PegasusMonthly

The Rancho Solano Preparatory School Student Newspaper Volume I, Edition 7

March 2018

Editor-In-ChiefEnya Smilovic

Assistant Editor-In-Chief Myra Kamal

Rancho’s Got Talent!By Will Starr, Isabella Rose, and Jena Vandenberg

Did you know that Rancho has im-mense talent? On Friday, March 9, we learned the answer at the third annual Rancho’s Got Talent Show—and it was a resounding yes! Both Middle and Upper School students showed off their talents in front of a crowd of their peers that filled near-

ly every seat in the bleachers. The student activity center came alive with twenty-four acts, ranging from piano to violin solos to unicycling! Rancho Solano’s talent show is a rather new addition to our list of traditions. We adopted this idea from the Tesseract school and it has been a great addition ever since. Our very own Orchestra and IB mu-sic teacher, Dr. Kerbey, comment-ed saying, “I was blown away. This is the second year I have heard the performers at this school and I am utterly impressed. I loved it!” This

year we had more engagement from the Upper School with performers such as Vanessa Ochoa singing the pop song, “Warrior” by Demi Lova-to, Yuna Shprecher singing “Skinny Love” by Birdy while simultaneous-ly playing piano, our Rancho Solano Pom team performing a well- cho-

reographed dance with the addition of Allie Payne, and Dhruv Kho-sla, a trained vio-linist. Dhruv said, “I have performed hundreds of times for live audienc-es and this by far was one of my best performances. The audience made me feel comfortable and in my element because I was so familiar with most everyone listening and watching. This was my second year contributing and I will definite-ly be performing a solo act next year.”

Then Tuong Cat Dang, Amber He, and Wendy Zheng sang and

played Chinese flute with “A Thousand Years” by Christina Perri. Some middle schoolers who took part in the evening were Bobby Mohan (7th grader) who played the Northern Indian tabla drums in amazing act. Andrea Gamez, the Rancho dance instructor, per-formed an urban dance for the song “Work It”

and the whole show opened with the teacher band. Lastly, Zaarya Alvi (7th grader) brought down the house singing “A Million Dreams” from The Greatest Showman. Overall, the 2018 Rancho’s Got Tal-ent showcase was an immense suc-cess and had a larger crowd turnout than any year prior. The involve-ment of both students and facul-ty during the show made the show extremely entertaining and hilar-ious. The combined efforts of both Upper and Middle School students strengthened the bond that is both created and expected in our Rancho Solano experience.

Photos by Mrs. Hall Here is Pegasus editor Will Starr, drumming away, at the talent show. Rock on!

Middle Schooler, Nora Nehmeh, singing at the talent show!

Upper School students Wendy and Amber singing beautifully together!

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Middle School Students in Perfect Harmony By Devon Miner

Middle School music during the month of March at Rancho Solano has been very exciting for its tal-ented musicians. Choir, orchestra, band, guitar, and ukulele students have improved their skills tremen-dously in the 2017-2018 school year. Choir students this year have done it all; from singing the National Anthem at spring training baseball games to caroling at nurs-ing homes. “The best thing about musical theatre/choir has been that Mr. Zale has made it a fun experi-ence, making it so that everyone is comfortable and learns something in the end,” Reese Miner, a choir and musical theatre student, said. Some talented choir students were also

selected for the AMEA Choir; alto 6th graders Reese Miner and Olivia Schwallier, soprano 7th grader Sa-nia Sumar, and soprano 8th grader Olivia Brydon. “When I found out I was selected for the AMEA’s Choir I was very excited, and also very proud. I think it is going to be a very interesting experience, and I am very much looking forward to it.” Olivia Brydon said. In orchestra, students have been preparing complex tunes for upcoming performances. “The best part about orchestra is getting to play music with my friends. The mu-sic blows me away,” A cellist, Avery

Shafron, said. Many of the orchestra stu-dents have also been selected for the AMEA’s orchestra: Elle Discont, Av-ery Shafron, Kamryn Bara-ko, Talia Cho, Vera Zuch, and Katya Alofs. “I was super ex-cited when I found out I got into the AMEA’s, and then I started practicing like a mani-ac, even though the songs are easy. I’m super excited!” Avery Shafron

exclaimed.In band, M i d d l e School stu-dents re-cently at-tended the University of Arizona Jazz Fes-tival. This event was anticipated throughout the whole year for most stu-

dents. Intermediate band got two excellent ratings and one superior, averaging to excellent. Advanced

Devon herself, performing in the AMEA All State Band Festival!

