Summer Reading Torture

It’s the last week of summer, the sun is out, the beach is calling your name, but you are stuck inside frantically trying to read all three of your summer reading books. This is what has happened to many Pres girls this summer and every summer since 1982.

Even though we are supposed to read our summer reading books at the beginning of the summer, most of us do not. And it’s not because we’re lazy. The few of us who decide to get a head start on reading usually forget most of the content by the time of the test. It teaches us that procrastination is something that we have to do in order to do well on it. This forces us to try to cram our three books into the last few weeks—or sometimes days—of summer.

Many Pres girls just end up going on websites like Sparknotes instead of reading because they are not able to finish reading all three books. We try any way possible to get around reading, instead of actually reading the books like the teachers want us to do. As a result, summer reading does not help with our reading literacy like the English teachers want to happen. Thus, summer reading does not help us at all.

This cramming before school starts adds to our already stressed out lives. Summer is supposed to be a time to relax and rejuvenate before school starts. We should therefore not have to stress about finishing three books and doing well on the test about them. All summer long there is a constant nagging in the back of our brain to finish reading. This makes complete relaxation almost impossible.

Our brother school, Bellarmine, acknowledged this added stress and decided to stop making their boys read books over the summer two years ago. It has improved their students’ summers and made them more productive. “It frees up more time to do more other things academically, like focusing on the SAT’s,” said Greg Kenter, a senior at Bellarmine. “As a football player, it really helps me focus on my football and what I have to do to make my team better and get better personally.”

Presentation needs to follow Bellarmine’s lead and stop forcing us to read summer reading books that adults choose for us. We are just as smart as Bellarmine and so we need to recognize that they had a brilliant idea when they decided to stop summer reading.

Teachers may argue that reading in the summer is a good thing because they want to make sure our reading skills do not diminish in the summer, but we should be able to read what we want. “As a student I didn’t actually really like summer reading,” admits teacher and Presentation alum Mrs. Rosenthal. “And it wasn’t so much that I didn’t like reading, it was the books being chosen for me. Fahrenheit 451 I remember was a book that I struggled though. They weren’t books that I typically enjoyed.”

Most of us are really busy during the school year and are not able to relax with a good book that we actually want to read. The summer is the perfect time for us to read different things that we are interested in and enjoy. Our dreams of reading whatever we want are cut short by the dreaded book list that the English department sends us.

Jennifer DeMedeiros, a junior at Presentation said, “I would rather read other books that I decide to read like more interesting books that appeal to me.”

Bellarmine students are able to read whatever they want and they take advantage of that. Kenter said, “It freed up my time a little bit more, but I kept on reading on my own. I read a book called The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.”

Even worse, when school starts the teachers announce the date that everyone has been waiting for—the summer reading test.

There are always loads of moans and groans throughout the classrooms because every Pres girl knows that the teachers only test their memories for irrelevant details instead of themes and ideas.

Mrs. Rosenthal agreed, “The stress came a week or two before school starts because I’m not a procrastinator so I typically would have tried to read the books between June and the beginning of July. And then I got to August and had to come back to school and I couldn’t remember a lot of details about the books. So even though I did read them, it might’ve appeared as if I hadn’t read them as thoroughly as I actually had because I couldn’t remember things.”

After the test is done, most teachers never do anything interesting with the books so the point of reading them is just to make Presentation look like it is a college prep school. We do not actually learn anything except all the ways to try to get out of reading these books during the summer.

Presentation needs to recognize this issue and stop making us read summer reading books that they choose for us. Summer will be a more enjoyable and relaxing time for everyone and students will read more when this extra stress is gone.

Bike to School Week

Presentation students piled onto the soccer field in the early crisp morning air throughout the week of April 4th. Students pulled their bikes, scooters, and skateboards onto the field and gathered around to enjoy a complementary bagel and orange juice on the morning of April 4th. The event was put together by SEAS and ASB in order to promote awareness for helping to protect the environment. The simple act of biking to school instead of driving helps students make less of an impact on our earth’s environment. Even for those who live far away, carpooling is the way to go, and that week this greener choice was acknowledged.

