Text Story and Video By Jesse Schwartz

Crew rowing at Founders Day. Photo By Nico Silva

There were a lot of new faces manning the oars on this year’s Crew team. It was a true re-building year for the team.

The rowers have very little experience, having only three rowers return from last year, Myles McFadden, Miguel Rojas and Connor Coughlin.

Although Crew’s record did not show a lot of wins throughout the season, team members held a positive overall look at this year’s season.

The path to the championship was not easy this year said Captain Keegan McCarthy, first-year rower Robert Smits, and the coach himself, Mr. Tim Henderson.

Although Keegan, a Sixth Former, is also a first-year rower, his original goal was to win the championship.  Keegan sends a positive vibe through the team.  It also shows how much he enjoys the sport.

“I really enjoy the sport and it is a true passion for me,” said Keegan. He plans on improving his skills and helping the team get better as well.

Robert Smits, a Fourth Former from Latvia, really enjoys crew.

“Yes, I enjoy the sport very much. The training in the ‘Tank Room,’ is very hard at the beginning of the year, but it did help me in the water. But you know, hard work does pay off,”  Robert said.

Even though he is a first-year boy at South Kent as well as a first-year rower, he plans on improving as much as he can and had hoped Crew could qualify for the championship.

“The team’s goal for the rest of the season, is just to get better and better with every time we hit the water, and of course to win a couple of big races, to get some of the trophies to where they belong, back home,” Robert said.

Coach Tim Henderson is in his first year leading the group.  He is very excited for the rest of the season.  He is very happy about the progress the team has been having through practice and their attitudes.

“The season is going well.  We are able to have 2-3 boats practice every day and we are rowing at Hatch Pond and at GMS in New Milford on the Housatonic River,” Mr. Henderson said.  “The roster has many novice athletes, who are quickly becoming proficient rowers.”

He is really looking forward to the final regattas. The team had hoped to qualify for the NEIRA championship at Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, MA, but Crew learned this week that would not happen.  Overall, the rowers said it has been a great season.

Text story and Video by Haofeng Li

Members of spring term Call to Adventure hike a challenging hill. Photo by Haofeng Li

Call to Adventure is the Affinity Group that was created by Mr. Pat Bonis. Not only can students get out and do some physical activity but also they can learn something from that experience.

Mr. Bonis is the coordinator of Call to Adventure. He wants students take risks and be successful. And he wants to them challenge themselves. The most important thing he hopes his students can learn is how to be safe and at the same time enjoy the experience.

“I want to cultivate that (young men are risk takers by nature), but also encourage a love for  the outdoors and how they can experience it and in a really adventurous fun way, to learn a lot of lessons about struggle and perseverance, and really overcoming some of those struggles,” he said.

He leads them to do hiking, rock climbing and slack line. He shows the students movies about people hiking or rock climbing, so that they can learn how to face problems and overcome them.

Kyle Wehmhoff, a Post-Grad, really loved Call to Adventure when he did it in the Winter Term. He said they did a lot of hiking, they watched movies and they learned how to slack line. The most impressive activity for him was the hiking. He remembers that they tried to hike 10 miles and he saw some pretty cool animals.

It was great “to get out, not sitting in the dorm all day and learn something new,” Kyle said. “I am sure some of us will survive in the woods when we are older.”

Sotiri Athanasopoulos, a Post-Grad, also likes Call to Adventure, because he can see news things around the woods and he likes to see the environment outside. He learned that he needs to be 100 percent sure about where he is when he is hiking.

“Back at home, l live in Montreal in the city. There is not much forest, not many trails like that. So it is really cool it is really fun get up in the mountains,” he said.

Students can learn many things not available in the classroom from Call to Adventure.

Video and Text Article by Zach Carrano.

Sixth Former Ryan Ziadie with the many bags of trash collected.

The Earth Day Clean Up is one of the more helping things that South Kent does around this community.

The event consists of students being divided up into groups with teachers on April 27. The students were dropped off around the area where they walked and picked up the trash that was on the side of the road or in the middle of the street. This shows that the students care about their planet and about their school by cleaning up different areas of the school where there might be trash lingering.

After a long two hours of work finding very interesting and miscellaneous objects on the side of the road, the job was done and the roads were cleaner.

“I enjoyed giving back to the earth and cleaning up where I drive everyday back and forth from my house to the school and it made me feel good that I made a difference today,” said Kevin Butler, a junior and a day student. He continued, it was something that needed to be done or else it would be “sitting there for another 10 to 15 years and keep piling up”.

“It was something that I have never done and it was really moving to see how much trash was around us that we never would have thought that was there. We found bottles, garbage, beer cans, tires and cups buried in the dirt,” said Kevin Golden, a Post-Grad.

Students found it shocking what they found when people don’t take the time to wait and throw their trash away. It is ruining the Earth and it’s all due to people’s carelessness.

