DE EQUITIBUSVol. X No. 4 - Thurs., Dec. 19, 2019

ONLINENine ways to stay stress-free at Tempe Prep.

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Look at who will star in the spring musical!Go to: DeEquitibus.com

We all need to do our part to keep Spirit Fridays alive!By Hannah ChadwickThe spirit is back! Spirit Fridays are offi-

cially back on, and now with a whole new system to earn them! Now students and faculty can represent their clubs and sports at school, while keeping our campus clean as can be. All the students have to do is follow the new sets of rules, and they can keep their Spirit Friday for their grade for weeks! Many students are very hyped about the new system and Spirit Friday is better than ever.Spirit Friday is the opportunity for

Tempe Preparatory Academy students to be able to wear a t-shirt from any of their Temp Prep clubs, sports, trips, and school spirit! Everybody loves Spirit Friday, and freshman Kailee Austin proudly exclaims “Spirit Fridays are a great way to show off all our students’ sports, clubs, and other activities. They allow us to show a little extra spirit and change things up a bit from our normal everyday uniforms, plus they are super swaggy.”Spirit Friday excites the entire student

body and staff, plus shows how much

spirit TPA really has, and let’s not forget about all of its swag of course.After the unfortunate decline of the pre-

vious Spirit Friday arrangement, Tempe Prep has created a new way to help clean our school environment and be able to continue our Spirit Fridays. This new program enables students of every grade to take on the responsibility of cleaning our campus for one week each, and in the process granting them 7 weeks of Spirit Fridays.Senior Rebekah Chadwick explains,

“I really like how we all have our own responsibility now. If you don’t do your work, then you don’t get the reward and it works so much better.” I completely agree with Rebekah, because now it is individ-ual, and not as much work for the entire student body. The whole school is excited for this arrangement, and those who have already tried it loved it.Clark Campbell explains, “Spirit Fridays

are a great way to show off school spirit and spread the publicity of new clubs.” Remember that Spirit Fridays are for

you, and a reward, only for the price of a small cleanup. So make sure to help clean the school when it is your grade’s turn, and until and after that, enjoy your Spirit Fridays!

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De Equitibuswww.DeEquitibus.com

Editor in ChiefClara Moffitt

Assistant EditorsHayden Sampson, Maya Kostov

Staff WritersTaylor Conley, Anna Melis, Grace Newman, Jacqueline Risch, Sam

Campbell, Sam Goodykoontz, Sama Allam, Sanjana Thimmidi, Spencer

Bodow, Violeta Panayotova, Borislava Panayotova, HannahFrazier, Cameron Hill, Hannah

Chadwick, Clark CampbellAdvisor

Bob Schusterbschuster@tempeprep.org

The De Equitibus staff meets every Fri-day morning at 7:25 in Room 504.

Anyone interested inparticipating is invited to attend.

Published by and forTempe Preparatory

AcademyTempe, Arizona

Relaxed atmosphere makes Sadie Hawkinsdance a favorite fall event at Tempe PrepBy Hayden SampsonThe Sadie Hawkins

dance is so much dif-ferent than all the other dances. Instead of see-ing people in dresses and slacks, they’re in jeans. Instead of wearing dress shoes, they are wearing all kinds of footwear. The girls ask the guys, and tables are turned from homecoming. Even though everything is different, it is just as good, or even better. This year at Tempe

Prep Sadies was a blast, and the stress that normally sur-rounds these kind of things was less appar-ent. With everyone relaxing and just enjoying themselves, Sadies is the kind of stress relief we all needed. Featuring a DJ and excellent dance moves

by Gabe Huerta, things couldn’t have gone better. Says senior and move-master Noah

Teeters, “It was so much fun to just dance and hang with the boys.”This dance was

especially enjoyable, due to the amazing leadership of co-chairs Annie Meacham and Julia Cady. When asked what her favorite part of the dance was, Annie said: “I love that it’s casual and that everyone follows the theme. It made the decorations really fun to plan out. Setup actu-ally ran really smooth-ly. We didn’t have a lot of volunteers though, but we did great with how many volunteers we did have.”It really was a great

dance, and since it was the last Sadies for the seniors, it was a great way to end it. It will definitely be a night to remember.

