Headmaster's Notes
Dr. Vincent M. Stumpo, Headmaster
Dear Members of the Linden Hall Community:

The following article was published recently in the Lancaster New Era newspaper. It is part of an ongoing campaign to educate the people of this immediate area about why we believe Linden Hall is the finest school in Lancaster County.

You all should be extremely proud of the students, faculty, and staff of our wonderful school.

Sincerely,
Dr. Stumpo

Advancement Announcements
June Stine, Director of Advancement
Today independent schools are facing a decline in their enrollments because of a nationwide dwindling in the school-age population. The last of the Baby Boomers’ children are in school now. This means that all independent schools will be competing over the same number of depleting school-age students. To remain attractive to students and their families, Linden Hall must be competitive in every aspect – including the Annual Fund.

In looking at the statistics from the National Coalition of Girls’ Schools, Linden Hall finds itself woefully under-funded by our constituents. Here are the 2007 Annual Giving averages just printed in January of 2008 by the Coalition for an all-girls boarding school our size. According to the Coalition’s survey:

• The average gift from an alumna last year was $523
• The average gift from a current parent was $1,259
• The average gift from a faculty/staff member was $248
• The average gift from a trustee was $6805
• The average gift from a grandparent was $478
• The average gift from a parent of an alumna was $586

Auction Update
The second annual silent and live auction will be held Saturday, April 12, 2008, at the Anne Brossman Sweigart Sports and Fitness Center from 5:30-7:30 p.m. “Roots & Wings” is our theme this year, and the Phyllis Stadler Lyon ’52 gymnasium will be transformed into springtime in a garden setting.

Please join us for a light buffet supper, refreshments, and incredible desserts, to enjoy an entertaining evening to raise funds for the Historic Renovation Fund.

We are currently accepting donations for our auction: i.e., vacation getaways, artwork, antiques, autographed celebrity items, gift certificates, sporting events, gift baskets, or cooking lessons.

Please contact the Advancement Office at Linden Hall, 717-626-8512, or email Susan Hall for more information.

Help us reach our goal to raise $30,000! Thank you in advance for your help.

College Counseling News
Susan Kirkland, Director of College Counseling
College acceptances are arriving daily, and only five more seniors have yet to receive their good news. Students must be notified of admission decisions by April 15, so we still have an unbearable amount of time to wait for all the results! Keep sending positive thoughts our way!

The juniors took a practice SAT in January, and they all agreed the SAT on-line course was a great learning tool for preparation for the test. The girls are also in the process of registering for the appropriate SAT I, SAT II, ACT, TOEFL, and/or AP tests that they will take in the spring. In addition, common applications are being completed, and research on initial college lists is occurring. It’s the start of a very busy year for the class.

Please contact me at any time or come in for a visit! You are always welcome.

Academic Update
Shaaron Lavery, Assistant Head
We are significantly increasing our summer offerings this year. In addition to the day camp program, which will run for six weeks instead of nine, we are offering academic and creative classes. We hope to have sufficient students enrolled to run a class in Algebra 1, Spanish 1, Elementary Spanish, Digital Photography, and two classes in Drama.

In addition to last year’s three residential riding camps, we are adding one more, as well as residential and day camps for soccer, basketball, and volleyball. We are also offering a 4-week residential ESL program that will be appropriate for girls entering our school in the fall, or girls entering any school in the U.S. for the first time.

Middle School Messages
Sally Watkins, Middle School Dean
Our middle schoolers are busy with academics, but many are involved with our drama production, Charlotte’s Web. Mr. Foreman, our drama director, is very proud of the girls’ talent and dedication.

The day students are very patiently waiting for their renovated day lounge to become their home-away-from-home. The colors are vibrant and exciting—the girls helped to choose them—and the furniture coordinates perfectly with the chosen shades. So far, painting is complete; some of the furniture has arrived; lockers are installed. Some electrical work needs to be completed, and some chairs are on back-order. But moving day approaches!

Now, I will update you on the academic program.

