The William Penn Charter School - 3000 W. School House Lane Philadelphia, PA 19144 December 2011

When Penn Charter students were told about the next Wednes-day assembly, no one expected Scotty Rock.

On November 16, Scot An-thony Robinson visited Penn Charter. The only thing known was that this was a large assem-bly, as it took over an hour and a half, and that there were going to be “follow-up conversations” afterward. What was not known, however, was that it would turn out to be one of the most signifi-cant assemblies ever experienced.

Robinson’s message was intense: by sharing his own har-rowing stories about addiction, he painted theimage of an older fig-ure who already made mistakes and faced the consequences, so now the students had no excuse to make them as well. Robinson is not exactly a role model—he was smoking marijuana by age 11, and he spent many years home-less in Los Angeles. However, his rawness and honesty were welcome changes from the stiff, trite alcohol assemblies—“the usual ‘drugs are bad, mmkay’”

assemblies, as put by senior Clay Bryan—and struck a different, more profound chord with the Upper School student body.

Many Upper School students recognized this difference. “It was eye-opening, but not really about drugs or alcohol,” shares senior Grant Shaffer. “It was more about surrounding yourself with the right people that will al-low your true colors and identity to shine through.”

Additionally, Robinson came off as more of a peer than a lec-turing, superior adult. “He’s the man,” says Bryan. Elaborates senior MaryKate O’Brien: “I liked how real he was with the students. By telling us about all of his problems, we were able to relate to him as a friend rather than a teacher.” So, according to senior Dee Thomas, “students respect that more than someone talking down to us. He kept it 100% honest, and he didn’t sugar coat anything.”

Robinson’s message came at a good time, as it exposed the Upper School to the ramifications

Scotty Rock Rocks PCBy Dani Lazarus, ‘12

Ah, Thanksgiving – a holi-day full of family, football, and, of course, food! However, the students at Penn Charter cel-ebrated “Turkey Day” with more than just, well, turkey.

Penn Charter has always been proud of its diverse student body, and there is no better time to explore that diversity than on the holiday that extols communi-ty in all its forms. There are peo-ple, places, games, recipes, and other traditions that are unique to each student at Penn Charter. When viewed holistically, these things add to the vibrant dimen-sions of an already multifarious school community.

For some students, the high-light of Thanksgiving is recon-necting with family members they do not see very often. Senior Ed Malandro spends the holiday with both his mother and father’s sides of the family. “I go to my Aunt’s house first (on my Dad’s side) for Thanksgiving dinner,” says Malandro, “and then I got to my other Aunt’s house (on my Mom’s side) to watch football. It’s great because I get to be with my entire family.” Freshman Nicole Cousounis also enjoys spending time with her relatives. “My Grandma, Uncle, and cous-in drive up from Virginia every Thanksgiving,” says Cousounis. “It’s really fun seeing them! We play a lot of board games togeth-er with the rest of my family, in-cluding Apples to Apples, one of my favorites!”

Like Cousounis, other stu-dents enjoy playing games with their families. Every Thanksgiv-ing morning, sophomore Amanda Beck and her family host a giant football game in their backyard. “We call it ‘The Mud Bowl’!” says Beck. “It’s really intense – we line the field and everything. There are so many families that come out, including people from PC. Dave Huber comes with his family all the time, and so does Harry Wood and his family.”

Many students, like Beck,

have special family traditions. For junior Nic Hanson, that tra-dition is said just before Thanks-giving dinner. “My Dad’s side of the family has a prayer from an ancestor who said grace at the first dinner,” says Hanson. “We always read that before we eat, which is pretty cool.” Junior Jess Star has a family tradition of bringing kugel to Thanksgiving dinner. “Kugel is a type of noo-dle pudding,” explains Star. “It’s a very common food for Jewish families to eat on the holidays.”

Many students tend to travel for Thanksgiving as well. The trip can be as close as a five-minute walk, or as far as a seven-hour plane ride! “This year, my family went to Spain for Thanksgiving,” says senior Ben Krieger, “and that was pretty amazing.” Laughing, he adds, “We ended up having a Thanksgiving chicken, though, because we couldn’t find any tur-key.”

Students are not the only ones with quirky Thanksgiving stories. Latin teacher Marianne Master has her share of anecdotes from Thanksgivings past and present. “This year,” says Master, “I discovered that my daughter, Sylvie, is a fiend for anything pumpkin flavored.” Another fun fact Master has, “I am a direct de-scendant of Peregrine White, the first baby born on the Mayflower. True story!”

Students and faculty differ from each other in many ways: ethnicity, spirituality, academic interests, extra-curricular activi-ties. However, many members of the Penn Charter community do not acknowledge the differences that extend beyond what they experience in school. “Everyone celebrates Thanksgiving,” com-ments senior Clay Bryan. “It’s a national holiday, so it seems obvious that it unifies PC in that respect. But at the same time, it shows how unique students are, in family values, traditions, and beliefs.”

National Holiday Stuffed with Diversity

By Carolyn Grace, ‘12

their choices could have, espe-cially during a time where stu-dents are expected to make many hard choices every day about drugs, alcohol, and especially, as Shaffer noted, their surroundings. Each student took something dif-ferent from the assembly. “Scotty Rock exemplified what it means to truly hit rock bottom, but at the same time, he shared the per-fect comeback story,” says senior Jackson Tamasities. And now se-nior Gian Regini is “more aware about the consequences of each of my actions regarding myself and those around me.” Junior Julia Vahey sums it up perfectly: “People don’t think that some-thing like this will ever happen to me, but really, it can happen to anyone,” she shares. “You can have a perfect life and a perfect childhood, but one decision can change everything.”

