Regent Review-- March 2017

The Regent
Review
Volume XLVI Issue 5 March 2017
Principal Thompson Set to Retire After 37 Years, 3 as School Principal
by Sophia Halverson
Athletic Director
p 2
In an email announcement
in January, Principal
Thompson explained her intention
to retire from being
West High’s head principal
after this school year. Principal
Thompson has served in
the MMSD district for thirty
seven years and has been
working at West for the last
fourteen, first in an assistant
principal capacity before being
promoted to principal
in 2014. Prior to working at
West, she worked as a special
education teacher at
East High School. Thompson
says she is “excited
about future opportunities
to work closely with the
district on projects that are
near and dear to my heart.”
Lynn Glueck, a Learning
Coordinator at West, describes
the process for selecting
the new principal. She
says that Human Resources
designs the “rigorous” stepby-step
process. A community
panel is chosen to review
the candidates. This
panel includes five West staff
members, two West students,
two parents, and two community
members. The staff
members are Lindsey Tyser,
Mary Swenson, Jen Engelbart,
Lori Schacht De Thorne,
and Taylor Newman. The students
are Diana Murray and
Laura Nicholas. The parents
are Dawn Crim and Maria
Hernandez. The community
members are Corey Stafford
and Deb Neff. The panel will
be trained and will be asked to
consider the question “what
do you think West needs in
a principal?” The panel will
Class of 1960
p. 3
News 3’s
Neil Heinen
p. 3
then make a recommendation,
but the Superintendent will
make the final decision. The
detailed process can be found
online on the MMSD website.
When asked what has
changed for students at West
during her time as principal,
Thompson said that “I have
tried to promote more leadership
opportunities (specifically
mentioning the principal student
advisory group, the Black
Student Union, and various Latino
student groups).” She also
said that she has tried to “have
a gender neutral approach to
everything -- although we still
have work to do to continue
to make West inclusive to all
students.” Perhaps most notably,
West was the first school
in the district to have a gender
neutral homecoming court.
Her proudest accomplishments
have been around
helping teachers in their
classrooms -- West has phenomenal
teachers, and she is
very pleased that there is such
great teaching available to
all students in all classrooms
-- and the Peer Partners club,
which has taken hold at West
more than anywhere else because
of both support and
Pathways progresses forward
by Laura Nicholas
News of Personalized
Pathways’ next
step has finally arrived,
after all applications
to the four MMSD
high schools were submitted
and processed.
Upon the receiving
the data on the pilot
students, Laura Colbert,
West’s ACP and
Pathways Coordinator,
said she was pleasantly
surprised by the diversity
of the applicants.
Some parents and community
members had
raised concerns over
whether the pathways
would essentially track,
or segregate, students.
The demographics
may dispel that concern,
as the 2017-2018 Health
Services Pathway will
exhibit a large range of
racial diversity; the pool
of applicants was 33%
White, 29% Hispanic,
19% African American,
11% Asian, and 7% multiracial.
In addition, 40%
of the Pathways pilot
freshmen will be English
Language Learners.
However, the program
will skew female,
with an almost 60-40
female to male ratio.
No data about the applicants’
socioeconomic
breakdown were provided
in the email distributed
by Alex Fralin,
the Chief of MMSD
Secondary Education.
Personalized Pathways,
a district-wide
educational initiative
intended to increase
achievement, engagement,
and instructional
relevance, received
a $400,000 grant from
the Chicago-based Joyce
Foundation in March
2016. Madison is one of
four communities that received
this grant as part
Principal Beth Thompson
continued on page 6
of the Great Lakes College
and Career Pathway
Partnership. The
others are in Columbus,
OH; Rockford,
IL; and the northwest
suburbs of Chicago.
The version of the
2017-2018 MMSD budget
distributed on January
23, 2017 showed
that $775,000 will be
allocated for Personalized
Pathways across
the four high schools.