In pre-algebra students just finished the chapter on percents. After investigating the relationship of percents to fractions and decimals, the students used proportions and equations to solve percent problems. Following a discussion of percent of increase and percent of decrease problems, the girls looked at other applications of percents. Students calculated markups, discounts, sales tax, and tips as well as interest earned and account balances. The focus of the next unit is linear functions. After discussing the difference between relations and functions, students will learn how to graph lines. Then they will begin to learn about slopes and intercepts of lines.

In seventh grade English the girls have been reading voraciously as the end of the trimester nears. Their goal is to read at least 1000-1100 pages, and many have exceeded that! We are in the middle of a literature unit on mythology, and next week the girls will spend time in the computer lab researching and sharing a myth of their choice. Time has also been spent on writing better sentences by eliminating run-ons, comma splices, misplaced modifiers, and double negatives. In the eighth grade the unit on the Holocaust will culminate by our attending a live performance of The Diary of Anne Frank at the Ephrata Performing Arts Center on February 15th. The girls looked forward to reading the drama aloud, and they gained a sensitivity to Anne’s struggle and strength.

Students in Social Studies 6/7 continue to examine pivotal women in US history while also working of a variety of note-taking and study skills. In Honors Social Studies 6/7 students are exploring the varied roles of women in the United States in the Movement West—from missionary Narcissa Whitman, the first woman to cross the Rocky Mountains, to expert sharpshooter Martha Jane Cannary (Calamity Jane) who enjoyed shocking “good” ladies! In Social Studies 8, Global Studies, students continue to study the links between world geography and culture. In the first week of February, we moved from studying Africa to Latin America. The students are still mixing a bit of art history with their independent research. In room S36 their wonderful imitations are on display for all to view. In Honors Social Studies 8, also Global Studies, these students too are studying the links between world geography and culture. Now studying Latin America, the students are working in groups to present information about important crises in the world. Their posters reflect a wonderful breadth of topics and interests!

Honors and regular conceptual physics students have completed their unit on heat and temperature, and are beginning their unit on pendulums, waves, sound, and light.

Blue and White 2008
Blue and White 2008 was held Friday, February 15 through Monday, February 25. Although many of the scores are in, the winner of this year's competition will be announced in the Ledger, as is tradition.

Academic Spotlight: The Ledger
Ligeia Jennis, Academic Advisor to The Ledger
On Tuesday, February 5th, Linden Hall’s very own student newspaper, The Ledger, organized and hosted its own Super Tuesday (or Tsunami Tuesday as the news media dubbed the massive, multi-state delegate contest). Students wrote or compiled platform speeches and candidate responses to a variety of issues and presented their information in an assembly in front of faculty and students.

Arranged like a combination town hall meeting and You Tube debate, the candidates—Abby Milnor-Sweetser (Hillary Clinton), Regene Reyes (Barack Obama), Rebecca Mill (Mike Huckabee), Lulu Wang (Ron Paul), Diana Egnatz (Mitt Romney), and Kristen Pilkington (John McCain)—began the assembly by greeting the voters and passing out ballots on which each person could select one candidate and also designate her party affiliation. Then, after some brief opening comments about the historical significance of women in the election process, Karen Jensen (Anderson Cooper) introduced each of the candidates and also moderated the final question-and-answer period.

The results of the caucus reflected some national results and in some ways were probably unique to Linden Hall’s younger, more international, and all-girls demographics (though there were some male voting faculty). For example, while John McCain won the most Republican votes (as he did nationally), Hillary Clinton was the clear victor by more than a two-to-one margin in both the overall and Democratic votes. Whatever the results of the day or even of the national election itself, The Ledger hopes the caucus introduced Linden Hall’s girls to both the important national issues at stake in this race and allowed them to experience some of the American political process.

Gracenotes
Biba Benjamin, Music Director
On February 14, our piano students were invited to hear the Lancaster Symphony Orchestra perform at the Fulton Theater in Lancaster at an open rehearsal featuring pianist Yulina Gorelman, who performed the Grieg Piano Concerto. They came away awed and inspired.

