The Spectrum Newspaper February 2023

Wednesday | March 1 | 2023

Bearstangs Swim on to State

Holocaust Unit Revived, Reimagined

Middle School Holocaust study curtailed by COVID-19

Zoey Ueland | Co-Editor-in-Chief

A2020 Pew Research study revealed a drastic lack of understanding amidst Millennials and Gen Z regarding the Holocaust. 55% of participants didn’t know that six million Jews were murdered as a result of Hitler’s Final Solution. While Holocaust and Genocide Studies was added as an elective in 2022-2023, the majority of students’ Holocaust education stems from the eighth grade curriculum, which lessened due to COVID. Curricular changes perpetuated a misunderstanding over lack of Holocaust education throughout the school.

The eighth grade Memorial Project, formerly

Did you know that there are amazing donuts all around the Twin Cities! This classic American cuisine is loved by many.

Food: Page 5

focused on World War II and the Holocaust, broadened. Eighth grade Social Studies teacher Raina Green explains, “We decided to move the me-

and includes a visit to the Holocaust Memorial Museum. Cole Eckes ‘26 explains, “When you look at [the Holocaust] on a larger scale like in

What a Waste

were some people who weren’t really taking it as seriously or didn’t really care about it as much.”

As COVID hit, the D.C. trip was canceled for two years. Zellie Olson ‘25 comments, “Everyone [knows] how meaningful [the Holocaust Museum’s] exhibit[s are]. I just feel like it’s such an emotional experience because it shares so much about firsthand experiences within it. I do feel like we missed out.”

Students, faculty weak links in waste management

Faith Zhao | Staff Writer

The trash cans in our school are emptied every single day; three

morial out of just World War II as a context and instead make it about any topic within U.S history students felt was worthy of a memorial.”

This change was in part due to the advancement of the eighth grade trip to Washington, D.C. which is now mandatory

a school lesson, you’re kind of just seeing it for its impacts, the numbers, the statistics. When you’re going through the museum, it deepened my understanding of what it was actually like.” However, Ivy Besikof ‘23 grew frustrated during her visit to the museum as “there

Molly Seidel ‘24 has a very close relationship with her grandfather, who also has greatly influenced her life.

InDepth: Page 8&9

“Night” a “memoir by a Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel who not just survived Auschwitz himself and several other camps but has worked all of the rest of his life to resist genocides wherever else they occur in the world,” was removed from the eighth grade curriculum due to COVID, explains Chair of the English Department Rick Cawood

Continued on page 2.

times a week, the landfill dumpster gets picked up as well as recycling and compost, which are collected twice a week.

Ultimately, each load is filled with 12 to 14 more cubic yards of landfill trash, and six to eight cubic yards of recycling and compost, according to Russ Gronlund , Maintenance Lead at Blake for the past 35 years.

Gronlund explains,

Revamping of old and classic items has become very popular because customers often look for familiarity.

Perspectives: Page 13

“If there’s [a] mixture in, let’s say the compostable or the recycling, it will all go up in the landfill trash.” Gronlund notices, “Students, especially at breakfast or lunch time, [don’t] pay attention to which one they put their stuff in.”

Years ago, there was a chaperone to watch students dispose of their trash. The trash accumulated then was significantly less than the trash accumulated now.

Jake Vraa , Maintenance Assistant, explains how “the trash build up in the school can be inevitable, if students bring a Starbucks cup everyday or don’t like their food, it’s just how it is.”

Continued on page 11.

Pictured above, Nam Truong ‘23 placed 3rd in the 100 Butterfy with a qualifying time of 52.72 seconds. On Feb. 25, the team raced at Section Finals at Richfeld Middle School. The Bearstangs placed 1st with 560 points. The Boys’ Swim and Dive State Meet is Mar. 2-4 at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center. The Bearstangs are chasing their seventh consecutive win.

Students from the class of 2026, at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. in the spring of 2022.

“Students, especially at breakfast or lunch time, [don’t] pay attention to which one they put their stuff in.” - Gronlund

Submitted by: Green

Tyler Vandersall

Editors-In-Chief:

Zoey Ueland | Rowan Wallin

Managing Editors:

Amelia Bush | Evan Vezmar

Photo Editor: Cleo Kilpatrick

Online Editor: Mackenzie Higgins

Copy Editor: Sofa Perlman

Arts & Culture Editor: Eva Stegic

Student Life Editor: Ali Hecker

Food Editor: Jason Rotenberg

Sports Editor: Yoni Zacks

Opinions Editor: Kate Rekas

Business Manager: Julia Zhang

Editor Emeriti: Oscar Walsh

Allyson Jay | Charlotte Opp

Faculty Adviser: Anna Reid

STAFF WRITERS:

Shruti Balachander, Rhea

Balachandran, Claire Cao, Raiden Chen, Ahan Devgun, Ethan Klaiman, Sonia Lerner, Gabi Marmet, Ava Mittra, Sam Tomczik, Jack Ulland, Winnie Ulland, Bennett Wieland, Max Yousha, Klarissa Yu, Kaining Zhang, Faith Zhao

STAFF ARTISTS:

Julia Everett, Katie Lattin, Melody Lee, Julia Zhang

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER: Tyler Vandersall

COLUMNIST: Uma Bhardwaj

BECOME A STAFF MEMBER:

Contribute to the paper three times consecutively to be promoted to a staff writer!

JOIN SPECTRUM: Spectrum meets in Room 351 during both lunches every Friday. Please come if you are interested in writing, drawing, designing, podcasting or taking pictures for the newspaper.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:

Disagree with something that’s in the paper? Have an opinion you want to share? Like to draw editorial cartoons? Take a stand and speak out. E-mail letters or editorial cartoons to spectrum@ blakeschool.org or deliver them to room 351. Please limit letters to 400 words.

MISSION STATEMENT:

The primary purpose of the Blake School Spectrum is to report news and to explain its meaning and signifcance to our readers and the community. We hope to inform, entertain and provide a school forum for the unrestricted exchange of ideas and opinions.

STYLE STATEMENT:

Spectrum uses Associated Press (AP) Style as of the February 2020 issue.

for

Forum Updates

Humanities Lab Plans

Amelia Bush & Cleo Kilpatrick | Managing Editor & Photo Editor

On Feb. 10, student

body president Justin Krelitz ‘23 led the Forum meeting which began with a club charter. Several ninth graders presented

Next, leaders from Political Roundtable proposed a plan of partnerning with SPA’s Politics Club to host a community conference open to high schoolers across the Twin Cities. Roundtable wants to fly in Olivia Seltzer from Harvard to come speak at an event in the spring.

Treasurer Sam Hardy ‘24 stated that $650 remains in the forum budget for the rest of the year, so while the club leaders

Defend the Den, a rivalry event with food and games that was first held last year during a Blake/ Breck baseball game. During the meeting, they started planning logistics, created a group chat for easy communication, and started brainstorming ideas to boost engagement amongst both schools.

They are still figuring out dates for this event; Tia Gnanapragasam ‘25 asked if this event will interfere with other sports games happening on this day, but Nick Rathmann is the point person for scheduling. Forum is still waiting to hear back from Rathmann about the date for this event.

Differing opinions from students, faculty

Ueland & Rowan Wallin | Co-Editors-in-Chief

As of late, discussions surrounding the implementation of a Humanities Lab (which would be comparable to the existing Math Lab) have arisen at the Upper School. A Humanities Lab would encompass help for students in all literature, history, social studies, and philosophy

idea. I’ve seen a lot more people using the Math Lab in the past couple years, so people would probably take advantage of [a Humanities Lab]. The [humanities] teachers probably have time to [supervise] it.”

Ben Cady, social studies teacher and Forum faculty representative, said, “If we’re just teaching writing skills—like how to write a thesis, how to support that thesis, how to find evidence—then all humanities should be able to do that.”

Indeed, Kaylee Chen

a new club idea: Game Development Club. They have a goal of bringing together people who are interested in coding and creating games. The ninth graders explained that any level would be accepted because they too are not experts in this field and they are all learning together. Forum voted to charter this club.

haven’t figured out the logistics, Forum faculty representative Ben Cady suggested to come back to their next meeting on Feb. 16 and present a more concrete plan for this event.

Next, Hardy and Zellie Olson ‘25 reported on their recent meeting with Breck’s student council on this year’s

Sarah Warren brought up that the Parent Association (PA) wants to do the design contest for the Homecoming sweatshirts again for next year. Warren said they need another Forum member for this committee along with Krelitz. Uma Bhardwaj ‘24 volunteered to be on the committee, as she was on it last year. This committee is meeting Feb. 23 with the PA to go over details. Lastly, juniors addressed the Feb. 8 town hall meeting which included heated opinions about the idea of creating a Humanities Lab.

ChatGPT Inspires Moral Debate

Rise in usage raises discussion of need in classrooms

Ethan Klaiman | Staff Writer

ChatGPT is an AI chatbot developed by San Francisco-based startup, OpenAI. OpenAI was cofounded by Elon Musk and Sam Altman and is backed by big investors, most notably Microsoft. What

and a half years. Although ChatGPT is growing so quickly, it still has its limitations. Responses from ChatGPT can contain factual inaccuracies such as fictitious historical names, books that don’t exist, or incorrectly solved math problems. While most programs have their errors, the successful functions are what make them so special. The question is, can it have

the prompt.” Guider also believes that if there are regulations in place, and it isn’t being used to write an entire essay, then using it is fair game. William Anderson ‘23 agreed with Guider that if it is used correctly to aid learning then it can be helpful, but if used wrongly it can become “morally dubious.”

Alternatively, English teacher Cory Tao said, “If you are using traditional

courses. The surprisingly hot button idea has created a deep stratification of community members. While English is the only department to have a requirement for an English course each semester of high school, a Humanities Lab would impact all students.

Remy Abraham ‘23 shared, “I think the [Humanities Lab] could be a very good idea. Most of the English classes have similar assignments, so having help with essays throughout the school day would be very helpful. Switching off teachers would be good as well so that you could get multiple perspectives. I don’t think there are many major downsides to having the [Humanities Lab]; it’s just more help for students. To the idea as a whole, I say ‘Go forth!’”

Darian Mehra ‘23 added, “I think it’s a great idea because lots of students have trouble finding times to meet with their teachers; staying after school and coming in before school is tough because of sports and clubs. Also, I feel like we would grow as writers by doing it with more help. For those reasons, a writing center would be beneficial for a lot of people.”

Audrey Friedell ‘24 explained, “It’s an interesting

Continued from Page 1.

