Articles by ballen

News & Features May 18, 2017

Spring Concert Preview

May is here – and that means it’s time for the Middle School Instrumental and Choral Concert this Friday at 7 pm! These students have been giving up advisories and working tirelessly for over 4 months to showcase their musical talent through their musical instruments, voices, and even iPads. Plus, performers and viewers can end the night with cookies and lemonade. So, what should you expect? The evening will begin with performances from the orchestra. The first piece that will be played is the overture from “The Magic Flute,” an opera written by the famous W.A. Mozart. We will then move to another overture, a waltz-like piece known as “The Beautiful Galatea” by Franz von Suppé. The third piece that we will play is unique in the way that three students of Friends’ Central composed it; two of us are writing this article. Ben Allen, Charlie Szwartz, and Liam Giszter…

News & Features, Opinions May 17, 2017

Trump Approval Survey Results

Before the 2016 election, I sent out a survey asking the Friends’ Central community for their opinions on certain political and social issues. Now that we’ve elected a new president who has been in office for roughly five months, I felt that I needed to create a new survey specifically about our president. This survey had a turnout of 25 responses. That’s not a large number, but it’s a good enough sample of our community. The questions asked during the survey are as follows: Overall, do you approve of President Trump? How much do you approve of Trump? How much do you approve of VP Mike Pence? How much do you approve of Trump’s cabinet? Do you agree with Trump’s border wall proposal? Do you think that Trump is doing enough to address terrorism? Do you think that Trump is doing enough to address prejudice and hate crimes? Do you…

News & Features April 27, 2017

Earth Force Work Day

The annual Earth Force work day is today! This is an entire day that is dedicated to improving the health of East Indian Creek, a stream located in Morris Park, only steps away from our campus. This day also provides an opportunity to eighth graders working on their Earth Force projects to utilize this day to advance their work. From a personal standpoint, I will be one of those people. I’m working to make sure that trees are planted in and around our community, especially for those that need them. There is a chance that there will be trees to plant tomorrow. You’re probably wondering what kinds of activities will be included. We will be removing invasive species, clearing swamp algae, removing dead wood from trails, digging a runoff trench to prevent water erosion on the trail, and doing some general litter patrol. I interviewed Dr. Z., one of the coordinators…

News & Features March 16, 2017

Rachel Maddow Releases Trump’s Tax Return

It’s finally happened. Donald Trump’s tax returns have been released. Well, at least one of them. President Trump did not release it himself, however. Rachel Maddow of the left-leaning news network MSNBC got ahold of the leaked tax return from 2005. Maddow received the return from investigative reporter David Cay Johnston, a tax expert. It is unknown who sent it to Johnston in the mail, but it’s thought by some that it was sent by the president himself. People were excited to know about the leak before the show, when Maddow tweeted about it two hours prior. The tweet was shared 68,000 times before the show started at 9 pm. This excitement was helpful to her ratings, as well. The Rachel Maddow Show had the highest viewer count in eight years, an average of 2.62 million viewers. The White House made a statement following Rachel Maddow’s tweet, stating that President Trump…

News & Features February 22, 2017

The March for Science

We all are aware of the recent protests following the inauguration of Donald Trump, such as the international Women’s March and protests of the travel ban at various airports. The next organized protest is the March for Science, which will also be international. This march will take place on Earth Day; April 22, 2017, and its slogan is “Science, not Silence” (1). Some scientists feel marginalized by the beliefs of our president, as well as some policy changes such as the Dakota Access and Keystone XL Pipelines. He even asked agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency to decrease their publicity. This has outraged some people, so they decided that they would make their voices heard. However, organizers of the March for Science aim to not make the march anti-Trump to make it unbiased. One test-rally has already occurred, so there is an idea of what it will be like….

News & Features January 25, 2017

Trump Happenings: The First Five Days in Office

Are you looking for an article with “alternative facts”? If so, then you’ve come to the wrong place. As you probably know, Donald J. Trump took the presidential oath on Friday at noon, beginning his term as president. Trump has made numerous promises during his campaign, and he hopes to fulfill as many as possible. Throughout the five days that he has been president thus far, he has been trying to repeal ObamaCare (the Affordable Care Act), build a longer Mexican border wall, and more. On Inauguration Day, January 20th, Trump was sworn in. After the swearing in, he made a passionate and rather unusual speech acknowledging that we must put “America first.” After the inauguration, a controversial photo surfaced, comparing the crowd at Barack Obama’s inauguration to the crowd at Trump’s. On a much larger scale, women’s marches took place on all seven continents (see upcoming article on the Women’s…

News & Features January 18, 2017

2017 MLK Day of Service

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. played an iconic role in the Civil Rights Movement, helping to end segregation. We dedicate an entire day each year to honoring him and his legacy. Most people enjoy this day off from school or work, but some people decide to make it a “day on,” rather than a day off. MLK Day of Service has become a tradition across the United States, especially in the Philadelphia area. Did you know that Philadelphia has the most participants in the United States? It’s true. A large amount of the Friends’ Central community participates in this day of service each year. Friends’ Central’s service is to Bethesda Project. For those who don’t know, Bethesda Project is a nonprofit organization that serves the chronically homeless of Philadelphia. They provide food, water, and shelter for those who don’t have their basic needs, as well as a healing program. Our…

No Picture

News & Features January 4, 2017

History Repeats Itself: A Historical Comparison

Note: This article is a comparison between two events and talks about a potential war; this war is only hypothetical and is not likely to happen. Not long ago on December 19, 2016, the Russian ambassador to Turkey was assassinated in Turkey. This may not seem like a big deal, and hopefully is not, but the situation eerily reminds some people of an event that unfolded more than a hundred years ago. For those who have not taken eighth grade Social Studies yet, the event mentioned was the cause of World War I. The archduke of Austria-Hungary was assassinated in Bosnia, which lead Austria-Hungary to declare war against Serbia. Alliances were then involved. However, World War III is not likely to be a product of the recent assassination. Relations between Russia and Turkey have actually improved since the incident. A chilling video exists of it, but I would not recommend…

Skip to toolbar