Pine Needle

The

St. Christophers School

Richmond, Virginia

May 2015

Volume XCVIII

Number 4

Class of 2015 Colleges

by Stefan ScheerCook

Art by seniors
Stefan ScheerCook
and Joe Goode. To
check out more of
their work and to
read about their
show and reflections,
see page 2

For the full list of seniors and their college choices,

see page 12
by Joe Goode

Tennis, Golf Capture State Titles

By Rob Jessee and
William Maddock
Sophomore Contributor and
Editor-in-Chief

The Varsity tennis team cruised

through the VISAA Division 1 state
tournament, claiming the teams first
state title with a victory over Potomac in the championship.
The Saints, ranked first in the
state, had little trouble dispatching
Potomac, winning the match 5-1 on
the strength of singles play alone.

The clinching point came from

freshman Alston Hackney, who secured a hard-fought tiebreaker win to
claim his sixth-seed match.
Matthew Fernandez, a junior
and co-captain, said, Even though
we werent as intimidating as other
teams, we really stood out because of
our hard work. Despite our appearance of not being as showy as some
other teams, we got the job done.
The Saints ended the season 15-0
in dual matches. With many returning players from an
already-deep
team, the squad
will look to
repeat its success next year
despite losing
seniors Julian
Mills, Charlie
McCray and
Carter Clements.

By William Maddock
Editor-in-Chief

The Varsity golf team rounded

out a successful spring season with a
victory in the VISAA Division 1 state
championship.
Undefeated in the regular season,
the team came up just short in the
Prep League championship. Using
that narrow defeat at the hands of
Woodberry Forest as motivation, the
Saints claimed the state title at the
Manor Course in Farmville.
The Saints
edged out Woodberry by six
strokes to avenge
their Prep League
defeat, getting
a 1-under round
from freshman
Drew Brockwell,
who registered
the second best
score of the day.
Junior Boyd Peete

added an even par round to pace the

Saints. Brockwell, Peete and junior
Coleman Andrews, who had a 3-over
round, were all named All-State after
finishing among the top 10 individual
scorers.
The golf program looks to be on
the rise with plenty of young players
already making their mark at the
Varsity level. This years seniors Logan Ende, Dalton Baril and Hunter
Wigginton all made important contributions to the StC golf program over
their time here.

2]

The Pine Needle

May 2015

Wont You Step into

the Freezer?

By Jack Holdaway
Senior Contributor

While most students

spend Saturday mornings
catching up on sleep, Malcolm Ilnicky 16 and Jack
ONeil 16 are busy sharing
their musical interests with
the community through
their own radio show, The
Freezer. The pair of juniors
operates the show through
90.1 fm WDCE, the station
privately owned by the University of Richmond.
The Freezer, as Ilnicky
and ONeil have named their
show in honor of a Phish
favorite Tweezer Reprise,
runs from 9 to 11 a.m. on
Saturdays for all in the public to hear. Its that easy tune in on your phone, while
in your car or on
WDCE.org to listen to their
choice of tunes. The juniors
play a wide variety of music,
ranging from soul, rock and
bluegrass to reggae, folk and
electronic.Ilnicky personally
strives to mix up his choices,
as he never plays the same
song twice or features the
same artist more than once
during a show. On occasion,
the two will dedicate an entire show to a specific genre
or theme; recent programs
have been devoted to distinctive genres such as Icelandic
music and a holiday show
in December highlighted
Christmas songs.
I like to play an assorted
variety of music because
theres not enough diversification in todays popular

radio, said
Ilnicky. My
goal is to
entertain
the audience
by introducing them to
music that I
hope theyve
never heard
before.
For the
past six
years, managing 90.1
has been
an Ilnicky
family tradition. Malcolms
father Scott Ilnicky and his
older brother Henry 11 first
acquired the time slot in
2009. After Henrys graduation, Malcolms older sister
Caroline, a member of St.
Catherines class of 2014,
and her friend Ellee Winston were handed the reins.
Now it is up to the youngest Ilnicky to share his own
taste and twist on music
with the radio audience.
In preparation for an
upcoming show, Ilnicky
and ONeil scour the web
in search of exciting, compelling and often peculiar
songs. The juniors rely on
their vast knowledge of
music to help them pair
familiar bands with foreign
yet similar artists. Ilnicky
specifically concerns himself with blending classical
tunes with those of modern
musical groups, all in an
effort to further diversify the
program.
One of my favorite
aspects of the show is the

Students Stomp
Faculty
Seniors Claim Annual Battle of
the Brains Competition
By Henry Rodriguez
fact that it gets me listening to different things, said
Ilnicky. When I play a song,
odds are I just found out
about it in the last week. I
am discovering things with
the listeners.
It is hard to gauge how
many viewers the juniors
reel in each Saturday
morning, but the show
has received a handful of
calls praising their musical
choice. Ilnicky cites a loyal
listener who always calls
in when they play a Phish
song. In addition to the radio
audience, Ilnicky and ONeil
average roughly 30 listeners
online.
I hope some reading this
article will take interest and
tune in one Saturday morning to see if they like what
they hear, said ONeil. I
hope that our amount of
listeners continues to rise as
more and more Saints check
out the show.
As the first line of the
Tweezer Reprise goes,
wont you step into the
freezer?

Freshman Contributor

Wisdom and experience

couldnt defeat the sharp
wits of youth when, in a
tense and crowded chapel
matchup, the senior Battle
of the Brains crew bested
the faculty team 220 to 155.
It was the first time the
students had won in at least
three years.
The annual competition has been going on for
about four or five years,
said Dr. Alina Cichocki, but
one year it would happen,
the other year it wouldnt.
Before his retirement, Dr.
Wayne Boese, former history
chair, used to organize and
participate in frequent competitions in Scott Gym.
The senior team was
made up of Jack Jiranek,
Richard Bailey, Richard
Hamrick and Joe Goode.
Senior participant William Maddock was absent
because he was visiting his
college of choice, Harvard
University. Rumors that all

five had perfect GPAs junior

year continued to persist.
The faculty team included
Upper School Head Tony
Szymendera, math teacher
Emmett Carlson, science
teacher Matthew Roy, and
language teacher Elsa
Woodaman. According to
Dr. C, Mr. Franzese would
have been [in the competition]... but he was running
late.
Jack Jiranek clearly led
the senior team in points,
demonstrating an impressive
knowledge of obscure subjects such as chapel decorations. At a certain point, we
just sat back and were there
for moral support while Jack
Jiranek tore apart the faculty, said Joe Goode.
Mr. Carlson attempted
to use his experience as a
Princeton University graduate to carry his team, but
simply couldnt pull ahead.
With some serious training and practice, perhaps the
faculty will be able to put up
a real fight next year.

Goode, ScheerCook Display Art

By William Rodriguez
Freshman Contributor

The last week of school,

seniors Joe Goode and Stefan
ScheerCook showcased their
talents in a Luck Hall art
show. For years the two
students have been creating
artwork, and this was their
chance to show the school the
fruits of their labors.
The senior
art show presented a variety of mediums. Goodes
works included watercolor
paintings,
graphite
sketches and
pen drawings, while
ScheerCooks
art ranged
from wire
sculptures
to charcoal
works. While the seniors
presented many mediums

of artwork, the main

theme of the event was
portraits.
Goode and ScheerCook each crafted
centerpieces for the
show, both of which
were forms of portraits.
Goodes work was a
portrait of himself in
thread, delicately sewn
into a T-shirt. To
make this,
I locked
myself into
my room just
brainstorming for
two weeks, said
Goode.
ScheerCooks
highlight was his
own spin on a
portrait. He used
12 macabre photographs, such as
the famous Viet
Cong execution,
and delicately
redrew the photos
using charcoal and white
pastel. He painted himself in

a Saints
t-shirt
into each
drawing,
in the
pose of
the photographs
subject.
I tried
to put
myself in
the shoes
of the
victim,
ScheerCook said. The
message is to think about
what has happened to other
people, all around the world.
After graduating, Goode
will attend Yale University. Though he is unsure
of whether he will pursue a
career in art, he knows that
he will continue whether its
just doodling things or sitting
down and doing more traditional works.
ScheerCook knows he
will pursue art as a profession. I want to see how

far I can take it, and how

far I can take myself, he
said. Hes bound for Virginia
Commonwealth University,
recognized by U.S. News &
World Report as one of the
top five fine arts colleges in
the country.
Though both students
move on to college this year,
they leave an impact at St.
Christophers through their
artwork. One of their main
objectives with the show is
to entice potential artists.

