Teen Tix and the Local Art Community

Seattle has one of the richest and most unique performing arts scenes in the country. As I am personally interested and involved with various forms of performance art, I am incredibly grateful that I have been lucky enough to grow up in a city where theater, opera, dance, variety, acrobatics, and countless other forms of performance are readily available. However, like many other art-interested teenagers, I have a pretty limited budget for local shows and other performances. Cost has dissuaded many young people from getting involved with their local arts scenes, contributing greatly to the disinterest that some feel when it comes to arts in the community. However, the costliness of many local shows impacts more than individual adolescent performance-goers; the larger issue at hand has to do with the fact that these young artists will one day be the leaders of the artistic community. In order to make shows more affordable for teenagers, Seattle Center partnered with various local arts organizations to launch Teen Tix in 2004. Teen Tix is a local arts-access program for teenagers whose mission is to engage young audiences in the local art community. As explained on the Seattle Center website, “Teen Tix serves teenagers by making Seattle’s rich cultural life affordable and accessible to them…By facilitating teens’ arts encounters while empowering them to design and initiate those experiences, Teen Tix not only delivers all of the benefits of arts to teens, it also brings to the arts the gift of an engaged and enduring community of young patrons.”

A Teen Tix pass allows members to purchase day-of tickets for more than 35 theaters, museums, exhibits, and arts festivals in and around the Seattle Center area for only five dollars. Membership is free and available to anyone 13-19 years of age, and a biweekly electronic newsletter lets members know about arts events and opportunities all over the city. I signed up for the program as soon as I turned 13 and have used it to purchase discount tickets for everything from the Pacific Northwest Ballet, to Unexpected Productions, to the Seattle International Film Festival.

Though it is satisfying to get into Seattle Opera for less than it costs to park downtown, the most important thing about Teen Tix is that it connects teenage artists and audiences to local art. It can be easy to overlook the younger generation of arts patrons, but it is this teenage audience that will one day be running and starring in our local theaters, dance troupes, and arts museums. Teen Tix is immensely important to the youth and arts community of Seattle because it makes it possible for many teenagers who would otherwise never get the opportunity to attend and get involved with the arts community that will soon belong to them.

A Cool Breeze on the Underground: A Book Review

Written in the 1990’s, A Cool Breeze on the Underground, by Don Winslow, brings together mystery and comedy in the punk scene of London. Born on the streets of New York, Neal Carey is the son of a drug-addicted prostitute and a non-existent father. However, 21 years later, Neal attends graduate school at Columbia University. Neal’s education was made possible by Joe Graham, a one-armed private investigator who works for “Friends of the Family.” “Friends” is a secret organization dedicated to helping its wealthy customers avoid public scandals. “Friends” has paid for Neal’s education, apartment, and life style. It may seem farfetched, but the way Winslow explains Neal’s situation gives the reader the impression that organizations like “Friends” exist.

The plot thickens when Allie Carter, the daughter of a powerful politician, runs away to London, and it’s Neal’s job to find her and bring her back before the elections. Therefore, Neal travels to England and finds himself in the middle of London’s punk scene, filled with drugs, alcohol, and more secrets than one can imagine. Winslow does a wonderful job of bringing the setting to life, as if he himself lived in the London “underground.”

After finding Allie, which is no easy task, Neal must convince her to come back to New York. But in doing so, Neal discovers a string of family secrets that keep Allie from returning. The book is intriguing and keeps the reader turning pages, but the major plot twist comes when Neal’s attempt to pry Allie from the hands of her pimp suddenly backfires. Neal thinks he has succeeded, and Colin, the pimp, has disappeared. But Colin is vengeful and tracks Allie and Neal down.

Winslow uses changes in narrative perspective between Neal and Colin to show what extreme lengths Colin goes to in search of Neal. Before taking Allie, who is now clean and sober, back underground, Colin makes sure that Neal has paid for his disloyalty and betrayal. Thus, Colin attempts to sell a prized possession of one of Neal’s friends, something Neal had falsely promised to Colin in order to find Allie. The intricate details of this “set up” are all explained during a meeting between Neal, the buyer, and the seller, Colin. This meeting turns out to be extremely embarrassing for Colin, and Neal succeeds in bringing Allie back to the ones who care about her, which means her mom. While doing background research, Neal discovers the real reason Allie ran away from home: she was sexually abused by her father.