“Scotty Rock’s” lessons left a deep impact on the Upper School, and it will be sure to re-member them with every tough choice we make.

Photo by Dan AmchinOn November 19th, a team of eight Mathletes traveled to Princeton to compete in the

annual Princeton University Math Competition. Seniors David Paisner, Marion Hirsh-berg, David Miller, Ken Panis, Tucker Colton, juniors Angi Ji and Dan Amchin, and sophomore Jeffrey Woo represented Penn Charter in tests of Algebra, Geometry, Combi-natorics, and Number Theory.

NewsPage 2 December 2011

Can you imagine school from 7:15 in the morning to 6:00 at night? This 11 1/4-hour long school day would certainly pro-duce an annoyed reaction from Penn Charter Upper Schoolers. However, at a new local middle school, St. James the Less, long days are actually very popular amongst its first class of 5th grad-ers.

Perhaps unbeknownst to most students, over the past two years Penn Charter has built a close relationship with the St. James School, located just minutes away in the Alleghany West neighbor-hood of North Philadelphia. In fact, Director of Service James Ballengee serves on the St. James’ Board of Directors and Head of School Daryl Ford is an active member of the advisory board. In addition, our cafeteria provides lunch for the school every day, and lower school classes plan on reading with St. James students. This fall, the Penn Charter Athlet-ics Department coordinated a new program where St. James students play sports and have dinner with PC captains and athletes once ev-ery two weeks.

Penn Charter is just one of many schools, churches, and or-ganizations that helped St. James open their doors as a school for the first time this fall. The build-ing itself used to be a church, which was forced to close down in 2006. Two years later, a plan was put into place to turn the va-cant church and lot into a vibrant new middle school for underpriv-ileged students in the rundown community. Last year, St. James was an afterschool program for local kids, a place to play and begin homework before going home. Penn Charter students ac-tually volunteered as tutors in this program, as well. This year, the middle school “opened its gates”

to the first 5th grade class of 16 eager students. With every new school year, another grade will be added to program until it is a full middle school from 5th to 8th grade. As stated on the school website, the mission of St. James School is to “ensur[e] that students attend, learn, meet high standards and succeed—in school and beyond” and “provide children from this low-income community with the same quality education offered in the region’s best private schools.”

Through the program orga-nized with the athletics depart-ment, I have had the privilege to meet these special 5th graders. In just two visits, their enthusiasm for learning, cheerful smiles, and politeness astounded me. When I first met them, all I said was “Hey guys” and they all responded in unison with a hearty and cheerful “HELLO!” I also saw that this joy and exuberance overflows into their academic interests as well. When I asked several St. James students about their favorite ac-tivities at school, Zamir Wiggins proudly told me that, “I like math and last month I was mathema-tician of the month.” Diamond Gibbs explained how she enjoyed “getting out real late, getting lots of homework, reading, English/language-arts class, math, social studies, and science.” Ajia Hen-dricks told me that she also loves the long school days. In addi-tion, Ainyae Holmes, Zahkiyyah Crawford, Lashay Smith, and Ja-leika Woodard talked to me about their favorite classes which in-clude “reading time,” “specials”, and “Urban Blazers,” which is a time spent playing games outside or going on field trips in the city. Teacher Frank Martino added that he “loves the fact that [the students] have such wonderful opportunities that they normally

wouldn’t have.”So beyond the shared lunch-

es, dinners, and sports, how can we as the Penn Charter student body continue this relationship with St. James school? Accord-ing to their director of the Middle School, David Kasievich, we can act as role models, espe-cially since “[the students] have no upperclassman at school, so it is nice to have [Penn Charter] upperclassman to guide them.” All of the St. James students loved seeing all the nice facili-ties Penn Charter has to offer and expressed interest in coming here for high school. In this way, the Penn Charter partnership goes right along with Kasievich’s be-lief that his students are “16 of the most prominent students in Philadelphia that are prepared to go the best schools in the area.” Ballengee describes this critical neighborhood school relationship as one he would like to build on in the coming years.

Conversely, being with the students has shown me that they can also be role models for us Penn Charter “upperclassman.” Their love of school can motivate us in the classroom and teach us that good grades only come sec-ond to learning. Similarly, their joy of being outside and playing sports can remind us of the fun of athletics. Finally, I also realized (as 4 of the girls enthusiastically volunteered to clean my locker) that we should also copy their unending respect for not only their surroundings but also their friends and teachers. So, I urge you to get involved with the St. James partnership or any other PC service program, because as I found, giving back to our com-munity means learning something ourselves too.

By Ani Schug, ‘13

PC Builds Relationship with the St. James School

With the addition of new head boys’ varsity basketball coach, Lynard Stewart, comes the addition of a new attitude: “If you don’t believe, you don’t belong.”

Students and players alike have reason to believe in Stew-art’s ability to reinvigorate the basketball program, as he brings with him the knowledge and love for the game necessary in breed-ing success. Stewart, a Philadel-phia native, grew up surrounded by the game of basketball, with two older brothers who played in both college and the pros. During his junior year at Simon Gratz High School, he led the number-one ranked team in the nation to an undefeated season alongside the likes of fiery NBA all-star Ra-sheed Wallace, and would even-tually garner a full scholarship to Temple University where he starred for four years. His talent allowed him to play ten years of professional ball in Europe and Asia, which culminated in his becoming the 2007-08 British Basketball League MVP for the Newcastle Eagles.

