Back to School

New teachers: Seven teachers join the upper school community this year in fields ranging from science to theater.

Dial the

New fields:

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Hackley School

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Tarrytown, NY 10591

Soccer, field hockey, and cross country enjoyed their preseason on the new facilities.

September 2011 Vol. 113, No. 1

Friday’s activities begin with Sept. 11 rememberance shaneweisberg randikramer sports editor editor-in-chief

At 8:15 a.m. Sept. 9 the Upper School will honor the Tenth Anniversary of Sept. 11 with a moment of silence.

Freshmen, sophomores, and juniors will be in the PAC; seniors will be in the Chapel.

The first Friday back to school will be a break from the daily schedule. Each grade will be doing a separate activity designed by their grade’s dean and Upper School Director Andy King. The activities are relaxing and fun, but still hold important messages. Freshman, sophomores, and juniors will start off the day in the Performing Arts Center (PAC) before heading in their separate directions. Seniors will spend the morning in the Chapel.

Freshmen:

Sophomores:

Juniors:

Seniors:

Ninth graders will meet in the PAC before departing on their “homegrown” scavenger hunt, according to Mr. King. This year’s scavanger hunt will not be professionally coordinated, as it has in past years, and will focus on getting to know notable people and places to know for freshman year.

Possible destinations include: Headmaster Walter Johnson, head of the science department Bill McLay’s physics experiment, history teacher John Van Leer’s office and the new outdoor classroom.

Afterwards, freshmen will head to the Quad for a classic Hackley barbeque.

For the afternoon, guest speaker Dennis Barton will speak about his life and good decision making. Mr. King heard him speak last year and found him to be an “incredible speaker” hopes he will help broaden the freshmen’s perspective and teach them to be empathic and part of the community.

The Pelham Picture House is the destination of the 10th graders, the only group leaving campus on Friday.

Sophomore dean Jenny Leffler is offering a choice between two movies she finds hold important messages.

To Be Heard is the story of high schoolers from the Bronx who found their voice through slam poetry. A Small Act describes how one man’s small philanthropic actions had a great ripple effect on the world around him - even reaching his home town in Africa.

Sophomores will return to campus in time for the barbeque lunch.

Ms. Leffler will then lead an afternoon full of fun and games for the sophomores. She hopes facilitate team and relationship building through the activities.

For the first time, eleventh graders will take part in an exciting new activity modeled after “American Idol,” according to Mr. King.Created by junior dean Chris Arnold, the activity has each student writing a 1-2 minute speeches which they will then present to groups of their classmates.

Each group will select one representative to compete against the selected members of the other groups.

A panel of judges (undecided as of print time) will select 1 to 3 winners who may have the opportunity to present their speech in front of the entire Upper School.

This activity is meant to teach the students about public speaking, which Mr. King describes as one of the “most important skills you can have.”

He and other teachers will lead Public Speaking 101 workshops before the stupdents make their speeches.

Seniors have activities both Thursday evening and Friday morning.

On Thursday, seniors will gather in the courtyard for senior dean Anne Longley’s Senior Barbeque. The first barbeque was postponed as a consequence of Hurricane Irene. E-mail Ms. Longley to RSVP or sign up in her office.

The Class of 2012 will be in the chapel for what Co-Director of College Counseling Peter Latson describes as “College Application Boot Camp.” From 8:30 - 11:30 a.m. seniors will see sample applications and learn proper techniques for completeing their own.

Snacks will be provided, but seniors are not required to attend the barbeque lunch and may depart after the meeting is over.

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September

Welcome back to school!

What does The Dial really mean?

Riverdale has The Riverdale Review. Fieldston has The Fieldston News.

Rye Country Day has the Rye Crop.

Hackley has The Dial—a creative name that apparently bears little relation to our school, our mascot or our history.

But like many aspects of Hackley life, the history lies just below the surface. The introduction of Hackley’s sundial to this year’s masthead is an attempt to unearth and celebrate some of that history and its relation to our purpose as a school newspaper.

