By many metrics, McCaskey is a wonderful school. We have an outstanding music program, a states-winning track team, the most advanced courses in the world available to high schoolers, vibrant diversity, teachers who work tirelessly to ensure that we have the educational experience we deserve. But we are absolutely abysmal when it comes to kindness. Our unkindness is manifest not only in frequent physical fights, … Continue reading McCaskey Has a Kindness Problem
It’s strange and remarkable how music conjures visceral memories. In fact, according to neurologist Andrew Budson, music can “open forgotten doors to your memory” and “take you back in time.” When we hear a song that we associate with specific moments in our lives, the details of those moments come flooding back. As I prepare to graduate, time feels compressed. Experiences are denser, richer, faster. … Continue reading On Boygenius’s ‘The Record’ and Lessons from Senior Year
What is the most valuable commodity? Google produced 39,000,000 answers to this question in 0.44 seconds. That eye-popping number of results reveals that the most valuable commodity isn’t gold or oil – it’s our attention. One of the greatest challenges of the Digital Age is navigating the oversaturation of information. How do we objectively determine whether or not information is true when companies capitalize on … Continue reading Welcome to the Attention Economy
Todos nosotros conocemos a maestros que odian a sus trabajos, y con horarios ocupados, horas largas y clases superpobladas, ¿quién puede culparlos? Pero Señora Guzman adora a su trabajo, y lo hace obvio en su tratamiento considerado y compasivo de todos sus estudiantes. Tiene una curiosidad auténtica sobre las vidas de todos sus estudiantes e invita que compartamos nuestras ideas, incluso las menos convencionales. Señora … Continue reading Señora Guzmán – Enseñando con Compasión y Curiosidad
Taylor Swift is not known for being a master of subtlety. Much of her charm lies in her audacity, her refusal to let anything go. She transforms the details of her past relationships into devastating digs at her exes. But part of what made folklore and evermore, Swift’s indie-folk pandemic releases, so wonderful, was their nuance and introspection. Instead of lashing out, she looked in. … Continue reading “Midnights” Conceals More Than It Reveals
On October 31, 2022, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two cases that have tremendous implications for racial justice in America: Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina. Both cases revolve around the role of race in college admissions, a contentious topic in American politics that has spurred debates for decades. Proponents of race-based … Continue reading What does the End of Affirmative Action Mean for College Admissions?
Cody Stonebank has a vision. A vision for “a revival happening within public schools and worship nights inside of school auditoriums leading students to encounter Jesus.” This vision violates a fundamental American principle: the separation of church and state. But that didn’t stop Stonebank and his movement, Unrestricted, from implementing it in our county. Unrestricted, a branch of the Lancaster Fellowship of Christian Athletes, has … Continue reading Separation of Church and State is Under Attack in Lancaster County
Last Thursday, I attended a student Zoom meeting to discuss education policy with Speaker of the Pennsylvania State House, Bryan Cutler. Tiyya Geiger and I represented McCaskey, and two Pequea Valley students and one Solanco student were also in attendance. Representative Cutler represents the 100th Legislative District in the PA House, which encompasses part of Lancaster County. Even though his district does not include Lancaster … Continue reading Rep. Bryan Cutler and Educational Racism
When national politics are so divisive, it’s easy to forget that local races have a far greater impact on our daily lives and our community. In Lancaster, the primary elections for our state representatives are coming up. While primaries simply determine who the Democratic and Republican candidates will be in the general election in November, Lancaster city is overwhelmingly Democratic, meaning the winner of the … Continue reading Ismail Smith Wade-El is Getting More to Give
Left to right: Julio Morales, Diego David, and Jadyn Torres before a performance of Newsies. (Image credit: Rose Carlson) The hundreds of community members who came to see McCaskey’s production of Newsies gave it nothing but glowing reviews. After two years of upheaval and pandemic-induced cancellations, the show was a jubilant symbol of our celebrated music program’s rebirth. Everyone was captivated by the performance of … Continue reading Jadyn Torres on Music and the Strength of the McCaskey Community
There’s a fine line between humor and harassment. Because the internet allows for instantaneous dissemination of information, often anonymously and with no fact-checking, there is great potential for abuses of power. And when these abuses are excused as “funny,” it’s even more difficult to enforce accountability for perpetrators. The recent controversy between Kanye West and Kim Kardashian exemplifies this problem of the digital age. Although … Continue reading From Kanye to McCaskey: The Line Between Humor and Harassment
Toxic masculinity. It’s an amorphous concept, often scorned as overly intellectual, criticized by the right as a war on traditional masculinity and by some on the left as ignoring the role of individual choice in determining behaviors. It generally manifests itself in performative male aggression, the desire to project physical strength, sexual dominance, and no signs of vulnerability. And discounting the significance of toxic masculinity … Continue reading Toxic Masculinity and Covid-19: Deadly Consequences
Wednesday’s active shooter training had McCaskey students abuzz with opinions. Two weeks after a Michigan school shooting killed four high schoolers, and in the wake of multiple shooting threats in our own community, fear of a school shooting is at the forefront of our minds once again. This has reignited debates about how to best prepare for a school shooting, and the ethics of said … Continue reading Active Shooter Drills Do More Harm than Good
What is fair funding? Many of Pennsylvania’s school districts, including our own School District of Lancaster, are not receiving adequate funding from the state. Part of this problem originates with property tax disparities. In Pennsylvania, education funding is collected through local property taxes; more expensive houses generate higher taxes, which produces more funding for school districts in affluent areas and reinforces economic injustice. In order … Continue reading Protestors Head to Harrisburg as Fair Funding Trial Begins
When I walk down the halls of McCaskey, I can feel the stress in the air. It’s palpable. When I talk to my friends about their days, I hear it echoed in their frenetic voices as they describe their struggle to balance marching band, varsity sports, musical, a job, advanced classes, the mountain of homework from the history teacher who waitresses at night. 16-year-old fledgling … Continue reading The Personal Is Political – So Drop a Commitment
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