Rachel Stone Co Editor in Chief (APPLAUSE) Thank you. Thank you for reading. Please, everybody, rest your cursors. Student body, teachers, anonymous alumni, 125 years ago, Mabel Slade Vickery declared that the Latin School would be founded on the tenants of a rigorous college-preparatory education in the classical tradition, with a curriculum that was heavily influenced by classical studies and the study of Greek and Latin languages. In honor of the Presidential State of the Union, The Forum understands its task is to report the state of the Latin School of Chicago—since to improve it is the task of us all. Today, thanks to a second quarter marked by the grit and determination of the senior class, there is much progress to report in regards to the college process. Juniors have begun meeting with the current counselors, and the second round of Early Decision results has recently been released. After a semester and a half of anguish, the collective morale of the upperclassmen is finally in an upward trend. (APPLAUSE) Winter carnival brought with it victory for the senior class and triumph for underclassmen video banners, and Chinese New Year assemblies shed light on a holiday that most of us now wish we celebrated. Valentines Day at Latin passed in the fervor of pastel-wrapped peanut butter cups and pink roses, and the play left audience members hoping it wouldn’t decide to show off no more. Latin’s Scholastic Bowl team will be represented at State, a new poetry society emerged from cyberspace, and someone keeps markering murals across the library classroom whiteboard. So, together, we have cleared away the rubble of mediocrity, and we can say with renewed confidence that, at least this February, the state of our union is stronger. (APPLAUSE) But—we write this knowing that there are still many aspects of Latin that still can be improved. It is our generation’s task, then, to reignite the true engine of Latin’s progress: collaboration. We must understand that if we want to improve our lot (to finally find senior couches, to allow the Free the Children dodgeball tournament to be a success, to make sure that Latin stays eco-friendly beyond the Green Cup challenge, to be able to discuss religion other than at JSA and to find a solution to the toilet debacle), we must make our voices heard. (APPLAUSE) Our actions will not prevent everything. In fact, no collaboration, no rules, no initiatives, no administrative acts will perfectly solve the challenges of college stress come April 1st or the environment. But we were never sent here to be perfect. We were sent here for our education, but then sent here to see what we could do with that education—to secure our integrities, expand opportunity, uphold our ideals throughout the hard, often frustrating, but absolutely necessary work of adolescence. (APPLAUSE). Thank you, and God bless the Latin School of Chicago.]]>
