“Your Voice in Print” blakespectrum.org
Issue V
Friday | December 16 | 2022
The Blake School
Holiday Glee Adorns Halls Decorations, activities rally school amidst final examinations Mackenzie Higgins, Sam Tomczik, Rowan Wallin, & Oscar Walsh | Food Editor, News Editor, Editor-in-Chief, & Opinions Editor
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s finals conclude, winter break nears; although the days grow shorter, holiday glee begins to materialize throughout the School. Upper School Director Joe Ruggiero, as he puts it, “wanted to do something creative for the holidays” on his office door. Ruggiero’s door is decorated with Christmas stockings; one for each of his advisees. Lilly Anderson ‘23 says, “It was nice that each of [the Ruggiero advisees] got to design their own stocking.” Ruggiero says, “[It’s] a neat way to celebrate my advisory, but also to brighten up the hallway.”
Ruggiero adds, “It’s wonderful that [these decorations can] make people feel happier while they’re in school.” Additionally, teachers are bonding during this holiday season. “On the Wednesday during finals week, [Sarah Warren and I told Taher to] prepare a nice lunch for the faculty,” explains Ruggiero. Ruggiero was also able to visit Steve Kaback’s classroom recently; Ruggiero remarks, “[Kaback’s classroom] is beautiful! It just feels nice in [there]; It’s fun to go in and see that.” Kaback tells the story of how his room was decorated: “Two of my advisees decorated the entire space… All of the decorations [in the room] were voluntarily contributed by these two advisees… They surprise-decorated my room.” Kaback describes: “We are trying to get all of the holidays – the winter holidays all have to do with celebrating light – and so we are hoping that we’ll continue to decorate [the room] all the way through next week.”
Rowan Wallin
Seniors study at the fore of a blazing fire and holiday lights.
What began as a wellthought-out surprise quickly became “a gift to all my classes from the advisory,” Kaback reflects. Everyone seems to be able to benefit from the holiday spirit whether or not they are in the Kaback advisory or in one of his physics classes. Kaback notices all of the positive reactions the festive distractions bring, adding, “It would be great if we did this in all the advisories and maybe the administration could give a little budget to all the advisors and we could coordinate [decorating].” Kaback concludes: “When you have such an upbeat vibe everybody gets to enjoy it.” Oliver Duininck ‘24 agrees. He says, “It promotes the holiday spirit and gets people in a good mood before break.” SIACs have also found ways to brighten up the school. Kiana Poul ‘24 explains that SIACs put up decorations “to raise winter spirit and make these stressful times with finals a little bit more cheery and bright.” Ivy Besikof ‘23 commented on the decorations saying, “I like that they’re not too Christmas-ey because I don’t celebrate Christmas.” Poul explains that SIAC focused on more winterthemed decorations; she says, “Blake does not like to associate with any specific religion, so we were told not to put up Christmas trees or anything like that unless we incorporated all religions,
Mackenzie Higgins
Kaback in his classroom near stockings, one for each of his advisees, and other decorations.
and seeing that most people didn’t have Kwanzaa decorations and things like that on hand, we couldn’t do any religious aspect.” The choir classes also aspire to improve student and faculty spirit in the final week of the semester. Choir director Natalia Romero explains the goal, “COVID[-19] kind of stopped a lot of things, so my hope is that we do this kind of around finals week as a time for teachers to stop in and listen to some music and jump back into grading, and to do it in the spring again for Valentine’s Day.” The different choirs sharing their songs throughout the week “are focused on holiday spirit, they are kind of fun… Vocare is going to be singing “Last Christmas” by Wham!” explains Romero. CJ Eckhardt’s room is also outfitted with holi-
day decorations. Like Kaback’s room, the decorating initiative was student-led: “[My advisees] went out and bought a bunch of decorations. They wanted to be inclusive, so they have some Hanukkah vibes going on and Christmas lights and cute little gnomes,” says Eckhardt. However, the sophomores and juniors didn’t just buy the “HAPPY HOLIDAYS” stickers and string lights that line Eckhardt’s room; they also bought mistletoe. Mistletoe is a plant that gets hung on a ceiling, encouraging any two people standing under it to kiss. Some have found this decoration uncomfortable and inappropriate. “Considering it’s a school that has people celebrating multiple holidays, it probably spreads more PDA [than
holiday cheer],” says Charlotte Palmby ‘25. Eckhardt recognized this, saying she “had to make the firm decision to take it down. I was worried that it would entice individuals to do things they shouldn’t do.” With the mistletoe removed, Eckhardt hopes her room can spread holiday cheer and provide a “home away from home” that makes students feel excited, gleeful, and welcomed. Some students see past these decorations, however. Anderson admits, “The decorations are a nice gesture, but they’re a facade to cover up real problems in school like depression.” Despite this lingering sentiment, Ruggiero is “happy to hear that people are trying to find little ways to bring the community together and make people feel good.”
