The Rexonian (May 2010)

Familiar Faces Return

Volume III; Issue 3 May 2010 King’s Academy, Manja - Madaba, Jordan

Page 2

NeWS

Page 3-4

OPINION

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LIFe

NeWS IN BrIeF

TheFT ON CamPuS

STudeNT gOverNmeNT

INTerNeT BLOCkage

The day IS TOO LONg

mOTher’S day

my exPerIeNCe IN ghaNa

FeaTured TeaCher: mS. SaNdra

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FuN Page

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SPOrTS

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IN memOrIam

hOrOSCOPeS

TaLkINg TO The CaPTaINS

dedICaTION TO ahmad TaraWNeh ‘10

Table of ConTenTs

In recent months, since the devastating Haitian Earthquake on January 12th, 2010, the King’s Academy student body and faculty mem-bers have been organizing several events to raise money for the Haiti earthquake victims. These ranged from Haiti bracelet-selling (with proceeds going to the country), Coffee House Nights, as well as several feeds.

The two-hour Coffee House Night took place in the Gallery and featured refreshments and snacks. Some of the acts included in the Coffee House night included Mr. Tom singing a song (which pretty much rounded up King’s Academy in little more than 3 minutes), some exotic Indian dancing, a hilarious comedian who really “brought the house down”, beat boxing, and other performances. The event was orga-nized by Nariuz Al Ajlouni ’10, Zaid Al-Nassir

’10 and Fadi Hamati ’10 who also had their own acts. Thanks to their organization skills and the performers’ talents, the event raised 1035 JDs which all went to the families of the Jordanian victims of the earthquake.

The event and the performers received many gracious praises from the audience, and this made the organizers very happy with the out-come. When asked if he would have another one of these Coffee House Nights, Zaid Al-Nassir ’10 responded with “Absolutely, events like this one are what King’s Academy is all about, raising awareness and helping the people, it is the per-fect example of being a global citizen.”

Another fundraising event King’s Academy had on campus was the Haiti Relief bracelet-selling. Several volunteers went around lunch tables selling bracelets that were engraved with

Haiti Relief EffortGiving back to the Global Community

By TAMEEM SAMAWI ’13STAFF WRITER

On Thursday, March 11, around 30 students and 5 teachers awoke early to catch their flight to Ghana. The plan was to spend 9 days work-ing with underprivileged children at the New Life Orphanage, located in Ghana, as part of King’s Academy’s Community Service program.

The students performed several tasks at the New Life orphanage such as teaching the orphans Math-ematics and English, playing with them and helping out with sport activities. The school at the orphan-age is still under construction, so the students also helped with clean-ing and building the school. The children were split into groups, according to academic ability, and

each student helped teach a group. For other activities, the orphans were free to roam about and meet the students.

The orphans were aged between 1 and 18 years old. The official lan-guage of Ghana is English, and, de-spite having good comprehension of the language, the orphans did not speak it very well. “Whenever I go to Africa and see how people live, I remember how blessed I am,” said Jin Seul Jun, “The trip was amazing; it was all I could have hoped for and more.”

Before the trip, the students un-derwent a standard medical proce-dure; everyone had to be vaccinated against several diseases, such as Malaria. The long layover in Cairo

Successful Community Service Trip in Ghana

King’s Academy Students travel to Ghana to assist orphanage

The year is almost at an end and the next school year is just around the corner. When ev-eryone returned to school after spring break, Familiar faces re-appeared. Who are these faces? One may ask. Well, it suffices to say they are teachers who taught at King’s in earlier years, and this will also happen next year.

One of the teachers re-turning this year is the beloved Ms. Nancy Sykes, who taught American History at King’s last year. “She left to contin-ue studying about the Middle East. What most people don’t

know about her is that she used to be a lawyer and studied the Middle East in the States after she left King’s Academy,” said Mansoor Ghotto ’11.

Mr. Tristan Chirico, a teach-er who inspired many students at King’s from its birth till last year, will be returning next year to teach Theater and Philoso-phy, courses that were made popular by his methods of teaching. Abdullah Khalayleh ’11 said that Mr. Tristan is “a very, very good teacher..” Not only are there teachers who are returning next year, but some who already came back quite recently.

The constant return of

teachers to King’s shows the strong bond that teachers and students had in years that passed, and one can only wish that this will forever be a quality that King’s Academy’s students and teachers possess.

Mr. Tristan Chirico and Ms. Nancy Sykes return to teach at King’s

By RAFAT NESHEIWAT ’13STAFF WRITER

By SEEMA SAMAWI ’11STAFF WRITER

see HAITI RELIEF on page 2

see GHANA on page 2

Students and Faculty alike gather in the King Adullah II Spiritual Center to mourn the loss of Ahmed Tarawneh ‘10, who had passed away a few days earlier in a tragic car accident. Please see “IN MEMORIAM” on page 8 for the Rexonian’s tribute to Ahmad.

In Memory of Ahmad

PHOTO BY MR. TOM VERDE

PHOTO BY ROBERT BAHOU ‘11

Zaid Al-Nassir ‘10 and Nairouz Al-Ajlouni ‘10, two of the or-

ganizers of the Coffee House Night, perform for a full house in support of Haiti relief efforts.

