December 2016 | The Evergreen, Greenhill School

december 14, 2016 volume 52, issue 3

the Everything Greenhill

evergreengreenhill.org

The thought process behind Greenhill’s winter musical, Cabaret

Graphic by Amy Yang

Ellen Margaret Andrews Executive Editor

Creeping through the curtains, a man appears.

He has a smirk on his face, like he knows something the audience doesn’t. The music plays, and he begins to sing, “Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome!” As he continues, he introduces his “beautiful” women, as well as the “beautiful,” orchestra, assuring the audience that, “Outside it is winter, but in here, it is so hot!” Here, he says, “life is beautiful!”

Cabaret is set to hit the stage of Rose Hall in February, with 29 cast members. The show takes place in a 1930’s Berlin nightclub, the Kit Kat Klub, and occurs during the Nazi regime’s rise to power in Germany. It follows a young American writer named Cliff Bradshaw and his relationship with one of the nightclub’s performers, Sally Bowles. According to both students and directors of the show, the setting of Cabaret is an important foundation for all of the important themes addressed in the show. “[Cabaret] will be very different than probably anything Greenhill has ever done,” said senior Lauren

Views

A partisan voice in the classroom? p. 3

News

Students and faculty weigh in on new English courses p. 4

Serving Greenhill since 1966

Stock, a Kit Kat dancer.

Distinct from last year’s production of Annie, students consider Cabaret to be significantly more risqué. From many female cast members playing the 1930’s equivalents of nightclub dancers, to regular antiSemitic remarks and sentiments throughout the show, Cabaret is not the typical light-hearted, family-friendly musical. However, Lauren believes Cabaret delivers an important and relevant message despite its suggestive themes and rhetoric.

“One of the central themes of the show is that ‘it could happen anywhere.’ The Nazis were people just like we are. I want the audience to understand that this is not just a story about 1930’s Germany,” she said. “This is a timeless story. This is saying what has happened before and what can happen. I hope that people understand that we are not just watching a piece of theater, but that we are watching a whole section of history.”

Feat.

Identity is not black and white p. 10

cont’d on page 6

Arts

Junior finds feminism in fashion p. 7

Sports

The Clay Maker p. 13

4141 Spring Valley Road, Addison, TX 75001

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Views

Rants & Raves

the

Evergreen staff editor-in-chief Zayna Syed

executive editors

A RAVE to the friendly servers in the lunchroom. The cafeteria workers have confidently reached a level of friendliness that is elusive to us mere mortals. We sincerely thank all the lunch staff for bringing joy to our day with a delicious hot meal and a warm smile.

A RANT to the lack of tampons in the Greenhill Upper School. If we have a bathroom emergency, we would hope to reach over and find something useful rather than an empty metal container.

The tampon shortage isn’t a joke, Greenhill. We must fix it, period.

A RAVE to the digital art displays outside the Video Production room.

We were a tad apprehensive when we saw three sideways televisions being installed, but now we get it. What better way to appreciate the work of Greenhill’s ~unconventional~ and ~groundbreaking~ digital artists?

Ellen Margaret Andrews Ben Schachter

managing editor

Joseph Weinberg

copy editor

Simra Abedi

design editors Areeba Amer Arhum Khan

arts editor Zoe Allen

backpage editors Sophie Bernstein Maya Ghosh

features editor

Radhe Melwani

news editor

A RANT to messy locker rooms.

Picture this: papers flap in the cold wind from outside, backpacks are piled into insurmountable mountains, the stench of a two-week-old sandwich wafts from an unknown source. Is it a setting from the Walking Dead? No, it’s a Greenhill locker room.

A RAVE to Mr. Baker’s stress balls. Let’s face it: 2016 has been a stressful year and the Zen garden alone couldn’t save us from despair. Only a basket of shiny toys and bubbles has the ability to calm the nerves of a Greenhill student. Here’s to a 2017 of less stress and lots more new toys.

A RANT to the lack of doorstops. As we glide towards the Elliot Center doors, ready to face another day, a rogue door strikes down our physical forms (and our dignity). The common folk still wonder: how many more are to fall to the tyrannical reign of these doorstop-less doors? Too many, friend. Too many.

Abbas Hasan

sports editors

Lili Stern Jordan Sternblitz

views editor

Annika Squires

asst. arts editor Alice Zhang

asst. views editor Ross Rubin

staff manager Josh Rudner

online managing editor Suman Chebrolu

A RAVE to the half day before Thanksgiving break. ‘Twas the day before Thanksgiving break and all the teenagers of Greenhill School wanted to dash out the doors, into their homes and stuff their faces with turkey. We thank you, Greenhill, for making what could have been a boring, educational nine to four day into a half-day.

A RAVE to Sage Dining’s tofu. Here A RANT to messy tables in the at Greenhill, we don’t just have plain courtyard. As much as we appreciate old, boring tofu you might find at the the gesture, no one wants the remains supermarket. You’ll get a range of of your delicious Cane’s smeared across flavors all the way from fajita spice to their workspace. The same goes for barbeque sauce without a single drop in yucky nonfood items like bird poop. quality!

The moral of the story is that we should all clean up after ourselves, birds and humans alike.

Content courtesy of Allie Frymire, Julia Halm and Richa Sinkre Photos by Sudeep Bharghava

Staff Editorial: We Need More SEALS It’s a Thursday night, and a freshman is frantically trying to finish an English paper. His mother stands over his shoulder and keeps reminding him that taking two electives was a bad idea. He loves both Singers and Debate, but he can’t manage the both of them. He has too much on his plate.

Many underclassmen at Greenhill find themselves wishing that someone could assist them in balancing their academic and social lives. In past years, Greenhill has had different programs to help with this problem, including the Peer Assistance Leadership Students (PALS) program. However, the program dissolved because the PALS curriculum was geared more towards a public school environment. Taking its place is a new program called Student Ethics and Leadership Seminar (SEALS), which builds on some

of the same things in the PALS curriculum, but is specifically focused on issues in Greenhill’s environment.

However, due to scheduling issues, not all juniors and seniors are able to take the class. Greenhill needs to make SEALS a priority. Our core values emphasize understanding and community. Without this program, we are depriving students of the supportive community Greenhill claims to be.

Many students at Greenhill want to see the SEALS program further developed.

The exchange of views and advice from upperclassmen to underclassmen is essential to creating a safe and healthy environment.

“I think that there is an enough of an age difference that the underclassmen will really listen to what we have to say,

and not just take it at face value,” senior and SEALS member Isabel Chavez said. “Student to student relationships allow everyone to be more themselves.”

The SEALS program is one of the most essential resources Greenhill offers for students.

“I want them to talk to us outside of the classroom. Friend to friend. Sometimes I have a lot going on, and I just want to reach out to someone who has been through the same stuff as me,” said freshman Jose Portela III. One of the ways the SEALS class could be more effective is to make the class available in the summer. This way, the SEALS can focus on learning about making informed decisions without the distraction and stress of other classes. While there may be additional costs to making a summer class, it would provide unique benefits, such as

allowing SEALS to build their relationships with freshmen advisories at the beginning of the year instead of the current system where it is difficult for underclassmen to connect to upperclassmen. The SEALS do meet with the freshman early in the year, but they haven’t learned much of the curriculum.

“I hope my SEAL freshmen learn that high school has a lot of problems and you are going to get through it. There is not one solid solution to everything, there a different way to solve your problems. You have resources and methods to help.

I promise,” Isabel said.

Making the SEALS program a larger part of the Upper School would reinforce to students that they are not alone. If Greenhill creates a space where SEALS can thrive, Greenhill can live up to its name of an inclusive, educated and supportive community.

online content editor Areeba Amer

online broadcast editor Christian Quintero

staff writers

Samar Ahmad Stephen Crotty

business manager Rishi Vas

advisor

Nureen Patel

asst. advisor

Dr. Amy Bresie

staff photographers Simra Abedi Sudeep Bharghava

staff artists

Grace Doyle Drake Heptig Amy Yang

Have a response?

Opinion?

Original Idea?

Email us at: evergreen@greenhill.org For the editorial policy visit our website at evergreengreenhill.org

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A partisan voice in the classroom?

Greenhill teachers get real about politics in the classroom

I attended a public high school in a conservative suburb of Chicago and later went to college in a very liberal town similar to Austin; yet, I cannot remember a single incident where one of my teachers expressed a strongly worded partisan statement.

Elections were won and lost by both Republicans and Democrats, but teachers never showed positive or negative emotion about the outcome and classes were not cancelled when they did not go a certain way. Instead, they let us formulate our own ideas, free from their own personal biases. I try my best to emulate them in my classroom. This is the type of education Greenhill students (and their parents) expect and deserve.

-Michael Krueger Upper School Science teacher

I have been teaching government for well over a decade, and my instinct since I was a rookie teacher has always been to leave my ideology at the door. I work hard in presenting both sides of modern issues, but I encourage students to express their opinions. When an atmosphere of trust and comfort is present in a classroom, I think students feel welcome to question and comment on sensitive issues in a mature way. If I feel there is only one side of an issue being supported by the class, I will make an effort to play devil’s advocate.

I did struggle in this election cycle to be as balanced in weighing the issues, because I felt there were discriminatory things thrown out there in a way that hasn’t been present in modern presidential campaigns before.