While he is in unfamiliar ter-ritory as a coach, he possesses a firm stance on what it takes to win basketball games and expects one thing from his players—ef-fort: “If you’re not willing to do what’s asked from your coaches, teammates, and school, you don’t

need to be a part of the program.” Such toughness carries over to his philosophy on the court. As is the conviction of many great coach-es, Stewart believes that defense is the key to winning games, and will implement a tenacious man-to-man scheme reminiscent of the gritty style of basketball for which Philadelphia is famous. On the other side of the ball, Stew-art’s focus is offensive execution and efficiency while stressing the need to strike quickly at open op-portunities.

This approach to the game should begin to garner the suc-cess that has eluded Penn Charter boys’ basketball in recent years, and will hopefully mark the be-ginning of a complete transfor-mation. Although the task of revitalizing an entire program is daunting, Stewart is not intimi-dated in the least bit and displays unfaltering belief in his players. “I expect us to always put ourselves in the position to win each game. That means playing hard, giving your all, believing in one another, and sticking to the system.” With the Quaker Crew providing its customarily raucous support and Stewart generating a fresh surge of expectation, the PC basketball team is on the rise.Check online at www.pcmir-ror.org for articles on the girls’ basketball program.

New Coach Brings New Attitude

By Ethan Kotloff, ‘12

Photo of St. James Schoolfrom www.stjamesphila.org

Photo from Rachael GarnickAt the annual Student Diversity Leadership Conference eight students representing Penn Charter attended work-shops and seminars. Above, Cathryn Peirce and Rachael Garnick pose with their ideal ‘community norms.’

SportsPage 3December 2011

A lot has changed since 1887, but the PC/GA day tradition has stayed as strong as ever. Nine Penn Charter varsity teams went head to head with Germantown Academy for the 125th time on Saturday. It was an overall loss for PC, losing six of the nine sports to GA, but the Quakers were able to pull through with three major wins for the girls and boys water polo teams and the football team.

On the morning of November 12th, fans were drawn away from their spots on the sidelines at the Strawbridge and Perrot fields and into a more unconventional cheering section at the PC pool. The girls’ and boys’ varsity water polo teams drew a crowded and

By Hannah Kramer, ‘15excited cheering section at the pool, with many people watching their first water polo game. The boys placed first in the Inter-Ac with their PC/GA Day win, and although the girls had already won the championships, their win added to their undefeated Inter-Ac record.

By 1:30 on Saturday, many fans were disheartened by the serious losses PC had suffered. But in the first few minutes of the greatest PC/GA tradition of them all, the annual football game, spirits soared. The student cheer-ing sections chanted the names of players as they ran for touchdown after touchdown, scoring a total of 54 points to GA’s 7. Players

Eric Neefe and Eric Berger scored three touchdowns each, and Berg-er went on to win the Geis Award for most important player in the game. This huge win was a bea-con of light in an otherwise dim PC/GA Day.

Despite the six PC/GA Day losses, the day’s wins were spec-tacular and the always-exciting events had a special meaning. In the last 125 years, a lot has changed at PC, but this tradition has remained an important part of Penn Charter. Hopefully PC’s strong sports and sense of pride in our great community stays this strong for the next 125 years.

PC Stays StrongDespite Tough Loss Against GA

The fall sports season drew to a close with five varsity ath-letes winning awards on PC/GA Day. Seniors Danielle Sienko and Bobby Wurtz and juniors Eric Berger, Ted Foley, and Catie Skinner received trophies in their respective sports.

Sienko and Wurtz domi-nated the pool during the water polo games, leading their teams to two of the day’s three wins. Goalie Sienko, who attributes her success to her teammates, com-mented, “It felt really good to win the MVP because it showed how much I have grown since not be-ing able to swim sophomore year. If it wasn’t for people swimming across the pool as quickly as pos-sible, then there wouldn’t have been anyone down there for me to even pass to.”

Fellow senior Bobby Wurtz, who competed in his fourth PC/GA Day water polo game, will play in college, and plays on Princeton’s club team out of school. “Knowing that I am on

the same trophy with some of the best players to ever come through Penn Charter is intimidating, and I just hope that I live up to their legacy,” Wurtz said after the game. Wurtz credited the victory to the efforts of the whole team, with special recognition to “Mi-chael Lordi’s lob shot in the first quarter and Tyler Early’s one-on-nobody save against GA’s best player with two minutes left in the game, which sealed the game for us.”

Although the girls cross country team fell short of a PC victory, Catie Skinner brought home both the trophy and first place for her school. “Although the team didn’t win overall, I felt like I had truly accomplished something for the school, and I loved being able to win the tro-phy for Penn Charter,” Skinner commented. She plans on running winter track for the first time, as “running is not just a sport, it’s a lifestyle.”

Boys soccer suffered a team

loss as well, but center defender Ted Foley won the Rump award for PC in a game that included a bench-clearing brawl. He admits that he was surprised to hear his name announced, but called it a “great honor.” Foley was a mem-ber of the InterAc-winning team last year, and cited that with the “entire starting line-up returning (minus senior goalkeeper Ben Krieger) we have a great chance of winning the league next year.”

The day ended with an epic 54-7 football win, and Eric Berger took home the famed Geis trophy. “Winning the Geis was one of the greatest moments of my life. I have had some high accomplish-ments with athletics in the past, but this is definitely the highest.” Although Berger called the whole game a “highlight film,” his top moment was his “first touch-down, which helped us regain the lead.”

Congratulations to all the athletes who competed in the 125th PC/GA day!

