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E-Marker Archives
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Rowland Hall, Cool School of the Week
 As part of the kick off for our annual "Swing for Life" fundraiser for breast cancer research, Big Budha of Fox 13 News chose us as his "Cool School of the Week" and broadcast live from the RHSM Upper School gym on the morning of Tuesday, March 11th.
The "Dunk Your Favorite Teacher" segment at a buck a throw raised $777 for "Swing for Life," which will be donated to the Huntsman Cancer Institute. Congrats to organizers, Kathy Howa and Kendra Tomsic, and many thanks to the amazing lower, middle, and upper school students, teachers and staff who showed up to show off their "cool" so early in the morning!
Don't forget to support cancer research by attending the annual Sing for Life Hit-a-Thon on April 19, beginning at 8:30 a.m., at the Cottonwood Complex (1300 East 4400 South) - our kids and coaches will be there - to be a part of a fun morning to raise over $76,000 for a good cause!
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Catching Up With Chess
RHSM Wins State Elementary Co-Championship, Speed Chess Championship, and Fields a Junior High Team
By Chess Coach Javier Pinedo
 On Saturday, March 15, 19 RHSM students participated in the Annual Utah State Elementary Chess Championship. Although our school didn't have players in Kindergarten and third grade sections, we tied for first place as a team so we are State Co-champions. First grader Avi Gupta and fifth grader Dominic Croce both won individual state championships.
On Friday, March 14, a handful of intrepid RHSM students and I were at the U. of U. student Union building representing the school-and winning-- the State Elementary Speed Chess Championship. Individually Avi Gupta, first grade, State Champion; Dominic Croce, fifth grade, State Champion; Michael Thompson, sixth grade, received 2nd place trophy; and, Nektarios Mantas, first grade, received 3rd place trophy. Chess Medals for participation were awarded to Lower School students: Shabir Aminzada, Kyle Eng, Garrett Furubayashi, and Elliot Kovnick.
After a six-year absence by RHSM from the Utah State Jr. High Chess Championship, three brave sixth graders, Marisa Eng, Anne-Elizabeth Kim, and Michael Thompson entered the tournament and played two grueling days of chess in early March. In the seven game contest, team RHSM finished in third in the small schools category, only a half point behind second place Dixon Middle School. This is quite remarkable since our school did not have a full team (we needed a fourth player), and I was running the tournament and unable to provide support as their coach. Next year, with a healthy number of rising fifth grade chess players, RHSM will once again have a strong junior high chess team.
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When Was RHSM Founded?
Change of School Seal Unanimously Approved
On March 13, the Board of Trustees unanimously voted to revise the date on our school seal from "1880" to "1867" to accurately reflect the actual founding date of St. Mark's, our original "parent" school. Rowland Hall was founded in 1880, and when the two schools merged in 1964 and, subsequently, the school seals merged, for some reason the founding date of RH was used. According to Tony Larimer, co-chair of the school's Alumni Association, "I have always felt that 1880 was the wrong date. The Episcopal School system was started in 1867 and the school's official seal should reflect that." This change won't happen overnight as there are a lot of existing seals, but replacements will take place as finances and timing permit. (You may want to mark your calendar for RHSM's 150th anniversary celebration in 2017!)
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All-School Event: Somali Bantu Cultural Celebration
March 29 3:00-6:00 p.m. RHSM Middle School Commons
Please come and celebrate with the Somali Bantu Community their culture and heritage. This event is sponsored by the Somali Bantu Cultural Association and there will be a small donation requested at the door to support the association's efforts. Enjoy dancing, singing and a few of the arts of the Somali Bantu people who now make Salt Lake City their home.
For more information, please contact Director of Service Learning Liz Paige at lizpaige@rhsm.org. |
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Kick Like a Girl!
 Rowland Hall-St. Mark's School parent and documentary filmmaker Jenny Mackenzie has created a whole new meaning for the term soccer mom. Her film, "Kick Like A Girl," which premiered at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in early February will be showing at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 28, at the Larimer Center. The film chronicles the story of an undefeated Salt Lake girls soccer team that chooses to compete in the boys division looking for a tougher level of play. The film's stars are the third-grade girls that make up the "Mighty Cheetahs" team, and the boys they play against in their competitions. You are sure to see several familiar RHSM faces. Mackenzie, her creative team and some of the Cheetahs will be at the screening for a discussion and reception after the film.