Hopefully this will get the

St. Christophers community
excited about art, and maybe
attract some fresh talent,
said Goode.

From left: Goode self-portrait,

Goode drawing, ScheerCook
modified self-portrait

May 2015

The Pine Needle

Timeout with Nick Sherod

By Nick Sherod
Junior Contributor

I was named Nicolas Emmanuel Sherod for a reason.

Along with the biblical aspect of my name, my parents
wanted to give me as close
to a race-neutral name as
possible so people wouldnt
prejudge me. Thats
why when I jokingly tell my mom that
Im naming my son
Quanterious or
DBrickashaw she
rolls her eyes and
says she will just
call him Gabriel.
As sad as it is
that my parents had to weigh
this decision with such care,
its important that they did.
Like it or not, the name
Daquan Sherod carries a
different connotation than
Nicolas Sherod.
Before you start rolling
your eyes and turning the
page, no, this is not one of
those Being Black is So
Hard in America or Society
is Out to Get Young Black
Men stories that you so
often see when reading about
these topics from an AfricanAmericans perspective.
Because honestly my life has
been mostly prejudice-free.
Most of that is a credit to my
parents who worked very
hard so that my siblings and
I wouldnt have to grow up in

the same situations they did.

My parents stressed the
importance of speaking well
and carrying yourself with
confidence, which is part of
the reason Im at St. Christophers now. Thats why it
bothers me so much when
people say, you sound white
or you dont act black.
While overt racism isnt
necessarily obvious
in America anymore,
racial undertones are
still very prevalent.
Your race shouldnt
dictate the way you
speak or how you are
supposed to act.
On the topic of
speech, one of the
most hotly debated issues of
the day is the use of the NWord. Understandably, due
to hip hop culture and music
becoming popular, more
white people are listening to
lyrics that include that word
and are then proceeding to
use it saying that the word
has lost power. Also understandably, many black people
still take great offense, especially when white people use
the word.
When talking with my
parents, they said that the
word still has great power, as
shown in the Marcus Smart
incident at Texas Tech University. For those unfamiliar,
Smart, one of the top college
basketball players in the
country last year, was known
for having a sparkling repu-

tation as a great teammate

and leader for the Oklahoma
State University basketball
team. After diving for a loose
ball and landing on a spectator, Smart got up and shoved
the spectator in the chest
claiming that the spectator
called him the N-Word.
I remember one occasion when I was sitting at
lunch with my usual group of
friends and one of our group
came up to the table and
said, Whats up N****s in
Paris. The jab wasnt thrown
directly at me, my friend was
just quoting the popular JayZ song title, but I still wanted
to punch him in the face.
Instead, I just walked away
and ate lunch with other
people.
Unfortunately, that isnt
an isolated incident, and
maybe I dont handle those
situations correctly. If someone Im cool with uses the
word, Ill usually say something like, Hey chill out or
Come on man. I usually
try to avoid a confrontation
because I figure picking and
choosing my battles with
stuff like that is easier.
The advice my Dad told
me was that the only way to
stop white people from using
the word was for blacks to
stop using the word. But how
can you tell a white listener
that the N-Word isnt okay
when their favorite rappers
use the word constantly
in songs? Ill just say this.

The N-Word is used far too

often on this campus and
elsewhere. Whether you end
it with an a or er, it is
offensive and unacceptable
regardless of who is using it.
I have also talked with
my parents about how to
act around the police. The
overarching theme has been
dont be a threat. One time
I was with my mom. and we
had a flat tire on the side
of the road. A police officer
came up and just made sure
we were all right and was
actually very nice about it. If
you dont act stupid and be
respectful, they wont bother
you, my mom said. Dont
come across as threatening,
and it wont be a problem.
My parents have always
taught me to be mindful
of my surroundings. This
spring with all the stress
and tension about the senior
assassin game going on, I
explained to my Dad what it
was all about. My dad questioned, You sure you want
to do that? I didnt originally
get what he was saying, but
then it hit me. Im big, tall
and black, so hiding out in
the bushes of some random
persons house in Windsor
Farms may not be the smartest thing in the world.
I actually voiced that concern one time at lunch and
my friends were all saying
stuff like thats terrible or
thats awful. Another black
classmate at the table agreed

that his parents had also

voiced that same concern. It
was actually funny, but true.
Stuff like that just makes
you think, and I didnt feel
bad for myself or my friend.
It just makes you think about
how others view you.
While incidents such as
these have happened to me
and some of my peers, my life
has been relatively prejudicefree compared to some of my
friends from other schools.
The point of this story is just
to make sure you are aware
of what youre saying. While
Indian or Mexican students
may laugh along with the
stereotype jokes, tread
lightly. Just like black students with the N-Word, they
may not appreciate the jokes
but feel too uncomfortable to
confront their friends.
All this ties in with recent
events such as MLK day, a
spring chapel talk given by
the Rev. Melissa Hollerith
and happenings in the news.
Again, this is not a story
attacking the majority of the
student population, because
the St. Christophers community is welcoming to everyone. This is just telling you to
be aware of your actions. So
before you refer to the kids
at the city schools as ghetto
or spout out that racist joke,
just be mindful of what you
are saying and what your
words mean.

Stage Set for

Summer Reading Shake-up
By Kinloch Nelson

Blood Drive Attracts

Crowd

By Jack Franko

Freshman Contributor

In recent years because

of scheduling issues, St.
Christophers deferred to St.
Catherines for organizing
blood drives. In fact, the last
time our campus hosted one
was 2011, as a part of our
Centennial celebration.
But this year, spurred
by Dr. Austin Sutten and
her Responding in RVA and
Beyond X-Term cohort, StC
once again held a drive.
Dr. Sutten knows that actually getting guys to donate
is still incredibly difficult.
Not only do and busy schedules and athletics get in the
way, but donors who show up
at the donation site sometimes cant donate because of
recent travel or medications
that they are taking.
To attract a larger pool of
potential donors, the drive
was dedicated to language
teacher Elsa Woodaman who

was diagnosed with leukemia

about five years ago.
There are so many people
in our own community who
have needed blood or will
need it, said Dr. Sutten.
The blood drive collected
45 pints of blood (5 more
than expected), which is capable of saving 135 lives. Of
the 56 registered donors, 41
were first time participants.
Headmaster Charley
Stillwell said that having
blood drives at St. Chris is
a huge part of our mission
statement, which is centered
around preparing students to
make a positive difference in
the lives of others.
There is no more important way to make a positive difference in the life of
another than helping to save
that life, Mr. Stillwell said.
Donating a pint of blood in
45 minutes or so may be the
easiest way for any of us to
do just that.

Freshman Contributor

Summer reading is sometimes a controversial issue.

There are always problems
with boys reading what
theyre assigned and often
getting into trouble for not
fulfilling the requirements.
Faculty organizers have
devised a new approach.
In the past, students have
signed up from a varied selection of books each sponsored
by an Upper School faculty
memory.
The Monday, May 18 announcement informed that
this summer all Upper School
students will do a common
read of Radioactive: A Tale
Of Love and Fallout by Lauren Redniss.
Spanish teacher Kimberly
Mayer, who has worked to
develop this program, said,
This is not to say that choice
book has gone away and is
completely replaced. This is
just something different for
next year.
Many other activities
will go along with this new
read, and Mrs. Mayer said,
Its not just a one and done,

the second
Thursday,
during Xblock, have
a discussion,
and its over
with. Its
about putting more in
and getting
more out.
The author,
Lauren
Redniss,
will visit in
September.
The book
is supposed
to appeal
to students of all interests.
There are ties to history,
to science, to music, to art,
Mrs. Mayer said. A QR code
on the binding of each book
will lead to a site with information on tie-ins to these
disciplines.
Instead of students having to go out and buy a choice
book, as they have in years
past, books were distributed
at the time of the announcement.
After consulting other
schools that have done common read programs, Upper

School librarian Virginia

Stone and the rest of the
group decided on Radioactive. The book was mainly
chosen for its cross-curricular
nature.
Change always meets with
some controversy, and some
students have voiced disappointment at not being able
to have a choice and read
something that specifically
interests them. Organizers
believe that Radioactive,
with its connections to other
subjects, will engage many
different kinds of students.