PC/GA Day Trophy WinnersBy Marion Hirshberg, ‘12

Below, the football team is on its way to a 54-7 victory.Photo by Jeffrey Soffer

Seniors Tyler Earley, Tyler Mercer, and Becca Mount pump up the crowd at the annual PC/GA Day pep rally.

Photo by Jeffrey Soffer

Photo by Jeffrey SofferFans crowd the stands at the 125th PC vs. GA footballgame.

SportsPage 4

The Mirror

Editors-in-Chief Elizabeth Cahn

Marion Hirshberg

News and CommunityCarolyn Grace

Heidi Zisselman

SportsEthan KotloffErika Krum

EditorialsRachael Garnick

Ani Schug

EntertainmentStephanie Ko

Cora Wolfington

Photography Susannah Bonn

Online CoordinatorDani Lazarus

Technology ConsultantKidder Erdman

Faculty AdvisorJennifer Baer

Fred Huntington

December 2011

With the fall athletic sea-son’s conclusion, we head into promising winter seasons filled with tight swim races, loud bas-ketball games, intense squash matches, and brutal wrestling match-ups. Seven teams par-ticipating in four different sports will compete this winter for the Inter-Ac crown, as experienced seniors guide the new and up-coming talent of the underclass-men.

The 2010-2011 season was undoubtedly one of Penn Char-ter’s best for the girls’ basketball team. The star-studded team, led by senior Alesha Powell and juniors Dianna Thomas and Bri-anna Butler, finished at second place in the Inter-Ac, the team’s highest finish ever. Unfortu-nately, first place was claimed by nemesis Germantown Academy, and after graduating two key se-niors and losing one of its best players in Butler, the team has its fair share of gaps to fill this year. “Although we did lose some key players, we are still confident that we will have just as much if not more success than we did last year,” says now senior cap-tain Thomas. Another important off-season development was the hiring of Dave Bass as the new head coach. Several players have AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) Basketball, a highly competi-tive basketball league, experi-ence with Bass and in Thomas’ view, “he has a very positive at-titude, loves to win as much as [the players] do and will lead [the team] to great success this season.” She continues, “He al-lows us to play our game and he

doesn’t expect us to do anything that we are uncomfortable doing on the court.” The regionaly top ten ranked Quakers hold high ex-pectations for the 2011-12 basket-ball season.

On the other side of the court, boys’ basketball looks to rebound from a disappointing 2010-2011 season. The team will rely heavily on second team All-Inter-Ac senior point guard John Moderski and six foot eight ju-nior Mike McGlinchey to gener-ate scoring and leadership in the starting lineup. The team also looks to returning varsity players like sophomore Sean O’Brien to bring experience as well as sheer talent to the team. One thing that you can always count on when basketball season rolls around is the craziness of the Quaker Crew. All students are encouraged to join them in full form by support-ing the team every Friday night as they battle Inter-Ac foes.

Traveling across School House Lane to a different kind of court, the squash court, one can find two of Penn Charter’s most successful programs. The girls’ squash team, led by five-year var-sity players and senior captains Tara Harrington and Amanda Roberts, hopes to build on its 5th place finish at Nationals last year. While three varsity players graduated last year, two-thirds of the varsity squad is back and better than ever. Key players to watch this season other than the captains are sophomore Margaux Losty and freshman Izzy Hirsh-berg. Hirshberg even played the previous year as an 8th grader and will be expected to use that

experience to improve her game and contribute to the team’s suc-cess. “Although we lost three seniors, so many new people have started taking lessons and are trying out for the team,” says Roberts. “From my experience, age doesn’t really matter because everyone wants to have the best team possible. I think our young-er members will do a great job this year, and the whole team will support and welcome them onto the varsity team.” Coached by Head of Squash Damon Leedale-Brown in his second year on the job, the girls will be serious con-tenders at 2012 Nationals.

Another historically success-ful program, the boys’ squash team is hoping for a breakout season after a rebuilding year in 2010-2011. Losing only one se-nior and now led by captains Luke Schweitzer and Alex Reisley, the team is full of experience as well as confidence. Reisley is hope-ful about the upcoming season: “Many of the players have been playing a lot over the summer and I’m optimistic on how we will perform in a league that usually produces many of the best teams in the country. I believe our im-provement and maturity as a team will catch a number of teams off guard.” Apart from Schweitzer and Reisley, top players such as juniors Luke Angelakis and Au-gust Crofton will play significant roles this season. Randy Beck, another star Quaker, is return-ing from an injury, but Reisley is confident that he will come back stronger than ever. The boys’ squash team will put up a tough fight battling in this year’s Inter-

Ac.Both the boys’ and girls’

swimming and diving teams are sure to find success this winter. The boys turn to captains Harry Wood and Bobby Wurtz for lead-ership while also leaning on a strong junior class. After break-ing records last year in the sprint freestyle, the boys turn to Jamal Willis’s speed to power the relays and shorter events. Sophomore Connor McGoldrick will play a vital role in the Quakers’ success after an amazing freshmen sea-son in the individual medley and breaststroke. The boys look to not only compete with the other four Inter-Ac teams but to also contend at Easterns, the central tournament that caps off the sea-son. The diving team is coming off an undefeated Inter-Ac season in 2010-2011 and the young team still shows signs of untapped po-tential and improvement that will propel the boys to victory.

The girls swimming team had a strong showing last year but fell short of defeating rival Germantown Academy and the powerful Episcopal Academy. This season is promising, though, and led by senior captains Lela Garner and Marion Hirshberg, the team looks to triumph in a tough InterAc league. The team loses four essential seniors, and Hirshberg says, “We will be re-lying on the sophomores and ju-niors to fill the top spots on the team, especially juniors Meredith Wurtz, Carly Zurcher, and Maria Georgiou. Hopefully everyone will improve during our training trip to Florida, and will be ready to contribute in the meets.”

