. DO constantly play music — whether it is Christmas tunes, George Strait, AC/DC, or DeadMau5, everything is more

enjoyable with an epic soundtrack that makes you happy.

9. DO NOT worry about the fact that this holiday season wasn’t exactly like the last holiday season. Change is good; embrace it.

And, last but not least:

10. DO enjoy every second of your holi-day break, regardless of what joy or chaos may ensue!

Regan Hewitt ’14

Meredith Gatlin ‘14Virginia whitsitt ‘14

Virginia Whitsitt ‘14

“He has been talking about it all morning!”

“Today has been fabulous!”

Successful Grandparents Day at St. George’s

Grandparents get a chance to admire their grandchildren’s crafts.

Student LifeDecember St. George’s Independent School• •11

Getting on Santa’s Nice List: Mission Trips and Service over the Holidays

The holiday season is a time of giving, and one way to give back is through mission trips. There are many St. George’s stu-dents who go on mission trips. Senior Mary Henley Green and junior Anna Burress went to Mexico earlier this year, senior Kara Miller went to Haiti over the summer, junior Steven Joe went to Africa over the summer, and freshman Brittain Lawrence went to Honduras. In addition, freshman Sydney Lanyon and senior Chandler Head both went to Belize.

However, one does not have to leave the United States to go on a mission trip. Sophomore Kath-

ryn Heard went to Louisville, Kentucky, New Orleans, Loui-siana, and Baltimore, Maryland for mission trips. Junior Bying-ton Rhea built houses for people in need in Tennessee.

This December, Schneider, sixth-grader Audrey Caroll, and I will be going to Hon-duras for a mission trip. Both Schneider and Car-oll have been twice, and on their third trip to Honduras, I will be going with them. It will be my first mission trip ever and I am very excited.

On their previous trips to Hon-duras, they ministered to kids who do not have the Gospel at their disposal. By going to the

same location multiple times, it shows the kids that they have a Christian family that loves them and it also helps keep their sal-vation and relationship with Christ alive.

Schneider said “Everyone should make it their goal to expand the kingdom of God. Some people don’t know they are loved and

they need to be shown it before they can see it themselves.”

Everyone should know that you do not have to go on mis-sion trips in America or outside of the country to be helping oth-ers. There are many service op-

Meredith Gatlin ‘14 portunities and people in need in your hometown of Memphis. I encourage everyone to help oth-ers and give back to our commu-nity during the holiday season.

How to Get on Santa’s Nice List

•Salvation Army Bell Ringing

•Donate toys to Toys for Tots

•Work at the soup kitchen onSaturday mornings

•Vounteer to work at the Pink Palace in the Enchanted Forest

•Help control traffic at Starry Nights

A Sneak Peek on a Winter Treat• •

The student Senate members have re-ally outdone themselves this year! Pre-viously, winter homecoming festivities have featured the selecting of “Frosty’s Fellas” and a basketball game. This year, however, the Student Senate has a whole new plan.

The Winter Palooza is a dance that will be held in a heated tent, equipped with a hardwood floor and lighting. The Student Senate chose to have this year’s Winter Homecoming Palooza in the tent, rather than in the gym, to add to the festive “Winter Wonderland” feel and to prevent the hassle of travel-ing to another location altogether.

Expect to find see some awesome winter-like decorations, consisting of nothing but white and “snowy cot-ton.” The senate is also planning on making everything environmentally friendly. One cool idea they might car-ry through with is to donate the cotton used for the Palooza’s decorations to Build-A-Bear.

DJ Boogaloo will be featured again, but this dance will be more casual than the homecoming dance. The Student Senate hopes to partner with the Lum-berjack Club to supply hot chocolate, cider, and fire pits outside of the tent for s’mores.

The Student Senate is hoping for a big turn out. Student Senate president, senior Samer Istanbouli, says, “We are going to work extra hard to make this a more casual, social dance so everyone can have fun, and so it can benefit all types of social people.” The date for this exciting upcoming dance is Feb-ruary 13. It’s sure to be an enjoyable event!