Deepika Bhatnagar’12 talks about the purpose of this green event, “We’re doing this to promote green living, and to show people the impact of making a small change to your daily routine can have on our environment. If they like the feeling of the crisp morning air on their face as they cruise through the streets of Willow Glen, then we encourage them to make it a permanent change.”
Melanie Borreli, a Senior at Presentation High School, biked a total of 4.2 miles to school to help show her support for the environment. When asked why she biked to school she stated “I always wanted to bike to school and it just worked out this year. It was really good exercise and I love saving the Earth!” After being told about how much of an impact she made by not biking she said “I will definitely bike to school more often. I fell motivated to do it again!”

Melanie is just one example of the many students that helped make a difference by biking to school this week. Bike to school week was just the beginning of all the ways students can help make a difference at Presentation. It is up to you now to help protect the planet even if it is just by biking to school one day a week.

Comedy of Errors

It’s that time of year again! Presentation’s Performing Arts Department has been working tirelessly and very hard since January to bring you another play that is sure to be a hit. With the success of the other productions this year, such as Little Women and the recent musical, Little Shop of Horrors, the Performing Arts Department brings to you a different type of play that is sure to capture your attention and leave you laughing till your stomach hurts.

Comedy of Errors, William Shakespeare’s first play, tells the story of two sets of identical twins that were accidentally separated at birth. Mayhem ensues as the twins find themselves in the same city and are mistaken for each other.

Comedy of Errors is one of Shakespeare’s shortest comedies. The comedy presents itself in a variety of ways, with a major part of the humor coming from slapstick comedy, wordplay and puns, and overexaggeration.

Slapstick comedy involves exaggerated and playful violence such as tripping and several of the characters falling all over the place. One set of twins play servants to the other set and are constantly abused by their masters in a playful manner that is sure to make you laugh. Mr. Houle, the director of the show, has several surprises in store for the audience that put a modern twist on a classic. “I wanted to make it more relatable so that the audience did not feel so far removed from the play.”

Even though some changes have been made to the play, the original script stays true to the Shakespearean text. Mr. Houle said, “Not a single word of the manuscript has been changed.”

Unlike the original, though, the Pres play has been set in a beach town, with a Tiki Hut, a gift shop, and a seaside restaurant. The bright and colorful set was constructed by the cast members and their families. The costumes, consisting of capris, shorts, and bright tops, were provided by the Die Bold family and certainly add to the tropical feel of the play.

Another surprise of the show is that your fellow classmates are not the only members of the cast. The beginning of the play features an ensemble from some unique characters. Mr. Houle has creatively incorporated six puppets into the show. He promises that “No puppets were harmed in the making of this show.” Mr. Houle explained that after the Little Shop of Horrors, he was “bit by the puppet bug” and decided to feature them in the play.

These puppets were created by Mr. Houle himself and play major roles such as the goldsmith Angelo, operated by Junior Jenna Vaccaro, and the merchant, Merchant, by Senior Jennifer O’Brien. O’Brien says, “I’ve had a great time working with my puppet, the merchant. Even though my arm tires through the two hours, playing a puppet role has its quirks. It is certainly the most interesting character I have ever played.”

The two girls operate the two puppets while playing ladies that happen to accompany the puppets wherever they go.

Although the show features students who have been doing theatre since their freshman year, some are cutting their teeth on this Shakespearean mash-up. spoke highly of her experience.“I decided to audition for A Comedy of Errors because I became hooked onto acting after taking Acting 1 and 2 with Mrs. Calin,” said Junior Nguyen Do. “It was an amazing experience, one of the classes that I would definitely remember and utilize the acquired skills from. I grew to be more confident in speaking in front of a large crowd, more insightful, and just more lively in general.

