The Bulldog October 2012 Issue

Continued on page 10

Arts

Sports

Backpage

Page 8,9

Page 6,7

Page 12

October Madness fan bracket results

Inside varsity field hockey’s dominance

Election 2012: foreign policy

Football dads define team’s intensity, winning ways

NewsPage 2-5

INSIDE:

Coming soon: a complete history of BullisPage10, 11

Issue 1

Bullis School 10601 Falls Road

Potomac, MD 20854

October 2012

Bull i s School

The BULLDOG

Boarman reveals 20-year plan for school

They are always heard, but rarely seen. Most students would not recognize them, but the school’s football dads are unwavering icons signaling the long-awaited return of Bullis football. Through the first five weeks of the high school foot-ball season, Bullis’ varsity squad has raced out to their first 7-0 start in eight years. The resur-gent Bulldogs have placed the football program back on the map and have finally given their fans something to be enthusias-tic about after years of losing in blowout fashion.

Nobody symbolizes that en-thusiasm better than the group of parents whose voices and collec-tion of noisemakers make them omnipresent at football games. More than anybody else, they define the new and improved Bullis football program. As the team has gotten better, the par-ents have gotten louder, and both have reached the point where they can no longer be ignored by either friend or foe.

The football dads stand out from other parents who sit in-conspicuously in the top row of the stands. They do not get hope-lessly confused by any call from the referee or think that polite clapping qualifies as cheering. These parents have swagger, purpose, and quite the voices.

“I’m so emotional about foot-ball and I love watching my son and his friends play. I know my reason [for being loud,] but to others, it may be a bit too much. I ruffle feathers, but once I see the clock on the scoreboard reaching kick-off, nothing else matters except the desire to let Bullis players know that I be-lieve that they are the best on that field, period,” said Thierno Johnson (son Tyamonee (’14)).

At games, he usually walks around with his grocery bag brimming with a half dozen air horns and related instruments poking out of the top. At Bullis’ season opener at St. Mary’s Ryken, a Bulldog blowout gave Johnson plenty to cheer about. With the help of his trademark noisemakers, it didn’t take him long to drown out the entire

By Joe SagemanEditor-in-Chief

Wayne Gretzky may have per-fectly defined a smooth transition into the digital age when he urged the world to “skate to where the puck is going, not where it has been.”

As we, as a society, are plunged daily into the rushing tide of cul-tural and technological innova-tion, the question that arises is how our own individual lives will be shaped by a future that seems

to be increasingly nearby in the present.

By increasing its student ca-pacity while maintaining a small-school feel, Bullis plans to meet the years to come with a combi-nation of greater numbers and greater opportunities.

In changing the physical lay-out of the campus as well as inter-nal programs such as curriculum and scheduling, the school will adapt itself to better meet the edu-cational standards of the future.

And by incorporating technol-ogy into the classroom in new and creative ways while maintaining its traditional values, Bullis will attempt to get a head start on in-novation while simultaneously staying connected to its roots. These and other issues will define the school for the future as Bullis moves forward into the coming decades.

Bullis’ new master plan begins with class size. With the purchase

By Jack ChellmanContributor

It was a snowy winter day on January 20, 1961. Bullis was an all-boys boarding school, and most students were in their residence halls along with a few teachers who lived on campus. Most teachers couldn’t get to campus because of the large snow storm. Still, the boys were ex-pected to go to class, even with-out their teachers, in order to get some work done.

In an interview, Bob Tucci (‘62) remembered “Well, some of us had chemistry that day, so we went there –but we couldn’t get much done on our experi-ments without the teacher. So we found some purple dye.” Purple dye from the chemistry lab plus a huge Washington blizzard meant one thing: snowballs turn from white to purple, and purple snow-balls go flying.

This story, among other clas-sic tales, will soon be available in a book about Bullis’ history.

Susan King, a member of Bullis’ Advancement Office and an ac-claimed author, is in the process of drafting a novel about the 82 magnificent years of Bullis. The project went through many phas-es, all beginning in 2005. 2005

was Bullis’ 75th anniversary, and the school administration started a big project: chronicling a his-tory of the school.

In late 2004, Carol Conrad set out to research 75 years of

Continued on page 3

Continued on page 4

By Brooke GutschickArts Editor

Peace in the Middle East club

Commander William Bullis interviewing a prospective student in 1930

MATT PEEL

Opinions

MOLLY CHEHAK

New buildings could transform Bullis’ look over the next 20 years

Look-a-likes

JACK CHELLMAN

2 News THE BULLDOG

The Bulldog is a student-run newspaper made to not only inform students about school information, but also to provide a forum for student expression. Many of the articles are writ-ten by the Journalism class, however we accept articles from the entire student body. The Bulldog reserves the right to edit and change submitted articles as it sees fit or if they do not meet its specifications. If you have an article you wish to sub-mit, send it to [email protected]. The Bulldog will not publish anonymous letters, or anything deemed libelous, obscene, or in poor taste.

THE BULLDOG

B U L L I S S C H O O L ’ S

News Editor

Hunty Brown

Opinions Editor

Peter Angeh

Sports EditorDavid Harrison

Staff Writers Corbin Blumberg

Max BramsonDanny Copeland

Zoe GoldbergJamaal Greenwood

Andrew SmithAmy Yang

Advisor Brad Kosegarten

Editor-In-Chief Joe Sageman

The Model United Nations (Model UN) program at Bullis is changing how an after school activity credit is viewed.

Students will be eligible to receive activity credits starting this year for participating in Model UN after school during the winter trimester.

The new program gives stu-dents more time to prepare for Model UN conferences and helps students develop skills in writing, public speaking, and problem solving. The pro-gram will be different from the regular Model UN club, which meets on Wednesdays dur-ing club meeting time. Upper school social studies teacher Lisa Vardi is the Model UN program’s faculty adviser and has created a new curriculum that places a more intense fo-cus on Model UN than ever be-fore. The new program is try-ing to build important skills for students by learning what it is like to be a delegate attending the United Nations.

Model UN focuses on the problems facing the entire world and how specific coun-tries’ delegates would deal with various situations. Students try

Model UN offers activity credit to studentsBy Andrew SmithStaff Writer

Arts EditorBrooke Gutschick

to solve world crises by writing proposals, making peace trea-ties, and writing resolutions. Many schools in this area have their own Model UN programs that are very well known and

respected. Bullis’s Model UN program is starting to get the same recognition and has been invited to the Thimun confer-ence in the Netherlands, which is one of the most prestigious Model UN conferences in the world.

At Bullis, an after school activity credit has always been seen as a sports program or an arts program on the Bullis campus after school. The Mod-el UN program this year will be the first of its kind. The pro-gram focuses on academics, especially for those who are interested in foreign policy or who just want to learn a new skill.

In recent years, the Model UN program has become more serious under the leadership of Vardi and the veteran club

members who have committed their weekends and extra time to participate in conferences all over the world.

Tyler Allen (‘13) is in his fourth year of Model UN and is one of the club’s co-presidents this year.

“I am really excited by our club’s growth over the last four years” said Allen. “I am espe-cially excited for our new win-ter activity program and look forward to our next international conference at The Hague in the Netherlands.”

Last year, Model UN partici-pated in multiple conferences. Most notably, they traveled to a conference in Genoa, Italy, that 12 students attended. This year’s Model UN has already signed up for five conferences and will most likely attend more.