4]

The Pine Needle

May 2015

The College Essay Debunked

By William Maddock
Editor-in-Chief

I spent the first week of last

August in a college application
workshop with Associate Director of
Guidance Scott Mayer. My thinking
was that the earlier I started on the
application and the essays,
the better I would feel come
the application deadline
Nov. 1.
The truth is, I spent most
of the week catching up with
friends, talking about summer and filling in my basic
personal information on the
first page of the Common
Application.
I dont remember exactly when
I started actually writing (I can tell
you it wasnt during that week), but
I do know that I finished the Common App essay after midnight a day
before the deadline.
The process of writing my essay was one of the most frustrating
experiences of my life. The expecta-

tion created by years of hype is that

the senior college essay not only has
to be the single best piece of writing you have ever produced but also
must convey to an admissions officer
every nuance of your life and personality. Frankly, that is an impossible
standard.
Hours of thinking about the best
topic led to countless scrapped opening lines and months of frustration. In the end, I wrote
an essay I wasnt overly
happy with. I think I tried
too hard to make it perfect,
and in doing so edited my
voice right out of it.
I, for one, felt that the immense pressure that comes
with the college essay made it much
more difficult to write. However, any
admissions officer at any college in
the country will tell you to just be
yourself when writing your essay.
Whats so hard about that? According to one senior, You need to
reflect on your life, and its not easy
to do that. Another said, Its hard
to talk about yourself and make
yourself look so great because no one

really likes to talk about how great

they are.
The college essay is an extremely
personal piece of writing, which
only adds to the difficulty. I settled
on writing about my connection to
the outdoors, a topic which I believed would allow me to reflect on
a number of different experiences in
my life.
Even writing about such a general subject with which I have tons
of experience, I found it difficult
to express exactly what I wanted
to say in an intelligent way while
maintaining my own voice. The biggest problem for me was that it was
tough to write naturally when the
stakes were so high.
I edited and edited and edited,
but I never reached a point where
I was fully content. The deadline is
the reason Im not still working on
that essay today.
Curious about other seniors
experiences with the essay, I sent
out a quick survey. The range of
answers was not surprising. People
spent anywhere from one hour to
two weeks on their essays.

Satisfaction ratings had a similarly broad range, from 4/10 up to

10/10, but the average was a solid
7.5. Interestingly, though perhaps
not surprisingly, the amount of time
spent seemed to have no correlation
with how satisfied people were in the
end.
The best advice I ever heard
about the essay came in the form
of a rare original idea at a college
information session. The idea was
that you should be able to leave your
essay without your name on it in
the cafeteria, and a classmate would
return it to you. Basically, your essay should be so clearly yours that
someone who found it would know
you wrote it without seeing a name.
Director of Guidance Jim Jump
echoed that idea, saying, The best
essay is one only you could write.
For all you underclassmen, I would
just say dont stress about it. Do
your best, spend some time on it, but
most importantly write about something you care about. If you write
about something youre passionate
about, it will show.

Printed with permission from King Features Syndicate, 2012ZitsPartnershipKingFeaturesSyndicateInc,WorldRightsReserved

The following is an actual Common App essay written by and published with the permission of Carter Clements
I am not perfect, but I am tenacious. When I was five years old,
the doctors diagnosed me with an
auditory processing disorder. The St.
Christopher's resource teachers were
the only adults who had knowledge
of my disability aside from
the doctors and my parents.
Even to this day, most of
my course teachers are
unaware that l battle this
daily. I wouldn't want it any
other way.
There is no cure for my
APD, only hours of intensive reading and studying dilutes the
evidence of a struggling student. I
have learned to live with it. In order
to understand material, I reread everything two or three times regularly. Turning pages became a curse. I
became self conscious. Flipping pages
seemed like a way to escape reality. I began to skim. A lot of pages.
My English scores plummeted. My

parents were told by the doctors to

take me out of school. I was never
expected to be a good student. The
doctors thought that any grade in the
C range, especially at a school like St.
Christopher's, would be incredible for
me. But I stuck to it. I'm still
here. I will forever be thankful
to my parents and tutors for
keeping me on pace at a school
as incredible as this one. It
truly has tested my character
and made me who I am today.
But the stress was compounded: when I was diagnosed, no one ever told me. In fact,
I went from elementary school all
the way through my junior year not
knowing that all the hours I spent
trying to comprehend information
was actually because of a disorder.
Miss Hulette, my first tutor, gave
me "my self describing word" when
I completed my years of study with
her. We worked for hours after school,

and she saw the way I struggled.

She had always seen how I fought to
understand more. My self describing word was "tenacious." I know
it is completely normal for a high
school student to work hard through
all hours of the night, but I'd never
understood when we read in class
how people turned pages so quickly.
Communal reading and listening exercises that taxed my concentration
and literacy were miserable for me
when all I wanted to do was fit in.
After recognizing my own slower
patterns, I began to adapt. I learned
patience not only with my learning,
but in extra curricular activities that
I now enjoy. My grandfather and I
took up carving when I had trouble
in school. We carved anything! A
Christmas tree became ornaments,
a watermelon transformed into a
soccer ball, and a scrap piece of wood
into a miniature pig. Some of my best
memories have come from spending

time doing stuff I love with the people

I love at a pace that is right for me.
By the end of my sophomore year,
my grandfather and I graduated
from small hand held carvings. We
decided to build a dimensionally correct, professional soccer goal out of
maple. Assembly began in July. The
days were brutally hot. After about a
hundred nails, bolts, and zip ties, the
goal was finished. My grandfather
and I took the inaugural shots. The
entire experience opened my eyes to
what I want to do with my life. I don't
want to sit at a cubicle in an office being used as a tool. I want to graduate
with a college degree and start my
own business like my father. If there
is one thing that I can process in a
timely fashion, it's that.
--Carter Clements 15

May 2015

The Pine Needle

Im Not Lovin It
By Malcolm Ilnicky
Junior Contributor

If you take a stroll through the

junior lot, one thing will stick out
in particular: the trash. I cannot
say if the J-Lot has always been
this trash-ridden as I have only
been parking there for a few
weeks, but from what I have
heard, the amount of litter
in the lot has reached new
heights as of late.
After everything we
learned in Middle School
about first-class citizenship,
I was disturbed when I first
encountered the litter. McDonalds
bags, Starbucks cups, TruMoo
bottles, and more were scattered
across the gravel lot. The fact that
nobody seemed to care was even

more upsetting. I watched as my unconcerned classmates waded through

the sea of trash as if it didnt even
exist. Their apathy towards the litter concerned me, so I began to ask
around to see what the deal was. It
seemed as though everyone knew
about the problem, but it was going
to take more than words to
stop the litterbugs.
At first glance, it would
appear that every junior is
littering. In actuality, there
are far less culprits than one
would think. Only a small
percentage of the junior
class litters. but it is a part
of their daily routine. I have tried on
numerous occasions to put an end
to the infamous litterbugs, but they
will stop at nothing to treat our lot,
our campus and our world like a gi-

Swanson Swims
into National Spotlight
By Joe Goode
Senior Contributor

Competitive swimming isnt

easy. Four a.m. practices five times
a week. Pools so chlorinated swimmers skin dries out and faces peel.
But for Charlie Swanson 16, it pays
off.
Paying off may be an understatement. Here at St. Christophers
Swanson holds individual records in
the 100-yard freestyle, 200 freestyle,
100 breaststroke and 200 individual
medley. Outside of school he swims
for NOVA, where he has qualified
for USA Winter Nationals and the
Olympic Trials.
Next winter hell head to San Antonio where hell compete at Winter
Nationals, which he describes as not
only his biggest meet but Olympians biggest meet of the year. That
summer hell compete at the Olympic
Trials only a few weeks before the
2016 Olympic Games.
Out of all that swimming he
hopes to make the Junior National
Team, which is reserved for the top
six young swimmers in the country
in each Olympic event. Swanson is
on pace, though, with a 400-yard individual medley time that places him
15th in the nation in his age group.
Coach Crook and I feel very lucky
to have an athlete on our team who
can give us an All-State performance
in every single event, said Coach
Stuart Ferguson. His feel for the

water and efficiency of movement are

unmatched by everyone in the Prep
league.
Swimming has taken up a large
part of Swansons life for a while. He
has swum year round for six years,
and before that swam on a summer
swim team for four years. He practices from 4:30 to 6:30 a.m. Monday
to Friday with two two-hour afternoon practices sprinkled in. He gets
his rest on weekends with a 5 a.m.
practice on Saturdays.
Its dreadful walking into practice
because you know that is going to be
terrible for two hours, but over the
past two years my times have gotten better and Ive seen things pay
off, and when I keep on advancing it
drives me to get up and get better.
Swimming has its perks though.
The weeks leading up to a big meet,
when coaches ease up on swimmers
and taper down their yardage and
effort, are exciting, and the camaraderie built through travelling and
practicing with a team so extensively
is certainly a bonus. We all hate
it, Swanson said, but its worth it
because the meets are fun, especially
the ones where you get to fly with
your team.
Swanson is undecided about college, but he knows hell swim and
compete nationally. What might he
do when his competitive swims come
to an end? I might go to the YMCA
every now and then to swim, but after
11 years or so of swimming it might
be time to hang up the goggles.

ant trashcan.
Personally, I have had several
encounters with the litterbugs. Not
long ago, an anonymous student
tossed his trash out of his car window, turned his head back to face
me, looked me dead in the eyes with
a smug grin on his face, and sped

off. A few days later, another anonymous junior grabbed a crumpled-up

piece of paper out of my car, waved
it in my face and buried it in the
dirt. When confronted, the litterbugs
claim they dont care about the environment and insult any opposition.