In creating a program of
study and experiential
learning opportunities,
continued on page 8
West Alum
Marc Webb
p. 5

Regent Review Staff
Co-Editors in Chief
Katie Buhman
and
Nell Williamson Shaffer
Layout Editors
Hadar Ohana
and
Cailin Jordan
Layout and Design Advisor
Ms. Engelbart
Faculty Advisor
Mr. Nepper
Page 2
Feature
Jeremy Thornton named Interim Athletic Director
by Nell Williamson Shaffer
and
Maya Williamson Shaffer
Jeremy Thornton
has officially been
named West High
School’s interim
athletic director,
following former
athletic director
Chuck Seils’
abrupt resignation.
West’s Head
Principal Beth
Thompson describes
the change simply as
“Mr. Seils chose to
resign.” After Seils’
departure, Jeremy
Thornton and Eric
Bertun split the job,
with Thornton working
30% and Bertun
working 70%. However,
West administration
recently shifted their
roles, with Thornton
being named the official
interim Athletic Director.
Thompson has not
made any official decisions
about the position for the
2017-2018. However,
Thompson said that the
next permanent Athletic
Director should have a
“higher level of vision
for West’s athletes that
they’ve known and
continue to strive for.”
In Thompson’s
email to West families
and students, she described
the decision making
process: “Over the past
few weeks, we have been
Athletic Director Jeremy Thornton
photo courtesy of MMSD
determining strengths and
matching them to roles
and responsibilities. We
have made a few shifts to
best leverage everyone’s
strengths and continue to
support West athletics in
the best way possible.”
Thornton, who has
been working as interim
Athletic Director for just
over a month, used to work
at West as the Positive
Behavior Support Coach
and Coordinator of Student
Engagement. According
to Thornton, his previous
job mainly entailed
“Individually working
with students, parents
and staff in academic,
social, and emotional
goal setting including
detailed programing for
grade level concerns.”
Thornton describes
his new role as Athletic
Director as “just falling
into my lap” because
splitting the position
wasn’t working out and
Mrs Thompson offered him
the job. “I happily accepted
it,” Thornton added, “It’s
truly a great opportunity
and humbling experience
that I don’t take lightly”
The changes made
to the Athletic Department
staff have added some
chaos to the Department.
Thompson describes the
situation as “Whenever
you have leadership
position change, it’s hard
to keep running smoothly.
I had no one at the position
while they looked for
an interim, and are now
trying to catch up.”
However, Thornton
is not worried. He
describes himself as
“enjoying being busy and
always seeking out new
challenges.” Thompson
concurs that this year
will have different
priorities than others. She
notes that “a permanent
person has vision and
sets improvements, but
this year’s about steady
operation while they look
for a permanent director.”
Thornton states that
his goals for the year are
to “Ensure that student
athletes are academically
prepared, coaches
are communicating
effectively, and West is
competing successfully
at every sport.”

Page 3
Feature
News 3’s Neil Heinen comments on editorials
by Quinn Buhman
Neil Heinen has
been with News 3 for
over 20 years. In his role
as Editorial Director,
he is responsible for
creating and writing daily
editorials. I scheduled
an interview with him to
discuss writing editorials
and why they are so
important.
When I first met Mr.
Heinen, he gave me a tour
of the studio and talked
proudly about the history
of the station. It is one of
a very few family owned
stations, currently owned
by Elizabeth Murphy
In 1960, there were
441 people in the West
High School senior
class, according to
the official website
of the Class of 1960.
Of those 441 people,
410 graduated.
The class still has
regular reunions.
Bonnie Johns
graduated from West in
1960, and shared some
of her memories of the
school 57 years ago.
She says that at the
time, the four big high
schools in Madison
were “East, Central,
West, and Wisconsin.”
They had dances at
the school, much the
same as now, but she
especially remembers
going downtown to a
place called the Loft
where they had “music
and dancing.” Sports
were a very big part
of the high school
Burns. Ms. Burns is a
strong supporter of the
editorial process and
provides Mr. Heinen an
opportunity to continue
his editorial writing.
