Trouble in paradise, beyond the beach
September 26, 2007
By: Mallory St. Claire <mstclaire@hilite.org>
Sometime in my hectic summer flurry, I was carted off by the family to a weeklong vacation in the Virgin Islands. More specifically, we beached ourselves on the island of St. Croix.
I can’t complain. I was out on the beach everyday sipping virgin piña coladas and staring out at a flawless turquoise ocean. I had lunch in my swimsuit, wore breezy sundresses all day, got massages, snorkeled off the beach hunting for barracudas and the temperature never slipped below 80.
However, the one thing I looked for from the moment we stepped off our plane, was life outside of the trussed up resort. Anyone who has been to the Caribbean as a tourist can attest to this – the living conditions of the island’s citizens are, plainly, crap.
I’ve never felt so fortunate and so guilty in my life when we drove through St. Croix’s capital, Christianstead. The old British buildings and forts are still there as tourist locations, but all the windows and doors had bars on them. Outside of the main street, almost every building I passed was crumbling, yards were filled with trash and many of the fences had razor wire coming across the top. The road to our resort was past an elementary school that was fully enclosed with chain-link fences, sported peeling paint, and had no air conditioning.
St. Croix is a territory of the United States. Like Puerto Rico and Guam, St. Croix isn’t a state, doesn’t vote, and doesn’t pay taxes, but it is technically United States soil. For someone whose never set foot outside of her country, I definitely felt like I was in a third-world nation rather than a dependency of America.
I couldn’t help but wonder what two cents the government is throwing into this mess. Granted, with the war in Iraq and elections coming up, a surviving dependency is hardly on anyone’s mind. Most people don’t know where St. Croix is. I know I didn’t.
But, gradually, I found something interesting on the island – oil. The northern tip of the island is covered with oilrigs sucking the black gold out day and night. Aren’t countries with oil resources supposed to be ostentatiously rich, Saudi Arabia?
However, oil isn’t a conclusion to leap to, with gas being half as expensive as it is here. The tourism business, on the other hand – where most resorts are owned by white families and corporations – don’t seem to be giving much back to the community, yet are capable of providing luxurious expenditures to the visitors. My resort, for example, was owned by a wealthy European family for eight generations and was formerly a slave sugar plantation. As countries like Monaco can pertain to, tourism isn’t a half-bad way to rake in the ol’ moola.
Traces of our government could be seen here and there amid the pathetic infrastructure. I passed a government decree, by the odd random department, declaring territory here and there. The American flag flew almost haughtily over buildings. Randomly on the road, I saw a few “Freedom for St. Croix” bumper stickers, and I wondered if anyone on the mainland would even care if America let the island slip through its fingers.
Until my trip this summer, I could never fully grasp the amount of influence America has over other countries. St. Croix is an almost perpetual example to the great responsibility our country has. With a few twists of the wrist, we may have created ourselves an island playground at the expense of its citizens. Sadly, it’s not a conscious realization to the degree our country does this. It is almost a second hand haze, and it wouldn’t be overkill to say we don’t know our own strength.
Youngsters, such as I, don’t know this either. My brother, who’s younger than me and mightily more culturally aware, was also surprised. It doesn’t seem like the vast tangle of international relations is going to be resolved by simply sitting down and not thinking we have an affect on anything. For America to begin solving its problems abroad, it seems that we should start at home, in our personal awareness.
On one of our last nights in Christianstead, we were talking with our cab driver. He brought up the topic of how American tourists are calling their children “kids” and how citizens of St. Croix are now starting to do so too. It was a small comment on variation in language. We all agreed it was a subconscious alteration, and he felt that it was demeaning. But because the American tourists were using that word, citizens of St. Croix had now started using “kid.”
“America leads, and the world follows,” the cab driver said.
Yes indeed, but lead carefully.
Setting their sights beyond school
September 26, 2007
By: Meher Hamad <mhamad@hilite.org>
AP Biology teacher Thomas Maxam has more hobbies than you can imagine one person to have. He collects vintage motorcycles, races motorboats, bikes on both dirt trails and roads and flies remote control airplanes to name a few. If that isn’t cool enough, Maxam rides a motorcycle to school almost every day. Yet, his interests don’t end there: he loves to travel and take pictures, and he also has a strong interest in stereo systems. But few students would know this much in depth about a fellow teacher. Even less would know what their teachers do after school.