RHSM's own Academy Award winner Geralyn Dreyfous, acclaimed for her documentary "Born Into Brothels," mentored Mackenzie on the project and is the film's executive producer.
"Kick Like a Girl" was just nominated for the prestigious "Billie" Award from the Women's Sports Foundation for the positive portrayal of women and girls in the media, and has now been accepted to 13 other international film festivals. The film illuminates the feelings of parents and players who become increasingly aware of gender roles and expectations as the season progresses.
Mackenzie told the Deseret News she is marketing the film for 30 minute television slots. "I do want to share it," she said. "I hope it motivates and inspires people and creates an avenue for greater opportunities for girls on and off the field."
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Assistant Director of SummerWorks Hired
by Giovanna Percontino, Director
 Rowland Hall St. Mark's SummerWorks is pleased to announce the hiring of an assistant director for the 2008 summer camp season! Hailey Baldwin will be joining us. She has been an instructor at the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), a river instructor with Otterbar Kayak School in California, a back country mountain bike guide, and is currently on the ski patrol at Alta. She is a graduate of the University of Colorado. She has organized community service projects for Whitman Community Service House in Walla Walla, Washington. Her experience with teaching adult kayaking and working as a ski patroller for the ski resorts of Park City and Alta will be valuable for our new and revamped Counselor In Training Program. Hailey has wilderness and outdoor response safety training and her energy and enthusiasm for working with children is currently demonstrated here at the Lower School campus where she is substitute teaching. We are pleased and delighted to have an assistant with a strong recreational background. Please join me in wishing her a warm RHSM welcome!
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 Fiesta Time!
On Wednesday, March 12, 2008, Margaret and Stella's kindergarten class had a fiesta! Stella Restrepo taught the children a Spanish dance. Then she had them play Bingo using Spanish words. We watched a video in Spanish about animals in the zoo. We finished up by coloring pictures and making tissue paper flowers!
Gracias, Stella!
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 What Is That?
by Stacey Collett, 3 PreK Teacher
At Rowland Hall-St. Mark's School we tie nature into our curriculum by spending time in our outdoor spaces. This is how three and four-year-olds investigate, collect, and assess information to formulate a solid answer to questions such as, "What kind of poop is it?"
While out on the big field, as we call the quad in 3 PreK, someone noticed a pile of something small and round on the grass. "I found something!" the child shouted. The following conversation ensued, as all the children came scurrying over to check out the "find."  "What is it?" asked one child. The teacher asked, "What do you think it is?" The children, almost in unison said, "I think it is poop." The teacher asked, "What kind of poop?" "Maybe it is kangaroo poop," said one child. "Maybe it is giraffe poop," said another child. "I think it is rabbit poop," said one. And two children added, "Me too." "I think it is choo-choo train poop," said one, as all the other children wondered if it could really be train poop. "No," said the child who thought it was from a train, "maybe mice poop." "I think it is leopard poop," another child piped in. Quietly, one little girl said, "I think it is moose poop." From that the teacher added, "Maybe it has antlers." One child shouted, "Oh, I know, it is from a deer!" "Maybe," said the teacher. "Should we investigate?"
 We decided to follow the trail of poop, which led us to the corner of the large soccer field where the deer enter and exit our yard. There we found hoof prints on the ground and hair stuck to the fence. The children then confirmed that the poop was definitely from deer. We discussed how the deer could possibly get their antlers through the fence. Can they jump high? Do they get stuck? Do daddies, mommies, and baby deer go this way?
We then walked around looking for more signs of the deer. As we were searching, a few deer snuck across the field, through the fence and back into the cemetery grounds. Some children noticed, while others were still searching for signs that the deer had been there. Many of the children watched and listened to the Canadian Geese honk and fly above our heads.
We later discussed the scientific name for poop (scat), and how we can always be on the look out for signs that animals have been in our yard. The children have since noticed signs of birds in our yard, by prints in the mud and poop on the ground.