When we got to
his office we dove more
deeply into the topic
of editorials. He first
explained the history
of editorials: during
the time of the Fairness
Doctrine (1949-1987),
all news companies
were required to provide
differing viewpoints on
controversial issues in a
balanced manner. After
it was repealed, many
companies dropped
Class of 1960 West graduate shares her experiences
by Katie Buhman
experience, and Johns
recalls having potlucks
before basketball and
football games. She
said the basketball
team also went to
State, and if you had
tickets to the game,
you could get out of
school to watch them
play.
Johns says a
lot of Doris Day films
came out during her
high school career,
and she remembers
reading A Tree Grows
in Brooklyn. She
mentions that clothing
was much different.
Girls didn’t wear
jeans, and instead
wore “starched
crinolines under their
skirts.” She recalls
having a pair of
saddle shoes and an
outfit with a matching
skirt and sweater.
Johns mentions that
the clothing students
doing routine editorials,
unlike News 3.
He told me that
writing editorials is like
writing other works: you
compose a beginning,
middle, and end, and make
sure it is “…well thought
out and understandable.”
This requires a lot of
work – gathering data,
conducting interviews,
and looking at other
stories. What makes
an editorial different is
that it takes a current,
relevant topic, explains
its importance, takes a
stand, and “…indicates
what someone can do…”
about the situation.
wear to school today is
much “more casual.”
In the school
building itself, there
were “up and down
staircases.” One side
was for students
climbing, the other for
students descending,
and you weren’t
allowed to go the wrong
way on the stairs. One
of Johns’ memories is
having a program in
the auditorium with lit
candles, which would
be a fire hazard today.
She also recalls that
you were absolutely
not allowed to leave
the school during
the day; if you didn’t
have a class, “study
halls were required.”
Overall, Johns
really “liked school.”
She says that she “can’t
think of a teacher [she]
didn’t like,” except for
one English teacher
who was known to
My chat with him
gave me a lot to think
about. One thing he
really stressed was the
importance of an editorial
in engaging the reader or
listener in topics of vital
interest to the community.
“throw erasers” at
students. But she
mentions especially a
“wonderful” art teacher
and a history teacher
who really made the
subject “come alive.”
She notes that at the
time of her graduation,
it was much easier to
get into the UW, and
pretty much any student
with “a B-average” was
accepted. She estimates
that about “50 to 60
percent” of her class
went on to college.
Johns emphasizes
that 1960 was “such
a different era”
compared to 2017.
However, Reggie
Regent was, and still
is, the mascot of the
school. She also makes
mention of the fact that
her class still holds
reunions every year
and that West students
have “strong ties.”

Page 4
Entertainment
West High School hosts Souper Bowl
by Cailin Jordan
This year on February
4th, West High School
held its 21st Souper Bowl
fundraiser benefitting
Habitat for Humanity. Attendees
could buy a meal
that came with a bowl
made by West ceramics
students, or bid on bowls
made by local professional
artists and raffle prizes.
The event supports
the UW-Madison chapter
of Habitat for Humanity,
which works to build
affordable homes.
In additon to the
food, there was live music
with special guests including
the UW Marching
Band and a special appearance
from Bucky Badger.
Left: Bowls at the Souper
Bowl.
Below: Enjoying the meal.
Photos courtesy of Jennifer
Englebart.
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means
Quality!

Marc Webb
Page 5
Entertainment
Hollywood filmmaker and West High alum Marc Webb talks film and life
by Stella Rumble
I was pleased to
speak with West High
alum Marc Webb on Jan
16 about his memories of
West High, his thoughts
about college, and his reflections
on his amazing filmmaking
career. Marc was
born in Indianapolis, Indiana,
in 1974, but his family
quickly moved to Madison,
where Marc grew up,
watched a lot of movies, and
graduated from West High in
1992. After graduation, he
attended Colorado College,
where he started thinking seriously
about making movies.
