Is Woodlynde Playing Big Brother? Trashed! - Woodlynde School

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Horseback

riding offers

many

benefits ...

Page 2

Teachers are

getting engaged

and having

children ...

Page 3

Woodlynde School’s Award-Winning Student Newspaper Issue 4

February 20, 2013

By Patrick Torphy

Editor-in-Chief

Posting sensitive information online can easily

reach unintended audiences and result in a host of

consequences, but many Woodlynde students have an

eerie sense that someone is already watching them.

After a series of disciplinary actions were taken in

the past year due to separate incidents of inappropri-

ate postings by stu-

dents on social media,

rumors started to swirl

about administrators looking online at students’ Face-

book and Twitter accounts.

“I don’t think that they’re stalking me, I know that

they are,” said senior Chris Maguire about adminis-

trators, though he declined to have his reasoning pub-

lished.

His response instantly ignited debate by Upper

School students and teachers who were in the same

room. Math teacher Mr. Sweeney laughed off Chris’

claims, while a fellow Upper School student, who

wished to remain anonymous, said, “I know they're not

going on because I'd be screwed by now.”

Several administrators were questioned by The

Students

A Medical Mystery Let It Snow! See SOCIAL MEDIA on page 3

Photo by Patrick Torphy, Editor-in-Chief

Senior Hannah Lipschutz dances under artificial snow

at the Upper School Winter Whiteout.

By Nicholas Brayton

Staff Writer

Senior Patrick Torphy’s voice rises in

anger when he talks about the unclaimed

clothing in the school’s lost and found.

This is because three or four very large

trash bags filled to the brim with un-

claimed shirts, pants, hats, hoodies, and

jackets are tossed in the Dumpster at the

end of each month.

“I think it's obnoxious. I think it's a

colossal waste of resources that could be

donated to people in need,” the Senior

Class President said. He is one of many

students who believe the clothing should

be given to those in poverty.

At the end of each month, Dean of Stu-

dents Mr. Shank lays out some of the

clothing in assembly and asks students to

claim it if it is theirs. All unclaimed

clothes are tossed in the Dumpsters near

LOST & FOUND on page 6

By Cassia Enright

Opinion & Magazine Editor

You may have noticed that junior Luke Alonso was scarce-

ly around Woodlynde for the first semester of the school year.

This is because he has been battling health issues that actually

have been going on for the past seven years of his life.

Luke has worn

an amazing poker

face while deal-

ing with two sur-

geries, countless

visits to the doc-

tor’s office that

caused him to

miss school, and

severe pain on a

daily basis. While

he remains seem-

ingly unfazed by

his situation, you

would be shocked

to know that the

story behind his absence is worthy of an exploitive TLC special.

It all started seven years ago when Luke began having

See MEDICAL MYSTERY on page 6

Image provided by Mr. Alonso, Network Administrator

Junior Luke Alonso in the hospital before his

surgery.

A Talented Duo

Stomach pains caused Luke Alonso to

miss a majority of the first semester.

Two surgeries later, he’s on the mend.

Photo by Maya Holloway, Photographer

Seniors Hunter Register and Haley Van Schaick sing “All I Want For Christmas Is You” by Mariah Carey at

the winter Talent Show. See additional photos on page 4.

Is Woodlynde

Playing Big

Brother? When it comes to social media,

administrators say no, but

students are skeptical.

Trashed! Instead of being

donated to the needy,

unclaimed clothing is

getting thrown out.

Special Report

The Informer Page 2 February 20, 2013

Horseback Riding Brings Joy and Therapeutic Benefits

Sophomore Nicole Roberts

(left photo) competes every

year at the Devon Horse

Show.

Sophomore Victoria

Hartzell (right photo) travels

to Thorncroft every Saturday.

She has been riding since she

was in preschool.

Staff Writer Liz Carney sat down with brand new freshman Alane Ribick, who previ-

ously attended 21st Century Cyber Charter School, to talk about what it’s been like at

Woodlynde so far.

How has your experience at Woodlynde been so far?

"It's really good. I really like it. All the ninth grade girls have been accepting and they

were really nice to me."

What's your favorite part of Woodlynde so far?

"All the teachers are really nice and help out a lot."

Why did you decide to come to Woodlynde?

"My parents looked around for small private schools and then we found Woodlynde; I

really wanted to go."

What do you like to do for fun / what are your hobbies?

"I really like anything

that has to do with art,

like painting and draw-

ing; hanging out with

friends; and listening to

music. I went to a Two

Door Cinema and an Im-

agine Dragons concert.”

Do you play any sports?

"No, but I might play soft-

ball or lacrosse in the

spring."

What's something

interesting that's

happened to you?

"I lived in South Carolina

… five minutes away from

the beach so we went

there a lot; I mostly

tanned and read.

The climate was totally

different, too. It was real-

ly nice in the beginning

when it was warm, but

then once you got used to

it, it wasn’t that nice,”

because it was warm all

the time.

Learning Specialist Mrs. Wilson says:

"Like Maya [Holloway], Alane came to Woodlynde in the middle of the school year and

she has to catch up with academic work and meet new teachers and students. I think

she's done a beautiful job at trying to learn things quickly. I know she has a really

long drive to come here, but she always comes ready to learn and puts a lot of effort

into what she does.

“I think she's doing a good job making friends and she's considering doing a sport in

the spring to get more involved with school and do a fun activity with the friends

she's made. I think she's doing a great job becoming a part of our community."

By Isabel Tirado-Barrett

Staff Writer

During the week before winter break, students were filing into

their classrooms, ready to work.

However, it was not a typical week. Every so often, one of San-

ta's little helpers walked in and distributed candy canes to students

and teachers, with the recipient's name on its label.

Almost 1,000 candy canes were bought and distributed to raise

money for prom committee, which suited the holidays perfectly.

