The Panel - October 2022 - Volume 71, Issue 3

School President Daniel Drucker ’23 Addresses the School

By Mac Bobo ’23 And David Cho ’23 and Alex Lo’23 Panel Staff

On Monday, September 19th, Class President Daniel Drucker ’23 addressed the entire student body and faculty at The Chapel, continuing the tradition of the class president delivering a speech to the entire school at the beginning of the school year.

Drucker began by presenting the defi nition of time. He then expanded the notion of time to what time means at Belmont Hill. Sharing his experience walking around the beautiful scenery at Gold Beach in Nor mandy, France, during the Kenney Legacy Trip, Drucker spoke about his reflections on his time at Belmont Hill. Despite the quick pace with which Belmont Hill moves, Drucker had the opportunity to look back at his time at Belmont Hill and think about the legacy each one of us leaves behind.

Continuing to detail his experience walking along the beaches in Norman dy, Drucker shared the gratitude he felt for his time at Belmont Hill. He then said that our time at the school is too short.

Narrating his experience in Mr. Mar tellini’s Pre-Algebra class in his first year at Belmont Hill, Drucker shared the initial struggles he faced. He then encouraged the Form I students, saying, “I promise you, everyone is going to fail a Latin quiz or have their Mr. Martellini. Belmont Hill isn’t some monster. Don’t beat yourself up

Look Inside The Panel

News 2

Welcome to New Faculty

The Panel welcomes new faculty as they join the Belmont Hill community.

Headmaster Schneider’s Opening Speech

David Luo ’25 writes about Headmaster Schneider’s opening Chapel speech of the 20222023 school year.

or try to compare yourself to another class mate. You be you… Keep moving forward and challenge yourself to be a better per son and ultimately a better brother to your classmates.” Drucker then shared a joke from the class and explained that “It’s the little moments like these you remember. Not how you perform on an assessment or how well you write an essay. So please, never take your time here for granted.”

Quoting from Linda Ellis’ poem, “The Dash,” Drucker spoke about the “dash” we leave behind. He eloquently integrated the poem’s meaning into our time at Belmont Hill. Continuing his analysis of the poem, Drucker challenged all the students to make out of the opportunities Belmont Hill pro vides: “I, along with 84 brothers sitting in the front rows of this Chapel, now encour age you to make the most out of your dash.”

Drucker ended his speech with a moving message to the senior class: “Lastly, before I end, I need to do one more thing. Thank all of you, the seniors. We’ve almost made it. I can’t wait to see where the last months of our journey will take us. And I wouldn’t want to call any one else than all of you my brothers.”☐

AOTI: Max Carboni ’23

By David Cho ’23 Panel Staff

Max Carboni ’23, the varsity soc cer co-captain, began playing soccer at a young age in his town league in Belmont. He first played for club team NEFC and moved to Boston Bolts two years later, where he continues to play. Max has com peted in international and national com petitions. He made the varsity soccer team as a Form III student in a very compet itive team composed of upperclassmen.

Max has been integral to the Belmont Hill soccer program since making the team. The longest-serving player on the team, Max’s work ethic and versatility make him stand out from the rest of the team. Despite playing outside back for most of his Bel mont Hill soccer career, Max has played as a striker and a midfielder this season. Coach Montoya commented on Max’s exempla ry work ethic: “The most impressive thing about Max is that he is the hardest worker on the field. He outworks everyone. He is truly dedicated to the sport and has worked extremely hard to be the best he can be.”

Continued on Page 9.

Debate of the Issue

By Luke Trevisan ’24 And Lev Tolkoff ’24 Panel Staff

AGAINST: Luke Trevisan: The his tory of the British monarchy dates back to 1066, when William the Conqueror crossed over the English Channel and took over as King of England. Since then, the power of Britain and the monarchy itself has waxed and waned. Despite originating as an ab solute monarchy, it was reduced to a con stitutional monarchy during the Glorious Revolution of 1688. From then until now,

Opinions 8 Is Fantasy Football a Waste of Time?

Christopher McEvoy’ 25 takes on this pertinent question.

the monarchy has held no institutional power to make any laws whatsoever and only represents the empty shell of a for mer precedent. Especially now, with the atrocities committed by Britain within their colonies coming to light, the monarchy is seen as an old way of life, one which the modern day view has denounced as brutal.

Big picture ideas, however, aren’t the only reasons for dissolution. A study re leased this year in June on the royal family showed that with each new generation the desire for a monarchy, as opposed to an elected head of state, continues to decline.

Continued on Page 5.

Sports 11 Varsity Football Update

Luke Trevisan ’24 writes an update on the start of the Varsity Football team’s sea son.

Arts 5

A Student Publication of the Belmont Hill School

Artist of the Issue: Cameron Connell ’23

Brian Lee ’24 writes about Cameron’s musical achievements as President of the Jazz Band.

Belmont Hill Welcomes New Faculty For 2022

By Panel Staff Writers

Each year, as new faculty members join the Belmont Hill community, The Panel interviews each new teacher to learn about the new perspectives joining Belmont Hill. This year, ten people join the commu nity, serving a variety of roles on campus.

Mrs. Folan is a new faculty member of the office of academic support. She pre viously worked in elementary schools as a teacher and a reading specialist, most nota bly at the Jackson School in Newton. Mrs. Folan attended Thayer Academy for grades 6-12, where she played field hockey and softball. She also went to Boston College for Undergraduate and Graduate School. Mrs. Folan lived on the Belmont Hill campus from 2003 to 2006 as a dorm parent when her husband worked here. She works part time in the academic support office while working towards completing an advanced certification from MGH Institute of Health in Language and Literacy. Mrs. Folan has two children, Tommy ’25 and Caroline, as well as a golden retriever named Bella. In her free time, Mrs. Folan likes to cook, work out, and hang out with her family!

The Belmont Hill community is for

tunate and excited to welcome Mrs. Phin ney to the faculty this year. Although new to the faculty, Mrs. Phinney has been a part of Belmont Hill for many years. Her husband, Mr. Phinney, has worked as a History teach er and the head coach of the varsity hockey team. Moreover, Mrs. Phinney’s oldest sister, Mrs. Bobo, served as the Director of College Counseling until her departure last year.

After graduating from Deerfield Acad emy and then playing hockey at Harvard College, she continued her hockey career in a Canadian hockey league before being se lected to the U.S. Women’s Olympic Hockey Team. After the Olympics, Mrs. Phinney re turned to Harvard for her graduate studies, earning her Masters in Education. She then worked at the Salisbury School in Salisbury, Connecticut, where she met Mr. Phinney. Her last stop before coming to Belmont Hill was Phillips Andover where she served as a member of the College Counseling De partment and then the Admissions team.

Mrs. Phinney will hold the position of Assistant Director of College Coun seling and assist several clubs and teams around campus, including hockey teams during the winter. Mrs. Phinney has two children, George (8) and Lincoln (2). If you have seen Mrs. Phinney on campus, you probably have also seen her dog, Bear

the Australian Shepherd. Mrs. Phinney’s new office is next to the senior commons.

Ms. White joins Belmont Hill as Di rector of Health Services after filling a simi lar role at the Shady Hill School. At Belmont Hill, Ms. White will lead the care of students and staff who are ill or injured during the school day. She will also support students who are sick at home and have injuries that will affect their school days. Ms. White grew up nearby in Cambridge and went on to re ceive an Associates Degree in Nursing from Bunker Hill Community College. She then recieve degrees in nursing from UMass Bos ton and in sociology from Wheaton College.

Ms. White says she always knew she was going to be a nurse. In kindergarten when asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, she stated that she wanted to be a nurse. Further, in 8th grade when she became sick with cancer, she distinctly remembers the nurses who were the first people to help her when she needed care and support. Follow ing college, she started nursing at Tufts Med ical School before moving to Shady Hill School.

Ms. White decided to join Belmont Hill after spending many years in an ele mentary school. She says she was ready to try something new and believed making the jump to older students was a natu ral way to do so. Being the mom of three

boys and the sister of four brothers, she is excited to work in an all-boys environ ment. She is also excited to meet all the students and learn about Belmont Hill.

In addition to her busy school sched ule, Ms. White has five children, with whom she spends the majority of time watching their games or driving them around. In her free time, she enjoys walking her dog Mur ray and creating things by sewing or knit ting. Through this year, she looks to plan a flu/COVID booster clinic and care for all the boys with colds/flu/strep/COVID.