‘25, Sophomore Forum representative, originally presented the idea for a Humanities Lab after seeing her own classmates struggling. “A lot of students mentioned having English essays being really hard for them—not really knowing grammar that well… especially coming out of COVID-19.”

The downside to a Humanities Lab might be that, as Abraham put it, “every English teacher is looking for something different in their essays, so it might be hard to figure out what your teacher wants. It also depends what book you’re writing your essay on.” Chen adds, “There was a concern there that if this teacher’s helping me now with my paper what if it doesn’t meet the standards of the teacher who is going to grade my paper?” Forum worked to combat the conflict, discussing in a recent meeting, “it would be really beneficial to have the rubric laid out and to tell the teacher there ‘Hey this is who my teacher is, this is the point of the essay.’”

Furthermore, Mehra said, “The only thing that might go wrong would be the creativity of students’ writing. It could very well turn into a teacher writing the essay [as opposed to the student writing it].”

makes ChatGPT so impressive is its ability to produce human-like responses to an ability that no other generative AI application has achieved.

According to a Feb. 8 article by CNBC, ChatGPT grew so fast that in only two months after its release, it amassed 100 million active users, where it took Tik Tok nine months and Instagram two

educational benefits? Or is it too immoral to use?

According to Sawyer Guider ‘25, “It can be applied educationally with limits set in place on how it can be used… As a student with ADHD, I have a hard time getting into the flow of things, especially when writing an essay, so using ChatGPT could help me think about other ways to look at

plagiarism filters, it will be caught in a second… we could quickly tell it was not written by a human person.”

She added, “If you are a student of integrity, that you are someone who always strives for your own idea written in your own unique way… it is going to be written at your level… so never ever ever use Google.”

Cawood furthers, “We didn’t teach ‘Night’ because we couldn’t give it the proper context. Doing ‘Night’ via online Zoom school didn’t seem to be the best choice because we couldn’t really help kids understand … the emotional weight.”

Holocaust studies were phased back into the Middle School curriculum in 20212022 via the D.C. trip. As students recover from the

emotional strains of COVID, “Night” will return to the curriculum.

As for the Upper School, Olson notes, “[Holocaust and Genocide Studies is] a really great example of how we can continue to dive deeper into instances of genocide and of the Holocaust.” Besikof adds, “I don’t think having it as an elective is enough in my opinion, I wish there was a way it could be embedded more into the Upper School.”

ChatGPT uses machine learning to formulate responses based on language patterns. Above, the program generated a fictitious news article in response to a prompt.

Jeffrey Chen

Plans

new Defend the Den, club, event set in motion

Forum introduced several ideas in the Feb. 10 meeting, most notably a conversation with Breck about holding a new Defend the Den event in the spring.

Amelia Bush

Zoey

“The only thing that might go wrong would be the creativity of students’ writing.”

Model UN Travels to Chicago for Two Day Conference

In-person conference provides opportunity for interaction

Steven Cao | Staff Writer

Model UN is one of the many clubs that has been affected drastically the past few years, especially by COVID-19, when many in-person conferences were canceled and everything was moved online.

Model UN is a club that aims to simulate a United Nations general assembly. The group traveled to Chicago on Feb. 2 for a large in-person

conference. The conference provided a great opportunity for members to travel and participate

with students from different schools all over the country, to meet and work with.

Model UN leader and member Sam Leslie ‘24 who has participated since he joined Blake in 9th grade believes, “last year there was little engagement because of virtual conferences, which was not a very viable op-

tion, but this year we’ve had more members because of the in-person options, which give the

opportunity to interact and meet with different people from across the country.”

Leslie continued, saying, “The schedule [In Chicago] is pretty filled, however they do give you time in the morning or afternoon to go do something.”

So far in this Model UN season, the main topic has been overfishing, with many conferences relating to finding solutions to overfishing.

Currently their topic is the Simun conference, hosted by Saint Ignatius College Prep, which is a

simulation with 10 committees based in 1982 and 10 based in modern day. The committees will be interacting with each other on different world issues of those different times.

For some people

Model UN is already something familiar, with some in the club who have done Model UN in middle school. Max Unglaub ‘26 , a current member who participated in the middle school club, believes that “It’s a new experience, I did Model UN in middle school but high school is very different because there are more in person conferences and everything is a lot larger.”

Bears to Care Provides Child Care Service for Families

Student-created program excels

Mackenzie Higgins | Online Editor

Last year, Jackie Wethington ‘23 and Ivy Besikof ‘23 noticed that there was a disconnect between parents and babysitters within the school community, so they looked for a way to close this gap. Now, they’re looking for someone to take over their project. Their creation, Bears to Care, “is a networking program to connect Upper School students with Lower School

families,” says Wethington. Besikof explains that interested students fill out a form with “their name, contact information, and then a description about themselves.” Wethington and Besikof compile this information on a Google Doc, which is sent out by the Parent Association. Parents then peruse the list of students, get in contact with a babysitter, and decide on the details of the job. Both avid babysitters themselves, Wethington and Besikof “thought that by making this program, it would be easier for parents to find sitters and students to find families to baby-

sit,” as Besikof explains. Wethington recalls some of the struggles she witnessed parents having.

“[Rebekah] Johnson is my advisor, and she was saying several times how it was kind of annoying or frustrating because she was always looking for a babysitter but she wasn’t able to reach out to people, unless they [had] reached out to her [first].”

The process of creating the program was quite extensive. Wethington explains, “There were a lot of hurdles because [the program] couldn’t be Blake sponsored because of liability stuff.” She continues, “We contacted

the Parent Association (PA) and went back and forth with them.” They wanted the list to be on Veracross so parents could have easy access, “but the PA was saying that because it wasn’t Blake affiliated, [the program] couldn’t be on it,” Wethington explains. Instead, the list is sent out periodically by the PA. Wethington adds, “So it kind of had to be word of mouth.”

Now that it’s up and running, however, “it’s not a lot of work to run the program. [We] just update the list once or twice a year and keep contact with the PA,” Besikof says. They are hop-

ing that the program will continue next year. Besikof adds, “We’re looking for a sophomore or junior who would be interested in taking it over.”

If you have any

Katie Lattin

questions about joining the program or running it, reach out to either Wethington or Besikof at jrwethington23@ blakeschool.org or ilbesikof23@blakeschool.org.

Blake Debate Wins State Again Sophomores Build Journaling Club

Two teams closeout final round of State

Claire Cao | Staff Writer

Blake Debate has won the varsity state tournament for the fourth year in a row and this year, two teams were in the final round– a closeout by Blake in the state tournament. Along with this recent win, several records have been broken. Shane Stafford , the director of the debate program, stated, “It was the first time that 4 women have been in public forum in the finals… It’s the first time I think somebody has won novice, JV and varsity twice. I also think it’s the first time that a JV team— Eva [Redmond ‘25] and Zellie [Olson ‘25] won both JV and… varsity states at the same time. So there are a lot of firsts.” Olson capitalized on the victory, “ It was super exciting espe-

cially because this was mine and Eva’s first experience in state in the varsity level so it was very new for us.” Olson also further discussed the JV close-out, “Since last year we were very excited to go to JV states just because we have been debating in varsity in our novice year so we were excited to return… so when we were at JV, [we also closed] it out with…

Kaylee [Chen ‘25] and Ruhi [Kurdikar ‘25] .”

Sofia Perri ‘23 expresses

her thoughts: “I’m very happy that Blake has been able to continue not just our legacy but also just kind of this streak and I think it’s just like a testament to how well our program works, how much effort and love our coaches give us as well as how hardworking our debaters are, and it’s really great to see that our hard work… [has] been paying off.”

Continued on blakespectrum.org

Eva Stegic | Arts & Culture Editor

There have been a multitude of new clubs this year, from Jewish Student Union to ASL Club. A group of three sophomores, Uma Bastodkar ‘25 , Lucia Heathcote ‘25 , and Emma Connor ‘25 , decided to take initiative and create the new and unique Journaling Club.

Bastodkar describes Journaling Club as “a chill space to unwind before school starts,” with the intention of the club being a community where students can journal (with or without prompts), relax, and maybe even do some morning yoga.

The three developed the idea together after hearing about a “Be Happy” club at one of their friends’ workplace.

Connor notes that they “interpreted it differently, and changed it to what [they enjoy],” creating a place to simply be positive in a welcoming environment. With candles, soft music, and hopefully some morning snacks, Bastodkar, Heathcote, and Connor have created a comfortable new

environment for the Upper School students. The triad hopes to begin meeting Thursday mornings in health teacher Cris Larson’s room, but before they make it official, they want to hear input from their members to see

what time would work well for them.

The three sophomores have also created an Instagram account, under the username “@ blakejournalingclub,” where they will be posting updates about how to join, when they will meet, and what they will be doing.

Members of Model UN prepare for the Simun Conference, where they interact with 20 different committees from around the United States of America.

Redmond, Olson, Perri and Elizabeth Terveen ‘23 hold the State Championship Trophy.

Submitted by: Perri

Three students create positive environment

Yoni Zacks

Ali Hecker

Meandering Through Minnesota Bookstores

A detailed look at four unique bookstores

Evan Vezmar | Managing Editor

When I was younger, one of the more frequent activities my parents would force me and siblings to do was read. The ploy to get us interested in reading was also a plan to keep us quiet, but the children’s books led me to one of my biggest loves: bookstores. Special visits to Wild Rumpus by Lake Harriet and Half Price Books on Hennepin Av-

enue opened my eyes to the wonderful world of books, and I still revel in enormous bookshelves and large rooms whenever I get the chance to stop by a bookstore. Those chances have diminished, partially because of COVID-19 and likely also because of the workload of high school, but I revisited some of my favorite bookstores from my elementary school days as well as some new stores to rediscover my love for books.

I revisited Half Price Books, Barnes & Noble, and Wild Rumpus, and I went to Magers & Quinn for the first time. From

the moment I stepped inside these stores, I noticed how much they had branched out from the last time I was there.

Half Price Books specializes in used books and will buy customers’ books to place directly on their shelves, but I spotted the bookstore selling hats, clothes, puzzles, movies, and more. Wild Rumpus had also diversified, where a games and clothes section takes up a far corner. It seemed that all the stores had modernized, but not all of them managed to keep the magical feel that I knew when I was child.

Magers & Quinn cre-

ated the balance between old and new perfectly. The building is immense, with multiple rooms filled with every genre imaginable. However, unlike Barnes & Noble, whose expansive space creates a very shopping mall feel, Magers & Quinn still felt cozy and calm. Magers pairs new books and organization with old, wooden furniture and the austerity of a library. Each doorway going to a new section of the store was a little too short, so when I ducked through, I felt like a character entering a magical new world. Read full story online

Engaging Books in English Curriculum

Finding enjoyment in required reading

Amelia Bush | Managing Editor

“The Great Gatsby.”