He then began his
career of filmmaking, concentrating
on music videos
for several years, including
videos for such performers
as Green Day, P. Diddy,
Miley Cyrus, Fergie, and
Maroon 5. In 2009, he directed
his breakthrough
feature film (500) Days of
Summer, a romantic comedy
starring Zooey Deschanel
and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
He then moved on to direct
the The Amazing Spider-
Man in 2012, starring Emma
Stone and Andrew Garfield,
followed by The Amazing
Spider-Man 2 in 2014. Besides
feature films, he has
also worked in television,
directing episodes of The
Office, Limitless, and Crazy
Ex-Girlfriend. He has a new
film, entitled Gifted, scheduled
to be released in 2017,
and he just finished shooting
another film, called The
Only Living Boy of New
York, starring Jeff Bridges,
which will be released
in late 2017 or early 2018.
Twenty-five years after
graduating from West
High, his films are now
taught in West film studies
courses. We arranged to
talk by phone, and after a
brief chat about Madison,
Wisconsin weather, and inquiries
about the West High
teachers that made an impact
on him during his time
here, I conducted the following
interview in which Marc
discusses his life and work
while also offering his advice
to West High students as
they think about their future.
Stella Rumble: When did you
graduate from high school
and what are your memories
from your time at West?
Marc Webb: I graduated in
1992. When were you born?
SR: 2000.
MW: That blows my mind.
I graduated in 1992 and, you
know, I imagine it wasn’t too
dissimilar from what it is today.
I remember enjoying
high school. My sophomore
year I started doing some theatre
stuff, which became really
important in my life later
on. But at the time I wouldn’t
have anticipated that. I was
also really interested in sciences.
I felt compelled to
take typical science classes,
though that wasn’t necessarily
where my future resided. I
didn’t know that at the time. I
think that school was a pretty
interesting place. There were,
of course, different social
groups and peer pressure,
and there was, you know,
a fair amount of drinking.
But it was a fairly friendly
place when I think back on it.
SR: You said that you were
interested in sciences, did
you go into college thinking
about studying sciences?
MW: The movie business
was an abstraction. I didn’t
know anybody that did movies.
I didn’t know much about
making movies other than
what I had done in Mr. Keys’
class. I presumed that because
I did decently at science
when I was in high school, I
presumed I would be an engineer
or something. And my
brother actually went into the
engineering school. But there
was something, a compulsion,
towards the arts. I just
kept taking more English
classes, more literature classes,
and I went to a liberal arts
school. I went to Colorado
College, and I think I pursued
things I was interested
in that maybe made me feel a
little bit more alive. And that
was not maybe what I originally
anticipated I would be
doing. I mean, it was a very
gradual thing. But I think
that, when I was at West, taking
[theatre] classes from Rebecca
Jallings really changed
my life, and it made me more
curious about that world and
what seemed to be a hobby to
most people, really became
an obsession, a legitimate
career path, as obscure as it
was. But it all started there.
SR: So while you were at West,
were you already thinking
about maybe making films?
MW: Not professionally. It
seemed so far away from Wisconsin.
Everybody I knew
was going to the University
of Wisconsin or Wesleyan,
and, you know, certainly
going to Colorado wasn’t
a pathway towards Hollywood.
But I loved movies.
But it was not on the list of
things people did from West.
As I went to college, I became
more and more curious
about it and pursued it with
more vigor until it became a
little bit more realistic. And
I began to understand what
it took to make it in Hollywood,
in the movie business,
or how to engage in that. It’s
just, you know, Madison is
a big university town and a
lot of people think about going
into academia because
they see it all around them,
or they think about becoming
an engineer. But, movies are,
again, such an obscure thing
that I wasn’t really thinking
about it until probably
my junior year in college.
