A Student's Voice Part 2

Austin Thompson
Editor's Note: Austin wrote this essay in Writers' Workshop and was willing to share it with our community.

When I was ten years old, I was told I had dyslexia. At that time all my academic problems were explained to me so that I could understand them. My mom then discovered Trident Academy, a school for students with learning differences. The first year I went to Trident, I was in 5^th grade, and I could hardly read. I would do anything to get out of reading in front of anyone. It wasn't that I did not want to read; it was that I knew that I would mess up, and I would be embarrassed.

Success is Trident Academy's Mission

Mary Silgals

Success can be measured in many tangible ways. Last year, Senior Lauren Kenney was awarded the National Merit Medal for her academic efforts. Yesterday, Luke Jeresaty was ranked #6 out of 175 students who participated in the South Carolina Association of Independent School's (SCISA) Math Meet. Frankie Holmes finished in the top ten in his division. Students from Mrs. Collin's art classes won numerous awards for their submissions to the Fall SCISA Art Show. These are just a few of the many examples of success at Trident Academy.

In some cases, the attainment of success can come from a change in attitude. This change often comes when students realize that yes, they can be successful. Take for example the student who came into the library at the beginning of her first school year at Trident Academy. She announced that she did not like to read, and therefore, she had no intention in checking out a book. Skip forward a year later. She is the first student in her class who has read more than 10 books from 5 different genres, and she is the first in her class to earn her genre cap, a fourth grade tradition. The growth in her reading and comprehension skills is amazing. It is an understatement to say her attitude about reading has changed.

Trident Academy's mission is SUCCESS. Trident Academy's students demonstrate personal success on a daily basis. Let us applaud their successes!

Singin' The Blues

Therese Kristiansen

Blues music is a uniquely American phenomenon rooted in one of the most unfortunate periods of American history. Evolving from the songs sung by plantation slaves, the blues has had a direct influence on all modern music. (Yes, even Rap music.) Because of the blues profound impact on American culture, Trident Academy's Upper School American-based English class is currently studying a unit on the blues. The class is reading essays, first hand accounts, biographies, and musical lyrics related to the blues, as well as writing compositions and original versions of blues songs in the form of poetry. The unit will culminate with the class viewing "Lightening in a Bottle," an entertaining one night history of the blues which was directed by Martin Scorsese. So, next time you turn on the radio, listen closely; if you are really lucky you might hear the ghosts of Leadbelly, Muddy Waters, Bessie Smith, or Robert Johnson singing in the background.