Volume V; Issue 5 May 2012 King’s Academy, Manja - Madaba, Jordan

PAGE 2

NEWS

PAGES 3-4

OPINION

PAGE 5

LIFE

FINAL DAYS WITH SENIORS

INTERVIEW WITH PARIKA KAMRA

MAPPING YOUR SENIOR YEAR

FRESHMEN EXCURSION TO JERASH

KONY 2012FROM PAPER TO THE SCREEN

MR. BOZZI’S NEW AP COURSE

DORM FEEDS

SNOW DAY

THE HUNGER GAMES

SONGS OF THE ISSUE

MEISSA V. NIHAL FOOTBALL MATCH

MORE ON DEAD2RED

BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTS IN LEBANON

WHERE ARE THE SENIORS HEADING NEXT YEAR?

A

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE 6ARTS &

ENTERTAINMENT

PAGE 7

SPORTS

PAGE 8

SENIORS

A trip for young politicians!

King’s Academy HMCE

Brussels, Belgium, a city replete with artwork, historic buildings and lots of chocolates. The Harvard Model Congress trip to a fascinat-ing city excavated a lot of interests from students acorss all grades at King’s Academy. After a selective �������� ���� ���� �� ������students, under Mr. John Leistler’s supervision, found their way to Brussels, Belgium. The conference hosted students from a plethora of students from countries such as France, Germany, Greece, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, India, and South Korea. “We were there for serious business; to debate, compromise and write resolutions and bills that could help the world through our �������������������� ���������Tala Soror. We had Aser Juma ‘13 and Talal Soror’13 in G15 repre-senting Sri Lanka, Divij Mehra’12 and Omar Halawa’12 in G8 repre-senting France, and David Ernyey enacting the role of a Congressman in the House of Representatives. Notably, Amina Awad ’14 was rec-ognized for her hard work and was awarded with a distinction for her prowess as a prospective Senator.

The trip, which stretched over the course of a long weekend, was also full of tourism and other fun opportunities. The group went to the Brussels Art Museum, saw paintings centuries old while listen-ing to Mr. John’s fabulous explana-tions. The group was excited about comparing paintings and noticing the difference in their colors, eras and the stories behind them. An-other brilliant experience was see-ing two sides of Belgium, the port

town of Antwerp, a more modern side of the country with wide walk-ways and colossal shopping malls, and the town of Brudges, a sweet, small city where one can take a soothing boat ride to explore its old buildings and its history. Hani Akasheh ’12 summed it all up by saying, “If I could, I would go on the trip again and again! I met new people, had great chocolate and ��� �� ������ � ��� ����������my interest in history, one which I though never existed. It was prob-ably one of the best experiences of ��������

ROBOKINGS, King’s Academy’s robotics team, represented Jordan in the Open Arab Championship for the ��������������������������������� ���������������"����#� �#� ���� ����� �������������$����(SUMO), the team went to the Lebanese American Univer-sity on the 9th of March with other Jordanian teams compet-ing and teams coming from other Arab countries.

In the competition, the team had to execute various ��%��&��������������"##����������������������������������������������������������������-petition became more intense. Despite what seemed like a low score, the team actually reached remarkable heights. In the past, FLL teams would often get perfect scores; as a result, the League really had high expectations.

The SUMO team had one of the best designs and a great program. Therefore, the team passed the preliminary ������� ���������������������� �������'����������competition gave the team an opportunity to compete with teams that were equally talented; after all, some of the best teams from the Middle East had convened to prove them-selves. King’s Academy placed an admirable fourth place in this component of the tournament.

The team also experienced the historical side of Leb-anon on their trip. They visited monuments in the ancient city of Byblos. Ziad Lababdeh’12 acted as the local guide, taking the team to less popular, but equally impressive tour-���������������*���������������������+��������/�said Rakan Momani ’14. One of these included an expanse of ruins that were from the Phoenician people of Byblos. Ziad guided the team off the beaten path and exposed the true extent of what used to reside there (in this case, a large castle).

All in all, the trip to Lebanon was multifaceted. The Robotics was great, the people were welcoming, and the sites were exhilarating. And the Tabbuleh wasn’t half bad either!

