The the students‘ voice since 1997

MT h e I n d euckraker p e n d e n t J o h n F. K e n n e d y S c h o o l S t u d e n ts ‘ N e w s pa p e r Volume XVII, Issue VI Friday, June 7, 2013 Circulation: 200 PAGE 1 The Our MSA Experience Muckraker All students in know we had to take a more difficult exam and that when it comes to 10th grade, that is the reason for the lower grade. Speaks! there is a huge exam waiting for them According to the school administration in spring, the MSA (Mittlerer Schulab- it is unfair for us to take the standard schluss). The MSA consists of four parts: English MSA exam because we are better the group presentation, English, German at English than other German students. As the year draws to and Math. The 10th graders this year But shouldn’t our grades reflect our level an end and we finish our last took their last exams (German and Math) of capability? exams freedom, sun, and in April and are finally over with the Regardless of this however, the MSA. For those of you who are upcoming PLAN test is nothing much to worry about beach might be all we can’t 10th graders, and also younger students, if you are a native English speaker. The stop thinking about. What here are some of our opinions about this test consists of a reading comprehensi- year’s MSA and tips on how to succeed. on part, as well as a writing part, which approaches us next year is not For the English portion of the count for the English portion of the MSA. something we want to spend exam, John-F.- students take There is also a science portion, which is our summer worrying about. a standardized test called the PLAN used for those D3 and D4 students in test towards the beginning of the year, lieu of their German grade because they However for many students, unlike students at other schools, won’t be taking the German MSA exam. preparing for the coming year who take a standard English MSA test In our opinion, the group presen- as issued by the Berlin government. We tation was the most interesting part of is a crucial step to success. take a more difficult test, because being the exam. In a group of 2-4 people, we We hope to help you tackle a German-American School, the students chose our own topic that we are intere- the coming year with a few at JFKS are better in English than the sted in and give a 20 to 40 minute long students in German schools. However, presentation (depending on how many warnings and pointers from we believe this to be unfair as we are people are in your group; 10 minutes our journalists. therefore more likely to get a worse per group member). We highly recom- grade on the English portion of the MSA. mend that you pick a topic which you are This means that if a prospective emplo- sincerely interested in and want to learn yer were to look at the MSA grades of a about. JFK student and see a lower grade on the English exam, they would not realize that Cheers, , continued on page 2 The Editors The poems of the the winners For all students who have heard of the Earth Day poetry contest numerous things about the AP are exclusively published in this system and don‘t know what to issue. Read the inspiring works believe, an experienced 11th of the talented students in our grader reveals what it is really school. like to be a Diploma student

on page 4 on page 5

The S.C. has something exciting A fascinating MSA presentation news for us all once again.Make reveals the mystery about sure to read their newsletter in scizophrenia this issue of the Muckraker

on page 6 on page 2 Volume XVII, Issue VI Friday, June 7, 2013 Circulation: 200 PAGE 2 JFKS LIFE continued from page 1 Staff Box Also make sure to verify that The German test consisted of there is enough information to be found one article about Bollywood in Ger- Founding Fathers: about your topic prior to your decision. many, one excerpt from a book about Mikolaj Bekasiak Our group topic was about the evolu- a man who likes old movies, a graphi- Seth Hepner tion of different ethnicities and how hu- cal representation of data relating Adam Nagorski mans have evolved to look so different. airports in London, and a writing part It was a fascinating topic. For example about Fast foods versus homemade we learned about why East Asians have foods. Everybody thought it was fairly Senior Advisor: thick, black hair, why Blacks generally easy, even those who have partner Sophia Hengelbrok have longer limbs, and why Caucasians tongue German. Hyerin Park have various hair colors. Although our The math exam was surpris- Lara Fenwick group started working rather very late, ingly also very easy. It was mostly we worked diligently and managed to just basic math, with a formula sheet Editors: get a good grade on our presentation. provided. As far as we can remember, This doesn’t mean it was easy. We still there was a problem on geometry, Julia Chrampanis recommend you start working on it at measuring the surface area of a roof, Lenny Leass least a month in advance, preferably a graph on exponential growth, basic far earlier, because procrastinating on algebra etc. We don’t know if the test Layout Editor: this huge presentation was very stress- next year will also be this easy, but Polina Andreeva ful. When it comes to the grade, in our as long as you understand the things opinion, it largely depends on which you learn in your math class and pre- Journalists: teachers you get. There are three pare well for the test, it won’t be a big teachers for each presentation and at problem. Chaeky Song the end they will ask you questions By and large we found the George Freyermuth relevant to the subject (or sometimes MSA to be not that big of deal; less Max Sherwood not so relevant...). If you get unlucky, of a difficulty than it was hyped-up to Matilde Borio some teachers can ask rather difficult be by our teachers, but more so than Clara Frick questions and thus bring down your what we were told by the 11th and Eleanor Kelly grade, or simply be stricter at grading 12th graders. Overall, as long as you Antonia Nihsen the presentations. prepare ahead of time and do not pro- Alina Albrecht The 10th graders took their crastinate (well, not too much), you’ll last part of the MSA exams, German be fine. and Math, in April. The general consen- sus this year is that both of the tests were actually pretty easy, easier even than the practice exams they had been Chaeky Song and George Fryermuth studying with. The Truth about Scizophrenia

