Severn School

• French students visit Severn School
• Appreciating the classics
• Put pop culture in its place
• Ambitious students begin senior projects
• Youth sports shouldn't be competitive until middle school
• Dirty makeup brushes can lead to problems
• Annapolis group builds a new theater

Courtesy Photo Students from Severn School’s sister school L’École de la Croix Rouge in Brest, France, say goodbye to their Severn hosts before heading back to France.

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I have often heard it said that the Severn School is unique and different. But what truly brings spice to the life of Severn's students is the wide range of opportunities the school offers. This past week, students from L'École de la Croix Rouge in Brest, France, visited Severn. Opportunities like this are not found everywhere.

And over spring break last month, 11 students Severn School traveled overseas to Brest and to Paris.

L'École de la Croix Rouge (translated as the School of the Red Cross) is in the small town of Brest. Severn offered the trip to any student in the high school, regardless of what language he or she was enrolled in. Students from Spanish and French I to AP French went.

While in France, students got to visit all kinds of tourist locations during the day. Paris was by far every student's favorite part of the exchange trip. The towns of Cancarnaux and Quimper, both near to Brest, provided a bit of context and a window into the French lifestyle for the students.

They also got to see Mont Saint Michel, a French castle and monastery, Océanopolis, the local aquarium and the D-Day beaches of Normandy. The French seaside was a popular weekend spot. Shopping occupied much of the students' time, especially for the girls.

The town of Quimper was senior Jeff Bennett's favorite place because he could talk to the townspeople and get an idea of what France was like outside of the traditional tourist locations. Freshman Scott Houck, in France for the first time, said that everything about the exchange was 'really cool.'

All of the students noticed a lot of differences between French and American culture. Many were astounded to find that in France there is no peanut butter, and that the sale of the energy drink Red Bull is illegal. This made the six-hour time difference remarkably more difficult to adjust to. The students also noticed that in France there are no squirrels. Called 'les ecoureilles' in French, the pesky rodents common in the U.S. are a new concept for French tourists.

L'École de la Croix Rouge was remarkably different from the Severn School as well. With nearly 3,000 students enrolled, L'École de la Croix Rouge teaches children from the age of 3 to 22 and has a large vocational school. The school system in France is also very different from the system here. There is far less emphasis on the search for the proper college. It is not regarded as less important, but there is simply less hype over which college is the best.

The French students who just visited Severn had a fantastic time. They were only here for ten days, but they made the most of it. The students were able to go to Washington, D.C., Annapolis, Baltimore and New York City, as well as shadow their American peers for a day of school at Severn.

The Baltimore Aquarium, the Inner Harbor, the State House, the United States Naval Academy, the Washington Monument and the White House were major trip highlights. The day-long trip to New York was a great time also.

I had the privilege of accompanying the exchange students there. We saw many of the biggest tourist sites, including the Statue of Liberty (a gift from the French in the 1800s), but the students' favorite place by far was 5th Avenue. Shopping was an integral part of the French students' time here — they went to the mall for upwards of three hours every day!

Severn families had two parties for the travelers: one to celebrate the birthday of a student and the other to say farewell. All in all, Thomas, Mikaël, Kathleen, Anaïg, Lena, Clément, Laura, Camille, Margaux, Amaury, Briuc, Kevin and Yvonne were a lively bunch. It was a joy to have them here with us.

I was not able to go to France this year, but I did have the opportunity to host one of the students, named Thomas. Thomas and I had some trouble with the language barrier at first, but that soon disappeared because we spent a lot of time speaking French, going to the mall and playing Guitar Hero together.

I asked him a few questions about his opinion of the United States and his time here. He noticed a lot of unique things, just as Severn's students did. 'Everything is different,' he said, 'especially the cars and the school.' In France, not every teenager has a car. Instead, there is usually one car to a family.

Thomas, like any 15-year-old boy, also added that 'the girls were very different, too.'

He ended up feeling very welcome with my family. I hope to be able to visit him some day in France.

