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RUBICON
Tuesday, April. 25 2023
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Upper School Council hosts Speaker Day to expand perspectives on gender GEORGIA ROSS THE RUBICON
On Apr. 24, the SPA community came together for a day of listening and growth confront gender equity and experience, a topic the US Council (USC) and Student Intercultural Life Council (SILC) has deemed prevalent in the student body. Every
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Maryeva Gonzalez other year, alternating between Speaker Day and Service Day, USC and SILC brainstorm potential topics select one that seems influential on the SPA community. The prime objective of Speaker Day is “to bring a lot of very diverse voices from within and without the community to talk about the issue of gender (or whatever the topic is) and to have stu-
nections, alumni who have some experience with gender equality, and a few “cold emails [... to] professors who may be on the topic,” said Dr. Peterson. Some speakers will have a certain expertise on gender equality, and some will merely speak to their experience on how gender has impacted them in the work force. The council creates an elaborate sched-
Lee selected as next upper school principal
RUBICON PHOTO: Georgia Ross
KEYNOTE. The Upper School Council meets to prepare for speaker day, making sure each speaker receives the accomodations they need. The keynote speaker for the 2023 school year was Dr. Rose Brewer, a social activist, scholar, as well as an author that focuses on Black feminism, gender, and social change.
ule that works for all the speakers, and come up activities that support the topic for smaller group times aswell. The day is intertwined with various breakout groups where advisories will attend different speakers, including the keynote, and reflective spaces where advisories will unpack the material. Since not all the speakers are able to visit on campus, some will attend on Zoom. The most
challenging obstacle of planning speaker day is accommodating them, making sure they have the proper technology and are prepared for the day. USC Co-president Maryeva Gonzalez said that the topic of gender equality and experience is applicable to highschoolers in general. “High school is kind of a time where you’re figuring out how your
identity shapes your life experience, whether good or bad,” Gonzalez said. Gender equality and expirience is “evergreen,” said Peterson, “Every year in senior speeches, there are female identifying students that talk about their experience at SPA and life in general and the challenges and difficulties that the patriarchy puts in their way.”
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Fisher teaches media literacy to middle schoolers MCKINLEY GARNER THE RUBICON
In a world where media literacy is becoming ever important, many ask the question, “How can we work to facilitate a better understanding of how media works?” Senior Maddy Fisher set out to do her part with a four-week workshop with middle school students focused on fact and opinion. Fisher’s goal is “for them to start developing consciousness and awareness about biases you can encounter in the media and about the misinfor-
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mation you can encounter.” The last two sessions in April focused on writing. Students learned that while news pieces often follow an inverted pyramid structure with most relevant facts at the top and least important information at the bottom, opinion pieces can sit in a triangle, with the least controversial information introduced at the start with growing persuasion that push a reader to see value in less popular perspectives by the end. The middle schoolers will submit final opinion
LANGUAGE CURRICULUM Culture-based language education provides valuable opportunities.
pieces to Fisher, and the finished pieces will be considered for the May issue of The Rubicon. Each student chose their topic, from silly to serious. Eighth grader Juliette Smith said she “got to learn about how to write an opinion article, and why strawberries are the healthiest fruit.” Seventh grader Jack Gao mentioned how he got to learn about “positive and negative opinions” in addition to how to write an opinion article.
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RUBICON PHOTO: McKinley Garner HARD AT WORK. The last two middle school sessions were focused on writing; in this photo Fisher helps students outline their first opinions articles. “Writing is just as important as media literacy and education because it gives students a chance to see from the perspective of a journalist, which can help them identify bias in the future,” Fisher said.
HANDWRITING STYLES Learn about the connection between penmanship and personality.
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NEWS IN BRIEF
dents engage with it,” said advisory of USC, Dr. Jon Peterson. To begin the process, USC members find topics they find important to the community. After running a vote to see what the majority of the council is in favor of, they begin their search for speakers. In this step, many speakers are found through personal con-
HIGH SCHOOL IS KIND OF A TIME WHERE YOU’RE FIGURING OUT HOW YOUR IDENTITY SHAPES YOUR LIFE EXPERIENCES.
the student newspaper of St. Paul Academy and Summit School 1712 Randolph Ave St. Paul, MN 55105 Volume 48, Issue 6
After a national search, Minnie Lee will lead the upper school as the principal. College Counselor Karna Ivory was part of the search committee. She described Lee as “very real and authentic.” Junior Melina Kannakutty served on the student panel: “She was a teacher before she became admin, so she’s really invested in student connection,” she said. In the email announcement Head of School Luis Ottley described wrote that Lee impressed “with her strong academic and professional background as well as her thoughtfulness, her dedication to her students, and her empathy.” Lee will take over the role from interim principal Ken Jaffe in July.
Class of 23 begin projects May 1 This week is the countdown on campus for seniors as they wrap up coursework and plan for a four weeks of senior project. Students will spend time in a primary internship and spend approximately 12 hours completing community service. Those involved in the musical or sports or have outside of school commitments may have included these additional activities. The process changes to the graduation requirement included a shift away from a senior project committee to a whole-faculty and class approach. The seniors will return to campus for a 4-hour senior project presentation format similar to their proposal process on June 5.
PAPER FLOWERS Start off spring with a DIY paper flower bouquet.
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