Shady Side Academy

Volume 103, No. 4
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Pittsburgh, PA
SNEWSE
HADY SID
Farewell,
Class of
2011!
Six faculty members say goodbye
By Tess Rosenbloom
Just as there was a surge of babies
born to faculty members this past fall,
there is now a surge of faculty members
leaving our community.
Six in total, these members include
two science teachers, two language teachers, the head of the senior school, and our
theater director. These teachers and
administrators divulged their favorite
memories and aspects of Shady Side to
me, as well as their plans for the future.
After forty years of teaching at Shady
Side Academy, William Diehl is retiring. He has taught physics, biology,
advanced biology, and chemistry. He
has also coached a wide range of sports,
including football, baseball, soccer, and
tennis.
William Diehl was the Dean of Students when the school went coed in
1973. “Many were hesitant about coeducation because the school had been
all male for the past ninety or so years,”
says Mr. Diehl. “It was a big jump, and
the alumni wanted to think long and hard
before making the decision. The school
was a lot smaller then, about 350 students, and I felt I knew most of them. I
had a hot chocolate and beverage machine in my office, and kids would come
in to chat.”
“Around the same time that the school
went coed,” says Mr. Diehl, “a state-ofthe-art lab was installed at Shady Side.
It was neat because the science teachers
had a huge input into the design of the
[so-called open] science lab.”
“We also [recently]designed our
modeling approach to teaching the sciences, with freshmen taking physics,
sophomores taking chemistry, and juniors taking biology. I was a biology
teacher, not a physics teacher, so I had
to be trained in physics in order to teach
the course.”
When asked if he has had any humorous experiences at Shady Side, Mr. Diehl
recounts the time when he (still as the
Dean of Students) slept outside on a
bench down at the gym. “I knew the
students were going to put something on
the roof of the gym as a prank, so I
thought I’d surprise them by catching
them. But I fell asleep, and when I woke
up there were signs and Mickey Mouse
ears all over the roof. So my plan was
William Diehl
Jeremy LaCasse
foiled.”
As for his thoughts on Shady Side,
Mr. Diehl says that his “favorite aspect
of Shady Side is the fact that you get to
know kids in very different ways – from
clubs, on the athletic field, and performing on stage. This can be helpful for
teaching because you don’t only reach
kids in the classrooms.
“The quality of the students is great
here, and we have an unbelievable faculty. I have learned an awful lot about
teaching from my faculty colleagues.
And I will really miss the interactions
with the kids.” Mr. Diehl also has a piece
of advice: “Always keep an open mind
because things are often not as they
initially appear.”
Charlene Blair has been at Shady
Side for twenty-three years. She has
taught several different levels of Spanish
(2, 2A, 3, 3A, 4, and 5), and has advised
Charlene Blair
Daniel Kriebel
the Spanish Club for a number of years.
Mrs. Blair also went on two Spanish
exchanges and was the Director of Service Learning for nine years.
She has decided to retire from teaching, saying, “Later in June my husband
and I will be moving to Las Cruces, New
Mexico, where we’ll work on settling
our new home, making new friends, and
finding new activities that interest us.
He keeps reminding me of how warm
and sunny it is and has been there.”
What Mrs. Blair will miss most about
Shady Side are the students and the fun
she has had with them in class as well as
the friendships she has formed with her
colleagues. “The beauty of the seasons
reflected on our campus” is another
aspect of Shady Side that Mrs. Blair will
miss. However, she won’t be lamenting
over “the nightly prep or grading. Teachers do lots of homework, too!”
Anita Schuchardt
Claire DePalma
As for her favorite memory from
Shady Side, Mrs. Blair says, “Graduation is always special to me as a celebration of all we’ve accomplished in a particular year as well as how students have
grown and progressed in our community. The vision of my son’s graduating
class walking down the hill (where the
Hillman now stands) to graduation on
the football field will always be one of
my fondest memories.”
Anita Schuchardt has been teaching at SSA for the past seven years. She
has taught Biology and AP Biology, and
leads backpacking, a P.E. Option. In the
past, Dr. Schuchardt has also taught
Concepts of Physics. Next year, she
will attend graduate school at The University of Pittsburgh. There, she will
spend four to five years earning another
doctorate, this one in Learning Sciences
and Policy.
Jeremy LaCasse has been the head
of the senior school for the past four
years. He also taught a course called
Social Theory and Global Impact his
first year and third year here, and has
coached P.E. Crew. He and his family
will be moving to Kents Hill, Maine,
where he will assume the headship of the
Kents Hill School, a high school composed mainly of boarders.
“There are really fantastic students
at Shady Side, and a great faculty,” says
Mr. LaCasse. “I’m lucky to have been
able to work at Shady Side, and I trust
that it is in good hands with Mrs. Vavpetic
(next year’s head of senior school). I
look forward to see what happens next.”
When asked what his favorite memory
here was, Mr. LaCasse said it was the
pre-graduation sleep-out with the class
of 2010.
In his three years here, Daniel
Kriebel has taught Spanish and French
and has coached varsity soccer, junior
varsity golf, and lacrosse. Next year, he
will attend graduate school at Columbia
University to acquire a master’s degree
in administration for private schools,
which is what Mr. LaCasse did 10 years
ago. After this one-year program, he will
look for administrative openings.
Mr. Kriebel has also been a dorm
parent of Croft for his past three years
here, and became the head dorm parent
this past year. “It has been rewarding to
watch this group go from being new kids
living away from home to prefects and
mentors,” says Mr. Kriebel. “I hope to
find a place similar to here wherever I go
next.”
Claire DePalma has been at Shady
Side for the past two years. She has run
the theater program, which includes directing the plays and musicals. She has
also taught English courses including
New York School of Poetry, Development of Drama, Drama and Moral Ideals, as well as the Arts courses Intro to
Acting, and Advanced Acting. She will
move to Chicago where she plans on
teaching and directing professional actors and actresses.
Ms. DePalma’s favorite memories
here have been moments in her classes
and during rehearsal. “I really loved my
time here,” she says. “It’s sad to be
leaving.”
Waltz for Haiti: Helping Haiti,
one or two three-steps at a time
By Jatara McGee
Photo by Kimberly Flit
On My Way: Rusted Root hits the right notes at Untucked 2011.
Music for the Soul
By Matthew Hacke
The applause and cheers could be
heard all throughout the Roy McKnight
Hockey Center as Rusted Root came out
onto the stage. As the audience watched
in awe while the band belted out their
tunes, like their popular “Send Me On
My Way,” I looked around in wonder and
tried to fathom how a year’s worth of
planning came down to this one evening.
The Untucked organizing group this
year was comprised of thirteen enthusiastic and hard working students who
spent countless hours making sure the
event went flawlessly. While fun was an
object, the heart of the matter was to raise
as much money as possible for Napali
refugees in Pittsburgh, through the Jewish
Family and Children’s Services and Catholic Charities. Throughout the year, the
group visited these refugees and worked
with them and their families to help them
adjust to life in the area, teaching them
English and helping them with homework.
The May 16 Untucked event began
with an afternoon children’s carnival that
included a bounce house, pedestal jousting, arts and crafts, and a mechanical bull,
just to name a few things.
Freshman Theresa Diffendal could
not contain her excitement for pedestal
jousting, saying it was her “favorite game.”
(See Untucked, Page 12)
Walking onto the beautiful Hillman
patio, dressed to impress in semiformal
wear, Shady Side Academy students
listened as the Cambiando Quartet tuned
their instruments on Monday, April
25th. The quartet consisted of Pooja
Tripathi (SSA ’10) as well as Lauren
Kiggins, Grace Stokan, and Ben Stilsbury,
three other college students.
As the festivities began, a harsh wind
collided with the musical sounds, followed by dreaded drops of rain. As the
students fled for cover inside the Hillman
Center for Performing Arts, the hopes
for a successful Waltz for Haiti fell along
with the pouring rain. The Waltz coordinators, Shannon Achille and advisor
Buddy Hendershot, did not fail to utilize
their backup plan, directing the students
to the Black Box Theater where they
made the best of the poor weather.
To begin the Waltz, Nick Barnes and
Ann Tumolo, both seniors, instructed
the other dancers with grace and sophistication. “Back, over, together… front,
over, together,” rang the words of Ann’s
instructional voice. It was around this
time that Barnes and Tumolo turned it
over to the professionals, two dancers
from Carnegie Mellon University’s
Ballroom Dancing Club. The students
fought to keep up with the highly trained
Photo by Kimberly Flit
“Back, over, together!” SSA students spend the night waltzing
in an effort to benefit Haiti and to learn a new dance.
dancers, falling short but enjoying every
moment of it.
The near fifty students and teachers
all began to join in, dancing for a good
cause and learning just a bit more of this
elegant type of dance.
“The experience is one that I won’t
forget,” said Shady Side senior Katrina
Andrews. “It wasn’t like the normal
Shady Side dances…It was fun without
being corny or extremely sweaty like
usual. The weather couldn’t rain on our
parade. It’s one of those Shady Side
experiences that you know you’ll hold
onto forever.”
The students successfully raised over
$200 for the Haitian Connection club,
which benefits victims of last year’s
horrific earthquake in Haiti. Who knew
that the “first form of grinding,” according to Sarah Rubin, could raise so much
for such a worthy cause?
Opinions, etc.
2Modeling:
Not a model for success
Shady Side News
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
By Marko Hudak
As I finish my seventh year here at
Shady Side Academy, I know that my
departure will be bittersweet. Naturally, Shady Side has earned a place in
my heart; it has been a place where I
could freely voice all of my opinions,
push myself to learn to my fullest
potential, as well as make friends and
feel that I am truly a part of this community.
I remember my excitement whenever it was time to look at the course
catalogue and choose my classes for
freshman year. It looked so official and
professional with all of the pre-requisites for each subject and intricate course
descriptions, diploma requirements,
registration guidelines, and academic
evaluation and policies. In addition to
the SSA handbook, this packet of over
fifty pages was like Shady Side’s Bible.
I skeptically thought about which
classes I would take so that I could
carefully carve out my future path. For
every department there are pages and
pages of different college sounding
classes; from mathematics to athletics
there is an array of incredible and interesting classes. I even got a little bit
intimidated by the thick catalogue staring back at me. As I worked my way up
from freshman year to senior year, the
choices became slightly easier and I was
more accustomed to the system.
I can’t say that I regretted taking any
one class as I viewed all of them as an
opportunity to expose myself to new
material and experiences. Shady Side
seems to primarily use the traditional,
textbook approach to learning material.
Generally, each student has one textbook and one notebook per class. However, I feel that some of the changes that
have been initiated over the past five
years have caused some problems with
students’ overall learning experience.
In particular, the Science Department at the Academy has surprised me
in a negative way and left me with a
major gap in my all around learning.
So, as I stepped foot into my Concepts of Physics class my freshman
year, I was rather surprised I would not
be receiving a textbook; as I soon found
out, the course was primarily taught by
students and some teacher packets that
were supposed to help us learn new
material. As the weeks and months
went by, the uncertainty of my learning
grew. Student presentations seemed
vague, incomplete, and unclear. My
attempts to validate a morsel of knowledge were constantly impeded by references that used different notation,
different assumptions, or contained
contradictory explanations. I found
this approach inefficient to learning and
causing unnecessary anxiety. The important concepts that needed to be tied
together were missed and never properly explained. This course was described as the “foundation course that
prepares students for enriching experiences in all subsequent Senior School
science courses.” However, I believe
that the foundation was never built. At
some level, one needs to be taught a set
of basic principles that can be experimentally verified so that a student can
say with confidence, “I now know this
one thing for sure.” Students should
acquire the ability to understand the
quantitative and qualitative aspects of
the scientific concepts. Thus, basic
foundations should help to guide the
students to ask the right set of questions
in a well focused way, rather than just to
ask questions.
The following year, I took the required Concepts of Chemistry and gave
the system a new chance. I quickly came
to discover that this was the same story,
but a slightly different verse: there was
barely any teacher-student interaction,
but rather student-led discussions on
portable white boards that created confusion. In addition, the course packets
were unclear, all of which resulted in a
poor science class that didn’t have proper
facilitation from the experts, the teachers.
Usually, like in all other departments
at Shady Side, the teacher puts up the
main concept of the chapter on the
board, does a few sample problems, and
later asks students to complete homework using the new concept they learned.
Unfortunately, in the Science Department, this approach is not used.
Students are supposed to take the time
on their own to research the new subject
and any potential questions they may
have in order to understand and learn.
What this approach misses is that the
students simply don’t know what they
need to know! It is the teachers who
know what the students need to know
and how to teach it. Left on their own,
this approach creates confusion that is
repeated on a nightly basis, leaving students with little motivation and an everdecreasing interest in the subject. In the
Science Department section of the course
catalogue, under one specific course it
states, “…science is not a collection of
answers, but a way of asking questions,
an enterprise driven by curiosity (New
York Times, Nov., 11, 2003).” This
seems to be the motto in the department,
and while it may be a valid one from a
researcher’s point of view, it does not
support a student who is new to the
subject and has little knowledge, which
would seem to be a prerequisite to dive
deeper into the asking mode. My observations are not just personal; they are
what I have noticed for the large majority
of the high school.
My main concern is that too many
Shady Side students are abandoning sciences because of the way they are taught
here. Compared to other public and
private schools, Shady Side’s Science
Department fails in its main objective: to
educate students and foster an appreciation of the subject. Although I feel that
I have had a great education at Shady Side
all around, I know that going into college,
I am at a major disadvantage in the
sciences. I am similarly concerned for
the Math Department’s Math I course,
which combines Algebra I and Geometry, where students are the primary
teachers. This new class has already
created some uneasiness and confusion
among the freshmen.
I tried to rationalize the reason behind these major changes in the Science
Department and the only thing I could
come up with was that Shady Side wants
to differentiate itself from other public
and private schools. This was further
substantiated in an article featured in the
North Hills Monthly Magazine, which
emphasized SSA’s new, seemingly innovative and better techniques for learning. The only reason I have been offered
within SSA about this change is that,
“studies have shown that the modelingbased curriculum has proven better than
traditional, textbook teaching.” As teaching has changed to a modeling curriculum, the negative effects seem to be clear
to many. Students and parents have
complained for years, however, no
changes have been made. When choosing a simple random sample of thirty
students all together (fifteen juniors and
seniors) from the senior school asking
them to rate their general experience with
the Science Department on a scale from
one (being the worst) to 10 (being the
best), 83% gave it a rating of 5 or below;
this is clearly an alarming statistic.
After four years with four different
teachers, it is evident that this modeling
based curriculum as it currently stands
does not seem to educate students as
well as the traditional, call it old fashioned, textbook approach. The techniques that claim to make problem solving easier and more related to real life
matters are simply not there.
I would, however, like to propose
some recommendations to this issue. It
seems that the techniques of the modeling based method are probably not used
adequately. First of all, I believe teachers
have to be extremely well trained for this
method to be effective, and right now, it
is not clear that they are. Also, the
student packets need to be an accompaniment to a textbook and the textbooks
themselves need to serve as the primary
place for students to substantiate basic
information. Finally, and most importantly, it is absolutely crucial that there
be more teacher leadership. Student-led
discussions can still occur, however, it is
the primary responsibility of the teacher
to provide the subject foundation and
state the significance of the interactions
in a clear manner.
In closing, I hope that this will be the
beginning of communications between
teachers and students in order to find the
right paradigm of teaching that will maximize learning and appreciation. I hope
that it will be a paradigm that will allow
time to learn, exchange, and receive timely
feedback when trying out what students
have learned. We need teaching and
learning that are meaningful and accessible to all students; but until that happens, we are trapped in a failing system.
Why we should not have Cum Laude
By Niteesh Sundaram
Every year in April, Shady Side Academy recognizes the top twenty percent of
the graduating class in the form of the Cum
Laude Assembly.
Cum Laude, meaning “with praise” in
Latin, is a form of academic honor often
awarded by many high schools and colleges across the nation. Induction into the
Cum Laude Society requires high academic achievement, measured in terms of
GPA and good moral character.