Thanks to the amazing efforts of Mrs. Rodica Townshend, the French teacher at Severn, the exchange program between the two schools is running smoothly and all had having a wonderful experience. Mrs. Townshend, Mme Neela Riche and M Joël le Roi (both professors of English at L'École de la Croix Rouge) ensured that the exchange's third year was a booming success — and should be followed by many more in the years ahead.

'Kids today just don't appreciate the classics.' You would think these words had been muttered by an aging and disgruntled English teacher when confronted with the lack of interest by high school students in what are considered timeless novels. However, these are the exact words I spoke to my mother after reading an article published in The Capital's Teen Pulse section earlier this year by a high school student.

The writer of the article adamantly argued that Anne Arundel County's Advanced Placement, or AP English, classes are formatted in a way that is simply unacceptable, atrociously requiring all students to read the same books. She argued that the dry and hardly engaging texts force students to resort to reading and copying online summary sites because they are just that maddeningly boring.

Her proposed solution? Students should be allowed to choose their own novels to read; after all, as the author wrote, 'You would think that if you were mature, responsible and intelligent enough to take an Advanced Placement class, that you are capable of choosing the appropriate material to read.'

Well, I should hope so. However, a student who decides to read a dumbed-down summary online, I would argue, is not mature enough to select an appropriate piece of literature to study to prepare him or her for the daunting end-of-year AP English exam.

The books that students read in AP English are carefully selected for their literary merit and content. Admittedly, some novels are not the most exciting and easy to read; however, the vast majority of classic works chosen to be studied across the nation are recognized to be great works for a reason. Analyzing literature of such value expands our understanding of human nature, broadens our vocabulary and hopefully gives the student an appreciation for the craft of a well-written story.

The student who wrote the article believed that every AP English student should select his or her own novels to study. However, I think this burden gives too much responsibility to kids who might not take the assignment seriously. By no means do I believe that all students are incapable of choosing worthwhile reading, but I do think that some students would take advantage of such a situation.

Furthermore, class discussions cannot occur if all students are not reading the same book. AP English teachers can't assist students or help them understand underlying issues in a novel if they must personalize each lesson plan to address one student's questions. To teach a novel, a teacher must have read the book himself.

When students select their own works to study, some of which the teacher may be completely unfamiliar with, any sort of discussion between a student and his teacher becomes impossible. As for class assignments, what standards can a teacher apply when every student has chosen to read a different book?

The writer of article also said that when students are passionate about what they are reading, they'll be motivated to participate in class discussions, when otherwise they wouldn't dream of contributing. While I agree with this assertion, I have found that when teachers give graded credit to students who add to class discussions, students become more eager to add their two cents.

In my experience at Severn, kids don't need too much prodding to raise their hands, although teachers have realized that participation points do give students more of an incentive to do so.

While the student made some strong arguments, I honestly believe that her plan for students choosing their own study material is truly flawed. She may not enjoy studying classic novels, but perhaps if she, and other AP English students, accepted that she has something to learn from these books, then maybe she could better appreciate them.

My mother always told me that you are what you eat, and I took this advice very seriously. I made sure not to eat anything too weird, in fear that I might begin to look like a certain food. As I grew up though, I quickly realized that what you eat isn't the only thing that makes up who you are; in fact, what really influences you is much deeper.

I've come to the conclusion that you are what you are exposed to, and when I look at what I am exposed to the most, I always think of pop culture. It is around us every day: in the magazines we read, in the music we listen to and in the TV we watch. Although these aspects of our culture are very entertaining, they are often deceiving and seem to have a negative effect on society in general.

Although some may argue as to how much pop culture affects society, no one can argue the fact that it does. Sometimes these effects may be subtle, but they are around us all the time. My friends, for example, often use slang words that did not exist until some rap song came out. Or they dress in a certain style that before would have been considered weird.

