Assembly in Brief
Monday, October 22, 2012
Congratulations to the cast and crew of Playing for Time and to the varsity football team which
completed a perfect regular season, advancing to districts on October 26 (3pm home vs. Confluence).
This Week
*Tuesday: late day with assembly beginning at 8:45 am
*Thursday: late day with assembly beginning at 8:45 am
*All students will take a health survey this week (during one of their English classes); the anonymous
results are used to guide school health programming.
Announcements
*Filmmakers’ Society: Meeting at 8 am on Tuesday in room 212.
*Forest Park Math Competition: Deadline for signing up for this November 10 competition is this
Friday. The sign-up sheet is outside of Mr. Taff’s classroom (207). Need more freshmen and
sophomores 
*Review: Meeting at 7:45 am on Tuesday in Ms. Simonds’ classroom.
*Sustainability Fact of the Day: Eighty-one percent of energy in the U.S. comes from fossil fuels—oil,
coal and natural gas. Why have the U.S. and the world become so dependent upon fossil fuels? What
advantages do fossil fuels have over other forms of energy?
Grevy’s Zebra Trust
The executive director and senior manager of Grevy’s Zebra Trust spoke to students about their
organization’s work to preserve this endangered species – and the ecosystem and cultures in which
they live. See “Latest News” later today.
Friday, October 19, 2012
Mr. Abbott read one student’s poetic invitation to another student for the Blue & Gold Dance.
Announcements
*ALS: Bake sale today.
*Ally Week – Identity of the Day: Gender. “Unlike biological sex, gender identity is a spectrum, which
makes the term more difficult to define. Basically, gender refers to a person’s private sense of
themselves that usually leads them to identify as a man, woman, neither or somewhere in between. It
is extremely important to point out that gender is fluid: it can change within a person’s lifetime and
can sometimes be difficult to understand. Individual personalities are very complex, and as we grow up
we are taught to understand them by labeling actions, mannerisms and behaviors as being either
masculine or feminine. Assumptions about a person’s gender can be made by the brain
instantaneously, usually after simply glancing at a person, determining their sex and assuming their
gender will correspond. It’s common, then, to mentally perceive them as a man or as a woman, and to
count on that assumption being correct. However, this is not an accurate or respectful way to
understand someone. The way a person looks or presents themselves may or may not reflect the way
they feel. Being judged by someone who has no way of knowing how you identify can be extremely
hurtful and damaging. To play it safe, the easiest thing to do is not make uninformed assumptions.
While it can be hard not to assume things about a person in your head, it’s not as difficult to make sure
what you say to them is inclusive, whatever their gender identity may be.”
*Playing for Time: Arthur Miller’s play will be performed at 8 pm on Saturday and at 2 pm on Sunday
in Haertter Hall. Tickets are complimentary. Thirty students, grades 9 – 12, are part of this production.
*Review: Meeting at 7:45 am on Tuesday in Ms. Simonds’ classroom. Please keep submitting –
including art.
*Six Man Club: Varsity football plays Maplewood-Richmond Heights at 7 pm tonight. There should be
lots of TV cameras…so we need lots of fans! Many are gathering at the Steak ‘N Shake across the street
from M-R H before the game.
*Sustainability Fact of the Day: Oil is the single largest source of energy for the United States. Why?
*Winter Sports: IA applications are due next Friday to Ms. Cosentino.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Announcements
*Ally Week – Identity of the Day: Sexual Orientation. “Today’s identifier is sexual orientation, defined
as ‘an enduring pattern of attraction—emotional, romantic, sexual or some combination of these—to
the opposite sex, the same sex or both sexes and the genders that accompany them.’ The most
commonly heard categories of sexual orientation are heterosexuality (straight), which is attraction to
the opposite gender, homosexuality (gay), which is attraction to the same gender, bisexuality, which is
attraction to both genders, and asexuality, which is the lack of romantic or sexual attraction to others,
although asexual individuals still form typical emotional connections. It’s important to note that all of
these categories follow the binary model of gender—binary, of course, meaning two, so these
categories only cover attraction to men, women, both or neither. However, you might be interested to
know that there are other, non-binary conforming sexual orientations, namely pansexuality (also called
omnisexuality), which is the attraction to all gender identities and biological sexes. Pansexuality is
distinguishable from bisexuality for its inclusion of all gender identities (i.e. not just individuals who
identify as strictly male or female). Bisexuality, on the other hand, just as it sounds, is attraction to only
men and women, but not other genders. Pansexual individuals often refer to themselves as “genderblind” asserting that gender and sex are insignificant when determining attraction to others. So it
wouldn’t be off base to assert that pansexuals are attracted to the person, not the gender. There’s also
this thing called ‘metrosexual,’ which is used to describe a man who spends a lot of time on his
appearance—so basically, men who are well groomed. But despite the terminology, this is not a sexual
orientation. It’s also important to note that, while the majority of individuals identify exclusively as one
of these categories, sexual orientation is by many people regarded as falling on a broad spectrum
(hence our club’s name, Spectrum Club). Some of you may have heard of the Kinsey Scale, which is a
good illustration of this ‘spectrum’ concept. Likewise, an individual’s sexual orientation does not
necessarily imply sexual attraction but can also refer to any emotional or romantic attraction that a
person may feel for others. Hence, the asexual category; you wouldn’t say that an asexual individual
lacks a sexual orientation simply because the sexual attraction piece isn’t there. And one last
misconception—a sort of big misconception, in my opinion—is that an individual’s sexual orientation
necessarily corresponds to some typified set of characteristics. In actuality, sexual orientation has
nothing to do with appearances—it’s an intrinsic characteristic that can describe any type of person. So
it’s actually inaccurate, and often times very misleading, to automatically associate what may be
perceived as ‘femininity’ with homosexuality or ‘masculinity’ with heterosexuality (and vice versa for
women), because, really, there’s no way of knowing a person’s sexual orientation just by looking at
them. So anyone who claims to have a so-called ‘gaydar’ is lying to you, because there is no such
possible thing. Don’t judge a book’s sexual orientation by its cover.”