On the surface, this award seems to do
a great job of rewarding students who
have excelled in the academic aspects of
school life; however, the main problem
with Cum Laude or any society that
inducts members on the basis of grade
point averages is the fact that GPA should
never be used as a means to measure
academic achievement.
The main objection to using GPA to
measure academic excellence is the fact
that GPA is simply too subjective of a
scale to gauge academic excellence. GPAs
can be artificially inflated if a student
wishes to game the system.
For example, we all know which teachers grade harshly and which teachers are
easy graders. By selecting easier teachers
one could have a much higher GPA than
if one selected harder teachers.
Also, some courses are just plain harder
than other courses, but an A- in BC
Calculus Part II is worth less than an A in
Statistics in terms of calculating GPA
because we do not weight courses. Some
courses are just GPA killers (e.g. Organic
Chemistry and AP Languages) and students who could have gotten a much
higher GPA if they had chosen easier
courses are not getting the recognition
they deserve for challenging themselves
academically.
Finally, some students are extraordinarily talented in classes which are not
graded, such as band, strings, and chorus,
or participate in academic extracurriculars
Science Olympiad scores
Photo courtesy of Stephanie Montemurro
The Science Olympiad team placed first in the region at the
Science Olympiad Regional Competition early this spring. They
went on to place 10th in the State Competition in late April.
Heartfelt Senior Sage
By Anthony Costa
We as students at SSA have become
accustomed to the wonderful lessons
learned over four years expressed in assemblies by departing seniors. You feel
pumped and proud as you leave the
Hillman Center, but this one left us with
our heads held low. We were taught an
important lesson that was not pleasant to
hear, as one brave and candid senior expressed her personal struggle as a victim
of bullying and harassment that was too
inchoate to be noticed by others but was
an ongoing battle relieved only by her
expression on that stage as a Senior Sage.
All who listened were touched. Our
respect for her was one that could only be
expressed with a silence that was more
like a vigil. We all left asking ourselves,
how can we make life better for those who
find themselves the object of the insidious
nature of bullying? How can we know if
a person is feeling tormented? What
distinguishes friendly teasing among peers
from the biting words that alienate and
create isolation? Could others have seen
that she was being victimized? Could we
have helped? Could one person have
made a difference?
I learned that physical presence
doesn’t give a clue because this senior has
leadership qualities, is an active member
in extracurricular activities, and has many
friends. She does not appear to need any
help in asserting herself or give a hint that
she could be a victim of bullying, but she
was.
When I asked her permission to write
this article, Hannah informed me that the
“cyber” nature of bullying makes it different than it may have been in the past. She
said, “No one should be afraid to go online
in fear of harassment. Our generation is
moving dangerously close to becoming
consumed by electronic communication,
and it is in turn making it easier to torment
and comment about others negatively
without the fear of repercussions.” This
is ironic because cyberbullying creates a
documentary record that is undeniable
and removes the “he said, she said” that
occurs in verbal harassment.
The fact that cyberbullying goes unreported by the victim and others that
receive the communication is an issue that
needs to be examined. Is it because the
victim and others are fearful that the
punishment may be too severe because
there is clear documentary evidence? Is it
because the victim is afraid that reporting
will only escalate the bullying?
The answers to these questions need
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to be sought in order to make schools safe
places for learning. The faculty may be in
the best position to analyze these factors
and come up with a point person who
might make it easier to report and handle
these issues in a way that doesn’t cause
them to blow up into something larger and
more sinister than the original hateful
words. I asked this senior sage if she felt
there was a solution and she said, “It is
necessary to make our generation more
aware of what forms of bullying there are
and how harshly bullying can affect others.” Her analysis showed me that she has
been able to move beyond her own hurt
and on to solutions that can help others to
be more aware of the problem.
In the meantime, we can make a difference as individuals by simply following
the honor code of SSA: Respect, honesty,
responsibility, kindness, and safety, if
followed, could really be the simple and
most effective personal policing for combating bullying. SSA has an extensive
written policy in place for bullying that
shows that it is an issue taken very
seriously. A specific and detailed approach to infractions is detailed in the
Middle School Handbook because this is
the time and age when the problem peaks.
The policy reflects concern for both the
victim and the bully. I recommend that
you refer to this because it dispels many
of the fears of reporting since there are
different ramifications depending upon
whether it would be the first, second,or
third incident. The policy shows a many
layered approach in order to be fair and to
really solve the problem. The Senior
School Handbook has a section on harassment that states, “Shady Side Academy is
a community in which all members have
the right to feel both safe and respected.
Everyone is entitled to live, learn, and
work in an environment which is free from
harassment, hazing and bullying, and
discrimination based on race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, disability,
sexual orientation, or gender. Such conduct is morally wrong, and does not
advance the purposes of the institution as
stated in the Academy Philosophy.”
The following are some statistics on
cyber bullying:
According to the National Crime Prevention Center, over 40% of all teenagers
with Internet access have reported being
bullied online during the past year.
Girls are more likely than boys to be
the target of cyber bullying.
(Please see Sage, Page Six)
HADY SID
S NEWSE
All the news
that fits,
we print
Published by Shady Side Academy
423 Fox Chapel Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15238 TEL: 412-968-3000
The Shady Side News welcomes responses and opinions from students, faculty,
and readers. All letters must be signed. News reserves the right to edit for content
if libelous statements are involved. If necessary, letters will be edited for length.
such as Speech and Debate or Mock Trial
which are also not graded and cut into
students’ studying time. Unfortunately
for these students, their best classes and
extracurriculars are often left out when it
comes to calculating their GPAs.
I’m not attacking the intelligence of
anyone who was inducted into Cum Laude
or accusing anyone of gaming the system.
(Please see Cum Laude p.4)
Editors-in-Chief........ Haley DeJulio, Marko Hudak, Jeremie Kim, Niteesh Sundaram
News Editors...........................Adi Krupski, Katie Prochownik, David Steiner
Features Editor ...........................................................................Shamika Dighe
Asst. Features Editors.....................Matthew Hacke, Ayesha Shah, Anita Jain
Opinions Editors........ ............................................................Yuval Ben-David
Sports Editors..................................... Michelle Bucklew, Christopher Miller
Photographers....................................Kimberly Flit, Nick Gasbarro, Allie Hull
Layout Editors............................Lea Brown, Porter Ladley, Caitlin O’Connell
Faculty Advisors.................................................Angela Irvine, Suzanne Belles
Shady Side News
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Haley’s Best of the ’Burgh
By Haley DeJulio
For my final food review, I wanted to
make a list of some of my favorite places
around Pittsburgh that never made it
into any of my other columns.
Pittsburgh does have a lot of great
food options, but it takes a bit of digging
and exploring the suburbs and the city
itself to find them.
Best Fish Tacos:
I have two favorite spots when I’m
in the mood for fish tacos. The first is
Kaya in the Strip District, which is part
of the Big Burrito group. Their tortillas
are fantastic and super fresh since they
get them from Reyna’s down the street,
and their slaw and freshly sliced avocado
complement the lightly breaded and fried
fish perfectly. The only part of the taco
that I don’t like is the spicy crème
fraiche, so I substitute an aioli (mayonnaise-based instead of sour cream-based)
whenever I order them and it works
beautifully. Azul in Leetsdale (right
past Sewickley) is my other fish taco
favorite. The big difference is that they
use grilled mahi mahi instead of the fried
tilapia that Kaya uses, so if you prefer
a firmer, more charcoal flavored fish,
then go to Azul. They also top their fish
with a slaw and sliced avocado, and,
luckily, an aioli instead of crème fraiche.
Their tortillas are also very good, but not
quite as thick and flavorful as Kaya’s. If
you go to Azul, make sure you order
their chips, salsa, and guacamole. They
serve them warm and fresh out of the
fryer with a generous sprinkling of salt.
Best Doughnuts:
It’s pretty hard to find doughnuts
made in small batches fresh from the
fryer in the Pittsburgh area, but they do
exist. When I want a warm doughnut,
my top choices are Peace, Love, and
Little Donuts or Bella Christie and Lil’
Z’s Sweet Shoppe. Interestingly enough,
they both specialize in miniature doughnuts, which means that you can try a
greater variety of flavors. Peace, Love,
and Little Donuts is in the Strip District,
and they allow you to pick from their
standard offerings, like chocolate pretzel, or to create your own flavor. My
personal favorite is their vanilla cake
doughnut with strawberry icing and mini
chocolate chips. The best part about it
is that since the doughnut is still warm
from the fryer, the mini chocolate chips
melt into the icing, creating a chocolatecovered strawberry experience on a
doughnut. Bella Christie and Lil’ Z’s
Sweet Shoppe just opened up a few
weeks ago in Aspinwall, and they offer
mini doughnuts in pre-designed flavors,
like Oreo, maple syrup and bacon (one
of their unique flavors), and s’mores.
The classic cinnamon sugar doughnut is
my favorite here, since it seems to
complement the old-fashioned cake
doughnut batter the best.
Best Asian:
For my birthday dinner this year, I
chose to eat at Soba in Shadyside. I’ve
always been a big fan of Big Burrito
group restaurants (like Casbah and
Kaya), but for some reason, I had never
tried Soba. Asian style cooking is one of
my favorites, partially because it barely
uses any cheese (which I hate) in its
food. Broccoli with garlic sauce used to
be enough to satisfy my craving for
Chinese food, but in the past couple of
years I’ve grown very tired of the overly
sweet, twice fried, greasy Chinese food
that permeates most of the city. Soba
was the perfect solution to my problem.
Their take on Asian cuisine is sophisticated and inspired, bringing classic dishes
like Pad Thai to life. I was very pleased
to see that they offered wild mushroom
steamed buns as an appetizer, since
most of the steamed buns I had come
across were filled with pork (which is
not my favorite). For my entrée, I had
dorade (a delicate white fish), served
with rice flour gnocchi, asparagus,
tempura rock shrimp, and red miso brown
butter. This dish, along with all of the
menu options offered at Soba, exemplifies the balance between sweet, savory,
and spicy that defines Asian cooking.
Every element of the dish was executed
perfectly. You can be sure that I will be
returning to Soba as many times as
possible before I leave for college!
Best Rustic Italian:
Il Pizzaiolo on Washington Road in
Mt. Lebanon is always packed with
people. If you can make it through the
90 minute wait on a Friday night, you
won’t be sorry. Even if you think that
you don’t like vegetables, try their antipasti Napoli. It includes pickled green
beans, zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes,
roasted red pepper, artichoke hearts,
and mushrooms. It’s a perfect balance
between acidic flavors, charcoal grilled
flavors, garlic, salt, pepper, and olive oil.
There is also a great contrast of textures
between the crisp green beans and the
softer eggplant and zucchini (my personal favorites). I had the best salmon
dish of my life here over the summer
after they updated their menu, but unfortunately by October it was off the
menu; now you can only get it when it
is offered as a special. It was originally
listed as Salmon Al Forno, and it was
Opinions, etc. 3
By David Steiner
seasoned well with coarse salt and black
pepper, wood-fired to make the skin
crispy, topped with fried rosemary, and
accompanied by fresh tomatoes,
broccolini, and a lemon-olive oil sauce. Il
Pizzaiolo also has homemade potato
gnocchi and assorted homemade pastas.
Most of the gnocchi that I have encountered has been tough, heavy, and flavorless. Il Pizzaiolo’s is none of the above.
It is light, flavorful (you can tell it was
just freshly made that day from cooked
and riced potatoes), and fluffy like little
pillows (to indirectly quote Mario
Batali’s description of good gnocchi).
Everyone I talk to about Il Pizzaiolo also
claims that they have the best, most
authentic pizza around, which I believe
to be true even though I never order it
myself. If you happen to be in the South
Hills, don’t miss Il Pizzaiolo!
These are just a few of the outstanding food establishments to be found in
our city. I’m constantly trying to keep
up with all of the new ones that are
opening.
In recent weeks, I’ve visited
Waffallonia on Murray Avenue (Belgian Waffles), Coriander on Murray
Avenue (Indian Cuisine), and Sugar
Bakery and Café in Dormont (breakfast,
lunch, and dessert), as well as some old
favorites like Glen’s Frozen Custard
and Vanilla Pastry Studio.
I have been traveling a lot recently
and I am always trying out similar places
in other cities, and I am constantly
amazed at the quality of food one can
find in Pittsburgh. Even though we
haven’t yet surpassed New York or San
Francisco in sheer number of eateries, in
many areas (I haven’t found cupcakes in
any city better than those at Vanilla
Pastry Studio) I truly believe we have far
surpassed them in quality.
Speech and Debate excels
By Tony Satryan
Members of the speech and debate
team had the chance to meet two political powerhouses, Carl Rove and Howard
Dean, at the Renaissance Hotel downtown before seeing them debate in the
Robert Morris Speakers Series. The
students, accompanied by coaches Mary
Krauland and Sherri Hallgren, took pictures and asked questions of the debaters before the April 27 events.
Sophomore and co-president-elect
Perry Cao said, “The Rove-Dean debate
was an excellent opportunity for several
of the members of our team to get a taste
of the complex political world through
the debate of two intellectual politicians.”
Seniors Jemila Adoki, Ann Tumolo,
David Jimenez, Peter Donahue, Niteesh
Sundaram, and Haley DeJulio, and
sophomores Paul Steenkiste, Ayesha
Shah, Anthony Costa, and Tony Satryan
qualified and participated in the state
competition at the end of spring break at
Susquehanna University.
The parliamentary team of Niteesh
Sundaram, Haley DeJulio, and Anthony
Costa took 4th place, and the team of Ann
Tumolo, David Jimenez, and Peter
Donahue took 2nd. The public forum
team of Paul Steenkiste and Tony Satryan
took 3rd in the state.
“The state competition was an excellent opportunity to compete with some
of the best debaters in the country; I
think we all learned from them, putting
Photo by Mary Krauland
Resolved: This is a fantasic Speech and Debate team (with Carl Rove).
up important points and tips on how to
improve our own technique. It was also
a measuring stick for how good we are;
going in, we thought we were going to be
slaughtered, getting one win at most. As
it turns out, we didn’t do terribly, never
getting completely blown out,” says
sophomore Paul Steenkiste.
Mary Krauland, speech and debate
coach with a one-diamond distinction,
won the coach of the year award.
Sophomore co-president-elect Anthony Costa said, “Everyone on the
SSA speech and debate team knows that
A threat to U.S. pluralism
all our success is possible because of
Mrs. Krauland. There is not another
coach more deserving of this award.”
Members of the speech and debate
team will be participating in the Catholic
Forensic League’s national tournament
in Washington D.C. over Memorial Day
weekend.
Shady Side will be sending a total of
four teams in the Public Forum category.
They will be debating the topic: Resolved: In a democracy, rights created by
legislation are preferable to rights created by the judiciary.
David Barton is “the greatest historian
in America.” So claimed Mike Huckabee
on Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show. So who
is this Barton guy, and what is he really
about? Barton, a political and social conservative, is an evangelical minister who
has made his way into politics. He maintains that the United States was explicitly
a Christian country from the founding era
until the 1963 Supreme Court case of
Abington Township School District v.
Schempp.
Barton’s Christian Nationalist revisionism tends to fall under the greater
guise of “American Exceptionalism.” Borrowing from John Winthrop’s “A
Model of Christian Charity,” the United States is “A city upon a hill” that must
project its values as the world watches.
Under the same guise, the Texas Board of Education has recently approved
highly controversial amendments to all Texas schoolbooks that will stress the
superiority of American capitalism, question the Founding Fathers’ commitment to a purely secular government, and present Republican Party political
philosophy in a more positive light. The board’s overarching goal is to revive
what it refers to as core American values and, according to the board, these core
values are based on the values that the Christian religion teaches.
The United States is a country defined by its many ethnicities and creeds, but
Christian revisionist and nationalist stances threaten the idiosyncratic pluralism
of the United States and must therefore be debunked. Especially concerning is
the fact that the Texas textbooks won’t be circumscribed to Texas; the economic
realities of textbook production would require that the amended textbooks be sold
in most or all states.