“So far, the play has been great,” she continued. “I am now able to put myself in my peers that are actresses’ shoes. It’s definitely a commitment, but at every rehearsal I am able to improve and learn something new. I’m excited for the opening and would like to thank the whole cast and crew for guiding me in the first production I am in!”

The opening night of Comedy of Errors was March 11 and goes till March 20 with a mere six shows. Buy your tickets fast because this play is sure to add a lot of laughter to your night!

Mural Mural on the Wall

Dragging ourselves into school after a long Christmas break was not fun. If anyone had the strength or willpower to lift their heads up, they saw the beautiful new stained glass window over the front entrance of the school. But why is it there? Who did it? What does it mean? Well, The Voice has all the answers to your questions.

Art teacher Cynthia Ford was the one in charge of this beautiful mural. In her Design II class last spring, she planned a unit called Art in Community. The class was in charge of creating a design for the windows, and the Design I class this past semester was in charge of painting the designs.

In an email interview, Ms. Ford said, “The concept behind the panels was to update the front foyer, to create a stained glass look, to beautify the school and to bring art to our community.”

Ms. Ford and her Design II class gave the mural the title,“Celebrating our 50 years of Faith and Education.” They made each panel represent a different and important part of the Presentation Community, as follows:

Center-School motto and a lantern to remind us of Nano Nagle and her mission of education and spreading hope.

Upper Right-Represents Nano Nagle’s hometown, Cork, Ireland, by depicting the four founding Sisters of the Presentation and, in the middle, a sacred heart.

Upper Left-Symbolizes the Holy Spirit, gentleness and purity.

Bottom Left-Depicts Pres life and our diversity. The puzzle-piece world shows that we are very diverse, yet one community.

Bottom Right-The Tree of Life; the roots of the tree represent the Sisters of the Presentation, hope, education, justice and human dignity.

The students who contributed to this design are generally very proud of their work. Senior Natalie Audelo, who helped design the Tree of Life, said “I think the piece turned out well. I’m pleased with the bright colors and cohesiveness of the painting as a whole. I am so excited to be able to leave a lasting mark on the school.”  

Another artist, senior Kaity Stansberry, said, “I really did enjoy the project. Although at times it did become hard, and it did take a lot of effort, we all worked together and pulled out a beautiful mural.”

The project took almost an entire year and is finally finished.

Ms. Ford said, “I am so proud to have had the opportunity to work with such a talented, caring and intelligent group of young women.”

The mural was well received by the whole school. “I love the mural that uses such bright colors to show the spirit of our Panthers and how cheerful and bright we are,” said freshman Shreeya Majmudar, summing up the school’s general reaction. “The mural symbolizes the true meaning of ‘Not Words but Deeds.’ The symbols and the patterns truly show the Pres spirit.”

Facebook at Pres: Yes or No?

Yes

The open access to Facebook gives Pres girls a sense of freedom and respect as mature women. When a girl reaches her mid-teens, she should have the ability to make conscious decisions for herself. Girls, including myself, are quite aware time in the computer lab during class is valuable. It decreases homework and stress and gets us into a different environment. How a person decides to use this time is entirely up to her, however. It’s a simple equation: you plus computer lab plus Facebook equals more work later that night. Inevitably, all students know this, and choose Facebook anyways. The access to the social site shows that each girl is responsible for her own actions.

Despite the waste of time websites such as this bring about, they also help to reduce stress. Keeping our minds off of school for a while is never a bad thing, especially close to finals where our brains are on overload. True, using Facebook for an entire period may lead to consequences later, but a quick visit to your account is not a big deal. Rather than stressing out over a research project, many girls may choose to use Facebook. Seeing what all your friends are up to is a nice treat during a hard day. So I would encourage taking those brief breaks, just try not to get stay logged on too long.

Believe it or not, Facebook can also have some valuable information. Let’s say you are planning a Mission Drive fundraiser and want to advertise the event. Facebook allows its members to make groups and invite friends to join it. Promoting a school event will bring spirit and excitement to students, causing more people to attend. Such connections will help keep your event known.