Picture of litter in the Junior Lot

David Ballowe:
A Man of Many Talents
By Malcolm Ilnicky
Junior Contributor

Some of us know David Ballowe as

that beatboxing guy from the Beaux
Ties. Others might
recognize
him from
his cameo
in the 2012
locker room
Gangnam
Style video.
Some may
even remember David
as Red Man
from the pep
rally a few
years ago.
This
footballplaying musician, actor,
impersonator and beatboxer cannot
be defined by any single accomplishment.
Ever since
the summer
before freshman year,
Ballowe has
made a name
for himself.
He quickly
developed
the nickname Cake
Shake during football
preseason
after an
unfortunate
encounter
with Coach
Greg Tune at Shyndigz. Since then,
Ballowe has developed even more
nicknames and had even worse encounters with Tune.
Part of what makes Ballowe
stand out among his peers is his
personality. His fellow classmates
describe his personality as bold, loud,
confident and occasionally excessive.
These characteristics shine forth in
almost everything Ballowe does from
wearing a kilt to the Junior/Senior

dance to online posts where he shows

little restraint when voicing his opinions on topics like race and gun control. Still he admits, Facebook fights
dont really accomplish anything..
Where
Ballowe excelled most
at St. Christophers was
on stage,
whether he
was with the
Beaux Ties,
the Jazz
Band, Tredegar, Ampersand or
by himself.
Ballowes
vocal percussion added
another
dimension to
the acapella
style of the Beaux Ties. His exceptional euphonium playing left all of
us wondering why wed
never heard
of a euphonium before.
His shrieking of Turn
down for
what! made
everyones
Thursday afternoon feel
like a Saturday night.
And with his
hilarious impression of
Matt Foley
in the 2013
costume contest and his impressive
performance of Santa with a hand
trumpet during last years Christmas
service, Ballowe proved himself as a
one-of-a-kind member of the class of
2015.
Although Ballowes personality
and achievements will be remembered for years to come, he would be
content with simply being remembered as a guy that loves life.

The Pine Needle

6]

ImpactMakers Impact Students

Valentine 93, Williams 92 Talk
Entrepreneurship

By Schuyler Purdy and

Henry Rodriguez
Sophmore and Freshman Contributors

Just before their St. Christophers presentation on entrepreneurship, Mr. Charles Valentine 93
and Mr. Carrington Williams 92
launched a new edition of their revolutionary program Lumiary.
An entrepreneur finds a need
and creates a way to fill that need,

said Williams, who explained their

data collection company in great
detail.
Valentine and Williams founded
an online application that monitors a detailed customer database.
Companies can use this database to
promote their business with multiple tools that can be found in the
program.
Valentine, a 13-year Saint, was
Student Council president. He
received his masters degree
at the University of Virginia.
Williams went to St. Chris for
11 years. He attended Washington & Lee University and also
obtained his masters from the
University of Virginia.
Valentine and Williams
based their ImpactMakers presentation off the idea of failure
being necessary for success.
They illustrated their point
with four descriptors: failing
fast, failing cheap, failing often

Sophomore Contributor

Austin Harris 00 spoke about the

risks he took to venture away from a
job bank financier to pursue entrepreneurship.
Harris was a 13-year student
at St. Christophers School and a
founder of the Beaux Ties a cappella
group. He graduated from Wake
Forest University and got his dream
job as a financier in New York City.
He always wanted to pursue entrepreneurship and took a risk by
instead joining Health Warriors as
an opportunity to fulfill my own
curiosity.

As an entrepreneur, Harris takes

risks everyday and he spoke about
the process he goes through when
making a risk. Harris said the lessons he has learned are: that there
is a huge gap between dreaming and
doing, so get out there and pursue

De Leon 08
Finds
Comfort in
Risk
By Jack Franko
Freshman Contributor

and learning in the process, which

are beneficial to an entrepreneur
who aspires to accomplish something worthwhile.
Constant innovation requires
constant experimentation and with
that comes failure, said Valentine.
He explained that trial and error
and failure help to figure out what
doesnt work.

Harris 00 Embarks on Risk-Filled Journey

By Rob Jessee

May 2015

your dreams, surround yourself with

interesting people with diverse backgrounds, seek new challenges and
develop the skills to help you succeed in those challenges. Its much
riskier to follow the crowd than to
build a playbook for yourself and run
those plays, Harris said. What do
you want to accomplish?
The risks that Harris has made
to join Health Warriors have lead
him to where he is today. The members of Health Warrior are an energetic group that compete against
Kelloggs and General Mills.
The lessons that Harris has
learned about taking risks have
shaped his life changing from a bank
financier to an entrepreneur.

For Marco de Leon 08, investing

his lifes savings in a wafel company that started in a Brown University dorm room was a no brainer.
My definition of risk is not going
all in, said de Leon, who is the COO
of Rip Van Wafels, a company that
makes authentic Dutch snacks that
are meant to be enjoyed with coffee.
De Leon found his style of risktaking when he transferred here as
a freshman. Freshman year was
one of the hardest experiences
of my life, said
de Leon, who
struggled to fit
in here so much
that he would
often cry when
he got home.
It got bad enough that he considered transferring to Collegiate.
But then de Leon reached a
moment of clarity after getting
support and encouragement from
a host of teachers, including science teacher Billy McGuire 85 and
Spanish teacher Sue Varner. One
day, he decided to go all in to his St.
Christophers experience. I opened
myself up to rejection and failure,
said de Leon. It was the best decision of my life... That moment ended
up impacting every decision I made
after that.
This all-in mentality made it
easy for de Leon to make other leaps
such as partnering with Rip Van
Wafels CEO Rip Pruisken for the
wafel start-up.
I had to go for it.
To youngsters dealing with the
same issues, de Leon said, Its
never too early to invest in yourself
and you never know where it will
lead.

Luck 08, Watson Discuss Opportunity

By William Maddock
Editor-in-Chief

About ten minutes into his presentation, Richard Luck 08 (pictured below) began choking up while
talking about the impact of his company, UnBoundRVA, on the lives
of people like Mr. Raheim Watson
(pictured at right), who presented
with him.
Lucks passion for the company
and its cause was evident throughout his presentation.

After graduating from the Virginia Military Institute, Luck took a job
as a math instructor with Teach for
America, an organization that hires
college graduates to teach in public
schools in impoverished areas. I
met super talented people who were
still in poverty, he said.
He found remarkable people with
no degree, some of whom had past
addiction issues or criminal history,
and he set out to make a difference
for those people.
With that goal in mind, he founded UnBoundRVA along with Sarah
Mullens and Jeff Wraley.
According to its website,
UnBoundRVAs mission is
to provide talented individuals from low-income
communities a path to
entrepreneurship.
With a small business,
no one can restrict your
potential, Luck said.
Raheim Watson, who
spoke alongside Luck, was
a member of the programs

first class
of entrepreneurs. Watson
shared his
personal story
of growing up
in New York
City without
a father figure
for much of
his young life.
After some
rocky teenage years, Watson ended
up in jail, where he first started to
set some goals for himself. His two
chief goals were to own a home and
to start a business.
Soon after his release, he met
his fiance and had a son. I didnt
want my son to have the same experience, he said. What keeps me
going is the motivation I have for my
family and myself.
After moving to Richmond, Watson accomplished both. In January
2014 he became the first member of
his family to close on a home. Later
that spring, he was chosen as one of

five members
of UnBoundRVAs founding class.
He has since
successfully
started his
own business,
Watsons
Windows and
Exteriors. He
said, Opportunities are
not always given to you. Sometimes
you have to go out and search for
them and create them for yourself.
Lucks final thought was about
privilege and how we, as members
of the St. Christophers community,
should feel about it and utilize it to
make a positive impact on others.
He talked about how his first reaction to his own privilege was guilt.
However, he said, a better way to
think about privilege is as a blessing. Its up to us to find a way to
provide people with opportunity, he
said.

