Senior Imani Jones recited “Degrees of Gray in Phillipsburg” by Richard Hugo in the December POL upper school competition, where she placed fi rst.

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Imani Jones’s peers and class-mates antici-pate her annual

recitation in the school-wide Poetry Out Loud competition.

Most students com-pete each year only in class competitions, vying for the winning spot, but Jones has won her class competition five times since seventh grade, advancing to the school-wide competi-tion.

On this day each year, she pours emotion into the room that per-meates the busy brains of upper school stu-dents. Her raspy South-ern croon is just quiet enough to make them lean forward in their seats, but commanding enough to send shivers down each spine.

Off of the stage, Jones can never be found calling extra at-tention to herself.

Despite her gift for performance, which she has proven in Poetry Out Loud, drama class

The

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Tis the season… for college ap-plications and acceptances. Over the holiday break, instead of re-laxing, many seniors labored in-tensely over applications, while some patiently awaited accep-tance letters. Several have already been accepted to their first choice schools through early decision.

Seniors Blair Frazier, Ryan Hudson, and Lauren Falkenberg have all been accepted and com-mitted to their first choice school. They are ecstatic to be attending the College of William and Mary, Hampden-Sydney College, and Salisbury University, respectively.

One morning meeting in No-vember, sixth-grade geography teacher and Hampden-Sydney alumnus William Moss ap-proached the podium to announce Hudson’s acceptance into H-SC.

“I’m so excited about going away from what I’m used to [and] trying something completely new,” said Hudson excitedly.

Hudson is pleased with this news and cannot wait until Au-gust to attend H-SC. When Hud-son first visited the campus, he knew it was where he wanted to be for the next four years.

“I’ve heard so many good things

and when I visited, it sealed the deal,” he said.

Frazier was accepted into her first choice school of William and Mary. She received this ex-citing news November 30.

“I was so happy and excited! I was jumping up and down and I just couldn’t stop smil-ing. I couldn’t believe that I had gotten in to my number-one choice,” she said.

Now that Frazier has been accepted into college, her sec-ond semester will be less hectic. She will be able to relax more while knowing that she doesn’t have essays to write and appli-cations to fill out.

“It’s such a relief to know that I got into my top school. I can relax a little bit more and I didn’t have to stress about meeting a bunch of deadlines or being afraid of not getting in anywhere,” she said.

Falkenberg is committed to Salisbury University to play Di-vision 3 lacrosse. Falkenberg is nervous and excited to become a collegiate student-athlete, but she knows she will have to work hard.

“I’m actually a lot more ner-vous than I thought I would be. It’s not that I’m nervous that

I’m not good enough, I just feel a lot of pressure because it’s such a great opportunity to play, and I know I’m going to have to prove myself and work harder than I ever had,” she said.

David Weiner, Director of Col-lege Counseling, is “absolutely thrilled” for the seniors that have already received college accep-tances.

“They have been accepted to places they truly love, and they feel that they are the best places for them,” said Weiner.

Weiner has also created a twit-ter account dedicated to college acceptances, helpful application tips, and informative articles about colleges.

“The main reason for creating the twitter account was because we wanted to get out information about college acceptances quickly and accurately. Also I will tweet interesting articles about finical aid, how selective schools are, and the emotional aspects of applying to college. I have received com-ments from parents and students about how they like it. It’s already had an impact, and there’s only room to grow,” said Weiner.

His Twitter account name is @FAcollege, and it is open to both parents and students to follow.

All your Valentine’s Day Mixes & Fixes THE BACK PAGE

productions, school plays, and vocal recit-als, Jones is polite and quiet, with a clear neu-tral accent.

Her specialty in Po-etry Out Loud over the years has been poetry that celebrates African American heritage, with authors Langston Hughes and Maya An-gelou.

She is currently pre-paring for the regional competition Feb. 10, since winning the FA competition in Decem-ber, but doesn’t plan on stopping reciting poetry any time soon.

“It’s a great way to show people’s strengths. There are athletes, there are academic [students]. Poetry Out Loud is just another way to show people they can shine,” said Jones, whose spe-cialty has always been African American po-etry.

Jones sat down with her father to discuss his experience in the south during the civil rights era each year. “We would talk about the meaning of the poem, and where I should go

with each line.” Her tenth and elev-

enth grade English teacher, Jennifer Clark Evans said, “The Afri-can American themes were something that she understood and was proud to share with others who didn’t un-derstand.”

Her recitations in the school competi-tion have included Maya Angelou, Langs-ton Hughes, and other prominent African American writers, until the school-wide com-petition last year, when Jones threw her audi-ence a major curveball.

The thick southern drawl that had become her signature was ab-sent as she announced that she would recite “I felt a funeral in my brain,” by Emily Dick-inson.

The audience was overwhelmingly sup-portive of Jones, whose father, Ben Jones, a for-mer FA Board Mem-ber, passed away in the spring of 2009.

Jones felt differently, calling the recitation a “disaster,” as she was

overwhelmed by emo-tion, reliving her fa-ther’s funeral on stage.

“The Emily Dickin-son theme, it was may-be too close to home, and she didn’t feel con-fident,” said Clark Ev-ans.

Jones is preparing another poem outside of her usual African American theme, one that isn’t as sensitive as Dickinson’s.

“She’s been inspi-rational to the whole program and to anyone

who knows her. I just think that the idea that she discovered a tal-ent and then pursued it despite obstacles, it can inspire anyone at the school,” said Clark Evans.

PHOTO BY WYATT HENKE

by MARY GRAY JOHNSONthe falcon flier

Senior on her way to regional Poetry Out Loud competition

by ISABEL STEVEN the falcon flier

by SAMANTHA KING the falcon flier

playerBasketball

pro� les

see page 8

continued on page 3

Early acceptances provide relief

* LGBT: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual &Transgender stats provided by

bullystatistics.org

More than 1/3 of LGBT kids have attempted suicide. LGBT kids are 4x more likely to attempt suicide then straight kids.LGBT kids with “highly rejecting”

families are 8x more likely to attempt suicide than those who have accepting families.

AFFECT Club promotes diversity and tolerance THREE SENIORS COMMIT TO TOP CHOICE COLLEGES BEFORE CHRISTMAS BREAK

19 days... Winter Break 49 days... Foreign Language Week 61 days... Spring Break89 days... Prom

Already out: The Woman in Black

Feb. 10: Star Wars: Episode 1- The Phantom Menace

Feb. 10: The Vow

FA has always prided itself on its close-knit community and freedom of expression. It is perhaps because of this environment that stu-dents have never felt a need for a specific club to promote tolerance. However, this year, ju-niors Erin Eggleston, Mary Fried and Mimi Wack created AFFECT (Acceptance, Fair-ness, Freedom, Expression, Compassion, Tol-erance), a club designed to promote diversity and acceptance.