COURTESY OF COMMUNICATIONS

Mr. Tristan Chirico

The RexonianPage 2NEWS

News In Brief

Green Club Builds Geodesic DomeKing’s Academy’s Green Club em-

barked on a journey to an Eco park owned by Friend of Earth ME to-wards the end of February to build a 3 tier large Geodesic Dome; which is a sphere constructed of tubes that pro-

vides shade for recreational purposes. “This trip was a lot of fun because it was a community service trip and felt very productive,” commented Swara Salih ’10.

-TAMEEM SAMAWI ’13

Minor amendments have been made concerning the Junior Fellow program for the upcoming academic year. The Stu-dent Life Office has decided to reduce the number of Junior Fellows (which is cur-rently 17) to 10-12 who represent a larger diversity. Their duties will remain the same concerning their day-time work, but they will be participating more actively in co-curricula’s. Mr. Steve Uydess, who is in charge of these amendments, commented

on this change: “I would like to see them work in Amman doing local projects and their own stuff.” The Junior Fellow reduc-tion will be accompanied with the intro-duction of Teaching Fellows into King’s. The reason behind these changes is that each junior fellow will have enough work to keep them busy for the entire school day, which would allow affairs to progress more efficiently.

-SEEMA SAMAWI ’11

The King’s Academy entrance exam has changed for all applicants of the next academic year in hopes of being able to place students more efficiently in their appropriate classes. The math portion is now more difficult and thorough; the writing portion’s specified time was low-

ered to only 15 minutes. Finally, a vocab-ulary section was added to the English part of the examination. These changes will hopefully assist the school in better-ing the selection of King’s Academy’s future students.

-BARAKAT EL-SAQA ’13

gave the group the chance to visit the pyramids of Giza to help pass the time. In spite of the intolerable heat and pes-ky mosquitoes, the group had quite a time in Cairo.

“I am looking forward to this trip. It will be great to work with students who have done extensive service projects in-dependently as well as getting to know them out of dorm life” commented Ms. Kathleen Boswell, 6 days before her trip. She was pleased to be able to use her “’see, need, act’ initiative” someplace where it is needed. Similar enthusiasm and anticipation was pro-jected by the participating students.

Among one of the intended sight-seeing trips was a visit to the Cape Coast Castle, a former part of the Trans Atlantic slave trade. Nicknamed “The Gate of No Return Castle”, it is a site of great tragedy significant both for Africa and Northern America. Un-fortunately, the group did not end up going due to time constrictions. The students did, however, get the chance to visit The Wli waterfall, which is one of the tallest in Africa. “Seeing the wa-ter coming down the waterfall made me feel relieved of all my stress,” com-mented Jin Seul Jun enthusiastically.

The students were pleased to have given all they could to help fulfill the orphans’ hopes and dreams, but they were shocked to see that the orphans did not know their true potential, which inspired to make them work hard to show the orphans how accomplished they were.

Jin Seul Jun ‘13 became really close with 3 orphans who truly stood out for her; Joshua, Nana and Eric who were all 10 years old. The three of them were good friends and had a shared dream; to get on a plane, which would be pi-loted by their own Joshua, and travel to Cairo and watch a soccer match.

In the end, the students and teachers were successful ambassadors of Jordan and King’s Academy. They were able to help the orphans in finding themselves and improving as citizens of the world as well as have a pleasant time. The stu-dents expressed hope that there will be more trips like this one. They felt that such trips would be beneficial to both King’s Academy and the less fortunate people of this world.

“We all survived together, even though some people were skeptical at first, everyone came through, matured and became really close with the chil-dren. It was really heart – warming to watch them playing and learning from each other.”

GHANAcontinued from Page 1

the words: “Jordan-Haiti Relief Drive” on them. The bracelets were sold for 5JDs each and were available in three different colors. The volunteers’ hard work paid off with 1100 JDs which will be given to organizations that will, as Reed Ghan-dour ’11, one of the volunteers, stated “will forward it to Haiti”.

There was also another bracelet-selling event that took place on the KA cam-pus, but these bracelets were purchased from a local store and sold at KA for 1 JD each. The bracelets were inspired from the Jordanian red “shmakh.” This particular event was uniquely effective because KA didn’t only help Haiti but also managed to help a local store.

The few months in which the tragic Haiti Earthquake occurred helped the essence of King’s to emerge. Students were creative, innovative and selfless and their efforts not only helped Haiti, but they also helped the local King’s commu-nity in coming together for a cause.

HAITI RELIEFcontinued from Page 1

Omar Halawa ‘12, represent-ing Cuba in the

King’s Academy Model United

Nations confer-ence, held at

the Dead Sea in late February. The conference

was heralded by many as a great

success.

Entrance Exam Changes

Changes in Junior Fellow Pogram

Members of the Green Club assist in con-structing a Geodesic Dome.

PHOTOS BY ROBERT BAHOU ‘11

PHOTO BY ROBERT BAHOU ‘11

exeCuTIve edITOr

maNagINg edITOr maNagINg edITOr

NeWS SuB- edITOr

OPINION SuB- edITOr

LIFe SuB- edITOr FuN Page SuB- edITOr

SPOrTS SuB- edITOr

PhOTOgraPhy SuB-edITOr

FaCuLTy advISOr

rOBerT BahOu ‘11NayLa aL-mamLOuk ‘12ImaN aBu aLIa ‘11

JOOhO ShIN ‘12mOuNIr eNNeNBaCh ‘12Seema SamaWI ‘11reem aL haddadIN ‘11ZaCk SamaWI ‘11

BarakaT eL SaQa ‘13

mr. BOWmaN dICkSON

Page 3May 2010OPINION

Student Government: Yes We Can?

