Tag: English

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2016-2017 Archives Books by Helen T '20 Entertainment and Culture Opinion Student Life

Views on Curriculum Based Books

Everyone has some taste in books, whether it ranges from nonfiction to complete fantasy, but what about books given to students by their teachers? English teachers assign readings based on their lesson plans, and there are many opinions about reading these books for class and assignments.

In BSGE, books that are read by many students this year include Of Mice and Men, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Things They Carried, The Metamorphosis, The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea, and Black Boy. In books such as these, students are expected to read closely and keep in mind specific aspects of the story that are beneficial to finding the meanings or the theme of the book. Depending on the teacher, there may be quizzes or assignments based on it as well, and possibly a final assignment once the class has finished reading the book. Many English teachers have different views on how they feel the curriculum based books

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Throw BACC Thursdays: Chris Potter: Quite the Crusader

The BACC Rag will repost an old article or interview (from our archive of almost a thousand stories!) each Thursday to help share great stories from the past that would still resound today. 

Mr. Chris Potter, current English and Theory of Knowledge teacher, is a former Holy Cross collegiate basketball player.

First things first: who offered you scholarships to come play for their schools?
No that many in the end . . . I whittled down the schools that I was not interested in and that were actively recruiting me . . . Holy Cross, Fordham, North Carolina.  I was recruited, although they don’t offer scholarships, by both Princeton and Brown.

A few of those names definitely stick out—so why Holy Cross?
I had an interest in going to Holy Cross before the whole recruiting process started.  When it came right down it, I thought I might as well use the scholarship opportunity to go to a school I really want to go to anyway.

You are certainly a tall man at 6’4”, but players today are even bigger. How do you think the game has changed over the years?
When I look at the current game, I just see, physically, the differences in terms of body building . . . When I played, the general body type was very tall and thin.  You have to be so much stronger today; in the 70s that wasn’t a requirement.

Today’s game is full of athleticism—ever had the privilege of dunking on somebody?
In college I only dunked the ball once, and that was on a fast break.  I wasn’t a great leaper to begin with . . . But I’ve never felt the humiliation of having someone dunk on me.

What was your most memorable moment in college?
When I was a junior, Holy Cross was in the

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Enter BSGE Open Mic Contest

Deadline to submit is this Wednesday, April 23rd. Performances will be on Tuesday April 29th in the cafeteria. Click on the image below to download the flyer.

Write It and Perform It

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by Justin H '17

BSGE’s New Order of Books

The school library recently received a new shipment of books, thanks to Ms. Clarkson-Farrell. She has spent a lot of time devoted to trying to make the library better, and as a result, there are now more than 75 books that weren’t there to take out before. They come from many genres, everywhere from adventure books to art books. Some notable books that the library got are Black Potatoes, Humans of New York, and many books in the Ender’s Game series.

Black Potatoes is a book about the Great Potato Famine in Ireland. It tells of how desperate people gathered food during that time period. For instance, some people would purposely commit crimes so that they could go to jail, where they would be guaranteed free meals every day. It describes how people would walk for miles in order to get to their job or a soup kitchen where they could receive food. Black Potatoes should be interesting for anyone who enjoys non-fiction.

BSGE library

Humans of New York is a book based on the famous blog of the same name. That blog, started by photographer Brandon Stanton in Summer of 2010, is made up of photographs of New Yorkers with captions that either quote them or tell their stories. The book Humans of New York is a collection of the highlights from the blog. When a large selection of students were asked which book they would like to read the most out of the books in the shipment, Humans of New York was by far the most popular choice.

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by Justin H '17 by Lydia S '15

BSGE Hosts First Open Mic Poetry Reading Celebrating Black History Month

photo[3]
Photo Credit: Erin C ’14
On Thursday, February 28th, the Open Mic Poetry Reading event was the first of its kind to be hosted at BSGE, with more than 30 poems read aloud and almost every chair filled in the audience.

The poetry readings weren’t the only thing happening in BSGE’s cafegymatorium, but also Gangnam style dance offs, Harlem Shakes, Air Guitar competitions, loud music, free food and a lot of fun.