Most students are at loss for words when asked questions about their teachers, and not because of awe and admiration. They simply have no idea. “I don’t know, I never really thought about it,” said junior Annie Wu, “I think one of my teachers might trap animals.”
This raises an interesting question over why students know so little about their teachers outside of school. Contrary to the popular myth, teachers do have a life outside of school. “I have plenty of hobbies outside of school. I’m pretty busy,” said Maxam.
Since most high school students hold their teachers in high esteem, they can’t imagine them as being young at any point. Art teacher Michael Lee was an avid surfer in past years and still loves the outdoors today. “I enjoy camping, biking and Rollerblading on the weekends,” said Lee. Besides his outdoor activities, Lee paints murals and is currently working on one downtown. “I basically get hired privately and get business by word of mouth,” said Lee. To add to his list of activities, Lee is also an avid Phish fan. “I once traveled to Maine to see them in concert,” said Lee.
With so many out of school activities, where is the gap from teachers to their students? Maxam makes sure to let his students know about his pastimes. His walls are covered with posters of vintage bikes and racing boats. “My students are pretty aware of my hobbies, considering they cover my walls,” said Maxam.
As an art teacher, Lee ties in his mural painting with his curriculum. “It really shows my students that there is a future in art. I’m constantly surrounded by art.”
Lee and Maxam are unique in their involving students with their hobbies. “I put teaching and my hobbies together, I try to mix them in with what I teach,” said Maxam.
Unfortunately, not all teachers do this. Sophomore Elizabeth Molleston barely knew any facts about her teachers. “I don’t really know what they do outside of school, besides hanging out with their kids,” said Molleston.
Most teachers seem to be in the dark when it comes to how their students perceive them. “I think they seem me as a laid back, easy going guy,” said Lee, “Otherwise, I don’t really know.” Maxam appeared just as lost. “Ask them yourself,” he said. Perhaps it’s the lack of communication between teachers and their students concerning their out of school lives that leaves both sides of the party at loss. “The only way I know about what teachers do is if they tell me or I see pictures on their desk,” said Molleston. Although Lee tries to incorporate his artwork with the classroom, he doesn’t talk about his hobbies as such. “If it relates to class, I’ll talk about it, but otherwise I try not to talk too much about myself,” said Lee.
Students do have an interest in teachers’ hobbies, contrary to popular teacher belief. “I don’t really think the kids want to hear about me all that much,” said Lee.
“I kind of do wonder what teachers do sometimes, I guess it wouldn’t be bad to know about it,” said Molleston.
Can the gap between teachers and students ever be bridged? With teachers such as Lee and Maxam, there is hope.
The Essential 55 inspires with power of a great mentor
September 26, 2007
By: Maria Lamagna <mlamagna@hilite.org>
Future lawyers, doctors, artists or businesspeople beware. If you read The Essential 55 by award-winning teacher Ron Clark, you may want to become one yourself.
The book is a manual of sorts, a list of 55 expectations that Clark has for the students in his fifth-grade classes. Each rule is explained in detail, with anecdotes of Clark’s experiences that highlight each rule’s relevance.
While it is a how-to book in a way, The Essential 55 is no Teaching for Dummies. Clark includes a personal story from his years of teaching for practically every rule, which allows the book to read more like Chicken Soup for the Soul. Clark writes about several of his many experiences in his North Carolina and Harlem classrooms. A few of these stories include his dealing with difficult parent-teacher conferences, being able to surprise his class with a free trip to Washington, D.C., and perhaps most importantly, having fun while implementing discipline and raising his students’ test scores dramatically.
The book can be helpful not only to teachers, but to students, parents, or really anyone concerned with improving his lifestyle and day-to-day etiquette. This is mostly because the rules in 55 don’t just apply to teaching; there are several that at first seem to have little to do with the classroom. Of course, Clark incorporates practical rules such as “follow along when we read together in class” and “answer all written questions with a complete sentence.” However, he also taught his often poverty-stricken and closed-minded students rules like “learn from your mistakes and move on,” “be the best person you can be,” and even “make eye contact” and “no talking in the movie theatre during the movie.”
In the crop of self-help and how-to books that inevitably lines the shelves of every book store, it is refreshing to find one that works, and has the results to prove it. It is nice to find one that’s easy to read, as it’s written in words that would be effortless for even Clark’s fifth-grade students to understand.
Clark’s story is inspiring, and the rules seem surprisingly easy to implement. After reading the book, the rules are hard to forget. The book has become a New York Times bestseller and provided inspiration for “The Ron Clark Story,” a movie in which Matthew Perry stars as Clark. The Essential 55 provides an uplifting look at American education, or at least what American education can be with the help of exceptional teachers.
