The Scoop from Coop: Laundry

ALI COOPER

Welcome to the first article of The Scoop from Coop! The purpose of this column is to try and keep us private school kids a little more in-the-know. Even the experienced, perceptive (cough, cough…) students like us sometimes need a little reinforcement understanding how to do daily tasks such as opening a bank account, picking out a present for your girlfriend or boyfriend, or doing our own laundry. This brings us to the (FIRST EVER!!) article. Presenting, article numero uno of The Scoop from Coop!!

How to do your own laundry!

Step 1: Identify Amount of Laundry
You find yourself at home alone with no one to help with your laundry. Either that or your parents have pulled one of those “Honey, you’ve got to figure it out eventually, you aren’t going to live with us forever,” speeches. “Oh dear,” you think to yourself, overwhelmed. Whether your parents are out at a cocktail party, your dad is on some important business call, or you are way too humiliated to tell whoever is home that you need help with the laundry, you are unable to receive aid with your stain-filled, odorous job. Even if you have spilled Spaghetti-O’s all over yourself right before a hot date, don’t worry! All you have to do is take this process step by step. First, identify the location and volume of the dirty clothing. Your laundry could be neatly tossed into a laundry basket, or overflowing from the laundry basket onto the floor of your room, or strewn about on the floor, or, if you’re a real slob, strewn about on the floors of all the rooms in your house.

Step 2: Organize
Now that you’ve identified the location and magnitude of the laundry, it’s time to take control before your target does. Your best bet is to grab a laundry basket, but if one isn’t available, a trash bag is a pretty good alternative. Just make sure your dirty clothes aren’t mistaken for last night’s tuna casserole. Carry your basket/bag with you while you travel throughout the wreckage. Here’s where it gets a little tricky. You need to separate the lights from the darks. I know it sounds scary and this is all extremely new and unfamiliar, just break it down, kids. All whites go in the light pile. (Who would’a thunk it?) Whites with silkscreened designs are usually okay. All blue or black denim goes in the dark pile. If you are unsure about the pile placement of your clothing and a resident laundry expert is available, show them your article of clothing and ask which pile it goes into. Most of the time, they will actually be impressed that (1) you are doing your own laundry, and (2) you know enough to understand that whites and darks have to be separated.

Just so you know… Whites and darks have to be separated because most dark colors run in the wash, meaning some of their dye transfers onto other lighter items. Dark items of clothing don’t show the change in color much at all, but because whites are so light, the change in color will be obvious. This is why if you’ve ever seen or experienced someone washing a red article of clothing with a load of whites, everything turns pink. You don’t want to go running around looking like Valentine’s Day exploded all over you, so avoid washing reds and whites together!

Step 3: Using the Washing Machine
Once you’ve separated the lights and darks, make your way to the washing machine. This step may be a little intimidating at first, but have no fear! The washing machine will not attack. Go up to the washing machine and study the knobs, buttons, and compartments. Look inside the laundry basket/trash bag (while simultaneously avoiding the stench) and try to figure out if you need to do more than one load of laundry. If you have a fairly large washing machine, you should be able to fit about three pairs of jeans, four shirts, miscellaneous socks and underwear and maybe even some gym shorts into one load.

Some things to keep in mind: Some pieces of clothing have special washing instructions that should be located on the inside of the clothing on a tag. Keep an eye out for these. Another thing- don’t be tempted to wash your bath towels with your clothing. The fuzz from the towels transfer and stick onto your clothing, and your nice black t-shirt will look like it has been taken over by dust bunnies.

Step 4: Detergent
Find your laundry detergent. If you have liquid detergent, there is usually a cup or method of measuring out how much detergent to use. There should be a few lines on the cup: the lowest for a small load of laundry, the middle for a medium amount of laundry, and the highest for a large amount of laundry. Pick your amount of detergent according to how full your washing machine is. If you feel that there aren’t really that many pieces of clothing, the bottom line is probably the way to go. If you have a medium-large load of laundry, the middle or top line will be sufficient. Don’t put in too much detergent, otherwise you will turn your house into a bubbly abyss. Check for any special detergent instructions on your washing machine. Usually detergent is okay to pour right on top of the clothes in the machine, and if you’re using a plastic cup, you can throw that right in so that all of the detergent from the cup will be used. If you are using bleach, fabric softener, or detergent in powder form, look for instructions on your washing machine and on the containers of the substances.

Next, look at the settings on the washing machine. What are the knobs set to? Some washing machines have different settings for darks or lights and the amount of laundry. These should be set to correspond with what you have in the machine.

Step 5: Wait
This step is a favorite because it usually doesn’t require much work. You now have to wait for the washing machine to finish its cycles. This is a good time to get some homework done, read a book, play with your dog or cat, listen to music, eat a donut, you get the picture. However, if there is finished laundry in the dryer, skip to step number 6, then return to step number 4. Once your laundry is done in the washing machine, continue to step 6.

WARNING: Do not leave wet clothing in the washing machine for a long time. It gets mildew-y and smelly, and then you just have to wash it again. Not fun!

Step 6: The Dryer
Take out the wet/damp laundry from the washing machine and put the whole load into the dryer. Now is another time to check the tags of clothing to make sure they can be machine dried, if not, sometimes they need to be hung up to dry. At this time, you could again ask the resident laundry expert about any specific articles of clothing. If something needs to be hung up, ask your laundry expert where to hang it. The same way you did with the washing machine, adjust the knobs and buttons according to what you’ve put inside the dryer. Before you start the cycle, if there are dryer sheets, for example a Bounce dryer sheet, put it in now. This will help alleviate static and the scented ones will make your clothes smell nice. Before starting the machine, locate the lint collection compartment. Take the cover off and peel away or scoop out the lint. If left inside the dryer, the lint can catch fire. Once the lint is disposed of, put the lint collection compartment cover (say that five times fast) on, and start the machine.