This classic novel is one that certainly lived up to its hype. Before I read it, I didn’t know what it was about, all I heard was “It’s amazing” and “I can’t say anything without spoiling it” and so my expectations were high. When I first heard it depicted the “American dream” I was skeptical about if I would enjoy it, however the plot and its twists truly blew my mind as well as the narra-

Vejas Storm the Fashion World

Classic French shoe conquersAmerica

Sofia Perlman | Copy Editor

Vejas; a classic and timeless shoe that has recently grown in popularity in the United States. Each shoe features a ‘V’ on the sides in various vibrant colors, and ot only are Vejas stylish, but the brand is environmentally conscious. The French brand was founded in 2005 with the motive of sustainability: the sneakers are made with recycled materials such as plastic bottles and polyester. Not only are the cotton used by the brand sourced from farmers in Brazil and Peru, but the soles are made from raw Amazonian rubber. The Brazilian sourced materials of the shoe are often overlooked, as the shoes are most popular in France and other European countries. They can even be seen being

worn by many American celebrities such as Reese Witherspoon and Emily Ratajkowski.

Kiana Poul ‘24 first discovered Vejas in 7th grade when she saw former Blake student Pippa Pflaum wearing them, she says, “I thought that they were super cute, and I had never seen them before.” Poul purchased her first pair of Vejas in Freshman year, and Poul emphasizes the versatility of the shoes,

noting, “I think they’re comfortable, like an everyday tennis shoe, but I feel like they’re slightly elevated. Especially with the suede, I feel like it adds to ‘the look.’” Vejas can be worn with many different types of outfits, dressed up or down, and to a wide range of occasions. Poul states that the pair of Vejas she owns is her favorite out of all of her shoes, commenting, “I wear them almost every day.”

tion style. The characters are compelling and incredibly well written and the use of color as a metaphor stunned me. Characters like Daisy divided our class, leading to enthusiastic conversations about the novel. It is one of my favorite books I have ever read and made me excited to go to class every day so I could discuss it.

“American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin.” This collection of poems changed the way I think about literature and it opened me up to experimental poetry with fewer rules and constraints. My favorite sonnet from this collection lists objects, concepts and people in alphabetical order. Last year, English teacher

Mike Bazzett assigned our class to write a poem in a format of one of Hayes poem’s and I chose this one. I found listing things I enjoy and putting them into a list to not only be fun, but it also helped me interpret what Hayes had written. It is one of the best poetry books I have ever read and its modern touch makes it even better.

Origin stories & “The Odyssey.” There is something so fascinating about mythology and the drama within it. Although these are a part of the ninth grade curriculum, I still remember them clearly despite the time that has passed. When I was a kid, I loved Greek mythology so I felt a tad bit

of nostalgia when reading these. Although the reading can be confusing, the stories are fascinating and provide a great transition from middle school English to a high school level.

“The Outsiders.” This book isn’t technically a part of the English curriculum, however the summer before my tenth grade year our reading assignment was to read any American novel. I chose “The Outsiders” and it was a great one. Not only is the novel moving, but it depicts complex social pressures and the interweavings of friendship. This book brought me to tears, and it is perfect for anyone that loves a fast read and an engaging plot.

Writing Club Fosters Expression

Free writes and open prompts cultivate new ideas

Ahan Devgun | Contributing Writer

With the advent of a new club, Creative Writing Club provides a space where you can grow your creativity and explore the process of literature. English teacher and club advisor Amanda Minoff expresses that “[the club] started last year when three

students approached me … all of the [leaders] thought of the club separately but then joined to collaborate together. They’ve all had different visions of the club and they found a way to do a variety of things.”

Even though the leaders originally had different ideas for what the club should be, they were eventually able to incorporate it all together. The club mainly focuses on learning about the process of creative writing, such as learning about dialogue, while also working on prompts

and doing freewrites. Some of these prompts include rewriting folk tales to ghosts who meet in the middle of a memory.

Minoff details that “[what happens in a club meeting] depends week by week… last week, we took a prompt and we did some free writes. We always try to take some time even if its just 5 minutes for people to do their own free-writing.”

From the side of the students, member and leader Karn Kaura ‘24 details that his favorite activity in Creative Writing Club is “taking a prompt from the list… and writing about things like subverting a trope or making up scenarios in which you’d write from the perspective of someone who your identity doesn’t necessarily match up with.”

For students who want to flex their creativity and writing muscle, the club usually meets during the FLEX time on Wednesday mornings or during Friday FLEX.

Wild Rumpus: dedicated to children with rows of books low to the ground, and an array of impressive animals throughout.

Karin Lund ‘25 reads “The Great Gatsby,” a classic American novel detailing the life of the hyper rich in the roaring twenties.

One of many pairs of Vejas, this pair sports a stitched white V, although they can come in multiple different styles.

Members of Creative Writing Club meet with English teacher Amanda Minoff and discuss new prompts for the meeting.

Evan Vezmar

Eva Stegic Ahan Devgun

Eva Stegic

Pastries You Donut Want to Miss

These treats are amazing no mater the source

Cleo Kilpatrick |

Photo Editor

Did you know that there are a-glazing donuts all around the Twin Cities? This classic American cuisine is loved by many, but I believe there is a difference between a donut you buy at a grocery store, like Jerry’s or Lunds, and a donut you buy at a classic bakery, like A Baker’s Wife or Glam Doll Do nuts.

I tried multiple donuts, a classic cake donut from Lunds (various locations around the Twin Cities, open 6 a.m. - 10

and compared it to a classic cake donut at Glam

Doll Donuts (2605 Nicollet Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55408, 7 a.m. - 3 p.m.

weekends). When it comes to donuts, I look for frosting that melts in your mouth as you bite into a moist base. A donut should have creamy frosting and the cake part should have a good texture. When I tried the Lunds donuts, they were your classic do nuts with vanilla frost ing and sprinkles. As I bit into the donut it met all the criteria. But there wasn’t a distinct flavor that stuck to my taste buds. It tasted like every other donut. When I bit into a Glam Doll Donut, it left a sweet taste on my tongue that made me want to take another bite.

GlamDollDonuts

had creamy frosting and soft and moist cake, and as a bonus, it had a unique flavor that made it taste like something special. In my opinion, if you

are deciding whether to go to a grocery store or bakery to get a donut, choose the bakery. The donut from the bakery will have a unique flavor and make you want even more donuts!

Gluten-Free Alternatives Prove Not So Bad After All

Chicken nuggets

equally delicious

Anna Tao | Staff Writer

What I worried about most was being able to eat the same food as my friends and family, the same food I had in my childhood, and the wonderful nostalgia that came with it. Food is so much more than nutrition. It is tradition, culture, and an overall shared experience with loved ones. Restricting those can feel frustrating, but with a little help, navigating a dietary restrictive diet can be simpler and more reminiscent of past times than previously thought. As more products of all dietary restrictions make their way onto the shelves of accessible grocers, so have gluten-free

options due to their recent surge in popularity and the increase of those aware of and diagnosed with gluten intolerances, sensitivities, and celiac disease. As someone who must avoid gluten clinically, discovering the world of gluten-free chicken nuggets felt like a massive revelation. They are so loved by all. Through months of testing, two nuggets particularly stood out as especially palatable: The Perdue Breaded Chicken Breast Tenders and the Applegate Chicken Nuggets. Both products are popular within my household because they are easy to find in common stores.

Gluten-free products can also be frustrating as they can be overpriced; however, both products are priced the same as the equivalent

gluten-filled products, with Perdue sitting at $10.59 for a 22 oz bag and Applegate for $12.69 in a 16 oz bag.

surrounds the chicken within, providing a diverse set of textures in tandem with the juicy interior. A com-

pair with any preferred condiment. My choice of honey mustard particularly shines with this pairing, combining a sweet tang within the sauce with the salty crunch of the breading and juice within the tender.

The Applegate product had promising factors upon the first bite. The chicken filling was spread thinner than some chicken nuggets, however, that provided the ability of the nugget to also be crunchy.

The Perdue product was a true surprise in the product’s crunch and juice factor. While still remaining juicy, it is perfectly crisp within the recommended bake time. An almost popcorn chicken-like coating

mon problem many seem to find within chicken tenders is the issue of tough, grisly bits finding their way into it, however, I, nor any of my family members, have encountered this issue. The product can also perfectly

An additional surprising perk is, the size of the nugget, with the Purdue tender being the size of a normal nugget and the Applgate being smaller. The size of the nugget, allows a single nugget to be easily consumed within one crunch-filled bite. The nugget filling is not dry either,

still being perfectly juicy within. The most interesting thing about this nugget was the pairing of condiments, specifically the Chick-Fil-A honey mustard sauce. Initially, I didn’t expect much of it, but the first bite immediately reminded me of the flavors and crunch of a Mcdonald’s chicken nugget paired with a Sweet and Sour sauce packet. As one can imagine, this combination was truly remarkable for me since McDonalds became inedible to me, and low and behold, this became a staple within my household. Gluten-free products can be frustrating because of the constant amounts of trial and error to find a delicious product, but this review hopefully has led you to the discovery of a staple food, maybe even for those who do eat gluten.

Store-Bought Pasta Sauce Overlooked, Best Sauces This Spring

Grocers have a plethora of options

Charlotte Opp |

Editor Emerita

I’m sure like me, many of you love pasta and find yourself enjoying a bowl after a long day at school. When prepar ing your pasta, though, it can be tough know ing what kind of red sauce to pair with the noodles. Hope fully my suggestions will prod you to try a new pasta sauce that could become your new favorite.

Starting off, one of my all time favorite pasta sauc es is the Broders’ Classic Bolognese sauce with tradi tional meat sauce.

This sauce is sold for $10.99 in a 16 oz container size which is a little bit on the pricier side, but I think that it’s totally worth it. The sauce tastes like your classic red sauce with delicious chunks of pork and beef along with bits of carrot to add more texture. The sauce is also made with garlic and onions to enhance the flavor. It is the same sauce that Broders uses in their restaurant and is made in hopes of letting people replicate

Broders’ delicious pasta dishes at home. The sauce is made here in Minnesota with an Italian inspired recipe. The sauce is super convenient to use since after mak ing noodles you can add the sauce, and throw it in the microwave to get a restaurant-like result.

