,
exontan THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER AT KING'S ACADEMY
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FALL 2025,
ISSUE 1
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MADABA-MANJA, JORDAN
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NOVEMBER
2025
l(ing's Witnesses Rare Total Lunar Eclipse
The lunar eclipse is known as the "blood moon" (Leen AIHrishat '27)
By Hadeel Qandeel '27 athering by the observatory, King's Academy students, faculty, and staff witnessed a total lunar eclipse on September 7. A total lunar eclipse happens when the earth comes in between the sun and the moon, all aligning in a straight line. This leads to the moon passing directly through the earth's umbra - the term for the planet's shadow-which blocks all direct sunlight causing the moon to gain a dark red hue. This
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dark red tinted moon is called a blood moon. A total lunar eclipse occurs around every two and half years. Since 2015, the past total lunar eclipses have taken place outside of the academic year or during school breaks when students, faculty, and staff are not on campus. The last time that a total lunar eclipse was visible at King's during the school year was nearly 10 years ago on September 28, 2015. For those on campus who witnessed this year's eclipse, the blood red moon was a sight to behold. "It seemed very ominous because it was red, and it seemed almost magical," Dianne Wohnsiedler '27 said. "It was something revolutionary. I've never seen one before."
The sight of the total lunar eclipse at King's Academy (Mr. Jeromel Dela Rosa Lara)
SEE MOON ON PAGE 3
Written in the Star: A Symbol of l(ing's
King's stars everywhere (Banah Allawama '27)
By Banah Allawama '27 On a clear night in Madaba, the stars stretch endlessly across the sky, glowing above. At King's Academy, one star in particular shines everywhere, not only in the night sky, but carved onto the walls, stitched into the uniforms, and echoed in the school's motto: _;;\..lji 4-!y.-JIin Arabic andfl.oreat scientia in Latin. The star at King's is more than a design, it connects to Jordan: its hills and valleys,
its history, and to a feeling of reaching and thriving. It acts as a bridge between the old and the new, a symbol that students and teachers know what learning should feel like: open, bright, and expansive. For many individuals, this connection is often seen in the dorms, as each is named after a certain star. Uwase Ange '26 has been a student at King's for four years. Her first year was spent in Murzim House, and she remembers the adjustment from a new
country to a new home. The dorm's name, tied to a star, became part of her story. Over time she felt that the houses - Murzim, Alnilam, Atair are meant to encourage students to shine just as stars do. "The dorms are named after stars? It surprised me when I came to King's," she said. "Out of everything, why stars?" Ange asked herself. "Then people shared with me that it could be that they want the students to shine within. They do not want their light to be blocked or stopped by anything." She also compared stargazing to life at King's. "When you stare at the stars it is easy to notice one star," she said. "But when there is a constellation, they shine brighter and show even more. When people are together, they shine brighter. They share light together. Everyone ends up picking their own thing." The sense of inspiration is also shared by art teacher Mr. Shadi Joudeh.
SEE STARS ON PAGE 4
IN TH IS ISSUE
Flora and Fauna at l(ing's By Dylan Al Jaff '27 and Omar Sharrab '27 Imagine a regular day at King's Academy: students rush with eager anticipation to get to their classes and free blocks. But we have realized that if you take just one minute to observe the world around us, that minute will drastically shift your perspective towards our beautiful home. To the students, staff, and boarding community living here, King's is a giant ecosystem full of plants and animals. So slow down with us and observe the beauty of King's. The school grounds are massive; it takes around ten minutes to walk from the Health Center to the Academic Building. To outsiders, King's is described as a close-knit community, but the diversity of the school's campus makes it more than that. We started walking around campus, through the wooded areas and locations we rarely visited. Flora is as diverse as the school itself. The campus is widely populated by a variety of trees: American sycamores with Chinaberry
trees; blue jacarandas, which provide a beautiful pop of color with their magenta flowers; and Queensland bottle trees with their wide, bottle-like trunks that hold water for the coming summer. These trees provide shade for students and are well paired with the perfect amount of green from bushes like thorny olives, Mandarin orange shrubs, and Spanish brooms. Mediterranean staples like olive trees, bay laurel trees, sage, and rosemary bushes can also be found scattered around campus, as well as figs, apricots, and loquats. Beyond trees and shrubs, King's also provides a varied selection of crops, cared for by the staff and appreciated by all. Take the path northwest, behind the observatory, and you will eventually come across a field full of a beautiful, healthy variety of chillies, bell peppers, onions, cucumbers, eggplants, pumpkins, lemons, and grapes. The fauna of the campus completes the ecosystem.
SEE NATURE ON PAGE 4
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,-. NEWS3
OPINIONS 6
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SPORTS8
ARTS& ENTERTAINMENT 9