-Genie Burke Upper School History teacher

Graphic by Drake Heptig

In a class where you discuss social, political and economic issues, I think it’s impossible to conceal your biases. I make mine known up front to remind students that we all have them and that we need to be cognizant of how they can impact our thinking. The only ways that this can be problematic is if my biases stifle class discussion or if they adversely affect students’ grades. I think most of my students – even the liberal ones – would say that I encouraged discussion and debate in class. As for grading, I’ve told my students that their papers often have no right or wrong answers. I’m looking for the use of accurate facts and an organized, well-structured argument. In most cases, I couldn’t possibly care less about the conclusion, as long as it follows logically from the premises. Appeals to my politics or vanity are futile.

-Adrian Martinez Upper School History teacher It would be difficult, if not impossible to avoid discussing politics in the instruction of a foreign language class, because the acquisition of language is far more than the discussion of verbs and nouns. Culture, history, and… yes, politics are key formative elements in the evolution of language in every country. The rise and fall of the Roman Empire is the base for present day romance languages. France, Spain, Italy and Portugal have each molded their Latin heritage into unique ways of communication. That being said, in the present North American political climate, every teacher, regardless of subject matter, must tread lightly when broaching “hot button” political topics. It is somewhat safer, but not always controversy free, to discuss political decisions of antiquity. The teacher should not necessarily avoid political topics, but attempt to present objective points of view. Discussion, debate and analysis is what education seeks to promote. How can one develop “critical thinkers” if one does not evaluate crucial topics of interest?

The broad brush of politics impacts many aspects of our lives, like it or not.

Politics determine if our roads are paved, the amount of taxes we pay, and the food we eat. Discussion of politics cannot be avoided, so we should embrace it and seek to be objective.

-Tina Mendez-Kohler Upper School Spanish teacher

News the

Graphic by Suman Chebrolu

An American take on Turkey

Senior Suman Chebrolu’s perspective on the status of US-Turkey relations

This past July, members of the Turkish military planned a coup against Turkey’s government and its president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Opponents said Erdoğan became more autocratic throughout his political career.

Since the failed coup, Erdoğan has declared a state of emergency in Turkey, thus allowing him to justify quick executive actions against members of the press, agents behind the coup and other political opponents. He accused a former political rival and a prominent imam, Fethullah Gülen, for orchestrating the coup, although Gülen denies any involvement.

Gülen currently resides in a self-exile in Philadelphia. While Erdoğan cannot indict Gülen right away, he has been making moves against other rivals. Just recently, he arrested the leader of the pro-Kurdish party, Selahattin Demirtas, along with 10 other leaders. Demirtas has fought for the Kurds to have their own country. The Kurds are an ethnic minority in Turkey, Syria and Iraq who want their own state, in a part of Eastern Turkey and as Northern Syria and

Iraq. As of November 22, Erdoğan has detained or suspended over 125,000 people allegedly involved with the coup.

Currently, it is not clear when Erdoğan will end the state of emergency or what this means for the United States’ interests in the region. As the NATO member closest to the fight against ISIS and key to stability in the Middle East, Turkey is crucial to the fight against ISIS, as the United States military has multiple bases in Turkey. This complicated relationship took some time to develop.

“

We would win if we would just sit down and negotiate-but using our best people.”

Here’s a little bit of background: Turkey’s demand that the U.S. hand over Gülen deteriorated U.S.-Turkey relations. The U.S. refused, and rightly so. The two countries also disagree when it comes to the possibility of a Kurdish State. The U.S. currently funds the semi-autonomous “Kurdistan” military

in the fight against ISIS. However, Turkey has been accused of letting ISIS into Kurdish lands and attacking their cities, along with bombing Syrian Kurdish bases.

All of this has led to the U.S. and Turkish governments butting heads. While President-elect Trump hasn’t explicitly stated his plan for Turkey on his campaign website, some inferences can be made by what he does say. President-elect Trump has said that he wants NATO nations to pay the two percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) goal on military to receive U.S. protection, an obligation all NATO countries must meet as specified in the North Atlantic Treaty.

Turkey currently spends 1.69 percent of the GDP (as of 2015). Trump also said he didn’t want to put the U.S. in the position of regime changing or nation-building. Erdoğan would love that, as it would mean he wouldn’t see a threat to his administration or the possible rise of Kurdistan.

Erdoğan does not seem to be interested in trying to fix the bloody conflict just beyond his southern border. For the U.S. to respond properly, we must decide what we

want from the Middle East. Do we want to bring peace to the region? Do we just want to snuff out terrorism against the west? Should we worry about the government’s civil wars there? Donald Trump has suggested talking a more isolationist stance on foreign policy. This indicates that Trump would not worry about Turkey at all, unless it becomes a direct threat to the country. This alone would not be terrible for the United States, as we wouldn’t have to worry about fixing all the world’s problems, and possibly making mistakes. The trouble is how we get out of the conflicts in the Middle East.

Turkey lies at the heart of this geopolitical puzzle. However, these worsening U.S.-Turkish relations, Trump’s ambiguous foreign policy and Erdoğan’s increasing hold on executive power all make for a scary situation in the Middle East, and all of us should be on the edge of our seats to see what decisions come next.

Column by Suman Chebrolu

Faculty and students weigh in on new English courses Jordan Sternblitz Sports Editor

Beginning this year, the Upper School began offering a wide variety of English trimester courses to all seniors and juniors. In past years, all juniors were required to take three different English courses: Tragedy Through the Ages, Poetry: A Survey and Narrative Non-Fiction.

Additionally, all Advanced Placement (AP) English courses were removed from the English curriculum, leaving all junior and senior students with a plethora of trimesterlong, inter-grade electives to take. While this does eliminate “year-longs” for upperclassmen, the school’s aim is to increase thoughtful discussion through courses with various ages represented in the classroom.

Many students have welcomed this curriculum change with open arms.

Senior Doug Kreitling points out how unlike AP courses, trimester classes eliminate the need to teach to a certain test.

“At my old school, we had a full-year AP English course that we were supposed to take. Here, it’s a lot more about actually learning, reading, instead of focusing on

getting a good grade for a trimester,” Doug said.

In addition to the way classes improve personal growth in the classroom, Doug believes that the inter-grade classes offer diverse perspectives that Greenhill promotes.

“I like [mixing grades]. I think it makes Greenhill a more inclusive environment. It’s awesome that we can get together and learn as one ‘being,’” Doug said.

Upper School English teacher Karin Thomas is supportive of the change as well.

After teaching upperclassmen last year and this year, she believes that the current junior class is more than qualified to be in class with senior students. “[The juniors] added to the classroom raise the bar.

What’s important is working through material you wouldn’t otherwise have a chance to. We can do more and we can go further,” Dr. Thomas said.

Dr. Thomas also believes that it has motivated the juniors to work harder. “[The change] encourages people to read beyond themselves. To do harder work, better work. So it’s been really positive,” Dr. Thomas said.

Junior Maya LaRosiliere is another supporter of the change, citing the mixing of the grades as something she particularly enjoys. As a younger member in the class, she says the diversity in age allows for new opinions on topics discussed.

“I like that I was in the class with seniors because I’ve been at Greenhill for so long and I’ve been used to having the same people in my classes. It’s good to have a different perspective and hear from people I had never heard opinions from, or even met, before,” Maya said.

However, not everyone is fully supportive of the new English curriculum.

Although senior Mika Thakkar is appreciative of the different class options, she believes that the mixed-grade classroom dynamic takes away from the chemistry students have built with the peers in their own grades.

“I think having classes with juniors is a lot different, because you’ve had so many classes over the last three years with your classmates in your grade and you’ve built a repertoire. You have a very normalized way of doing things, and now it’s kind of changed. I like the trimester courses

because you get to explore different areas, but having it with a different grade is kind of frustrating,” Mika said.

While Upper School English teacher Andrew Mercurio is able to teach new classes, he misses the required courses he used to teach to juniors.

“There are things I miss about Poetry and Tragedy. In particular, Poetry was an experience that allowed for a specific type of interaction and growth both within the class and with the texts,” said Mr. Mercurio. “It’s the same thing for Tragedy. Tragedy is such a foundational genre, both with literature and the stage. To take out Oedipus, to take out Hamlet, and to not have that as a reference point for our students is hard for me to swallow. I have absolutely loved my electives, but that doesn’t mean I don’t miss the genre-based classes.”

Despite some criticism, the new English curriculum has recieved mostly positive feedback. Either way, the numerous trimester course options this year have provided all upperclassmen with a more extensive range of topics to study.

wednesday, december 14, 2016

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news

First time voters reminisce about their experiences

“It was really surreal. It was great, especially since I had taken AP Gov and had learned all about the process, like it was awesome.

And I got to make history in my first time ever voting, voting for a woman, so that was pretty special.”

-Molly Bendalin, senior

“It was kind of an annoying process. I’d rather it have been a different election because I felt passionately against one but I didn’t really feel passionately for one. Well I felt passionately for one in primaries but not once there was actually the election. So it was kind of annoying, but at the same time it felt kind of cool to actually do that.”

-Jonah Goldberg, senior

Greenhill introduces halal food options Areeba Amer

Design/Online Content Editor

Earlier this fall, Greenhill began offering zabiha halal meat in the cafeteria for Muslim students and faculty. Zabiha halal is the process of slaughtering a halal animal according to the Islamic method.

“Since we are a diverse community, if there are other needs out there we are going to try and meet them,” said Dean of Students Jack Oros.

The meat will be available at every lunch in the form of cold cuts. Students and faculty who eat exclusively or prefer to eat zabiha halal may ask for the meat in the hot lunch line.

The idea has been considered for a few years, but it was not until last year that Mr. Oros sat down with other administrators and found a way to offer halal meat on a daily basis.

