”“

Middle school bolsters swim team

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 3 l D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 2

Eyal Fierst looks to bring his vast experi-ence with sports to his new job as athletic di-rector.

He has been the bas-ketball coach at ten dif-ferent schools and the assistant coach for the boys’ basketball team at Catholic University for in Washington for four years before this position, along with be-ing an athletic director.

In his interview with upper school students, Fierst was described as having the proper knowledge for the job He has had the posi-tion of athletic direc-tor before, at both the Charles E. Smith Jew-ish Day School, which he attended from fourth to twelfth grade, and the American Hebrew Academy in Greens-boro, North Carolina.

“He’ll be good with the business side but it’ll take time to get to know the students, the athletes…” said junior Meghan Norair.

“I started to realize perhaps FA was fading away from its great reputation.

What happened to the Christmas spirit?”

- Matt Vance, page 3

TOP 3 Countdowns1

2

3

Doomsday: 4 days

Christmas: 8 days

Summer: 163 days

around townFALCONS Fly quotableAlumni vs. faculty basketball game

Jingle Bell Christmas Ride

The

The

Students make all-district band and chorus NEWS I PAGE 2

Parents constantly feel the need to know what their child is do-ing and where they’re going.

This relentless need for involvement has reached a point where every Facebook notification, email, Skype message and even text sent or received by their child is at the fingertips of their parents.

In a world of technology where noth-ing is private, it’s becoming increasingly easier for parents to keep a close eye on their child’s online presence. With new sites like Uknowkids.com and mi-normonitor.com, parents can see every site their child has visited, what they do on those sites, and any notifications they receive on social networking sites.

Monitoring a minor’s online pres-ence, or tracking them on their phone through the use of apps like mom-mabear can sometimes damage the trust between a child and parent.

Junior Kendra Nedell has never had her parents monitor her to this extent, but if they did she said she would feel that it’s an unnecessary breach in the trust she shares with her parents.

“I think it would be an invasion of privacy because I’ve never done any-thing to lose my parents’ trust, and if they did something like that I would feel like they didn’t trust me,” said Nedell.

Like Nedell, junior Jeff Good has not been monitored but has slightly differ-ent opinions on the matter. He under-stands parents’ motives for monitoring younger children’s interactions with technology, but finds it invasive for a

young adult or teenager to be monitored. “It’s not really been a concern for

me, but it’s all about the age. You don’t want a 10-year-old on bad sites, but as you get older, it’s more of an infringe-ment on personal privacy,” said Good.

Junior Sara Eadie has a system in her car that allows her parents to control the volume of her music while driving.

“It basically doesn’t allow the volume to be turned up past a certain point, unless the limit is changed online,” said Eadie.

A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center showed that in 2011, 77 percent of parents used some kind of application or program to follow their kids online.

This statistic reflects the opinions of some FA teachers who are also parents.

Upper school history teacher Jeff Eckerson feels that parents have the right to use these surveillance tools.

“I would if I thought there was some possibility of my child doing something they should not be doing,” he said.

Upper school history teacher Keith Wamsley does not think that these kinds of tools intrude on kids’ privacy. He feels that a child does not have the right to privacy until he or she is 18.

“Children do not have the same rights as adults, as they grow old-er they earn the right to privacy. They grow into it,” said Wamsley.

Although he never used these kinds of technology to keep an eye on his son, he admitted to searching his son’s room and reading his diary.

“A parent has to do what a par-en t has to do” sa id Wamsley.

After over three months of hard work, the highly anticipated “Godspell” premiered Dec. 7. It was followed by two encore perfor-mances on Dec. 8 and 9. Among the audience was junior Jonathan McClanahan, who said the play was one of the best he has ever seen at FA. The audience seemed to agree with him, as all three performances were met with a standing ovation. After be-ing in the past three musicals, junior Sara Eadie said, “with such an amazing cast, this has been my favorite play to be part of.”

of parents follow their children on Facebook and

Twitter

40%

of parents have looked up their children on the internet

66%

of parents who friend their children on Facebook are

more likely to have conflicts with them

13%

New technology helps parentsmonitor teen children’s choices

Fierst hired as new AD

continued on page 2

Thursday, Dec. 20 at 3:30 p.m.Take an evening Christmas-themed carriage ride through historic downtown Fredericksburg with lights, music and Christmas cookies.

God Sp LlE

by Samantha King the falcon flier

by Kat SparKSthe falcon flier

Dancers share their embarrassing “Nutcracker” stories

page 4

Falcon Flier page 6

Photo by Caroline PonChoCk

Prepare for Doomsday

The Back Page

Source: Pew Research Center

2newsStudents selected for District honors

Fierst believes that Fredericksburg Academy is a place where people are really enthusiastic about sports. He wants to make sure that the enthusiasm continues through the school year. Though he did not give away any of his official plans for any sports, he has said this:

“I want to continue to make this a place where people want to play sports, to come watch them…” said Fierst.

Fierst says that he is excited about working at FA.

“ Fr e d e r i c k s b u r g Academy is a special place where there are a lot of caring people who want to make it special,” said Fierst

Before Fierst was chosen for the position, the position of athletic director was being split temporarily between teacher Todd Pristas and Middle School teacher and admission assistant Brandon Perry.

Although Pristas says that he was honored to have a part of that job, the work load, which was split between being a athletic director, teacher, advisor, and director of a play was simply too much.

Fierst is an organized man with a lot of good ideas , according to Pristas.

Honors world history added to course offerings

Throughout school, it is proven that students learn at different paces. Public schools offer a wide variety of levels, from regular classes to AP classes. Another type of class that FA just recently adopted was honors world history II, available for sophomores.

Equipped with an 88 percent class average or higher and parental consent, sophomore students were allowed to apply to this honors class. After an interview with Head of Upper

School Tony Durso and Keith Wamsley, upper school Latin and world history teacher, they were considered for the class.