“Emperor’s Club” plot cliched but acting a plus for viewers
September 26, 2007
By: Min Qiao <mqiao@hilite.org>
At some point in our lives, all of us have been faced with ethical dilemmas where we have to choose between doing the right thing and compromising our morals to gain the upper hand. “Emperor’s Club” is a movie based on Ethan Canin’s short story “The Palace Thief” that conveys the conflict between the ideal and the reality.
This movie begins in the early 1970s at a fictional private high school, Saint Benedict’s Academy, where William Hundert (Kevin Kline), a passionate and principled classics professor, not only teaches about Ancient Western Civilization but also strives to instill a moral sense of responsibility in his students. However, Hundert’s clear ethical lines of right and wrong are smudged with the arrival of Sedgewick Bell (Emile Hirsch), the rebellious and arrogant son of a senior senator. Compelled by a responsibility to help the troubled boy, Hundert compromises his own moral values to secure Bell a spot as one of the top three finalists in the annual Julius Caesar competition.
At first, “Emperor’s Club” seems like just another average film among the pool of movies including “Mr. Holland’s Opus” and “Dead Poet’s Society” that tells a tale of the latest reincarnation of the world’s best teacher. Like all the other movies, “Emperor’s Club” shows us the positive impact a teacher can have on his students. But the more intriguing story is a tragedy that studies the subtle but long-lasting impact of the teacher’s single moral lapse and the effect it has on the ethical development of his student. At the core of this movie is a crucial message, and that is to live a life of virtue and responsibility, regardless of how much one can gain by lying and cheating.
Hirsch, one of the most talented rising stars, does an excellent job of making young Bell appear to be charming and likable to the fictional characters while clearly revealed as conceited and devious to the audience. Hirsch’s portrayal of Bell is believable and gives the audience a genuine impression that Bell is a modern-day Machiavellian genius.
Similarly, Kline gives a convincing and deeply appealing performance as Hundert, the noble teacher who struggles to keep to his strict moral code and is ultimately a flawed character because of his lapse in judgement. Kline’s subtle performance makes Hundert a complex and layered character. One of the most revealing moments in the movie is during the Julius Caesar rematch when Hundert realizes that Bell has cheated, once again in an attempt to come out on top. The scene becomes even more poignant when Hundert confronts Bell, who responds with “Who gives a s***?”. Kline has outdone himself again and does a fabulous job of conveying the internal turmoil Hundert feels when he realizes the key role he played in molding Bell into the beguiling tactician that his student has become.
Although, the ending of this movie is unexpected, setting it apart from all the other “great-teacher” movies, the story leading up to it was, frankly, too predictable. The dreary romantic subplot between Hundert and Elizabeth (Embeth Davidtz) is completely out of place and does nothing but detract from the main theme of the story. The parallelism presented in the two different time periods was just a bit too much foreshadowing that only contributed to the predictability of this film.
Overall, I would give this movie a B+ given that the plot was not the most original but the excellent performances by all of the actors really gave this film its uniqueness. Perhaps most important is the portrayal of a conflict that all of us can relate to. While most of us would like to be the William Hunderts of the world, the fact of the matter is that we may be more like Sedgewick Bell. It is a constant internal battle that we all face every day and this movie really shows that even the best of us have moral lapses.
National Merit Scholarship program honors 38 students
September 26, 2007
Find out more about the National Merit Semifinalists and read their bios.
By: Jaclyn Chen <jchen@hilite.org>
After scoring well on the PSAT sophomore year, senior Kelsey Collins said she decided to take the exam a bit more seriously her junior year. She said she took a practice test and got a good night’s rest. Her work paid off, and she is now one of 37 National Merit Semifinalists here.
“It was important for me because it’s a really big deal to get one of those (National Merit) scholarships,” Collins said.
Principal John Williams said students, like Collins, must combine natural smarts with a solid work ethic in order to achieve National Merit.
“These students should be thankful to have the kind of ability that they do, and they should be proud because they applied themselves to do well on the PSAT,” Williams said.
Each fall, the National Merit Scholarship Program designates about 16,000 students from around the nation as Semifinalists. Semifinalists score in the top half percent of the state on the PSAT. To become a Finalist and eligible for corporate and university scholarships, a Semifinalist must fill out an application, write an essay and receive a letter of recommendation from his or her counselor. The Finalists of the program will then be announced in February.