ASU Fall Forum transports students back to ancient GreeceBy Clark CampbellDo you know how to sacrifice a cow, Greek

style? Well, if you attended the Latin and Greek Fall Forum, you now do. Last month, the Latin and ancient Greek students had the chance to attend the Fall Forum at the ASU campus.The students were privileged to listen to

a variety of speakers, some who worked at the campus or even one who works for the FBI. Students listened to lectures varying in

different topics, such as ancient Greek battles, career choices, ancient artifacts, and others. From brick counting to learning how to make a sacrifice to the gods, to buying overpriced college food, these students did it all.Sam Campbell, a Greek I

student who attended the fo-rum, notes, “I was grateful for the change in pace from school. It was enjoyable to learn more about Latin and Greek, and how those languages impact people’s career.” After everyone had signed in, the students

were split into two groups: Sophomores and middle-schoolers and the freshmen, juniors and seniors. Some of the favorite activities were activities such as candy mosaic mak-ing, Certamen, and the cow sacrifice. The sacrifice consisted of a lecturer explaining the different aspects of the sacrifice. A crowd favorite aspect of the sacrifice were the mourners, who held both their hands in front of them and gave a mourning call (it’s a hard sound to explain).After lunch the groups met up with the

other participating schools to hand out

awards. As expected, TPA students got quite a few awards, such as the first, second, and third places for the candy mosaic making.This was Tempe Prep’s first year to attend

the Fall Forum, and it couldn’t have been better. Students got to have amazing lectur-ers and spend time with their friends. Also as a bonus, the students didn’t have to go to school and the activities ended at two o’clock, so the TPA students got an extra bit of rest for the weekend.Next year’s Fall Forum is sure to be just as

fun with possible even more people. Eugepae TPA!

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NSLI-Y program is great travel and learning opportunityBy Hannah FrazierHow would you like to travel to a unique

country over summer for free? The National Security Language Initiative for Youth is a program that provides scholarships for high school students to learn less commonly taught languages in summer and academic-year overseas immersion programs. This year, Tempe Prep has six semi-finalists in the NSLI-Y program. These students are all interested in learning a unique language and visiting a new country to experience a differ-ent culture.Senior Rochelle Lilly has applied to study

Chinese and travel to China. In her junior year, Rochelle was accepted to the NSLI-Y Chinese summer program. She said she loved her Chinese host family and the culture made her want to do a gap year before col-lege in which she can hopefully travel to China again, and become fluent in Manda-rin. Rochelle first applied because she was intrigued by the idea of studying a non-West-ern language such as Chinese or Korean.She says, “I was really drawn to the aspect

of language learning by immersion and be-ing forced to practice your skills from the classroom. I’ve also always dreamed about studying abroad in an Asian country since I was in 7th grade.” Rochelle has a sibling in college and is very thankful that the NSLI-Y scholarship can make her dreams come true.Freshman Catherine Ross has also applied

to study Mandarin Chinese. Catherine has been studying Mandarin at a Chinese School since she was only seven years old. Because she was adopted from China, Catherine has always been interested in learning about the Chinese culture. The NSLI-Y program makes it possible for her to experience it first-hand. She wanted to learn more about her culture and was interested in the idea of doing so by studying a language abroad rather than learn-ing in a classroom.She says, “I feel that this program would

help me become fluent in Mandarin and I would learn so much about my race and culture.” Catherine, wants to deepen her ap-preciation for authentic Chinese culture and in doing so, discover more about where she is from.Junior Noah Frazier has applied to go to