STÜDËÑTS ÇRÅFT GÏÑGËRBRËÅD VÏLLÅGË
Mackenzie Higgins Kate Rekas
Rowan Wallin
Chloe Lipham
“Mark your calendars; Tuesday Dec. 20, both the boys’ and girls’ hockey teams compete against Benilde-St. Margaret’s at home.”
News & Sports: Page 2
Cleo Kilpatrick
“Aritzia, an immensely popular brand mainly amongst teenage girls, first launched the viral Super Puff, a collection of jackets and vests, in 2017.” Pictured right: Kate Austrian ‘25 Arts & Culture: Page 3
Sofia Hedlund
“When passing through cities, colorful decorations and bright lights bring the holiday spirit and generate excitement. However, these bright displays come with a cost.” Opinions: Page 4
STAFF
NEWS & SPORTS | THE SPECTRUM NEWSPAPER | DECEMBER 16, 2022 | 2
Community Shares New Year’s Resolutions Topics range from sports, school
The Blake School 511 Kenwood Pkwy Issue V December 16 2022
Zoey Ueland | Managing Editor
Zoey Ueland
MACKENZIE MCILMAIL
Editor-In-Chief: Rowan Wallin
“I’m not a big New Years resolution person... [Last year] I wanted to learn more about Minnesota history and that was a big deal for me because I’m not from here and I knew I was going to teach a course on the Twin Cities so I spent a lot of time figuring out different museums to go to and cultural events and books to read and podcasts to listen to and that was big goal of mine.”
“I [don’t really set resolutions’ just because I just never think about it.” Zoey Ueland
PHEOBE BALFOUR '25v
Managing Editors: Amelia Bush | Zoey Ueland Creative Director: Charlotte Opp Photo Editor: Cleo Kilpatrick News Editor: Sam Tomczik
Zoey Ueland Arts & Culture Editor: Gabi Marmet
“[This year my resolutions is to] focus a lot more on myself. I’ve been out and about doing things, I feel like I’m not at my house a lot lately and also my family because my sisters home from college, so focus on family also.”
Zoey Ueland
“Off the top of my head, I remember I set some goals about swimming like times I wanted to make…I [think they were motivating]. “This year I’ll probably keep it about swimming, maybe a little bit about school.”
TOBY WEILAND '23
JONAH YOSHA '24
Katie LattinU
Food Editor: Mackenzie Higgins Sports Editors: Jason Rotenberg | Yoni Zacks In-Depth Editor: Allyson Jay
“I think [this year’s resolution] will be to do all the APUSH readings.”
Sci-Tech Editor: Sofia Perlman Opinions Editors: Ali Hecker | Oscar Walsh
Cleo Kilpatrick Zoey Ueland
Business Manager: Julia Zhang Online Editor: James Prince Faculty Adviser: Anna Reid
STAFF WRITERS: Lilly Anderson, Rhea Balachandran, Shruti Balachander, Clare Cao, Raiden Chen, Ethan Klaiman, Sonia Lerner, Ava Mittra, Kate Rekas, Andrew Richardson, Payton Smith, Jack Ueland, Max Yousha, Klarrisa Yu, Faith Zhao, and Kaining Zhang STAFF ARTISTS: Julia Everett, Katie Lattin, Julia Zhang and Melody Lee COLUMNISTS: Kevin Bizliy, Uma Bhardwaj, and Eva Stegic 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 significance 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. Corrections for December issue: Page 1: Truman Morsman’s name is spelled incorrectly. Page 2: Sarah Hasday-Erbesen’s name is missing a hyphen, not a dash. Page 2: Sofia Perri’s name is misspelled Page 7: Annandale is spelled wrong. Page 14: Bennett Wieland’s name is misspelled.
