STUCO RAISES funds with Valentine’s day roses & plushies ...

PHOTOS BY YEARBOOK STAFF

Published biweekly by and for the Upper School students of Riverfield Country Day School in Tulsa, OK FEBRUARYAPRIL 22,3, 2015 2019 THE COMMONS

SPEECH & DEBATE Update

By Andrew Jordan get from 3rd to 1st Place, they STAFF WRITER will have the chance to com- Up to the pete at the national tourna- Riverfield Speech & De- ment, which draws people bate’s regular season is now from all across the country. ending, with the team heading After districts, the team to rural Poteau last weekend. will go to regionals in Semi- This was one of the last in a nole on March 15-16. Then long string of tournaments that the state competition will be the team has competed at dur- held in Norman on April 4-6. ing the last couple of months. This has been a very good By Brenden Paul The team is trying to get year for the Speech & Debate STAFF WRITER its last people qualified now. program. Many new people

The majority of the team has have given the program a shot ast Friday, Riverfield hosted its already qualified and is al- and have found they love it. If annual Riverfield Engineering ready preparing for regionals. you see anyone on the Speech Challenge, which gives Middle The team is heading to & Debate team, wish them and Upper School students a Tahlequah this weekend for luck! chance to produce engineering the last regular tournament. It This year’s competitors Lprojects. They compete for a chance to go to will be the final chance for are: Tobin Anderson, Joel the city-wide Engineering Challenge for cash people from both the Speech Boots-Marshall, Nathan prizes. team and the Debate team to Morice Brubaker, Miles Several high school students competed get their events qualified. Capehart, Maddy Edwards, across seven divisions. A week after Tahlequah, Angel Fields, Tara Fritts, Han- Wacky Wonder Works is one of the more district competition is coming nah Grenier, Hayden Grenier, interesting competitions, as not many people up. For districts, the team Robert Hale, Noah Hall, Jacob enter this because of the enormous amount of sends a very select few to the Irom, Jack Jones, Andrew work and time it takes to complete a project. T.U. campus to compete with Jordan, Ellie Kalcik, Carson The Middle School had a number of entries in During our weekly Morning Meeting an- all different kinds of schools. Keesling, Brinley Lasiter, the Toothpick Bridge division. nouncements, Mr. Jones, the man in charge of Small 3A schools like River- Alex Motazedi, Tyler Oker- the challenge, announced the 1st Place winners field to giant 6A schools like son, Jake O’Shaughnessy, in all events for the Upper School. Bixby and Jenks compete. Abigail Pope, James Puls, Chemical Switch: Mitchell Scott and The important thing about Gracie Rowell, Mitchell Scott, Finn Murdock, 1st. Rubber Band Car: Ethan district competition is that if Ethan Shaw, Shashwat Singh, Shaw, 1st. Toothpick Bridge: Ethan Shaw and any of Riverfield’s students and Alex Smith. Clay Powell, 1st. Ping Pong Ball Launcher: Will Dozier, 1st. Robotic Arm: Ava Fritts, 1st. Wacky Wonder Works: Jonathan Taylor and Noah Owens, 1st. Digital Poster: Ethan Shaw, 1st. Congratulations to all the juniors who took 1st Place, especially Ethan Shaw, who had two Variety Show tonight! individual 1st Place wins and one team 1st Place win. Ava Fritts noted that she had the By Will Dozier other types of performance only robotic arm entered in the high school ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR arts. division, but she was very happy about win- With a variety of perfor- Mitchell Scott works on his project for the ning anyway. Wacky Wonder Works competition. At 6:30 tonight in the Up- mance arts, the Variety Show These winners will be headed to the Tulsa per School Cafeteria, many allows performers to have Engineering Challenge on Friday, March 1. members of the Riverfield complete creative freedom Good luck! community will get to show over their performance. their unique talents at the However, students will not Riverfield Variety Show. be the only performers. Not Organized by the River- only will you get to see River- Ethan Shaw’s 1st Place rubber band car field drama program, the vari- field students show their tal- destroyed the competition. ety show allows both drama ents, but the Variety Show and non-drama students to also gives faculty a chance to show their talents. perform in front of the school. Performers will do a varie- If you would like to see ty of different types of perfor- what Riverfield students and mance arts. This includes act- faculty have planned, make ing performances, dances, sure you come to the Variety comedic stand-ups, and many Show tonight! PHOTOS BY BRENDEN PAUL, JAKE O’SHAUGHNESSY,YEARBOOK STAFF