New student Michael McGroary, a freshman who was still

getting to know people at Woodlynde, sat in his chair during Jour-

nalism elective and watched how others received candy canes.

Two upperclassmen noticed that he wanted a candy cane but

was without one. Although they are older and aren’t friends with

him, they decided benevolently to do something about it.

The next thing Michael knew, he was given the wonderful sur-

prise of 20 candy canes.

“So I'm just walking

down the hall from history

to study hall … then [prom

committee advisor] Ms. Gal-

lagher comes up and says:

'Michael, I've been looking

for you,' and she just hands

me a bucket of candy canes

and walks away.”

I n i t i a l l y , M i c h a e l

thought Ms. Gallagher was

playing a joke on him.

“I read the tags, and see

who it's from, and I just

couldn't stop laughing, be-

cause it was so unexpected.

It's funny, though, because I

felt really bad that I couldn't

thank [the recipients], be-

cause I was laughing too

hard. Luckily I was able to

thank [them] later …”

When asked what made

them perform this act of

kindness and generously use

$20 of their own money, the

benefactors, who wished to

remain anonymous, said,

“Michael is just a majestic

and spirited youth. He was saying how he hoped that he got candy

canes, how he wanted some.”

“He was just in such shock [when he got them]!” said one of the

benefactors.

“I don’t think we’ve ever done this before with somebody we’re

not really close friends with,” said the other benefactor.

He added: “Michael came up to me after he got the candy canes,

and asked why we sent him 20 candy canes. And all I said was: ‘Be

careful what you wish for, Michael.’"

By Julia Wolfe

Staff Photographer

"Some people think that horseback riding is

just a sport, but it's my life," sophomore Ryleigh

Grady says about her favorite activity.

Ryleigh has been riding since she was four, fol-

lowing in her mother’s footsteps. She is a competi-

tor who has won many awards, including second

place in the Reserved Championship at her barn,

Radnor Hunt, where she rides three times a week.

Horseback riding is such a popular sport that

at least two other Woodlynde students — sopho-

mores Nicole Roberts and Victoria Hartzell —-

do it, too. There is also a school-sponsored horse-

back riding club that just started on Thursdays.

The group has eight students involved so far.

Victoria started riding in preschool because she

has always loved horses. She said she has an awe-

some instructor, and although Victoria does not

compete just yet, she rides every Saturday at

Thorncroft in Malvern.

"Horseback riding is my favorite activity on a

Saturday," the sophomore said.

Nicole rides horses for fun, too, but she also

does it because riding horses helps control her Epi-

lepsy. Nicole competes once a year in the most well

-known horse show in the Philadelphia area, The

Devon Horse Show. She said she is in the main-

streamers group and has won many awards.

Scotty is her favorite horse to ride, and she said

she loves Scotty because she knows how to control

his wild temper. One time, though, a dog spooked

him and Nicole was bucked off and landed high in

a tree. Luckily, Nicole didn’t break any bones.

Ryleigh also has a crazy story about riding a

horse. When she was 12, she fell off her horse, Hen-

ry, while doing a jump and she broke her shoulder.

This was all caused by Henry seeing birds flying

around and chirping.

“Henry doesn't like birds,” Ryleigh said.

Ryleigh, Victoria and Nicole are three brave

young women who have been horseback riding

since they were little and plan to continue for many

years to come.

“I’ll probably ride for my entire life, as long as it

brings me joy,” Ryleigh said.

New Student Spotlight: Alane Ribick

Freshman Enjoys Art and Painting

An Act of Kindness


New freshman Alane Ribick used to live five minutes

from the beach. Photo by Christa Deckman

Freshman Michael McGroary

was surprised with 20 candy canes

from two students he barely knows.

Sophomore

Ryleigh

Grady has

been riding

since she

was four and

is following

in her

mother’s

footsteps.

Freshmen Lauren Weaver?????? and Daija

Gillespie-Stanley have a laugh while ?????????


A Joyous Time

Teachers Are Getting Engaged, Having Children By Christa Deckman and Mattie Sweet

Informer Staff

Two Woodlynde teachers enjoyed a two-week-long

winter break with not just family, but with their new

fiancés, as well. Meanwhile, two other teachers are

looking forward to having children.

Ms. Gal & Coach Brad Get Engaged On Dec. 21, Athletic Trainer and P.E. teacher Ms.

Gallagher was finally pro-

posed to after four years of

dating Varsity Boys’ Soccer

Coach Brad Price.

Two days later, sixth

grade teacher Ms.

Copeland was proposed to

by her boyfriend of over five

years Matthew Frankel.

It is an exciting moment

when a man kneels down,

takes out a ring, then asks

for a woman’s hand in marriage. When this hap-

pened to Ms. Gallagher, she said, “I was completely

shocked! I had no idea it was coming.”

Ms. Copeland Gets Engaged Ms. Copeland was equally shocked, saying,

“Actually, I thought he was faking at first because he

liked to tease me about it a lot. I didn't believe him

until I actually saw the ring!”

Each teacher had a different

experience on their magical

night.

For Ms. Gallagher, Coach

Brad bought two dog tags that

said, “Woof you.” When she

took the dog tags from Coach

Brad, he turned around to get

the ring, then knelt down on

one knee and proposed to her.

Ms. Copeland’s night was a

long one. First, her fiancé took

her to see the Nutcracker. Af-

terward, they drove to dinner.

But before dinner, they

walked through a park. They

stopped at a spot overlooking

the restaurant, and he turned

around, took her hand and

asked her if she would marry

him. Initially, she did not be-

lieve him, until he took out the

solitaire diamond ring.

Along with all the fantastic

news of engagements, two other

teachers have received the exciting news of pregnancy.

