Friday, November 18, 2016 Volume 2, Issue 1

MissionStatement:

In this Issue:

LU Mountain Man (1&3)

Betsy the Chicken (2)

Middle School's Service

Learning Fair (3)

Teacher Features (4-6)

Harambe Feature Story

(6)

Fall Fling (7)

Spooktacular Halloween

(7-8)

Students and teachers at

Learning Unlimited find each day

to be their own climb, with peaks

and valleys, complications and

achievements. As every one of us

tackles our own metaphorical

mountain, our director, Mr. Alcott,

visits countries all over the world

hiking a literal trek.

Although Mr. Alcott has been

climbing for only the past four

years, he has conquered some

incredible heights while exploring

beautiful countries first

hand—Mount Elbrus in Russia,

five different volcanoes in

Ecuador, Mount Rainier in

Washington State, the Mount

Everest Base Camp, and the

largest cave in the world, located

in Vietnam, just to name a few.

The motivation that drives Mr.

Alcott lies in his need to maintain

his state of fitness. All people have

their own way of staying healthy,

and our director finds that hiking

and climbing are what he truly

enjoys. Cardio is especially

important for the hikes, Mr. Alcott

says, stating that he can climb, "up

to ten hours a day with a strong

ascent and descent."

Mr. Alcott has to train on island

consistently, making sure that his

cardio remains consistently good.

Mountain climbing also has

allowed for Mr. Alcott to lose 60

pounds in the past three years or

so. In his most recent trek alone,

he dropped twenty pounds.

(Continued on page three).

Director Alcott Reaches for the TopBy: Hannah Buckley and Anughya Bij lani, Editors-in-Chief

Mr. Alcott takes the beauty of the Son Doong Cave in Vietnam.

The Griffin Gazette's staff

members strive to

highlight the talents,

achievements, and

educational activities of

the diverse population of

the Learning Unlimited

community via a quarterly,

student- generated

publication.

Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road? To Get To LU!

Recently, Learning Unlimited

adopted a new pet. She is a

chicken, and her name is Betsy.

Betsy was an orphan who roamed

Simpson Bay and went into the

Dinghy Dock one night. She kept

coming back, and eventually the

owners adopted her and she

became something of a mascot.

Unfortunately, due to health

codes, she could no longer stay

and would have once again been

homeless. School Director Mr.

Daunesh Alcott, who happened to

know the owner, decided to take

in Betsy as a resident ofLearning

Unlimited Prepatory School.

Primary school head Ms. Amissa

President said, “We figured it

would be a nice thing."

Elementary students felt the same

way.

Are you excited about our

new pet?

"Yes, because I can share my

French fries. "

—T.J. Heyliger, Pre-school

"Yes. Because I like chickens. "

—Nathan Powell, Pre-K

"No, I don’t like chickens. "

—Eve Mouyal, Pre-K

"Yes, because it’s gonna [sic] lay

eggs. "

—Gia Parsot, Kindergarten

Do you like her current

name? Would you like to

give her a new one?

"I want to give her a new

one—Sheila. "

—Mason Barfield, Pre-school

"A new name—Ninja Turtle. "

—T.J. Heyliger, Pre-school

"I want to give her a new name,

—Reda."

—Eve Mouyal, Pre-K

"Keep her old name, I like Betsy. "

—Jake Boxshall, Kindergarten

"New name: Princess."

—Gia Parsot, Kindergarten

By: Chantée Sherwood, Utility Writer

"Make sure to get my good side! "

Betsy checks out her new home.

This golden-feathered fowl is Betsy.

As Director Alcott climbs each mountain, of

various terrains, he always travels in groups with

porters. Porters travel with the group and carry

goods that mountaineers themselves cannot carry,

while individuals carry their own day packs.

With experience, Mr. Alcott has learned how to

complete vast, immense hikes and understands that

talking and taking several breaks are not the way to

do so. To avoid being distracted, he “put[s] on

headphones”, as he,“[doesn’t] like talking to

anyone.” By focusing and consistently pushing

himself to go further, despite the several struggles

he encounters, he is able to complete anywhere

between 2,000 to 3,000 gross meters a day, as he

did on his last trip to Nepal. Another interesting

fact about our director is his luck at never having

acquired Acute Mountain Sickness, also referred to

as AMS. He claims that this may be because he

is"oftentimes in high altitudes." Regardless of how

his luck came to be, Mr. Alcott can climb longer and

higher, sometimes, than the rest of his group.

The most important part of the hike is not

reaching the top. Sometimes, you don’t reach the

top at all, and that’s okay. Physically, Mr. Alcott

knows that the top is only half of the way, and the

trek down is more painful and strenuous on the

nerves, and especially the knees. Although we are

not all mountaineers ourselves, we can relate this to

our own lives. We should not be upset by missing a

mark, by getting a low grade, or just daily

frustrations. Instead, we train harder, and remember

that there is always another mountain to climb.

