February 2019 Issue

CHRONICLE the harvard westlake

Studio City • Volume 28 • Issue 6 • March 1, 2019 • hwchronicle.com

Pertussis outbreak reaches 30 cases

School plans on updated gender rules An ad-hoc committee recommends changes to promote inclusivity and diversity.

By Sophie Haber

If the whooping cough outbreak at school grows from the 30 cases reported between Nov. 16 and Feb. 26, the next step may be to limit interschool activities, according to the Los Angeles County Health Department Office of Communications and Public Affairs.

Eighteen students at Harvard-Westlake have medical exemption from vaccinations, but none of them are among

20 percent of students said the pertussis policy has deterred them from missing school in a Chronicle poll of 318 students. the 30 students who contracted whooping cough, Head of Communications Ari Engelberg ’89 said.

“My understanding is that starting in 2016, the law only allows students to be exempted from the pertussis vaccine requirement for medical reasons that must be documented by a doctor,” Engelberg said.

“There is no more religious or ‘personal beliefs’ exemption.”

According to the LA County Health Department Office of Communications and Public Affairs, school closure due to the whooping cough outbreak is not probable, and there is not a specific number of cases at which the Health Department would tell the school to close.

President Rick Commons said that the administration has not contemplated closing the school; however, if they felt that the health and safety of the community was ever at stake, they would make that decision.

The outbreak is not unique to Harvard-Westlake, the Office of Communications said.

As of Feb. 19, there were three reported clusters of pertussis among 11 to 18-yearolds in Los Angeles County since the end of 2018. There were no prior clusters in 2018, and only two clusters throughout 2017, showing in increase in the disease in the area.

To curtail the outbreak at Harvard-Westlake, the Health Department told the school to mandate that everyone who presents cold- or flu-like symptoms at school, or who stays home sick from school, gets tested for whooping cough.

• Continued on A5

By Casey Kim and Lindsay Wu

so important and cool and different, and the message of his music is so good. He’s really just a creative genius to me.”

As one of the first artists addressing these issues, Mescudi said he initially felt pressure as the de facto spokesperson for those struggling with mental illness.

“I didn’t know if I was a role model, not going to college and stuff like that, but I had to be okay with that,” Mescudi said.

“I had to realize no matter what, whether I like it or not, people look up to me. That’s a powerful thing and that’s a responsibility, and I have to live up to that responsibility.”

The club sought to change the perspectives students may have about who is qualified to address mental health issues, Barris said.

“There’s this stigma, especially in the black community, that rappers and artists aren’t as educated and formal, and we want to break that down,” Barris said. “[We are] not just bringing a celebrity down to be a celebrity, but we are bringing a celebrity to talk about something deeper than that. These are educated people, these are creative and smart people.”

Mescudi’s story helped to demonstrate the reality and prevalence of mental health issues, BLACC leader Sirus Wheaton ’19 said. The assembly helped bring a sense of

Following over a year of research on how students are gendered within the school, an ad-hoc committee, including middle and upper school deans, teachers and faculty, created a list of 16 to 18 recommendations in an effort to provide more inclusive opportunities on campus. The committee presented their suggestions to school administrators and departments heads, who will decide whether to enact new policies, Coordinator of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and science teacher Nate Cardin said.

“We were basically trying to guide but not push [the school] in a certain direction,” Cardin said. “We didn’t go in with an objective of ‘this is what has to happen.’ We just went in saying that no one really has taken the time to look at all of these things in a very thoughtful manner, so let’s take the time to do that now and see what comes up.”

Cardin said that he and Director of DEI Janine Jones coled the discussion within the committee.

Over the course of the past year, each committee member studied a different gendered activity or gender-specific award which excluded trans and non-binary people, Cardin said. Members presented their findings at four separate meetings and created the final recommendations list.

One of the recommendations suggested that Prefect Council should no longer uphold traditional rules that require equal numbers of male and female members. Previously, students voted for their top female and male candidates separately.

“I’m proud of Prefect Council and our advisors for [considering] something that has not been done before,” Prefect Caroline Cook ’19 said. “I’m not sure that new gender policies will change the dynamic of the council too much because we are a diverse group already, but I do think they [would] change the dynamic of the elections. I’m excited that students will have the opportunity to vote for their student leaders as individuals rather than the ‘best girls’ or the ‘best boys’ out of the pool of candidates.”

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RYAN ALBERT/CHRONICLE

KIDS SEE CUDI: Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi speaks to students about mental health in an allschool assembly hosted by the Black Leadership Awareness and Culture Club in Taper Gym.

Kid Cudi addresses mental health stigma

By Lucas Gelfond and Jenny Li

Grammy award-winning musical artist Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi spoke about the stigma surrounding mental health in the black community in an all-school assembly hosted by the Black Leadership Awareness and Culture Club on Wednesday.

“People are struggling right now from mental illness,” Mescudi said. “They don’t have answers, and sometimes, music is all that’s there for somebody. It has always been my goal to reach out, to touch those people, and let them know they’re not alone.”

Less than three years ago, Mescudi wrote a Facebook post announcing his intent to check into a rehabilitation center for depression and suicidal urges.

Mescudi’s vulnerability in his music has both helped himself confront his past and created a unique outlet for listeners facing similar issues, he said.

“We wanted to bring someone that [all] sides could relate to, while still talking about something specific to the black community,” BLACC leader Leyah Barris ’19 said. “[The goal was] to bring awareness to the problems in the black community about mental health, and there needs to be more discussion about that.”

Discussion of mental health issues was not common until recently, Mescudi said.

When he first started creating music, Mescudi addressed “darker” topics than he had not seen elsewhere in hip-hop.

“I was really scared when I dropped my first album,” Mescudi said. “I didn’t know [if] people in the world felt like me. I didn’t know how people would respond. It was always like tell your story, hope that someone out there feels the

“

I WAS REALLY SCARED WHEN I DROPPED MY FIRST ALBUM. I DIDN’T KNOW [IF] PEOPLE IN THE WORLD FELT LIKE ME.”

—Scott Mescudi

connection, the vibes [and] can feel you. That was the most important, from day one.”

Much of Mescudi’s popularity can be attributed to his courage to talk about issues that were largely stigmatized, Graham Berger Sacks ’20 said.

“He was one of the first guys to kind of talk about being an outcast, talking about mental health in his music,” Berger Sacks said. “I think that’s just

A2 NEWS

THE CHRONICLE

MARCH 1, 2019

Kid Cudi speaks at assembly

• Continued from A1

humanity to his art, Wheaton said.

“People see him as Kid Cudi,” Wheaton said. “People don’t see him as Scott. [He] is more than just the musician. He is someone who is also deeply affected by mental health issues.”

The assembly brought a unique perspective in addressing the stigma surrounding mental health issues, BergerSacks said.

“It’s outside the box,” Berger-Sacks said. “Not a lot of other kids will have the opportunity to have someone like him speak at their school. I think it’s sending a great message to have someone who’s really an originator, someone who I think everyone at this school can really gain something from him speaking.”

Neema Mansouri ’20 said the assembly helped bridge the community through an appreciation of Mescudi and his message.

“I think it unites people as students,” Mansouri said. “I think it brings help to people who need help, and I think it’s really great for people who love Kid Cudi as much as I do.”

Mescudi said he hoped his story would give courage to students currently facing mental health issues.

“I’m living proof that you can get through it, you can make it, especially now,” Mescudi said. “Three years ago, I don’t know if I could have this conversation. I was really in a different place. I was wearing a mask. I know a lot of people in this room know what that feels like, in pretewnding to be happy. It’s a nightmare. You can get through. Here I am.”

CAITLIN CHUNG/CHRONICLE

LEARNING FROM THE EXPERT: Head of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Janine Jones thanks retired Head of School at the Center of Early Education Reveta Bowers during her opening speech. Bowers is a leading expert in independent school education.

DEI holds first recruiting event on West Coast

By CAITLIN CHUNG

Faculty, staff and administrators from 43 independent institutions gathered together to participate in the first West Coast Diversity Job Fair on Feb. 23.

The fair, which was cohosted with the Brentwood School, gave an opportunity for participants to discuss their experiences working in independent school environments and promote open job positions to potential educators of underrepresented groups.

Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Associate Director of Admission Janine Jones and other administrators have frequently traveled to the East Coast to attend similar diversity job fairs.

However, Jones said they

have always faced difficulty in and now a diverse faculty and attracting possible candidates staff. So I wasn’t deterred and to move to the West Coast for a I said ‘Okay, we’re going to do job opening. it ourselves.’”

To combat this, Jones deThe event also included an cided to host a job fair on the information session , which West Coast. allowed participants “I figured we still to understand the need to do it because world of independent we’re still talking education beyond the about the value in stereotype it holds in having a diverse facsociety. ulty and staff and the “Often times, peovalue that it gives to ple see it as us being all of our students, on an island,” Jones but especially for said. “We’re just so ’ students of color,” unknown and foreign.

Janine Jones said. “When I think through this Jones they don’t see people event, we’re working that look like them teaching in on letting down the curtain a their classrooms, what mes- little bit in trying to let peosage is that unintentionally ple know that we’re a normal sending to them? All of our place here, and we’ve got great schools talk about the value of kids, and we need to get great having a diverse student body, educators in here too.”

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The event opened with an introduction and keynote from retired Head of School at the Center for Early Education Reveta Bowers. Bowers discussed her experience as the first female Head of colored background to inspire the participants to actively search for job opportunities in the independent schools.

“No matter the race, black, white, Asian or Hispanic, we all have our own culture and story to share with the community,” Bowers said. “In a world of silos, we have the role to crack open the divided society.”

Black Leadership Awareness and Culture Club leader and Student Ambassador • Continued on A4

In the issue ...

A5 IF YOU CAN DODGE A WRENCH: Student teams

competed in the first upper school dodegball torunament.

A11 GAINING

PERSPECTIVE:

Students should try to be more aware of their privileges and act with more respect.

B4-5 DECISION DAY: Students

and faculty members discuss the admissions process and how the school can improve.

THE CHRONICLE, the student newspaper of Harvard-Westlake School, is published 10 times per year and distributed free on both the upper and middle school campuses.

There are 732 students at the Middle School and 870 students at the Upper School.

Subscriptions may be purchased for $20 a year for delivery by mail. Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the seniors on the Editorial Board. Letters to the

C2 MUSIC TO MY EARS: Violinist Megan Chang ’19 reflects on her decade-long musical journey and her future plans.

D1 PLAY YOUR CARDS: Students discuss the motivations potential consequences of sports gambling on campus.

editor may be submitted to chronicle@hw.com or mailed to 3700 Coldwater Canyon Ave., Studio City, CA 91604. Letters must be signed and may be edited for space and to conform to Chronicle style and format. Advertising questions may be directed to Cameron Stokes at cstokes1@hwemail.com. Publication of an advertisement does not imply endorsement of the product or service by the newspaper or the school.

MARCH 1, 2019

Committee puts forth suggestions

HWCHRONICLE.COM/NEWS

NEWS A3

• Continued from A1

When discussing this recommendation, however, Cardin said that the committee also contemplated its possible consequences.

“By completely taking away any gender restrictions, we were worried that all the boys would get elected and no girls, or all the boys and no other genders,” Cardin said. “That’s not what we want either because we want all kinds of representation, so I think that we are working on developing a policy that is going to kind of bridge that gap. So maybe where we would have a certain number of boy and girl prefects, but then a certain number of prefects that could be any gender. Then, we would just see from year to year how that balance plays out.”

Another recommendation suggested that faculty members, especially those in the English department, should collectively accept and honor the use of the singular ‘they’ pronoun to describe people who are ungendered or do not identify as either male or female, Cardin said.

“I think there is an old way

GRAPHIC BY OLIVIA BAER

of thinking,” English teacher Lucas Gonzales said. “In fact, I can remember one of my [college] professors saying we shouldn’t use ‘they’ as a singular pronoun. But the question is, ‘Why not?’ If people’s identities change, and the way that we express who we are changes, shouldn’t language

also change? And I think that language is also changing, so it just makes sense that we need to update ourselves.”