THE COMMONS is published biweekly dur- ing the school year by the Upper School Newspaper elective class VOLUME XIII ISSUE 9 at Riverfield Country Day School, 2433 W. 61st Street, Tulsa, spring 2019 STAFF Oklahoma 74132. The staff reserves the right to edit any article or letter submitted for publication. Send all EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ...... Brenden Paul FRIDAY, February 22, 2019 submissions to the Editor-in-Chief at NEWS EDITOR ...... Logan Payne [email protected]. All opinions SPORTS EDITORS ...... Brady Heinig, Jon Morley FEATURES EDITOR ...... Mason Malloy expressed are those of the individual writ- OPINIONS EDITOR ...... Shashwat Singh DESIGN EDITORS...... Jake O’Shaughnessy ers and do not reflect positions of the staff, adviser, or school administration. A&E EDITOR ...... Will Dozier ...... Quinten Nokes REVIEWS EDITORS ...... Jack Bluhm, Andrew Jordan COLUMNISTS ...... Ava Fritts, Noah Hall Online: riverfield.org/community/student-newspapers.cfm

THE COMMONS Friday, February 22, 2019 As conference winners, both varsity b-ball teams have players SPORTS in the Cherokee conference all -star game in prue on March 1.. 2 Underwater hockey is played in pools Varsity basketball This issue’s odd sport is sure they do not get scored on. season ends played in the United States of The founder of this sport is America as well as the United Alan Blake of Portsmouth, Eng- By Jon Morley The Lady Ravens also won Kingdom. The game sounds odd land, the founder of the Aqua SPORTS EDITOR conference this year, after a exactly how it is played, with Club as well. He started this good regular season. The team snorkels so the players can Sports sporting event in the 1950s, and Riverfield basketball season won the first game of regionals come up for air every so often. as the game grew in popularity, is over for the Varsity Boys and before being eliminated. Three It is played in swimming By Jack Bluhm it was adopted by Americans Varsity Girls teams. seniors led the team this year:

pools. The game is played with who quickly grew to like it. First, let’s recognize the Olive Blackmon, Kendall Clary, two teams of 10 players. The boys on the completion of their and Sidney Sowell. Their con- gameplay lasts for two 15-20 season. They had a good year tributions in their last year of minute halves. until they were eliminated in the high school basketball propelled Players are equipped with playoffs. Led by team captain the team to a very successful masks, snorkels, fins, and Brady Heinig, who is a senior, season. sticks. The sticks are not very the Ravens won 1st place in the Go watch our players com- long — only about a foot. The Cherokee Conference again for pete in the conference All-Star puck has the same dimensions the seventh straight year. game in Prue on March 1. as a standard hockey puck, but it is heavier so it will sink to the bottom. There are goals at each end of the pool with a goalie in each. The goalies have the hard- est job because they have to stay down in the water for a Players equipped with snorkels use foot-long sticks to move the puck. long period of time to make PHOTO: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS (PUBLIC DOMAIN)

Baseball season is starting

By Jon Morley they did last year and make it to their team. But they added SPORTS EDITOR the playoffs after a terrible 2018 some players to their minor season. league system to help them Major league baseball is What about the Atlanta improve when they get to the starting, and there is a lot of Braves? They had a good year MLB, and also to help their hope for each of the 30 MLB last year and made the playoffs minor league teams win their teams in 2019. Let’s look at a despite everyone thinking they championship trophy for 2019. few of them. didn’t have the bats to make it. The Cincinnati Reds added The Arizona Diamond- The Braves’ goal for 2019 is to some good players to their backs’ goal is to trade their add a veteran starter. The team like former Tulsa Driller starting pitcher, Zach Greinke, Braves believe adding an Ace Kyle Farmer and Yasiel Puig. and get back on track to win would give their team a solid The Reds are hoping to get the World Series. rotation this year. back on track in 2019. I already know what the The Boston Red Sox won Plan now to watch the 2019 Baltimore Orioles’ goal is. the 2018 World Series, so they MLB season and see who wins Both Varsity basketball teams won the conference. Go Ravens! They hope to play better than didn’t really need to improve the 2019 World Series. PHOTOS BY YEARBOOK STAFF