The theme of the Open Mic poetry reading was Black History, coinciding with

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BSGE Open Mic Night and Poetry Contest: 2/28 3:30-5:30

Poetry contest copy

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by Lydia S '15

Interview with A Departing Student Teacher

 As the school year ends, BSGE’s 8th grade says goodbye for good to their English class student teacher Phillip Ashton Marnell The First. (Marnell had specifically said that he was “The First”). The 25 year old that worked with English teacher Nikki Singh and the 8th grade from April to June, is not only leaving BSGE, but leaving the country! Marnell had been hired for a job as an English Teacher in Korea, a few hours away from Seoul. When asked about how he felt flying all the way to Korea for his new job, the current Columbia student had said,

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by Lydia S '15

To Watch Or Not to Watch?

Students Have Mixed Response to Romeo and Juliet Production

Students act out Romeo and Juliet in the classroom.
Photo credit: Niki Singh

On March 30th, the 8th grade took a field trip to Baruch College in Manhattan to see the production of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”. After reading and writing about the original script for a few weeks with English teacher Niki Singh and student teacher Phil Marnell, BSGE 8th graders were very prepared to view the dramatic story. A few days before the field trip the students were visited by former actress Leslie who starred as Juliet in the Shakespeare play many years ago. She taught the students how to speak in sonnets and which words to put emphasis on and how to say the lines the way Shakespeare had interpreted it to be. Students got to ask questions about Leslie’s former performances and her feelings towards Shakespeare and acting.
Some students were disappointed with the Romeo and Juliet production they saw at Baruch College because it was a shortened version. It missed some of their favorite parts of

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by Stephanie A '11

Teacher of the Month: Niki Singh

You’re always surrounded by kids (family, school), where do you go to escape?
The hour-long subway ride to and from school is my escape, especially when I don’t have anything to grade.

What were you like as a teenager?
I always think of myself as being a goody-two-shoes, but I also remember  wanting to have a particular friend around because she NEVER got into trouble, whereas I always did.  I was in boarding school in India so the kinds of things that got us into trouble were feeding stray dogs and exploring the hills around. And going over

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by Mariam B '12 by Seong Ae H '12

The School Year Starts But One Man Is Missing

The school year begins with new expectations, goals and aspirations. Although all six grades have a long way ahead of them, the incoming tenth graders are especially under pressure with stress and loads of work. In preparation for the IB program, the Sophomores require proper guidance from their teachers. A main figure who will be missing this year will be the presence of Dr. David Mandler.
On the last day of school, the 28th of June, Dr. Mandler was given the final notification that he would no longer be teaching in BSGE due to budget cuts. Outraged by this decision, students

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by Jolijt T '11

Teacher of the Month: Ms. Connie You

What do you love about yourself?
I think the thing I love about myself is the thing that I also dislike about myself, which is, I’m reflective. So I try to think a lot about my own feelings and thoughts.

What’s your pet peeve?
Periods and commas outside quotation marks.

What intimidates you?
I would say people who are naturally very extroverted. My sister’s that way so my sister plays a really big role in my life. We are opposites but also competitive so everything she is I kind of wish I were. And I think it might work the other way around too.

Is she your older sister?

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by Evan B '10

Chris Potter: Quite the Crusader

Mr. Chris Potter, current English and Theory of Knowledge teacher, is a former Holy Cross collegiate basketball player.

First things first: who offered you scholarships to come play for their schools?
No that many in the end . . . I whittled down the schools that I was not interested in and that were actively recruiting me . . . Holy Cross, Fordham, North Carolina.  I was recruited, although they don’t offer scholarships, by both Princeton and Brown.

A few of those names definitely stick out—so why Holy Cross?
I had an interest in going to Holy Cross before the whole recruiting process started.  When it came right down it, I thought I might as well use the scholarship opportunity to go to a school I really want to go to anyway.

You are certainly a tall man at 6’4”, but players today are even bigger. How do you think the game has changed over the years?
When I look at the current game, I just see, physically, the differences in terms of body building . . . When I played, the general body type was very tall and thin.  You have to be so much stronger today; in the 70s that wasn’t a requirement.

Today’s game is full of athleticism—ever had the privilege of dunking on somebody?
In college I only dunked the ball once, and that was on a fast break.  I wasn’t a great leaper to begin with . . . But I’ve never felt the humiliation of having someone dunk on me.

What was your most memorable moment in college?
When I was a junior, Holy Cross was in the

Continue reading “Chris Potter: Quite the Crusader”