While the committee will not require policy changes, Cardin said he hopes that the committee’s work will help enhance the school’s image of diversity and inclusivity in the

HWSAA begins a new initiative to connect current students and alumni

By CASEY KIM

The Student Alumni Association initiated a new digital, community-building program that connects current seniors with alumni to help students reduce stress during the college admissions process and the transition out of high school. After the SAA notified alumni of the program, 164 alumni volunteered to participate in the project, HW Works

Administrator Zaakirah Daniels ’10 said.

“As the HW Works Administrator, I develop and manage career exploration and development programs for our students and alumni,” Daniels said. “I developed the Collaborative Mentorship program as the student component of the overarching HW Works program. The College Connections program is the 12th grade-specific sub-program of

the HW Works Collaborative Mentorship program and was in development for the past two-and-a-half years.”

Students will be able to speak with alumni over the phone or in-person, depending on their locations and availability, SAA Chair Bella Guanche ’19 said.

“I hope [the program] will be helpful for students to pick between their many options about their futures,” Guanche

future.

“I would love it if HarvardWestlake was known as the school where, if you’re trans or non-binary you are welcome, there are ways for you to be included and that is the go-to school for you,” Cardin said. “How cool would it be, in a city as diverse and rich

“

as LA, that we could be a top school for lots of types of people, including trans and nonbinary, where they know they will be accepted, where they will be valued and where they know they will be wanted?

They know that they and their families will be included in our community.”

I hope [the program] will be helpful for students to pick between their many options about their future. Personally, it would be helpful to hear alumni’s opinions about the schools they attended.”

— Bella Guanche ’19 Student Alumni Association Chair

said. “It would be helpful to hear alumni’s opinions about the schools they attended.”

Through the program, alumni will be able to give back to the school community, Daniels said.

“College Connections will

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create and strengthen the community by providing alumni with opportunities to engage with the school in the present and by giving students a glimpse of how they can influence the our community in the future,” Daniels said.

Debate continues record-breaking streak

By MADDY HUGGINS

PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF VISHAN CHAUDHARY

A(FIRM): Ari Davidson ’19, Jaya Nayar ’20, Spencer Paul ’19 and Opinion Editor Vishan Chaudhary showcase their awards at a competition.

Over the past month, Harvard-Westlake’s varsity debate team has experienced a streak of success in both the regional and national circuit.

The season’s victories culminated in a record-setting 13 students qualified for the Tournament of Champions being held April 27-29 in Lexington, Kentucky.

According to a National Symposium for Debate update, out of seven schools with TOC qualifiers, Harvard-Westlake debaters secured the top spot with 57 total bids.

Because of the mass individual and team successes in recent Lincoln-Douglas and Policy tournaments this season, the debate team has achieved the largest number of TOC-qualifying students the program has ever seen.

Chronicle Opinion Editor Vishan Chaudhary ’19 took

home the main tournament title, out of the 300 entries from across the nation attending the UC Berkeley Invitational on the weekend of Feb. 8-10, .

Third place winner Jaya Nayar ’20 secured Top Speaker, and Chronicle Assistant Broadcast Editor Alexandra Mork ’20 won Third Speaker in the round robin portion of the event.

At the Stanford Invitational on the weekend of Feb. 18-21, all 16 of the Harvard-Westlake participants cleared to the elimination rounds including Chaudhary, Nayar, Spencer Paul ’19 and Ari Davidson ’19, who closed out the tournament.

The Golden Desert tournament, which took place Feb. 2-4 at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, concluded with Davidson and Nayar, who had been competing in Policy style debate as an adjunct to their commitment to the Lincoln-

Douglas team as finalists.

“I am exceedingly proud of these two,” Head of HarvardWestlake Debate Program Mike Bietz wrote in a social media post. “This season they went to four national tournaments in Policy Debate, earned four bids to the TOC, defeated some of the nation’s top teams and just capped off this sidehustle by making the finals of the UNLV tournament after going 6-0 in prelims.”

According to Nayar, the effort the team has put in to propel them this far and the experience of the journey itself is worth far more than any letters on a plaque.

“I’m so proud of how our whole team is doing and how much we support and love each other,” Nayar said. “We’re like a little family and I think at the end of the day the amount that we all care for each other is more important than any wins or losses.”

A4 News

Innovation station: students code projects

The Chronicle

March 1, 2019

By Ruoshan Dong

after they noticed how difficult it was for students to deterStudents coded for 36 mine their common frees.

“When you want to work hours to develop programs as part of the fourth annual with someone on a project or homework, it’s often really Hackathon Feb. 16 to 17.

Students formed teams of hard to plan because everyfour or fewer to create solu- one’s schedules are so differtions to school or societal ent,” Cheng said. “We created problems using technolo- a user-friendly program that gy. The event, led by Rehaan could do all of that planning.”

Eli Friedman ’21, Kosi Furniturewala ’19 and Sarah Wilen ’19, also featured alum- Nwabueze ’21, Chase Thuni-led workshops in cyberse- mann ’21 and Matthew Redcurity, web development and ford ’21 won third place for their program ByteLab, an entrepreneurship. educational JavasA panel of alumcript-based toolkit for ni including Sameer retro style game deGupta ’99, Kelly Hanvelopment. ker ’99, Todd Jackson Though students ’99, Josh Glazer ’96 enrolled in computand Caro Krissman er science classes at ’94, judged student school were familiar projects. Criteria inwith Java, prior excluded technical difperience was not necficulty, creativity and essary to attend the functionality. ’ event.

“I liked being able Sarah Ariana Pineda ’21 to pitch our project Wilen ’19 said her group faced to the judges,” Jacky Zhang ’21 said. “The whole challenges with learning difprocess behind creating pro- ferent languages.

“We really wanted our programs.”

Lukas Seklir ’21, Yvette gram [connecTEEN] to be a Copeland ’21, Will Liu ’20 website, but I was the only one and Will Farhat ’21 won first familiar with HTML,” Pineda place in the competition and said. “The really difficult part received AirPods as a reward. came when we had to embed Their program, Freehand VR, Javascript into our program to implemented artificial intel- direct users from page to page. ligence and virtual reality to None of us knew any Javascript, so it was pretty much a create immersive 3D games.

Amaan Irfan ’21, Katari- trial and error process.”

Zhang said participating in na Cheng ’21 and Aariz Irfan ‘23 won second place for their Hackathon helped inspire his project, SchedHW. SchedHW passion for entrepreneurship.

“I now realize that I’m reallows students to schedule meetings with peers based on ally interested in business after attending the workshops,” shared free periods.

Cheng said her group was Zhang said. “I will definitely be inspired to create SchedHW coming back next year.” white s

CAITLIN CHUNG/CHRONICLE

MEET THE PROS: Photographic messaging artist Nicole Maloney (Keller ’18, Pierce ’19 and Cleo ’21) emphasizes the importance of transparency in photo journalism at the first school journalism festival.

Student holds first journalism festival

By Tanisha Gunby

Students and advisers from schools in the Los Angeles area attended workshops led by industry professionals and student volunteers at the school’s first journalism festival, “Through the Looking Glass,” on Feb. 9. Emmy-award winning Peter Hamby, a former CNN reporter and the current host of “Good Luck America” on Snapchat, gave the keynote speech.

Former Co-President of the Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Entertainment Group Janice Min (Tate Sheehy ’24 and Peter Sheehy ’22) interviewed Ham-

by at the the end of the event.

“Journalism is always changing and evolving, but the fundamentals are always going to be the same,” Hamby said. “If you know how to tell a story, you are going to be successful anywhere.”

Engagement Managing Editor and News Editor Saba Nia ’19 organized the festival.

Times Community News reporters Andrew Campa, Andy Nguyen and Lila Seidman joined the Los Angeles Times Editorial Page Editor Nick Goldberg on a panel about life as a journalist.

Photographic messaging artist Nicole Maloney (Keller

’18, Pierce ’19 and Cleo ’21) encouraged students to be passionate and maintain eye contact for success.

CEO of “The Latest” Jeff Hall said internships offer opportunities for future jobs.

In another panel, Riverside City College professor Matt Schoenmann, Long Beach Post reporter Valerie Osier and Real Estate and City Editor of the Hollywood Reporter Peter Kiefer ’95 advised students to start their careers early.

Attendee Elizabeth Yeo said she enjoyed the event.

“The best part was being able to ask the professionals the right questions,” Yeo said.

Junior organizes 24-hour event to stage original plays

By Sarah Healy

CAITLIN CHUNG/CHRONICLE

FAIR FOR ALL: Middle School Mathematics Department Head Bob Pavich introduces himself to a Diversity Fair participant. 40 independent schools and three additional educational institutions participated.

Diversity Fair attracts 40 independent schools

• Continued from A2

Sirus Wheaton ’19 said he volunteered for the event in order to provide an inside perspective of the school for visiting participants.

“I appreciate that [Jones] is really trying to make strides, not just within Harvard-Westlake but across the entire independent school community as well,” Wheaton said. “It’s important that we have an event where more diverse people are seen, so that more people can

be put into positions that usually aren’t so diverse. I volunteered for the event because I thought I could really be of use as a person of color who experiences Harvard-Westlake from day to day.”

Student Ambassador Xenia Bernal ’19 said it was inspiring to see the school community attempting to increase inclusivity.

“It’s really interesting to see how far we’re coming as independent schools in making the effort to reach out to

people who represent marginalized group and [in] learning how just being a person that is part of a marginalized community is in of itself a completely different story,” Bernal said.

“I love participating in events like these because I’m able to see people being passionate about wanting to be a teacher, wanting to be part of the administration like ours, about wanting to open doors for younger students who may not have had them open before.

Honestly, it’s really beautiful.”

ciplines, whether it be communication, working with the The first ever student-run school and the theater departPop-Up Play Festival, also ment,” Lehrhoff ’20 said. “It’s known as the “24 Hour Play fun to dive into those different Festival,” will occur in Rugby sectors.”

Theater on March 8 and 9.

The festival coordinators Over the course of these hope to make this a permanent two days, participants will addition to the upper schoolwrite, cast, direct and perform theater program, Redlich said. in original plays.

“The theater department After festival coordinator is really excellent and if more and Chronicle Assistant Feapeople could explore it that tures Editor would be amazZoe Redlich ing,” Redlich ’20 met other I think our school said. aspiring playIn addition wights who could use a few more to enhancing participated relaxed, fun and creative the theater proin festivals gram, Redlich at their own opportunities to try schools during said she hopes something new.” a theater sumto connect peomer program, —Zoe Redlich ’20 ple who do not she said she Festival Coordinator normally interdecided to creact with each ate a similar other and proopportunity for vide students a relaxing expeHarvard-Westlake students. rience.

“I think our school could “I’m hoping that people who use a few more relaxed, fun don’t get to be involved in theand creative opportunities ater get a chance to try it out,” for students to try something Redlich said. “I think that a lot new,” Redlich said.

The festival has been in of the time, the activities we do the works for five months at school have a certain level now, with coordinators work- of stress and pressure, and I ing hard to make this festival hope that this festival can be possible, coordinator Michael a place for creativity without that. I want people to look Lehrhoff ’20 said.

“It requires a lot of dis- back on this fondly.”

“

MARCH 1, 2019

HWCHRONICLE.COM/NEWS

NEWS A5

Students report on gun violence

By JEANINE KIM

PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF MAX TASH

BEHIND THE SCENES: Students in Introduction to Broadcast Journalism, Broadcast Journalism I and Broadcast Journalism II learn about the different functions of a control room and speak to professionals during their visit to Fox Sports Studios Feb. 14.

Broadcast journalism class visits Fox Sports Studios

By LUKE CASOLA

Students in the Introduction to Broadcast Journalism, Broadcast Journalism I and Broadcast Journalism II classes, along with Upper School Communications Department Head Jim Burns, communications teacher Max Tash and middle school English teacher Michael Chavez, visited the Fox Sports complex Feb. 14.

“It was really great for all of the broadcast students to be able to get a real behindthe-scenes look at what they have already been watching on television and listening to on radio,” Tash said. “Now, they get to see how it’s all put together. Some may be interested in a future in broadcasting, not necessarily even in front of the camera but behind the camera.”

