All-School Elections: Student Leaders Shape Future
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The Sun Devils’ “Whoever fears failure limits opportunity” Advocate Volume XL, Number 5 Kent Denver School, 4000 East Quincy Avenue, Englewood, CO 80110 April 28, 2016 All-School Elections: Student Leaders Shape Future Photo by Caitlin Vickers Newly elected All-School senior leaders from left, All-School Male President Justin Reeves, Representative to the Board of Trustees Mary Chao, and All-School Female President Gabby Kinney pose for a photo. Mayors Meet At Review: Superman Freshman-Senior Kent Denver vs. Batman Siblings See Page 3 See Page 7 See Page 15 News The Ethics Of Empathy by Justin Reeves responsibility of the Ethics Day Committee, a junior Joe Ort, a member of the Ethics Day group of students who collaborate together to Committee. “At first, it was almost exclusively ensure the event is a meaningful experience for teachers leading seminars... [Now that] students On April 13, no classes were held at Kent the Kent Denver community. craft their own, they can actually make an Denver for a special annual event, Ethics Day. academic or really thought-provoking seminar. Instead of a normal school day, middle and “Each year, there’s been a steady increase A lot of the seminars this year were student- upper school students participated in a day of in the number of student-run seminars,” said led.” ethical dialogue, the highlight of which were two 45-minute- Like the movies, seminars long seminars focused on covered a wide range of topics, ethical dilemmas involving from vegetarianism to state empathy, the theme of the day. sovereignty. Students also watched and The student enthusiasm for discussed empathy-focused Ethics Day is not exclusive movies ranging in theme from to those on the Ethics Day orca captivity to extreme Committee. Sophomore poverty. Lukas Drexler-Bruce said he The day began with an all appreciated the effort student school assembly in the Yates leaders put into designing the Pavilion, where Head of School seminar he attended. “I think it’s Rand Harrington introduced good to see student leadership the recipient of Kent Denver’s and student initiative in these 2016 Distinguished Alumnus types of projects,” he said. Award, law professor Hal When asked about his Bruff, who delivered remarks view of Ethics Day as a whole, about modern legal issues. Drexler-Bruce added, “I think Subsequently, it’s good to take one day out of several students gave the year. I think any more than speeches, performed musical that would be a little unnecessary, arrangements, and explained but one day is good... it’s good the rationale behind the day’s to examine the ethics of what title, The Ethics of Empathy: we’re doing... to take scenarios Me, You, and Everybody Else. we have here and apply [them] to our world.” The planning of this year’s Ethics Day was the Graphic by Josaleigh Powers Freshman Invents AskSparky Service by Andrew Park “tool made to solve the lack of communication text a student typed.” between coaches, teachers, and students. It’s a Every inventor always has some sort of communication tool for the community of Kent Before the creation of AskSparky, a com- challenge that he must overcome, and Green- Speech and Debate Takes Berkeley Denver to get info quickly. It is an easily acces- wald went through many roadblocks to create munication tool, students at Kent Denver had sible platform.” a difficult time finding out dates for specific this tool over six months. school events, classes, sports, and even the Greenwald and a couple of his friends no- “There had to be an approval from the lunch menu. At the beginning of the year, most ticed that students were struggling to find the school, which was the hardest process,” Gre- Over Valentine’s Day weekend, from Feb. students used Powerschool as their source to schedule of the school day. This sparked Oli- enwald said. “When I first put it out for usage 12-15, several Kent Denver Students went to find out some information. Other students just ver’s idea of an easy system that every student there was a server overload and it did not work. Berkeley, California to compete in a national memorized their day-to-day schedules. Both could use. He found out texting was the easiest So I coded and upgraded the servers so it can competition for Speech and Debate. The week- methods seemed ineffective for students who system, and he programmed AskSparky to al- hold more users while working faster.” end was long, the competition was hard, but it low users to type in a specific word and have spent unreasonable amounts of time trying to Meanwhile, Greenwald is thinking ahead. was all worth it for the fun memories made by the server answer in return. figure out what next period was, what was for “In the future, I want to incorporate