There are two theories of the origin of our publication’s name.

One points to the sundial on the quad, and the other theory points to a transcendentalist journal published in 1840, also known as The Dial.

That journal was collected and edited mostly by Margaret Fuller and Ralph Waldo Emerson, names familiar to graduates of English 11.

A prospectus written by George Ripley described the relevance of the name: “The Dial, as its title indicates, will endeavor to occupy

a station on which the light may fall; which is open to the rising sun; and from which it may correctly report the progress of the hour and the day.”

Perhaps our Dial was named for this transcendentalist journal since our school’s founder, Mrs. Frances Hackley, was a committed transcendentalist. And maybe our sundial was placed purposefully in acknowledgement of what Ripley described.

Regardless, the idea of the sundial reflected the mission of the nineteenth-century journal just as it reflects the mission of our school’s publication. The Dial is here not only to provide the latest trends through Hot or Not, but also to shed light on our community as it relates to our greater society.

The sundial on our Quad proclaims a motto, “Let others tell of storms and showers / I’ll only mark your sunny hours.”

The sundial has upheld its side of the bargain, and The Dial staff is excited to uphold ours during the upcoming year.

Casten trip travelers dial up memories danielhoffman

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Asst. Managing Editor he temperature was 105 degrees as 10 students and three teachrachelchan ers embarked on a journey that was meant to take 30 minutes.

Design Editor Four hours later, with little food and no air conditioning, the felt the last bit of water trickle out of the bottle and into my mouth. One more step group was still stuck in their vans, in a chaotic traffic jam. But and I was at the summit of the Sun Gate Mountain at Machu Picchu. The unrelenting the trip was worth the hard journeys because each experience revealed ansun beat onto my face, and I yearned for one more sip. This desire would become other facet of India. a familiar part of the Casten trip to Peru.

My first and most shocking encounter occurred during the first hour in We used bottled water for everyday tasks, including brushing our teeth. Keeping our bodies India. After 24 hours of plane travel, our group of 10 students and 3 chaperreplenished while traveling in Peru was a necessity. Finding bottled water was a daily priority. ones split up into three taxis on the way to our hotel in New Delhi. Tired yet A shortage of water was not only a problem for us, but also for the local population. The excited to see the country, I rested my head against the window and watched majority of Peru’s population needs access to water in order to farm successfully. Unfortuthe world outside. The traffic was unlike anything I had seen before. No one nately, only 30% receive clean tap water. adhered to the lanes or common rules of driving. Families of five passed by One purpose of the trip was to interact with children whose parents were local farmers. all on the same motorcycle. Constant honking filled the air, a sound we would We greeted them at a local school surrounded with farms in the small town of Roma. Their eventually consider normal. parents bring the children to school and then work in the nearby farms.

Then a small girl approached our taxi. She came up to my window, dirty Another purpose of the trip was to travel and visit tourist attractions. On the eighth day of and despairing. She knocked on the window and pointed to her mouth, showthe trip, we took a 13 hour bus ride from Cuzco to Puno. The long drive consisted of a long ing that she was hungry. I froze, not knowing if I should do anything to help dirt road and no conveniences. One pit stop was the side of a remote road next to plains full this poor girl. But I was told to do nothing, because there are hundreds of of grazing alpacas. I, personally, did not get to enjoy the openness of going to the bathroom thousands of children in Delhi like her, and the best way to help them is to give in nature; however, watching everyone to charities. I felt paralyzed with the inability to help this starving child. Nevelse negotiate the challenge was amusing. ertheless, I had The impact that the trip had on me never seen anywas three-fold. First, it made me apprecithing like it, and ate simple necessities in my daily life, such the memory reas clean tap water. Second, it gave me mains sharp in the opportunity to visit new places and my mind. push myself both mentally and physically.

But not all Lastly, it allowed me to become closer to our experimy classmates and teachers. I will never ences were forget my trip to Peru and hope to visit unsettling--For again soon. example, in the vegetarian city The students and their Peruvian guide greet the sun at Machu alyzangbokoli of Rishikesh, Picchu the day before the solstice. Photo by Andrew Ying.