Overall, Winslow has created a story filled with adventure, romance, vivid characters, and enough detail and research to make the matter plausible. Despite the dark content matter, this novel moves quickly and is perfect for anyone who has dreamed of becoming an undercover spy.

Athlete Spotlight: Maddie Mark

  Determined, committed, outgoing; a few of the many positive words the Girls’ Varsity Soccer Team used to describe teammate Maddie Mark ’12. Maddie has displayed consistent leadership and determination throughout the 2011 Season, as she placed herself on the list of top three goal scorers of all time for the Girls’ Soccer Program at Seattle Academy. Maddie tallied fourteen goals and six assists this fall during the regular season, leading the Girls’ Soccer Team to another Emerald City League Championship with only one loss to Garfield, a 3A school. In addition, Maddie scored six goals and two assists in the last four games of the season, leading a spectacular comeback victory over University Prep in the last game of the season, and helping to clinch a spot at the State Tournament for Girls 1A Soccer.  Maddie had an excellent post-season campaign.  Her beautiful overtime goal off a Lindsey Vandergrift ’12 assist gave the SAVGS its third state championship in 4 years!

2011-12 ASB!

  “It’s great! Rich is da homie,” Ruby Lee '12 says of the Associated Student Body (ASB) faculty advisor Rich Stearns. President Alexander Barsher ’12, Vice President Ruby Lee ’12, Secretary Emily Norris ’11, Co-Treasurer Elliot Frank ’11, and Co-Treasurer Lindsey Vandergrift ’12 have been hard at work as Seattle Academy’s ASB.

Last year, the school had its first ever tie for a position in ASB. Students were shocked to hear that Vandergrift and Frank tied for the position of Treasurer. Most students felt that both Frank and Vandergrift deserved the position equally when they showed leadership, humor, and public speaking skills when they gave their speeches last spring. Frank and Vandergrift (and probably the entire student body) were relieved to hear that the administration didn’t make the student body vote again to designate a sole person for the position. So far, everything seems to be working out well for the group to have two people in a position usually meant for one. If anything, it seems to be making the dynamic even better with one more person with whom to brainstorm, Lee expressed.

ASB held the first school dance on October 28 with the theme of “Hoedown Throw down.” ASB’s dedication was clear when they showed up to the Monday morning meeting on October 24, 2011 all wearing cowboy hats with Norris’ opening salutation, “Howdy y’all!” As Frank says, “I was surprised in how much room they gave us to be creative. The administration kind of just tells you to plan Winter Ball and we have to go from there.” And clearly they have done more than just work on Winter Ball; they have already been talking about plans for Prom and there are ideas in the works for other events this year.  When talking about plans for Winter Ball, Lee was pretty secretive in divulging anything because not everything is set in stone. She did mention, however, that there is a possibility that the dance won’t be on a boat this year and that the date is set for late January. Although there was a rumor going around that the dance was going to happen before Christmas, Lee said that because of accreditation some ideas the team had weren’t able to be executed. Lee also mentioned that they were going to try to make it even better than next year. We can only wait and see what ASB has planned. No doubt, if the group can execute Winter Ball as well as they did for the Hoedown- we’re in for a great and memorable Winter Ball.

When asked if they thought the job was harder in reality than they thought it would be, most said that it wasn’t harder than they thought, and that they were actually given more room for creativity and freedom to really work on their ideas. Although there have been a few issues, all have been resolved. The issues have ranged from ideas being outside the school boundaries to ideas being a little too outlandish. There was an idea to have a homecoming Dodge ball game against another school with a dance afterwards. But due to not being able to hold other schools’ students accountable, the administration was not able to approve the idea.  Despite their minor setbacks the group has really been able to thrive and work well together. Even before school started, the group was brainstorming ideas for Winter Ball, Prom, and the first casual dance, proving their leadership skills from before Day 1. Their approachability, unity, and mixture of interests in the school’s community is invigorating. ASB has all the essential elements for a great and cohesive group, from Lee’s warm smile and wave in the halls, to Frank’s humor and fearlessness in Francoise’s class and Norris’ dedication to her soccer team. Barsher’s goofy grin and infamous laugh, and Vandergrift’s constant calm and kindness, this group of Seniors and Juniors really care about their community’s well-being and are doing an excellent job representing the student body.