The Panel wishes Mrs. Folan, Mrs. Phinney, and Ms. White good luck! ☐

The STEM Department Adds Three New Teachers

By Panel Staff Writers

Belmont Hill welcomes Mr. Hargrove as a new math teacher and sports coach. He teaches Algebra I, Algebra II, and Geome try, and he will be the assistant coach for the third hockey and lacrosse teams. Mr. Har grove joins Belmont Hill from the Salisbury School in Connecticut, where he taught for five years. He attended Strath Haven High School in the Philadelphia suburbs, where he played soccer, hockey, and lacrosse. Then he went to Williams College for his under graduate and to Tuck Graduate School of Business at Dartmouth, where he played la crosse. Volunteering coaching on the third lacrosse team in 2017, Mr. Hargrove really enjoyed being a part of the Belmont Hill cul ture and community, and those experiences led him to join the school. He has no pets but hopes to get one when his kids are a little older. In his spare time off campus, he likes

to spend time with his wife and three daugh ters Leah (7), Gracie (5), and Emma (3).

Mr. Daniel Fulham is excited to join the Science and English departments and the Belmont Hill community. After growing up in Buffalo, New York, Mr. Fulham moved to Massachusetts, where he attended St. Sebas tian’s School in Needham. After high school, he attended Middlebury College, where he played football and was active in theater. After graduating Middlebury in 2018, he worked at a green energy company in San Francisco and then in Hawaii. Later, he pur sued a career in live music in Queens, New York, bottled beer in Vermont, and was a general manager on a 3000-acre cattle ranch in California. One of four brothers, Mr. Fulham, enjoys playing and recording mu sic, trail running, and going on road trips, having traveled eight times across the US.

At Belmont Hill, Mr. Fulham will teach Science and English and co-advise Form III with Mr. Calloway. He looks for ward to coaching the offensive line this

Fall and directing theater throughout the school year. He is eager to bond with the Belmont Hill students and faculty as he pursues a teaching career. Most important ly, Mr. Fulham looks forward to being on “the right side of history” now that he is on the other side of the BH-St. Seb’s rivalry.

Mr. Speer graduated from Williams College in 2013 with a double major in Math and music. Previously, he worked at the Cranbrook School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, a private partial boarding school. He taught there for several years while his wife was completing her Ph.D. at the Uni versity of Michigan. Having taught at Deer field for four years and a one-year stint as a teaching fellow at Andover, Mr. Speer was familiar with Belmont Hill. When mov ing back to New England, he was looking for a school that was, “academically rig orous and close-knit, so when I was look ing for jobs, I wanted a smaller school, a better sense of community.” After his in terview, Mr. Speer found that Belmont

Hill met those expectations and decided to join the community. Already Mr. Speer has noticed that “students have immense pride in their work, sports, and activities.”

Mr. Speer will be teaching three sec tions of Calc-AB and one section of Ad vanced Pre-Calculus; he will also be involved with Math Counts and other math compe titions at Belmont Hill. While not currently coaching, Mr. Speer is excited to coach thirdsquash in the winter and be Belmont Hill’s new varsity tennis coach. Having played club tennis in college, Mr. Speer is “excited to finally get into coaching”, having not had the opportunity to do so at his previous jobs.

Mr. Speer hopes to add to the com munity as best he can both in the classroom and on the tennis court. Mr. Speer is excited to “get to know my math colleagues better… and I am looking forward to getting back to doing the sports I love and also, getting to know students in a different context”.

The Panel wishes Mr. Hargove, Mr. Ful ham, and Mr. Speer good luck in the fall.☐

(From Left to Right) Mr. Ojeni, Mrs. Phinney, Mr. Hargrove, Ms. White, Ms. Wallace, Mr. Fulham, Mr. Payne, Mr. Speer, and Ms. Bradley

BH Communications

Mrs. Folan BH Communications

Four Teachers Join Language and Arts Departments

By Panel Staff Writers

After graduating from Belmont Hill and Tufts University, Mr. Payne returns to the school as a first-year teacher. Mr. Payne teaches English I and III, and he will be the Co-Director for the fall and winter school plays. Feeling optimistic about the play, Mr. Payne believes that there is a good mix between new and returning performers.

Furthermore, Mr. Payne is a Form I advisor and is excited to make new con nections with his students and other fac ulty and staff while also gaining valuable teaching experience. Outside of school, Mr. Payne recently joined a kickball team, which he has enjoyed. Additional ly, he relishes the opportunity to stay in touch with his former Cheer teammates at Tufts, regularly meeting with them to work out together or practice old routines.

Although Mr. Payne is still not used

to being called “Mr. Payne” and not “Dona van”, along with the newfound ability to call his former teachers by their first name, Mr. Payne is looking forward to spending a great year with all of the Belmont Hill community.

Ms. Wallace joins Belmont Hill this year after teaching at the Community Char ter School in Cambridge, where she taught English and was in charge of redesigning the AP English curriculum. Through high school, she raced, making her a great Alpine Ski coach this winter. Ms. Wallace learned about Belmont Hill from alums that went to Harvard with her. One of these friends even wore a coat and tie to every exam he had because he was used to it from Belmont Hill and it made him feel more confident.

At Belmont Hill, Ms. Wallace teach es Form III and IV English and is a 3rd Form Advisor. She is also coaching 3B soccer with Mr. Leo this Fall. Two fun facts about Ms. Wallace is that she bikes to school everyday from Somerville, and she once read 56 books in a single year.

Mr. Ojeni joins Belmont Hill and will be teaching Spanish 1 and 2. Additional ly, he will also be helping Mr. DiResta and Mr. Conway with the theater program. Although Mr. Ojeni did not come to Bel mont Hill as a student, he attended the all-boys Hillside school, where he learned the value and importance of education catering to young men. He attended the Hotchkiss School in Connecticut, where he played soccer, squash, and tennis. He did voice acting and theater, which turned into more serious acting later on. He then went on to Lehigh University for his un dergraduate and got his masters degree at UPenn. Mr. Ojeni has a pet fish named Shadow, and in his free time, he likes to play pick-up soccer, afrobeats dancing, and rapping where he goes by the name Simba.

Joining the art department, Ms. Bradley will be teaching ceramics classes, a drawing, and painting class, and helping out with set design for the plays. Ms. Bradley at tended Belmont Hill’s sister school, Winsor.

From ages 6 - 17 she was a competitive ju nior olympic gymnast. In her senior year of high school, she tried crew, and performed in a student directed play with Belmont Hill. For college she went to Pratt Institute which is an art school located in Brooklyn, New York, where she spent hours inside the studio. Ms. Bradley has taught some class es at summer camp, but this is her first full time teaching job. Although she did not attend Belmont Hill, Ms. Bradley spent a lot of her childhood on the Belmont Hill campus, especially in the wrestling room, watching her dad, Mr. Bradley, coach. From the times being on campus, she developed a strong connection with the community. Besides drawing and painting, Ms. Bradley enjoys reading, swimming, hiking, lying in the grass, crocheting, playing soccer, and spending time with her rottweiler Tonka.

The Panel is excited to have Mr. Payne, Ms. Wallace, Mr. Oje ni, and Ms. Bradley join us in our Bel mont Hill community this year. ☐

Mr. Rosser Becomes Varsity Football Head Coach

By Luke Trevisan ’24 Panel Staff

This year, the varsity football team is excited to welcome Bryson Rosser to the Head Coaching position. The pro motion comes in his third year with Bel mont Hill, having moved from coach ing high school football in Tennessee.

Coach Rosser has more experience than just coaching; he was a star quarter back in both high school and college. Since then, he’s shared his vast knowledge of the game to many other people and communi ties. While his first coaching position was in Tennessee, he has also coached in New Jersey and Massachusetts. Additionally, he participated in an NFL Preseason intern ship with the Patriots. Coach Rosser has a total of fifteen years of experience under his belt and is looking forward to sharing his knowledge with the team and coaching staff.

While this is his third year at Belmont Hill, he has only had one true season of ISL football because of COVID-19. He told me

that he thoroughly enjoyed the introduction and he appreciated the opportunity to “to get to know the athletes we had, learning the league, learning the coaches on our staff.”