Contributing Writer located on the ess than a week after school ended, a group Ganges River, Senior Alex Dragone dances with a cow on the streets of of seven other girls, three chaperones, and we explored India. Photo by Dorothea Trufelman.

I left by plane to Senegal. English teacher the crowded streets one evening. Along with shops and Cyndy Jean had warned us how overwhelmstreet vendors, cows roamed the streets. Since cows are ing it would be when we stepped into the airport in considered holy animals in Hinduism, no one bothers them, Dakar, the country’s capital. There would be many and they graze in the city at their will. As we stopped to buy people wanting to help us with our bags, and there would some water, a small cow approached our group. Specifically, be children asking for money. Being tourists, we needed to it took a liking to senior Alex Dragone. be ready to confront confusing situations from the start.

The cow rubbed its head on Alex’s front side, and conHowever, the trip led to more surprises than the tinued pushing into him in a rubbing fashion. Alex tried to chaotic airport in Dakar. I was shocked by the number resist, but not wanting to insult this sacred creature, he could of people who were walking on the streets and driving not get the cow to leave. Soon enough, the cow was done in cars during the day. There were people everywhere, socializing with Alex, and went on its way. But the cow made and they were all friendly to each other. sure to defecate in front of the group before saying goodbye.

The smaller villages also left me with a lasting impresThe Casten Trip to India was full of surprising encounsion. At first our stay was rough, because the bathrooms ters. But what I really took away from the trip was how and showers were completely different than they were in astonishingly diverse the world is, culturally and structurally.

Students got a chance to play with the local children.

Dakar. But within four days I felt acclimated to the ways Forty percent of India’s immense population lives in poverty, Senior Nikki Miller teaches one hand games. Photo by of village life. The local people were the most valuable and this statistic is plainly evident when walking through the Cyndy Jean. aspect of the experience. They always asked us questions, overpopulated cities. Entire families live in piles of garbage, and the children followed us everywhere. Their innocence and curiosity amazed us. and no one takes any notice.

Back in the city of Dakar, we met some university students. We had conversations in which they would Comparing these impoverished communities with the explain their Senegalese culture, and we would explain our American culture. Our meetings were informative prosperous communities we live in is eye-opening. I was and amusing. At the conclusion of our visit, we had a party. We taught them American dances, and they taught astonished to find that I could buy a whole meal from street us theirs. It was amusing to watch each other attempt to dance to the music in this cultural exchange. Everyone vendors for 20-30 cents, and I wondered how they could was enjoying themselves and laughing; we formed unique friendships with these students. support their families with such a small profit. But despite Senegal left me thinking a lot about different cultures. After the trip, I realized that nothing could have prethe poverty, the heat, and the lack of proper infrastructure, pared me for what I experienced. Senegal taught me about the importance of family, optimism, and gratefulness.

India’s culture awed us with its beauty, from the Taj Mahal I’d definitely go back, not only for the delicious food, but also for the amazing people. to the Golden Temple.

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India

Peru

Editor-in-chief randikramer

Senegal

dialstaff

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Hackley School - 293 Bendict Ave., Tarrytown, NY - (914) 631 0128 - September 2011 - Vol. 113, No. 1 - www.hackleyschool.org

Managing Editor ariannafirpo

Coordinating Editor mattmacfarlane Asst. Coordinating Editor leobarse

Sports Editor shaneweisberg

Op-ed Editor rolandrizzi

Sports Editor dominiquealpuche

Op-ed Editor alexhersh

Assist. Managing Editor danielhoffman

Feature Editor paulrapisardi

Asst. Sports Editor maxparauda

Lifestyles Editor halleyweinreb

Design Editor rachelchan

News Editor jackieyang

Arts Editor nickhallock

Copy Editor annatskhovrebov

Production Editor melissawarshauer

Politics Editor bobbygrusky

Politics Editor harrisonwetzler

Staff Artist mollykestenbaum

Adviser jennielyons Adviser scottboehnen

Policy

Opinions expressed in staff editorials reflect the majority view of The Dial Editorial Board. Opinions expressed in signed articles are those of the author and do not represent the views of Hackley School, its administration or its staff. The Dial invites and encourages its readers to write letters to the editor or submit contributions. We reserve the right to edit any submission for clarity and brevity, and to correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation when necessary. We refuse to publish submissions which are unsigned, libelous, or plagiarized.