SR: If you knew back in high
school what you know now,
either about your future
after graduating out into
the world, or how things
turned out, would you have
done anything differently?
MW: Well, yeah. I mean, I
would’ve asked more girls
out. That’s a very tricky
question. I think it’s hard
to think about that. I look
over my life sometimes and
I don’t really regret a whole
lot of things. I made decisions
that were questionable
at the time, because I didn’t
know how I would react.
You know, at some age I
found that listening to other
people, taking people’s advice,
was not particularly
useful. You know what, I
probably wouldn’t have
gone to Colorado College. I
probably would’ve gone out
East to school. I probably
would have gone to a slightly
different school. But even
that, I look back at the information
I had at the time that
I was making the decisions
I was making, and of course
I understand why I made
those decisions. There’s a
part of me that is, like, oh I
would’ve gone to Wesleyan
or someplace where there
were more people that were
doing the things that I was
doing. But then I think, you
know, part of my advantage
in going to school at
Colorado was hanging out
with a bunch of people that
climbed mountains all the
time. And even though that
cont. on page 7

Page 6
Editorials/ Continued Stories
Students should get involved in politics
by Quinn Buhman
On January 21, 2017, an
estimated 3.2 million people
marched for support of
women’s rights across the
nation and the world. There
were approximately 87,500
demonstrators in Madison,
falling only behind St. Paul and
Chicago in the Midwest.
The total size tripled the
crowd that attended President
Trump’s Inauguration. These
marches and demonstrations
highlight a key aspect of our
democracy: participating and
making your voice heard. This
is a vital part of making our
government by the people, of
the people, and for the people
run, and we are fortunate to
have it.
Many people around the
world are either not allowed
to vote, or they are extremely
restricted. But in the U.S., there
were a surprising number of
eligible voters did not vote in the
last election: about 92 million
people, or 40% of the population.
A large number of these
people do not vote because they
believe one person won’t make a
difference. But you can make a
difference even if you can’t vote.
Most high schoolers can’t
vote and but they can still make
a difference. For example,
a group of young people in
Massachusetts helped convince
lawmakers to pass a landmark
Gay and Lesbian Student Rights
Law.
They did so by speaking at
hearings, mass letter writing,
meeting with lawmakers,
photo courtesy of Mobilus In Mobili
holding rallies and candlelight
vigils.
They found something
that they were passionate
about, and you can too. Find
something in which you
believe in and support it by
writing to your congressman,
starting campaigns to get
others involved, looking for
committees to join, and getting
involved in your communities.
You’ll be surprised how much
you can do, even if you aren’t
able to vote.
How to survive second-semester senioritis
by Henry Barford
The Regent Review
would like to offer a hearty congratulations
to all seniors who
have made it to their last semester
at West. These final five-ish
months epitomize the transition
period of High School.
Many of you will be reflecting
upon your time here
over the next few months and
nearly all will be looking to
what next year holds. Whether
you are bound for a University
or Technical College, the
workforce, a gap year, or whatever
else, all seniors eagerly
anticipate the freedom to set
out on life on their own terms.
In the spirit of this imminent
autonomy, The Regent
Thompson
cont. from page 1
great people in the club itself.
She will miss West when she
retires, especially some of the
school’s more fun spirit building
traditions like the Homecoming
spirit week, which she
says is “such a fun, spirited
week for so many people and
creates community.” She’ll also
miss driving her red convertible
in the parade every year.
Before graduation,
Thompson will continue to
focus on priority goals such
as increased graduation rates
and heightened enrollment of
African American and special
education students in Advanced
Placement courses.
However, Principal
Thompson acknowledges
that we still have much that
needs to be changed. Something
that she would like
her successor to work on
is the continued improvement
of the West physical
environment, including
Review urges seniors to finish
High School on their own terms.
Don’t make this semester the
most academically rigorous of
your High School career simply
because the school paper says
so, but do make this semester
one that you can be proud of.
