Text story and Video 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.

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 story by Jalen Harvey

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.

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

 

 

 

 

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:

Created by Advanced Digital Communications
Danny DeRocco, Ben Lussier and Ben Welton

A look at the happenings on the Hillside during the first weeks of the Spring Term. Included are stories on snacks enjoyed by the residents of Fieldhouse Dorm, the two new babies born to faculty on campus, highlights from recent Lacrosse and Baseball games and the visit with students from the Czech Republic.

A sneak peak from Danny DeRocco, Ben Welton and Ben Lussier of Advanced DigCom of the new weekly broadcast from the Cardinal News Network called “The Cardinal Feed.”

Video and Text Article by Oscar Chang

Video and text article by Kyle Wehmhoff

Deep breathing, feet killing, sweating like crazy, happens when someone is on a five-mile hike up and down mountains.

Students participating in Call To Adventure activity group experience these things and more. Walking up and down big mountains, rock climbing, slack lining, sleeping in the woods overnight after building their own home are all activities that students get an opportunity to participate in.

When students like Isaac Freeman and Kenan Williams participated in this affinity group it’s a whole different mindset from what they normally do. Most kids don’t go hiking in the woods. That’s the reason for this group, according to Mr. Pat Bonis, who is the coordinator

However, the participants do more than just hike in the woods. Each Monday and Friday afternoon they also engage in slack lining, rock climbing, or other active adventures. One of the first-time experiences for some was canoeing across a huge pond.

“Canoeing was definitely my favorite part about Call to Adventure, but I still love going hiking,” said Kenan, a Fifth Former who was in the Call to Adventure affinity group this term.

Mr. Michael Daniels, another leader of the Call to Adventure affinity group, agrees and would not trade places with anyone.

Call to Adventure is more then just a group, students become friends with everyone and everyone helps with each other.

Video and text by Jalen Harvey

As South Kent School improves its programs, the iPad program that was launched at the start of this year has become the natural way of South Kent School for most of the students. It is almost impossible to walk through this campus without seeing a student with an iPad.

Who knows if students in the future will have to buy their iPads for the school year but the students this year were lucky enough they did not  have to pay for their iPads.

“If I had to pay for my iPad with my own money, I would be more careful with it,” said Nick Ciarlegio, a post-grad.

For many students this incredible tool for education has been broken, either because of a simple mistake, or just because they simply believe their iPad can withstand any task.

Justin Corday, a Fifth Former, said that he and a couple of friends were “playing baseball” with his iPad when it broke. He said that his iPad did in fact have a gumdrop case that cost him $40. He said that  these cases are “overrated, but are good for when you drop it on its back side.”

Garrett Fox, a Fifth Former, said that a friend was using his iPad when he walked into the room and “it just dropped.”Although it was just unlucky when his iPad dropped, he warns his fellow students “don’t let your friends use your iPad.”

“I would recommend getting insurance for your iPad in my expert opinion,” Nick said. “I know of many students who have gotten their IPad screens fixed using insurance. Even if students in the future do not have to pay for their IPads it would still be smart to get insurance,” Nick said.