Mrs. Rohleder Is Expecting

Lower School Guidance Counselor Mrs. Rohleder is

beyond thrilled to be a first-time mom. "I am excited about

everything! Maybe not the

changing diapers part,

though," she admits.

Mrs. Rohleder is due March

12th and is keeping the sex of

the baby a surprise. Mrs.

Rohleder always wanted to

reveal her pregnancy to her

family in a big way, but she

was so excited, she just ended

up spurting it out.

Mrs. Rohleder and her hus-

band Justin are very excited

to start a family of their own.

She has done a lot to prepare so far, like having a baby

shower. “We are starting to get the nursery ready, too,

which is exciting!"

Mr. Sadusky’s Wife Is Having Twins Meanwhile, new Upper School science teacher Mr.

Sadusky’s wife, Suzanne, is pregnant with twins. They

are looking forward to this and have already discussed a

few names. Mrs. Sadusky is expecting sometime in July,

and Mr. Sadusky said he is glad that his other child will

have company.

Mr. and Mrs. Sadusky

are expecting twins.

Ms. Copeland and

fiancé Mr. Frankel.

Ms. Gallagher and

Coach Price.

Informer regarding rumors that they are monitoring

students’ online activity outside of school, especially

on Twitter. Head of Upper School Mrs. Dougherty

firmly responded, “Do I go and scan and look and try

and find out about y’all? Uh, no.”

Dean of Students Mr. Shank echoed Mrs.

Dougherty, comically saying, “You’re asking a guy

that’s pretty naive about this stuff. I don’t have a

Facebook page; I’ll never have a Facebook page; I

don’t follow anybody on Twitter, and that’s just

me ...”

“They’re believing that we have a lot of time on

our hands ... I can confirm that that is not true,”

Head of School Dr. Fulco added about monitoring

students’ social media accounts. He did, however,

offer an explanation for why student posts on Twitter

have been making their way to his desk.

SEARCHING TWITTER Woodlynde’s Communications Department peri-

odically searches the school name on Twitter to make

replies and generate an online presence.

If a tweet were to contain “Woodlynde”, this

would show up in their search, and if it had question-

able content, then the Communications Department

would be obligated to share it with administrators.

Dr. Fulco confirmed that this has happened on two

occasions, but he declined to specify what they were.

STUDENTS COMPLAINING

What’s perhaps more ubiquitous than incriminat-

ing posts is just general complaining by students

about school. Dr. Fulco had poignant words for those

who choose to vent about Woodlynde online.

“If someone tweeted publically that anyone can

see, ‘Woodlynde stinks, I hate it here, it’s an awful

place, the teachers are mean’ ... I think [that’s some-

thing the school should respond to].

“If you’re Googling Woodlynde as a prospective

family, and the fifth [result] that pops up is a tweet

or some other social media platform where the stu-

dent is blasting Woodlynde, [that] is concerning to

me.”

But the line between what is harmless and what

is malicious can be blurred. This appeared to be true

in the case of “Woodlynde Problems.”

@WOODLYNDEPROBS TAKEN DOWN Woodlynde Problems, or @WoodlyndeProbs, was a

popular Twitter account followed by Woodlynde stu-

dents and even the official Woodlynde Twitter. It

spoke to everyday, silly issues that Woodlynde stu-

dents encounter.

Many of the tweets, such as, “Suffering from

secondhand embarrassment when students make

poor announcement choices in assembly...#woodlynde

problems" resonated with students, including sopho-

more Lesley Vizak.

“I thought it was really funny ... some of them

were really accurate.” She was disappointed that it

hadn’t been updated in months. Rumors swirled that

the school asked that it be taken down.

When questioned about @WoodlyndeProbs remov-

al, Dr. Fulco and Mr. Shank said they had no

knowledge of the school requesting that it be taken

down. In fact, they complimented its humor and wit.

Mrs. Dougherty had no recollection of requesting

that it be taken down, either, but did acknowledge

having a conversation with the moderator about a spe-

cific tweet. The moderator, an Upper School student

who wishes to remain anonymous, apparently misun-

derstood Mrs. Dougherty, and thought she asked that

the whole account be deleted.

After The Informer probed this incident, it was

discovered that a simple miscommunication resulted

in the termination of @WoodlyndeProbs, and now the

Twitter handle is back up and running.

SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY ISN’T NEEDED

While no administrator could point to a formal

policy regarding student conduct on social media, con-

sequences for inappropriate posts have ranged from

asking the student to remove the post all the way to

suspension.

Dr. Fulco doesn’t believe a student code of conduct

on social media would be necessary.

"Typically, a post that's going to land a student in

trouble falls under other policies, [such as bullying, or

drugs and alcohol]. So I am not certain that we need a

specific, online-posting policy," he said. “I think we're

basically on par [compared] with other schools.”

School Counselor Ms. Szmajda determines appro-

priate intervention by one simple factor.

“My best rule-of-thumb is that if it affects our com-

munity, when we’re in school, because of something

that has happened outside of school, then it should be

dealt with.”

Ms. Szmajda estimates that half of all the conflict

she mediates involves social media. A typical incident

would be cyber-bullying through Facebook, but inci-

dents have occurred on almost all social media plat-

forms, such as YouTube, Twitter, the now-defunct

Formspring, and even Instagram.

In terms of just general complaining about Wood-

lynde, Ms. Szmajda says, “I think it’s okay to complain

to an extent. I think if it’s directed at a certain teach-

er ... then that’s crossing a line. But I do think that

everyone has some amount of freedom to express how

they feel on their Facebook or on their Twitter or

whatever they’re using.”

WOODLYNDE’S RESPONSIBILITY? While social media can provide a great platform to fos-

ter communication, collaboration, and socialization, it can

also implicate its users who decide to share more than

they should. Some feel that whatever happens online is

beyond Woodlynde’s responsibility.

