New plans abound this year in the Maggie Walker kitchen where the chefs work to bring students a diverse array of available meals.
“The main thing I want people to know,” said Mr. Wilson, head chef, “is that you should be able to get all the same kinds of foods here that you could get at a restaurant.”
The lunch line continues to support the charge card program. Various seasonal foods will also be provided, including funnel cakes at fair time.
Friday, September 26, 2008
New Counselors Join Staff
The Counseling Department has made many changes for the 2008-2009 school year. The website is updated, college counseling has been improved, and two new counselors have been brought in to make student life easier.
Ms. Rachel Loving, senior and college counselor, and Ms. Joy Davis, sophomore/junior counselor, are the two latest additions to the department staff. They're great, we're really excited to have them here," said Mr. Karl Zweerink, department chair/freshman counselor.
Perhaps the largest change in the department this year is the name itself. According to Mr. Zweerink, the name "Guidance" implies that students always have problems and that the department is telling them what to do. Using "Counseling" instead says that the department is there to help.
Ms. Rachel Loving, senior and college counselor, and Ms. Joy Davis, sophomore/junior counselor, are the two latest additions to the department staff. They're great, we're really excited to have them here," said Mr. Karl Zweerink, department chair/freshman counselor.
Perhaps the largest change in the department this year is the name itself. According to Mr. Zweerink, the name "Guidance" implies that students always have problems and that the department is telling them what to do. Using "Counseling" instead says that the department is there to help.
New On-line Databases Available
The MLWGS library has received some cyber-savvy updates since last year, broadening its internet scope. Mrs. Wendy Sellors, Media Specialist, says that several new databases have been procured, including three science-related information banks, a literary reference center, and a citation-storing program.
There are also between a hundred and a hundred and fifty new books in the library, and several reference physical reference books now are available online.
“Most of the [programs] we started last year will continue this year,” Mrs. Sellors remarked.
There are also between a hundred and a hundred and fifty new books in the library, and several reference physical reference books now are available online.
“Most of the [programs] we started last year will continue this year,” Mrs. Sellors remarked.
Solutions to Gas Price Woes
by Virginia Cross, Jabberwock Staff Reporter
You’re standing at the gas pump, filling up your car with your week’s worth of gas. While you watch the numbers go up, you can’t help but think of all the time you worked at your summer job for this one tank of gas. There goes ten hours spent bagging groceries at Ukrops’, just so you can drive to school for a week.
As gas prices continue to rise and the economy becomes increasingly unstable, many MLWGS students and faculty have begun to change the way they get to and from school. In just the past year, gas prices in the Richmond area have risen over than a dollar per gallon to a citywide average of $3.69.
Although the rising gas prices affect all drivers, people in the MLWGS community may have an especially hard time dealing with the costs. Whereas public schools draw students from the immediate vicinity, students at MLWGS come from 12 different districts in the region.
“I live in Charles City, about 40 miles away,” said Jeannette Carter (’10). “I only drive about two or three times a week, only when it’s necessary. If the gas prices weren’t as high, I’d probably drive more often.”
Many people trying to save money on gas decide to ride the bus instead of driving, but those who play sports have to provide their own transportation.
“Because I play volleyball, I have no option but to drive to school so my mom doesn’t have to pick me up at 8:00 every night,” said Marley Hall (’10), a member of the girl’s varsity volleyball team. “But as soon as volleyball ends, I’ll definitely be riding the bus again every day.”
Paola Ilarraza (’09), who might have been one of the students hardest hit by the gas prices, found a way to both save money and help the environment by driving a car that uses less gas.
“I live in Prince George, which is 45 miles away, but I drive a hybrid,” Ilarraza said. “It actually only ends up being about two gallons a day.”
Kevin Xiao, co-president of SECSEE, MLWGS’ Environmental Club agreed that driving a hybrid saved money by using less gas and was also much better for the environment. He emphasized the value of carpooling, riding the school bus, or using public transportation.
