Boys' Tennis Brings Home the Banner
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
THE June 6, 2018 PtheOSTSCRIPT park school of baltimore | 2425 old court road, baltimore, md 21208 Volume 75 Issue No.8 BOYS’ TENNIS BRINGS HOME THE BANNER Maria Lawson departs for St. Ignatius by ARENAL HAUT ’ 20 Maria Lawson, Director of Upper Elementa- ry and Middle School Admission and Outreach will leave Park this month. Lawson has worked here for eight years, and loves the school, but, “a wonderful opportunity was presented to me,” she said, and it’s “one that I don’t really want to pass up.” Lawson will become the Graduate Support Director at Saint Ignatius Loyola Academy, an all-boys school for fifth to eighth grade stu- dents in the Mount Vernon neighborhood of the city. The job includes “providing guidance and support for students after leaving Saint Igna- tius—through high school, college, and later,” Lawson said. “I’ll get to know the students and work to find schools that speak to them individually, make the most sense for them and their families, and help them decide,” Lawson said. Students from St. Ignatius attend private, public, and boarding schools, and Lawson will be “show- ing them the breadth of what’s available.” The job also involves checking up on the students and “being another adult who cares about them and their progress.” photo courtesy Communications Another part of the job, something new and For the first time in almost 20 years, Boys’ Varsity Tennis won its conference championship. See article on p. 11. exciting for Lawson, is “what happens after high school.” For most graduates, the next step after high school is college, and Lawson will ‘Core 9’: a new science curriculum begins this fall help them through the process and check in on ics and forms of energy still underlies the year. enon might be happening, including the fact them at their new schools. by BELLA PALUMBI ’20 “By centering on these three main core expe- that students must currently choose their path Science teaching and learning will change riences for the students, they’ll come away with at the beginning of ninth grade and that it’s dif- drastically over the next few years, starting this a deeper understanding of all of those content ficult to move into accelerated after being in fall with the implementation of Core 9, a new areas: physics, computer science, and engineer- regularly-paced classes for a year or two. curriculum for ninth graders. The science de- ing,” Mahmood said. Science teacher Carla Guarraia originally partment also plans to create a Core 10 course, After students complete Core 9 and Core proposed the idea for a Core 9 curriculum in though this will not be put into place until the 10, which will focus on chemistry and biol- January 2017. “I did a good bit of research on fall of 2019. ogy, there will be no additional science require- what they call heterogeneous groupings, where The changes are headed by science teachers ments. It is expected that, as in the past, many classes are mixed level, and found some evi- Maggie Mahmood ’07 and Mikey Guarraia, students will continue to take science electives. dence that would suggest that mixing up the but the entire science department has worked The department believes that this change will groups would be beneficial,” Guarraia said. together to construct the new plan, including the give students the opportunity to pursue electives Another advantage of teaching computer soon-to-arrive computer science teachers Mick that interest them, especially with the expansion science and engineering skills in ninth grade photo by S. Goles ’20 Scott and Elizabeth Kysel. Next year, those four of the computer science offerings. is that it prepares students to take electives in Maria Lawson will make up the team charged with implement- In an attempt to bring about greater cohe- those areas. Mikey Guarraia teaches Engineer- ing Core 9 and developing Core 10. sion, Core 9 will not be split into accelerated ing for Social Justice and Engineering for the The partner of a colleague told Lawson The science department is moving away and regularly-paced classes, a practice in place Kinetic Sculpture Race. “I love the idea of kids about the position, and after weeks of thinking, from the model of teaching one subject a year. for the last decade. Instead, all classes will be having a certain engineering readiness when she decided to consider it. “What the job entails Students will no longer take physics in ninth mixed level and students will be able to opt-in they come into my electives,” M. Guarraia said. is something I’m interested in,” Lawson said. grade, chemistry in tenth, and biology in elev- to more challenging material throughout the In July, using a Faculty and Curricular Ad- “[It has] things that I think I’d be good