As confusing as being a teen- Possible symptoms of a schizo- The Muckraker is an independent ager can be, what you see, hear and phrenic include hallucinations and de- newspaper. The opinions expressed otherwise experience has an unwaver- lusions like hearing voices or seeing here in no way reflect those of ing certainty to it. Yet what if that gets people who aren’t there, having a dis- the administration of the John F. undermined and confusing? The world organized daily routine, and paranoia. Kennedy School. of a schizophrenic differentiates so For our MSA presentation we much from ours, it is nearly impossi- prepared a survey asking people at ble to even imagine what it would feel our school (ages 12 through 18) if like to suddenly hear a voices in your How to join they knew what schizophrenia was. the Muckraker Staff head, whose presence is unknown to Over 90% said they had heard of it others and doesn’t make any sense and 90% of those thought people with 1. Come to our weekly or abruptly have a visual conception, schizophrenia could live normal lives meetings in the 20-minute- bordering the line between reality and depending on the severity and with break on Tuesdays in B214 delusions. enough support. What’s important to 2. Send in your articles to Schizophrenia is a severe understand is that it IS in fact possible [email protected] and highly occurring mental disorder to live a relatively normal and healthy 3. Drop a note in our which affects 1% of the world’s popu- life even if you are suffering from such mailbox or approach us lation, and still remains somewhat of a horrible disorder. randomly in the hallways a mystery today. It is a disorder that During our research, we went involves abnormalities in the brain to a “self-help group” or “group-thera- which will cause a patient to have a py” where patients shared their expe- hard time connecting thoughts, emo- riences about schizophrenia. tions and observations. A person will experience an internal chaos going on inside of their heads showing signs of continued on page 3 peculiar social behaviors. Volume XVII, Issue VI Friday,June 7, 2013 Circulation: 200 PAGE 3 JFKS LIFE JFKS LIFE continued from page 2 It was great to see how almost all of them had learned to As overlapping schizophrenia is to many other deal with it and had accepted the fact that they were suf- mental disorders, as unclear or scary our findings of it fering from such a disorder. One of these patients explained might seem, society has progressively been adapting to how she had developed voices in her head after misusing the idea of it and evoking an ever growing interest. Break- various drugs. A few bad choices were enough for her to ing headlines and scoring movie titles, Schizophrenia has actually hear real voices of people who weren’t there. turned into a relevant and significant topic today.