As the second year of King’s Academy came to close to an end, the student body witnessed the Student Government work-ing hard as they made parties for several occasions. The question is, is the Student Government only there to make parties and minor joyful moments for the school? Should the student government from last year be formally “dissolved”, and should we look forward to Ms. Julianne Puente’s new “senate” idea? This latter option consists of voting for representatives from each class, the seven-day and five-day boarders, the day students, and voting for two presidents.

I really hoped that the student govern-ment would be very productive last year, and would continue to be so this year. Af-ter being outnumbered by the votes that my opposing candidate Ghaith Odeh ’11 had, I had faith in Ghaith and the other students to

make a real difference in the school. Should all those daily complaints I heard from my fellow students be shattered and ignored, or should they be heard? Parties may be fun, but I thought that there would be more than organizing parties from the student govern-ment.

Being a King’s student made me be-lieve in leadership. It is about how students should question authority and should try to make a difference in their school and their community in a well organized man-ner. However, after returning from the US, I have been seeing some aspects in school simply become worse. I am not saying that we should blame the student government, but I think that they should have more of a say and help to improve the way the school functions as a whole. One should note that student government is a way of transmit-ting the complaints of the student body to the more powerful staff and faculty. The

student government is a liaison between the student and the faculty as well as an idea generator to help make the school a more joyful place.

Ms. Julianne’s senate idea is a great idea, but the procedures are not yet clear. Ms. Julianne is trying to make our voices as a student body heard through organization. Although this idea is different than other student governments that I or others have known. Why should we change the type of government if we can change what the student government can actually do for the school? People may argue that the student government is “like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get,” and that they may be fun but do not actually do anything. What the student government needs is recognition of what they are trying to do for the school, and a little bit of think-ing outside the box to find new ideas to help the student body as much as possible.

Have you ever felt that you can-not leave your dorm room door unlocked for a second? That when you turn your back something will be taken, perhaps maybe stolen? That’s what many are feeling these last couple of months, now that several outbursts of theft are tak-ing place on campus.

The don’t only take from our dorm rooms, but also from lockers and bags. It must be an annoyance to know that with every move we make we need to watch our backs, and that we actually do need to watch over our belongings closely.

Is it necessary to lock our rooms when we go to dinner or when we run to the shower? That’s the risk many are taking. Now is the time to take action and protect our personal belongings. Stealing has become more problematic than “misplacing” and “irrespon-sibility” on our parts, but a true in-vasion of privacy by rule-breaking students.

Who are we to blame when we leave our doors closed, not locked, but in a “safe community” in the hopes that our personal belong-ings will not just get snatched up by some random person lurking the halls? Has King’s Academy re-ally accepted thieves to its walls? Now our trust is shaken by these thefts, we must be constantly on our guard. Keep your belongings close, as you never know who will want to come in and take some-thing valuable.

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maNagINg edITOr PrOduCTION edITOr

NeWS SuB- edITOr

OPINION SuB- edITOr

LIFe SuB- edITOr FuN Page SuB- edITOr

SPOrTS SuB- edITOr

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SWara SaLIh ‘10LeeN SINOkrOT ‘10TaLa ShOkeh ‘10

ZaId aL-NaSSer ‘10Zaha aBueLSameN ‘10daLIa mehIar ‘10reem aL haddadIN ‘11ImaN aBu aLIa ‘11

rOBerT BahOu ‘11ZeNa kOkaSh ‘10

mr. TOm verdemr. BOWmaN dICkSON

New

One student comments on the state of the Representation of Students in the Community

By SUHAYB AL-JAWHARI ’11STAFF WRITER

The Problem Of Thefts on

CampusWhat can be done to prevent

stealing on Campus?

By YASMIN LUKATAH ’11STAFF WRITER

PHOTO: MAHATMA GANDHI

Introducing the staff for the 2010-2011 school year

The RexonianPage 4OPINION

Internet BlockingIs the IT Department taking “security measures” too far?

By ZahIra ShaBaN ‘11STAFF WRITER

Is Our Day Too Long?King’s Academy ought to make its schedule more accommodating to students

By NAYLA AL MAMLOUK ’12STAFF WRITER

“When I get home, I sleep. I do my homework the next day during my free [period],” said Zeid Morcos’12. That quote is certainly a sign that the school day sched-ule is too long. Classes start at either 8:00 A.M. on Mon-days or 8:15 on other days, the end at either 3:45 P.M or 4:00 P.M., and there is still more! After school activi-ties are required as well, so no one (officially) technically finishes their day until they do their respective sport or club. The minimum time that a student would be free of all their obligations is thus 5:15 P.M.

We begin our day at 7:55 A.M. with the daily School Meeting. That makes for an eight to nine hour school day at the least. Our free time in the evenings passes by so quickly, that a boarder will find him/herself in his/her room for study hall almost immediately, or a day student will finds him/herself on a bus back home without spending much free time with friends or doing other personal activities. Thus, our energy is drained and we would have no motivation at the end of the day to do our work. Another factor of our low stimulus is the routine we find ourselves in. It is very fixed and un-opened to change, that it becomes tedious and tiresome

very quickly. After discussing the topic with Ms. Elizabeth Ara-

now, she told me that she agreed that the day is quite lengthy. She also mentioned that the freshman and the sophomores have an extremely tight schedule with all the ministry requirements they are required to follow, leaving them with the bare minimum amount of frees to “take a breather in”. Another topic brought up was that while the lower classmen have no time, some of the upper classmen are not using their free time in a productive manner.