Eggleston, Fried, Wack, Director of Admis-sion Ana De Leon Calef, and Head of School Karen Moschetto attended the Student Diver-sity Leadership Conference in Philadelphia Dec. 1-3 in order to discuss issues of diversity and discrimination with 1,500 students from across the nation.

“The Girl who Played with Fire” --Stieg Larsson

“Death of Kings” --Bernard Cornwell

“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” --Jonathan Safran Foer

“He is brilliant...a little radi-cal at times, but I think that Congress could really make sure that those radical parts of him stay in check. And I think that he has never � ip-� opped on everything.” see page 2

VALENTINE’s DAYThis

Whether you’re going to be single or swept off your feet this Valentine’s Day, it’s never a bad idea to make a playlist or send off a mix to someone special!

Montezuma, the most famous emperor of the Mayans, was ru-

mored to drink 50 cups of hot chocolate a day. He must have had a stronger palate than me be-cause I could only stomach five before swearing off the drink for the rest of the rest of the winter.

Driving around Fredericksburg looking for hot chocolate joints reveals a distinct lack of cozy cof-fee shops, surprising since it’s a college town. However, the coffee shops I did enter, Caribou Coffee, Blackstone Coffee, and Hyperion Espresso, were all very friendly with even more welcoming arm-chairs.

Easily the worst cup of the day was McDonald’s hot chocolate for $1.99. I tried giving it the ben-efit of the doubt, having heard their coffee was good, but this

Since the creation of Netflix instant

streaming, picking the perfect movie for date night has never been easier. Unlike the inconvenient aisle scanning and unhelpful staff at video rental stores (if any still exist), you can easily navigate through many movies in many different categories on pretty much any device with an Ethernet port.

Out of the vast se-lection, “No Strings Attached” and “From Paris with Love” are two of The Falcon Fli-er’s favorite movies for date night.

Imagine you are fifteen-year-old Adam (Ashton Kutcher). You meet fifteen-year-old Emma (Natalie Port-man). While Adam may be a young stud, he is going through emo-tional problems like so-cially awkward Emma. Even though he is Mr. Stud, Emma turns him down. This is the be-ginning of “No Strings Attached.”

Fifteen years later, both are alone and are unwilling to com-mit to a relationship. After having a one-

drink is water that aspires to be hot chocolate and grey foam that wishes it was whipped cream.

Wawa’s hot chocolate at $1.49 was not much better. The choco-late was obviously cheap and the drink overly sweet like they’d melted a dozen marshmallows into the water. I could barely drink three sips.

Caribou Coffee, in Central Park, had a higher quality of choc-olate and the whipped cream on top was the best of all I tried. For $3.49, however, the drink was not worth it; after a few sips the cloy-ing sweetness was overwhelming. Of course, the majority of people drinking hot chocolate are kids, so it’s hardly surprising.

For $2.40, Blackstone Coffee, located in Eagle Village, satis-fied me with a higher-quality chocolate. It had a bitterer taste that cut the sweetness of the hot chocolate. It got bonus points for looking the prettiest with choco-late syrup swirls in the whipped

night stand, Adam and Emma become “friends with benefits.” Howev-er, as they spend more time with each other, they fall in love, just as one would expect in any predictable roman-tic comedy.

There are many “aww” moments throughout the film. We are taken through the adorable journey from being “friends with benefits” to being in a serious relationship. Adam romances Emma many times throughout the film. He even brings her and her roommates cupcakes and a “period mix.”

For a sappy love sto-ry, this film has its co-medic moments. I had to pause the film more than once during the two straight minutes of menstruation jokes to catch my breath. The film is a great combina-tion of a sappy love sto-ry and a hysterical com-edy. Think “Friends with Benefits,” just not as funny and with more romance. I enjoyed this movie, but caution partners to keep young ones away as it gets pretty raunchy. The movie is available to either w a t c h instantly

Right as Rain by Adele Mind Your Manners by Chiddy BangLights by Ellie Goulding Impossible Soul by Sufjan Stevens Helplessness Blues by Fleet FoxesAmbling Alp by Yeasayer Breakin’ Up by Rilo Kiley Take Your Time (Coming Home) by fun. Fences by Phoenix Silver Lining by Rilo Kiley Vesuvius by Sufjan Stevens Promises, Promises by Incubus Where Does the Good Go by Tegan and SaraSleep through the Static by Jack Johnson Better Things by Passion Pit

So Let Us Create by Jukebox the Ghost Daydreamer by Adele Seaweed Song by Passion Pit Each Coming Night by Iron & WineAnimal by Miike Snow Amy, I by Jack’s Mannequin Nothing Better by The Postal Service Me and You by She & HimTrying My Best to Love You by Jenny Lewis Birthday by Kings of Leon Reasons to Love You by MeikoCult Logic by Miike Snow Little Secrets by Passion Pit I Thought I Saw Your Face Today by She & HimTowers by Bon Iver

cream. The sweetness of this en-tire experience was heightened by the fact that it was a dollar less than Caribou Coffee and twice as good.

Hyperion Espresso’s hot choco-late at $3.00 had a good balance of sweet and bitter flavors. The high quality of chocolate gave it a complex flavor while the full milk thickened the texture. The friend-liest service added to the appeal, as well as the familiarity of its downtown location.

However, the best cup of hot chocolate was the one I made at home with a Swiss Miss mix. Made with whole milk and topped with three marshmal-lows—distinctly lacking from all the rest of the drinks—it had the best taste and the added advan-tage of being extremely cheap. Best of all, I don’t have to get bundled up and drive to the near-est coffee shop next time I want a cup. Then again, I probably won’t want another one for a long time.

online or by mail order.

H H H H

For those who like their love stories to in-clude the least amount of romance as possible, I recommend “From Paris with Love.” Since it is more of an action movie, it is great for those who aren’t big fans of sappy love sto-ries.

In “From Paris with Love,” James Reese (Jonathan Rhys Mey-ers) is a spy for the CIA. His cover is an aid for the U.S. ambas-sador in Paris, France where he lives with his fiancée Caroline (Kasia Smutniak). After do-ing many minor jobs including replacing li-cense plates, his actual boss gives him an im-portant mission involv-ing the experienced but loose-cannoned Charlie Wax (John Travol-ta).

Reese and Wax are assigned to in-

Romantic songs for you and your “boo” Songs for the single...