“You wanna put up a picture of you getting drunk on

Facebook or whatever, well that’s your prerogative,” Mr.

Shank said. “I don’t think it’s in your best interest and I

will certainly teach students about why that’s not in your

best interest.”

But there is a fine line between what the school thinks

is a poor decision and what they consider a major concern.

In the latter case, Mr. Shank says, “Freedom of speech

is out the window; what’s more important is this kid par-

ticipating in risky behaviors, and we’re going to address it

because we don’t want the kid to be at risk; we want them

to be safe and healthy.”

Mrs. and Mr.

Rohleder are

expecting in March.

Social Media (From page 1)

If the student’s post is a major

concern, “Freedom of speech is

out the window; what’s more

important is this kid participat-

ing in risky behaviors, and we’re

going to address it because we ...

want them to be safe and

healthy.”

~ Mr. Shank, Dean of Students

Colleges Are

Searching

Social Media

By Patrick Torphy

Editor-in-Chief

College guidance counselor Mrs. Tabun says

more often colleges are now looking at appli-

cants’ social media activity.

“My suggestion is to really be mindful of

things that you post and I think kids are trying

to be better about privacy settings, but just un-

derstand that anything that goes out there is

public, and so if it’s not something that you

would want your family members looking at,

then it probably shouldn't be out there,” she

said.

She also addressed the urban myth of colleg-

es bypassing privacy settings.

“[Colleges] are typically not going to go out

of their way and do a lot of cyber-sleuthing to

try and uncover damaging evidence against an

applicant. But if something comes their way ...

sometimes they don’t have to look very hard to

find things.”

However, there is the possible scenario of a

student’s acceptance riding on their online

presence. If admissions has to choose between

two applicants, then what they find online

about the candidates could be a tie-breaker.

Mrs. Tabun also warned that colleges can

rescind an acceptance if they later find ques-

tionable online content.

Mr. Sweeney’s Beard-asaurus Wins Competition

wife, who shaved his beard, or sophomore Taylor

Sforza, who gave him the idea.

Long-term sub Mr. Hoffman, who was the

runner-up for the award as “The Irish Wave”, said

he joined because, “it was for charity and it was a

good cause and I have a wealthy ginger beard.”

On the other hand, science teacher Mr.

Sadusky (who portrayed Paul Bunyan) joined as

an excuse not to shave his beard.

Mystery guest and librarian Ms. Schroeder

put on a fake beard, and green tunic and tights,

and pretended to be the comic book hero Green

Arrow.

Ms. Schroeder said that she wore a fake beard

last year as a joke. “So this year, a few of my stu-

dents asked if I was going to be in it … I said it

was like a challenge,” she said.

By Alec Kravitt

Staff Writer

For the last three years, Woodlynde has hosted a

competition where faculty members (and sometimes

students) grow beards, shave them into fun designs,

and then have the Woodlynde community judge

their creativity.

During the first two years, organizer Mr. Gel-

man was victorious both times. However, last

month, he lost his title to beloved math teacher Mr.

Sweeney.

”I feel so awesome. I finally obtained my pre-

cious beard award,” said Mr. Sweeney, who shaved

his beard like two dinosaurs.

Mr. Sweeney, who plans to donate the money

raised from the competition to the Woodlynde Fund,

said he could not have won without the help of his


Woodlynde Hits the Ice Middle and Upper School students and

teachers skated the morning away.

Photos by Mattie Sweet, Media Editor

(Top photo): Students head to the top of the mountain on the

ski lift. Seniors Tianna Buck and Christen McCreavey

(bottom photo) having fun on the trip.

Talent Show Rocks the All-Purpose Room

Senior Alex Hertel after singing

“Ghost Walking” by Lamb of God.

Eighth grader Derek Smith pays tribute to

Nirvana by performing “Smells Like Teen Spirit”.

Freshman

Lauren

Robinson (left

photo) sings

“No Air” by

Jordin Sparks.

Photo by Breana Daniel-Schnobrich, Photographer

Nick Scaramuzza (left), Isabel Tirado-Barrett

and Alec Kravitt roll the dice at the role playing

game club.

Photo by Breana Daniel-Schnobrich

Seventh graders Taylor Forman

(parrot) and Caroline Stefan

(bear), and sixth grader Brenna

Radice (dog) dance on stage.

Photo by Mr. Prontnicki, science teacher

Middle School students enjoy a fun day at Arnold’s.

Photo by Mattie Sweet, Media Editor

Contestants in the beard competition are (back row, from

left to right) Mr. Sadusky, Mr. Hoffman, Mr. Pront-

nicki, Mr. Gelman, (front row, from left) Ms. Schroeder,

Mr. Sweeney (the winner) and Mr. Robison.

Middle Schoolers at Arnold’s

Tubing / Ski Trip New RPG Club Starts

Senior Noorie Weinberg and junior Megan Doll sing

“Baby, It’s Cold Outside.”

Photo by Julia Wolfe, Photographer Sophomores Samantha Goodman and Eliza Griffin

lean in for a photo.

Photos by

Maya

Holloway

Seventh

graders

Mickey

McGowan

(left photo)

and Tori

Bruckner

(not pic-

tured) sang a

duet to “It’s

Beginning to

Look a lot

Like

Christmas.”

The Informer

(Left photo):

Senior Tianna

Buck and

freshman

Maya

Holloway

fight for the

basketball.

(Right Photo):

Junior

Gaylen

Martin

streaks in for

a break-away

layup.

February 20, 2013 Page 5

Staff Writer Ryan Harvie sat down with junior Patrick Daniel-

Schnobrich, who started snowboarding at the age of 10 and tries to go as

much as he can during the winter.

What's the coolest move you've ever done?