The Earth Day Clean Up was a huge success with everyone giving it their all and buying into the concept and what it is all about. It takes a lot to go out their when one is not used to doing something like this and attacking it with an open mind. It made the students feel good to know that they helped the earth become cleaner.

Video and Text Article by Keegan McCarthy

Ben Welton takes a face-off against the Gunnery.

The beginning of the season was rough on the Cardinals, sporting a 4-3 record, but the Cardinals are getting back on track suffering only one loss in the last five games. The team is now 8-6 heading into the championship game.

Captain Cody Champagne acknowledges the rough start, but touches on the latest success.

“The season started off a little rough we lost the first couple games but those teams were some of the top teams in the country. “The next few games for us were wins for us against teams that were more on our level,” Champagne said. “We had a few big wins.”

Captain Ben Welton thinks that the team is right where they need to be for this point in the season,

“This year the season has been going pretty good. We have had some big wins over King, Masters, Wilbraham and Munson and Master’s. A bunch of guys have really stepped up, and they are finding the back of the net for us,” Welton said. “I feel like we are right on par for where we need to be for the upcoming post season.”

In the midst of his fourth year coaching, Coach Dillon Duncan has seen it all, and he feels like his team is doing well so far this season.

“The beginning of the year we were playing against some of the top teams in the nation,” Coach Duncan said. “Our team had never played together, we only had a few returners this year. The beginning of the year was nothing but growing pains.”

Both Captains Welton and Champagne share the same long-term goal as Coach Duncan.

“Our long-term goals this year are obviously to win a New England championship and the HVAL championship,” Coach Duncan said. “Another one of our goals is to try and grow as a team and be a lot better at the end of the season as we were at the beginning. We’re trying to pull the team together and get everyone working together in order to succeed and reach our goals.”

Coach Duncan also shared his thoughts about the rest of the season.

“For the rest of the season I expect it to be better than the beginning of the season. We are starting to pull together and moving the ball well and getting goals,” Coach Duncan said. “The rest of the season should be successful. We have a few tough games coming up against Millbrook and a few other teams. The team will fulfill these expectations if we keep working and getting better everyday.”

South Kent Cardinal Lacrosse team will play in the HVAL championship against Harvey Saturday (May 19).

Shayne at the Frozen Four

Video and text story by Alex Poulin

An alumnus from South Kent, Shayne Gotisbeshere, class of 2011, was playing his freshman year at Union College and made it to the Frozen Four which is the national championship of NCAA Division I hockey.

Last year, Shayne played for South Kent and helped Prep Hockey finish ninth in New England. He was wearing number 4 at South Kent, but now was wearing number 14 at Union College.

“My experience was awesome. It was really nice to go back to my home state, where hockey isn’t a big deal, and play in front of my family and friends,” Shayne said about his experience at the Frozen Four in Tampa Bay, FL.

Coach Eric Soltys was very proud of Shayne when he saw that he was going to play in the national championship.

“Shayne was a really good player for us last year, and I think that it shows that South Kent really helps players get to another level and Shayne is the perfect example,” Coach Soltys said.

Shayne was the only true freshman on the four teams that were at the Frozen Four, which means that he was the only player who was still 18 years old. He really loved his first years at Union and learned a lot.

“My first year at Union was really one to remember, as I did very well with not only hockey but with my school work too,” Shayne said.

His linemate last year, Anthony Florentino, a Fifth Former from Boston, was very proud of what Shayne accomplished this year and pursues the same dreams.

“Shayne was like my brother last year and playing with him helped me learn so much about myself and now I have to look up to him as a hockey player,” Anthony said.

iTunes U as seen from the iPad

iTunes U is a platform launched by Apple Inc. in mid-2007 for schools and universities to upload their courses to be available for the masses.  This means that for example, anyone with an iTunes or an iDevice can access lectures, lessons, look over the homework and actually follow the courses universities offer, for pure pleasure and completely free of charge.

South Kent school is putting an effort into converting all courses into iTunes U format.

But one may ask what are the advantages of this transaction. To start with, students may access the content when they’re away from the campus and can’t attend lessons.  The transaction is led by Mr. Gonzalo Garcia, Chief of Information Officer, and Mr. Phillip Darrin, Dean of Academic Affairs, who are encouraging all teachers to put their course content into iTunes U.

Two of the teachers that are fairly active in this process are Mr. Stan Vylet and Ms. Lynn Mellis Worthington, who are going a step ahead from all other teachers by uploading content and experimenting with the platform so they can then teach other teachers on what works best.  Teachers at South Kent School are meeting weekly to help each other learn how the new platform works.

“Mostly I’ve been playing around with iTunes U, with plans of enforcing it full time next year,” said Mr. Vylet. “I’ve uploaded pictures, files, assignments, I even tried to upload an audio file, and this is all for experimental reasons. I’m trying to learn the way it works.”