A perfect cup of hot chocolate in the ’Burg

Stay in with a Netflix favorite

by Simone Wicker the falcon flier

by iSabel Steventhe falcon flier

by Wyatt DavieSthe falcon flier

vestigate and take down a drug ring involved with the death of a rela-tive of the United States Secretary of Defense. They trace the drugs back to a Pakistani ter-rorist cell.

Throughout the mis-sion, a large body count is created from shoot-outs, explosions and betrayal. Only about one-fourth of the movie deals with Reese’s rela-tionship with his fian-cée.

As the movie pro-gresses, we see Reese’s and Caroline’s rela-tionship go on a down-ward spiral. Halfway through the movie, Caroline sees Reese and Wax in an elevator with an escort. While it relates to the mission, Caroline cannot be told why.

“From Paris with Love” has an over-whelming amount of

action and barely any romance. It is a great date night movie for couples that aren’t into the whole “squishy”

thing.

H H H H

Whether you’re alone, with friends, or your sweetheart for Cupid’s celebration, let these tips spice up your day.

1.

3.

2.

Wawa$1.49

Caribou Coffee

$3.49

Hyperion$3.00

McDonald’s$1.49

Blackstone Coffee

$2.40

Share the songs you love

Photo by Isabel steven

Swiss Miss packet

~$0.33

“If I had to choose I’d watch ‘Beauty and the Beast’ with my boyfriend.”

“I would probably watch ‘Valentine’s Day’ with my special someone.”

“I’d want to watch ‘The Notebook’ with my girlfriend.”

“With a big group of friends I would definitely want to watch ‘Mean Girls.’”

Junior Michael Covington

Freshman Charlie Garbutt

Sophomore Kelsey Gedin

Senior Sydney Hawkins

Which V-Day flick is your pick?

Photos courtest of sXc.hu

Compiled with love by Allegra Massey-Elim

Photos courtesy of DesIGneDItor.tyPePaD.coMPhoto courtesy of sXc.hu

2p a g e t w o

news

Sophomore Matthew King has projected a lighthearted attitude for himself since joining the FA community this fall. He is often seen laughing, goofing around and walk-ing with a certain “swagger,” as described by his team-mates.

But when I sat down with Matt for our interview, it was as if his carefree attitude disappeared; he talked in a serious tone and looked me in the eyes when describing his academic probation.

He radiated with passion for basketball.“I have never worked that hard, honestly, in my life, to

get back on that team,” King said as his eyes read deter-mination.

King’s probation began the week of Jan. 2, the day Christmas break ended.

“It was kind of disappointing,” said junior and Cap-tain AJ Topps. “At first the team seemed shocked that the school went through with it.”

It is not surprising that students were a little bit taken aback by the school’s decision, since neighboring schools sometimes appear to put athletics before academics. FCS’s questionable athletic recruiting practices were de-tailed in the Dec. 17 article in The Free Lance-Star, “Pub-lic school transfers turn FCS into powerhouse.”

The article states that FCS was known to put academ-ics first, however, they are no longer as strict in enforcing academics before athletics.

At FA, however, this is not the case; academics will always be the main concern, said Head of School Karen Moschetto.

“[Our] academic reputation and integrity must always remain the number one priority,” Moschetto said. “[Aca-

Students pick presidential favoritesRepublican Congressman Rob Wittman talks to FA students about current events and the changes needed in the political system.

Academic probation teaches lesson

demic probation] has always been a rule, but is not often one that has to be applied. But, we have it in place so we can help students back on the right track.”

King was upset, but knew it was the right thing to do. “It opened my eyes,” he said. “You need to do well in

school, and I see basketball as a reward for doing well.”The probation only lasted two weeks, thanks to King’s

perseverance. “I had a lot of motivation because I wanted to be back

on the team. I love my teammates, and I didn’t want to let them down,” he said.

King has played basketball for nine years and plans on continuing in a Division I university. He is grateful for his experience in probation.

“I don’t [regret it] because it has taught me a lesson. If I were at my old school, I would be getting bad grades and not caring. It’s better for the long run and getting into college.”

King is continuing to bring his grades up, so he can continue to improve with his team. He sees a lot of po-tential for the next few years.

“We are just young. Public schools have better athletes, but FA can be really good if we keep working,” he said.

Both King and Moschetto agree that academic proba-tion can act as a life lesson. According to Moschetto, it is a test of accountability and responsibility.

“It teaches the students that there are no free passes—you have to work hard, and you have to do things well,” she said.

“The academic standards are high here,” said King. “But I’m comfortable here—it’s a really nice school. It’s changed me; it’s helped me.”

by Lauren FaLkenbergthe falcon flier

The new semester has brought about

plenty of new teaching tactics and techniques. One of the newest addi-tions to the FA curricu-lum is the website “Class Marker,” which allows teachers to create a user-name and password for students and create on-line quizzes and tests. During a meeting with her professional learning community, which works to enhance technology use in the classroom,

math teacher Kris Hoppel was introduced to a way to quiz students anonymous-ly on Google Survey. The program worked in serv-ing its purpose, but it was not personal for students because they couldn’t re-ceive grades based on their work. Other upper school math teacher Alpana Wil-son was interested in find-ing more resources online regarding this technique.

“She must have searched through the Internet and found Classmarker.com,” said Hoppel. “There were quite a few advantages to that because you can

embed a video in it and it grades each person indi-vidually.”

Other advantages are the ability to set up the quizzes so that at the end everyone can see what their grade is and the option to set it so it marks a question right or wrong as the quiz pro-gresses.

“The only reason I’m using it is for a quick five minute quiz at the begin-ning of class to see if the students know their infor-mation, to see if they were staying on top of what we’re doing in class,” ex-plained Hoppel. “Hope-

fully once we get into it, it won’t take any time at all to log in and get it started.”

The overall class reac-tion to the website has been mixed.

“They didn’t come out and say ‘This is awful!’ I just think they are a lit-tle taken aback because

Second semester reveals teaching changes in quizzing

by Simone Wickerthe falcon flier

With four candidates, 25 debates and four states de-cided on a candidate, the campaign season for the Republican nomination is under way.

So far, this process has been anything but consis-tent. There have been sev-eral different leaders, each getting their chance in the limelight before they have fallen from grace. Each candidate has been faced with the challenge of ap-pealing to moderates as well as conservatives, as well as the evangelical vote and the youth vote. While many voters in the upcom-ing primaries are yet to make up their minds, two FA students have made their choices on their favor-ite candidates.