Russia. Noah has always found language fascinating and is very interested in traveling and studying abroad. He says, “I want to go to Russia because my mom spent a long pe-riod of her life living in East Germany which was a Russian controlled area, and that gives me a unique connection to the country. Speaking another foreign language is really beneficial for many different careers includ-ing medicine and scientific research which is what I’m interested in.” Noah hopes to gain a broader worldview

and is very thankful to have the opportunity

to do so. Noah has been teaching himself Russian for a few months now and has been accepted into a new program called Virtual NSLI-Y and will take a three-month Russian course at the start of 2020. Junior Sierra Smith wants to go to Russia

as well. Sierra was accepted to the NSLI-Y program earlier this year and traveled to Rus-sia over the summer. She has applied to go again because she found it to be such a life changing experience. However this time, she has applied for an entire academic year. She says, “I wasn’t sure if my previous

summer in Russia would help or hinder my chances of acceptance. Two months later, I happily received my semi-finalist letter.” When asked what made her want to apply again, Sierra said, “I fell in love with the lan-guage, and now I am interested in majoring in Russian in college. So, living in Russia for an entire academic year is the perfect fit!” Sierra learned so much on her last trip and really bonded with her host family.Junior Sama Allam has applied to study Ar-

abic. She has learned some Arabic from her parents and hopes to learn more. She says, “I’ve chosen to study Arabic for an academic year so I can improve what skills I already have in the language and form intercultural connections in my host country.” She finds NSLI-Y to be a great program because it provides high schoolers an amazing oppor-tunity to study a language abroad that cannot be found anywhere else. This program would also allow her to learn so much more about

her cultural background and explore her identity. Sama has applied to study Arabic for an en-

tire academic year which would allow her to become completely immersed in this culture and tremendously expand her knowledge of the Arabic language.Junior Clara Moffitt hopes to go to Indo-

nesia because she found it to be one of the less common options and wanted to experi-ence an extremely unique culture that she thinks would be fun to immerse herself in. She says, “NSLI-Y chooses those languages because they see them as critical languages to learn that are important to the government and maintaining world peace... I thought if Indonesian is on the list, then it must be important. I feel like not a lot of people are learning that.” She considers it a great opportunity to learn

a unique language that is also important to helping the world, which would help NSLI-Y achieve its main mission of helping students learn less commonly taught languages by traveling to different corners of the globe.

These students all have something in com-mon: They have a great appreciation for other cultures and hope to learn a unique language that interests them. They have applied to be representing TPA all over the world. Let’s wish these six students luck in the program!

NSLI-Y semifinalists, clockwise from top left: Clara Moffitt, Noah Frazier, Rochelle Lilly,Catherine Ross, Sama Allam and Sierra Smith.

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VEX Robotics team has first competitionBy Cameron HillYou’re sweating but not because you are

running or jumping or sliding. Your robot has a problem. You are the leader of your team and this falls on you. You are feeling the stress but you have to stay calm and solve the problem. Finally, you fix your robot and you are back in the race. This is the pressure the middle school VEX

Robotics team faces every competition. A competition can last all day and it can be difficult to stay focused the whole time. The team has lofty goals too. Eighth-grader Will Chafey said the team’s goal is “to have fun and get to the state competition.” This goal is challenging but the team definitely has the talent to make it happen. Meanwhile Coach Chris Mause’s goal is

for “team members to come away with a gut-level understanding of the mechanics and software that makes up a robot.” And ro-botics definitely helps with teaching students about mechanics.Coaches Chris and Emily Mause described

robotics as a “combination of physics, me-chanics, code, and driving skill.” Robotics combines many different subjects in a fun and competitive way. Will Chafey described robotics as a “fun and interactive way to learn about different subjects in a more fo-cused environment.” One of the main draws of robotics is how interactive it is while still learning things. The way a robotics competition works is

you are assigned a table where your team can make code changes or mechanical adjust-ments in between rounds. A round consists of your team allied with another team versus two opposing teams which are allied togeth-er. The object of the game is to have your robot do the desired function to complete a specified challenge. The round lasts 2 min-utes with the first 15 seconds being autono-

mous, meaning the robot does the challenge on its own. After the first 15 seconds your team’s driver takes over and uses a controller to move the robot.This past Saturday Tempe Prep’s VEX