XFL is returning Gannon ALDEN and Ellie KALCIK SHINE By Andrew Jordan Another rule change was STAFF WRITER the complete exclusion of the fair catch. In the NFL, on a As the basketball season Ellie Kalcick — Ellie was winds down, it has come time Most a freshman this year, but she The NFL is one of the big- kick or a punt, if players get to reflect on the season and the definitely played like a more gest franchises in American too close to you when you’re great things that each player Valuable experienced player. Ellie pro- history, with millions of view- about to receive the ball, you has accomplished. Veteran vided a calm demeanor on the ers each year. But it doesn’t can wave your hand over your players have driven both Players court and she dove for every last forever. head to signal a fair catch, Over the years there have making sure wherever you Riverfield teams, but two By Brady Heinig loose ball. She carved a spot in young players really made an the rotation, demonstrating her been a few other organizations caught the ball on the return, impact for the Ravens and La- hard work ethic and drive to that have tried to run against you would be considered dy Ravens. ness to grab rebounds outside of constantly improve. She the NFL, such as the AAF, down right at that spot. Gannon Alden — Nobody his immediate area gave the knocked down a few jump which is on right now. How- However in the XFL, there knew how Gannon was going team tons of extra possessions. shots, and if she can consist- ever, one failed organization was no such thing. Even if you to handle his first year on the His shot slowly improved as the ently get buckets next year, the that never gets much of the hadn’t caught the ball and Varsity team after transferring season went on, and he showed team will recover more easily spotlight is the XFL. someone was 10 yards away from Sapulpa, but he made an a consistent ability to finish from the loss of four seniors. The XFL was envisioned ready to tackle you into the immediate impact for the Ra- under the rim. Expect a big sea- Check our upcoming issue by WWE chairmen Vince ground, you had to catch it vens. His hustle and willing- son from Gannon next year. on Mar. 8 to see who will be McMahon as a direct competi- and run with it. tor to the NFL. The XFL was There were a few more a VERY different sport than rule differences, such as how what was currently on TV. hard you could hit a player, WE appreciate the efforts of There were a few rule but overall the XFL rules were Brady Heinig, the lone senior on changes, for one thing. For completely different. instance, before the game be- Unfortunately, after its the Varsity Boys team. As author gan, instead of a coin toss to first few games, the ratings of this column, he didn’t have a determine who got the kickoff dropped and the league was chance to be featured as an MVP. first, they placed a ball at the finished after just one season. but Brady was a very valuable 50 yard line. One player from But unlike some previous player. He worked hard during each team would be stationed failed attempts to take down and outside of practices and around 20 yards away from the NFL, this one is coming that ball. At an official’s whis- back. It is scheduled to return excelled on the court. He scored a tle, the two players would run some time in 2020. When that high number of points every game and dive towards the ball. happens, we’ll see how much These two freshmen played great basketball. We’ll be looking for them and will play in the conference Whoever retained it would get people actually want to watch a different game of football. again next year! PHOTOS BY JON MORLEY All-Star game. Thank you, Brady. possession first.