Rather than focusing on a loss, we must push

ourselves to new heights next time around.

Reaching for the Top: Director Alcott (Cont.)Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road? To Get To LU!

Middle School Students learn to Serve

The first Service Learning

Fair was a hit with the middle

school students who attended.

The purpose of this fair was to

promote the act of service

learning among students of the

sixth, seventh, and eighth

grades while also educating the

students about the vast

opportunities and countless

benefits that result from giving

back to our community.

Ms. Notani, Science

Department Head and Middle

School Coordinator,

emphasized that “at LUPS, we

strive to articulate many topics

of concern that Sint Maarten

currently faces ranging from the

prevalence of pollution to the

growing numbers of stray

animals.” Sixth grader Derek

Matser said, “My favorite part

was seeing the community and

all of the foundations together

and talking with each other. I

find it’s really cool because

these foundations can help Sint

Maarten once we help them.”

Eighth grader Jada Brooks

was particularly interested in

the AIDS foundation, and its

message of "teach[ing] us to be

safe with our bodies [. . . ] and

how we should be be careful.”

The middle schoolers found the

booths very helpful and

informative.

A special thank you to the

representatives from the LEO’s

Club, the SMART Foundation,

EPIC, The Nature Foundation,

SIMARC, St. Maarten Zoo, The

Animal Hospital Cole Bay, The

EarlyAct Club, The Red Cross,

Animal Welfare, AIDS

Foundation, The Vet in Cayhill,

PRIDE Foundation, and the

Voice of the Youth Foundation

for devoting their morning to

helping our students learn more

about how to better their

community.

By: Anughya Bij lani and Hannah Buckley, Editors-in-Chief

LU's youth are eager to learn! LU unites to serve our island!

Lion Pride!

Dr. Clapa teaches grades six

through twelve— Physical

Science, Information

Technology, Algebra 2, and

Environmental Science.

What drew you to coming to

LU? Why did you decide to

move to St. Maarten?

I was living in Chicago and I

was approaching the end ofmy

visa in the U.S. So we had to

find a way to relocate and we

looked into going to a warmer

climate, because in Chicago we

have some winters with -35

Celsius. So basically we want to

be in a more relaxed place

because -35 Celsius is not pretty

at all. [Then I had] an idea to

come [to Saint Maarten] .

When did you know you

wanted to get a PhD in

Physics?

I started in high school. I had

a teacher that was really good at

explaining things, and for me

physics started like a very big

enigma. At my school you could

take the humanistic approach

where you study languages and

so on and so forth, and less math

and science. But I chose

physics, because I started to

understand it better than other

subjects. I started to look for a

job and I worked in Bank of

America in North Carolina for

some time and if you don’t get

the visa to justify you being in

the U.S. then you have to pack

and go.

Was it hard for you to move

from Romania and come to

the Western Hemisphere?

There is a cultural shock;

when you go from Eastern

Europe to the U.S. You come

from a former communist

country and you go to the

epitome of capitalist, a lot of

things are happening, society

works differently. The pace was

the one [aspect] that shocked me

initially, everything has a

rhythm and you have to keep the

rhythm otherwise you fall

behind. But once you get the

hang of it, you have to make an

effort to integrate, both as a

visiting student or teacher.

What is something interesting

about you that no one here

knows about you?

While at Wesleyan (University)

I studied Italian. I had language

for two years, and at some point

they allowed us to as a part of

the final grade to have a project

and I chose to make a movie. I

have a movie which is entirely

spoken in Italian, I wrote the

script, I directed it, I contributed

to putting together. When we

had to present our projects, my

team won the first prize and I

still have that movie, it's silly

and funny at the same time.

Teacher Features:

An Interview with Dr. Clapa

CEO of LU Life: Ms. Miranda

Ms. Miranda is Learning

Unlimited’s office administrator.

She loves sleep, liturgical

dancing, reading, teaching and

swimming. Ms. Miranda also

two children; Hadassah and

Manesseh Patterson. There is

no one like Ms. Miranda.

Why did you give your

children those names?

I wanted to give them names

with a Biblical meaning.

What do their names mean?

Hadassah means: something

beautiful; strong. Manesseh

means: God makes me forget all

my troubles.

Name one idiosyncrasy about

yourself.

I have a lot of birthmarks.

What’s your favorite part

about working at LU?

I love helping the people

here.

What is the funniest thing a

student has said to you?

In this office you see and

hear so many things. The thing

that comes to my mind right

now is that there are so many

lost-and-found items. It’s

amazing, and they’re not even

missing them!

What is the strangest request

you have gotten?

"Can I call my mom to ask if I

can buy an ice pop?”

Straight Outta Spain: Ms. Carrasco

LU's new high school foreign

language teacher, fluent in not

only Spanish, but also French.