Middle School Advanced Band winning awards in the All State competition.

band got three excellent ratings, averaging to excellent. Band stu-dents also had the chance to get into their own version of the AMEA’s; the All State Band. Participants in-clude sophomore Shalabh Kapoor, 7th graders Zachary Egan and Riley McDonough, and 6th graders Ceci Belle and Devon Miner. “I felt excit-ed that I was nominated for the All State Band. It was an honor and I can’t wait to do it soon. I hope I can improve my band skills during and after this event,” Ceci Belle, a clari-net player, said. Middle School musicians continue to impress the rest of the school with their instrumental and vocal talents!

Middle School Choir at AMEA.

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Did you make NJHS/NHS? By Yuna Shprecher and Elle Discont

The Middle School has a very active NJHS, which stands for the Nation-al Junior Honor Society. There were recently applications and selections for NJHS and many hard working MS students were accepted into this elite group. It is a great honor to be a part of this organization because you get to be a huge part of helping the community. The National Ju-nior Honor Society encourages stu-dents to help others and work hard in their classes. During the pro-cess, the applicants had to fill out a form, write a short essay about helping someone in need, and then participate in an interview where the NJHS advisors asked relevant questions.In the Upper School, the Nation-al Honor Society is an important organization as well. This is a nationwide organization recogniz-ing excellence in academic perfor-mance and work ethic. In order to be a member, a student must have a 3.8 average GPA and represent the four pillars of: scholarship, service, leadership, and character. NHS has been active since 1921 and has more than one million high school members. It was the first society

recognizing outstanding students to span the entire country. When interviewed, sophomore Sam Roberts spoke of the impact being part of such an organization has had on him. Recently, he and other members of the Rancho NHS were able to volunteer at Saint Mary’s Food Hospital, which he says has made him “more aware of international poverty,” among other issues in society. Besides volunteer-ing, duties include planning events and voting and participating in the induction ceremony. Like NJHS, the application process includes a form the applicant must fill out. It details the student’s extracurricu-lar activities, leadership roles, and community work he or she par-ticipates in. There is also an essay required, in which the prospective

member must ex-plain why and how they believe they uphold the organi-zation’s four pillars. An interview is held about a week later with sever-al teachers to better understand why the

student would like to be part of the National Honor Society and wheth-er or not they should be a member. Though this process might seem intimidating, Amelie Clark, a tenth grader applying this year, says it re-ally isn’t so bad. “At first I was quite nervous for my interview because I didn’t really know what to expect.” But once she got there and sat down with the teachers, she “wasn’t too worried.” She admits, “Some of the questions were hard. But I just answered the best I could and I think I did a good job.” We hope Amelie and anyone else applying

Performing at Spring Training! By Myra Kamal

On February 28th, the Middle School musical theatre class was invited to sing the national anthem at a spring training baseball game! They performed for about 5,000 people. This has been a Rancho tradition for a couple of years and the students were thrilled to accept the opportunity once again. The choir left at almost noon of that day to reach the Diamond Backs Stadi-um. They were able to practice for a bit, but soon after were performing! High overhead, Rancho Solano Preparatory School showed brightly on the scoreboard while the perfor-mance was taking place. Each stu-dent wore their choir t- shirts, and at various places in the stadium, were recognized and cheered on by

many spectators of the event. It was a privilege and great op-portunity for the Rancho Middle School choir to be able to sing the national anthem in front of the players and the fans. Furthermore, these students were then given a chance to watch the baseball game commence for another hour. “I think we did very well, and it was really fun. My favorite part of the experience was being able to sing the national anthem in front of a lot of people,” said Abigail DiSalvo, a student of the class. “The musical theatre students did an outstanding job representing both their school, as well as their country, by singing the “Star Spangled Banner” for a major league baseball game. It was

a privilege to be asked by such a prominent organization to perform our national anthem, and we hope to be given this honor again in the future,” said Mr. Zale, who led the choir in singing it. Overall, the Rancho Middle School choir was honored by this privilege and hope to do it again in the future!

Mrs. Sears and Mr. Kotila with two NJHSinductees.

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Upper School Spotlight On: Dhruv Khosla, Science Pro, And So Much More... By Isabella Rose and Jena Vandenberg

Editorial: Top 7 Tips To Help The Environment! By Sam RobertsWhat I’m about to say might sound indelicate—but it’s necessary to help our ever-growing and ever-dying world. While it can seem that your presence is too insignificant to help the world, every single second helps. This article will specify seven best and easiest ways to help the envi-ronment. If you feel personally at-tacked, defend yourself by commit-ting to one of these ways to help. If you don’t, congratulate yourself on contributing to global warming.

1. Be vegetarian for a day.While being vegetarian is already proven to greatly help our environ-ment, you can contribute to our world by becoming vegetarian for a day.