A Day in Robotics

Published by Bridget White  ('14) on December 15, 2011 A few weeks ago, I sat in on a meeting of the school’s Robotics Club. Upper School kids of all grades filtered in and took their respective places. This was their first meeting, and it mostly consisted of introductions and overviews. This year, the new addition was the Public Relations branch. As the club members spit-balled about marketing tactics, I realized I truly didn’t know anything about the Robotics Club, except for what the name implies.

As it turns out, last year, Seattle Academy’s Robotics Club was able to attend the FIRST World Championships in St. Louis last year. FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is an organization designed to get kids involved in science and technology, often through robotics. The Robotics Club’s team, Sector SAAS, competes in what’s called the FIRST Tech Challenge. They have several mentors to provide insight on various complications they might experience. The mentor they most frequently interact with is Larry Ryan, an alum parent (Page Ive ’10) and retired electrical engineer from HP. That being said, I still had more questions about each team member’s role.

“I write code for the driver controlled period and the autonomous period,” said Alec Guthrie ’14, who joined the club last year. The aforementioned terms, he explained, just mean when the driver controls the robot and when it is moving by itself. Alec claimed he got his start in programming in 8^th grade through Max Chen ’14, whom he has known since elementary school. Max, on the other hand, claimed he had gotten his start through Alec. Both took software development last year,  and the Robotics Club seemed like the next logical step to continue programming in addition to their personal side projects.

Alec and Max agreed that they do a lot of debugging code while Morgan Gellert ’13 does a lot of writing it. Morgan can’t help being good at what he does. He has been doing it since he took an elementary school Lego robotics class, the same class he now teaches in the summer. He was pretty modest about his accomplishments when I spoke with him, but other members of the club filled me in on his remarkable prowess and work ethic.

These two assets will come in handy at the first competition for Sector SAAS. They’re currently still in the design process for the robot, but they’re beginning to see each individual piece become more and more refined. When it’s finished, the robot will be able to stack storage crates, push around a bowling ball, pick racket balls up off the floor, and place items in taped off squares or storage crates. Each successfully completed action will earn points for the team, advancing them in the competition.

While the design of the robot has yet to be finished, members have noted a drastic improvement in the process and structure of the club. There is a sense of excitement among the members about the upcoming season, in addition to the actual work involved in creating the robot. For many students, the Robotics Club is one of the only opportunities for them to utilize and refine this increasingly useful skill set. In this day and age, with the search for jobs being more competitive than ever, knowledge and experience in robotics could be the defining factors in one’s application for employment. To be naturally good with technology is rare enough, but to be truly passionate about it is to be blessed with an invaluable gift. The members of Sector SAAS seem to have both the the skill and the drive necessary to go far in the FIRST Tech Challenge, in robotics, and in the real world.  Those interested in learning about the Robotics Club would be hard pressed to find a better, or more welcoming, group of people to have at their very own school.

High School: A Labyrinth of Love

Published by Ruby Lee ('12) and Nat Motulsky ('13) High school is a time for finding one’s identity. Part of that search for identity is looking for a partner. From childhood, we have all been conditioned to believe that we need to find a significant other. High school is a hormonal cesspool of urges and desires, which only intensifies the want (and what some see as need) to find a partner. As high school students embark on this quest for satisfaction, however, dissatisfaction and frustration take over. We believe that these feelings of frustration are a result of miscommunication, as men and women naturally have very different communication strategies.

Studies show that on average, women speak about 20,000 words a day, while, in comparison, men only speak 7,000. This indicates that women speak almost three times the amount of words that a man does every day. “Sometimes you just can’t tell what their motives are,” says senior Ruby Lee, a victim of miscommunication among men. Ruby’s feelings are partially due to the briefness of male communication that leave many teenagers like Ruby irritated. Conversely, guys become frustrated with the emotional neediness and excessive effusion of emotions of girls. Girls tend to over-share every feeling to the point of constricting their male counterpart. These conflicting communication strategies can lead to anger and frustration on both sides.

