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SLAMedia is a publication of the news for the Science Leadership Academy community. Writers come from the student body in 10th, 11th, and 12th grades. We work in unison to create a functioning paper with biweekly postings on a variety of events.

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Features

More Election Mayhem

December 8, 2016 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Fatu Castillo

Staff Writer

If you were hoping for Presidential Election to end after Election Day, then you’re surely use to disappointment, because this election just can’t seem to end. For weeks after the results were declared, both violent and peaceful protesters had been ubiquitous in the streets of nearly every major city to speak out against the Trump victory.

Defiant citizens flooded the streets, brandishing signs with the words Not My President and Dump Trump, demanding that their voices be heard.

But even now, as these protesters slowly stopped flooding the streets, they haven’t let their small rebellion die out. One of their main complaints is that Clinton won the popular vote, but not the election itself, due to the format of the electoral college. As a result, over four million citizens have signed Electoral College: Make Hillary Clinton President on December 19th, a trending petition of Change.org.

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The petition, in essence, would have the Electoral College cast their ballots on December 19th in accordance to the popular vote and clinch a Clinton victory.

Daniel Brezenoff, the creator of the petition, urged to Electoral College to vote with their consciences. In the his letter addressed to them Brezenoff points to the original purpose of the Electoral College, to fairly represent the will of citizens, and Trump’s lack of qualifications for the Presidency.

In the write-up for the petition, Brezenoff states that, “Never in our Republic’s 240 years has our President had no previous experience in an office of public trust, be it elected or appointed, civilian or military.”

But as vigorous as Brezenoff argument may be, does his petition hold any merit?

Junior Ajanean Mills, who supports the petition, states, “I think that it’s not fair that if a candidate doesn’t win over specific states then they’ll probably lose the election just because those states have more electoral college votes than other states.”

By contrast, Freshman David Hammond is skeptical if the petition, even with over four million signatures, has the power to change the results.

“I don’t know if that petition alone has the power to overturn the Electoral College because it’s based on science and there’s a reason to have it,” Hammond explained, “but I think that since the people voted one way over the Electoral College should definitively be taken into consideration”.

History Teacher Jason Todd offered his take on the situation as well. “I think there’s a lot of difficulties trying to change it now for this election because the electoral college has been in place and it’s the system we’ve used for over 200 years.”

Todd points out a possible legal issue  with  the petition, “It’s the system that the candidates campaigned under, I think that if you were to override the Electoral College in this election then it would look like you’re changing the rules because you don’t like the outcome.”

With the Elector vote day of December 19th looming closer and closer, it’s a toss up of whether the petition will reach its goal of six million signatures. Even if it fails to reach its goal, the election still has no end in sight as Green Party candidate Jill Stein had reignited the flame by calling for a recount in three key swing states.

Filed Under: Features, Uncategorized

Philadelphia Gears Up For the Holidays

December 4, 2016 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Lauren Nicolella

Staff Writer

It’s around that time of year again, when the temperature gets icy cold and we grab warmth from the wool gloves and cups we grasp in our hands. The Philadelphia area has a great way of introducing everyone into the holiday spirit, first by the traditional and familiar tunes played on B101.

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Christmas Village

The city itself starts to begin the events that native Philadelphia citizens have become familiar with. Christmas Village here in the city officially begins on November 24th, ending on December 24th, just on JFK Plaza. This allows people to experience a bit of a German Christmas. The admission is free, but there are little shops, including authentic foods and arts and other traditional items from Europe and different places in the world that will allow you to spend money.

You are able to attend the Christmas Village 11am-7pm on Sundays and Thursdays, and 11am-8pm on Fridays and Saturdays. It is also open on Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Christmas Eve.

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Skating Rinks

Already open to the public is the Rothman Ice Skating Rink, located at Dilworth Park, which is on the side of City Hall. This rink is fairly new to Philadelphia, with its opening in November of 2014. It costs $3 for kids aged 10 and under, and is $5 for adults. To rent a pair of skates, it is $10. The days to skate are Monday-Thursday (noon to 9pm), Friday (noon-11pm), Saturday (11am-11pm) and Sunday (11am-8pm).

Another popular ice skating rink is the Blue Cross RiverRink Winterfest, opening the same day as the Christmas Village. The rink is located a bit farther away than the Rothman Rink, being on Columbus Boulevard near Penn’s Landing. It costs $3 per person, and $10 for skate rental. The Blue Cross Rink is open Monday-Thursday (1pm-10:30pm), Friday (1pm-12:30am), Saturday (11am-12:20am), and Sunday (11am-10:30pm).