Robotics team competed in a day long competition at Pan American Charter School in Maryvale. Two robots competed for Tempe Prep, group A and group B. Sixteen high school teams and nine middle school teams competed. Each team competed in six qualifying matches and group B finished at rank 14 while group A finished at rank 21. The two groups went on to face each other in the first elimination round and group B emerged victorious. Group B then faced the rank 1 team in the quarterfinals and suffered a heartbreaking defeat.Will Chafey is the lead programmer for one

of Tempe Prep’s two robots. As lead pro-grammer Will has “to make sure others are staying on task and helping.” He also must lead the design process for the robot which can take three months of arduous work. Making sure everyone is on task is difficult, so doing this as an eighth-grader is very impressive.Each of the robots must be able to “stack

one block on top of another and go fast if needed,” and It must be able to “also push other bots out of the way if needed during a match.” Will said the biggest challenge for making a robot is “making sure that things it does are repeatable and ‘safe,’” but he said that they “solve this with trial and error since not everything will be as planned.” Both coaches agreed that most people are

surprised at “how exciting the matches are,” and “There’s a lot going on in the arena dur-ing those two-minute matches.” The robotics team always welcomes fans and would love to see the Knights come out and support the team.

By Violeta PanayotovaWe came we saw we ran! Although the

cross country season is over, the Tempe Prep community is ready to run once again. On Jan. 4, 2020, the Arizona Girl Up Chapter will organize a 5K run with a goal to raise money to empower women from all around the world so people can hear their stories. Most importantly, however, is the

dedication and excitement three juniors are putting in organizing the event. Clara Moffitt, Brooke Kirk and Maya Kostov, all part of the Tempe Prep Herstory Club and members of the board of directors for the Girl Up Arizona Chapter, are inspired to create this event and make is a fun experi-ence for everyone. Obviously, just like all things, organiz-

ing such a big scale event has its ups and its downs yet just in a few months the run was created and is now going to be executed. The beginning of the planning was difficult. Clara Moffitt explains that “The Arizona Girl Up Board has been working really hard to find a venue, find donors and it has been stressful” but she can see that by working together they have successfully put on a great event for a great purpose. Communication she has learned is the key to great leadership and a great turnout.

The board members have learned that talking to each other every day maximizes the productivity. They also learned that they need to have a strong bond that will help them get through times when they cannot find an answer right away.Furthermore, Tempe Prep can also partic-

ipate as students are encouraged to come and support the progress of that great organization. One can even bring their old pairs of shoes and donate them. All of the funds will be sent to the Girl Up organiza-tion and will be distributed in countries that need the sources. So, grab your shoes and come run with your friends or just walk.

Girl Up Arizona Chapter planning

5K run Jan. 4

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By Clara Moffitt “Math is fun.” Though it sounds like a

phrase you might sniffle out through muffled tears at 12:38 a.m. the morning of your calculus exam to convince yourself that you understand trigonometric functions, several students at TPA have shown that they truly believe that math is fun. I mean, what about math isn’t fun? You can crack jokes, work with friends, eat snacks, and have a little bit of friendly competition. That is, if you are in Math Club.Started by Junior Annie Meacham, the

Tempe Prep Math Club, with 18 members, has already been a smashing success in its inaugural year. Having multiple competitions under their belts, the Math Club is working on increasing their numbers and computing numbers.Though the majority of these math competi-

tions occur online or on paper at school, the club did get to travel to Chandler-Gilbert Community College to compete in a day-long event. These “mathletes” participated in an individual exam, a team project, and fun activities including a scavenger hunt and ultimate award ceremony.