Honors world history meets once a week as a supplement their regular history course. This new class is run as a seminar, similar to a college class.

“With smaller groups you can get your ideas out more clearly without five people jumping on top of you,” sophomore Mary Grace Frazier said.

With the class nearing the completion of its first semester, Durso says that the class has been a valuable addition to upper school academics.

by Forest Wilsonthe falcon flier

“From what I’ve seen the opportunity for the honors students to meet as a small group has been beneficial,” he said.

Students have also begun noticing the difference between the courses.

“[Honors World History II] makes [the topic] harder and more interesting for me,” Frazier said. “Essentially, [the class] goes into more detail. Sometimes we go into a particular aspect in a certain time period or just more in-depth overall.”

Even though the class has only been in progress for four weeks, Wamsley says that the

students have embraced the more challenging course and are stepping up to the challenge.

“I’ve been pleased with how well they have responded to some special readings,” he said. “They’ve come into this with the right attitude and eager to contribute [to discussions].”

“They should [expand the honors class], especially for freshmen and sophomores,” sophomore Mary Grace Frazier stated.

Mr. Durso agrees with Frazier too. “There’s no definite plans for the future, but if it works out well, we will look to expand,” he said.

Several talented students have already won district awards for chorus and band this year. Senior Mary Fried was selected for the Virginia Senior Honors Choir. Fried was fourth out of 115 singers. Another honor was District XV Choir, which Fried, junior Lauren Anker, senior Seth Rapkins, and freshman Brooke West made. Junior Brandon Nicholson and freshman Mara Evans were selected as alternate singers. Anker also made Senior Regional Orchestra on the French horn. 

T h e s t u d e n t s m a i n l y s tar ted winning spots in the d i s t r i c t chorus /band and state chorus/band after Choral Director Elizabeth Eschen and Band Director Benjamin Titus took over.

Ti t u s h a s b e e n B a n d D i r e c t o r s i n c e 2 0 0 7 .

“ I h e l p the students prepare for a u d i t i o n s , by practicing their pieces t h a t t h e y p e r f o r m in front of j u d g e s , a t their blind auditions,” h e s a i d . “There have been at least four students to make a p o s i t i o n i n t h e District or State band. The last one was Lauren Anker, who made all-state band last year.”

Titus said that his interaction

with the students really helps them prepare for these auditions, and it may be the difference in why the students have won so many honors since he arrived at FA.

“I try to develop a culture in my classroom, where the music is taken serious, but also fun at the same time,” he said.

Anker, who made Senior Regional Orchestra on the French horn, said Titus definitely prepared her for the audition.

“First, Mr. Titus got me the audition requirements for the VBODA (Virginia Band and Orchestra Directors Association). He was also very supportive and willing to help me with anything I needed, when it came to the audition,” said Anker.

“Getting to perform in all theses groups is so much fun and really inspiring,” said Anker. She has been in District Band three times in the past, and has enjoyed it. In her last audition, she placed fourth chair, and only six of the 15 people that auditioned

were p icked t h r o u g h o u t north-central V i r g i n i a .

In the chorus room, Eschen has been FA’s choral director for 5 year s . She said that the preparation for an audition i n c h o r u s i s b a s i c a l l y the same a s an aud i t i on f o r b a n d .

“It depends on which award

the audition is for, district or state auditions. Once you arrive to the audition, the students perform in front of different sets

of peers, and if they are selected, they move into a harder group to compete against,” she said.

In the classroom, Eschen helps students prepare for these auditions in many ways. “I try to focus on individual attention with each student. I will meet with each student, individually and will have what I call a WIT (Weekly Individual Time). Also, we work on their vocal technique, and their solo repertoire. Also, a

lot of students do individual solo competitions, not just school chorus competitions,” she said.

Fried, who made Virginia Senior Honors Choir, said that Eschen definitely prepared her for the auditions, and not only that, but also helped her become a better singer.

“The WIT’s really help, and we will work on sight readings a few times a week to prepare for the auditions,” Fried said.

by Zach GoForththe falcon flier

Senior Mary Fried rehearses songs for her upcoming performance, having being selected for Senior Honors Choir and District XV Choir.

The WIT’s really help,

and we will work on sight readings a few times a week to prepare for the audtions.

“

”- Senior Mary Fried

photo by zach goforth

AD steps upcontinued from front page

class, teacher and administration prove hopeful in the course’s future progress.

Long-time coach Phil Brown is no longer the varsity boys basketball coach at FA. Athletic Director Eyal Fierst took over as head coach on December 13. Fierst issued the following statement to The Falcon Flier on December 14:

“I am thankful to the players and parents who made the administration aware of issues regarding the culture of the Boys Basketball Program, and I commend the boys for expressing their concerns in a constructive way. I met with the players and parents on December 13 to communicate my expectations and vision for the program, and I am excited to be working with this exceptional group of young men.”

Fiers t , who became FA’s athletic director in l a t e N ove m b e r, wa s assistant head coach of Catholic University’s men’s basketball team from 2008 through this fall. Prior to joining the coaching staff at Catholic, he was head coach of the varsity boys basketball team at Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, Md.

Briefs

—Staff Reports

Fierst steps in as new coach

six students recognized for outstanding chorus and band performances; choral and band directors prepare students with focused individual attention

Sophomores Elma Adusei, Alina Arnett-Nestor, Mary Grace Frazier, Charlie Garbutt, Matt Vance and Wyatt Falcone (pictured above), Amanda Smithson and Spencer Marshall meet with history teacher Keith Wamsley once a week to supplement their regular world history II class.

photo by forest wilson

Athletic Director Eyal Fierst

3Feature

You hear so many great things about the FA com-munity. How everyone trusts each other, how everyone seems to get along and more. But one great characteristic of FA has seriously fallen short of expectations: stu-dents’ commitment to ser-vice.