Our private music students are beginning a new tradition at Linden Hall during the weekly chapel service. They are encouraged to play a short solo in order to gain the confidence and experience needed to perform in public. Recently, we enjoyed listening to Stephanie Yoo, a tenth grader who is an accomplished cellist. Although Stephanie has played for many years, this is the first year that private cello instruction has been offered at Linden Hall. We welcome cello teacher Steve Witter to our part-time music faculty. We also thank the girls for sharing their talents with the Linden Hall family.

We are looking to permanently house an electric keyboard in the Honeycutt Lounge. Our music students will find this much easier than accessing the practice rooms late at night or on weekends.

Bee-Ah Kang continues to do well with her violin studies at the Pennsylvania Academy of Music. Her teacher, Simon Maurer, is pleased with her progress. We will be able to hear Bee-Ah perform at the Parents’ Weekend Concert which will be held on April 12 at 7:00 PM.

Between the Lines
Linda Mummert, Athletic Director
The Varsity Basketball Team season concluded with an awards dinner provided by the parents. Seniors Ila Sehgal and Chelsea Kiser were recognized for their three and four year contributions respectively. Freshman Jacquelyn Keeney was the MIP (Most Improved Player), and leading scorer and co-captain Kristen Pilkington was the MVP.

Middle School Basketball will conclude their season with a bowling/awards party in the near future. Eighth grade players looking ahead to varsity play next year will be Lizzy Kauffman, Emma Callahan, and Savannah Thorpe.

The Equestrian Team has qualified for I.E.A. Zone II championships to be held at Linden Hall March 29, 2008.

The new Lion mascot made an appearance at all of the competitions in January and February. A naming contest has been held, but the results have not yet been announced.

Spring seasons will begin in March.

All information regarding athletic programs including practice locations and times as well as contests and results can be located on the Linden Hall Sports Calendar. Go to this site and sign up for instant notification of changes by email alerts. It is simple... just a click away!

In the Dorms
Dennis Foreman, Upper School Dorm Director
We welcomed six Ecuadorians to our dorms in February.  Jenny Coronel, Nicole Enderica Gonzalez, Natalie Cedano, Melissa Cedano, Maria Abuhayar, and Valeria Pena will be spending 4-7 weeks absorbing American culture and high school life.  As part of our weekend activities, plans are being made for weekend trips to Baltimore's Inner Harbor and Washington, D.C.

Shawna Hutchison has joined our dorm staff and is residing in the Yellow Dorm apartment, helping with our middle school students.  Shawna is no stranger to Linden Hall; her mother teaches ESL and has been involved in our summer camping program for several years!

Remodeling and decorating continues in the dorms.  Everyone is excited about seeing the completion of the day student lounges.  The smell of new carpet and paint, plus the arrival of trucks carrying new furniture, has everyone anticipating the grand unveiling.

The triple room in Red Dorm has been refurbished with paint, carpet and furniture.  I am pleased to announce that we have four students serving as prefects in the dorms.  Seniors Elizabeth Shupe and Joo Hyun Park are helping in Honeycutt and throughout the dorms.  Rachel Gascoigne and Candy Kuo, now residing in the triple, are also helping dorm parents.  Congratulations to these four young ladies.

Student Council Corner
Judy Conlin, Student Council Advisor
The Student Council is busy with its preparations for International Night, March 9. The focus this year will be on tradition and culture. Not only will popular performances be returning, but there will be many new faces as well. We are excited to have so many students willing and eager to teach others about their culture, their tradition, and their history. International Night will be a night of drama, a night of dance, a night of history, and a night of music.

Student's Soapbox
Oge Erechukwu, Class of 2011
This piece was delivered by Oge Erechukwu, a ninth grade student, as a speech for the LH student body. Everyone listened attentively.

My name is Ogechukwu Nwamaka Erechukwu, and I was born in Nigeria, located in the continent of Africa. Nigeria is on the west side of Africa and consists of many tribes; my family and I are collectively from Anambra State where our native tongue is Igbo. My father is from Ezira Town, and my mother is from Umunze Town.

