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Volu m e 6 4 , Is su e 3
O c tob er 9 t h , 2 0 1 5
A Student Publication of the Belmont Hill School
Sophomore Ishaan Prasad Attends Elite Developers Meeting BH to Go BYOD heading technological advances for everyday life in this new age of apps. Ishaan’s love for computers Most fifteen year-olds spent started when he was ten, learntheir first week of summer at the ing Scratch and making games. beach, or binge-watching Netflix At 12, he taught himself Objecin recovery from exams. Ishaan tive-C from Youtube videos over Prasad is not an ordinary fifteen March break, releasing his debut year old. In June, Ishaan spent a app Pet Run a few weeks later. week in San Francisco as a per- Now, his focus in apps is on prosonal guest of Apple at their annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), the tech giant’s showcase for their new products and a destination for the world’s top software developers. Ishaan was one of 350 scholars selected to attend WWDC, chosen through a strict application process. The opportunity to go to this coveted conference is new for high schoolers; the scholar program has been around since the Eighties, but was traditionally only available to graduate school students. Four years ago, a then-sixteen-yearold developer applied and was accepted under his dad’s name, prompting Apple to rethink their age policy. Now, the scholarship is available to anyone thirteen years ductivity and education, and he and up. About 100 of the 350 stu- has over 60 thousand downloads. dents were high schoolers, esti- Instead of consisting of the usual mates Ishaan; the rest were in col- “Tell us about yourself…” queslege and graduate school. His week tions, Apple’s atypical application and story was additionally chron- required students to build an inicled in Business Insider in June. teractive resumé app to showcase “There’s an app for that” their developing skills and crehas never been more accurate than ativity. The innovative applicatoday. You can measure your heart tion was announced in Mid-May, rate, stream a movie, and order and applicants are given a week dinner, all with the touch of your to create the app; Ishaan recalls phone. App developing and com- working on the app in addition puter language have both emerged to studying for finals, and receivas vital 21st century skills, with ing an acceptance letter during teenagers and young adults spear- the exams. Part of Apple’s genius By Mack Perry Panel Staff
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ence’s most anticipated event that would come the next day. Ishaan lined up at 1:30am that morning outside the convention center in hopes of securing a good spot for the Keynote. “I missed the email that said the scholars had VIP access,” laughs Ishaan. His dedication paid off; he was first in line, and there were pictures on Apple’s website to prove it. The Keynote was traditionally held by Steve Jobs, and now features CEO Tim Cook and other Apple executives announcing new products. This year, the
By Ishaan Prasad company premiered Apple MuPanel Staff sic, their response to Spotify and the growing demand for subscription-based music streaming. For years, Belmont Hill has The Weeknd debuted his first hit held steadfast on its device policy, single “Can’t Feel My Face” af- providing students with access to ter Cook’s lecture. This itself was iPads, Chromebooks, and computer awe-inspiring, recalls Ishaan. labs, while also permitting boys to “The Keynote was held in the bring their own devices to campus. biggest room I’ve ever been in”, a In a world increasingly dominated testimate to the tech giant’s gran- by “smart” devices of every size and deur. The scholars sat in a VIP shape, faculty and administrators section at the very front of the on campus began to recognize that room, only feet away from heads the device policy at school was in of the world’s most influential need of a drastic update, in order tech company. After the address, to keep up with the ever-changing Ishaan and his fellow scholars technological world. From Form I were pulled on stage for photos to Form VI, boys are increasingly in front of the crowd. During the requiring a computer to complete conference, Ishaan observed sev- even the most basic assignments. eral strategies of Apple’s, especial- Signs of this new era of technology ly on their PR front. For example, are scattered around campus: from any time there was a photo op, smartboards, to online textbooks, workers would place minorities and even the iLab in the Melvoin and girls (Apple was scorned for Academic Center. After more than not attracting enough women at three years of pilots, testing, and surthe conference) front and center. veys, the Belmont Hill community Tuesday and Wednesday will be embarking on an entirely difwere spent milling around