I was assigned an article for this issue of The Falcon Flier about how FA is a giv-ing environment, and I was supposed to interview stu-dents and faculty and find out what they were doing to help and give to those in need. At first, I felt confident with the article and thought I would have more than enough interviews with stu-dents who were helping oth-ers. However, as I began to ask around little by little just to see what other students were doing, the results were shockingly disappointing.

Some students said that they were helping with the Service Organization of Fredericksburg Academy gift drive, but I soon found out that SOFA was struggling to get students involved in it. Many kids chose the easy gifts such as stocking stuffers and peanut butter and jelly sandwich supplies. I will ad-mit I was one of them who had chosen the smaller gifts. SOFA explained in front of the entire school twice how no one volunteered to help two kids get bikes. I started to realize perhaps FA was fading away from its great reputation. What happened to the Christmas spirit?

“Christmas is a tradition that reminds us that we re-ally care about each other and how good our lives re-ally are, plus how easy it is to share with other people,” said English and psychology teacher Jennifer Clark Evans, who is also the faculty spon-sor of SOFA.

I find it almost embarrass-ing how we have ignored the purpose behind Christmas and have jumped from a high amount of volunteering to an extreme low in just one year. We heard all last year how students in their senior ex-hibits were involved in rais-ing money for cancer treat-

ment, donating coats to kids through the Salvation Army or spending time with the el-derly.

I looked on the SOFA bul-letin board and saw there was nothing else planned for the holiday season. I asked SOFA leader Rachael Hoff-man what the results were of students filling out their vol-unteer hours. The only reply I received was, “practically zero.”

“FA as a whole does not do a very good job of donat-ing their time to help. SOFA tries to get students to report what they do so we have an idea. Based on the reports

there are a couple people who help a lot but the rest we practically hear nothing from them,” said Clark Evans.

Seeing these disappoint-ing results I began to wonder what the cause was behind students not giving their time. As I sat in silence while my friends around me talked, I saw an opportunity to get an honest answer about why they don’t take help those in need.

“I honestly don’t have the time to help others. I have school during the day, af-ter school I have sports. Get home around eight, and then I eat and do homework. Plus, I like to socialize over the weekend,” said sophomore Michael Murphy. “I also think that a lot of students don’t spend a lot of time helping others because they don’t feel obligated or don’t have time like me.”

Time is a problem for many students because of their busy schedule, especial-ly with exams right around the corner. But I do feel if we want to maintain the great reputation of service FA has, we students as a whole should take the time and find ways we can help those who aren’t as lucky as we are.

PHOTO BY ISABEL STEVEN

Lack of holiday giving spirit shocks staffer

Despite several reminders from SOFA to buy gifts for thedrive, three ornaments with gift wishes were still posted on the deadline for delivery to Red Cross. SOFA members bought them at the end of the school day.

While FA is knoWn For there community service, this holidAy seAson hAs seen A decreAse in chArity From the FA community

Some students think that while they are cramming for mid-term exams, teachers are only adding stress by piling on as-signments to get more grades.

Many students feel that teachers create stressful situations by assigning too much work at one time, especially during exams and school breaks. They think the teachers try to get as many grades in as possible, and that this can lead to bad grades because students don’t have ample time to study and complete their work.

“Teachers cramming in tests and new material is counter-intuitive,” said Senior Alex Hatch. “They are giving us a bunch of unrehearsed material and they expect us to under-stand it for tests and exams. They get more grades in, but the grades tend to be lower.”

“I don’t think it’s a good practice to try to cram things in,” said history and Latin teacher Keith Wamsley. “I’d rather spend the time that is available to do something in a way that deepens people’s knowledge in something, in particular in teaching History and Latin rather than to cram in or tele-scope something into a time space that it really doesn’t fit. Then, you really don’t accomplish anything.”

Wamsley is not the only one who feels that cramming does more harm than good. Some teachers think that while stu-dents might have more chances to get their grades up, it often creates more stress.

“I don’t think cramming is productive,” said Upper School science teacher Daniel Moulton. “I think you put yourself under more stress the more you cram. The more stress you are under the less you are going to be able to learn the mate-rial,” he said.

Many students complain that they have multiple major as-signments all due on the same day, but Head of Upper School Tony Durso says no student is required to take more than two major assessments on any given day.

“If a student has a paper for English and a math test due on the same day, then that’s it. There are no more tests or pa-pers due in any other classes. If there are, the student has the opportunity to go to the teacher or whose major assessment was scheduled last and say, ‘Can I turn this in tomorrow?’” he said.

“It’s imperative that students keep track of their major assessments and if there’s a situation when they have more than three major assessments due on the same day, then they should talk to their teachers beforehand,” he added.

For students who still feel they are crammed with home-work sophomore Elma Adusei offers some advice.

“Don’t waste study halls and unscheduled periods to social-ize, play computer games or play ping-pong when you have a boat-load of homework to do,” she said. “Those things can wait, so take advantage of your time.”

Freshman Carolyn Topps studies for her midterms PHOTO BY kAT SPArkS

In addition to teaching several classes a day, grading numerous as-

signments, and coaching the varsity girls basketball team, upper school history teacher Jeff Eckerson is now in the opening stages of a three-year online graduate pro-gram in American history provided by Sam Houston State University. He is cur-rently enrolled in a class on historiography, the first course of the program.

“The program as a whole is in American history,” Eck-erson said. “Historiography is just one of my classes. It is essentially the study of the study of history. How have different events been viewed differently in different time periods? My final paper is on the Civil War and how its causes have been viewed sort of differently over time since the event.”

Eckerson began the pro-gram in September and ex-pects it to continue for the next three years.

“I have to take 10 classes and then write a master’s the-sis, which is like a big paper, at the end,” he said. “I don’t really know the details yet.”