Finally, we dive into the Pit to preview the wrestling team. A hard working group of wrestlers sees the return of two of the three captains from last year, seniors Steve Miller and Joey Woodruff. The team also hopes to have equal success at the National Prep School Tournament after qualify-ing four wrestlers last season. Ju-nior ET Dumas and senior Tyler Mercer, two students on opposite ends of the weight class spectrum, will play major roles. It is clear that Penn Charter wrestling is on the rise and will build on previous achievements for the 2011-2012 season.

As always, each of the win-ter sports teams is full of prom-ise at the start of the season, and hard work and determination will allow Penn Charter athlet-ics to flourish through the frigid weather. Don’t forget to support your fellow athletes in their drive for InterAc titles. It should be an unforgettable winter.

By Leigh Steinberg, ‘14Winter Athletic Seasons Promise Excitement

Photo by Marion Hirshberg Photo from Class Record

EditorialsPage 5December 2011

Teachers! Students! Do you ever waste twenty minutes just deciding where you are going to spend your free period? Finding a good place to work feels like Goldilocks, where different loca-tions are too quiet, too loud, or too uncomfortable. Sometimes, I want to sit down and get a good forty to eighty minutes of work done, while other times I want to relax and socialize with friends. Currently, this is difficult to do. What Penn Charter students and faculty really need are individual lounges. Both students and teach-ers have very rigorous schedules, so when the time is available we deserve to go to a place where we can just relax.

The library tends to get filled with classes and students who want to talk (not whisper) with

By Ryann Shaffer, ‘13Students (and Faculty) Deserve a Space for Relaxing

friends, making studying a chal-lenge. Having a lounge would be a more applicable space for these students, while the students who want to study could do so in the library without being disrupted. The lounge would be a more causal environment where stu-dents can talk with friends, read a magazine, or take a catnap with-out being proctored. The faculty could catch up with coworkers, have a cup of coffee, or even read the newspaper. After two double blocks of exhausting classes, stu-dents and faculty with free pe-riods could go to the lounge to wind down without disrupting others.

Even teachers agree that a confined lounge is a neces-sity. Ms. Kalam Id-Din suggests, “Having a place for faculty and

students to gather is essential to nurturing intellectual conversa-tions outside of the classroom. In addition, spaces where we can eat, talk or just relax go along with the idea of building a deeper sense of community.”

Although the couches up-stairs are very comfortable and the cafeteria has great tables that allow us to “spread out,” these are still not good spaces for work. It is very distracting for students that are studying and teachers who are meeting with students to have people incessantly walk by. Similarly, people are constantly walking by, in, and out of the math, humanities, and language offices. Lounges would provide for a friendlier and quieter atmo-sphere where it would be more casual and personable for teach-

I am in chorus class the same amount of time that I am in math class, and I want credit for it.

The arts requirement needed to graduate is four units of credit, one of which is fulfilled through Foundation Arts, a one-trimes-ter course required for all ninth graders. There are two options for earning the other three cred-its required to complete the arts requirement. The first is to earn three credits by choosing from twenty-plus, one-trimester elec-tives in music, theater, and the visual arts. These electives range from song writing, to documen-tary filmmaking, to observational drawing. The second option is to join chorus or band for four years, earn two credits in this way, and complete another one-trimester course. If a student drops band or chorus at any point in the four years, he loses both band or cho-rus credits.

Band and chorus, which re-quire more time than all other arts courses, receive less credit.

Students in chorus or band par-ticipate for twelve trimesters to receive two credits, while other students can take two trimester-long courses to earn the same number of credits.

Junior Lital Netter-Sweet participated in chorus freshman year, dropped chorus in tenth grade, and is now singing again as a junior. She will not, however, receive credit for her time and commitment. Netter-Sweet states, “After ninth grade, I realized that I wouldn’t be able to take any other electives [if I continued Chorus.]” As a sophomore, Net-ter-Sweet took three arts electives in subjects that deeply interested her and also the arts graduation requirement. Of her experience, she states, “One of the main rea-sons I left was to fulfill my arts credit, but [Chorus] was such an enjoyable experience that I de-cided to return.” Arts teachers believe the current requirements ensure that students receive art education in multiple mediums.

However, Netter-Sweet’s expe-rience illustrates that in the cur-rent credit system students cannot pursue interests in both the visual arts and chorus or band. The arts requirements should encourage the exploration of a variety of classes, not force students to sac-rifice one for the other.

One of the administration’s fears is that rewarding credit yearly would lower enrollment in chorus and band for upper-classmen, but I believe the op-posite. Head of Upper School Travis Larrabee, states that giv-ing credit at the completion of high school “honors the students who have done band and chorus all four years.” In actuality, the fact that credit is only rewarded after four years alienates students from joining chorus or band. Stu-dents do not want to be bound to chorus or band throughout all of high school; we want the ability to explore all academic and art interests, rather than be commit-ted to a sole offering. A student

with a strong preexisting interest in a visual art will most likely continue to pursue that course of study. However, the student with a passing curiosity is less apt to expose himself to an arts course and develop a life-long passion for a new medium.

I spend the same amount of time in chorus that I spend in my “academic” classes, but I do not receive as much credit for my time and effort in chorus as I do in English and math. Chorus and band meet seven out of the ten days in the rotation, the same as any other history, English, or sci-ence course; so why are they not given equal graduation credit?