May 2015

The Pine Needle

Todorov
Ref lects

By Will McKinnon
Junior Contributor

Sitting down for the interview,

I begin to mutter a question to my
peer. He interrupts me. Youre going to have to speak up. I cant hear
you. Caught off guard, I look to
him, but theres no animosity in his
face.
Be it a part of Bulgarian culture
or simply a facet of his personality,
Martin Todorov simply is not afraid
to speak his mind.
Bulgarian exchange student Martin Todorov has spent much of his
time at St. Christophers focusing on
the arts. Sports are not my fort,
but I compensate with art, said
Todorov. His work in photography
with digital arts teacher Amanda
Livick has brought a unique approach to the table, particularly in
his approaches to light. Hes a very
technical photographer, said Mrs.
Livick. He wants everything to be
perfect.
Musically, Todorov is equally
skilled. Hes worked extensively
with Mr. Greg
Vick in the
choir, ranking fifth of 60
applicants
for the district chorus.
In addition,
Todorov has
worked extensively with Ampersand, playing the
memorable part of one of the crazed
Shriners in the fall production of
Bye Bye Birdie.
Todorov has had an incredible
time with the Menges household,
saying that Dave and Kim Menges
are, probably the best people Ive
ever met they accepted me for
who I am. Todorov said junior Sean
Menges has served as a role model
for him as well during his time
here. The Turners, whom Todorov
stayed with later in the year, had an
equally gratifying experience.
Hes been incredibly open to cultural differences and willing to learn
about the U.S. and the way things
are viewed here, said Katie Turner,
St. Catherines 16.
Adapting to the culture of the
United States and St. Christophers
proved troublesome for Todorov. The
focus that the school puts on sports
came as a shock to him as an arts
person, and he found it challenging to penetrate the social bubble
of the community, remarking that
people seem to focus more on idle
chitchat or gossip rather than meaningful conversation.
We all could learn a thing or two
from Martin and his directness and
honesty, Mrs. Livick said. I myself
have adapted some of these behaviors when talking to people. Its been
refreshing to be able to say what you
actually want to say. Its also been
refreshing to have that relationship
with Martin where we can talk without a facade.
Regardless of cultural differences,
Todorov says that his experiences
and the people he has met have no
doubt changed his life for the better.

Twelfth Night Wows the Old-Fashioned Way

By Will McKinnon
Junior Contributor

Where else can you find magic

tricks, crossdressing, and Shakespeare all rolled into one show but
at Ampersand? Twelfth Night ran
April 29 to May 1, keeping audiences
dazzled from start to finish.
As a Shakespeare play, the
language and plot of Twelfth Night
seems daunting to many. The comedy
centers on a love triangle with a genderbent twist: Duke Orsino (Walker
Rise) falls in love with Lady Olivia
(Kitty Lambrechts), who falls in love
with Duke Orsinos servant Cesario

(Maddie Gunter), who is in actuality

a woman named Viola.
Despite the complexity of the plot
and language, the cast managed to
pull off their roles phenomenally. The
Jester (Isabelle Andrews) managed to
control the stage whenever she had
a part, and comedic supporting roles
like Malvolio (Nate Smith) and Sir
Toby Belch (Annabel OHagan) had
the audience struggling for breath
between laughs.
With Twelfth Night, Ampersand
sought to eliminate the fourth wall,
interacting with the audience by hiding behind their chairs and prodding
at them, as Shakespeares actors did

some 400 years ago. The house lights

remained up for the entirety of the
show to remind the audience that
they too were a part of the action. A
band atop a central platform played
music before the start of and during
the play and at intermission.
With Bye Bye Birdie and Amadeus, Ampersand continues to innovate both on and off of the stage, and
will surely impress us next year with
their next three shows.
Will McKinnon worked as the Lighting
Designer for Twelfth Night.

Talking with Tay

to save people. Ive heard horror
stories about the Navy and how
difficult it is. Finally, I personally dont have an interest in the
Air Force. Im excited about the
infantry because its not one of the
other branches. I want to go into
the Officer Cadet School (OCS),
and if you pass it, you get to command new recruits.

By Swayne Martin
Senior Contributor

As many of you know, Sean Tay 15

is a native of Singapore and plans
to attend the University of Southern California for college. But did
you know that he wont be able to
go to college for another two years?
Singapore requires all men 18 years
and older, who have finished high
school or the equivalent, to serve for
two years in the Singapore Armed
Forces. In the following questionand-answer interview, youll learn
what Tay expects from his service
and what his goals are.
Describe the overall process for
required national service in
Singapore.
Its a very elaborate process. First,
you have to do a medical exam.
The medical exam, which includes
blood, urine, X-Rays, and hearing
tests, will determine if youre fitness
ready. If youre not fitness ready,
you could be exempt from service.
You dont get a choice where you get
posted. There are police, civic engagement (i.e. firefighters), infantry,
air force and navy positions available. After you pass that medical
exam, you have the choice to take
a fitness test, which includes pushups, sit-ups, and a 1.5-mile run. To

get a silver medal, you have to do

around 45 push-ups and 45 sit-ups
in a minute each, and run the 1.5mile run in about 10 minutes. If you
get a gold or silver medal from that
test, you can reduce your length of
service by two months. If you dont
take it, you go the regular 24-month
route. I will take the fitness test in
June and hopefully will pass.
Where would you most liked to
be placed in the armed forces?
I was already posted to the infantry
and will hopefully enlist this October. Heres why I chose the infantry:
The police force is known to be the
easiest of all service branches, and
I dont really want to waste two
years. As for firefighting, I cant really imagine myself risking my life

What sort of benefits and pay

does the Singapore Government offer recruits?
We get a very minimal amount
of pay, around $400 or $500 per
month. Thats the only compensation you get. For the underprivileged, its crucial for the family
to get even that small amount of
compensation.
Do you think your college plans
might change after two years?
Im 100% committed to go to USC.
I cant imagine a situation where I
would change my plans.
Tay will leave the United States
on May 27 after graduation and
head directly to Singapore. During
the summer, he will convert his
U.S. drivers license to a Singapore
drivers license, and plans to backpack across Southeast Asia in late
June with his cousins.

The Pine Needle

8]

May 2015

Career Day: Words of Wisdom

Business:
Sean Eubank

By Sean Tay
Senior Contributor

Mr. Shawn Eubanks first

wine, Honey Blossom, has
been a huge hit with women.
This wine producer and
distributor shared his business journey with Upper
School students as part of
career day in early May.
As an undergraduate at
Virginia Tech, he struggled
to find a focus. He initially
intended to major in finance
but switched to geophysics his sophomore year. Mr.
Eubank decided to take
a semester off to seek out
possible career paths. This
is when his friends and he
stumbled upon a farmers
market, and he finally
came to the decision that he
wanted to pursue a career in
agriculture.
In 2009, Mr. Eubank and
his friends started Rock-

lands Farm in Montgomery

County, Md. Mr. Eubank
stressed the importance of
setting oneself apart from
others. As such, his business
idea was to make his farm
a serene place close to the
bustling D.C. metro area.
Mr. Eubank soon encountered another big challenge -- that growing vegetables and meats was not
a highly scalable means of

profit moving forward.

As a temporary solution, he began to sell
individual meals such
as salads to help defray
some expenses. Eventually, he and his friends
came up with the idea
of investing in grapes to
make wine. However,
just like any beginning
entrepreneur, he was
faced with a funding
issue and needed investors. Investing in grapes
to make wine requires
significant start-up costs
due to expensive equipment
needed such as tanks and
cooling vents.
Before long, Mr. Eubank
and his friends established
Native Selections, which distributes organically-farmed
wine. Mr. Eubank hopes
that his business will scale,
which he explained as being able to grow and bring
down costs.