According to Mr. Oros, providing halal meat requires special preparation and it tends to be more expensive than regular deli meats. Kitchen staff must prepare the meat on a separate oven as well. Therefore, over the summer, SAGE dining bought a new grill that exclusively cooks halal meat.

This change is in an effort to combat the issues that have

arisen with the “all-in” lunch tuition plan implemented last year. As a result, students and parents with dietary restrictions have shown concern for the cafeteria food they are required to pay for.

“If all students are paying for the dining program, then we need to meet dietary needs as best we can. You always have the option to bring a lunch, but you are still paying for the meal that’s out there,” Mr. Oros said.

The Muslim community has a positive response towards this change.

“I know that Muslim students, especially the ones that observe halal meat would love to have halal food everyday,” said Muslim Student Association advisor and Upper School math teacher Dr. Youssef Oumanar.

“I think it’s a great step forward as a school.”

Muslim students who eat exclusively zabiha halal are glad to have the option.

“I think its about time. It’s been a while and there’s not a lot of options for me otherwise,” said sophomore Anaah Abedi, who eats exclusively halal. “It is important for Muslims to get the protein that they need and have a variety of food to eat.”

Graphic by Grace Doyle

5

Photos by Simra Abedi Graphic by Drake Heptig

“It felt incredibly patriotic, and I’m going to tell my kids that the first election I voted in was the 2016 election.”

-Noah Cook, senior

“It was really exciting, but I was really disappointed that I had really horrible options. I mean on one side, there was a little bit of both that I kind of liked even though I was leaning more to one side, but just the fact that it was my first time having an official voice for my country, it was really exciting.”

-Giselle Garcia, senior

the

Arts

The controversial material of ‘Cabaret’ con’t from page 1 Senior Addie Gomez was thrilled when Cabaret was announced as the Winter Musical. As a participant in 14 Greenhill productions in high school, and as a member of the cast of the 2013 production of the comedy Avenue Q, Addie got a taste of what performing in a perhaps more suggestive piece was like. With her experience in Avenue Q, she was excited that her final musical would be one that she sees as a heavy, but extremely meaningful piece.

“The message is that you have to be aware of your surroundings, and when you see injustice happening, you have to talk about it. You have to speak up,” she said. “It’s really easy to kind of shut yourself off from what’s going around you if it isn’t affecting you personally. That’s how people like Hitler come to power. You can’t ignore problems that don’t affect you, because eventually they will.”

During the musical selection process, Theater Director Valerie Hauss-Smith said she considered a wide variety of options.

When deciding shows like these, she noted there are some significant goals to keep in mind.

“The most important thing as far as educational theatre is concerned is trying to find the perfect vehicle for the people that you have so that you can stretch them, showcase them and put them in a situation of success rather than failure,” she said.

At the end of the day, Cabaret seemed like the perfect choice. Not only was it an opportunity to fulfill these goals, but it is also a show that she feels carries relevant messages for this moment in time.

“To me, a musical needs to mean something. This is one that means something.

It’s a powerful piece that makes us reflect on history and reminds us to be vigilant so that it does not happen again,” she said. “There’s a lot of irony in the songs, a lot of attitude, and they often comment sarcastically on

Photo by Areeba Amer

THE CAST OF CABARET: Some of the members of the Cabaret, the upcoming winter musical, pose. The extremely risque musical is set in 1931 Nazi Germany at a night club.

something that just happened. I think that this approach is pretty ripe for our time for sure. It’s a piece of art that’s really worth exploring.”

Senior Jonah Goldberg, who will be playing the role of Emcee, acknowledges the heavy aspects of the show, but believes there’s an optimistic message that comes with it.

“The message of Cabaret is that no matter who you are, no matter what you identify as, no matter what your interests are, there are people out there who accept you, who think the same way, or want to get to know you because of what an individual you are,” he said.

In addition to acting and singing, dance will play a critical role in the show. However, due to the risqué nature of the dancing that is typically performed in Cabaret, both Ms.

Hauss-Smith and Dance Director Kelly McCain, who is choreographing the show, have not overlooked the fact that it is still a school production.

“There’s a line, and I think we can go up to that line, but we can’t go bounding over that line, because this is still academia and these are still kids,” Ms. McCain said.

Nonetheless, both students and directors agree that being truthful to the writing and stage direction is an essential element in conveying the show’s intended message. According to Ms. Hauss-Smith, some of the more mature aspects of the show cannot be watered down. She expressed how critical is to show what the Nazi regime disliked so much about those like the people in the “Cabaret” and what they campaigned against.

With the understanding that in some cases, students’ parents might be uncomfortable with aspects of the show, all cast members were asked to get their parents’ signature signifying that they would allow their child to do and say that which they were asked throughout the production process.

“What the Nazis hated was their freedom and their liberation, so that’s what we want to portray. They’re all young people exploring what it means to not be in the direct confines of where society wants them to be,” Mrs. Hauss-Smith said.

Addie agrees with her director.

“The 1930’s in Germany were like the 1920’s in America. It was this time of sexual freedom, and people were drinking and partying and not caring about the outside world. Basically the Nazis used this as a way to show the German people [what they thought was] all this moral decay, [and say] ‘it’s because all of these people,’” she said.

“It was a period of huge social change, and because a lot of the population of Germany was afraid of that, the Nazis used that fear to gain power and control them.”

Despite the mature topics addressed in the show, the youngest members of the casts are ready for both the challenge and opportunity Cabaret presents. Freshman Timothy Owens has done musical theatre since he was a fifth grader, and was eager to be a part of the Greenhill Theatre program when he entered high school. Thus far, he said that he has enjoyed being a part of a show like Cabaret that pushes boundaries, but also leaves room for students to learn a lot. He also enjoys the methodical process the directors and cast members are creating to make the show as strong as possible.

“Because it’s Cabaret, as we are going along, we are setting up boundaries and lines that don’t need to be crossed, but they are doing everything they can to respect the show and tell the story,” he said.

The direction behind a dance Alice Zhang Asst. Arts Editor

Ross Rubin

Asst. Views Editor

Graphic by Areeba Amer

The Greenhill Dance Program strongly supports student-driven choreography. Dance Director Kelly McCain encourages students to take initiative in improving their dance skills by creating their own dances. These student-produced dances can be reflective of their personality, emotion or style.

Choreographing a dance not only grants high school students the ability to create their own artwork, but also makes for an outlet to express their personality in a nontraditional way.

The Greenhill Dance Company is made up of 20 students and has six different student choreographers.

According to Junior Ishani Kale, the choreographing process usually takes about two weeks. Each student choreographer chooses his or her own song, dance team and style of dance. Students are able to create their own form of art and express themselves through the dances. Every personality and style is shown through a choreographed dance. Because of the personal

nature of these dances, Ms. McCain says that choreographed dances can feel exposing.

“You are an artist and you are showing your audience your voice.

It’s very personal and you feel very vulnerable because you’re putting it out there for judgment,” Ms. McCain said.

While the process is mainly student-driven, Ms. McCain checks in with choreographers through a showing halfway through the process to ensure that all is going smoothly. Ms. McCain and the rest of the dance students give feedback after each performance. Although this feedback mainly applies to physical movements, the main aspect of the dance stems from inspiration.

Students draw their inspiration for choreography from personal experiences, song lyrics, other choreography, poems and much more. According to Dance Company member Leah Fradkin, the best choreography comes when the choreographer truly connects with the song. Leah said that she prefers songs that she has a special connection or past experiences with.

“A lot of the time when I’m looking for music for a piece I

want to choreograph, I listen to the lyrics of a song and search them up to see what they really mean to me. If you want to portray the story that you’re trying to tell through dance, you have to be able to relate to the music,” Leah said.

Many Greenhill Dance Company members take dance classes outside of school. Ishani takes classes once a week at Prodigy, a dance and performing arts studio in Frisco. Sometimes, her teacher will tell the class to try improvisational dance to help them develop choreography skills.

“The improv dance time is so much fun because no one is judging you,” Ishani said.

Ishani and many other dancers bring skills learned from different dance studios to their dances at Greenhill, which produces unique student-choreographed dances.

According to Ishani, studentchoreographed dances empower students to take charge and inspire other dancers to improve their choreography skills.

“Dance Company is whatever you want it to be,” Ishani said.

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wednesday, december 14, 2016

Dinner and a Movie

arts

7

An island adventure through Moana, Ku Sushi and friendship

Graphic by Areeba Amer

ALOHA FROM PARADISE: Moana is Disney’s first Polynesian princess, voiced by Auli’i Cravalho. She stars alongside the demigod Maui, voiced by actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

Ellen Margaret Andrews Executive Editor

Lili Stern

Sports Editor

There’s nothing better than a Disney movie. The music, the characters and the plots are one of a kind, capturing beautiful messages of hope, love, perseverance and friendship at the same time. So as we hopped in the car to head to see Moana, we were excited to see what lay ahead.

Neither of us had heard much about the film, but we knew that Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda was one of the three musical composers. As huge Hamilton fans, we jammed out to the soundtrack on our way to Look Cinemas in preparation for what was bound to be another brilliant showing. We picked up our tickets, grabbed some Buncha Crunch candy and settled in

our seats.

We consider ourselves to be pretty telepathic, which was freakishly evident when the Beauty and the Beast trailer played.

As Harry Potter star Emma Watson came up on the screen, we looked at each other smiling and said at the exact same moment, “Aw! I love her!” Unsure if anyone heard this magical moment in our friendship, we giggled about it for a while.