"Bloody Dracula. It's a trick in which the rider grabs the tail of the board

with both hands while he’s in mid-air. The move is very hard and took me

so many times to finally get it right. I felt so happy and proud when I got

the move down.”

Where do you go snowboarding?

"I go to Heavenly, Park City, and Bear Creek."

Have you ever wiped out or hurt yourself?

"One time, I went snowboarding with my friends in Aspen, Colorado. The

place was called Buttermilk and that's where the X-Games were happen-

ing. I wanted to impress my friends, who were all sponsored snowboard-

ers, so I went off one of the X-Games jumps and fell right on my face, and

knocked myself out. The reason I think I fell was because I was nervous

about messing up in front of my friends.”

Would you consider yourself an expert snowboarder?

"No, but I think I'm pretty good."

Is snowboarding one of your favorite things to do? What is your

favorite part about it?

"Yes I enjoy it a lot. I really like the feeling of air going by my face while I

go down the slope.

What’s more fun, surfing or snowboarding?

"Snowboarding,

because you

can do much

cooler tricks

and it's more of

a challenge.

T h e t h i n g

that’s challeng-

ing about snow-

boarding is

that you need

to keep your

ba lance to

avoid wiping

out and falling

all the time.”

Do you have

any advice

for

beginners?

"You shouldn't

be scared. Just

go and try it

and you'll love

it."

Athlete Spotlight: Patrick Daniel-Schnobrich

Avid Snowboarder’s Coolest

Move Is “Bloody Dracula”

Photo by Breana Daniel-Schnobrich, Photographer

Junior Patrick Daniel-Schnobrich loves

snowboarding because it’s challenging and you can

perform cool tricks.

Sophomore Michaela Trusk goes up

strong for an uncontested layup.

Freshman Maya Holloway

(right) battles to win the tip-off.

Seniors (from

left) Tianna

Buck and Alex

Roberts

celebrate

Senior Day

with Coaches

McMurrer (far

left) and

Robison.

Buddy Bowling Strikes Again

First grader Sara Dupré and Lower School

teacher Ms. Sicina hold hands while

preparing to bowl.

Kindergartner Riken Desai

fires the ball down the lane

with focus.

Senior Alex Roberts receives a smooch

from kindergartner Kyle Purdy.

First grader Henry Faragalli

smiles wide as he gets ready to

bowl.

Photos by

Mattie Sweet,

Media Editor

Photos by

Mattie

Sweet,

Media

Editor

A

The Informer

Woodlynde School

445 Upper Gulph Road

Strafford, PA 19087

The Informer welcomes feed-

back and letters to the editor.

Please send to:

[email protected]

Editor-in-Chief

Patrick Torphy

Media Editor

Mattie Sweet

Layout Editor

Jeremy Cooper

Opinion &

Magazine Editor

Cassia Enright

Staff Writers Alex Roberts

Hannah Lipschutz

Trevor Bowes

Nick Brayton

Joel Cureton

Nick Spino

Nick Scaramuzza

Christa Deckman

Samantha Goodman

Elizabeth Carney

Victoria Hartzell

Alec Kravitt

Matt Savitz

Giana Campbell

Ryan Harvie

Isabel Tirado-Barrett

Chris Lumsden

Patrick Nucci

Photographers Ben Weisman

Breana Daniel-Schnobrich

Andrew Rosenberg

Julia Wolfe

Tianna Buck

Maya Holloway

Videographers Kelan Reilly

Jordan Gregson

Michael McGroary

Graphic Artists Chris Maguire

Megan Flynn

Chief Enforcers Brandon Anderson

Christian Acosta

Faculty Adviser Mr. Gelman

Adviser-at-Large Mrs. Byrne

Circulation /

Editing Adviser Ms. DeLiberty

“Prank calling Ms.

McMurrer only 2 times

a day, but last time I

called, I got a ‘This

number is no longer in

service.’ "

~Mattie Sweet, senior

“To stop

sneaking onto

horse farms and

putting unicorn

horns on ponies.”

~Luke Alonso,

junior

“To break my New

Year’s resolution. It’s

going slow and steady.

I am confident that I

can do it .”

~ Mr. Kupersmith,

English teacher

What’s Your New Year’s Resolution?

Compiled by Hannah Lipschutz, Matt Savitz and Mattie Sweet, Informer staff

“To successfully block

Mattie so I don't get

prank calls. It’s going

well, until she finds a

way around it.”

~Ms. McMurrer,

Learning Specialist

“I want to get a job

but no one will hire

me.”

~Tristan Bosna,

sophomore

“To be on the Girls’

Softball team. I got to

start training every day.

It’s working out great for

me. I’m a natural leader.”

~ Luke DeLeo, freshman

A Valentine’s Day Mishap By Hannah Lipschutz, Cartoonist


storage vessel for liver bile, was only func-

tioning at 33 percent of its maximum effi-

ciency.

Over winter break, Luke went in for his

second, and hopefully last, surgery to re-

move his gallbladder.

“The surgery went well and there were

no complications,” he said.

Luke remains hopeful, but understanda-

bly skeptical, despite the reassuring fact

that the doctors are almost completely sure

the gallbladder was the issue.

Now that this seven-year saga seems to

be concluding, and with his health on the

rise and his pain at bay, Luke can start to

move forward.

Catching Up on Schoolwork As one might imagine, with so many

tests and doctor’s appointments, school had

to be put on hold. For example, Luke said he

missed an average of four days a week of

school leading up to his gallbladder surgery.

So now school work is proving to be a

challenge.

“Once I got better and got back to school,

I started trying to catch up on work, which

entailed talking to teachers and asking fel-

low classmates for help,” Luke said.

“It's been hard, and honestly, I still don't

have a 100 percent understanding of all the

topics I've missed,” he said in late January.