A big goal for him as well, no mat ter the title, is to grow as a coach and

while fun, as no two days are alike and each brings their own litany of decisions.

Coach Rosser, in addition to tech nical adjustments and new play calling, has some ideas for team improvement this year. They all are tightly woven together and each one reflects aspects of the other in order to get his team working as one unit. His four pillars are: “Always Team Cohe sion, Accountability and Trust, Knowledge of the Game and Situational Decisions on the Field.” He is confident that the team will be able to find successes on and off the field if they follow these guidelines.

Another belief of his is the power of relationships with one another which he knows will help build the team up to become stronger overall. He has en couraged this by having team get-togeth ers, cheering on the younger teams and keeping a positive, open atmosphere.

pects of the Belmont Hill football program and wants to retain them moving forward. Some of these include the famous Belmont Hill jumping jacks as well as being able to see the “seniors come together for the ‘burn the shoe’ ceremony at the end of the season.”

Nevertheless, Coach Rosser also wants to add some new traditions such as “senior letter writing to an underclass men with tips and insight” on the sea son and an accountability workshop.

The Panel is excited for Coach Ross er’s debut year and wishes him well in fu ture years to come. Make sure to look for him running up and down the side lines of the next home football game! ☐

continue to get better. Coach Rosser says the head coach experience is challenging

While he has many great plans for the future, Coach Rosser also wants to value past traditions of the football team. Through his first few years, he has been able to experience many of the unique as

The Queen Passes AwayInspiring Chapel Talk

By David Luo ’25 Panel Staff

Mr. Schneider welcomed everyone back to campus with a classic Chapel talk. He kicked off the chapel by talking about what makes Belmont Hill so special as well

out is that this year the Chapel talk is not based on COVID but rather the traditional way of Belmont Hill. The students view this change as a deviation from the last couple of years that have been plagued by the abrupt changes caused by the coronavirus. Last year the school was still affected by the pandem ic which is exemplified by the wearing of

By Alex Laidlaw ’25 Panel Staff

On September 8, 2022, after 70 years on the throne, Queen Elizabeth II passed away at the Balmoral Castle in Scot land at age 96. As the world continues to mourn, it is time we take a look back on the life of the longest-serving monarch in the history of the United Kingdom.

On February 6, 1952, upon the death of her father, King George VI, Queen Elizabeth II became the Queen of England. At that time, Harry Truman was President of the United States, and Winston Churchill was the Prime Minister of England. Includ ing Truman, the Queen ruled during the ad ministration of 14 presidents, meeting all but Lydon B. Johnson. Furthermore, she reigned through the Cold War and the fall of the So viet Union and acted as an anchor during the tumultuous end of the 20th century.

as a shock to many around the world, and over 10 million US viewers as well as 27 million people in the UK, tuned in to watch her funeral held on Monday, September 19.

as the school culture. Every year, the first chapel talk emphasizes brotherhood. These characteristics define Belmont Hill’s mis sion to educate young boys on how to be come men of good character. The elements of Mr. Schneider’s speech also meant a lot to the students. One of the things that stand

masks last year during the first quarter. This year, however, the masks have stayed off and allowed the whole population of the school to be together in one space without masks. These masks have been affecting social life at Belmont Hill for the past few years, but now we can finally see each other’s faces.

In the United Kingdom and all over the world, she symbolized stability during a time when power seemed to shift so quick ly. For many, she was the only monarch in England they had ever lived under, and it is estimated that only 20 percent of today’s UK population was alive before she rose to power. Despite her old age, her death came

Upon her death, her son King Charles III rose to the throne after serving as the heir apparent for the longest time in Brit ish history. Charles III, 73, is the oldest person to assume the British throne, and with this, his eldest son, William, Prince of Wales, now becomes the next heir appar ent. As the globe watches the first transfer of power since 1952 in the most import ant monarchy in the world, it is evident that a new chapter of history is upon us, an exciting and intriguing prospect.☐

The Queen’s funeral Ivan Vogler

Mr. Schneider’s Chapel Talk

BH Communications

Mr. Rosser BH Communications

Artist of the Issue: Cameron Connell ’23

By Brian Lee ’24 Panel Staff

At just three years old, Cameron Connell’s ’23 musical journey began on the piano; by the time he was eleven, he had also learned to play the guitar. At Bel mont Hill, he continued his passion for both instruments in several of the school’s musical ensembles, playing guitar in the Middle School Rock Band and piano in the Middle School Jazz Band. Cameron’s musical prowess ultimately led to an invi tation to the Upper School Jazz Band. As a result, he was the first Form III student in the history of Belmont Hill to be inducted into this prestigious upper school group.

Cameron’s dedication to the arts is ev ident in his participation in musical events at Belmont Hill. Cameron has performed in every coffeehouse and seasonal concert. He has been an integral member of rock and jazz groups for several years, and his Cameron Connell ’23 plays the piano at a concert

Mrs. Kenney Photo Exhibit

By Teddy Stonestreet ’25 Panel Staff

As you may have noticed, there is a new photography exhibit in the Landau Gallery located in the Robsham art build ing. The artist behind these photos is none other than Belmont Hill’s Mrs. Kenney.

Mrs. Kenney is the school archivist and assistant librarian and is an incredible photographer. Mrs. Kenney started her pho tography career in high school when she took photography and film classes. Her love for photography grew along with her love for hiking. As she explored the mountains of New Hampshire and Maine, she decid ed to photograph the summits like many others. Striving to do something different, Mrs. Kenney began to change the perspec tive of her summit photos to represent less common views from the top. Mrs. Kenney also took pauses during her hike and pho tographed the textures of leaves, bark, and other elements of nature. These prints are macro view photos focused on the more subtle details in nature. A personal favor ite of hers is the “people in nature photos,” which highlight humanity’s constant pres ence in the natural world. The photos in clude industrial scraps and remains of past buildings, now overgrown by moss and

trees. The sharp metal seems to tear through the natural beauty of its surroundings.

When asked for advice for aspiring photographers like those in advanced pho tography class here at Belmont Hill, Mrs. Kenney said, “just keep shooting.” She talk ed about the importance of having a volume of work, and once you have quality, you can pick out the best pictures from there. ☐

fellow musicians recently elected him as the current president of the Upper School Jazz Band, a testament to his natural leadership.

Out of the many musical memories he made at Belmont Hill, Cameron says his most memorable one was during his junior year: “Will Kelly (’23) and I decided to per form ‘Tears in Heaven’ by Eric Clapton at the winter coffee house thirty minutes be fore it started…Will had never even heard the song before. We spent every last second trying to put it together before convincing Mr. Fiori to let us add yet another act to the list… we managed to pull it off perfectly!”

Outside of Belmont Hill, Cam eron has participated in several sum mer music programs at New England Conservatory, Berklee, and Julliard.

The Panel wishes Cameron the best of luck as he moves onto col lege next year and congratulates him for his outstanding musical endeav ors during his time at Belmont Hill. ☐

Luke Trevisan ’23 BH Model

By Lev Tolkoff ’24 Panel Staff

Over the past year, Luke Trevisan ’24 has been working on completing a com plete 3D model of our campus. Using the 3D printer and other model-making tech niques, he carefully and meticulously craft ed an almost perfect to scale model. When asked about his motivation, Luke said, “I distinctly remember a late night in the sum mer of 2021, and right as I was about to fall asleep, I came up with the idea to build a model of campus. I had no idea as to how I would do it, but I knew that it was some thing I wanted to look into. Additionally, I felt like I could fit a project like that into my schedule for the upcoming year. I con tacted Dr. Goldberg, who at the time was in charge of independent studies, I believe, and he connected me with Mr. Ziff, who would help with the 3D printing aspect.”

Luke first had to take detailed pic tures and videos, for which he had the help of Chris Bruise ’23 for the model. Then by trial and error, Luke was able to find the correct scale and began to piece together his build. He continued working on it on his own time; he managed to find solutions for trees and even to differentiate between grass and turf. Finally, with all his pieces in place,

he noted that “It was cool to see the final coming together of all the pieces that I had worked on individually for the past year.”

