Author: Ivy Miller

Sem Students Gain Excitement as Fall Season Approaches

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Sem Students Gain Excitement as Fall Season Approaches

By Kyleigh O’Hara ‘21

As the leaves start to fall around campus and the air gets slightly chillier, it’s not hard to see that it’s fall once again in Northeastern Pennsylvania! The Opinator recently sent out a survey to all Upper School students, asking what their plans are for the fall season. While some people have mixed feelings about this season, there are plenty of things that people are excited about. There are lots of fall-related activities to take part in nearby, such as haunted houses and Roba’s Family Farm for apple picking and the corn maze. There are also plenty of things about fall that reminds students about Sem activities, such as finally hanging out with friends at school after summer is over, the fall musical 1776, and watching fall sports. Though the end of summer is usually a sore subject for many, there are so many things about fall to be happy about. At the very least, fall treats, such as apple cider, are a favorite around campus. The Opinator wishes all students a happy fall!

Teachers’ Pets: Introducing Felix

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Felix poses for a Picture at Sem

Teachers’ Pets: Introducing Felix

By Isabelle Polgar ‘21

When the beautiful pups Luci and Lola recommended Mrs. Gensel’s Felix as the next teacher’s pet I should interview, I was excited, but a little apprehensive. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the pup, although he was quite different then the previous pups I interviewed. While Luci and Lola are down to earth celebrities, Felix has an air of mystery. He loves playing people, saying his one message to students would be for them to “come meet me, and give me all of the treats!” 

Felix said being a dorm dog is perfect for him because he gets to hang out with the girls of Swetland every day. He also adores toys, carrying around a stuffed koala bear wherever he goes. His love of koalas is so extreme he has tried his best to become one: he loves to chill, sleep (he can sleep anywhere), and listen to indie music you’ve probably never heard. Also like koalas, he loves food, and he’s always racing to finish his fast as he can. In fact, he is the current school record holder for the society day pizza-eating contest, and he is always supplementing his diet with a large array of shoes. His love of koalas runs so deep that when I asked him what his spirit animal is, he responded with profound insight, saying that a koala is not only his spirit animal but also his soul animal. It seems we can all stand to learn from this wise dog.

 

Felix with his sloth friend

Felix also gets along with almost every other animal. His best doggie friend is Achilles, and if you’re lucky you can spot them playing in his favorite place on campus: behind the SLRC. He also loves other animals, especially his brothers, two very chunky, very lazy, and very lovable guinea pigs; he’s always sticking his nose next to their cage to play with them. Felix is extremely smart; in fact, he’s almost too smart. He can get food out of any puzzle toy almost immediately and is very good at learning commands. His intelligence is so outstanding that he has decided his most likely job on campus would be as an AP Calculus teacher (watch out Mrs. Rickrode and Mrs. McGowan!). He is always observing, and if you stop paying attention for too long, he will find a way to get what he wants, which is usually your shoes.

Breaking through his air of mystery, I found some even more unexpected facts about him. He spends a large portion of his time on his windowsill, observing the campus. He also said if he could play any sport on campus it would be football because when he wants something, like a ball, he will take anything in his path out to get it. However, all of this leads me to the presence of the disconcerting facts of his intelligence, determination, and his alliance with all the girls of Swetland and the other campus pets. These, coupled with a statement from his mom, saying “you can tell when he’s plotting, there is a look in his eyes, almost like an evil mastermind”, bring to mind suspicious activity. With his need for shoes, food, and people to play with him, as well as an iron will, I ask, what is he plotting? And, what should we do about it? Also, if he really is an evil mastermind, how can we stop him? I don’t have any definitive answers, but I did learn the only two things that scare him: hairdryers and the iconic daughter of Ms. Traill and Mr. Fisher, Bea. She seems to be our only hope if Felix decides he wants to take over Sem or even the world. Maybe, one day soon (maybe even before the next edition of Teachers’ Pets), Bea armed with a hairdryer will be on a mission to save us all. 

Midterm Grades Are Here, and Students Don’t Know What to Think

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Charlie Wright ‘20 reacts to seeing his midterm grades on PowerSchool (Photo courtesy of Adam Rogers ‘20)

Midterm Grades Are Here, and Students Don’t Know What to Think

By Adam Rogers ‘20

It’s that time of year again. School has started to settle in. Teachers have been diligently educating, testing, and grading their pupils. But now we have finally reached the first checkpoint of the school year: midterm grades.
Midterm grades are the first sample of grades the students and parents of Wyoming Seminary see halfway through each term. They include the overall academic grade, an effort grade, and teacher comments from each class. These types of grades are used as a way for students to check their progress and see where they should improve before the end-of-term grades are completed.
Until the spring of the 2018-2019 school year, midterm grades were filed in the same format as the transcript at the end of each term. It included the letter grade, the effort grade, comments, and the student’s current and previous grade point averages (GPAs).
Now, however, the format of these has changed. In the midterm, students temporarily gain access to PowerSchool for ten days, which includes individual assignment grades, letter grades, and grade percentages. This program does not calculate GPA.
Many students have come to like the new changes. Phil Gristina ‘20 describes it as a “…more in-depth analysis of my grade. I get to see every class and every grade individually.” One of the features of PowerSchool is being able to see the grade of every assignment in each class, giving a more detailed break-down of the overall percentage grade.
“I like how I’m able to see my individual grades so I can know how to improve my GPA,” says Jared Weisenberger ‘20. Knowing why you are struggling in a class can help you focus on what you need to fix.
There are some downfalls to using PowerSchool to report midterm grades. “I have to calculate my own GPA, which can be scary if I get it wrong,” says Owen Li ‘20. Li, among many other students, find it nerve-wracking to guess their GPA based on their grades.
Teachers are also not entirely on board with reporting midterm grades with PowerSchool. Anne Lew believes “the ability to see your grades as a student might prohibit a really good conversation with your teacher.”