The Texas Board of Education ought to consider the very Supreme Court case
that Barton pointed out: Abington Township School District v. Schempp. Edward
Schempp, a Unitarian Universalist, filed suit against the Abington Township
School District for requiring his children to hear and read portions of the Bible
as part of their public school education.
As a precondition to the case, the Supreme Court explicitly upheld the
decision in Engel v. Vitale, which expounded that school-sanctioned prayer
violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution.
In the majority opinion, Justice Tom Clark explicated that the government
is required by the Constitution to remain neutral in religious matters. William
Brennan’s concurrence considered the Framers’ intent and concluded that the
government – state or federal when one chooses to consider incorporation
doctrine of the Bill of Rights – cannot undertake any action that would favor any
one religion.
The Supreme Court, the judicial body empowered to interpret the intent of
the Founders and Framers (as well as the extent of their intent), negates the views
of Barton and the Texas Board of Education, but this explanation does not satisfy
them, and they attempt to highlight the Christian beliefs of the Founding Fathers
by pointing to the Declaration of Independence.
Contrary to their belief, the Declaration in fact highlights the deistic
tendencies of the founding fathers and Thomas Jefferson, its author, in particular.
Diction and syntax study reveals that the Declaration of Independence makes
vague reference to the “Creator” that gave humans “certain unalienable rights.”
Those individuals today who interpret this as proof of the religious founding of
the United States go so far as to say that church and state must remain intertwined
in order for the country to continue functioning properly.
“Creator” should not be interpreted as evidence of the founding fathers’
religious convictions, nor does it legitimize the belief that American principles
derive from religious principles. “Their Creator” is a deistic term; deists adopt
the Clockwork universe theory, in which a supreme being created the universe
but does not intervene in its affairs. Jefferson, like a large number of his cohorts,
was a deist.
Further proof of the secular nature of the United States resides in James
Madison’s Memorial and Remonstrance and the 1797 Treaty of Tripoli.
Madison wrote Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious Assessment
in 1785 in response to an assessment bill introduced by Patrick Henry for the
public support of “Christian education.” Madison’s thorough notes from
legislative sessions indicate that Henry thought the bill was necessary to prevent
the decay of civility, morality, and piety. Madison debunked his stance, saying
that every person must be left to choose his or her path of conscience. The right
to do so, argued Madison, is “unalienable.” He perspicuously affirmed that:
“The preservation of a free Government requires not merely, that the metes
and bounds which separate each department of power be invariably maintained;
but more especially that neither of them be suffered to overleap the great Barrier
which defends the rights of the people.”
Without the separation between church and state, argued Madison, the main
framer of our constitution and the author of the First Amendment, the rights of
the American people would indeed be alienated. These words run in direct
contradiction with those of Henry, Barton, and others who claim that American
principles could not exist without Christian principles.
The Treaty of Peace and Friendship between the United States and the Bey and
Subjects of Tripoli and Barbary – commonly referred to as the Treaty of Tripoli
– wholly refutes the Christian revisionist argument. John Adams, president at
the time he authored the treaty, wrote in the body of the treaty that “the
government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the
Christian Religion” and, according to Article VI, Section II of the United States
Constitution, any treaties made under the authority of the United States “shall
be the supreme law of the land.” This assertion by one of the most prominent
United States founders and presidents and supported by the Constitution of the
United States is unequivocal in its message.
“Historians” such as David Barton are threatening; he skews history to make
it fit with his personal agenda. He does not, however, elicit much support outside
of Christian Nationalists. What is truly frightening is the action of the Texas
Board of Education; on account of its members’ irresponsible decisions, young,
impressionable children all over the country (but especially in the South) might
be taught that one group of people is better in our country than all the others.
Worst-case scenario: future regionalized cultural and political hegemony –
precisely what our founders determinedly aspired to avoid.
4 Reviews, etc.
Shady Side News
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Movie review: Limitless;
it has its limitations
By Matt O’Connor
Photo by Kimberly Flit
No talking! Students show their support of LGBT students by remaining silent to combat bullying.
Student silence speaks volumes
Every year, the Day of Silence calls
attention to the silencing of lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students and their supporters. Everyone
who participated in the Day of Silence
at Shady Side Academy showed his/her
support by wearing a red or purple
ribbon that either symbolized being silent or supportive.
Since the 2007-2008 school year,
SSA has gone from eight silent supporters to 118 supporters, with 29 people
who were completely silent for the entire day.
Being silent protests the bullying,
prejudice, and discrimination of LGBT
Photo by Kimberly Flit
By Kelcei J. Edmonds and
Kimberly Flit
Simone Coleman keeps silent.
individuals. Secondly, it is symbolic of
the silence of any person who feels he or
she can’t speak on these issues in his or
her everyday life.
Senior Kimberly Flit says, “For most
students who know me, I’m a talkative
person. Being silent for a whole day is
really hard for me, but my silence re-
minds me that I’m lucky to have a
community in Shady Side where I don’t
have to be silent about being gay.”
When we use derogatory phrases
like “that’s so gay” or the word “fag,” we
create an environment that is not just
uncomfortable, but unsafe for our LGBT
friends, students, and teachers, and one
that harbors discrimination and harassment.
Words have immense consequences.
LGBT teens are more than five times
more likely to attempt suicide than their
heterosexual peers.
As Jack Foster said in his senior sage,
“Girls like girls and boys like boys and
that’s okay, too.” The acceptance of all
individuals is crucial in creating a cohesive and safe community.
Home grown Hunger Games review
goodness
By Ayesha Shah
By Adi Krupski
New to Shady Side this year is our
own garden being grown right above the
McKnight Hockey Center. This year,
we planted tomatoes, peppers, eggplants
and swiss chard. For anyone (including
any faculty, students, and everyone else)
who would like to make a great investment, we sell certificates for $5 and $10
to finance the garden; the certificates are
good for one and three pounds of product when ripe. There will be a limited
number of certificates sold, however, so
let us know as soon as possible which
one you would like to buy. As advisor
Guido Giuntini points out, you can’t get
more locally grown than here at school!
Also, we are looking for people to
help maintain the garden during the summer, so contact any of the people listed
below if you would like to help maintain
Shady Side’s own beautiful garden, or
email Mr. Giuntini with the date you
would like to help out. The work required is simple and minimal: just watering, weeding (constant weeding is easier
and less time consuming), and checking
on plants.
Giovanni Zenati, Mike Pohl, and
Mr. Giuntini have been instrumental to
the success of the garden this year, but
would like to thank all who have helped
and have supported financially.
As Mr. Giuntini says, “If the price
of tomatoes follows the same pattern as
gas prices this year, we might need to
hire armed guards to prevent vegetarian
thieves. And then hire guards to guard
the guards.”
It starts with a plot of earth...
Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is
finally being made into a movie!
This trilogy centers on a teenage girl,
Katniss Everdeen, leading a revolution
against oppression. Her rebellion starts
when she is forced to enter the Hunger
Games, where she must fight to survive
against twenty-three competitors.
Readers dive right in with the perspective of Katniss herself, experiencing what
she’s experiencing through Collins’ vivid,
spot-on writing. In the summer of 2010,
Lionsgate bought rights to the movie. The
main trio of the trilogy was cast in early
April.
Playing the role of Katniss herself, 20year-old Jennifer Lawrence started acting
at the age of fourteen by doing commercials for various products.
She has since been nominated for an
Oscar for her role in last year’s Winter’s
Bone, and will be in the soon-to-be released X Men: First Class. Lawrence said
of her new role, “I couldn’t be happier
about being a part of the Hunger Games
and to play Katniss. I have a huge
responsibility to the fans of this incredible book and I don’t take it lightly.
“I will give everything I have to these
movies and to this role to make it worthy
of Suzanne Collins’ masterpiece.”
Josh Hutcherson has been cast as
Peeta Mellark, who must also survive in
the Hunger Games. He’s acted or voiced
in fifteen movies, including the soon to be
released Detention.
While many fans are disappointed
with his casting, Collins responds, “I was
fortunate enough to be in the room with
Gary Ross when Josh came in to audition.
Three lines into the read and I knew he’d
be fantastic. Josh totally captured Peeta’s
temperament, his sense of humor, his
facility for language. I’m thrilled to have
him aboard.”
Collins was a screenwriter before she
became an author. Her first series, The
Underland Chronicles, was a big success,
but nothing compared to what the Hunger Games series has achieved.
According to sophomore Maggie
Leech, “I can’t stop reading! Both books
are addicting!”
The trilogy, while suspenseful, tearful, and romantic, forces readers to think
about war and its effects. This was made
especially clear in the third book,
Mockingjay, the worst one according to
many readers.
In it, Collins writes macabre scenes
with no superficiality. She writes without tempering the scenes because she
believes that people need to understand
war and its powerful messages.
A lover of both mythology and history, Collins says her inspiration comes
from the story of Theseus and the
Minotaur. She says, “Even as a kid, I
could appreciate how ruthless this was.
Crete was sending a very clear message:
‘Mess with us and we’ll do something
worse than kill you.
“We’ll kill your children.’ And the
thing is, it was allowed; the parents sat by
powerless to stop it. Theseus, who was
the son of a king, volunteered to go. I guess
in her own way, Katniss is a futuristic
Theseus.”
Collins is the screenwriter for the
upcoming movie, which is a relief to many
fans. The final casting in the trio is Liam
Hemsworth, who is best known for his
role in Miley Cyrus’ movie, “The Last
Song.” He will play Gale, Katniss’ long
time friend.
When asked how she felt about the
trio, sophomore Dani Plung said, “I think
they’re as good actors as any, but the
problem with making books into movies
is that as good as the actors are, they’re
still actors, and can’t be everyone’s image
of the characters.”
Limitless, the recent thriller by director Neil Burger, stars Bradley Cooper,
Abbie Cornish, and Robert De Niro.
Based on The Dark Fields, a novel by
Alan Glynnhad, the movie has a very
involved plot, which helps to make it
more exciting for the viewer. It is also
more violent than one would expect after
seeing the trailer, and the acting, while
above average, is not exceptional.
Limitless starts in the apartment of
Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper). Eddie’s
life seems to be going downhill. He has
writer’s block when he needs to submit
seventy pages of his new book to his
publisher, his girlfriend has just broken
up with him, and he just cannot seem to
catch a break. Then, he runs into Vernon,
his ex-brother-in-law.
Vernon gives Eddie a pill that will
allow Eddie to use 100% of his mind.
Eddie takes the pill, and seems to have
a prolonged brain-blast. He writes some
of his book, organizes his apartment,
and soon goes back to Vernon for more.
As Eddie takes the pills, he rises to
the top of the financial world and attracts the attention of Carl Van Loon
(Robert De Niro) as well as that of other,
not so civilized characters who are eager
to get their hands on the pills, known as
NZT. Carl Van Loon uses Eddie as a
means to make great sums of money and
soon enough Eddie is living the dream
life.
But then Eddie realizes that NZT has
dangerous side effects, and goes on an
elaborate journey to save his own life.
Overall, I did like the movie. There
were many unforeseen twists and turns
with what was happening in the movie
and the special effects (although limited)
were well done. As I mentioned, the
acting was above average. Bradley Cooper did a good job as Eddie when Eddie
was off of the NZT drug but did not
successfully capture Eddie’s essence
when he was at his full capabilities.
Everyone else in the film did a good job,
especially Robert De Niro, who even
made me feel intimidated when he sat
down with Eddie for their first interview.
One aspect of the film that I did not
like was the ending, which had a “deus
ex machina” feel to it and did not completely answer many of the questions
that the film had raised.
In conclusion, Limitless is very well
done. But once you have seen it, there
is no reason to want to watch it again.
Music gets new vibe
By Lily Epstein
In the 21st Century, many artists are
breaking outside of the cliché theme of
boy likes girl, boy asks girl out, boy and
girl are together forever. However, while
it is good for artists to have creative
capability, some songs are just plain
vulgar. Songs such as “Down on Me”
by Jeremih and “Hey Baby (Drop It To
The Floor)” by Pitbull have been dominating the charts, but it appears that
there is now an opening for clean artists
to take over.
Recently, English breakout artist
ADELE has been topping the charts
with her song “Rolling In the Deep,”
which deals with loss and vulnerability.
Her powerful voice draws teens and
adults alike to wanting to listen to more
of her songs, making her album “21”
number one on iTunes for over five
weeks. Her song “Rolling in the Deep”
is catchy and shows off her talent.
Along with ADELE, another powerful singer has been making her comeback:
Miss Britney Spears herself. Her seventh
album, “Femme Fatale,” has been getting
a lot of buzz. While you might have heard
the song “Till the World Ends” on the
radio, I recommend listening to the remix
entitled “Till The World Ends (The Femme
Fatale Remix),” which features artists
Ke$ha, who helped to co-write the origi-
nal version, and Nicki Minaj.
The threesome’s different voices
blend together in perfect harmony that
makes this song a party, workout, or
hang out song.
Even though it appears that many
women artists are dominating the charts,
including Katy Perry and Jennifer Lopez,
Bruno Mars has been giving them a run
for their money. His recently introduced to radio work, “The Lazy Song,”
describes Bruno’s perfect lazy day at
home. While the beat might be too slow
for some, I personally enjoy his smooth
jazz voice paired with a reggae vibe.
While these artists are on top at the
moment, the music industry is changing
every day, and you never know who will
be the next big thing.
We don’t need Cum Laude
(Continued from page two)
In fact, everyone on the stage that
day was intelligent and deserving of
recognition; the only thing I object to is
the fact that we are involving GPA in the
standard of measuring academic excellence. In other words, we should recognize these students, but we should recognize them using a scale not based on
GPA.
If GPA is not the way to judge
academic excellence, how should we as
a community do it? Personally, I don’t
really care if I’m recognized for my
academic achievements. I learn because
I enjoy it, not to win awards or be
praised. In fact, does our community
need to continue Cum Laude, other than
for reasons based on tradition and looking fancy?
If a student only performs well in
school because he/she wishes to be honored or win awards, that represents a
failure of our educational system because we are not fostering a love of
learning, but a love of certificates.
What’s Hot/What’s Not
By Maggie Leech and Samantha Goodman
What’s Hot
What’s Not
The Voice
The Hunger Games
Flag Club
Pittsburgh Passion
Obama
Burgatory
Mac Miller
Stage AE
Twitter
American Idol
Twilight
Kords for Kids
Pittsburgh Penguins
Osama
Five Guys
Asher Roth
Heinz Hall
Facebook
Shady Side News
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
D.C. adventures: band trip 2011
By Alec Brown
The three SSA bands went on a trip
to Washington D.C. April 8-10, where
they had much fun. To start things off,
the bus left at 6:30 A.M. from Shady
Side and made good time to the National
Zoo. There the three groups had a great
time looking at all sorts of animals,
including panda bears, lions, and elephants.
Some members of the group had
quite a surprise when they watched a
zookeeper feed a cricket to a monster
spider.
Junior Sascha Demetris was one of
those who watched the feeding. When
describing the feeding he said, “It was
just hanging in the web, and then the
spider went flying after him. I was like
‘Whoa! Whoa! Did you just see that?’”
After the excellent adventure at the
zoo, we went to Madame Tussaud’s
School News 5
the Newseum where we spent time in a
4-D movie theater and other neat areas.
For that evening, everybody went to
Twins Jazz Club where we heard an
interesting group of musicians play a
jazz concert. Many of the students
really enjoyed hearing this, including
freshman Akul Mitra, who said, “This
was a great performance. I really enjoyed hearing some live jazz in a really
interesting setting.”
The three bands are thankful the
government did not shut down because
then we would not have been able to visit
any of the Smithsonian museums on
Sunday. Luckily, because the two sides
agreed on a budget, we were able to visit
all of the museums, including the Air and
Space Museum, Natural History Museum, and the National Gallery of Art.
It was a great experience for us in the
nation’s capital.
wax museum where we all took pictures
with celebrities and politicians, including Barack Obama and Morgan Freeman.