Since the new program is in its early stages, the number of students in the after school program will be limited, but those who are involved will help lead and train students who are brand new to Model UN who want to try out the program. The original club is still offered even though the new winter program is starting and the club will ac-cept any student regardless of their experience level.

The new Model UN pro-gram is an innovator that is changing how Bullis views an “after school credit.” Bullis students should be aware of the new after school options offered at Bullis as an alter-native to traditional sports and arts programs.

Copy Editor Brian Mitchell

Contributing WritersJack Chellman

Zach Wood

Members of the Model UN Club in the Roman Colosseum

Staff PhotographerMatt Peel

Congratulations, Matt Zimmer

MATT PEEL

For receiving the National Honor Society Faculty Award!

The Bulldog apologizes to David Reed and Shirley Kirkwood for failing to recognize their 24 and 23 years of service as faculty members, respectively, in last year’s June edition.

NADIA FALLAHI

history, which is no small task - even for a history teacher. With the help of her husband, a historian him-self, Conrad started compil-ing stories and interviews from older alumni and for-mer faculty. Conrad’s work was especially important because she interviewed some members of the com-munity who have passed since 2005, including John W. Spencer, a former Mid-dle School mathematics teacher and principal.

As the 2005-2006 school year ended, the project still was not completed because of its magnitude; there was still a lot of work to be done. Conrad’s departure in 2006 also caused the project to fizzle out, but her work

was still critical. She left something that Bullis really didn’t have: an archives.

The archives have been key in the book’s produc-tion. Bullis didn’t have much in the way of archives before Conrad’s research, and Conrad compiled old photographs and documents through her work from 2004-2006. They are currently in the upper floor of Founders’ Hall. The room looks and smells as if it hasn’t been touched in years, but the room is constantly visited. Boxes are removed, sorted through, and replaced. Old yearbooks, filing cabinets full of aged files, timeless photographs, and even an old trunk that Commander Bullis used to carry around fill the room.

Head of School Dr. Ger-

ald Boarman revived the idea of writing the book last summer, and King picked up the pieces from Con-rad’s research. King has written 22 novels, mostly about Scottish history, so she was the perfect person for the job. Conrad gave King a good base of infor-mation to work with, but King knew that she needed to sort through the stories and fill in the gaps.

King said, “It’s all new to me... so, what I’m trying to do is absorb all the re-search and information that we already have.”

She explained that al-though she had many per-spectives and stories, dates didn’t match up in some cases, so she is still work-ing on the final parts of the research. To help fill the gaps, King took some time to interview returning alumni over Homecoming weekend about their Bullis experience. King also adds that she will be interview-ing more alumni, including Commander Bullis’ son, Larry Bullis (’54).

King is working closely with the Advancement Of-fice, along with the Alumni Office and the new videog-rapher, Mark Riffee. Rif-fee is interviewing former Bullis faculty and alumni to add to the wealth of infor-mation King needs to write the book. The Advance-ment Office and Alumni Office are also conducting

A new room number has appeared on the pink club sheets that are posted ev-ery other Wednesday. North Hall 215, better known as Upper School social studies teacher Michael Chellman’s classroom, is the site where students are participating in a club unlike any other.

While many flock to or-ganizations like Students Against Destructive Deci-sions (SADD), Booster Club and Sports Debate Club, NH215 is home to a smaller group of students devoted to one cause – peace. Peace in the Middle East Club pro-vides a forum for talking about international issues involving different aspects of the area. Through con-versations and presenta-tions about different coun-tries, religions, politics, and cultures, the club hopes to spread awareness and pro-mote acceptance.

“The foundations for the club were drafted last year”

said Keon Manesh (’13). “It was something we all thought was important to address and we wanted students to be involved.” Manesh, along with three other seniors in Nadia Fal-lahi (‘13), Kourosh Kalachi (‘13) and David Harrison (‘13), started the club and led its first meeting.

Starting the club was not as simple as thinking

interviews to get the fullest picture of Bullis.

One man who will be able to help King is Andy Marusak (‘66), a current middle school English teacher. Marusak ex-pressed his joy that the book is finally being done. Maru-sak was a boarding student from 1964-1966, and spent his summers on the Silver Spring campus as well.

“It’s something that needs to be done because, quite frankly, there’s not many of us left working here who can tell the history of the school.” he said. Contrary to current Bullis students’ perspective of the school, Marusak’s paints a very different picture of Bullis.

King hopes to craft a story that has a lighter air to it; the book is supposed to be more of a fun story than a bland history book, and the stories King has indicate that readers will not only learn about Bullis’ path through time, but will also

By Hunty BrownNews Editor

Susan King pieces past togetherBy Brooke GutschickArts Editor

of a name and advertising. The founders had to find a place to meet as well as an adult overseer. This was followed by meetings with both the Upper School Co-Presidents and the admin-istration to pitch their idea. The group was successful and immediately began making announcements for their first meeting.

Among those in at-

tendance at the meeting was Chellman, who volunteered to be the adult overseer for the new club and explained his de-cision during a meet-and-greet portion of the meeting.

“I didn’t think I would be able to do it because of sched-uling conflicts, but the issue is very important and it meant so much to the students, so I found a way to make time,” he said.

The leaders perpetuated the importance of issues that the club will take on over the course of the year. They made it clear that although meetings would be fun and energized, there is real unrest in the Mid-dle East and the events that are taking place there affect real people.

“In order for us to make progress, members need to follow what’s happening in the news” said Fallahi. “There won’t be an assigned textbook or anything like that, but read-ing and watching material on current events will give us facts and ideas to base conver-sation off of.”

One of the main points that the founders of the club continue to stress is that any-one can become a member. You do not have to be from the Middle East nor do you have to have any connection to the area in order to attend meetings and contribute. The cultural makeup of the attendees at the first meeting backs this point up. About half of the group has ties to the Middle East while the other half does not.

The club is planning on presenting some of their discussions from meetings during assemblies. They are also excited to hear thoughts on key issues from members of Bullis who are not in the club.

“So many people are mis-informed and often don’t re-alize that what they hear is either biased or factually in-correct,” said Kalachi. “Our hope is that this club will be able to clear misconceptions up and present points of view from people on both sides of many arguments.”

laugh in the process. “The thing that I want to

do with this is make it not a dry history of the school, but a fun, very readable, very ac-cessible story,” said King. Conrad added that she hopes that the book will show the “continuation of tradition” that she kept finding in her research.

As for publishing the work, the book’s produc-tion will take a couple years. King notes that sitting down and writing a large volume of text takes longer than one might imagine. The manu-script will be done in about a year, and then the admin-istration will discuss its de-sign. Marusak’s and Tucci’s story, along with hundreds of other stories and pictures, will culminate into a fantas-tic mosaic of Bullis’ history. Hopefully Bullis will be see-ing a printed version around 2014.

Hard copy files archive 82 years of Bullis history

IAC Championship footballs showcased in Founders’ Hall

Leaders of Peace in the Middle East Club stand with Michael Chellman at thier first meeting

THE BULLDOG News 3

New club promotes peace on campus

Continued from page 1

WILL STROUP

MATT PEEL

MATT PEEL

4 News THE BULLDOG

Bullis targets big school numbers, small school feelBy Jack ChellmanContributor

of the new 24-acre proper-ty a few years ago, the school can easily accommodate more than the 900 students for which it is currently approved by Montgomery County.

The Bullis Board of Trust-ees has identified 1,200 as a new desired maximum en-rollment for the school, and the new master plan has been developed accordingly. With 681 students this year and 700 or more expected for 2013-2014, the school is in-deed planning on reaching the 1,200 mark at some point in the future.