The club’s faculty advisor, Dr. Walling-ton, acknowledges the difficulty of the competition, explaining that the level of math the club participants take sits on the lower side of each division. However, she has high hopes for the team’s development: “Next year we will have kids who have had calculus, so that will be helpful, and we will prepare more.”One highlight of the competition was fresh-

man Kinglee Tham who won fourth place in the Geometry/Algebra II division and took home a beautiful certificate to show for it.Club leader Annie says that “even though

we didn’t do that great, it was really nice to have the day to do math!” It’s true, math re-ally can be fun. So what is it about math that makes it so enjoyable? Annie admires how logical math is. Unlike other subjects, math has an objective right answer that can be logically found and proven. Annie says, “the fact that it makes sense makes it an interest-ing subject to learn.”It is this appreciation that led Annie to start

the Math Club. After a summer spent at the Joaquin Bustoz Math-Science Honors Pro-gram, Annie began to “love math more” and

she enjoyed doing “math with other people who also love math.” So, she decided to create a space at Tempe Prep for math lovers to enjoy the subject in the company of other “mathletes.”The Math Club has big goals for the future.

In addition to expanding the club and work-ing more to prepare for competitions, Dr. Wallington has announced plans to establish a chapter of Mu Alpha Theta, an honor soci-ety for math, and hopes to encourage more students to join that society to gain scholar-ship opportunities and future recognition. Annie’s goals are to increase the club’s status on campus, destigmatize math as a subject and “have more fun!”In addition to being a great chance to have

fun doing math, Math Club teaches members valuable skills. After a lot of hours meeting together and solving math problems “we know how to approach these problems and look at them differently.” She even points out the application to studying for the SAT as the club can be a great opportunity to brush up on forgotten math skills. She concludes by saying that the club will convince you that “math really is fun!”

Senior play was academic journey, entertaining experienceBy Jacqueline RischTPA doesn’t truck with the devil, but in the

senior class’s productions of The Crucible, many students got the chance to fall under a Salem witch’s spell! This year’s seniors told the story of a young Abigail Williams crying witchcraft upon Elizabeth Proctor to signify the halfway point of their final year while managing to bond and laugh with one another along the way. After the first class’s production, Oliver

Ricken, who played John Proctor, said “It was such an educational experience. It was the first time I’ve ever had a lead role, so it was great to learn how to play one, and interact with my peers in a way that really brought us closer together as a class.” While he believes the cast could have improved overall, Oliver said he was proud when “the cast began to pull everything together in the last few days before the show. [They] worked really hard.” Oliver adds, “Our first scene was very good. Act one, scene one, I thought, went perfectly.”In the second class’s rendering of the play,

actress Grace Fraser who plays Abigail Wil-liams, mentions that “while it was really ex-hausting work, it was satisfying [to perform] and bond with other classmates. I really have a better idea of how to explore a character and explore a different side of myself.”In addition, Rochelle Lilly, who plays Mr.

Danforth, said “We were all very stressed, but honestly it made [the class] a whole lot closer. We tended to understand that even

though someone may have a smaller part, or a larger part, we are all in this together, and we have to help one another in group scenes if we forget something. We can’t let the negativity define our acting.”To Rochelle, “The best part of the play is

the ending of the courtroom scene. Everyone is yelling at each other, and Proctor screams ‘God is dead.’ Its just a very chaotic and amusing scene. Actually getting to see the contention and mistrust from characters al-lows you to realize the real injustice actually being done in the play.”

One of the funniest moments of the play that everyone agreed on was when Giles Corey yells “A fart on you, Thomas Put-nam!” “The fact that that is a genuine line in the play, and not the actor improvising or anything, is just hilarious,” says Rochelle. Funny enough, the seniors still use that line in daily speech, along with the lines “I spy a poppet” and “the deputy governor has ar-rived.”To the entire senior class, the play has truly

been both an academic journey, and an enter-taining experience they will never forget.

Tempe Prep’s new Mathematics Club makes computing fun

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Lady Knights honing skills under new head coach McClaryBy Annie GoodykoontzThe Tempe Prep’s Lady Knights basketball

team has a new coach this season.Coach Antonio McClary took over this

year. This is his first high-school coaching job; previously he has coached club basket-ball in Texas and Arizona. He already has led the team to a couple of victories.Grace Newman, a senior at Tempe Prep,

plays for the varsity. “You can tell he’s dedi-cated, loves the game and just really wants us to improve,” she said. “Sometimes it’s a little scary when he yells, but we know he loves us!” In other news, the basketball season has

been going well. The team has many new freshmen players, and Grace believes they will get better and better. “We have a lot of potential with our young

and beginning players, and I can’t wait to see how much we grow,” Grace said. “I think once we get our defense down, we’ll be dynamite.”The team is putting a lot of effort into im-

provement. “We work hard, and we run like there’s no tomorrow,” Grace said. “But bas-ketball is not just a physical game. It’s also a mental game, and we have the toughness - in both senses, mental and physical - to win.” But there is more to it than the final record,