Another safe bet is Rao’s Homemade Marinara Sauce. The sauce is sold in three different sizes and their 15.5 oz size costs $5.99. This classic sauce is made from Italian plum tomatoes that were slowly cooked to create the flawless red sauce taste. Rao’s Marinara Sauce is the perfect

staple for any kind of noodles and leaves room for add-ons like basil, pepper, parmesan or any other topping you might want to add. This sauce is also great to pair with beef, pork or any other type of meat you like to have in your pastas. When preparing the sauce with a dish of noodles, I would recommend putting the sauce on the stove in a small pot to warm it up because, from there, you can easily add extra ingredients if you wish. If you are in more of a hurry the sauce tastes just as delicious when you warm it up in the microwave!

Things to Add to Your Pasta:

-Light Salt

-Olives

-Chicken

-Lemon juice

-Pepper

Jason Rotenberg

Cleo Kilpatrick

Lunds Donut Cleo Kilpatrick

Jason Rotenberg

Rivalry History: Bears and Mustangs Share Unique Cameraderie

Century-long competition provides memories

Kate Rekas | Opinions Editor

It often seems as though Breck and Blake have always been known as rivals. The Breck School was founded in 1886, fourteen years before its rival was established in 1900. While we often like to think we are far different from Breck, and overall better, both schools were founded with similar missions and principles. Breck was founded as an Episcopal school to educate children of local immigrant farmers, and it has since evolved into the respected private school it is now, continuing the tradition of Episcopal chapel assemblies with all students in attendance.

Top: The Bears and the Mustangs face off in a 2002 rivalry game. A notable Bears player was Isaac Anderson ‘06, who went on to play Division One College Football at UW-Madison.

Bottom: The score from that game, a 64-13 blowout victory.

Similarly, Blake was founded with the intention of educating children in accordance with Christianity, but unlike Breck, all religiosity tied to the school was ended in 1974.

The similarities between the schools is what has always seemed to fuel competition. The school’s offering of smaller class sizes and advertised “rigorous” academics to create a college prep environment make it inevitable that the two institutions are pitted against one another, both academically and athletically.

Boys soccer has been one of the most electric sports between the schools because the teams have been so evenly matched, as have boys and girls tennis. Recently, winter sport athletes have dominated the Breck competition with boys and girls hockey, alpine skiing, and boys basketball all having recent wins against the Mustangs.

The schools compete in academics as well, and students often look to Niche, a school ranking website, to see the rankings for best private schools in Minnesota to try to settle the constant debate over who is actually the best. The truth is, no matter the ranking, both institutions help foster accomplished induviduals who are pre-

pared to attend university. The rivalry is still plenty alive, but it isn’t mean-spirited. There is the occasional “Buck Freck” sign at a hockey game, but it’s truly all in good fun and in celebration of a good game, no matter the winner. In addition to

the rivalry pushing the two schools and their students to do their best, there is simultaneously a sense of camaraderie between students, as they share similar school experiences and often get to face off with each other in athletic or academic competitions.

Students Say: Breck Offers Best Rivalry Mystery Athlete

SPA, Providence Academy among top vote-getters

Amelia Bush | Managing Editor

Picture this: you wake up energized for the day, you get to play your rival team, something you have been looking forward to all year. You feel ready and your team gets pumped as you step onto the feild. There is only one question remaining, what school are you picturing as your rival? Throughout February, students were asked who they thought Blake’s biggest rival was. A variety of responses were recieved. 49.6% of the 121 responses (60 people), believe Breck is our biggest rival.

Dom Cornforth ‘24 stated his argument for Breck: “As the former Blake superfan I would go to all of the [Blake] sporting events. It didn’t matter what sport it was, the biggest crowds showed up to games against Breck… I was also told that if I was to only go to one hockey game for the year, it should be the one against Breck…But it wasn’t only for hockey, for multiple other sports, such as basketball, I was specifically requested to go to the Breck games, because… those where the games that I was told get the craziest, and are the most enjoyable. Only when we win, of course.”

Aidan Krush ‘23 agreed, saying, “Breck is our biggest rival because their school appears to be incredibly similar

to [Blake]. Many people at Blake have friends at Breck. And, Breck is the closest to us geographically. Additionally, Breck students are [identitcal] to Blake students except they are slightly worse at everything.”

Chizo Nwokocha ‘25 disagrees. She is one of the 10 students that voted SPA. She said, “As a fencer, SPA is one of the only significant teams that we actually fence against.”

In addition, 13 students believe that Providence Academy is the biggest rival. Bennett Vavrichek ‘24 says, “For track they are the biggest rival [and have the] most annoying student section at other sports.”

An anonymous survey response added that “Breck is worse than us at pretty much everything

but they like to think they are our main rival. Providence is a way more legitimate rival and the history makes it more interesting too.”

Bart Glover ‘26 agrees stating that Providence Academy is “now our biggest rival because in the 2019 football season, the Wolfpack had a game against them that resulted in them becoming our rivals, as well as in last basketball season they knocked us out of the playoffs.”

12 students think Benilde St. Margaret’s is Blake’s biggest rival. One survey responder argues, “BSM is our biggest rival because out of this list not a lot of these schools have teams for my sport, ultimate; BSM does and they are at about the same level as us.”

Several other schools also recieved votes, including Wayzata with two votes, Minnehaha Academy with three, and St. Thomas Academy with one. The full results of this poll are visible online.

Basketball captain provides leadership

Liam Coley | Contributing Writer

This month’s mystery athlete is leading her team dispite setbacks. She has been playing basketball for eight years and half of her experience has been with Blake. This year, she is one of the team captains. Teammate Leyla Lyu ‘25 says, “She is very supportive [and]... she makes sure everyone knows what’s happening.”

When asked about why she keeps coming back to the sport, she

says, “I’ve always loved it… I’ve played it for so long that it doesn’t really—like I’ve never really considered not playing it. Also, I have made really good relationships with my teammates. So it’s like, [the] social [aspect] and also like during the basketball season I’m more in shape than I am in any other season.”

Lyu describes her performance on the court, “She is a very, very strong, like physically strong player. She is really good at getting rebounds and she always works very hard on the court. You can tell just by watching her.”

Last year, the girls’ basketball team lost 12 seniors, and in their absence, underclassmen have stepped up to lead the team. Elaborating on the difficulties the team has been experiencing as of late, the athlete says, “This is the second year in a row where we get a new coach, so basically we have been jumping from coach to coach. And losing all those seniors, so there’s four high schoolers on the team, and the rest are all middle schoolers.”

The captains have been trying their hardest to lead the team despite setbacks and this mystery athlete feels that the team’s record does not reflect the effort they have been putting in this season.

A Jan. 2023 Blake-Breck hockey game. The Bears won 5-0, with a “Buck Freck” sign being spotted in the student section. The Bears swept the season series against the Mustangs.

Submitted by: Neva Fuller

Submitted by: Neva Fuller Tyler Vandersall

Yoni Zacks

Photo: Eva Stegic Photo illustration: Yoni Zacks

BGH Overcome injuries, make section Final

Suzy Higuchi

‘23, finalist for Ms. Hockey

Sonia Lerner | Staff Writer

The end of the season for Girls’ Hockey has come to a close for a team led by 11 graduating seniors.

Injuries have continuously confronted the team, including a broken wrist for senior captain Jackie Wethington ‘23 causing her to miss nine games. Head coach Kristi King also recalls the team’s challenge navigating their impressive win over Edina earlier in the season, describing how they lost two defense players throughout the game, one due to an injury and as a result of illness,

and still managed to maintain their 1-0 lead.

Wethington comments on how gratifying that win was, saying that it “was a really good example of [a time] when we all really came together.”

Nonetheless, the team has pushed through numerous injuries, along with a difficult game schedule. Wethington attributes the team’s intense drive and determination to both the high number of seniors on the team and the newer coaching staff. This season has been the second for King, and Wethington says that she, as well as the other coaches, “have really created a shift in [the team’s] culture.” King reciprocates the feeling, saying that the players “have made it a vulnerable, successful environment [where] everyone

wants to show up everyday and work hard for each other.” That positive culture has allowed the team to find the success they have throughout their season, even while facing a multitude of obstacles. King notes, “as a team we’ve faced adversity and we’ve persevered.”

Forward Malika Chebaclo ‘25 added “We’ve all worked really hard… It’s been a good season. We’ve had some ups and downs, but we’ve played pretty well.”

The team started off the tournament strong, with a bye for quarterfinals thanks to their seeding, and an 8-0 win over Robbinsdale in semifinals. However, tragedy struck as the Blake Girls lost 4-0 to Edina in Section Finals, marking the end of their season.

In addition to the al -

ready negative outcome of the game, senior captain Higuchi suffered a concussion during the third period and had to

be helped off of the ice.

Edina went on to make it past quarterfinals at the State Tournament, beating Lakeville North

in a 6-0 shutout. Edina ultimately lost to Andover in semifinals, who lost to Gentry Academy in the State Finals.

Athletes Share Stories Behind Their Jersey Numbers

From Kevin Fiala to disappointing replacements

Rowan Wallin | Editor-in-Chief

Although it may sound archaic, on sports teams (depending on the sport), players are identified by digits which they wear on their jerseys. Numbers are timeless–if a player acclaims enough prestige, their number might one day earn a “retirement” status.

Even high school players hold numbers which have meaning to them.

BGH player Ani Fagley ‘23, whose number is six,

explains, “When I came to Blake, my number was already taken – number nine. Nine is the best number ever. I’m so sad. Now my number is number six and I hate six. It’s a terrible number; nine is a speedy number; six feels slow to me.”

The number nine, Fagley’s preferred number, was retired after Dani Cameranesi ‘13 won a silver medal for hockey in the 2018 Olympics.

Other players have deeper meanings for why they have the numbers that they do. Number 22 Sally Countryman ‘23, another BGH player, elaborates, “I was born on the twentysecond day of the month, so my number is twenty two. It’s a great number; you can’t go wrong with

double digits; you can’t go wrong with two–two is a solid number. My options were twenty two, twenty

seven, ten, and some number in the high thirties. So I was like, ‘twenty two is my number; it’s Kevin Fi-

Ski Teams Head to State, Finish Third

ala’s number, too.’”

Other players got their numbers by pure happenstance. However, over time,

the numbers grow on the players, and they learn to love them. BBH player

Carter Krenke ‘23 (whose number is 16), shares, “Freshman year, [16] was my only option unless I wanted a number in the thirties or forties. I’ve stuck with it ever since.”