THE COMMONS Friday, February 22, 2019 Career fair is Tuesday, 2/26, A&E / REVIEWS in the learning center 3 ‘Kingdom Hearts III’ released To everyone’s surprise, story of Kingdom Hearts. “Kingdom Hearts III” was The main story follows released on Jan. 29 as the final GAME Sora on his journey to become entry to the current saga of a keyblade master and defeat Kingdom Hearts. Xehanort. Along with all his The premise of Kingdom Night friends and foes, the journey Hearts is built on experiencing By Noah Hall Sora has in front of him will the countless stories that Dis- be perilous, but with his heart ney has created over the years, as his guiding key, the path combined with Square Enix’s sic Disney villains. ahead will be full of adven- original story from Tatsuya As you progress through tures and new friends. When the experiment goes wrong, Chase begins to glow. Nemora. “Kingdom Hearts III,” you un- I give the new “Kingdom ILLUSTRATION BY PENNY MUSICK The gameplay uses a real- lock a variety of different Dis- Hearts III” 5 ravens out of 5. time active combat system ney worlds you can venture Give it a try! where you can attack, cast through and experience. spells, and defend at any point While most follow the origi- while fighting the hordes of nal story the world is based on, The Chase Experiment heartless, nobodies, and clas- other worlds follow the overall By Andrew Jordan “Forty percent,” said one of STAFF WRITER the scientists looking up from his console. Previously … The Swords- Will nodded. He walked up man (Will) and his men returned closer to the vat. “Keep going,” MUSIC REVIEW: Chase to the research facility … he said. The hum got louder, and the scientists in the room began to ‘Tha Carter V’ creative fiction cover their ears. “Sixty percent,” yelled the By Logan Payne My personal favorites of the bly the best on the album. Lil The humming in the large scientist. STAFF WRITER songs on this album are: “Mona Wayne had Swizz Beats pro- lab returned on the first day of At that point, the vat explod- Lisa,” “In This house,” “Can’t duce the song, which I absolute- testing. With the subject now ed, sending shards of glass fly- In the last six months of rap Be Broken,” “Open Letter,” and ly love, because he is a great returned, the scientists contin- ing outwards. The scientists album releases, I would have to “Uproar.” I recommend all these producer and puts passion into ued their work which had been were flung backward to the say my favorite is Lil Wayne’s songs to anyone who has a taste the beats he makes. suspended for over a year. ground. Will was thrown into a “Tha Carter V.” He finally for rap music. “Tha Carter V” contains a The boy was submerged in wall 10 feet away. The hum- made a return to the rap indus- But the entire album is good. total of 23 songs, which is usu- the vat once again, wires float- ming immediately ceased, and try, and he came back as a force You can tell by listening to the ally too many. But this album ing in the liquid that surrounded the room was silent. to be reckoned with. beats and the lyrics that Lil was still amazing, even with him. Chase fell to the floor of the This album was truly amaz- Wayne took his time making such a long list of titles. The sliding door to the lab vat, completely unharmed but ing, and one of the best he has this album. He didn’t just re- I give Lil Wayne’s latest opened, and the Swordsman with a slight glow to his skin. released. Fans of Lil Wayne lease an album for the money or album 3.5 ravens out of 5. entered. Many groans could be heard were excited that one of the best for his name to be brought up in “How is the subject doing?” as the scientists got to their feet. rappers of the century decided conversations again. Will asked as he came to a stop The lead scientist ran over to to release another album after “Uproar,” the most listened- next to the lead scientist. Will, who was leaning against hearing nothing for years. to song on the album, is proba- “Well, we currently have the wall. “Are you alright, sir?” him sedated and are preparing to Will took a step slowly. begin the tests.” Shards of glass stuck in his vest, “Very good. As soon as it and he had a few cuts on his starts, I’ll be reporting back to face where the glass had rocket- the Administrator. Hopefully I’ll ed past. He coughed, and wiped have a good report to give him.” away a bit of blood from the ABUELO’s: quality mexican The lead scientist nodded to side of his mouth. “Sure,” he another scientist nearby. The replied with a low growl. Tulsa has quite an array of second scientist pushed a lever The Swordsman walked Mexican restaurants, and for upward, and a loud hum began with a limp out of the room as patrons, it is often hit or miss to emanate from the vat contain- the lead scientist looked down, on whether the experience will ing the boy floating in blue liq- sure of his fate. be up to par. uid. … to be continued The nearby Tulsa Hills Shopping Center is already loaded with Mexican dining options, including Chuy’s and CS:GO controversy Ted’s Café Escondido. But the newly opened Abuelo’s has By Mason Malloy The game has also intro- been a popular spot over the STAFF WRITER duced “Danger Zone,” a game past few months. mode similar to Fortnite’s “Counter-Strike” is one of “Battle Royale.” This has the most popular games in gam- caused the game to have a mas- ing history, and it has also be- sive spike in popularity, espe- come one of the most competi- cially with younger fans. A TASTE tive. Many of these new players “Counter-Strike: Global are clearly far too young to be OF TULSA Offensive” is a first person playing a game as violent as shooter game first released in “Counter-Strike.” By Brady Heinig 2012 where two teams fight to Often times the younger fan You can choose from traditional Tex-Mex or grilled meats. the death until all players on the base can be quite toxic. They What sets this restaurant PHOTO BY BRADY HEINIG opposite team are dead. It car- will scream in the voice chat or apart is the wide selection of ries an ESRB rating of M curse out the older players. foods they offer and the quali- was all cooked expertly and left menu and what to stay away (Mature.) Another issue with this ty of them. me full by the end of my meal. from. That was really helpful. I am a prominent player of change is that their servers have Abuelo’s has some Brazili- What made my experience I definitely will return to the game, and I quite enjoy it. been lagging a lot due to the an influence in its menu with even better was the service. Our Abuelo’s soon, and you should Recently the game was an- increased traffic. grilled steak, chicken, and waiter made sure to stay on top give it a try, too. nounced to be free. I somewhat I am not a fan of this “free” pork offerings. All of the food of keeping our drinks filled and I give Abuelo’s 5 ravens. expected that announcement, change. Unfortunately, I believe is very high quality, and I had making sure we had everything based on the fact that the game it has attracted a toxic younger the chance to eat the bacon we needed. He also gave per- is more than six years old. fan base, and it has made it im- wrapped filet with Mexican sonal input on menu selections, But some players are quite possible for me to play rice and potatoes. The food telling us what is good on the upset, because the game origi- “Counter-Strike” like I normal- nally retailed for $30. ly did back in the day.