This year so far none of the teachers have extensively used iTunes U with the students. It will be introduced full time on the upcoming Fall 2012 term.

“I think its going to be a hybrid,” said Ms. Worthington, when asked whether iTunes U would have more of a future than actual lessons. “It is not going to replace classroom teaching, but its an initiative and a different way for us teachers to provide content and reach the students that are not on campus and for us to provide learning.”

The philosophy of South Kent School when such radical changes are being done, such as with the SmartBoards, the iPads, and now iTunes U, is to meet students where they are as it seems that this world is becoming more and more a technological one.

“The famous quote from the ‘Matrix’ movie,” said Mr. Darrin, “‘You hear that sound Mr. Anderson? It is the sound of inevitability. This stuff is coming whether we like it or not. We have a population of kids coming up who are tech-centric. I’m hopeful that we become a school that meets students where they are.”

iTunes U looks to be a great tool for students and teachers.  South Kent School is trying to keep up with tech changes as the world around develops.  This doesn’t mean that South Kent School is going to become sort of “remote school,” said Mr. Darrin, but rather a school that is giving and teaching the kids the tools of the future.

This screen has become a familiar one for students trying to access sites blocked.

When South Kent School comes to mind, many may talk about the community of brothers or the amazing athletic reputation has. To many of the students, these are the things that matter.

Being in the 21st century, the Internet plays a large role in people’s lives, especially a hillside of teenage boys with iPads. When South Kent students aren’t playing sports or hanging out with their friends, they are on the Internet for homework, Facebook, Twitter or anything else they find to occupy their time.

The school has a responsibility to make sure students aren’t occupying their time doing the wrong things.

Coming back after Christmas Break, some students were shocked to notice that many of the websites they once visited were now blocked. The brains of the school’s whole Information Technology operation is Mr. Derek Porter, who is the network administrator. He explained why some sites are blocked.

“For a couple reasons. One is security. if we had everything just wide open there’s potential for viruses that could get introduced to the network,” Mr. Porter said. “Another reason is to keep inappropriate content off of peoples computers.”

“I believe its necessary because if the Internet was open all night, alot of people would be up late even if they had nothing to do,” said Sotiri Athanasopoulos, a Post-Graduate from Canada.

“While I think some websites should be unblocked, the Internet needs to be controlled. There are websites that are necessary for entertainment, like streaming movies online,” said Keegan McCarthy, a Sixth Former from Colorado.

It seems that students and staff seem to agree on the controlled Internet topic. Students look like they are taking a mature look at the topic even though they said it be frustrating for them at times. If any students feel they would like to try and get a website unblocked they should give Mr. Porter a request by email.

New prefects for 12-13 were selected May 9. From left Chi-Chen Hsieh, Jonghyuk “David” Lee, Head Prefect Shakhai Trott, Anthony Florentino and Cam McFarlane.

There are a number of traditions at South Kent and one that has been revived is the Tapping Ceremony. There are five prefects, who were selected last year and went through this same tradition, and now they passed on the tradition May 9 to the students who are taking their place.

There are five different positions that have their own job. What they do is the prefects that are there now walk up to the person who was chosen by the students and faculty, and tap them on the shoulder appointing them to the position that they were given. This is done by each of the prefects, until it is the head prefect’s turn, when he says a little something about his time as head prefect and then walks up to the student who will be taking over his position.

This is something that has been going on for several years, after there was a long break in the process. The tradition dates back to the very early years of the school. The tapping ceremony is a great experience for the new and old prefects and makes them feel good when someone else takes their spot and it’s someone they can trust with their position.

- By Zach Carrano

The prefects selected were:

Shakhai Trott as head prefect

The other prefects are Anthony Florentino

Cam McFarlane

Jonghyuk Lee

Chi-Chen Hsieh

Students in Digital Communications created the following short biographies of each prefect candidate. Much of the text is based on the presentations made at the Prefect Town Hall Meeting on April 23. Each prefect candidate was given an opportunity to share some information about himself and explain why he wanted to be a prefect.

Check back to CdNN later this week as students will post text and video interviews with the newly elected prefects.

Kevin Butler

Kevin Butler is a three-year day student from Bridgewater CT. He has played Varsity Hockey and baseball all three years at SKS. He is a two-year veteran of the Habitat for Humanity trip that builds a house for a family in need. This year’s trip was to Virginia. While delivering his speech during the town hall meeting, Kevin talked about what he thought would make SKS better. He mentioned the newly formed Affinity Groups and how they allowed him to try things he may have never done. He wants to have more things like Affinity Groups that allow students to try things outside of the normal day to day boarding school life.