Even if Facebook were to be blocked again, true fans will surely find a way around the block. For as long as I’ve been at Pres, girls have been logging onto Facebook at school with a simple, unspoken trick. Predictably, this would happen again with any block administrators put on the website. Teachers are smart, but Facebook fans are smarter!

Lastly, I am Pro Facebook at school because I understand it’s what girls like to do. Boys like to play video games and shoot hoops with their friends. Girls like to huddle around a computer and lurk their friend’s pictures. That’s just the way our generation is. Why fight it? Let girls be girls and admire the computer screen freely.

No

Recently, Facebook has been unblocked on Presentation’s school server. That means students are free to check their updates in between classes or during free periods. The amount of social interaction available to students during the school day, however, may have negative effects for students’ motivation and productivity at school.

This popular site can be very tantalizing to those looking to expand their social horizons whenever and wherever possible. With automatic status updates, fun pictures to browse through, and people to chat with, an entire world of social interaction exists on Facebook. However at school, students should focus on business before pleasure.

Students may use Facebook as an outlet to unwind, but this is unacceptable during the school day because it is difficult to concentrate on homework when a familiar popping noise signals an initiated chat conversation, or a little red box notifies a friend’s comment. “As much as I like Facebook, it shouldn’t be allowed at school because people could go on it during class and it’s a pretty big distraction, especially when we’re supposed to be doing homework,” said an anonymous senior.

Dr. Denise Pope, Senior Lecturer at Stanford University, agrees that unplugging from the media is a valuable resource in efficient work habits. Facebook is a big distraction for students working on homework, especially because the screen is always conveniently located right in front of them.

Technical blocking barriers on Facebook usage at school may have only deterred a small percentage of student users. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Pres authorities should look into a more permanent solution to blocking Facebook. Social networking sites are currently banned by the technology agreement in the handbook, even though Pres’ technical department has no longer blocked Facebook. “The thinking behind our lack of forced traffic mitigation is that students should exercise personal responsibility rather than be artificially policed,” said Mr. Cozort. However, when such a liberal privilege is offered, it is likely to be abused when it is unchecked.

Presentation is a private institution; therefore, Pres isn’t legally bound to block Facebook. However, students are contractually bound by the rules in the handbook against the usage of social networking sites for a reason. Facebook certainly detracts from the productive academic environment.

In addition to being harmful to the academic environment, Facebook could also negatively affect the social environment at a school. Facebook has recently been linked to some cases of cyberbullying, especially in connection to programs such as Formspring. Although Pres cannot be held legally liable if cyberbullying is done by a student on campus, the Pres administration can take any necessary disciplinary action against any misuse of the computers on campus. Therefore, Facebook is not only detrimental to the student population; it could also harm the school’s well-being.

It’s true that Facebook can be beneficial by offering creative resources to teachers and faculty. For instance, if pictures are needed for school projects, Facebook photos are sometimes goldmines of excellent candid shots. Still, Facebook is highly distracting to students, and it is difficult to be productive for a long period of time while using this site.

With all its allure for potential procrastinators, Facebook is detrimental to the student population’s productivity on campus. Especially as the weather outside begins to feel more like summer, the student population really needs to log off their Facebook accounts during school hours in order to foster an environment of productivity. It’s the home stretch until summer, and Facebook should not be home base.