Head of School Dr. Gerald Boarman assures that this dy-namic change in the school’s basic structure will need to be reached while maintaining the “family atmosphere” and “closeness of community” that students have come to expect from the school’s rela-tively small student body at present.

In the future, the School would like to have a more bal-anced division of students be-tween the Lower, Middle, and Upper Schools as opposed

to the small Lower School and large Upper School that Bullis currently hosts.

For those who are con-cerned of an impending wave of new students, Assistant Head of School Dr. Michael Reidy acknowledged that “we can only grow as fast as we’re able to” and that the school is already close to ca-pacity as it is in terms of its facilities. Until new buildings or other features are added to the campus, the school won’t be speeding towards 1,200 in any exponential fashion.

Bullis’ physical layout for the future tends to be the top-ic most often discussed con-cerning the school’s plans for moving forward. Questions about new construction, the use of the new property, and future plans for physical or-ganization of the campus are often the most widely circu-lated conversation points.

The plan revolves around the concept of “Central Cam-pus.” The purchase of the new property expanded the campus from 78 to a total of 102 acres. This enormous spread of land, more than that of most other schools in the area regardless of their class

size, Boarman points out, could lead to a critically di-vided community if it were to be built upon and used with-out any communal focus.

Central Campus consists of the land where Bullis’ current buildings are located (from the Senior parking lot down to South Hall and Blair) along with some of the closer fields and empty plots in the im-mediate vicinity. The school sees any new academic or athletic buildings for the fu-ture being built on or around Central Campus in order to keep students close together and maintain the feeling of community which is so vital to Bullis’s identity.

Boarman cited the new patio outside the dining hall as an example of a school feature with a similar goal of “bringing life to the center of campus.” With the idea of Central Campus in mind, it becomes apparent that Bullis will not be using its new property as the blank canvas for unlimited constructional potential that the romantics of the student body might have envisioned.

Instead, the new prop-erty will be used to provide

some of the athletic fields that will undoubtedly be lost during the school’s future structural changes in and around Central Campus.

Bullis’ predictions for actual construction projects are based on preparing the school for a larger student body and ensur-ing that facilities keep up with the expanding student popula-tion. The major concept for a new building is a structure that, similar to the Blair Arts Center, would be used for academic purposes by all three of the school’s divisions.

The new building would therefore continue the estab-lished theme of Bullis’ physical changes while also maintaining a close-knit community. Under the broad conceptual umbrella of “academic” usage for the building, Reidy specified that this project would be designed to “provide exceptional oppor-tunities in math and science” for interested students.

Along these lines, the school has expressed interest in updat-ing the science labs already in place in North Hall, which are thought to be slightly outdated in relation to current academic standards.

This renovation of aging

facilities signals that Bullis has no plans to demolish the existing buildings that have come to represent a home-away-from-home for students past and present. Boarman believes that buildings like North and South Hall are part of the “heart and fabric of the campus,” and concludes that the tremendous history they hold cannot be thrown away.

In order to adequately meet the challenges of curricular excellence in an increasingly competitive future, Bullis will need to update not only its physical structures, but its internal organization as well. Internal changes begin with the idea of a new schedule for the school.

Although no final deci-sions have as of yet been an-nounced by the faculty task force, Boarman comments that he hopes for a schedule with time built in for more collegiate level activities.

He envisions blocks of the day dedicated to internships, co-op program participation, lab time, partnerships with universities, and other higher level learning opportunities. Until the new schedule is officially announced, how-


Bullis after acquisition of new property in 2011...

TODD McCREIGHT

THE BULLDOG News 5

ever (as it is scheduled to be sometime soon), the stu-dent body can be comforted by the fact that this dra-matic change to the school day will most certainly be geared around what’s best for the students.

While a new schedule is still unannounced, the school has developed a detailed plan for curricular organi-zation in the years to come. Classes in the future will be based on the school’s five new “Signature Programs:” Entrepreneurship, Global Studies, Arts, a Center for Humanities, and STEM (sci-ence, technology, engineer-ing, and mathematics).

Bullis sees students pos-sibly being able to take their core academic classes while minoring in a Signature Pro-gram of their choice. This would give students more choices in the classes that they take. The difficulty lies in encouraging students to find their specific passion while still allowing them to explore outside their com-fort zones. A range of more selective classes with more specific curricula will also be offered, giving students the opportunity to take

more specialized courses such as bioinformatics if they so desired. While bal-ance will certainly still be a core value of the school, the STEM program, along with Entrepreneurship, is going to take more of Bullis’s focus early on than the other three Signature Programs.

As hinted at by the plans for a new building designed specifically for the STEM program, the School is inter-ested in providing more op-portunities for those students with an interest in math and science for college and be-yond. While other classes will certainly not be forgot-ten, science, mathematics, entrepreneurship, and other similar courses will be some of the first to be updated in the future.

Technology, too, will un-doubtedly continue to play a main role in shaping the education of tomorrow. The school’s newly initiated one-to-one student-to-computer policy has given teachers greater opportunities to en-hance the classroom experi-ence with technology than ever before.

As Reidy so aptly put it,

while “teachers are the im-migrants” when it comes to the world of technology, students tend to be “the na-tives, the experts,” capable of forging their own paths into the most efficient and creative use of computers in the classroom.

Along with the one-to-one program, Bullis also in-troduced Blended Learning courses into the schedule for the first time this year. This melding of class-time and online work is some-thing that the administration is greatly excited about. It is viewed as a superior way to deliver information in gen-eral and will undoubtedly continue to play a lead role in the Bullis curriculum.

While Blended Learn-ing attempts to combine the best of both technological and face-to-face interaction, an even more radical and innovative path that Bullis plans to explore is that of exclusively online classes. This of course raises some controversy.

On this issue, students tend to be torn between their love of the independence that comes with online work

and the joy they feel at making those personal connections with teach-ers and peers that can only be accomplished through personal interactions in the classroom. In this, the school commiserates and plans to develop the online classes program with these concerns in mind.

Boarman assures the student body that “the key to teaching is the teacher,” while Reidy “[doesn’t] think anything beats face to face.” Online courses, though, are increasingly prevalent in the country’s top universities and must therefore be introduced to students at the high school level to better prepare stu-dents for the years ahead.

Online classes present distinct advantages and are definitely going to be a part of Bullis’ future. On-line classes could be ex-tremely helpful for Bullis as the school attempts to reach out not only to other schools in the Washing-ton, D.C. area but also to students enrolled across the country and across the world.

Bullis students will also find these new opportunities worthwhile because they can circumvent many scheduling issues. Traditional courses do not have the flexibility of on-line courses and students may have the option to take courses such as health over the sum-mer. Online classes extend the classroom beyond its con-ventional walls and open the doors to exciting new oppor-tunities for scholars.

To “skate to where the puck is going” in terms of educa-tional innovation, Bullis must not only look to the examples already set by contemporary educators. The school must also define great twenty-first century education for itself.

Apple cofounder Steve Jobs based his company’s incred-ible success on the idea that “you tell [the customer] what they need well before they re-alize it themselves.” With its plans to set new standards in technological incorporation, curricular opportunities, and college-level preparation, Bullis is certainly prepared to meet the challenges of the fu-ture with unparalleled creativ-ity and passion.

Bullis at Upper School students’ 25 year reunion?

