lpahomov

Saving Your Money

December 13, 2016 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Mekhi Granby

Staff Writer

How important is saving money?

For most teenagers, saving money is easy, but some teens still long to purchase things that aren’t always in their budget range.

Students at Science Leadership Academy report a range of experiences with saving money. Some of them say they’re no good.

“It’s hard for me to save because if I see something I like most likely I’ll buy it,” said Sophomore Justin Stewart. Senior Kobe Nabried has a similar pessimistic sense about his ability to save. “I’m not good at saving and never have been. ” he said.

Other students report having an easy time saving their money.

“Yes, I only use a certain amount of money weekly, and I’ve been doing so since sixth grade,” said Junior Malachi Johnson. Junior Christian McCormack has a different way of saving, he stated “Yes I’m good at saving money, I keep it in my book.” Someone who can relate to that is Senior Cassandra Northrope who said “Yes, I put money in my bank and have been saving college funds since I was really young.”

However, saving money isn’t just about the cool new thing you want to buy. Your attitude towards saving money will have an influence on your income, salary, occupation, and future goals.

Saving money can be a challenge though as one gets more independent and less reliant on others, a.k.a your parents. College Counselor Karina Hirshfield can relate as she states “I always try to save, but it’s not always easy because cost of living is so high (mortgage, utilities, food, children, etc.) and sometimes unexpected things come up.”

The thought of the cost of living can be solved by simply saving less, just because you make $300 every two weeks doesn’t mean you have to save $150. Save what you can, it’ll add up in the long run.

Saving money does not mean that you have to be frugal. You can spend your income provided you pay yourself and save first. By putting a percentage of what you earn in savings you will continuously have money. It doesn’t necessarily mean that one needs to have a steady income, it just means that when one has access to money an amount should be stored away.

Saving money gives protection for unexpected circumstances. If you lose your job at least you have money to sustain your needs until you obtain a new one.

So why do teachers choose to save?

For Hirschfield, the reasons are in the future. “I’d like to accomplish certain goals such as paying for my children’s education and also having enough money for retirement.”

English teacher Larissa Pahomov is also thinking about the long term. “I don’t have a lot of faith that my investment and pension will actually be there for me when I retire… but I still save, because I also don’t think it’s very important to spend money when you have it. As long as you can pay for the basics, that’s enough.”

Saving money has multiple ways of doing so. Both Hirshfield and Pahomov save money through a pension plan but that isn’t the only way. However you choose to save your money is the best way for you, as long as it works. Every penny counts and it’ll all add up.

Teachers Arrested at Protest

December 13, 2016 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Saamir Baker

Staff Writer

On Tuesday, November 29th, two teachers at Science Leadership Academy were arrested in a protest with the organization Fight For 15, a group that wants to raise the minimum wage for workers.

Video of the arrest, posted on Facebook by a fellow district teacher, showed a dramatic scene. Rain was pouring down while protesters screamed “Workers are united!”

Among the 13 total arrested were English Teacher Larissa Pahomov and History Teacher Daniel Symonds. They wanted to fight for what they felt was an important social issue and had no problem doing so.

The arrest was not unexpected.

“Fight for 15 approached my union caucus, and asked who wanted to be arrested,” Ms. Pahomov explained. “So it was a planned arrest. We didn’t KNOW we would be be arrested but knew it was a possibility.”

With the knowledge of it being a planned arrest, the goal was to have 1000 people arrested by the end of the night nationwide. Proudly, that goal was reached and the occurrence even made 11 o’clock news in many areas including Philadelphia.

Immediately after being arrested, Ms. Pahomov and Mr. Symonds were driven to the police station with many other protesters, many of which being workers that only own minimum wage, to the nearest police station. They then were released one by one after being written a citation for failure to disperse, which will be paid for by the national organization FightFor15 which is a part of a service workers union called SEIU. With no charges being placed on them, they will not have anything on their permanent records.

The video was posted online shortly after Mr. Symonds and Ms. Pahomov were put in handcuffs the video. was uploaded to social media where Art Teacher Ms. Hull shared it on her timeline. Two juniors saw it, and decided everyone at Science Leadership Academy should know about what has happened, and the hashtag #FreeMs.PahomovandMr.Symonds was born.

Junior Samuel Dennis saw the post and immediately thought he had to share it. “It was cool to spread awareness about what happened.”