One solution to shortening our time-consuming days is to make our co-curriculars become what we have always known them to be: extra curriculars. It is enough that the students have to fulfill a hefty amount of aca-demic requirements; they should necessarily be forced to do something after the school day is over. That deci-sion should be theirs alone. High school students need to take responsibility for themselves.

New schedules are being discussed. One of our own students, Robert Bahou ’11, even suggested a schedule proposal. This issue is still being debated, but we will hopefully enter a new school year with a better time frame.

Usually, it is trust that binds one person to another, and it is trust that encourages someone to open up to their community. However, in a place like King’s Academy, there is virtually no time to test every student’s trust-worthiness to obey the school rules or not. One of the most common rules that is set in schools worldwide is the ban-ning of certain web-sites. Other schools choose to be ethical and trust their students on their own. In Kings, it has been decided to block almost every site in order

to prevent students from opening such restricted sites.

One can deal with this issue from two perspectives. Choos-ing to be untrustworthy towards students puts them in a very an-gry position to turn against the school. It only attracts students to disobey other rules as well, “Why try to prove them wrong if they already chose to think of us as untrustworthy students?” one student says. “It isn’t just Face-book and YouTube, its Google images and hotmail as well.” “Kings Academy is a high school with students responsible enough to make their own way through

the internet; blocking internet is a sign that the school does not trust their own students!” Hani Murad’10 argues.

Some teachers believe that blocking some sites decreases problems and shuts down any ex-cuse a student has to say when he or she is caught visiting a restrict-ed site. It also comforts them to know that they are now in full control, reminding them that stu-dents will never find a “Plan B” and will never be able to outsmart who is in control. “I am with this argument, it’s a two way street, to have the program remove stu-dents [who] must prove that they

have full responsibility and are trustworthy enough” says Abeer Nammari. “Unblocked internet might help people attain self control and get ready for college, as college internet is always un-blocked” agrees Rama Nakib’11

In my opinion, everything has

always been a “two way street” as Abeer Nammari stated, but Kings has taken it to the extreme. How do they expect to have a produc-tive and joyful student society if they have this Internet-Blocking policy that will only create ten-sion?

Everyone knows that “Mother’s Day” is a day that is dedi-cated to mothers around the world. It is the day we give her presents indulge her with love, and try to make her feel special from morning until dawn. Whether it is serving her breakfast in bed, buying her roses, or even giving her a break from the constant fights or arguments between members of the family, efforts are made to make her happy on this day in most of the houses, if not in all of them.

This is what usually happens on Mother’s day, but then we store it all as a good memory and move on to the next day. We move on with our lives and daily routines, we go on to practice our hobbies and activities as usual. We never stop again to give our mother that special queen like treatment. However, we just treat her normally and continue arguing with her about the silliest topics. We keep fighting with our siblings and doing things that annoy her, for it is not her day anymore.

Well, here is the other side of the story: a mother is an impossibly independent and powerful person who bears lots and lots of struggles throughout her life. Unfortunately, our malevolent attitude insults her at times and our bad habits annoy her. We forget that she is not superhuman, and that she has feelings and needs. Most of us fail to recognize how much responsibilities she takes and how much of a burden she holds on her back. The reality is that none of us can last one day in her place.

A Mother’s day is nothing but a fake-love day. On this day we make sure to show our mothers love and generosity, but we forget to do this on all other days. A mother should not be loved and cared for just for one day. She should not have to each day form our misbehavior and our constant mistakes. Our mothers will not live with us forever, and that is why we should appreciate their presence and try hard to make them happy by showing gratitude. If we do annoy or upset them, we should make for it immediately and give them the hope that we will know better next time.

Instead of presents and cards, let’s give a mother authen-tic love and care. Let’s try to stop being self-centered trouble makers by avoiding what we know she dislikes. Let’s show her that we appreciate the fact that she has lived her entire life just for our sake. Let’s make every day a Mother’s day.

For every mother out there I say, stop accepting our strengths against your weakness and our health against your illness. You will not live forever to enjoy the beauty and great wonders of life, and I am sure our behavior is not worth your loss of those opportunities.

Every Day Should Be Mother’s Day

By SANAD ZUMOT ’13STAFF WRITER

PHOTO BY ROBERT BAHOU ‘11

PHOTO BY ROBERT BAHOU ‘11

Page 5May 2010 LIFE

My Experience in Ghana

I always wanted to visit the real Africa and not just go on the tourist sites, stay-ing in the five star hotels, and mingling with the “upper class”. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to fulfill that desire when the school arranged a trip to Ghana, in western Africa, where I was one of the 34 people on the trip.

I didn’t know what to expect when I boarded the plane going to Ghana, other than heat and mosquitoes. I was also aware of the extreme poverty found in most Sub-Saharan countries. Other than that, I knew close to nothing when it came to liv-ing in an African country. We first arrived at the hotel Bora Bora, with all our faces all shiny due to the extreme humidity. In most of the rooms, there was no air condi-tioning. As one can predict, there was a ton

of whining and complaining, but there was nothing to be done about it. There was also no electricity when we got there.