All Stars On and Off the Field

We often find it difficult to listen to the wisdom of elders, teachers and parents. We would rather drown them out with iPods and remixes of the latest and most popular music than listen to the trite spiels discussing educational values. But sports give off a different effect. Sports often teach students lessons and skills without the 60-minute lecture attached. Student athletes learn to budget their time, collaborate with others and take responsibility for their actions.
“My academic life revolves around my planner,” said junior Emily Wolf who plays field hockey for Presentation. Involvement in sports forces students to take their work seriously, allotting time in their evening routine for papers, projects, reading assignments and last minute cramming. The lack of excess time after school often minimizes the amount of time students waste lurking on Facebook or vegging out on the sofa. In fact, according to a study at Marietta College, student athletes performed better during season than out of season. Optimal GPAs were achieved following regularly scheduled practices, games and work out sessions.
Betsey Stevenson, an economist at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, said, “It’s not just that the people who are going to do well in life play sports, but that sports help people do better in life,” she said, adding, “While I only show this for girls, it’s reasonable to believe it’s true for boys as well,” following an extensive study on sports participation and educational achievement.
Sports teach athletes long-term skills and assets needed for success in the real world. It promotes and indirectly emphasizes team building, leadership, endurance, positivity, problem solving, creativity and the ability to read others. Athletes are expected to envision the field or area of play through strategic analysis and accurate body positioning. Athletes must learn to work well with others in order to achieve a greater goal, mediating disputes and reconciling differences. This is the key to team cohesion and ultimately success.
The emergence of team solidarity develops through the ties of friendship and sisterhood. Friendship, more so than any score or trophy, is a lasting testimony to the success of any team. Friends are tangible memories, serving as the legacy of the team and its accomplishments. “Friends become family,” said sophomore Kayla Bose who plays varsity basketball. While knees, joints, and other body parts may give out over time, bearing the scars of a dedicated athlete, friends will last forever.

Spending time out on the field is also said to relieve stress and the burden of excessive amounts of homework. According to an article by Joseph Plazo of StressLive.Com, “It’s imperative to partake in physical exercise because inspiring the body refreshes the mind. Our brain requires activity by the rest of our body in order to regenerate the senses and enhance performance.” Exercise is an essential component of mental and physical help, much like sleeping and eating. Junior and golfer Jessie Walsh said, “Sports is an outlet for stress. It gets your mind off school.”
For many Presentation students, dedication to both sports and academics is a testament to their willingness to balance their lives in order to learn lifelong skills, forge bonds of friendship, and relieve stress on the court, field, diamond, green, track, or wherever their sport takes them. Despite the struggles of the daily balancing act, many students find involvement in sports rewarding. For some, it boosts self-esteem and confidence along with lasting implications for their future.

Sports are teachers without white boards, tests without grades, and homework assignments without point values. Athletes are evaluated by their ability to work with others, make progress, and think logically. It’s not about whether you make the grade; it’s about learning from mistakes and taking away the greater message.

ITS Christmas!

On Dec. 4, the International Thespian Society (ITS) and improvisational team Spontaneous Combustion put on a show to share some Christmas cheer with the Pres community. The two groups put on an entertaining night that filled the audience with laughs and warmed their hearts despite the low temperature.

ITS is a club at Pres dedicated to letting those who love theatre be themselves. Members earn points through participating in productions at school. The girls involved in ITS get chances to act in the wide array of shows put on throughout the year or to be technicians, commonly known as techies, who do everything from building sets to manning the spotlights. Members of ITS also get the chance to lend their skills to local theatres to broaden their theatrical talents.

Spontaneous Combustion is a small but dedicated group of Pres girls and Bell guys who compete in the Comedy Sportz high school league. The improvisational team was started in 2007 when Mrs. Garcia-Rodriguez joined the Presentation community. “I felt like the team would be a nice addition to the already outstanding theatre arts department,” says Rodriguez. Although many of the shows done here at Pres consist only of our team, Spontaneous Combustion also travels to other schools to challenge their Comedy Sportz teams. Comedy Sportz involves many fun games in which players must interact with and entertain their audience. As the name “improvisational” implies, everything the team does during games is completely spur-of-the-moment, so the members of Spontaneous Combustion must think quickly and not be afraid to act, well, spontaneously.

“ITS Christmas” began with Leigh High school’s J.C. Molina, sophomore, dressed as an elf and telling Christmas-themed jokes. Junior Tanya Padagonkar performed a series of monologues throughout the show in the form of journal entries. The entries detailed the trials and tribulations of a man trying to survive a rather snowy holiday season. Junior Christine Jones and Bell junior Austin MacPhee then treated the audience to a sweet version of “Baby It’s Cold outside”.