However, minutes later, the real magic began. In the next two hours we joined a young Polynesian girl, Moana, on her journey to save her island of Motenui by returning the “heart” to the island goddess creator of all life: Te Feti. On her mission, she meets demigod Maui, the original thief of the “heart” and together they form what ultimately becomes an inspiring team. They face trials and tribulations in both their

relationship and their journey across the sea, but persevere through it all.

We were captured by the story, but particularly fell in love with the music.

For all you Hamilton lovers out there, LinManuel Miranda’s genius is evident in each and every lyric. We particularly loved the songs “How Far I’ll Go,” and “You’re Welcome,” a song in which we discovered that People Magazine’s World’s Sexiest Man, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, has a singing voice (almost) as beautiful as his appearance.

Throughout the movie, we found ourselves appreciating the ocean and all of its beautiful and powerful qualities. We decided it was appropriate to express this appreciation with some seafood, so we headed to Ku Sushi and Japanese Cuisine. To culminate our island adventure, we ordered a flavorful Hawaiian Roll, which was truly as

majestic as Moana’s hair.

In order to pay homage to Maui’s impressive shape shifting capabilities, we added a Dragonfly Roll to our plate as a tribute to the flying creatures in which Maui often took form.

We devoured the sushi in no more than four minutes and asked for an additional Spicy Tuna roll to complete our meal. The service was fast and the rolls were pretty affordable considering their magnificent flavors and presentations. Despite the message from Moana of “don’t give up no matter what obstacles you face,” we could not stuff anymore food into our full stomachs, and decided to pass on dessert.

We paid the bill and left the restaurant, with our stomachs and our hearts happy, singing our new favorite songs.

Fashion meets feminism with Sarah Nuñez-LaFontaine Annika Squires Views Editor

Photo courtesy of Sarah Nuñez-LaFontaine

SARAH’S STYLES: Junior Sarah Nuñez-LaFontaine designs and makes clothes for onstage productions and herself.

Ask junior Sarah Nuñez-Lafontaine who she is wearing on any given day and the answer is most likely her own design. Born in McAllen, Texas to a French-Canadian mother and Dominican father, Sarah grew up surrounded by international fashion.

When Sarah was 13, she spent three weeks living in Paris with her uncles. Throughout her childhood, Sarah was no stranger to French influences. Her family speaks French at home and she is an avid connoisseur of French cuisine.

Additionally, her trip to France awakened her to a new world.

“I remember seeing these beautiful Parisian women, all of them extremely hyper-feminine,” said Sarah. “Their femininity was taken with such pride. All of the dresses were hand sewn. On that trip I kept thinking [how] I wanted to come back here and see what it was like to live like that.”

One year later, still captivated by the hand-sewn dresses in Paris, Sarah made her first dress.

“I bought this little dress from a thrift store for super cheap. I added lace to the bottom of it, cutting it and resewing it, tightening it around the waist. I added fabric on top,” Sarah said. “I wore it to school, and it was absolutely terrible. My hand sewing on the dress looks like absolute trash, but I was incredibly proud of it because I did it myself.”

The first dress was only the beginning.

“Designing that dress allowed me to begin to create my own sense of style,” she said.

Starting in middle school, Sarah discovered the influence personal fashion can have. She admires women

like Michelle Obama, who she believes has used her fashion choices to convey a message of grace. Sarah hopes to use her own personal style to make a powerful statement as well.

“I definitely feel that fashion and feminism combined allows for women to embrace their bodies and be proud.

I wear dresses almost every day, I love heels and jewelry and accessories,” said Sarah. “I don’t want to sacrifice my femininity to be considered smart. I don’t think women should ever lose their femininity.”

Sarah says one of her role models is Upper School History teacher Dr. Amy Bresie, who has influenced Sarah in both academics and fashion.

“She redesigns what a feminist is and what femininity looks like. She is a great example of a strong female who has not sacrificed her femininity or who she is, she fits the role of classic feminist,” Sarah said.

At Greenhill, Sarah has become heavily involved in costume design. After first volunteering to help on costumes for a production sophomore year, Sarah was quickly elevated to head costumer for Tartuffe. Currently, Sarah is working as the head costumer for Cabaret.

Outside of school, Sarah has worked closely with Gendercide Awareness Project, spreading awareness about women in at-risk countries. For months, Sarah has been working with the group to compile 12,600 baby booties sent from women all over the world. These booties will be shown at an exhibit at the Fashion Industry Galley in February in Downtown Dallas.

Sarah is unsure if she will join the fashion industry when it is time for her’ to choose a career. However, no matter what her profession is, she will continue expressing herself.

the

8

Everg

The Fake New

An Evergreen survey finds th School students cannot de Zayna Syed Editor-in-Chief

Zoe Allen Arts Editor

Radhe Melwani Features Editor

According to a new study from Stanford University, students in America have a “stunning and dismaying” inability to tell fake news from real news. An Evergreen survey finds that Greenhill students are no exception.

The Evergreen survey offered students a choice of three headlines: two that appeared in a major news organization, the other made up by staff members. Only 16 out of 44 students surveyed were able to pick the correct answer. The remaining students believed that the fake headline, “Comey facing pressure to resign after breaking constitutional amendment by reopening Clinton case,” was true.

Many scholars suggest that social media is to blame for these results. In fact, according to the survey, most Greenhill students receive their news off social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat or Instagram. Students who answered the headline question incorrectly used social media to receive their news at a higher rate than students who answered the question correctly (82 percent to 63 percent).

“

Journalism is incredibly important, because it’s what education looks like after you leave school. [Journalists] open people’s eyes in addition to the watchdog role which is obviously critical.”

Wednesday, December 14

Trump to pick prominent EPA antagonist for EPA chief Milo to visit Memories Pizza to ‘apologize on behalf of the normal gays’

‘Pharma Bro’ meets his match in schoolboys

These were the three headlines that taken by Upper School students Ice cream shop creates flavor called “Burn in hell Fidel”

Comey facing pre resign after break amendment by re Clinton case

se” is fake.

3:06

Many students obtain their information from legitimate news organizations that post to social media. However, they can still be exposed to factually incorrect information. On certain social media platforms like Facebook, algorithms dictate that if a reader likes an article, related content will appear. However, not all related content is factual. “[On] Facebook, you can get news that is incredibly biased and inaccurate, and sometimes outright false that reinforce your own predispositions, your own political views,” said New Yorker staff writer and CNN Senior Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin.

Facebook faced controversy after admitting to allowing fake news on the site and curating content towards the political beliefs of each user. This resulted in a combination of voters reading biased and false news.

“One of the touchstones of social media is that people get the

news and opinion they want rathe exists in the real world,” Mr. Toobi Many Greenhill students sa months leading up to the election.

“You can isolate yourself from that sort of thinking in all the diff us from other people’s viewpoint inconceivable for a lot of us at G junior and Another Perspective C Some believe that non-profit what many Americans perceive to “It’s been a huge struggle acro you see clickbaity headlines, that’s Dallas Morning News Washingto ‘12. “If you see media trying to ap money, it’s because they need mo money, because no one wants to p Unlike corporate news orga and the Texas Tribune are public journalists to focus on in-depth p about maintaining a large audienc “There are accusations that m but I find that non-profit media at seeking out a balanced appro Government teacher Genie Burke Others disagree and say that n still be inherently biased.

“You can have removed the inherently biased, and unapologet Upper School History and Econom However, almost everyone ag news content they receive, no m “news literate” and a good consum “All the social media platform based, they have those click bait opinions about the article withou through all these, you can fact ch “And when you look at the sources Not Found or [that the article] sai It is so easy to take something out very easy to exploit this bombastic Sophomore Chase Brown w Online criticizing the partisan na Chase, the most important thing a is critically evaluate where the sour “If you know some backg articles and these publishers and

green

wednesday, december 14, 2016

9

ws Epidemic

hat more than half of Upper etect fabricated headlines

er than the news and opinion that in said. aid they experienced this in the . m other points of view and I think fferent types of media has isolated ts to the point that it was almost Greenhill that Trump won,” said Co-President Anusha Kurapati. journalism provides a solution to o be sensational and biased news. oss news to get readers. That’s why s why you see sillier coverage,” said on correspondent Jordan Rudner ppeal to our worst impulses to get oney, because we’re hemorrhaging pay for news anymore.” anizations, non-profits like NPR cly funded. Some say this allows policy issues instead of worrying ce to sustain advertising rates. media generally has a liberal bias, a does a much, much better job oach,” said Advanced Placement e. non-profit news organizations can

e profit motive and still have an tically biased, source of news,” said mics teacher Adrian Martinez. grees that critically analyzing the matter the source, is key to being mer. ms that we look at are very headline t titles and people start forming ut really reading it. But if you look heck a lot of them,” Anusha said. s listed a lot are either saying, Page id something completely different. of context these days and it is also c election.” wrote a column for The Evergreen ature of the media. According to a reader can do to be media savvy rce of information is coming from. ground information about these d these newspapers, then you can

have a better idea of what is manipulated, what is fake, and what is true,” Chase said.

This distrust is not unique to Chase or the Greenhill community.

According to U.S. News, Americans’ distrust of the media hit a record high in 2016 with 68 percent of Americans saying that they don’t trust the media. Other organizations have reported similar rates of dissatisfaction.

“I think that what happened, Donald Trump’s win, illustrates the fact that people don’t trust the liberal media like The New York Times or The Washington Post,” said Anusha. “I mean that because of the way they were denouncing Donald Trump. [According to liberal media], Trump should have probably lost by 10 points, but he ended up not doing so.”

Despite these flaws in news organizations and the way news is received, many still see the value of journalism as paramount to having an aware and empathetic society.