Attempting to reconcile what I see as a gross inequity, Larra-bee states “chorus and band are weighted equally to all other aca-demic classes on a student’s tran-script.” This equivalent weighting on students’ transcripts, however, does not at all impact students’ decision to join chorus or band or enroll in other art classes. As

students, we are concerned about the impact of chorus and band on our elective opportunities. The existing system impacts students by not allowing the opportunity to explore more academic classes and by limiting further explora-tion of the arts, the very thing art teachers are trying to promote with the current requirements.

A potential solution is to award one credit each year, and give students the opportunity to discontinue band or chorus at any time in their upper school career. This would make chorus and band a yearlong commitment and compensate students for their time and effort even if they do not participate for all four years. If students knew they would be rewarded on an annual basis they would be more likely to sign up for chorus or band.

At this time, the graduation requirements for chorus and band are being debated by both stu-dents and faculty who will con-tinue to seek resolution.

ers to meet with students. Stu-dents or faculty walking by would not interrupt the pairs meeting in the lounge.

Junior Jared Karpf says, “New lounges are a great idea and would definitely be an im-provement over current [ones].” Not only would student/teacher lounges suit the students and fac-ulty with frees, but they would also help out classes. Teachers of-ten become frustrated when free students pop their heads in the classroom windows or talk too loudly in the hallways. A lounge would be an alternative place for students to hang out instead of gathering in the hallways.

Ilana Resnick adds, “A stu-dent lounge would provide a place for the students to study in a comfortable atmosphere instead

of being in the hallways or other places in the school where classes are in session and kids are becom-ing disturbed.”

Fitz’s old room would be a perfect location to convert into a lounge. This room has enough space to be split between the stu-dents and teachers. Money to buy couches, tables, and other furni-ture could be raised through bake sales and other student run fund-raisers.

Creating a lounge for stu-dents and faculty would give us the space to have a well-deserved period of relaxation. A lounge would be a more inviting place for both students and teachers to interact and would make for more relaxed personalities outside the classroom and more focused mentalities inside the classroom.

Are Two Credits Enough?By Heidi Zisselman, ‘13

Photo by Elizabeth CahnAbove, students are working hard in band, for which they do not get enough credit.

EditorialsPage 6 December 2011

Sports Dismissals:Helpful or Harmful?

By Nikhil Krishnan, ‘14The Pros:Early dismissals…they may

seem like they get in the way of teachers and students alike. They may make the classrooms seem vacant and bare. They may even seem to make the school quieter at the end of the day. However, they are indeed very important for the success of our school. As sophomore Lauren Flemming, a varsity lacrosse and soccer play-er, says, early dismissals “Help get us focused on athletics and more ready to compete.”

Almost every day, at least one Penn Charter sports team leaves school earlier than the regular dismissal time. Compar-atively though, the benefits far outweigh the consequences. An obvious advantage is that they al-low teams to prepare thoroughly for games. If there was a sched-uled 3:30 game and school end-ed at 3:15 how would the players

be geared up and ready for the game? How could Penn Charter expect to win the InterAc in any sport if the players were limited to only fifteen minutes of prepa-ration? For example, our football players have to put on pads, take the bus (if the game is away), stretch, and run warm up plays before the game. Try accomplish-ing that in fifteen minutes! Varsity football running back and varsity track sprinter junior Eric Neefe says that if early dismissals didn’t exist “that would be awful, [and] give us no time to get ready for games, which is important!”

Another important reason for having early dismissals is that students can get home earlier af-ter games. By leaving school half an hour earlier, games can begin half an hour earlier and students can hence get home before they would have if they left school at

By Rachael Garnick, ‘13The Cons:As “student-athletes” at

Penn Charter, the balance be-tween “student” and “athlete” is often hard to manage. Being an athlete can interfere with being a student, especially in the case of early dismissals.

The life of a Penn Charter student is hectic and there is lit-tle time for anything but school. English teacher, upperclass-men grade dean, and recent “ju-nior for a week” Ben Dziedzic agrees in saying, “Penn Charter is a very busy place and at times we end up needing to be in two places at once.” With this hectic life, finding time to schedule ath-letic competitions is understand-ably difficult. Paul Butler, Head of Athletics, comments, “There are things we do all the time to try and ease the pain around dismissal time. 2:30 PM school days help…but we do the best we can do.”

Currently, when students have competitions at other schools they may be required to leave classes anywhere from ten minutes to an hour and a half early to travel to the opposing school. Junior and two sport cap-tain Ani Schug comments, “al-though I’m an athlete, I believe academics should come first. Academics are more important and by even missing the end of class, you still feel as if you fall behind.” Senior Savannah Wil-

son echoes these comments: “if you miss class due to an early dismissal, and you have home-work for that class, you can’t do the homework and so you get behind.” Moreover, early dis-missals not only put stress upon the students for the one class that they miss, but also on their en-tire schedule. “By the time you get home [from an away athletic competition] you are exhausted and it is late. We don’t have time to do all of our work,” comments senior Sarah Samuels.

Students aren’t the only ones to recognize the issues that early dismissals present. The adminis-tration and faculty are likewise aware of this. Dziedzic notes, “[early dismissals] make it hard for teachers… and they put an ex-tra burden on students. I think it’s important for us to work together so that kids don’t get behind.” And I can’t agree more.

Although many may argue that early dismissals are crucial to the success of Penn Charter ath-letics, I disagree. There are many solutions that would fix the issues of early dismissals while still al-lowing athletics to remain suc-cessful and competitive. Science teacher Nora Comiskey suggests that in order to fix these issues we should “schedule more weekend games and look into other non-In-terAc school’s sports programs” to get ideas to better ours.