Juniors Andrew Mur-phy and Sam Bradshaw are almost completely differ-ent in their political views. Murphy, a Republican, has thrown his support be-hind Rick Santorum, while Bradshaw, a self-described Democrat, believes that Jon Huntsman or Ron Paul are the best in the cur-rent field of candidates.

Murphy cycled through two candidates before de-ciding on Santorum.

“When it was first start-

ing out, I really liked the candidate Rick Perry. He seemed like a good candi-date because a lot of his views lined up with mine. But as time went on and I saw him in debates, I real-ized that he might not be the best candidate for the country,” he said.

Murphy’s second flavor of the month was Herman Cain, who dropped out due to scandal.

“I liked Cain’s view on social policy, but especially his views on economic pol-icy. I liked the ‘9-9-9’ plan. I really liked where he was going,” said Murphy, who still stands behind Cain’s policies. “I still think his economic policies were the best.”

Bradshaw’s favorite can-didates are much different from Murphy’s.

“I like either Jon Hunts-man or Ron Paul. I like Huntsman because he is one of the more moder-ate candidates along with Romney, although I feel Romney flip-flops too much, and he’ll probably try to act too conserva-tive just to get Republican street cred. I like Ron Paul because he is brilliant. I think that he could be a very capable President. He is a little radical at times, but I think that Congress could really make sure

that those radical parts of him stay in check. And I think that he has never flip-flopped on anything,” said Bradshaw.

Murphy and Bradshaw also have different opin-ions on who has the best chance to win the prima-ries and which candidate would have the best chance to defeat President Obama.

Murphy feels that when it comes to who has the best chance, “all signs point to Romney.” While Mitt Romney is not his first choice, he showed that he would be willing to get behind him if he were the nominee.

“Romney is a very char-ismatic character. He has a lot of success in the private sector, which is what we need. We need economic stability. I would definitely stand by him if he was the candidate,” Murphy said.

Bradshaw is not so cer-tain that it is in the bag for Romney.

“It is possible that one of these people who are get-ting a swing, like Herman Cain had and Santorum is having right now, it’s pos-sible that another person could carry some momen-tum through a few prima-ries and it could affect the primaries drastically,” he said.

by matt kirchnerthe falcon flier

Matthew King wears his uniform proudly before a big game.

PHOTO BY SIMONE WICKER

PHOTO BY WYATT FALCONE

Classmarker.com hosts quizzes and videos of concepts to enhance classroom workPHOTO BY ISABEL STEVEN

they’re going to be graded on it,” said Hoppel.

In addition to math class, Classmarker.com has been used in French class with Suzi Valentine. After using it one time, senior Sydney Hawkins decided that the website took away from the classic purpose of

quizzes. “I don’t really think I

like it that much,” said Hawkins, “I definitely like paper and pencil quizzes and tests, especially for multiple choice.”

TEACHERS USE NEW ONLINE RESOURCES TO SOLIDIFY LESSONS AND CONCEPTS TAUGHT IN CLASS WITH QUIZZES AND VIDEOS

3p a g e t h r e e

News

The conference was spent primarily talk-ing in different group discussions. Eggleston, Fried and Wack were split into family groups of around 30-40 stu-dents to discuss the sociological side of prejudices against race, ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status, sexu-ality and age.

Eggleston, Fried and Wack also met in groups based on what they most strongly identify as. Fried met in the white/European group where they dis-cussed “white guilt”—guilt over ancestors’ past deeds—as well as racism and prejudice.

Wack chose to meet

in the LGBTQIAP (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexu-al, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, Ally, Pansexu-al) group. Wack—who identifies as bisexual—talked with fellow stu-dents about how they identified and shared personal experiences as LGBT teens.

“It was the only time in my life I’ve been around people who are so supportive of LGBT issues. It was the first time I’d come out to a large group of people, and it was great to see there is such a strong network of people who care,” said Wack.

The other activities that the three enjoyed during the conference were lectures from guest speakers and the

“Silent Movement,” which, as of press time, is planned for FA’s Di-versity Day on Feb. 6. Different identifying factors will be read out to the upper school and whoever identified with it will stand up. The hope is to illustrate FA’s differences and simi-larities.

“The Silent Move-ment shows you don’t need words all the time to express how you feel and what you believe. The power of silence can express it,” said Fried.

Eggleston, Fried, and Wack have brought new viewpoints and ideas back to AFFECT, a club that was cre-ated initially as a Gay-Straight Alliance club that quickly expanded

to include support of all issues discriminated against.

“It’s not a matter of changing people, but getting them to toler-ate and respect people instead. People may not necessarily agree with someone’s choices or beliefs, but respect is the key,” said Fried.

AFFECT feels that the prevalence of preju-dice in society is a prob-lem that needs to be ad-dressed more directly. Diversity Day is the first method AFFECT is using to educate the student body on these issues. Members of AF-FECT and selected stu-dents will discuss issues such as racism, sexism, and homophobia in stu-dent families.

“One of the main

reasons prejudice and these ideas that repress others are still around and will be around for many years to come is because everyone looks at themselves as the individual. No one looks at themselves and thinks, ‘I am society; what I do affects society as a whole.’ The truth is, everyone is a part of society and if everyone says to themselves, ‘it’s not me who’s doing all these things, it’s not me who thinks these things,’ then nothing is going to change,” said Wack.

In addition to dis-cussion groups, Xavier Richardson, Executive Vice-President of Med-icorp Health Systems and President of Wash-ington Hospital Foun-

dation, will speak to the upper school.

AFFECT also plans to implement a Bully-ing Policy by the end of the year. It will include definitions for physical, social and verbal bully-ing and a ban on derog-atory slurs. AFFECT hopes to work with the administration and the Discipline Committee to set up appropriate punishments for infrac-tions of the policy.

“[The policy] will create an environment where people feel safe and happy. Sometimes you can’t change how someone feels about something; getting them to respect people is the best thing you can do. You can learn a lot from being tolerant,” said Fried.

Continued from front page

by Meggie Roche the falcon flier

Dawson tells students to speak up about temps

Give yourself a reason to smile

35070 Germanna Heights Dr. Ste. B Locust Grove, VA 22508-3108

540-399-9841n

During the frigid winter months, the last thing any stu-dent wants is to have to bundle

up inside their own school. It’s no secret that the temperature in FA’s upper school is usually a

little too cold for comfort.The school’s temperature is sup-

posed to be in the low 70’s, but with the weather constantly changing this season it’s hard for the heating system to catch up.

