Ava Lewis: How long have you been teaching?

Ben Lidgus: This is my first year as a real teacher. I got hired by Garfield in the summer, and before that I was a student teacher at Franklin for a year. Interestingly, though, before I went to school to get my master’s degree to become a teacher, I actually volunteered in this exact room (308) that I am now teaching in, with a teacher that doesn’t teach here anymore. I have also taught at the UW, and tutored math and science for a long time.

AL: What inspired you to become a teacher?

BL: I discovered that I wanted to teach when I was coaching improv at Nova, back when they were across the street. We won the Seattle High School improv tournament, and it was during that time I realized I really wanted to spend a lot more time with high school students. I love your guys’ energy;  I think you do weird, fun, stupid things that are hilarious all the time. It’s just fun for me. If I’m having a bad Monday and I walk into class and things are sorta lame, I suddenly start feeling better when my class fills up with you guys.

AL: What has been your most memorable moment at Garfield so far?

BL: The walkout. The first one was awesome, going all the way down to City Hall and seeing people holding posters out the window. What I respected most was that people were really taking care of each other. Everyone seemed to understand that we had to cross the street orderly, and people were helping each other out. But people were still literally running to City Hall, and I thought that was great. I know not everyone knew exactly why we were walking out, but people felt something was wrong. People felt we needed to do something about it and they did.

AL: How do you feel your style of teaching differs from other styles?

BL: I like to tell a lot of ridiculous jokes and stupid stories about myself all the time, and I like hearing what students did over the weekend.  I mean, I really like physics; physics is definitely cool, but that’s not why I’m teaching. I’m teaching because I want to be part of a community and help young people realize that life gets cooler. If you let life get cooler, it will. I know a lot of adults don’t have fun interesting lives, but I want to show people that, no…. as interesting as your life is now, it can double how interesting and cool it is every five years from now on. You have to make a choice that you want your life to be fun, interesting, and crazy, but it is possible. And it takes hard work, but you can do it. Don’t let the fact that you see some adults with lame lives fool you. Make your own life and make it the most interesting you can make it be.

AL: If you weren’t a teacher, what would you want to be?

BL: Well, I used to work in the circus at Teatro Zinzani, which was pretty awesome, and I would love to do that again. I would probably be a performer of some type. I used to want to be an actor or a comedian but I don’t really have the drive to do that anymore. Realistically, instead of being the teacher I am now, I would like to be a better teacher. If I could make my job being better than I am now, I would definitely do that.

AL: What should students know about you outside of school?

BL: I think that they should know that I am probably interested in whatever they are interested in. I mean some kids are into comic books, or anime, or learning how to become a better sprinter, or becoming an advertiser, or running their own business. These are all things that I have been interested in at some time. Or brain science. That’s pretty cool too. There are a zillion things that I have been interested in at some point in my life, and I have done some work in many of these areas. I would love students to know that I want to hear about their weird hobbies.

AL: What is the most intense situation you have had to deal with while teaching?

BL: I guess I haven’t really had too many. While I was at Franklin I had to break up a fight once but that’s about it. Nothing so far this year.

AL: What groups are you involved with here at Garfield?

BL: Well, I teach improv here at Garfield and also at Seattle University. I have a list of clubs that I really want to check out. I hear there is a lucid dreaming club. Is that true? Beause that sounds really awesome. I want to stop by there, and GSA, and definitely free style rap club, as well as POST and Core. I have a ton of stuff that I want to do, but I don’t really know where to start. I have always wanted to sing with the choirs here and play with the band, and I desperately hope to make it on some of the school trips. I’m going on Siberia, which should be really fun.

AL: What is the one most important thing you want students to take away from you?

BL: Make your life your biggest project. It’s hard work but it is the most important work you will ever do.  Make your life fascinating to yourself. Make your own life a work of art.