Proposed buildings including a science and technology building, center for humanities, and new athletic center are in tan while existing buildings are in gray. The expanded cam-

pus will retain its small-school feel due to the Central Campus plan.

TODD McCREIGHT

6Arts THE BULLDOG

Spin the clock back 30 years and take a look at the most popular songs playing through the stereo. Songs such as “Billie Jean,” “Say Say Say,” “Beat It,” and “Thriller” all have one thing in common; they were all songs record-ed by Michael Jackson, the now deceased King of Pop.

While three years have passed since his death, the songs con-tinue to be played, and while some people wish they got to see Jackson perform live, Bullis is

By Max Bramson Staff Writer

providing the next best thing. The next Jazz Café, November 3 at 7pm, will feature a show in the style of a tribute to the King of Pop. For those who wonder what the show will be like, ex-pect to see the Jazz En-semble performing the music while the Dance Ensemble handles the choreography in Jack-son’s style. What good would “Thriller” have been without the dance moves to back it up?

If you decide to at-tend, you’ll hear a wide variety of musical styles from the late 1970’s up to the recent years before

his death. If you’re saying you don’t like Pop mu-sic or that Michael Jack-son just isn’t your style, consider leaving all your judgments at home for this one. It won’t be just a bunch of synthesized pop music, but it will be Bullis’ unique take on the famed musician’s works.

“The event will not be like anything else that was done in the past” said the musical coordinator, Cheryl Terwilliger.

She declined to reveal any secrets or clues, but advises students to come out for the show:

“[Students] should definitely come out and see it, for the music, the choreography, and for all the little twists incorpo-rated in the show.”

Everything about the show will in some way capture the style of Mi-chael Jackson.

“Some of the songs will not work without the lyrics,” she said, so an-ticipate some songs with vocal support. In other cases where the Dance Ensemble steps in, there will be some original pieces recorded by Jack-son played to show Jack-son-esque types of moves onstage.

“It’s going to be a blend of everything in

jazz movement” said Al-ana Hill, coordinator for both Dance Ensemble and Advanced Dance Ensem-ble, the two groups who will be performing for the show. The performances will not be a direct mirror or reproduction of The King’s moves, though.

“Everything is in-spired by him, but it will have our own individual twist on it,” said Hill. While the team of cho-reographers can handle the unique movement on

The King of Pop inspires Bullis artists

October Madness poll results

their own, expect to see an individual student from a local high school make a guest appearance.

The idea for this special type of show came up at the end of last year, gener-ated and propelled forward by both dancers and musi-cians.

“Last year, we focused on hip-hop, so switching to jazz using Michael Jack-son we thought was a good starting point,” said Fallon McKnight (‘15).

You’ll find a more than

ready and more than ca-pable team of students putting on a one-of-a-kind tribute show. Not into syn-thesizer-pop music like “Wanna Be Starting Some-thing” then you may enjoy the ballads like “Man in the Mirror” or “You are not alone”

Watching and hearing the highly skilled and tal-ented Jazz Ensemble rec-reating a legend’s tunes is a unique opportunity for students.

KENDALL BUCK

For the past two weeks, Bullis students have been voting for their favorite artists on thebullisbulldog.com. The students have spoken:

6 Arts THE BULLDOG

THE BULLDOG Arts 7

By Amy YangStaff Writer

Esther Kim turns the everyday into the extraordinary

Have you ever paid at-tention to what your face looks like in a plate when you are doing the dishes? Have you ever imagined the possibility that human beings are born from eggs like chickens are? Have you ever considered this world as monochrome, and we imagine the colors we see around us? These are just a few examples of ideas that inspire Esther Kim’s (‘13) dazzling collection of paintings.

Kim’s works are very creative, and most of her works are created by mixed media. Sometimes she uses elements of sculpture, drawing, and painting, all in one single piece. She uses her hands to create incredible artwork and to build a dreamlike world. The “Egg Shell” piece is a good example that shows her funny and fancy imagi-nation about how babies live in eggs.

“I was thinking about the function of the shell, that it could be either pro-tection or a cage to a pre-mature baby. That’s why I used the broken shell to make the human body,” Kim said.

Kim thinks putting the mixed media in one work could help her to create the quality she wants, and it could also help her get the

inspiration all artists seek. Nevertheless, Kim does paint rather than draw most of the time. Recently, she has fallen in love with us-ing glue guns to create her work:

“When I [use glue guns], I don’t need to think about anything, I just need to do it. I love to move

my hands and actually do something,” she said.

As a great artist, Kim has loved painting from a young age; however, that was not the beginning of her artistic career.

“The time that I [decid-ed to] do art was after tak-ing the Intro to Visual Art course at Bullis during my

freshman year,” Kim said. Not only does Kim have

a lot passion for art, she is also a talented observer of life. Kim can get her inspi-ration from a small detail from her life experience.

“Art is like my self-ex-pression,” she said.

She uses her artwork as a reflection of herself and

the interesting moments in her life. She has been in-spired by doing the dishes, or even reading in the bus station.

Kim, a very earnest and studious artist, treats ev-ery piece of work with the same attitude and always looks for the best quality possible. For her, paintings and drawings would never be finished until she reach-es a certain quality. She ap-preciates the moment when she finishes her works.

“When I finally get to the quality, solved the prob-lem, solve a puzzle, it gives me the satisfaction,” she said.

Though a very talented painter, Kim has worked very hard to achieve all that she has accomplished thus far.

“I spend most of my time working. I used to spend 8 or 10 hours a day in the studio and working,” Kim said. This past Colum-bus Day holiday, she spent three days in New York and worked in the studio.

As a senior who is go-ing to graduate from Bullis this year, Kim is nervous about her future.

“I don’t know what life will bring to me, and going to college is like another chapter of your life,” Kim said. For now,She thinks she may end up leading a life grounded in the arts, possibly becoming a teach-er.

AMY YANG

AMY YANGAMY YANG

Esther Kim’s “Reflection” is one of the featured pieces in the AP Studio Art show

8 Opinions THE BULLDOG

By Brian MitchellCopy Editor

By Zach WoodContributor

The Senior class gathered in the Art Center to watch a presentation regarding their 3 project options.

As I neared my locker on the first day of school, I started to overhear chatter about how there were now 122 students in the 11th grade and a total Upper School enrollment that had eclipsed 400. A member of what was already the larg-est grade in Bullis’ history, I found myself skeptical as to how the administration were going to keep class sizes low with this increase in enroll-ment.

Analyzing this school year’s class size data, howev-er, what started as a search to confirm my initial skepticism transformed into the narrative of a school in the challeng-ing first stage of its 20-year plan. Making this transi-tion easier on the students is a Bullis faculty working its hardest to make certain the intrinsic values of small class sizes and meaningful student-teacher relationships remain unwavering facets of Bullis’ identity.

Currently in the opening chapter of its long-term strat-egy, Bullis has had to expand its total enrollment in order to establish the financial foun-dation for its expansion plans without altering class sizes, which would discourage fam-ilies from applying.

Bullis’ Director of Admis-sion and Financial Aid Timo-thy Simpson explains:

“The majority of our bud-get comes from tuition dollars.

Therefore, a larger enrollment provides greater opportunity to fund programs as well as staff-ing for those programs.”

In addition to increased tu-ition dollars, Simpson adds that a larger enrollment provides a greater pool of families from which fundraising revenues such as the Annual Fund can be raised. With the increase in Upper School enrollment from 379 in the 2009-2010 school year to the current enrollment of 411, Bullis appears to be steadily expanding and thus fi-nancially preparing itself for its future plans.