Medicine:
Andrew Bogle 97
By Jack Holdaway
Junior Contributor

Andrew Bogle 97, a practicing orthopedic surgeon

who specializes in hand and
upper extremities, returned
to St. Christophers to share
lessons he learned in his 13
years of medical training
and the rigors of becoming of
doctor.
Bogle spent more than a
decade bouncing from school
to school, attending the
Medical College of Virginia
for his formal education,
University of Rochester for
residency and internship,
and Wake Forest for his
fellowship. The alumnus
received his undergraduate
degree at the University of
Richmond, where he played

football and was honored as

a member of the AcademicAll Conference team.
Bogle stressed the fact
that becoming a doctor isnt
for everyone, and if ones
ambition is motivated solely
by a desire to make a good
living, medicine isnt the
right career choice. He attempted to instill the idea
that being a doctor does
come with a healthy influx
of cash, but its difficult to
make it through dragged-out
rigors of medical school and
residency without feeling a
true calling.
The presentation consisted of a bevy of unsettling
pictures involving grotesque
hand and shoulder injuries. One showed the hand
of a factory worker whose

whole finger was ripped off

by machinery - leaving only
the bone behind. Another - a
picture of a nail completely
piercing a mans foot - left
the audience of juniors and
seniors queasy and fidgety.
As an orthopedic surgeon, you never know what
types of injuries are going
to walk through the door.
Bogle enjoys a challenge and
is fascinated by the process
of transforming broken,
displaced and sometimes
severed extremities into
functioning body parts.
The satisfaction in helping
patients is the drive each
prospective doctor must
have to make it through the
prolonged process of receiving a medical education.

Law:
Dave Galeski 00
By Edward Millman
Junior Contributor

Dave Galeski 00 says

don't be a lawyer, at least
not right away. "Spend
a few years after college
working some other job
before you go to law school,"
said the William and Mary
Law School graduate who
primarily works insurance.
Firms are reluctant to hire
you if your first job would be
with them.
You know those ads on
the TV about how its your
money, you want it now,
and the swanky lawyer on
the TV will make sure you
get it because he means
business? Galeskis the lawyer trying to defend the insurance companies, the one
trying to root out fraudulent
claims. Hes the one who

tries to make sure the other

side gets fair compensation,
not an exorbitant one. Other
times he will work with
clients on issues related to
personal injury and criminal
defense.
I dont really have an
average day at work, said
Galeski about his time at
Duane, Hauck, Davis &
Gravatt. At least its slightly
more consistent than his
former role as a public
defender. During his time in
that position, Galeski mostly
did criminal defense. Being
a public defender gave him
the on the job experience law
firms look for and helped
him later in his career.
Galeski advises those
looking to become a lawyer
to really think it over. Its a
big commitment, he said.

Law:
Ned Turnbull 01
By Matthew Allocca
Senior Contributor

Ned Turnbull 01 claims

that the best thing he did
was not go to law school
right out of college. Turnbull
came to
speak to
the Junior
and Senior
classes
about his
experience
as a civil
lawyer.
Turnbull is an
advocate
for trying
different
things
before attending law school. Working
other jobs allowed him to figure out what he didnt want
to do. Being a lawyer isnt
for everyone. If you dont

like reading and writing, you

should consider doing something else, he said.
Turnbulls warnings
about the possible pitfalls of
becoming a lawyer opened
the eyes of aspiring lawyers.
His goal
was not to
dissuade
people, but
instead tp
get people
to understand that
law school
is typically geared
towards people who can
handle large
amounts of
reading and
writing. To keep abreast of
current events, Turnbull advises reading the newspaper.

May 2015

The Pine Needle

A Prince in Our Midst?

By Nick Sherod
Junior Contributor

When Adam Ballantyne

was 5, his dad, Frederick
Ballantyne, was knighted.
During the three-hour
ceremony, Queen Elizabeth
pulled out a sword. The toddler, who associated swords
with decapitation, screamed
and was shushed by his
mothers hand as his father
received a light tap on each
shoulder.
This is an example of the
type of unusual experiences
he has had growing up.
His father, a cardiologist, is Governor General in
St. Vincent. The Caribbean
country, which operates as
a parliamentary democracy,
gained its independence from
England in 1979 but still receives help from the Queen.
Since the queen cannot be
everywhere at once, she appoints governor generals to
oversee such outlying territories.
Sir Ballantyne comes from
a small town in St. Vincent,
and his mom always pushed
him at whatever he did. He
finished first in the national
exam for his country and
went on to medical school
at Syracuse University and
came home to practice medicine.
One of his deeds was particularly memorable to his
son. Sometimes during the
Christmas months when a lot
of people didnt have a lot of
money he would go and see
people for free. That really
touched me.
There are obvious benefits
that come with being the
child of the head man of a

country.
While
a lot of
people
would
take advantage of
those benefits, Sir
Frederick
remains
humble.
As
governor
general,
youre
allowed
to live in
a special Governors mansion
and sport a license plate that
allows you to park anywhere
in St. Vincent without being ticketed. Sir Ballantyne
turned down both opportunities, and Ballantyne really
respects his dads humble
attitude.
He is just a really great
guy, he said. He is a very
philosophical guy and he is
really wise.
Ballantyne is one of seven
children with six half siblings
and a sister who is a sophomore at St. Catherines. Before becoming Governor General, Dr. Ballantyne picked
up his children from school
in St. Vincent. Once his dad
became Governor General,
that was no longer the case,
and Adam remembers when
everything changed.
I remember the first day
that he didnt come to pick
me up, but instead he sent a
police officer to pick me up,
said Ballantyne. I had no
idea what was going on.
After finishing elementary
school in St. Vincent, his parents decided that he and his

Czeching in with Tom

By Edward Millman
Junior Contributor

With dashing good looks,

a European sense of style
and a mean five oclock
shadow, Tom Cern 16 is
the third Czech student Ive
met. However, hes the only
one who taught me Czech
curse words. It was Cern
who showed me how to insult

Slovakians, why Putin is evil

and how to avoid getting in a
fistfight while on the Austrian border. Hes been here six
weeks and has been staying
with the family of freshman
Alex Davis, whom he has
found warm and welcoming.
Cern was almost deported a few weeks ago for
a missing form he forgot to
submit at customs, but so
far the CIA hasnt found

him. Despite this, Cern

has found his trip to be an
interesting and enlightening
experience. I could write a
novel about my time here,
he said. His favorite things
about America are the concept of turning right on a red
light and southern sweet tea.
He does have one small gripe
though. I dont like how
everyone says,Hello, how are
you and pretends they care
about the answer, said
Cern. But other than
that, I enjoy and like
America.
In his spare time,
Cern writes and plays
music on his guitar.
He participated in the
May Jazz Band concert,
playing Superbad by
James Brown. His favorite band is The Doors
and he listens to mostly
classic rock. In addition
to loving music, Cern
is a big soccer fan whose
favorite team is Borussia Dortmund.

Mistr Masters Machines

By Gunther Abbot
Sophomore Contributor

mom and sister would move

to America for better educational opportunities. His dad
has many Virginia contacts
so they settled in Chesterfield. Ballantyne returns
to his home country during
most holidays.
Even though his dad is
the Governor General of St.
Vincent, Ballantyne has decided to stay in America for
the rest of his life, believing
that the opportunities here
are better, and that he will
have a chance to gain more
financially.
Many people with a
father running a country
might have a cocky attitude,
but Ballantyne takes it in
stride and keeps the humble
attitude exemplified by his
father.
Ballantyne does not plan
to pursue politics when he
attends the University of
Maryland, Baltimore County
next year, but if his impersonations of President
Barack Obama in chapel are
any indicators, politics could
be in his future.
Like father, like son.

How many computers

does the average person
have? One, maybe two?
Junior Collin Mistr has
more than 60. Why you
might ask? Some I use for
parts, some are just for collection, he said. Some are
leftovers, others I picked up
off the side of the road.
Mistr doesnt just collect
computers. He basically runs
his own computer salvaging
business. He buys broken
ones for cheap, fixes them up
and resells them for higher
prices. Hes made about $500
or $600 dollars, and hes only
been doing this since last
summer.
His passion for computers started
when he was
7 and his
grandfather
gave him an
old Packard
Bell from the
90s. He spent
much of his time trying to
boost the computers functionality by doing things like
connecting it to the internet.
From buying cheap computers on eBay to scouring
Goodwill, Mistrs collection
began to grow. He looks for
insane deals online where
people list a computer and
dont really know much about
it. Mistr says that people
sometimes list computers
that they think are broken,
but in reality only have a
small problem which can be
fixed. In other words, some
computers are listed for less
than the sum of their parts.
Mistr is constantly on
eBay looking for these kind

of deals, looking for computers that are often broken,

missing parts or have other
problems. I once got a MacBook Pro off eBay for $5 that
had some weird discoloration,
and I thought it was a spill
or something like that. He
went on to say that someone
had incorrectly tried to repair
a GPU problem by baking
the computer in the oven.
The computer ended up having a perfectly working LCD
panel, which by itself was
worth about $100.
Tricks like this he uses to
turn a profit, which in some
cases can be huge. He once
bought a broken Xbox off
of eBay for $2 which turned
out to work perfectly. In the
picture on
eBay the AV
cable was
unplugged on
the back of
the console.
He then said
when the
Xbox arrived
in the mail,
he plugged
the cable in and it worked
just fine.
Mistr also started a YouTube channel with how-to
and informational videos on
computers. I always enjoyed other peoples YouTube
channels on computers,
he said. I just thought it
would be fun to make videos
of my stuff. He has since
posted more than 100 videos, garnered more than 500
subscribers and made about
$200 from video monetization.
Mistr plans to pursue his
passion for computers further
this summer by getting a job
at a local computer repair
shop.