But it is not these aspects of pop culture that really matter; these things aren't really hurting our society. Styles will always change — it's natural and that is a good thing. The negative effects start to show when pop culture begins to glamorize violence, cheapen the value of education or emphasize the value of material things over what truly matters, like hard work and nourishing relationships with family and friends.

When these sorts of topics are brought up, people often try to counter them by saying, 'It's just a movie' or 'It's just a song,' and no one is getting hurt because of these things.

Well, that's just not true.

Pop culture creates stereotypes that are not fair to all who are concerned. For instance, modern music videos often portray women as merely sex symbols, only there for the men. For young minds listening to and watching these videos, it is often very persuasive and can influence them to behave badly.

The same is true for racial stereotypes. I see these every day. Some white people begin to believe that African American people are all like the rappers in the videos. Some African Americans begin to hate white people because they think that they are all racist. These and many other racial feuds are fueled by pop culture.

But there is hope. We are not headed down a path to total chaos, and I believe that people are starting to realize what pop culture really is … just entertainment. Understanding this will bring about goodwill and better friendship, but there are some things that we will have to do.

We need to realize that what may seem like a great life is just a fantasy and in no way reality. We need to find joy within our own lives and from the people who are around us now. We need to not pay attention to it and — if you must — laugh at how unrealistic it all is. Most importantly, we need to find self-esteem through what we are good at and become proud of who we are, not who they are. If we can do these things, pop culture won't be such a downer to society, but simply a form of entertainment.

Courtesy photo Senior Alec Wilbur, center, directs a student actor in a recent production. Alec, along with 3 other Severn seniors, are writing, directing and filming an original movie.

In May, all members of Severn School's senior class will experience an exciting tradition known as 'Senior Projects.' For two intensive weeks prior to graduation, the students will immerse themselves in various programs aimed at nurturing potential fields of study, exploring possible career paths and giving back to the community.

The process actually begins about halfway through senior year for the students, who begin brainstorming ideas for their projects. Once approved, they start the planning process: outlining objectives, selecting both an on-campus and project-related advisor and ironing out travel and other details. At the end of the project, students fill out journal sheets and evaluations of their projects and present their experiences to their classmates.

This year's projects range from internships at the Baltimore Zoo to surveying sea grasses in the Chesapeake Bay. One of the larger projects involves a group of about twenty seniors going to Durham, N.C., to work with Habitat for Humanity. The students will be working from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. with professional builders and volunteers to construct several houses for underprivileged families.

The unique thing about Habitat for Humanity trips is that the students will have the opportunity to not only work with professionals, but also with the actual families who will be living in the houses once they are completed.

Another group of seniors is staying closer to home. Harry Katz, Zack Lank, Alec Wilbur and Colette Nataf are writing, directing and filming an original movie. Zack, an aspiring writer, artist and performer, will be writing the script as well as acting in the film with seasoned performers Colette and Alec. Harry will be directing and shooting the film after experience throughout his high school career with digital film and video.

These independent senior projects are just one example of the vast opportunities that Severn offers to their students for individualized studies. Several students every year also take independent classes in voice, dance, sculpture, writing, theatre, painting and drawing. Students wishing to pursue other areas of interest in different subject areas can put in proposals to begin a new independent study in any area, if approved by a teacher/mentor.

In addition, next year Severn will be instituting a new program called the Severn Fellows, which will give a select group of seniors the opportunity to pursue their passions at an even higher level. The programs are as diverse as the talents and dreams of the students, and will involve both on-campus and off-site work. At the end of the school year, students will present their work to the entire student body, whether it is an original piece of music or a lecture in their area of study.

The Severn Fellows program, in conjunction with the independent senior projects and the independent study classes, enable Severn students to focus on their dreams and explore specified areas of study not usually offered in the high school curriculum. These independent study opportunities also help Severn students learn how to handle academic freedom with responsibility.

I'd like to start by doing a little survey:

Good to know. Because, that is exactly my point. Would kids have a better time if the competitiveness was taken out of youth sports? Youth defined here as kids who are not yet in middle school. Let's apply the Rotary's four way test.