The morning after, each of us realized how beautiful Ghana is. Its citizens were warm and friendly, and the greenery and the nature were mind blowing. We visited the orphanage and when we saw the con-ditions the children there lived in, no one on the trip would dare to complain about the hotel we were staying in. The youngest was around 8 months and the oldest was 20, but the latter is still in school, struggling with the improvement of her reading skills. None of the kids had actual beds, but slept on mattresses. The majority of them were malnourished, due to the limited amount of food they had. Nevertheless, not a single child gave the impression that they were miserable because they didn’t live in a better house with parents focusing on them and them solely. The smiles on their

face were permanent and grew even big-ger when we handed out pieces of candy or small toys. They would say,”I love you very much” after being given an item that many of us here at King’s would probably not be affected by or would simply not care about.

We played with the children, taught them at their school, helped them build their school, painted on their plain walls and danced together to Ghanaian music. They are orphans, but that doesn’t stop them from dreaming big. One of them actually said that she wanted to be the president of Ghana in her future. Their resources are limited, but their way of living makes them wealthier than the wealthy. In addition, the group that went on the trip was one that couldn’t be any better. We saw each other at our worst, but we still remain friends. We fainted, dehydrated, starved, vomited, and suffered from heat strokes together.

The trip has changed the way I look at life; although I’ve had my share of unfortu-nate events, nothing can compare to what these orphans have endured. I learned to be grateful for every small item I have, be-cause some have nothing. The orphans had nothing, yet they were happier than anyone else I have ever known. The loved us sim-ply for the small gifts we gave them. I love them and Ghana for the rich experience they have allowed me to have in life.

Chaperones: Ms. Randa Qunsol, Mr. Nart Abdi, Ms. Kathleen Boswell, Miss Nadine Jallad and Ms. Sandra Hamilton

Students: Abdullah Abdal ‘11, Haya Abdul Hadi ‘11, Ghaida El-tayeh ‘11, Jaber Al-Sabah ‘11, Lana Al-Kury ‘12, Haneen Tantash ‘12, Hayat Abu Samra ‘10, George Steele ‘10, Hunter Bell ‘12, Nadine Abdul-lat ‘12, Yasmine ABuzeid ‘12, Faisal Al-Kabariti ‘11, Sima Shabaneh ‘10, Zachariah Samawi ‘11, Lana Mehiar ‘11, Zeyna Tabbaa ‘12, Majd Massanat ‘12, Fakher el Fayez ‘12, Nofan Jaffan ‘12, Malik Jabouri ‘11, Johnny Khoury ‘11, Reed ghandour ‘11, Jin Seul Jun ‘13, Firas Fouasher ‘12, Farah Matalka ‘12, Celine Zananiri ‘11, Hasan Abu Khar-ma ‘11, and Suhaib Mohaidat ’11.

Featured Teacher: Ms Sandra HamiltonAn esteemed educator from Australia who came to Jordan for one reason: Adventure

By YASAMIN TAYLOR ’11STAFF WRITER

I am welcomed into to Miss Sandra’s apartment and offered tea, milk and no sugar for me and milk with fresh ginger from her. I am taken on a trip down to her memory lane with stories from her younger years. As a teenager she lived in the countryside in Australia and then moved to Sydney to go to Macquarie University, where she was given a generous scholarship. She studied music, art, medieval literature and linguistics. Life in the city was new and a complete change, as she was introduced to pop culture and heard opera music for the first time in the Sydney Opera House, which she fell in love with. After getting her BA from Macquarie, she received her Master’s from Sydney University. During her summers she and her friends would escape to the beach during the middle of the night, and as I am told these glorious memories, there is a large smile planted across her face.

When I move onto her family, she tells me that she has a brother and a sister, both of whom she is very close to. She then giggles, saying “As we would walk down the street with my mother people would fall over my sister and tell her how pretty she was, they would look at me and say that I was the smart one.” Indeed she was the smart one who was the only one in her family to make it to university. She describes her family as “laid back and supportive”.

So why would a woman with her whole life in Australia move to the Middle East, a region she had never stepped foot in? “Adventure and age made me come, if not now I would have never come.” When she first told her daughter she was surprised but enthusiastic, partly because the 19 year old would be granted “freedom” from her mother. When asked about her interests, she

responds that she likes to “read, write, play [her] cello, listen to music, and to explore the region.”

With the difference of 8739.38 miles between Australia and Jordan there must be some great changes to deal with. The main difference between schools in Australia and Jordan boil down to the way the students act and the way the kids are brought up within education. “The kids here are friendlier and more helpful, and I love the way they interact with the teachers.” Miss Sandra then goes onto talking about the difference between the educations “when the children leave they have more choices when they leave school, for kids that aren’t university material the schools will find other options for them. On the other hand this school focuses more on the academic side of education with the goal of going to university.”

During the months Miss Sandra has been a resident of Kings Academy she has grown fond

of leaving the gates of Kings Academy and going off to explore Jordan; she shows off her treasures to me from her adventures, some of them being flowers and shards from Jalil and Hasban. Leaving next year will be tough on her, as she says, “I can’t think of anywhere else as interesting as Jordan in the Middle East .” She would love to stay within the Middle East next year and it is evident that she will live somewhere in the county side considering she refers to herself as a “country person at heart.”

