made in our immediate en-vironment. We as studentscome to Atheneum so thatwe can learn how to think for ourselves. Thinking forourselves includes beingable to ask questions andlead others in careful dis-cussion.We practice recognizingwhat we do not understand,before acting from aconfused mind, which mightalso cause violence inother’s thinking and actions.Dr. King asks the Clergy-men to whom he is writingthe letter, to seek the root of the demonstrations in Bir-mingham, instead of point-ing out the hassle the dem-onstrations cause. Accord-ing to Dr. King, the cause of all injustices is rooted in themajority of the people notbeing clear about what jus-tice is and not bothering tosearch for the meaning.Could the absence of thesearch for truth really causeso much hatred & suffering?As you will read in thisQED, Atheneum studentAustin Johnson describesKing’s idea of tension beingnecessary for change. It isnon-violent tension that moti-vates us to change because it isfound within the search fortruth. This search for truth isvery difficult, which mighthelp explain why the majoritymight be more comfortable inwhat King describes as

appall-ing silence.

However, many students de-scribed suddenly feeling un-comfortable with their moder-ate thinking, realizing thatblaming hatred on the extrem-ists, does not excuse us frompromoting non-violent tensionin hopes for change.

By Maria Santillanes Atheneum Intern& Class of 2000 Graduate

Last month at Atheneum,we read Dr. King’sLetter from BirminghamJail and discussed it in an allschool seminar. This seminarinspired the Political Scienceclass to continue by readingDr. King’s famous, “I have aDream” speech, and thewhole school saw the movie“The Great Debaters,” as wellas read current PresidentialCandidate, Barack Obama’sspeech given on Martin Lu-ther King Jr. Day. What be-came evident to us through-out our study, was the imme-diate relevance of Dr. King’smessage.Almost every Atheneumseminar reflects the groupdynamic. Martin LutherKing's words, not only re-veals changes that need to bemade in the world, but thechanges that need to be

Atheneum Students Reflect . . .

(See next page)

Spring 2008

Calendar of Events:

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Spring BreakMarch 10-14th

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Spring IntensivesMarch 17-28th

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Teacher Parent Con-ferences April 14th

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4th Annual SpringAuction & RecitalApril 11th—6:30 PM

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All School PromMay 2nd

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Spring Marine & Biol-ogy—Trip to SewardMay 7-11

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Senior Oral ExamsMay 14

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Senior GraduationMay 17th 3:00 PM

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Last Day of SchoolMay 22nd

Inside this issue:

Coaching Notes

Martin Luther King

Austin Johnson

Self Evaluation

Mackensie Broquet

Confucius

Janelle Coy

Monster Pike

Joe Johnson

Art WorksLydia Ossorgin

Community Events

Accomplishments

Atheneum School

Q.E.D.

“Non-violent direct action seeks to createsuch a crisis and foster such a tension that acommunity which hasconstantly refused tonegotiate is forced toconfront the issue.”

-Martin Luther King, Jr.

Atheneum Students Celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.’sIdeas for Change

A Community of LearningSpring Newsletter brought to you by the . . .

but just for a short term. Itdoes not help

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x the root of the problem for the longterm. This idea of not beingable to just give someone ananswer is closely related toour own individual ability tohave peace and clarity withinourselves, as well as our in-ability to simply force or passour ability along. The onlyway to truly help a situationis not by advice, but by ex-ample. When one sees howyou live your life with clarityand balance followed by ac-tion, one is able to get theidea for themselves. This ismore organic and real thantelling or making someoneelse try and look within.

Confucius — Living by Example

Janelle Coy

— Junior at Atheneum

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rst quarter at Atheneum hascreated a canvas for further learning to bepainted on. The time for adjusting haspassed along and with it, old ways of thinking and acting. Academics play acrucial role in the success of one’s future.My current progress should be regardedonly as a start, not as a

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nished product.Logical reasoning is truly required inboth

