Winter 2014 Straight from the Top Table of First - Century Education in the 21St Century Contents

ARTS Artist-in-Residence Shares Colorful World 8 SPORTS Varsity Golf Captures State Championship 10 SCIENCE Owl Geologists Uncover Fossils 18 HIGH HOOPS FedEx Forum Hosts MUS Players and Singers Volume 16, Number 1, Winter 2014 Straight From the Top Table of First - Century Education in the 21st Century Contents pon encountering adults who learn what I between math and English, a link between the 26 Percent of Senior Class Recognized by National Uteach, a provocative response I often receive hemispheres of the brain. Owlcolades is, “I wish I had taken Latin when I was in school.” I What we learn and how we apply learning are 3 Notable Honors Merit Scholarship Corporation ponder the reasons why mature adults seem to yearn of equal importance. This is why we must be pru- 4 AP Scores for lost halcyon days with the mother tongue. Is it dent in curricular choices – for language in partic- 6 Semester Honor Rolls those irresistible declensions? That lesson on the ular – because the latest often turns out not to be passive periphrastic? The arcane mysteries requiring the greatest. There’s more at stake than the mere Fine Arts the Dative of Agent? acquisition of a skill set for a singular marketplace 7 Fall Play: Anon(ymous) Latin has been a requirement at MUS since task. We need to build metacognitive thinkers who 8 Artist-in-Residence 1893, but tradition is not the only reason we con- can adapt quickly to solve complex problems and 9 Winter concert tinue to require it. Despite popular rumor, some then turn to another problem with a different set Sports Buzz of the elder schoolmasters around here do not, of variables. The ability to solve the problems of 10 Golf in fact, retain Roman citizenship. So what place, the future – isn’t that what we’re trying to teach? 12 Football then, has the first century in the 21st century? The Latin roots of the word education (ex + 16 Cross Country Improved verbal scores on standardized tests, ducere) reveal a “leading out” of the darkness of better English grammar knowledge, a foundation ignorance. The logic of Latin helps turn students Campus News for Romance language study, and an immersion toward the light, even though they don’t realize it 18 Heartbeat for Health 18 Geology Fossil Hunt in the classical fountain from which Western civi- while sifting through the sequence of tenses to find 19 Robot Warriors lization flows are all acknowledged checks in the the right subjunctive form. When a young person 19 Helping Hands “why take Latin” column. My purpose here is not pulls Latin sentences apart and puts them back 20 Caught on Camera to expound upon these but to take you in a more together, parsing forms within the realm of gram- forward-looking direction with the course of study matical possibilities, the mind is learning to think Insights that many perceive as the most past-focused. critically. 22 Parents’ Association Update 23 College Corner Although a Latin background can give one The finest horse-buggy manufacturer went a decided advantage in law or medical school bankrupt not because the company made infe- Owls Online memorization or in the easy absorption of Spanish rior products, but because the owners failed to For more stories and vocabulary, I submit that the greatest learning recognize that their business was transportation. up-to-date news from MUS, visit the online version of Inside MUS at advantage is in the conceptual side of Latin. The Rendering Caesar’s words into English across the insidemus.wordpress.com. neural process of translating Latin stimulates rea- ages is a highly specialized skill, but it is also an soning capabilities. The business of Latin study acquired art that builds a highly developed mind. is not to communicate as the Romans did in the A mind that can search intelligently for answers, first century, but to teach us to think in the 21st rationally sift through many possible results, and century. articulate effective solutions to others – does that Students are exposed to an ordered world of ever go out of style? linguistic thought, or as a pharmacist once told me, Perhaps this ability – or adaptability – is what “the most logical language ever created by man- adults recognize in their peers who studied Latin kind.” This is, in fact, the advantage of studying a in their schoolboy days. written language from a fixed window of time, lib- erated from the feverish linguistic flux of the here and now. I never use the quadratic equation in my daily life, but does this render the study of algebra obsolete? Of course not. When students join the ON THE COVER: From left, senior Andrew Counce, workforce 10 or 15 years from now, they’re not sophomore David Nelson, and senior Bailey going to be expected to solve geometric proofs Buford reach for a rebound during Memphis University School Night at FedEx Forum. or to translate ablative absolutes. Latin is a cor- For more photos see