SAT Takes New Format

By Schuyler Purdy
Sophmore Contributer

Many companies are

sending e-mails and letters
claiming that they can help
boost scores for the new SAT
which is taking a different
format in
the 20162017 school
year.
Theyre
guessing, said
Mr. Jim
Jump, the
guidance
director at St. Christophers.
They dont have that information, so people should be
wary of those companies.
Still, the changes are
expected to be minimal.
The SAT has changed
its format just four times in
the last 25 years. With this
change, the College Board,
which develops the test, is
trying to connect the SAT
more to lessons learned

in classrooms around the

world, Mr. Jump said.
Traditionally, the three
major parts to the SAT
include mathematics, critical
reading and writing sections.
Mr. Jump explains that
the biggest
change in
the test is
that the
writing
section will
be optional.
The critical
reading
section
will also be longer and more
in-depth. The PSAT this fall
will be the first reflection of
the new style.
The SAT has also partnered with Khan Academy,
a website that offers specific
teaching lessons in many
subjects for free, to create
a series of videos that will
make preparing for the SAT
easy for everyone.

The Pine Needle

[ 10 ]

May 2015

TEDxYouth@StChristophersRd
On March 26, the TEDx cohort hosted the culminating event of its X-term work: TEDxYouth@StChristophersRd. Among
the presenters were three St. Christophers Upper School students. Heres what they had to say.

Eddie Anderson and Josh Craig:

Pursuing a Passion
Sophomores Eddie Anderson and Josh Craig gave their TEDx talk on their
love of competitive mountain biking and how they founded the StC
Mountain Biking team. They discussed how satisfying it is to improve
through the challenges they face on the trails.
-- Jack Franko 18

Taking the time to learn the new

skillset in order to achieve that goal of
getting over those roots, that rock, that
log is very gratifying.

Alex Shedd:
A Serious Discussion about Improv
Alex Shedd '15 explained the purpose of improvisational comedy and the St
Christopher's/St. Catherine's Improv Club. He also described how being able
to think on your feet can help anywhere in life.
-- Henry Rodriguez 18

"There's social merit [in practicing improv]... having to

collaborate with your scene partners, and a lot of times giving up
your dignity for the sake of humor, or building a scene... it makes
friends and builds connections like nothing you've ever seen."

Riley Varner:
Climbing out of Your
Comfort Zone
About a year ago, Riley Varner 16 traveled to Colorado Springs for
the national climbing championships. He was confident going into the
competition but ended up falling on the first climb, psyching
himself out and finishing in a disappointing 27th place. He then traveled to Boulder, Colo for a camp that featured several former national
champions. There, Varner finally realized that he needed to focus on
himself instead of others opinions, and he began to excel in climbing.
-- Schuyler Purdy 17

You can actually use the

word fear as an acronym
Face Everything And Rise.

These three gentleman were joined by current and former St. Catherines students Elise Fuller, Madison Wilkinson and
Julia Warren 14. This was the second annual TEDxYouth@StChristophersRd event put on by the cohort, led by Ms.
Carey Pohanka and Dr. Sarah Mansfield. To see video of the event, check out www.pineneedleonline.org

The Pine Needle

Editor-in-Chief

William Maddock

Senior Contributors

Junior Contributors

Sophomore Contributors

Freshman Contributors

Photography

Sean Tay
Swayne Martin
Matthew Allocca
Joe Goode

Jack Holdaway
Nick Sherod
Malcolm Ilnicky
Edward Millman
Will McKinnon
Jack ONeil

Schuyler Purdy
Rob Jessee
Gunther Abbot

Jack Franko
Henry Rodriguez
William Rodriguez
Kinloch Nelson

Zaid Al-Moghrabi
Cappy Gilchrist
Edward Millman
Eddie Anderson

Faculty Advisor

Mrs. Kathleen Thomas

Masthead artwork by Stefan ScheerCook 15

The Pine Needle

Tommy Bishop
Moving On...

[ 11 ]

May 2015

By Malcolm Ilnicky

Mary Horne

By Jack ONeil
Junior Contributor

A 20-year saga comes to

an end.
Mrs.
Mary Horne,
our devoted
St. Christophers Upper School
librarian,
has decided
to call it
quits after a
long tenure beginning in 1995. Her
passion started 40 years ago
when she took a job at the
Richmond Public Library,
and it has not died since.
For the past 40 years
Mrs. Horne has worked at
the College of William and
Mary library, the Research
Library of Virginia and pursued her bachelor of library
science at the University of
Kentucky. She was able to
garner a lot of experience
from her different jobs which
became a beautiful match
for St. Christophers, she
said.
Mrs. Horne has been
devoted to the students and
teachers of St. Christophers
and it is finally time to see
her off. She said, I love my
job, I just love it. Horne is
retiring to spend time with
her husband, who was also a
librarian, and her children.
Her son is getting married in
October and she thinks that
it will be a good way to ease

into retirement.
I am looking forward to
sleeping in a little bit in the
morning, pulling weeds in
my gardenand
I would
like to find
a worthy
cause to
work on
and volunteer some
time, she
said.
Mrs.
Horne and her husband love
to travel and in the next
year or two are going to
visit England and Ireland.
Although she is excited to
travel the world and help
out around her house, she is
going to miss her job and all
the people she has met over
the years.
Mrs. Horne has been huge
part of the St. Christophers
community during the past
two decades and students
have appreciated her work.
Jess Reynolds 16 said, It
will definitely be different
without her and I am going
to miss her. She has helped
me check out books and work
on my research paper for
three years.
Mrs. Horne will forever
be remembered for her accomplishments at St. Christophers and expanding the
school's library. On her exit,
she said, It's good to leave
when you are happy, and
people are happy with you.

Ellen Sands
By William Rodriguez
Freshman Contributor

Mrs. Ellen Sands taught

second grade at StC for 28
years. This current
year is my only year
in Resource.

What is the best

part of your job?

I think the best

part of second grade
was watching boys
enter at the beginning of
the year as really young
boys who still needed a lot
of support. By the end of the
year they had developed so
much independence that
they were like birds ready to
leave the nest. It was also
fun to watch the boys on the
playground as they began to
widen their circle of friends
and discover who they were
and what kind of friendships
they wanted.

What is your fondest

memory?

It's kind of hard to say

what my fondest memory
is because there are quite a
few. I've especially enjoyed

chapel services. The lessons

that the chaplains plan for
the boys often are just as
important for the teachers. Graduations are often
very moving for me
because I see boys
I remember as five
year olds now ready
to step into the world
as accomplished
young men...That's a
very special moment
for teachers.
I know that I've
stayed in teaching at StC
because of the family atmosphere. You become very attached to your boys and you
take a great interest in helping them become the best
they can possibly be. The
family atmosphere among
the faculty and staff has been
very important to me. These
people have truly become a
part of my family. All of us
support each other in every
way we can. I feel that's kind
of unique in today's world to
find a place where there is so
much caring for one another
and I am so grateful I've had
the opportunity to be part of
this.