The Panel congratulates Luke on his hard work and dedication. His project can be seen outside the Form II study hall on the up per level of the Melvoin Academic Center. ☐

Dave LoGrasso’s ’23 Beautiful Performance at the Chapel

By Luke Trevisan ’24 Panel Staff

At the end of the first Friday Forum of the year, Dave LoGrasso ’23 concluded the meeting with a beautiful rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” Dave’s first memory of singing goes back to when he was in third grade on his way home from a football game. While in the car with his dad, Dave began picking up on and singing the lyrics to “Black Rock” and immediately fell in love with the art. Since then, he remarks, “music and singing have brought my fam ily together.” He says everyone in his fam ily enjoys singing and admits they are all pretty good at it. In addition to memories with his dad, Dave also rejoices in singing in church with his mother. He appreciates the connectivity and atmosphere of the place, enabling him to “feel the vibes of everyone” and undergo what he described as an “out of body” experience. For Dave, singing unlocks an entirely new world.

Dave remembers hearing Hallelujah for the first time at the funeral of a loved one, where most of the crowd came togeth er to sing along. The crowd mentality and the powerful emotions of the day resulted in a memory ingrained in his mind. He says that he “continues to sing the song daily.” It means a lot to him for the memories, spir itual relations, and emotional connections.

Dave had not had much history in singing performances but wanted to try something. Daniel Drucker ’23 convinced him to sing at the recent chapel. As a prac tice run, he got up and sang before one of the Varsity football meetings, where he re ceived praise and confirmation to carry with him for his big performance. While many of the team’s upperclassmen joined him on stage, Dave was the star of the show, and his performance was met with thunderous ap plause. A video recording of the show can be found on the Belmont Hill website. Con gratulations to Dave on his incredible per formance, and The Panel wishes him the best of luck in his future singing endeavors!

BH Communications

Dave Lograsso (left) sings with the Varsity Football team BH Communications

Luke’s model BH Communications

Photo from Mrs. Kenney’s Exhibition

Cont: Should There be a British Monarchy?

Continued from the front page.

While those in the age group of 65+ had a 77% vote in favor of the monarchy, just 33% of those in the 18-24 age group voted in favor of maintaining the monarchy. Fol lowing the path of the recent trends, the younger generations will continue to move further from the past viewpoints and the support for the monarchy will keep falling.

While the dissolution of the monar chy might be benefcial, it would admittedly take a substantial amount of time according to British parliamentary procedure. A gen eral shift in voting and a major event such as the disintegration of the commonwealth or division of the United Kingdom would be needed to get the process started. From there, the act of abolition would require ac tion in parliament: “it could be done with a law passing through Parliament like any other” or “it would require a referendum,” says UK source iNews. Having learned its lesson from the Brexit fiasco, England would most likely opt for a two vote refer endum. This would include one to certify that the government should be changed and another to figure out how so. This pro cess, especially the shifting of views on the situation, would surely take many years. However, with the successive lineage poten tially lining up with young George taking the throne in a few decades, his coronation may prove to be a good stopping point.

The British monarchy should be abol ished because it is useless and outdated. It cannot achieve any effective legislation and it lacks the democratic representation that

modern day societies strive for. It also has ties to colonial oppression: during the Boer War, Mau Mau rebellion and Indian Inde pendence Movement British troops killed and tortured thousands of native people. Overtime, the Monarchy has fallen out of use, and is now an outdated institution, so, I say, round it out to a nice number in 2066 and call it a day—or a millennia.

FOR: Lev Tolkoff: The British mon archy should continue because of their economic benefit and the benefit to the country’s appearance. The British roy al family is possibly the most well-known name in the world. With Britain at one point in history having conquered nearly a quarter of the land on earth, their influ ence on other countries is second to none.

It is projected that by 2025 ten percent of Britain’s economy will be tourism, with an estimated net worth of 257 billion euros. And it is estimated that the British royal family has contributed nearly 2.5 billion eu ros annually. It is impossible to deny the roy al family’s influence on the economy, how ever there is cost. The royal family spends around 500 million euros from the British taxpayers per year. So, for some this would be an easy argument to say that the British royal family should be abolished. However, if they generate 2.5 billion euros each year, that is a 500% return on their investment.

The British royal family’s nobility has been a benefit to Britain’s appearance. This also reflects well on the country, as there are some stereotypes that all British citizens are very posh and elegant. This stems from the

Number of AP’s to Take

By Adrian Tan ’25 Panel Staff

Before you read this article, please note that I am in Form IV and just starting to take my first APs. This article is mostly older students’ opinions that I thought gave good advice. As you start entering the Upper School, the subject of APs comes up more fre quently. I know that I, for one, just entering the Upper School, am greatly intimidated by the prospect of APs and am overwhelmed by the following questions: Should I take all of them for college merit? What if I don’t do well in all of them? Should I take fewer?

I wasn’t sure if I was stressing too much over nothing, so I decided to ask a few of the older students to give their in sight on this matter. Nathan Pappas (Form V) said “I think you should take both APs as a sophomore if you’re planning on tak ing more APs as a junior. The sophomore APs (Biology and Euro) aren’t particularly hard as long as you’re willing to spend ex tra time studying. For junior year, I think you should take three to four APs. I’m taking 3 right now. The workload is a bit rough, but it’s bearable. I’d say it’s from 1.5 - 4 hours of homework a night, de pending on if there’s a test or paper due.”

Max Wagner (Form VI) said: “You should take 1 - 2 APs a year, depending on how comfortable you are on the top ics. I took 2 APs in sophomore year and 3 in junior. I’d say the average workload is about 1-3 hours, depending on how pro ductive you are and how fast you work.

Mr. Bracken said: “I think in sopho more year, it’s valid to take 2. I don’t think it’s too overwhelming. You need to know yourself. We have far too many kids that do both APs when it ends up being over whelming and they don’t do the best that they could because they’re pushing them selves too much. There aren’t that many kids that can handle all of them. I took 4 Juninor

year so I have a hard time saying you should take less. I would say that it hurts you if you take too many. I often tell my advisees that if you can take a regular class and you feel better, it’ll help your other classes as well. I’d say senior year APs are really tricky because most students lose motivation in the spring and don’t want to take the APs in the spring. I’d say you should take the APs you’re re

appearance of the crown on the minds of people from other countries. Even the British accent has a connotation of someone who is very proper, this also comes from the crown.

A possible refutation would be that the British royal family does not have any real power and for that reason has no pur pose to exist. However, the removal of the power of the monarch has already oc curred, and this argument should not be taken into account. Certainly it is possible to abolish the monarchy but would take an extremely strenuous process that would

cost the taxpayers even more. The British parliament would be debating and vot ing on this matter for months if not years as it is a monumental decision, thus Brit ain would be at a standstill for some time.

Now, it would be incorrect not to acknowledge the atrocities the crown has committed over the past centuries, however the argument is if the current monarchy is beneficial to the country. And while I in no way think that what they have done is mor ally acceptable for the purpose of this debate it is not the right question to be asking. ☐

Is it too Easy to Receive an A?

By Ezra Lee ’25 Panel Staff

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ally interested in, and not just for college.”

So far, I think my decision of taking all the possible APs as a sophomore is okay. I’ve had to allot a lot more time to study ing and homework compared to previous years, but nothing’s blown up in my face yet.

My advice is when you consider your decision on how many APs to take, think back to the previous year. If you didn’t have enough for even the homework in freshman year, you should probably only consider taking one AP at most. On the other hand, if you breezed through the year, give yourself a challenge and take both. I wish you all luck in your bright, upcoming, future high school years. ☐

In an area and a school filled with students who strive for academic success, one might question whether getting an A in classes is too easy, given the number of students that can achieve this goal. Is get ting an A too easy? To answer this question, it is essential to look at it from several per spectives. First, one should look at it from a black-and-white perspective of whether or not it is too easy. While classes depend on their difficulty to receive a good grade in, depending on the course and the level one is pursuing it in, getting A’s, especially straight A’s, is not easy. I think anyone from Belmont Hill, including students, teachers, and administrators, would argue that get ting A’s in the more difficult classes offered at the school is difficult. This begs the ques tion, though, whether it is better to get an A in an easier class or a B in a more chal lenging course. Although the GPA’s may be the same with grade weighting, straight A’s in an easier class might look better than poor grades in a challenging class. Howev er, the myth that GPA is all colleges look at is incorrect. It is much better to challenge yourself and risk a bad grade than to go through your Belmont Hill experience without ever giving yourself a challenge.