“I’m no economist here, but common sense tells me that if demand falls and the [gas] supply is around the same level, then the prices will fall,” Xiao said. “On a personal level, try to cut back on individual fossil fuel use and take the public transit or carpool.”
Ms. Jennifer Todd, a science teacher, takes advantage of this opportunity by carpooling every day to and from school with Ms. Cuellar and Ms. Riles. “By not driving every day, I save between 80 and 100 dollars a month,” said Ms. Todd. “Carpooling means I don’t have to be awake and drive every morning, and it’s also a social thing.”
While people in the MLWGS community may have little control over the prices at the pump, making a few changes can directly reduce what people pay to fill up their gas tank.
“[The price of gas] pushes people to become conscience of their energy use,” said Xiao.
Deanna Gulick (’10) drives to a volleyball game.
Kevin’s SECSEE Tips for Saving Money on Gas
- “Ride the school bus. I know it’s not super cool, but those buses are going near your house to pick you up and drop you off every day. You have that option; maybe use it once in a while.
- “Adjust your driving—turn off the AC, try not to stall that much. I see junior and senior drivers try to jam their way out of the student parking lot. Stagnate so there is less time spent stalling, which basically burns and wastes gas while staying stationary.”
-”Turn off the AC.”
Kevin Xiao is co-president of SECSEE, MLWGS’
Environmental Club
You’re standing at the gas pump, filling up your car with your week’s worth of gas. While you watch the numbers go up, you can’t help but think of all the time you worked at your summer job for this one tank of gas. There goes ten hours spent bagging groceries at Ukrops’, just so you can drive to school for a week.
As gas prices continue to rise and the economy becomes increasingly unstable, many MLWGS students and faculty have begun to change the way they get to and from school. In just the past year, gas prices in the Richmond area have risen over than a dollar per gallon to a citywide average of $3.69.
Although the rising gas prices affect all drivers, people in the MLWGS community may have an especially hard time dealing with the costs. Whereas public schools draw students from the immediate vicinity, students at MLWGS come from 12 different districts in the region.
“I live in Charles City, about 40 miles away,” said Jeannette Carter (’10). “I only drive about two or three times a week, only when it’s necessary. If the gas prices weren’t as high, I’d probably drive more often.”
Many people trying to save money on gas decide to ride the bus instead of driving, but those who play sports have to provide their own transportation.
“Because I play volleyball, I have no option but to drive to school so my mom doesn’t have to pick me up at 8:00 every night,” said Marley Hall (’10), a member of the girl’s varsity volleyball team. “But as soon as volleyball ends, I’ll definitely be riding the bus again every day.”
Paola Ilarraza (’09), who might have been one of the students hardest hit by the gas prices, found a way to both save money and help the environment by driving a car that uses less gas.
“I live in Prince George, which is 45 miles away, but I drive a hybrid,” Ilarraza said. “It actually only ends up being about two gallons a day.”
Kevin Xiao, co-president of SECSEE, MLWGS’ Environmental Club agreed that driving a hybrid saved money by using less gas and was also much better for the environment. He emphasized the value of carpooling, riding the school bus, or using public transportation.
“I’m no economist here, but common sense tells me that if demand falls and the [gas] supply is around the same level, then the prices will fall,” Xiao said. “On a personal level, try to cut back on individual fossil fuel use and take the public transit or carpool.”
Ms. Jennifer Todd, a science teacher, takes advantage of this opportunity by carpooling every day to and from school with Ms. Cuellar and Ms. Riles. “By not driving every day, I save between 80 and 100 dollars a month,” said Ms. Todd. “Carpooling means I don’t have to be awake and drive every morning, and it’s also a social thing.”
While people in the MLWGS community may have little control over the prices at the pump, making a few changes can directly reduce what people pay to fill up their gas tank.