Where are you from?

I come from the south of

Spain, specifically the region of

Andalucia. My whole family

lives in the province of

Cordoba. I have lived in Saint

Martin for three years, but I

have always lived on the French

side.

As a Spanish speaking

teacher, how does it feel while

adjusting to a completely new

system? Do you find it

difficult, or is it easy for you?

The American system is

completely different from the

European system. The tests,

how to assess and how to

acquire knowledge are carried

out differently. The European

system develops much more

certain matters and attaches

great importance to foreign

languages.

What do you find MOST

difficult to do as a teacher?

The most difficult is to

establish ties with students

while not speaking the

language. Little by little I get to

know the students, and although

the language may be a barrier,

sometimes cooperation and

sympathy help create good

relationships between students

and teachers. I am sure that at

the end of the course I will have

very good relationship with all

students.

The beginning of the school

year is always hard. I had to

adapt to a new country, a new

language and a new educational

system. Always an adjustment

period is needed. After almost

three months, I am very happy

with the balance.

Do you like teaching at

Learning Unlimited? And if

so, why?

I love working at Learning

Unlimited because I have

complete freedom to organize

my courses. I like to alternate

the grammar classes with group

projects, films, and other

audiovisual activities.I think we

can learn a language having fun,

and Learning Unlimited makes

this possible.

Laying Down the Law with Mr. ButtonMr. Button is the school's

avid Chicago Cub's fan, guitar

player of22 years, teacher of

U.S. Government, World

History, U.S. History, Law and

AP Human Geography.

What are your hobbies?

I moved to St. Maarten to

live where there was plenty of

sun with beaches and an ocean

to go with it. I play the guitar,

as my guitarists in the music

club know. I work pretty hard

at it, and try to play at least a

little bit each day. I read as

much fiction and history as

possible, and I follow the news

closely. This is important

professionally and personally. I

want students to get in to what

is happening out there in the

world and find out what matters

to them.

What is your favorite class to

teach?

I'm lucky to teach the

subjects I teach because I really

love them all. Government,

geography, sociology and

history are so interrelated it's

hard to imagine one without the

other. It would be hard to pick a

favorite based on subject matter.

And, the students in each class

bring unique energy and ideas

to the classes. I'd say 9th grade

World History is special

because my students seem to

really enjoy coming to class and

are committed and enthusiastic

about everything.

What is your favorite LU

memory so far?

This one is tough to say

because I've only just started

here. I hope there are many

more memories to come. One

day, the first kid in line gives

me a high five as I pass and it

sets off this chain-reaction

where now I have to high five

every kid in the line. It was

hilarious and adorable.

Why did you give up law and

become a teacher?

The simple answer is quality

of life. I wasn't happy being a

lawyer and wanted a change. At

the time, I intended to go back

to law, and teaching was what I

was going to do to help fund a

nice trip to Asia. I enjoyed the

energy of being in a school and

the pace of the day and, of

course, the students. The

students are what make it. As

for the move to SXM, my

girlfriend and I were looking for

a place to relocate long-term.

We love the international life,

but she was looking to start her

career and we needed to be

closer to home. I've always

dreamed of living by the beach.

The Legacy ofHarambeA name that took headlines

worldwide: Harambe, the 17-

year-old gorilla shot after a

young boy fell into his cage at

the Cincinnati Zoo. The story

behind him is already well

known, and disappointing in its

own ways, but rather than

grieving over what is lost, one

should appreciate the legacy left

behind.

Harambe was named by Dan

Van Coppenolle, a special

education counselor, and

general education counselor

from Brownsville, Texas. He

came across this name while

listening to a live recording of a

Rita Marley song (a tribute to

Bob Marley). In the middle of

the song she sings the word

Harambe, later explaining the

meaning of this Swahili word

being the action ofworking

together, pulling together,

helping each other, caring, and

sharing.

This beautiful and exotic

name, Harambe, is symbolic to

our publications crew and

learning community as it

represents how we must all pull

together for the common

purpose of further expanding

our intelligence, and love for

one another. Every person in

LU shares each day with one

another, caring for the island on

which we live, the families that

we share it with, and each

individual all the same.

Students Fall in for Fun at the Fall Fling 2k16

The first ever Fall Fling

dance was established to create

a fun social event for the high

school and middle school

students in a safe environment

where they could socialize,

dance, and have fun with their

friends, as well as invite friends

from other schools their age to

have a great night out. It took

place in the Learning Unlimited

gymnasium with DJ Mike

Cantina as well as 1 50

partygoers.

Ms. Janet, PAC Vice

President, believed the party to

be a great success. "The gym

looked amazing and comments

from students were that they

had a ball and would love to

have more dances like this in

the future. It was fabulous for

me, personally, to see all the

students having so much fun

while I was out with other PAC

members in the Food Cantina,

because that was the whole

purpose! It was an opportunity

for the LU high school and

middle school students to dress

up and have a ball," said Ms.