ROBOKINGS in Lebanon

BY MOHAMMAD TOBOLAT AND SAMMY MASRI ‘14CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

The lions prevail in the ring vis-a-vis their persistence

BY OMAR MEGAHED ‘13CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Ayman Barghash ‘12Focus breeds success

Belgium in spring! Fakher el-Fayez ‘12

The RexonianPage 2NEWS

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

MANAGING EDITOR

NEWS SUB- EDITOR

OPINION SUB- EDITOR

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT SUB- EDITOR

WORLD SUB- EDITOR

LIFE SUB- EDITOR FUN PAGE SUB- EDITOR

SPORTS SUB- EDITOR

PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

COPY EDITORS

LAYOUT EDITORS

JOOHO SHIN ‘12RAMY BADRIE ‘12

DIVIJ MEHRA ‘12FAKHER EL-FAYEZ ‘12MAHEERA HUSSAIN ‘12HAMZA NAGHAWI ‘12JIN SEUL JUN ‘13LUNA ABU RMEILEH ‘12JUMAN TABBALAT ‘12

SHUROUQ HIJAZI ‘12MUTASEM AL-DMOUR ‘12TALA ARABEYAT ‘12

HENRY REYNOLDS ‘12 RAMA NAKIB ‘12

STAFF MEMBERS

LARISSA ABULGHANAM ‘14FARAH AL-HADID ‘14

MARAH AL-JU’BEH ‘13YOUSSEF AL-MUGHRABI ‘15

TYMA AL-NIMRI ‘15MUNA AL-RIFA’I ‘13

NIHAD AL-YOUSFI ‘13BARAKAT EL-SAQA ‘13

HEIDI HANKIN ‘14KHALED JARWAN ‘13

FARAH KILANI ‘13TAMARA NASSAR ‘13NORA NESHEIWAT ‘14

FAISAL NIMRY ‘13

FACULTY ADVISOR

MR. BOWMAN DICKSON

2011-2012

Courtesy of Communications

Planting trees!

The Rexonian sat down with Parika Kamra, King’s Academy’s newest exchange student from Punjab, India. She told us about her school, her country, and her-self.

Rex: We are so glad to have you here in Jordan, and at King’s Academy! Welcome. Where are you from?

Parika: Thank you so much, I’m very happy to be here as well, well, I come from Chandigarh in the state of Punjab in India; it is on the foothills of the Himalayas.

Rex: What about your school? Could you tell us a bit about it?

Parika: I attend Vivek High School; there are actually a lot of similarities between it and King’s. We have co-curricular as well; only we have those 8 till 9 in the morn-ing most weekdays, then 2:30 un-til 3:30 on Thursdays and Fridays. They have to be an athletic activity though. Similar to King’s, we learn mostly in English but we take an-other language, either Hindi or the student’s local language.

Rex: How is your school differ-ent from King’s?

Parika: We are a day school, which is a huge difference. In fact this boarding experience is very new to me. I like it, although I’m away from home, it’s a great ex-perience and it really keeps you focused on school. I also like the feeling of independence that

comes with boarding. My school is also different form King’s in that it goes from nursery until 12th grade. Unlike King’s we stay in one class room, which is about thirty students, and the different subject teachers come into class. I actually prefer the more focus a single student gets here because of the lower amount of students in class.

Rex: What do you like and dis-like about King’s?

Parika: I haven’t really found anything to dislike yet! The people here are very nice and welcom-ing. I like the co-curricular pro-gram here, especially community service, it was a really rewarding experience playing and teaching little girls, I’m really happy King’s is doing this for these little girls. I also like the interactive classes, at my school, we read the book to study, however, here we read the book and discuss and I’ve really enjoyed that about learning here. You get to hear a lot of different opinions, and those lessons from discussions are really worthwhile.

Rex: why did you decide to do the exchange program? And why Jordan?

Parika: I am actually involved with round square at home, and I thought this would be a great op-portunity. Also, I am really fasci-nated with Arabian culture, and this looked like a good experience to explore that culture. I’m really glad I came here!

