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A Remarkable Bench: Buckley Students Observe Prominent Justices in MOOT Competition Hide

On Saturday, February 2, seven members of Buckley’s Pre-Law Club attended the 34^th Annual Vincent S. Dalsimer MOOT Court Competition at Pepperdine University’s School of Law, in which Pepperdine law students participated in a mock appeal trial. Although this is a private event, Buckley alumni Jason Stillman ’98 arranged this unique learning opportunity for Buckley students. Stillman is a former student president of Pepperdine’s School of Law.

Presiding over the trial were three distinguished judges: John G. Roberts, Chief Justice of the United States; Edith Holland Jones, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeal, Fifth Circuit; and Ricardo H. Hinojosa, Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. In the presence of such esteemed judiciaries, U.S. Marshalls and the Secret Service patrolled the Odell McConnell Law Center. Treated just like a Supreme Court case, two person teams of petitioners and respondents were each given 15 minutes to present their viewpoint. Throughout their presentation, the judges would intervene with questions. While the judges privately decided upon their verdict, Pepperdine professor and former White House Counsel to President Reagan, Douglas Kmiec, discussed the case with the audience. Kmiec’s citation of relevant Supreme Court cases that distinguished the strengths and weaknesses of each side’s argument helped the Buckley students to better comprehend the case.

Buckley was the only high school present at the event. The students were also introduced to Pepperdine’s Law School Dean and former U.S. Solicitor General, Ken Starr, who most notably prosecuted President Clinton when he was impeached. It was truly a unique opportunity for Buckley students to watch a simulated appeals case in such a professional setting amongst some of the best known jurist in the U.S.

Upper School Robotics Begins January 7 Hide

Buckley Rocketry Club Competes in Nationals Hide

On Saturday, May 19 five Buckley students – Ian Cinnamon '10, Gabe Diamond '10, Rachel Garfinkel '10, David Pair '09 and Max Praglin '10 – competed in the national Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC) in Virginia. The top 100 school teams from across the nation qualified for the event by designing, building and launching a rocket that comes as close as possible to achieving an altitude of 850 feet and landing in 45 seconds without damaging the raw egg it carries.

Buckley ended up 63 out of 100 teams, a finish that pleased the students especially in light of some last minute re-engineering and variables that were out of their control. Because launch day winds were significantly higher than the rocket had experienced in California, the team made a last minute weight adjustment, only to have the wind completely die when it was their turn on the launch pad.

This is the first year for a formal Rocketry Club at Buckley. It was founded by Cinnamon. An informal student group had launched rockets before, but the club brought a more formal, scientific approach to the process and led to the school's first trip to the national competition.

The weekend also included an address from the Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who discussed current demographic trends in the engineering profession (a big retirement wave) and encouraged participants to seriously consider engineering as a career. The group was also able to squeeze in some sightseeing in D.C., including a tour of the Capitol, before catching flights back to LA in time for all of their performances in the Spring Concert.

Buckley Sisters Shine Light on the Invisible Children Hide

Last summer, Oprah changed two lives and in the process, was the impetus for a charitable effort that is quickly making its way across the Buckley campus and far beyond its gates. Freshman Olivia Marciano tuned in to Oprah and learned about the "invisible children" of Uganda - young children who have been abducted and forced to fight in the rebel army's 20-year war against the Ugandan government. To avoid capture, others march 10 to 15 miles every night to find safe overnight shelter.

Olivia says she has never been so moved by a story. She immediately went to her sister, junior Caroline Marciano, and within hours they had a plan: raise funds by selling t-shirts through Guess? stores, where their father and Buckley emeriti trustee, Maurice Marciano, is chairman. That same evening the pitch was made. A long-time philanthropist, Mr. Marciano agreed as long as this was to be a learning experience for the girls - they would have to do all the work to bring the program to life.