“Journalism is incredibly important, because it’s what education looks like after you leave school. [Journalists] open people’s eyes in addition to the watchdog role which is obviously critical,” said Ms. Rudner. “They say, ‘here’s what’s happening in the world, here’s this critical law that’s going to influence your life, here’s a perspective you’ve never heard or what it’s like to live in a situation you’ll never be in.’ That can inform people’s decisions and increases people’s empathy, which is also super critical.”

Ms. Rudner believes that the solution to biased news lies with consumers.

“I’m pretty cynical about a lot of things, but I think at the end of the day, we often get the media we deserve, because the media is driven by what we watch and click on,” said Ms. Rudner. “If you don’t want to read crappy news, don’t read crappy news, because that’s going to speed the demand for crappy news. If you want to see substantive coverage, you need to read and share substantive coverage.”

Mr. Martinez believes that it is the responsibility of students to apply critical thinking skills learned at Greenhill to their consumption of news media.

“The way you become better at choosing news is by being really honest and critical of your own assumptions and your own ideas. One of the things that’s hard about this place, is when you’re surrounded by a predominantly liberal faculty and a predominantly liberal student body living in this bubble, it’s very easy to find agreement with a certain point of view, namely the liberal point of view,” said Mr. Martinez. “Without much of a voice on the other side, it’s hard to have that contrast. So it becomes up to you to seek out those opportunities to hear contrasting opinions.”

t appeared in the Evergreen survey s. Can you guess the fake one?

essure to king constitutional eopening

Doctor says man developed hepatitis after energy drink binge

3:06 Wednesday, December 14

Murder suspect caught taking selfies behind bars Woman in love triangle admits to killing husband, mistress Missing woman unwittingly joins search party looking for herself

Graphic by Amy Yang and Areeba Amer

Correct answer: “Comey facing pressure to resign after breaking constitutional amendment by reopening Clinton c

the

Features Identity is not black and white The Evergreen explores biraciality at Greenhill

Simra Abedi

Copy Editor

Chris Quintero

Online Broadcast Editor

‘So, why are your parents married?’

This is a question senior Kailey McNeal hears often. Her parents’ interracial marriage led to criticism from others. She remembers people questioning her parents’ marriage, and consequently being judged for it.

“Some people kind of judge [my parents’ marriage] because they feel like a black man needs to get married to a black woman,” Kailey said.

This experience of being judged based on one’s family is somewhat typical for multiracial students at Greenhill. While they say their identity has contributed towards a more global perspective, some also cite downsides to their identities.

In the United States, interracial marriages weren’t legal until the 1967 Loving v. Virginia Supreme Court case that overturned anti-miscegenation laws.

The Nazi regime also outlawed mixed marriages, and Apartheid laws in South Africa forbade mixed marriages between blacks and whites until 1985.

Senior Rachel Friedman, who is half Korean and half American-Jewish, remembers eating lunch in the cafeteria and hearing kids at the table behind her making Holocaust jokes. While she wasn’t being targeted specifically, it’s not the first time she’s heard jokes at the expense of Jews or Asians. Rachel says people often don’t recognize that she belongs to both races and instead mistake her for being Mexican, European or Hawaiian.

However, Rachel is not the only student at Greenhill who has been mistaken for a different race. Kailey says people often identify her as being black or being white and treat her differently when they find out that she is both.

“When white people find out [about

my biracialism], they’re like ‘Oh my God I love mixed kids. Mixed kids are so great.’ They kind of treat me like a novelty,” Kailey said.

Junior Amber Johri, who is half Bolivian and half Indian, says that she has become more comfortable with both aspects of her identity because of the opportunities Greenhill has afforded her.

“Freshman year, I wasn’t aware of clubs and affinity groups. But sophomore year, I joined the Latino affinity group and Bollywood club and that has been a lot of fun. Once I was aware that there were cultural groups at Greenhill, I joined what I felt like. It was never really a problem that I was mixed,” Amber said.

Amber says her parents have played a large role in her journey of self-acceptance.

She says her parents have exposed her to both sides of her racial identity by celebrating traditional holidays pertaining to each.

“My mom is Hindu and my dad is Catholic, but they’re both super accepting of the other culture. We celebrate Christmas, but we also celebrate Diwali. We go to mass on Sunday, but then we’ll also go to the temple. There’s never any awkwardness,” Amber said.

Sophomore Megan Olomu, who is half Nigerian and half Indian, also notes the impact her parents have had on allowing her to fully embrace her biracial roots. She says that by taking family trips to Nigeria and India, she has been able to appreciate her identity.

“Every time I go there I become more mature and feel more comfortable in my skin. The real place where I get to learn and enjoy is when I go back to those places and see

where I came from,” Megan said.

Junior Isabelle Thompson noted that her path to acceptance was more unique.

“When I was younger I used to mark [my race as] white [on forms], and then growing older, I would kind of switch off depending on what I felt like that day. But now, they have it so that you can choose both,” Isabelle said.

She sees her ability to choose both races on standardized testing as progress.

However, Megan notes that there have been instances where the reaction to her identity has highlighted the culture of ignorance.

“The most hurtful comment I’ve ever received has been ‘You must get athleticism from your African side and brains from your Indian side,’” said Megan. “There’s just more to make fun of.”

However, Kailey says she sometimes tends to identify with some of the stereotypes surrounding both her races.

“When I’m angry or hyped up about something, my friends say that my ‘black side comes out.’ I start talking louder and start using slang. My tone of voice completely changes, and I don’t notice it until someone points it out to me. But I will also say that being around the white side of my family more, I can at times kind of be snobby,” Kailey said.

Isabelle says that she has come to accept her identity and is proud to be

Graphic by Grace Doyle

biracial. She pointed out that she often gets called “too black” or “too white,” but she has learned to ignore those voices.

“I felt torn. But I learned to identify as myself. I used to think I had to choose a side, but now I realize that I don’t, and that’s kinda what got me to become content about it,” Isabelle said.

Even though there have been some rough times, Megan says that being biracial has allowed her to explore the world around her and develop a unique perspective on life.

“I love being able to be a part of two completely different cultures that at the same time share so many similarities. I like the food, I love wearing Indian and Nigerian clothes and the color and the festivities and meeting different people,” said Megan. “If I wasn’t biracial, I wouldn’t have these opportunities. Going back and seeing how hard life is in India and Nigeria has taught me so much. It’s a blessing. I’m trying my hardest to not forget who I am and not disregard parts of my identity. I’m made up of both parts.”

wednesday, december 14, 2016

the

Evergreen

features

11

The man behind the monitor Maya Ghosh

Backpage Editor

Although students know him as the man who sends daily bulletins, always has a bowl of candy and manages Mrs. Ross’ schedule, Chris Baker was not always Greenhill's Upper School Coordinator. Formerly, Mr. Baker used his passion for art and design to professionally decorate hotels, businesses and houses.

As a child, Mr. Baker believed that he inherited his mother’s creativity and became interested in furniture and design. After he graduated from college with degrees in accounting and finance, he worked at an independent bank before moving on to work for Dallas International Bank, the second largest bank in Dallas, as a senior manager. While working for the bank, Mr. Baker was approached by a friend and asked to become a partner at a retail store which sold furniture. Because of his connections in the banking industry and his passion for interior décor, Mr. Baker began to decorate law offices and banks. Then, through wordof-mouth, Mr. Baker’s decorating business began to spread to a wealthier clientele.

He designed for well-known people, such as Baker-Mackenzie Law Firm’s senior lawyers and many Marriott hotels in Dallas.

This led to jobs decorating homes throughout the country: five in Santa Fe, three in Aspen and one in Malibu. He traveled to the homes he decorated a couple times per month and the projects often lasted for a year. Although he mostly traveled commercially, his clients sometimes sent their private jets to transfer him to their homes.

Mr. Baker describes interior decorating

as an intimate process that is multi-faceted and requires an understanding of clients beyond a business level. First, he would interview clients to understand what they wanted.

“You really have to click with them and get a sense of who they are. It’s an intimate kind of business, almost like your doctor.

You’re very close to them and you’re in their home.”

In fact, his toughest cases were caused by people who asked him to design their houses without providing any input.

“My style was interpreting what their style was, that’s what I loved. It would be my design, not theirs,” Mr. Baker said.

Often just rearranging the furniture was enough to make home-owners see their houses in a new light. But if the that was not enough, he then would also shop for furniture and fabrics that uniquely fit the house and the people living in it.

After many years of operating his firm, Chris T. Baker Designs, and having to turn away potential customers and an HGTV show, Mr. Baker chose to give up his profession in order to raise his daughter.

He enrolled his daughter at Greenhill and became involved in the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), heading the Cafeteria committee and was the PTA president for two years. Because he was constantly on campus and very involved with the school, he was asked to be the Upper School Coordinator by Mrs. Ross, even though his daughter left Greenhill.

“I did this because I love this school.

It has given my daughter [so much] and I [have] so much to be thankful for.”

Graphic by Drake Heptig

the

12 features

Evergreen

wednesday, december 14, 2016

Youngsters take on Youtube When third grader Tarik Syed dreams about his ideal future, he sees himself as a star gamer, living off revenue from his YouTube account and racking up subscriptions. Almost every day, he connects various USB and HDMI cables to an Xbox One, an Ogatu Game Capture and his dad’s “old” PC. Wearing the headset he saved up to buy, he records himself playing video games to upload videos to his YouTube channel: hyperdude47. To many, the jumble of chords he navigates with ease are foreign, but for Tarik, they are a business investment and a way to connect with others.