Interview with Parika KamraBY FARAH AL-HADID ‘14

STAFF WRITER

One exchange student’s perception of schools throughout the world

The last few weeks of the school year can be hectic for any graduat-ing senior class. Not only were the ��� ��� �� ��� 6��� �� 7<=7marked with high-energy, some-times notorious showcases of their ����������������������������assortment of exciting events and activities.

In the boarding aspect of things, to commemorate (or to celebrate?) the coming departure of the seniors, each dormitory organized a senior send-off for their senior students. >��������� �����������@��@���������� �����������������music and burgers chargrilled to perfection, Nihal organized the traditional sit-down senior dinner for its departing graduates, and the girl’s dorms gathered at the Castle courtyard to watch slide-shows of the past year to a cascade of food and music.

The proctors honored the de-parting seniors in their own way. Q�������������� ��������X[exams of the year, the proctor community traveled to Wadi Rum and Aqaba on an overnight trip. Highlights included scrambling up and rushing down steep desert dunes (with more than a couple stu-

������������������� ���@����into the sand) watching the beauti-ful desert sunset and enjoying each other’s company with interesting (?) card games and a delicious dinner.

Of course, the seniors were not to be undone by the rest of the school in celebrating the end of the year. Perhaps most infamous amongst the entire school com-munity were the pranks carried ��� ����� ��� ������\� ��� ���%of school. On the 20th of May, a number of seniors dressed up in morph-suits stormed the auditori-um during all-school meeting with cans of Silly String, spraying faculty ������������%��&���������of classes for seniors, a number of backpacks around the school were tied together, suspiciously enough, with ropes and the courtesy of an American knot.

Although the 22nd of May ��%������������ ���������seniors, this did not mean the end of all events until graduation. The senior class can look forward to the camping trip in Wadi Rum with His Majesty Abdullah II, multiple graduation rehearsals at the Land-mark hotel and at school, a faculty-senior barbeque and a special ses-sion where they will express their gratitude for the faculty.

At the time of writing this article, graduation is but a week away. It will ���� ��������� ��a week of great ex-citement and joy for the departing senior class, but also of in-��� ��������� ��remembrance for ev-ery opportunity that the King’s Academy community has given them in the past few

Final Days for the SeniorsBY JOOHO SHIN ‘12EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Great rejoice for the departing class

years. And insha’Allah, they will depart with fond memories for and by the KA community as they enter the collegiate world and forge their own paths for the future.

Proud senior spirit!

Courtesy of Communications

Page 3May 2012 OPINION

Everyone is wondering why the juniors have disappeared from the minor co-curriculars this term. The ����� *����� ������ ���� ��become the buzz of this term. Go-ing around the campus, hearing ques-tions such as who came up with the idea, why did they chose the name *����� ������������]������actually do in that co-curricular. The idea was devised by our headmaster Dr. John Austin. He wanted the ju-niors to have the opportunity to pre-pare for the challenges they would face in their senior year, academically and socially. “Next year you are going to face some challenges such as the college applications process, writing your resumes, and keeping up with school. This Minor co-curricular was created for you, so you can prepare ���������� ��� ���\� ����� � ���^��$�������� ������������� �

Senior year is arguably the most important year of any high school �������\� ����� �� �� ������� �����-tion and self-evaluation. Since King’s Academy is a school that tries to prepare students for college, adding this co-curricular was a necessary step. Dr. John correctly envisioned

that the challenge of preparation is an important life skill that is essen-tial to one’s future success.

During the minor co-curric-ular period, the juniors sit in the New Academic Building. They are divided up ac-cording to their college counselor and placed in different rooms. Every junior is advised and guid-ed to work on his or her college ap-plications, resume or anything con-cerning the col-lege process with the help of the entire University Counseling Of-����*�����\����the time to work on or even think about my college applications and that was my biggest concern; but now, this co-curricular offers me the

chance to work on them along with ���� �� �� ���������� ��� _������ \=`� _X�� $���\=` ������these thoughts by saying “This mi-nor curricular offered me the change

to know where I am regarding the ����� � ��������� [����� ��� ���drawback is that the Class of 2012 is jealous that they were not gifted with the same opportunity!