Grace said. “I just want to enjoy this year,” she said. “I love the game, and I want to help everyone else love it. I want to set an example to the rest of the team of how to fight hard, communicate, and focus. I don’t really care about winning all the games, but I’m more focused on developing good habits for the future.”

Returning head coach Lambros working on developing boys basketball team’s skillsBy Spencer BodowYou thought you could get rid of him? It’s

Jonathan Lambros. You can’t stop Jonathan Lambros from coaching TPA basketball. He may have spent three seasons away from the team, but now he’s back and in charge. Coach Lambros has been getting his team ready for the season for a while and is glad the season is finally in full swing.Over the summer, the team took a weekend

trip to California where they played in a local tournament taking on teams that ex-ceeded the caliber of teams from their season so far. Although they didn’t get great results from the games, they had become closer as a team and were able to spend some qual-ity time on the beach. They have also been working whenever possible during the fall season.

Still, preparation can only get a team so far; execution is a whole other situation. Junior Adam Gad says, “We’ve got the talent to win games, we just don’t use it to our fullest potential on the court.” The season has been rather tough for the team as they have gone winless through their first six games. The team doesn’t plan on quitting any time

soon though. The game of basketball often depends on one or two strong runs. All the team needs is a burst of success to set them on the right track. They will continue to rely on their fast-paced strategy to push them-selves into that position.If you are ever looking to watch an ener-

getic game, help out the team and cheer them on at the gym after the break.

By Sam GoodykoontzSince last year, a lot has changed about

the wrestling team. We have many new-comers to the team, including sixth grader Cash Clayton, seventh grader Domonick Ruiz, freshmen Gabe Ross, Cole Montei, and Texas Perez, sophomore Michael Lou-ton, and junior Michael DeGeer. We also have additional coaching staff, the head coach’s own son Owen DeSilva.When asked about his expectations for

this year, Coach Dave DeSilva answered, “Since our numbers are much larger this year than they were last year, I really hope that we can raise our productivity this year since we have more people for practicing moves and for more live wrestling. We also now have more opportunities to score more points during matches.”When asked about the wrestlers’ progress

so far, Coach DeSilva responded, “I think that the team has already improved so much in only two meets. A lot of people just need more mat time.”When newcomer Gabe Ross was asked

about his impression of wrestling so far, he responded, “So far I think that we are do-ing well. There is still room for improve-ment but overall we did really well for our first two meets. Overall I think wrestling is very fun and it has challenged me to think quickly. However, I did not expect to have to go up against upperclassmen. I first expected for it to be crazy hard, but I was able to fit right in. Wrestling is a great sport to get people ready for other sports and for getting into good shape.”The achievements and efforts the wres-

tling team made seem great so far, so hope-fully the morale continues for later into the season.

Larger wrestling team makes promising start

Tykiera Jordan shoots over her opponent.More photos at DeEquitibus.com

Gabe Huerta McWhirter puts up a long shot.More photos at DeEquitibus.com

“We’ve got the talent to win games.”