Simpson, though, is fully aware of the need to balance this enrollment increase with the maintenance of small class sizes, a feature of Bullis that is a very significant consideration for many prospective families:

“In an era when public school class sizes are exploding, the opportunity for students to en-gage in learning in a class that is small is very appealing” said Simpson.

Extending on Simpson’s point, Upper School Principal Andrew Delinsky brings up the larger notion that the Bullis administration cannot and will not allow Bullis’ core values to be lost amid the school’s grand expansion plans.

But does this year’s depart-mental class size data support the administration’s conscious effort to maintain small class sizes?

The answer is that while in-creased enrollment has led to some growing pains in regard

to class sizes, average core class sizes have stayed close to Bullis’ advertised average of fifteen students because of the devoted efforts of the Bullis faculty.

Higher enrollment has led to an area of concern this year in the number of core history and mathematics classes with 18 or more students, which is hovering near the upper edge of the 12-19 students that Up-per School Principal Andrew Delinsky deems as Bullis’ target range.

Specifically, 52% of core history classes and 46% of core mathematics classes con-tain 18 or more students. By contrast, only 18% of English classes and 3% of foreign lan-guage classes break the 18-student threshold. Delinsky believes his administration’s aggressive class size strategy will decrease the 18+ per-centages of concern for next year:

“Those percentages are going to be lower next year” said Delinsky, though he notes that the faculty is up against the challenges of scheduling for 411 unique students:

“We’ve had discussions about creating a few more sections of classes, but...when we wanted to open up a new section, no kids could move into it because of conflicting classes” said Delinsky.

Nevertheless, the 18+ per-centages for the history and math departments are the only really concerning sta-tistics found in this year’s

The best way for Amer-ica to empower its youth is through excellent education. Unfortunately, inequity and education will remain insepa-rable unless we overhaul our educational system.

Though we receive an ex-cellent education at Bullis, teenagers who go to Dunbar High School and Ballou High School, with graduation rates of sixty-eight and seventy-five percent, in inner-city Wash-ington D.C. are not given the opportunity to experience and reap the benefits of a great education.

The opportunities open to poor children and children in low income families are constrained simply because they do not have access to the same educational resources as children who attend public or private schools in high-rent districts.

Owing to a larger wealth gap in the country, children who attend decrepit inner-city schools are more susceptible to becoming apathetic towards learning.

According to Jonathon Kozol, author of Savage In-

equalities and The Shame of the Nation, America, in many ways, fails to emphasize the value of individual advance-ment through education.

Put simply, education is of vital importance to being suc-cessful in today’s world. There are also obvious and indisput-able correlations between edu-cational expenditures and the quality of education that is ac-cessible within a community.

Children belonging to wealthy or privileged families are the beneficiaries of an ex-cellent education. Thus, every child in America deserves, at

the very least, a good educa-tion. That includes qualified teachers, a school with a suit-able learning environment, a library conducive for re-search, and a curriculum that holds up to that of any public high school in Potomac, MD.

When I think about the ed-ucation that I receive at Bullis in juxtaposition to the educa-tion that my neighbors receive at Dunbar or Ballou, I cannot help but think that they have been unfairly set back by the flaws embedded within our educational system. And it is not solely the fault of any

Educational disparities threaten at-risk American youth

Class size data reveals commitment to core values

president, or Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education, or any other person for that matter. But because soci-ety has not given them a fair chance, we are all, no matter how uninvolved we claim to be, implicated within their shortcomings and so-called failures.

No matter how you look at it, the richest and most power-ful country in the world should be able to provide a good edu-cation for all of its citizens by means of fundamental fair-ness. Improving education in America, just like wars and

departmental class size data. Average departmental class sizes of 12 for foreign lan-guage, 15 for English, 15 for science, 16 for math, and 18 for history are well with-in Delinsky’s target range. Also, an encouraging 21% of departmental classes have 11 or fewer students, and only 6% of all classes have 20 or more students.

Delinsky attributes these positive statistics to the focus the administration has placed on class sizes, as well as the dedication and ability of Bullis’ instructional staff.

This year, the Upper School administration has started to develop a class size strategy, which at its forefront features Academic Dean Molly Che-hak and Registrar Pat Farrara. Delinsky praises that the two “have done a really great job of scheduling this year,” a job that requires both catering to individual students’ needs and managing class sizes.

The next element of the administration’s strategy is to add more sections of a class when necessary. For exam-ple, this past summer, the ad-ministration added a section of AP Physics and increased the number of AP United States history sections, thus lowering class sizes in those courses.

Finally, the administra-tion lets the instructional staff choose whether they want to teach four classes with two extracurricular activities on the side – the standard model

– or five classes with no re-quirement for extracurricular activities. “If they feel their time is best spent in the class-room, then we want them to be in the classroom,” said De-linsky.

This year, there has been a significant increase in the num-ber of instructors choosing the five-class model, which has in turn decreased class sizes and allowed for teachers to develop exciting new elective choices for students.

As the last example dem-onstrates, the administrative strategy would be impotent without the follow-through of Bullis’ instructional staff. Many teachers have taken on drastically more students this year, and in turn, teachers have faced larger workloads and often have had to recalibrate their teaching methods due to different class dynamics.

Two instructors that fit the previous description particu-larly well are Timothy Hanson of the social studies depart-ment and Laura Heninger of the English department.

Hanson, who teaches an astounding 90 students, is one of several teachers this year that picked up a fifth class instead of extracurricular du-ties. In order to adapt to the significantly larger workload, Hanson has learned to bet-ter incorporate technology into his classroom. Having students turn in assignments via the Haiku dropbox, for instance, saves Hanson time

bailouts, and putting people on the moon, is a matter of prioritization; in this land of opportunity and equality, fun-damental fairness should be a first-rate priority.

America can achieve both equity and excellence in edu-cation. To do so, we have to start by thoroughly examin-ing feasible ways for us to im-prove the quality of education that poor children receive. The education offered by a district is mainly determined by its wealth (taxes), and it is evi-dent that building and financ-ing an equitable educational system is a sacrifice that afflu-ent Americans are not always willing to make.

Having said that, a redis-tribution of more resources is indispensable to school-equal-ization, so it is a necessity.

America is fiscally capable of providing all of its children with a great education, and the best way to invest in our youth and our future is to invest in quality education for all.

As a member of the Bullis community, it is important to raise awareness of the flaws engrained into our educational system as a whole.

Continued on page 9

Ballou High School in Washington, D.C.COURTESY OF GOOGLE IMAGES

THE BULLDOG Opinions 9

How would Romney deal with Iran? By Zoe GoldbergStaff Writer

This year, my friend decid-ed to take a gap year in Israel. When she left, I was happy for her; she was so excited, and Israel is such a unique country. I knew should would have an amazing experience.

Of course, Israel is also a controversial country. It seems as if there is always someone out to challenge Is-rael’s legitimacy at the very least and wipe it off the map completely at the worst. To-day, the most vocal proponent of the latter seems to be the leader of Iran, Mahmoud Ah-madinejad.

Ahmadinejad has boldly asserted that he would like nothing more than to destroy Israel. Not only is Ahmadine-jad threatening to kill mil-lions of innocent people, but now his threat includes one of my best friends.

Keeping an eye on the U.S. presidential election, Mitt Romney’s record on consis-tency makes it difficult to gauge how he would handle this situation.