As the interview comes to a close I decide to squeeze in one more question on her Arabic skills, she claims that “my lack of Arabic is pathetic, pathetic, pathetic despite Miss Manal’s best efforts, speaking of this I should really get on with some homework.” With this I leave this very intriguing English teacher to get on with her studies.

Yusra Bitar ‘11 tells of her once-in-a-lifetime journey to Africa

Ms. Sandra Hamilton plays guitar and sings for the King’s Academy Community on an

“Open-Mic” Night.

By YUSRA BITAR ’11STAFF WRITER

The RexonianPage 6FUN PAGE

HOROSCOPES

Leo (7/23-8/22): Abdullah Khalayleh ‘11

School life: This month will be a combination of positive and negative developments. Make the best out of all the positive things and try to make the negative minor things. Social life: Your social life and self-esteem will improve drastically this month, because you will get to know more people from outside school that would affect your decisions in life.

Aquarius (1/20-2/18): Zack Samawi ‘11

School: You will lose a special book this month, but the worst thing you can do is panic about it. Panicking does not solve anything. School is not about having a pen and a notebook in class, it requires using them and making the best of what you have. A brain is sometimes enough to excel.Social life: Blue is not your color of the month. Surprisingly, it’s green!

Pisces (2/19-3/20): Khalook Al Yassin ‘12

School: Take a deep breath, you need it. You will be rewarded for your efforts at school, whether by a simple smile or a gesture to show that your work has been recognized. But beware, competition is on the way. Social life: You are a loyal friend and the people around you appreciate that. However, you must take the time to care for your personal growth. You must not forget who you truly are when you’re around other people.

Aries (3/21-4/19): Tala Hammash ‘10

School life: You are beginning to feel a bit of stress since your exams are coming up very soon. Don’t worry you are going to perform exceptionally well, just do what you always do.Social life: Although you’re going to notice that you’re spending too much money, refrain from taking important decision alone; consult a friend of a relative.

Libra (9/23-10/22): Adel Nesheiwat ‘11

School life: Focus, focus and focus, this month you need to put aside everything that is on your mind and set your eyes on your main goal, which is getting the highest grades on you exams.Social life: A surprise will be knocking on your door sometime next week, wait for it. You will be amazed of how many good friends you have surrounding you. Have a night out with your best friends you need it!

Virgo (8/13-9/22): Layla al Naif ‘11

School life: Mocks and APs are coming up, do not freak out because it is not the end of the world. Try to ask you teachers and friends for help. You need each moment this week so do not waste it, because you will have plenty of time to have fun. Social life: Start each day with a smile. Happiness will find its way to you. You will be surrounded with love and support. Good luck in you upcoming exams.

Taurus (4/20-5/20): Nairuz al Ajlouni ‘10

School life: This month will be at your best. Enjoy your classes because for the first time in your life, you will see them in a new, better way. Try to make the best out of each class by understanding and participating well. Social Life: If your birthday is coming up, enjoy it; it will be a blast, spend it with some dear friends and family. It will be definitely a night to remember.

Cancer (6/22-7/22): Mohammad Qardan ‘10

School life: Don’t procrastinate like you always do, work on daily basis to see an improvement in your grades. Take all advice into consideration.Social life: Sometimes going out with people you do not know may be a little uncomfortable. That’s why you should get to know them well before taking any steps further.

Capricorn (12/22-1/19): - Rama Al Nakib ‘12

School: This month, you must focus on math more than any other subject. It might’ve been an easy journey for you with this class, but there will be some problems with the subject or the teacher and they will not be solved unless you act cleverly. Social life: you will make a public scene this month, and when you find yourself the center of attention, don’t cry or feel embarrassed, simply walk away or even throw a small laugh.

Sagittarius (11/22-12/21): Suhayb Al-Jawhari ‘11School: The clock is ticking, but it has always been ticking and there’s no need to get too nervous now. Social Life: When Darwin spoke of the “survival of the fittest” he did not want you to take it literally, so don’t. Have a treat this month, and prove to yourself as well as others that you are a beautiful survivor no matter what the scale tries to tell you.

Compiled by: Rinad Salaita ‘10

Nadine Sousou ‘10Jumana Shahzadeh ‘10

Reem Al-Haddadin ‘11

Gemini (5/21-6/21): Yasamin Taylor ‘11 School life: Your hard work is going to be appreciated by most of your teachers; however you’re going to always tired. Try to relax and choose a better studying plan.Social life: This month you have some difficulties adjusting to what’s going around. Things will get better with the help and advice of a special friend that will rescue you.

Scorpio (10/23-11/21): Sally Shaban ‘11

School life: School is pretty good with you, you are doing well in most of your classes, but do not forget that nothing is for granted so keep you hard work and have fun while doing it.Social life: Things are getting a little bit complicated this month; do not worry too much because everything happened for a reason. You will find your way through what you always wished for.

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Page 7May 2010 SPORTS

As the year has progressed our sports teams have been vastly improving, going to practices twice a week and winning games against various opposing teams. After speaking to the captains of all our squads, it is evident how well-built each team has become over this period of time.

Boys’ BasketballCo-Captain Faisal Kawar ‘10, speaking on behalf of

his triumphant basketball team said “I’ve come to embody the mantra of action over word, [and] all my teammates have taken on the task of being leaders on and off the court. As a result my team goes beyond conformity, yield-ing a team that does not take no for an answer”.