At the headquarters, the students participated in a

Q&A with Fox Sports President students really figure out Mark Silverman, Fox Sports what their interests are, and Executive Vice President of Re- from seeing a sports producsearch Michael Mulvihill and tion from behind the scenes, MLB and NFL Play-by-Play An- I could tell that students were nouncer Kenny Albert. either ecstatic to do this in the During the Q&A, Mulvi- future or overwhelmed by the hill, Silverman and Albert effort it takes to put a piece tospoke about gether.” how they beThe students gan their caand teachers It was mindreers with also got to see blowing to see such Fox Sports. the production a successful media They also room, highlight gave advice to room and bepersonality in person future aspirhind the scenes and listen to how he got of “The Herd ing broadcast where he is.” journalists, with Colin CowChronicle Asherd” during —Yoohan Ko ’20 their visit. sistant Broadcast Editor After watchYoohan Ko ’20 said. ing Cowherd record the next “I think for broadcast stu- episode of his show, students dents, being able to see the participated in another Q&A work done by professionals session. makes you realize if this is “Meeting Cowherd was what you are interested in,” definitely a once-in-a-lifetime Ko said. “This is a time when experience,” Ko said. “It was

“

National CLASS Essay Contest Award Recipients 15 students enrolled in Chinese III Honors or a higher Chinese course received recognition.

Taia Cheng

Gold Award

Caitlin Chung

Gold Award

Eunice Kiang

Gold Award

Matthew Lee

Gold Award

Mandy Shao

Gold Award

Clay Skaggs

Gold Award

Tyler Weigand

Gold Award

Andrew So

Gold Award

Celine Park

Gold Award

Lily Xie

Gold Award

Lauren Cho

Silver Award

Athalia Meron

Silver Award

Allison Park

Silver Award

Felicity Phelan

Silver Award

Martin Kriksciun

Honorable Award

mind-blowing to see such a successful media personality in person and listen to how he got where he is. He was very supportive of young journalists. It was the same with Silverman. He seemed captivated by our questions, and overall, I think it was an amazing experience for both broadcast students and professionals. We had the opportunity to seize the time we had with them and further our journalistic status by getting contact information for future interviews.”

Tash said he hopes that this visit to Fox Sports will be an annual trip for broadcast students.

“Burns and I have already talked about adding another field trip throughout the year because the NGL Network is in town and ESPN is in town, so we may be going again soon,” Tash said.

Since Parkland, a project run by teen journalists that has been chronicling gun-related deaths across the U.S., released their report on Feb. 14, the one-year anniversary of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Chronicle Managing Editor Kaitlin Musante ’19 has been working on the project since August with over 200 other high school journalists around the country to document shootings and massacres that involve children and teenagers, anyone from ages zero to 18.

“Parkland was a horrific, tragic shooting, and it woke a lot of people up,” Musante said. “But in a larger sense, I wanted to cover gun violence because it’s such a prominent issue in our country, in ways beyond just school shootings.”

News organizations such as The Trace, the Miami Herald and the Gun Violence Archive are supporters of the project.

The report concluded that at least 1,149 children and teenagers have died in gun-related deaths in the last year.

The Parkland shooting was a catalyst for many student activists who decided to protest the growing number of school shootings that have happened in recent years, according to Vox News.

Instead of focusing on statistics like national professional news organizations, Since Parkland reporters emphasized the personal stories of the victims, creating narratives rather than numbers.

“I think [the project] puts a face to the issue,” Musante said. “When you see numbers, you see really shocking statistics, but you don’t necessarily know whose lives they’re affecting and the wide diversity of life being affected.”

Community responds to pertussis outbreak • Continued from A1

Students are not allowed to return to school without proof of a negative pertussis test or completed treatment.

“We’re doing everything the County of Department Health has asked us to do and more to mitigate the spread of pertussis on our campus and ultimately to eliminate the spread of pertussis on our campus,” Engelberg said.

In a Chronicle poll of 318 students, 20 percent said that the whooping cough policy has deterred them from staying home from school.

When Rebecca Sugerman ’19 stayed home sick due to a sinus infection, her parents received an email saying she would not be allowed back at school until she had proof that she did not have pertussis.

“I had to miss the next day of school, which made me wish I hadn’t stayed home in the first place,” Sugerman said.

The pertussis vaccine wears out after 10 years and

is only successful in protecting just stay home.”

Keith*, who was diagnosed against whooping cough 90 percent of the time, according with pertussis in December, to the County Health Depart- said he came to school for two ment. People who are vacci- weeks with symptoms, under nated but still contract pertus- the assumption that he just had a bad cough. sis have milder symptoms.

After a week of experiencHead of Upper School ing mild symptoms, Laura Ross said he said he started that since whooping having coughing fits cough is not presentduring which he had ing as dramatically trouble breathing, as it does in younger sometimes causing kids, she has noticed him to vomit. that doctors and famHe went to his ilies are surprised doctor and tested when students are dipositive for whooping agnosed. ’ cough, which he said She said she recLaura prompted a call from ognizes how hard it Ross the Health Departcan be for students to miss so much school under ment, who notified the school.

Now, months later and those circumstances.

“I just told the faculty ‘I back at school, he said he still just need you to be super com- coughs because the illness passionate and super proac- damaged his lungs.

“If you’ve been coughing, tive if people are sick,” Ross said. “Encourage people to go go get the test,” Keith said. “It’s home, be flexible with things good just to be safe.” and would just tell students to *Names have been changed err on the side of caution and WHITE S

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The Chronicle

March 1, 2019

Get your game on: Dodgeball continues

By Jessa Glassman

PRINTED WITH THE PERMISSION OF CAROLINE COOK

HAVING A (DODGE)BALL: Members of dodgeball team 300 Total IQ pose for a photo in Taper Gym. 300 Total IQ defeated opposing team BBB Feb. 4, securing them a place in the quarter finals.

Teams of students participating in the dodgeball tournament will continue to fight for the championship title in the Quarterfinals during Activities Period on Monday.

In the most recent games on Feb. 4, S41 Team 6ix and 300 Total IQ defeated BBB and For Medrick, respectively.

“On the day of the match, the team must win best two out of three to advance to the next round,” Head Prefect and HW Dodgeball League Commissioner Kevin Chen ’19 said.

“We have a bracket set up for the tournament, and a team would need to win four matches to be crowned as dodgeball champions.”

Because there isn’t an available break every Monday, the organizers have struggled to keep the tournament consistent, Chen said. However, despite this scheduling difficulty, Chen said the dodgeball

matches still receive a sizable turnout from members of the school community.

“I think dodgeball is popular on campus because of the nostalgia factor it has from the Middle School,” Chen said.

“We knew that the kids interested in dodgeball back then would come to the games and that other people would spend break either going to clubs or working on their homework, so we are satisfied with the crowd we get.”

The next matches will be Protect the Kicker against The Baggage Claimers and Mo Bamba against Burnett’s Best.

After these games, 12 teams will remain in the tournament.

Member of eliminated team BBB Ella Price ’20 said the tournament allowed the community to bond.

“Dodgeball was fun while it lasted because I could play and bond with my teammates,” Price said.

PHOTO BY JORDAN YADEGAR

PHOTO BY RYAN ALBERT

Write of Passage: Student playwrights announced

By Emma Shapiro

final drafts on Feb. 14.

“During the process, our Performing arts teachers only goal was to give the playTed Walch, Rees Pugh and wrights all the help they needMichele Spears announced ed and as much time as posthis year’s plays for the Play- sible in writing their plays,” Walch said. wrights Festival.

Submissions were chosen A committee comprised of both faculty and alumni se- based on the following criteria.

“Our criteria [includes] lected 18 plays, which 19 stuwriting, story-telling and thedents wrote.

The Playwrights Festival atricality,” Walch said. “These produces one-act plays written were the principle requireby students in two programs, ments. Choosing plays to proapplicant Andrea Yagher ’20 duce is not unlike casting a play. There are certain qualisaid. “[The Playwrights Festi- ties that are ineffable. A group val] is such an all-inclusive of smart, informed persons make their best call, program for a huge and that is that.” portion of the arts’ The festival constudents, given that sists of two programs there are contribuover a span of four tions from the stuevenings. The plays dent playwrights, for each program will student actors and be announced at a some student direclater date. tors as well,” Yagher Auditions for acsaid. ’ tors and sign-ups for Before submitting Emma crew members to be their finalized plays, Poveda ’19 in the Playwrights students watched Festival will be antheir pieces acted out by professional actors and nounced in an all school email received suggestions for im- at an unknown date, and the provements to their plays with event itself will take place in May, Walch said. dramatists at USC. “What I found to be the “The Playwrights [writers] have the opportunity to work most fulfilling part of the subwith mentors in the field of mission process was seeing entertainment,” Playwrights professional actors read my Festival author Emma Poveda play,” Poveda said. “It was ’20 said. “I was very fortunate amazing to see the dialogue to have a mentor who I really and characters come to life, connected with and who gave and I got a strong sense of what changes needed to be me very valuable critique.”

Students submitted their made and what worked.” white s

PHOTO BY JENNY LI

TRUST NOBODY: Left: Sophia Schwartz ’20 screams and falls down after being tapped out by Editor-in-Chief Jenny Li. Middle: Presentation Managing Editor Ryan Albert ’19 sneaks up behind Andie Cook ’19 in the quad. Right: Maddy Eidinger ’19 gasps in disbelief as she meets her downfall.

Tap tap revolution: Tap Out to comes to close

By William Seymour

The Upper School began playing the prefect-organized game Tap Out on Feb. 4, but with less than 5 players left as of the press deadline, the game is winding down at the end of the third week.

Each player received a text with their target the weekend before the game started but could not pursue their target until Activities Period on Feb. 4. To successfully eliminate one’s target, a student is required to film themselves tapping their target on the back without the target seeing them and then post the video in the newly created HW Tap Out 2019 Facebook group. One of

the three game masters, Kevin Chen ’19, Lucas Lyons ’19 and Jaya Nayar ’20, would then approve the videos.

After faculty and staff complained about the competition, the game masters implemented a few rules prohibiting play in certain areas on campus, Chen said. For example, they made the school parking lots a safe zone to avoid distracting students walking in the streets.

“The process of administering the game has been a bit straining on us game masters,” Chen said. “During the times where activity was the hottest, we often had to keep our computers open in class to accept neutralizations and

text people their next targets.

Also, we had a lot of conversations regarding the rules of the game, the legitimacy of some of the videos and what direction to take the game in.”

The game masters have announced that the first place prizes are a place on the Tap Out Victory Plaque and a championship belt.

One of the remaining players as of press deadline, Charlie Mendes ’19, has enjoyed participating in the activity, he said.

“I have had a lot of fun,” Mendes said. “It is getting a bit tiresome as the game goes on, but I figured I have gotten this far, so I might as well finish [the game] out.”

Outreach specialist Rosetta Lee will debunk myths regarding microaggressions in an all-school assembly.

Alumni Industry Roundtable: The Student Alumni Association will host its second industry roundtable with health industry alums.

3/17

Model United Nations club will travel to New York City to compete in the National High School Conference.

Rosetta Lee to speak at school

3/13

Students will present their visual and literary work from the Stone-Cutters winter publication.

MUN Trip to New York City:

3/08

Stone-Cutters reception:

3/08

3/04

Upcoming Events St. Patrick’s Day: Students will celebrate the holiday on campus by wearing green items or sporting green articles of clothing.

MARCH 1, 2019

HWCHRONICLE.COM/NEWS

NEWS A7

Students screened for heart conditions

BY CAITLIN CHUNG

In honor of Justin Carr ’14, the Justin Carr Wants World Peace Foundation hosted its fifth annual heart screening event Feb. 22.

The foundation was named after Carr, a junior who passed away in 2013 during a routine swim practice due to a sudden cardiac arrest caused by a heart condition, undiagnosed at the time, called idiopathic cardiomyopathy.

“If we can save one life, it’s worth it,” founder Susan Carr (Justin ’14) said. “I don’t want anybody to go through the hell that I’m going through now.

Not just our family, but our community.”

