Articles by Anjali Gupta

by Zoe Ginsberg ’17, Anjali Gupta ’18, and Talia Rosenberg ’17 Anjali Gupta of The Phoenix Inquirer recently embarked on a mission with FOCUS staff members Talia Rosenberg and Zoe Ginsberg to form a playlist that represents life at Friends’ Central. This soundtrack includes favorite classic songs like Swimming to the Other Side along with new pop songs such as Same Love or Happy. The main theme of these songs is love and acceptance of yourself and others. Each of these songs carries an important message with them that connects back to the values instilled at Friends’ Central every single day. At FCS, everyone’s love holds the same meaning, no matter if it is a boy who loves a guy, a girl who loves a girl, or any relationship in between. At our school, the goal is to maintain a safe and healthy environment through acceptance and love, and we believe that the…

On Friday, December 6, 2013, the Friends’ Central vocal and instrumental ensembles provided an enjoyable night full of music for our community.  Student musicians rehearse once or twice a week, culminating in two concerts per school year.  The Orchestra had no particular theme for their repertoire, and instead played a variety of pieces including “Shenandoah,” a beautiful, slow-moving song that they dedicated to Mrs. Quinn, who was “completely overjoyed and also deeply moved” by it.  The melody, played by oboist Anjali Gupta with assistance from pianist Galen Cassidy, was written and modified by Carl Bradley, the MS Orchestra and Jazz Band director. “This concert wouldn’t have been possible without the hard work and dedication Mr. Bradley put forth into this performance,” Anjali Gupta, eighth grade oboist, said. Mr. Bradley brings energy, focus, and responsibility to every practice and is a great inspiration to the growing musicians.

In eighth grade science classes, students visit the East Branch of Indian Creek weekly to conduct calculations, including tests of the turbidity, phosphate, nitrate and pH levels of the water. They take detailed notes on the overall health of the creek and, thanks to the Streamwatch Committee, the stream’s conditions have greatly improved. Test results have been fairly strong this year. The chemical levels, including phosphate levels, have sloped toward the norm. Once drastically out of control, the levels are closer to what is considered healthy. This is an incredibly impressive feat given the circumstances at the start. “There was a rusted shopping cart. There was a rusted boiler. There was plaster and there were bricks. It was covered in invasive plants. And I remember going down there to pick up trash and one of my students said, ‘Mr. Ross, we could do this every week and it would never…

In 1981, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously voted to create a day of peace on which there would be a military ceasefire, and the world would be without war for that day. On September 21, 2013, our school community celebrated International Peace Day. Since it fell on a Saturday this year, FCS celebrated it on Friday, carrying the spirit of peace all through the day. In the morning, we held an assembly for the Lower, Middle, and Upper Schools.  The combined choruses sang three songs, each representing a vision of peace. In addition to the beautiful singing, we heard a beautiful peace poem written and read aloud by students in Mr. Terrell’s eighth grade Language Arts class.  We also heard Mrs. Crowley speak about the CTC, which was created in the memory of Chris T. Campbell, an FCS lifer.  He loved soccer, and played it both at Friends’ Central…