Junior Contributor

After five years teaching Lower School Spanish,

Tommy Bishop is leaving to
attend law school at Washington & Lee University.
Mr. Bishops ties to our
school date back to his sophomore year of high school.
Both Mrs. Elsa Woodaman
and Mrs. Sonia McDonald
taught him
tenth grade
Spanish at
J.R. Tucker
High Schools
immersion
program. Mr.
Bishop first
came here as
a tutor he was
only 21. When the Lower
School teaching position
came up in 2010, Mrs. Woodaman called and suggested
he submit a resum.
After getting the job here,
Mr. Bishop abandoned his
previous plan of going to
school in southwest Virginia
and headed to the University
of Richmond for an education degree. The education degree made the most
sense five years ago, said
Mr. Bishop, but now I feel
like Im not done yet. I had
always thought about going
to law school so thats where
Im heading now.
Mr. Bishop took a slightly
unorthodox educational
path, starting high school
at age 12, and graduating
from VCU shortly after his
20th birthday. In college, he
worked and went to school
full time and generally felt
confused throughout most
of his three and half years
there. I had no idea what being a student was, said Mr.
Bishop, I was an employee
who happened to take some

classes at VCU when I wasnt

working. Looking back
at his time in college, Mr.
Bishop feels like he rushed
it and didnt have the educational experience that he
hoped for. He looks forward
to law school which he views
as his educational magnum
opus.
In the classroom, Mr.
Bishop blends two of his
favorite things: teaching and
guitar. His
attempt to
incorporate
folk songs into
his teaching
at inner-city
public schools
fell flat, so he
was overjoyed
when he
found that St. Christophers
students had more fun learning songs in Spanish. Writing
original songs about planets,
days of the week and colors
of the rainbow became his
creative outlet.
Outside the classroom,
music plays a huge role in
Mr. Bishops life, too. Past
musical projects include an
80s rock cover band that
played at the National and
a heavy metal band that
opened for Lamb of God.
Mr. Bishop is equally as
passionate about the outdoors. He enjoys mountain
biking and archery, but his
true love for the outdoors
come through paddleboarding. He first encountered
stand-up paddleboarding
at Riverrock in 2011, and
it seemed like the perfect
sport for his recently broken
foot. Ever since then, he
has been regularly paddleboarding and participating
at the paddleboard race at
Riverrock every year, usually
wearing his signature outfit:
gold lam shorts.

Marion Halladay
By Kinloch Nelson
Freshman Contributor

What brought you to St.

Christophers?
I previously taught at St.
Agnes St. Stephens School
in Alexandria for four years.
My husband and father
attended St. Christophers and loved
their experience.
As a graduate of
Collegiate, I knew
the importance of
a private school
education.

Who here at St.

Christophers
has impacted
you the most?

The great part about St.

Christophers is that there
is always someone to encourage, support and reflect upon
the thoughtful lessons of my
boys. So many colleagues
have impacted me through
the years from Woody
Woodard, George McVey, my

first grade and kindergarten

teammates as well as many
other Lower School colleagues.

What has been one of

the biggest highlights
of your time here?

Watching the boys grow.

Five of my ninth grade
boys achieved the
honor of being Eagle
Scouts. I am so
proud of their accomplishments.

How would you

describe your
experience
here?

I am blessed to
have had the opportunity to work at an
amazing school. Every day is
an adventure with the adorable, eager, enthusiastic and
loveable boys. I truly love my
Little Saints! I am going to
miss their morning greetings,
adorable smiles and twinkling eyes. The love for my
boys will always be with me.

Jim Morgan
By William Maddock
Editor-in-Chief

At the end of every year,

the kids in Jim Morgans
Lower School class cash in
all of the Morgan Money they
have earned throughout the
year to do almost whatever
they want. Usually they
either shave my head or do
something with ice cream on
my head, he said.
This is one of many fond
memories he will carry with
him when he moves on to
New Community School as a
middle school math teacher
next year.
Mr. Morgan taught
second grade for his first six
years at St. Christophers
before moving to fourth grade
the last two years. He will be
remembered for his technology-driven lesson plans and
his classes dynamic, choreographed Society Day poetry
recitations.
He called STC one of the
most creative environments
he has ever worked. An active member of the Richmond
theater community, Mr.
Morgan said one of the most
rewarding experiences of his
time has been working with
the Lower School plays.
Ive had a lot of fun taking some of the more reserved
kids and making them
explore what its like to be a
character and to step outside their comfort zones and
play, he said. He himself has
taken the stage at a variety of
venues around the Richmond
area, most notably starring
in a production of Pippin at
Dogwood Dell.
Mr. Morgan has been
teaching for 10 years since
becoming the first member
of his family to get a college
degree, graduating from the
University of Richmond in
2006 with a degree in Elementary Education. Fittingly,
he will embark on a new
adventure as he begins his
second decade of teaching.
But he will miss St.
Christophers. Theres this
overwhelming sense of community and even family that
I feel with my boys and my
colleagues, he said. Its the
collective experience. This
place changes you for the
better.
Mr. Matt Chriss and Mr.
Andrew Lawrence will also
be leaving StC after this year.
At press time, neither had
responded to requests for an
interview. We wish them all
the best in the future.

The Back Page

[ 12 ]

Senior College Choices 2015

Graeme Hargrove Greenwood Alderman George Mason University

Zaid Salim Al-Moghrabi
Richard Coolidge Bailey

David Elliott Ballowe, Jr.

William Cole Claiborne

Myles Quentin Brown

James Patrick Dotter

Jackson Louis Dunivan

John Lodge Fergusson

Yale University

Kameron Jefferson Holloway

Nathaniel Jackson Jiranek
Grant Alexander Johnson

Nathaniel Linwood Llewellyn

Jakob Colby Pehl

James Patrick Riedy

Clemson University

James Madison University

Jacob Wakefield Roberson

Caleb Stephen Setliff

Henry Pierson Stillwell

Garrett Benjamin Taylor

Tanner Remley Wagner

Stefan Nicholas ScheerCook

Clemson University

Cornell University

Roanoke College

William Parker Widhelm

Haverford College
College of William and Mary

Cornell University
Furman University

Wake Forest University

University of South Carolina

Virginia Commonwealth University

Virginia Commonwealth University

Mack Fremont Southworth

Pace University

Sean Wei Ming Tay University of Southern California

John McCabe Tyson

Christopher Adam Vath

Universit Paris IV-Paris-Sorbonne

Douglas Fleet Wallace, Jr.

University of Virginia

Alexander Michael Shedd Ithaca College

Pennsylvania State University

Cody Alexander Valenzuela

College of William and Mary

Mason Montgomery Roberts

Liam Bernard Ryan

Virginia Tech

Georgia Institute of Technology

Samuel Holt Partee

University of South Carolina

Harvard Birdsong Smith, Jr.

Harvard University

Walker Alexander Livingston Rise

University of Virginia

Paul Evans Savas, Jr. Liberty University

College of William and Mary

Benjamin Connor Moore

James Matthew Quagliano

University of Richmond

Duncan Chandler Rogers

Julian Paisley Mikell Mills

The University of Alabama

Northwestern University

Charles Sackett McCray

Samuel Alexander OConnell

Montana State University

Coastal Carolina University

William Walker Maddock

Virginia Military Institute

Charles Tilman Parrish

Virginia Tech

Robert Matthew Luther

Swayne Latham Martin University of North Dakota

Harvard University

John Adam Hugo IV

Connor Alexander Lifson

Thomas Harrington Lynde University of the South

John Patrick Nolan

Vanderbilt University

Barclay Alexander Jenks Jumet

University of Colorado at Boulder

Thomas Jackson Mitchell, Jr.

Longwood University

Brandon Michael Johnson

Hampden-Sydney College

Joseph David McMurtrie Hampden-Sydney College

Clemson University

Richard Minor Hamrick IV

Christopher Newport University

Carrington William Lanier

University of Virgina

Matthew Charles Gnapp

Randolph-Macon College

Hobart College

University of Virginia

Christopher William Gould

Princeton University

University of Richmond

Herbert Epes Fitzgerald IV

Christopher Newport University

Southern Methodist University

University of Mary Washington

Logan Adams Ende

Colgate University

University of Mississippi

Philip Edward Cross

Arthur Drake Dragone

University of Virginia

Joseph Beale Goode

Jacob Tyler Hale

Hampden-Sydney College

University of Virginia

Merrick Lewis Furman

University of Notre Dame

Joseph Michael Costello

James Madison University

Randolph-Macon College

Virginia Tech

Carter McGeorge Clements

The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

Thomas Swepston Cottrell, Jr.

Furman University

Edward Robertson Claiborne

University of Virginia

John Mark Constable

University of Virginia

William Tilden Boland IV

DePauw University

College of William and Mary

Charles Martin Caravati IV

Stephen Dalton Baril

Wilson St. Clair Bedell

Duke University

Vance David Berry III

Roanoke College

Adam Frederick Ballantyne University of Maryland, Baltimore County

University of Mississippi

John Cabell Bassett

Edward William Boyd

Steven Henry Atkinson

Union College

University of Virginia

Matthew Dixon Allocca University of Mary Washington

University of Virginia

James Madison University

Richard Crews Walker III

Thomas Langdon Whitney

James Hunter Wigginton

The University of Alabama

James Madison University

University of Virginia