Luke has had strong support from stu-

dents and teachers alike in making the

transition back to school full-time.

Learning Specialist Ms. McMurrer re-

mains optimistic. “I am so proud of Luke for

overcoming this challenge and moving for-

ward in a positive way to finish out the year

strong.”

sharp stomach pain. These occasional pains

soon became persistent and egregious,

which called for medical attention.

Lactose Intolerance? Luke said, “The doctors started with

concluding it was lactose intolerance,”

which means the body is unable to digest

milk and other dairy products such as

cheese and ice cream. Consuming these

types of foods can cause serious discomfort.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t as simple as

eliminating dairy products from his diet. “It

started getting worse, [so] we went to see

several doctors,” Luke said.

Back to the drawing board the doctors

went, and soon came a battery of about ten

tests and multiple appointments. Sadly,

surgery was the next step.

Appendix Surgery “They [the doctors] concluded my ap-

pendix was acting up, so I had an appen-

dectomy,” Luke said. An appendectomy is

the complete removal of the appendix, an

organ that medical professionals are cur-

rently debating if it even serves a purpose.

Not long after his surgery, Luke was

back to experiencing the same awful pain,

and the search for answers became more of

a struggle for everyone involved.

Gallbladder Surgery

“Six tests later and about fifty doctor

appointments later, they concluded it was

my gallbladder,” Luke said. It was discov-

ered that Luke’s gallbladder, which is a

the language rooms.

"I'm kind of the end of the line,”

Mr. Shank said. “... It's all on me, and

if the world were perfect, I would have

the time to get this stuff to the Salva-

tion Army or something.”

He feels that it is a shame that stu-

dents do not reclaim their clothing;

however, he doesn’t feel guilty about

placing it in the trash.

There have been times “when one

of our bleeding heart liberal teachers

around here will say, ‘Oh, no, I'll take

that to the Salvation Army,’ and then

that happens. But it rarely occurs any-

more,” he said.

Not all of the items are thrown out.

Mr. Shank will hold onto technology

like iPads and computers. In addition,

unclaimed Woodlynde uniforms are

washed and given to students who can

not afford the clothing.

One of the many reasons why cloth-

ing accumulates is because the mainte-

nance staff is told to take everything

off the top of the lockers after school

ends and place it in the lost and found.

The administration wants the school to

look clean for visitors.

In addition, students and their par-

ents often don’t label the clothing, so it

can’t be returned to the rightful owner.

Mr. Shank says he tells the parents at

Parents’ Night to write student's

names on their apparel, but that rarely

happens.

Patrick Torphy, as head of student

council, plans to talk to the other class

reps to see if they can find a way to

donate the clothing.

“I haven't talked specifically with

people on student council … about this,

but I do plan to in the future,” Patrick

said.

Noted Mr. Shank: "I'm not opposed

to [the clothes being donated]. It's just

that I'm not going to be the one that

does that.”

Medical Mystery (From page 1)

Lost &

Found

(From page 1)

Photo by Maya Holloway

Sophomores Julia Wolfe and Kelan

Reilly with clothes from the lost and found.

MAGAZINE Page 7

Horrible-Scopes

Editor’s note: Warning, this article could contain mature

content and may not be suitable for young children.

ARIES- The good news is that you finally got your big break in the acting world. The bad news is that it is for the

new MTV “reality” show Buck Wild.

TAURUS- When you are on a walk in the park, you’ll inadvertently discover the fountain of youth. After acci-

dentally drinking it, you’ll be instantly put into diapers and a onesie.

GEMINI– Declining, ego-centric reality-fad Courtney Stodden will somehow rekindle her relevance to pop-

culture, thus forcing you to watch TMZ so often that you run out of brain cells.

CANCER- After asking Siri to advise you on how to get rid of lice, you’ll be misguided and take a tomato bath,

followed by an oatmeal bath — which would be great if you got sprayed by a skunk and had the chicken pox.

LEO- You’ll pay for making the awful decision to not go on a date with famous man-eating pop singer Taylor

Swift. To get back at you, she’ll pay off every college not to accept you, and then write a song about it.

VIRGO- Your 100 percent success rate with jigsaw puzzles will be shattered when you discover you are missing

one piece which depicts the all-too-important porcupine face. You might as well give up on life.

LIBRA- When you are getting your haircut, your stylist, Alejandro, will lose his concentration when his es-

tranged ex bursts into the salon. In the heated cross-fire your hair will be sacrificed. Invest in a nice hat.

SCORPIO- Roses are red; violets are blue — you’re going to die alone. Happy Valentine’s Day.

SAGITTARIUS – Salvador Dali is going to sneak into your house and melt all of your clocks, thus making you

late for your laser hair-removal appointment.

CAPRICORN– After you consume a box of conversation hearts, you’ll make the horrific discovery that you actu-

ally just ate sidewalk chalk. But don’t feel too bad, it’s not like there is much of a difference.

AQUARIUS- Working one day a year isn’t cutting it. Punxsutawney Phil is looking to go back to school and get

his diploma. Unfortunately, due to space constraints, he’ll be forced to share a locker with you. Did I mention he

is a hoarder?

PISCES– Fitness enthusiast Billy Blanks is cashing in on that favor you owe him from the 80’s. Break out the

spandex, it’s about to get weird.

February 20, 2013

The track “Thinking of You” is aimed toward an ex

-boyfriend. It’s aggressive, but a part of me thinks

that it would still fall under the love-song category of

music. There is no doubt that Ke$ha’s in-your-face

personality is added in.

Ke$ha has an outrageous, flashy and flamboyant

aura to herself, which the public just seems to love.

Whether it’s subtle or blatantly obvious, that aura

makes an appearance in every one of her songs.