Flash-forward eight months and you will find a success story led by two young women determined to spread the word to their peers that kids in Uganda need help. With the T-shirt project in development, the Marciano's founded a club at school, The Invisible Children Club, to raise awareness of the crisis at Buckley and beyond, and to develop additional fundraising programs. The club hosted a recent Middle and Upper School assembly where one of the founders of the non-profit organization Invisible Children (www.invisiblechildren.com), Jason Russell, told the same story he told on Oprah last summer. He also announced that the Marciano's T-shirt campaign raised $140,000 that is being put to use right now to build a girl's dormitory in Uganda.

As hoped, the word is spreading. Fifteen kids are in the Buckley Invisible Children club. More than 500 students, faculty and staff attended the Invisible Children assembly and walked away with the heart-wrenching Invisible Children documentary – a copy for themselves and one to share to help spread the word to others. In the neighborhood of 80,000 T-shirts were sold; each included a DVD to tell the full story. A second shirt is currently in design. And now that the assembly is over, next on the Invisible Children Club agenda is to develop a fundraiser.

"What Olivia and Caroline are doing is exemplary - it shows what can happen when young people really connect to a cause," said Dr. Larry Dougherty, head of school. "They’ve brought a powerful combination of passion, intelligence and creativity to help Invisible Children and even after a huge initial success, they are driven to keep up their work."

For their work, the sisters we recently named as "Heroes" in the Invisible Children organization's Schools for Schools program.

But to Caroline and Olivia, this is about awareness. "This isn't something you hear about. And we think that if the word gets out, many people will be moved the way we were."

And the hope is that when people are moved, they will impact the lives of many others. At the end of the Invisible Children assembly Russell summed up by saying "Walk away from here today knowing that you are more powerful than you think…walk out of here and changes live."

Amnesty International Hide

Amnesty International is a world-wide organization whose members stand up for human rights issues. Buckley's chapter coordinates with other school's chapters to attend rallys in the area for various organizations, and does fundraising for these organizations as well.

Backpacking Club Hide

This club plans trips to various camp sites around the Los Angeles area throughout the year.

Business Club Hide

The Business Club has a company on campus called "Bizco Catering" that provides snacks for advisories throughout the year.

Cancer Awareness Club Hide

Cancer Awareness Club was started in 2004 by students who were affected by cancer in their lives. This group does fundraising to support kids affected by cancer, and also volunteers many hours in the Los Angeles area. Please see www.cancerawarenessclub.com for more information.

Chemistry Club Hide

This club's purpose is to do fun experiments with chemicals while learning about chemical reactions. They also help students in chemistry with their homework and help them prepare for exams.

Chess Club Hide

Chess Club meets once a week during lunch where students play chess in a tournament style.

Clay Club Hide

The Clay Club's goal is to create an atmosphere where discussion and artistic critique is welcomed. The club meets monthly to help develop ideas amongst the three levels of Ceramics students, but is open to all upper school students.

Creative Writing Club Hide

The goal of the Creative Writing Club is to grant a place for all creative minds to share all their creative works (poetry, short stories, novels, etc.) and for creative minds to get feedback and notes on what they have already written.

Culinary Club Hide

Culinary Club meets every other week and makes food in our Buckley kitchen for all of its members.

Diversity Club Hide

The purpose of the Diversity Club is to promote peace and unity among all races, sexual orientations, and religions in our school's community, and to undo prejudices and sterotypes. It is a club to celebrate all people. Meetings consist of everyday racial/religious/sexual orientation issues that may affect students of today. There are speakers who come in occasionally to better illustrate or assist in discussions.

Engineering Club Hide

The Engineering Club focuses most of its work on the FIRST Robotics competition. They work all year on building a Robot that is then entered in this national competition.

Film Club Hide

The purpose of this club is to make a short film that combines the creative talents of Buckley students. The club members are divided up into actors, writers, crew, directors, producers and post-production. They hope to present their final product at the end of the year to the school.

French Club Hide

The French Club celebrates the culture, food and history of France. Its members also help in Language Labs and sell croissants and nutella to support Doctors Without Borders.

Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) Hide

The Gay-Straight Alliance is a student-run organization bent on raising awareness about the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community while maintaining a safe environment in which students can express personal sexual issues that pertain to homosexuality. This group also discusses relevant political and social issues that concern the gay community such as gay marriage, gays in the military, and HIV/AIDS.