“[Last year] I wanted to focus more on school, get my homework done quicker, and eat more health[ily]…I followed it for about a month and after that, I kind of forgot about it. I haven’t really thought about my resolutions [for this year], I’ll probably do the same ones as last year because it’s still important. I just don’t remember to do it.”
EVA REDMOND '25
RUHI KUDIKAR '25
December Mystery Athlete Hockey Double Header vs. BSM Can you guess this month’s mystery athlete Jack Ulland | Staff Writer
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his month’s athlete is a skilled three sport athlete, playing basketball, football and baseball. Additionally, he is a captain of the basketball team and recently hit a big milestone with 1,000 total points scored in basketball! One of their favorite things about playing sports, specifically basketball is “playing with other people and just having fun,” and he also notes that “I just have fun playing basketball.” He is a shooting guard for the team, and practices for two hours a day. In addition to his dedication in practice, this month’s athlete is a good leader on the team, fostering a community in which, according to the athlete, “everyone likes each other.” This is reciprocated by his teammate Aiden Wilson ‘26, who was overwhelmingly positive about him, saying that “he brings a lot of energy to the locker room and pushes everyone to be their best” and also that “he always knows the right thing to say.” Fellow teammate Omar Kaba ‘25 adds that “He’s a really good leader…he’s gotten really good at basketball, he just hit a thousand points. He’s really admirable and he’s always bringing the energy during practices.”
Kaba went on to describe the moment the athlete hit 1000 points stating, “Even though I was kind of new to the team at that point, it was still fun to see him hit it… it’s like someone to look up to. [hitting 1000 points is] a fun moment, to be able to enjoy it with him, it’s just fun. Everyone on the team was happy for him in that moment.” This month’s athlete is a dedicated worker, pushing himself and others to play their best, and is also a great leader. This combination makes him a great player and a great leader to have on any team.
Boys, girls play at home Dec. 20 Amelia Bush & Cleo Kilpatrick | Managing Editor & Photo Editor
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ark your calendars, Tuesday December 20. Both boys and girls hockey teams compete against Benilde St. Margaret (BSM). On the boys’ side, this game should be a fair match up. Goalie Grady Rannow ‘24 states in the past, “we’ve always had really good games against them.” In 2020 the team beat BSM in the section finals and advanced into the state tournament. But in 2022 the team lost to BSM in the section finals. Our team and BSM are strong. On the BSM team Rannow explains, “Their goalie, Mason McElory is good [and] they have
Tyler Vandersal
Boys’ Varsity beat Eden Prarie on Dec. 8, with an unpredicted win. The game went into over time and the final score was 5-4. Pictured above is Carter Krenke ‘23, Alex Witzke ‘23 and goalie Jonah Speath ‘23 blocking Eden Prarie player from getting to the net.
a guy named Drew Stewart, who just committed to Notre Dame. [So] those two are two pretty good players [on the team].” Rannow adds this game could go either way, “On paper they might be favored but, on paper Eden Prairie was also favored but we still won that game [5-4] so it should hopefully [be] close.” Varsity player Jackie Wethington ‘23 comments, “we have to get revenge against them from last year, we lost to them [4-1] Wethington add that the team is eager to play and detmined to win.
Tyler Vandersal During game vs. Eden Prarie, teammates sit on the bench supporting their teammates on the ice.
Girls’ Varsity is playing at 3:30 p.m. and Boys’ Varsity is at 7:30 p.m.
EVENTS OVER BREAK
Cleo Kilpatrick
BOYS’ BASKETBALL Home, Dec. 16 7:00 vs. Minnehaha
GIRLS’ BASKETBALL Home, Dec. 20 7:00 vs. St Croix Prep
BOYS’ SWIM & DIVE Away, Dec. 17 9:00 vs. Chaska
BOYS’ BASKETBALL Away, Dec. 20 7:00 vs. Hill Murray Amelia Bush
ARTS & CULTURE, GAMES & ADS | THE SPECTRUM NEWSPAPER | DECEMBER 16, 2022 | 3
Color By Number
Aritzia’s jackets reach many students’ wardrobes
Instructions: Color the spaces with the color corresponding with the number.