The Ratings:
★ — Rush Limbaugh’s Pointer Finger
★★ — Madonna
★★★ — M.J.A.‘s Middle Finger
★★★★ — Tom Brady’s Wife

Ferris Beuller CRV
★★★
Going into the Super Bowl, there was a substantial amount of hype surrounding this video. Matthew Broderick, the dude who played Ferris Beuller in the movie, plays himself in the commercial, reenacting a few of the more iconic parts of the original, museum scene and all. The 24 references to the movie hidden in the advertisement were entertaining, but the pick of the litter was certainly the back-round music, which featured a Koolaid man/Barry White combo repeatedly whispering “ooohhh, yeeeaaahhh.”

Everything With Adriana Lima
★★★★
Victoria Secret model Adriana Lima stole the show for the evening. She appeared in two commercials: one for Teleflora and one for Kia.

In the Teleflora ad, Lima sensuously dresses herself for a Valentine’s day date. She glides around the room before turning to the camera and telling all male viewers that if they “give,” they “will receive.”

If the not-so-subtle sexuality of this ad wasn’t enough, the Kia commercial most certainly did the trick. Lima incepts herself into a  man’s dream, but we quickly find out that this is no ordinary dream, for he has ingested a mysterious golden powder which is making everything super hardcore.

Lima dons a bikini-thing that vaguely resembles Borat’s yellow body thong, and dances around a race track waving flags while the man drives his Kia past her. All of this to the melodic tunes of Motley Crue. It’s nuts.

The Tease: Jon Stamos Oikos
★
Before seeing this commercial, I had no opinion of Jon Stamos. After seeing this commercial, I hate Jon Stamos. From his ridiculously defined jaw, to his irresistable tri-dimples, to his conniving wide Joker-like smile, his whole persona in this ad is just chock-full of D-baggery. He repeatedly robs his counterpart of her share of the delicious Oikos Greek nonfat yogurt, getting away with it only because his flirtatious eyebrow twitches keep her at bay. She eventually comes to her senses and headbutts the obnoxious smirk right off of his face,

Here Wego Dog Rescue Bud Light
★★★
This is a commercial for everybody, from frat boys to dog lovers. A rescue puppy has been named Wego by his new owner. When his friends inquire about the peculiar name, he instructs them to call the dog over. “Here we go,” they say, and off goes Wego to retrieve them their tasty and refreshing Bud Lights from the refrigerator.

This process repeats in various forms for another 40 seconds, before they hit us with the deep stuff, telling us to support rescued dogs, and making us feel like terrible people if we don’t buy their beer.

Time Warner Cable
★★
The production value of this ad probably exceeded the price of placing it, which is stupid. Ricky Gervais begins the ad by rejecting a facebook friend request, setting off a chain of events that leads to the world disintegrating into wartime chaos. Then a motorcycle guy flies overhead and lands next to a greenhouse-like place with the lady from “Weeds” holding a Marijuana plant. Then the pretty lady looks out the window and sees approaching zombies off in the distance. As the commercial fades to black, we learn that — like many other big organizations — Time Warner has a grammatically dubious slogan. The WNBA has “Expect Great, Apple has “Think Different,” and Time Warner has “Enjoy Better.” Apparently it’s really hip.

All three have been swimming for many years, two of them since they were seven.

“I started because I wanted to beat Matt!” exclaims Tang.

“I swim because Asians swim,” deadpanns Wallace.

Though their reasons for swimming differ, there is no doubt that they’ve done something right. Grega swam an impressive one-minute flat 100 backstroke, which earned him a trip to the district meet and is a place among the team’s elite.

All three also used to swim year round at private pools, which helps build up for the winter season.

“The rush of the water against my face is the most exhilarating feeling in the world; I really can’t describe it,” gushes Grega.

“It’s fun,” says Wallace.

However, Garfield swimming isn’t always that serious. In fact, sometimes the boys even manage to have some fun. During a meet this season, Wallace mistimed his dive into the pool and went in a half second too early. Unfortunately, it ended up costing the team the win.

“Best moment ever!!” jokes “friend” Matt Grega.

They also claim that the locker room antics have been entertaining; however, when asked about specifics, they simply looked at each other and started snickering.

Unfortunately, says junior Bullfrog Max Ogryzko, these freshmen missed the worst of it.