*Field Hockey: Gear in – see Pat Groneck.
*Playing for Time: Arthur Miller’s play will be performed at 8 pm on Saturday and at 2 pm on Sunday
in Haertter Hall.
*Sustainability Fact of the Day: Forty-six percent of U.S. electricity comes from coal plants. The
government could impose costs on these power plants for carbon emission, but doing so would raise
the price of electricity for consumers. How would such a policy affect businesses, employment, the
cost of products, and the environment?
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
We will be on an advisory schedule on Friday (rather than today) when students will review their
prelims with their advisors.
Announcements
*Ally Week – Identity of the Day: Sex. “Sex refers to a person’s biological characteristics and is
determined by genetic information. When we think of sexes, we usually think of male and female.
However, there are also intersex individuals who have both male and female features, and transsexual
individuals who change their sex through hormone therapy or surgery, usually to match their gender.
Though the words “sex” and “gender” are often mistakenly used as synonyms, they are not the same
thing. Sex is physical and biological, while gender refers to the social roles normally associated with the
different sexes.”
*American Patriot Organization: Meeting at 8 am on Thursday in the 2-D studio.
*Iron Chef: Meeting at 8 am on Thursday in the home ec room.
*KUTO: Meeting at 8 am on Thursday in room 313.
*Playing for Time: Arthur Miller’s play will be performed at 8 pm on Saturday and at 2 pm on Sunday
in Haertter Hall. Tickets are free!
*Student Photos: If you (your parents) ordered pictures, they are in the bookstore; IDs will be available
next week; check your e-mail for a make-up day.
*Sustainability Fact of the Day: A study by the Environmental Law Institute found that the government
through tax breaks and direct spending provided $72 billion in subsidies for fossil fuels between 2002
and 2008, even though fossil fuel companies are among the most profitable in the world. During the
same time, the government provided only $29 billion in subsidies for renewable energy, and the
majority of the renewable subsidies went to ethanol production. Why does the government provide so
much more to fossil fuels? What are the obstacles to reversing these subsidy levels? What chance do
you believe the country has of reversing these subsidy levels?...and here’s Friday’s fact of the day
(which was delivered today!): Nine percent of U.S. energy comes from renewable sources if hydroelectric plants are included. Why isn’t renewable energy cost competitive with fossil fuels? When fossil
fuel energy becomes more expensive than renewable energy, how will the economy be affected by the
cost of energy? How quickly will the renewable energy sector be able to expand when it is cheaper
than fossil fuels?
Kudos to…
Logan Otter ’15 who took 6th and Drew Bolster ’16 who took 14th in state golf.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Remember, sophomores and junior, you have the PSAT on Wednesday morning, followed by health
programming
Announcements
*7th & 8th Grade Model UN: Countries have been selected. See Mrs. Marshall about your team and to
provide your t-shirt size.
*Ally Week: This week is Ally Week, so Spectrum is going to talk about an "identity of the day" every
day this week. “The first identity is that of an ally. An ally is someone who supports and stands up for
the rights and dignity of individuals and identity groups other than their own, especially when that
individual or identity group is not present or otherwise able to represent themselves. To be an ally, it is
important to be aware of your own identities and how you are similar and different from others,
educate yourself about identities different from your own and develop the skills to educate others. The
most important part of being an ally, however, is taking action against prejudice and oppression.
Anyone and everyone can be an ally, and we encourage all of you to take these steps.”
*Asian Culture: Meeting at 8 am on Thursday in Mr. Nguyen’s classroom.
*Dance Show: Choreographers should get started. The seniors have chosen Coldplay as the theme.
*Filmmakers’ Society: Check your e-mail; next Tuesday is the deadline for short film ideas.
*Iron Chef: Meeting at 8 am on Thursday in the home ec room.
*Playing for Time: Arthur Miller’s play will be performed at 8 pm on Saturday and at 2 pm on Sunday
in Haertter Hall. Tickets are free!
*PSAT Root of the Day: “phane,” Greek meaning “to show” or “to appear” as in diaphanous,
phenotype, phantasm/phantom, cellophane, phenomenon, fantasy and phantasmagoria.
*Sustainability Fact of the Day: Eighty percent of Missouri’s electricity comes from coal plants. Ninety
percent of the coal used by those plants comes from Wyoming. (Energy Information Agency website)
How does this affect Missouri’s economy? What would be the impact on Missouri’s economy of
generating electricity in ways that kept Missouri dollars in Missouri even if that electricity cost more?
Kudos to…
• Logan Otter ’15 who is tied for third after the first round of state golf and Drew Bolster ’16 who
is tied for 14th!
• Hannah Hiler ’14, Mira Patel ’13 and Connor Slaten ’14 who were selected to the St. Louis
Metro High School Honors Choir. Last Saturday, they auditioned with more than 300 other St.
Louis area high school students. Their scores also qualified them to audition for the Missouri
All-State Choir.