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Elementary Engineering Week
by Brent Larsen, 5th Grade Teacher
 The fifth grade students participated in the Elementary Engineering Week at the University of Utah on March 7, 2008. The engineering events included building a catapult, constructing straw towers, and designing "fish" from clay.
In preparation for the Engineering week, each student was asked to work in class with a team to design a catapult. The students researched information about catapults and trebuchets. They found out that catapults used a tension system while trebuchets used a counter weight to hurl objects at a given target. After their research, the students designed and built catapults that were made specifically to lob a marshmallow twelve feet across the room in an attempt to hit an unsuspecting pie tin.
 The students gathered wood, rubber bands, screws, nails and an assortment of materials that could be used to create a working catapult. In the days to follow, the fifth grade classrooms and commons came alive with the sound of hammers, screwdrivers, saws, and drills as the catapults began to take shape. The art of calibrating the equipment and perfecting the arc of trajectory was the focus of daily work sessions. The fifth grade students and their teachers wish to thank all of those who patiently waited for the ruckus to desist!
 Next, the students met in the RHSM field house to demonstrate the accuracy of each catapult and to decide which machine would reign supreme. Cheers and chants arose as marshmallows flew through the air toward the target. The students deemed each catapult a success, regardless of its ability to hit the pie tin. As a result of this event, one catapult was chosen from each class, based on overall accuracy, to represent RHSM in the engineering contest.
Students, teachers and a few able bodied parents converged on the Union Building at the University of Utah to challenge other schools form the valley in a contest of accuracy. The three teams chosen to represent RHSM demonstrated their expertise in front of a multitude of students and teachers. Only four of the numerous catapults entered in the event that day actually hit the target. One of the RHSM catapults was among those four to achieve a successful hit. Our students' ability to speak eloquently and intelligently to an audience was overheard being discussed among the engineering students who ran the events.
 The other two events that day included, working in teams to build towers from straws for strength and height and designing fish from clay that would either cruise through water quickly or slowly when pulled by a counter weight. Our students demonstrated their ability to work successfully during group situations and to quickly problem solve for a variety of variables.
Our students' participation in the Elementary Engineering Week was exciting and challenging. In the end, the students learned more about physics and engineering, working as a team, and troubleshooting. The students also earned a cash prize of $380.00 for participating in this event. The money will be donated to the RHSM lower school for science and math supplies.
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Social Networking Sites... in the Lower School?
by Chad Obermark, Teacher, Computer Lab
 MySpace, Facebook, Bebo: Any kind of social networking fad that I come across I immediately, and thankfully, dismiss it as problems for the middle and upper school. For those who are fortunate enough to have avoided problems with the social networking phenomenon, the idea is that kids have their own site where they can share their pictures, blogs and music with their friends. Problems can arise because they also share this information with the rest of the (adult) internet community.
So why should we in beginning and lower schools care? Because I believe the cure for problems in social networking is not to block students' access or to forbid our children from using it. The solution is going to be to help kids become savvy as to how to use and access sites like this, just as we teach them to look both ways when crossing the road. Teaching this level of information literacy can't start too soon, so it falls to us to lay a foundation for our students to tackle these broader issues later on.
Where do we begin? We need to start with something that the kids use and relate to; something they have already embraced. That is typically not found in my classroom! I've found that students already have their own ways of socially networking online. Webkinz are cute, little animals whose ubiquity and popularity make the Beanie babies and Elmo craze as quaint as tinker toys. They are more than just toys however, and the real draw comes with a code that allows kids to login to their website to feed and play with and do any number of other activities with their stuffed friend. Among these activities is the opportunity to chat with other Webkinz owners.
Here is where a lot of people would warn you of the perils of letting your children use the internet and predict dire consequences for anyone under the age of 16 using a computer. I think that is a fear that is over-hyped and out of date. It is a problem to be addressed, not run away from. Webkinz and ClubPenguin are two of the Top 10, most popular social networking sites on the entire internet (Hitwise, Dec '07). These are ways for young kids to chat and interact with each other in a safe environment. Our job is to talk with and guide them about what they do, what information they share, and who they talk to on these sites. We can't shelter them forever, so why not take advantage of these safe sites to create a dialogue about what to do when kids may access less-safe sites?