You will never again receive
education from the state without
paying or working extremely
hard for scholarships.
Most of you haven’t filled your
second semester schedules
with all AP classes, but we encourage
you to attend the art
class you’ve picked instead.
Get to know one or two
of your teachers really well.
Branch out, join a club. You’ve
most likely heard all of these
platitudes before, the ones instructing
you “how to get
the most out of your West
High experience”, you’ve
probably tried a few. Now
is a particularly good time
to look at all of West’s opportunities
with a fresh perspective,
as they will very
soon be unavailable to you.
Look, I’ll be candid. I
don’t want to presume to lecture
my fellow seniors, but I
honestly think that this is important.
I’ve got a tiny bully
pulpit here, and it would be
a shame to waste it. President
Trump is against public
education. A school like West
High diametrically opposes
his politics, making liberal
education of the highest quality
available to everyone, especially
the people he hopes
to keep silent. I know that this
sounds spurious and melodramatic,
but for goodness sake,
let’s use our public education!
Wring every drop of knowledge
that you can from it!
Make no mistake, before long
Donald Trump and Betsy De-
Vos, the presumptive secretary
of education, will begin testing
the waters, gradually trying
to privatize schools, and
I know that if our generation
fully appreciates the value of
a public education, then we
are ideally placed to protect
it. If you are not convinced
that you can get anything out
of second semester, then I
implore you to look harder.
fundraising for better technology
in athletic facilities,
to continue to ensure
that West remains the best.
She says that her
work with West High has
“truly been a great honor,”
and she will miss it. Her replacement
has not yet been
announced by the district.

Page 7
Continued Stories
Marc Webb
cont. from page 5
wasn’t my thing, I was exposed
to something different
than a lot of my peers were.
Just because I indulged in an
impulse, it was a little nutty.
I’m glad I left Wisconsin for
school. My dad worked at
the UW, my mom worked
for the University system,
and my older brother went
to the University of Wisconsin.
And, I think that it was a
good decision to get out. To
go and explore. I think that’s
a really important thing,
to go and see the world a
little bit, and to get outside
of your parents’ sphere. I
mean, that’s not true for everybody,
but for me it was.
SR: Do you have advice for
students who hope to work
in the film industry as directors,
actors, or technicians?
MW: I would say, try to
get close to film sets. Even
in Madison they’re making
movies, they’re making commercials.
Try to get exposed
to that. See how it feels, and
see what department attracts
you. I don’t think you become
a director overnight.
I think if you want to be a
writer, you gotta write. And
you have to really study
movies. You have to really
try to understand how movies
and TV work and how
they’re structured. You have
to read books about it and go
take classes on it. In terms of
the writers that I know that
have done well, you know,
intelligence is a big part of
it, but there’s also a passionate
drive. If you really love it,
and you do it over and over
and over again, you crack that
craft, you’re gonna get better
at it. It’s easy to say, I want to
be a writer. It’s easy to say, I
want to be an actor. But the
reality is that those things are
much more difficult and require
a huge amount of commitment.
And that’s what I
think separates the people
being successful at it from
the ones giving up on it.
SR: So far, what has given
you the most satisfaction
in your life and career as a
filmmaker, and what have
been meaningful challenges
to you during your career?
MW: My first movie, (500)
Days of Summer, was probably
the most satisfying
thing, because it was closest
to me. It was something that
I’d worked on a long time
with a couple friends who
were writers. And then, to
have made that, and for it to
be accepted in the world, felt
really good. It was a really
encouraging feeling. When
I did music videos I remember
that, after a few years of
making them, I felt like I got
good at them. They weren’t
like making movies because
I was servicing a band, or
somebody else’s art. But it
started to feel like I could
do something well, and that
was a really good feeling.