Is this the truth?

Yes. As you yourselves admitted just a few seconds ago, what elementary student is going to remember the record of a soccer season? And three years down the road, is it even going to matter? Probably not. So if it doesn't matter, then why push them? Let them go at their own pace because what does matter is what kind of memories this child has of this team — the friends they made, or the values they learned, such as teamwork, sportsmanship and fair play. Those are the kinds of things that they will remember.

Looking back, they shouldn't remember a coach who pushed them to win because then it is not about the kids anymore. It's about the coach winning, or the parents' wish for their child to be a college athlete.

Is it fair to all concerned?

You may be thinking, why elementary school? Because middle school is preparation for high school, which is very competitive. However, it's more fair to everyone to have non-competitive teams in elementary school because in many cases, that's the only time these kids get to play sports; in middle school and high school they are either not good enough to make the team, their interest shifts or sports become too expensive for them to participate. Also, if elementary sports weren't competitive, all kids would get to play, and there would be no bench warmers. If it wasn't about winning, there wouldn't be nasty comments about talent levels. Both of these would raise the levels of self-esteem in the kids.

I'd like to use an example. Say we had two girls, Cate and Allie. Both were six years old and played on two different soccer teams. On Cate's team, the coach was a screamer. He wanted to win games at all cost. In practices they ran laps and did drills, and when they lost he would throw his clip board on the ground and scream at them, shouting such things as: 'You are all losers!' or 'Jimmy, you run like a girl!' or 'If Mallory drops the ball one more time, you'll all be running laps until you're forty!'

On Allie's team, the coach was a very relaxed guy. In practices they scrimmaged, and when they both won and lost games, he said, 'It's no big deal. Great job out there guys!'

What was the difference? You had to drag Cate to her games, whereas you couldn't keep Allie home.

As you can guess, this was a personal example. I'm Cate, and my sister is Allie. I feel that this story is important because memories like these can influence you later in life. I hate soccer, and I suppose I attribute some of that to the experience that I had with that team. However, my sister loves soccer and is hoping to play for her high school team.

Will it build goodwill and better friendships?

Yes. Sports should be about friendship, not the final score. I believe that had my team been less competitive and more relaxed, I may have had a better time. I think we can all agree that sports teams are great for making friends because teams are a large group of people with the same interests. In a more relaxed environment kids can make friends easier because less strain is being put on them. I don't think I had very many friends on that team, if any, because I was always so nervous. My sister, however, was able to meet everyone because she was more relaxed.

Non-competitive elementary sports will also build goodwill between the coaches. If the teams are not competitive, then there wouldn't be any aggravation between the coaches about the scores being run up. Because if it's not about winning, the scores wouldn't get run up 9-0 or 10-0. This builds better goodwill between the coaches because then they aren't angry at each other for purposely 'slaughtering' the other team.

Is it beneficial to all concerned?

Yes. If elementary sports weren't competitive, coaches could focus on such things as development. Sports are great for the improvement of motor skills and strategic thinking. Kids develop their motor skills as they participate in the sport; playing helps them utilize their brain, muscles, and joints. Kids develop strategic thinking as they figure out plays.

However, probably the most beneficial part of sports are the values you learn. I didn't learn a thing that soccer season. No one taught my team things like teamwork, or sportsmanship, or that it's even okay to lose. But my sister learned all of those, and on top of it she learned how to have fun while she was playing, which is the most important part. From that team she really learned how to become a well rounded athlete and person.

Using the Rotary's four way test has helped me make the decision that elementary school sports should not be competitive. There's plenty of time to be competitive later on in life.

Courtesy photo Senior Molly Warnock applies her makeup in the morning before school using a clean, fresh brush.

Many teens use makeup to cover up their acne and make their skin look healthy and flawless.

But what many teens don't do is clean their makeup brushes, which can lead to more acne and unwanted problems with their skin. Teens believe that their acne is caused by bad diet and oily skin, and they assume they will eventually just grow out of their acne stages. But, their bacteria-filled makeup brushes could lead to a greater problem for longer than their acne stages intended.