- By Joe Zaccara

Jake Cho

Jake Cho is a three-year-boy at South Kent and is from South Korea. He said that he never expected that he would became a nominee for prefect. He said he would like to thank people who voted him, and he wish the guys vote him again and he hoped people who did not vote for him last time and vote for him next time. The reasons he wants to become a prefect, is not because it looks good or many people want to be, but because he wants to interact more with students.

- By Chenshu Rong

Anthony Florentino

Anthony Florentino, a native of West Roxbury, MA, prides himself on being a two-year boy, and soon to be a three-year boy if he wins prefect. Florentino thinks that the main issue facing South Kent is building the character of one another, and he believes if he is named prefect, that he can bring South Kent

School together and become one unit and make the community a better place. He also prides himself on taking action when even when it might not seem necessary to take action.

-By Keegan McCarthy

Chi-Chen Hsieh

Chi-Chen Hsieh is a Fifth Former from Taipei,Taiwan, He came to America for three years and is in his second year at South Kent. Before he came to South Kent, he went to school in Boston. Chi-Chen believes that the international prefect is the best job for him. Since he is an international student, he knows that language inadequacy issues and different cultures are the critical problems. He believes that he can help international students with all of these problems.

- By Oscar Chang

TJ Hughes

TJ Huges is a soccer player and is in his first year at South Kent School. He is from Ridgefield, CT. If he becomes a perfect, he said he will try to do his best. He can’t promise that the food will be better and he can’t promise that students won’t have homework, but he will try his best to make the community positive.

- By Jacky Han

Jonghyuk Lee

Jonghyuk “David” Lee is a Fifth Former and a three-year boy. He is from Yang San City in Kyung Nam of South Korea. He has been involved in leadership positions throughout his time at South Kent, including being a dorm junior and on the form council for three years. He has also worked on the school newspaper, The Pigtail. He said that he could be a leader who would convey student opinions to the teachers and the headmaster.

Myles McFadden

Myles McFadden lives in Sherman, Connecticut and is a day student. He is a two-year boy. He is the captain of the crew team and also plays on the Varsity Hockey team.  Myles knows what being a prefect in the school is and understands that it is a huge commitment that he is putting on his shoulders, and that the school requires a leader and he believes he can be it.

-By Miguel Rojas

Cam McFarlane

Cameron McFarlane is from Norwich, CT.  He has two siblings, a brother and a sister. This is Cameron’s first year at South Kent.  He is a Fifth Former who played on the Varsity Soccer team.  He has been playing soccer his whole life. Cameron’s goal is to play Division I soccer.  When not playing soccer, he likes to relax and hang out with his friends.  “Here at South Kent I have met people all over the world and (I) can’t wait till next year to meet more people,” Cameron said.

- By Jesse Schwartz

Pat Pedraja

Pat Pedraja is from Los Angeles, CA. He is 17 years old and he came to South Kent as a Third Former looking for a good education that would help him get into a good college. He plays hockey and baseball on the Varsity teams at South Kent and was also commentator for AMG. Pat is a dorm junior in Gilder this year and is looking for a bigger leadership position next year as a prefect.

-By Alex Poulin

Nick Pezza

Nick Pezza is a current junior who lives in the Macoun Dorm. Nick is a first-year student who transferred to SKS this year from St. George’s in Newport, RI. Nick is originally from Greenville, RI, where he lives when he’s not at school with his mom, dad, little brother, and their little white dog. In his speech Nick stressed the point that he is here for the students. He will get done what needs to be done, whether it be discipline or just helping someone with their homework. He also said that he would be the voice of reason for the students to either the teachers or the officials of the school.

- By Kevin Golden

Yunhao Qiao

Yunhao is a one-year boy from Shanghai, China. He shared with the community that he’s learned a lot at South Kent during his time here. He’s learned English as an international student. He also learned how to play the drums with Mr. Cooper. Prefects need to learn how to lead the community in the right direction, Yunhao said. Students must be able to trust the prefects and he vowed to lead South Kent to a “better situation.”

Shakhai Trott

Shakhai Trott is from Bermuda. He has been at South Kent for three years. He is a member of the South Kent Varsity Soccer team. He currently lives in Gilder and he previously lived in Garfield. Shakhai thinks that he can be a good prefect because he can transport ideas and thoughts from students to faculty and Mr. Vadnais. He stated that he has seen the current prefects growing up and he has what it takes to be one of them.

- By Anil Ozer

Nick Pezza joined the meeting via FaceTime.

Below is the live reporting from the Digital Communications classes of the Town Hall meeting Monday evening at 8 p.m. Each of the 12 nominees for prefect answered questions about why they want to serve as student leaders during 2012-13.

The nominees are:

Kevin Butler

Jake Cho

Anthony Florentino

Chi-Chen Hsieh

TJ Hughes

Jonghyuk Lee

Myles McFadden

Cam McFarlane

Pat Pedraja

Nick Pezza

Yunhao Qiao

Shakhai Trott

DigCom students reporting live: