Edition Four SRO

By Christos Fotopoulos

This weekend was the first week of sport for the GPS schools and most played their first competitive matches except for rowing, who had just normal training. The weather on saturday morning was very overcast, with high chances of rain and high wind speeds, but this didn’t really affect any sports apart from rowing.

When the rowers arrived at the shed that morning, they were wondering whether training would still be on as the water looked rough but after a talk from the head of rowing, the boys were ready to get on the water.

When the boys were on the water, however, their initial doubt came back as the rowing was very tough due to the combined wind and rain. Nevertheless, the boys were able to row all the way from the Newington boatshed to Silverwater Bridge and back, making their total journey close to twenty kilometres long.

When the boys made it back to the boatshed they brought the boats back in and were given a break to eat some food and regain their energy for the next session.

When the boys came back down to the pontoon, they were told that they weren’t going for another row but instead going for a run to a nearby park and back and then returning for a session to work on their core strength. This meant that because the boys weren’t going back on the water, the session would finish an hour early, something the boys were pretty happy about. After the run, which went for about half an hour and the core session which also went for the same amount of time, the boys were dismissed and were able to go home and have a warm shower after their rough morning.

Asher Baykitch

On Saturday the 14^th of October, the GPS summer sport season finally began after a long winter sport period. One of the standout games of the first week back was the scrimmage game between the 16I’s, J’s and K’s outside in the spaceframe

The boys began with some warm up layups and jump shots as per usual and then got stuck into a 5 on 5 match.

A standout performance was shown by point guard Nic Serone. He truly showed his ability to run the point with pinpoint passing recording 7 assists and also skill down low in the post with 4 layups and 1 jump-shot recording 10 points in total. Serone’s defensive game was on show with a block and constant high standard defensive transition.

“It was good to finally get out there and have a run around. Hopefully next week we can get a proper game next week” Serone said post-game.

The Black team lead by Mr Green truly showed grit and determination to get the win and it payed off with a 10-point difference at the end of the game.

For some boys, it was a struggle to get through the game not knowing the rules and not knowing how to form up on free throws but with some help from the coaches, referee and myself, they managed to get by as the game went on.

Final Score: 33-23

Black Team Stats:

Leading Points: Nic Serone: 10

Leading Assists: Nic Serone: 7

Leading Rebounds: Alex McEvoy: 10

White Team Stats:

Leading Points: Nick Kambos: 9

Leading Assists: Cameron Ma: 4

Leading Rebounds: Ben Clarke: 8

Overall all the boys had a good game and it was a good way to prepare for the upcoming season.

Correspondent Edward Dam

Today at approximately 9:40am, the school was alerted to the sounds
of “Please be advised that the canteen is now closed”. However, there were no terrorists stalking the school grounds. The lockdown alarm was a drill, set to test the College’s response to any threat posed to students and staff.

“It’s really great that we have drills like this”, one student
commented. “When you look at Sandy Hook, when you look at UCLA, you stop and wonder whether something like that will happen here”.
20 schoolchildren and 6 staff members were killed in 2012 by a
gunman at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, Connecticut.

And an assailant shot dead his former thesis adviser in his office
before killing himself last year at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Other students agreed. “Terrorism is really big nowadays, and
you have to be prepared.”

However, some students were not as pleased with the drills.
“You are supposed to run, and then hide, and then fight”, said
a disgruntled student. “We’ve got it the wrong way around.”

An official educational video made by Ohio State University about
active shooters recommends that students “quickly and safely evacuate the area”, and that hiding should only be if “you’re unable to get out”.
Nevertheless, the video does stress the importance when hiding
to “turn off lights and silence your cell phone”, actions practised and reinforced during the lockdown drill.
“The idea is to make it as hard as possible for the shooter to
see you, find you or get to you.”

Other students pointed out the various flaws in the school’s lockdown
system.
“‘Please take the appropriate action’. That’s very inconspicuous,
isn’t it?”, said a student, referencing the infamous “Please be advised that the canteen is now closed” announcement.
“The shooter definitely wouldn’t know something was up!”

Another pupil criticised the drill’s timing.
“I like Making the News. Why couldn’t it happen during Maths?”,
he said.

Correspondent Luke Mesterovic

You may not have known, but last Thursday night, Newington officially selected a student body president. In this completely improvised comedy show, students, teachers and even old boys came together in hope of being voted in as this year’s student body president.

Each contestant was assigned a zany character and then shoved on stage in front of a paying audience and a slideshow that they had never seen before. They then had to justify whatever came up on screen, and link it back to why they should get voted in.

The night began with Nick Fitzsimmons madly ushering the audience into their seats with a pint- sized horn, wearing a hi-vis vest, police cap, and of course, stunning aviators. The show then began, with the first nominee being old boy Elliot Ulm as the mystical and wacky magician Alfonzo.

After that was Year 10 impro veteran Finn Hoegh – Guldberg as Jaiiden, a moody teen on the brink of going to juvenile detention. He discussed his views on how he’ll start a ruthless bullying regime because students are getting ‘too soft’. This is primarily due to their addiction to fidget spinners, apparently.

Up next was one of the best acts of the show, Mr Verco as Mitchell ‘lives in a ditch’ Ditchell, a perfect personification of the Australian outback stereotype. Then there was Lachlan McIntyre, who played a pompous father who was so displeased with his son’s speech that he rewrote and ran for SBP himself.

The already hilarious performance was made even better when he called down his son, Dominic Young, Year 10, where the two had a deep reconciliation before dancing together. After that was Year 10 impro legend Phil Langshaw, who starred as a cheery, yet somewhat creepy, leader of a cult with intentions of world domination.

Following that was Mr Craddock, who played a nervous dork who wanted to give the ‘losers’ a voice. And finally, what I consider to be the best entry, Old Boy Reuben Ward as a slimy rugby coach who, after losing the GPS, decided to run for SBP, under the promise that he would abolish all future elections so that he could remain in power until the rugby players upped their game and won the championships.

In the end, there could be only one winner, and that was Mr Craddock, who, to the audience’s delight, got to put a mushroom hat on Simon James’ head.