Four hundred copies of each issue are distributed among the High School student body of about four hundred students and the faculty and staff.

Letters and submissions can be emailed to dial@hackleyschool.org. The Dial is the official student newspaper of Hackley School.

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feature

September

Welcome back to school!

Hackley welcomes new teachers to the hilltop Name: Position: Previous jobs: Additional info:

Name: Position: Previous jobs: Additional info:

Erich Tusch Director of Instructional Technology Music teacher, supervisional administration, and technology teacher at Pascack Valley Regional High School in Montvale, N.J. Mr. Tusch is an active musician. He plays the jazz guitar and is a vocal soloist. He also is the director for his church choir. He believes that it is “important to express yourself in ways outside your work place.” His children also play instruments. On coming to Hackley, he said that he was “ready for a career change,” and that Hackley “really wants the best educational opportunities for its students.”

Jason Gilley Chemistry teacher Taught for 12 years at Cypress Creek High School in Orlando, FL. Mr. Gilley enjoys travelling, most recently across the USA, though he has been to other places in the world. He also enjoys reading Stephen King books and Harry Potter books. Apart from that, he enjoys playing various video games.

Name: Position: Previous jobs: Additional info:

John Chen E.E. Ford Fellow, 9th grade history Recently graduated from college Mr. Chen became interested in Hackley because of its similarity to his alma mater, Dartmouth. “Class size [at Hackley] for example is really small, [and] there’s a lot of student-teacher interaction, which is a big thing up there [at Dartmouth],” he said. “I felt like I would be comfortable at Hackley; that was number one. Number two is the students: there were a couple Hackley kids that went to Dartmouth when I was there. They’re all very intelligent and very dedicated and committed, so that’s actually what drew my interest.”

Name: Position: Previous jobs: Additional info:

Hackley also welcomes: 2 Lower School faculty members 3 Middle School faculty members

Name: Position: Name: Position: Previous jobs:

Additional info:

Jackson Blossom Upper School Librarian Librarian for eight years, also had many different jobs, including managing a warehouse, delivering candy to prisons, and selling toner cartridges Mr. Blossom advocates for new urbanism and new pedestrianism, which are movements that promote more walkable neighborhoods and less dependency on cars.

Because of this, Mr. Blossom really enjoys cycling.

Mr. Blossom also enjoys reading the “eloquent and pointed non-fiction” of James Baldwin.

Articles by Marc Byrnes, Rachel Chan, Nick Hallock, Evan Weisberg. Layout by Jackie Yang.

Photos by the Dial Staff.

Previous jobs: Additional info:

David Sykes 9th grade history, Economics Taught in New York City public schools, spent four years teaching in Barcelona Mr. Sykes has a few passions that he is happy to share with the students. “One, I’m passionate about sports and athletics, whether it’s playing them – I play a lot of tennis and basketball and soccer – watching them, or coaching them,” he said. “I’ve coached basketball before and I’m really excited about coaching tennis now. I think with my humanities, history, and economics background, I’m pretty politically active and interested, and I read the news a lot. I read a lot of journals, and try to keep up to date on current world events.”

Lauren Rigby Director of Strings and Chamber Music for the middle and upper schools Taught privately at Great Neck Music Conservatory (N.Y.), taught at music festivals, free lance musician.

Dr. Rigby has many favorite bands, including Florence and the Machine, Regina Spektor, Joni Mitchell, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Rasputina, and Nine Inch Nails, but her alltime favorite is Tori Amos. Dr. Rigby loves food and wine, and enjoys running to burn off the calories. “I love being outdoors and getting to experience this beautiful part of the country,” she said.