With that being said, there is definitely a section of

the album solely created for partying. The tracks “All

That Matters” and “Warrior” don’t have too many pur-

poses besides being played at clubs and dances, but

they add variety and that signature Ke$ha vibe.

When I was 12 years old and constantly listening

to Tik Tok,

everyone told

me that

Ke$ha would-

n’t be around

for much long-

er. Warrior,

along with her

previous al-

bum, has

proven them

wrong. Ke$ha

isn’t going

anywhere.

Music Review: Ke$ha’s Warrior

Album Is Filled with Catchy Songs

Cassia Enright

Magazine Editor

Director: Kathryn Bigelow

Starring: Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Mark

Strong, Jennifer Ehle

Synopsis: A chronicle of the 10-year manhunt for

Osama Bin Laden after the 9/11 attacks, headed by

a persistent CIA agent

n a m e d M a y a

(Chastain), whose ob-

session with seeing this

mission through to the

end keeps it going until

one fateful night on May 2, 2011.

Review: Zero Dark Thirty is the year’s best film. I

say this without doubt or apprehension. It features

one of the most well-told stories, and some of the

best directing and acting that I’ve seen this year.

This is certainly one of the most relevant and

even important American films in quite some time.

Not only does it depict what is now a significant

period in our country’s history, but it captures the

obsession that drove the United States government

to find this one man. The film is intense, riveting

and downright cold at times, and that’s honestly

the best tone for it.

Kathryn Bigelow’s Oscar snub for directing is

frankly appalling. In my opinion, this is a superior

effort to her previous film, The Hurt Locker, with a

more personal and engaging story and some excep-

tional craftsmanship on display. The final twenty

minutes are more thrilling than entire action films

that have come out this year.

As lead protagonist Maya, Jessica Chastain

gives one of my favorite performances this year.

She plays Maya subtly, but imbues the character

with a driving sense of determination that is admi-

rable at times and frightening at others.

While Maya grows colder and more detached

over the course of the film, she also displays a quiet

sense of loneliness as a result of her drive, and

Chastain perfectly expresses these many layers.

Much controversy has been made over the use of

torture in this film. Some have also claimed that

the filmmakers are pro-torture and that they false-

ly claim that torture was key to finding Bin Laden

in the film.

This issue has been completely blown out of

proportion and even misinterpreted. If you pay at-

tention, you'll notice that the use of torture doesn’t

get any real results and there are even a couple of

subtle hints of an anti-torture stance. Frankly, this

depiction needed to be shown in order to be accu-

rate.

In the end, this films seems to ask a lingering

question; was all this worth it? After the deed is

done and the mission finally over, there are no

cheers or smiles, or even a big triumphant score.

One man is dead after ten years, after spending so

many resources and losing so many people.

All there is is a feeling of emptiness, and that to

me is the most powerful scene in film this year,

much more so than the feel-good sensibilities of

films like Argo and Lincoln. Those are good films in

their own right, but to me, Zero Dark Thirty trans-

cends them all.

Consensus:

Zero Dark Thir-

ty is a near mas-

terpiece and the

best film of this

past year. Deftly

crafted, superbly

acted and metic-

u l o us l y r e -

searched, it is a

film that will

outlive its cur-

rent relevance

and be seen as a

classic in the

near future.

Verdict:

10 out of 10

Jeremy

Cooper

Layout

Editor

Movie Review:

Zero Dark Thirty

Is Riveting

I have been a Ke$ha fan since the birth of her ca-

reer in 2009. She and I go way back; this artist’s songs

surrounded the music choice at my bat mitzvah, and

she still has yet to let me down.

If you aren’t familiar with her music, it is best de-

scribed as glitter with

the ability to sing.

Warrior is her second

album, which was re-

leased on Dec. 4th,

through RCA records.

When word about Warrior first came out, my first

observation of the name was that it was Woodlynde

School’s mascot. Then, when the actual record was re-

leased, many parts of the album drew me in. Even be-

fore listening to any of the songs, I was instantly dis-

tracted by the colorful cover art.

I could tell that it took a lot of hard work to create

the album. I must say that literally all of her songs are

incredibly catchy. Songs meshing together and ulti-

mately sounding the same is something that I frequent-

ly find to be a turnoff. Surprisingly, I find all of Ke$ha’s

songs quite original and enjoyable in their own individ-

ual ways.

The singles “Die Young” and “C’mon” are the types

of songs that I could listen to all day and never get sick

of. Now each of the two singles are making their ways

onto the radio, and I never fail to turn the volume up

high whenever I hear them.

Samantha

Goodman

Music Critic

Video Game System Review: Wii U

New Game System Is Highly Recommended The Wii U does things that other game companies

haven't even thought of for their consoles, like control-

ling the TV and

playing on the

gamepad like a

handheld video

game console —

and I highly recom-

mend buying it.

The console for the Wii U (launched last November)

comes in basic set (for $300) and deluxe set (for $350

and the game Nintendo Land).

The first reason why I love the new Nintendo Wii U

is because of the controller. Unlike the Xbox 360 con-

troller, the Wii U has a touch screen right in the center

of the controller, and with most of the games, you can

either choose to look at your game on your TV or the

game pad.

I like this gimmick because if somebody else in the

room is watching TV, I can still play my game and eve-

rybody is happy.

The deluxe version of the Wii U comes with Ninten-

do Land, a series of 12 awesome mini games rolled

onto one disk. One of my favorite mini games in Nin-

tendo Land is called Legend of Zelda: Battle Quest.

Whenever you want during any game on the Wii U,

you can post a message on a virtual message board

specialized for the individual game you’re playing.

Besides games, you can also use the Wii U to con-

trol your TV. Finally, now I can never lose the remote!