Allyson Jay | In-Depth Editor
Charlotte Opp
Eva Stegic ‘23 with her long matte black Super Puff. Charlotte Opp
Maddie Newhouse ‘24 dressed in a white matte vest, with a matching white hoodie.
1. Green 2. Light Brown 3. Dark Brown 4. Yellow 5. Light Blue 6. Dark Blue 7. Red
If there is no number, do not put any color Take A Break and Get out your Colors
This winter, a single item has made its way into each day of the Minnesota cold: the Super Puff! Aritzia, an immensely popular brand mainly amongst teenage girls, first launched its viral Super Puff jacket in 2017.
As the name tells it, the Super Puff jacket is a hooded puffer goose-down jacket. Following its growth, Aritzia has introduced their Super Puff vest, another hugely popular item, and countless different styles, colors, fabrics, and lengths of the original jacket.
Charlotte Opp Gabi Marmet
Rania Abdullahi ‘25 styles her white vest with a long sleeve and a headband. This Super Puff season, students brave the snow and brutal weather with the warmth of their Super Puff items.
Martha Hughes ’24 sports a cropped shiny black jacket during a chilly day. Since its launch, the jacket has gained a massive following, as its loyal customers show off its versatility and comfort on social media such as Instagram and TikTok.
Jason Rotenberg
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OPINIONS | THE SPECTRUM NEWSPAPER | DECEMBER 16 , 2022 | 4
Light Displays Come at Cost
Winter Edition Mackenzie Higgins | Food Editor
: Ugly snow takes up space I love waking up and looking out the window to see a fresh snowfall and I think the way the snow perches on trees and buildings is so pretty. This enthusiasm, however, dissipates when the roads and sidewalks are covered in disgusting brown slush later on. How can something so beautiful turn so nasty in mere hours? Not only is brown snow a horrendous sight, it also spreads it’s grossness to everything it comes in contact with from your shoes to your car.
: Cleaning car off at dawn Waking up early to go to school is already hard enough, but there is nothing worse than walking outside to my car and seeing it covered in snow and ice, except actually having to deal with it. On one such fateful morning, after a night of constant snowfall and sub zero temperatures, my mom and I worked tirelessly to shovel and scrape all the snow and frost off my car. After a thorough cleaning, I hopped inside and ran the windshield wipers to clear off the last bits of snow. Still frozen to the windshield, the wipers snapped in half, shattering any hopes of me getting to school on time.
: Stressed in time for the holidays This year, the school piloted a new finals schedule, but even in previous years and with previous schedules, my finals, projects, and other big assessments have always seemed to start weeks before. The period between Thanksgiving and Winter Break is notoriously grind time, and this year has been no different. The concept of a penultimate week has completely vanished. In multiple classes, my semester-end assessments were scheduled before finals week, completely defeating the purpose of the new finals schedule, and leaving me in a constant state of stress for weeks.
: Hot chocolate sipped in mug of choice As soon as the weather turns cold, I bust out my favorite mug and make hot chocolate. The mug, which I’ve had for as long as I can remember, has a little stick figure drawing of me drinking a hot chocolate and says “Mackenzie’s Hot Cocoa.” In my opinion, it’s the mug that makes a truly good hot chocolate, but my favorite mix from Sillycow Farms also contributes to the superb drink.