Second, asking yourself wheth er getting straight A’s is worth it is im portant. Most children want to do well in school, which often includes seeing A’s on the report card. They often believe that good grades in school will guarantee that they will lead successful, productive, and happy lives. While good grades may be an indication that children will ex cel in life, it is a far cry from a guarantee.

While we all want to receive good grades, we must ask ourselves what exactly it is that grades mean and what they show about a student. Grades should reflect how

much a student has learned, and often, that can be what they show. However, looking at it from a different perspective, grades may simply reflect what a child knows and not what they have learned. Straight A’s may be a sign that children aren’t learning what they need to learn to have a successful life. The main difference is that if grades are sup posed to reflect what a child knows rather than what a child has learned, a student can get straight A’s without having learned any thing. In that sense, if getting straight A’s be comes too difficult and relies more on mem orizing and “knowing” and not on “learning,” by making it harder to get A’s, we might be depriving students of the ability to learn.

Is knowledge enough to allow some one to be successful in their classes? What do grades necessarily say about the exertion a child put into the assignment that earned the student A’s? If a child happens to already know the information, it’s unlikely that they had to do much to get those A’s. For exam ple, it is not uncommon to find student’s taking an AP in a language they are either fluent in or nearly fluent in. This means that students would rather have an extra AP on their manuscript than learn, which ques tions the learning environment we learn in.

In conclusion, I don’t believe that getting an A is too easy. I also believe that that is not the question we should be ask ing. How easy it is to get an A in any spe cific class depends entirely on the person, and while one person might find it easy, others might struggle to get a good grade. The more important question we should ask is whether or not our learning envi ronment is keeping us from learning. ☐

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An In-depth Review of Belmont Hill’s Food Program

By Andrew Bittner ’24 Panel Staff

Entering into the first full school year since covid, countless questions were run ning through the mind’s of BH students, though one question seemed exceedingly more important than the others: How will the lunches be this year? After students were burdened with eating the classic Mr. Sandwich in isolation every day or, on spe cial occasions, having a Rooster chicken sandwich for the first half of the 2021-2022 school year, sit-down, family-style lunch es were highly anticipated by the majority of the BH community. Unfortunately, a considerable portion of the BH communi ty has been left dissatisfied with BH food program after the first few weeks of school due to factors largely outside of the kitch en staff’s control. To resolve this dissatis faction with the current BH food program, we must first analyze the key complaints made by students about lunch, identify the underlying issues, and then I will propose simple solutions to improve BH lunch.

The primary issue many students have raised with BH lunch is that the lunches are lacking in quality. I’ll concede that this viewpoint has some merit: There have been a few lackluster lunches this year. Howev er, variation in lunch schedule necessitates a “bad” lunch every once in a while. Un

less BH students want the same rotation of lunches every week or two, the lunch staff has to try out new lunches, and not ev eryone is going to love every new meal. In my personal opinion, I think the standard of lunch quality has been relatively high this year with some particularly strong op tions being the cheese ravioli with a choice of marinara or alfredo sauce on 9/13 and the pork schnitzel and curly fries on 9/22. Moreover, even if a student doesn’t love the lunch option on a particular day, he has the

Is Fantasy Football Worth It?

By Christopher McEvoy ’25 Panel Staff

Is fantasy football a waste of time?

Fantasy football is elegantly entwined with one of the greatest American pas times, football. The National Football League (NFL) dates back decades and has been at the heart of millions of Amer icans from its inaugral season in 1920.

Americans’ love for football has most ly transferred into fantasy football. Every Sunday tens of millions of people across the United States tune in to CBS, Fox, ESPN, and NFL Red Zone to watch the new slate of NFL games. Just last season, the NFL av eraged 17.1 million viewers for every game.

Before the invention of fantasy foot ball, once you finished watching your favor ite team’s game you would then watch games that may or may not be especially interesting.

Fantasy football adds a new layer of entertainment on Sunday. Fantasy football creates a new interest in the games that do not include your favorite teams because you now have a deep concern for how the players on your fantasy team are doing. In addition to widening your team inter ests, fantasy football is an excellent way to foster friendships that can last a lifetime.

But to truly answer the question whether fantasy football is a waste of time, you must first break down the time usage for fantasy football. The first major event of

the fantasy football season is the draft. Now sure the draft does take up a few hours of time but since fantasy football starts in the early fall, most drafts take place during the summer when free time is at a premium. After the draft, the only major events that take place are simply setting your lineup and adding players on waivers. This takes a minuscule amount of time and can be com pletely foregone by those players who choose

ability to go to the salad bar, get some soup, or make a panini. With so many options, I find it hard to believe that the quality of food is the main issue with school lunches.

The second issue students often bring up about BH lunch is the quantity of food. In my opinion, herein lies the real issue with school lunches. On several occasions, when several students quickly finish the main en treé in a short amount of time, a line forms in the kitchen where and students have been left waiting for a considerable amount

of time for the kitchen to refill the serv ing plates With an allotted lunch time of only around 30 minutes (and even less for waiters), students have a very limited time window to eat, and so the delay caused by these long lines means that many students don’t always get enough to eat or, on rare occasions, don’t get to eat at all. Moreover, on such an occasion when students are waiting a considerable amount of time for the kitchen staff to refill the serving plates, students often turn to their other lunch options, and, in doing so, create a signif icant amount of traffic up at the salad bar, hot bar, and panini presses, increasing the wait for alternative food options. Moreover, when the panini presses are broken, as is the case at the time this article is being written, the lunch options are significantly limited, and students might not have enough to eat.

While the problems addressed above are fairly significant, there are two simple solutions which would address these prob lems without placing an unnecessary bur den on the kitchen staff. First, if the kitchen staff would increase the quantity of food on the serving plates, tables would not run out of food less often, reducing congestion in the kitchen. To implement this solution, the kitchen staff would, at most, need to buy larger serving plates and would not have to increase the quantity of food produced at all. Secondly, a better system to ensure the prop er use of the panini machines would help to maintain the number of lunch options avail able. Potential solutions might be a camera, a faculty monitor, or, perhaps more practical ly, signs above the panini presses instruct ing students on proper use of the machines.

While this article has highlighted many issues with the current state of the BH food program, it is important to ac knowledge that the kitchen staff has still done an excellent job fulfilling an excep tionally challenging job. Personally, I have loved many of the lunch options to date, and only hope that these options will be implemented so that the lunch experi ence of the students will be improved. ☐

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to exert no energy. If you spent your time drafting well, then there is no need to spend time making trades with inferior teams.

In summary, fantasy football is a lovely American pastime that should be enjoyed and cherished, and the time spent on fantasy football by even the most committed of players is not enough to warrant such a label as waste of time. ☐

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Cont: Max Carboni Varsity Soccer Captain

Continued from the front page.

Leadership has been one of the many qualities Max has exhibited during his time on the team. Max was elected as the team’s co-captain along with Will Lloyd ’23 in his junior year. When asked about his expe rience being a team captain for two years, Max replied, “I always try to lead by exam ple and make the most of the opportunities we are given as a team. The best way to do this is to constantly be positive and set the example of the hard work that needs to be put in.” Max is thankful for the experi ence and hopes to utilize the qualities he has learned from it for the rest of his life.

Looking back on his extremely im pressive four years on the team, Max re called his career highlights at Belmont Hill Varsity soccer team: “being the only fresh man on a very talented team of Juniors and Seniors; making the Class A Northeast Pri vate School tournament, and finishing 3rd in the Indepedent School League standings, with only one loss; selected team Captain by teammates as a sophomore for junior year, re-elected for senior year; playing full games as a right-back and now a striker.”

Max has high expectations for the team this season. He hopes that they will be competitive in the ISL. With many seniors in the current squad, he wants to finish his last season with them on a high note. Hav ing switched his position to a more attack

ing role, Max hopes to score more goals to help the team win matches while still con tributing defensively as he’s done in the past.

Max plans to continue playing soccer heading into college. He hopes to play competitive soccer, but regard less of what happens, soccer will con tinue to be a large part of his life.

When asked if he would like to share other thoughts in his interview, Max replied, “Belmont Hill soccer has been an extreme

ly important part of my life. I am extreme ly grateful for the opportunity I have been given to play and compete in the program, and I know that when I graduate from Bel mont Hill, I will always be proud of what I was able to accomplish on our soccer team.”

