Lindback Award Winners

Tom Juhas, Winner
2013 Lindback Award

Alex Helms, Runner-Up
2013 Lindback Award

GWHS proudly congratulates Math Teacher Tom Juhas who was recently announded as a winner of the 2013 Lindback Award for Distinguished Teachers!  He will receive a cash award and recognition at a special reception for award winners.   

This award is sponsored by the Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation to recognize high school teachers who demonstrate excellence in promoting learning at the highest levels.  Award recipients are chosen based on their activities that improve the intellectual and character development of students.

We also congratulate Counselor Alex Helms who was a runner-up for this year’s award.   The entire staff and student body are proud of our winners!

Alumnus honors Coach Cohen

Jameel McClain, a member of GWHS’ Class of 2003, graduate of Syracuse University, and currently a linebacker with the Baltimore Ravens, returned to his alma mater recently to recognize and thank Coach Cohen and GWHS for providing the opportunities that started him in his NFL Career.

McClain, our first alumnus to win a Super Bowl ring,  presented Coach Cohen with a signed Ravens jersey and a signed Super Bowl football during his recent visit.  He also took time to give an inspirational message to our current football team members.

Coach Cohen said  Jameel always makes time to stop to see him when he is in Philadelphia and he appreciates it because it reminds him of why he continues to teach and coach. He takes great pleasure in hearing from all former students.

To read other recent news about Jameel McClain, click here.

 

Jacob Tucker – slam dunk champ

By Ryan Smith, Class of 2014

I recently read an article about a college athlete named Jacob Tucker who rose to fame from his many YouTube videos.  He was a student at Illinois College, a small college with a little over 1,000 students.   At 5’10” being able to dunk is no easy feat.  He has recorded a 50” vertical leap.  He participated in the NCAA Slam Dunk Contest on Final Four weekend.  But because he doesn’t play against the larger name universities such as Kentucky, Ohio State, or even Butler, according to author Stuart Feil, “…his candidacy needed a push.”   His YouTube videos display his outstanding hops and Jacob doing windmill, 360, and even jumping over a teammate to dunk the ball through the hoop. His video has almost 5 million views and this catapulted him into the contest.   Jacob took home the slam dunk trophy and he is now a part of the Harlem Globetrotters.   This article is a display of how hard work can get you anywhere and you’re never too small to reach your dreams.  

This article caught my eye not only because it is about basketball, but because I myself have seen many people quit chasing their dreams because they were “too small” or “not good enough.”   This article is a display of how a young college athlete didn’t listen to all of the criticism regarding his lack of height and continued to work hard to be the best he could be.   A 50” vertical leap takes years of work to gain. That’s a lot of leg presses, calf raises, and working on your legs. This relates to our class because our teacher (Mrs. Kirby) constantly preaches that we can achieve our dreams with a little hard work and dedication. This applies to my life because I try to work as hard as I possibly can to be the best basketball player and the best person I can be.

What characteristics make a good teacher?

By Nodirbek Maksudov, Class of 2013  

Teachers must be teachable.  They must possess the ability to listen, share, respect others, laugh, cry, move on, teach and transfer information, ask for forgiveness, admit when they make a mistake, know that they are not perfect and do make mistakes, have patience beyond measure, see and set boundaries, possess empathy, disagree without being disagreeable, understand they cannot fix everything and everyone, and most importantly, think outside the box.

 It is important to teach children how to live their own lives by developing their own minds and equipping him or her how to deal with reality.  Children need to be taught how to think rather than what to think.  Teachers should encourage children to improve their minds and think for themselves.

(Thank you to Mrs. Carroll for inspiring this editorial via a journal assignment.)

Chess Team has outstanding year

Our Chess Team has had phenomenal success this year.  Congratulations to Advisor Ron Spencer and his team.  Check out their record below:

 Nov. 11, 2012  Philadelphia Metropolitan 2012 (PA) 

• Zhou Hai Liu (2nd Place Individual)
• William Yang (3rd Place Individual)
• Daniel Gildenbrand (1st Place 10th grader)
• George Washington High School (1st Place Team Open Section)

Feb. 2 to Feb. 3, 2013  2013 Philly ASAP Chess Challenge Chess Marathon 

• Roby Thomas (2nd Place Individual)
• Zhou Hai Liu (4th Place Individual)
• William Yang (5th Place Individual)
• Guangnan Liu (1st Place U1000) & (Most improve player of the year award)
• George Washington High School (1st place Team Open Section)