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Light Shows

Another popular holiday season event is to visit light shows, Franklin Square putting on two stunning 30 minute shows. On Sunday-Thursdays, the shows will start around 4:30pm-8pm. On Friday-Saturdays, it continues to 9pm. Lots of other areas around the city put up beautiful decorations, like Rittenhouse Square, Penn’s Landing, Macy’s, and even the Comcast Center. Both Macy’s and the Comcast Center have daily shows, 10am to 8pm.

 

Filed Under: Features, Uncategorized

How to Choose the Best Group Messenger for Your Squad

December 2, 2016 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Saamir Baker

Staff Writer

Socially, we all run into the issue of wanting to making group plans often, or have a group of friends that all want to communicate at once — we don’t always have the proper platform to do so. Since there are many different apps out there, I’ll be going over some the apps that I myself use for chatting with my friends. The judging will be on a five star-scale and a short review on it.

Kik: 4 stars

Pros: A formkikat that is my personal favorite but definitely has its own flaws within itself. Very simple usability that can be picked up by anyone. Has feature that is also used by Snapchat where people can scan codes to add each other. Many patches to improve the app. Has games you can play either by yourself or with friends.

Cons: A lot of glitches still occur in this app, despite the many patch updates that happen. There are also a lot of spam bots, or fake accounts that appear and message you. It’s a widespread issues.

GroupMe: 3 starsgroupme

Pros: It’s more professional than the average group chat. You can send documents back and forth. I’ve used it to communicate with a group league for NBA2k.

Cons: The layout is hard to navigate, at least at first. There are a lot of buttons. They include their own emojis which is a plus but I do not like them.

Imessage: 4 stars

Pros: This app is usually the mother of group apps if you have an iPhone (and also have friends with iPhones). Provides a very simplistic view for users. Has many different features to talk without just typing it. For example, gifs. Also has games you can play right inside of the app.

Cons: This app is exclusive to just iPhones which is a plus but also is a mnegative if you are an Android user. If you’re looking for something that requires usernames instead of your number or an email you are looking in the wrong place.

Imo: 3 stars

imePros: Has the unique feature of being able to video call other people. It also includesregular group messaging and personal messaging. Simplistic view.

Cons: The video calling feature is usually terrible quality. Phone calls aren’t always clear.

Note: Also a family favorite for communicating with each other for video chatting. My grandmother uses this as a way to video call us when she wants to.

Filed Under: Features, Uncategorized

Former Teachers: Where Are They Now?

December 2, 2016 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Tamir Harpercollage-2016-12-02-12_26_01

Staff Writer

From SLA to another job — what does it take?

In the past three years, six teachers have left SLA. Some have moved out of the education field, but many have continued working to empower the innovative approach that Science Leadership Academy takes towards teaching and learning.

However, many students don’t know where their favorite teacher (or maybe not so favorite teacher) is doing now that they left SLA.

So where are they now?

This past week, many upperclassman found out the career change of one previous eight year Math Teacher Caitlin Thompson. Many students saw Ms.Thompson greeting students into the classroom of Spanish Teacher Melanie Manuel. Ms. Thompson came back to SLA as a substitute teacher while Ms. Manuel was out.

Ms.Thompson describes her day as “interesting” when teaching 9th graders that didn’t know her.

“Most of the students gave me a big smile when they saw me.  Some didn’t even seem to notice that it was any different.”

That won’t be the last time you see Ms. Thompson. She’s “hoping to sub a few times a month plus sometimes I’ll be stopping by since I work with Mr. Lehmann and Inquiry Schools.” She was back on Friday, December 2nd to sub for Ms. Martin. 

Does that name sound familiar? If so, here’s why. Inquiry Schools is the non profit that was founded by our founding Principal Christopher Lehmann. Mr. Lehmann serves as the Chairman of the Board and Superintendent. Ms. Thompson is not just a substitute for the School District of Philadelphia but she is also the Director of Operations for the group, which “works with educators, parents and students to create and support inquiry-driven, project-based schools with a focus on using modern tools.”