He explained that his love of history and education was

Teachers tackle graduate programshis motive for taking on the extra work in addition to his teaching career.

“I love to learn,” Eckerson said. “As a teacher, you have to continue to keep up with the latest scholarships in your field and it’s important to be a good role model for your students and continue learning at every age.”

While his added studies do take up a significant portion of his time, Eckerson says that his students as a whole will benefit from his studies.

“This class, in particular, has not only solidified my knowledge of certain events, but has given me a new per-spective on how to teach them,” Eckerson said. “It helps me keep an open mind about how different events can be viewed differently by different people.”

However, the program does place a strain on his time.

“I have to read a book a week, so it takes between 10 or 15 hours a week,” said Eckerson. “It’s a challenge. My family has been very sup-portive. I have to maximize every moment of my free time.”

Eckerson is one of several teachers currently enrolled in graduate courses, including upper school English teacher Susanne Nobles and college

Why are you taking the course?“I always wanted to get my PhD. This program is rela-

tively new and has a focus on writing.”How long have you been taking it?

“This is my third year. I have two classes left to take and then my dissertation.”How has the program benefited you?

“One way is that I love learning and to be back as a student in the classroom is just exciting for me. I also have been able to study some of the things that I do and under-stand why they’re effective or make them more effective. It’s not a degree in education, but I’ve been able to think about my teaching.”How has it benefited your students?

“They’ve been part of research studies on online writ-ing, which has helped me sort of judge how we do it and what the student have said are the benefits of that. I’m learning with them, and I bring in different stuff because I like to talk about it. That’s one of the great things about FA. We all love to learn.” How does it eat up your time?

“My classes are for two hours and 40 minutes once a week. Four or five hours of work on top of that.”

English teacher Susanne Nobles: Ph.D. in English

What program are you doing?

“I’m doing a master’s thesis on German history, specifically Weimer Ger-many, and I’m analyzing the cultural response to “All Quiet on the West-ern Front,” both the book and American movie, on how it influenced poli-tics, specifically the rise of the Nazi party in the late 1920s and 1930s. My main thesis is that what I found is that the response to the book actually had more of an influence on why people voted for Na-zism as opposed to the movie. Why are you doing it?

“I fell in love with his-tory at Rochester when I took a course in the Holocaust; I’m Jewish which is why I chose to take the course. I wanted to understand why the Holocaust could happen in Germany because it was the most westernized country in Europe in the late 19th century and early 20th century.” What are some of the ad-vantages a teacher gains by taking a graduate pro-gram?

“In my AP European history class, one of the books I used for one of my historiography class-es, “The Cultural Origins of the French Revolu-tion,” I used an excerpt of it to teach them about a unique viewpoint on why the French Revolu-tion occurred.”How does your program eat into your time?

“Right now, I’m just finishing up my thesis. Basically, on the week-ends, I will work on writing a few more lines here and there and edit-ing a bit. It’s a balancing act but you do it because you love the subject and it obviously helps your ca-reer.”

College Counselor David Weiner:Master’s inEuropean history

by Matt Vance

the falcon flier

by Wyatt Falconethe falcon flier

Teachers agree major assignments before exams are counterproductive

by Justin Reed the falcon flier

4feature

I used to be something of a perfectionist (or at least more than I am now). Fur-thermore, embarrassing situ-ations were to be avoided at all costs. Preserving my “personal dignity” was the number-one goal. So you can imagine the amount of nausea I felt when I had to

perform in my sixth grade bal-let recital, “The Nutcracker”, without pants.

It was the last of my quick costume changes. Flinging off my fluffy tutu in exchange for short Mandarin coat and hot pink leggings (for the Chi-nese dance in the second act), I reached into my bag, only to find the leg-gings gone. Heart plung-ing into my stomach, I tore the changing room apart to try and find them.

The leggings couldn’t pos-sibly be gone because there was no way I could go onstage with nothing but sheer tights on the bottom. It quickly be-came evident, however, that

by Isabel steven the falcon flier

With Black Friday behind us, it is safe to say that the holiday season has officially begun. And while the smell of peppermint and the sound of Christmas carolers may fill our minds, the holiday season also comes with a heavy dose of holiday shop-ping.

Within the past few years, some new “special” shopping holidays have joined Black Friday, including Cyber Monday and Free Shipping Day. Many of these new retail holi-days are focused on online shopping.

Online shopping has become in-creasingly popular during the holiday times. According to recent IPOSO poll results, 14 percent of shoppers plan to shop primarily online, and 29 percent plan to shop equally in stores and online.

Although Cyber and Green Mon-day have already passed, Free Ship-ping Day, on Dec. 17, is an online deal to take advantage of. This day offers free shipping on all orders with over 2,600 participating retailers, and purchases are guaranteed to arrive by Christmas Eve.

Junior Kendra Nedell has taken ad-vantage of the deals offered on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

“I really like shopping online be-cause it’s easier and more organized. And since a lot of stores that I like to shop at aren’t in the Fredericksburg area, it is easier than having to travel all the way to Tysons Corner or Short Pump,” said Nedell.

Nedell gave advice on some web-sites she found very helpful in looking for Christmas presents. She recom-mends Etsy and Pintrest. Etsy is an e-commerce website focused on handmade or vintage items as well as art and craft supplies. Pintrest is a place to organize and share anything found on the web. Both of these sites offer a wide range of clothing, jewel-ry, photography, art and much more.

Another website that offers one-stop shopping because of its wide variety of merchandise is Amazon.com. When an IPOSO poll asked shoppers what web-sites they would use most for holiday shopping, 42 percent said Amazon is the place to go.

As the world’s largest online retailer, Amazon has much to offer, from books to backpacks to bongos and everything in between.

“Shoppers can find everything they need,” said Junior Rory Dunn. Dunn admits to not shopping at Amazon that much but says, “When I am looking online to buy something and can’t find it anywhere else, I know Amazon will have it.”