The more connected I am to
the art, I think, the better it
feels. You know, in Spider-
Man, I was really surrendering
myself to a much bigger
franchise and character, and
that was more difficult. And
there were parts of me in
it, but it didn’t feel quite as
rich and as satisfying. Even
though getting to work on a
scale of a movie that I’d never
thought I would work on,
and getting to travel around
the world and meet different
people and, you know,
strut down the streets of New
York and meet all these big
movie stars -- that was fun,
but it wasn’t as satisfying,
ultimately, as making a little
movie that was a little purer,
a little closer to me. And 500
Days of Summer was a tricky
movie. It was a hard movie to
make. It required a lot of experience.
It required a lot of
understanding of how movies
work, and it was the result
of long sustained effort
and a belief in myself, and
that was a very rewarding
experience, professionally.
SR: What is your favorite
film genre? Either
to watch or to direct?
MW: Well, I don’t really
think in terms of genre.
I mean, I probably enjoy
watching dramas more than
anything else. There are certain
filmmakers that I really
like, like Peter Weir is someone
who I think is a really fantastic
filmmaker, whose craft
I really, really enjoy. I studied
how he made his movies
and was really impressed by
him. You know, I like all the
genres. I like horror movies,
I like big action movies. I’ve
just made two little movies
back to back that are more
drama. They’re little dramas,
they are very personal stories
about relationships and
are small in scale, and that is
something that I really enjoy.
But it really depends. Sometimes
it’s really fun to make
TV shows. You know, one
of the big things is who I’m
making the movie with. If I
get along with the stars and
the DP [Director of Photography],
then it can be a really
rewarding experience. I
just made a movie with Jeff
Bridges who’s a super wonderful
actor. You know, I’ve
loved him in so many of his
movies and it was a great
experience, because it was
like getting to work with
one of my all-time heroes.
SR: Are there any specific
social or artistic problems
that you like to think about
or that you work on and
that you like to implement
in your films somehow?
MW: I think, it depends
on what’s going on in the
world. There are things that
I’ve unsuccessfully contemplated
in my movies. But I
think we, as a species, need
to do a better job of trying
to understand one another.
I think it’s very easy for us
to oversimplify the people
we disagree with. The other
thing is how people fall in
love, which is not necessarily
a social issue on a grand
scale, it’s not about social
justice, but it is something. I
think that we are all here, we
all want to connect, and how
people either succeed or fail
at connecting is all that matters.
And I am intrigued by
that. When I watch movies,
I am more intrigued by situations
where there’s no villain,
or there are two competing
ideas of what’s good.
In my life, whenever I think
somebody is an asshole or a
bad person, if you examine
where they come from, you
begin to understand the inevitability
of who they are,
and that is something that
makes it harder to hate people.
But I think people by
and large are good, and they
can be open, but you have to
be open to them too if you’re
cont. on page 8

Page 8
Continued stories
Pathways
cont. from page 1
MMSD collaborated with
Madison Area Technical
College, the Workforce
Development Board of
South Central Wisconsin,
and the Greater Madison
Chamber of Commerce.
At the time of the last
Regent Reporter’s publication,
the theme of the
second pathway had not
yet been announced. As
of late January, there are
four options currently being
considered by the administration
and various
focus groups of students,
teachers, and other staff:
(1) visual and performing
arts, (2) information
technology, (3) business
and entrepreneurship,
and (4) engineering.
In a December Reform
Collaborative held
by district officials, additional
pathways such
as liberal arts and law
and social justice were
offered, however the
most current information
suggests that a liberal
arts or humanities pathway
is not being formally
considered at this time.
In a January 2017 email,
Mr. Fralin said that it appeared
as though “the IT
pathway had the broadest
range of support.”
Furthermore, there
has been much speculation
about Pathways’
elimination of electives,
yet little clarity
about the exact future of
West’s departments has
been presented. A few
English electives will no
longer be offered in the
2017-2018 school year,
including but not limited
to English Literature
Honors and Shakespeare
Honors, however,
Ms. Colbert and school
counselors emphasized
that these cuts are “more
due to declining enrollment
than Pathways.”