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Seasons
Icy is the winter when the snow makes a silvery blanket,
When we make our snow angels.
Warm is the spring when buds bloom on trees,
When animals are born.
Sizzling is the summer when we love to go swimming,
When ice cream is the only thing we want.
Windy is the fall when the leaves turn colors,
When rakes are taken out of garages.
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 Sixth Grade Artist-in-Residence
Randi Lile was the featured Artist-in-Residence for the sixth grade class. Randi started creating fearsome looking clay fish in an attempt to conquer her fear of the ocean. Randi walked our sixth grade students through the creative process of designing and making their own deep sea dweller. This is the fourth year Randi has shared her passion for clay with our sixth graders.
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 Senior Honored as Exchange Club Youth of the Year
Senior Hanna Saltzman received the Youth of the Year Award from the Salt Lake Exchange Club luncheon meeting on March 12. The Salt Lake Exchange Club recognizes two students from a local high school each month during the school year, based on their academic excellence, participation in school life and activities, special talents in service, service provided to the community as a whole, writing and speaking skills, and self-confidence. At the end of the school year the Salt Lake Exchange Club will choose one student to compete for a national $10,000 Exchange Club college scholarship. Congratulations to Hanna, daughter of Charles Saltzman and Ingrid Nygaard.
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 UNC at Chapel Hill Awards Prestigious Scholarship to RHSM Senior
Sydney Hartsell has been selected as the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Morehead-Cain Scholar, in a year described by the Morehead-Cain Foundation as "one of the most competitive years in recent history." The foundation received more than 1,500 applications. After reviewing all of the applications and interviewing over 320 prospective Scholars, the selection committee chose to award 82 scholarships.
According to the foundation, "the Morehead-Cain Scholars Program is a unique, life-changing educational opportunity that combines a four-year undergraduate merit scholarship to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a lifelong challenge to make a difference in the world. The Program provides four summers of global travel and experiential learning, personal mentoring by experienced staff advisors and accomplished Program Alumni, and a remarkable group of motivated Morehead-Cain peers."
Scholars are selected based on four criteria -- leadership ability, moral force of character, academic excellence, and physical vigor -- and are expected to be leaders and role models, both on the UNC campus and after they graduate. "The selection committee believes that Sydney epitomizes the four selection criteria of the Morehead-Cain and will continue to pursue excellence as a dynamic and dedicated leader on the UNC campus and in the larger community," according to the foundation.
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 Art Exhibited by Upper School
Weber State University was the host of the Third Annual Northern Utah High School Art Exhibition. Five Rowland Hall-St. Mark's students were accepted into the exhibit; they include: Mike White, Kristin Maloney, Lee Asahina, Elizabeth Strait, and Dhemerae Ford. Lee Asahina won an Honorable mention for her chalk pastel drawing titled "Trey". The exhibit ran from March 1st to March 20th in the Ethel Wattis Kimball Visual Arts Building on the Weber Campus in Ogden.
There will be a Senior exhibit during April and May. The students included in this exhibit are: Mike White, Kristin Maloney, Aya Gerpheide, Sara Glazier, Avijit Halder, Eli Koles, and Lita Madlang. We want to thank Carol Osborn at Evolutionary Healthcare, 461 East 200 South, for allowing the students to exhibit their work in her beautiful space. The exhibit will hang from April 18th, Gallery Stroll Evening, to May 9th. There will be an opening reception for the Rowland Hall-St. Mark's community on April 25th from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. Please join us to celebrate the work of these talented students.
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 Did You Know?
Did you know that RHSM cafeterias work hard to keep fat contents low by only serving baked chips or pita chips and desserts such as low fat yogurt, sorbet or natural juice bars? A local natural ice cream is also a choice.