After spending some time with the
famous people, we went to dinner and
then back to the hotel where we had a fun
and relaxing evening.
The following morning, the groups
went to American University where the
Jazz Combo and Jazz Ensemble performed in front of a jazz guitarist who
critiqued their performances.
Pianist David Steiner of the Jazz
Combo and Jazz Ensemble said of the
critique, “It was an excellent critique. He
really knew what he was talking about
and really helped our performances.”
For lunch, the groups went to
Georgetown and roamed the streets for
a few hours until it was time to leave.
During that afternoon, we went to
Band concert features seniors
Photos by Noah Sprock
Photo by Kelly Remo
Jazz! Seniors Jeremie Kim,Missy Wolz, and David Piano man! Senior Jeremie Kim plays a
Currie play a soulful sax number with Mr. Ashworth. piano solo at his final SSA band concert.
No Metz Wednesday needs salt
On the night of Sunday, April 3, at
approximately 9:45 P.M., I suddenly
realized that there was such a thing as
homework, and I had not done any of it.
So I reluctantly got up from Spongebob
Squarepants and went to the computer.
It was when I had checked the webpages
of my teachers, and found that I had been
assigned Calculus problems, a Biology
reading, and an English journal assignment, that I realized I was not interested
in doing any of it. So I decided to
procrastinate even further, and logged
onto Facebook.
Checking my notifications, I saw an
odd one: “Jatara McGee has added you
to the group No Metz Wednesday.”
My first thought was that this was a
parody of the Trayless Wednesdays,
and that we were boycotting the outrageous, tyrannical injustice of being denied trays once a week.
But Reggie Mitchell, the creator of
the group, had a different explanation;
he had started the group to protest
students being denied food because their
accounts were empty.
The next day, I got the rest of the
story. Apparently students would get
food, and when they had gone through
the line to pay and it came up that their
account was over the limit, their food
would be taken and thrown away.
The rumor was that the account of
one of the kids was only $2 over the
limit; this seemed fabricated, however,
considering that Metz had started denying access to a lot of kids at one time.
It seemed unlikely that they had all
run out of money at the exact same time.
They had probably been over the line for
a while, and Metz had finally decided to
do something about it.
Nevertheless, many believed it was
fundamentally wrong for kids to be
denied access to food. “I felt kids should
be able to eat no matter what,” Reggie
commented.
His plan: On Wednesday, the student body would boycott Metz.
His Facebook group sent a ripple
through the school; everyone was talking about it, and everyone had their own
opinion.
Many, equally outraged at the atrocities undertaken by the evil Metz Empire, were in favor of No Metz Wednes-
day; sophomore Dani Plung said, “It’s
not the kids’ fault if the parents forget to
put money into the account. Do not
punish the kids for the sins of the parents.”
Perry Cao, also a sophomore, commented, “We need to send a message to
Shady Side that the prices are too high;
it’s ridiculous to pay $5 for two meatballs and a breadstick.”
This, however, seemed to stray from
the original intention of the movement
and brings up the crisis of purpose this
movement had. Some people were protesting the denial of food, some people
were protesting the denial of fair pricing,
and I was protesting the denial of trays.
Reggie managed to resolve this before I got too worked up, saying, “The
first thing was that prices were through
the roof. The day they didn’t let people
eat was the day I decided to do something.”
What a relief; they were protesting
both the prices and the lack of access for
people who have not paid for the food
they were trying to take. But should
they have been protesting at all?
Many believed the whole ordeal to
be pointless. Upon being asked, a group
of library-goers suddenly became very
un-library-like and started screaming at
me at once.
I managed to get a couple of their
comments down before sprinting away,
terrified of what they might do to me. “It
isn’t going to do anything; just because
Pack it in. Kelsey Broker and
Will Vincett brown bag it.
Photo by Kimberly Flit
By Paul Steenkiste
you get a couple kids to pack their
lunches for a day doesn’t mean anything,” one said.
Others believed that there was nothing wrong. Sophomore Maclean Calihan
had this to say: “They email your parents saying how much money is left in
the account. They sent those purple
slips that say your account is up; it’s not
like they suddenly refused to give them
food. Metz is a public company; they
have responsibilities to their shareholders.”
But the most insightful comments I
heard on the subject came from the
freshman hallway. Upon being asked
for his opinion, one particularly small
freshman simply looked up at me and
sang, “Womanizer, woman-womanizer,
you’re a womanizer.” Relevant? No.
Awesome? Yes.
For a while I favored Maclean’s
argument: you don’t pay, you don’t eat.
That’s how it works in the real world,
right? You can’t walk into a car dealership and say, “I really need a car,” and
drive off.
But then I put myself into the shoes
of those who had been denied food.
Personally, I can barely get through the
few classes before lunch without seriously considering cannibalism.
I fantasize about food all day; what
else does a man have? I admire those
people who were denied food. If it had
happened to me, I might have straight up
punched someone in the face.
This is a school. The point is that we
learn how to go through life in a safe
environment. Some people forgot to
pay their bills; there should be a better
way to teach them to do so than to deny
them a basic human right: Pizza Friday.
In the end, was it a success? “I only
saw three tables of people at the dining
hall at drop period,” Reggie said. “I think
it had a pretty good impact for how short
it lasted. It was pretty cool.”
Noah Harchelroad reminds us, however, of the original goal: getting a message across to Metz. “It should be
considered a failure,” he says, “because
without telling them why we were protesting, Metz cannot respond appropriately, and nothing will happen.”
I guess only time will tell what will
become of it. The real question is,
though, when will I get my trays back?
The Times Square of their lives. Alexis D. Allen and Caitlin O’Connell.
Choir tastes the Big Apple
By Samantha Toshok
The chamber choir, core choir, and
strings took their annual trip, this time
to New York City, to show the big-time,
NY professionals what a somewhat
small-town group could do when put
together in a small room.
This trip, departing with the dawn
on Friday, April 13, was made possible
by the chaperones including Choir Director Dr. Dan Brill, Mary Krauland,
Claire DePalma, Bill Diehl, and Charles
Shafer, who gladly gave up their weekend to take this trip.
The group was given the chance to
meet and learn from a professional choir
teacher who currently works at
Westminster Choir College. She listened and critiqued as they presented
the songs they had been previously
working on in the classroom with Dr.
Brill. Within the short period of an hour,
the students were given tips on how to
compose one’s self, how to communicate within (without making it obvious!), and the basic fundamentals of
singing, including breathing and diction.
After learning these skills, the groups’
improvement was truly remarkable!
Along with visiting the clinic, students were given the opportunity to
explore New York City sights such as
Times Square and the Metropolitan
Museum of Art. Students also got to see
Cole Porter’s widely-known Broadway
show, Anything Goes.
“The singing and tap dancing was
outstanding! These guys work every
day to get things perfect,” say core choir
students Rebkah Tesfamarian and Amber Shergill. Overall, students were able
to spend a lot of quality time together
and acquired new skills they were able to
use in the May 11 Spring Senior Honors
Concert.
Choir/strings concert
Do Re Me Fa So La Ti Do: Dr. Brill recognizes
graduating seniors at the Honor’s Choir Concert.
Violin’s up! Senior Lisha Gu wows the crowd.
Photos by Noah Sprock
School news
6
Senior school prepares for new head
Shady Side News
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
By Yuval Ben-David
white powder; it makes painting seem effortless and underscores the inspirational
quality of artistic work. I approach teaching similarly. My students have the innate
ability to shine, to learn, to think, to express themselves. As their teacher, I’m
just helping them brush away the white so
that their curiosity, individuality, and ideas
are exposed.
First impressions of Pittsburgh?
Honestly, Pittsburgh just felt like
home—as hokey as that sounds. I’m a
big believer in karma, and when a place is
the right “fit,” I feel it viscerally. Pittsburgh, with its unusual array of cultural
treasures, neighborhoods, and dramatic
scenery, gave me the feeling that I had
discovered the nation’s best-kept secret. I
love the landscape and the rivers. My two
favorite cities in the world—Paris and
Lyon—each have two rivers running
through their downtown areas that come
to a point, and Pittsburgh evokes those
cities for me in that way. Additionally,
Pittsburgh is an insanely friendly and
welcoming place. What’s not to love?
What did you like and hate about
high school?
I loved my field hockey teams, my
fencing team, and my musical theater cohorts, and the faculty in charge of those
activities. I enjoyed running track, too,
although I wasn’t very good at the 400.
Outside of school, I loved ballet and dancing
with a Renaissance dance troupe. I loved
French class because my teacher had high
expectations, pushed us hard, and didn’t let
us get away with mediocre work. I hated all
of the cliques that nobody broke out of,
ever, and the fact that no one greeted
anyone else in the hallways unless they
were friends with each other.
Favorite books?
Any poetry by Baudelaire (as well as
most any poetry); The Girl with
the Pearl Earring, not because it¹s a
major work of literature but because
it blends my love of art history with
imagination and creativity; most
historical fiction, including (I’ll admit
it) anything by Wilbur Smith for
long plane rides.
Favorite movies?
Most recently, “The King’s Speech”
because it’s simply a great film and speaks to
me as a speech and debate coach. One of
my favorite slapstick, silly films is “Les
Visiteurs” for its blend of history and modernity. On the serious end, “Out of Africa” is tops because of the cinematography
and the memorable role of Meryl Streep as
the fiercely independent Karen Blixen.
What’s different about the generation currently in high school?
I think that today’s generation is more
connected to peers both within and beyond
their home cities, states, and countries.
Adolescents today have a ridiculous number of new choices and moral questions
facing them that my generation didn’t
have. The resulting opportunities and
consequences make life for adolescents
even more complicated than biologists,
chemists, and psychologists tell us. That
worries me. I wonder when—and if—kids
have time to be kids. Take bullying for
example. My generation had to deal
with that, but today students have to deal
with cyber-bullying in addition
to “traditional” bullying.
I also think the distance between parents and their children is increasing. Perhaps that’s what all generations say
about the next, but with the inconceivable
pace of technological change, it seems that
parents can barely keep up with what their
children seem to instinctively understand.
And I wonder whether we as adults are wrong
to assume that since your generation is growing up with these technological tools that
you’ll somehow inherently know how to use
them to their best advantage, how to navigate
them, and how to develop them.
Photo by Jamie Brush
In March, Shady Side Academy President Tom Cangiano announced Katharine
Vavpetic’s appointment as the next head
of the Senior School.
Mrs. Vavpetic is currently Associate
Dean of Faculty at The Hotchkiss School
in Connecticut, where she has been since
1998. Moving with her to the Shady Side
campus in July will be her husband Joe and
her two sons, Blaz, 5, and Niko, 3.
I recently contacted Ms. Vavpetic by
email to ask her some introductory questions. No doubt she will make a more
formal introduction in the fall.
Day to day, what do you do at your
current job?
On the whole, my job requires that I use
influence to effect change, whether it’s
related to housing, teaching, coaching,
hiring, or parenting. As a result, I spend a
tremendous amount of time talking with
and listening to colleagues, solving problems (which is enjoyable because I love
puzzles!), and managing projects (following up and pushing them forward little by
little).
A typical day in May involves teaching
my honors French 3 class, meeting with the
teaching interns as a group, interviewing a
teaching candidate, observing a class, conferring with the CFO about strategic planning as it relates to faculty housing and
dormitories, informing the Dean of Faculty and Head of School about housing
assignment decisions that the Dean of
Dormitory Life and I have made, grading,
writing stewardship letters to donors who
support faculty professional development,
debate practice, and dorm duty—plus a
range of other projects, committee sessions, tasks, and conversations that come
up. My days and nights are quite full!
What’s your motto as a teacher?
I have two mottoes, depending on the
context. One, a quote from Mary
Lyon, the founder of Mount Holyoke
College, my alma mater, is, “Go forward.
Attempt great things. Accomplish great
things.” I live by that one every day. A
second is based on a description of painting
by Georges Braque. He said that, for him,
painting was simply the dusting of white
off a canvas to reveal the colors beneath.
I love that image of brushing away the
SSA Race for the Cure team runs on Mother’s Day
60 Shady Side runners participated in the race, raising a total of $2,664 for breast cancer.
After the race they met for a pancake breakfast at the Anderson Shelter (pictured above).
Open season: Easter egg hunt
By Christopher Miller
If you happened to be casually observing the Shady Side Academy Senior
School campus from April 4-8, you
would have seen a sight that is not very
typical for the Shady Side community:
numerous students searching the entire
campus for little plastic Easter eggs.
The idea of the campus Easter egg
hunt was pitched to the school in late
March by Shady Side senior and student
council member Peter Scott.
Asked why he wanted to have a
community Easter egg hunt, Peter replied, “The idea came up one day when
I was carrying on a conversation with
Ben Fownes in the college counseling
office, and from there we decided that it
could be a very fun event that could help
raise money for the senior class, but be
fun for the entire community as well.”
Within a week from that assembly in
late March, more than seventy students
signed up to participate in the Easter egg
hunt that would be taking place the
following week.
On Monday, April 4, the hunt for
eggs officially began. That morning,
seventy-five students set out to find an
egg (there being only half as many eggs
as people). Those who failed to find an
egg were eliminated, but those who were
lucky enough to get their hands on an egg
by the end of the day moved on to day
two of the hunt.
The search for eggs on campus continued for another four days until Friday, April 8, the final day of the hunt.
By now, the field of participants had
shrunk all the way down to ten students,
all searching for one pink egg hidden
somewhere on the Shady Side campus.
By the end of the day, one lucky student
would be crowned the winner.
As it turned out, junior Ryan Mengel
found the final egg, hidden in the blue
padding of the stop sign located between
Rowe Hall and Morewood dorm. As a
result, Ryan walked away with $120
and a pair of bunny ears.
Looking back on the event, Peter
said, “The Easter egg hunt was very
successful. We raised a lot of money for
the senior class. All of the students
seemed to really enjoy it, and they took
it as seriously as I had hoped they
would.”
Asked if he would make any changes
if he could do it all over again, Peter
responded, “I would have hidden the
eggs in tougher places on the first day,
and I wish the event could have had more
publicity beforehand, so we could have
had more kids sign up, but other than
that, it was a great event that I think the
community really enjoyed.”
Photo by Niteesh Sundaram
Connecting. Juniors Camara Copeland and Alex Levy play with kids.
Camden trip opens eyes
By David Jimenez
During the first week of spring break,
a group of seven students and two
teachers embarked on a rewarding journey that we hope will become part of a
continuing school tradition.
Over several months, senior David
Jimenez, junior Alex Levy, headmaster
Jeremy LaCasse, and Co-director of
International Programs Jessica Parker
worked to create an Alternative Spring
Break program, where members of the
SSA community spend a part of their
vacation in underserved communities
serving as volunteers and learning about
the community experience. This year,
students worked with Urban Promise,
a private ecumenical Christian organization, in Camden, New Jersey.
On the trip, students learned about
the current and historical challenges that
have confronted Camden, a symbol of
national urban decay with high crime
rates and poverty. Less than half of
students graduate from high school and
numerous neighborhoods are filled with
decayed, aging housing. In fact, the
largest industry in the city is scrap metal
because residents go into abandoned
buildings and rip open sewage pipes and
other items.
Students were moved by a powerful
bus tour around Camden’s neighborhoods, learning how poor government
planning and socioeconomic problems
transformed a once strong industrial
city into a community marred by decay.
At the same time, the group witnessed
some of the moving community-based
solutions that Urban Promise and other
groups are providing.
The organization not only offers
successful private schools (90% graduation rate), but also city-wide
afterschool and summer camps such as
Urban Trekkers, where students are
mentored to create their own sailboats
and use them on nature trips during the
year.