Carson Clark ‘25 (whose number is 25), another BBH player, says, “I wanted number seven, but Oliver Duininck [‘24] already had it, so I got 25 instead. [Because 25 is a perfect square], it keeps my mind activated during games. As a defenseman, I think about the number 25 a lot because I correlate it with breaking out of the defensive zone.” Clark continues, “25 is not the best number, but it’s still a good number.”

Katie Lattin

Chiesa ‘23

Girls Send Full Team, Joined by Alex

Cleo Kilpatrick |

Photo

Editor

Both the boys’ and girls’ ski team have had great success this season! The girls’ team qualified for state on Feb. 8 by

placing second at sections and beating their toughest opponents, Wayzata, Minnetonka, and Benilde-St. Margaret’s. On the boys’ side, Chiesa qualified as an individual for the state meet, while, out of 100 skiers, Jackson Moon ‘23 placed 22nd, Colin Lee ‘24 placed 24th, Ethan Barkwell ‘28 placed 28th, AJ Khan ‘23 placed 31st, and

Aidan Schmidt ‘24 placed 38th. At sections, the boys’ team placed fourth. Also, Vivien Pihlstrom ‘25 placed second overall at sections. On Feb. 14, the girls’ team and Chiesa competed at Giants Ridge in the state tournament. The team overall finished third, losing out on second place by three points. Their team competitors included

Philstrom, Mackenzie Higgins ‘24, Lydia Geelan ‘26, Kate Rekas ‘23, Martha Hughes ‘24, and Ainsley Pflaum ‘25. In the individual events, both of which featured a field of 88, Philstrom placed second, Higgins placed 25th, Geelan placed 39th, Rekas placed 56th, Hughes placed 63rd, and Pflaum placed 66th. Chisea placed 86th.

Before their section fnals rematch against Edina at Parade Stadium, the entire roster gathers together to in front of the goal crease to preapre. The game was the last time that 11 seniors, including Higuchi, Wethington, and the other three captains, wore the white, blue and green.

Tyler Vandersall

Cleo Kilpatrick

Hughes, Ava Pihlstrom ‘22, Rekas, Higgins, and Edinburgh while skiing at Buck Hill at their conference meet on Feb. 1, 2023.

Amelia Bush

Connections to Grandparents Lessons Learned

Amelia Bush | Managing Editor

Baking cookies, playing board games, hiking up the beautiful California paths, painting, and having fashion shows with my sister in my grandma’s closet. What do these things all have in common?

They are parts of prominent memories from my childhood that involve my grandparents. I am incredibly lucky to not only have a set of grandparents I am able to see a few times a year, but to have the ones that care

full life commenting that “something that from just watching them in general is just love what you do. Love what you want to do and lead a happy life.” His grandparents showed this to him by “just being present with me when I was little, always having fun and trying to be happy in the moment.”

Academics aren’t the only lesson they’ve given to me. My grandmother is the kindest and most patient person I have ever met. I vividly remember her describing when she had benefited

Bush and her grandfather send off her older sister, Nina Bush ‘22 , to college with a photo in their backyard. as much as they do and have influenced my life in such a positive way. I can say with absolute certainty that the best pieces of advice I have been given have come from my grandparents.

I distinctly remember the moment I learned more about my grandfather, William, and his childhood. It was a hot summer day and we sat together on the porch and he explained to me his life in Syria. He grew up with plenty of siblings to keep him company, who all worked hard to achieve their goals. He told me stories about being ranked number one in Syria and explained to me that applying yourself is more important than anything. I have never felt more inspired and believed in than I did in that moment. He inspired me to care and helped me understand that I can do anything I set my mind to.

Matthew Sun ‘24 ’s grandparents have also taught him lessons regarding how to live a

from being nice to others. She has taught me that being kind is vital, however if that kindness isn’t reciprocated, then I shouldn’t bend over backwards for those people. My grandmother, Mooneen, is an artist and I love thinking about our moments painting together or playing around with loose fabric. Any time she comes to visit my family, she always leaves when I am not home. Her solution to this is leaving little notes around my room for me to find when I get home. How happy these have made me helped me realize that little acts of kindness can drastically improve someone’s day.

Kiana Poul ‘24 says that “My grandma is very kind. She’s a very quiet woman so whenever we have conversations or meals together she’s very quiet but any of the stuff that she says is very valuable. So she has taught me that quiet people sometimes have the most important things to say.”

Bush bakes traditional Middle Eastern cookies with her grandfather, William. Bush credits him with motivating her to accomplish what she sets her mind to.

Submitted by: Amelia Bush

Sun makes dumplings with his grandfather on Christmas. Throughout his life, Sun’s grandparents have had a greatly positive impact on him through their lessons and advice.

Submitted by: Matthew Sun

Submitted by: Amelia Bush

Grandparents Nurture FamilyLifeTreeImpacted

Gabi Marmet | Staff Writer

Throughout my life, I have been so lucky and grateful to have had all four of my grandparents and one great grandmother in my life to look up to and learn from. My Baubie, Zadie, and Big Baubie (on my mom’s side) have lived in Minnesota, while my Nonny and Poppy (on my dad’s side) have lived in Los Angeles for my whole life. My grandparents who live in Minnesota I am able to see all the time, and my grandparents who live in LA, who I love to visit with. With all five of my grandparents, I have been able to go on amazing adventures and trips while forming bonds and unforgettable memories with them.

My grandparents on both sides advocate for staying close to one another and seeing each other as frequently as possible. Before my greatgrandmother passed away this past year, she always said to my family and those around her, “There’s always room for more at the table.” She taught me to welcome everyone with open arms and be kind to

learn about different cultures and languages. Lastly, my Big Baubie was a rock to my family, holding everyone together and always telling stories. Some of her famous quotes which I have brought with me throughout my life are “There’s no such thing as sick,” and “You can have a fight and then get over it.”

Molly Seidel ‘24 has a very close relationship with her grandfather, who also has influenced her life greatly. Seidel spends a lot of time with him, whether it is family dinners, watching football games during the season, celebrating holidays together, or talking for large amounts of time on the phone. She has loved her tradition of celebrating Christmas days with him while eating great food. Seidel has always been, “inspired by his drive and who he is as a person. I just think he’s a really genuine person and I admire him a lot, so I definitely take him as one of my biggest inspirations.”

One specific memory that Seidel will always cherish was their drive home from school together. When Seidel was in middle school, her grandpa used to pick her

Poul values her grandmother’s lessons and place in her life. She mentions that her grandmother has “taught me that quiet people sometimes have the most important things to say.”

all, even when I don’t love them.

Although my grandparents all have taught me to prioritize family above everything else, they have each brought me different memories and lessons that I will always hold in my heart. For example, my Baubie has brought me memories of shopping till you drop, even when I drop faster than her, and my Nonny has brought me and my cousins many laughs on her upcoming ‘grandkids lesson’ on how to “find an appropriate mate.” My Zadie always makes my family smile whether it’s dancing to Johnny Be Good, or feeding the wild animals on every trip we have been on. My Poppy has inspired me and my family to be fascinated by our family history and

up every day from school and drive her home. Not only was that extremely nice of him, but she got to have one-on-one time with him and talk about both of their days while bonding. Although there are no specific objects that connect Seidel to her grandfather, she explains that he gives the gift of his time and support, always being invested in her family’s lives and who is always there for them.

I, as well as Seidel and many others, have learned so much over the years from our grandparents that we will carry throughout our lives. It’s important to cherish every moment that one has with their grandparents and always be appreciative of having such amazing people in one’s life.

Submitted by: Kiana Poul

Seidel and her grandfather pose while opening presents on Christmas Eve. Their relationship has greatly influenced Seidel’s life and her grandfather has served as an inspiration to her.

Submitted by: Molly Seidel

Submitted by: Gabi Marmet Marmet and her sister, Sage Marmet ‘22, traveled to Mexico for winter break with their grandmother on their mother’s side, Baubie.

Melody Lee

Gronlund says that it is important for students to not waste food and especially important to “pay attention to where you are putting your food trash, [and pay] attention to [which bin you] put your candy wrappers in” or else it will all go into the same landfill at the end of the day. This is not good.

When asked about student awareness, Gronlund says, “I don’t know, because I don’t think a lot of them care…they don’t really wonder how much people bring in, [even] things like [advisories], and how often people bring in donut boxes and things like that.”

Justin Krelitz ‘23 says, “It isn’t surprising that people put landfill trash into the organics during lunch. Really it’s sad for all parties involved, because it disrespects not only the custodians, but the student body as well. It’s just a really bad look—private school kids excessively littering. It’s just a little too close to ‘rich

Rowan Wallin

more pieces and that they just go into the trash. Besides food, the compostable cups and to-go boxes generate a lot of waste. He says, “It’s a service that we provide, and we’re happy to do it, we’re required to do it, [but] those cups probably close to 1500 a week, and same with the small to go boxes, probably 5 to 6 hundred.”

in front of us and make us wait for them to cross, even when we’re carrying 300 pounds worth of product or something. We’re just invisible, they don’t even see us. They’re all in such a hurry that they just feel that they can do what they want when they want.”

Julia Rasmussen ‘23 ponders where to put her candy wrapper in the Senior Lounge. This lounge, which is the most frequented in school, has three garbage options, while other places usually only have two. kids disrespecting the help.’”

Gronlund notes, “I wish that somebody would bring it up, like the deans or something. Just to tell the kids to be more mindful where they throw their trash. If nobody makes them pay attention, they’re not going to, and why should they?”

A Blake alumnus once told Gronlund, “My one complaint from Blake is that because everything is so different there, and I wish we were held ac-

countable more to get more ready for college.”

Gronlund wishes that there were chaperones standing next to the compost bins in the lunchroom, watching faculty and students dump their food and trash in the correct bins. Gronlund explains, “I think it would definitely help [if students didn’t waste their food], but I think it would be really hard to [implement] because there are no teachers here that would

Synesthesia Shapes Perspectives

Two students with condition share

Kaining Zhang | Staff Writer

Synesthesia is a neurological phenomenon that blends one’s senses. Someone who experiences synesthesia is called a synesthete, and whatever “triggers” it is called a stimulus.

There are over 80 types of synesthesia, all of which are divided into two categories. The first is projective synesthesia, which is when the synes-

tive synesthesia is rarer than projective synesthesia, and an example is ordinal-linguistic personification (OLP), where a person assigns ordered sequences with personalities and genders.

Ali Hecker ‘24 has varying types of synesthesia, one where she “[associates] colors with letters, numbers, pretty much any word,” spatial synesthesia, where some 2D objects appear to be 3D, and another which associates “tastes with words or sounds.”

Hecker muses, “A lot of people have [synesthesia] and don’t really

everyone is born with synesthesia, our brains just choose to react to it differently, and for most people, it goes away with time.