2. When you turn on your car, use it.If you’re just going to sit there in your car or parents’ car, turn it off. If you begin to feel hot or sweaty, relax by remembering that global warming soon will plunge the earth into water. If you don’t own a car, ask your parents to turn their car off

when they wait to pick you up.

3. At a coffee shop, ask them to fill your drink in a cup you own.While companies like Starbucks use reusable recyclable cups, you can one up them by using your own. A hydroflask would work fine.

4.Turn off your lights.Easiest one by far, by just remem-bering to turn off the lights you can contribute to the world.

5. Recycle unused wire hangers.All the hangers for your clothes (which if unused, should be donat-ed) should be recycled.

6.Use matches instead of a lighter. Millions of lighters end up in the trash. Instead of making your life mortally easier, use paper match-es—the wooden ones are made from trees.

7. Brave a cold shower. Don’t wait for the water to get hot. It’s a thankless job, but imagine all the penguins who’ll have homes because of you.

Dhruv Khosla began his story in the Rancho chapter ten years ago when he was in second grade. Dhruv is in-volved in almost every club Rancho has to offer. He is an avid member of the chess club, is our junior class president and is also our Chief Sci-ence Officer here at Rancho Solano. Dhruv’s academic clubs include Na-tional Honor Society and Mu Alpha Theta. His artistic talents led him into orchestra and he has now been playing violin for the last ten years. While being quite diverse in his abil-ities, he is also athletically inclined and plays tennis on our school team. Including being a full International Baccalaureate Diploma student, he makes time for volunteer work at Harmony Project Phoenix. Har-mony Project Phoenix is a nonprofit

where talented musicians like Dh-ruv teach underprivileged youth music classes. Dhruv says, “Playing the violin is one of my favorite pas-times, and being able to share this joy amongst other kids is the most satisfying feeling.” Dhruv recently received one of Rancho’s most es-teemed academic accolades, scor-ing the highest at Rancho Solano on the AMC 12 math exam. Although Dhruv takes the HL (higher level) IB math course, which is college level math, he found the AMC test quite challenging. Overall, Dhruv considers Rancho to have been his second home for the last ten years. “I wouldn’t have chosen any oth-er school to have received my high school education from, Rancho has and always will be a part of me.”

Photo by Jena VandenbergHere is Sam Roberts, environmen-tal enthusiast, eating a healthy, natural snack! Go Sam, recycling king!

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Editorial: Gun Control, Is It Good or Bad? By Amelie ClarkOn Wednesday, February 14th, 2018, a day meant for love, chaos emerged at a Florida high school, as open gunfire broke out. Marjo-ry Stoneman Douglas High School, located in Parkland, Florida, faced catastrophe when nineteen year old Nikolas Cruz, a former student with a history of mental illness, left sev-enteen students and teachers dead. This tragedy erupted in a new wave of people coming together to de-mand change.Many times after a shooting, people get inspired to fight for a change in gun laws, but not much happens as a result. This shooting was different, however. It did not just cause people to speak up for a month, and have it later die down and be forgotten. Instead, over a month later, people are still fighting for this cause, and change can be seen. American students have started taking things into their own hands. Survivors from the shooting have been speaking out about what hap-pened, and the changes that need to be made. They even planned a na-tional school walk-out which took place on March 14. Unfortunately, our school could not take part in the walk-out since we did not have school, but many demonstrations took place where students could be seen walking out of class demand-ing gun control. These students are still trying to raise awareness about the problem of gun violence, and are not willing to be silenced.Companies have also started tak-ing action since the shooting. For example, Dick’s Sporting Goods, a store that makes quite a bit of mon-ey from selling guns, raised the age for someone to buy a gun. Now, anyone under the age of twenty-one cannot purchase a gun and no one can purchase an assault-style rifle at their store. Other companies have followed in their footsteps, raising the age to buy a gun, or just mak-ing it harder to buy a gun in general.

There have been no changes made by the National Rifle Association, an organization which is against raising the age to twenty-one to buy a gun.On a legislation level, a couple weeks after the shooting, Florida Governor Rick Scott signed Senate Bill 7026. This legislation increased gun control in Florida. However, it also allowed for the opportunity for teachers to carry guns at school. The president agrees with both the idea of raising the age to buy a gun, as well as with arming teachers.In all of this, there has been con-troversy when searching for a solu-tion to the problem. The thought of teachers having guns in school has not set well with most. Many peo-ple argue that adding more guns to the situation is not solving the issue. Some people even feel that it would result in more school shootings, be-cause it leaves open the possibility of students having access to that gun. Other solutions proposed include more background checks before al-lowing someone to purchase a gun. While some have agreed on making changes involving guns, others do not like the thought of new regula-tions because they feel that people are to blame, as it is not the gun who kills someone. People also state that one of the reasons not to change any laws is because it violates their rights as Americans due to the sec-ond amendment.When I asked students at Rancho what their opinion on this topic was, Jena, a sophomore said, “I believe that taking away our rights that are under our constitution is not solving the problem. It is not the gun that is the issue, it’s the person. Even if you take away guns, it’s not going to solve the problem, people will still find guns.” Under our constitution we have the second amendment which refers to, “A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” This amendment in itself

