Features

Ella Petersen

Staff Writer

The end of the school year is always full of activities. As classes come to an end, teachers scramble to find things for their students to do while they attend school for the number of days required to pass.

This year, there is a new set of activities for the underclassmen. “The Week Without Walls” is a whole week dedicated to planned pastimes for students to enjoy with their teachers.

The list of things to do was sent out to advisories last week so students can pick what they want to participate in. Some of them include hiking in Wissahickon Valley, board and card games, local college tours, and first aid/CPR training.

Melanie Manuel, Spanish teacher at SLA, explained the idea behind it: “At the school where I taught in San Francisco, California, we had Week Without Walls the week before spring break. All the teachers and students looked forward to it each year. Week Without Walls was the time of year when I would take my students abroad. My first year I took them to the US-Mexico border and my second year I took them to Guatemala. I loved Week Without Walls and had always wanted to bring the concept to the schools where I worked after I left San Francisco. And now it’s finally happening!”

Ms. Manuel shared examples with the other teachers of activities from the Week Without Walls at her old school and it helped them pick their own ideas. They brainstormed things that could showcase their passions so that they could share them with their students.

Orlando Aguayo, a freshman at SLA, is very excited about the new event at SLA: “I chose the college tours because I just can’t wait to have the college experience. I also chose the CPR training because I would like to be able to help somebody if they had drowned. I think the week is a great idea, the choices are great in my opinion.”

Ms. Manuel hopes that this becomes a yearly things at SLA as it was one of her favorite events at her old school. “I just want everyone to have fun sharing in the teachers’ passions. It’s a great way for students to know a different facet of who we are. It’s going to be a great week that I hope becomes an SLA tradition!”

Mekhi Granby

Staff Writer

 

On May 7, 2017 the people of Philadelphia came together for a 10 mile run along the very busy Broad Street. It started from Central High School all the way down to the Navy Yard.

As many of SLA’s runners participated in this run, SLA Media thought it would be interesting to see what they thought about it.

Surprisingly, the majority of students who ran didn’t have many bad things to say about it. When asked what the worst part of the race was Junior Gavin Lane expressed “The worst part, well, there wasn’t really that much that happened that I could say was “bad” during the run. Waiting for the bus after the run was a pain though. We had to wait a while.”

There were also some really uplifting and joyful moments according to Sophomore Cynthia To as she said “The best parts of the race for me was seeing my family cheer me on, the younger kids giving me high-fives, and sprinting to the finish line.”

This year was staff member Jeremy Spry’s 9th time taking on the Broad Street Run. “Running Broad Street is like a 10-mile block party,”  said Spry.

About 40,000 total runners participated in the 2017 Broad Street Run including 16 current SLA Center City students, about 8 alumni, and a few staff members.

Junior Kaamil Jones ended up running into former Governor of Pennsylvania Ed Rendell during the race and managed to take a picture with him. As much as he wanted to stick around and chat with him, Kaamil wanted to beat his time so he continued running right after the picture was taken.

Overall, the Blue Cross Broad Street Run was a very successful this year as many people of the SLA community enjoyed it and plan to run again next year.

Maddie Etxebeste

Staff Writer

When twelfth grade arrives, Seniors have to think about their future. Therefore, they start applying to colleges. But, how do they feel about the process?

As Senior Aaron Watson-Sharer said: “It’s extremely stressful because you are trying to do the best for your future”.

Senior Jared Bauer explained “The process is really frustrating, especially when you have to deal with the deadlines. You also have to be careful, project yourself in the right way, etc.”

The process of college acceptances can be broken into several phases, described below.

The Waiting

World History Teacher and Senior Advisor Jason Todd added: “It’s a nervous tension when they are waiting for acceptances. For example today, many of my advisees were going to receive the acceptance or rejection from important colleges, such as the University of Pennsylvania,” he said.

“I’m glad that many of my advisees who applied for Drexel University were accepted and it was very exciting. On the other hand, we also have very hard conversations with students who got into the colleges they wanted to but they can’t afford it.”

Bauer explained “I have already been accepted by five colleges, and it feels good because you know that they are appreciating your work for the past couple years; I was really excited when I knew that I had been accepted by UPenn. But anyway the waiting makes me more anxious, I have also noticed I have less hours of sleep, and I can’t focus on my work.”

Bauer also expressed some concern about the process and how it affects social life at SLA:

“I think that we are a really good class because we support each other but sometimes it’s impossible not to be jealous of some people who have been accepted by certain colleges.”

Dealing With Senior Year

Seniors also try harder in their last year, to earn good grades and be able to opt for the best colleges. They also have to take their SATs, which makes their year even more stressful as Bauer explained: “The SAT exam is extremely stressful because it can dictate the rest of your life.”

Todd said what he noticed as a Senior teacher and advisor that they are sometimes not able to concentrate well, and that:

“I can see that they are stressed for other things like college acceptances and not only benchmarks when we are in class. I couldn’t describe how do they actually feel, but we, teachers and Senior advisors, are the ones who feel bad for them.”