Kaining Zhang | Staff Writer
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ith Christmas comes many exciting things: family gatherings, lots of food, presents, and most of all, outdoor decorations! In fact, people spend an average of $231 on holiday decorations per year. When passing through cities, colorful decorations and bright lights dotting buildings : Uggs are best for cozy slippers and stores bring the holiday spirit and generI’d never thought I’d be the type of perate excitement. Howevson to wear shoes around my house, until er, these bright displays I got a pair of Ugg slippers. They’re the come with a cost. perfect accessory to wear on colder winter The excessive days, or if your house is like mine and is use of artificial lighting freezing during the summer too, you can pollutes the sky. Accordwear them all months of the year! I’ve ing to Andrea Stanley, had my pair for a couple of years now an editor at New York and without fail, I slip them on anytime I Times, “when a bright leave my room. object shines into our eyes, [it causes] our night vision to become so overwhelmed we can no longer see faint objects.” These “faint ob: Cozy fire makes for special tradition jects” consist of stars, meteor showers, etc. It also negatively affects There’s nothing that screams winter more than bird migration. curling up next to a fire. As part of our Christmas Science teacher traditions, my dad makes a very specific breakfast Will Bohrnsen used to consisting of eggs, sausage, and coffee cake, and live on a farm. “Unforthen gets the fire going. My house, being quite tunately, the place where old, has a fireplace that won’t ignite at the flip we lived, there was, in of a switch. The task of having to build an actual the neighboring town, a fire prevents us from using it during other times company that makes preof the year, but this only makes sitting by the fire built frames for homes. on Christmas morning even more special. They had huge lights at their facility that they
would just leave on all night, whether they were working or not.” Despite living 45 min from this town, Bohrnsen noticed a huge impact on the ability to see the dark sky. So, how much of an impact do holiday lights have on light pollution? If we’re talking about the lights and decorations in the neighborhood, then their impact is quite small. In addition, birds migrate in the spring and fall, while the holidays take place in the middle of the winter. So, any small damage the light does will not cross the birds’ paths. From my point of view, putting out some cool lights and a couple LED displays should be okay as long as we don’t go too overboard. Bohrnsen seems to agree. He claims that holiday lights are “minimal” and don’t have as much effect on light pollution as, say, factories like the one he lived close to. “There’s a lot bigger ways that you can improve light pollution,” he states. Though light pollution through holiday decorations has a smaller impact, it is best for both the environment and one’s wallet not to spend hundreds of dollars on decorations, as long as the spirit is kept alive! Allyson Jay
Ability to see sky lost with increase in light usage around the holidays
Jet Set or Home for the Holidays? Family Time Sparks New Joy Fun memories created from the comfort of home Amelia Bush | Managing Editor
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ith winter break approaching and closer I have found myself reminiscent of my holidays in recent years. Due to the pandemic, I wasn’t able to travel over holidays when I normally would, whether that’s visiting family or going someplace new. And it was only in these moments of quarantine that I found myself enjoying my holidays more than I ever had before. I felt at peace, and closer to my family and my dogs than I was during the school year. There is no other feeling as euphoric as relaxing with nothing
to do after a stressful week of finals. When I think of staying at home, my mind instantly goes to my family’s tradition of charcuterie boards and the tile game Rummikub. Although I hate Rummikub, probably because I have no memory of winning a game. Bonding with my family over food we seldom eat is an amazing feeling and one that is rarely expereienced except for over the holidays. Everyone lets go of their stress and is present. Although winter is my least favorite season, last year, I went ice skating with my best friend and had an insane amount of fun. Despite my lack of skating skills, getting to enjoy the cold weather was
refreshing. Laughing at ourselves messing up and trying to get better is something I will never forget. This memory is incredibly important to me, and without staying at home I never would have experienced it. Winter isn’t the only season where staying at home makes me feel happiest. During the first spring break of quarantine I discovered something extraordinary, list making. I crafted a list off 100 things to do over the break to keep me occupied since we wouldn’t be traveling. The items ranged from making a fort, to baking a cake from scratch, to going around my house looking for items I had lost. Ever since that vacation, I have made it my goal to make a list
of 100 things to do if I stay home. I find so much peace in these lists and look at them as a way to create memories even when I’m home over breaks. My dogs are also extremely meaningful to me, but I don’t get to spend as much time with
them as I would like because of the amount of time I sleep and am at school. Leaving them to travel is never easy so getting to have two straight weeks of being around them makes me beyond happy. By staying home I get to experience a calm
feeling that I never get during the school year. When I travel, I have to deal with my fear of flying and the stress of being away from home. I would choose staying home over traveling any day of the week during the wintertime.
Zoey Ueland
Lindsey Reese ‘24, Taara Verma ‘24, Davin Khan ‘24, Ellie Schifman ‘24, and Daphne Dresner ‘24 gather during school. 4 out of 5 students are traveling over break.