Petra Ekstrom ‘24 , another synesthete, says that synesthesia really helps her in music and actually allows her to have perfect pitch. For her, “a ‘C’ would be red, an ‘F’ would be blue, and an ‘E’ would be this greenish yellow.” Ekstrom has always been able to pick up any basic instrument’s skills almost immediately.

There are still many unknowns regarding synesthesia, especially the

stand there and make them.”

Brett Weber, the executive chef, says how he and his team try to “[Minimize] it as best as possible, it [is a] tricky game because [of] the amount of you know students and faculty on the campus and we’re trying to make everyone happy.” His team tries to repurpose the foods (that are still in a healthy state) into new dishes to prevent food waste.

Weber sees a common trend where students ask for

Weber says, “I mean I wish humans in general [were more mindful about food waste]. I don’t think Blake is unique to anywhere in the world to be honest with you…Not just Blake but humans in general consume more than we need.”

In regards to appreciation, Gronlund shares, “The way I look at it, [I] don’t think it has anything to do with appreciating us or not. I think we’re invisible to a lot of students. In the students’ eyes, we’re not even here. If we’re walking through with a cart or a two wheeler that we have to unload, they walk right

Weber explains how “please and thank you goes a long way…I tell [my two daughters] all the time if you grow up and learn how to say please and thank you, you’re gonna go a long way in this world, because I think kindness goes a long way.

Krelitz explains, “As a school we have to ask ourselves, and think long and hard, if this description fits us. Because it very well might. It is our responsibility to do better. We are more than capable. But no assembly announcement or email blast will do the trick. Individual students have to do the right thing. Respecting the staff and the school at large is what we have to do. It’s that simple.”

Esports Attendance Subsists

Allyson Jay | Editor Emerita

Many clubs at the Upper School don’t always maintain their loyal members throughout the school year, but the Esports club is still going strong. Gunnar Johnson ‘23, a leader of the club, notes that “most clubs here usually drop every member by February but we still have, like, around ten consistent members.”

Esports club is a videogaming club made up of multiple teams who each play their own game against other high school teams once a week.

Esports club works with the Minnesota Varsity League (MVL) which is an organization that hosts high schools from around Minnesota to play different video games, from sports games to gun games.

the practices involve a lot of yelling, a little bit of screaming, and usually someone’s always complaining.” While the club seems mostly laid-back and low-commitment, they have occasional state-wide tournaments in which members who are qualified for a game get to go and compete at the Mall of America.

dios. Johnson and Carlson qualified for the Rocket League bracket. The competition took place over the course of three days, from Jan. 13 to Jan. 15, and consisted of a group of 16 different teams who played against other high school teams in a standard tournament bracket.

thete associates a stimulus with a color or a shape, feels an object, or hears sounds that aren’t there. An example of this is grapheme-color synesthesia, a more common type, in which the synesthete sees colors when thinking about letters, numbers, and/or words.

The second category is associative synesthesia, where the synesthete feels a strong connection to the stimulus. Associa-

realize it.” Even studies are inconclusive on what percentage of the general population are synesthetes. Some experts believe around 1 in 300 people have this condition, while others claim up to even 20% of the population might have some variation of synesthesia.

A particularly interesting study by the European Commission claims that it’s possible that

way it develops. What is known is that for the most part, people are either born with synesthesia or it is developed during early childhood, when children are exposed to a huge sensory environment.

Hecker says, “I can’t really remember a time where I didn’t have synesthesia,” while Ekstrom believes hers developed at an early age because of her family’s musicality.

Club meetings aren’t typical in-person gatherings before or after school, rather, they are always online; the club holds online practices through MVL. Johnson adds, “A lot of

Last month, Johnson and David Carlson ‘23, another club leader, participated in the MVL state competition at the Mall of America hosted by Wisdom Gaming Stu-

Johnson elaborates, “It was pretty fun; we had a large turnout from all the schools and unfortunately we did lose the first round, but it was a fun atmosphere and it was pretty cool to play at the Mall of America.” Though their state competition experience was cut short, Carlson adds, “We were not trying to win, we just wanted to see what it was like. We found it very interesting because we got to talk to college teams and see how other schools with more developed teams operate with coaches and stuff like that.”

Submitted by: Carlson

Leaders explain set-up of virtual team

Allyson Jay

Katie Lattin

Johnson playing Rocket League during his match against the topseeded North Minneapolis. Johnson and Carlson lost in the frst round, though they are hopeful for the next MVL State Tournament this spring.

See the Rocket League Bracket above. Blake was ranked 16th overall.

School Offers Various Quiet Study Spaces

The top picks for calm, distractionfree workspaces

Jason Rotenberg | Food Editor

Picture this: you are in your free block actually doing homework, something that rarely occurs for many, and you can’t focus. I’ve found myself surrounded by noises and distractions while trying to get work done, so here is a lineup of some of the best study spots around the school. First, let’s address the lounges. They are great spaces, don’t get me wrong, but they

are terrible spots to study. On many occasions when I am in the lounge areas, they are packed with noise, friends, and endless distractions. Occasionally, there are blocks where no one is in the lounge, meaning no distractions that create the ideal study spot; however, most of the time when you have a pressing assignment to get done, avoid the lounges like coughing classmates during COVID-19. Josh Berger ‘24 doesn’t like the junior lounge because it is “so open... Everyone is always passing through. Also, there are no tables and there are couches. You go to the junior lounge to

lounge, not to work.” Currently, my goto study spot is the library. In the morning, the library and the commons are filled with noise and students, but once classes start, the loudest sound you will hear is the occasional drop of a pencil. I enjoy coming here to do my work because the comfortable furniture and minimal distractions allow me to reach maximum productivity. Berger also often goes to the library to study. He says, “This is my favorite place to study in the whole school.” Last year, my go-to study spot was the chairs outside the orchestra room. I enjoyed this

On Paper or Paper-less?

Value of print and physical copies stays

Bennett Wieland | Staff Writer

Does anyone read newspapers anymore?

While you are reading a physical newspaper right now, how do you consume most other forms of media? Chances are, your absorb other news online. Is print media a relic of the past? Are screens replacing paper in all areas of our lives or only some? Is there room for both to coexist?

Frequent paper reader and printmaking teacher, Brian Sago, states, “People like books. Also, writing is the most significant invention that has led to our explosion of human knowledge. Computers are making that increase in knowledge accelerate because we can easily duplicate and share knowledge. Before computerization, it was books that retained our knowledge and let us pass it on to others.”

For Sago, it’s a part of his passion for reading. He says, “Computers may look clean, but the manufacturing process is toxic,”

Sago continues, “At best they smell like nothing.

At worst they smell a bit of burned plastic. Books retain smells and evoke memories. Additionally, books gain value as they age and computers lose value rapidly over time.

A ten year old computer is essentially treated as trash. A 1000-year old book is of immeasurable value.” Sago is a proponent of books instead of computers because of the wisdom they carry and the longevity they have.

Anatomy teacher Jim Arnold has a very similar position. During his eighteen years at Blake, he’s seen the evolution from paper to digital in an educational setting. Arnold speaks to his

area because the tall windows created good lighting and the chairs were super comfy. In retrospect, if your free block is during choir or band re hearsal, you get a sneak peek at the upcoming concerts. The music, however, can make it hard for some to focus on work, leading to minimal productivity. Often, the chairs are occupied so I just stopped going there. However, other students such as Matthew

Sun ‘24 enjoy this study spot. Sun says, “typically it’s really

quiet, and there’s a bunch of light and a bunch of windows”

An underrated study spot is the tables up in the English wing. These

one-to-two-person tables create a perfectly silent environment to get some homework done. If the entire school is noisy, you can count on the English wing to be quiet.

Student journalists face lack of legitimacy sentiment

munity are setting the next generation of journalists up for a lack of experience when it comes to pursuing a future career in media.

experience with print as a child, stating, “Well as a little boy, I learned how to read a lot from my father.” He adds, [I read] the newspaper to him, and [I read] my comic books to him. We would read back and forth to each other, but I’ve always been a newspaper reader.” Like Sago, print reading is preferred to online.

Print media may be the traditional form of media, but it’s not a thing of the past yet. There’s a reason businesses like the Star Tribune haven’t gone out of business. For example, in 2022 the Star Tribune reported a $540M annual revenue. Pew Research says the newspaper industry was worth $9.6 billion in 2020. Why is that? It’s people like Sago and Arnold. For the foreseeable future, print media isn’t going anywhere.

Journalism, the process and product of gathering, assessing, creating, and presenting news and information, is generally a highly respected field and profession, so why is it that student journalism often receives a more negative reaction, even within our own school community?

Sometimes, it seems as though community members are unsure about engaging with Spectrum out of fear that their words might be misrepresented or that they might slip up and say the “wrong thing.”

This fearful attitude is not only detrimental to our publication, but the school community as a whole.

By being hesitant to cooperate with student journalists, the community denies our writers the opportunity to practice essential skills, such as reporting, gathering information, and presenting journalistic prose. By denying student journalists these valuable opportunities, we as a com-

In order to truly embrace the school’s values of love of learning and integrity, it is vital that community members engage with student journalists. Interviewees have every right to request that a certain section be off the record, but only if they ask before saying it. This is standard practice for most publications, so it is the same for ours. Being student-operated does not decrease the legitimacy of the publication.

Not only is refusing to cooperate with Spectrum a missed opportunity for writers, it also deprives community members of the opportunity to express their voice in the most direct way. By providing a quote during an interview with a Spectrum writer, interviewees are given the chance to say exactly what they want. This opportunity is too often passed up by teachers, administrators, and students alike for fear that their words will be misrepresented. When a Spectrum staff member requests an inter-

view, the goal is always to gather facts and information to help staff members write a compelling piece. Interviews are one of the most efficient ways for Spectrum to directly connect with the community while engaging in productive conversation about events taking place in the school. Interviews also help staffers learn how to be professional in a formal setting, and interact with people they may not usually talk to. Staffers of the Spectrum truly want to cooperate with interviewees in return for their appreciated provision of information and insight. As the staff of Spectrum, we hope that community members recognize the genuine good intentions of our publication, and treat interviews and other requests for information as opportunities to share personal experiences, opinions, and insights. The Spectrum Staff never has the intention of exposing people or painting them in a poor light, but rather we hope to connect and inform the community so that and students can to learn how to be authentic journalists through real life experiences in school.