The Acceptances

Most of the students are yet receiving news from the colleges they applied to and some have already been accepted by their dreamed college. For example, Senior Jared Bauer, even if he didn’t get accepted in all the schools he applied to he got accepted into eight, one of them being the Wharton Business School in the University of Pennsylvania, which was his top choice.

Senior Imani Weeks also stated “I was denied at 2 or 3 schools, so I was initially disappointed. But the other acceptances counter acted that and I was able to focus on them to see where I will go”.

Many of the Seniors feel better now that they know the colleges they have been accepted to. In the end, Weeks got into Harvard and accepted their offer.

“It’s a giant weight off my shoulders now that I know what schools I was accepted into,” she said. “My anxiety is relieved. The anxiety of ‘Am I good enough?’ has worn off with my acceptance letters. It feels nice not to have to stress about it anymore.”

Bauer’s response was similar.

“I feel relief. A burden that has been weighing on me for years, especially this last year, was lifted off my shoulders. I did not enjoy the waiting and even if I hadn’t gotten in where I want (which I did) I think I would be happy that the process is over.” explained Bauer.

The Waitlists and Denials

Not everything is happiness and joy, disappointment is or has also been present in Seniors. Being denied or waitlisted “feels the same way” as Watson-Sharer said.

“I bet most people feel great relief. In my case I feel disappointment because the outcome I have is not what I sought,” he said.

Most of the Seniors explain how being denied or waitlisted feels like being told that “they’re not good enough to enter their college”.

“Getting denied is not fun,” Bauer agreed. “The schools that denied me I don’t really mind as much now because I’m where I wanted. But at the time it was very frustrating because I personally felt that I did all I could to get into these places.”

He also explained a different situation for his some of his friends: “I am disappointed for some of my friends who worked very hard and didn’t get in where they wanted. This has stopped this time from being completely joyful for me.”

Even if being waitlisted or denied is a tough pill to swallow, it should just be a motivation for students to work even harder and show to the colleges which denied them what they have missed out on.

“I just have to keep striving to do better,” Watson-Sharer said. “The only person I can improve upon myself was yesterday and I keep this in mind.”

Meymey Seng

Staff Writer

What is the transfer student policy at Science Leadership Academy? For students who apply during the regular application cycle, the process involves the student having an interview with a teacher and current SLA student. After the interview, it takes a few months to get the results. For transfer students who appear at other times, the steps have a similar process, although there can be a few differences.

If there is space, when a student or family contacts the school during the year requesting attendance, an interview will occur. Depending on what time of year it is, current students will not be able to assist in the interview, resulting in it only being with a  teacher who is able to speak to the student.

“It is not our normal interview process, however the standards of the interview still remains the embodiment of it,” said Excellence Coordinator Jeremy Spry.

The process for international students is even more different. If they are in a rotary program or there is a case of a family relocating, they would communicate directly with Mr. Lehmann or Mr. Gerwer. Others may send an email and a Skype interview could possibly occur.

Transfers may have an easier time as family members, as there have been legacies of siblings and relatives who have attended SLA. Although, it is acknowledged that there are some students who do not get in.

“We don’t prioritize siblings or people with connections, we do try to keep family together if at all possible, but they still have to meet our criteria,” said Jeremy Spry. “There are not a lot of transfer openings at SLA, most of the kids that start with us, stay with us.”

“I definitely do think that the transfer students who are not a respectful fit for SLA, do stand out because the way people act in our school could be perceived as weird,” said sophomore Lauren Nicolella. “New students who are not used to that may feel tense and as if they don’t fit in with the others around them.”

A sophomore international student from Spain named Maddi Etxebeste is one example of this alternative process.

“My mom was working at another school, and they recommended SLA because it is one of the greatest schools,” she explained. She waited for Jeremy to call her on Google Hangouts; and since she is more comfortable speaking Spanish, the counselor Ms. Hirshfield conducted the interview. With her interview completed and along with the submission of her grades, overall it took a month or less to hear back after the interview.

Another student, Ella Petersen, decided to transfer from Central High during her sophomore year. She had been accepted into SLA after eighth grade, but chose Central because her sister and a majority of her friends chose Central too.

“I realized that SLA sounded like more of a good fit for me. I didn’t like the teaching style at Central. It’s a great school, but it wasn’t for me,” she said. Her sister, who was in her senior year at Central, also wanted to transfer and it was very last minute. Luckily, her step-mother called a week before school started and was able to get an interview with Mr. Lehmann. Since time was very tight, they heard the results right after the interview and went to create the class schedules with former science teacher Ms. Owens. “I’m glad that I chose to transfer to SLA because I am much happier here.”
Even though the process of enrolling in SLA may not be the exact same for everyone, the goal is for the process to be fair. The school ensures that transfer students are chosen in the same way as regular eighth graders by using the same prompt and guidelines.