The organization partnered with the Student Athlete Fitness Evaluation in conducting two non-invasive heart screenings on campus for individuals ranging from 12 to 24 years old. It also offered an electrocardiogram and an echocardiogram, both of which focused on detecting abnormalities which could cause sudden cardiac arrests.

“Every time we do testings, we find somebody who might have an ailment,” Susan Carr said. “Most people don’t know they have it a lot of times.”

The Parent Heart Watch Organization’s research concluded that SCA is the number one killer of student athletes.

“There is a lot of work to be done because I don’t think there is enough research and information about cardiomyopathy to really pinpoint it,” Darrell Carr said. “We couldn’t with Justin. We didn’t know.

He’s had EKGs, he passed all his test rates with flying colors. Something was missed somewhere. So if the doctors don’t know how are we supposed to know? Maybe it takes advocates like me and my wife to push it to another level.”

The tests cost $85. Participants could purchase an additional health history review for an extra $25. Several athletes gathered in the Taper Conference room from 3:30 pm to 8 pm to get tested.

“I got tested because I saw the signs around school saying that SCA is the number one killer of student athletes,” Flynn Klace ’19 said. “I’m going to college to play sports so I thought it would be smart to get checked before I go to college. It was quick and easy.”

Despite the lengths the organization has taken since the beginning of its establishment, Darrell Carr (Justin ’14) said that there is still lots of work to be done.

“When you start something and you are going somewhere and you want to achieve something, you want to travel down the long road,” Darrell Carr said.

CAITLIN CHUNG/CHRONICLE

TESTING, TESTING, 1, 2, 3: A Student Athletic Fitness Evaluation employee checks Helen Graham ’20 for normal blood pressure levels before administering the second step of the non-invasive testing.

Clothing drive counteracts negative effects of fast fashion

By MADI MASSEY

AP Environmental Science students conducted a clothing drive Feb. 11-15 to raise awareness about the impact of fast fashion in hopes of bringing attention to the dangers of the industry and its negative impact on the environment.

Clothing drive organizers Dahlia Low ’20 and Sarah

Bagley ’20 donated the clothes to the National Council of Jewish Women.

During the week-long event, Low and Bagley set up a table with information about the details of the industry.

“We wanted to do something that combated the industry and affected the community in a positive way,” Low said. “To do this, we

thought that deterring people from buying clothes from big brands like Zara, Forever 21 and Urban Outfitters. If everyone was aware of the consequences, our clothing drive could potentially have a large impact in the future.”

Bagley and Low’s project was part of the APES curriculum, which requires students to create projects with a com-

“

At first, we did not get many donations, but after educating people about the dangers of fast fashion industry, we got an overwhelming amount of donations.”

— Dahlia Low ’20 AP Environmental Science Student

munity service component.

By donating used clothes, the student body had the opportunity to support a local and relevant cause, Low said.

“At first, we did not get many donations, but after ed-

WHITE’S

ucating people about the dangers of the fast fashion industry, we got an overwhelming amount of donations,” Low said. “I would say we had over ten garbage bags full, which we donated to a great place.”

NEW CLUBS ON CAMPUS ARCHERY CLUB BOOT SQUAD GAME

OF

THRONES CLUB

3D PRINTING CLUB MULTI-ETHNIC CLUB (MEC) WOMEN OF COLOR (WOC) GRAPHIC BY EVIE DE RUBERTIS

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inbrief

March 1, 2019

KHWS student radio exceeds bitrate limit

KHWS student radio has been suspended indefinitely after exceeding its bitrate allowance Feb. 13, KHWS leader and Digital Managing Editor Lucas Gelfond ’19 said.

The station’s streaming service provider, MyRadioStream, automatically temporarily discontinued the account after multiple warnings.

Gelfond said he and the other student leaders, Will Newhart ’19, Annie Wendorf ’19 and Kylie Magnis ’19, have been working to restore the club’s account and looking into other broadcast programs with more appropriate bitrate offers.

“Having the stream down makes me frustrated because I personally take a lot of time to build my playlists before I stream, so not being able to broadcast makes me feel like I did all that work for nothing,” Sports Editor and KHWS broadcaster Jackie Greenberg ’19 said.

—Casey Kim

Faculty evaluation committee created

To better define a faculty and administrative evaluation process, Associate Head of School Liz Resnick created the Faculty Committee, which first met in January.

Resnick created the committee in an effort to make the evaluation more comprehensive, transparent and supportive of cultivating good teaching, she said.

Comprised of faculty volunteers and a handful of administrators who meet every several weeks, the committee is currently in the process of defining what makes a great Harvard-Westlake teacher and researching how other institutions evaluate teachers.

“We will work to define a new faculty evaluation process, as well as a process for administrative evaluation,” Resnick said.

—Crystal Baik

PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF KATE KONVITZ

DYNAMIC-DELEGATE DUO: Will Evans ’19 and Kate Konvitz ’20 showcase their awards from a conference Feb. 14-17. Evans received a gavel as Best Delegate and Konvitz received a certificate for Outstanding Delegate in their crisis committee, Margaret Thatcher’s Cabinet.

Model UN students honored at conference

By Frank Jiang

Thirteen students represented the countries of Lithuania, United Arab Emirates, South Africa and Mongolia, as well as prominent people from Ireland, Great Britain, Korea and the U.S., in a Model UN Conference at UC Santa Barbara on Feb.14-17.

Club members worked in either the General Assembly Committee or Crisis Committees. In the General Assembly, students acted as delegates from different countries, while in Crisis Committees, seven

students split into two teams impacted the other. to solve specific crises that At the end of the confercould occur. During this con- ence, Chronicle Staff Writer ference, one and Layout Asteam on the sistant Alice He If you’re really hard ’21, Will Evans Crisis Committee acted ’19 and Lucy to work hard with and as Margaret Kim ’19 won very uncompromising, Thatcher and Best Delegates that ca also play a factor her cabinet, awards. Chronwhile the othicle Staff Writer in the award. ” er acted as a and Layout As—Will Evans ’19 sistant Celine terrorist organization, the MUN Club President Park ’21, Kate Irish RepubKonvitz ’20 and lican Army.

Alex Poe ’20 reBoth committees, though sep- ceived outstanding delegate arate, passed directives that certificates.

Chronicle Staff

“

Writer and Layout Assistant Emma Limor ’21 also received a commendation.

Club presidentEvans attributed the success of the Model United Nations team to students’ dedication towards the activity. “[Focusing on] how much you speak, the quality of your speeches, how well you work with other people – so you can be speaking and raising good points – will help you out, but if you’re really hard to work with and very uncompromising, that also can play a factor in the award.”

Students perform in February Coffeehouse

By Frank Jiang

Students sang songs and played musical pieces at the Valentine’s Day-themed Coffeehouse in Chalmers East on Feb. 11.

The Jack Riley Experience opened the show with an original Valentine’s Day-inspired song, followed by Daniel Novikov ’21, who performed his

rendition of “Get You” by Daniel Caesar. Other performances included Imani Allen ’19 singing “Gogo” by BTS and Ford McDill ’21 covering George Michael’s 1984 hit “Careless Whisper” on his melodica. Prefect Michael Lehrhoff ’20 also performed stand-up comedy.

“What I really liked about Coffeehouse this time was the diversity that was introduced that I didn’t find in any pre-

vious ones,” Kayla Choi ’22 said. “There were many different types of performers. There was one that sang K-pop and another jazz. It was just so interesting.”

Prefect Council encouraged students to bring Valentine’s Day-themed snacks and support their peers. The council also decorated tables with candy and balloons.

“I think it’s really fun be-

cause it gives students an outlet to be creative in a very homey, communal area, and it’s always really nice to see and support,” Sophomore Prefect Cleo Maloney ’21 said.

“I really enjoyed [McDill]’s melodica performance and [Lehrhoff]’s stand up comedy. Everyone today was really great, and I hope more people can come and support the next Coffeehouse.”

Community The Chronicle • March 1, 2019

Locals oppose new housing legislation

By Sophie Haber and Jenny Li

PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF SANDERS JACKSON

BRIDGING THE GAP: Security officer Sanders Jackson built a makeshift bridge at the North Entrance leading to the Upper School for pedestrians to use. Coldwater Canyon, which some students dubbed “Coldwater River,” flooded with rainwater after the heavy downpour.

Storm systems causes heavy rains, snow in Los Angeles

By Lindsay Wu

National Weather Service. Los Angeles alone has received Drenched from the pound- over 15.5 inches of precipitaing rain, Daniel Arriaza ’19 tion since the beginning of this stood on the corner of Halkirk water year, which began Oct. and Coldwater Canyon, star- 1.These rains have surpassed ing in disbelief at the flood of the average of 14.93 inches water rushing down the street for the entire year. In addition, rain levels before him. typically reach With only nine inches five minutes It doesn’t usually at this time of until the start happen, but every once year, according of first period to the Los Anand no alterin a while, you’ll get geles Times. native, Arriaan impressive weather “Weather za rolled his system like this one. ” this February pants up to his has been a litknees, removed —Dan Vedner tle worse than his shoes and Senior Meteorologist what is typisocks and cal,” Public Inwaded barefoot formation Ofthrough the ficer and Los Angeles County murky “Coldwater River.”

“There was so much wa- Fire Captain Tony Imbrenda ter,” Arriaza said. “The only said. “I don’t know if ‘unprecway to get to school [was] to edented’ characterizes it but go straight through. I stepped it has been colder and rainier into the water and there was than what is typical.”

Storms from atmospherall this slimy stuff at the bottom. I was still late to class, ic rivers have caused recent and my pants were wet the en- mudslides and flash floods across Los Angeles County. tire day.”

The hillside of Topanga This past month, a series of storms dumped approximately Canyon Boulevard collapsed 18 trillion gallons of water on into the road Feb. 13, strandCalifornia, according to the ing cars and prompting a

“

three-day closure starting tion cities Feb. 22. from Pacific Coast Highway, “When I walked out of class KTLA reported. Dangerous and saw that it was snowing, I mudflows on Country Club was so excited,” Lily Dettman Drive led to additional road (Viewpoint School ’20) said. “I closures in Burbank the same couldn’t believe it. It’s really day, according to KTLA. rare and was definitely weird Prior to this year, 14 of 20 to see, but I’m glad I got to exrain years were recorded drier perience it. In school, we all than usual, reported the Los ended up outside since this is Angeles Times. probably a once-in-aDespite the relifetime thing.” cent storms, current Though Los Anrains are historically geles County last exaverage, Senior Meperienced light snow teorologist with the in 2007, measurable Weather Channel amounts have not Dan Vedner said. been recorded Down“The current rain town since 1962, acpatterns haven’t been cording to the Los An’ abnormal,” Vedner geles Times.

Daniel said. “But, the storm The National Arriaza ’19 system that just Weather Service of passed through and contribut- Los Angeles Oxnard also ised to the rain has been one of sued a frost advisory, effective the more impressive systems from 6 p.m. Feb. 22 to 8 a.m. of the year. It’s decently cold Feb. 23. The advisory alertair from here to Mexico.” ed citizens that temperatures However, decreased tem- could drop to as low as 33 peratures that accompanied degrees Fahrenheit, posing a the storm systems resulted in danger to sensitive plants. atypical snow across the state.

“A cold, deep pressure sysIn Los Angeles County, snow tem moved down the California fell in Calabasas, Malibu, Pas- coast,” Vedner said. “Once in adena and West Hollywood, as a while, there’s an impressive well as in additional low-eleva- weather system like this one.” white s

In response to a housing-shortage bill passed in the state Senate on Dec. 3, some homeowners in the San Fernando Valley are voicing opposition.

Members of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association are communicating with other representatives to create a unified response against SB50, a bill that seeks to promote denser and more affordable housing in close proximity to public transportation, according to a Jan. 31 press release from California State Senator Scott Weiner.

Community members have been working on their joint project with San Fernando Valley Senator Bob Hertzberg, who had also opposed similar housing-shortage bill SB-827.

The bill was killed in committee last year. “[SB-50] will have the effect of destroying the character of single family neighborhoods,” SOHA President Richard Close said.