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Show Your School Spirit
Support RHSM athletics by buying the Booster Club sweatshirt. The middle school boys and girls athletic sweatshirts are also available. Please fill in the order form and return it to either the upper school or middle school office with your check payable to "RHSM Booster Club". |
Winter Sport Athletes Honored
Several RHSM winter athletic team athletes recently received recognition at their respective award night dinners. Swim team coaches Sara Watchorn and Mark Gray recognized Connor Barton as Most Valuable Male Swimmer; Adrienne Murphy as Most Valuable Female Swimmer; Tristan Buhler as Most Improved Male Swimmer; Chandler Schlegel as Most Improved Female Swimmer; and awarded Eric Albee the Coaches' Award.
In girls' basketball, coaches Bill Tatomer and Jamie Wilhite awarded Most Valuable Player honors to Blake Harries; Outstanding Offensive Player honors went to Hillary Dealey-Thomason; Erin Armentrout was named Outstanding Defensive Player; Most Improved Player was Chloe Hauenstein; and Vivian Huynh received the Coaches' Award.
Coaches Shawn MacQueen, Ron Potter, and Aaron Hinton presented a Co-MVP award to Jared Accettura and Zach Arthur; Jordan Knoll-Marston was named Most Improved; and Daniel Livsey garnered the Coaches' Award.
Congratulations to all!
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RHSM Athletes Named All-State
Senior Hillary Dealey-Thomason, one of the top three point shooters in the state this year, and junior Blake Harries, another top scorer in 2A, were both recently named to the Deseret News All-State girls' basketball team. Congratulations!
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Boys' Tennis
Tryouts for the RHSM boys' tennis team were held the week of March 10 at Coach Mike's Tennis Academy under the watchful eye of coaches Tim Sleeper and Susan Daynes. The coaches are pleased to announce that Andrew Arsht, Matt Bossart, Reuben Castillo, Mario Feola, Ben Friedman, Carson Huiskamp, Will Hunt, Joe Illingworth, Anton Khodakov, Daniel Livsey, Michael Marquardt, Sam Miller, Stevenson Smith, Beau Sperry, Robert Thompson, and Allen Ward will be representing the Winged Lions on the courts this season as the team prepares to defend its 2007 2A State title. With a strong core of returning players and the addition of several new and talented tennis athletes, the coachng staff is excited about the upcoming season. The team opens play at Juan Diego on April 2.
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Baseball Season Kicks Off
The 2008 RHSM Baseball season offiicially kicked off February 25th. Despite battling weather conditions for much of the early season, head coach Ben Voegele likes his teams chances this spring. "It's been a very odd start to the season for many reasons, and the weather hasn't helped. That said, this is a veteran group with a lot of talent. If we play up to our capabilities, I don't see why we won't compete this year in our region. We have speed and pitching. We're going to run and steal a lot of bases. I've been real impressed with our returning guys, and equally impressed with our newer players. It comes down to how well we can gel as a team and keep our overall focus where it needs to be. The talent is there to do a lot of good things," said Voegele.
Joey Polychronis will anchor a deep pitching staff consisting of senior Dylan Enright, and junior Carter Haslam. Offensively, junior Jordan Knoll-Marston is prime for a breakout year. Defensively, junior third baseman Eric Hutchinson will lead a very solid infield that consists also of sophomore Corbin Christensen, Polychronis, Enright, Haslam, and Knoll-Marston. The outfield is young, but fast with speedy freshman centerfielder Alex Kim to go along with freshman left fielder Jimmy McCarthy and senior right fielder Mason Murphy. Rounding out the team are sophomore Colton Sandberg, junior Matt Bishop, and seniors Avi Halder and Adam Davis. Returning as assistant coaches to Voegele are Chad Camp and McKenon Estrada.
RHSM will play it's first home game against North Summitt Thursday, March 27, 2008, at 3:30 p.m. at Herman Franks Field.
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The Upper School Fields a Track Team
It has been many years since Rowland Hall-St. Mark's School has fielded a track team. In 2007 we had an outstanding runner in Ana Moser, an exchange student, who, training without the support of a RHSM team, went on to finish first at the Utah State High School meet in the 1600 meter with a time of 5:22.37.