“The stuff that happened last year would’ve made them really uncomfortable. It’s stuff I can’t repeat. But, the elephant hasn’t come out of its cage this year, so to speak.”

The freshman on the team aren’t the only good ones. Sophomores Noah Cross and Tyler Mi were cited as being “filthy” by senior swimmer Austin Prince.

“I have been swimming since I was very young, so it is a big part of my life,” he says. “I also like how it stands out from most other sports; instead of working directly together as a team to score points, swimmers compile their individual efforts in order to make their team win,” Cross explained.

To become such a high caliber swimmer, guys like Cross swim twenty hours or more per week, before and after school. His best event is the 100 meter freestyle, which clocks in at an astounding 51.9 seconds. He hopes to trim down enough time to make it to state.

Cross adds, “I think the swim team has a lot of potential to become faster in the next few years. Most of the freshman swimmers come from swimming clubs, so they are all pretty good. If they keep getting better, our team will get much better as well. They vary in maturity, but I don’t think they will be doing anything especially wild anytime soon.”

Mi swims the 200 Individual Medley in two minutes and 12 seconds, the 100 fly in 59 seconds, and the 100 free in 53 seconds.

“As for the expectations, I’m hoping each of us can develop and have a good number of us make it to state,” Mi says.

With speedy times like these, it’s very probable that Garfield will have at least a few representatives at the state meet.

With their freshman and sophomore seasons coming to a close, the boys all have high hopes for the coming years.

“We’re gonna be really good next year,” the freshmen announce.

“Roosevelt is pretty good, but we’re gonna rock them,” Wallace says proudly as he proceeds to flex his biceps.

This year, however, the field is once again wide open and it is anybody’s game. Will it be a three point shooting team that catches fire on their way to victory? Or maybe a team with tremendous size that only dunks? Nobody knows. There is only one-way for students and staff to have any say in the final results. Sign up.

Rules are as follows:

five players max per team

three players on court at a time (2 if varsity basketball player also on court)

single elimination with one consolation game after loss

players may only be on one team

The registration booth will open on Monday, February 27th, and be open until Wednesday, March 7th. The cost is $16 per team. The tournament is scheduled to start on March 12th.

This tournament has something for everyone. It is not every day that hundreds of kids pile into a gym to watch basketball games with players ranging from tiny freshman boys to grown, dunking seniors. Much like as in the actual NCAA March Madness, expect the unexpected. On last year’s “Tone and the Scrawny Boys” squad, Scrawny boy Matt Paley stole the show with his barrage of three point shots, proving that their team was more than just one player.

One aspect of the tournament that should never be overlooked is the choosing of a team name. A good team name can scare opponents even before they know who is actually on the team. A good name may also draw a bigger crowd, providing a more intense and epic basketball name.

Comedic value should never be overlooked in a name. It can lead to instant supporters and even sometimes personalized chants.

Each year, there are plenty of teams with the talent, but with little practice time, team chemistry is equally important. Ideally, a team would consist of five best friends that are all fairly good at basketball but, when all on the same team, turn into an unstoppable scoring machine. It helps if their clique’s title is an acronym.

With just over two weeks until signups, it is time to start assembling your team. Don’t wait until all the good players are snatched up, or your team could be looking at a painful one-and-done. Begin training now, working out all the kinks before games come around, to ensure a long tournament run, because nothing is worse than losing in the first round to a terrible team.

Garfield’s March Madness tournament is always the talking point around the school and is something that every student should try at least once during their high school career.

Each year brings different upsets, highlight dunks, and three-point showcases that send the crowd into frenzies. March Madness allows for everyone to share this and is your opportunity to become a part of Garfield folklore forever.

The Times article placed too much emphasis on the unfairness of the imbalance in PTA funding. It’s true that PTAs rely on the school’s extended community of family and friends to donate money, so schools with parents who aren’t financially stable (and have fewer connections to people who can donate thousands of dollars) have a difficult time competing with the richer schools in fundraising.

On the other hand, the schools with many low-income families are offered extra government funding to help ensure all children meet the state’s academic standards.

It’s necessary because students from less wealthy backgrounds are more likely to have an unstable home life and lack of family support, impediments to success in school.