Even though Romney says Obama has not been tough on foreign policy in the Middle East, the Governor’s rhetoric and the President’s actions are not that far apart. This was pointed out recently in an article by Slate.

For example, Romney argues that Obama was too passive when dealing with Libyan uprisings and conflict in Egypt, yet in reality, this was not the case.He probably missed the part where Obama supported the rebels in Libya in overthrowing an oppressive leader. He also overlooked the lengthy - yet probably frivo-lous - phone conversation Obama had with the President of Egypt, forcing the Egyptian leader to choose between the civilized world or extremists

in Egypt.Romney also feels that

he would deal with tensions regarding Iran better than President Obama has thus far. Romney stated that, as president, he would impose new sanctions and tighten existing sanctions on Iran to prevent the country from acquiring nuclear weap-ons. Romney also wants to restore a “permanent pres-ence” of aircraft carriers in range of Iran.

“For the sake of peace,” stated Romney, “we must make clear to Iran through actions, not just words, that their nuclear pursuit will not be tolerated.

However, Obama has in-creased and tightened sanc-tions on Iran in an effort to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Obama has also established a per-manent presence of aircraft carriers within range of Iran. He did so passively.

Not only does Romney feel that Obama was too passive in Libya, Egypt, and Iran, but Romney feels that the foreign policy of the Obama administration has acted too passively every-where else.

The Obama administra-tion’s foreign policy is led by the current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Clin-ton, however, has stated that if Obama is elected for a second term, she will not be returning as Secretary of State in Obama’s cabinet. Clinton’s absence will leave a void in a key position should Obama get reelect-ed. Since it is unclear what Romney will do once in of-fice, it is scary to think that he who he might choose as Secretary of State.

Some believe Romney will give in to the Neo-conservatives and appoint

a Secretary of State with ac-tive, aggressive foreign poli-cy views.

An article in the Huffington Post suggested the possibil-ity that Romney will appoint John Bolton to this position.

In the past, Bolton served as undersecretary of state un-der the Bush administration, during which time Bolton was involved in many con-troversial foreign policy de-cisions.

Bolton is known for his hard-edged and aggressive foreign policy views as well as his impressive mustache. But what would U.S. foreign policy look like with Bolton as Secretary of State?

He does not believe that Iran can be deterred from acquiring nuclear weapons. Instead of attempting to stop Iran, Bolton feels that Israel should launch its own pre-emptive nuclear attack on Iran. Bolton has stated that the US should work with Is-rael to prepare and launch an attack against Iran.

Bolton also supports Rom-ney’s statement that the U.S. must reinforce its foreign policy with actions rather than words. With Bolton as Secretary of State, the U.S. would inevitably become in-creasingly involved in Mid-dle Eastern conflicts.

In December 2001, Bol-ton, through President Bush, withdrew the U.S. from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missiles Treaty. This treaty restricted development of missiles in the U.S. and the Soviet Union, which prevented the capabil-ity of one country to launch a nationwide attack upon the other. Bolton felt that in 2001, this treaty – a treaty responsi-ble for maintaining long-term international peace – was no longer necessary and was only holding U.S. missile de-velopment back.

In May 2002, Bolton in-correctly asserted that Cuba, a nation with an impressive biomedical industry, was producing biological weap-ons. Bolton argued that Cuba should be included with the “Axis of Evil” countries due to their alleged bio-warfare development. Bolton’s ac-cusations were investigated, but no evidence was found to support his statement.

Similarly, Bush claimed that Iraq had nuclear weap-ons. Not only was this claim investigated, but the U.S. invaded Iraq. No nuclear weapons were found, but bil-lions of dollars were spent on a war that was started on false pretenses. With Bol-ton as Secretary of State, the American people can look forward to more international conflict based on more false pretenses.

While Romney might ap-point someone with aggres-sive foreign policy views like Bolton, Romney could also appoint someone like Rob-ert Zoellick, who would have a background closer to the president himself. Zoellick is the former managing director of Goldman-Sachs.

With a businessman as Secretary of State, Romney could ensure that US trade and business affairs with the world stay dominant. With Zoellick as Secretary of State, it would be easier for the Romney administration to prioritize American eco-nomic power.

It is well known that Rom-ney is, first and foremost, a businessman. It should come as no surprise, then, that Romney feels that economic status would translate into power around the world.

As such, America will potentially have greater in-fluence in international af-fairs. With Zoellick, Romney

would aim to ensure fair trade with China. He would also aim to prevent China from becoming economically dom-inant over the U.S. This is just one example of how Romney and Zoellick aim to transform the U.S. into the undisputed top economic superpower it once was.

Many republicans are un-happy with the possibility that Romney would choose someone like Zoellick as Sec-retary of State. Foreign policy hawks such as Bolton feel that the U.S. needs strong, aggres-sive foreign policy actions. These folks feel that Zoellick will not be able to be a strong leader for the U.S. in regard to international affairs.

Others, especially those who do not support Romney, would rather have a Secretary of State who is focused on business than one who wants to blow up any Middle East-ern country that disagrees with the U.S. Still, others would hope for more of a bal-ance; a Secretary of State that promotes America’s world-wide economic status, pro-tects America and our allies in international conflict, and negotiates conflict before just bombing other nations.

Since our current Secretary of State has not been able to deter Ahmadinejad from his path to nuclear weapons, how would these other potential Secretaries of State address the issue? Would they ignore the issues in the Middle East and let Middle Eastern coun-tries resolve their own con-flicts? Or would it be better to start a potentially nuclear war in the Middle East?

I would hope that our fu-ture Secretary of State can do something to resolve Middle Eastern tensions, because I would prefer it if my friend enjoyed her gap year in safety and with peace of mind.

that can then be spent giving more detailed feedback on es-says or meeting with students in free periods. Thus, the vet-eran history teacher has found ways to adapt to the challenge of teaching five classes so that he can prioritize his connec-tions with individual students, a value that is “what we sell at Bullis” said Hanson.

Teaching almost double the amount of students she taught last year, Laura Heninger has also had to modify her teach-ing method. For example, she has become more creative in

Faculty devoted to keeping class sizes smalllesson planning, having “fig-ured out new ways of team-ing students up and running class discussion in differ-ent patterns” said Heninger. Additionally, Heninger says she has experienced personal growth this year with regards to efficiency. Nevertheless, she describes some nights where she faces an extreme amount of grading. It is at these junctures that Heninger perhaps best captures the self-sacrifice and devotion of the Bullis staff as a whole to the integral values of Bullis:

“I know that even if it means going to bed at mid-

night and setting my alarm clock for 4:00am, which I have done several times this year, it is my duty to my stu-dents to make the time so that my feedback and the in-class experience my students have in my smallest and my big-gest classes is equal” said Heninger.

These two teachers’ expe-riences in the school year add a new layer to the devotion of the Bullis faculty. That is, Hanson and Heninger de-scribe how classroom inno-vation and personal growth have allowed them to accom-modate the larger number of

students they face this year. This conveys an amazing level of commitment to the Bullis core values of a chal-lenging, fruitful academic en-vironment for all and personal student-teacher relationships.

Bullis is in a crucial period of its history – it is taking the first steps on a long journey of expansion. Accompany-ing these first steps are some growing pains, specifically in relation to the high number of classes with 18 students or more currently found in the math and social studies de-partments.

That being said, the ad-

ministration and instructional staff have done an admirable job of maintaining average departmental class sizes that fall within the 12-19 student range. Most importantly, the faculty has the ability and drive to adapt to the changing tides yet still prioritize school values in the classroom.