Scheduling weekend games would benefit the school in many ways. Not only would it lessen the burden of early dismissals during school, but it would also give students the opportunity to see teams play that they are un-able to watch during the week, thus boosting school spirit. Other suggestions include some half days throughout the season (in which the first half of the day is dedicated to school and the sec-ond to athletics) and incorporat-ing sports practices into our daily school schedules, following the lead of some area schools such as Agnes Irwin, Springside/Chest-nut Hill Academy, and Friends Central.

Early dismissal frustration is felt throughout the school, yet, as eloquently stated by Comiskey: “[early dismissals] are irritating but understandable. We have to find a solution and we can’t just complain. What we need is com-promise… and there is progress being made to make a compro-mise.”

Do you have any solutions or suggestions? If so, I encourage you to share them with the Athlet-ics Department as well as the Ad-ministration of our school. Maybe you can come up with a better solution than that of Dziedzic: “change daylight savings time.”

the regular dismissal time. That half-hour can make a big differ-ence to students’ quality of home-work and preparation for tests and quizzes. Adequate sleep is an important aspect of a healthy lifestyle, but parents and teach-ers expect us to choose between studying and sleeping after get-ting home late from a game.

Early dismissals give all Penn Charter athletics the chance to win. It is much more exciting for the school as a whole if its sports teams are winning. Penn Charter sports are going through a tough time as it is, and remov-ing early dismissals would only delay the return of athletic domi-nance. They also allow students to sleep, study, and stay healthy. Early dismissals are one of the many small things that can help Penn Charter reach future glory in sports and academics.

Acing the Balancing ActThe most stressful time of the

year for college-hopefuls comes at the start of November, when not only are the November 1st or 15th deadlines looming over our heads, but the school work piles on with the end of the first trimes-ter heading in our direction. With so much to do, we must ask: is it possible to balance?

Because early decision and early action applications are due towards the end of the first trimes-ter, it is almost impossible for stu-dents to overcome the stress and complete both the apps and the schoolwork. It forces us to sac-rifice and prioritize. Is it more im-portant to complete the homework or the apps? The apps are the only way a student has to show col-leges why they should accept the individual; however, the home-work factors into first trimester grades, which are automatically sent to colleges. So, which is more important? Colleges answer that question with “both,” which defi-nitely does not help.

Penn Charter offers no solu-tions for these stressed seniors, even though there are solutions in place at other InterAc and Friends schools that relieve the seniors and ensure that applica-tions and school work are both completed to the best of the stu-dent’s ability. One solution is for seniors to have no assessments or get one day off leading up to the major deadlines. Even better, the weekend before the biggest deadline could be a “Senior Re-prieve Weekend,” when teachers would be prohibited from giving homework. This homework-free weekend would provide seniors with adequate time to finish up their apps. English classes could incorporate college essays, such

By Erika Krum, ‘12as personal statements or supple-ments, into their curriculum. Even giving seniors days off for college visits would be help-ful. Currently, we are allowed “excused absences” from school to do this, but missing a day of classes forces us to play catch-up with what we missed and do two nights worth of homework all in one night, thus adding stress and forcing us to fall behind in some classes. Penn Charter also tries to help with an essay-writing course at the beginning of the school year, yet it does not give us time to write the essay. It only pro-vides some tips for writing good essays, but by that time the home-work has already started.

After we finally hand in the pink ‘Application Request’ sheets and click the submit button, we are forced to wait for an answer. Not only are we endlessly refresh-ing our top choice school’s portal in hopes for an “accepted” notice, but we are also writing more es-says for the schools to which we plan to apply regular decision. Preparing for the next round of applications while not know-ing the results of the first round makes the college process seem like a never-ending cycle. Even with some applications submit-ted, there are not enough hours in the day to finish the rest of them and the schoolwork. Teach-ers comment on the bags under our eyes as they give out more homework. OPCs come back to school saying Penn Charter was harder than their college. Does Penn Charter see the effects of the stress it causes us? We seniors are not jugglers, and it seems as if this system will soon cause us some mental break-downs.

Photo by Elizabeth Cahn

EntertainmentPage 7December 2011

Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Holiday Treats

The Cupcakes:

The Frosting:

3 ounces best-quality bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped3/4 cup all-purpose flour3/4 teaspoon baking powderPinch of salt1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened1/2 cup sugar3 tablespoons low-fat buttermilk1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract2 large eggs, plus 1 large egg yolkFine sanding sugar, for sprinkling

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line 14 cups of 2 standard (12-cup) muffin tins with foil liners. Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring. Let cool com-pletely. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl; set aside.

2. Put butter and sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Mix in but-termilk and vanilla. Add flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the eggs and yolk. Add melted chocolate; mix until smooth.

3. Spoon batter into liners, filling about one-third full. Bake un-til a cake tester comes out clean, about 12 minutes. Let cool in tins on wire racks.

4. Assemble the cupcakes: Spread a thin layer of frosting on each cupcake. Using a 2 1/2-inch ice cream scoop dipped in hot water, place a smooth mound of frosting on top of each cupcake. Sprinkle with sanding sugar. Let stand until frosting is set, about 3 hours. Cupcakes can be stored in single layers in airtight con-tainers at room temperature up to 1 day.

1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar2 tablespoons light corn syrup6 ounces whipping-quality pasteurized egg whites

1. Heat 1 1/2 cups sugar, the corn syrup, and 2/3 cup water in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring, until sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil over medium- high heat. Wash down sides of pan with a wet pastry brush to prevent crystals from forming. Cook, without stirring, until a candy thermometer reaches 235 degrees.