Mapping Your Senior Year

The freshman class went on a historic tour to Jerash on Thursday, March 22. They toured all around the site and saw numerous ruins includ-ing Hadrian’s Arch, the Hippodrome, Temple of Zeus, Southern Theater, Oval Plaza, the Crossroads, Nympha-eum, the Temple of Artemis and the Churches.

The freshman were full of adrena-lin in every activity they did and every academic challenge they confronted, from singing and dancing on the buses to running across Jerash in hopes of winning the Scavenger hunt.

When the freshman arrived in Jerash, they waited for their tick-

ets while sitting in the scorching morning sun. After the students got their tickets, they entered and started their tour. They started with Hadrian’s Arch, continued through to the Tem-ple of Zeus, and ended at the Nymphaeum. While all of these sites were impressive in their own right, their 4th destination, the Southern the-ater, was the most exciting. The South-ern theater is huge and whoever stood ������������������������������be heard from all the way at the top. Entertainment was one thing offered at Jerash! To make things even livelier,

two men started to play the drums and bagpipes. Everyone eventually joined them and started dancing and singing.

X����������� ����������>��{�-ily told the freshman about the scav-enger hunt. The students were divided

���� ������� ����������������some very fun instructions, to take creative pictures with the whole group of the artifacts they found at certain sites! The group of Khalil Abdulrazeq, Lara Labadeh, Sara Taha, Leen Mad-anat and Wendy Dudley won, with 7

photos. After the tiring run trying to win

the Hunt, the freshman walked down to the buses for lunch, thanks to dining hall staff and Miss Reem! But, the fun didn’t end there; the bus ride back was full of enthusiasm as well. Mr. Tommy certainly enjoyed it all, he tapped his feet to the rhythmic Arab music and danced as much as he could, setting the mood for everyone else.

Freshmen Excursion to JerashBY LEEN MADANAT ‘15CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The freshmen field trip is a great success!

The new minor co-curricular in depth

BY KHALED JARWAN ‘13STAFF WRITER

Mutasem al-Dmour ‘12Wordsmithing at its best

Freshmen scurry around the Roman ruins by Jerash Courtesy of Communications

The RexonianPage 4OPINION

At 12 noon, March 5th 2012, Jason Russell, one �� ����� ��}����� *���������6����������������� *~���7<=7���������`<@�����������that spread the world widely within minutes and got promoted by millions of people on different social networks such as Twitter and Facebook with � �����%���� *��������%���������&���Winfrey, Mark Zuckerberg, and Angelina Jolie. The purpose of the video was to “change ��� ������ �� ���� �������� �� ������� ���LRA and their leader Joseph Kony. Kony and his Uganda’s rebellious guerrillas have been respon-sible for the kidnapping of over 30,000 children in Africa during the last 20 years. The boys have been taken from their homes and families, lacking the rights of education and safe life and forced to join the LRA. By joining the LRA, these children ���������� ������������ ������ ���� ��killing their own people unthinkably and unrea-

sonably. The girls, on the other hand, have been enforced into sexual slavery. Neither their fami-lies, nor them were able to say or do something to stop this bru-������ ��� ������� ~���� ���\�� ���� ��������������������and impose power, is now on the world’s list of the worst criminals held by the ICC (International Criminal Court). Using the head of the ICC - Luis Moreno Oca-mpo’s words, Kony’s crimes are “crimes against humanity, and war crimes committed against the civilian population, including murder, sexual slavery, rapes and abduc-������������������ ����������*the problem is that 99% of the planet doesn’t know who (Kony) is”. Thus, the goal of Invisible Chil-dren now is to raise the awareness of people all over the world, and to ask the governments to

take care of this issue. To achieve that aim, a date has been set: April 20th, 2012. On this date, peo-ple from all around the world will meet at sunset with posters of Kony’s picture covering all the streets of all the cities until the sun rises and on April 21st the world will wake up to be alerted of who Kony is and what his terrifying actions are.

Kony 2012“Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come, whose time is now”

What motivated you to start an AP here even though ����������������

I was approached, some people in the school wanted to see the class happen and so they thought it was a good idea because it is important to compare governments. People wanted the course and Mr. Leistler approached me with it. I read about the course and found that I re-ally liked it.