THE COMMONS Friday, February 22, 2019 OPINIONS / FEATURES 4

(S)mother love — A political crisis in virginia where does it end? Virginia’s top three mem- Christine Ford. Love can be embarrassing. bers of state government, who At a time when the #MeToo also happen to be Democrats, Valentine’s Day just end- civil movement is in high gear, it is ed, and love was in the air. are mired in scandal. But the surprising and unfortunate that governor, lieutenant governor, discourse Students could be seen strug- Wacky Democrats don’t take the same gling to figure out how to ask and attorney general are refus- stance toward members of their WORLD ing to step down. By Shashwat Singh out their dates. This was par- own party that they do against ticularly true for middle Reuters reports that alt- Republicans. By Ava Fritts hough members of both major school students, who are usu- A perfect recent example is ally described as being in their political parties have called on Times. This is having a trickle- that Rep. Steve King (R-IA) prime for awkwardness. tion of the campus police, who the three to resign, Democrats down effect on state politics. was forced out of many com- However, for one kid in have posted her security video have stopped short of impeach- Future members of both federal mittees because of racist com- Maryland, his embarrassment images to their bulletin and are ment. This could have a partisan and state governments will hesi- ments. Unlike that situation, goes far beyond this. His trying to identify her. Not that purpose. Were all three men to tate before resigning their posi- Democrats are not using the mother has been caught prowl- she is going to be arrested or resign, the next in line would be tions. same forceful style to oust Vir- ing his school grounds looking anything. They just want her a Republican. The most pressing issue, ginia’s top politicians. for potential dates for him. to stop. This situation should con- however, is the hypocrisy within When a party is attempting And he’s in college. Some of the students feel cern the entire nation as a har- the Democratic party that this to play the role of the “good In Towson University’s the notion is sweet. Others binger for the future of Ameri- circumstance shows. Politico guy,” it is hard to do so when library and arts building, the think it is creepy. can politics. pointed out the grilling Supreme their actions are hypocritical. woman was trying to hook up One student even said that As we have seen, President Court justice-to-be Brett Ka- Unless changes occur in the her son with potential dates by if he learned his mom did that, Trump seems to think himself vanaugh received at the hands way politicians are treated by showing his photo around on he would try to disassociate invincible, especially consider- of presidential hopeful Sen. Ka- members of both parties, Amer- her phone. himself. One student said that ing his comments on self- mala Harris (D-NY) because of ican politics will suffer for gen- After getting multiple a mother coming up and ask- pardon as reported by the LA his alleged sexual assault of erations to come. complaints, action had to be ing would actually make her taken. This gathered the atten- decline regardless.