Since 2005, YouTube has grown to host over a billion users, and now an increasing number of Greenhill Lower School students as well. While the current Upper School students spent their early childhood days occupied with board games, the current third graders are browsing, videotaping, liking, watching, showing up in friends’ YouTube videos for guest appearances and making their way as “vloggers”, or video bloggers.

“If [my son] could meet anyone, like a star, it would be a YouTuber. He and his friends, that’s what they bond over. That’s his frame of reference for celebrities,” said

parent of third grader and Head of Upper School Laura Ross.

Tarik is not the only Lower School YouTuber. Based on an Evergreen survey, only 60.7 percent of Upper School students reported that they watched YouTube videos in Lower School, while 86.4 percent of current fourth graders surveyed and 88 percent of the third graders surveyed said they watch YouTube videos currently.

Similarly, while only 15.3 percent of Upper School students said they participated in making videos to post to YouTube during lower school, 26 percent of third grade students and 19.7 percent of fourth grade said they do.

“I’m noticing a lot of internet culture among children now. It’s a lot stronger than it used to be,” said senior Adam Weider.

According to sophomore Christine Wu, YouTube has also evolved in ways other than popularity.

“I’d say [when I was] in late middle school, that’s when YouTube started becoming more of a creator based thing, rather than just viral videos or music videos or that sort of thing,” Christine said. “[Now], there’s a very odd niche for the Lower School YouTube section.”

In the Spotlight...

Josh Rudner Staff Manager

We continue our “In the Spotlight” series, a chance to get to know one randomly selected Upper School student each issue.

This conversation was with sophomore Jordan Lebowitz.

Whether he’s relaxing in bed or working on a biology lab, sophomore Jordan Lebowitz is susceptible to musical inspiration. When a new rhythm or tune pops into his head, he’ll drop everything and write it down. Like his lyrics, he lets the beat flow from his heart to the paper. Without a doubt, music is his passion.

It’s a passion he’s nursed for years through piano and voice lessons, his own songwriting and even a gig singing at Neuhaus Cafe.

But when he first discovered this love of music, his family hadn’t seen it coming.

Jordan said that no one else in his family has ever had any musical inclinations.

“My family kept saying, ‘it’s crazy that you can sing and play piano because we don’t know where you get it from. There’s no one [in our family] who has a drive for music like you do,’” Jordan said.

He first got involved in music at age 12 when his friends began going to a studio near Greenhill. He asked his family if he could also attend and has continued with voice and music lessons ever since.

One of the things Jordan says he loves about music is the process of songwriting.

It begins when he writes down some ideas for a song.

“I write about my real life experiences, so I get my thoughts together and sometimes I write an idea and just see where it takes me. Sometimes the rhythm will just spontaneously pop up; it just comes to me naturally,” Jordan said.

He takes his time with his creations, enlisting friends and family to help edit each song. Whether they offer praise or criticism, Jordan is all ears.

“I go to my mom, dad and sister to ask them what they think about my music.

They’re going to always tell me what they think of the song and will give me the criticism that I need to improve,” Jordan said.

After the long process of editing, Jordan said he loves going to record at a studio in Plano called Audio Post.

“I go to the studio and start by recording the song on piano. Then, after I record, I go into the booth where I sing along to my piano track,” said Jordan. “I’ve done it a couple of times and it’s my favorite thing to do because it’s real and you’re actually making the music.”

Jordan says his preferred genre is pop (“not the cheesy kind”) because he loves music that exposes the raw voice of the singer. Artists like Justin Timberlake and James Arthur inspire him to create music with an energy that expresses true feelings and emotions.

“I’ve written about relationships and some of the struggles of being a teenager, about accepting those things that are hard,” Jordan said.

In his personal life, his capacity for music has helped him grow.

“Being told that you have a talent or that people like the music you write can make you feel better about the bad situation,” Jordan said. “I feel like a big part of wanting to be better [at] singing is wanting people to feel my music, not just hear it.”

Photo courtesy of Jordan Lebowitz

RECORDING RHYTHM: Sophomore Jordan Lebowitz records his music at Audio Post.

Lower School students use Youtube for a variety of reasons beyond music and kittens, such as sharing their experiences as gamers, or even in hopes of entrepreneurship like Tarik. With some help from his mom, third grader Julian Fredrick, also known as the “Step Stool Chef,” makes videos to teach kids how to cook. As of December 1, 2016, the view counts on his videos range from 17 to 665 views.

“I think it’s important to share with other people because I believe cooking is a life skill,” he said.

Third grade twins, Samantha and Derian Herrmann, post videos under the name, S&D Super Gamer Twins. Samantha said that her brother and her cooperate better when they game and make YouTube videos together.

“When we’re actually playing, it prevents us from arguing,” she said.

Graham Ross posts gaming commentary to his YouTube channel, Graham’s Videos.

Graham is excited that YouTube gives him a platform to reach a global audience, despite being in third grade.

“It’s just so cool to see that like a bunch of people are going to get to see what I did,” he said.

For some Greenhill parents, having their children on YouTube means thinking about privacy. Sanober Syed, Tarik’s mom, said he is not allowed to show his face or name. Mrs. Ross similarly does not let her son use his real full name or reveal any identifiers that could lead to his location.

“I think you have to be very careful because there are so many different predators,” said Mrs. Syed.

However, both Mrs. Ross and Mrs. Syed said there are positives to their kids using YouTube.

“If it’s [YouTube] versus watching TV, I don’t think [YouTube] is worse,” said Mrs. Ross. “I’d actually probably argue it’s better, because there’s a little more interactivity and creativity.”

Whether bad or good, YouTube is certainly changing the way some Greenhill Lower School students interact.

“On YouTube, I have the feel that people are watching me,” said Tarik. “I feel like I’m having a conversation with someone else, although I’m really not. But when I’m normally gaming, just by myself, I just don’t feel that feel of having people around you.”

Story by Sophie Bernstein

Graphic by Amy Yang

the

Sports

The ClayMaker

Ben Schachter Executive Editor

Senior Clay Goldberg isn’t exactly the star player of the Greenhill Varsity basketball or football teams. In fact, he typically only finds himself on the basketball court during blowouts and on the football field when Greenhill is punting the ball away. However, according to both of his coaches, Clay plays about as significant a role as anybody who rarely plays during the game can have for both teams.

“I’ve always called myself the Captain of the Bench,” Clay said.

Clay has been a part of the football program since his freshman year, and a member of the Varsity basketball team for his junior and senior years. Despite his extensive time in both programs, Clay had been unable to crack the starting lineup until he earned Greenhill’s starting punter role during the football season.

“He earned the opportunity to be our starting punter. That requires a lot of gumption because we didn’t punt very many times this year and when we did punt, he had to execute at a high level with people in his face. To my knowledge, Clay had never done that before, but for us this year, he was money,” said Football Head Coach Tom Williams His lack of playing time, however, allows him to focus on being a good teammate and what he calls his role as team “energizer.”

This has allowed him to be a leader on both teams, even without much playing time.

“Clay has always had leadership ability.

He didn’t always have the opportunity to play and show what he could do but from a team standpoint, he is a great teammate and has always been very supportive of his team, even when he wasn’t playing,” said Coach Williams.

Football teammate senior Steven Usuga said that the whole team, especially those on the field, benefit from Clay’s team-

Photos by Julianna Arata, Lili Stern, and Emily Wilson

BENCH BOSS: Despite his sparse playing time, senior Clay Goldberg serves as the spirit leader on both the basketball and football teams, and for the school as a whole.

first mentality.

“If someone makes a mistake on the field, Clay will always be there to tell them to shake it off. He’s done that for me when I’ve missed a tackle or something like that. He creates a support system for people on the team,” Steven said.

Clay said that his coaches in both sports have a certain expectation for him, especially on the bench.

“Coach Williams held a standard for me that I be ready to go in the game and that I’m

engaged and talking to teammates on the bench,” said Clay. “With [Basketball Head Coach Joey] Sims, I’m in charge of being loud on the bench and talking on the bench.

He wants me to get the team energized.”

At a recent basketball game at North Richland Hills High School, Clay was, as usual, trying to pump up his teammates from the bench. After some time doing this, the North Richland Hills student in attendance of the game took notice of Clay, and began to heckle him. However, what started as

trash-talk from the students quickly turned into admiration.

“It was all hate at first, but then the [North Richland Hills students] started chanting for me to go in the game, and when I finally got put in the game, they went absolutely insane,” said Clay. “At the end of the game, our team had to be escorted into the locker room because so many people wanted to take selfies with me. I was just the little guy on the end of the bench that they fell in love with.”

By the end of the night, Clay was trending on Twitter in North Richland Hills.

According to Coach Williams, Clay being able to rile up a crowd is no surprise.

“Clay is one of those guys who has tremendous charm, charisma, chutzpah, however you want to say it. I always joke that when he looks in the mirror, he sees a guy who is 6’5, 280 pounds. That’s the way that I think he perceives himself and because of that, he has a tremendous likeability factor,” Coach Williams said.

Clay feels that his role is more important that it might appear from afar.

“I like being the bench guy, but I think my role is more important than people actually think it is. People that don’t play and have a bad attitude hurt the team,” said Clay.

“If you don’t play you should always have a good attitude and be a good teammate.

That’s what I’m all about.”

Coach Williams recognizes the value that someone like Clay adds to a team.

“He is all about what helps the team win. The very definition of selflessness for us is Clay Goldberg. He will do whatever it takes to win, whether he takes 100 snaps or none,” said Coach Williams. “I wish we had a hundred more of him on campus. He is the kind of guy that I truly enjoy coaching and being around and I think his teammates would say the same thing.”