Clara Frick and Matilde Borio

A Trip to China In Shanghai or China in general, where fake Louis Vuitton A few months ago, three High School Orchestra purses and Chanel boots are available for an equivalent of 5 members occompanied merely by two violas, a vio- Euros, it is considered strange to buy something at the given lin, a handful of suitcases, and a very excited teacher, price. Bargaining is key. For anyone who knows me, they embarked on a journey halfway across the world, and might be able to recognize the difficulty I had with this... I returned one week later with all that plus a treasure felt so guilty at first. Nevertheless, I soon became accus- of memories. Clara Hartling, Marcel Ünal, and myself tomed to this Chinese normality. had been accepted to play in 2013’s AMIS (Association After these few days, our group of JFKS, ISB, and for Music in International Schools) High School Honor AISV students was driven across the city to our second hotel, Orchestra in Shanghai, China. The trip was, put quite which was not in the center of the city’s touristy, financial dis- frankly, incredible. After missing our connecting flight in trict, but closer to the workers’ district, in which we saw many London, and taking a day longer to reach Shanghai, we exotic practices, such as drying dead ducks on washing lines. finally arrived in the bustling, magnificent city. For me The hotel hosted all members of 2013’s High School Honor especially, it was incredibly exciting, since I had never Orchestra, and therefore served as a great opportunity for us been in Asia before. Shanghai is frequently dubbed the to meet people from international schools all across Europe world’s “hottest”, “fastest”, and “most-happening” city, and Asia and a few from Africa. The rehearsals were amazing and for me, it definitely remained true to its title. Our experiences, despite the tiring amount of hours spent playing AMIS orchestra festival was scheduled for Thursday the instruments. The guest conductor was John Bergin from through Saturday, however we had luckily planned and Northern Ireland and we played Mozart’s Divertimento, Dvor- early arrival, in order to experience the city as real tour- ak’s Serenade for Strings, and Albinoni’s Adagio in g-minor ists for a couple of days. Mrs. Loewen had arranged that (even managing to throw a Harlem Shake in there). After the we spend these sightseeing days with two other groups first long day of rehearsals, we went to see a Chinese acrobat from the festival, which proved to be a wonderful oppor- show. I was extremely excited until our festival organizer told tunity for us to make new amazing friends with several us, “By the way, someone might die.” Yes, it had actually hap- students from the International School of Brussels and pened a few months before we went; An acrobat died doing American International School of Vienna. We toured the one of their dangerous stunts. The Chinese did not cancel or city and ate a lot of delicious, exotic food. Travelling change the show, they carried on performing the same show on the world’s fastest train, the Maglev, was definitely as though nothing had happened. So, naturally, I was pretty a highlight –it reached a speed of 300km per hour! We terrified. However, despite my initial fear, the show turned out also went on a night cruise along the Huangpu River to be one of the most impressive, incredible things I had ever to see those iconic, beautiful, colorful lights of central witnessed (and nobody died this time, in case you were won- Shanghai, and –not meaning to sound superficial– shop- dering). The orchestra’s concert was a huge success, and we ping was also definitely a great experience. In Shanghai were all terribly sad to say goodbye to our new friends after or China in general, where fake Louis Vuitton purses such an amazing week. I would strongly recommend visiting and Chanel boots are available for an equivalent of 5 this vibrant city, and also the AMIS festivals, whether they be Euros, it is considered strange to buy something at the for orchestra, band, or choir. They are great opportunities given price. Bargaining is key. For anyone who knows to make lifelong friends who share your passion. This year’s me, they might be able to recognize the difficulty I had AMIS High School Honor Orchestra festival in Shanghai, China with this... I felt so guilty at first. Nevertheless, I soon was an experience never to be forgotten. became accustomed to this Chinese normality.

Eleanor Kelly Volume XVII, Issue VI Friday, June 7, 2013 Circulation: 200 PAGE 4 JFKS LIFE Earth Day Poetry Contest

To add to the smoothie sale (donations are going to WWF) and the green frog pictures the art department kindly made for us, JFKS GOES GREEN organized a poetry contest for Earth Day. We received some wonderful results and have decided that there will be two winners this year, Richard Bryant from 10e and Christian Weigelt, 11a. Thank you to all other wonderful contributions we’ve received! The winners should please come to the Green Room on the 31st of May, 20 min break, to pick up their green bags!

The Good old Days Nature’s Rouse

This is our Planet, It is like a blank paper, It can’t help itself, a few birds, endlessly circling We ruined it too much, through an oblivion of blue. With all our wealth. A constant wind murmurs monotony, the howling cry, for color it prays. Years ago we should have stopped, We could have changed our fate, Though, when all at once, the earth But now look around you, it rises, some hues of green change, It’s getting too late. and fight the endless greys! At the shore of brink failure, the Do you remember those days, earth shakes, and Color was born! When the grass was green, The seas were blue, Fierce, red streams of liquid, burn And the sky was clean? down all the constancy, all the lost words, and create, true blue. Remember when the seas were clams And in the vain, the green grew; The winds were soft, thereby, the art was, fulfilled. The weather just right, And the sun was bright? Christian Weigelt 11a

Now the worlds in chaos, Was our destiny card already dealt, We do not know, But the least we can do is try to help.

Richard Bryant 10e google.images.de picture courtesy of:

Comments, Replies? send your opinions and articles to: [email protected] Volume XVII, Issue VI Friday,June 7, 2013 Circulation: 200 PAGE 5 JFKS LIFE Earth Day Poetry Contest The AP System and You It’s the last quarter of school and, as Abitur the year gets going. If you don’t take your AP students write their Prüfungen and AP students fill classes seriously, your grade will show it. It’s a in bubbles and packets, our student body begins common mistake to think “I only have two AP to relax one bit at a time. Our schedules reflect an classes… I don’t need to work that much.” Wrong! attitude that is so familiar during the last few weeks You should still be prepared to do college-level of the JFKS school year: Three- to five-day week- work in both of them. Just because you might not ends, canceled classes, and warm weather create be loading up on APs does not mean you don’t a wonderfully lackadaisical finish to the year. This need to work hard in those classes. Every year, isn’t purely a time of blissful relaxation and lapse certain B-side AP classes fill up with people who into summer ignorance, however. It’s also the time find the subject interesting, as well as those who where many students start thinking about next chose the class as the “lesser of all evils.” But, year’s classes. Whether you are a 7th grader choo- honestly, a class stuffed with students who re- sing electives, or a 10th or 11th grader choosing fuse to do the required work ruins the experience your Leistungskurse or Advanced Placement (AP) for everyone, and usually ends with pathetic at- classes, next year should be on your mind. Drawing tempts at the AP final test for those who never on my now-completed 11th year, I hope this article asserted themselves. In consequence you should can help prepare other students for their own AP know that every AP class you’ve signed up for challenges. requires dedication and hard work. Take every AP At the beginning of 11th grade, “Abi” students will class seriously. Don’t label one as ‘easier’ than often see a typical diploma schedule (full of holes another. Respect it and act like you belong there! and long breaks) and come to the conclusion that You don’t need to be a genius in the subject. You “the US high school diploma is easier than the Ab- don’t even need great grades. What you do need itur.” Indeed, Abi students who pass an 11th grade is to participate; put in the required effort, and do US History class also receive a high school diploma; your best. Otherwise get out. so surely the Abitur is ‘superior’ to the High School This may sound harsh, but this is exact- Diploma? Well, sometimes. In both systems, what ly the stance taken by the administration for the you get out of your diploma depends on the work coming year: Remember those ‘individual eva- you put into it. luation - recommendation forms?’ Admittedly, I In the Abitur system, you will take two – too mistrusted these ranking evaluations until I and only two – Leistungskurse along with a number listened to a rant from a friend about his AP class of Grundkurse, and your grades are used to com- being ruined by large numbers of people, who re- pare one Abitur to another. Meanwhile, under the ally shouldn’t have been in that class. It wasn’t diploma system, advanced placement classes and that they were not capable of success. They just the accompanying workloads are completely deter- didn’t try. Slackers often get sympathy from fel- mined by the individual student. In this way, the low students –however not in AP classes. In an students can use the system in a way that suits Advanced Placement course, the standards are their own strengths and weaknesses. You can take different; individual success on the college level. as many or as few AP courses as you want, and in What does this mean for the prospective AP stu- whichever subjects. dent? 1) Choose what you are interested in, or A rising 11th grade student, for example, who has what you would like to succeed in; 2) look at your been struggling to keep up with the slew of JFK schedule and tell yourself, “I can do this,” and 3) classes, can take only one or two AP classes of ask yourself “Will I really do this?” interest. If you can focus on those, take the year Make sure you have not set your bar too slow, and do your best to succeed in those selected high. It is better to work hard and succeed in one classes, you will have done well. Naturally, most or two AP classes than to get overwhelmed and students choose a reasonable number of interesting give up trying in three or four. Good luck, juniors AP classes, (the average at JFK is three) and do a and seniors, I hope your year is as enjoyable as reasonable amount of work throughout the year. A it is educational. Stay on top of things, but don’t more ambitious student, however –one who’s not worry, we’re all in the same boat –and summer afraid of stress and consistent late nights of home- comes faster than you think. work– can load up on APs and try and cling to his or her sanity once the onslaught of end-of-the-year AP tests commences. Regardless of who you are, every AP class will require your genuine dedication. If a student knows he/she has a lack of motivation and Max Sherwood only chooses a small number of ‘B-side’ AP classes, (4 hours per week, as opposed to 6 hours per week) that student can still run into serious problems once Volume XVII, Issue VI Friday, June 7, 2013 Circulation: 200 PAGE 6 JFKS LIFE

“ICH BIN EIN ” Seminar Day 2013, June 24th

The 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s infamous “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech marks a pivotal point in German- American history, where cultural boundaries were surmounted. This year, the John F. Kennedy High School Student Council will host its annual Seminar Day on June 24th around Kennedy’s well known phrase.

Since the message of Kennedy’s speech reaches far beyond the borders of Berlin and the times of the , we interpret Kennedy’s words as a celebration to the importance of multiculturalism, freedom, understanding, and the joining of global cultures.

On this account, we are looking for any kind of workshop related to cultural diversity. Whether you are an expert on the European Union or Japanese sushi – you are highly welcome as a speaker. From the sport field to a classroom with beamer or whiteboard we offer any location for any activity.

You will be asked to hold your seminar twice, each lasting 60 minutes (please let us know if you will need both hours for your seminar). During a one hour break in between we will offer a reception to seminar holders and students will meet for a community activity. You may present your topic in English or German.

No matter if you are a student, parent, teacher, or simply like to share your knowledge – we would be very happy to have you as a presenter on Seminar Day.

If interested, please contact us at [email protected]. We have provided sign-up forms in High School secretary Frau Barmeyer’s office or we can send the sheet to you electroni- cally. The deadline for sign-ups is Tuesday, May 28.

With best regards, The JFKS Student Council, Seminar Day host

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sudoku courtesy of puzzles.about.com Volume XVII, Issue VI Friday,June 7, 2013 Circulation: 200 PAGE 7

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