Lexie Marotta ‘15

Concert Meets Charity: A New Way to Give Back

Junior Robert Schutt created a new way of making money for the Make-a-Wish Club in addition to the promi-nent and successful way of making the Club’s wish money (selling Chick-fil-A chicken biscuits and Canale’s biscuits) — he added a benefit show.

Even though those delicious bis-cuits fantastically hit the spot on Fri-day mornings after chapel, it is tough to say they could beat the first ever Make-A-Wish Benefit Show, which starred our very talented junior Rol-lin Rosatti, junior David Kenny, senior Becky Flax, senior Elijah Poston, and Schutt himself. Schutt’s dad’s band, The Strangers, along with the Chris-tian Seay Band (a band made up of stu-dents at The University of Memphis), also made appearances. I don’t know about you all, but I personally was not aware of the talent that resided in our very own St. George’s community.

To kick off the night, Flax and Poston made a great duo with Flax on the guitar and Poston on the drums. We often see them playing the guitar and singing in chapel, but trust me, they are worth watching outside of school where they are able to “let it all hang out.”

Next up was Schutt, Rosatti, and Kenny. They lit up the night by mixing each of their unique voices with origi-nal music conducted by Rosatti and Schutt. Right after their first song start-ed, the “oohs” and “ahhs” filled room because no one knew that they were so talented! By this time, everyone had aching bellies from laughter and were beginning to feel the music. The three members of the Christian Seay band performed last and were the icing on top of an already perfect cupcake of a night.

I hope that this new event will spark a flame in students who are musically

talented to come forth and offer their musical abilities to the eyes and ears of the St. George’s community for a good cause. Think about it: while you stand under the stage lights, laughing, dancing, and singing along with your friends to the hypnotic music, you are not only morally supporting the band members, but you are ultimate-ly helping a child’s wish come true. In that moment, it’s all just smiles and giggles, but those will never amount to the happiness you bring to a child when their wish comes true.

If you are one of those people who want to make a difference in the world step-by-step, they this is a perfect start that will benefit you and someone else. So, in light of this event, please come out and support our Make-A-Wish club, and you can take my word for it — you will be far from disap-pointed!

Maggie Courtney ‘14

It will be my first mission trip ever and I am very excited.

Lindsey Cayce ‘14Rollin Rosatti and Robert Schutt take the stage at the Make-a-Wish benefit show.

Student LifeDecember St. George’s Independent School• •12

Dear Santa Letters

Dear Santa,

This year for Christmas I’d like…

Katie Scott Sellers ‘14: World peace.

Pearce Trenary ‘14: For my dad to pay for my fuel. And an air-plane.

Caleb Whitehead ‘13: Sentient Artificial Intelligence and Olavsvern Naval Base. Grace Kenley ‘18: A pair of tan UGGs.

Caitlin Johnson ‘14: A new car because I totaled my old one.

Steven Joe ‘14: Leg hair and James Heard.

Matthew O’Bar ‘13: Money and Steven Joe.

James Heard ‘13: A Christmas unicorn. Mr. Slatery: A good fountain pen.

Hagan Imorde ‘18: A new basketball goal.

Casey Schneider ‘14: A Windows 8 laptop.

Kellen Young ‘14: A video game and a bike.

Meredith Gatlin ‘14: Ryan Gosling.

Ms. Vasil: A fully functional TARDIS.

Byington Rhea ‘14: Shoes.

Emily Joyner ‘13: A ticket to see the band Of Monsters and Men.

Adam Lochemes ‘14: Love.

Mary Grayson Fauser ‘18: A saddle.

Tyler Durniak ‘13: The Porsche 917 Le Mans Raceway.

Eric Reed ‘15: Everything.

Kayce Hyde ‘14: The disappearance of pre-cal.