Many of the Urban Promise leaders
and volunteers were alumni themselves
who were profoundly impacted and
transformed by the program. A documentary film night revealed the story of
Father Michael Doyle, a Catholic priest
whose “Heart of Camden” project has
helped to revitalize the Southern Camden
community with education, sustainable
housing, and new economic development. Another evening event featured
leadership from Camden’s ecological
justice movement, which has sought to
bring healthy food and green spaces to a
city with serious pollution problems
and a single grocery store. As our trip
continued, we went beyond the headlines and statistics to witness the real
presence of hope that is gradually improving the Camden community and its
families.
The group completed a wide variety
of service projects during the week. In
the morning, some members participated in spiritual devotion, and then the
entire group worked at a homeless shelter of Lutheran Ministries, sorting toys
and clothing, working at the thrift store,
and meeting the patrons during lunch
(Camara Copeland and Alex Levy
worked with one to complete a March
Madness bracket). Afterwards, we spent
the afternoon as volunteers in Urban
Promise’s Junior High School Olympics, where middle school students from
across the city come together in exciting
games a la Color Wars.
Senior participant Niteesh Sundaram
remarked, “The kids were adorable. They
were full of energy and really loved
screaming . . . In their innocence, children
did not concern themselves with image
or coolness and instead skated across the
church basement, let volunteers spin
them around, sang the Funky Chicken,
and slammed their faces with cream pie
and cereal that looked like dog food.”
Although these hours were hectic and
prolonged, they presented an opportunity to witness and become part of the
support that Urban Promise provides to
their students.
Overall, the group saw the trip as a
profound experience in service and understanding. Sophomore Joe McMahon
stated “Camden was somewhat of an
eye opening experience. I knew going
into the trip that Camden was a down
trodden area, but experiencing it first
hand was much more profound than
anything I had heard or read before hand.
I was glad to be part of an outreach
program such as Urban Promise, and I
would definitely go again if I had the
opportunity.”
While our impact on the people of
Camden was small, their lives and resilience encouraged us to better understand
social justice and community development. Already, students are working on
developing a new program in New Orleans next year. More photos and blog
entries
are
available
at
ssacamden.tumblr.com.
Senior sage rebuts bullies
(Continued from page 2)
·Also, there is a direct correlation to the
amount of time girls spend online and the
likelihood that they will be bullied.
·The National Crime Prevention Center study found that only 10% of those kids
who were bullied told their parents about
the incident.
·Cell phone cameras and digital cameras
are a growing problem in the cyberbullying
world. A recent survey found that 10% of
770 young people surveyed were made to
feel “threatened, embarrassed or uncomfortable” by a photo taken of them using a
cell-phone camera.
·According to extensive research on
middle school age students and teenagers
online, some of the fastest growing problems within the world of cyberbullying are:
1. Stealing an individual’s name and
password to a social networking site, then
using their profile to post rumors, gossip or
other damaging information.
2. Altering photographs using
PhotoShop or other photo editing software in order to humiliate the individual.
3. Recording conversations without
the individual’s knowledge or consent,
then posting the call online.
4. Creating confrontational and meanspirited online polls about the individual
and posting them on different web sites
(http://www.cyberbullyalert.com/blog/
2008/08/cyber-bullying-statistics-thatmay-shock-you/).
A heartfelt thank you to a brave Senior
Sage who made us realize that we can play
a role in eliminating this problem by being
responsible and vigilant. There will still be
issues of harassment but, one hopes, fewer.
Shady Side News
Wednesday, May 25
School news 7
Shady Side Francophiles unite
By Shamika Dighe
Photo by Dana Burgard
Achtung, baby! German students breach Check Point Charlie.
SSA/German exchange
By Blake Beckemeyer
Eleven of us remember packing an
insane amount of clothes, entertainment
for the flight overseas, and two toothbrushes. For most of us, it was our first
time on a different continent, and who
has Hamburg on their vacation wish list
anyways? We left as eleven Shady Side
students and returned a family.
Chad Trice said of the three week
German exchange, “Experiencing German culture was a good change of pace
in my life; the memories were something
that I will never forget.” Germans have
a different outlook on life: their typical
school day is from 8 am until 1:30 pm,
and each lesson is 90 minutes.
Chaperone Mary Krauland said,
“We got to experience the school day in
Hamburg. [It is] a very different school
from SSA.”
Food was an adventure for all of us,
with only a few knowing what to expect.
Turns out German food was better than
most American food I’ve had. Most
mornings, my host family would prepare one cup of peppermint tea, a piece
of bread with butter and honey on it, and
a lunch box for the midmorning snack.
Traditionally, I was given some rendition of German chocolate and a sandwich with ham, lettuce, and butter.
Germans love butter on their sandwiches.
On the flip side, every one of us loved
Döner. Döner is a German-Turk specialty, similar to a gyro, but much better.
The bread bowl in which the lettuce,
meat, and onions are stuffed is warm and
crusty, and is perfect on the cold, rainy
mornings of Hamburg and Berlin.
Germany is filled with so many
friendly and caring people, and we were
fortunate to have the opportunity to
meet thirteen amazing families. I want
to thank my host family and all the
others who hosted: “Ami’s” in Hamburg, our chaperones Frau and Krau, and
my eight new siblings. It was the best
three weeks of my life.
Photo by Lindsay Kovach
Passport to adventure. Jeremy LaCasse, Former SSA teacher
Diana Marston Wood, Dr. Evelyn S. Rawski, and Robert Sargent.
Flashback to China’s past
By Michelle Bucklew
Shady Side Academy had the opportunity to experience a different side of
China April 7 through pictures taken by
the grandfather of Robert Sargent, curator of the exhibit CHINA: Exploring the
Interior, 1903-1904.
In 1903, R. Harvey Sargent took an
expedition to China to study the topography and to do research. Along the
way, Sargent took several photographs,
which would be the items that made the
trip well known later in his life. These
pictures were not the average “posed”
photographs, but instead were snapshots of scenes that caught his attention.
He took pictures of landscapes, structures, and inhabitants of the land. These
incredible pictures now travel around
the country, allowing many to witness
the complexity behind these simple pictures.
The grandson of Harvey Sargent,
Robert Sargent, travels along with these
exhibits and has also made a trip back to
China with his own daughter, since he
lived there until the age of four, to retrace
the steps that his grandfather had made.
He took pictures that paralleled the ones
taken one hundred years ago, which he
shared during an all-school assembly.
The exhibit of his grandfather was
put on display in Hillman. Several
Chinese classes had the opportunity to
study the display and meet with Robert
Sargent. We were able to learn and ask
questions about his job, experiences,
and travels.
Junior Chris Leech commented about
the discussion, saying, “The passion in
which he spoke about his trip to China
and to other countries around the world
through his job was inspiring.”
The pictures in the exhibit ranged
from pictures of monuments, to the
Yangzi River, to my personal favorite,
the picture of men carrying 200-300
pound bags of salt on their backs.
The picture captured the men resting
on one crutch while taking a short break
from their hard labor. The picture is
taken by a simple camera, but the image
allows the person viewing it to imagine
what the men were feeling and the difficulty of their job.
The viewer can almost believe that he
or she is there with Sargent, taking the
picture, seeing the men, hearing them
talk and the surrounding noises, smelling
the environment, and feeling their
struggle.
We hope, at some point, many students in our community were able to
stop and take the opportunity to look at
the photographs that hung in Hillman
for the month of April.
It was a spring break filled with chocolate croissants and fresh baguettes for a
group of fourteen SSA students. Accompanied by history teacher, Rachel McCool
and Spanish and French teacher, Dr. CarolJean McGreevy-Morales, we embarked on
an adventure of a lifetime to France, to
visit our exchange students from Saint
Joseph de Tivoli, a large co-ed high school
in Bordeaux.
When asked about this trip, Dr.
McGreevy-Morales said, “I loved having
the opportunity to help our students of
French immerse themselves into the
French lifestyle and culture. Watching
our students interact in French with their
hosts and other students at Tivoli, our
partner school in Bordeaux, was sheer
delight. On a more personal note, my time
spent with Tivoli faculty and their families, whom I had gotten to know over the
eight years we have had the exchange, was
a special treat.” This was the fifth exchange that Shady Side Academy has had
with Tivoli, since its inception in 2003.
Our trip began at the Pittsburgh airport with a direct flight to Paris; there
were mixed emotions that morning.
When asked how she felt, junior Kristen
Olander said, “Standing in the airport
waiting with the whole group was difficult
to bear as we were all just so excited to go,
but were also dreading the eight hour flight
to Paris. Having never been to Paris or
France before, I was ready for the new
culture change that we were about to
experience.”
We spent our first few days in Paris,
where we visited staples of many a Parisian tourist’s itinerary such as the Eiffel
tower, Musee D’Orsay, Arc du Triomphe,
and Notre Dame.
Our free time was spent exploring
boutiques and cafès along the meandering
streets of the city while taking in all that
the Parisian culture had to offer.
After our short stay in Paris, we boarded
the famous TGV train and headed to
Bordeaux. The closer the train got to
Bordeaux, the more anxious I became. I
could not help but wonder, “What will my
exchange student’s family be like? Will
they all be waiting to pick me up?”
These thoughts progressively turned
into, “What if her family and I don’t get
along and what if I forget all my French
and can’t speak? What would I do? Sign
language?”
Looking back at it all now, I think my
biggest fear was leaving the group. Up
until that point, although we were in a
different land, we were still exploring this
new territory together; a piece of home
was still with us. Being together was a sort
of safety net for me. But as long as we were
together, we were still partly submerged in
American culture.
I now realize that the only way we
could have been fully indulged in all that
French culture had to offer was by being
alone and trying to let go of our inhibitions
while looking at everything we encountered with an open mind.
And so, we spent the next week and a
half in Bordeaux. Each day spent at Tivoli
was an opportunity for us to learn more
about French school life and compare that
to our experiences at Shady Side Academy. The differences were quite surpris-
Photo courtesy of Dr. McGreevy-Morales
Fromage! Our French students pose in front of the Eiffel Tower.
ing: class sizes at Tivoli were much larger
and the classroom environment was very
formal. For example, most students didn’t
speak during class, and classes were taught
lecture-style; also, no student ever left the
room to go to the bathroom or water
fountain. Some days, a class would be two
hours long and end at 5:30 pm!
Perhaps the most striking difference
was the actual classes that these high
school students were taking. Older students had already chosen a “track” of
studies that they wanted to complete and
therefore only took certain classes. For
example, students on an English-History
track would not take any science or math
classes. In a way, their career paths had
somewhat been chosen before they had
even entered college.
When asked about her favorite parts
of the trip, junior Tess Rosenbloom talked
about some unique characteristics of Tivoli.
She said, “One of my favorite parts of the
exchange was getting to see our
correspondent’s school. It was interesting to see how our school compared with
theirs. For example, we have a junior,
middle, and upper school on three different campuses; their school confined all of
these students to one campus. So you
would see kindergartners hanging around
the same areas where juniors and seniors
would be, which was pretty interesting.”
When we weren’t in classes, we were
taking field trips to various attractions in
or near Bordeaux. One day was spent
taking a historic tour of Bordeaux.
Another day was spent at St. Emilion,
a small town northeast of Bordeaux, famous for its prehistoric ruins, monolithic
church, and wineries. Highlights of this
trip included: visiting vineyards and actually seeing how grapes are grown and how
wine is fermented and aged, a day trip to
San Sebastian, Spain, and a visit to an
oyster fishery, where we were able to learn
Photo by Kimberly Flit
Shannon Kirk,Jamie Kurke, and Jessie Guerrentz
how oysters are bred and then taste fresh
oysters.
As for time spent with our families, the
experiences varied from student to student. Personally, I was not prepared for
the culture shock that I first experienced
in France. Everything was so different.
Their food was different, their lifestyles
were different, and their overall attitude
toward things like school and sports was
very different than the attitudes that
students here at Shady Side embrace.
For instance, people in France are
much happier spending their free time
sitting in a café for hours, whereas we
generally tend to have most of our day
planned out for us by the minute. Also,
meals tend to be appreciated more by the
French. There, cuisine is a true art, which
led to my biggest shock: The sea urchin I
found staring back at me at dinner one
night. At first, I felt intimidated by all
these differences. But as time went on, I
began to appreciate them, and even enjoy
them. After a week in Bordeaux, the
abnormal became normal, and the more
time we spent with our families, the closer
we became to them.
Senior Katie Prochownik sums this up
best, saying, “The most important thing to
me was to indulge in the culture and completely be comfortable with being uncomfortable. It is so special to adapt to a family
with different traditions and likes than you,
and to return home with a different outlook
to how other people live. That was the best
part of the trip for me.”
Overall, this trip proved to be a great
experience for all who participated. It has
let us venture out of our comfort zones and
find a greater understanding of other cultures, along with allowing us to create new
friendships with students across the Atlantic. As Dr. McGreevy Morales puts it,
“TROIS SEMAINES TOUT A FAIT
FORMIDABLES!”
Photo by Allie Hull
Kimberly Flit and Dr.Ashworth
SSA celebrates the royal wedding
Senior advisor Graham Ashworth decided to host an early
“watch the William/Kate wedding spectacular,”with Sue Whitney
and students, in the wee hours of the morning on the wedding
day. At 5 AM, Students arrived at the Benedum Student center
with crowns and jewelry, with donuts, bagels, fruits, scones,
coffee, and English Tea awaiting their arrival.
Boarders and others arrived in their P.J.s to don
crowns and spy the styles as royal watchers on this
special day.
But, unfortunately, all good things must come to
an end, and at 8:15, the students had to put on schoolappropiate clothes and travel off to first period class.
8Odds & Ends
Shady Side News
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Remaining Spork
players strategize
while game goes on
By Porter Ladley
Bevy of Beauties. Juniors Lia Farrell, Ashley Ferree, Caitlin O’Connell, Kelcei Edmonds, Katie
Natoli, Betsy Vuchinich,Rebecca Sensale, Alexa miller, Jenna Rosenbloom, Rebecca Solomon,
Alexis Concordia, Dima Kharma, Rachel Diehl, Audrey Buckman, Ruby Scalo, Sabina Rizzo,
Photo by Annie Pooley
Shamika Dighe, and Camara Copeland get ready to take the runway.
Prom Fashion Show pleases crowd
by Shamika Dighe
It was a sight of pure glitz and glamour at this year’s Prom Fashion Show,
where a group of juniors came out to
strut their stuff on the catwalk to support their class.
Benefitting this year’s prom, which
will be held at the newly opened Fairmont
Hotel in downtown Pittsburgh, the Prom
Fashion show went off without a hitch
– mostly because of the tremendous
effort put forth by the junior class and
its prom committee, which sponsored
the event, and a dedicated group of
mothers without whom the whole event
could not have possibly taken place.
When asked about the event, junior
class president Katie Natoli said, “The
Prom Fashion Show was easily the greatest fund-raiser held by our class. We
made over $5000! We are well on our
way to having a successful prom.”
The year’s prom fashion show,
which was held at the ever so picturesque Pittsburgh Field Club, featured
students wearing some of this season’s
latest evening attire. From fresh tuxedos
to sparkling cocktail numbers, models
wore the latest and greatest by some of
the most noted designers in eveningwear
such as Alice and Olivia, Nicole Miller,
and Aidan Mattox.
Throughout the event, it was clear
that the models were having a great time
as they showcased their dresses, which
came from local stores around Pittsburgh including HipTique, e.b. Pepper,
Dina Ellen, Carabella, Pittsburgh Elegance, Linton’s, Cajoli, and Victoria.
Girls looked poised and elegant with
voluminous curls and ornate updos to
accompany their ensembles, which were
done by Salon Vivace.
On the other hand, the boys looked
especially dapper in their eveningwear
from Top Hat Tuxedo (at the Waterworks Mall) and Top Hat Tuxedo, Inc.
(at the Pittsburgh Mills). The Prom
Fashion Show was not only a huge
success, but it was also a pleasure to
watch or to be a part of.
As Junior Class vice president Conor
Hannon put it, “The fashion show was
the most fun and successful fundraiser
for the class, but more importantly, it
was a great way for us guys to show off
our great looks, and for DJ Fabby Fab
[Frank Rocks] to show off his abilities.”