Although she was not in any of the skits this year, ITS Officer Nicki Affonso-McMorrow, senior, enjoys participating in the show in any way she can. “It’s very relaxed,” she said, “but we designed it to really get Pres into the Christmas spirit.” She and the other members of ITS work together to come up with skits that will get their audience laughing. ITS gets ideas for the show from online as well as from the minds of their ever-talented members. In the longest skit of the night, sophomores Emily Griffith and Morgan Locke played reporters who were bored with their jobs. To spice things up, the two decide to improvise the rest of the news. This skit pulled many laughs from the audience and gave them characters they could relate to.

Next up were Kathy Stephan, sophomore, and Bell freshman Chris Brady. They two recited a poem about the difficulties Santa Claus faces in an increasingly politically correct world. Some of his many road blocks included his elves going on strike and the challenge of buying gender neutral gifts. In the end, Santa resolves to give the best gift of all: peace on earth. Bell senior Aaron Griffith wrapped up the night with the song “If You Believe” from the movie The Polar Express. The inspiring tune was the perfect way to send off the audience with loads of holiday spirit

Spontaneous Combustion was up next, opening with a Beatles song and a small dance from each of the members. The group was split into two teams of four for the night, and the extra player, named the “Jokester” had the opportunity to compete in all the games. Team captains Amanda Camillo, sophomore, and Shelby DieBold, senior, helped to pump up their teams and the audience by building human pyramids. “I love the improv team because I get to let out all of my excess energy and be as crazy and random as I want,” said Camillo. “You get to come out of your shell because nobody judges you.”

The group started off with the game “What Are You Doing?”. In this game, a player from one team pantomimes a random action. When the opposing team’s player asks, “What are you doing?” they must say something completely different. The second player must then act out what the first player says, and the game continues on. The referee can knock a player out for many reasons, including hesitation and stuttering. This game is used as a warm-up, so no points were awarded at the end, but this didn’t stop our comedy sportz players from pulling out all the stops and splitting a few sides in the process.

Another crowd favorite was “The Dating Game.” In this game, the Jokester played the part of a dating show host, while three players were the bachelors and bachelorettes, whose personas were picked by the audience, vie for the fifth player’s affections. Team captain DieBold channeled her inner Betty Boop, junior Tanya Padagonkar acted as Tiger Woods, and freshman Isabelle Polito hoped to woo the lucky bachelor as Harry Potter. Bell freshman Chris Brady had the opportunity to ask his teammates four questions each to discover their identities. At the end of the game, the team was awarded one point for every correct guess.

Later in the evening, Camillo’s team played catch up with the game “Slide Show.” In this game, two players are looking at a slide show of their last family vacation. The lights start out dimmed, but when they come up again, the other two players and the Jokester were in creative poses, meant to be a picture. The narrators then faced the challenge of coming up with an explanation for the many imaginative and funny poses presented to them. This game kept the audience on their toes, but they were not the only ones left guessing. Jen Greenfield, senior, was one of players posing. “Improv is so fast paced and it’s all about audience interaction. Each time I play a game I know it’ll turn out differently,” she said. For this game, points are awarded for the number of laughs the players earn from their audience.

For their final game of the night, both teams faced off in the game of “Story.”  In this game, the players make up a story line by line. When the referee points to a player, they must continue where the last left off. This can get quite tricky because the referee can put players on the spot in the middle of sentences, leaving the second player the responsibility of making a grammatically correct sentence. This show’s story highlighted the adventures of a boy who went to the dentist and ended up having a rather odd dream due to sleeping gas. This game truly highlights the team’s ability to think quickly while still being funny. It was a great way to end the night, and after the final tally, Camillo’s team came out on top. DieBold and her crew didn’t seem too beat up about it, though. Like any good comedy sportz player, they knew that they would have the opportunity in the next game to make their crowd combust with laughter.