What should we ex-pect?

A Typical class. Students taking the class fairly vigor-ous schedule, reading every day but reading that encour- ���������������������-zation and repetition. Come to class with our reading

Like our typical day in class?

Yes, discuss the material intelligently

What AP are you teach-ing now?

AP Euro and compara-tive Gov.

If you had to choose one AP to teach which would it be?

I love both With all the events hap-

pening in the Middle East, do you think course will give people a different perspec-tive, government wise or politics?

Not my aim for a differ-ent perspective, but and in-formed perspective, through the region what form of government, political theory, different forms.

Have you taught this class before?

First time, I haven’t taught the class before but the content of AP Gov. I have taught in different classes. John F. Kennedy institute for government.

Who should take the course?

People who are genuinely interested in government and politics, current events and international relation and people who will not shy away from hard work and exceptionally high expecta-tions

Personally, I would like to go into political sciences in ���� ���������

Absolutely, the course is essentially intro course for political sciences

Will the course go on?I hope so, with the num-

ber of people who signed up for it this year, also MUN at Kings academy a lot of peo-ple who are interested they should enjoy the AP.

Any closing remarks? I promise an exceptional-

ly challenging but inherently worthwhile course.

Mr. Bozzi’s New AP Class

One of the new opportunities in next year’s schedule

There comes a moment in a readers life (a reader of this generation, of course) ������������� ������%������that pretty soon, a movie will be released. That reader goes to see the movie in a state of extreme anticipation, but by the end of the 2 hours or so, the movie is noth-ing more than a colossal disappointment. Yet, even though this happens almost all the time, we still get excited for the next one. Albeit Harry Potter is argued to be an exception, I think we should just give up hope. And even Harry Potter is a bit of a ������� � ���� ��� ���� ��� ��� ���-pared to the books. Those who choose to argue are probably fans of the movies rath-er than fans of the books. And that brings us to the point: The movies aren’t bad. They just seem bad to those who have the story, the acute details of the book, and the characters’ features in mind. If you have the entire story played out in your head, and you walk in to a theatre with that per-spective, chances are that you won’t share that approach with the director, hence the dissatisfaction.

A paramount problem with turning a story from a book to a screenplay is the details. A book that probably took you a ���������%������������� �� ��� ��be pressed into two hours. So much gets ����������������� ��� ������� ���� you’re going to think of sitting in that the-���������*�����������%��������/��a part that might have been momentous to you, but clearly not the screenwriter. This is a big problem because there are differ-ent parts to a story that appeal to different people. Therefore, you can guarantee crest-fallen readers, no matter what. A huge ex-������������� ����������� ����������books, and they weren’t too bad. But when the movie came out, it seemed to me as if the producer was thinking “Okay, lets take

out all of Bella’s emotions, and magnify the ������������������������ ������%�weren’t tawdry enough. And though rev-enue seems like a good enough excuse for an author to give a producer consent to de-stroy a story, they shouldn’t allow someone to botch their book that much. The resolu-tion being that Twilight had more thirteen-year-old hormonal girls as fans rather than actual readers, towards the end of the saga. And this happens in nearly every movie, leaving many readers disgruntled.

There are many movies, including The Lightning Thief, Eragon and My Sisters Keeper, where the book and the movie aren’t even closely related, where screen-writers had removed important characters like Julia and Kronos, where antagonists change, and different characters have dif-ferent fates, where you’re angry at the end �� ��������������������������-rectors fail to realize is the fact that the rea-son you’re making a movie of a book is be-cause that story was probably a bestseller. So why would they change it for money? It was already perfect!

We all know what should happen from now on. When an author hears from a pro-ducer that a movie is to be made of their book, they should have that producer hire Peter Jackson. Peter Jackson was a director whose movies were the absolute closest to the books. They were long movies, yes, but to the point. It’s actually perfect consider-ing many of the fans of Lord Of The Rings are fans of both the books and the movies. And though I’m not exactly a huge fan of LOTR, I have read the books and seen the movies, and I think Peter Jackson should release a tutorial, so other directors can learn a thing or two. However, if it were my book, it would probably be action packed, and I would rather have Martin Scorsese or Michael Mann direct its movie, after they take Peter Jackson’s tutorial, of course.