The Junior Class would like to extend
a thank you to all of the parents who either
helped to organize the fashion show or
donated, including Dr. Bruce Ben-David,
E. Michael and Susan Boyle, Jeffrey and
Jessica Brown, Enrico and Federica
Dallavecchia, Corina Diehl, Dr. Shyam
and Smita Dighe, Michael and Judith
Hannon, Maryanne Hermann, S. Bryan
and Heather Lawrence, Christopher and
Mary Beth Leech, David and Joanne
Mengel, William and Lisa Miller, Joseph
and Rose Natoli, Montgomery and Kate
Pooley, Brian and Denise Rabe, James
and Linda Rosenbloom, Thomas and Jill
Ruppel, and James and Jenifer Scalo. We
couldn’t have done it without you!
It was the middle of December, my junior year. But this day brought something
a little different from the average winter day. I was incredibly excited to get my Spork
and my target for the first round of the Spork challenge. A new chapter was about
to begin in what can sometimes be a rather mundane life here at Shady Side.
I clutched my Spork for two weeks, rarely putting it down for any occasion. I
made it through the first two weeks without any trouble, and then Winter Break
started. This year’s new addition, ‘Winter Break Madness,’ allowed people to
spork and be sporked over winter break. Letting this slip from my mind, I became
looser and looser with my Spork as each day passed. I thought I was going to make
it back to school unscathed.
Sitting in my living room the Sunday before school started, the doorbell rang, and
I casually walked to the door. I opened the door to see Chris Leech, Spork in hand.
He shoved the utensil into my ribs and shouted victoriously, “Haha!”
My defeat had left me scarred and, moreover, disappointed in my inability to
make it to the second round. But my pitiful loss also left me with a great respect
for those who are still in the game today, the people who have gone for four or five
months without getting Sporked and still remember to grab that plastic thing every
morning before going to school.
As of late April, there were only seven people left in the game. To these hardened
players, Spork has truly become second nature. Recently eliminated spork player
Max Kaplan said, “Since I was eliminated from Spork last week, I have often found
myself reaching for the Spork I should have in my hand.”
Since this game has become such an important part of SSA over the past few
years, one can only hope that the game wraps up naturally, without any additions
by the Spork organizers.
One of the chief Spork controllers, Conor Hannon, hopes the game will end nicely
in the final weeks of school. If it looks like the game may continue on, Conor plans
to add some sort of incentive for the players to speed up so we can see a winner
this year, but he is keeping his cards close to the vest.
No matter what happens, I’m sure the end of Spork this year will be a heartpounding, stealing home plate in extra innings type of finish. All of the contestants
have put in so much work this year, and I’m sure it will pay off.
As junior Athif Wulandana put it, “I’m sure Spork will be a fantastic finish, for
those watching and for the players still slugging it out.”
Grendel winners announced!
With a belly full of Geats and an extra
pouch brim full of tasty, bloody , breakfast snacks, Liza Plakseychuk’s
Grendel seems all too pleased with himself, and definitely won the heart of
perennial judge English teacher Angela
Irvine to take First Place in the Annual Grendel Drawing Contest.
Liza, a student in Linda McDonald
Joseph’s Foundations I English class,
“just had all the elements,” Ms. Irvine
said. “Her drawing followed the text by
incorporating ‘a huge bag sewn from a
dragon’s skin.... closed by a marvelous
clasp,’ and she also included Grendel’s
‘great teeth’ and ‘gleaming eyes.’”
“We wuz robbed,” exclaimed, Foundations I teacher, Liz Garvey, whose
student, Adam Yunus, was named First
Runner Up. Ms. Irvine conceded that
Adam’s drawing bore an astonishing
resemblance to the Star Wars character
Jar Jar Binks, and commended the fine
abs on said well drawn creature, but
asserted it “lacked the animal magnetism
of Pakseychuk’s entry, despite the well
defined physique.”
Honorable Mention went to Dr.
Judith Sanders’ student Alex Gottlieb
for his scaley green Grendel. “I liked the
horns- sort of Viking style, and the little
collection of heads in the basket,” said
Ms. Irvine.
The other Honorable Mention went
to Tevin Mickens, from Mrs. Joseph’s
class. “This guy was the Incredible Hulk
with head revisited,” said Ms. Irvine.
In a departure from more usual views,
Olivia Zoratto, from Mrs. Joseph’s
class, created a Roman Centurion vision
of Grendel who seemed to be saying
“Hail, Hrothgar!” “I really admired this
piece,” Ms. Irvine exclaimed, “but the
time period is several hundred years out
of sync, so I couldn’t give it a prize.”
Congratulations to all the winners
and contestants. It was a very strong
year for Grendel at the Academy.
Photo by Michele Ament
Produce for People. Samantha Toshok, Kelly Mengel, Rachel
Kann, and Sophie Abo help with distribution in Homewood.
Community Service
tries new challeges
By Marko Hudak
Several members involved in Service
Learning at Shady Side generously donated their time to help distribute produce at the Holy Rosary School in
Homewood this past spring.
This group, which included Zoe
Wecht, Abigail Spear, Micky Saperstein,
Sydney Mordoh, Sophie Abo, Samantha
Toshok, Kelly Mengel, Justin Berk,
Beau Person, Maggie Elias, and Rachel
Kann, contributed to the Food Bank’s
Produce to People Program, which provides grocery items to families in need on
a monthly basis.
Friends - Rebuilding Together Pittsburgh occurred Saturday, May 14, with
13 students rehabbing homes in Shaler
from 8:00 A.M. until about 3:00. Jacob
Demand, Graham Vershaw, Claudia
Mihm, Ruby Scalo, Lucy Scalo, Annie
Pooley, Rachel Diehl, Tess Rosenbloom,
and Courtney Collins, did an excellent
job painting, sealing, and renovating.
The last blood drive of the year was
held on Tuesday, April 26, from 9:00
AM - 7:30 PM. 60 units of blood were
donated. Remarkably, ten students
participated in all three drives this year.
Pirates season: raise
the Jolly Roger, mates!
By Zach March
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, the Pirates had a winning season. And
we might be able to say this once again at the close of the 2011 MLB season.
Most of us never thought that we would be able to say it this far into the season,
but our beloved Buccos are .500. Yeah, you heard right, as of May 11 they are
18-18. This is the latest into the season that the Pittsburgh Pirates have been .500
since 2005 when they went 30-30, and the first time this season since they started
off 8-8.
Ryan Doumit sealed the win for the Pirates on Mother’s Day with a three run
home run that put the Pirates up 5-4.
This is their third winning series in a row, and manager Clint Hurdle said, “If
we’re on the road to where we want to go, [being .500] would be one of the mile
markers that we need to get by.” And he is absolutely correct. At this rate the
Pirates could end the season at or above .500, which would be the first time the
club has done so since 1992.
We can all hope for a turn around this season, and if it happens, the Pirates will
end an 18 year stretch without a winning season, which is a record for major North
American sports.
School News 9
Shady Side News
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
SSA Corps of Cadets
By Paul Steenkiste
Disclaimer: There are no fascists at
Shady Side Academy.
You have probably seen us. The
students dressed in all black – black
shirt, black pants, black tie, black belt,
black shoes, black socks, and bright
green underwear (or is that just me?) –
are not members of Hitler Youth, despite our menacing appearance.
We are actually members of the
SSA Corps of Cadets, a group with
the original goal of helping those
students who may wish to attend a
service academy, get a head start.
That was when it was just the brainchild of Christian Harchelroad, and there
were three or four guys dressed in black.
Now it has grown to about twenty
members, and we have become officially
sanctioned under the direction of Sergeant Shaffer of the United States Army.
“I have always been interested in a
military academy and officer training
programs,” says Evan Reineman, one of
the original members with Justin Barnes,
Grant Foley, and Christian. “I hope this
will help me in my future if I decide to
pursue this career.”
While not all of its members want to
join the service, those who do have
joined because the structure, the discipline, and the physical exercise resemble
what will be expected in the military, on
a smaller scale, of course.
Why the uniform, though? Christian
created the formal dress, and designated
it to one day a week, Thursday, so that
we can get a taste of what it’s like to be
expected to be in a spotless uniform
every day. This uniformity further
instills a feeling of fraternity, in that each
of us has dedicated ourselves to the same
goal and will help each other along the
way.
In a school filled with outrageous
personalities and stark individualism,
which is, and should be, encouraged, it is
refreshing to see a group of students
come together under one cause, a cause
greater than themselves, and sacrifice
their flashy individuality so that they
might come closer to each other and
closer to reaching their goal.
Besides dressing up on Thursdays,
the Corps of Cadets meets on weekends
and undergoes much of the same physical training done in the military, using a
military handbook given to us by Sgt.
Shaffer, another effort to simulate true
military life.
The Corps also practices marching in
anticipation of participating in a Memorial Day Parade.
“Who knows where this program
may lead?” says sophomore Justin
Barnes. “We hope it can become a tradition at Shady Side so that every student
who attends has the opportunity to do
what we are doing. This program really
helps me seriously consider whether I
want to join the service, giving me a
different perspective and experience
than I would have without it.”
You might disagree with the policies of a president or the actions of a
general. You might even be a complete
pacifist and advocate the abolition of
the military (although I assure you
our enemies will not do the same).
But you have to respect those men
and women who serve our country,
and those boys and girls who admire
them and strive to join their cause.
Feeling Wavy! Matt Ferree and Rebkah Tesfamariam lead the SSA section in a cheer for the
Pirates at an evening game attended by many in the boarding community.
Time for community to look at
year past at home away from home
By Matthew Hacke
I decided to create a boarding article using the poetry form called a sestina. The stanzas end in words with this pattern:
ABCDEF FAEBDC CFDABE ECBFAD DEACFB BDFECA ECA
As the Year Goes By…
Yet again, we begin to reminisce about the past.
Croft and Morewood have had another great year.
The people have spoken with responses that always seem the same.
The question that they have answered is one reflecting over the residential community.
How have they been impacted by calling Shady Side their second home?
The mixture of emotions set in as the temperature changes from cold to hot, knowing that it is time.
That late August day when it all began, is now replaced with the excitement of graduation time.
Senior Christina Policastro chooses not to look at the calendar depicting the days past.
Instead, she chooses to look deep down into her heart and search for the meaning of home.
When she finds it, she exclaims, “Morewood has been my home away from home for the last four years.”
“It is not easy looking back without smiling upon realizing how wonderful we have it in this community.”
“I will miss how living in Morewood always brought with it a new adventure, each day never being the same.”
Volunteer Shady Side! Sophomore Mike Pohl and Junior Will
Ruppel gear up outside their Fox Chapel unit.
Firefighters train for
volunteer duties
By Samantha Goodman and
Chris Bush
While many members of the Shady
Side community volunteer in traditional
ways, such as offering their services at
a food bank or homeless shelter, two
boys have taken a different approach.
Junior Will Ruppel and sophomore Mike
Pohl began their path to become volunteer firefighters at Fox Chapel Station
157 early this year.
Mike developed interest after watching his brother volunteer at the station,
and Will looked at it as a way to give
back. Will told us, “It just seemed like
a great way to serve the community.”
Ever since then, Will and Mike have
been rigorously training under the Essentials of Fire Fighting, completing more
than 200 hours of committed training.
Once they become 18 years of age, Will
and Mike will earn their Firefighter 1
Certificates, which will allow them to
work with and control live burns. Until
then, they are restricted by Pennsylvania State Law from entering a burning
structure, but are eligible to work with
each piece of equipment and learn more
about the history of the department.
In Fox Chapel, the majority of fire
calls are, in fact, false alarms, but they do
face many car accidents and small fires.
Mike and Will play the roles of forcing
entry into buildings, shooting photos
with a thermal imaging camera, and cleaning up hazardous items from a scene.
They kept emphasizing the good
fortune of Station 157, which comes
from constant hard work. They feel
very lucky to work at a station that is
well manned and funded.
Their high praise for the station and
fellow firefighters did not end there.
Mike and Will have enjoyed building
relationships with people they otherwise would not have known.
Mike Pohl said, “The fire department includes such a unique group of
men, each possessing something special. There are lawyers, doctors, landscapers, business owners, bankers, men
of all different occupations.”
After speaking with their Assistant
Chief, Thomas Eichenlaub, owner of
Eichenlaub Inc., we learned that their
efforts in the station are really appreciated.
Mr. Eichenlaub told us, “While the
two of them could be out playing hockey,
football, or just hanging with friends,
they have chosen to make something
better of themselves and give back to the
community they live in. I know we
members of Fox Chapel are grateful for
their commitment.”
Both Will and Mike are very satisfied with their decisions to become volunteers. The relationships they have
built are special, and Mike stated, “When
we’re in that station or on a call, you
really come together. It’s like a brotherhood.”
Senior Henry Klein had a more humorous account of how each year he has lived in Croft was never the same.
He concluded, “The laughs, the intellectually stimulating conversations and all of the fun times
I’ve had with the boys of Croft will be greatly missed as I leave behind the residential life community.”
While older students reflect on how boarding has contributed to their personal growth in the years of the past,
The younger students look toward what is to come in the next year.
What will the future hold? They ponder, as they leave the dorms for the summer and go back to their homes.
Freshmen who were once nervous about living away from the comforts of home
Quickly adapted to their new independence of living away and came to recognize that it was nearly the same.
The benign atmosphere and people of the community now have them asking, “What happened to this year?”
While these students still have three more years in the dorms, they wisely know to cherish the time.
They have all thoroughly enjoyed the feeds and the field trips, now just instances of the past,
But these material things do not take away from the bonds that they have formed with people in the community.
I ask, “What do you look forward to as you come back and experience this place next year, this community?”
Freshman Rebkah Tesfamariam stated, “With summer approaching and getting ready to move back home,
I can not wait to be with the same group of people next year and relive our past
experiences all over again.” Yes, while some people might want things to stay the same
others look forward to change. As Freshman J.T. Kaufmann put it, “While I enjoyed the times
I’ve shared with my fellow dorm peers, I’m eager to meet new boarders and not be the smallest kid next year.”
I now ask myself, “What has happened to this year?”
When May ends and June begins, the goodbyes will be heard throughout the boarding community.
Some will be leaving for college, while others will be returning around the same time
Again late next August. What is for certain is that this community embodies all that is a home.
From the dorm parents to the students, we are a big family, whose days are never the same.
As cliché as it sounds, whether you decide to look forward to the future or reminisce about the past,
It is always important to keep your memories from your life at home
and to those who live in a second home, the dorms, alive. You might think it’s all the same
now, but wait and you will see that as the year goes by, those memories will get lost in the shuffle of the past.
Word Puzzle
By Nicholas Gasbarro
To complete the puzzle, put the correct two word answer in the corresponding space.
_____Cold______
_______________
_______________ 1. TV detective show
_______________ 2. Cleveland college choice
_______________ _______________ 3. Money transfer firm
_______________ _______________ 4. British flag
_______________ __
Sparrow____ 5. Pirates of the Caribbean character
10Sports
Shady Side News
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Rowing, sport of champions
By Adi Krupski
Photo by Nick Gasbarro
Strike! Ben Hartz winds up before throwing another pitch. That first base runner isn’t going anywhere!
Varsity Baseball wins 3rd
consecutive section title
By Matt Scherbarth
The Shady Side Academy baseball
team is having an excellent 2011 season.
As of May 8 the baseball team is undefeated with a record of 15-0 and ranked
number one in the WPIAL AA class.
The team has recently clinched their
third straight section championship.
The baseball season started off with
the annual trip to Orlando, Florida at
Disney’s Wide World of Sports. In
Florida, our team had valuable outdoor
practice time that many other Pittsburgh teams do not get because of the
weather. The team also played a doubleheader against Sidwell Friends School,
winning the first game 2-0 and the second game 3-2.
The Florida trip was also very important because it was a source of team
bonding. Our team grew closer, enjoying
the weather, the Disney Parks, and
watching senior Captain Grant Foley
lose numerous bets culminating in his
having to carry junior Captain Ben
Hartz’s bag for the rest of the year.