March 6, 2013  Philadelphia Scholastic Chess League

• Undefeated Team up to finals
• William Yang (Undefeated all season) (Century Club Award)
• Zhou Hai Liu (All Star) (Century Club Award)
• Roby Thomas (Century Club Award)
• George Washington High School (2nd place Team City Championship)

March 9, 2013  PA State Scholastic Championships

• William Yang (2nd Place U1400 in the Open Section)
• Guangnan Liu (3rd Place Unrated in the U1300 Section)
• George Washington High School (4th Place Team Open Section)

April 5 to April 7, 2013  SuperNationals V (TN)

• William Yang (30th Place U1200)
• George Washington High School (15th Place team U1600) 

Fresh flavor – Trevor Jackson

By Sandybel Cedeno, Class of 2013

Trevor Jackson has come into the music business with his own fresh flavor and has been doing great with his new release “Like We Grown.”    Not only does he have a strong singing voice, he also is talented in acting and dancing so that he has been noted as a “triple threat.”

 At only sixteen years old, you can see Trevor forming into a natural star!  His song “Like We Grown” has already become a famous and well-known song for preteen and teen girls and guys.  His style and swag is something that everyone around his age group can connect with and the song resonates with many teens as well.  His fame has been growing dramatically, especially with girls, because of his cute style and face.  The song itself is a good mixture of R & B and hip-hop and the lyrics are very relatable for his fans.  I see him as a natural born star!

The lyrics, “Baby I’ll just love you like we grown tonight,  And we go around like we grown tonight,” are the best parts of the song.  Many teens are in a rush to grow up and this is exactly how they feel when they are in a relationship with someone.  It’s actually my favorite part of the song because it expresses the freedom that adults have of being with and going anywhere with the person they love.  I’m guessing that’s where the title of the song comes from “Like We Grown,” riding around like adults having fun and a good time with their love.   I love this song!

I am still a child

By Paige Hughes, Class of 2014

 

I am not perfect 

I have my flaws 

I am but yet a child 

I may be small in size 

But my heart and voice are bigger then you may imagine 

I am powerful but yet still a child

I may have failures 

I may speak my mind honestly 

I may even break a heart or two but honestly I am still full of flaws 

For yet I am still a child 

Special Ed students hold talent show

By Mark Stanislavov, Class of 2014

Well, I did not expect to hear that our school was going to have a talent show anytime soon, but we had one recently.  The talent show was for the special education kids and they did a wonderful job singing and dancing their hearts out.

One student sang “Beat It” by Michael Jackson; another sang “Because You’re Beautiful” by One Direction.  Altogether, it was fun to watch.  The last performance that I saw, and that blew me away by far, was a crew dance, and they danced to N*Sync’s song “It’s Gonna Be Me”.  There was this one student who was wearing a Sonic the Hedgehog T-shirt which looked to me as if he was leading the crew – he had feet of flames!  He moved so well with his dance moves that the crew could not keep up, he was on fire!  Sadly, I had to leave early, but to sum things up, the parts of the talent show that I watched were amazing.

I wish I could have stayed longer!  Oh, also, when I was there, I could not stop smiling!  The kids have so much happiness, that it rubbed off on me. I thank them for that.

ESOL students attend Philadelphia Flower Show

By Yifan Zhang, Class of 2015

Many students love flowers, so an ESOL group went to the Philadelphia Flower Show at the Pennsylvania Convention Center on March 5^th.   This flower show is held every year, starting in 1829 until today.  This year the show was about Great Britain. At the show there were many different kind of flowers, herbs, bushes and trees. At the entrance was Big Ben and the Palace gates. The first exhibit had a lot of roses.  The Queen’s cape and scepter and crown and throne were all made of roses. Three hours was not enough time to see all the exhibits. I took lots of pictures, and I plan to go next year with my friends.

Love

By Devin Alford, Class of 2014

I celebrate myself, in love.

What is love? Love is sharing,

caring, commitment. Love is two

souls joined together as one.

Love is flowers for no reason. Love

is honesty.  Love is passionate &

beautiful. Love is complicated. Love

is affection.  Don’t treat her right, and watch

as her love goes in another direction.