The heating system brings in air from the air ducts on the roof,

and depending on the temperature outside, it has to work to either cool off or warm up the air. The school’s heater works off of boil-ers. Throughout the building there are 60 VAV units, which are similar to radiators, according to Matthew Dawson, the Director of Facilities and Operations.

Dawson has sensors in all of the classrooms that tell him the temperature of the air being flowed into the room. The rooms on the out-side of the building are always a little colder than the rest.

Some students are getting fed up.“I always feel like I have to wear a jacket be-

cause it’s so cold,” said freshman Kobe Daniels. During the first cold snap of the season, the

boilers were down, which explains why it was so chilly in the school.

“Now that they are repaired, we should be okay,” said Dawson.

This isn’t the first time the upper school has had problems with the heaters. In past years stu-dents have complained of the buildings being too cold to bear.

“It’s not nearly as cold this year as it was last year,” said sophomore Jonathan McClanahan.

Dawson encourages people to let him know if there is a problem. The students are the best way to tell if the school is too cold or not. Don’t hesi-tate to let him know; he welcomes the feedback and will come over to check it out.

FREDERICKSBURG’S CHANGING WEATHER CREATES LONG-TERM TEMPERATURE ISSUE IN UPPER SCHOOL HVAC

Schedule a visit with Dr. Hugh Teller, DDS

Students share knowledge from diversity conference

4p a g e f o u r

feature

Panic. I shoved it down and stuffed it un-der my dorm bed with my suitcase.

Really, it would be fine; Governor’s Latin Academy couldn’t be all that bad. And then in walked “Princeps,” the director. Out of her mouth streamed a lan-guage dead for almost 2,000 years.

I had made a terrible mistake. Why had I talked myself into three weeks of Latin Acad-

emy, of all places? It was summer; I was sup-posed to be relaxing, not translating ancient Latin written by dusty old Romans. I certainly hadn’t intended on con-versing in it.

My brain flooded with horrible thoughts as it is wont to do in dread-filled situations. What if I was the dumb-est student and made a fool of myself ? What if the people here were ultra-competitive schol-ars? What if they all actually spoke Latin? Did I even like Classics enough to be here? Why had I sacrificed sleeping in until noon for early mornings? More im-portantly, had I really given up my chance to go to the midnight pre-miere of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hal-

lows” for this? What was I thinking?

Yet, within 10 min-utes, my doubts were erased. Ten girls, all with the same appre-hensions, crowded into my dorm room. Togeth-er we lamented missing “the Deathly Hallows” opening night and admitted terror over speaking Latin. Maybe I’d find some friends here after all.

Forty-three juniors and seniors through-out Virginia gathered at Randolph-Macon College for, as Princeps described, “an intense academic experience—this is not camp.” We were not allowed to bring electronics that connected us with the outside world; no phone calls home, no Facebook. The inten-

tion was that we would connect with each other instead. Sounds abys-mal, but in truth it wass an incredible experi-ence, academically and socially.

We were all “Latin nerds”. We could, with-out fear of derision, talk about how ridicu-lous it was that Greek had no ablative case, or that Caligula had once made his horse a sena-tor. We eagerly partici-pated in the Ashland Fourth of July parade, draped in togas, shout-ing “Ecce Romani!” It was not uncommon for us to point out elements of classical architecture on buildings to each other jokingly.

The classes did prove to be challenging, but fascinating. My pro-fessors showed an un-

bridled passion for the Classical world. I learned about every-thing from Roman espionage to ancient novels. I had panicked at the start of Latin Academy about wheth-er my knowledge was on par with my peers. I shouldn’t have worried; my FA Latin teachers had me well-prepared.

More importantly, Latin Academy helped me see that I may want to study Classics in col-lege. I now am looking specifically at schools with strong Classics programs. My previous response to the topic of college-searching was “Don’t talk to me about that; it stresses me out.” After this experience, I’m excited to meet col-lege students who, like my peers at Academy,

are just as passionate about life and learning as I am.

Latin Academy was one of the most re-warding experiences of my life. Through it, I realized how truly en-thusiastic I am about Classics, I gained a wealth of knowledge from talented teachers, and I found incredibly gifted and kind friends. Every moment I spent at Academy was worth sacrificing my sleep and even (I hate to admit) the Harry Potter pre-miere.

There was no need for me to have been so stressed on that first day of class. My professors, knowing what lay in store, had reassured us all, “Noli per timere” (don’t panic).

Throughout the quick paced walking and loud chatter amongst friends in the commons, there is an even louder con-versation going on. You need an internet connection to hear it. But where? Twitter.

Twitter is a micro-blogging site in which users can send updates called “tweets” that are received by people sub-scribed to the account (followers). Updates can be up to 140 char-acters long, and can be directed at another user by putting an @ symbol before their username. Since its debut in 2006, Twitter has become immensely popular around the world, espe-cially at FA.

Over the past six months, Twitter usage by members of the FA

community has sig-nificantly increased. Throughout the course of the day, users tweet about various things going on in their lives by text message and mobile apps, since the website is blocked by the school’s filter on laptops.

Upper school stu-dents like senior Anne Douglas Goforth (@BeyANNEce) and ju-nior Erin Garay (@erinmarie948) are avid twitter users. Goforth logs on to keep in touch with her friends and fa-vorite celebrities. “It’s a great way for procras-tination and to get your thoughts out there,” she said.

Goforth said Twitter is also extremely popu-lar with her friends. “I check my texts more, but people are com-municating over twitter almost as much as tex-ting.”

Twitter is on par to be just as popular with Facebook. Users like Garay visits the site about four times a day. “Twitter has become so popular because it is far easier to access anywhere, including at school if you have a phone.”

The community has even found a great edu-cational use for Twit-ter. College Counselor David Weiner has cre-ated a college coun-seling twitter account (@facollege). Weiner thinks that “Twitter has a huge educational use… It points parents and students in the di-rection of articles that can really give some insight into the college application process.”

With the audience of the world at your fin-gertips, you might say that a tweet is the most powerful 140 characters you can type.

a little bird tells all through twitter

With application deadlines for this summer’s Residential Academies nearing, here are a few words of advice for those consideirng one: make sure you like the subject

enough to stand immersing yourself in it for three weeks surrounded by 40 plus kids. You don’t have to be the best at it; if you’re good enough to get accepted, you deserve to

be there. Go into the experience with an open mind; if you go thinking you’ll be miserable, you will be. If you go in hoping to learn and make some friends, you will.

by ISABEL STEVENthe falcon flier

by WYATT DAVIESthe falcon flier

#Dos and Don'tsDO use #hashtags when appropriate to categorize.

DO retweet and converse with people, there is a reason why it is called a social network.