Close said he thinks that instead of introducing new apartment complexes into single family neighborhoods, the state should create more affordable housing complexes in neighborhoods that are already zoned for apartments.

The housing construction bill has garnered support from California League of Conservation Voters, the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California (NPH) and Habitat for Humanity due to its goal to reduce carbon emissions in the area by helping people live closer to public transportation.

“I am proud to have these three major progressive organizations support the More HOMES Act,” Weiner said in the press release. “SB-50 is about ensuring that everyone can afford housing and forcefully addressing climate change.”

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Editors-in-Chief: Sophie Haber, Jenny Li Print Managing Editors: Alex Goldstein, Sofia Heller, Kaitlin Musante

Opinion The Chronicle•March 1, 2019

Studio City • Volume 28• Issue 6 • March 1, 2019 • hwchronicle.com

editorial

Digital Managing Editor: Lucas Gelfond Presentation Managing Editors: Ryan Albert, Kendall Dees Engagement Managing Editor and News Editor: Saba Nia Assistant News Editors: Casey Kim, Luke Schneider, Lindsay Wu Opinion Editor: Vishan Chaudhary Assistant Opinion Editors: Tammer Bagdasarian, Jessa Glassman, Emma Shapiro, Amelie Zilber Features Editors: Kaelyn Bowers, Alison Oh Assistant Features Editors: Kyra Hudson, Madison Huggins, Jeanine Kim, Spencer Klink, Anusha Mathur, Lauren Nehorai, Zoe Redlich A&E Editor: Lexi So Assistant A&E Editors: Annie Beckman, Jordan Murray, Sarah Reiff Sports Editors: Jackie Greenberg, Ben Tenzer Assistant Sports Editors: Luke Casola, Jay Lassiter, Will Mallory, Keila McCabe, Zack Schwartz William Seymour, Eugene Wyman Multimedia Editor and Business Manager: Cameron Stokes Assistant Business Managers: Sarah Healy, Joanna Im Art Director: Samantha Ko Assistant Photography Editors: Caitlin Chung, Jay Lassiter Assistant Broadcast Editors: Ty Goodrich, Cole Katz, Yoohan Ko, Alex Mork, Dylan Shenson Freelance Writers: Noah Aire, Valerie Velazquez Layout Assistants and Staff Writers: Olivia Baer, Crystal Baik, Mariela Breidsprecher, Lola Butan, Lauren Cho, Eugean Choi, Eva de Rubertis, Ruoshan Dong, Olivia Gubel, Tanisha Gunby, Hannah Han, Siobhan Harms, Frank Jiang, Ethan Lachman, Alexandra Landecker, Austin Lee, Lucas Lee, Emma Limor, Lee Nichols, Celine Park, Chloe Schaeffer, Andrew So, Khyra Stiner Broadcast Assistants: Alex Amster, Alice He, Madeleine Massey, Marina Nascimento, Jaidev Pant, Kyle Reims, Charles Wang Adviser: Jim Burns

The Chronicle is the student newspaper of HarvardWestlake School. It is published ten times per year. Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the seniors on the Editorial Board. Letters to the editor may be submitted to chronicle@hw.com or mailed to 3700 Coldwater Canyon, Studio City, CA 91604. Letters must be signed and may be edited for space and to conform to Chronicle style and format. Advertising questions may be directed to Cameron Stokes at cstokes1@ hwemail.com. Publication of an advertisement does not imply endorsement of the product or service by the newspaper or school.

ILLUSTRATION BY HANNAH MITTLEMMAN

Smashing the stigma

A few weeks ago, in a display of immense courage and vulnerability, a senior stepped forward at an all-school assembly to share her history with depression and discuss the stigma surrounding mental health on campus and in our community. As we raised the flashlights on our phones to symbolize our support for a shift in how mental health is perceived on campus, it became clear how willing the student body is to continue these important discussions.

The senior’s actions showed us the power of opening up, but we hope this spirit of empathy and compassion will not stop with her.

Our school has gained a reputation for being a pressure-cooker and fiercely competitive environment. This culture is often not conducive to showing vulnerability or letting our guards down, which makes asking for help all the more difficult.

A Chronicle poll of 317 students revealed that 111 people have self-reported having thoughts of suicide and 182 students have experienced self-reported depression. However, only 92 of these students have ever reached out to a friend or community member about these thoughts.

This school year, we have used this editorial space to emphasize the importance of listening to others and remaining open to all voices. We hope this recognition of mental health issues can continue into our personal lives, giving us the strength to reach out to those around us or the empathy to care for our friends.

It must be recognized that the administration and student-led organizations on campus work hard to provide students with the resources and support that they need to pursue a healthy and safe learning experience without sacrificing performance. This school can and will continue to push students to achieve ex-

cellence, but without the appropriate support, this can sometimes be stifling or overwhelming.

Luckily, we have access to world-class mental health resources: two school psychologists, a learning specialist, Peer Support and studentrun clubs, including The Bring Change to Mind club.

We understand how difficult and scary it can be to open up and share personal feelings with other people, especially in a fast-paced environment, but the payoff can be immeasurable. In a community united by compassion, love and openness, we all can strive further and be better, bolstered by the support of our peers. In an environment like ours, taking care of our friends and looking out for their well-being is necessary. We should do it more often.

Our most recent all-school assembly speaker, Scott Mescudi, commonly known as Kid Cudi, spoke to the community about breaking the stigma surrounding mental health in the black community. In 2016, Mescudi announced on Facebook that he was checking himself into rehab for depression and suicidal urges.

“I deserve to be happy and smiling,” Mescudi said. “Why not me? I guess I give so much of myself to others I forgot that I need to show myself some love too.”

It takes an enormous amount of courage and strength to be open in such a public way. While Mescudi and the senior chose to reveal their personal journeys to a large audience, it is just as brave and important to open up to a single friend or mentor.

We all should strive to follow Mescudi’s and the senior’s example. We all deserve to be happy and smiling and should get the support we need to ensure it. Peace is something that starts with us.

A10 Opinion

The Chronicle

March 1, 2019

Resist reading summaries

By Kyra Hudson

T

ILLUSTRATION BY SAMANTHA KO

Letting youth lead

By Amelie Zilber

C

olumbine. Virginia Tech.

Sandy Hook. Parkland.

The locations of great American tragedies; the locations of the sorrowed and the grieving, where so many hearts met their undeserved fates.

A mere mention of such names undoubtedly evokes a shared sense of heartache among many around the nation. As we mourn the loss of such precious lives, many rise up – they speak out in rage, they march in anger, and they vote in earnest belief that congressional neglect will turn into action. Yet, advocates always fall back incredulously, in sheer awe they could be citizens of a land complicit in the deaths of thousands of innocent people.

It’s easy to distinguish the United States from other countries: the land of the brave and the free, a state born of its Constitutional values and universal tolerance. Yet, the moral integrity of our country is tarnished week after week, as local communities suffer bouts of gun violence. School shootings have become a distinctly American motif: an instrument for the aggrieved to find their voice through violence, a tactic no other industrialized country tolerates. As ordinary people are shot while engaging in the rhythms of their everyday lives, we become entrenched deeper into a nation defined by domestic terrorism.

Feb. 14 marked the oneyear anniversary of the Parkland tragedy, where 14 students and three staff members were fatally shot by a gunman who opened fire in their high school, Marjory Stoneman Douglass. As a then 15-yearold sophomore, the devastation hit me particularly hard.

The atrocity of that afternoon delivered a spine-chilling realization that my government values the ownership of a gun over a child’s life. Despite the years-long obvious need to address the epidemic of gun violence, our Republican-dominated Congress did virtually nothing. Yet, 2018 witnessed a change never before seen: the youth fought back. Young believers in gun-violence prevention laws stood up and said, “enough is enough,” because

no student wants to be another face on a T-shirt, another assault rifle statistic, another soul forced to leave behind their families and their futures because of a clause outdated for the social climate of this country. America’s Gen Z is leading a revolution against political complacency and has driven 67 new gun laws into legislation by both Republican and Democratic representatives in 26 states and Washington, D.C. One year ago, the youth, fed up with inaction, made a decision: bullets will not silence them.

In the past year, students around the country staged vigils, school-wide walkouts, marches, and proposed bills to state legislators demanding action. We want to put pressure on Congress to change laws, whether that means banning bump stocks, strengthening background checks on high capacity automatic weapons, or enforcing a strict age limit and more complex mechanism in purchasing firearms.

But in an effort to make #NeverAgain a meaningful gun-violence-prevention movement, we are changing the political ethos of apathy through social media. By using hashtag campaigns, we create a vehicle of communication specific to the youth, a permanent network connecting young people to social awareness and inspiring them to create actual change. Social media activism encourages young adults to discover their own voice, to re-imagine their futures and to stand up.

For young people, being socially aware is intrinsic to who we are, not only because we’ve witnessed a rise in controversial events, but because of social media.

By merely growing up in a nation whose 21st century has been characterized by shootings and hate speech, we feel the need to do our part, to be one of many in a peer group that recognizes the idea that our actions can benefit the greater good of humanity.

Whereas negligent politicians are governed by self-interest, young people see the potential of humanity in all its forms, and we should all start fighting for a safer world.

here is nothing wrong with reading an online summary for a chapter of a book that there was no time to read the night before. Given the intense daily workload many students face from both academics and extracurriculars, some occasionally use online summaries as a replacement for completing their English homework. The issue arises when students use online summaries for entire books.

In fact, the English Department’s official policy on using secondary summary resources is that they are “unethical and a violation of the school’s Honor Code,” and the policy brings up some important concerns.

While reading the summaries on SparkNotes, Shmoop or CliffNotes might allow students to get a good grade on their reading quiz, not reading the actual wording keeps them from fully understanding the text. The characters have their own voices, the scenes have specific descriptions and not reading the words as they were meant to be read does not allow for a proper understanding of the novel. Furthermore, while students may be able to write an essay that will get them a good grade without reading the majority of the

text, the reader will miss the richness of the actual book.

Students often feel reading a chapter is the least important part of nightly homework, so it is often ignored as a compromise. But why? Reading homework is easier than doing pages of math problems or writing an essay. Students compromise on reading because they don’t connect with the books they are reading.

As children, reading was an escape, but with growing responsibilities, nightly reading assignments became a burden. It was not just reading for pleasure most students lost, but the joy of reading at all.

With the enjoyment many students once felt for reading gone, the easiness of online summaries becomes very appealing. No longer do students have to look for the tiny details that on the reading quiz because they are conveniently located for them. If this trend continues, however, soon there will be no students who read the words of Emerson or Fitzgerald, and only students who read a summary of their work.

Students can also read analysis sections of these synopsis sites, further worsening English discussions. Whether it’s used in class discussion or essays, it is not fair to all

of the other students in class who actually came up with their own ideas and are risking sharing their conclusions about a novel that have not been vetted by thousands of previous readers.

The hardest part about writing papers is coming up with the initial ideas, and having a website do it for them is just cheating. Websites, like turnitin.com, do not always catch this plagiarism because it is not the words being copied, but the ideas, which is just as harmful. According to the SparkNotes website, the intention of these analysis guides is to be used alongside individual analysis to inspire ideas, not for the points made in the guide to be plagiarized for papers. It should be used similarly to a teacher helping them prep for an essay: these guides can help answer plotbased questions, but should not help with any analytical reasoning.

Despite these risks, utilizing these resources to enhance our comprehension, not replace it, is extremely beneficial. Making sure that students fully understand the plot, by using a summary to enhance their grasp on the text, can help reaffirm that they understand the basic plot points.

In her recurring column, Engagement Managing and News Editor Saba Nia ’19 discusses our community’s fixation with names and her own personal struggles.

D

ear Sixth Grade Saba,

Today nobody said my name.

I’m used to it – the mispronunciations and wooden tongues trying to make sense of my “exotic” name, the pauses in roll call and hapless eyes searching for recognition in a crowd – so hearing my name said properly always makes me do a double take.

Do you know how odd it is to feel odd when someone says your name right? To know that you are more used to being called something other than your real name? And that’s the messy truth.

