PegasusMonthly

The Rancho Solano Preparatory School Student Newspaper Volume I, Edition 3

November 2017

Editor-In-ChiefEnya Smilovic

Assistant Editor-In-Chief Myra Kamal

Rancho Solano’s Night at the MIM, a Huge Success!By: Enya Smilovic and Jena Vandenberg Pablo Picasso once said, “Every now and then one paints a picture that seems to have opened a door and serves as a stepping stone to other things.” Triggering the senses of hearing and sight, the arts provide expression which cannot be achieved with words alone. On Thursday, November 16th, Rancho Solano Preparato-ry School held its annual night at the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) in Phoenix. The evening

showcased film, music, and visual art projects from students in fourth through twelfth grade. As one walked in through the grand doors of the MIM, it was almost as if one was walking through a door into Spain. Both of our intermedi-ate and chamber orchestras played Latin tunes. Walking farther down the hall, one could see the advanced paintings and sketches done by our art classes. Just to the left was a room that became our own little movie theatre. Original trailers for movies such as Harry Potter, Pacific Rim, and The Hunger Games had all been created by Rancho’s film stu-dents and were viewed by an audi-ence of parents and friends. All of these wonderful works of art were hosted at the MIM, which is home to vast collections of musical instru-

ments spanning the centuries. This semester, the visual art students focused on the fundamen-tals of charcoal drawing. They also focused on one-point and two-point perspective. They carefully observed still-life objects and drew them. So-phia Linkous said, “My piece at the MIM was a still life that we drew around the beginning of first se-mester. The work I did on this piece stood out from my others because it showed my true understanding

of shading and I am really proud of it.” Nghi Tran, who is an HL IB art student, created a series of still life drawings, featuring skulls. Nghi ex-plained, “I wanted to learn the anat-omy and structure of the face while drawing this piece.” This year the guitar/ukulele class was added to the MIM event. It was a mix of Middle and Upper School students, and not only did the students play well, but they sang well too! The ensemble played “We Will Rock You”, “Ode to Joy”, “My Heart Will Go On”, “Let It Be”, and “Nowhere Man”. They also played holiday songs due to the upcoming holiday season. The addition of this class served the purpose of getting more Rancho Solano students in-volved in the fine arts. Dr. Kerbey, who teaches the class, said, “The

beginning guitar and ukulele class-es have surpassed my expectations this semester and I am so very, very proud of them! They not only per-formed a wide variety of song genres from Beethoven to the Beatles, but brave soloists from the groups also volunteered to add vocals, electric bass parts, and even dance moves to our selections of movie themes and holiday rock classics. Their overall presentation at the MIM was both professional and super fun – a perfect combination! Bravo, bravo, bravo!” Also added to the event this year were the choir classes. There is now a Middle and an Upper School choir, and at the MIM they per-formed separately. However, the grand finale included the combined Middle and Upper School choirs. The Middle School sang “Danny Boy” and the Upper School sang “Bonse Aba” and “You Are the New Day.” Gaby Corretjer, one of the Up-per School performers, said, “I had a lot of fun and loved performing with my choir. I love how we have all become close, we’re like a group of sisters! We have so many inside jokes and constantly have so much fun together.” Our Upper School dancers performed a piece accompanied by African folk music. Their dance correlated with some of the African culture exhibits at the MIM. Alissa Persten said, “It was a very unique experience in which we got to ex-perience a culture foreign to us.” Another dancer, Stella Dillard, said, “We got a taste of a real performance scenario, and we got to learn how to act in a professional environment.” The entire evening was a celebra-tion of the creativity and talent of our students! We are already look-ing forward to next year.