DO make your 140 characters count, nobody cares that you are going to the gym.

DON’T click on suspicious links in Direct Messages or mentions, even if they are from your friends and promise you free bacon.

long time to walk from one place to another.

Finland is near the North Pole, which cre-ates the cold weather. Also, there is a differ-ent kind of climate in Finland. In America it seems to be very hu-mid, but in Finland it is kind of “dry” weather, even when it is cold.

Even if it is really cold in Finland dur-ing the winter season, it is still very beautiful. For example during the night, the sky is beauti-ful with all the stars and northern lights. Also, when it is not windy, it does not feel too cold outside, and everybody gets used to it. Every-body should experience a winter like we have in Finland because even if it sounds scary, it is ac-tually very “cool” to see and experience.

DON’T use Twitter to spew arbitrary hate comments about people via ‘subtweets’ or #OOMF (the acronym for “One of my followers”). Nobody cares about your personal problems with someone else.

DON’T use #hashtags to categorize some-thing that nobody else is talking about (i.e. #omgilovemynewboot-sandtheyaretheprettiest)

@beyANNEce (senior Anne Douglas Goforth)

@MegC_HAMMER (sophomore Meghan Norair)

@Busta_Ryans (senior Ryan Hudson)

Trendy Twitter Users

Summer Latin Academy changes perspective

American winters tame in comparison to Finnish temperatures

It sounds funny to me when someone complains that it is cold outside. I might agree, but when I think about Scandinavia and Finland, the weather outside feels suddenly warmer. In Finland, we usually get snow during November, and it melts in the end of May.

Here in America, I heard that school will be cancelled if there is “a lot of ” snow, or if the roads are covered by ice. For safety it is good of course. In Fin-land, we might have more snow than you can imagine, but we can still go to school. For the winter, we have snowplows and anti-skid tires that help peo-

inside.Sometimes when it

gets very cold in Fin-land, it might be that you can’t start your car because it coagulates. That is why a lot of people use heaters for their cars during the night. When people go to work in the morning, the car gets warm soon and the windows of the cars are not covered by ice because of the heat-er. A lot of people use buses, trains, subways and streetcars to get to school or workplace, es-pecially when it is cold because sometimes it is easier than using your own car.

There are also heat-ers for the streets in the big cities, so people can actually walk there. Malls and stores are usually near each other, so it does not take a

by ROOSA BERGthe falcon flier

ple to move from one place to another.

That is not the only thing because some-times it gets really cold. It might be -20 to -35 Celsius outside. In that weather, people wear winter trousers and clothes that don’t allow the cold wind to bother you too much. If you are not wearing warm clothes, I can’t even de-scribe how it feels when your fingers turn black & grey.

I don’t know about America, but in Fin-land, especially in new houses, there is under-floor heating, which makes the floor feel warm. A lot of Finns also use radiators dur-ing the winter season. It is also very important that you have good in-sulation in the walls, so the warm air stays

PHOTO COURTESY OF ROOSA BERG

Even if it is really cold in Finland during the winter season, it is still very beautiful.

“”

FEMA

Proud Supporters ofFredericksburg Academy

6p a g e s i x

featureby Courtney Hoffman

the falcon flier

FA has made it a priority in recent years to

be more environmental-ly friendly. The Green Cup Challenge is a key component in this by challenging students to reduce their energy use.

In 2008, FA joined the Green Schools Al-liance. The school pledged to reduce its carbon footprint. Sim-ple things like using natural light instead of electricity help reduce energy consumption. The hope has been that the habits developed during the Green Cup Challenge will carry over into the rest of the year.

“As citizens of the planet it is our respon-sibility to care for the earth and make sure that future generations get to enjoy what we to-day are enjoying,” said Debbi Rizzi, FA’s direc-tor of finance and advi-sor of the Green Team.

During the Green Cup Challenge, schools in the Chesapeake re-gion compete to see who can save the most energy in a month. In 2010, FA did remark-ably well. The school came in second for the region and got first place for day schools. In total that year the

school saved 16,911 kilowatt hours, a reduc-tion of 18.4%.

However, in 2011 the school did not do as well. FA only saved 360 kilowatt hours through-out the entire challenge.

“During 2011, we didn’t save as much energy mostly because we were in school throughout the whole challenge. However, in 2010, we were at home due to snow conditions for most of it,” said Green Team leader Isa-bel Steven.

On January 26, Neil Seldman, President of the Institute for Local Self Reliance, talked to the student body via Skype about the impor-tance of being green. The Institute for Local Self Reliance helps citi-zens, policy makers and entrepreneurs come up with ways to be more environmentally friend-ly.

The middle school

Eco Team also gave a presentation about the importance of recy-cling. The hope is that this year students will be more enthusiastic about saving the envi-ronment since in past years it has been easy to forget about this issue.

“I want to take it seri-ously, but I almost for-get that the challenge is going on,” said sopho-more Rory Dunn.

Perhaps this is be-cause students seem don’t seem to take the challenge seriously. Last year students would turn on lights just after a member of the Green Team had turned them off. While it seemed funny, it real-ly did affect the results of the challenge.

“It is a way to not only bring the school community together to create a difference, but to encourage oth-er schools to do the same,” said Rizzi.

by meggie roCHethe falcon flier

Wizard of Oz double cast shoots for double success

Environmental teams educate students about conservation

Photo Courtesy of surfrider foundation

In as little as two years the middle school drama

department has blos-somed from ten small aspiring performers to 60 excited actors. Thir-ty-six of these rowdy actors include Lower School students. This year this large group of lower and middle school students will bring “The Wizard of Oz” to life on the stage Feb. 1 through 4.

Dedicated audience members, who are plan-ning to attend numer-ous performances of “The Wizard of Oz,” will notice the actors filling the spotlights for different shows. With sixty auditions, director Liz Eschen, decided to create two casts both of which will perform two shows each. The deci-sion to have two casts came easy after seeing all the talent presented during auditions, she said.

“I decided to do ‘The Wizard of Oz’ because I looked at potential auditions and knew it would be a very strong group of women who

were capable of having leads. I knew with ‘The Wizard of Oz’ I’d not only have Dorothy but also the trio and witch-es. There’s a lot of op-portunity for individual success and individual opportunities to shine and I really wanted that out of this year’s musi-cal,” said Eschen.

Double casting the show has created ex-tra work for Eschen through having to teach blocking twice during rehearsals, yet even with difficulties there have been some bright sides with double cast-ing as well.