Although the increasing number of ways to communicate has made it easier for students to stay connected and young love to flourish, a new level of confusion has emerged. One question many girls find themselves pondering is: “If he sends me a one word text, does that mean he’s not interested, or is he just being a guy?” Because women use more words to communicate, they are often put off by a guy’s one word answer. Similarly, guys are apprehensive about long texts they receive from girls and ask themselves, “Why is she using so many words?” Though both girls and boys have similar end goals (trying to find their perfect match) the different strategies of communication used by each gender prevent the success of a potential love.

In the cyber world, Facebook presents itself as another source of miscommunication. On Facebook, people can comment, like, and share what is on their minds. Boys and girls tend to be more confident online because it is less personal, causing people to say things they might not say in “real life” or misinterpret the meaning of the actions of others. “If she likes my comment, does that mean she’s into me?” Junior Preston DeGarmo asks.

Trying to find your one true love is hard; the path to happiness is confusing, long, and tumultuous; however, the key is communication. The different strategies used in communication by guys and girls are something that will never change; so, don’t try to fight it, and just go with the flow. We wish you luck on your adventure and hope for success in your quest.

A Reflection on Standardized Testing

More than 2 million students across America will take the SAT this year. For many of those students, their SAT score will determine their collegiate future. With high stakes like these, some people will always try to beat the system. On September 27, a college student from Long Island, New York, named Samuel Eshaghoff, allegedly took the SAT for six or more students and is now being charged with felony fraud. Each of the students paid Eshaghoff $1,500-$2,500 for the service. The six students face misdemeanor charges, but their names have not been released, and the colleges that they applied to have not been notified. “WHAT!?!?” you may be thinking. It’s true! The major flaw in the SAT testing system is that few repercussions for cheating exist. When the Educational Testing Service (ETS) detects an irregularity in the test result, it just withdraws the test score and notifies the student. The colleges to which the student was applying are not notified, and the student can retake the test. Last year 1,000 scores were withdrawn for misbehavior.

Another poorly handled cheating scandal occurred in 2008. A couple of high school students in Orange County came forward with information about other students using cell phones during an AP exam. Following this event 10 students admitted to cheating, so the ETS cancelled all of the scores from the exam that day, leaving 385 students and their families extremely angry. The non-cheating students protested and asked for their scores to be reinstated, but the ETS said restoring the scores was impossible. Further investigation discovered that not only were many students cheating, but some of the professional proctors had also fallen asleep during the test.

Other examples of the ETS poorly handing test score irregularity exist as well. According to the Los Angeles Times, test scores can be withdrawn for a multitude of reasons including, but not limited to: “illness of the examinee, mis-timing of the test, and disturbances or irregularities at the testing site.” Furthermore, the ETS does not have to disclose the reason they canceled the score. This lack of disclosure requirement means that someone could be taking the test ethically, find out that their test scores have been canceled, and then not receive any explanation.

While cheating on the SAT and ACT is a fairly rare event, it still seems that a better system should be put in place to handle cheating and canceled scores. ACT spokesperson Ed Colby says, "What we're trying to do is make sure the scores that we send to colleges are valid. It's not our intention to go around punishing students who make mistakes or who've done something they shouldn't have done." Sure, maybe it is not the job of the ETS, ACT, or SAT to handle punishment for cheating. But it should be someone’s job, and if testing agencies do not punish and fail to disclose any information to colleges and high schools, then no one can do the job.

To be fair to the vast majority of students who are not cheating on the tests, the system needs to be changed. Since the Long Island cheating scandal, lawmakers have looked into making cheating on the SAT illegal because currently, students can only be indicted if money exchanges hands. However, lawmakers are not the only ones who can fix this problem. The smartest way for ETS to handle the issue of cheating is to disincentivize it. By simply stating upfront that all incidents of cheating will be included on an ETS record—the record forwarded to colleges—chances are that students would think twice about cheating.

Lights, Camera, Chicago!