The beginning of this 2008 season has us sporting a squad of thirteen dedicated runners. Some of our runners you will remember from this year's cross-country team. They include Alex Edgley, Taylor Hollen, Ben Florsheim, Max Sharp, Aaron Phillips, Jackson Hannon, and Wilson Dippo (senior). It is my hope that our girls' team members might consider cross-country next fall, as I see running promise in: Chloe Joesten, Wynne Connelly (senior), and Zoey Martin-Lockhart. Completing our boys' squad are runners: Alec Darr, Andrew Oster, and Jacob Fuhrman.
Practices began on February 25, a day that found us ending our workout in cold, freezing rain - a good lesson in dressing for spring training in Utah. Since that day we have had much better conditions for our early season daily workouts. The team is lucky to have the use of the East High School track facility for its quality training sessions. The focus of this year's team is on the middle distance events, though we do have a few runners that wish to hone their fast-twitch skills in the 100 and 200meter races.
The first scheduled meet of the season, The Big Red Invitational, is at East High School on April 4 at 3:30 p.m. Most of our runners will be setting personal records at this meet as it will be their first high school contest in track.
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Softball
The 2008 edition of the RHSM softball team has been in action since February 25. The Winged Lions met Region 14's number one team, Juab, in early March and played very well in their first outing of the season. 5A Hillcrest was the next opponent for RHSM, who, after a difficult first inning, bounced back to give the Huskies all they could handle. A trip to the March Warm-Up Tournament in St. George was a great opportunity for the team to get competitive experience, as they played five games against 2A, 3A and 4A opponents, and the Winged Lions showed steady improvement throughout the weekend.
Coaches Kathy Howa and Kendra Tomsic are optimistic about the upcoming Region 14 season and are confident that the team will qualify for the State 2A Tournament in May. Good luck to captains Erin Armentrout, Danielle Therson, and Paige Masuda and their teammates Kanika Tua'one, Grace Falkner, Dhemerae Ford, Alexis Shimada, Leah Petracca, Hannah Grunwald, Maddy Haslam, Adrienne Murphy, Floria Naumann, Hannah Midget, Sarah Slusher, and Ediva Zanker. Manager for the team is Vivian Huynh. Go Winged Lions!
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Boys' Soccer
By Bobby Kennedy
With ten players returning from last season's team the Winged Lions are poised to make a run at the title in '08.
The season started on February 25th with two new coaches - Scott Langone and Eldon Brough - eager to make an impression during the try-out process. It is clearly evident that several players worked hard during the off-season as many of them returned physically stronger for the upcoming campaign.
The teams completed a non-region schedule prior to Spring Break that was as diverse as it was challenging. The boys travelled to Fillmore to play Millard, with both the Varsity and Junior Varsity coming away with victories. The next match the Varsity gave 3A opponent Grantsville all they could handle and won convincingly 3 - 0. The Junior Varsity played to a hard fought 2 - 2 tie.
In the final game before Regional play the Winged Lions hosted 4A power Highland. While both teams lost, it was clear that Rowland Hall can compete with schools in a higher classification.
There is no rest for the green and white following Spring Break. Both teams will play region foes, South Summit and St. Josephs this week.
Team rosters:
Varsity; Phinehas Bynum, Kevin McCormack, Donny White*, Jared Accettura, Walker Adams*, Brendan Hovsepian-Kelly, Robbie Hull*, Alex Marker, Jong-Boem Park, Felipe Saltz, Max Wolcott, Bohdan Klawe, Alec Rogers, Wills Shott, Mats Sanyer. Head Coach - Bobby Kennedy, Associate Coach - Scott Langone, Asst. Coach - Mark Buckner.
Junior Varsity; JungHo Roh, Matthew Levitt, Tim Bohnsack, Eddie Broschinsky, Jae Gal*, Arsene Gery*, Griffin Gilbert*, Brooks Hall, Wyatt McNeil, Andrew Patterson, Thomas Veghte, Daniel Bynum, Wajdi Mallat, Corin Thummel, Hans Weiner. Head Coach - Eldon Brough.
*Captains
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Rowland Hall-St. Mark's School | 720 Guardsman Way | Salt Lake City | UT | 84108
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