The English experiences
of current juniors
and sophomores will remain
“almost identical,”
according to Colbert.
As for social studies,
no elective cuts have
been announced and the
transition to AP World
History will occur only
inside the pathway; AP
European History will
continue to be available
to all other sophomores.
Still, several staff members
(who spoke on the
condition of anonymity)
expressed similar concerns
that students and
teachers in a pathway will
not have as much room in
their schedules to enroll
in or teach electives and
that the move to eventually
have all MMSD students
in a pathway will
eliminate West’s rich array
of options by attrition.
This possibility is flatly
denied by Personalized
Pathways officials at the
school and district levels.
Any readers interested
in learning more
about and discussing
Personalized Pathways
should consider coming
to Current Events Club in
Room 2034 on Thursdays
or attending Student Senate
meetings in the Doyle
Administration Building
on alternate Wednesdays.
Marc Webb
cont. from page 7
going to expect somebody
else to change. And that’s
a very difficult thing to do.
SR: During your career, how
has the cinema changed, and
what do you think the future
holds for cinema, for filmmakers,
and for spectators? Do you
see any changes in the future?
MW: Well, I think the biggest
change in the last few years
has been the revolution in
television. There are so many
interesting things that are
happening on TV, with limited
series and stuff on HBO
-- or there’s Game of Thrones
or The Sopranos or Stranger
Things, or Sherlock or
whatever. I’ve found myself
watching more TV. I think
that middle range dramas, for
example, a movie like A River
Runs Through It -- which
was made before you were
born, amazingly -- would be
very difficult to make now,
along with Dead Poet’s Society,
or with many of the movies
that were really formative
for me. Movies tend to
have to be so big, like the big
franchise superhero movie,
or very small independent
film in order for them to survive,
because it’s very hard
to get people to go see movies
-- you need a big event
to compel them. Because
people have computers, they
have social media, they have
TVs, and to get somebody to
get in their car and go to the
theatre, it takes a big deal to
do that. And that’s a pretty
significant change. Whereas
when I was growing up, independent
cinema was really
having a renaissance in the
‘90s. That was a big change
from when I started out.
SR: Do you think that having
Madison roots have had
an impact on your work?
MW: Yeah. Madison is an
interesting combination of
things. One thing is, you
have this university there,
and so there’s an influx of
culture and sophistication
and cosmopolitan attitudes
and progressive attitudes,
which is great. But it’s also
in the middle of Wisconsin,
which is farm country, and
there are hunters there, and
your neighbors are like more
salt of the earth people. I
think that being from Wisconsin,
and from Madison
in particular, I have more of
an appreciation of the world
at large. There were always
international students there,
and the issues and the kind
of basic down-home Americana
that a lot of people in
New York and Los Angeles
are not aware of. You
hear so many people think
about Wisconsin, especially
now, as Trump country, and
they’re not in touch with that
kind of America. While I’m
making movies, and while
I’m deciding what movies
I want to make, there’s always
a part of me that has
an understanding of that audience
from Wisconsin, not
from suburban America but
from the bread basket, from
a society that is very close
to what a lot of rural America
feels. And that sort of down
home quality that you get in
Madison, that midwestern
sentiment, is in my work a lot.
SR: We’ve loved all of your
films so far, what should we
expect to see in the future?
MW: Well, I have a movie
coming out in April called
Gifted, which is about a custody
battle over a young girl
who is a math genius. And
I just finished shooting a
movie called The Only Living
Boy in New York, about
a kid who falls in love with
his dad’s mistress, which
will come out later this year
or early next year. They’re
just two small dramas. I just
wanted something simple to
do after Spider-Man. That’s
what I’ve been working on.
They’re simple little dramas,
they’re so stripped down.
They’re very basic movies.
SR: Do you have any other advice
or anything else you want
the students at West to know?
MW: Follow your bliss.