In November, the story of murder, greed, venality, violence, exploitation, adultery, and treachery came to life in Seattle Academy’s rendition of Chicago. Set in the 1920s, also known as the jazz age, Chicago revolves around the two merry murderesses of Cook County Jail: Velma Kelly, a vaudeville legend, and Roxy Hart, a housewife longing to become a star.  Both convicted murderers, they are fighting for fame that will keep them from facing the death sentence. Lucky for Roxy with the help of hotshot lawyer Billy Flynn, she may be able to deceive the newspapers into thinking she’s no more a scheming murderess than an innocent housewife. Seattle Academy director, Mike Cimino worked hard to make this production of Chicago unforgettable and in striving to do so, Chicago was the first production Cimino had double-casted. This not only allowed for more people to be involved in the show but also more creative freedom in interpreting the characters.

Another key aspect of the show was the live band that provided music high above the stage. The tech theatre department made this possible by working hard to create a stand in the air for the band to perform throughout the show.

As an audience member, I was wowed by the spectacular performances from both the cast and crew whose hard work paid off, producing a performance that exceeded all my expectations. The cast brought both humor and drama, leaving the audience members laughing, crying, and wanting more. Based on Chicago’s high quality of direction, costume design, and talent, I am excited for future SAAS performances with hopes that they will bring the same excitement and entertainment value as Chicago did.

Pacific Northwest Ballet’s “Love Stories”

  The opening night performance of Pacific Northwest Ballet’s love-themed compilation  Love Stories began ominously.  Dancers timidly glided across the stage following the choreography of famed ballet choreographer George Balanchine in “Divertimento” from Le Baiser de la Fée.  It is rumored that Balanchine was not satisfied with this his choreography in the “Divertimento,”  and the piece feels incomplete, especially when compared to the most well-known Balenchine classics. The performance did little to help the uninspired choreography. Despite being led by two of the companies most accomplished dancers, Kaori Nakamura and Johnathan Porretta, the pieces seemed unrehearsed and awkward.

The second of the five pieces presented, the “Black Swan Pas de Deux” from Swan Lake, starred the company’s principal dancers, Lucien Postlewaite and Carrie Imler. Postlewaite met Imler’s “Odile” in the pas de deux with princely charm, strength, and grace that nearly stole the stage from Imler.  Those who follow Pacific Northwest Ballet from season-to-season may relish in Postlewaite’s transformation over the past three years. Though technically precise, his supremely engaging stage presence shines in Love Stories.

The audience is thrilled to receive a second performance. This time he appears as Romeo in the Balcony pas de deux from Romeo and Juliet.  Despite Postlewaite’s, second, superb performance alongside Kaori Nakamura’s Juliet, the credit for this pas de deux’s success goes to Jean-Christophe Maillot’s inspired choreography. This excerpt was a welcome tidbit from Maillot’s contemporary take on the classic Romeo and Juliet, which premiered at PNB in 2008. Romeo and Juliet leap around the stage with a childlike innocence and excitement that had the audience smiling as widely as the young lovers.

Following Lucien Postlewaite’s performance as Romeo and the Swan Lake Prince, two young corps de ballet members, Jerome Tisserand and Kylee Kitchens, performed Jerome Robbins’ duet “Afternoon of the Faun” in its PNB premiere. The fresh and youthful performance takes place in a ballet studio (ironically) and opens with Tisserand alone in the studio practicing in front of a mirror (which is really the audience). Soon Kitchens arrives, and the two dance a tender and almost dreamlike pas de deux ending with a stolen kiss before she runs out of the studio.  The unassuming performance was nonetheless one of the highlights of the show and gave dance followers hope that the ballet world may still value relatable performances and not just over-the-top classics like Coppelia and The Nutcracker that focus more on costumes than dance.

Love Stories  closed with the painfully long “Aurora’s Wedding Scene” from Sleeping Beauty.  The third act of Sleeping Beauty was performed flawlessly, and the costumes were, predictably, beautiful. The choreography was “traditional,” to put it kindly, lacking the originality and risk much of the audience members seek. I found myself eagerly awaiting the final pas de deux and am convinced I detected a twinge of boredom even from the dancers as they performed this closing piece.

Death, in a moment. / Euphoria.

I must let the sound Intrude upon my mind

When the silence

Is too loud to hear.

The color I can only see

When the light

Has left my world

Trapped in beauty.

The flowing water

Cools now my burns

Of on my hand

Untouched by fire.

And the lives

I will have lived

Now bested here

The joy in sorrow.