Name: Position: Previous jobs: Additional info:

Carolyn Burke Middle and Upper School Theater Taught theater in New York City public schools, performed Off-Broadway, and helped develop plays for young audiences Carolyn Burke has always been interested in theater. She attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and the Performing Arts, “a.k.a. the FAME school,” but surprisingly, she “actually never wanted to become a teacher.” Her favorite play is William Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost. Outside of theater and the classroom, she enjoys “yoga, running, cooking, curling up with a good book and HGTV,” the last of which is a guilty pleasure.

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sports

Welcome back to school!

September

Football preseason: post-Pickert Coach Treglia installs new system dominiquealpuche

Junior Jack Ellis makes a running catch in a preseason practice.

Photo by Paul Rapisardi.

For the first time in nearly four decades, Hackley’s football players took the field for their preseason practice without legendary head coach Robert Pickert leading them. After 45 years of service at the school, Coach Pickert retired at the end of last season, leaving his team in the hands of Coach Philip Treglia.

In the last two years, Coach Treglia improved the program at Woodlands High School, guiding them to their first six-win season in 30 years, and he is now prepared to bring his philosophy to Hackley.

Treglia acknowledged that it will take time for the boys to get used to the new coaching staff, but senior co-captain Will Johnson described the transition from old to new as “relatively smooth.”

“Every single player on the team is committed to being the best they can be, and determined to impress our new set of coaches,” Will said. “That attitude has made the transition easy.”

Along with introducing his players to a new, no-huddle, spread offense, which should increase the speed of the game and tire the opposing defense, he is also introducing a different style of defense with new techniques and positions.

Coach Treglia has altered the way daily practices are run. Accustomed to Coach Pickert’s preseason practices that could run for three or four hours per session, the players are adapting to Treglia’s training, which he describes as “a fast, upbeat tempo in practice, where every ten minutes a new drill is being started.”

The players seem to be adjusting well to this new pace. “I like the way we run practice…and the intensity he [Coach

sports editor Treglia] brings,” junior Luke Sweeney said.

Hackley’s football team also faces some familiar challenges this season. “As always, we will have to deal with low numbers on the varsity and J.V. teams,” Will said, commenting on the program’s size of about 30 total players. “To minimize the effect a lack of numbers will have on the team, it is very important that we are in good shape, because many players will be starting both ways,” he added.

Coach Treglia said that the preseason practices are also addressing the team’s relative youth. “With young players, it takes time to get used to a varsity-level sport,” he said.

“I like the way we run practice… and the intensity he [Coach Treglia] brings,”— Junior Luke Sweeney With their first regular season game on Sept. 17 against Riverdale, the younger players on the team will have to get used to this level of play fairly quickly if they hope to start their season competitively.

Senior co-captain A.J. Wolf is positive about how the season has gone so far, saying, “There is a great attitude from the team as a whole this year.”

A.J. attributes that attitude in part to the example of the coach.

“Coach Treglia does a great job of showing a friendly personality, while also maintaining the players’ utmost respect,” he said.

Coach Treglia identified one ongoing goal for the team’s first few weeks together. “We’re taking baby steps—trying to get a little better every day,” he said.

Fall Sting–September 16-17 shaneweisberg sports editor

Turf continues to grow on campus bobbygrusky politics editor

Apart from hours of training in preseason, Hackley athletes now have a competitive advantage under their feet as well.

This preseason, upper-school athletes have already begun to experience the new fields that have been under construction for the past year. Teams are already using the two new turf fields designed for soccer, lacrosse and field hockey as well the new Dave Allison Cross Country Trails.

Still under construction are the DelMoro Baseball Field, the softball field and “The Hive,” a new building with locker rooms, an athletic training room, and restrooms. The completion of these two additional fields will bring the total number of Hackley fields to seven. According to Headmaster Walter Johnson, “These new fields will enable our coaches to teach and prepare our students even more effectively for athletics, and for academics.”