Habitat for Humanity Hide

Buckley's chapter of Habitat for Humanity sends students to work on Habitat's projects in the Los Angeles and surrounding area. For more information, see www.habitat.org.

Health and Fitness Awareness Club Hide

This club's goal is to raise awareness in schools about fitness and health concerning our country's growing obesity problem. They also address eating disorders, as well as solutions for living a healthy lifestyle.

Improv Club Hide

Improv Club is an interactive club designed to help students break out of their shell and also have a little fun during lunch. Students interested in improv, theater, or just being the center of attention love this club, and not only do they have fun, but they make new friends and have new and different experiences every meeting! They play improv games while eating lunch, and the club advisor helps the students learn how to make an improv scene better.

International Thespian Society (ITS) Hide

ITS is an organization for students interested in all aspects of theater. This is a national organization that has many requirements, and membership is based on invitation only.

Invisible Children Hide

Invisible Children is an organization that helps children in Uganda who are suffering. Their goal as a club is to raise money to help support this organization and to raise awareness of this problem at Buckley.

Japan Club Hide

The main purpose of the Japan Club is to have fun while exploring Japanese Culture. They have language days and cooking days and guest speakers as well.

Junior Classical League (JCL) Hide

Formed in 1936, the National Junior Classical League is an organization of junior and senior high school students sponsored by the American Classical League. Composed of local and stuate chapters across the US, Canada and Australia, it is the largest Classical organization in the world with over 50,000 members. Buckley's JCL chapter participates in competitions in the Los Angeles area and study's Latin culture.

Junior Statesmen of America (JSA) Hide

JSA is a student-run organization that increases student political awareness and offers practice at debate and public speaking. It has chapters all over the state of California and the nation, as well as offices such as governor, lieutenant governor and mayor -- all held by students. JSA is a club for students who are interested in current events and want to be a part of events that affect their lives. Members of JSA attend mini-conferences, conventions, debates, and lectures. These members improve their public speaking skills and writing skills. Members of Buckley’s chapter of JSA will attend a convention called Spring State, in late April. At Spring State, Buckley students get a chance to listen to debates and lectures, learn about current events, and eventually vote for governor. JSA is both an exciting and educational club, and many say that its members represent the leaders of the future.

Junior Varsity Club Hide

Junior Varsity Club is a booster club for Junior Varsity sports. They hold fundraisers to support the JV teams.

KBGR Hide

Buckley Griffin Radio plays online with various music and sports shows - all produced by students.

KIDz Aid Hide

KIDz Aid works with various non profit organizations in the Los Angeles area that focus on children. Students get community service hours by working at the organizations, including the Blind Children's Center, Madison's Foundation, and the Cancer Awareness Club.

Kite Club Hide

The United Society for the Advancement and Promotion of Wind Propelled Recreation and the Enjoyment and Appreciation of the Greater Los Angeles County Outdoors flies kites in their free time.

Literary Magazine Hide

The Literary Magazine is a Buckley publication that is committed to displaying Buckley students' excellence in literature and the visual arts. The stuaff helps to compile and design the book, as well as helps create a theme and other creative elements.

Martial Arts Movie Club Hide

This club watches martial arts movies and movies that focus on fight science. They meet weekly and it is open to all upper school students.

Math Club Hide

The Middle and Upper School Math Clubs are directed by the Math department. Students enrolled in an honors Math class are automatically in the math club, and other students may join if they desire. Students participate in national math competitions, and by participating in the club one lunch per week students may earn math credit and have extra credit points added to their semester grades in math. Top scoring students may also be exempt from their Math final exams.

Mock Trial Club Hide

Mock Trial is a national competition where groups of students from different schools face off against each other in a courtroom setting, conducting a full trial with one side presenting the prosecuting lawyers and their witnesses, the other the defending lawyers and their witnesses. They are judged not only on how good they present the cases provided, but also on how well they pull off an act as those lawyers and witnesses. This being the first year of the club, we are training our students in how these competitions work, and hope to start entering competitions as the club grows.