The Panel thanks Max for all the hard work he has dedicated to Belmont Hill’s soccer program and wishes him the best of luck for the season and his soc cer endeavors beyond Belmont Hill. ☐

Celtics Recap

By Mike Powers ’24 Panel Staff

The Boston Celtics had a great 202122 NBA season, finishing just short of a Championship. With a young and robust core of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Robert Williams, the Celtics enter the 202223 NBA season as one of the favorites to win the NBA title. In 2021-22, Jayson Tatum had his best season and was selected to the AllNBA 1st team, beating out names such as Kevin Durant and LeBron James for the spot. Alongside Tatum is Jaylen Brown, who averaged 23.6 points per game, 6.1 rebounds, and 3.5 assists last year; the duo will continue to dominate other teams around the league.

Robert Williams III, the Celtics’ young starting center, is one of the best shot blockers in the league and is a massive part of Boston’s defense. Al Horford, who signed an extension with the Celtics in the play offs, also adds to this roster. Marcus Smart, who averaged almost 2 steals per game and won Defensive Player of the Year last sea son, will lead the Celtics’ backcourt along side Malcolm Brogdon, who was acquired via trade. The Celtics roster is promising entering this season, but due to problems with the head coach and injury concerns, our record prediction for the Boston Celt ics is 54-28 and to win the NBA Finals. ☐

September Madness: The 2022 College Football Season

By Matthew Flaherty ’24 Panel Staff

That time of year has finally come again for sports fans across the country; the college football season is upon us. After four weeks, there have been several significant storylines surrounding the beginning of the season. Undoubtedly, the triumph of the un derdog is one of the most common themes.

In week two, the unranked Appa lachian State Mountaineers took on Texas A&M Aggies at Kyle Field, a game assumed to be an easy victory for the Aggies. In a game where A&M paid Appalachian State $1.5 million to travel to College Station, combined with the disparity in talent on paper, a win seemed like a given. However, the opposite happened. In a dog fight of a college football game, coming down to the last minute, the Mountaineers, led by their journeyman of a quarterback Chase Brice, came out on top 17-14, knocking off the #6 ranked Texas A&M Aggies. This outcome

made it one of the most significant upsets in the past two decades of college football.

Following this stunning outcome, one could only imagine the upsets were over for the day; but a fan who thought that would be incorrect. In another game assumed to be a guaranteed victory, the #8 team in the country, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, faced off against the Marshall Thunder ing Herd. Coming off a respectable per formance the previous week against Ohio State, in which the Buckeyes were favored by nearly three touchdowns, Notre Dame hung with them, only losing 21-10; perhaps a foreshadowing for future success. Howev er, this was not the case. Leading 9-7 early on with no pressure, the Thundering Herd were happy to be in the game, let alone beat ing Notre Dame. With the combination of Tyler Buchner, Notre Dame’s quarterback perhaps shooting himself in the foot, and some solid plays by the Marshall defense, the Thundering Herd came out on top at the end, winning 26-21. For Notre Dame fans, this was not the ideal beginning to

Belmont Hill Soccer Update

By David Cho ’23 panel staff

The varsity soccer team has endured a challenging but promising start to the sea son, beginning their season playing against four Class A teams. After two heavy defeats against Bridgton Academy and Phillips Andover Academy to begin their official season, conceding nine goals and scoring zero along the way, much change was need ed. The unexpected 0-2 start to the season prompted coach Montoya to change the player personnel in the back and midfield.

With these changes, the team’s two most recent games have shown remarkable improvement. A 1-1 tie away at Phillips Ex eter Academy and a very strong performance in a 1-0 loss to BB&N under the lights, and a 2-2 tie against the Groton School, have giv en the team a growing confidence. Coach Montoya believes that the coaches have

found a good back-four line and a solid mid field line capable of controlling the midfield. The team will continue to play the new 4-42 formation with two center midfielders.

Coach Montoya commented on the plans for the team moving forward: “The key will be to stay healthy. I feel good about how the team is playing and, in the last two games, the boys have played with great intensity.”

With a squad similar to last year, and the Costa Rica trip, which Coach Montoya hopes will pay off later in the season through shared experiences and brotherhood, the team is well positioned to recover from their early struggles and reach their goals under the leadership of senior captains Max Car boni ’23 and Will Lloyd ’23, and coaches Montoya, Holland, Bracken, and Vasiliadis.

The Panel wishes good luck to the varsity soccer team in their aim to make the New England tournament and finish in the top three in the ISL, goals that should be achievable through grit and hard work. ☐

the Marcus Freeman era in South Bend.

Two other massive upsets occurred in week four when Middle Tennessee State knocked off #25 Miami, and #6 ranked Oklahoma, one of the favorites to make the college football playoff, was knocked off by unranked Kansas State. Lastly, one of the biggest underdog stories that has come out of college football is the undefeated, 4-0 start by the Kansas Jayhawks. For the first time since 2009, when they were last 4-0 and had a quality season, there have been flashes of greatness in Lawrence. The Jay hawks, led by quarterback Jalon Daniels, a not-so-highly-touted recruit out of high school, has undoubtedly made a name for himself. Kansas has knocked off West Vir ginia, Houston, and Duke, all of which are respectable power-five opponents. With only a third of the college foot ball season in the rear-view mirror, one can easily be excited about what the rest of the season might bring as morewild finishes are bound to happen as the season progress es towards the college football playoff. ☐

U.S. Open Tennis Review

By Aidan Lee ’24 panel staff

The women’s side of the 2022 U.S. Open was jam-packed with spectacular events, most prominently, Serena Wil liams’s final grand slam run. Coming into the tournament, many experts were wary about Serena’s capability; however, Serena completed an excellent performance mak ing it to the third round, until she lost to Aija Tomljanovic. Serena gave us one last view of the woman who has dominated the WTA for decades. To finish the tourna ment, the world number one, Iga Swiatek, beat Ons Jabeur to win her 3rd Grand Slam title. Ultimately, the women’s side of the U.S. Open was a fantastic event that hosted the conclusion of Serena’s remarkable career.

On the men’s side, although it did not have a headline event as captivating as Serena’s final tournament, it was just as fun.

Fans enjoyed watching Nick Kyrgios’s fan tastic run to the Quarterfinals and his usu al showmanship. Although it is extensively debated whether or not Kyrgios should be considered a showman or a bad influ ence, the U.S. Open crowd was interested and excited because of him. Regardless of whether you are a supporter or detractor of Kyrgios, everyone can agree he brings in new fans to the sport.Furthermore, we wit nessed the rise of a prodigy through Carlos Alcaraz. The 19-year-old Spanish phenom performed spectacularly and won the U.S. Open. After winning his first Grand Slam, Alcaraz also received the title of number one in the world, while the runner-up, Casper Ruud, became number two world wide. The U.S. Open this year somewhat marked the passing of the torch from Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokov ic to a new generation of talented players, led by Carlos Alcaraz, showcasing the past and the future of the sport of tennis. ☐

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2022 WORLD CUP QATAR : Thoughts and Predictions

By Kevin Weldon ’24 and Luke Guleserian ’24 Panel Staff

The World Cup is approaching, and this year it will begin uniquely late, begin ning in November, to avoid the scorching heat of summers in Qatar. This year, the USA has again qualified for the World Cup after missing it for the

Group A- Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, Netherlands: Despite having the first letter of the alphabet, Group A will most likely be one of the least exciting groups in this World Cup. Qatar, by virtue of hosting the World Cup, automatically earns a spot in the group stage. They would be lucky to get a point in this group, let alone the points needed to qualify for the knockout round. Ecuador will also struggle to get out of the group, taking only the fourth CONMEBOL qual ifying spot. Senegal and the Netherlands are both solid national teams, with the Sen egalese coming off their AFCON 2022 vic tory. They are anchored by players like Sa dio Mane, Kalidou Koulibaly, and Eduoard Mendy, all world-class players in their po sitions. However, the Dutch have perhaps an even more impressive team and look to go deep into this tournament with players like Virgil Van Djik and Frenkie de Jong.

Prediction: 1st. Netherlands, 2nd. Senegal, 3rd. Ecuador, 4th. Qatar.

Group B- England, Iran, USA, Wales: This group is quite an interesting draw for many reasons. Iran seems to be the weakest in this group and will most likely struggle to progress. However, the remaining three teams will be tough to separate. Despite go ing from the highs of finalists at Euro 2020, this England squad does not look like they are in good shape. They have been relegat ed from the UEFA Nations League A and have not won in their last six matches. The

out player, they form an effective and cohe sive unit, making them a formidable team.

