Anna, played by Liz Kinder, introduces herself to the king's wives and children.
With the end of the school year drawing near, schools throughout the county are performing their spring musicals. Joining these schools is Indian Creek Upper School.
Opening night of a show is always an exciting experience for anyone, but it was especially exciting for the students of Indian Creek Upper School this year. When the curtain rose on the opening night performance of Roger and Hammerstein's "The King and I," it rose for the first time ever.
This year's performance of "The King and I" was the first musical production held in the school's new auditorium.
The students now have a place to call home when it comes to the performing arts: The Jack and Nancy Becker Center for the Performing Arts.
The 435-seat auditorium has been the center of activity at Indian Creek Upper School since the end of January when play practices and rehearsals began. Because of Indian Creek Upper School's desire to balance sports and the arts, play practice is held at 8 in the morning before classes begin so that students have an equal opportunity to participate in both theater and sports.
The play, written by Roger and Hammerstein, is sure to capture any audience. Major roles in the cast include the king, played by David Grindrod, 16, of Severna Park; Anna, played by Liz Kinder, 16, of Annapolis; Lun Tha, played by Stephen Van Vranken, 17, of Pasadena; and Tuptim, played by Neena Boyle, 15, of Pasadena; directed by Jill Woodward and Anne Crossman, with student cast managers Jasmien Carranza and Carter Heim.
The cast of "The King and I" sing "Getting to Know You.
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One of the innovations in this performance is having a group of 50 Indian Creek Lower and Middle School students who have come over to the upper school campus to perform as the King's large and growing family.
Upper school actors have each adopted a group of little ones to acclimate them to the stage and guide their performances. Students in the cast were ecstatic to have the opportunity to perform in the school's first musical in their new auditorium.
As lights and the curtains were installed in the past week, students constantly tried to sneak a peek through the doors to see how the installation was coming along.
Jasmien Carranza, a 16-year-old junior at Indian Creek Upper School, explained that, "This is the first time I have ever helped out with any kind of school production, but it has been a great experience and has made me excited to do it again in the future."
Jasmien, along with many other members of the cast and crew, have never been involved in any type of school production before.
Indian Creek Upper School has presented students with a great opportunity this year and has created a wonderful theater community that will hopefully last for many years to come.
College-bound students are going to be doing more than just having fun this summer.
In the junior class at Indian Creek, many students are using their summer to enhance their skills, learn new ones, scout colleges and try out possible future jobs.
Carter Heim, 16, has been accepted into New York University's Tisch School of Arts summer program for dramatic writing.
She will live in the NYU dorms in Greenwich Village for four weeks, taking classes in screenwriting and playwriting and earn six college credits.
It is a highly selective program for which only 16 students are selected worldwide.
This program looks for students who are "disciplined, motivated, and energetic; able to contribute to the growth of fellow students; able to communicate their maturity and readiness for this program; and willing to work and live in a supervised environment," as explained in Carter's acceptance letter.
Acceptance into this program required a lengthy application process, writing essays, gathering recommendations from her musical director, principal and writing teacher. She is very excited to attend this program and her talents will be displayed in a final showcase at the end of the four weeks.
Ariel Berry, 17, is interested in veterinary medicine and has been observing at Greater Annapolis Veterinary Hospital.
She will spend the summer working at a part-time job at Greater Annapolis to increase her chances of succeeding as a veterinarian.
Through her recent observations as an intern, she has gained introductory knowledge of veterinary medicine and has had many opportunities to see how a veterinary hospital functions.
Ariel is dedicated to seeing her dreams come true of becoming a veterinarian, and hopes this new job will increase her chances of getting into veterinary school.
James Kriz will be going west to Kenyon College in Ohio. The 17-year-old will join students from five different countries and 30 different states at the camp.
At the college, he will develop original fiction works for two weeks. He feels as though this camp will help him prepare for the AP Literature class he will be taking next year as a senior.
But James is not just going to work this summer.
He also plans to work on his athletic skills by going to a lacrosse camp at Brown University.
"At the camp," James said, "there will be both Division 1 and Division 3 coaches who will be scouting and recruiting the lacrosse players."
Freshman Adam Walker will be traveling even farther than the upperclassmen.
Adam has been accepted to the Air Force Academy Aviation Camp, where, after a suitable period of classroom instruction, he will get flying experience in both a simulator and a Cessna. Adam is an accomplished fencer and hopes that the experience will give him a chance to learn more about the Academy, his first choice for college.
By ARIEL BERRY, BREA FULLER, ASHLEY WILSON and JOSHUA VASQUEZ Indian Creek Upper School
After discussions about how modern American teenagers' lack of exposure to world cultures can leave them insular and narrow-minded, members of the Student Government Association came up with the idea to celebrate different world cultures by creating a Multicultural Month.
Students Joshua Vasquez and Ashley Wilson began by organizing a number of performances and other cultural events, both with the help of the school PTO's cultural arts committee and independently.
On April 4, the Teelin Dance Company, a group of Irish step dancers, came to start the celebration. The company showed ICS students an array of Irish step dances and amazed both students and faculty with their fast footwork.
The following Wednesday, the auditorium was filled with Middle Eastern music and dance as Samira Shruk performed on stage. A dancer based in the Washington-Baltimore region, Samira performed a series of traditional Indian dances, explaining their history and cultural meaning between numbers.
The celebration continued the next week with a series of delectable dishes from Court of Shanghai.
Students dined on many different Chinese dishes ranging from beef and broccoli to Shanghai noodles. The Chinese feast was a great success and students greatly enjoyed the delicious experience.