Last year, 32.6 billion dollars were spent online between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31. With online shopping becoming more popular, especially during the holiday time, many shoppers are relying solely on it to find the perfect present.

Great deals make online shopping more appealing

by allegra Massey-elIMthe falcon flier

Katy GlanceD u r i n g s e n i o r K a t y

Glance’s first grade ballet recital, her fluffy white tutu fell off while she was danc-ing. Glance then tripped over it and fell off the stage. The music was stopped to let her get back onstage and she continued danc-ing. Glance was in tears after the dance and after the show she felt so mis-

erable that she wanted to quit ballet, but her older brother was there to support her and tell her she danced amazingly despite the trip.

Junior Lauren Anker, a ballerina for eight years, has been in numerous productions of “The Nut-cracker”, along with her brother, alumnus Aar-on Anker. Once, during the Toy Soldier Dance, the swords the dancers were using to fight with broke. The Rat King (Aar-on Anker) and the Toy

Soldier had to keep fighting, however, while everyone else tried to keep from laughing.

There’s a cer-tain liberation in dancing in front of a full house without pants on.

“

”

No pants, no problem

5% plan to shop only online (not in stores)

13% plan to shop primarily online

33% plan to shop about equally online

and at stores

22% plan to shop primarily at stores

11% plan to shop only at stores (not online)

they had vanished, and along with them, any hope of get-ting out of this situation un-

scathed. Conversing in more than slightly hysterical whis-pers with the other dancers, I was faced with two options: refuse to go on stage in an effort to preserve my dignity,

Embarassing ballEt rEcital storiEs provE to bE a common thEmE. two morE studEnts sharE thEir similar ExpEriEncEs.

or perform as practiced, pants or none.

As the minutes until the dance quickly dwindled, I realized I had to go out there. My partners were depending on me. I couldn’t let them down or the dance would fall apart. So I swallowed a huge lump of dread and took my place backstage. As the music started, heart thumping wildly, I plastered a huge smile to my face and pranced out

onto the stage, feeling horribly naked.

While my skinny, pale legs sticking out from under my coat may have given the im-pression that I had frog legs,

as my mom told me sev-eral days later, the audience bought it for the most part (it did help that I was in the center of all the dancers). And, according to our ballet instructor, our dancing more than made up for my lack of costume.

There’s a certain liberation in dancing in front of a full house without pants on. It made me much less worried about being embarrassed in any situation. It also made me realize that sometimes you have to suffer a little humiliation for the good of the group. But mostly, I just remember to double check my bag before leaving the house from now on.

Lauren Anker

offer expires 2/13/13.

5sports

Playing sports for the school is a big time commitment, and

it can sometimes be hard to juggle your academics and activities. But some students look outside of the school for sports. Freshman Katie Zalegowski, for example, is on the school swim team as well as the year-round swim team, Tsunami.

This is Zalegowski’s aver-age Tuesday.

She wakes up around 6 a.m. and goes to school.

From school she goes straight to FA swim practice. “I feel great when I get into the pool,” she Zalegowski.

FA swim practice is fin-ished at 5 p.m. She then has an hour until she gets back in the pool for her second practice of the day with Tsu-nami from 6 to 7. “When I

get home, I am really tired but I can’t go to sleep,” she said.

She has piano lessons until eight, and then she must do schoolwork. Zalegowski has to be able to get all her school work done before too late be-cause she must wake up at 6

Any student athlete knows balancing class work and sports is a challenge. But this was made worse for varsity basketball players this year when they found out their practices would be significantly later times as compared to last year.

This season girls varsity basketball practices from 4:30 to 6:00 as opposed to 3:30 to 5:30 like last year. The boys practice even later, from 5:00 to 7:00, compared to their 4:30 to 6:30 time slot last year.

The change is because the middle school basket-ball teams are no longer practicing at the Marshall center like they have in previous years. According to the Athletic Director Eyal Fierst, having middle school practice off campus is no longer a feasible option.

“Unfortunately we have one gym here. It would

be great if we had multiple sites, but, really, the transportation and the issues with moving people to another site probably don’t make sense long term,” said Fierst.

Some students like varsity basketball player and junior John Hazel disagree.

“I had to go to the Marshall Center when I was in middle school, they can too.”

Not only would going to the Marshall Center for practice enable teams to practice earlier, but it would allow both teams to have a full court during practice.

Junior Kelsey Gedin has identified several prob-lems with the later practices.

“I’m getting home later too! That means less sleep and I already live an hour and a half away, so it kind of sucks that I get home at 7:30,” she said.

Hazel agreed it has caused him to lose sleep in order for him to keep up with his grades.

The girls practice has also been cut by 30 min-utes this year.

“[The basketball team] doesn’t have as much time to practice plays now, so we could be a little more precise if we had that extra time,” said Ge-din.

The athletic department has heard the student’s concerns and is considering other options. Ideas include longer practices only several days a week or holding practices on Saturdays.

As some would expect, students are not thrilled at the prospect of Saturday practices.

“I would hate having Saturday practices be-cause it takes up my one day to relax,” said junior Sara Eadie.

However other students like junior Nathan Mc-Dermott are more understanding.

“I feel like it would help the team but might im-pose on people’s weekend plans.”

by Brad Hoffmanthe falcon flier

Lack of gym space causes problems for basketball playersby meggie rocHe the falcon flier

Eighth-grader does three sports

Athletes play for multiple teams in one season

When a middle school team is not a big enough challenge, some eighth-graders strive to be on varsity teams.

Eighth-grader Ju-liet Whitman is doing both varsity basketball and swimming. Then she pushes herself fur-ther, and swims for the YMCA Stingrays. She has three practices most days.

“I always feel good after practice… they motivate me to be bet-ter,” she said.