All the Fun at the Lock-in! By: Yuna Shprecher

Everyone had a blast at the Lock-in on November third! The night, which lasted from eight pm until seven am in the morning, was filled with activities from laser tag to Disney movies, a scavenger hunt, late night volleyball, and ended with a delicious breakfast of pancakes, French toast, and orange juice. This was the first Upper School Lock-in, and judging by the positive feed-back and fun memories made, it definitely won’t be the last! When asked what her favorite game of the night was, Bella Rose, a sophomore, said, “My favorite was probably the Spoon game,” (the Spoon game was a game in which each student was given a plastic spoon to hold onto the entire night, as well as an assigned person they must throw a sock at in the event that they let go of their spoon). She was interrupted by fellow sophomores Sam Roberts and Amelie Clark, who stated that the only reason it was her favorite was “because she won”, to which she replied with a laugh. Amelie also added, “I really enjoyed the Lock-in, but I wish there were more activi-ties that weren’t too spread out from each other!” One of the most pop-ular events of the Lock-in was the

video game area set up throughout the night. “I really enjoyed playing Super Smash Bros more than any other activity and laser tag was lots of fun,” Sam mentioned. Laser tag seemed to have been a big hit at the Lock-in for many oth-er people as well. When asked her opinion of the Lock in, Mehek Su-mar, a freshman at Rancho, made sure to point out the fun she had at laser tag. “I thought it was the best part of the Lock-in!” Dr. Spencer, a chaperone at the Lock-in, agreed,

joking, “I thought it was really fun seeing students attempting to mur-der each other in a virtual environ-ment.” While interviewing, every-one’s excitement when recalling the fun they had at the Lock-in was quite visible. It shows how great it can be when the Upper School gets togeth-er outside of the long school day, plays lots of fun games, and grows closer with the friends they have and even makes some new ones. It’s always nice for students, whose lives can be so filled with homework and stress, to take a break and have fun!

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Photo by Mrs. Sharp-Stilliard

Autumn Poem: November WindBy: Yuna Shprecher

Autumn took him away from me.The cackling winds of NovemberWould not stop teasing and snick-ering

As he, on his knees, begged them to cease.But his voice grew too hoarse, Shreds of bleeding maple leaves catching in his mouth;

He gave up.And the cruel laughter writhing (choking) all around Grew louder and louder.

Everything in Autumn seems to surrenderTo its creeping darkness.The crickets’ sweet song, seas of sparrows,

Even him.The frigid branches of Autumn stole his golden warmth, Hid it deep beneath the rain-stained earth.

He is sitting in the rotting wooden chair beside me.

The heater whispers empty air, ringlets of heat Coiling from the cider wrapped in his hands.

But Autumn took him away from me.His blissful laughter, playful kisses, swept awayBy that unforgiving November wind.

Im-POM-issible to Defeat Ran-cho’s Pom TeamThis year, Rancho Solano’s Pom team is going to be performing during pep rallies at school! The team is comprised of Captain Kaitlen von Colditz, along with Stella Dillard, Alissa Persten, Yuwen (Wendy) Zheng, Sophia Linkous, Gaby Velez, Tara Hines, and Cassandra Mar-tin. When Kaitlen was asked about how she felt about performing at pep rallies this year, she responded saying, “I’m really excited that we have the opportunity to be a bigger part of Rancho and to cheer on our sports teams!” The team has a long season ahead of them that will car-ry through both Fall and Winter sports seasons. Cassandra Martin, who has been involved with Pom at Rancho for two years, said, “When all the choreography comes togeth-er I feel accomplished and proud. It’s definitely more challenging than I thought it would be, but I’m very happy with how the season is turn-ing out so far!”, when asked about the difficulty of learning and re-

membering choreography. You can come support boys and girls basketball in “The Stable”, Rancho Solano’s student section, to cheer on our players, and see the Pom team perform during halftime of the Varsity Boys home games for

the remainder of the Winter sports season! The Pom team’s coach, Ms. Gomez, also teaches the Middle and Upper School dance class. In the class, they learn many differ-ent genres of dance. When I asked Stella Dillard about how she feels dance class has changed since last year she replied, “This year we have costumes which add a different dy-namic to the class. Also, because the class is small, it allows Ms. Gomez to choreograph the types of dances we’re interested in because she can pay more attention to us individ-ually.” The class is quite small and consists of both Upper School and Middle School students. Many of the students have been taking dance for multiple years while others are taking dance for the first time this year. The class will be performing at the Fine Arts Showcase in May to display all of the hard work and dedication they have put into their choreography.