Ms. Thompson isn’t the only previous teacher that works for Inquiry Schools. A teacher that only Seniors know Ms. Diana Laufenberg serves as the Executive Director of Inquiry Schools. While at SLA she served as the Social Studies teacher and Coach of SLA famous Debate team, according to Ms. Laufenberg LinkedIn profile.

Mr. Lehmann explained how he continues to engage teachers that no longer teaches at SLA and previous students about how they feel about seeing Ms. Thompson, Ms. Laufenberg and at times Ms. Dunn who you will learn more about later on, inside our building.

“One of the really wonderful things about SLA is how alumni – students and teachers – stay involved. SLA teachers who have left generally leave either because of a change in their life or because they have a great opportunity to do something else. And generally, they have very strong positive feelings about what we’ve done together, so when there is a chance to work with folks on outside projects, former SLA teachers are a logical group of people to go to. It gives former teachers a chance to stay connected with us, and of course, it keeps us in contact with people we love.”

Junior Deja Harris that had Ms.Thompson for two consecutive years for Math. “It feels weird because the person left, they said they were leaving and then they came back so like it’s more confusing than weird.”

Not everybody shares this feeling of confusion. Senior Aaron Watson-Sharer has been at Science Leadership Academy for four years and had the opportunity to be taught by Ms. Dunn and Ms. Thompson.

“It’s something that at first was a tad awkward, but if I enjoyed my tenure at SLA as a teacher I would like to make regular returns. Now it’s just whatever for me, I say hello if I walk past them and that’s that.”

Does he personally think it’s important to keep teachers that left engaged in our school?

“I think it’s up to the teacher. If they feel they want to remain apart of the SLA community we’ll always welcome them back,” said Watson-Sharer. Ms. Dunn and Thompson try their best to remain engaged, so why not?”

In the past, the school has lost English Teachers Meenoo Rami and Alexa Dunn, Spanish Teacher Mark Bey, as well as Science Teachers Rosalind Echols-Kuykendall and Stephanie Owens. Some continue to teach outside of Philadelphia, but others have moved on to a different career. Ms. Rami currently works as a Manager for Minecraft, Mr. Bey works as a New York public school Spanish Teacher, while Ms. Dunn still works for the School District of Philadelphia as a Professional Learning Specialist.

Ms. Echols-Kuykendall continued her educational studies at University of Washington where she is pursuing her Doctorate in Oceanography and Ms. Owens currently lives and teaches in San Francisco, California.

Where will you be once you leave SLA? Maybe you will be back as a Teacher!

Homework for tonight, readers: Google what Oceanography is! 🙂

Filed Under: Features, Uncategorized

Students Travel to Puerto Rico

November 28, 2016 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

It all started last year with an advisory memo about an opportunity for juniors to be a Drexel Student Fellow. After the application process, 5 students were chosen. Working with a Drexel professor and PhD candidate, we researched created research papers based around the UN Sustainability Goals. We then presented our findings for the International Conference on Urban Education (ICUE) in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

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We first arrived in San Juan on November 4 and headed to the resort hosting the conference. The resort was right on the beach and there were different activities that we could participate in.

In the three-day conference, our first day was spent viewing other paper sessions. It gave us a chance to view other presenters at ICUE and see which presentation styles made sense. “I was nervous about the presentation until I actually saw other people presenting at the conference,” said senior Isabel Medlock. We were also able to meet the five undergraduate education majors who were in a similar program at UNC Charlotte and Queen’s’ University of Charlotte.

puerto-rico

Attending the conference wasn’t the only thing we did while in San Juan. We were also able to visit elementary, middle, and high schools in San Juan. While at the elementary school, we read to students. We then donated the books to the school and stopped by the middle school next door. At the middle school we played with students and donated more books to the classrooms.

The last day at the conference was our chance to present. We each had different topics that we focused on. I presented on food deserts and related health risks. Isabel Medlock focused on mental health and how it affects undocumented immigrants. Eva Karlen spoke on how to eradicate our mindset of wastefulness. Xavier Carroll’s presentation was about urban community impact on water pollution. The last presentation on childhood marriage was by Tahmidul Bhuiyan.

This opportunity gave us a chance to present our research to a greater audience. We were able to discover not only things that we could be interested in later in life, but we were able to see our presentation and research styles. We were given the chance to conduct extensive research, allowing us to have experience before going to college. Xavier Carroll couldn’t have summed it better, “It was a big opportunity and I loved it all.”

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Filed Under: Features

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Features

New Teacher Profile: Alexis Clancy

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