Whitman is always pushing herself to im-prove.

“The only way I can reach the goals I have set for myself is by working hard and have the right attitude,” she said.

again the following day. “It can be very stressful,

and I need to get a lot of school work done early,” she said.

Zalegowski spends al-most four hours in the pool just in one day. “I can just forget everything when I

get in the pool,” she said.Zalegowski swims year-

round, so although her sched-ule calms down when she is out of season for the school, she does not stop. “I would never give it up because I love to swim,” she said.

Freshman Katie Zalegowski in a summer swim meet for the Fredericksburg Country Club Buccaneers.Photo Courtesy of Katie ZalegowsKi

6sports

With former key swim-mers such as Graham Schatt-gen and Sydney Hawkins both off at college, the swim team has had to rethink their approach to the season.

“The swim team's goals for this season are to really just progress in the amount of laps we can swim in one practice and to get faster and better at each of the strokes,” eighth

grader Casey Antosh said. However, some disagree

and believe the swim team will still be strong and will not have to focus on rebuild-ing what they have lost.

“I believe that the FA swim team will do just well as it did last year, if not better,” eighth grader Christopher Lucas said.

As for the swim team’s goals, the team will try to improve personal bests and what each swim-mer can accomplish each practice. The team will also

work to build up a capable swim team with a strong base of new eighth-graders.

“It will be a rebuilding year for the swim team not only because the key seniors are gone but also because more than half the team is made up of seventh and eighth graders or people that have never swam before,” eighth grader Frederick Getty said.

However, even though the odds seem to be against them, the swim team is cer-tainly not lacking in spirit. Antosh, Getty and Lucas all believe the swim team will be stronger and faster than ever with a strong base

and determined swimmers. Although this year could be considered to be a rebuild-ing year for the relatively inexperienced team, the team’s determined approach was summed up by Antosh.

“All of our swimmers are determined to do all they can do. I think even though this year we might not get as many wins as we did last year, we will come back kicking next year and make up for the lost time. One thing is for sure though, we won't go down without a fight!” she said.

Middle school brings talent to varsity swim teamby Alex WorkmAn

the falcon flier

Who is your biggest rival? Jase: FCS Sabrina: I would have to say our biggest rival in our division is Randolph Macon. We're also challenging ourselves more this year by playing Division I teams in hopes of improving our state ranking. So I'd say our out of our divi-sion, our rival is Highland as we just lost to them last week, only by 7 points.

What superstitions do you have before a game or meet? Jase: We have to have team cheers before the meet. Every meet I give a speech, and I’m not in the meet if I don’t give a speech. Sabrina: I can't say I have any superstitions before a game. What position do you play/which events do you swim? Jase: I swim butterfly and free. Sabrina: I play point guard but I also switch over to shooting guard sometimes. What is your favorite song to practice to? Jase: “Die Young” by Kesha Sabrina: “Basketball” by Lil’ Bow Wow

What is the team’s biggest rival? Why?Eckerson: Wakefield Country Day. We beat them in championship, but it should be a competitive game again this year. Pristas: Tandem Friends. Mainly because we have a dislike, bad taste in our mouth for their team and heated exchanges with team members and coaches. Wimble: Our biggest rival is FCS. They are the closest team around, and we go back and forth each meet by a few points. I do know that their boys team in-creased by 15 boys so that gives them 22 boys on their team, where I only have seven boys that can score, but I have 12 boys on the team.

What do you predict for this season?Eckerson: I am optimistic that we can win another conference championship, and I am hopeful that we can qualify for the state tournamentPristas: I predict we should definitely contend for DAC championship. We have some good guys who are contributing: Forest Wilson and Librado Anglero. Wimble: I think the girls will be second in the conference and the boys will be third or fourth. I would like the boys to be higher.

Winter athletes continue to make progressby CAroline PonChoCk the falcon flier

Ray of Hope Living, LLC Group Home

Serving individuals with intellectual disabilitiesages 18 & up

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I believe that [the team] will do just as well as it did last year, if not better.

“

”- Eighth-graderChristopher Lucas

Photo by Samantha King

As the first semester of the year ends, student athletes Jase Davis, varsity swimmer, and Sabrina Combs, varsity girls basketball player, explain where their teams stand.

Seventh-graders Gabriel Durso, Junior Shetti, David Dederick and Carson Butler watch their teammates compete in a swim meet. 21 middle schoolers constitute the 33 member team.

Jeffrey Eckerson, varsity girls basketball coach, Todd Pristas, coach of varsity boys’ basketball, and Sheila Wimble, coach of swimming gave provide further insight into each team’s competition.

Photo by Samantha King

7Opinion

As the Director of Col-lege Counseling at FA, I’d like to respond to the Staff ’s Stand in the November is-sue of the Falcon Flier. The staff argues that “our GPA system makes it tougher to get into the larger, public flagship schools” because we operate on a 4.0 scale instead of a 5.0 scale. This claim is not true. As Whit-ney Hawkins, Admissions Counselor at the University of Virginia, states, “We read every application within the context of the high school.” Furthermore, “we never compare transcripts or cur-riculums between different schools because that would be fundamentally unfair to students.” Another repre-sentative, Richard Friesner, from George Mason Uni-versity, concurs. “Regarding FA’s grading system, there’s nothing wrong with it—we know who you are and we look at your overall profile when making decisions.” Even at relatively large pub-

lic institutions, admissions representatives make deci-sions based on the context of a student’s high school.

Contrary to what the Staff ’s Stand argues, it is of-ten to a student’s advantage to apply to a flagship public university from a school like FA. The main advantage is the recommendation. Unlike in public schools, I spend a lot of time getting to know each and every student, and I ask both students and parents to complete a questionnaire before I write a recommen-dation. All of this results in a closer read from admissions representatives, even at pub-lic flagship schools. When the representative from JMU visited FA she said that al-though recommendations are not required in their ad-missions process she goes out of her way to read recom-mendations from small, in-dependent schools like ours because “you know your students.” As you may know, recommendations from pub-

College counselor stands by 4.0 GPA scale

lic school counselors are of-ten short and cursory. This isn’t because public school counselors don’t care; rather, it’s simply an issue of math—counselors at public schools often have caseloads of one hundred students or more.