On arrival back in Pittsburgh, Shady
Side’s first game was a non-section game
against AAAA Fox Chapel. In a low
scoring game Shady Side won 2-1 with
a walk-off single by senior Captain Zach
Sufrin. The beginning of the season was
plagued with rainouts, but our team did
not lose any spirit and started strong. A
home game against rival Riverview was
an early test for our team, and we rose to
the occasion, defeating them 10-1. Ben
Hartz had a stellar performance that
day, striking out fifteen and hitting a
two-run homerun.
Other important games were the close
10-9 victory over Steel Valley and the two
victories over the number two team in the
section Greensburg Central Catholic.
Shady Side defeated GCC 5-1 and 7-3
with Ben Hartz receiving the win in both
games. With two games left in the season
against Steel Valley and Riverview, Shady
Side looks to continue the streak and
finish the regular season undefeated.
Says sophomore Paul McCullough,
“We’re doing really well. We’re number
one in the WPIAL AA, and should be
number one seed in the playoffs.”
Shady Side is having so much success
this year because of our team’s incredible depth. Coach Bob Grandizio always says that his job is difficult because he has fifteen players that he could
put in the starting lineup any day. SSA
is led by three captains, Zach Sufrin, Ben
Hartz, and Grant Foley. Zach Sufrin is
a three year starter at catcher and a two
year starting pitcher. Sufrin is a brick
wall behind the plate and a dominant
force on the mound. He is also among the
league leaders in batting average.
Ben Hartz is a three year starter in the
outfield and is the ace of the SSA pitching staff. Hartz boasts one of the top
batting averages in the WPIAL and has
tied the school record for homeruns in a
single season with five. On the mound,
Hartz has five wins and is again a league
leader in strikeouts.
Grant Foley is a two year starter at
shortstop and is a fierce competitor and
leader. There is no ball that is out of reach
for Foley at shortstop and he is never
afraid to get dirty, whether it is at shortstop or diving into home plate. Foley is
also one of the team’s best clutch hitters,
coming up big with RBIs against Steel
Valley and GCC.
Sophomores Paul McCullough and
Coleman Strohm, and juniors Andrew
Geisler and Matt Scherbarth are also
integral parts of the SSA pitching staff,
which has only allowed 26 runs in 11
section games. Paul McCullough is a
consistent and smooth second baseman
and Coleman Strohm is in the hot corner
at third base.
Junior centerfielder Mike Holzinger
is the leadoff man for the team and is
constantly on base and stealing second.
Holzinger is the start of many big innings. Junior Spencer Levy has battled
injuries at first base and is now hitting his
stride with an excellent game on senior
day where he hit a homerun and made a
remarkable diving catch at first.
Sophomore outfielder Evan Eisner
has had a breakout year marked by a stellar
4-4 day against GCC. Sophomore Chris
Sawicki is a consistent middle infielder.
Freshman outfielder Chucky Scales is a
blur on the base paths and has displayed
poise and maturity when starting while
Ben Hartz pitches. Juniors Will Ruppel
and Theo Teris round out the solid
outfielding core. Team manager junior
Christopher Miller is a staple, operating
the scoreboard at all home games.
Asked about the team’s playoff expectations, Coach Grandizio said, “What
I like most about our team is the leadership from the captains and seniors, the
depth in our pitching staff, and the
camaraderie among the players on the
team. Because of those three things, I
think we have a better chance than anyone to win it all. Anything can happen
in the playoffs and we are still a relatively young team, so it will be an uphill
climb, but I think everyone believes that
we can compete with anyone.”
Shady Side beat Steel Valley 10-0,
with pitcher Zach Sufrin throwing a onehit shutout. Ben Hartz and Evan Eisner
both hit homeruns and Ben Hartz broke
Shady Side’s single season home run
record with seven this season. Unfortunately, Shady Side lost its final game of
the year in a heartbreaking 1-0 defeat by
Riverview.
Ben Hartz allowed only three hits
and also hit a triple, but Shady Side was
not able to complete the perfect season,
giving up one run in the bottom of the
seventh. Despite the loss Shady Side
had one of its best seasons and is preparing for the playoffs as one of the best
teams in the WPIAL.
Girls’ Softball has high hopes
By Rob Belles
This season, the softball team had
many battles, including battles with other
teams and battles with the weather.
When the rain held up and the girls were
able to play, this season was an improvement for the team, but it still was
not exactly what the coaches and captains had hoped to see.
“Our record does not indicate the
hard work the girls put in and the improvement we made over the year,” said
Coach Matthew Fisher. “Two-year
captains Ashley Ferree and Katie Natoli
led the team, and four year starter Ally
Bernstein, along with our five other
seniors, were strong contributors.”
Coach Abby Bodenlos added, “Reading the newspaper after each game or the
statistics for the season comparable to
other teams in our section are not indications of the kinds of successes that we
had this season. We are a growing team
and softball program, and because of
that, the challenges that we faced this
season and will continue to face are even
beyond the field or the score of the game.
The girls of course learned a lot about the
basics of softball and significantly improved on those skills. More importantly, however, they had the chance to
develop a sense of teamwork, character,
pride, work ethic, respect, accountability, and this is where I would say our
successes were this year.”
Captain Katie Natoli said, “Although
the record does not show it, we had a
pretty good season. We made huge
improvements from last year, and if we
continue building upon what we have
achieved this year, then we have the
potential to be a fantastic team next
season.”
Having seen some of the softball
Photo courtesy of Katie Natoli
You’re Out! Junior Katie Natoli
scoops up the ball to make a play.
games, I can honestly say that the softball team truly is a great team. They
consistently gave it their all, and kept on
fighting no matter what the odds were.
A truly commendable season, girls, and
good luck next year!
Most people in Pittsburgh don’t
know that future Olympians are rowing
in their backyard river. The Steel City
Rowing Club in Verona, PA combines
schools like Shady Side, Ellis, and Winchester Thurston to form a single team.
For many years, kids from the Steel
City team went off to compete in World
tournaments and the Junior Olympics,
representing the United States.
Rowing was the first intercollegiate
sport in the United States — the first
race, sparking the first rivalry, between
Harvard and Yale in 1852. Since then,
it has only grown to become one of the
original sports in the modern Olympic
Games, with Baron Pierre de Couberlin,
the founder of the Olympics, a rower
himself.
Thousands of high school kids row,
many hoping to compete in college and
maybe even the Olympics. USA has
one of the best reputations in rowing —
from 1920 to 1956, the USA won the
gold medal in the men’s eight in every
Olympic Games.
Unfortunately, not many students
from Shady Side choose to participate
in rowing. Officially, it is only a girls’
sport. Several girls from Shady Side
including Maddy Pollock, Lia Farrell,
and Jenna Hebert, have all been rowing
for years now. This is my first year
joining and it has been great. Over spring
break, the team travelled to South Carolina for an intense one-week rowing
program at Camp Bob. Luckily, the
weather there was fantastic and we were
able to row on the water every day.
However, this spring, the weather in
Pittsburgh has been pretty lousy. We
were only able to go out on several
occasions due to all the thunderstorm
warnings, heavy rain, and strong currents. As Maddy says, “Crew is a great
way for us to learn about commitment
and the ability to work as a team as well
as to stay in shape while dedicating
ourselves to something that is so unfortunately weather dependent.”
We’ve all been able to erg (indoor
rowing) and lift weights, but nothing
beats the thrilling ride on the water.
The main reason I am writing this
article is to offer rowing as a possibility
to anyone who is thinking about it. Steel
City welcomes anyone, even those with
no experience, and is located in Verona,
PA, right across the Allegheny from
Shady Side, a 15 minute drive at most.
Unfortunately, for now, Shady Side does
not provide a bus and anyone who wants
to join will have to find transportation,
but most of the upper classmen are
usually willing to drive others.
Photo by Kimberly Flit
Swoosh! Senior Margaret Crimmins prepares to launch the Frisbee.
Frisbee competition surges
By Rob Belles
The Ultimate Frisbee team is well under way with their season, and what perfect
weather for it.
Ultimate Frisbee, for those of you unfamiliar with the sport, is a sport in which
contestants throw the Frisbee down a football length field and try to score points
by reaching the end zone. Once the players catch the Frisbee, they are unable to
move and must then throw the Frisbee to a teammate. That being said, the sport
certainly builds teamwork.
SSA’s team, however, has gotten off to a bit of a rough start. Coach Matt Weiss
said, “We’ve had three games so far and it’s been a rough start in terms of the
scoreboard. We’ve played the three toughest teams in the League to start off the
season (of Pittsburgh High School Ultimate League [P.H.U.L.]), i.e. Fox Chapel,
Hampton, and North Allegheny. We have a relatively inexperienced group of
players, and so they’re struggling to find their footing, but they’re improving with
each game.”
Out of this group of relatively new players, Coach Weiss said that he sees a lot
of potential in this year’s boys’ team. “Shivum (Bharill) has been terrific, and as
a senior Madhav Iyengar has been really solid. We’re really excited about some of
the younger players too, including Thad Ellis and Josh Tobin. Thad’s really tall and
Josh is very fast, and we’d like to combine the two. We’re going to be working with
the science department to see if we can splice them together, but if not I think that
even their respective strengths will make a difference. Henry Klein has progressed
as a thrower, and we’re hoping that as the season goes on, we’ll see some results
from him. We’re really having a lot of fun this season.”
Coach Weiss, although not their primary coach, said that he sees a lot of potential
in the girls’ team as well. “We’re really impressed with the progress that the girls
have made this year. We’ve got a lot of new players; unfortunately a lot of them
are seniors. But we did pick up some younger players this year, including Maegan
Stump and Maclean Calihan, and we’re really excited about that.”
The Ultimate Frisbee program has also made some changes for next year. Coach
Weiss says, “There’s been a change in the requirements next year that allows
students to get a sports credit for Spring Frisbee. That hasn’t been the case, and
I think that we’re going to get a lot more players who will play with us for two, three,
maybe four years, and will help the team develop because of that.”
On a final note, Coach Weiss added, “P.H.U.L. is getting more and more
competitive every year, and it used to be that we could have one or two real skilled
players—particularly in the boys’ division—and that would allow us to compete.
What’s becoming clear is not only is ultimate becoming more popular in high schools,
but players are starting younger. P.H.U.L. is starting a middle school division, there
is a summer camp in town for kids aged seven through twelve, and so some kids are
coming in to high school knowing how to play and a lot of kids in the better schools
around here actually play in recreational leagues—summer leagues, winter leagues,
etc.—and they even play in youth tournaments. It’s no longer enough to be
competitive if you only play while you’re in school. And so, we’ll see what happens.
But that’s one of the things I love about Shady Side. The students have a lot of
different interests, and they’re involved in a lot of important things—academically,
in the community, etc. We very recently had almost more than half of our team
missing for Science Olympiad, and if you ask me, that’s a good thing, so I’m okay
with it. If we’re going to be “that team,” that’s okay with me. I want people to have
a good time, and pick up something that they can play long after they leave SSA.”
Shady Side News
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Sports11
Boys’ Lacrosse team
makes playoff run
By Paul Wechsler
The Shady Side Academy boys’ lacrosse team, captained by seniors Paul
Wechsler and Nate Rattner, is having a
very successful year. The team, led by
coaches Charles Dinardo and Brian Deal,
is currently in the quarterfinals of the
WPIAL playoffs.
With quality wins over Pine Richland,
Central Catholic, and Bethel Park, the
team is looking for revenge against a
quality North Allegheny squad.
Midfielders A.J. Lewen, Dan
Mathieson, Chris Bush, and Pat
Callaghan were named Second Team
All-Section in the WPIAL, and Paul
Wechsler, Nathaniel Rattner, and Rick
Villani were named First Team All-Section. Paul Wechsler led the team in
points and Dan Mathieson led the team
in groundballs.
“We had great chemistry this year and
we are now hitting our stride in the playoffs. I think we can make a deep run,” says
senior swag captain A.J. Lewen.
“I realize that I can just score goals
now, so that’s what I am going to do in
the playoffs,” says Dan Marous.
The team hopes to have the support
of the school through their playoff run.
Photo by Miriam Adams
Score! Katie Prochownik controls the ball as Girls’ Lacrosse players secure yet another victory.
Girls’ lacrosse thrives on young talent
By Katie Prochownik
The girls’ lacrosse team has come out
strong yet another year. Starting early
on, the girls knew that their loss of last
year’s seniors would be a challenge to
fill, but the girls have responded positively, not only stepping up their game,
but their WPIAL section as well.
Sophomore Lia Winter agrees that
this year has been a time for the team to
transition and build up. “We have a
young team this year with only two
seniors, and the underclassmen did a
great job of stepping up,” she says. She
hopes “this will make our team even
stronger in the years to come.”
Although the team is young, the girls
have managed to mesh together well this
year and act as a unit both on offense and
defense. Some of the younger players,
such as Audrey Buckman, recognize
that the key to a successful team is the
ability to come together and work as one.
“I hope we can connect and learn to play
together,” she says. “That is the best
way to result in a successful season.”
Freshman Maddie Taylor also understands the challenge that comes with
building up to a successful season. “For
the team, I hope to establish good communication skills, not only on defense,”
Maddie says. “We have a really young
Photo by Noah Sprock
team, which is hard sometimes, but we’re
going to have to communicate and work
well together because we will be with
each other for the next few years.”
Senior and Captain Ally Ross thinks
that the team has worked incredibly hard
this year. “We’ve worked hard to elevate our play and as a result our team
is the most cohesive it’s been in my
years on the team,” she says.
With most of the season underway,
the girls have successfully made it to
playoffs with a total of four wins in their
section. After a long run in the playoffs
last year, the team hopes to once again
have emerge successful.
Photo by Nick Gasbarro
GO! C.Bartolacci, D.Groff, D.Perelman, K.Randall, and L. Epstein run. Jump! Josh Lawrence clears a hurtle.
Boys’ and Girls’ track break records
By Shamika Dighe and
Jack Bagamery
It has been a season of continued
success for the girls’ and boys’ track
teams this year. Both teams showed
great improvement and competitiveness throughout their regular seasons.
The girls’ team overcame the loss
of several key seniors who graduated
last year.
Girls’ assistant coach Tron
McConnell put this best when he
said, “I was concerned that, with the
graduation of several key members of
the girls’ team last year, this year’s
team might have some difficulty in
achieving the same level of success as
they did last year. I was very pleased
to see how this year’s captains
stepped up and motivated the team to
achieve the record we did, in spite of
going against some very difficult
teams.”
The girls were able to finish with
a season record of 6 and 2, losing only
to Freeport and Deer Lakes. The loss
to Deer Lakes was by a mere 10
points. Due to their hard work and
perseverance, the girls’ team was able
to finish third in their section.
Senior captain Gina Cunningham
puts this into perspective and looks
forward to the post season.
Gina said, “The track team this
year had a lot of new faces from the
freshmen and sophomore classes. The
new girls did a fantastic job during the
season, and we are all very proud of
them. The distance crew was excellent this year, only giving up two
points every meet. As for post season, we have a number of individuals
moving on to WPIAL finals.”
The boys’ team has had similar
successes this season, compiling a 4
and 4 record, losing only to Freeport,
Riverview, Apollo Ridge, and Deer
Lakes, while showing great improvement in their performance.
Junior captain Jack Bagamery summarized the boys’ season in saying,
“Before the season started, we knew we
would have a solid team, and we showed
great improvement throughout the season. We really established our competitive identity this year, and we look to
continue that through the post season
and into next year.”
As a result of their continued efforts, several members of both teams
have advanced to WPIAL finals, which
will be held at Baldwin high school on
May 19.
From the girls’ team, Kelcei
Edmonds qualified in the shot put and
discus, Ashley Ferree qualified in the
high jump, Gina Cunningham qualified in the 400m dash, Emily Lamm
qualified in the 800m dash, and both
the 4x800m relay and the 4x400m
relay qualified for WPIAL finals.