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elds of business & law. LogicalDuring the seminar onConfucius, we talked about clar-ity & trying to come to a restingpoint with our overpoweringdesires. We cannot make anyoneelse attain this clarity because itis completely up to the individ-ual. We discussed giving adviceas an example. We decided thatsometimes we give bad advicethat seems to solve the problemseize up and are not able togo forth. So the white moder-ate has to break the idea“inertia” that he is greaterthan a black man, in order tosee a black man as equal. Thetension King wants to createcomes from boycotting,marching and other peacefulnon-violent acts that makeI would like to revoke astatement I voiced in seminarand replace it with a morethoughtful one. I claimed thatlearning had no tension to it.This is not the case. When one isseriously looking at a new ideathat contradicts a previous one,there is tension built up. Whenwe have to let old ideas go, wewhite people uncomfortable,thus beginning dialogue. In“Letter from BirminghamJail,” King illustrates a handfull of examples of what lifeis like for a black man. I be-lieve no man should ever betreated like this, so it mademe feel uncomfortable andthe tension sprung from thepage.

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thinking as well as listening should be thefocal point of my daily discussion. I ambeginning to understand the bene

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ts of aliberal arts education in high school.Being around the same group every-day has led to a comradrie between mypeers and me. Teamwork is required tounderstand the most dif

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cult text. Myfavorite reading, “The Power of the Ma- jority,” has placed the burden on me to

4th Annual AtheneumAuction & RecitalApril 11th , 2008Update:

The planningcommittee met to organ-ize the committees thatwill make the 2008 auc-tion the best one yet.Packets went home withstudents. We are readyto collect donations andstart ticket sales!

“Trust your ownunderstanding but behumble enough toadmit when your wrong.”

lead by example. My goal is to im-prove the community by putting downpointless drama and squabbles everyday.

Trust your own understandingbut be humble enough to admitwhen your wrong.

Those who are notafraid to fail have initiative. Youshould not expect more of the same,you should expect better.

“Expect Better”— A Self Examination

Mackensie Broquet

—Senior at Atheneum

Martin Luther King — High Tension Learning

Austin Johnson

—Junior at Atheneum

Fish Tales . . .

I zipped up my coat, jumped out of the truck,and embraced the coldbrisk air. I directly went towork and took the sled outand started loading it upwith my gear and the iceshack. I then began mytrek on the ice with aneerie feeling that I wasgoing to catch one of themany trophy Northerns inNancy Lake.After walking for a while, Icame across what seemed tobe a respectable spot. So I gotmy auger out and drilled ahole. I checked the depth andestimated an ideal depth of 7feet. So I started to set up theshack. Once the shack wasset up, I brought in all thegear and turned on the heater.I scooped the excess ice outof the hole and immediatelystarted

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shing. Hooking onsome putrid, smelly herring, Idropped my hook into thehole. I put my rod in the rod-holder and gazed down intothe dark, deep water. Almostimmediately, I saw a hugeNorthern swim right by mybait and disappear. I grabbedmy rod; my mind was chaos!I waited… Defeated. I satthere freezing-cold, peeringdown into the hole.It was the last hour. I hadbeen sitting out there forfour hours and had not seenanything since that last oneswam by, and I was begin-ning to doubt that I wouldcome home with anything,but I would soon be provenwrong. All of a sudden Iturned my head to see myrod in full bend. I franticallygrabbed my rod and gave ayank to set the hook. Thatwas one mad Pike! The dragstarted to scream and then Iheard a “crack!” My bear-ings and the real were shot!I shoved my rod into thewater. After the

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sh’s longrun, I reeled him in as heswam in a circle. I reeled infar enough to see his largehead. He looked up and sawthe light and made a run forit. He wasn’t about to giveup that easy. After repeatingreeling him in, I got towhere I could see his head. Ilunged my hand into his gilland hoisted him out of thewater. The beast was mine!My friends were jumpingand squealing. I could seethe jealousy in their eyes.

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Atheneum SummerCanoe Trip

We have had several re-quests to begin planninga canoe trip this summer.Kevin and Lydia have led

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oats down the Yukonand the Kuskowim.Please let us know if youare interested.

“I was beginning todoubt that I would come home withanything, but I would soon be provenwrong.”

Atheneum T-shirts &sweatshirts (hoodies)are available for pur-chase. Please check inat the of

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ce or send inyour order form to theschool.

Art Works by Lydia Ossorgin

Monster Pike —

A Work in Progress