In addition, numerous rep-resentatives have shared with me the distinct benefits of at-tending FA. Many of them have stated that a “3.0 at FA is equivalent to a higher GPA at a local public school.” In other words, admissions rep-resentatives are aware of the differences between an aca-demically rigorous indepen-dent school education like ours and the education of-fered at a local public school. Furthermore, many repre-sentatives think the 5.0 sys-tem is an indication of grade inflation, a problem that FA students do not have. You should be happy that you at-tend such an academically rigorous school, one that gives you an advantage in the college admissions process.

Use Algebra to survive the Zombie Apocalypse

Staff 12-13FALCON FLIERTH

E

The Falcon Flier is produced by the Fredericksburg Academy upper school newspaper staff to inform and entertain the 216

middle and upper school students.

falconflier@fredericksburgacademy.org

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 22408December 2012Issue 3, Volume XXI 540.898.0020

Alex WorkmanBrad Hoffman

Caroline PonchockForest WilsonJustin ReedKat SparksMatt Vance

Wyatt FalconeZach Goforth

reporters

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

It’s the age-old argument that is only heightened in high school. How important is physical beauty? It perme-ates into yearbooks every-where with titles like best eyes and prettiest smile. Let-ting beauty control our per-ception of people, though, creates an unfair representa-tion of anyone.

Walk down the magazine aisle of any grocery store

and you’ll immediately find magazines like Glamour, Seventeen, and Allure. Flip-ping through the first couple pages of Allure, there’s a trend report with images of a model walking down the runway. Behind the facade of the fashion industry lies 500 calorie diets and extreme depression which magazines, like Allure, glamorize. “The body type portrayed in ad-vertising as the ideal is pos-sessed naturally by only 5% of American females,” (Na-tional Association of An-orexia Nervosa and Associ-ated Disorders). As a society, we’ve fed the images of an ideal body to young girls for much too long. Unhealthy images in these magazines create a skewed perception

of beauty leading to the creation of an unattainable appearance girls constantly strive for.

Along with the perfect body, pressure is enormous when it comes to personal-ity too. A great personality along with a great body is the recipe for a girl considered beautiful “inside and out.” Isn’t that what girls have to strive for; beauty pertaining solely to the outward appear-ance, including your out-ward interaction with others. Television really stresses the belief girls must maintain a positive outlook. Women like Tyra Banks constantly keep themselves poised and put together resulting in a substantial pressure to main-tain a positive outward per-

sonality even if it means you are upset internally. Just like the perfect body, there is also a perfect personality society sees as ideal. If you are a square peg trying to fit into a circle hole, you might as well conform.

Intelligence could be the cherry on the top of this very dangerous sundae. With the stress of appearance and personality being relevant to everyone, we can layer on a not so commonly talked about kind of beauty, intel-ligence. Or maybe it is com-monly talked about among our peers. The girls who flaunt the higher end of the IQ scale seem to be regarded as outliers. Girls have begun to dumb themselves down. Yes, it’s the cliché dumb

blonde in your school. But what if she isn’t ignorant at all? What if she is so much smarter than what she lets you believe? What if show-ing her true intelligence is terrifying to her? Now, this is not as common as issues with self-image, but it is rel-evant. Everyone knows a girl who “plays dumb.” Has any-one ever asked why she does this? It could be her fear of rejection.

“Imperfection is beauty,” (Marilyn Monroe). Accept-ing the parts of people that are not ideal could allow us and society to grow beyond the one track mind of beauty. Real beauty is the imperfec-tions each of us hold and the ability to share them with the world.

by Kelsey Williamsthe falcon flier

Image vs. Beauty

Upper school students need to take initiative next semester

Letters to the Editor DaviD weiner argues that current gPa system anD PersonalizeD letters of recommenDation give fa stuDents Distinct aDvantage

senior kelsey williams exPlores the true meaning of beauty in aP literature eDitorial

cartoon by mimi wack

The Staff’s Stand

with the first semester of the 2012-2013 school year coming to a close, here are the toP three areas in which the falcon flier staff thinks stuDents can take initiative to imProve.

Communication with facultyAs upper school students at FA, we are

awarded a lot of freedom: free periods, laptops and an empathetic faculty allow us to take care of our work as we see fit. However, this freedom comes with certain obligations. When we need extensions on projects and essays, or have several tests and quizzes on the same day, it’s up to us to approach our teachers about it. FA faculty understand the many and varied activities stu-dents participate in, and more often than not, will work with us to find a solution to the issue at hand, provided we come to them in time. We need to take the initiative to talk to the faculty when we have too much work or our schedule is overcrowded.

Commons cleanlinessWhile the cleanliness of the upper school this

year is much better than last year’s, trash and belongings are still consistently left out in the commons. However, very few of us actually want to work in such a messy en-vironment. When you sit down to work at a table with clutter, take a minute to actually gather it up and throw it out (the trash cans aren’t that far away), instead of pushing it to the far side of the table. Or better yet, in-stead of relying on your peers or the custodians to clean up the mess, take your trash with you and throw it out on your way to class.

Positive feedbackThe Student Government recently conducted

an open forum asking for ideas on issues and current topics in the school. While negative feedback is good for change, it’s important to remember to give positive feedback, too. People need to know what is good so that it can be retained. It’s often easier to just complain, but complimenting is just as important to creating the best school atmosphere possible. Take the time to tell SLC what you liked about their latest event or a decision the administration made that you agreed with.