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Boys soccer team picking up momentum after slow startBy Grace NewmanI remember the first soccer game I ever

watched: last year, against our rival, Chan-dler Prep. I didn’t know a thing about soccer,

but one thing I did know was that the boys never gave up. And this is still true to this day. With a bunch of new players to the team, they are adjusting well and playing hard.Oliver Ricken, a senior captain, says,

“Right now, we’re at 1-3-1, which isn’t the record we want to have. We’re learning from our mistakes though, and are looking to get one more win before winter break.” The goal is obviously to make it to state,

and with the boys’ dedication and mental-ity, this goal is completely plausible. “Every game is a tough battle,” captain Josh Hudson says, “but the lads are improving and learn-ing with every minute played.”With a solid foundation of players and

coaches, the boys are in good shape for the rest of the season. Head coach Fergus Sharp, Josh explains, “spearheads our development. Within just a month, he has improved us both physically and technically.” The biggest room in the world is the room for improve-ment, and these boys are living proof. John Patterson wraps it up nicely as he

says, “I’m very honored to be able to play with such a great group of guys. We have so

much potential and I can’t wait to see where it takes us the rest of the season.”Go Knights!

Girls soccer team has sights set on making it to StateBy Clark CampbellPass, shoot, score!... and score again, and

again. The Tempe Prep girls soccer team is on fire as their season starts off. The team is led by returning head coach Megan Richard-son and assistant coach Suzy Duggan.With such a large team of more than 30 ath-

letes, Coach Richardson’s objective this year

is to make it to the playoffs. She comments, “We came close last year and I really think we have a very good chance of making it this year.” With many returning players, new ath-letes, nine new freshman, and six headstrong seniors, the team started off looking good.The soccer team started off the season

with a tied game against Veritas. The Lady Knights then took on Glen-dale Prep with a Knights victory. The team had a tied game in overtime against Scottsdale Prep, and the girls had a hard fight against Chandler Prep resulting in a Knights loss.The Lady Knights fight

hard in every game, whether it’s a win, loss, or tie, rain, shine, or lots of mud, these girls put it all out on the field.With four games done and

nine more games to play, the girls soccer team is on a roll as they get ready for the rest of the season. Han-nah Chadwick, a freshman on varsity, says about the Lady Knights, “The ladies are working really hard and the season looks bright.” This season has higher

hopes than the team has

had in a long time, and the Lady Knights are ready to fight for their place in the playoffs and to show that they are serious and ready to do some more scoring.

Caiyu Keoviengxay heads the ball.More photos at DeEquitibus.com

Josh Hudson challenges the Chandler Prep player for possession.

Tiara Soesilo (12), Cienna Jaime (10) and Kylie Klassen control the ball.

Rebekah Chadwick keeps her opponent at bay.

More photos at DeEquitibus.com

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By Sama AllamDid you know that 25 percent of college

students drop out after their freshman year? That’s 1 in every 4 students! Why is this happening and how can you prevent yourself from becoming part of that sta-tistic? Two of the most common reasons for dropping out include a heavy workload and college expenses. Believe it or not, Tempe Prep already has a solution for these issues that graduates find themselves face to face with during their first year in college. It’s dual enrollment!At Tempe Prep, it’s no question that the

workload isn’t light. It’s almost been five months into the school year but already the curriculum seems impossible. How are you ever going to survive college if this is what high school is like? But rest assured, you won’t ever have to

take these classes again, not even in col-lege! With Tempe Prep’s partnership with Rio Salado Community College, many high schoolers can earn college credit for classes already implemented in Tempe Prep’s curriculum. Despite being introduced to Tempe

Prep five years ago, this year, it seems, there’s been a spike in dual enrollment in the classes of 2020 and 2021. The high schoolers currently dually enrolled will reap the benefits when they attend college, says Mrs. Moffitt, Tempe Prep’s college counselor. Mrs. Moffitt summarizes the benefits of dually enrolling: “I think of-fering the dual enrollment college credit classes gives our students lots of oppor-tunities, both now and in the future. The opportunities include saving thousands of dollars in tuition, opening time for other experiences, and helping them graduate with a degree.”Furthermore, according to Mrs. Moffitt,

through dual enrollment, high schoolers can graduate from college in less than four years, effectively reducing the cost of their tuition, earn a graduate degree in the time it takes to earn an undergraduate degree, create room in their schedules to study abroad and still graduate within four years, and take classes they actually want to take rather than retaking ones taken in high school. To earn college credit, all the students