The behind the scenes of crafting schedules

Every year, Greenhill sports teams compete against high schools from all over the state in their quest for championship glory. From Houston to Tulsa to Louisiana and everything in between, the Hornets are always on the move. Behind the scenes, Head of Athletics and Physical Education Chad Wabrek coordinates with every school Greenhill competes against to ensure each and every meet, tournament and game is scheduled.

Athletic scheduling begins about nine months in advance of each season, starting as soon as one season ends. For example, in November and December of 2016, Greenhill is focused on scheduling its fall 2017 season. Scheduling can be difficult, having to balance students’ schoolwork, demands of angry parents and stubborn athletic directors.

For Athletic Director Chad Wabrek, there is the constant discussion about how much class time a student athlete can miss in conjunction with worries about when an athlete will get home from a late night game in Fort Worth.

However, Mr. Wabrek has other factors to consider when putting schedules together. For example, the Southwest Preparatory Conference (SPC) attempts to schedule traditional rivalries on Friday night, so a Tuesday night game in Fort Worth is sometimes

inevitable.

“Someone might say, ‘Well, that’s not important. I would rather we go to All Saints on Friday because we don’t have to miss school.,” said Coach Wabrek. “[Scheduling is about] trying to find a balance.”

Besides the considerations of student needs, another factor in building schedules is simple logistics. The golf schedule depends on when country clubs are open to the public for playing their tournaments. Similarly, in baseball, most SPC schools do not have lights on their baseball diamonds so games have earlier start times in order to finish before sundown.

According to Mr. Wabrek, coordinating with other SPC athletic directors is an essential part of the scheduling process. He has to coordinate game times keeping the interests of both schools in mind. Each school and game time depends on other SPC schools, creating a web of athletic directors across all of Texas and Oklahoma.

“It’s friendly [between athletic directors], but I also can’t push the envelope too much,” he said.

The Girls Varsity Volleyball season is jam packed with 35 games per season. Head Coach Tatiane Deibert is responsible for scheduling all of the team’s noncounter games, which are usually played with the goal of becoming as prepared as possible for SPC

counter games. The team starts playing tournaments in August during their preseason workouts; however, once the school year is underway, Coach Deibert lightens the schedule to accommodate her athletes’ physical needs and school responsibilities.

“The most important part of scheduling is having a mix of competitive matches that will challenge and motivate the team to develop their team chemistry and improve their skills until SPC,” Coach Deibert said.

Head Girls Basketball Coach Darryn Sandler noted that a strong non-conference schedule is essential to preparing for games later in the year.

“You have to play a tough nonconference schedule so by the time you play the top 1 and 2 teams in the North Zone and the South zone teams in the tournament, you are prepared,” said Coach Sandler. “The more competitive teams you play, the more competitive you become.”

That being said, teams need to be realistic in who they schedule to make sure games remain competitive.

“I don’t want to schedule a team that is 35 points better than us or that we are 35 points better than,” he said. “We won’t get anything out of the game.” story by Stephen Crotty and Joseph Weinberg

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Op-Ed: Restoring humanity to sports

Joseph Weinberg Managing Editor

The stakes couldn’t have been higher.

A one-point game. 25 seconds left on the clock. The National Football League (NFL) playoffs. All Minnesota Vikings kicker Blair Walsh had to do was knock the football through the uprights from 27 yards out and the Vikings would advance to the Divisional playoff round. The kick was a chip shot, one he routinely made in practice and games. He had already made three in that game. The snap went back, the hold was down. The kick went up. Wide left. The Vikings lost and their season came crashing to a bitter end, all at the foot of Blair Walsh.

The reaction to the shanked kick in my opinion was far worse than the kick itself.

Blair Walsh and his family received death threats, he was harassed online and even his head coach failed to show him empathy during the post-game press conference.

The disgusting treatment of Blair Walsh by the fans, the media and even his head coach is indicative of a larger problem in sports: the world forgetting that sports figures are humans. We often overlook the fact that the players and coaches of our favorite teams are prone to making mistakes just like we are. It’s a disturbing theme, and it warrants the serious attention of anyone who calls themselves a sports fan.

I understand how Vikings fans felt watching Blair Walsh miss that field goal.

When your team is on the losing end, especially in a demoralizing way, it’s tough.

I’m not saying Vikings fans shouldn’t have been frustrated with their kicker after that heartbreaking loss, but there is a difference between frustration and disregarding

Photo courtesy of Brace Hemmelgarn

WIDE LEFT: Vikings kicker Blair Walsh after a missed field goal in the 2016 NFL playoffs. He went on to receive harsh criticism and even death threats.

someone’s humanity, as was the case with Blair Walsh. Fans’ frustration toward players is reaching unacceptable levels. Sure, crazy fans on social media calling for death threats don’t represent fans as a whole, however, it is inappropriate to simply dismiss them as an irrelevant minority. Besides death threats, there are some more minor examples of fans treating athletic figures inhumanely that have led me to believe humanity is mattering less and less when individuals step on the playing field.

As a sports fan, I get concerned when the priority of fans at sporting events all across the country is to jeer rather than cheer. It bothers me when I see fans flipping off players and referees during nationally televised games, and that chants of “refs, you suck” are more prominent than those

like “I believe that we will win.” There is an important difference between disagreeing with a call and screaming at the officials, calling them idiots and asking, “are you blind?” No one would say that to an average person, so why does rhetoric like this become acceptable at sporting events? This lack of basic human decency troubles me.

As a sports fan, I get concerned when I read articles about the daughter of former University of Texas at Austin head football coach Charlie Strong who walked into a library to study at UT Austin and saw “F*** Charlie Strong” written on the windows. We often forget that coaches and players have families and a personal life. Yes, Charlie Strong coached the Longhorns to a couple of bad losses, but vulgar language directed his way is not justifiable. Incidents like these,

where people forget relatives and loved ones of athletic figures, trouble me.

As a Greenhill student, I get concerned when our fans too fall victim to this ugly trend we are seeing today in the world of sports. We are not innocent. Although I would say that for the most part our fans carry themselves well, it bothers me when we put more attention on heckling the other team than cheering for our own.

When Kassidy Woods makes an incredible touchdown catch or Xavier Bryant breaks a defender’s ankles, let’s make it a point to scream for our own athletes rather than screaming at the player they disowned.

I’ll admit it, sometimes it’s more fun to heckle the other team, but we need to hold ourselves to a higher standard. For the most part, we do a good job of this, but we should make an effort to never have these lapses of disrespect.

I fell in love with watching sports because of its beauty. Nothing compares to the feeling of ecstasy after a buzzer-beating win, a last-minute goal or a hard-fought victory over a bitter archrival. Sports bring out emotions in me that nothing else can. (I cried when the Cubs won the world series, and I’m not even a Cubs fan.)

It is up to us to ensure headlines like “Cubs Break the Curse!” and “Cavaliers End 52 Year Cleveland Championship Drought” continue to dominate the headlines as opposed to ugly ones about fan misconduct.

Sports are intense, and of course there will be times where we, as fans, get caught in the moment and yell something we later regret. Although at times they seem larger than life, athletic figures are humans above all else. Let’s start treating them that way.

wednesday, december 14, 2016

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Don’t change the channel

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channel now.

The display changed to show my second-grade classmates cheering for me in awe after I saved the world. That wouldn’t last.

Why wouldn’t they leave me alone?

Go away aliens. Please, let me change the channel.

3:04…3:05…3:06… I watched the minutes trek on and on through the early A.M. on my new CD player alarm clock.

With eyelids twitching, I inelegantly shifted to my left side to stare at the wall instead of the clock. The wall was boring though, worse than the numbers reminding me of time tediously marching on. I turned to my right side again. All I wanted to do was run as far as I could from the aliens, but switching channels in my imagination did nothing. At some point that night, I must have been too tired to think about the aliens, and I fell asleep.

That wasn’t the only night in second grade that they kept me awake. The aliens never tried to eat me, steal my beloved books or commit any unconscionable act of terror, but I was scared. They arrived through my closet, the portal to both my clothes and a grocery store in their world. Night after night, I watched those tall, graceful aliens browse rows of food with their huge black eyes: women clutching swaddled babies, men with offspring of varying ages and entire families. Their smooth skin was a natural swamp green under the glaring commercial lights shining through the closet. They weren’t exactly gentle, but they had no intention of harming me. Yet the mystery of the aliens terrorized me. I never understood where they came from or why they chose my closet, but instead of facing my fear of not knowing, I tried to escape it.

The aliens were real, so so real, all in my vivid imagination. Even when I pretended

they were fake, just a bad TV show, changing the channel rarely worked. After a while, the aliens did go away, now replaced by horrifying homework and threats of failure. The extraterrestrials were never the problem, and neither is my homework. The problem is trying to run away and change the channel instead of accepting the aliens and trusting in my own ability to successfully complete assignments. Terrifying or not, my imagination is a part of me, and perfection in school will never be guaranteed. I don’t understand everything about my brain or the universe, or even if my teacher will like the next essay I turn in. That scares me, perhaps more than the aliens in my mind used to, but if I met them today, those same aliens would tell me to stop worrying and trying to change the channel. They would be right: anxiety won’t get my homework done. Maybe the aliens weren’t so bad after all.

When I was born on May 20, 1999 on the North Side of Chicago, less than a mile from Wrigley Field, the Chicago Cubs’ World Series drought was a mere 91 years.

From the beginning, my Cubs fandom was inevitable, and not just because of where I was born.