Semifinalist designation is based on the PSAT which has three sections: critical reading, math and writing. Each section has a full score of 80 points, with a combined total of 240. The cut-off this year in Indiana was 213. Williams said that sometimes one question can mean the difference between making or missing the cut-off, so a few years ago, he began scheduling a meeting for all juniors who scored within range of the cut-off as sophomores to encourage them to pay extra attention during testing. The year following the first meeting, the number of Semifinalists increased by 10 students.
Of the 15,000 Finalists selected in February, approximately 8,200 will receive National Merit and corporate and college sponsored scholarships. Collins said that she understood the importance of the PSAT because scholarships can range from a few hundred dollars to full college tuition.
The previous record set here was 26 Semifinalists from the 2005-2006 school year. In addition to this year’s 37 Semifinalists, another 36 were commended for scoring near the 213 cut-off. Carmel boasts the most in Indiana, but numbers as high as 70 from a single school are not unheard of. Regardless, Williams said that he doesn’t focus on just the numbers but rather on whether this school is maximizing the potential of the students.
“As a school, we just want to ask, ‘Are we challenging kids and preparing them in the proper environment?’” Williams said. “If the answer is yes, then the numbers will just take care of themselves.”
Teaching as a job often seen as unesteemed
September 26, 2007
By: Michael Wang <mwang@hilite.org>
I still remember clearly my sixth grade social studies teacher who taught in an abstract random way. The problem was I know with absolute certainty that I am a concrete sequential student. I was extremely out of my comfort zone during the first several weeks, because he would let us have class time where we could do anything, and he would make us do assignments that involved using our imagination, such as when he wanted us to emulate Michelangelo and try to draw a portion of the Sistine Chapel while laying on the floor beneath our desks.
I have to admit, I was initially scared because I prefer structured activities and my imagination is literally evaporating as we speak. But, you know what? He was probably one of my favorite teachers, because even though he was abstract random, he tried his hardest to modify his teaching methods to suit all of his students by doing a hands-on activity one day and note-taking the other, and his efforts to do so were almost tangible.
Now I’m in high school and my friends and I often discuss what careers we hope to pursue in life. We say we want to become doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs, professional athletes, actors/actresses or even models.
However, we almost never mention wanting to become teachers.
In the article “Leaving teachers behind causes schools to lag,” which was published in The Indianapolis Star on Sept. 3, retired teacher Beverly Farrell stated that teaching is an underpaid and disrespected vocation.
In elementary school all my friends wanted to become teachers. I know I wanted to be a teacher in first grade. In fact, my sisters Michelle and Jessica, who are in second and fourth grade respectively, still want to become teachers.
But why does that change as students begin middle and high school?
A doctor has a certain clientele: those who are ill. A lawyer has a certain clientele: those who are mistreated. And a teacher has a certain clientele: an amalgamation of students with “every kind of need, want and expectation,” according to Farrell.
Toward the end of elementary school, we are impressed with the need to receive good grades, whether by our parents or by ourselves. We not only want to have fun now, but we also want to learn in the process.
Usually in school, a teacher’s teaching method is similar to his own learning method. However, the majority of teenagers are impressed with this need to learn and the students who learns differently from the way their teacher teaches will probably not learn as well in that class as the students who learns similarly to the way that their teacher teaches. Thus, disrespect and criticism of that teacher occurs.
Teaching is a disrespected vocation, because it has to serve such a varied clientele, one whose needs, wants and expectations are different from another’s. Do doctors, lawyers and even models have to juggle all these needs, wants and expectations all on one silver platter? The answer is obvious. Doctors want to help their patients recover. Lawyers want their clients to get retribution. Models want to walk down the runways of Paris, Milan and New York and grace the covers of magazines. However, from abstract random students to concrete sequential students, a teacher is expected to teach them all. Sometimes teachers lean slightly toward one group more than another, depending on what their own learning methods originally were. The problem arises because the one group of students isn’t learning as well as another group of students and that group of students begins to disrespect the particular teacher.
You have to realize, though, that all teachers try their hardest to modify their teaching methods to suit all their students’ needs, wants and expectations. Personally all my teachers since elementary school have tried to mix their class itinerary from day to day, so one day we would do hands-on activities and the next we would take notes. Teachers have tried their hardest to teach effectively, because in the end, their greatest joy comes from witnessing their students make improvements and interacting with them, and now it is your job as students to try your hardest to learn effectively.
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