From Paper to the ScreenThe main problem with turning books into movies

BY OMAYMAH AL-HARAHSHEH ‘14CONTRIBUTING WRITER

BY SABAL AL-MADI ‘14CONTRIBUTING WRITER

BY YARA RAWASHDEH ‘12CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Courtesy of Invisible CHindren

Page 5May 2012LIFE

A little grub goes a long way.

While living in any King’s Academy dorms there are two words that excite everybody and will cause them to leave their rooms hurriedly and they ��� *^��� ������ Q��-dents will quickly gather in the common room; listen to dorm announce-ments all while waiting for the food and then the dorm feasts. To many it is one of the many things they look forward to after study hall. The feeds are almost a reward for students; after sitting in their rooms and com-pleting an exhausting amount of homework in study hall. Students get to take a break and eat food and interact with others in their dorm and to really feel that their dorm is there home away from home and not a prison to which they are con-����������������

Dorm feeds also serve to help students get to know each other more, especially in the beginning of the year or for newly transferred boarders. They provide an oppor-tunity in which students can mingle with their friends freely without having to deal with the impedi-ment of time. In each dorm there is a different ritual and different food. The feeds themselves vary greatly from dorm to dorm. They can vary from mansaf to brown-ies. In some dorms the dorm par-ents are the ones who provide the dorm with food by baking things like cakes, cookies and brownies while others order from outside King’s campus.

However, the different feeds in dorms have caused some unrest. Some students believe that some dorms have feeds more frequently

than others. After taking opinions from students in different dorms it is clear that there are some dorms that have feeds less than others. However, this can be eas-ily be solved by simply asking your dorm parent or reminding them about these feeds. After talking to a teacher as well, I concluded that these infrequent feeds are the re-percussions of misunderstandings between the teachers. Since it is important to the students maybe one of the proctors should be in charge of the feeds to make sure they happen. Through what I have experienced in my dorm; asking the teacher about weekly feeds helps them remember and provide feeds. To those who feel that there should be feeds more often; the solution is to simply talk to your dorm parents about it. All and all dorm feeds are one the unique ex-periences in kings academy. They are also one of the big pros of dorm life and they help encourage students to be boarder and give them a sense of belonging to their dorm and to the school. Although feeds in the dormitories may seem like a trivial occurence, in fact they are a vital part of the boarding cul-ture.

Dorm FeedsBY AMINA AWAD ‘14

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The rafters rung with joy as King’s Academy students arose to ����� �����%�� ������� ����� �the air. Amid the glee, spontane-��� ������� � ��� �������� ���Kevin Riskiawan ’13 gazed in awe at the coruscating wintry mix while Sajed Foda ’13 chucked lumps of snow at passerby. Ms. Linda helped a few members of Meissa West try to build a wall of snow on a hill as a protection from the projectiles as the snowballs whizzed by. Jin Seul Jun ’13 adroitly evaded most of the snow while Bara’a Al-Wahidi ’12 lobbed snowballs high into the sky. X� ��� ������� � �� ���������many students began rolling huge snowballs in order to create snow-men; some snowmen even wore King’s Academy ties!

Mohammad Sarhan ’12 and Mutasem Al Dmour ’12 tossed huge amounts of snow on their peers as they attempted to make their snow-men. Ensconced in photography, Nadim Sarhan and Steve Morison ambled along making sure to cap-ture the moments of joy on this rare day. For many people, March ������ �� ��� ���� �� ���� ��seen substantial amounts of snow. School was delayed for a few hours, but faculty and students alike were somewhat disappointed that most

of the snow fell on the weekend.A few students elected to spend

their time sliding the slopes of campus on the Dining Hall trays, although the sleds were largely un-successful. The layer of snow was so thin that the sleds would carry most of the snow with them, so that each sledding path was visible because it cleaned the snow away to expose green grass. Many King’s Academy Lions decided to warm up in the Dining Hall with cups of hot chocolate before venturing back out into the chilly greyness. Jae Sok Surh ’13 slept through most of the day, so in the late afternoon he stood astounded, even though at that point the weather was old news to most of King’s Academy.