The new fields have “Revolution” turf, manufactured by FieldTurf. The same product is used at Gillette stadium, home of the New England Patriots and the New England Revolution soccer team.

According to senior Austen Bhayani, the new fields allow the varsity soccer team “to practice when it’s raining, especially after storms like the past hurricane. The fields drain really well.” Austen said that this is a big improvement over Benedict field, which took much longer to dry.

Having the availability of both grass and turf fields will also create a competitive advantage for home games. Austen said that the soccer team will switch between the two fields for games against specific opponents who may have practiced exclusively on one type of field or the other. The new field also allows the team to prepare for games against schools that play exclusively on turf, such as Poly Prep.

The new cross-country trails provide a full 5K course as well as an additional 1.5K competition loop. Early reviews are positive.

“The new trails are highly technical, which will allow us to prepare for other difficult courses,” junior Joseph Shalabi said.

The new fields and trails will be used during the Fall Sting on Sept. 16 and 17, which features home games for all varsity teams.

(From left to right) Senior Carolyn King swings at the ball during practice on the new turf field.

Juniors Chris Cacace and Pietro Moran run on the new trails.

Sophomore Ian Mook makes a pass on Benedict Field. Junior Katie Gallop rips a hard shot on goal. Photos by Paul Rapisardi.

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ast spring, hundreds of Hackley students, parents and faculty flooded the fields to support spring athletes in the first ever Spring Sting. This year, athletes playing in the fall and the winter will also get to participate in an all-day program of competition. The first Fall Sting will take place on Sept. 16 and 17 as teams kick off the 2011 season on their new fields.

The event will be similar to last year’s Spring Sting. Food, games and crafts, along with ceremonies to celebrate the openings of the new fields and the new trails. The Hornets’ Nest will sell Hackley gear. There will be five games featuring both boys’ and girls’ varsity soccer teams, the varsity field hockey team, the girls’ varsity tennis team and the varsity football team.

The boys’ soccer team will play the first game at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 16 under the lights on Pickert Field. Students are encouraged to wear black and gray to school that day and to the game as the Hornets play Fieldston.

Last season, Hackley beat Fieldston twice, 5-1 and 3-0. Top scorer Tommy Heffernan and defensive leader Taylor Holland both graduated, but seniors Dan Norris, Matt Goldman and Justin Seim now lead the team in their quest for a second straight Ivy League title.

The rest of the games and activities will take place on Saturday. The girls’ tennis team will also play Fieldston at 12:00 p.m., a team which they beat twice last season, 4-1 and 5-0. Last year’s top impact player, sophomore Corinne Alini is expected to dominate in the upcoming season.

At 12:30 p.m. a trail walk will mark the opening of the new cross-country trails, which are named in honor of coach Dave Allison.

At 1:00 p.m., the football team, led by All-State lineman and linebacker senior A.J. Wolf, will face Riverdale on Pickert Field.

Hackley defeated Riverdale 19-8 in their season opener last year, but that victory included the talents of running back Adam Parker, who has since transferred to another school. This year, with new head coach Phil Treglia, and without Adam, the game will be much tougher. (The hornets were 0-6 without Adam last year.)

Other games will begin at 2:00 p.m. as most people watch the girls’ soccer team play on the new turf fields for the first time. They too will play Fieldston, a team they lost to twice in a disappointing 2010 season. With the graduation of captains Sophie Mayeux, Katie Philpott and Kat Budlong, the Hornets will have to rely on younger players to try to start a new era of domination in the Ivy League.

Then at 2:45 p.m., the opening ceremony of the new turf fields will take place.

The final game of the day will be a matchup between Hackley’s field hockey team and Horace Greeley. In their only game last season, Hackley won 1-0. Seniors Caroline Ellis and Perri Weiss led the team last season, but the team continued to play well while Caroline was injured, so the adjustment should not be as difficult. New seniors Carolyn King and Kathleen Sullivan are expected to compensate for the loss of last year’s seniors.

The cross country team does not have a race scheduled.