Janet.

Sixth grader Derek Matser

said, “I liked the dance because

it expresses how I feel. I danced

because the music was perfect.

Because of the music, I came

up with all types of new and

fast moves, and I had fun on the

dance floor.”

Mr. Fleming seemed to

agree that the dance was a hit

when he said, “I think it went

well for the first time having a

fall fling dance at LU because

the turnout was great. I think it

would be a great idea to do

another one since the first one

went well.”

Ms. Janet believed that the

dance was not only novel, but

profitable. "This was the first

dance at LU of its kind and it

was a homerun hit for sure. The

senior class made a great profit

and everyone loved it, so it was

a win-win for everyone. Where

else on SXM can you get so

much fun, a DJ, free drinks,

food, and desserts, for ten bucks

and raise money at the same

time?"

Junior Chantée Sherword

said, “I thought the fall fling

was actually pretty nice. I

expected it to be half dead, but

it turned out nice. I wasn’t

going to go, but a 9th grader

convinced me. My favorite part

was the music, because

sometimes I laughed at the

music choice, and other times I

enjoyed it.”

Senior Aesha Gibson said,

“The Fall Fling was pretty

good. A lot of people were there

to enjoy with each other. The

food was amazing, and I like

the idea that if you paid for

entrance, there was free food.

The seniors want to organize

another one because this one

was a success, and it seems like

a lot of people liked it.”

By: Alisha Daryanani, Utility Writer

The tenth graders take a break

from all that dancing.

PAC prepares to serve the crowd.

The senior masterminds behind the party.

Ashley and Marlo get their

glam on.

PAC Pulls offAnother Spooktacular Halloween

The Halloween party that

took place on October 28 at

Learning Unlimited was a fun-

filled night that could not be

missed, and will not be

forgotten. Students had a great

time whether it was being able

to throw a pie in a junior's face,

getting the scare of their life in

the senior's haunted house, or

just hanging out with their

friends on the dance floor. It

was truly, a night to remember.

"The party was AWESOME and

people plan for it for a year. The

party gets better and better

every year. " ―Heather Caputo,

PAC President

"I find it more organized than

last year. Everyone seemed to

be having a good time, and I am

impressed with the student

creativity and participation,

such as putting themselves in

the dunk tank and the pie in the

face." ―Ms. Koczi, Social

Studies teacher

"It appeared that all the classes

were having fun and raising

money and at the same time

enjoying themselves. Overall it

seemed as ifeveryone was

enjoying this holiday." -Viren,

Senior

"Amazing." ―Ishika, Grade 8

"It was a tremendous party. The

haunted house was hilarious

and fun. The best part ofthe

whole night was being with my

friends". ―Cansu, Grade 8

"I think the Halloween party

was awesome and fantastic, and

I have so many words to

describe this place. It is

AMAZING. I love how everyone

is having a good time".

―Derek, Grade 6

"I like it. It was fun. The

haunted house was very scary."

―Meryem, Guest

"The Halloween party really

showcased everyone's creativity

through their magnificent

costumes, and PAC's over-the-

top decorations."

―Anughya, Sophomore

Revenge is a dish best served sweet.

But first let me take a Skelfie.

Priti Budhrani remains in character for the

spooky Senior Haunted House.

By: Janhvi Nawani and Zeynep Uysal, Managing Editors

The DJ entertains the crowd with his

collection ofmusic.

Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters.

Ava Kopec and Drake Daboul cheer

the night away!

Best costume ofthe night: You're

never too old to dress up for

Halloween.

Trick or Treat!

Rylan lookin' like a cutie pie.

Griffin Gazette

The Griffin Gazette Team

Learning Unlimited

Preparatory School

#32 Welgelegen Rd, Cay Hill

St. Maarten, Dutch Caribbean

Phone: 721 -542-3545

US Phone: 305-420-5459

Email:

griffingazette@luschool.com

The Gazette Team

Gazette Advisor: Brij in Hales

Co-Editor-in-Chief: Anughya Bij lani

Co-Editor-in-Chief: Hannah Buckley

Senior Managing Editor: Janhvi Nawani

Junior Managing Editor: Zeynep Uysal

Layout and Design Editor/Graphic Designer: Simran Hotwani

Creative Director/StaffArtist: Aesha Gibson

Sports Editor: Gaelle Salem

Sports Editor: Mohit Menghani

Impotant DatesNov.18

2nd Quarter Interims Released

Nov. 24- 25

No School— Thanksgiving Break

Dec. 14-15

Mid-Term Exams

Dec. 16

1 /2 Day Release

Dec. 17

ACT Dates at LU

Dec. 19— Jan. 2

Winter Break