Nick Jonsson ’14, among oth-ers, smartly wore plastic bags over his shoes to protect his feet from the frigid snow. By the afternoon, much of the grass was once again visible but a puddle the size of a swimming pool remained to sepa-rate Meissa and Nihal.

Students at King’s were elated to take a break from studying for their ����������������� ��������enjoy the snow. The powdery mix assuaged the biting chill of winter and allowed students to congregate around a common activity. Hope-fully it will snow again next year!

Snow DayRomance, war, snow structures, finals, and more!

BY HENRY REYNOLDS ‘12LAYOUT EDITOR

Even the snowman is in dress code! Zeina Rehani

Shurouq Hizaji ‘12More food!

Friendship runs hand in hand with food. Shurouq Hizaji ‘12 Zeina RehaniPerhaps he will be on the next Arabs Got Talent!

ARTS& ENTERTAINMENTPage 6 The Rexonian

����Songs of the Issue �BY RAMA NAKIB ‘12

LAYOUT EDITOR

1- Caraluna - Bacilos2- Linger - The Cranberries3- Quelqu’un M’a Dit - Carla Bruni4- Thinking About You - Frank Ocean5- Heart Skipped a Beat - The xx6- Did I Let You Know - The Red Hot Chili Peppers7- Sun is Shining - Cafe del Mar ft. Bob Marley8- Big Bank Dank - Olu9- King Without a Crown - Matisyahu10 Volare - The Gipsy Kings

Enjoy!

BY SABAL ALMADI ‘14LION CUB

Hunger Games Craze

What’s all the fuss about?

There has been so much chaos lately and you hear people speaking about a book and you wonder, is the discussion over Twilight or Harry Potter? Then you come to realize that it isn’t any of those books but rather a much more thrilling and thought-provoking book. The cover looks somewhat odd but when your eyes hit the title, your read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Col-lins. It is true that the books came out a couple of years ago and the movie just a couple of weeks back but the books are much better, and there-

fore you decide to read it before you watch the movie. And once you open the ���� crisp page, you can’t seem to loosen your grip of the book.

The Hun-ger Games is a book about cour-age, friendship and leadership. It is a book in which the reader can some-how connect to. The book brings people together to realize that the in-������ of books on people is still very palpable as we live in a world where almost everything is incorporated with media. You might wonder what this book is about. Well without spoiling it, here it goes…

The book takes place in an alternate future in North America in a state called Panem that arouse from the ashes of the United States of America. The main character and narrator, Kat-niss Everdeen is a tribute, in other words, she is a participant in these games. She is sixteen years old when she volunteers instead of her sister as a

tribute. The dilemma of the story is that she falls in love with another tribute who is Peeta Mellark. These games are hosted live on TV just like the Olympics, and it anticipates only one survivor.

By the end of the ���� book you cannot wait to get your hands on the second one. I walk in and out of the library, as frenzied students ask for the second Hunger Games book; “Sorry, they are all out� replies the librarian. Hopefully we continue to obsess with fascinating books such as the Hunger Games, rather than TV shows and movies.

Scene of “The Reaping” from the movie

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Dead 2 Red. A 275 km race spanning from the salty and sought after Dead Sea, to the tropical and ����������Q����\� ������ ���that requires skill, speed, muscle, team-work, and endurance. To sum it up, it is a man-creating experi-ence, separating the weak from the strong, the feeble from the sturdy, the great from the small. The horn blows and the dust whips up be-hind the runners’ shoes, while they �������������������<<�����stretch. The wind lifts their hair up if they have any hair, and dries the sweat off their head if they are bald. Night falls, and morale is low. The teams begin to tire, teeming ���� ������� �� �������� ��� ���road shall be their tomb. Yet, with all this, from some unknown source of energy, an inner sanctum of power, runners pant and push down the path toward the more temperate weather of the Red Sea. The roar of the bus behind each contestant drives them onwards grumbling “Move it you immense, overloaded, ���� ������ ��� �� ���� ���� Team members seem to be in �}������������������������400 meter shares of the long road to the South; clambering on board swimming through pools of Red Bull Cans, candy wrappers, plastic bags, tissues, and blankets, yearning for the call of The Seat of Safety,