Wordle Fad Ends, Few Players Remain

Previously popular game loses traction

Kaining Zhang | Staff Writer

LikeI’m sure many other people have, I used to play Wordle daily and compare my results with friends. However, over time, I completely forgot about it, despite having a consistent streak for many months. In fact, so did most of the world. Wordle peaked around late 2021 and early 2022, but quickly died down after.

Josh Wardle, a software engineer, created

Wordle for his partner as a guessing game. After introducing it to the rest of his relatives, who loved the game, he decided to release it to the public. After a few months, hundreds of thousands of people were playing the game. The game itself is simple. You have six chances to guess a five-letter word, and every word you input, the system tells you which letters are in the correct spot and which letters are in the word but in the wrong spot.

I believe there’s something simply eye-catching about games that limit your playing, like having

a certain amount of “energy” that refills with time. The original Wordle can only be played once a day, and must be played everyday to maintain a “streak.” This was especially popular during COVID-19 as most people could definitely find a few minutes in their day to play. Chloe Ursu ‘26 agrees, saying, “It’s something that will take five minutes that you can do everyday and it’s still different and enjoyable.” I remember feeling the satisfaction after completing each Wordle, and I was always searching for websites that allowed me to play Wordle unlimitedly, or past archives. Personally, some of my all-time favorite words are flout, pinto, and tryst.

Raiden Chen ‘26 says he enjoys Wordle “because of the social implications of dominating your friends.” This is also a common reason for people to enjoy Wordle: trying to complete it using less guesses compared to your friends. Wordle only started to blow up after Wardle added the ability to copy-paste your daily Wordle results into emoticons, allowing people to post it on social media. This was especially done on Twitter. It’s always fun to start friendly competitions with friends, and Wordle was a perfect way to do so. This daily renewal and sociable competition seems to be what kept players coming back, if only just for a while.

Kate Rekas

(Left circle) Eloise Walsh ‘24 focused on reading homework in the OECE wing on the third floor. (Above) sunny study space available in art wing for students to enjoy.

Melody Lee

Kate Rekas

Preserve The Classics or to To REBOOT

Relevance, Modernity Prevails

Eva Stegic | Arts & Culture Editor

Imagine you hear an announcement from your favorite show, clothing item, or book, saying that there will be a sequel or reboot, a phenomenon that has become increasingly more and more popular. Will you be excited, or devastated? There have been some terrible reboots in the past, like “That ‘80s Show.” But for every lousy reboot, there is a good one that makes the bad ones fade into the background. There not only have been great reboots in the film industry, but in the literary and fashion industries as well. From the resurgence of a revamped Ugg, to sequels of great books, creating something new out of an already great piece of long-lasting culture, leads me to believe that reboots are an integral and necessary part of pop culture.

The “That ‘80s Show,” franchise just released an-

other reboot called “That ‘90s Show.” Even though “That ‘80s Show” never really matched the original’s quality, “That ‘70s Show,” they are trying to redeem themselves with this new release. While nothing can ever beat the nostalgia of watch-

new and different set of challenges for the characters but maintaining the same concept and style of filming.

Another redone item appearing everywhere is the Ugg Ultra Minis. First seen on Bella Hadid back in Sep. 2022, the

ing Eric Foreman and his friends converse in his musty basement, “That ‘90s Show” has amazing reviews.

Some cast returns for the full show while others, like Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis, only make small guest appearances. The show has the same coming-of-age feel, while still maintaining a

The Ugg boot began as a popular surfng shoe in Australia during the 1960s; however, the style of the boot, with sheepskin and leather is said to have been created in the 1800s. The name “Ugg” didn’t exist until the 1960s. Now these boots have become a winter staple, perfect for lounging around in or going to school in.

shoe almost immediately sold out. They are comfortable, classic, and can be worn with almost everything. Uggs have been around for ages, and as time moves on, the shaft of the boot has become smaller and smaller. I remember having tall light brown Uggs back in first grade, and now, the shorter ones have be-

come popular. The Vivienne Westwood brand has recently done the same thing, changing their pendant necklaces in order to revamp the design. This revamping of old and classic items has become very popular because customers are often looking for familiarity. Scrolling through Netflix you have the option to start a completely new TV show, or you could start “That ‘90s Show,” which is familiar to you because you already watched its prequels. Which one are you most likely to choose? These reboots provide us with familiarity and structure, which is often nice when you don’t want to waste time or money on something that you might not enjoy. So why not buy those Uggs that you know you will like, or start that show that already seems so familiar to you? Who knows, it might become your new obsession.

“Boy Meets World” frst aired Sep. 24,1993. The show begins with the character Cory Matthews having a complex relationship with his middle school teacher, but by the end, the show tackled many serious issues including child abuse, alcoholism, cheating, and cults. Its spin off, “Girl Meets World” dealt with its own set of issues, but none quite as serious, because it was a Disney Channel show.

Marilyn Monroe wore her infamous Jean Louis dress in 1962 to sing “Happy Birthday Mr. President” to President John F. Kennedy. Monroe asked for the dress to be designed to make her appear naked on stage. This moment led to both John and Robert Kennedy cutting her off as they were worried their affair would become public. It did cause controversy, making it signifcant within American pop culture history. This performance was one of her last as she died 3 months after. “Ripley’s Belive It or Not” bought the dress at an auction for $4,810,000 making it the most expensive dress to be sold.

Revivals Prove Off Putting, Pointless

Vivienne Westwood combined music and fashion to create the distinct punk fashion style. She is credited with being the founder of said style in the 80s after she creating a boutique with Malcom McLaren and together they made clothes for Sex Pistols. Her designs have been worn by many notable names including Du-

Eva Stegic

Ainsley Pflaum | Contributing Writer ran Duran and Princess Eugenie. She also designed clothes for the flm version of “Sex and the City.”Her designes resurged in 2020 among teens with The New York Times dubbing the classic pearl choker as “The TikTok necklace” in 2021.

Old clothes, music, and sayings always tend to come back from previous generations, but to what extent should we reboot from the past? Rebooting old styles of clothes, music genres, and interior design is a way to tribute past time periods, but not when they go against the wishes of someone associated with an object.

Kim Kardashian instigated controversy after wearing Marilyn Monroe’s famous sequin floor-length dress to the 2022 Met Gala. Kim claims she only wore the dress briefly and did not damage it, and says she understands how much it means to American history. But does that mean she should have been allowed to wear it? While most

agree that certain trends and songs are timeless, many believe that original historical objects should stay in the past. Such was the response to Kardashian in Monroe’s dress; Bob Mack-

Tess Dayhoff ‘25 concurs, “The fact that the designer said no is really important because he is the one who crafted the dress specifically for Marilyn Monroe.”

ie, the designer of Monroe’s famous dress, condemned Kim’s choice saying, “It was designed for [Monroe]. No one else should be seen in that dress.” While Kardashian and Monroe are both American icons in different ways, Monroe’s dress was a symbol of her unique style and status as Hollywood’s most recognizable star and ought to be preserved as such.

Kardashian also chose to dye her hair blonde and post public updates on her “crash diet” to fit into the dress, provoking more backlash for trying to imitate the bombshell signature look that made Monroe the sex-icon she is today. While these actions alone would not have been disrespectful, her insistence on wearing Monroe’s original hand-crafted dress

made the act seem obnoxious. Geneva Stockton ‘25 points out that “Marilyn didn’t want anyone else to wear her dress. [Kardashian] worked her way through the system to wear it against Monroe’s will.” Stockton adds, “The dress didn’t fit her even after all her plastic surgery.” Kardashian revealed she had to plead with her mom, Kris Jenner, in order to convince Ripley’s, which held the dress, to let her wear it. Dayhoff continues, “The intentions behind it also matter. If Kardashian was trying to honor or pay homage to Monroe, it would be different, but if she was wearing it just because, it seems disrespectful.” As Kardashian stood posing for mobs of paparazzi alongside Pete Davidson, it did not appear to be an act of homage.

“The dress didn’t fit her even after all her plastic surgery.”

- Stockton

These reboots provide us with familiarity and structure, which is often nice when you don’t want to waste time or money on something that you might not enjoy.

Julia Zhang

Amelia Bush

Mackenzie Higgins

Passionate Debating Minus the Pressure

Shane Stafford’s coaching ethos prioritizes progress over achievements

Faith Zhao | Staff Writer

Stafford and Sandy Berkowitz were originally debate rivals. Now married, they coach debate together.

The first time they met, they were at a tournament at Princeton University. After the debate, they kept seeing each other at local tournaments. They started dating, married in 1987, and decided to get their masters together. They passed on their passion to their daughter, Hana Stafford ‘13, who debated for Rutgers University and now coaches debate and teaching English at Success Academy in New York City.

Stafford has coached debate since 1979 and for the past 15 years, he has taught Argumentation/Debate, Advanced Debate, and Senior Seminar and coached debate at Blake. Stafford and Berkowitz have also been coaches for the USA Debate Development Team for 10 years, which Jack Johnson ‘20, Edward Adams ‘21, Connor Yu ‘18, and Elizabeth Terveen ‘23 have all been on. They meet with Freshmen and Sophomores all over the country to coach debate and have been to Bali, Croatia, and Germany for tournaments.

Stafford uniquely asks his students only two questions after a tournament: “Did you have fun and did you learn something?”

Terveen explains that “the two questions he asks are a very genuine reflection of his teaching style and view on debate – he values hard work and progress over winning.”

Sofia Perri ‘23 bate in general…Shane makes debate about what it should

be, which is obviously learning and doing something that excites you intellectually…I like how he deemphasizes [whether you won or lost].”

Despite the debate program’s eight state championships and six national championships, students feel no pressure from Stafford to win tournaments and receive trophies. Tess Dayhoff ‘25 explains, “Obviously, you want to do your best, but he never is pressuring [you to] do well here, [or saying] you have to win. He never does that.”

Stafford’s debating philosophy focuses more on process and growth. He explains, “[Debate] is good for your failure resume… When you fail, you grow more sometimes than when you’re successful. Sometimes, there’s going to be someone a little bit better, you’re always going to lose rounds, there are going to be things you can’t control. I think those are all good life experiences to get better at just life in general.”

He also emphasizes the idea of “redos.” When his students lose for a certain reason, he encourages them to further refine their skills, find ways to beat the argument, and not do the same thing next time. Stafford adds, “If you want to be good, then you need to do two things, you need to work hard and [listen] to coaching. If you do those two things, I feel like no matter what your basic raw skills are, you’re [going] to get better.”

Stafford highlights this willingness to work. He says, “I don’t think you need any particular skills to begin except the desire to work hard and spend some time on it.”

debater, when I didn’t have a lot of experience and wasn’t particularly skilled. Having someone who appreciated my work ethic and believed in my potential was incredibly influential in my decision to stick with the activity.”