As for the boys, Coach Robert
Reiland said, “We have four boys
who have advanced to the WPIAL
Championship Meet on Thursday,
May 19 at Baldwin. They are captains Jack Bagamery, David Currie,
and Tyler Petrucelli, along with senior Matt Russavage. Jack qualified
third in the 1600 m and also third in
the 3200 m. David qualified in the
triple and high jumps. Tyler qualified
in the 400 m. Matt qualified in the
discus. Each of the four athletes
achieved one personal best in this
meet.”
Senior Christina Policastro finished the season with a new school
record for the girl’s pole vault of 7’ 6".
Congratulations to both teams!
Photo courtesy of Jeff Miller
Great finish! Boys’ tennis wins second at the AAA WPIAL final.
Tennis Championships
By Ben Cohen and Vivek Nimgaonkar Doubles Tennis Championship May 27
Yet again, the tennis team has had a
fantastic year. We kicked off the season
with a trip to Hilton Head, where we
trained, got lost in roundabouts, rode
bikes, looked better than almost all of the
college teams down there. Upon returning to the ‘Burgh, we began the season
with a solid 3-2 victory against new
section rival Central Catholic Viking (hailing all the way from Fifth Ave), and
another 3-2 victory over Fox Chapel
Foxes. Need we say more?
Vivek Nimgaonkar played one singles
with an almost undefeated record,
steamrolling through opponents large and
annoying. At two singles, senior captain
Ben Cohen enjoyed a rapacious season
losing just three of twenty matches.
Fellow senior captain Justin Hunt
played three singles throughout the season; plagued by influenza, Hunt came
back to win the WPIAL AAA doubles
title with junior Vivek Nimgaonkar. Senior Captain Sam Miller and junior Aaron
Budd were dominant at the one doubles
position, losing just two matches the
entire season. Vivek and Justin will
advance to the PIAA Class AAA Boys’
and 28 at the Hershey Racquet Club.
Freshmen Chris Grubbs, Henry Cohen,
and junior Naveen Menon rotated, undefeated, at two doubles. Freshman Sahil
“snoop” Bahri, juniors Alex Rodosky and
Alec Brown, and senior Peter Donohue
anchored the team with solid cheering performances on the sideline.
After winning our section with a 120 record (16-2 overall), we went on to the
WPIAL finals and qualified for states. En
route to the WPIAL championship match,
we also dominated AA champion
Sewickley Academy, 5-0. On May 17,
we defeated City League Champion
Alderdice 5-0 in the first round of States.
With this win we advanced to the team
State Championships in Hershey for the
second year in a row.
Says coach Jeff Miller, “It was a
magical and satiating season, and we were
able to continue the trend of excellence on
court here at the Academy.”
Vivek was named MVP and Cohen
was awarded the Stuart Goodman Sportsmanship Award. Next year the team plans
to continue its success under new captain
triumvirate Vivek, Naveen, and Aaron.
Do you hear me, World?
By Katie Mino and Jatara McGee
Those unfamiliar with the world of
All-Star Cheerleading may fail to understand the complexity and athleticism involved. They may confuse the sport with
sideline cheerleading, gymnastics, or dancing. All-Star Cheerleading is a combination of all of these, without the pompoms
and with more incredible, difficult, and
often dangerous skills.
All-Star Cheerleaders compete yearround. Regional competitions fill the fall
and winter seasons, followed by an array
of nationals.
The ultimate aspiration of every athlete, especially those at advanced levels
five and six, is to compete at the
Cheerleading Worlds, held once a year in
Orlando, Florida. Of the thousands of
competitors, four of those competitors
were from Shady Side Academy’s own
community.
Nikki Mino, Shady Side Academy
’08, competed with Fire and Ice All-Stars
White Out. Her team received an at-large
bid in Ocean City, Maryland and competed in the International All-girl Level
Six division, placing sixth overall.
Lauren Kossman, Shady Side Academy 7th grader, and Jatara McGee, Shady
Side Academy senior, both competed this
year with the FCA Gems Diamonds.
Their team received a full paid bid in
Columbus, Ohio and competed in the
Large All-girl Level Five division, placing
Photo courtesy of Jatara McGee
Cheer! Senior Jatara McGee
and 7th grader Lauren Kossman.
eighth overall.
Katie Mino, Shady Side Academy
freshman, also participated in the competition. She acted as an alternate for Fire
and Ice All-stars Hail that competed in the
Large Limited Coed Five division, finishing 18th overall.
The competition took place this year
April 29 – May 1. Competition begins
on Saturday at ESPN’s Wide World of
Sports and continues through Sunday, for
those who make finals. In order to compete, a team must qualify by receiving a
bid at a national competition that season.
To better understand the concepts
and disciplines of All-Star Cheerleading
or to watch any of these teams’ Worlds’
performances, simply search the full team
name on YouTube.com.
12 End Notes
Shady Side News
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Shady Side seniors make their college choices
By Jeremie Kim
Each year, the senior class takes on the challenge of applying to a list of college
contenders, whether the list is comprised of just one or as many as 20 (though in
some cases it can be more). The daunting game of matriculation each year seemingly
becomes more and more difficult with larger application pools for each college,
smarter applicants, and more rejection letters per student. However, in this everexpanding fierce game of wit, compatibility, and proactivity, there are indeed
winners. Here are just a few college-related stats.
Shady Side’s 118 seniors applied to 220 different colleges, with a total of 1100
applications. This calculates to an average of just under 10 applications per student
including those that took advantage of early decision and applied to only one school.
The schools most commonly applied to from Shady Side were University of
Pittsburgh (44), Penn State University (25), University of Michigan (21), Carnegie
Mellon University (19), and Washington and Jefferson College (18).
With respect to the most popular college choices only two really stuck out. The
schools with the most Shady Side matriculates are Carnegie Mellon University with
nine and University of Pittsburgh with seven. The graduating class of 2011 will
embark on their next stage of life in their diverse choices of colleges in 22 different
states as well as the District of Columbia. Congratulations and good luck!
All college decisions are printed with permission and were accurate at press time.
Liana Abbott, Tufts University
Shannon Achille, U. of Pittsburgh
Jemila Adoki, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Geoffrey Alexander, University of
Maryland
Katrina Andrews, Catholic University of America
Nicholas Barnes, U. of Chicago
Chelsea Begg, Hobart and William
Smith Colleges
Ally Bernstein, U. of Pennsylvania
Anne Bilott, University of Richmond
Andrew Black, Hobart and William
Smith Colleges
Elisa Borrero, The George Washington University
Ellen Boyle, Elon University
Thomas Broderick, Bucknell U.
Hanna Brourman, The Ohio State
University
Lea Brown, Vassar College
Ethan Busis, Washington University
in St. Louis
Benjamin Max Cohen, Stanford U.
Justin Cole, Duquesne University
Margaret Crimmins, The George Washington University
Hillary Cummings, Miami University
Gina Cunningham, U. of Rochester
David Currie, Pennsylvania State
University Schreyer’s Honors Col.
Haley DeJulio, Harvard University
Grant DeMand, The University of
Arizona
Chelsea Dickson, Boston University
Natalie Domeisen, Cornell University
Peter Donahue, Boston College
L. Anthony Elias, Davidson College
L. Philip Elias, Davidson College
Jacob Faigen, Indiana University at
Bloomington
Zachary Fedusa, John Carroll U.
Delaney Fischer, Vassar College
Kimberly Flit, Mount Holyoke Col.
Grant Foley, United States Merchant
Marine Academy
Rafaella Fontes, Johns Hopkins U.
John Foster, University of Michigan
Benjamin Fownes, Miami University
David Franklin, Carnegie Mellon
University
Nicholas Gasbarro, Carnegie Mellon
University
Jacob Geskin, University of California at Berkeley
Elizabeth Ahono Gildersleeve, Ithaca
College
Lisha Gu, Wake Forest University
Cooper Handelsman, Kenyon College
Christian Harchelroad, Pennsylvania
State University
Julian Heckbert, Rochester Institute
of Technology
Harrison Hirsh, Washington and
Jefferson College
Marko Hudak, Carnegie Mellon U.
Allison Hull, Grove City College
Justin Hunt, Duke University
Fuad Ibrahim, Carnegie Mellon U.
Madhav Iyengar, Carnegie Mellon U.
Alyson Jacko, Duquesne University
Aubrey Jaicks, U. of Rochester
Tyler Jewart, Purdue University
David Jimenez, Bowdoin College
Broderick Kelley, U. of Notre Dame
Jeremie Kim, Carnegie Mellon U.
Shannon Kirk, U. of Notre Dame
Henry Klein, Hiram College
Alexandra Koi, University of Michigan Honors Program
Makenna Krebs, University of Pittsburgh
Jamie Kurke, New York University
Alexander Lewen, U. of Pennsylvania
Alieyyah Lewis, Hampton University
Anthony Loyacona, Lafayette College
Nicholas Loyacona, U. of Richmond
Erika Maruca, Drexel University
Collin Mason, Rochester Institute of
Technology
Jatara McGee, U. of Maryland
Shante McWhite, U. of Maryland
Haley Mears, New York University
Samuel Miller, Undecided
Steven Mosites, University of Colorado at Boulder
Francis Nederlof, U. of Pittsburgh
Jennifer Nguyen, Denison University
David Paulk, Princeton University
Sara Perelman, Cornell University
Adam Petraglia, Rhodes College
Christina Policastro, Northeastern
University
Katherine Prochownik, Johns Hopkins
University
Nathaniel Rattner, Washington and
Jefferson College
Manasa Reddy, Carnegie Mellon
University
Frank Rocks, Florida Atlantic U.
Elizabeth Roll, Cornell University
Ann Rooney, University of Richmond
Max Rosen, Pennsylvania State U.
Kate Rosenzweig, Emerson College
Elizabeth Ross, U. of Pennsylvania
Hannah Rullo, Flagler College
Matthew Russavage, University of
Pittsburgh
Zara Sayles, Pennsylvania State U.
Camille Scanga, Pennsylvania State
University
Noah Schoen, Columbia University
Selina Schubert, Washington and
Jefferson College
Samantha Schwartz, U. of Vermont
Peter Scott, University of Denver
Lexie Scozio, Clemson University
Madi Sheerer, University of Pittsburgh
Rebecca Spear, Tulane University
Toran Spence, Northeastern U.
Zachary Ssemakula, Vanderbilt U.
Patrick Stanny, Skidmore College
Robert Stokes, The George Washington University
Zachary Sufrin, Babson College
Niteesh Sundaram, Carnegie Mellon
University
Samuel Swarts, University of Pittsburgh
Rachel Tobin, Emory University
Emma Tulsky, Virginia Polytechnic
Institute and State University
Ann Tumolo, Loyola Univ. Maryland
Caroline Verstraeten, Boston U.
Matthew Viehe, Miami University
Samantha Wallace, Rotary Exchange
Program, France
Paul Wechsler, Wake Forest U.
Tierney Weitz, University of Pittsburgh Honors College
Lauren Williams, Carnegie Mellon
University
Melissa Wolz, Oberlin College
Untucked
(Continued from Page One)
(Above) Lifer Girls Class of 2011
Photo courtesy of the Academian
(Below) Lifer Boys Class of 201l
Photo by Ally Bernstein
Lynne Voelp Reed Day
Lifer members of the senior class took their annual trip to the
junior school on April 15, 2011, where they ran a carnival
established to honor Lynne Voelp Reed, who used to teach at
the junior school, and managed to find time to monkey around.
SHADY SIDE ACADEMY
423 Fox Chapel Road
Pittsburgh, PA 15238
Pittsburgh, PA
Non Profit Org.
US Postage
PAID
Permit No. 609
Besides the games inside, the beautiful
weather led many to sit outside and enjoy
watching some teachers, like history
teacher Matt Weiss and language teacher
Daniel Kriebel, get dunked in the dunk tank.
The delicious food provided by Conflict
Kitchen, The Goodie Truck, Holy Smokes
Café and The Franktuary also enticed many
to scurry outside.
After the games and food wrapped up,
the music began. The crowd was first wowed
by bands from the school community,
Incredibly Suave and the Midnight Snack
Jazz Combo, who got the crowd ready for
the big show.
As junior Caitlin O’Connell put it,
“Incredibly Suave rocked. The guys in the
band were super awesome, especially Alex
Nelson, who was killing it on the drums.”
After this lineup came two local bands,
Lightning Box and Crossing Boundaries,
who also gave the crowd a taste of what was
to come. Finally Rusted Root took the
stage and the crowd went wild. Like clockwork, so did the weather, with an intense
thunderstorm on the horizon. By then,
everyone was safe and sound inside and too
busy dancing and singing to notice the
storm brewing outside. After the show, the
crowd walked away very pleased with what
they had just heard.
Junior Caitlin O’Connell continued,
“The music was my favorite part of the
event and Rusted Root was stellar.”
Committee members were also pleased.
Senior design member of the group Chelsea
Dickson said, “It was great to see a year’s
worth of hard work come together. All that
time spent emailing and having meetings
was all worth it after seeing the happy faces
of the crowd, but more importantly, the
refugees and their families that were there.”
Freshman Theresa Diffendal really
nailed some of the key messages of the
whole event, exclaiming, “Untucked is a
great way to relax with friends while donating money to a great cause.”
The thirteen committee members under the direction of David Chottiner deserve the biggest round of applause for
putting together a great ninth year of
Untucked, but David Chottiner put it in
perspective when telling me who really
deserved the most appreciation.
Mr. Chottiner said, “Although this
year’s group raised a significant amount of
money to produce the event, a huge amount
of thanks goes out to the parents, students,
alumni, faculty and staff that supported
refugees in Pittsburgh through their attendance and donations,”
Photo by Lindsay Kovach
Kudos! 25 seniors are inducted into the Cum Laude Society.
Academic Hall of Fame:
Cum Laude class of ’11
By Ayesha Shah
This year 25 seniors were elected
into the Shady Side Academy chapter of
the prestigious Cum Laude Society,
which honors academic achievement in
their junior year and the first two terms
of their senior year.
Senior School Head Jeremy LaCasse
introduced Chemistry teacher Charles
Shafer (’06), a member of the Cum Laude
Society himself, who made a few remarks to commemorate the moment,
April 13.
The new members, announced by
Chapter Secretary Scott McClure, are
Jemila Adoki, Nicholas Barnes, Ally
Bernstein, Benjamin Cohen, David
Currie, Haley DeJulio, Natalie Domeisen,
Rafaella Fontes, David Franklin,
Madhav Iyengar, Aubrey Jaicks,
Broderick Kelley, Alexander Lewen, Sara
Perelman, Christina Policastro,
Katherine Prochownik, Elizabeth Roll,
Elizabeth Ross, Matthew Russavage,
Noah Schoen, Lexie Scozio, Niteesh
Sundaram, Rachel Tobin, Ann Marie
Tumolo, and Lauren Williams.
Ann Tumolo said, “It was great! I
thought Mr. Shafer’s speech was nice!”
Mr. Shafer talked about taking all of
yourself wherever you go, relating to his
own experiences in life. When asked
why he chose to talk about this, he
replied, “I’d say the primary reason I
chose to speak about ‘taking yourself
with you’ was because I found that this
particular idea was very comforting to
me when I was a senior about to leave
SSA.
“Starting new in college - as much as
I wanted to do that - was a scary proposition nonetheless: new people, new
places, new studies, and no history, no
personal history. The history I had here
with my peers and teachers alike helped
continually remind me of who I was,
who I had been, and where I was going.
I guess at the time I thought my identity
had been somewhat externalized, and I
was scared I would leave it behind here
when I left and kind of lose my path, fall
off the tracks.
“ It was Dr. Sutula who first told me,
after I started worrying about this without really knowing what I was worrying
about yet, he told me that I would take
myself with me. Those words spoke to
me in a very simple and significant way,
saying that the parts of me that really
mattered were inseparable from my
person.
“I feel that this was a very important
message for me to hear when I was
headed off to college, and I wanted to
pass it on in the hopes that it would be
helpful to those about to take that leap
themselves.”
Congratulations to all the new Cum
Laude Society members!