where they may rest their eyes and legs for a few minutes more, only to be woken up a few seconds later to ��� ��������� ������ *���\�� ������*��� 6����/������������� Grueling hours slog by, and injuries become more frequent, as each runner begins to stumble upon their shoelaces, sleep-de-prived and yearning to snuggle into some kind of coma where they may never again wake up. But then, it arises. The sky begins to show its blue skin once more, and the contours of the Aqaba mountain range stand stark and proud along the horizon, as if to say “We are watching over you young child. Never fear, for you ���� ��� ���� ���� ���� ��������� Morale steadily rises, and the troops revive. Earphones are plugged in and inspirational rock ��� ��� ����������������������� ��� ���� ���� ��� ����� ���way to the heart of all, giving them the boost to carrying on. Pushing and persisting towards the goal, the �����������������������������the ground beneath them, instruct-ing it to push away what was gone, and accept what little left is to come. The sun rises steadily higher, and the freezing air of the night is replaced by the scorching heat of the sun. However, the team only sees it as a minor obstacle. They have come this far. There is no turning back. The Exalted Sign appears �� ��� �������� *=%� �� X���

�� ����� �� ��� ��� �� ����� ����whoops and cheers. The speed picks up once more and drive soars high. The home stretch is here, and we shall be seen as heroes. The city of Aqaba is in sight. Every last competitor realises that they must put every last ounce of energy into these last few meters. The tension rises. The bus moves forward. The team inches its way �� ��� ����� ����� &�� ���� �����And yet one more. No stopping. �� ���%�� � �� ����� �� ���-tion. No sense at all. Just the in-cessant drive to reach the end. The bus rounds the corner. There it is. The inviting arms of the Red Bull sign, last seen 275 km away

at the Dead Sea. The team clam-bers out and they all dash the 100 meter run. Through the cold and through the heat. Through the pain and through the pressure. Every turn has been taken. Every meter ����������� ������ � ������resting point. The combatants fall to their knees, kissing the ground beneath their feet. They look up. There in front of them is a shin-ing medal. A token of honour for pushing through the mental and the �������� �� ���� ���� ��� ������A scream of delight. A tear of joy. And whooping they enter inside to drink that much deserved cup of water. All is needed is to cross the street. And yet it seems too far.

More on the Dead2RedHow our team overcame physical challenge

BY TARIK BAHRANI ‘12CONTRIBUTING WRITER

King’s Academy showing off their medals outside Jordan. At METS basketball tournament in Lebanon the King’s Academy‘s team won numerous medals. ��� ������ ���� �� ��� ����place, the Varsity boys got the third place, and the JV boys got the fourth place.

Our journey took place in Beirut, Lebanon on the 14th of March when we left campus and ������������X���������Xlot of teams participated in this tournament; the participated teams were consisted of King’s Academy, International college, American Community School, Amman Baccalaureate School, International Amman Acad-emy, and Hariri High School. Games took place in American University Beirut, and American Community School. Starting on the 15th of March and reaching

��� ���� �� �� ��� =�th of March.

King’s Academy teams played very well, and spread their strength between players reaching their goals. They gave the best they can do to win with a great en-thusiasm and a big smile on face. How-ever, we had fun, ate, enjoyed the beautiful view of the sea, and went to a lot of plac-es leaving our foot prints in every single street. Our journey wasn’t just games; instead we created fun by our own, told jokes, and protected each other like one big family. In addi-tion, this trip was one of the best trips each and every one of us

has ever experienced. As the teams returned to Jor-

dan, tired but proud for victories they earned, they set up their

goals to do even better next time; their spirit grew stronger, higher, and more advanced.

BY SARAH TAHA ‘15CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Zeina Rehani

Basketball Tournaments in LebanonLions succeed when returning to Lebanon for the METS tournament

Ayman Barghash ‘12

King’s Academy Lions bask in their glory

He’s going the distance!

SENIORSPage 8 The Rexonian