Thus, when the Bullis Board of Trustees deems the time fit to let the new con-struction begin, it can be con-fident that any new building or program has a foundation of unalterable core values that will forever point the school’s compass towards success.


By Brian MitchellCopy Editor

10 SPORTS THE BULLDOG

Varsity football feeds off parent energy

long to drown out the en-tire home crowd in Leonar-dtown, MD.

“I bring any noisemaker that I can find when I’m out shopping. I have air horns, pump air horns, bull horns, tub horns, and my personal money shakers.”

He had such an effect on the game that a St. Mary’s Ryken school employee asked Johnson to set his noisemakers aside for the remainder of the game.

“I believe that I was asked to stop using them at the Ryken game because it just seemed like overkill. After a while, I guess the coins can dig at you. Espe-cially when I was shaking them after every play be-cause we were just on fire that night,” said Johnson.

Nobody is louder than Johnson in the stands. His consistent noise factor can be attributed to his home-made coin jars, which he once improvised out of empty water bottles when he did not have time to get an air horn for one of his son’s games.

“I brought them out and as I walked they banged together and made such a loud noise that everyone in the parking lot turned around. I ran back to my car and emptied my change dish and the big blue rattler was created. Teams hated the sound of those banging together.”

Johnson explained where his vocal demeanor at foot-ball games stems from.

“My behavior at foot-ball games comes from a special memory of Tya-monee’s very first football game as a 65 pound player. He was very nervous about his first game but he told me when it was over that hearing me yelling on the sidelines made his nerves disappear. Ever since that conversation, I’ve made a conscious choice to be loud and now it’s just part of the game experience.”

Since the Johnsons have landed at Bullis, both father and son have forged mean-ingful relationships as foot-ball has brought the com-munity closer together.

“We started off as a bunch of guys not sure that we made the right de-cision to trust Bullis with our children’s future,” said Johnson. “[Now, we’re] a second family that knows we can count on each other

By Joe Sageman Editor-in-Chief

Thierno Johnson (son Tyamonee (‘14)) celebrates a Bullis touchdown from the stands while Andrew Dyer (son Jonathan (‘13)) looks on in approval

BROOKE GUTSCHICK

in both good and bad times. I agree that we are iconic and it’s shown if one is not in attendance.”

The intensity of the par-ent section sets the tone for the team on game days and provides a clear reminder that to some members of the team, football is more than just a game. John-son, Andrew Dyer (son Jonathan “JD” (’13)), and Victor P. Muhammad (son Yusef (’15)) place some lofty expectations on their sons’ shoulders in all as-pects of Bullis life.

“I definitely expect a college scholarship based on Yusef’s exploits on the gridiron. Accompanied with the enriching academ-ic environment that Bullis presents, a scholarship with or without football can be a reality. I anticipate several IAC titles, and I want him to have fun in the process,” said Muhammad, who sported a button adorned with an action shot of his son on his chest during the homecoming game.

Dyer harbors similar hopes for his son.

“[Football] is more than a game. Football provides an opportunity for JD to express his athletic talents while providing an avenue to potentially go to the elite academic institution of his choice. It also provides him with so many skills and values to prepare him for success in life: leadership, learning how to function in a team environment, over-coming adversity, competi-tive drive, determination, and a strong work ethic.”

So far this year, the foot-ball players are certainly giving their parents plenty to be proud of.

“When Tyamonee makes a big play, I’m overcome with an instant rush. I leap out of my seat and scream just a little louder,” said Johnson.

When student-athletes are involved in fierce com-petition for college scholar-ships, though, proud parents may not be enough for some members of the team.

“My hope for Tyamonee is to stay injury-free and obtain a scholarship so he won’t be burdened with the

high cost of higher educa-tion. For me, a scholarship is a main goal but not the only goal. Sports can open up many doors that may have been closed if was not a student-athlete, but the key word is student. Two more IAC championships would be great but having two more seasons that he can be proud of, enjoying playing with his teammates, and giving his best would be just as good.”

All three agree that Bullis is the perfect place for their sons to achieve their goals and reach their potential.

“From the time I stepped on the Bullis campus, I knew this was the place for my son. The academic support that is offered is exactly what he needs. What really impressed me is the college prepara-tion that is instilled from day one,” said Muhammad.

Academics are no longer Bullis’ lone major attraction for a student-athlete, though. Since head coach Pat Cilen-to’s hire in 2010, Bullis has been far more competitive on the gridiron and has brought an identity to the program that parents covet for their

sons.“It was apparent then

that [Cilento] was a rising star in the coaching field – a high school version of John Gruden, if you will,” said Dyer, who helped Bullis find a new football coach as a member of the school’s interview panel. “I’ve al-ways believed that it takes two important ingredients to build a successful private school high school football program: first, selecting the right man to head the program and then provid-ing him with the resources to put his vision into real-ity. The combination of Dr. Boarman and Coach Cilento coming in at the same time was the perfect combina-tion.”

There are plenty of suc-cessful high school football teams in the area, though. Cilento and Boarman are not the only two educators in America who make foot-ball a priority at their in-stitution. In the end, it will be the football dads who help the program establish a unique legacy as much as anybody else will.


SPORTSTHE BULLDOG SPORTS 11

With an unprecedented string of 14 wins to start their season, the varsity field hockey squad is looking to continue their wining ways to capture their first ISL cham-pionship.

The Lady Bulldogs have kept their early season mo-mentum going to cultivate one of the most impressive starts in school history. The team faced off against long-time rival St. Stephens & St. Agnes on October 11 in an intense match-up that ended in a narrow 1-0 victory. Both teams, who ranked in the top ten in the area by the Wash-ington Post, entered the game undefeated in league play. The Bullis upset was spurred by a clutch goal from captain Idrienne Walker (’13) with only four minutes left in a 0-0 gridlock.

“I found if I just took the shot, I could make something happen.” said Walker.

The Bulldogs defeated the number six team in the area to take the lead in ISL league play.

They have also defeated tough opponents such as Holy Child (3-4-2) and St. Mary’s Ryken (6-3). The Lady Bull-dogs kept rolling and went on to defeat the Georgetown Visitation Cubs (6-2-2) in a close 3-1 match, one of their first major games. The team displayed their mental toughness by constantly at-tacking the Cubs even after they scored an early goal on them. Forward Alessandra

Clark (’13) led the Bulldogs in scoring with an impressive two goals, both assisted by teammate Jessica Mays (‘15).

“They’re never defeated. They rise to the occasion when the pressure is on,” said head coach Julie Delinsky.

Leadership has been a key component to the team’s suc-cess. Captains Colette Roa (’13), Jordan Sullivan (’13), and Walker have led the way by guiding and motivat-ing their fellow teammates through times and adversity. Sullivan feels that she pushes her teammates to their limits to make them better players.

“I try to keep everyone on the field positive and motivat-

Inside varsity field hockey’s remarkable season By Peter AngehOpinions Editor

Girls Basketball: This year’s Bullis Varsity girls bas-ketball team is shooting for the top. Last year, the season ended in disappointment with a devastating lost to Georgetown Visitation by two points for the ISL championship banner. This year, the team hopes history will not repeat itself as they plan to bring the banner back to Falls Road.

The team boasts two divi-sion-one commits in Brittany Jackson (‘13) (George Mason) and Dazia Hall (‘13) (Rich-mond), with several other se-niors who will contribute. The senior leadership combined with a number of talented ju-niors should lead the Bulldogs to the “Promised Land”.