Co-Captain Bashar Jarrar ‘10 added “When it comes to our basketball team, the only thing that I think separates us from the rest of the teams in Jordan or maybe the re-gion, is that each and every player has a role on the team, whether on the bench or on the court. Every player has been chosen for a reason, and every player on the team has something to add to the way the team plays the game: Hamdi Aluaddin ‘11: the big guy, Faisal Kawar ‘10: the “omniplayer”, Zeid Morcos ‘12: the rising star, Hazem: Mr. Clutch, Izzat: Rebound master, Zaid Nasser ‘10: Siz-zling passer, Ali Shajrawi ‘11: the ‘charge’ man, Yazan Fanous ’11: the quick power forward, Zack Samawi ‘11: the shooter, Hussein Hassan ‘10: our off-balance shooter and Muthana Tarawaneh ‘10: our ‘driving’ power. So as you can see, each player has his own “thing”; merge all their talents together and you get one of the best high-school teams in Jordan in our present time. I am certainly proud to be a part of this team, and even more proud of what we have accomplished TOGETHER. The boys clearly work well as a team, and accept any challenges that come their way. They stand tall, and keep their heads held high at all times.” When travelling to Beirut, Lebanon to compete at the Ameri-can Community School for the Middle Eastern Tournament (MET) the Lion boys finished in second place.

Girls’ BasketballThe girls’ basketball team seems to have come a long

way since September, and they have really come together another as a cohesive team. As for their achievements in Beirut, the team played hard that MET weekend in Feb-ruary, and they found themselves playing like profession-als and finished in third place. The team played beauti-ful basketball against strong teams, trying to win as many games as they could and show the other teams the great pride that they had in one other. “The trip to Lebanon has not only made me love basketball more than anything, but it has also made me appreciate being on part of a real basketball team.” –Tala Hammash ’10 said, after coming home from an exhausting yet exciting trip.

The coaches, Mr. Mike McLaughlin, Mr. Iyad Abu

Touq and Mr. David Powers were not only proud of each player’s improvement and achievements as individual players, but they were also thrilled by the image that the Basketball Lions left behind in Lebanon that will surely remain for many years to follow.

Girls’ SoccerKicking, sprinting, and timed miles seem to have taken

over the soccer stadiums at King’s Academy. As the girls’ varsity team has progressed throughout the year, with end-less effort and great teamwork the team has proven itself to both their captains and their coach. The girls’ varsity soccer captains, Lena Abdin ‘11 and Qxhna Titcomb ’11, said the team had many ups and downs throughout the year. Re-cently the team showed little interest and began to slack off, which led the captains to make a decision to have their team wake up one early morning and go out for a run as a team. One of the players, Sarah Muhtaseb ’12, said “Oh my God! It was so hard for us to wake up that early and go out for a run in the cold. And what was even worse was that we ALL had to be there on time, and for those who were late, the ENTIRE team was punished with another early morning at the track. I’m so glad we finally made it on time as a team and finished our run successfully! And I really hope this never happens again!”

After working on their skills and getting back into the game the girls began to show more interest and found themselves at Ms. Gabi’s apartment one night enjoying piz-za and snacks to discuss team-building. The girls had come up with some great ideas and are now anxiously waiting for their team apparel to arrive. “It was a great night! Ms. Gabi had ordered us pizza and had other snacks for us. Our team bonded and we eventually came up with a great a design for our sweatshirts and sweatpants. I’m so excited to get them, they will definitely be a great memory that I can take with me next year when I’m at college, and I’ll always remember our soccer team for all our enthusiasm and our hard work

through the apparel,” said Norah Jaffan ’10. Ms. Gabi had been a soccer star in her pre-

vious schools and this is the first team she has ever coached. When captain Qxhna Titcomb ’11 was asked “Who has been the greatest in-fluence on the team?” She replied, with no hesitation: “Ms. Gabi! She’s been a great coach, finding the balance between being intense and being fun, and doing it so effortlessly! Ms. Gabi has a great attitude at every practice that is con-

tagious. She’s willing to laugh with us and help us improve which creates a great learning environment both on and off the field. She’s had such a huge influence on each person on the team, pushing us to try harder but still supporting us when we mess up.” Lena Abdin ’11, the other captain, who has been playing soccer since she was a little girl says “I can’t get enough of playing soccer.” Lena loves to be out there on the field with all her teammates, cooperating with them and having a good time, and this is what spurs her on.

Boys’ SoccerThe Boys’ varsity

soccer team has just an-nounced that eight or nine of the players will be travelling to India. Captain Zaid Al-Rifai ’10 said “First and fore-most a captain must learn how to work well in a group, for there is no “I” in team, he must encourage and motivate others and be a true leader.” He is clearly

dedicated to his team at one-hundred percent, along with Captain Abdelkarim Shaban ’11 who strives to strengthen his team by pushing them gradually. Zaid went on to say that “‘the more you sweat in practice the less you bleed in a battle’, so I put my full potential into our practices, and shine as a role model to gain an advantage over the other team”. These Lions had a match quite a while ago against the Amaneh school, and they victoriously beat them 7-2, now that’s something to be proud of boys!