In addition, if you are a

member of Netflix, Amazon,

or Hulu Plus, you can watch

your favorite shows on the

console. And for all you sports

fans, Nintendo TVii can show

you play-by-plays of any

sports game you may be

watching.

This may be one of Nintendo’s best consoles to date.

Alec Kravitt

Video Game

Critic

Sports Monthly

Photos

by Mattie

Sweet,

Media

Editor

Pulling Leg Hair Sophomores Joel Cureton and Dan DeLuca were

always fooling around on the van ride to practice or a

game. They oddly invented a game where they would

try to pull each other's leg hair.

“It was weird,” Dan said. “One day, during science

class, Joel just began pulling on my leg hair. The tradi-

tion carried over to basketball and it has continued

ever since then.”

Of course, this is after the team had to impatiently

wait for Joel to make his way down to where the vans

are parked. Joel was always taking his sweet time and

Mr. Purdy was always yelling at him to pick up the

pace and hustle. However, this seemed to make Joel

move even slower.

“Sometimes, the time gets away from me, ya

know?” Joel said. “Everyone else moves too fast.”

“Communal Milk” As for the Girl's basketball team, they own a spe-

cial tradition.

Woodlynde alum Katie Schmitz (Class of 2012)

began the tradition two basketball seasons ago. Each

year when they would travel to play rival Perkiomen,

the team would buy a gallon of milk from Wawa and

bring it along with them. They would write

“Communal Milk” on the gallon of milk with a perma-

nent marker.

After the game, despite winning or losing, they

would hide the milk somewhere in the gym, usually

under the bleachers. “I wonder what they think when

they find the milk,” senior Alex Roberts pondered.

“I’m really curious to know.”

Mr. Robison, the New Head Coach, told the team

that he was prohibiting them from carrying on the

tradition this season, but the team did it anyway.

$ for Baskets The squad developed a fun activity during practic-

es this season. It is an unnamed game, where Coach

Robison would choose a random place on the court.

The player then had to try and make a basket from

that location.

Depending on the difficulty of the shot, Coach

Robison would offer up to $20 to anyone who could

drain it. “A couple players made some $2 and $5

shots,” Alex said.

“I like the game because it’s something fun to do

in the middle of practice. It’s kind of like a stress re-

liever.”

First 2 Points of Her Career An exciting highlight to the season was when jun-

ior Cassia Enright scored the first two points of her

high school basketball career.

“I honestly was shocked,” said Cassia, who has

been on the Varsity Team for three years and whose

two points came off a layup. “I never anticipated mak-

ing a basket. The feeling was unreal.”

Cassia recalled the reaction of her coaches: “Ms.

McMurrer jumped up and down screaming ‘Go Cas-

sia’ very loudly. Mr. Robison had some celebratory

comments on the van ride home from the game.”

By Nick Spino

Staff Writer

The Boys’ and Girls’ Basketball teams played ex-

tremely hard this year, and despite their poor records,

they’ve improved significantly. In addition, they partook

in some interesting moments during practices and

games, including betting on baskets, hiding milk and

oddly enough, pulling leg hair.

“The Harvie Stretch” During warm-ups, Ryan Harvie, the team's starting

power forward, would sit down on the court and leisurely

spread his legs and

arms out. He

claimed that was

his way of stretch-

ing to prepare for

practice or a game.

He calls it "The

Harvie Stretch".

Brandon’s

Rebounding The coaches

continued messing

with senior Bran-

don Anderson,

the team's starting

center, this past

month.

Assistant Coach

Dimming Jones

(Class of 2009), and

Head Coach Mr. Purdy, jokingly called Brandon “softy”,

because he was frequently boxed out of the paint, even

though he was usually twice the size of his opponents. In

response, Brandon would good-naturedly make up ex-

cuses relating to his lack of rebounding.

Varsity Basketball Report:

Boys’ and Girls’ Teams Have Bizarre Bets, Traditions and Rituals

Athlete Spotlight: Oleg Kariouk

Sophomore Flips Over Skiing

February 20, 2013 Page 8

Informer Staff Writer Nick Scaramuzza sat down with sophomore Oleg Kariouk to talk

about his experiences on the ski slopes, including performing flips and accidentally

running into a group of women.

How long have you been skiing?

“Since I was in elementary school.”

What made you want to start skiing?

"My dad, because he went skiing, I love everything about skiing — the thrill of going down

the hill at like 20 miles per hour.”

What’s your favorite skiing memory?

"Doing a flip, because it is a flip and it is awesome. It was like flying but life threatening.

When I was going to flip, I went off a jump and I turned my body backwards and when I

landed, I crashed, but

my heart was pound-

ing and I was really

proud.

I would not recom-

mend it to others un-

less you have been in

the Olympics or are a

life-time skier.” What is the most

embarrassing thing

that has ever

happened to you

while

skiing?

"When I was 10 and I

was skiing and I ran

into a bunch of girls,

because they were like

in their mid 30s. I was

skiing and was not

looking where I was

going and bam! Of

course, I apologized.

No one was hurt and I looked like an idiot.”

Any advice for

someone who is just starting to ski for the first time?

"Go down easy hills and don't go down hard hills your first time."

How long did it take you to learn how to ski?

"You never are done learning how to ski."


Head Coach Purdy and Assistant Coach Dimming Jones

often joked around with senior Brandon Anderson during

the season.


Oleg Kariouk loves flying down the mountain

at 20 mph.

Senior Brandon Anderson (left) tries to take a charge

as junior Jordan Booth follows.

Senior Michael Peduto (top photo)

receives congratulations from Coach

Purdy on Senior Day, while his mom

watches.

Freshman Rich Sposato (left photo)

launches the ball from the foul line.


Junior Ryan Harvie invented

his own type of stretch.

Documents

Is Woodlynde Playing Big Brother? Trashed! - Woodlynde School