You were the eldest. Top of the food chain. Big kids on campus. As your sneakers glided over the small field to the parents handing out packages, you felt a rush within your veins.

As part of tradition, you and your sixth grade peers were about to receive custom school jackets. At a school where everyone wore the same uniforms, having this freedom of expression was more than a rite of passage, it was finally a way in which you are able to display your individuality.

You got into line.

Now, Saba, don’t think that strangers and acquaintances are going around purposely butchering my name. Many, in fact, have tried earnestly to say my name right or have

even apologized for their inability to do so. So does it matter if people mess up a letter or two? Is this such a big deal?

Sabe. That is your name now. You start laughing at how your name could be misspelled so incorrectly. A mom reassures you they will get you another, correct version of your jacket as soon as possible, and you nod your head.

The blunder reinvents itself as a new nickname. For the remainder of sixth grade, you are not Saba.

Names carry weight. It’s the first piece of information you offer to others when you meet. Even if you can’t read or write yet, you are taught to know your name.

Because even if they’re just a string of letters, they’re your string of letters.

But names are only as meaningful as one makes them. It doesn’t matter what college name we sport on our sweatshirts or that we attend one of the most prestigious high schools in the nation if we haven’t done much else except for getting accepted.

When you were accepted to Harvard-Westlake, you were not sure if you wanted to go.

For most of your life, you had considered the school next door as your best option for a high school. All that you knew about Harvard-Westlake was that it was rigorous and exciting and a lot.

But when you stepped onto

campus for the first time, you could imagine yourself strolling through the hallways and laughing with friends (quietly, of course) in the library. The lapping of the pool sounded like a lullaby and the Senior Garden smelled like an adventure. Before you had even descended the steps down to the Horns Commons, you saw yourself climbing up to receive your diploma.

When you decided to accept Harvard-Westlake, you were sure you wanted to go. But not for its name, for everything that couldn’t be conveyed by those 15 letters.

So even if I don’t say anything, if you mispronounce my name, I will notice. But if you misunderstand my identity, I will notice and care. It is important we acknowledge what names can represent. And it is also important that we don’t get too attached to them.

Because there is a danger in placing too much emphasis in something that can easily be misinterpreted or overlooked. So, dear Saba, strive to do work that can stand on its own, with no name attached.

Do things even if you won’t get recognized explicitly, or at all.

Invest in your ideas and experiences and knowledge and memories. Give meaning to the names you identify with.

Love, Twelfth Grade Saba

hwchronicle.com/opinion

March 1, 2019

Opinion A11

What perception does the public have of Harvard-Westlake?

Positive: 40% percent Negative: 37% percent Neutral: 23% percent

ILLUSTRATION BY SAMANTHA KO

Appreciating our education

*324 students polled Emma Walther ’21

By Lindsay Wu

T

wo weeks ago, I had the opportunity to work with student volunteers from other schools at an event on campus. While stuffing gift bags in the lounge, one of the volunteers glanced at the deans’ offices.

“My school doesn’t look like this,” she murmured.

As we made our way upstairs to open the math classrooms, her eyes fell upon the robotics workspace.

“This school is so fancy,” she said.

Within our community, we often fail to realize how lucky we are to attend this school.

We are fortunate to have the resources that are unavailable to many. Our Kutler Center funds seven students each year to build connections with foreign cultures. Our athletic department imported pool components from Italy to provide the optimal aquatic performance. Our art classrooms are always filled with canvases and tubes of paint for aspiring artists.

Yet, the character of our community lies beyond the impressive facilities and projects. We have teachers willing to arrive well before 7:00 a.m. to help students, deans that guide us through challenges, teams dedicated to improving the inclusivity of our

environment and groups that help students explore niche interests. There is not much more, if anything, that we could hope for in an academic environment. It is important to remember that.

Stuck in our daily routines, it is easy to forget everything we have access to and complain about the extra hour of homework. But completing a few extra assignments is just a small price to pay for the opportunities we receive.

While the volunteer pointed out one common perspective regarding our school, another still persists. To students and parents outside of the community or group of private schools in the Los Angeles area, our students are often seen as pretentious, unappreciative or even spoiled.

There is no doubt that we are extremely privileged, and it is essential that we recognize this. However, the school’s assets hardly define us as a whole. Anybody within the community would agree that our school is not only rigorous regarding academics and extracurriculars, but also an encouraging environment where we are free to discover and explore our interests alongside our peers.

What continues to feed

the stigma of the school is our behavior both on and off campus. Though it may not be possible to completely erase our negative reputation established long ago, we can certainly reduce it. In school, we must hold ourselves accountable for our own actions.

It is as easy as throwing away trash on the quad or completing assignments. Outside of school, similar standards apply. Ultimately, we should strive to implement the skills the school has taught us, both technical and moral.

Though I am only halfway through junior year, I am grateful to attend this school.

Despite frequent, nearly sleepless nights and stressful testing weeks, I am lucky to interact with motivated peers and to be guided by unparalleled teachers. But, there are still improvements to be made regarding our reputation. We must not focus on the upscale facilities and material aspects of our campus. Rather, we must take advantage of all the resources the school has to offer and utilize the skills we have acquired beyond the classroom. It is my hope that, in the future, we are recognized for our values and opportunities rather than dismissed as an elite academic institution.

“They think we’re super stuck up and kind of crazy, but the name Harvard-Westlake also means something.”

Fernando Diaz-Ojeda ’20

TAMMER BAGDASARIAN/CHRONICLE

“Generally, people immediately picture a student body where everyone has a 4.0 GPA”

TAMMER BAGDASARIAN/CHRONICLE

“There are times when it’s negative and times where it is really positive”

Eve Baxter ’19

EMMA SHAPIRO/CHRONICLE

Guest Editorial

By Clay Skaggs

W

hen it comes to colleges, students at Harvard-Westlake can be tunnel visioned to say the least. Some students decide they need to go to an Ivy. Others will only look at schools with the best engineering programs or history departments or tennis teams. Instead, it is important that, as students, we take a step back and ask ourselves what the real purpose of education is and what really matters to us. After pondering these questions for myself, I have decided to pursue an education at a service academy.

A good education teaches character. In the military academies, students have meaningful responsibilities.

If students cannot fulfill their responsibilities, they are held

The Chronicle invites Clay Skaggs ’20 to write about his choice to pursue an education at a military college in a guest editorial. accountable, whether that means early morning workouts or hours of marching.

Additionally, respect must be earned at the academies. Only those who prove themselves gain respect and responsibility through the academies’ merit-based rank system.

Responsibility and respect are further fostered by the fact that academy students are always part of a team. For example, students are required to be on a sports team and they work with roommates as a team to keep their dorms clean for periodic inspections.

Due to this squad mentality, students feel accountable for everybody around them, and teamwork and leadership are strengthened. In traditional colleges on the other hand, there is an atmosphere of re-

actionary individualism, where students are only in charge of themselves and as a result may lose their sense of duty, respect, and community.

A good life entails service. After attending a military academy, graduates are required to serve his or her academy’s branch for eight years. The service is an opportunity to live up to HarvardWestlake’s mission of “purpose beyond ourselves.” Most Harvard-Westlake students will end up working a desk job out of college. They’ll then create tangled rationalizations that they repeat everyday trying to convince ourselves that they are making the world a better place. But deep down they’ll be unsettled because, ultimately, everyone wants to be part of a bigger mis-

sion. According to surveys by PayScale, 60 to 70 percent of service academy alumni say their work makes the world a better place, while this number hovers around 40 to 50 percent for alumni of other top universities.

A good school prepares you for the world. Traditional colleges are nothing like the real world, but rather an extension of the dependence of childhood. Incentivized to make everything comfortable for their customers, they give you food, housing, and safe-spaces.

They then throw you into the real world where you are suddenly responsible for yourself and nobody cares what frat you were in or the fact you were on the football team. At academies however, students are used to responsibility and

have learned pertinent skills before becoming civilians.

Immediately after graduating, 22- and 23-year olds are given tremendous responsibility as officers. Rather than being responsible for dollars like other graduates their age, they are responsible for people’s lives. The challenges of the real-world pale in comparison to the demands of service, leaving them prepared for the world. Perhaps this is why the Naval Academy’s average alumni early- and mid-career salaries are higher than those of any Ivy’s.

Whether or not military academies interest you, it is important not to blindly seek anything solely based on the acclaim of others. Instead, ask yourself what really matters to you.

FEATURES The Chronicle • March 1, 2019

A Complex-ion Issue Students share how the media’s preference for lighter skin tones has affected them both in and outside of school.

• Continued on B7

ILLUSTRATION BY SAMANTHA KO

B2 Features

The Chronicle

March 1, 2019

School Year Abroad program participants reflect on the experience of immersion and its impact on their future endeavors.

By Kyra Hudson

point where I could understand everything that was being taught in SYA’s Kristina Riordan ’19 could feel Spanish immersion curriculum.”

Because of the immersive nature everyone’s eyes on her. Surrounded by 17-year-olds speaking rapidly in of the experience, students often have an Italian dialect she couldn’t un- limited contact with Harvard-Westderstand, Riordan was briefly over- lake. During the year, deans continwhelmed with terror. The prospect ue to help students when they are of spending nine months at the tra- abroad, but students are often caught ditional Italian high school felt more up in the entire experience and do not reach out to them frequently, Patterdaunting than ever, she said.

However, within a few weeks, Ri- son said. Students also have relativeordan felt fully immersed in the city ly little contact with their friends and of Viterbo, and the students she once families. SYA discourages students found intimidating became some of from communicating with friends and family back home to encourage them her closest friends. to be completely immersed, “My year in Italy was Sington said. the hardest, yet most re“It’s difficult to communiwarding, year of my life,” cate with friends in Los AngeRiordan said. “Once I got les because of the nine-hour past feeling homesick and time difference and because having serious FOMO [(fear I’m constantly busy, but I try of missing out)], I was able to keep in touch sporadically to immerse myself in a new through Snapchat,” Sington culture and way of living. said.

It was a roller coaster of a ’ Students who study year, and when I look back, Kristina abroad are also limited when I wouldn’t have done it any Riordan ’19 it comes to beginning the colother way. I grew as a person and learned how to be indepen- lege application process in the United States, Patterson said. dent.”

“Because I’ve been out of the counRiordan spent her high school junior year abroad in Italy through the try, I haven’t yet had the opportunity School Year Abroad program. Approx- visit any college campuses,” Sington imately five students per year study said. “I’m not really sure what kind of abroad during their junior year, Kut- college I want to go to.”

However, Thompson Wu ’18, who ler Center and Summer Programs dispent his junior year in Shanghai, rector Jim Patterson said.

Exchange programs like SYA help China through the SYA program, foster independence in students to a said that he believes his year greater extent than the normal Har- abroad was actually an vard-Westlake experience, Patterson advantage during the college process. said.

“Those two semesAndrew Sington ’20, who is currently studying abroad in Zaragoza, ters abroad are what Spain, said he enjoys having the free- allowed me to out dom to explore the city and Spain on stick w h e n his own.

“As long as I travel with at least b e i n g one other classmate and fill out a form p r o that details our travel plans, we make all of our own travel arrangements, I can travel anywhere in Spain,” Sington said.

Founded over 50 years ago, SYA strives to foster personal transformation and global understanding, according to the SYA website. The program operates in four countries — China, France, Italy and Spain — with classes taught in both English and the country of immersion’s native language. “[Some of] my SYA courses are taught entirely in Spanish,” Sington said. “This has been particularly challenging in courses like economics and science, which require knowledge of specialized vocabulary that I’d never encountered before in any of my Harvard-Westlake Spanish classes. I faced a very steep learning curve and had to work hard to get to the white s

filed among the millions of teens applying for college that year,” Wu said.

“Without it, I definitely wouldn’t have been as unique. This experience gave me so much to write about in my application; I definitely used it to my advantage. I 100 percent believe that everyone should study abroad once in their life, whether it be high school or college.”

The increased opportunities that arise from immersion experiences also comes with difficulties, Patterson said. After spending junior year abroad, students must make the transition back to Harvard-Westlake.