Prediction: 1st. Argentina, 2nd. Poland, 3rd. Mexico, 4th. Saudi Arabia Group D- France, Australia, Den mark, Tunisia: The 2018 champions will look to defend their trophy with a very tal ented squad. Their dual star power upfront of Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema will be frightening for any backline. Howev er, the team has not fared as well recently, shockingly losing to Switzerland in Euro 2020, prompting an early exit. In addition, they lost 2-0 to Denmark in the Nations League in September. Didier Deschamps seems unsure about their best XI for Qa tar. The manager has been reinforcing the lineup with players from the 2018 squad who are out of their prime. If France can not solve this issue soon, they may face an earlier exit than expected for the reigning champions. A resurgent Denmark with Christian Eriksen and Andreas Christensen will look to build off momentum from their victory over France and their Euro 2020 semi-finalist appearance and hope it con tinues into November. Tunisia and Austra lia are far behind the other two teams and will likely battle for third place in the group.

Prediction: 1st. Denmark, 2nd. France, 3rd. Australia, 4th. Tunisia

Group E- Spain, Costa Rica, Germa ny, Japan: This group has two very histor ic and dominant national teams. The 2010

for this group, qualifying 1st out of CON CACAF. Some believe Alphonso Davies the best left-back in the world, and Jonathan David is an excellent striker. Morocco will find difficulty gaining a point in this group.

Prediction: 1st. Belgium, 2nd. Croatia, 3rd. Canada, 4th. Morocco

first time in half a century.

The U.S. has been drawn into Group B and will play with England, Wales, and Iran. Out of these teams, the Americans and English are the two clear favorites to emerge from the group stage; our matchup with the English will be one to watch during the group stages. However, Wales and Iran can potentially upset the U.S. even if they beat England, so the U.S. will likely have no pushover matches this tournament. The top two teams from Group B will advance into the playoff bracket and have a shot at winning the iconic FIFA Trophy. The U.S. team has not been in their best form in their most recent contests, but they have great talent and opportunities to win with a young core. Their strengths lie in the mid field, with many of their top players, includ ing Captain Christian Pulisic (Chelsea F.C.),

United States, winners of the 2021 Gold Cup, would seem to be the runners-up in this group if it was a more traditional set ting; however, as of writing this, they have won just two out of their last six matches. Wales is the dark horse in this group; they progressed through the playoff spot by beat ing Ukraine back in June. They can take advantage of the faltering forms of both the United States and England. However, Wales relies on the stardom of their 33-yearold captain Gareth Bale. It will be difficult for them to move on if he is not in form.

Prediction: 1st. United States, 2nd. England, 3rd. Wales, 4th. Iran

and 2014 champions, Spain and Germany, look strong and can make a deep run into the knockout stage. Spain has youngsters like Pedri and Gavi in addition to aging leg ends like Sergio Busquets. Germany seems to have a striker issue with players like Timo Werner and Kai Havertz struggling to pro duce for their clubs. However, their excel lent midfield with Joshua Kimmich and Ja mal Musiala will give their forward players plenty of chances. The Japanese team looks solid and will do well in AFC competitions, but they will likely struggle against these juggernauts. Costa Rica qualified through the playoff round and looks outmatched.

Group G- Brazil, Serbia, Switzer land, Cameroon: This Brazil squad is per haps the best in the whole tournament. Forward players like Vinicius Jr., Rodrigo, and Neymar are currently at the pinnacle of their game. Goalkeeper Alisson Becker is believed by many to be the best in the world. Midfielders like Fabinho, Casemiro, and Bruno Guimaraes are also performing well. Serbia and Switzerland are much clos er in strength. Serbia has great goalscoring power with Dusan Vlahovic and Aleksan dar Mitrovic up front. Switzerland has an all-around squad that beat France in the Euro 2020 knockout round. Cameroon per formed well at AFCON 2022, placing 4th.

Prediction: 1st. Brazil, 2nd. Ser bia, 3rd. Switzerland, 4th. Cameroon

Giovanni Reyna (Borussia Dortmund), and Weston McKinnie (Juventus F.C.), all play ing midfield. If the USMNT gets hot at the right time, leading up to their games in Qa tar, they have a chance to be a dark horse and go deep in this year’s tournament.

Group C- Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland: Argentina looks to be the clear favorite in this group. It will likely be the last World Cup for Lionel Messi, and he looks to cement his legacy among the great est of all time by avenging his 2014 loss. Sau di Arabia appears to be the weakest team. Mexico and Poland will compete for the last spot in the knockout stage. This edition of the World Cup will also likely be Robert Le wandowski’s final last, as he is off to a great start for Barcelona in La Liga. The Pole will try to push to earn the elusive Ballon D’Or, which many believe he should have won in 2020; however, it was not awarded due to Covid. While Mexico does not have a stand

Prediction: 1st. Spain, 2nd. Ger many, 3rd. Japan, 4th. Costa Rica

Group F- Belgium, Canada, Morocco, Croatia: While there is not a proper group of death in this World Cup, Group F is the closest. Belgium has one of the strongest squads with stars such as Kevin De Bruyne, Thibaut Courtois, and rising youngsters such as Charles de Ketelaere. They have not won any international trophe, disappoint ing for a group dubbed the ‘Golden Genera tion. Croatia has an aging squad, but players like Luka Modric and Ivan Perisic will look to prove they are still world class. The 2018 World Cup Finalists look to rebound from their defeat to France. Canada is a dark horse

Group H- Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, South Korea: While Portugal had a rough start to their World Cup campaign, qualify ing through the playoff round, they seem a much more assured squad, recently beating Czech Republic 5-0 and Switzerland 4-0. Their team is extremely deep, with Bernar do Silva, Ruben Dias, Joao Cancelo, Rafael Leao, Diogo Jota, and Joao Felix, among others. This will be Cristiano Ronaldo’s last World Cup, and it will most likely be his last chance for a major trophy. South Korea vs. Uruguay appears to be the com petition for 2nd in the group. South Korea is reliant upon the stardom of Heung-Min Son, who won the Premier League’s Gold en Boot last season. Real Madrid’s Federico Valverde is the best Uruguayan player, who provided the Champions League-winning assist in May. It will be an exciting match between Uruguay and Ghana. In the 2010 World Cup Quarter-Finals, Luis Suarez blatantly blocked a shot on the goal line with his hand in the dying minutes. Gha na missed the following penalty, and Uru guay advanced. This event prevented Ghana from going the farthest in the tournament that any African team has ever gone. The match will be quite a spectacle to watch.

Prediction: 1st. Portugal, 2nd. Uruguay, 3rd. South Korea, 4th. Ghana

No matter what occurs during the worldwide tournament, it is sure to be ex tremely entertaining with tons of surprises along the way. While the favorites are Bra zil, France, and Argentina, the nature of the world cup makes it unlikely that any of them will be crowned champion, setting up a wild competition with many twists and turns that is sure to be amazing to watch! ☐

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MLB Playoffs Preview

By Cam Carey ’23 and Nick Anderson ’24 Panel Staff

With the 2022 MLB regular season ending, playoffs are right around the cor ner! Teams have already begun to clinch playoff spots, and a few have clinched division titles. In the American League, the Yankees lead the East by a large mar gin and are closing in on a division title. The Rays and Blue Jays are locks to make a wild card spot. The Orioles are lingering around, but they still have a slight chance of making the postseason, as they are four games back in the wild-card race with one week to go. The Central division has been a disaster all year, with no real contender all season, but the Guardians pulled away and will win the division. The Twins led the division early on, but a horrid 2nd half led to their collapse. The White Sox never got on track despite their high expecta tions, and they will miss out on the playoffs.

In the West, the Astros showed why they are one of the best teams in baseball, winning the AL West. The Mariners current ly hold the last wild card spot and are nearly making their first playoff appearance in over twenty years. The Angels, with superstars Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani, were among the best teams in the league through April

and May but fell apart as the season went on and again will miss the playoffs. While anyone in the playoffs has a shot, the gen uine contenders to make a deep run in the AL are the Blue Jays, Astros, and Yankees.