Also, the team is under new leadership with coach Rod Hair-ston, former coach at Prince George’s County powerhouse

Eleanor Roosevelt. The toughest game on the

schedule for the Bulldogs will come January 11 against the Riverdale Baptist Crusaders, reigning national champions. The most meaningful game, however, will take place Janu-ary 25 at Georgetown Visita-tion, a division rival.

Boys Basketball: The boys basketball team had a tremen-dous season last year with a 25-3 record, but the expectations for this season are even higher. There have been several rumors buzzing around school about a potential undefeated season and a second consecutive IAC ban-ner. A repeat IAC championship is definitely within reach for the Bulldogs. The team is led by Holy Cross-bound point guard Anthony Thompson (‘13), who will be helped by other senior leaders. The ‘Dogs have a chal-lenging schedule this year with a national tournament in Flori-da, great competition in the DC

Classic and a strong IAC sched-ule. There are several teams in the IAC with high expecta-tions, but the Bulldogs proved that they are the team to beat in the conference on the summer circuit, when they soundly de-feated Georgetown Prep.

Hockey: The Bulldogs var-sity hockey team is fresh and looking for a successful new beginning. Former head coach Chris Migliore has moved on, and the Bulldogs are now un-der new leadership. Coach Jack Kinder is excited about his new role after being an assistant for two years and is already whip-ping the team into shape with fall workouts. The team had a pretty good year in 2011 with a 9-6 overall record, going 2-2 in IAC play. Losing two nail-biters to Landon last year was devastating, but the team is ready to avenge those defeats this year. Landon has won the IAC three years in a row, but the Bulldogs plan to put an end to

this. Even after losing last year’s strong leadership from Matt Op-sahl (‘12), Alex Fishman (‘12), and Pat Wetzel (‘12), this year’s seniors plan to step up.

The team will look to Brandon Burke (‘13) and David Harrison (‘13) to lead in their senior sea-sons, and they also need strong play from Justin Hoch (‘14) and Vitaly Nosov (‘15), who bring new talent to the roster. The big-gest games of the year are against rivals Landon and Georgetown Prep.

Swimming: This year’s swim-ming team is much bigger than last year’s due to several stu-dents’ new-found interest in the sport. The team did not do as well last year as they hoped because of small numbers, but this year, ex-pectations are high. The biggest tournament or event for the Bull-dogs is WMPSSDL. This compe-tition separates the weak from the strong; you can make a name for yourself at this event both indi-vidually and as a team. The Bull-

dogs strive to compete at a very high level this year and will continue to improve. The team will be looking to Laura Brun-dred (‘14) and Nick Barpoulis (‘13) for leadership this year.

Wrestling: After graduating IAC champions Ryan Garey (‘11), Aaron Green (‘11), and Amos Green (‘11), the wrestling team struggled in 2011-2012. This year, however, expecta-tions are much higher for Jared Rubens (‘13), Tony Scott (‘13), and incoming freshman Alex Brown (‘16). Under the leader-ship of head coach Ali Elias, the Bulldogs are always tenacious and technically sound. Although not an IAC favorite, expect the Bulldogs to be competitive in every match and pull off some big upsets. This is a fiesty group who will be worth keeping an eye out for throughout the sea-son.

By Jamaal GreenwoodStaff Writer

ed, because when things get rough, either during a game or in practice, people have a tendency to either give up or get frustrated” said Sullivan.

Astounding team chem-istry has also been an ingre-dient to the team’s winning formula. This field hockey team always tries to use ev-eryone’s talents to help move the ball up the field. Accord-ing to Walker, they are a unit. The team spends a lot of time together off the field as well, which adds to their support of each other on the field and the family feeling they have created.

“The bond as a family we have really helps us connect and understand each other on

the field and that’s what I think is propelling us forward,” said Walker.

Although they may seem impenetrable from the outside looking in, Delinsky believes there are vulnerabilities that the team could shore up.

“We don’t have a ton of physical strength.”

The team normally works around that by rotating and substituting. She says they need to develop a killer instinct atti-tude.

“Sometimes [the players] are too nice because they don’t want to be perceived as selfish, so they make the pass instead of taking the shot.”

All in all, Delinsky makes sure she coaches to the best of

Winter sports preview

her ability to put her team in a position to win.

As a member as the Posi-tive Coaching Alliance, she spends a lot of time find-ing new ways to motivate her players. She fosters the team dynamics in addition to coaching field hockey funda-mentals.

“I spend a lot of time think-ing about and researching dif-ferent ways to motivate them. I think it’s really important before you teach a girl some-thing it’s important to make them feel like you care. I think different players need different things. I just try to get to know my players and see what works for them,” said Delinsky.

The varsity field hockey team has enjoyed a lengthy winning streak this seasonNADIA FALLAHI

Celebrities find a home at Bullis under aliases 12 THE BULLDOG backpage

By Corbin Blumberg and Danny CopelandStaff Writers

Mr. Kinder a.k.a. Leonar-do DiCaprio - not only is he a member of our own Bullis English department and an amazing junior and senior English teacher, but he also

recently took a trip to Shut-ter Island after miraculous-ly coming back to life after his unfortunate death while traveling on the Titanic.

Mr. Bellistri a.k.a. Tom Cruise - Bel-listri is one of the best young fighter pilots in Top Gun Flight School and is best friends with Goose. In his leisure time, he enjoys teaching geometry and

algebra to young high school students as well as mentor-ing young athletes on the lacrosse field. Bullis is lucky to have such a stud!

Ms. Roshan a.k.a Em-manuelle Chriqui - After watching Vince and the boys prance around Hollywood for years, we happened to notice our very own Ms. Roshan

dating E from the Entourage crew! When she has her time away from Eric, she joins us in the math department where she happens to be an award-winning teacher.

Mr Pollicino a.k.a Rob-ert Downey Jr. - although much of Pollicino’s day is consumed by teaching envi-ronmental science class, sit-ting through meetings, and

writing comportment forms, he still finds the time to suit up in a full iron suit and fight off villains at night. What a guy!

Mr. Martin a.k.a Seth Ro-gen - Mr. Martin spends his days busting high school parties, running from the police, and mastering kung

fu while taking on the shape of a panda. Miraculously, he still has the time to help out Bullis School in the business office. He is a hilarious guy!

Mr. Zimmer a.k.a Vince Vaughn - Zimmer is amazingly talented be-cause during the day he teaches math (and does so very well), but then at night, he manages to

go and crash weddings. How does he pull it off? Not only that, he also led his Average Joe’s dodge-ball team to a huge vic-tory over the Globo Gym Purple Cobras.

Dr. Terbush a.k.a Zach Galifianakis - Dr. Terbush recently joined the Bullis community. After starring in movies such as Due

Mr. McCarron a.k.a Or-lando Bloom - McCarron is the man! He fights off pirates literally day and night and he was able to teach himself calculus at the same time.

McCarron decided that the pirate lfie was too boring, so he decided to settle down at Bullis School and teach some math. Bullis is quite lucky to have him.

Date and the The Hang-over, Dr. TerBush has de-cided to settle down and teach chemistry.

COURTESY OF GOOGLE IMAGES



DANNY COPELAND

COURTESY OF GOOGLE IMAGESCOURTESY OF GOOGLE IMAGES


DANNY COPELAND DANNY COPELAND

DANNY COPELAND





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The Bulldog October 2012 Issue