at, and enth. course. Since students no longer have to select a vancement (FACA) grant, the Core 9 teachers it is something I would feel good about doing.” Instead, Core 9 will focus on three main difficulty level at the beginning of the year, they will lock the curriculum into place and tie up Lawson will have to adapt to a new work content areas over a single year: physics, com- can choose to tackle more challenging work loose ends. environment. She says she is “going to miss puter science, and engineering. All three have periodically over the trimester learning units. The original blueprint for the new Core 9 having more people as part of a team, but I’m been woven together to create one cohesive One reason for this change is data-driven. and 10 curriculum divided the content into four looking forward to a different kind of relation- curriculum. Data was gathered on STEM student demo- distinct semesters. The redesign for Core 9 and ship with the students.” Even though she’s ex- The first trimester centers on kinematics and graphics through Veracross. The research 10 has changed a lot since then, segmenting cited for the amazing opportunity, she’s going culminates in a project about the Appalachain showed that students of color and female stu- each year into three units; both new course to miss Park, especially “my colleagues and Challenge Course, possibly involving computer dents drop down from the accelerated classes designs will continue to evolve over the next the kids.” modeling. In the second trimester, classes will disproportionately. The student population that two years. It is impossible now to know how As discussed in the May 4 issue Postscript learn about Newton’s Laws and construct ve- routinely ends up in the most advanced electives effective the changes will be. One sure bet is commentary, Park is struggling to retain faculty hicles. The last trimester teaches circuits and does not represent the makeup of the school. that the incoming freshmen will have a science of color. Lawson says she wants to focus on the electrostatics. An understanding of basic phys- There are many reasons why this phenom- experience unlike any grade before them. See LAWSON, p. 3 INSIDE THE POSTSCRIPT NEWS FEATURES ARTS & CULTURE SPORTS Addie Fleming ’21 reports on a col- Charlotte Egginton ’21 details a wide Darya Zarfeshan ’21 reviews the Seniors Xandi Egginton and Noë Wolf laborative project with City Neighbors variety of senior project experiences. Fresh-Soph play Peter and the reflect on their sports careers. High School students. Starcatcher. PAGE 4 PAGE 6 PAGE 8 PAGE 12 EDITORIAL // THE POSTSCRIPT JUNE 6, 2018 2 Everyone should be held accountable, including us ne of the most fundamental sistent pursuit of truth even in the face holds. In addition, as the article below bal exchanges that follow publication tenets of the Park philoso- of criticism, and we hope that in our explains, the students were seeking to of every issue, what we need are your Ophy is learning to think criti- tenure we can replicate the same values hold current Student Government to the written responses to share with our cally, something that Postscript writers that they embodied. That being said, standards created in the Upper School readers. and editors strive to do. Our predeces- we will not be releasing an identical Constitution. Missions like these serve If you object to something we’ve sors, seniors Lizzie Kane, Spencer publication, and at the forefront of our to force a step back to reflect on respon- written or have a different take on a Levitt, and Montana Love, asked hard goals for the upcoming year is invit- sibility within the student body. topic we covered, whether you are a questions in each and every issue. We ing a broader range of opinions onto As we work towards holding the student, teacher, administrator, or mem- have watched their process in full: they our pages. greater institution accountable, it is ber of the Board of Trustees, we need to saw a problem, examined its causes, This paper is a place for student your job as readers to hold us account- hear from you. After all, there cannot dove into research, and finally, formed journalists to put forth their opinions able as well by writing letters to the be productive dialogue unless all points hard-hitting questions to pose in their and findings. However, it is also cru- editors. While we encourage the ver- of view are brought to light. pieces. cial that we publish voices other than Sometimes these articles required those on our staff. Having consistent digging deep, such as the discovery of writers is necessary for the paper, but if the $4.6 million annual investment in we continue to promote solely the same the Cayman Islands, as Levitt wrote voices, we fail to wholly represent the about in the May 4 issue.