Rancho’s Veterans Day Celebration Thursday, November 9th marked the first ever Middle and Upper School Veterans Day celebration at Rancho Solano Preparatory School. Veterans Day honors persons that have served in the United States’ Armed forces, and Rancho Solano did just that; starting the celebration with a beautiful MS/US choir per-formance in the school gymnasium and following with a rousing speech from cold war veteran, Mr.Eck-holm. A similar event occurred at the Lower campus where the Lower School had a performance for the troops and speeches were given in thanks for our veterans. There were over a dozen veterans in attendance, including Rancho Solano’s very own Dr. Kerbey and Ms.Phillips. The event was coordinated by Mr. Zale and he said “It was a pleasure and a privilege to work with my col-

league, Mr. S t r i c k l a n d , to organize our Veteran’s Day Assem-bly. We often times simply view this day as a day that we have off from school without con-sidering its significance. Our Rancho students did a great job honoring our vet-erans through songs, poems, and readings. It was interesting to hear some of our veterans speak about their personal experiences regard-ing their service to our country as well.” This event will hopefully be a continuing tradition next year to honor our troops.

By: Dhinesh Raj

By: Isabella Rose

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Photos by Ms. Hall

Photo by Ms. Hall

Spelling Like a Champion! On November 29, 2017, the Middle School students held the annual Spell-ing Bee. The whole Middle School came to watch the con-testants spell their way to victory! The finalists were the following: Ryan Bollimpalli, Nylah Brown, Charles Car-son, Madeline Gar-ber, Myra Kamal, Elena Kaufman, Alexandra Mladick, Riley Murray, Lauren Puryear, Miles Reich, Rhea Sharma, and Radia Wong. Each contestant received a certificate for entering the Spelling Bee. These

students spelled many challenging words. It was a nerve-racking ex-perience for some. Lauren Puryear said, “I was very anxious. I felt like I was dying from a heart attack!” The final three, Myra Kamal, Lauren Puryear, and Radia Wong battled

for the first place medal. In the end, Myra Kamal won the spelling bee with the word “chandeliers”. Each student tried their best in the Spell-ing Bee and hopefully will return next year.

By: Devon Miner

The Middle Schoolers “Creep” It Realat the Halloween DanceA mixture of colors, light, and sound danced along with everyone else....the 7th and 8th grade Halloween Dance was full of life and enjoyment! Middle School Stu-dent government worked hard to cre-ate a fun and spooky environment a few days before Hallow-een. Orange paper covered lights to create a nice golden glow in the cafete-ria. Furthermore, student government also strung Hallow-een themed orna-ments and decor across the windows. There were a variety of snacks and drinks as well. One thing students noticed and ap-preciated that Student Government did was to use a Polaroid at the dance and almost all socials. In the corner of the dance floor there was a little backdrop where students were able to get Polaroid photos taken with their friends. It was a memo-

By: Lauren Puryear and Myra Kamal

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Photos by Ms. Hall

rable experience that will always be preserved with these photos. Most people came dressed in their unique

and enthusiastic costumes! Like any Halloween event, a costume con-test took place and resulted in two seventh grade winners! Zaarya Alvi and Max Ebner won two iTunes gift cards as a token of their efforts and originality that was reflected in their costumes. Zaarya’s outfit was home-made and consisted of multi-ple pieces to create her magnificent

unicorn Halloween costume. Max’s costume was also one of the most entertaining on the dance floor. He

was dressed up to por-tray a gorilla carrying around an imprisoned kid (We promise, it was more amusing and lighthearted than it sounds!). Upon win-ning the costume con-test, Zaarya said that she felt “extremely ex-cited and happy’.”The Halloween Dance was a fun way for Rancho students to let loose, be silly, and express themselves.

