Andalusian - Maclay School

Maclay School
Volume 5, Issue 1
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Artwork by Jules K.
October Edition
Andalusian
Maclay’s New Head of School, Mr. Milford
By Grace Ellen H.
Grace Ellen H.: What excites you the most about working with students as opposed to another
career field?
Mr. Milford: I would say it's the energy at the end of the day. When you work in a school, people
are in a growth mindset and are there because they want to learn and grow. My experience has also
Inside this issue:
been that a student will give you permission into their lives more than they might give their parents
permission. It's easy to feel like you're doing meaningful work.
National Latin Forum
2014
2
Maclay’s New Field House
3
Farewell to Coach Jones
College Football Confusion
GEH: What has been your favorite thing about Tallahassee so
far?
MM: It's easy for me to say the school because I'm here about
4
Confused
99% of my time. I've really enjoyed being welcomed. Everyone is
always smiling, willing to take on challenges, and accepting of a
new headmaster that is very different than the old headmaster. I
A Place I Daydream About 5
also love how all five members of our family have been able to
find their own place here.
GEH: What's been your favorite thing at Maclay?
Photo by Ben G.
MM: I think the senior shack is cool. I think the grounds in general are really cool. It's a beautiful
Photo by Sherri Walker
hundred acre campus with that wonderful oak tree. I'm interested in
keeping that natural beauty while still making the school look sharp.
And I of course love the playground. I like to swing a lot. But some of
those swings are really low so that makes it difficult sometimes. I really
just want to have interaction with the kids. As head of school, you are
supposed to be the living embodiment of the mission of the school, so
I want to strive to be that and be a role model.
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Andalusian
Volume 5, Issue 1
National Latin Forum 2014
By Angeline T.
This summer the National Latin Forum Convention was held at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. The Florida delegation kicked off the trip with a long bus ride and a visit to the Atlanta Zoo. Later, we had dinner at the Varsity, which is world
famous for its hamburgers and hot dogs. The next day, we had a blast at Six Flags before heading to the convention. Throughout
the convention, we had many assemblies and spirit competitions (so many that by the
end of the trip all our voices were hoarse). In the last spirit competition of the
week, Florida won first place, and as a prize we got a giant, inflatable, red dinosaur!
The convention had lots of events planned throughout the week so no one
would be bored. For example, there were colloquias, or speaking sessions, on everything
from Roman coins to Harry Potter in the ancient world. They also offered a variety
of ludi events (non-academic activities) like volleyball, basketball, soccer, ultimate Frisbee, chorus, and chess. In addition, the convention had something
called Olympika (where we get the Olympics from) which consisted of competition
swimming as well as track and field. Each night there was a fun activity planned, such
as swimming, team trivia, or a dance. On Thursday night they held That’s Entertainment, which was a talent show/competition. The only Florida delegate who entered received third place for his tap dancing! “It was a super fun experience to meet up with
people just as interested in Latin, and it was especially great to represent Florida,” said Mercy B.
Photo by Allison W.
Many Maclay students won individual awards. For couples’ costumes, Nikki M. and Paris M. received 2nd place. Luke B.
received 4th place for Latin Derivatives Level III and 5th place for Mottos, Quotes, and Abbreviations Level III. Mercy B. won
8th place in Mottos, Quotes, and Abbreviations Level I. Kendall S. won 7th place for Roman Life Level III and 9th place for Latin
Vocab Level III. Angeline T. received 2nd place for her pottery and received for swimming 3rd place in the 100 yd. individual medley, 3rd in the 200 yd. freestyle, 4th place in the 100 yd. free, 6th place in the 50 free, and 7th place in the 50 yd. breaststroke. Only the top ten scores for each test received awards, but considering the average number of people who took each test
was around 400-500 people, getting under the top twenty or thirty was an achievement, which all the Maclay students accomplished on at least one test.
It was incredible getting to meet other Latin students from across
the nation. All Latin students should definitely consider going to next year’s convention, which it will be held at
Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.
Photo by Angeline T.
Andalusian
Volume 5, Issue 1
Page 3
Maclay’s New Field House
By Javi M.
Maclay started off this 2014 school year with the opening of the new Peipers Field House. The field house is located right
by the admissions office and the practice football field and contains two varsity-sized locker rooms, one for the boys and one for
the girls. The brand new building also includes two large coaches’ offices and two bathrooms for visitors. Someone who is very
excited about this new transition of weight rooms is Coach Al
Peruzzi. Coach Al says that his favorite thing about the new field
house is how it permits him to implement “time management”
which gives the athletes of Maclay faster and more efficiently
paced workouts. The new weight room in the Peipers Field
House also includes three flat screens on the wall. “These flat
screens allow the athletes to see what workout they have for that
day and to watch instructional weightlifting videos,” Coach Al
said. The new field house is a tremendous gift donated to the
athletes and coaches of Maclay and is built in memory of David
H. Peipers. If you would like to visit the field house, it also
Photo by Adrian B.
serves as a concession stand during sporting events at Frank Shaw Field.