Step 6.5: The Dryer Part Two / the Second Load
Collect the rest of your dirty clothes and put them into the washing machine, repeating steps 3, 4 and 5. Then once the first dryer cycle is done, continue throughout the steps normally. When the first dryer cycle is done, collect the lint that has accumulated in the lint collection compartment and throw it away.

Step 7: Folding
Take the clean laundry and put it in your hamper or a fresh trash bag. Go turn on the TV and fold the laundry in front of it. It eases the boredom. Fold your laundry in piles that are easy to put away.

Step 8: Putting Away
This step, as well as number 6, will make your parents/the laundry expert exuberant. Carry your recently cleaned and folded clothing to your room, and put everything away in the proper locations.

Congrats!
You made your mama proud!

Thanks for checkin out the Scoop From Coop…see you next edition!
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Faculty Spotlight: Mr. Lieser

JEHANE SAMAHA '09

This is the first installment of the “Faculty Spotlight” column. The main idea behind this column is to highlight teachers and other faculty members whom you may not know too much about, beginning with a lot of the new faculty. Along with some insight into their lives, you might get some fun facts to tease your teachers about, too.

Michael Lieser is a new upper school English teacher at Beaver, and the advisor for this newspaper. Because of this, he was a prime target for our first interview. I sat down to talk with Mr. Lieser on the blue couch of the English Office, and here’s what I learned:

Mr. Lieser just moved to Boston from the San Francisco Bay area in California. He had lived there for five years, but now he has relocated to Jamaica Plain. As he says, “It was a lot of fun to be out there, but I feel like New England is more home than anywhere else.” He particularly enjoys the atmosphere in JP; “It’s a lot friendlier and more diverse than I thought Boston would be.”

As a child, he moved around a lot, living in the south, the Midwest, and then attending high school and college in Maine. “When people ask me where home is, that’s a pretty complicated question,” says Mr. Lieser. In Maine, he went to John Bapst Memorial High School and Bowdoin College. In college, Mr. Lieser was acquainted with Beaver History teacher Ms. Melvoin, who played Rugby there.

When I asked him how he would describe his former high-school self, he depicted himself as a good, responsible student, but one who suffered from “a big head” late in his senior year. He says, “When I look back on it now, it was sort of the big fish in a small pond syndrome. But then, when I got to college, and I was around a lot of people who were much smarter than I was… I was kind of cut back down to size.”



(At left: Mr. Lieser's high school photo.)

In high school, he didn’t enjoy calculus; however, his goal was to become a doctor. In fact, he missed so many calculus classes his senior year that his teacher threatened to keep him from graduating. He made it through a lot of college pre-med requirements, but then realized that what he really enjoyed were “the humanities and English.”

One of Mr. Lieser’s hobbies is skiing. Currently, he only skis recreationally, but in high school he did Sugarloaf and the New England race circuit, and then skied in college. He says, “It’s always something I’ve been passionate about… there’s been some talk about organizing some ski trips this year at Beaver. We’ll see if we can put together some student groups and head up on a weekend, maybe get some good snow.”

He has just finished his Master’s Degree at Middlebury College’s Breadloaf School of English. He describes this program as “A Master’s program that’s kind of like a summer camp for English teachers.” For his thesis, one major source that he analyzed was the movie “The Big Lebowski.” He says, “People often think, ‘oh, that’s just a silly stoner movie’ but what they don’t recognize is all the intricacies that it has.”

He has no pets, and he isn’t married. However, his parents, who live in Maine, have a yellow lab. Mr. Lieser has no tattoos (or so he claims). The fun fact that he shares with his students on the first day of class is that he really likes York Peppermint Patties, and his favorite part is the sound that they make when they are broken open. He says the sound is “soft and subtle.” He just turned 29 this past September, but don’t wish him a happy birthday next year; he wants that milestone to slip by unnoticed.
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Student Council Update: Harvest Homecoming, Talent Show, etc.

LIZ COBB

This week, Student Council continued planning for the fast approaching Harvest Homecoming. Unlike Harvest Fest in years past, Harvest Homecoming will have a greater emphasis on the games; however, the most drastic change will be the absence of grade fundraising. This year the administration has made large alterations to the fundraising process at Beaver. As of this year, classes and groups cannot fundraise without a specific purpose in hopes of bringing more money to the school. This change means some former fundraising events, such as Harvest Fest, must be reformed. However, financial help will still be granted to classes and groups that need it.

In student council, we also tried to work out some of the logistics of the talent show in November. Currently, we have set up a drop box on First Class so anyone can sign-up quickly and easily. To sign up, type in “Talent” and write your talent as the subject. The prizes, though still in discussion, are guaranteed to be coveted and valuable. This year we have a strong desire to make changes and organize events that the student body wants. We started thinking of ways to reconstruct Winter Carnival because the poll results showed a great interest in expanding it. One of the most discussed topics for the event was what Beaver apparel would be good to sell to raise money for future events. At the meeting, each grade gave an overview of any future plans for the grade and progress they had made during the past week. Other topics of discussion were future fundraisers as well as the possibility of painting murals in the cubbies.

As always, Student Council would love to hear your ideas. Please tell a member of Student Council if you have any suggestions or grievances, or come to our meetings at 8:00 on Tuesday mornings.
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