Makeup brushes are extremely popular, taking over the use of your hands and fingers. Also, tissues and wedges are used to apply makeup. These items come with hidden risks — they store all sorts of bacteria that can cause different types of infections and problems with your skin.

Every day, without cleaning your brush, you wake up, put on your makeup and put the brush either down on your dresser or into your makeup bag.

The brush collects bacteria from every place you put it, and when you don't clean your brush, you put the bacteria right onto your face. The daily use of your dirty makeup brush can clog your pores and infect your skin at the same time.

This bacteria problem is finally being recognized by many cosmetic companies, and they are offering several solutions. They now sell multiple brush cleaners; some are soap-based and work like a shampoo, and some are alcohol-based sprays. Both have the same effect for cleaning makeup brushes, but they come with some of the same problems.

The cleansers are made with harsh chemicals, and the chemicals, like the bacteria, are making it from the brush directly onto your face.

Just a plain good wash will clean your brush and it might be a better, simpler idea, especially for girls with sensitive skin. Kristin Adams, founder and president of Afterglow Cosmetics, suggests you try rinsing your brush with warm water and then using a little bit of your own shampoo to clean the brush out. Then she suggests rinsing it and soaking it in warm water, then ringing out any excess water and letting it air dry on a clean towel.

But don't forget what else the makeup brush is touching besides your skin — the make-up itself.

For some brushes, ones that have never been washed through years of use, the bacteria could have reached into the actual make-up.

If you think your brush has collected a large amount of bacteria, you might want to throw out your makeup. If you do purchase new makeup, be sure to use a clean or new brush so you don't contaminate the product.

Along those lines, you want to look at expiration dates on your makeup to avoid any skin damaging problems.

Even though makeup brushes are very susceptible to bacteria, they are a convenient way to apply makeup. Teens should just be aware that without cleaning the brushes they use daily, they can be hurting their skin. The makeup itself can clog your pores and cause acne, but it's also very likely that the make-up brush can be the real problem affecting your skin. Ms. Adams also recommends to rinse brushes at least once a week and give them a thorough cleaning at least once a month.

Cleaning your makeup brushes after use is a simple task that doesn't take that long to do, but has a big payoff in the end.

Children's Theatre of Annapolis is a nonprofit organization, committed to the growth of children 8-18 years of age through theatrical performance. The organization is financed through the sale of tickets from its large productions and the membership of many devoted families and friends.

The group was founded in 1959, and its first production was in 1962.

Each year, CTA does a full length musical for the age groups of 8-14 in the spring and ages 12-18 in the fall. CTA has put on major musicals ranging from 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' to 'Bye Bye Birdie.'

In between the feature productions, many workshops are provided to hone techniques such as auditioning, voice, dance, acting, directing and behind-the-scene jobs for all ages.

I have been involved in eight productions with this group since I was eight years old.

From auditions to performances, the process is always enjoyable and thrilling.

After months of rehearsals every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, the cast members become like a family.

veryone is always supportive of one another. Even after a show has closed, I know I can always rely on the friends I have met through CTA.

Behind the scenes, the tech crew is made up primarily of adult volunteers and students. They run the lights and sound, and they help with the set and costume changes backstage. It is a very friendly environment, both on and off the stage.

In the past, these musicals were held at Anne Arundel Community College, but that will soon be changing. Children's Theatre is in the process of building a brand new theatre in Annapolis.

The building's construction fund came from generous donors across the state, including members of the CTA community.

In addition, the Children's Theatre hired an executive director, Kathy Swekel, whose primary job is to raise funds for this endeavor. The construction is set to be finished by December.

I believe the construction of a new theatre is a fine addition to our community in the greater Annapolis area, and I am very excited about this new structure.

The first show in the new theatre will be 'Peter Pan' in the fall for children between the ages 12 to 18. As a player and a general fan of theatre, I encourage everyone to see the show!

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