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Welcome to Doomsday

December 21, 2012: the predicted date of the end of the world.

The doomsday hysteria all began with the end of the very famous Mayan calen-dar. There have been massive amounts of controversy over whether the Mayans died out before they could finish the calendar or if this is truly the last of days. Either way, peo-ple have begun preparing for every kind of disaster from economic crises to nuclear warfare. Even the parents within the FA community have felt the need to prepare.

“My dad said he has a se-

cret plan for December 21. It’s kind of a joke, but ev-eryone in my family knows he may actually be serious,” senior Erin Garay said.

Survival of the fittest will be the name of the game and the most prepared may pros-per, so here are a few tips for those who wish to be the last one standing.

According to National Geographic’s “Doomsday Preppers” Experts, the first thing that must be determined in any crisis is the amount of resources available. Establish a good source of water and food. That means at least a gallon of water a day per per-son. In addition to water, a year’s supply of food for each person on a 2,200 calorie diet is needed as well as the abil-ity to restock resources. This means close access to a well, pond, lake, and/or river, and livestock nearby.

Once resources are se-cured, shelter must be pro-

vided. The ideal shelter is in a remote location far from any large city. An essential for any serious prepper is a bunker or hardened safe room stocked with food, water and other supplies. In addition, a constant power source for the shelter is rec-ommended. To impress the experts, a person must ob-tain a combination of solar power, wind, hydro-power, or fuel-powered generators. In case of attack on the main shelter, it’s suggested to have what the experts call a “bug-out” location. This would be another shelter with all the supplies needed to survive.

Finally, a prepper must expect the unexpected. This means access to medical aid, communications, transporta-tion, security, and bartering items. A prepper should own a ham radio and a utility ve-hicle with storage space and off-road capabilities in times of crisis to transport them-

selves to other locations. In case of attack from outsid-ers, it is important to have offensive and defensive strat-egies. And items to barter, like matches, soap, gold, or silver, will be a prepper’s best friend since currency will lose value.

Senior Michael Covington has a different outlook than the panicked masses stocking up toilet paper and canned peas. “I would just live my life and have fun. The world is ending anyways, right?”

Senior Justin Safarik has a more sentimental approach to this day. Unfortunately, Safarik’s birthday overlaps

by Kelsey Williams

the falcon flier

the day the world is predict-ed to end. “[I’d spend my last birthday on Earth] with my family,” he said.

Junior Kelsey Gedin, though, sees this time as an opportunity to cross things off her bucket list. “If the world was ending, I would travel to Europe, go skydiv-ing, and eat a bunch of exot-ic, weird food,” she stated. “I mean if this is the end of the world, there’s nothing you can really do about it. You could bunker down, but who wants to be the last one left on Earth?”

27%of Americans believe the Mayan

prediction is somewhat true

The end of the world hits theaters

Created through the portrayal of Cormac McCarthy’s dark post apoc-alyptic world, “The Road” is the most depressing movie that I have ever seen. And that’s not a bad thing.

Since “The Road” is required read-ing in American Literature, many students already know the story. The movie sticks to the book’s plot pret-ty well and the acting is decent, but what it really excels at is creating the dark, deathly mood that an apoca-lypse deserves.

There is a strange dynamic be-tween the book and the movie. Cor-mac McCarthy created the dreary

mood through lack of detail, which forced readers to create a new world in their mind with little help from McCarthy himself.

Obviously, the movie had to take a different approach. The detail put into the world is incredible. The director Jon Hillcoat took the dark- est interpretation of the book

possible and decided to use it in the movie to create a darker envi-ronment than my mind

was capable of when I read the novel. The performances by

Viggo Mortenson (the man) and Kodi McFee

(the boy) were commend-able but not fantastic. How-

ever, someone who hasn’t read the book before would probably think that the acting was very good. I interpreted the characters to be slightly more up-

lifting when I read the book, but Viggo Mortenson’s performance

adds to the darkness of the film through his quiet, rough voice

and simple dialect. While I think it’s a good movie,

it isn’t necessarily enjoyable. In fact, I think that many people

will struggle to make it to the end. There is absolutely no break in the depression; I don’t recall smiling even

once.

In an era where love stories that happen to involve vampires have taken over the genre, it is refreshing to see a vicious thriller like “Day-breakers.”

“Daybreakers” is an ambitious film, and a good one. It didn’t fare so well at the box office in 2009, but it has a unique story, good acting, and creates a niche for itself in a special-

ized genre: three indicators that this could develop a cult following.

This film features a different type of apocalypse, and some might not even consider it one. The hu-man race is on the brink of extinction, with only around five percent of the population remaining. However, the vampires have simply carried on with their lives; the go to work, have families a n d go to school. They just have to do it all at night.

Needless to say, this is a strange movie. It can be hard to get a firm grasp on the strange premise, and it’s pretty hard to hold on throughout the rest of the story. Some of the plot points are really bizarre; I just had to keep reminding myself that while their world looks the same as ours, it is really quite different. It’s hard to ex-plain, but once I opened up my mind and decided to just go along with the movie, I really started to enjoy it.

“Daybreakers” starts off with a really dark feel to it, although it gradually becomes lighter, and elects to present itself as more of an action thriller than a horror movie. Its atmosphere is similar to “I am Legend” in that the movie can be scary, but it thrives on its action sequences. As a word of cau-

tion to the weak of stomach, I must warn you that this movie is gruesome.

The ending is what really lifts the film from good to great. It fits into the story perfectly and the final scenes are massive in scale.

Good thrillers are hard to come by these days, espe-cially if you’re tired of the Tarantino-esque old-fashion grinder -genre. “Daybreakers” fills a void in the vampire genre that desperately needed to be filled.

‘The Road’ vs. ‘Daybreakers’by matt Kirchner the falcon flier

Rating: 3 out of 5 Rating: 4 out of 5