“Double casting is both brilliant and aw-ful all at the same time. It’s brilliant because you get to work with a larger amount of stu-dents one on one and foster the creative ener-gies of more children. And when you double cast you get the ability to know the kids bet-ter. It’s been wonderful you get to see the kids shine. In rehearsal time it’s awful. We’re farther behind than I’d like us to be,” said Eschen.

While Eschen is struggling with double cast rehearsals, the actors are using the

double cast to their ad-vantage. Sixth grader Emma Harrison, who is in the Emerald Cast and as the Oz Lady, has enjoyed working with two casts.

“It’s real fun because you get to see how peo-ple interpret it and act and how others inter-pret it and act it out,” said Harrison.

There has also been a familiar face help-ing behind the scenes of the musical. Tiffany Toner, previous upper school drama teacher, has helped choreograph numerous musical numbers. The students attended a five hour re-hearsal on a Saturday where Toner worked to teach all cast members

the dance moves. “I hired Tiffany

Toner as a guest direc-tor and she came and did choreography with almost 60 kids through-out the course of the day,” said Eschen.

With the large cast and many strenuous hours of work Eschen is inviting people to come out, promising a

good performance. “Definitely come

out and see it. Tiffany Toner has really been an Assistant Director; a remote one. The ideas she’s brainstormed with me about lights and scene changes—the ac-tual production is going to be really neat,” said Eschen.

School makeS effortS to “go green” with green cup challenge

Photos by Courtney hoffmanChorus teacher Liz Eschen has worked double time to prepare the double-casted show.

Nearly a third of teens polled admitted to texting while driving.

Because motor vehicle accidents are the #1 killer of our teens, it’s time to start talking about what we’re doing behind the wheel. Call or stop by for your own copy of the Allstate Parent-Teen Driving Contract. It will help you and your teen start the conversation.

8p a g e e i g h t

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This year’s swim team has two fresh-men, two sophomores, two juniors, and nine seniors. The girls have gone undefeated and the boys have only three losses. The seniors, however, only have one more chance to earn a spot in states.

Currently, nine swim-mers have gained a spot in states participating in the boys and girls 200 Medley relays and girls 50 freestyle. Of those nine swimmers, over half are seniors. With so many seniors leaving the team, Coach Shelia Wimble is expecting her underclassmen to step up and take control.

“It is always tough losing seniors, espe-cially when you’ve seen them be a part of this team for so long. They will all be missed! It is really hard to see so many of them leave, but all good things must come to an end, and I know that they will all do amazing things after graduation. Having so many seniors leaving will definitely put pres-sure on the underclass-men and future upper-classmen next year,” she said.

This year the team has proven to be a strong group from

the beginning when “both the boys and girls 200 Medley relays made their state times at [their] first meet in December.” With these early qualifiers, it showed how ready the team was for a competi-tive season.

“Every season brings a new perspective and I think that this season there is a strong level of competitiveness,” said Wimble.

This competitive-ness has helped push junior Kirstie Harry to beat the current school record in the 100 free-style. This record was previously held by Cara Simpson ’06.

Many swimmers are

still working to lower their times to meet state rankings. Along with her new record, junior Kirstie Harry has al-ready met state rank-ings. Harry practices everyday with her team-mates, all of whom are pushed to be their best by Wimble.

“Practices don’t re-ally change much from

year to year. We stretch and do dry lands, then swim anywhere be-tween 1900-2300 me-ters depending on whether we have fins on or when the next meet is. Mrs. Wimble’s pretty consistent,” said Harry.

The season is not over yet though. The team still has two meets to compete in and po-tentially qualify.

“We still have a few meets left and a cou-ple swimmers who are working toward achiev-ing a state time in their individual events,” said Wimble.

As these swimmers are busily working on their state times, they are also forming deeper team bonds. The team can be seen on most Thursday evenings having pasta dinners together. Senior Erika Boggs values the time the team spends togeth-er especially outside of practices.

“We all get to hang out and talk and eat and have a great time,” said Boggs.

While many people wonder about the swim team next year, Wimble has faith in the rising swimmers to fill in the many spots the seniors will be leaving vacant.

The state tournament will take place Febru-ary 16 through Febru-ary 19.

FA swim team loses key swimmers as seniors graduate

Ryan Hudson, #21First basketball memory: I remember in � fth grade I got hurt during football… I wanted to � nd another sport to play. I played Parks and

Rec. It’s fast paced, anyone can play—it’s just fun.

Career highlight: We played Wake� eld Country Day after a snow day [last year], and if we won that we wouldn’t

have to play Tandem to get to the Championship. That [win] led us to the

Championship for the � rst time.

Team’s favorite pump-up song: “The Second Coming,” by Juelz Santana. It’s kind of a

tradition. It illustrates teamwork and we just love it.

New traditions: When we break, we say “� st,” instead of, “Falcons” because we’re � ve guys on the

court, tight like a � st.

Ten ingredients for a successful team

1. Respect

2. Skill

3. Working hard to improve every day

4. Having fun

5. Patience

6. Con� dence

7. A large, dynamic group8. Putting players in situations where they can be successful9. Perserverence

10. Teamwork

Girls varsity basketball coach Jeff Eckerson, boys varsity bas-ketball coach Phillip Brown, and FA swim coach Sheila Wimble identified what it takes to create a successful team. This is a list of their top 10 traits.

Simone Roberts, #10How she got into basketball: My brother and I used to play all the time when we were smaller.

Highlight from this season: The very � rst game, against Wake� eld School Inc., at half time we were down by 6. We inbound the ball, and Courtney got trapped. She throws it to me and I chuck it up there for a 3-point buzzer beater, so we were only down by three.

On coming from King George to FA: You have more chances of making the team [here]. At KG, if you’re not good, you’re not going to make the team. It sucks because there are some people who don’t care. We’re also nice here at FA— it’s a good and bad thing.

On and o� the court with varsity basketball players

by WYATT FALCONE the falcon flier

by COURTNEY HOFFMANthe falcon flier

Team bonding: Whenever we stop to eat [on the way back]; whether we win or lose, it’s always fun.

Brown

Wimble

Wimble

Wimble

Wimble

Wimble

Eckerson

Eckerson

Brown

Brown

Every season brings a new perspective and I think that this season there is a strong level of competitiveness.