My grandpa was 10 years old in 1945 when the Cubs last had a chance at a World Series title. He lived right near Wrigley Field, and like many of the other neighborhood kids, he would finish school and bike over to Wrigley Field to watch the Cubs play (they only played day games then). Unlike his friends, when the summer rolled around that year, my grandfather became a bat boy for the Cubs. His whole summer was spent working and rooting relentlessly for the team that would go on to become the last Cubs team to reach the World Series for 71 years.

54 years later, I was at my first Cubs Game, only a few months old at that point.

Since that day (even though I can’t remember it), I was attached to the team made famous

for their tremendous amount of losing, heartbreak and unluckiness.

In 2003, the Cubbies had a close call.

While my family had just moved from Chicago to Nashville, we had not forgotten our Chicago roots. If we had, watching Steve Bartman end the Cubs’ postseason run would have been a whole lot easier.

However, with the exception of a 2008 season that culminated in another disappointing postseason, the next decade was one of irrelevance for the Cubs. My allegiance to my beloved Cubbies was tested time and again, especially during the Texas Rangers’ successful seasons. I wanted to root for a winning team. So when the Cubs hired Theo Epstein as President of Baseball Operation, a man known for leading the

Boston Red Sox to a “curse breaking” World Series title in 2004, I felt reenergized.

I watched intently as the Cubs went from perennial bottom dwellers to average MLB team to playoff contender to World Series contender. I watched as Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant slugged their way to the best record in baseball. I watched as Kyle Hendricks, Jake Arietta and Jon Lester pitched gem after gem after gem in the postseason. I watched as the Cubs won their first National League Pennant since 1945. And finally, I watched as the Cubs got to “Fly the W” for the first time ever at the completion of the World Series’ last game.

Now and forever, “Go Cubs Go!”

My nani stands over the griddle, slight beads of perspiration forming over her brow from the heat of the stove. She leans in to smell the egg chutney, a classic South Indian dish, and wrinkles her nose. Adding chopped coriander to the concoction, she sniffs again.

“Much better. You want it to have flavor, you know?” she said, dropping her r’s and shortening her you’s, a consequence of having a semi-British, semi-Indian accent.

After immigrating to England 46 years ago, my grandma uses cooking as a way to connect to the culture and people she left

behind. This mindset has been passed down to my mom, and now to my siblings and I. Food is a big deal in my family. Each member of my family knows how to cook, whether it is chocolate nachos made by my nine-year-old brother, or tandoori chicken made by my dad. Sunday dinners consisted of “cook-off ” competitions between my parents, until they got too intense and we had to cancel them to spare the losing parent’s feelings. Cooking carried too much weight for either parent to simply dismiss the results as part of a silly competition.

Every so often, my mom will attempt to cook egg chutney. She uses the same recipe as my nani, except her dish always tastes different. Instead of having the herby, rich feel that is indicative of the east, hers tastes lighter, healthier and plainer—more within the confines of the west. Here, the influences of her British upbringing surface. Cooking seemed to be a place where people could assert their individuality.

Yet at the same time, cooking is a familial, communal experience. On weekends, my

entire family will gather in our kitchen as my mom and dad cook. We are never told to; the kitchen just always seems to exude warm and inviting tones. The tempting smells don’t hurt either. When I was little, as I hovered behind her in the kitchen, my mom would tell me the names of the spices she poured into the pot: tamarind, chili powder, cumin and coriander. I would recite the words back to her, absorbing each syllable, each sound as it rolled across my tongue. Despite only having travelled to India once, these words taught me about the east.

Growing up as a second-generation American, I’ve found that much of the “old” culture has been lost in translation. I’m not fluent in the language of my grandparents and I only dress in traditional Indian attire two or three times a year. However, through food, I have found a link to my culture. Food has satiated my appetite for language, culture and community.

When I finally learned how to cook, it wasn’t through formal instruction. I watched my parents sauté onions, marinate chicken

and sear fish, picking up tips and tricks along the way. After setting many dishes on fire and cooking food drowned in oil and/ or deficient in flavor, I finally invented my own dish: an egg sandwich. It was a variation of something my dad had whipped up one lazy Sunday afternoon, but included my own twist. I toast and butter an English muffin, scramble an egg, add Havarti cheese to the muffin and then combine all the components into my own little homemade brunch.

It wasn’t until years later that I realized I cook my eggs in the same style that my mom and nani cook their egg chutney, albeit a little more oily and flavored only with half a pinch of salt. My egg sandwich was an adaptation of what my family has cooked for generations, and I subconsciously included it in my own “unique” recipe. It is never possible to fully lose touch with one’s culture, even if it is because of something as fundamental as food. In a world where assimilation is the norm, food connects me to my roots.

The scary aliens lit up the screen in my brain.

Change the channel, I thought. Just change the channel.

Fuzzy grey and black stripes formed on the screen for a moment, and then a scene, maybe of myself as a surgeon, or as a famous writer trying to avoid the paparazzi.

They’re back. Stop them. Why wouldn’t the aliens leave for good? Change the

Fly the W

Food for thought

Dear Greenhill: A student’s plea for more mental health support We have a serious issue that demands to be addressed. There is a lot of denial in our community about mental illnesses and the importance of them. It is a condition we all know exists, but we ignore because confrontation is uncomfortable. We create a culture of shame, where depression is perceived as a weakness or defect. We find dangerous behaviors to distract ourselves from our realities because admitting there is a problem is more frightening than the issue itself. Mental health at Greenhill is something we need to prioritize because omission encourages the downward spiral that too many have faced. We should not be content with the avoidance of the issue, nor should we be content with the status quo.

During January of 2016, I felt like I had lost control over my life. My grades were slipping, I had pulled away from all my

friends, my swim training had hit a wall, and performing everyday tasks were nearly impossible. I was in excruciating pain, and I felt defeated. There was no explanation for why I was feeling this way. I felt completely alone. After a difficult junior year, I am feeling better.

I know that I am not alone. Many of our peers have found themselves in the same dark place. The most disturbing feature of this trend is how little individuals feel supported by the environment at Greenhill.

The crux of the issue is that we lack formal systems and lessons to accommodate students struggling with mental illness.

Where do we go from here? First, we must all acknowledge that there is a problem. It’s not a valid reason to ignore the issue just because you do not personally suffer from mental illness.

Second, we need to ensure that

Greenhill is a safe space. It is a problem that some of our peers are not comfortable coming to trusted adults or friends about how they are feeling. If you notice something off, go out of your way to check in and ask a friend if they are okay. Make it clear that you are there to listen to them.

Third, we must start a dialogue on mental illness. This involves sharing our own experiences, discussing the prevalence of mental illness in our community and offering up support and willingness to listen.

Also, we need to cease the minimization of mental illness. This means abandoning the continued invalidation of mental illness.

We need to be more mindful of mental illness in the context of academic classes, sports teams and friendships.

Finally, we must educate everyone on strategies to improve our mental health and make resources more available. We must

offer more support for mental health while emphasizing mental health and wellness through community-focused initiatives such as designating time for mindfulness during the school day, educating parents on what they can do to support mental wellness, offer more normalized screening mechanisms to make access to help easier and more comfortable, and work with students in an individualized and coordinated approach when handling issues of mental health.

This is a call to action, Upper School.

There are things we can do and paths we can take to resolve these problems. It starts with each of you. We owe it to our peers and ourselves to act. We cannot wait for a tragic catalyst to start the conversation.

-Brooke Bulmash, senior

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wednesday, december 14, 2016

Home for the holidays?

Let’s find something for you to do!

START HERE

Entertainment Bookworm?

Something lit?

Adventure

Read & Feed

Check out your local Barnes and Noble, Half Price Books, public library or independent bookstore. Grab a cup of hot chocolate, coffee or tea, and curl up with a good read. Explore a new genre or revisit an old favorite. Sometimes the best winter weather activities are indoors. Don’t forget the marshmallows.

Helping hand?

Volunteer

Nothing is more fulfilling than helping others, especially during this season of love and giving. Spending even a couple of hours tutoring students or delivering meals through the Meals on Wheels program can brighten this cold, dark season. See Mrs. Rosenberg’s emails or the Student Center volunteer board to get inspired.

Vitruvian Lights

Between now and January 1, 2017, Vitruvian Park (about a mile from Greenhill’s campus) is having their annual light show, “Vitruvian Lights.” C o m e to enjoy the sights, sounds and a picture w i t h Santa!

Indoors?

Tree Lighting

Everyday at 12 P.M., 2 P.M., 4 P.M. and 6 P.M., the Galleria’s ice rink has an “Illumination Celebration” with a giant Christmas tree. Not interested?

No problem! The Galleria has a giant menorah lighting, a Santa to listen to your wish list and Operation Kind ness’ Holiday Pet Adoption.

Go ice skating

Whether you are a first-time skater or a hockey pro, we all can agree that ice skating in the winter is as magical as Santa and the Tooth Fairy. So lace up those skates and venture out onto the ice with your friends.

Love downtown?

Here for the lights?

Outdoors?

Prefer the cold?

Free?

Crow Collection

Learn about foreign cultures through art masterpieces. A few blocks from the DMA and other downtown attractions, The Crow Collection of Asian Art displays sculptures, pottery and paintings from half a world away. If you just want to relax and clear your mind, the Crow Collection offers yoga, mindfulness and meditation classes.

$$$$?

The DMA

Regular admittance is free, but even if you don’t enjoy the usual incredible exhibits at the Dallas Museum of Art, you are still in luck! This museum offers a variety of talks, concerts and programs, including Late Nights, that are sure to d e l i g h t everyone, whether you are one or 100 years old.

Time to paint!

Graphics by Drake Heptig