The Pulse 2020-2021 Issue 4

Page 1

March 2021 Volume 21 Issue 4

A Day to Remember: Harvey’s Day of Giving Every year, The Harvey School celebrates its Founders Day on the second Thursday of February. On the 105th anniversary of the school’s founding, with unprecedented times still on our backs, the Harvey Development Team decided to merge the annual Founder’s Day with their first ever Day of Giving.

By Amanda Mohamad

On Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021, students, faculty, and staff arrived on campus following a two-hour delay due to the previous night’s snow that created icy roads in New York and Connecticut. Everyone, including parents who dropped their children off, was greeted with a customized Day of Giving mask and a bag of candy and chocolates.

Featured in this issue: l Reports l Sports News l Reviews

The “Day A” on Harvey’s four-day rotation schedule proceeded as normal through the advisory period. At 11:30 a.m., the on-campus Harvey community entered the Flex Space for the start of not only middle school and ninth and 10th grade lunch, but also Founders Day festivities. When entering, students were greeted with raffle tickets and celebratory bead necklaces. The fun began with a performance by The Harvey School band, directed by Ms. Michelle Davies. The talented director led six Harvey students through several songs, and she also showcased her own skills on vocals. Shelby McCaine, Class of 2024, played the bass and showed off her vocal abilities. As for sophomores, Loveleigh Viera played the saxophone, Spencer Elkind was on the piano, and Jonah Weinstock demonstrated his percussion skills on the drums. Junior Brent Schwartz was on bass and guitar, and Anthony Lubin, also a junior, played the keyboard. After the band started off the festivities strong, Head of School Mr. Knauer came to the front of the Flex Space for his annual debriefing on Founder’s Day history. The Harvey School was founded in Hawthorne, New York, by Dr. Herbert Carter and his wife, Mabel Carter, in 1916 as an all-boys school for secondary grades. The school was originally built at the Carter family’s farm and was intended to create an educational program that was easily accessible for the Carter’s son, Herbert Swift Carter, Jr.

The Harvey School 260 Jay Street Katonah, NY 10536

The Harvey School was named after Sir William Harvey (1578-1657), who is claimed to be the first to describe the workings of blood circulation. He was also the personal physician to King Charles I of England, and Dr. Harvey can be considered one of the founding fathers of modern medical science. When Mr. Knauer concluded his history lesson, he invited Harvey Head Chef Lee Robinson, to

Ms. Danziger (left) with Student Council co-presidents Tyler Wallach (middle) and Zachary Treseler (right), pulling raffle tickets. Photo courtesy of the Harvey Newsletter.

bring out the Founders Day cake. Mr. Knauer then invited the youngest boy and girl students in the Harvey community to be the first to slice the cake. This year, sixth grade students Aidan Garcia and Katya Stephens were given the honor to perform one of Harvey’s most notable traditions. Traditionally, the cake-cutting ceremony is done during Morning Meeting. With the elimination of Morning Meeting due to COVID-19 restrictions, two cakes were made by Chef Lee, one for each of the two lunch periods. While the first lunch followed the tradition of the two youngest students cutting the cake, Mr. Knauer invited senior Student Council Representatives Mia Cornell and Kyle Canevari to slice the cake during the second lunch slot. Both lunches consisted of a raffle for Harvey swag, such as Harvey monogrammed flannel pants and rugby shirts. Student Council co-presidents Zachary Treseler and Tyler Wallach drew 10 winners per lunch from the raffle tickets to receive the prizes. Winners were excited to receive their prizes, and school spirit filled the Flex Space as the winners’ friends cheered for them. Treseler and Wallach also led a Harvey-themed trivia contest in which correct answers were rewarded with more Harvey swag. The questions included: who is the head of the English department, what are the names of Mr. Wahlers’ dogs that he brings to campus, and what year did Mr. Knauer become the Head of the Upper School (hint: Mr. Knauer has never been the Head of the Upper School).

With smiles and school spirit,

lunches ended at 1:05 p.m., and students proceeded with the rest of the school day. During dismissal between 3:05 p.m. and 4 p.m., parents picking up their children who had donated to the Day of Giving fund received stickers. While the day had been over for the majority of students, faculty, and staff, the Development Team was still hard at work. Not only was the team busy calculating the amount of money that had been donated and the number of donors who had participated in the Day of Giving, but the second phone-athon of the 2020-2021 school year was underway. The student-run phone-a-thons are not only a way to raise money for the Annual Fund, but they also give students the opportunity to connect with Harvey alumni. From 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., Development Team student interns made countless calls and texts to Harvey alumni asking if they were interested in contributing to the Annual Fund. Interns who helped with the Day of Giving phone-a-thon included juniors Ella Cohn, Giselle Groff, and Amanda Mohamad, as well as sophomore Nekia Bland. Two interns, junior Ryan Spiro and senior Densley Blake, were also able to participate from home. Between the donations of alumni and the families of current Harvey students, over $213,000 was raised with more than 100 new donors contributing. The Pulse thanks the Development Team, the student interns, and Student Council for making the merged Day of Giving and Founders Day a wonderful time for the entire Harvey community.


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.