At Rainier Beach, where 74% of students are on the Free and Reduced Lunch program, only 51% of students graduate in four years or less; whereas at Garfield, with only 37% on Free and Reduced Lunch, there is a 91% four year graduation rate. Evidently, schools like Beach need the extra help.

However, schools with wealthy student bodies also have financial problems. Because they are given significantly less funding by the district, the burden falls on the PTAs to make up the difference.

In many cases the PTAs don’t even raise enough to bridge the gap and one of the results is fewer counselors, tutors, nurses, librarians and other teachers.

Garfield has 1.32 of these types of staff per 100 students, but Rainier Beach has 2.54. The parents at schools that are given less support must raise hundreds of thousands more to pay for things like counselors, but that shouldn’t be their responsibility.

In fact, the burden placed on school PTAs has continually increased over the past few years as the state keeps cutting education funding.

To pay for the new High School and Beyond Counseling Center, Garfield’s PTSA is planning a Nissan Leaf raffle.

PTSA member Kirk Wohlers says, “It’s not the PTSA’s job, but we feel the need to make up for the state’s lack of funding. The PTSA is trying to bridge the gap between the luxuries and the mandatory items.”

These “luxuries” are the only things the PTAs should have to fund — Senior Awards Night, the drama program, and band uniforms.

The things we need — teachers, counselors, tutors, nurses, music and arts classes, and special education and ESL language programs — should be funded by the state. It is unfair to rely on parents to be the sole financiers of these necessities. In addition, depending on the PTA to support teacher and staff salaries is unstable because there’s no guarantee that money will be raised year after year.

So yes, it’s unfair that PTAs made up of wealthy families raise so much more money and that this money doesn’t even close the funding gap between schools with rich and low-income students. But limiting what PTAs can contribute or taking away money from certain schools isn’t the solution to bring us equality.

We need to demand the state provide all our schools need to successfully provide students with an education. Stop leaving it to the parents of our students to pick up the slack.

“The [Standards-Based] system is a way to focus more on what you are actually learning rather than focusing on just turning in assignment after assignment,” says sophomore Violet Brown.

The class consists of “formative” assessments, your average homework assignment in a typical class, and “summative” assessments, or the tests, essays, and projects in traditional classes.

“The formative is practice for the summative, which is the test.”  says Mr. Gish.

Formative homework does not contribute to final grades, and students can choose which assignments they need to do in order to grasp the material, and skip the others.  The summative tests and projects are the only things that count towards final grades, and can be redone an infinite amount of times.

When the formative assignments, mostly consisting of worksheets, are optional, “there’s not as much busy work,” says Jane Doe*, a sophomore.

However, many students have complained about the changes in the system over the year.  In the original syllabus, the summative assessments were meant to be a gauge of a student’s knowledge, and could be redone.

“One of the biggest drawbacks of the system is that when you do get a bad grade on a summative assessment it’s going to be a while until there’s another summative assessment so you might have a sour grade in the class for a while,” says Brown.

“If you mess up on a test, it really affects your grade, because there’s not a cushion” from other assignments, as in a traditional class,” says Doe*, “which can hurt kids who are bad test-takers.” However, Mr. Gish emphasized that traditional grading systems can hide “failure with success” by assigning extra easy work that can raise grades unnecessarily and not truly reflect a student’s knowledge.

Students have also complained that while the Standards-Based system allows summative assessments to be redone over and over, Mr. Gish’s policy has not allowed as many re-dos.

“At the beginning of the year [Mr. Gish] told us that we would be able to take all the summative assessments as many times as we wanted, but it turns out most of them we are only able to take them two times at most, which seems unfair to me,” says Brown.

“In an attempt to streamline the number of papers going in and out, we said, okay, you’ll come to the summative assessment and that will be it, but really, that flies in the face of the philosophy, so I am altering that and going back to what I think is right,” says Mr. Gish in response to student frustration.

In the future, Gish is working toward a defined system spread throughout the school.  Currently, teachers such as Ms. Hungate-Hawk, Ms. Incorvaia, Ms. Snookal, Ms. Eells, Ms. Farmer, and Ms. Antoncich all use a version of the Standards-Based System.