Students were especially intrigued by how calmly Ms. Pahomov was while her hands were being zip-tied. She explained the reason for this: “I was given advice to be as calm as possible so we couldn’t be accused of assaulting a police officer.”

Pahomov also emphasized that the entire protest was peaceful and intentional.

“There was no violence, we were all expecting to be arrested. The main point of this protest was to gain media attention, the fact it gets on the news was more important.”

The next day, Mr. Symonds and Ms. Pahomov wrote a post for their union caucus titled “Why We Fight for 15” which explained their reasoning for participating in the action.

“As union members, we stand in solidarity with all workers seeking a fair wage for their hard work. And as teachers, we take up this fight not just as employees, but as caretakers of the children of Philadelphia. We know that civil disobedience is one way that working people can assert control over their lives, and it’s one way that we can help keep poverty from unraveling the fabric of our families and our city.”

To see educators that are able to support other people’s livelihoods but also try to support children they are and are not teaching by fighting for them to have a stable home life financially and be able to see their parents is amazing in the eyes of their colleagues . Ms. Pahomov mentioned that Principal Chris Lehmann had a positive reaction when he got the news.

“Even though he was in Norway, he became aware of the situation after some faculty confusion, he was very proud and was happy everyone was okay.”

Both teachers are back in their respective classrooms teaching their students, and expect their citations to be taken care of in the coming weeks.

Column: Turn on the News

December 13, 2016 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Caroline Pitone

Staff Writer

During election season, politics is the talk of the country, but even more so for this year’s election. The rivalry between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton has been all over the media. The difference of opinions has split the country. The country went out and voted for who they believed could run our country for the next 4 years. Apparently that is Donald Trump. But does the majority of the country really want him as president?

I have a confession to make: I was not so into politics, I thought it was a tricky topic to talk about. I knew that [describe what you DID know about the election, but I was turned off by the whole thing because [describe what candidates did or said that worried you]. There has been bonds broken over this election. This topic of discussion has been eating people alive and has started social media riots.

Even though I wasn’t paying much attention during the election, I was still surprised when Trump won because… When the election results came out, I decided it would be worth talking to other people like me — who hadn’t taken the election that seriously prior to November 8th.

What did those people have to say?

So what conclusions did I come to after talking to students?

After talking with students, I saw how passionate some were and how uninvolved some were. With that being said, everyone has a different pace and different way of going about things.

The way people sometimes go about things while trying to change someone’s opinion, if they are strong about it, is difficult. If you didn’t know already, people are very stubborn, and trying to demand a vote for Hillary or Trump from another being, is a hard task to conquer. Trying to inform people is a good step, and trying to get people more woke is an amazing step as well.

So why is it good to stay educated on the topic of politics?

Being a good citizen of the U.S. requires active participation when it comes to politics. The habit of constantly shutting out important topics of the nation has progressed over the years. I have gone through not knowing enough about what has been going on, and I have learned a lot from it. Being surrounded by so many people who are involved in the news have opened my eyes. I enjoy debating on politics, because it gives me a different point of view, it is exciting. Even though I will not have the option to vote until the next voting season, I will stay on top of what has been occurring in our political world, instead of hearing the opinions from others.

Review: Moana Redefines the Disney Princess

December 13, 2016 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Deja Harrison

Staff Writer

Beware: unavoidable spoilers in this review!

As a girl growing up, I had the craziest obsession with Disney princesses. Every year for halloween I was a Disney princess until the age of 12 when I had pretty much did them all from Cinderella to Tiana. But as I got older, I noticed the lack of diversity in the princesses I grew up adoring. Disney princesses are typically portrayed as skinny, white and fawning over a prince. This bothered me because I could never relate to the princesses I grew up adoring, none of them looked like me.

This year, however, Disney got my attention again with the release of their latest film. Recently Disney has been trying to mix things up a bit and portray different races and body types of young women.

Their newest princess, Moana, is a polynesian teenager on a mission to save her people from the destruction of the world. Moana is less of a princess and more of a chief to her people on her island of Motunui, which is an early settlement in the North island of New Zealand. She is heir to her father who grooms her into becoming a proper leader of their homeland.

The movie starts with showing a story of how the world was formed: in the beginning Earth was just oceans, until the island goddess Te Fiti came about and used her heart (a small green stone) to create life. Without it all life would die. Her heart was stolen by a shape-shifting demigod named Maui who wanted to give it to humans so that they would be able to create life on their own. Maui was then battled by Te Ka, goddess of lava, for the heart. He loses, leaving him and the heart lost in the ocean. The ocean chooses Moana a few years later to sail the oceans, find Maui, and have him return the heart.