page 18 relative to math, though it is seldom appreciated Trey Suddarth, Chairman of as such. In my work with the boys of Hull Lower Foreign Languages Department Photo by Joe Murphy Photography School, I see the study of Latin as a kind of bridge [email protected] Inside MUS 2 Winter 2014 Table of Contents 26 Percent of Senior Class Recognized by National Owlcolades 3 Notable Honors Merit Scholarship Corporation 4 AP Scores 6 Semester Honor Rolls Fine Arts 7 Fall Play: Anon(ymous) 8 Artist-in-Residence 9 Winter concert Sports Buzz National Merit and National Achievement Semifinalists, front row, from left, Stephen Pacheco, Samuel Ostrow, Davis Howe, Salman Haque, Josh Hawkins, Zain Virk, 10 Golf Matthew Gayoso, Garret Sullivan, William Lamb, Kameron Bradley; back row, David Blankenship, Ben Ormseth, Sam Neyhart, Aditya Shah, Josh Douglass, 12 Football Harrison Williams, and Paul Stevenson 16 Cross Country ourteen National Merit Ben Ormseth, Samuel Ostrow, National Achievement Scholarships Campus News FSemifi nalists, three National Stephen Pacheco, Aditya Shah, or corporate-sponsored scholarship 18 Heartbeat for Health Achievement Semifi nalists, 10 National Paul Stevenson, Garret Sullivan, awards. 18 Geology Fossil Hunt Merit Commended students, and two Zain Virk, and Harrison Williams. The National Merit Scholarship 19 Robot Warriors Outstanding Participants in the National The National Achievement Semifi nal- Program also awarded 10 seniors 19 Helping Hands ists are , 20 Caught on Camera Achievement Scholarship Program add up David Blankenship Commended status, recognizing their to an impressive statistic: 26 percent of the Kameron Bradley, and Josh achievement on the 2012 PSAT. Insights Class of 2014 received recognition from Hawkins. These students are Shivam Bhakta, 22 Parents’ Association Update the National Merit Scholarship Corpora- More than 1.5 million high school Kameron Bradley, Cole Ettingoff, 23 College Corner tion. students entered the 2014 scholarship Seamus Fitzhenry, Chris Galvin, The14 national Merit Semifi nalists program through the 2012 Reed Harrison, Tal Keel, Nick represent the highest number of any Preliminary SAT/National Merit Schwartz, Andy Sorensen, and school in the Memphis area and the Scholarship Qualifying Test, accord- Will Wells. second highest in the state (University ing to the National Merit Scholarship In addition seniors Dennis Parnell School of Nashville has 22). Three Corporation. About 16,000 were and Malik Smith were named additional seniors are semifi nalists in selected as National Merit Semifi nal- Outstanding Participants in the the National Achievement Scholarship ists based on their scores, making them National Achievement Scholarship Program, which recognizes outstand- eligible to advance to fi nalist status and Program, indicating their scores on ing black high school students in the compete for 8,000 scholarships worth the PSAT were in the top 3 percent United States. about $35 million. In the National of more than 160,000 black students The National Merit Semifi nalists are Achievement Scholarship Program, in the United States who requested Josh Douglass, Matthew Gayoso, 1,600 students were named semifi nal- consideration in this year’s competition. Salman Haque, Davis Howe, ists. If they become fi nalists they have William Lamb, Sam Neyhart, an opportunity to compete for $2,500 Dennis Parnell, left, and Malik Smith were named The National Merit Commended seniors are, front row, from left, Seamus Fitzhenry, Andy Sorensen, Outstanding Participants in the National Will Wells, Shivam Bhakta, and Cole Ettingoff; back row, Nick Schwartz, Reed Harrison, Kameron Bradley, Achievement Scholarship Program. Chris Galvin, and Tal Keel. Inside MUS Winter 2014 3 Record 89 Owls Earn AP Scholar Awards A record number of MUS stu- AP Scholar Awards 177 students took 365 tests in dents, 89, earned AP Scholar 19 subject areas Awards in the College Board’s 2013 Andrew Raves ’13 received the top honor Advanced Placement exams. of National AP Scholar, granted to stu- • 38% scored 5 “This is the highest number of AP dents in the United States who receive an • 30% scored 4 scholars we have had to date,” Mr. Flip average score of at least 4 on all AP exams • 21% scored 3 Eikner, academic dean, said. “The results taken and scores of 4 or higher on eight or indicate a great deal of work and dedica- more of these exams. 89% of Owls received a score tion from these students, many of whom of 3 or higher, compared to a earn college credit for their scores.” Thirty-six students received AP Scholar national average of 58%. MUS offers 20 Advanced Placement with Distinction honors, indicating they • MUS average was 3.91 courses designed to reproduce the difficult earned an average score of at least 3.5 on • National average was 2.87 content of college-level courses and help all AP exams taken and scores of 3 or the students learn focused study habits.

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