“[The price of gas] pushes people to become conscience of their energy use,” said Xiao.
Deanna Gulick (’10) drives to a volleyball game.
Kevin’s SECSEE Tips for Saving Money on Gas
- “Ride the school bus. I know it’s not super cool, but those buses are going near your house to pick you up and drop you off every day. You have that option; maybe use it once in a while.
- “Adjust your driving—turn off the AC, try not to stall that much. I see junior and senior drivers try to jam their way out of the student parking lot. Stagnate so there is less time spent stalling, which basically burns and wastes gas while staying stationary.”
-”Turn off the AC.”
Kevin Xiao is co-president of SECSEE, MLWGS’
Environmental Club
Embrace Gervais
by Lindsey Toiaivao, Jabberwock Staff Reporter
It may be a ghost movie, but it definitely does not merit a “boo”.
“Ghost Town” comes across as witty and enjoyable, owing largely to its leading man, Ricky Gervais, the star of the popular British comedy series The Office and Extras. The movie is oddly formulaic, with a plotline straight from the book of romantic comedy ideas. Gervais’ performance keeps “Ghost Town” from falling flat on its face with banality.
The plot is reminiscent of most romantic comedies: a man falls in love with a woman (Téa Leoni) he has always ignored and starts to turn his life around. From here, the movie starts to depart from the stereotype.
To start, the opening scene finds us tailing a suave and debonair, if shamelessly immoral, man named Frank Herlihy, played by Greg Kinnear. He strolls through the city, wearing a formal suit and berating his real-estate agent over the phone for telling his (Herlihy’s) wife about the new love nest he had just bought for his mistress. A rich, handsome adulterer with a penchant for secrets? This sounds like a great leading man!
But wait. He’s not. And within a few minutes, he’s dead. (An air conditioning unit falls from the window of an apartment building, which he notices and dodges into the road to avoid. He is promptly hit by a bus.)
Enter Ricky Gervais as Dr. Bertram Pincus, a deadpan misanthrope who seems to have gotten into dentistry as a way of professionally silencing people. When he cannot shut people up by obstructing their mouths with dental instruments or plaster for taking impressions, Pincus effectively quiets and alienates people with a blank, uncaring stare or a sly patronizing quip.
After a botched colonoscopy renders him dead for seven minutes, Pincus awakens from his flatline to find that he can see dead people. (Don’t think “The Sixth Sense”; there is no gory makeup here.) Now faced with an entire town of the deceased whom he cannot silence or avoid despite his best efforts, Pincus reluctantly agrees to help Herlihy break up his widow and her self-righteous new boyfriend if the legions of other undead citizens with unfinished business agree to leave him in peace.
Let the hilarious hi-jinx ensue!
Pincus, who happens to live in the same building as Herlihy’s widow, finds himself attracted to her, apparently an odd new feeling for him as a people-hater. He fumbles over his words, trying to joke about dentistry or the times that he didn’t hold the elevator for her and stole her cab. Shockingly, she is not immediately won over.
The progression of their relationship is hindered by her undead husband, always hovering beside them and making additions to their conversations that only Pincus can hear, which ultimately make Pincus even more awkward, especially as he makes references to her dead husband whom he’s not supposed to know.
Gervais plays the part like no one else could, reviving the dry fast-paced humor and awkward pauses that made his performance in The Office (UK) magical. In reality, he is the movie’s saving grace; without him, none of the jokes would fall, even classic jokes about how Chinese names sound funny. Though the plot is essentially old and thin, the resolution, wherein Pincus learns to accept and understand the people he once found irritating and loathsome, satisfies because Gervais makes it believable. Overall, the movie is good for a romantic comedy, but only because Gervais shines in his role.
Ricky Gervais being quite the misanthrope
It may be a ghost movie, but it definitely does not merit a “boo”.