Model United Nations Hide

Buckley's chapter of the Model United Nations works all year to prepare for the New York National High School Model United Nations Conference where the group will represent a country in a mock United Nations format.

Musical Theatre Club Hide

The purpose of the Musical Theater club is to bring people together who enjoy musical theater and performing music from Broadway shows. Club activities include watching musicals, performing songs, and discussing musical theater. They are also working towards having a "Cabaret-style" event where students can perform at Buckley.

National Honor Society Hide

NHS upholds its philosophy by serving our school and our surrounding community. As always, members have helped at the New Student Orientation, Admissions Middle and Upper School Open Houses, and have hosted the annual New Teacher Luncheon. Members have also served meals to the homeless on Thanksgiving, worked with Heal the Bay, and participated in L.A. Works community service projects. Donations from weekly breakfast sales are given by both honor societies to various charities throughout the year.

National Junior Honor Society Hide

NJHS offers its members an opportunity to begin a lifetime of service consonant with their superior abilities in order to stimulate respect for scholarship and to inspire young people toward higher standards of achievement. Students are elected to membership on the basis of scholarship, leadership, service, and character. Members help at the New Student Orientation and the Admissions Middle and Upper School Open Houses, and do various other community service oriented activities.

Peer Education Program of Buckley Hide

Another satellite of the international PEP organization, the Peer Education Program of Buckley is an HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention program focused on teens talking to other teens about safe-sex, effective communication, and how the HIV/AIDS epidemic affects them. The organization's focus is to do outreach work and to spread the word about the importance of teens being educated about HIV and AIDS.

Pen Pals Hide

This club gives students the chance to get to know someone from another country and lets the other person learn about America and our Buckley community. Members of the club write letters to their pen pals about once a month using www.epals.com.

Persian Club Hide

Persian Club provides a relaxed and casual environment to learn about Persian culture, personalities, beliefs, food, etc.

Ping Pong Club Hide

The Ping Pong club's mission is to introduce and expose Buckley students to the wonders, fun, and excitement of table tennis. During lunch, students participate in tournaments and games and the club is also working with Buckley's ASB to have a Ping Pong Tournament as well.

Pre-Law Club Hide

Pre-Law club is designed to get high school students involved in the field of law and political science. The club meetings consist of mock trials and guest speakers.

Pre-Med Club Hide

Pre-Med's purpose is to provide a better understanding of the medical profession to its members, as well as to provide guidance to students hoping to pursue a career in medicine. They also try to help the medical community by volunteering services to local hospitals or other organizations. Pre-Med Club strives to create a healthier environment for our school and community.

Project Reel Life Hide

Project Reel Life is an attempt to reach young people through the technology of film. As a member of the club ,students will be part of a crew that will ultimately shoot a short documentary regarding an issue that faces either the world or Los Angeles, with hopes of joining up with non-profit organizations to reach and better educate the current generation of the facts about issues that are current in today's society. Most of the shoots are done outside of school in small groups, with editing done at home and school. This club is open only to current Video Production students, as we use the school's equipment.

Rocketry Club Hide

The Rocketry Club's purpose is to teach rocketry skills. This leads up to competing in TARC (the Team America Rocketry Competition). If the team qualifies within the top 100 teams, the club will go to Washington, DC in May for the finals.

Runners' Club Hide

The Runners' Club seeks to provide fitness opportunities for those middle and upper school students interested in staying in shape for any sport Buckley offers. The Runners' Club meets in the Cross Country off season, and runs a very successful Jamba Juice sale during lunch.

Soccer Club Hide

The Soccer club is made up of Varsity and Junior Varsity Soccer players who want to play in the off season.

Social Action Team Hide

The Social Action Team works to support non profit organizations by running food and clothing drives, book drives and school supply drives during the year. They also bring in speakers to Buckley assemblies about community service.

Song Writer's Club Hide

This club has two parts to it - songwriting and song analysis. The club advisor shows students different types of songs and gives tips on how to write them. He also gives feedback on songs written by students. For song analysis, every week the club President brings a song to discuss and analyze.