different the students. lunch, or what time sports were to be held. “I used python for the coding and found the practice schedules, make sure everything works The Sun Devils’ Advocate interviewed fresh- Freshman Oliver Greenwald, who created one thing students used most, which was text,” at Kent, and incorporate this program into other men Caden Joseph and Alice Noble to get a feel AskSparky, described the new service as a Greenwald said. “I used a service called twilio schools.” for what this trip was really like. to allow the software to respond fast to each Sun Devils’ Advocate: What did you do? Page 2, THE SUN DEVILS’ ADVOCATE, April 28, 2016 News The Ethics Of Empathy Local Mayors Meet, Collaborate At Kent Denver by Jon Ort of a governmental agency. The meeting venue In this spirit of collaboration, a $5.5 million changes each time. In this case, Mayor Christ- project is currently underway to connect major man hosted the event at Kent Denver on behalf inter-city communication corridors with high- On March 7, Mayors Cathy Noon of Cen- of Cherry Hills Village. speed fiber cables. tennial, Ron Rakowsky of Greenwood Village, and Laura Christman of Cherry Hills Village According to the mayors, their communities The mayors also identified the priorities of convened at Kent Denver’s Schaden Dinning their respective administrations. Noon noted Hall for a monthly luncheon designed to pro- their communities that 2 million square feet of new office space mote dialogue between their respective com- operate under a would be developed within Centennial in the munities, in addition to Sheridan and Littleton coming years. She also explained that road (the mayors of these cities could not attend this principle of shared maintenance and projects to alleviate traffic event). would benefit Centennial, which, as a city, has ‘similar interests.’ no debt. Noon explained that these luncheons, first organized by Rakowsky three years ago, allow Rakowsky identified a $1.5 billion eco- operate under a principle of shared “similar in- each mayor “to pick the brains” of his and her nomic development project north of Orchard terests.” Rather than compete to lure prominent counterparts for advice. For example, the may- Avenue, in addition to the installation of under- businesses to establish an office or store, the cit- ors might consult one another about concerns ground power lines, as current points of focus ies understand that a new business benefits the expressed by their constituents or the scope for his administration. Christman, meanwhile, entire region, regardless of its specific location. identified her administration’s priorities as the preservation of open space and the High Line Canal and revitalization of John Meade Park. Rakowsky noted that a number of organiza- tions govern local cities, from the mayor’s ad- ministration to the school district to the Denver Regional Council of Governments, which as- sists with transportation for the entire Denver Metro Area. He encouraged the public to under- stand these nuances as a way to engage in local civic government. From left to right: Cherry Hills Village Mayor Laura Christman, Greenwood Village Mayor Ron Rakowsky, and Centennial Mayor Cathy Noon met at Kent Denver’s Dining Hall to discuss regional issues that affect the Freshman Invents AskSparky Service community. Photo by Alie Goldblatt Speech and Debate Takes Berkeley by Bella Kemp and Emma Adelstein Alice: I competed in Speech competitions. I Both Alice and Caden agreed that it even did a dramatic interpretation… and a duo [with though they spent most of their time inside at freshman Daniel Chao]. the tournament, it was fun to have some relax- Over Valentine’s Day weekend, from Feb. Caden: I competed in a Debate competition ing time in Berkeley. When asked if the team 12-15, several Kent Denver Students went to had any traditions for tournaments, Alice quick- Berkeley, California to compete in a national where I argued whether or not guns make you more militaristic. ly explained the warm up rituals. The warm up competition for Speech and Debate. The week- was lead by the Speech and Debate captains, SDA: What was your favorite part? end was long, the competition was hard, but it juniors Jessica Mitchell and Mary Chao and ju- was all worth it for the fun memories made by Alice: Being with friends, free time on the niors Jarrek Holmes and Noah Naiman. It was the students. Berkeley campus, and exploring the culture was a time to relieve them of stress, prepare for the The Sun Devils’ Advocate interviewed fresh- the best part. Before the competitions started, competition, and spend time together as a team. men Caden Joseph and Alice Noble to get a feel we could get breakfast and hang out. There were There is also a traditional “Senior Dinner” when for what this trip was really like.