Sumus Leones

Year I, Issue I Washington Latin February, 2012

Lunch Detention Policy in the Spotlight

ByCuneytDil Sophomore
Atthebeginningofthe secondsemesteranewpolicy wasintroducedtocrackdownon studentsarrivingtardytoclasses andschool.Nowonemonthlater SumusLeonestakesalookinto howeectiveitactuallyhasbeen sofar. Atthebeginningofthe thirdquarterUpperschool administratorsMs.Smith,Mrs. Seid,Mr.Boyd,andMr. Vanterpoolrealizedthat tardinesswasanissueneedingto besolved.Withthis,thelunch detentionpolicytookshape. Wecameupwitha dierentwaytodealwith tardiness,saidMr.Boydinan interview.Kidsbeing disrespectfultoteachersandkids beinglatetoclassweretwo dierentthingsandthatthey shouldbedealtwithdierently. Althoughthepolicyis stillrelativelynew,earlyresults haveseemedtosteerdownthe numberofstudentstardy. Followingtherstweekofthe thirdQuarter,studentslateto

How Valuable Are Science Fairs?

TheSciencefairheldattheAlisoncampusonFebruary16thincludedprojects fromtheLowerandUpperSchool.PhototakenbyAlistairAndrulis.

ByAlistairAndrulis Sophomore
OnFebruary16th, WashingtonLatinhelditsthird annualScienceFair.Therewere 256LowerandUpperschool studentswhomtookpartinthis yearsfair. Followingthesuccessof thisyearsfair,aquestion everyonemaywanttoask themselvesisthis:Howhelpful doestakingpartinasciencefair proveoncetheyreachahigher education?

Opinionaboutthis dieredbetweenstudents interviewed.Asexpected,many didthesciencefairtojustgettheir grade. ItreatedtheScienceFair asanassignment,thesoonerI couldgetitoverwith,thebeZer, JoRobertsonaFreshmensaid.All acrosstheschoolthiswasa commonresponse. WhenMr.Alpert,9th gradephysicsteacher,wasasked whathewantshisstudentsto learnandtakeawayfrom accomplishingaprojecthe

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Inside

LunchDeten$onPolicysFirstOne ThirdAnnualScienceFairisa MonthPagesoneandtwo Success Pagesoneandtwo

NorovirusHadSickened140+ Pagethree

Year I, Issue I Con$nuedfrompageone

Sumus Leones

February, 2012

Lunch Detention Policy Reviewed

schoolandclasshasincreasingly ChangesforTeachers gonedowneverysingleweek. Sofarweveseensome Thishasinstituteda success.Overtimestudentsare changenotonlyforstudentsbut beginningtogetbeZeratgeZing alsoforteachersintheclassroom. toschoolandclassontime. Beforethispolicywas Perhapsevenmore introducedtardinesswasntkept importantisthattheprospectof trackthesamewayitisnow.In servingalunchdetentionhas mostcasesademeritwasissued changedhowsomestudentsview andthatwastheendofit. geZingtoclassandschoolon Amoreconcisemethod time. wasrequiredforthispolicyto OshaiaSophomore succeed.Nowteachersrecord certainlyagrees.Yes,itis aZendanceonPowerSchool. eective.Ithas EveryeveningMr. givenmeareason Boydrunsthroughalistof Onaverage,199 togettoclass studentsmarkedtardyand becauseitiscoming studentsarelateto latetoschool.Henalizes outofmytimeto classand182 thelistofstudentsthatneed talktopeopleand studentsarelateto toservelunchdetentionand socialize. thenpoststhemaroundthe schooleveryweek.* schoolthenextday. The consensusformany Askedonwhether studentswasthat hethinksthepolicyisliving receivingalatedemeritwasnota uptoexpectations,Mr.Boyd bigdeal.Itwasapieceofpaper replied,Ithinkitistwosteps thatwasdisposedofandforgoZen forwardandonestepback.He almostassoonasitwasgiven. continuesbyexplaininghow Whattheadministratorshave tardinessdependsonadaytoday goZenrighthereisthedirect basis.Forexample,athreeday causeandeectalunchdetention weekendmayresultinmore produces. studentstardytheMonday Ifakidknowstheywill following. belatetoclassorschool...they knowthereisanimmediate Althoughthelunch consequence,siZinginsilencefor detentionpolicyhasntsolved 20minutes,saysMr.Boyd. everythingyetbyanystretchof Immediateconsequence theimagination,resultsare wassomethingmissinginthelate beginningtobeseen.Fornow demeritsystem,anditwasthe though,wellcontinuetosee singlemostfundamentalaw. studentscuZinggrasstoreach classontime,orconfrontations withteachersImnotlate!!