SwimmingNew born stars are being discovered as the year goes

by, not only on the basketball courts but also in the swim-ming pool. On February 21, 2010 the Lion swimmers won their first gold medal from the Jordan Federation Champi-onship swim meet that was hosted both at King’s Academy and at the Orthodox Club in Amman. Many other Jordani-an teams participated in the competition, that including the Jordanian National Team, the King Hussein Youth Club, the Orthodox Club and the King Hussein Club of Irbid. The Lion swimmers included Hala Halaseh ‘10, and she was truly a star swimmer making King’s Academy a proud school of their victorious swimmers.

By LAYLA AL NAIF ‘11 aNd LEEN HAJJAR ’11STAFF WRITERS

Captains of the Pride

Basketball players Zack Samawi ‘11and Ali Shajrawi ‘11 going for the shot

Talal Soroor ‘13 and Nadine Samara ‘13 swimming it out in a meet

PHOTOS BY ROBERT BAHOU ‘11

The RexonianPage 8 IN MEMORIAM

“Sometimes life’s just hard for no reason at all.”In the movie, “Remember the Titans”, Carol Boone comforted her husband, coach of a high school American football team whose beloved star player and team captain had just been severely in-jured in an accident. They are apt words for us as well, as we cope with the loss of our beloved friend and student, Ahmad Tarawneh.Most of us, Muslim or Christian, believe that things don’t really happen “for no reason at all,” of course, believing rather that God has reasons even for tragedies. But so very often, as now, we don’t understand them and to us it may seem to be for no reason at all. While we can’t always know God’s purposes or the meaning He has behind tragedies like this, we can commit to seeking meaning and purpose in them ourselves. Coach Boone made this com-ment about the tragedy in the movie: “You cannot replace Gerry Bertier… as a player, as a person.” And we cannot replace Ahmad Tarawneh, either. There will always be something missing in each of us who knew and loved him. But as the players in the movie did with their captain, we can remember and honor Ahmad. We can find purpose and meaning as we remember the character he demonstrated and the lessons his example teaches us. And we can honor him by living them out in our lives.

As I think of Ahmad, I’m struck by many things about him that I respect and admire.Ahmad understood and appreciated the tremendous opportuni-ties that he had been given here. He took the fullest advantage of these opportunities, never taking them for granted or having any sense of entitlement to them.He found things he was passionate about and pursued them. Then, he used what he learned not just for his own benefit, but to help others and to give them pleasure. Ahmad seemed to not know any unimportant people—ev-

eryone was worthy of his respect and his time. He probably never said no to any request for help on a computer problem, regardless of who asked. And, likely too often for the sake of his grades, he gave and gave of himself and his time for other people.Ahmad was so proud—in all the right ways. He was proud of his home and his country and of his people. He was proud of King’s Academy. He was proud of His Majesty. Pride can be foolish and blind, but Ahmad’s wasn’t. He knew things weren’t perfect, but it didn’t diminish his love for these people and places, nor his sincere pride in them.

All these things combined together in his life to become a devotion to serving. He wanted to use his opportunities and the privileges granted him and the things he was learning to go far—not for personal gain, but so that he could come back and give back to Jordan. He spoke often of his plans for the future to come back and work to improve the lives of his fellow countrymen. He was so excited when he told me about a summer job opportunity he had with a Ministry in Amman, in part at least because he could start that giving back so much sooner.We have all lost someone irreplaceable in Ahmad. Our grief is right and deep and our tears will go on for a long time. But we can hold onto these words that the Titan’s Coach Boone told one of his fellow coaches, “I’m hurting just like you are. But the season is not over yet. We did not come this far just to break down and lose now.”

The Titans went on to win, far beyond even the hopes of their downed captain. We can do the same, if we take these things that Ahmad had learned and demonstrated to heart for ourselves. In so doing, we’ll remember and honor him and a part of him really will live on in us. -Mr. Mark Payton

Ahmad TarawnehMARCH 23, 1992- APRIL 5, 2010

I was anticipating coming back to school

on that Monday night after the long Eas-

ter break, I was excited to see my friends

and my fellow dorm-mates, one of which

was our dearly beloved Ahmad Tarawneh .

I heard the news that I wish I have never

heard about 15 minutes before I left home,

I thought it was a rumor at first given the

number of rumors that have been spread

these couple of months, but the sound of my

friend’s voice sounded frightened, serious

and believable . I did not believe it, I could

not comprehend the fact and had to make

sure . After 16 phone calls, I was certain ,

I lost one of my dearest friends and I was

certain that I was never going to see him

again .From that moment on , I realized how

fragile and transient life can be, how peo-

ple you were just talking to 2 days ago, can

disappear in a second, how much people

work hard to live a healthy and bright

future and all that hard work just goes to

waste . Ahmad truly was the embodiment

of hard-work, perseverance, righteousness

and sincerity, and it is such a sad fact that

a person with all these wonderful traits had

to leave the community and the world that

cherished his presence and belonging.

As we rode on our way to Karak, to attend

Ahmad’s burial , I thought of how Ahmad’s

parents and family must be feeling at the

moment, how they needed all the support

and how devastated they must have been to

the loss of a son that they were more than

proud of. We prayed the funeral prayer and

headed to the cemetery with Ahmad’s body

on our shoulders and in our hearts, as we

set his gracious figure into the soils of the

earth and uncovered the veil over his face,

he had that beautiful faint smile on his

face that we were always used to seeing and

from that point on , I knew that he was in

a better place, and that was a sign telling

us not to worry and to continue on with our

lives, honoring his. -Bashar Jarrar ‘10

“I’m the only one who can give a definition of me.”