Development in north Tulsa

By Logan Payne ty, and the water in north Tulsa. grocery store is also planned NEWS EDITOR The coalition wants to see devel- to open in the area later this Auditions completed opers tear down some houses year. The last grocery store in North Tulsa has been a and build new ones that are north Tulsa closed in Nov. rundown part of Tulsa for more livable. 2017. many decades, but the city is A few months ago, KGWS These developments will for ‘Into the woods’ starting to take action to fix broadcasted plans to build a new give people in north Tulsa the problems. shopping center this year, to be reliable places to buy food, In some parts of north Tul- called The Shoppes on Peoria, at clothes and other necessities. By Brenden Paul am excited to perform.” sa, living conditions are al- 1731 N. Peoria. The 27,000 In the Feb. 14 Tulsa STAFF WRITER When asked if he was going most uninhabitable. But ac- square feet retail center will fea- World, an editorial stated that to do other Drama productions cording to the North Tulsa ture “several franchise opera- “Muncie Power Products Inc. Riverfield’s Drama depart- at RCDS, he said he would con- Community Coalition, the tions and a new stand-alone res- will invest $50 million in an ment has put on some great sider it, “taking into considera- community is coming together taurant,” they said. expansion at the Peoria- events already this school year. tion how this play goes.” An- to fix the houses, the electrici- According to KJRH, a new Mohawk Business Park” at In the first semester, they drew will be playing Cinder- 36th St. North & Peoria. The produced “Clue: On Stage” at ella’s prince in the play. George Kaiser Family Foun- the Tulsa PAC downtown. It Emma Redmond will be the dation donated the land for the was a great show with great cast stage manager for “Into the industrial park, and $10 mil- members. Tonight they will host Woods.” That position entails lion in voter-approved funds the Variety Show, and coming managing all auditions, manag- will be used to develop the in May, a full-length production ing the cast on the show date, site. of “Into the Woods,” a musical and making sure everything Mayor G.T. Bynum said by Stephen Sondheim. runs smooth and according to this marks progress in his goal This will be a full musical plan. to bring economic revitaliza- production, which has prompted Emma said, “I am very, tion to north Tulsa. a lot of Drama and non-Drama very, very, very excited!” for Hopefully these plans will students to audition for roles in the play, and she added that go into effect soon and will the play. stage manager is one of the most important jobs in the play. The new Shoppes on Peoria is already almost fully leased. give people who live in the Andrew Jordan, who does PHOTO BY PATRICIA DICKEY area better living conditions. not take Drama, auditioned for “Into the Woods” is sure to one of the four male roles. be a smash hit and will run May When asked why he auditioned, 10-11, according to Drama de- Andrew said, “I was originally partment head Liz Hunt. Be asked to do it by a teacher, but sure to catch this musical on DC politics has a new star then I grew into it, and now I stage and in person. By Logan Payne York to work as a waitress and comes over $10 million a year. STAFF WRITER bartender. She began her cam- It has been stated this would paign while working at these bring in an extra $720 billion Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is jobs. She has been quoted as each decade. a freshman representative from saying, “For 80 percent of this AOC has had no problem New York in the U.S. House of campaign, I operated out of a speaking her mind. She has Representatives. The Democrat paper grocery bag hidden be- openly called out Trump, saying took office on Jan.3. hind that bar.”. that his denouncing socialism is At only 29 years of age, she AOC has not been shy about just a way to confuse the people, is extremely young for a U.S. taking on controversial issues because he is “losing on issues.” Representative. In fact, she is even before her election. She The Democrats love her. the youngest woman ever to has openly supported impeach- They love that she is afraid of serve in Congress. ing Donald Trump as president, nobody and will go after any- Also known by her initials, and she wants to get rid of stu- body if she feels their decisions AOC, she is already making her dent debt as a whole. She says are wrong. voice heard around the United she is still paying off her stu- It will be interesting to see States. dent loans today. what Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Her backstory is inspiring. She also has introduced the will do during her term and hear After graduating from Boston idea of paying a marginal tax more new ideas she is sure to The cast of “Into the Woods” has already begun rehearsals. University, she returned to New rate of up to 70 percent for in- present. PHOTO BY JACK BLUHM