Farewell to Coach Jones
By Luke L.
Dear Mike Jones,
Well, this is it. It looks like you’re actually gone for good, not just hiding out in your room during an assembly. I am writing you this letter because I believe it is necessary. When I heard that you were leaving Maclay, I wasn’t mad or disappointed; I was
just really surprised, and I didn’t know how to react. I think I can say the same for the rest of the team. We were all shocked by the
news, but we support your decision wholeheartedly because we understand that family always comes first, and you’re family. This
year is the year, and it’s tragic that you had to leave because it’s going to be special. This year is the year we finally beat Ponte Vedra
in the quarterfinals and go to state. Even if you’re coaching for that wretched school in your free
time, I have a gut feeling that you’ll secretly be rooting for us to pull it out (at least I hope so), because we have unfinished business with them—you have unfinished business with them. We are
going to miss you here, coach. We’ll miss your musty classroom, your thick ‘stache, your skater
boy hair, your dry tone of voice, and all of your other funny quirks that force us to yell “Who?”
every time we see you anywhere. Coach, your Maclay family always has your back no matter what.
So, for the last time as your players: Who? Mike Jones.
Sincerely,
Your Team
Photo by Allison W.
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Andalusian
Volume 5, Issue 1
College Football Confusion
By Ben G.
During my pre-adult years, I’ve progressed from solving basic arithmetic to integrals, and from reading Dr. Seuss to William Faulkner. Regardless of age or reading level, I have always been a fan of the Florida State football team and can still remember attending
my very first game, a 34-10 victory over the UAB Blazers. (I didn’t even have to look at an old ticket stub, because I know that
result by heart.) However, as the college application process began, I discovered that
my pursuit of a broadcast journalism degree would take me away from Tallahassee.
Among the places my dream could take me, the two most likely would be the hedges at
Georgia or the dreaded Swamp at Florida.
With the advent of a new college football season just around the corner, I decided to
immerse myself in both the Bulldog and Gator fandoms, in preparation for attending
either university. (Yes, I realize it’s blasphemy to go for both Georgia and Florida.) In
combination with my normal rooting interests of Florida State and Notre Dame, this
Photo by Ben G.
has been the most engaging and enjoyable season I’ve ever watched, simply because of the greater number of
teams in which I have a vested interest. Over the next few weeks, however, I’m going to be faced with some difficult choices as my
old teams (the Seminoles and the Fighting Irish) square off on October 18, and my possible future teams (the Gators and the Bulldogs) go head-to-head on November 1. Regardless of those results, I still hope to retain some level of sympathy for the ‘Noles,
even if I should choose to spend my next four years in Gainesville. Rooting for Miami,
though, remains and will forever remain absolutely impossible.
Confused
By Sadhana P.
I have no more music left in me,
You’ve tainted it all, slowly but surely,
It’s a sad life when one can’t sing or hum,
But what can I say? You’ve made me that someone…
Photo by Allison W.
Can’t read a book, can’t write this down,
What is it about you that makes me smile and frown?
Surely it is not that I’m yours or you’re mine,
I’m sure that things between us are anything but fine.
Photo by Ben G.
Page 5
Andalusian
Volume 5, Issue 1
A Place I Daydream About
By Tom G.
Looking up at the sky on a clear summer night, I see thousands of millions of stars shining down upon this Earth like the lights
of heaven. As I watch those balls of gas shine and then fade, again and again, I imagine myself beginning to travel through the
galaxy. I start at the moon that looks upon Earth, and see the colors it exhibits, the contrasts of the green lands and the blue
oceans and the white clouds that float through our atmosphere. Maybe over Africa,
I see a large dust cloud created by millions upon millions of wildebeests charging
across a savanna.
From there I move to our solar system; I visit Saturn and admire its rocky
asteroid ring. Leaping from asteroid to asteroid like a frog hopping from one lily
pad to the next, I feel like a god looking over this gaseous planet. Next, I float over
to Neptune and watch the storms rage and lightning violently strike as if there was a
nuclear war in the clouds.
I decide to move out beyond our solar system to one of the many nebulas
near it. I watch the colorful dust clouds of the crab nebula, displayed in a vibrant
red, move around slowly. I solemnly think to myself that it will
be billions of years before a star
is formed from this nebula, and I
will be dead a long time before
this event even gets close to beginning. My next stop is one of
Photo by Grace Ellen H.
the many stars around me. As I watch it explode
into an trillion beautifully colored particles, appearing in many shades of reds
and greens and yellows and blues, I lose myself and fall into a trance as the
colors dance around in front of me. My journey takes me to a planet on the
outer reaches of our galaxy made solely of molten rock, volcanic substances,
and lava. The lava burns so intensely that I wonder if even a diamond could
withstand melting from its heat. I walk across the planet feeling the smooth
obsidian and the leathery volcanic ash. I would imagine this volcanic world to
Artwork by Jules K.
be so, as detailed as it is described in The Road. Finally I would leave our gal-
axy and travel through the vast empty darkness that pervades the galaxies and see each one as a radiating speck of light in the
distance.