has created quite a bit of debate as to its true meaning, This was written over 200 years ago, so circumstanc-es have changed, and people are not quite sure how to interpret it. Some argue that the “well-regulated mili-tia” refers to a group of people such as the police or army, and does not refer to the right for an individual to bear arms. Others believe that it means that any citizen has the right to bear arms.When I asked Enya, a senior, what her thoughts were, she said, “My opinion is that I think people very quickly jump to gun control as a solution, but I think people need to realize all the bad things that will come out of gun control, and how it will leave good citizens defenseless if guns are taken away from them.” When I asked her why people would need to defend themselves and what purpose a gun has, she responded, “To defend themselves against kill-ers of any sort, with things like a gun or even a knife, any weapons, and shooting is also a sport.” To this, Jena added, “Although people should continue to have guns be-cause it is in the Constitution and is important to defend themselves, there should still be restrictions on the type of guns you can get. There’s a difference between a simple pistol and an AK-47.” Enya agreed and said, “There should be restrictions. I still think that raising the age to own a gun is a good idea, because I don’t think an eighteen year old is responsible enough to have a gun, and they should 100% do a back-ground check.”Although there is a lot of debate on how far to go with gun control in order to keep children safe from school shooters while not taking away what people see as a right, many agree there should be some changes. It might not mean taking away guns completely, which is dif-ficult in a country where guns are part of some people’s lives, but some restrictions still need to take place.

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Diallah Athari

In a rough situation? Not sure what to do? Send your requests for advice to “Dear Diallah” by email atPegasus@ranchosolano.comDiallah will answer one to two ques-tions per month.

DEAR DIALLAHDear Diallah, My girlfriend is super excit-ed about prom, but I am out here stressin! Suits and bow ties are SO itchy. I get a huge red rash on my neck every time I wear a bow tie, but my girlfriend insists I wear one. I don’t like dress shoes, AT ALL. But prom is all about who has the snazziest shoes. Although I have snazzy ones, I am lazy. And danc-ing. I am a horrible dancer, but of course my girlfriend loves dancing. And then, after all the dancing I don’t even enjoy, I wake up to tons of blisters all over my ankles and toes. I am not looking forward to prom at all. I don’t want to let my girl down though. Should I just not go to prom…..or tell her how I feel? Help me!-Not PROMpared For This Dear Not PROMpared For This, Boi... get a grip and get over it. You can handle this for a night. Put on those snazzy shoes, and that itchy tux and dance with your girlfriend. You will probably have a lot of fun…. and if you don’t go, she will be sad and you will regret doing that to her. She deserves better. Sincerely,Diallah

How To Mentally Prepare For Prom Dear Diallah, Prom is coming up and I don’t have a date or anything to wear. I’m too shy to ask anyone myself because I am afraid that they might say no. Please tell me what to do now. I do not want to go to prom alone.-Girl Needing Help

Dear Girl Needing Help,If I am telling the truth, you don’t need to make such a big deal about having a date. It is absolutely not mandatory and therefore it should not be something that stresses you out. I think that if you take a day and look for a dress, you will be able to find something you look beautiful in. I get that you don’t want to go alone, but remember, you will be going with all your friends and the night will be great. As a student, you can’t afford to take on the extra stress of searching frantically for a date, because you got 99 problems and a boy ain’t one. Sincerly,Diallah

Update On the Spring Musical, Grease! By Enya Smilovic Performance dates are May 4th and 5th! Here are some of the members of the Grease cast getting ready for their big performances. They are work-ing hard to memorize many songs and dances and all their lines! As the cast works hard to perform, behind the scenes the tech crew is getting everything ready for the performances. The tech crew is lead by Zach Padovano and Munqiz Minhas, and included is Cassandra Martin, Tara Hines, Guillermo DeFernando, Amelie Clark, Elle Discount, Adelina Bidasca, Hayden Rosenberg, Isabella Rose, Stella Dillard, Ombeline Francoise, Diallah Athari, and stage manager, Enya Smilovic. The tech crew helps out with set changes, makeup, hair, sound, and anything else needed for a great show. If you would like to join the tech crew, talk to Enya Smilovic or Mr. Zale.