With a loud stomp, StepAfrika caught student's attention as they step danced across the stage.
A dance team based out of college sororities and fraternities, Step Afrika tours the world, bringing awareness of African and African-American traditions. Besides entertaining students and faculty, members of StepAfrika taught students the basics of step dancing.
"Their performance was awesome.
It was really cool to learn that even though people in Africa has suffered so much, they are still able to have fun," said Siena Roccograndi as she describes how she felt about the performance.
On the last day of the month, the student government put together a fiesta in honor of the Hispanic world cultures. With the help of some Indian Creek families such as the Carranzas, the Vasquezs, the Garcias, the Hanleys and the Carreras, students and faculty were able to enjoy an afternoon filled with traditional Hispanic dishes and music.
Later that afternoon, freshman, who have been studying Latin America in history and English classes, received a lesson in merengue and salsa.
Students really seemed to enjoy the multicultural festivities and were truly changed. Recalling the Step Afrika performance, Erin Hannigan explains how the exposure to other cultures really affected her.
"Learning about African step dancing opened my eyes to events beyond the every day conflict with America and Iraq. It made me think about what those in Africa go through and it's inspired me to want to help," said Erin.
Indian Creek wants its students to be well balanced and open to cultural differences.
The student government considered Multicultural Month a great success and looks forward to celebrating it again next year.
By TESS M. CARPER and MARLENE VASQUEZ Indian Creek Upper School
Olympic sailor Liz Filter sits with members of Indian Creek Upper School.
Ms. Filter came to share her experiences in a question-and-answer session.
The road to Olympic glory and fame is not paved and smooth.
It is extremely bumpy and challenging for all contenders, no matter their individual background.
Some Olympians, like Liz Filter, one of the three Yngling sailors for the United States' Olympic Team in the 2004 Athens Olympics, have families at home. She spent four years making sacrifices in order to have the opportunity to compete.
During her training, she missed lots of birthdays, lost her mother, father, grandmother and mother-in-law.
She also spent one Christmas in Miami due to training. "Life keeps going on," Ms.
Filter said in a quick question-and-answer session with students at Indian Creek Upper School in March, when she gave a presentation on her Olympic experiences.
Besides missing out on time with her family and two children, she had to focus on collecting sponsorship money and on understanding and communicating with her fellow teammates, Carol Cronin and Nancy Haberland.
It took multiple letters and proposals to raise the quarter of a million in sponsorship money her team used in the first years leading up to the Olympics.
Even with all the challenges she faced, Ms. Filter said that competing in the Olympics left her with some "really special memories" and "continuing friendships." Some of the influential athletes that helped keep her spirits up at the Olympics were the boxing team because "they never stopped.
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The enthusiasm and energy of the other competitors was uplifting for the tired sailors who spent much of their days taking the Olympic transportation back-and-forth between the Olympic Village and the Aghios Kosmas Sailing Centre where all the regattas took place.
When asked to describe life with other Olympians that she met, Ms. Filter replied, "We were one big family; one big world community.
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Her advice to anyone with Olympic dreams?
"Find your passion," she stated confidently.
After an active off-season, the New England Patriots seem poised to make a Super Bowl run.
The signing of Randy Moss for the exchange of a fourth-round draft pick "was the icing on the cake" for the franchise's successful off-season.
Bill Belichick's strategy this off-season has been different from his usual quiet build-through-the-draft approach. He perhaps felt inclined to change his ways following the Patriots below average start to the 2006 season that was mostly due to a lack of depth in many offensive and defensive positions on the roster.
While Tom Brady can do a great deal for the team at quarterback, he can do a whole lot more if he is surrounded by some talent comparable to his on offense.
With the addition of wide receivers Mr. Moss from the Oakland Raiders, and Dante Stallworth from the Philadelphia Eagles, Mr.
Brady now has the deep threats he needs to once again contend for a spot as king of the AFC. The Patriots' offense was however, not the only unit Mr. Belichick built up this off-season.
The Patriots have added a great deal of depth to their aging defense in order to reduce the pressure on the offense to keep scoring.
The acquisition of linebacker Adalius Thomas from Baltimore and the selection of star University of Miami safety Brandon Meriweather 24th overall in the draft will add some fresh talent to a depth chart that already includes stars such as Teddy Bruschi and Richard Seymour.
Now it's hard to forget the "hyped-up" Redskins from last years off-season who went from predicted Super Bowl contenders to the basement dwellers of the NFC East in a matter of weeks.
So what will stop the Patriots from a similar fate? What makes the Patriots hype more believable is the presence of the Tom Brady leading the offense, Mr. Belichick (an alum of Annapolis High School) calling the shots, a solid defense, and the natural ability and versatility of a "re-charged" Randy Moss.
For New England, history builds the hype. The Patriots have won three Super Bowls in the last five years. The Belichick-Brady duo has an outstanding 12-2 postseason record.
Mr. Brady has been known to put out his best game when it counts the most. With a few new offensive weapons, the Patriots will be able to free up the running and passing game for success.
In 2005, Mr. Brady led the league in yards with 4,110 yards passing and was ranked third in touchdowns with 26. Mr.
Brady's passing yards dropped to 3,529 in 2006 due to the absence of his two favorite wide outs former Super Bowl MVP Deon Branch and long time Patriots veteran David Givens.
Mr. Brady has won games with little talent around him, and now with a revamped offense on his side, the Patriots have "stacked" themselves up to make another Super Bowl run.
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