“If it gets wide support, it should be continued, but the school as a whole should adopt it, not individual teachers,” says sophomore Aaron Goff. Goff worries that college admissions offices “would be taking the B that someone gets in a Standards-Based system — where they sat and rewrote their essay about three times — as less than the A that a kid gets easily in some other class where you basically have to show up and do one worksheet a day.”

“I do think the Standards-Based system should be continued, because in the long run all the formative assignments help a lot with getting good grades on the summative assessments, so people usually have pretty good grades in the classes,” says Brown, though her support is contingent on the issue around the summative assessments being straightened out.

Some students, including Doe*, believe that the system does not add to mastery of the class material, and should not be continued for students next year.

“Personally, I don’t like it,” says Doe*. “It might work for some people… I work better with concrete deadlines where you know you’re turning in this on that day, but it can give some people more flexibility.”

The system is also going to become clearer, both for the student and the teacher, from the beginning.  Gish is working to create a linear progression from the formative assessments to the summative assessments, in order to allow direct learning and a clear idea of what the summative assessments will test on.

“I can’t imagine going back to any other grading system,” says Gish.

*name has been changed

Waffles

If you’re going to eat waffles, you need real maple syrup. A perfectly toasted waffle, with butter and 100% maple syrup is perfection. My personal preference is the Eggo (leggo my eggo!!) with chocolate chips. If you don’t have toaster waffles, you can always make them yourself! The homemade way, like momma used to make. It may take a while but it’s worth it.

Ice cream (suggested by sophomore Jackson Cantrell)

Phish food, vanilla raspberry sorbet, cookie dough, cookies and cream, lemon custard, chocolate fudge brownie, rocky road, rainbow sherbet, the list goes on and on. Ice cream is ideal if you’re thirsty and hungry; it’s milky, creamy and filling! To turn it into a milkshake, simply add milk and sugar.

Nachos (suggested by senior Alex Antush) 

This delicacy can be quite flavorful if made correctly. You’re going to need chips and cheese obviously. A bit of ground beef, refried beans, olives, peppers and diced onions go a long way with nachos. Sour cream, guacamole and salsa are the best condiments out there. Make sure to add lots and lots of salt. To shake it up a little bit you can try making Italian nachos using marinara sauce, parmesan and mozzarella cheese, peppers, olives, onions, and pepperoni.

Top Ramen/ Cup O Noodles

A simple classic, but just as delicious. Heat up some water and add some seasoning and you’re good to go! A great snack for a cold winter night. You can also try cracking an egg into your ramen for an extra oomph of flavor.

Popcorn (suggested by freshman Emma Turner) 

You can never go wrong with popcorn, and I have a few favorite ways for you to enjoy it more thoroughly. You can go the simple route and melt a little (or a lot of) butter, sprinkle it on top, and add some salt. Or you can mix it up a little bit. It may sound odd but I like to pop some popcorn and add in some soy sauce, butter, cheddar cheese and garlic powder. It is the PERFECT midnight snack, trust me.

Cereal (suggested by junior J’Kela Smith and junior Jaida Morgan) 

Frosted flakes are more than good… they’re grrrreat! Adding extra honey on top of your honey nut cheerios makes them especially sweet. A few more personal favorites are Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Lucky Charms, Life, and Frosted Mini-Wheats. And at the end of your bowl, there’s always that  irradiated pool of delicious, flavor-saturated milk to drink.

Or, as Cantrell also suggests, “Just eat the vegans!”

While the majority of the school was out grinding and pretending to be classy, Garfield’s B and C jazz banders were out on their grind, being classy. So it was at the annual Viking Jazz festival in Poulsbo last Friday, where the B and C bands took second and first place in their respective divisions. Sophomores Derek Billey, Alice Mar-Abe, and Freshman Janak Preston won soloist awards, and though the second place finish to hated Roosevelt was disappointing, most band members agreed that just getting to see the bustling cultural hot-spot that is Poulsbo, Washington, made it all worth-it.