have to do is attend their classes at Tempe Prep as they normally would. However, the teachers don’t have it so easy; they had to go through the process of applying for a job all over again, except this time through Rio Salado. Mr. Hansen, one of the teachers who first jumped on board to offer dual enrollment college credit for his class, advocates for dual enrollment: “I used to teach at a university and in one of my classes I taught . . . basically the same HL ninth grade curriculum; I would hate to find out that our students are taking the exact same class and they have to pay for it too.” Mr. Hansen has high hopes that in the near future Tempe Prep students will be able to graduate with an associate degree. In the couple of years leading up to the

culmination of high school and beginning of college, there is much to stress about; don’t let college expenses and a heavy workload be sources of stress. Overall, if you have what it takes to maintain a desir-able GPA, be kind to your future self and consider dual enrollment.

Dual enrollment can help you get a head start on college

By Taylor ConleyAs many Tempe Prep students struggle

with predicaments such as procrastina-tion, mental health, and studying skills, there’s a club that strives to help with these. HOPE Crew has been creating a safe space for high schoolers since 2010. The club openly discusses social issues, mental health, empowerment of youth, and current events. H.O.P.E. stands for Honoring Others’ Perspectives Equally, which is exactly what the club does every Monday in room 403 during high school lunch. The group develops specific topics while club sponsor Mrs. Magaña mediates. Mrs. Magaña, who is well versed in social work, enjoys seeing the passion about different subjects that come from a diverse range of students each year. “It’s nice to see that you guys all have differences, because when you’re in uniform it’s hard to see that.” During her own high school experience, Mrs. Magaña found it nice to just create dialogue with her friends and classmates in clubs. By joining HOPE Crew, students have the ability to openly share their opinions and ideas with people they may normally not talk to often. The club connects people who experience dif-ferent aspects of life. One can learn how to agree with people who have radically different ideas than they do.Commenting on interesting activities the

club takes on, Anna Melis, a junior and

frequent club member said, “A few weeks ago, Mrs. Magaña gave us these little papers and they had clouds and you were supposed to write with colored pencil all the things you were stressed out about… and then it got really chaotic.” The mean-ing of this activity was to consider all of one’s present worries and think how they could alleviate stress. Students who procrastinate and find difficulty stopping can get help with their issues. A club like HOPE Crew is very valuable for TPA students.Being able to take on school stress could

be very helpful for most TPA students. For this past month, HOPE Crew has been discussing mental health, stress, procrasti-nation, and anxiety; everything that comes with being a teenager. They learn different skills about dealing with these things and ways to help peers, too. In the past, the club has discussed the Flint, Michigan, water crisis, student refugee opportunities, and religion. “It makes my Monday bet-ter,” Anna said.Mrs. Magaña and frequent club members

encourage more of their classmates to stop by and openly speak about topics that interest them. Since the club doesn’t have a fee, anyone can stop by on any of the meeting days. Mrs. Magaña said, “It’s just important that students know that there is a group where they’ll be accepted no mat-ter what.”

HOPE Crew creates safe space forstudents to solve tough problems

By Maya KostovAround this time comes the annual

Tempe Prep 10th and 11th grade concert at Grace Community Church. The students have been preparing for this concert since the beginning of August.Fast forward to December with their

scales and tongue twisters down, the concert was among us. The 10th graders sang a variety of songs, and the 11th graders shortly followed with joint songs. The 10th and 11th grade girls sang Johnny Said No, a very technically challenging song, while the 10th and 11th grade men sang Erlkonig, a song with four parts and entirely in German.The 11th graders proceeded with some

class songs, and had a blast with Lo Yisa Goi. This is a Hebrew song which involved a lot of clapping from the stu-dents, some on beat and some not. The concert came to a close with Lacrimosa, which is a part of Mozart’s Requiem Mass. Everyone in the audience was amazed at how well the students ex-ecuted that very difficult piece.Junior Jake Medlen comments on the

concert, saying “As a grade I know each and every one of us have worked so hard to really blend as a choir, and seeing how well the concert went, I’d say mis-sion accomplished!”

Sophomores, juniors stage successfulchoral concert