During the time of this event I was only three almost four, but it seems like it was just yesterday. Everything before this fateful night was and still is a blur to me. This is one of the only vivid memories I can remember from my childhood in Nigeria. We were in our family room in Nigeria watching the local news. There my whole family at that time gathered: my father, mother, older sister who was ten years old, and my brother who was nine years old. We were talking and having fun when suddenly there was knocking at the door. My father and mother looked at each other stunned; they both simultaneously said, "Who is knocking at the door this late into the night?"

After all, it was practically pitch black outside and almost midnight. My brother stood up and opened the door without looking through the peep-hole. That was one mistake that could have cost us our lives that night. The door opened, and standing there were three tall men dressed in all black. They seemed so intimidating at the time because I was so small. We knew they were armed robbers as soon as they pulled out their weapons: one armed with a rifle, the other with a hand gun, and the other with an unfamiliar gun and knife. One of the men yelled, "Get into the room now!"

We were all stunned and packed ourselves into my mom and dad’s room. The robbers commanded everyone in the room to lie on the floor with their heads down except for my dad, who was ordered to lie on the bed. A gun was pointed to my dad’s head, and the men were asking for "the money." My dad didn't look scared; he just sat on the bed.

Massive amounts of money usually aren’t safe in banks in Nigeria. So, earlier that day my dad had decided to take his to our house. We don’t know how the robbers knew how we had the money, but they did. I was in utter shock and was curiously looking at what was going on behind me. I was annoyed because I couldn't see past the robbers’ big heads. All I could hear was my mom crying and yelling out "Chinekeme oh." In Igbo this means, "Oh my god! God help me!" As I recall, I wasn’t in tears though because I was just confused about the whole ordeal. When the men kept on asking where the money was, my dad replied hesitantly, "I don’t know what you are talking about."

The men got more frustrated as they searched the house and couldn’t find anything. I was getting frustrated as well because the men kept on eating our candy as more time passed. In my mind I thought, "Why are they taking the good American candy my aunt got from the U.S. for us?" Then, one man saw the money and brought it to our attention; the money was in two green Ghana-must-go-bags which are commonly used in Africa. The man said, "Is this the money you supposedly don’t have?"

My dad replied, "Just take the money and go please, don’t hurt my family."

The men were about to leave but then locked the door from the outside so we couldn’t get out. All of us were so vexed because there was no possible way to get out because we were so high up and we were locked in. There was a phone across from where we were sitting in my parents’ room. Some might ask why we didn’t call the police, but in Nigeria you’ll wait for days until the cops show up. This is a common joke among many Nigerians. My dad started yelling for my uncle through the window because he lived close by. We waited for what seemed like an eternity but what I suspect to have only been about an hour. Later, my uncle unlocked us with a spare key that he owned. We were so happy to all be alive that day and told our horrible living nightmare to our loved ones.

This was one of the ordeals that attracted us to come to the United States. I bet most of you have heard the saying, "Treasure everyday like it’s your last," in one form or another. That is what I learned at such a young age that day. My dad could have lost his life, and a piece of me would have gone missing for the ten years I have lived after that situation. So, I advise each and every one of you to go through every day and remember it like it’s your last because you won’t always be with the ones you love.

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IN THIS ISSUE:

Headmaster's Notes
Lancaster New Era article about Linden Hall

Advancement Announcements
NCGS average Annual Fund donations

Auction Update
Donations are still being accepted.

College Counseling News
College acceptances and spring testing

Academic Update
Summer offerings at Linden Hall

Middle School Messages
Charlotte's Web, day lounge renovations, and classroom updates

Academic Spotlight
Super Tuesday at Linden Hall, sponsored by The Ledger

Gracenotes
Trip to Lancaster Symphony Orchestra, music during Chapel, upcoming performances

Between the Lines
Winter sports wrap-up

In the Dorms
New people and new looks

Student Council Corner
International Night preparations

Student's Soapbox
Oge Erechukwu
Class of 2011

PLEASE NOTE:

Password protection is now in place on the alumnae and parent sections of the Linden Hall website. We do this for the protection of your personal information. When you go to www.lindenhall.org and click on one of the password protected sections at the bottom of the page, you will be taken to a login page. On that page is a link that you can use to register on our website. It is easy and takes only seconds!

UPCOMING EVENTS: