Whenever you travel to another state, country, or destination for vacation, it’s almost guaranteed that you’ll return with countless photos to commemorate the good times you had. This summer photography teacher, Ms. Mollie Grady, had the opportunity to go on a trip specifically with that purpose of taking photos. She, along with National Geographic photographer Drew Rush, traveled to Yellowstone National park to instruct around 20 highschool students in the art of nature photography.

According to Ms. Grady, the group’s days at Yellowstone were completely focused on Photography. From “Waking up every morning at 4 am to get the best light,” to, “staying up late to get the sunset,” the trip was truly for those committed to their craft. Activities included taking photos of animals such as bison, moose, and bears, and astrophotography which involves taking pictures of stars.

Ms. Grady’s favorite part of her time at the park was seeing, “People who were passionate about nature, photography, and adventure,” By learning more about the nature of the park and photography techniques she was able to deepen her own understanding of nature photography. When asked about how she enjoyed her time on the trip she said, “It was a great experience to learn from an expert National Geographic photographer,” and that she would chaperone a trip like this again because, “Photography and travel are the perfect combo.”

Mrs. Hasbrouck is no stranger to the college counseling process. For over 31 years she’s worked in the education field in teaching, international programming, and college admissions. And 10 of those years she worked as the Director of College Counseling. Now she’s coming up on her third year at Saint Stephen’s as the Head of College Counseling. 

Mrs. Hasbrouck is eager to help students with whatever they need, especially the dreaded college process. This process can be intimidating for most people. But, don’t worry, the students are in good hands. The seniors are especially appreciative of her guidance. Mrs. Hasbrouck brings much enthusiasm, charisma, and a warm smile to the table. Just a quick heads up, she’s also a jokester. When things get tough, she knows just how to make the experience more enjoyable. 

It is no surprise that she was able to visit multiple colleges over the summer, ranging from “Texas, from Austin to San Antonio, to Houston, and several schools in between,” many of which are large public universities and small private colleges. This was a “great trip!” and will help many of the senior students who’ve been scouting out colleges all over the country. So seniors, if you want a potential new college on your list, please reach out to Mrs. Hasbrouck. I’m sure her list goes on and on.

But that’s not all the excitement. College counselors can have a little fun, right? Well, as Mrs. Hasbrouck put it, “a little overly competitive.” Over the summer, she and her family also went up to “Lake Superior near the Canadian border.”

She “did a lot of hiking and exploring, and the weather was wonderful.” Everything was going according to plan. Unfortunately, that’s when things took a turn, or should I say toss? Hasbrouck “got thrown from the track” of an Alpine Slide on her way down the mountain. Ouch! But at least she got a “cool scar” to show for it. Want to hear more? Pop in the College Counselor’s office to say hello! 

Coach Brown has been a coach at Saint Stephen’s for seven years. Throughout his time, he’s coached track, football  and many other sports. To this day he is still sharpening his knowledge and skills every day to drill his athletes and students. 

This summer, Coach Brown attended the FACA coaches clinic (the Florida Athletic Coach’s Association) in Daytona Beach which is held every year with up to 100 coaches from all over Florida. During this conference, coaches “talk about different changes” to the rulebook and “new policies.”. Brown says, “coaches put on different clinics or videos about offensive and defensive strategies.”

Coach Brown pulled away some important notes from this conference while still enjoying his time off on the beach.  Brown’s training must’ve obviously worked well since our first game, we brought home a win. 

Brown adds that he didn’t present anything this year; however, he had the chance to refresh on new rules like the “ Zachery Martin Act” which takes the unbearable heat index in Florida into account and explains why our football team is practicing in the mornings right now. 

Brown hopes to keep the teams tempo up to complete this season with a strong, motivated, and successful team.

You might have seen 7th-grade science teacher Mr. Angelo in the halls and recognized him for his kind,  friendly attitude toward students and faculty. Despite his calm and easygoing attitude, he sure knows how to have a blast. This summer, Mr. Angelo went on an expedition to Orlando and visited many interesting places with his family. 

While in Orlando, Mr. Angelo naturally went to a couple of amusement parks.  For one, Sea World, where he and his family went to the waterpark and hung out in the pool. Even though The Angelo family enjoyed Seaworld, it was clear that there was only one amusement park that stood above the rest, Legoland. 

During their time in Legoland, the Angelo family was able to “tinker with all the legos at all the different stations” that the park had to offer. 

Other than the great time the family experienced, Mr. Angelo had a great bonding experience with his oldest son on his trip, who is just starting to get into legos. “It’s been a good moment for us to be together.” Mr. Angelo said, “It was fun because I was into legos when I was his age.” 

Dr. Ward is a chemistry teacher and the head of the science department at Saint Stephen’s. Ward is always cooking up fun experiments in the chem lab. With these spontaneous activities, it is no surprise that Dr. Ward had a fun-filled summer.

Dr. Ward said that her favorite thing she did this summer was her three-week adventure to Japan! Dr. Ward explained that she and her nephew flew there because he just graduated high school, and they wanted to visit their extended family stationed there. Dr. Ward described her time in Japan as “Awesome.” One of the activities they did that made her trip “really, really amazing” was when they went to a baseball game together in Hiroshima. “It was so cool to see how different this American sport was in Japan.” Dr Ward said. She further explained the main difference between the players’ ” good sportsmanship” and how “respectful they were to the other team.” As a member of the crowd, Dr. Ward also loved how cheerful everyone was, especially in the areas she called “the cheering sections.” This was where the group was seated in designated areas to cheer for specific players and teams, which was much different than American baseball. Dr. Ward compared this to when we “Heckle the other players rather than cheer,” which she despises.

Altogether, Dr. Ward expected she would have a lot of fun trying the food, sightseeing, and spending time with her family, but what she didn’t know was that she would be a massive fan of Japanese-style baseball!