“Generally speaking, the transition is relatively smooth,” Patterson said. “Students who attend these programs keep up with their academic work and are prepared for their senior year when they return. Sometimes, returning students can find it difficult to return to their home and school where they are not given as much freedom. Plus, going away is such a different experience; students sometimes feel as if they have changed but their friends have not.”

The emotional and psychological distress that

happens while reintegrating is called reverse culture shock, according to the U.S. Department of State.

Wu said he felt shocked when he first returned to the United States halfway through the program.

“Coming home for the first time was an extremely happy but overwhelming experience,” Wu said. “I believe I came home around four months into my journey in China. When I got into the US and got to go home and see friends, I felt different. Nothing felt bad; I just saw the United States and our culture differently.”

Despite the potential complications of studying abroad during high school, Youth Exchanges for The Experiment in International Living and World Learning Divisional Vice President Christina Thomas said studying abroad helps students explore future opportunities.

“Studying abroad prepares students to thrive in diverse environments and careers by giving them an opportunity to develop invaluable cross-cultural, leaders and language skills, while building their understanding of critical global issues,” Thomas said. “These competencies will also be vital in their role as the next generation of leaders who will need to confront the challenges of a globalized economy and highly interconnected social and natural environments.”

For many students, going abroad in high school is a way to change their environment and learn about a new culture.

“Traveling has always been a passion of mine, and when I heard about SYA, I knew that I had to do it,” Riordan said. “I spent months convincing my parents, researching everything there is to know about the program and Italy and lying in my bed for hours imagining the experience I soon would get to take.”

Wu said his experience studying in China helped him mature and learn through his exposure to new opportunities.

“Living in America all my life, I feel like I, along with so many other Americans, am trapped in a bubble,” Wu said. “However, after leaving for an entire two semesters, I was able to finally step out of my comfort zone and learn so much about how the rest of the world works. The experience as a whole was amazing but it also humbled me.”

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY KYRA HUDSON AND ASTOR WU

March 1, 2019

hwchronicle.com/features

Features B3

Students explain why they feel pressured to adjust their essays in order to match the ideas and beliefs expressed by their teachers.

By Casey Kim

there have definitely been teachers who have told me either that Alexa* let out a sigh of disap- my opinion is wrong or right,” Yang pointment as she trudged out of said. “I know I wrote a lot of essays the English department office with about [President Donald] Trump in a page of edits in one hand and a ninth grade because my English laptop in another. After meeting teachers made their political opinwith her teacher about an upcom- ions very clear. I hate Trump, but ing writing assignment, she came writing about him was also a plus to a realization that the words on because I knew the teachers would her edited paper were not hers. like that.”

Dreading the countless changes However, the English departshe would have to make that night, ment’s grading process is not as Alexa hurried home to write what subjective as students may perwould ultimately become a com- ceive it to be, English teacher Eric pletely different essay.

Olson said.

“As [my English teacher and I] “Students may not know that went through my essay, [our school’s] English [my teacher] literally had teachers do a ‘grademe change what I was araround’ for every essay guing to the exact opposite in the first semester, idea,” Alexa said. “I had a and most essays in the whole outline for an argusecond,” Olson said. “A ment, and after the meetgrade-around is an exering, the teacher was just cise conducted in team like, ‘Nope, that’s wrong.’ meetings. We grade two This was for an opinionator three anonymous stu’ ed, analytical essay.” dent essays and discuss Andy 62 percent of 324 stutheir merits, what kind Yang ’20 dents who responded to of feedback we’d give and a Chronicle poll said that what grade we’d award. they have altered their own ideas That exercise helps us gauge our and language in an English assign- standards and keep them reasonment to comply to their teachers’ ably consistent. The idea that a B beliefs. paper for one teacher would be an A “There are definitely certain paper for another, especially based English teachers where I feel like on the opinion argued, is, I think, a every single essay is just spout- misperception.” ing their ideas back at them,” Izzy Grading in English classes is Yanover ’19 said. “I’m never able to primarily based on the student’s use my own creative arguments, ability to back up their argument and I feel like I’m just writing down with evidence and reason, English their ideas and turning in their [pa- Department Head Larry Weber per]. If I don’t get their ideas spot- said. on, then that influences my grade “It’s not based on whether their rather than how well I’m writing opinions hold water,” Weber said. it or what I’m actually saying. It “It’s how they present them in comakes me feel like I don’t have a gent arguments that are well-orvoice in English, just the voice of ganized in which the prose is clear my teacher.” and the analysis of evidence is conThough students do not nec- vincing. These are acts of persuaessarily have to completely change sion, and some are more successful their own opinions, they may feel than others based on standards we inclined to mention certain topics try to objectify. We’re in agreement to appeal to their teachers, Andy about what makes a good piece of Yang ’20 said. writing.”

“For [my history classes in previous years], white s

Mark* said he doesn’t think “When discussing Orwell’s that his teachers have ever subjec- Nineteen-Eighty Four, for examtively graded his essays. However, ple, I like to point out that both left he said he has often felt uncomfort- and right have co-opted Orwellian able stating his opinions in class terms to vilify their opposition, and discussions. both with good reason,” Olson said.

“One time, we were doing an “I hope students feel comfortable assignment where we had to read discussing whatever political implithe Declaration of Independence cations our texts might raise. If I do and talk about all of the articles in offer my opinion, I try to couch it as it that had transgressions by the only that: an opinion they are free King of England and relate it back to disagree with. Ideally, the classto today’s society,” Mark said. “It room should be a safe place for all was basically just an excuse for ev- perspectives. What I cannot always eryone to bash Trump. I felt like I control is how our student popucouldn’t point out that some of the lation receives or reacts to a conthings were employed by presidents troversial opinion, but I still hope before him. I think that opinion can be that everyone just expressed, providfocuses specifically ed it isn’t overtly I hope students on Trump’s transhostile and hurtful feel comfortable gressions, when to others. Freedom there are so many of speech, after all, discussing whatever by other political is a value that we political implications figures, especially have to honor and our texts might raise.” in a fairly corrupt balance against the government culture need for a safe, pro—Eric Olson ductive educationthat exists today. I English Teacher al environment for don’t think I would want to voice that all.” opinion, especially In spite of the when it would express a negative issues that can possibly arise with opinion about politicians that my differing opinions— political or othEnglish teacher or favorite students er — Weber said he welcomes the of my English teacher have explicit- discussion of controversial topics. ly supported.”

“The ideal is that we ask quesOne of the reasons behind tions that invite interpretive posstudents’ tendency to adopt their sibilities, given that the works we teachers’ opinions rather than as- read are inexhaustible in terms of serting their own can be attributed the meanings you can construct to the school’s competitive environ- from them,” Weber said. “We are ment, Yang said. hoping that an essay can provide an “For the most part, I mostly insight that’s unexpected and that pay attention to what my teacher’s our questions are inviting that to opinions are because as a person happen. So, if a student disagrees who wants to get good grades, that’s with me, I’m happy about that. I a big influence,” Yang said. “If you don’t think our essays are meant want to get good grades, it’s a fact to be these lightning strikes from that going against your teacher’s mountain tops, as much as they’re opinion is not going to bode well meant to be efforts to contribute for classes that are heavily influ- to an ongoing conversation. Whatenced by teachers’ preference, like ever that contribution is, it should English and history. Especially in be welcomed. All grades exist on a such a competitive school like Har- subjective-objective continuum no vard-Westlake, even if you don’t ac- matter the class and no matter the tively think about it, these things assignment.” influence you. ” Olson said that when it comes *Names have been changed to explicitly political topics, he tries to respect and acknowledge all sides.

“

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JEANINE KIM AND KYRA HUDSON

The Chronicle

B4 Features

March

Admission Impossible Student Ambassadors and members of the admission office discuss the school’s admission process.

ILLUSTRATION BY HANNAH MITTLEMAN ’20

h

1, 2019

hwchronicle.com/features school that want to get to know us.

We had over 2,000 families inquire After each interview, Senior about Harvard-Westlake for next Student Ambassador Co-Chair Si- fall, so while I am confident that our rus Wheaton ’19 always asks per- office and school community has spective Harvard-Westlake stu- done a great job connecting with as dents how it went. One tenth grade many interested people as we can, applicant’s response, however, left it will always be a challenge for us.”

Jeon said that when making dehim speechless. The student was distraught because his interview cisions, the admission office takes did not play out as he and his fam- into account interviews, transcript ily had carefully planned. He knew grades, recommendations, stanthat his mom would be upset with dardized test scores, demonstrated him for not mentioning his commu- interest in Harvard-Westlake and how a student’s strengths and innity service accomplishments.

“I was telling him, ‘Just try to terests will contribute to the school be yourself; just have your conver- community.

It is hard for the admission sation; just be present,’” Wheaton said. “I understand that the parents committees to evaluate sixth gradwill give the kids a script whether ers in an interview since many do they want it or not, but I think that not have a declared passion or init is your choice whether to follow terest, Jeon said. The admission it and be that scripted kid. He had team’s primary purpose is to get to nothing outside of what he was told know students and see if what they say in the interview matches the into say.”

Wheaton said that he has en- formation presented in the rest of countered many students who do their application Jeon said.

“What we are realnot seem authentic when ly trying to get a sense at conversing with tour is: ‘Are they interested in guides, which he said may Harvard-Westlake?’ ‘Can come from the pressure they have a conversation families put on their sturegardless of what it is?’ dents during the applica‘Do they seem like they tion process. can have good peer rela“For some of the kids, tionships?’” Jeon said. “It their personality comes is just to get a snapshot, out, but for a lot of them, it ’ a quick glance on things feels like their parent has Sirus and see that whatever you coached them,” Wheaton Wheaton’19 see or hear in an interview said. “All the parents are is confirmed in recommendations, so much more worried than the kids applications or other teacher comabout if the kid will get in.”

A student tour and faculty ments on the transcript.”

Ninth Grade Student Ambasinterview is only one part in the larger process of applying to Har- sador Co-Chair Bronwen Roosa ’22 said that she thinks the professionvard-Westlake.

This year, the admission office alism of the admission process at received over 1,200 applications, Harvard-Westlake draws applicants the second highest number that the to the school.

“When I applied to another admission office has received in the school, on my Shadow Day, my stuschool’s history, with 2017 being the highest, according to Associate dent ditched me as she had a free Director of Admission and Enroll- period and then proceeded to lose me,” Roosa said. “At Harvard-Westment Management Nancy Jeon ’89.

Acceptance decisions are re- lake, something like leased March 8 for ninth through that would nev12th grade applicants and March er happen.

15 for seventh and eighth grade ap- S e e i n g plicants. The admission process to Harvard-Westlake begins in the fall with outreach to local schools, community-based organizations and events on campus, Director of Admission Aaron Mieszczanski said.

Later in the fall and winter, applicants are welcomed on campus for interviews and tours. After the Jan. 18 admission deadline, members of the Admission Committee and faculty readers review submitted applications and prepare for committee meetings.

Mieszczanski, who has worked in admission at two other schools, said that Harvard-Westlake’s large applicant pool and strong yield set it apart from other independent schools.

“Every school has differences in their process depending on the size of the school, location, restrictions on the use of the facilities, main points of entry and size of the inquiry pool, to name a few,” Mieszczanski said. “One of the biggest differences I have seen is how we manage the volume of people interested in the

By Anusha Mathur

white s

Features B5 someone so young represent the lake is transparent about the applischool is honestly amazing. It is cation process is providing informacomforting to the parents of in- tion on the website and stating on coming seventh graders to see how the website what factors are importknowledgeable they are about the ant to the admission process,” Kim school even though it is their first said. “Admission processes across year.” the board, whether it be elementaMieszczanski has made chang- ry, high school or higher education, es to the method by which Har- do not tend to be very transparent vard-Westlake collects and evalu- because the institution reasonably ates applications this year. Families does need to protect their confidennow see their admission decisions tial information and ensure that by logging into their account on- their applicants are not sticking to line, and the school no longer sends this cookie-cutter ‘this is how I will out letters or emails detailing them. get in’ method.”