2. Meanwhile, put egg whites into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 2 tablespoons sug-ar. Reduce speed to medium-low. Add the hot syrup in a slow, steady stream down sides of bowl. Raise speed to medium-high; beat until stiff peaks form and frosting is smooth and cool, about 7 minutes.

From Izzy’s Kitchen:Snowball Cupcakes

The cupcakes were devoured before they even cooled. The sweet marshmallow frosting and rich chocolate cake earned rave reviews.

Photo by Izzy Hirshberg

Wise Winston’s Words of WisdomDear Wise Winston,I’m a junior, and all I’ve been hearing about are these SATs that apparently we have to take. My question

is: what are the SATs? Is it some sort of test on physical tasks? I’m really concerned this will keep me out of college.

Signed,Confused Junior

Dear Confused Junior,You seem to be stressing over a very miniscule issue that will barely affect you at all. The SATs are a game

similar to Sudoku or a word search competition. Basically they sit you down for two hours and you fill in the bubbles into any pattern you want. The trickiest part is that you’re not allowed to fill in two bubbles in the same row. Whoever can make the best design wins the SATs and gets to go to Harvard… or NYU depend-ing on how much experimenting you’re willing to do ;). Frankly, I don’t really understand the game, it was created in Asia originally and I heard it’s really popular over there but it just became big in the United States recently. I don’t know why you thought this would keep you out of college, because it’s only one of the few skills you need to get into the school of your choice. These other skills include playing Fifa on Xbox, col-lecting Bob Marley posters, and listening to Drake. As an added measure, if you want to get in to Philly U all you have to do is be able to rip letters off of newly added high school signs. So, if you’re stressed out, just brush up on the skills I just listed for you and you can afford to wing the SATs.

Good Luck,Wise WinstonHave any questions for Wise Winston? Drop them anonymously in the box on the student

message board in the main hallway. Look for responses in the Mirror and online.

Ingredients

Directions

Directions

Ingredients

Photo by Molly PighiniAt the annual Semiformal, all grades came together to show off their “Moves Like Jagger” and have fun.

MirrorPage 8 December 2011

My name is... What do you want from

Santa?

My favoriteholiday song is...

My favoriteholiday movie

is...

What are your snow day plans?

What is your New Year’sresolution?

Where do you want to be when the ball drops on New Year’s Eve?

Layne Wolfingotn(9th Grade)

Shoes “All I Want for Christ-mas is You”

by Mariah Carey

The Nutcracker Sleeping in and sled-ding

Get a better grade in Geometry

Anywhere warm

Dean Roseman(10th Grade)

A girlfriend ;)... Just kidding, some

clothes

“All I Want for Christ-mas is You”

by Mariah Carey

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Sleeping, sledding, sleeping

No detentions In the streets with my boys with pots and

pansSteph Risler (11th Grade)

World Peace “Winter Wonderland” Elf Go sledding with friends and then want a movie next to the fire with Dunkin’ Do-nuts hot chocolate and

marshmallows

Help out more around the house

With family and friends partyinnnnnng

Dave Huber(11th Grade)

New sneakers “Christmas in Hollis”by Run DMC

Elf Bake cookies, make snow angels, and read a leather bound novel

by the fire

Teach Kevin Murphy how to rap

Somewhere I can see it

Savannah Wilson(12th Grade)

A car or a Nikon cam-era

“All I Want for Christ-mas is You”

by Mariah Carey

The Family Stone Have a huge snow ball fight

Go skydiving some-time in the next year

With all of my friends and the people I care

aboutGian Regni

(12th Grade)Whey Protein “Ludachristmas”

by LudacrisBad Santa Lift Less water, more milk South Philly

Pop Culture GridBy Elizabeth Cahn, ‘12

The Mirroris online!Check us

out at www.pcmirror.org!

Tech Club: Alias: “The Hackers.” It is unclear whether these students work for the FBI or will soon be scene on “FBI’s Most Wanted.”

GSA: The GSA is constantly in a whir of noise and activity… except on the National Day of Silence.

Global Awareness Club: Prepare for the Model UN Conference, while listening to Clay Bryan’s and Akash Shah’s voices crescendo into shouts.

Math Club: Discuss Banach spaces, p-adic numbers, and Euclid’s algorithm, while play-ing with Mr. Gordon’s math magic trick toys. The epitome of fun.

Art Club: Have a fun lunch debate about Picasso’s emotional state during his “blue period.” However, beware to not leave your lunch trays in the Art Room, or a tastefully captured photograph of your trash will be hanging on the door when you walk into the next club meeting.

Latin Club: These students keep the dead language alive.

International Sports and Culture Club: An “academic” outlet to talk about Spanish soccer players. Telemundo TV required.

Student Diversity Discussion Group: Mr. Rickards bribes students to join with free pizza. It’s worth it.

Green Club: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. ‘Nuff said. Club dismissed.

Book Club: A gathering of students whose two true passions are reading and talking. However, these passions are incompatible, and love of talking prevails.

French Table: These students are great at French, but they are even better at making crepes and Nutella!

The Mirror: It might be a little easier to think of something clever to say if the staff was able to publish it more than twice a year.

By Heidi Zisselman, ‘13PC Clubs: Exposed

Photo by Lisa CiarrocchiThis year’s Middle School musical, Blues Clues Live!, starred Kieran O’Connor as ‘Steve’ and Samantha McA-voy as ‘Blue.’ The young performers set the bar high for the Upper School’s rendition of Fame!