“

”—SWIM COACH SHEILA WIMBLE

PHOTOS BY LAUREN FALKENBERG

9p a g e n i n e

OpinionWilbrandt responds to senior editorial to defend global service

You would be hard-pressed to find a stu-dent on campus that does not value extra-curricular activities. Whether it is sports, music, or service, FA students do it all, and their ventures are cel-ebrated and encour-aged by the greater community. Service, in particular, is a ma-jor component of an FA education, and as pointed out by Mary Gray Johnson in her editorial in the last issue of The Falcon Flier, “The purpose of service, we must remind ourselves, is to use our means to fix or improve some-thing.” I could not agree more with that sentiment, but the article also touted the need for local, community service as opposed to the need for global ser-vice, suggesting the inequities within our own community re-quire addressing pri-or to looking outside our immediate area. There are clear ben-efits regarding any type of service, and the fact that where to serve is a point of contention is tell-ing of the desire FA students have to give back to society. Yet, when we approach service from the most basic level, that of human rights, the dif-ferences in where we serve become obvi-ous.

The United Na-tions, the accepted protector of human

Former teacher Katie Blashford reflects on benefits of FA’s digital preparation and its effects on further education.

Staff 11-12FALCON FLIERTH

E

Allegra Massey-ElimIsabel StevenMatt Kirchner Meggie Roche

Roosa BergSamantha King

Wyatt DaviesWyatt Falcone

reportersBeth Hunley

adviser

Mary Gray Johnsoneditor

Simone Wicker managing editor

Lauren Falkenbergdesign editor

Liz Benavidescopy editor

Courtney Hoffmanbusiness manager

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 22408February 2011Issue 4, Volume XX 540.898.0020

CARTOON BY ISABEL STEVEN

rights, divides agreed-upon rights in the Uni-versal Declaration of Human Rights into three levels. The fulfill-ment of each rights lev-el is deemed essential if a country is to advance to the next stages of authentic rights protec-tion. The primary level is that of liberty—civil and political protec-tion from the state. The second level is equal-ity—social, economic, and cultural equality in standards of living, work, health, and edu-cation. The final level is solidarity—emerging, collective rights of soci-ety as a whole, like sus-tainable development and peace.

Arguably, the Con-stitution of the United States guarantees lib-erty rights for us all, enabling the focus of the country to be on the promotion of equal-ity and solidarity rights while we also strive to maintain liberty rights. The concept of lo-cal service in the U.S., therefore, is one of ex-panding and supporting rights that are already granted to U.S. citizens. On the other hand, ser-vice focusing on other countries mostly exists within the first stage of liberty rights—estab-lishing rights instead of expanding rights. When placed in this context, local service expands rights; global service establishes rights. No rights should be denied, but there is an inher-ent difference in which rights get addressed when we choose to

This month, The Falcon Flier decided to make a list of the five top things we’d like the administration, Board of Trustees and students to consider as they plan for the next decade here at FA.

Changes desired in athletics, academics and relationships

Sports should be a reason for students to get excited. Because of the sports require-ment, many students have been forced to

play sports they wouldn’t otherwise play. Each team inevitably has a few unmotivated players, and there is little effort to increase spirits. Ad-versely, we think the sports requirement is benefi-cial because it forces students to get involved, and results in a love of sports for many who wouldn’t otherwise play. There should be more work put into making sports a fun thing for people to look forward to. The sports requirement is a good thing, but the school should be doing more to get kids excited about the sports they choose.

One of the best things about playing or watching a high school sport is having a ri-valry with another team. It’s not as great, however, when the other team is from the

same high school. FA sports teams should not have to be competitive with each other. Whether it is field hockey and tennis or soccer and lacrosse, it seems that internal competition always exists. Let’s stop the unnecessary conflicts and channel that energy into being better than another school, not each other. If the athletic department focuses on scheduling in a way that builds external rivalry, skill and attitude will improve tremendously.

Advisory time should be a time when students get to know their advisor in such a way that they become comfortable talking to

them when they have a problem. That is what advi-sors were made for, but many students feel distant from their advisors because they have been limited to only academic topics. Students used to be able to choose their advisors, and advisory time used to be utilized by students to talk about their problems and have a small break from school. Now, only a few teachers choose to talk about anything beyond school. Advisors shouldn’t be therapists to stu-dents, but the teachers need to make the students feel more comfortable sharing personal concerns in addition to academic ones.

As a college preparatory school, FA should have fully integrated SAT and ACT prep into the curriculum long ago. And al-

though an SAT prep course offered to seniors is a great opportunity, it should be starting earlier than that. Sophomores, juniors, and even freshmen need more preparation than just the PLAN and the PSAT. They should be provided with mandato-ry prep courses from the earliest possible moment; ones that are an actual class during the day. We are a college prep school, so why doesn’t the test-prep, a key element of college preparation, start earlier?

Finally, the school should focus more on removing the division between the lower, middle and upper schools. There have been

instances where upper school students have con-nected with lower school students, like the senior World Cultures class pairing up with first graders as reading buddies or the AP Government class teaching fourth graders about the Constitution. But these are rare occurrences and need to be seen more. The school needs to be connected in more ways than just seeing younger kids at pep rallies and sporting events. This would strengthen our sense of community significantly.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

The Staff’s Stand

Alumnus Paige McDermott spent her senior exhibit learning activity in Kenya teaching children. She then worked to raise $1,800 to fund 18 Kenyan kids’ educations.

PHOTO COURTESY OF PAIGE MCDERMOTT

Game turnout sinks in winter sports season

serve others outside of the United States.

The UN established a series of guidelines in 2000, the Millen-nium Development Goals (MDGs), which outline extensive plans to address the greatest global areas of need, like extreme poverty and hunger, universal education, and child health, among others. Estimates made by the World Bank state that it would take $40-$60 billion per year in for-eign aid to achieve the MDGs by 2015, pro-vided the policies and institutions of countries in need were reformed as well. The cost of supporting global de-velopment is minimal, relatively speaking; the budget for the U.S. De-partment of Defense in 2011 was $548.9 bil-lion. When translating that into global action, a little bit of time, mon-ey, and resources can go a long way in providing individuals with the ba-

sic rights previously denied to them.

Community ser-vice, whether it’s ad-dressing the local or global community, will continue to pro-mote human rights. Deciding the area of greatest impact and need is up to each in-dividual; yet, each in-dividual should first decide what they val-ue most: helping to expand rights or help-ing to establish rights. Perspective can pro-vide an even greater meaning to service, and understanding why we help is just as important as helping. Thank you for what-ever service commit-ment you give to our world, and next time you volunteer, think about what commu-nity means to you.

--Heidi Wilbrandt middle school his-

tory teacher and se-nior exhibit coordi-nator

explAnATion oF diFFerenT Types oF service And why BoTh locAl And gloBAl Are needed

visiT FAlconFlier.neT To reAd

PHOTO COURTESY OF SxC.HU

Letters to the Editor