NBA?

The gears are finally beginning to turn as the pursuit of a new NBA team for Seattle has produced a possible sponsor. The Seattle Times has reported that Chris Hanson, a 44 year old hedge fund manager and Roosevelt high school grad has been in talks with city officials about building a new arena just south of Safeco field in Sodo. Mayor McGinn has called such a project a “serious possibility,” and David Stern, the always conniving NBA commissioner who played a major role in ripping away the Sonics, seems open to the idea. Both the NBA and NHL would be possible tenants. The Kings are the likely NBA candidate, as Sacramento is going through a similar battle with team owners to Seattle’s in 2008. Is it ironic that we would be fine taking a team from a city in the same soul-crushing fashion that was done to us? No.

Republican Primary

The four man race for the Republican nomination is heating up as we head into super Tuesday next month. Rick Santorum is beginning to show some signs of life after taking the Minnesota and Colorado caucuses, silencing his many haters and standing strong despite incessant mockery of his name (Google it, or don’t.) Romney still looks the favorite, but in recent days, his support has taken a hit as quotes like “I’m not concerned about the very poor” haven’t resonated with the masses. For now, the primaries are off to Maine, Arizona, and Michigan before hitting our very own Evergreen State where we will caucus, and massively important issues that will no doubt shape the future of our democracy – like whether or not an abortion is morally sound– will be heatedly debated.

Race to State

The Garfield boys basketball team is looking strong on the march to state after crushing Newport 81–49 last Tuesday With the victory, they claimed the No. 1 seed in the KingCo 4A tournament and will play Redmond tonight at 6:30 at Juanita High School. If they win, they will have an excellent shot at making state, where they fell just short last year, losing in the semi-finals in heart breaking fashion. We may not have Tone-Tone this time around, but who wants flashiness and freakish athletic talent when you can just play good fundamental basketball?

However, that could change next year, given the promise our small but dedicated team shows for the coming years. A young team, Garfield competes in class 4A with the best gymnasts from all around King County.

“4A competition is pretty fierce,” says senior captain Dana Mar, a member of the team since her freshman year. “Garfield is at a disadvantage because most of the girls who join have not done a lot of gymnastics in their life before joining.”

Even with the stiff competition, the team goes out and competes hard every meet.

“Many people fail to recognize the difficulty of gymnastics,” says Mar. “It’s a shame that people pay so little attention to it.”

Garfield gymnasts use this as motivation to keep getting better; they know that eventually more people will come around. “It takes serious strength, control, and ability to do what we do,” says senior Miko Guzzardo.

As with any sport, consistent practice time means consistent improvement. Garfield’s team is on the rise but is at a disadvantage due to lack of gym space.

“At GHS we have to compete for gym space with both the basketball team and the wrestling team,” says Guzzardo.

“Many schools have a multitude of extra gym space and time they can use to practice,” she elaborates.

Gymnastics meets are split up into four categories: bars, vault, beam, and floor. A common misconception about gymnastics is that the floor routine is all for show.

“People fail to realize that dancing around is not just to be cute, we are actually being judged on it,” says sophomore Alexis Neubauer.

For first time spectators, the floor routine, composed of both acrobatic and dance elements, may seem a bit strange.

“Just don’t judge us, because we already have professionals doing that,” says Guzzardo.

The team is full of young talent and the future looks bright. Frances Anderson, Falon Calderon, Jasmine Hall, Shelby Walter, and Alexis Neubauer all qualified for districts this year; all of them plan to return next year. “We are actually improving quite a bit,” says Neubauer.

One problem for the team this season has been a shortage of members. “At some meets we had to compete with the minimum of 5 girls, or forfeit because we didn’t have enough girls eligible,” says Mar. “I don’t think next year’s team will have the same problem.”

Districts are Saturday, February 11th at Sammamish High School.  As the season comes to an end and districts are fast approaching, the team is looking for more fan support but still approaches the situation with a sense of humor.

“People should come to our meets to support their school, and even watch the other teams who also have a lot of talent,” says Neubauer. “If you care to laugh at the leotards, we welcome you as well.”