Science Fair
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responded,Iwantstudentstohave freerangeoverwhattheydotheir projectson.WhenIwasinmyhigh schoolfair,IbuiltaGeigerCounter.I ranintoproblemshalfwaythrough myproject;myteachercouldnt answermyquestionsthatIhad aboutmycounter,soIwenttoYale toaskquestions.Itsthesetypesof experiencesthatmakethefair unique,foranotherprojectthatgets assignedinschoolyoudonthave theabilityofdoyourownthing. Ms.Hannon,10thgrade chemistryteacher,agreeswithMr. Alpertsremarksandexpandsby saying,Thefairgivesstudentsthe abilitytoseeaprojectfromstartto nish.Alsothefairlooksreally goodacollegeapplication. RichardMerkle,aseniorat SaintAnselmsAbbySchoolin Northeasthadthistosay,It denitelyhelpsyoudevelopsocial skillsandstrengthensyourabilityto sellsomethingtosomeoneormany people.Alotofhighereducationis presentations,andyourabilityto articulateyourideas,sciencefairsI thinkaregreatpractice. Asyoucanseetheideaof havingaschoolsciencefairhelps studentstopreparefortheirfuture educationaswellasgivingthem anotherwaytofallinlovewitha specicsubject,oneofthethemesof WashingtonLatin. Studentswhove participatedinsciencefairsmaybe abletoseethatsellingtheirideasto othersaswellaspresentinganidea toagroupofpeopleissomething benecialtheycantakeawayfrom thesciencefairexperience.

*Sincethebeginningofthethirdquarter.

Year I, Issue I

Sumus Leones

February, 2012

Norovirus Had Sickened More Than 140 Through the School

ByCuneytDil Sophomore
TheNorovirus stomachbugthattook WashingtonLatinby stormatthebeginningof Februarywasquiteabig deal. Newsofthe Norovirusspread throughtheUpperschool earlyinthemorningon February2nd.Bylunch timeitwasconrmeda stomachbugwasgoing aroundtheschool. Infacton February2ndaround20 studentsfromtheUpper schoolwereoutsick. Laterthatday40more leftwhowereeitherillor wantedtoavoidthe illness. Thesudden outbreakdisrupted afternoonclassesand closedschoolonFriday, February3rd. TheNorovirus hadbeganintheLower schoolandhitthemalot harder.Theearliestcases oftheNoroviruswere justadaybeforeon February1st. Intotal,around 110studentswere reportedillintheLower school.Inaddition,8 Lowerschoolsta memberswerealsosick beforeThursday,released Ms.Kolb Moststudents fellilloutsideofschool, buttheLowerschoolshut downschoolon Thursdaytoavoidmore peoplefallingill. Thiswasarst timeexperienceformany teachersandstudentsbut therearesomethingswe candrawfromthis incidentinthefuture.In theend,thenorovirus seemedtodissipateby February6thas expected.Theschool handledtheissue responsiblybyclosing schoolandtakingany precautionsneeded.

Transmissionelectron micrographofnoroviruses. wikipedia.org/wiki/norovirus

Our Mission
Youmightbewondering whatexactlyyouarereadingis,and whereitcamefrom. SumusLeonesisanidea morethanayearinthemaking,co foundedbyCuneytDilandAlistair Andrulis.Wehavecreateda completelystudentrannewssource servingWashingtonLatin. Thisisourrstissueof whatwehopetobemanytocome. SumusLeoneswillpublishbiweekly. Oursuccesswillbe measuredonhowcommiZed studentswillstaytowritingan articleeverytwoweeksbecausein essenceitisanotherwriting assignmentasidefromtheschool workeveryonealreadyhas. Ourcurrentstaissmall andlimited,butweultimatelywant writersfromeverygradeofour schooltocontribute. Althoughitisalarge undertakingtopublishanewspaper biweekly,itisachallengeweareup to.Thefavorweasktoyoureaders istocontinuereadingand supportingourpaper,andperhaps evenwritingforit. Oneofourmaingoalsfor SumusLeonesisforittoencompass anaudienceoftheentireschool fromFreshmen,toSeniors,andto teachers. Ourmissionstatementisto connectthekeyissuesof WashingtonLatinandofourworld withstudentslivesthroughhonest, thoughtprovoking,andinnovative journalism. Weaimtobringjournalism thatishonestasitalwaysshould beandthoughtprovokingthatwill hopefullygiveamediumfor studentstoexpresstheiropinionsin opinionsubmissionsandget studentsinvolvedindiscussions thatcanbeZerourschool. Wehopethatweare beginningatraditionhereatLatin, andanewspaperthatwillcarryon foryearstocome.WereonlygeZing started.SumusLeones! CuneytDil,publisher&editor