Jenna Mehmed ‘14: Snow. Griffin Brown ‘15: NBA2K13.

Denise Horner ‘15: Leo DiCaprio when he was in “Titanic”.

Ty Badciong ‘18: Madden 13.

Lindsay Mouhot ‘15: A kiss under mistletoe.

Courtney Miller ‘16: A kitten.

Makayla Smith ‘17: A Wii U.

Rachael Smith ‘13: Beats.

Calla Michalak ‘14: The reincarnation of Heath Leger.

Jake Duffley ‘13: The world.

Colton Morgan ‘14: A new cool personalized license plate.

The Mandys ‘13: For the Ravens to win the Superbowl and an iPhone.

Mitchel Samuels ‘17: A Macbook laptop.

Dagny Vaughn ’14

Student Spotlight: Logan Young

Grant Optican ‘13

Who is Logan Young? We see him around school, but for those who do not know him person-ally, he may come across as a bit of a mystery. So, the other day, I sat down with Logan to hear a lit-tle more about the com-plexity of his day-to-day life and to find out who he really is.

GO: Who are you, re-ally, Logan?

LY: Well… uh… my name is Logan Young, like you said, sometimes called the “Logy-Loge.” I am a senior and I’ve gone here since my fresh-man year.

GO: What sports do you play?

LY: I play tennis and I may play again this year, but if it doesn’t work out, I might play recreation-al soccer. I am also the coach of a recreational basketball team, but oth-er than that, not much else.

GO: What do you do in your free time?

LY: I keep it real.

GO: Okay, aside from that?

LY: I rage. I go to a lot of football games, whether it is for Ole Miss games in Oxford or to Alabama. I also like going to St. George’s games on Fri-days.

GO: What is something that someone who has never met you should know about you?

LY: I’m pretty dope.

GO: What is your favorite place?

LY: The FedEx Forum, it’s where we get our grind on.

GO: You want to elabo-rate on that?

LY: Um, no.

GO: All right, moving on. Who are some of your role models?

LY: Kanye West.

GO: Why?LY: Because he’s got

money and is making the dopest music in the game. Plus, he’s dating Kim Kar-dashian.

GO: Any other role mod-els?

LY: I also like Kid Cudi, he’s pretty chill.

GO: If you could invite 3 people from any time to dinner, who would they be and why?

LY: Obviously Kanye West, he would bring G.O.O.D Music. Maybe we could get some Rudy Gay up in there or something, I don’t know; I just like the Grizzles in general. I also would want Tupac, because I watched his documentary and he seems like he would be cool to talk to. He seems like a smart guy. Actually, can I bring a fourth person?

GO: Uh, yeah I guess so.LY: Messi, the soccer play-

er.

GO: Any reason?LY: No.GO: Who are your favor-

ite athletes?LY: I like Chris Douglas

Roberts, Z-BO [i.e. Zach

Randolp], and Mike Conley.

GO: All right, so obvi-ously a lot of Memphis pride. What is your most memorable moment in Memphis sports history?

LY: It’s going to have to be two. Well first off, when the Grizzlies beat the Spurs in game 6 of the NBA playoffs and then OKC in overtime in round two of the 2011 NBA Playoffs. The other would be the Tigers Final Four 2008 in San Anto-nio that I went to. It was pretty awesome when we beat down UCLA that year.

However, I was also at the final champion-ship game right in front of Mario Chalmers when he hit the shot that lost the game for the Tigers. It was probably the most depressing moment of my life, but still an awe-some experience

GO: This winter, we seniors are going to start applying to colleges. Any idea of where you want to go?

LY: Most likely, College of Charleston, Furman, TCU, Georgia, Alabama, and Miami. Maybe Colo-rado, maybe UCSB (Uni-versity of California San-ta Barbara), but nothing is for sure.

GO: Okay. Is there any-thing else you want to say beore we wrap this up?

LY: Nope.

Samer Istanbouli ‘13