Over in the National League, the Mets have led the NL East since the middle of April. The New York national league side has looked like one of the best rosters, with star power pitching and elite hitting. They led the Braves by 1.5 games with just over a week to play, and the division race will likely come down to the last day of the sea son. The Phillies are contending for a playoff spot for the first time in a decade. They lead the Brewers for the final wild-card spot by 1.5 games. In the Central, the Cardinals lead the division by 6.5 games, returning them to the postseason. The Brewers led the division for a while earlier this season, but just like last year, the Cardinals got hot at the right time and will win the division, while the Brewers will compete for the final wild-card spot vs. Philadelphia. In the NL West, there was not much competition. The Dodgers clinched once again another division ti tle and will clinch the number one seed in the NL. As of now, the Padres hold the sec ond wild card spot and look like a sneaky contender. The Giants had a disappointing season and will be in the coming days. Top contenders in the National League include the Mets, Braves, Dodgers, and Cardinals. ☐

Champions League Start

By Noah Farb ’24 panel staff

This season’s edition of Europe’s Pre mier Club Competition has started with some expected results along with wild finishes through the first two match days of the group stage. Although there were some slight changes in time and loca tion because of the death of Queen Eliz abeth, the tournament has gone mostly uninterrupted through its early stages.

Through the first two sets of compe tition, the leading scorers are playing for top-flight clubs; Erling Haaland, Robert Lewandowski, and Kylian Mbappe all have scored three times for their respective clubs. The biggest surprises, without a doubt, are Napoli and Club Brugge sitting at the top of their groups. Both clubs are ahead of much more prestigious teams who are fa vored to win their groups. Napoli is in first place ahead of Liverpool and Ajax in group A. The Italian team has the most significant goal differential in the tournament after em barrassing Liverpool 4-1 and dismantling Scottish club Rangers 3-0. Club Brugge sits atop group B after defeating German Bay er Leverkusen 1-0 and the Portuguese side Porto 4-0. While it’s not guaranteed that either side makes it to the knockout stage, it’ll be fun to watch as they try to advance.

The most disappointing team through two games is Chelsea, who lost 1-0 to Di namo Zagreb, leading them to fire manag er Thomas Tuchel as they are in Group E with one point. While the Blues can fight their way back, they probably won’t make it through to the knockout round at this rate.

Group C, the “Group of Death,” has lived up to the hype. Bayern Munich defeated FC Barcelona 2-0, putting them first in the group as Robert Lewandows ki lost to his former team. One top team will have to play in the Europa League, as not all Bayern, Barcelona, and In ter Milan can reach the knockout stage.

This version of the Champions League has been entertaining. With match days starting back up on October 4th, many fun storylines should fill up the tournament until the last day of the group stage on Novem ber 2nd, when the knockout stage begins. ☐

Belmont Hill Football Update: Promising Start

By luke trevisan ’24 panel staff

With the start of fall comes the start of fooball and the Belmont Hill Var sity Football team is back. First year Head Coach Bryson Rosser takes over the reins from Coach Butler, who maintains his role as Defensive Coordinator. The team is led by captains quarterback Chris Milmoe ’23 and defensive tackle Dave LoGrasso ’23. As of now, the team has played two successful scrimmages against Middlesex and Thayer and lost a tough away game against Lawrence Academy.

In regards to the start of the season, there seems to be an optimistic outlook for the future. Both LoGrasso and Milmoe stated that they appreciated the work that the team did this summer, including cap tain’s practices, team lifts and the Bay State training camp. Milmoe commented that he “hasn’t seen the team work as hard as they

have, and believes that an atmosphere has been created that “does a good job of sup porting winners.” Rosser shared the same view: “We are working hard, taking advan tage of every day and rep we get and are pre paring for the season in every way possible.” It is also important to him, however, that the team should “never be satisfied” and to con tinue the hard work even when it seems easy.

While the accomplishments of the players so far are noteworthy, there’s still a big season ahead. LoGrasso commented on the bonds that the team has formed al ready in comparison to last year and wants to “continue growing that bond.” Milmoe wants to build on the trust that has been formed and take the year “game by game,” ensuring that the team stays focused and ready for each weekend. Rosser agreed and added that he looks forward to “watching our team grow on and off the field,” and maintaining the relationships that they have formed. Additionally, he has learned from the scrimmages and games that “we have a

Belmont Hill XC Update

By Ezra Lee ’25 and Daniel Xie ’24 panel staff

While Belmont Hill Varsity Cross Country is early into their season, they have had a promising start winning their first race against Milton Academy 20-40. Ad ditionally, during the second race of their season, they beat Middlesex and Gover nor’s Academy by substantial margins and only narrowly lost to Roxbury Latin by two points. All the runners gutted out the second race on a challenging course, and, with such close margins between the two best teams in the ISL, the team is in store for an excellent season with auspicious chances at winning the ISL Championship.

Will Trautz ’27 led an exceptional race against Roxbury Latin finishing 3rd overall in the varsity race and first for Bel mont Hill. Led by captains Aaron Stanger’ 24 and Jeremy Eaton ’23, alongside coach es Trautz, Gorman, DeCaprio, and Harder,

the team is working hard in practices and during races in hopes of winning ISLs.

Additionally, the team is ex ceptionally young, with no seniors on Varsity and two middle-school ers in the top five Varsity runners.

Additionally, over the summer, sev eral team members attended a week-long running camp in the Berkshires to prepare for the season, and their work is paying dividends. The teams have packed togeth er both in Varsity and Junior Varsity, and if you attend a race, you will likely see a big cluster of Belmont Hill jerseys leading.

Though the racing season is only be ginning, these past two races have proved incredibly promising for the future of the Varsity Cross Country team this sea son, placing Belmont Hill among the front runners in the league with a strong chance at competing for the ISL Cham pionship. The team looks forward to a competitive race this Saturday, competing with Tabor, Brooks, and St. Sebastians. ☐

team that works well together and refuses to quit” and values their ability to keep fighting until the clock hits 0:00. He knows that if “use what they learn from their coaches and

each other” it will “help them be successful.”

Coach Rosser isn’t the only new ad dition to the coaching staff, however, with running back and JV Coach Zellner moving up from the third football team and OL/DL Coach Fulham also joining the team. Rosser commented that “they have been amazing. They bring great insight, good energy and add value to our staff in a multitude of ways.” Coach Zellner has been with Belmont Hill for five years now and Coach Fulham has experience playing at Middlebury College.

On Saturday, the team beat Rox bury Latin 35-7 in a dominating per formance in the home opener hope fully setting up similar results to come.

The team has six more games this season. Up next St. Sebastians on Octo ber 8th. Further down the line will be the Thayer Under-The-Lights night game on October 22nd. The Panel wishes good luck to the coaches and captains as well as the rest of the varsity football team as they push forward into the season! ☐

LIV Golf: What is it?

By Connor Mackey ’24 panel staff

LIV Golf is a new controversial profes sional golf league competing with the PGA that has grown massively in popularity over the last four months. Most of the league’s rules are similar to the PGA, but there are a few differences. LIV only plays three rounds in each event compared to the PGA’s four. In total, LIV golfers play 54 rounds per event, thus the name LIV (54 in Roman numerals). They also do not make any cuts during the 54 holes. Big players from the PGA have even joined the league, likely cre ating competition for the best young talent in the future, similar to how international soccer leagues compete for talent. Names like Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Phil Mick elson, and Cameron Smith have joined LIV.

The main reason they’ve been able to get all these superstars: money. LIV’s strat

egy has been to pay big-name golfers a lot of money to lure them away from the estab lished brand of the PGA. Another reason players like LIV is because they get paid to show up and then get extra money if they win. In contrast, in the PGA, a player earns money depending on where a player finish es in a tournament. LIV is also very relaxed with the number of events they have. LIV golf will only have 14 events each season compared to the PGA’s 47 events. Players who join LIV get significantly more money per match. The reason why LIV is contro versial right now is because of who is pay ing the checks. LIV golf is getting almost all of its money from Saudi Arabia, a country that commits many human rights viola tions. Critics also disagree with LIV’s more relaxed and laid-back approach compared to the rigid, traditional PGA. No matter what your stance is on PGA vs. LIV, ev eryone can agree that the new league has injected a new form of entertainment that is enjoyable to watch and follow for all.

Champions League playingfor90.com

Dave LoGrasso ’23 BH Communications

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