Perri shared a similar experience. During her first few years of debate she didn’t put that much work into it because of gymnastics, but during Junior year she decided to really focus on debate. She explains, “He had no obligation to [listen] given the past two years,” but he still trusted her, gave her attention, coaching, a partner, and abundant resources, “completely turning my debate career around.”

Another aspect that Stafford emphasizes is having fun and enjoying debate. He admits that debate is difficult so “you got to enjoy it.” He explains how “you don’t have to commit your life to it, you can still do it and be successful in everything else, but [on] some level, if it’s not enjoyable it’s going to be a lot harder.”

Stafford has undoubtedly had a huge impact on the debate program and his students don’t stop singing his praises. “Shane is an amazing coach who is incredibly supportive of Blake debaters. He cares about you personally, will help you succeed, but will still support you even if you don’t find success immediately,” says Terveen.

Perri agrees, adding, “I think he dedicates so much to the debate team, sacrifices so much time, energy, and really, really, cares about all of the students. [He] gives everyone second chances, attention, resources, even if arguably they don’t deserve them. [He] does so much more than people realize behind the scenes.”

Stafford doesn’t care about winning or accomplishments. Rather, his goal is for debaters is “to leave this team changing the world [and] making the world more

Stafford stands in front of the debate team’s extensive trophy case. Not pictured: the rest of the trophies that sit outside of the debate room. Terveen notes, “[There is] defnitely no [pressure to win]. Although he is of course very proud when teams do well!”

Mackenzie Higgins

Buck break dances at his University of Chicago reunion. He often competes in dance battles with “different formats, but the most common is they’ll have a preliminary round where everybody dances for 45 seconds or a minute, and sometimes that’s showcase style where they’ll just have one person come up after the other and dance in front of the judges.”

saber class as a P.E. class just for fun.”

Anna Tao | Staff Writer

Buck has been a common topic among students in the past year due to his increasing popularity from dancing in class.

He first “caught the wave of suburban breaking in 1984.”

His favorite aspect of fencing is “the way in which you can outsmart people, [which] is probably greater [in fencing] than in most sports. Your ability to analyze what’s going on, come up with a plan, and execute can allow you to beat people who are maybe more physically gifted than you are. My favorite moments from my fencing career have been moments when I’ve outsmarted somebody else rather than just beating them with brute force.”

Buck continues, “[I] did it for nine months and had fun with it, but it was kind of a dead end because no one back then would teach you anything. I spent about 10 years from like age 40 - 50 watching dance shows on TV, and thinking ‘oh that would be really fun to do but I’m too old for that,’” he explains. He eventually joined an adult breaking class, “and I was hooked. I all of a sudden realized I could look up on YouTube dance tutorials and I started doing that. I’ve done something like 85 battles, probably would’ve been more if not for COVID-19.”

After finishing his program, Buck asked his instructor if he needed any help. He then became an assistant coach and he truly found his passion. Buck explains, “[I’ve] always been interested in teaching and coaching, so I think fencing works well with my skill set for coaching, and I enjoy fencing because of that.” He continues, “It’s not as much a passion for fencing, it’s a passion for coaching.”

picked cross country because that seemed like it was the easiest to do, I could hide in the back, and I was 31 out of 32 people on the team when we started, and I kept getting better and better and [by] Senior year, I was the fourth man on varsity.

Translating this concept of improvement and inexperience to his fencers, Buck never fails to encourage others to try something fresh and unexpected for themselves to learn they can improve at anything. He adds, “You can show up at high school, never even having fenced, and come out and learn to fence and have a good experience. I really like that basically anybody can come in and learn the sport and have fun doing it without the high pressure of some sports.”

He doesn’t just limit himself to one style of dance, he’s currently practicing “breaking, locking, wacking, popping, hip-hip, house, crump, tutting, and animating.”

The multifaceted Buck explains that he doesn’t just involve himself with his well established passions of coaching, fencing, and dancing, but is also involved with a large number of outside activities including, “[officiating] high school and col lege lacrosse, I assign officials for lacrosse, I ocean lifeguard in the summer, I do some private tutor ing, I do some online consulting, I kind of put together a package of stuff I like doing to keep things interesting.”

Buck can often be seen dancing while subbing, but he has also been coaching fencing for 22 years. His start in fencing proves that passions are discovered and not born with. He explains, “I certainly like fencing, but I took kind of a strange path to it, we didn’t have fencing in high school and I didn’t do it in college.” He joined the University of Minnesota’s club fencing team while in graduate school and “then took the

Above: Buck giving advice to Tyler Smith ‘23 at the 2022 State Fencing Championship at Holy Family. Below: Buck strategizing with Alvin Liu ‘25 and Matthew Sun ‘24 at a 2020 dual meet at the Upper School.

All these activities have proved useful and applicable to other aspects of his life. Buck realized that he, or any person, could improve at anything by just giving it time and effort. He explains, “I went to a Quaker high school in Pennsylvania and we were forced to do, whether you wanted to or not, two sports a year. I

Similarly with dance, Buck notices that “there are some people who I almost feel like they identify their self worth with how well they do in the battles.” Buck does not agree with this mentality and explains that the experience itself is enough for him. His mentality towards the competitions is that they are “an opportunity to show people what I’ve been working on.”

Buck again transfers his knowledge towards his attitude as a coach, he explains, “I just want people to have fun and keep working on improving.” What he loves about coaching is “seeing people get better. Seeing people make the connection [that they might not be the most athletic person,] but [they] put in the time working and [they] can see that [they’re] getting better.” He continues, “ I think that’s an important lesson for everyone to learn and it was, with me and cross country running. [Knowing that] if I work harder, I’ll get better, that opened doors to me.”

Buck’s many passions keep him busy, teach him valuable lessons

Submitted by: Buck

Submitted by: Buck

Submitted by: Buck

Self expression and lifelong habits fostered through classic look

Sofia Perlman | In-Depth Editor

Who knew that what started as a pre school Easter outfit ac cessory would become a staple in Alexander’s wardrobe for years to come? A defining fea ture of his everyday outfits, Alexander is known for his colorful and unique bow ties.

Alexander fondly recalls the start of his bow tie journey, “This is a story I’ve told many times… It was preschool, and for Easter my parents wanted me to dress up a little bit so they gave me a clip on bow tie. I got a lot of compliments that day and I just kind of realized that it felt pretty good and I wanted to keep wearing it.”

Alexander’s motive for continuing to wear a bow tie each day changed from an outward focus to personal expression. Alexander

has around a dozen different bow ties in rotation that he wears each day. “For a long time it was just kind of because other people said I should [wear them], but then in eighth grade I sort of thought about it and realized that it makes me feel better when I am wearing it.”

Alexander’s sibling, CJ Alexander ‘24 , mentions how bow ties have always been a core element of him as long as they can remember, “It’s always been kind of a presence in my life… It was always kind of a part of what he did. Every time we would go to the store, for ex-

with him regularly” and “having him drive me everywhere.”

Oskar pauses to

the shape of a bow tie that Alexander got in Iceland. Alexander comments, “It’s so cool.” When deciding which bow tie to select from his collection in the morning, it’s “usually it’s just vibes” that help Alexander to pick one out. Sometimes he selects a tie based on what matches his outfit for the day, and other days he has a specific bow tie in mind that will determine what he wears.

There’s rarely a day when Alexander doesn’t wear a bow tie. On the rare occasion that he’s

From an young age, bow ties have been a part of Alexander’s life. The small accessory, completes every outft he wears and feels uniquely him. As he grows up, he plans to continue his bow tie wearing ways, picking new ones out each day into college.

Oskar Alexander ‘23 Grows into the Bow

notes, “Over time it sort of shifted from ‘I wear this to get compliments’ to ‘I wear this because I like it…’”

Shift ways than one, Al ex - ander changed to wearing self tie bow ties instead of clip-ons. Up until eighth grade, he only wore clip on bow ties, growing his collection to around 30

ample, somebody would be like ‘oh you’re such a snazzy young man,’ so I guess I kind of thought ‘oh, that’s such a cool thing for him to be doing.’” CJ mentions that no singular memory of their older brother stands out in particular, rather, it is the small moments that Alexander cherishes. They state, “We spend a lot of time together, so I guess it’s not necessarily the larger memories but just

point out the bow tie he’s currently wearing, noting, “This is probably my favorite one that I own.” This particular tie is navy with a green paisley pattern. Oskar purchased it for last year’s Prom before realizing that the navy blue clashed with his suit. He makes sure to carefully choose his bow ties and outfits so that they work well together. Another notable part of his collection is the wooden statue in

seen without one, he explains that this is because, “I wake up, I’m not feeling well, and I just completely forget, but usually I realize pretty quickly.”

Bow ties are such an integral part of Alexander’s everyday life that he even makes sure to keep an emergency tie with him in case he forgets to put one on in the morning. As a last resort, “Sometimes I’ll make one out of paper,” he states. By not wear -

ing one he feels untrue to himself, “I think it’s just that it’s become so much like a part of me that not having [a bow tie] sort of feels like I’m covering my self up a little bit. But, when I do have it I’m fully expressing myself which feels good.”

Alexander re ceives many comments from classmates and teachers about his longtime accessory. He welcomes these comments, noting that, “I think [the bow tie] is the most distinguishing feature about me.” Alexander’s good friend of 10 years, Truman Morsman ‘23 , believes that Alexander’s bow ties are a reflection of his personality, saying, “He’s very resolute in the things he wants to do. He is very sure of himself in a lot of ways, and I would say I admire him for that. He’s not easy to sway on his opinions, and will argue for the things he believes in.” Mormsan also mentions that Alexander “marches to the beat of his own drum.”

Morsman recalls a fond memory of Alexander from last summer, describing, “We came into ownership of an airplane water raft, one of the things that [is used] if the plane crashes into

KatieLattin

its.

Alexander’s bow ties are an extension of his personality, and allow him to stay true to himself. He says, “For one, it’s just sort of this extra, expressive thing. You know not a lot of people do this and it sort of gives me a way to stand out. It also makes me a lot more confident and all of that, just to be wearing it and to be sort of consistent in expressing myself.” Similarly, Mormsan sees Alexander’s bow ties as a part of who he is, noting, “I think the bow tie is a little bit of a unique thing that he does and it describes his personality well.” Alexander’s journey with his ties helped to define who he is as a person and express himself as a unique individual. Alexander plans to continue wearing bow ties throughout college, and for the rest of his life.

Submitted by: Alexander

Yoni Zacks