“Ghost Town” comes across as witty and enjoyable, owing largely to its leading man, Ricky Gervais, the star of the popular British comedy series The Office and Extras. The movie is oddly formulaic, with a plotline straight from the book of romantic comedy ideas. Gervais’ performance keeps “Ghost Town” from falling flat on its face with banality.
The plot is reminiscent of most romantic comedies: a man falls in love with a woman (Téa Leoni) he has always ignored and starts to turn his life around. From here, the movie starts to depart from the stereotype.
To start, the opening scene finds us tailing a suave and debonair, if shamelessly immoral, man named Frank Herlihy, played by Greg Kinnear. He strolls through the city, wearing a formal suit and berating his real-estate agent over the phone for telling his (Herlihy’s) wife about the new love nest he had just bought for his mistress. A rich, handsome adulterer with a penchant for secrets? This sounds like a great leading man!
But wait. He’s not. And within a few minutes, he’s dead. (An air conditioning unit falls from the window of an apartment building, which he notices and dodges into the road to avoid. He is promptly hit by a bus.)
Enter Ricky Gervais as Dr. Bertram Pincus, a deadpan misanthrope who seems to have gotten into dentistry as a way of professionally silencing people. When he cannot shut people up by obstructing their mouths with dental instruments or plaster for taking impressions, Pincus effectively quiets and alienates people with a blank, uncaring stare or a sly patronizing quip.
After a botched colonoscopy renders him dead for seven minutes, Pincus awakens from his flatline to find that he can see dead people. (Don’t think “The Sixth Sense”; there is no gory makeup here.) Now faced with an entire town of the deceased whom he cannot silence or avoid despite his best efforts, Pincus reluctantly agrees to help Herlihy break up his widow and her self-righteous new boyfriend if the legions of other undead citizens with unfinished business agree to leave him in peace.
Let the hilarious hi-jinx ensue!
Pincus, who happens to live in the same building as Herlihy’s widow, finds himself attracted to her, apparently an odd new feeling for him as a people-hater. He fumbles over his words, trying to joke about dentistry or the times that he didn’t hold the elevator for her and stole her cab. Shockingly, she is not immediately won over.
The progression of their relationship is hindered by her undead husband, always hovering beside them and making additions to their conversations that only Pincus can hear, which ultimately make Pincus even more awkward, especially as he makes references to her dead husband whom he’s not supposed to know.
Gervais plays the part like no one else could, reviving the dry fast-paced humor and awkward pauses that made his performance in The Office (UK) magical. In reality, he is the movie’s saving grace; without him, none of the jokes would fall, even classic jokes about how Chinese names sound funny. Though the plot is essentially old and thin, the resolution, wherein Pincus learns to accept and understand the people he once found irritating and loathsome, satisfies because Gervais makes it believable. Overall, the movie is good for a romantic comedy, but only because Gervais shines in his role.
Ricky Gervais being quite the misanthrope
Good Cop, Bad Neighbor
by Gabriella Cifu, Jabberwock Staff Reporter
When is having a policeman next door a bad thing? Chris and Lisa Mattson (Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington) find out in Lakeview Terrace, when they move in to an upscale Californian neighborhood.
They appear to be happily setting in, until they meet Abel Turner (Samuel L. Jackson), an opinionated law enforcement officer.
As time passes, the Mattsons are offended by Turner, and Turner’s insistence on having a light on his house directed into the Mattson’s bedroom is only the start.
Turner particularly embarrasses Chris by sharing secrets, such as the fact that he smokes, with Lisa. In addition, Turner aggressively proves that not only does he dislikes his neighbors, but is unwilling to passively sit-back and accept their residence in the neighborhood.
This harsh side of Turner is eerily countered by his role as a father in the movie. At times, he seems like a loving father. Other times, his stringent rules make the viewers want to call child services. As Turner’s past is revealed, his motive, apparently racially based, becomes more pronounced, as does his desire to torment the Mattsons.