the ferent approach to electronic devices conference center, mingling with on campus next year; students will be fellow software developers, me- required to bring their own device. dia, and Apple executives. Ishaan The basic principles of a BYOD estimates that in addition to the (Bring Your Own Device) policy are 350 scholars, there were around of relative simplicity: from now on, five thousand developers and an- all students will have access to a perother thousand Apple engineers. sonal computer for the entirety of Add the media and Apple work- the day. But what does this policy ers to get approximately seven actually mean for the 441 students thousand conference attendees - and 73 faculty at Belmont Hill? quite the hectic scene. The scholSince 2012, Belmont Hill has ars were given VIP passes that been conducting various tests to see gave them all-access to the con- what policies would work best for the ference; Ishaan’s is autographed school. As a First Former during the by Tim Cook. “There was no sep- iPad Pilot in 2012, I had a firsthand aration or superiority with the top experience in technology through a continued on page 3 continued on page 6
Varsity Soccer Defeats BB&N in a Well-Fought Match showered up, and headed to the mall for some dinner and the 7:30 showing of Black Mass. This overnight experience alThe Varsity Soccer team is off to a lowed the new teammates to grow closer great season start with an overall record and spend some quality time together of 5-0-1 and an in-league record of 3-0-0. off the soccer field. The next morning, After the final round of cuts on September 12th following the preseason jamboree, the team hosted their first regular season game, at home against Bridgton Academy, a New England Class A school. All class A games count towards the team’s overall New England record, meaning, at the end of the season, if they win a certain number of these games, the team qualifies for the New England playoffs. With this in mind, the Belmont Hill Varsity squad came out firing, scoring the first goal and never looking back, going on to a 5-1 win, with goals from Diego Pereira, Al Zenati, Robbie Cronin, Evan Ricci, and George Hu. On that Friday, the team traveled 2 hours down to Barrington, Rhode Island to take on two non-league opponents, following a buffet-style breakfast, all the the Rocky Hill School and St. Andrew’s team members packed up their bags School. Despite having suffered through a and boarded the bus for their 1:30 p.m. two hour bus ride, the Belmont Hill boys game time start. Against St. Andrews, didn’t show any signs of slowing down, the defense had their hands full, as they dominating Rocky Hill School in a 7-1 vic- were facing two Division-1 caliber striktory. The team then returned to their hotel, ers with speed and talent. Going into the By Chip Daley Staff Writer
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here is it forces applicants to learn and master Swift, Apple’s language, therefore popularizing it. WWDC ran from Monday, June 8 to the following Friday at San Francisco’s Moscone Center. On Sunday, the scholars were invited to an orientation at the Four Seasons that mimicked the Keynote address, the confer-
final five minutes, Belmont Hill held the lead 2-1, but yielded a devastating goal with inside 5 minutes left in the game, resulting in a 2-2 tie. However, up to this point, none of the games had mattered in regards to our league standings.
The team ached to play their ultimate rival school in BB&N on Saturday, September 26th, in their first real league game. The week of practice before BB&N included the Circle of Death drill, in which players sprint in a large circle for 1-minute, 30-second, and 15-sec-
ond increments, skill work, push-ups, sit-ups, and formation-style exercises, in order to fully prepare the team for this biggest game of the season. Coach Señor Montoya regarded the BB&N game as a “springboard for our season.” If the team could take down the league rival Knights, it would propel them into a fantastic spot for the rest of the season, giving them the necessary momentum to defeat other league teams. Finally, on Saturday at 12 p.m, the moment finally came to show the league what Belmont Hill soccer is really made of. Just 7 minutes into the game, Evan Ricci tapped the ball in the back of the net, giving the team a 1-0 lead. Unfortunately, Chad Meyers picked up his second yellow card with 15 minutes left in the first half, forcing Belmont Hill to have 10 men for the rest of the game. The team rallied around Chad, and everyone worked a little harder in the second half. The final whistle blew and the team celebrated a huge 1-0 victory against a league rival. The game really exemplified the definition of a team effort, and every player and coach couldn’t be more excited to see what the rest of the season has in store. ☐