Photos by Mr. Strickland

We recently came back from Thanksgiving break where the ma-jority of us celebrated Thanksgiv-ing. When Thanksgiving comes to mind, people tend to think of the plentiful amounts of food they eat, but Thanksgiving is so much more than that. When the first Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621, they did not

Editorial: So Much to be Thankful ForBy: Amelie Clark

know that it would turn into such a large part of holiday traditions. Thanksgiving came to be when European pilgrims from the May-flower first arrived in what is now Cape Cod. They had a lot of trouble with their voyage and suffered from over exposure, scurvy, and other diseases. The pilgrims did not find it to be much easier when they left the boat. They encountered many problems when it came to trying to survive in new conditions. Luckily, a Native American named Squan-to came to their rescue and taught them everything they needed to know about survival. With the pil-grim’s new-found knowledge, they were able to grow their first success-ful harvest. The pilgrims decided to throw a feast and invited a Native American tribe they had an alliance with. This festival, that lasted over a period of three days, is what became known as the first Thanksgiving.Today, Thanksgiving is seen as a

day for food, football, and family. Thanksgiving has lost a lot of the re-ligiousness and many traditions that it used to have. Many of the foods eaten in the 1600s are not consumed today. Back then, they did not have access to sugar, so they did not have pies, which is now one of Thanks-giving’s most well-known desserts.

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Painting of The First Thanksgiving by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris

We also do not know if the pilgrims had a turkey at their feast, which to-day is a staple of Thanksgiving. Over time, there have been many changes from how Thanksgiving was orig-inally celebrated, but it still cele-brates some of the same principles.The tradition of Thanksgiving has been celebrated for centuries and carried with people across the world. In many places where Thanksgiving is not celebrated, American fami-lies have brought the tradition with them. When I lived in the British Virgin Islands, which is not an American territory, my family and I celebrat-ed Thanksgiving. Having only one American in my family, my step mother, and being surrounding by Brits did not stop us from celebrat-ing this American tradition. We celebrated Thanksgiving because of its meaning and principles. Our family traditions are to cook the meal together and to each state what

we are thankful for before we eat. Many families have different tradi-tions and ways that they celebrate Thanksgiving, which is what makes it so special.Thanksgiving is a time to get togeth-er with family and celebrate what you are thankful for. Centuries ago, pilgrims celebrat-

ed Thanksgiving as a way to show what they were thankful for their new life. Today you can be thankful for whatever you want. However, Thanksgiving is not just a day to eat food and watch football. It is a day to recognize what you are thankful for, and potentially give back to the community.

Diallah Athari

In a rough situation? Not sure what to do? Send your requests for advice to “Dear Diallah” by email atPegasus@ranchosolano.comDiallah will answer one to two ques-tions per month.

DEAR DIALLAH Dear Diallah, I am so nervous for finals! Last year, as an eighth grader it was rather easy to ace the exams, but high school is a whole new ball game. I really want to score perfectly on every exam, but I have no experi-ence in how to srudy for high school exams, got any tips? Sincerely, Highly Stressed High-Schooler

Dear Highly Stressed High-School-er, Finals can be daunting, but I can assure you that there is no reason to be overly concerned. I can recom-mend talking to your teachers, get-ting extra notes from your friends and reviewing your own notes to ensure you know each topic to its full potential. I really hope that you do well and that you take my advice. Remem-ber, when you have questions your teachers are there for you. So sleep well, eat a good breakfast and talk to older high school students about their experiences. Best of luck!

Sincerely, Diallah

How to Ace The Exams

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The Rancho Solano School of Magic Pegasus MonthlyComic Strip

If Rancho Advisories Were Hogwarts Houses...By Lauren Puryear