Jackson was born to star as Abel Turner. His forceful manner and threatening persona caused readers to fear his power, and wonder what limits he would extend to in order to harass his neighbors.
I never had any difficulty believing the credibility of his character. He was fully committed to the role, and portrayed Turner as the character needed to convincingly aggravate his perfectly cordial neighbors. Wilson and Washington, while both well suited for the roles, did not nearly contribute as much emotion to their characters. Their anonymity as actors made their character portrayals enjoyable, but forgettable.
Unexpectedly, this movie was a gripping psychological thriller. While mundane and predictable throughout parts, it seemed fresh in comparison to the clichéd horror movie phenomenon that exists in the present movie industry.
The location of the film was beautiful and encompassed many smaller plots, such as the California wild fires. The set was well designed and brought viewers into the mix of the disgruntled suburban neighborhood.
The script was nothing extraordinary, but Turner had some particularly memorable lines. His short, rhetorical questions such as “Or what?” or “Says who?” often left Chris speechless, and played perfectly into his character still.
Unlike so many predictable suspense films however, Lakeview Terrace still had me sitting on the edge of my seat, wondering how the conclusion would play out. As more was found out about each character, I continually amended what I thought the finale would bring.
How could a loving father become a symbol of downright terror, once outside the walls of his house?
Lakeview Terrace is sure to provide nerve-wracking entertainment, if not also a new perspective on living next to a police man.
Jackson and Wilson become acquainted.
When is having a policeman next door a bad thing? Chris and Lisa Mattson (Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington) find out in Lakeview Terrace, when they move in to an upscale Californian neighborhood.
They appear to be happily setting in, until they meet Abel Turner (Samuel L. Jackson), an opinionated law enforcement officer.
As time passes, the Mattsons are offended by Turner, and Turner’s insistence on having a light on his house directed into the Mattson’s bedroom is only the start.
Turner particularly embarrasses Chris by sharing secrets, such as the fact that he smokes, with Lisa. In addition, Turner aggressively proves that not only does he dislikes his neighbors, but is unwilling to passively sit-back and accept their residence in the neighborhood.
This harsh side of Turner is eerily countered by his role as a father in the movie. At times, he seems like a loving father. Other times, his stringent rules make the viewers want to call child services. As Turner’s past is revealed, his motive, apparently racially based, becomes more pronounced, as does his desire to torment the Mattsons.
Jackson was born to star as Abel Turner. His forceful manner and threatening persona caused readers to fear his power, and wonder what limits he would extend to in order to harass his neighbors.
I never had any difficulty believing the credibility of his character. He was fully committed to the role, and portrayed Turner as the character needed to convincingly aggravate his perfectly cordial neighbors. Wilson and Washington, while both well suited for the roles, did not nearly contribute as much emotion to their characters. Their anonymity as actors made their character portrayals enjoyable, but forgettable.
Unexpectedly, this movie was a gripping psychological thriller. While mundane and predictable throughout parts, it seemed fresh in comparison to the clichéd horror movie phenomenon that exists in the present movie industry.
The location of the film was beautiful and encompassed many smaller plots, such as the California wild fires. The set was well designed and brought viewers into the mix of the disgruntled suburban neighborhood.
The script was nothing extraordinary, but Turner had some particularly memorable lines. His short, rhetorical questions such as “Or what?” or “Says who?” often left Chris speechless, and played perfectly into his character still.
Unlike so many predictable suspense films however, Lakeview Terrace still had me sitting on the edge of my seat, wondering how the conclusion would play out. As more was found out about each character, I continually amended what I thought the finale would bring.
How could a loving father become a symbol of downright terror, once outside the walls of his house?
Lakeview Terrace is sure to provide nerve-wracking entertainment, if not also a new perspective on living next to a police man.
Kerry Washington meets Jackson’s children.
Field Hockey and Green Machine
MLWGS Field hockey players compete at a recent game as the Green Machine shows its support.
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