The only problem with this quest — and, being a Disney movie, there has to be some kind of challenge — is that Moana doesn’t know how to sail, and her father won’t let her or anyone else leave the reef because of the dangers of the ocean. Moana finally decides to leave after the sudden death of her grandmother who tells her she has to save their island or it will die because the heart of Te Fiti has not been returned. The rest of the movie revolves around Moana setting out on her quest to save the world. With Maui, her pet rooster Hei Hei, and the ocean as her allies she is unstoppable.

Overall I found the movie very enjoyable. The story that was told is based off a real Polynesian legend about the oceans and islands which I find very interesting. I think that Disney did an amazing job portraying the culture and a young woman of color. Unlike earlier princesses of color like Tiana, Moana doesn’t look or act like every other Disney princess and I think that’s what makes her stand out a lot more. She is strong and doesn’t need a man or anyone else to rescue her, she is the rescuer of her own people. The only negative aspect of this movie is the confusing portrayal of Polynesian and Hawaiian culture. I was very unaware that she was polynesian until I looked at the plot of the movie and it said so; Disney gave the impression that she and her people where Hawaiian. I wish they would have done a better job of making it very clear that she was Polynesian and not Hawaiian because children should know the difference. Still the movie completely exceeded all of my expectations and I applaud all those involved. It is a very good movie for children of different culture, body types, and goals to watch.

Boys Basketball Preview and Insight to the Captains

December 13, 2016 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Aaron Watson-Sharer

Staff Writer

It’s December, which means the SLA boys basketball team has embarked on another season with the goal of making the playoffs, a feat the team has yet to achieve.

This year’s team team is led by senior captains Lewis Ford and Benjamin Simon. The duo became co-captains as juniors and have thrived in the role. Last year, Lewis and Benjamin both averaged around 20 points per game.

Workouts have been going since September, and the season kicks off December 13th and the captains are more than excited to play with their team. It’s “crazy” how fast the four years have progressed, says co-captain Lewis Ford. But for the seniors, a lot has changed in that time. They’ve gone from vital role players to the face of the Rockets.

“We’ve grown closer we learned how to work with each other and communicate better,” said Ford. In a game like basketball, understanding your teammates and team chemistry is just as important as talent. The Rockets appear to be doing well in both departments.

Being senior captains isn’t just a title, it’s a responsibility. Not just leading many team practices and events, but they work on their craft while helping improve the rest of the team. “You need stay confident and understand making a mistake is ok,” Simon said.

Ford has made freshman player Micah Jack his personal project. “He handles the ball we’ll, he has some work to do, but has all of the tools to succeed in Division E.”

The team has the primary goal of becoming the first SLA boys basketball team to make the playoffs. . In Division E, facing schools that are larger? Have something we don’t? explain] clinching a spot has eluded SLA in previous years, but the boys have their hopes up as many of the division’s best players at rival schools graduated in the spring.

When asked what game was most important, to him, Simon only needed two words “Beating Masterman.” SLA has yet to win one against Masterman and our captains have friends on the Masterman team they’d “love” to beat.

Our captains’ careers aren’t ending senior year. Or at least their senior year of high school. Both are receiving immense interest to play collegiate basketball and they both have expressed interest in doing so.

Simon sees a career in basketball. “I hope to play at the D3 level, I’ve gained interest from some schools. I want to find a career in coaching college basketball. The assistant coaches get to strictly focus on developing players.” Ford sees a similar future. “I want to play in college then play professionally. I want to make a living off this sport. I want to see the world through a basketball lense.”

So does their Coach Kay. Kay believes they both “can play at the next level.” “Colleges, especially at the D3 level are looking for shooters, and Ben is a shooter.” Lewis received similar praise. “Lewis is an athlete, on of the best I’ve had and he’ll be able to keep up with the fast pace of college basketball.” Coach Kay is very excited for the futures in store for his captains.

The Rockets are very ready to contend in Division E in 2016. They are prepared to face CAPA high school in the season opener on Tuesday, December 13th at Marian Anderson Recreation Center in South Philadelphia. “We got a game Tuesday and we just gotta look at the board one game at a time.” Coach Kay has faith in this team and there seems to be little reason not to. With a team consisting of passionate seniors and prospective freshmen, there’s a lot to like about these Rockets.

December Schedule-