Students’ files are also organized The admission office evaluonline instead of on paper, and the ates students applying to different faculty who review applicants use grades through different lenses and an online system. has diversity at the forefront of their Head of Upper School Laura minds when making decisions, Ross said that Mieszczanski having a papersaid. less system has “ T h e been helpful to school’s comthe committee remitment to diview process. versity, equity “That has and inclusion made a huge are cleardifference in be- “We can not say we are just ly stated in ing able to share looking for [one] type of student HW mission,” files and get Mieszczanski because so many different more files read,” said. “As the Ross said. “In the kinds of students can succeed at group responcommittee room, Harvard-Westlake.” sible for buildall of us can have ing the com—Nancy Jeon the application position of our right in front of Associate Director of Admission student body, us whereas beour office fore we had a pathinks about per file and peoall the ways ple had to be projecting parts of it each individual will contribute to and we could not really see. I feel the richness of this place. We believe like we are more engaging as a com- that a diversity of backgrounds, inmittee as a whole because we can terests, talents, aspirations and all be looking at the application at perspectives are what make an exthe same time.” cellent school community.”

Senior Student Ambassador Harvard-Westlake does not Co-Chair Lucy Kim ’19 said that “recruit” student-athletes because although Harvard-Westlake does there are strict California Intermake it clear that they are looking scholastic Federation rules regufor engaged, academically involved lating communication and contact students, the admission process in between athletes and the school most educational institutions is not Mieszczanski said. However, when very clear-cut. making decisions, the admission of“The extent to which fice works closely with the various Harvard-West- departments of the school to ensure that students with a wide variety of interests are accepted to Harvard-Westlake.

“We have faculty staff readers that read our files, so they represent all the different departments of the school on both campuses,” Jeon said. “We definitely work closely with performing arts, athletics and visual arts to an extent. We want to pay attention to getting students that will fill all the different kinds of options we have here.”

Ultimately, admission comes down to finding students who can meet Harvard-Westlake’s challenging demands and pursue their individual passions, Jeon said.

“I think it is a great thing that we can not say we are just looking for this type of student because so many different kinds of students can succeed at Harvard-Westlake,” Jeon said.

“The thing they have in common is that they want to be here, they can handle their academic program, they are committed to their learning and that whole process.”

ILLUSTRATION BY HANNAH MITTLEMAN ’20

B6 FEATURES

THE CHRONICLE

Ti���n� U� “I’ve watched a few of the Marie Kondo episodes on Netfl ix, and the Smiling widely, Ha- few times that I watched ley Levin ’20 opened up those types of videos, her planner, revealing it really motivated me brightly-colored illus- to start organizing my trations alongside her life more,” Moon said. “I think that one thing that well-organized notes.

“I really like to doodle, the show helped me noso [my planner] is mostly tice is the correlation bejust a vehicle for those,” tween physical and menLevin said. “Doodling tal organization.”

Moon’s organization lets me get organized in my own way. I know habits consist of pracwhat I have to do, and I tices such as writing in can manage my time, but his planner and using I also get to spend time different notebooks for practicing drawing. It’s his classes. He said this a unique way to plan my has helped him become a better student. own week.”

“Like all students, Levin has been using her planner as an I struggle sometimes artistic medium since with being completely seventh grade. She has organized and planning transformed pages in ahead of time for assignher planner into cre- ments or tests,” Moon ations such as a purple said. “But generally, my and orange Halloween planner, separate notedisplay featuring ghosts books and meetings with teachers freand witches and quently really an homage to the help me stay Harry Potter franon track.” chise. Along with B l y t h e illustrations, Levin Berk ’19, who also occasionally watched evdecorates the pagery episode es with stickers of Kondo’s or song lyrics. Her show, said notes for all of her ’ she thought classes are similarHaley Kondo’s thely decorated with Levin ’20 ories could doodles. help students “I’m the type of person that listens bet- declutter school materiter when I’m doodling,” als.

“If pieces of paper in Levin said. “To have a designated place to doo- students’ notebooks and dle in class is nice be- binders don’t spark joy, cause then I am more they could throw them out,” Berk says. “I know focused.”

Although Levin has many students who have followed her own orga- overly large binders.”

Sarah Bagley ’20, who nization methods since seventh grade, other also watched the show, students are just now said she did not think becoming more neat in the show had such an their work practices. applicability to school.

“I thought [Kondo’s] Following the release of the Netfl ix series “Tidy- method could help someing Up with Marie Kon- one who needs to be redo” on Jan. 1, in which ally organized,” Bagley organization consultant said. “Personally, I don’t Marie Kondo gives ad- have that much of an vice to families cleaning issue with organizing up their households, a so it didn’t help me that number of students al- much. I don’t know if it tered their organization- would help with schoolal practices based the work. From what I’ve advice she gave to her seen, it’s more about organizing your spaces.” clients in the show.

Bagley, unlike Levin For example, Philip Moon ’20 said he found and Moon, does not use Kondo’s tips to be help- her planner regularly, saying that she fi nds litful.

By JOANNA IM AND SPENCER KLINK

WHITE S

MARCH 1, 2019

The release of the Netflix series “Tidying up with Marie Kondo” reshaped understandings of organization, including how students work.

tle value in mapping out ners, use separate bindher schedule and assign- ers for classes and take advantage of weekends to ments with it.

“I usually forget to stay organized.

“A more organized write out my assignments in my [planner], student will be more sucand I sometimes don’t cessful in their studies,” have enough time in Chan said. “I would asclass to take it out and sume that students that write it down,” Bagley are more organized physsaid. “When I did use ically also have a calmmy planner, I didn’t re- er mental state when it ally check it. It was just comes to studying and to make myself feel more preparing for a test.”

Drawing and painting organized, so my study teacher Claire Cochran habits were the same.”

As an alternative to took a different perspecwriting in a planner, tive on student organizaBagley said she relies on tion. In her classes, stuthe Hub to map out what dents often use shared homework she has due. materials in developing Despite this, Bagley said new artwork, which she students who struggle to said can create a mess keep track of their daily within the art room. tasks should use plan- However, Cochran said ners and maintain clean she does not think this is necessarily a flaw. working spaces.

“When it comes to art “I would say to definitely use a planner if you making, sometimes it is nice h a v e t r o u to produce in ble with keeping Students that are chaos track of more organized also have a since a s s i g nw h e n ments,” calmer mental state when you are B a g l e y it comes to studying and works a i d . ing in a really “Making preparing for a test.” s u r e clean —Jamie Chan space y o u r Upper School Dean r o o m it ina n d hibits desk is e x p erclean is imeni mp or tt at i o n ,” ant too since it’s easier to Cochran said. “The abiliwork in a clean environ- ty to make a mess is freeing. However, there are ment.”

Jaya Nayar ’20 has also certain types of art developed her own sys- that do need to be very tem of organization with nice and clean.”

To account for differher planner. This method involves “squiggling” out ences in students’ learnhomework she’s fi nished. ing habits, Cochran has “When I squiggle stuff adopted her own cleanout, it makes it look like ing methods inside of her I have less work to do, art classes, which entails so it helps reduce stress using labelled containers in that way,” Nayar said. to store similar objects “It’s not only about orga- and separating wet and nization but rather about dry painting materials to conceptually reducing ensure nothing is wasted my workload, so that I or ruined.

Cochran also warns can move from one period to the next. It’s diffi- her students when class cult to switch from math is almost over so they homework to history re- have ample time to clean up the room. peatedly.”

“Working well requires When it comes to faculty opinions on orga- understanding that ornization, upper school ganization needs regular dean Jamie Chan said maintenance and a little she believes that stu- bit of extra time,” Codents ought to keep plan- chran said.

“

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY SPENCER KLINK

March 1, 2019

hwchronicle.com/features

Features B7

More than Skin Deep

By Jordan Murray

my teachers to think that this is the best I can do, for a black As Lauren Mc Gee ’20, the girl.’” only African-American girl in Favoring of people who have her 6th-grade class, sat at her lighter skin over people with desk having a conversation with darker skin is called “colorism,” a friend, a classmate came up to according to the National Conher and called her the n-word ference for Community and Jusout of nowhere. tice. Colorism stems from slavIn that moment, McGee said ery when lighter-skinned slaves she felt both shocked and hurt. were given household tasks “I’ve always heard the word while darker-skinned slaves in movies and [from] my mom had to work in the fields. It conreminding me of how terrible of tinued into the 1900s with the a slur it was, but never have I “paper bag test” that disallowed been called that by someone,” anyone darker than a paper bag Mc Gee said. “I was upset and to get certain jobs. Modern day, hurt that the word found its way skin lightening creams are still to me.” sold and bought in the United Mc Gee said she put up States and lighter skinned black with this abuse women are more all throughout likely to get marmiddle school. ried than darker I would think [that] skinned wom“I would just take it benobody will love a black en, according cause, back person, especially me, or to research by then, I didn’t I’m not pretty because I Thought.co.com. feel like he was Brase Dothave dark skin.” wrong, and I betin ’20, who has —Lauren Mc Gee ’20 gan to hate mya lighter comself for having plexion, said he dark skin,” Mc feels colorism in Gee said. “I would think [that] a different way than it has been nobody will love a black person, used in the past. Because Dotespecially me, or I’m not pretty tin has a lighter complexion, because I have dark skin.” he said that he sometimes reFeeling ashamed of her dark ceives comments about how this skin tone is something Mc Gee makes him less black. said she overcame when she “People every once in a found friends at Harvard-West- while say that I’m not actually lake who helped her accept her- black and that I can’t get away self for who she was. Although with the same things that other Mc Gee triumphed over her ver- black people can because I am bal abuse in middle school, she light-skinned,” Dottin said. “Of said that she still sees similar course I get a little uncomfortsentiments more subtly at Har- able when they say that, but I vard-Westlake. try not to let it bother me [be“I always think ‘Wow, am cause] the fact that they’re makI really one out of two ing fun of me shows that they or three of the Afri- are insecure about themselves, can-American kids in so I don’t dwell on it. My comthis class?’” Mc Gee plexion doesn’t define who I said. “It’s also the am.” feeling of ‘I’ve Similarly, when one of the got to impress Black Leadership, Awareness or keep get- and Culture Club leaders, Genting an A esis Aire ’19, said she found it because difficult to figure out where she I don’t belonged when she as youngwant er. She has a mother who is of mixed race, which made people consider Aire to be ‘less black’ than other black kids.

“

“Depending on what school I’m attending or what group of people I’m hanging out with, repthere’s this weird back and forth r e between being too dark to fit in sented with some groups and being too in the light or ‘white-washed’ to fit in best way,” with other groups,” Aire said.

WashingAn episode of the ABC sit- ton said. “I com “Black-ish” discussed the would say that topic of colorism on Jan. 15. it’s improved, In the episode, the youngest but I don’t think it’s daughter in the Johnson family, improved to the point Diane, has very poorly lit school where it needs to be.” photos which sparks a converJosephine Amakye ’21 feels sation in their family about how the effects of the lack of repreblack people with darker skin sentation of women with darkhave received heavy discrimi- er skin tones in her everyday nation and how black people life, she said. Amakye said that with lighter complexions are she struggles to find skin color sometimes not considshades that match her ered black enough. The skin tone when shopconversation continues ping for makeup or with them discussing clothing. how Hollywood doesn’t “Rarely do I find show enough black products made for my women who have darkskin tone or hair type, er skin tones. and often I find myself Similar to the having to be content ’ characters in “Blackwith ‘close enough’ or Josephine ish,” Aire said that she the ‘we’re currently Amakye ’21 thinks that Hollywood working on diversifying should portray black girls of all our products,’” Amakye said. different skin tones. Aire said Amakye said struggling to that while she is happy that find products that work with black girls have been receiving her hair type and skin tone can more representation in film and be discouraging. She said she television, there are not enough believes that it is inconsiderate black girls with darker complex- that brands do not think about ions getting these roles. girls with darker complexions.

“I think that there is a lot “It is disheartening when of diversity among black wom- I see ten variations of the colen that can and should be por- or white and one dark shade trayed by visual media but is that barely matches my skin currently being underrepresent- tone,” Amakye said. “Recently, ed,” Aire said.”It’s not perfect certain brands have addressed right now, but I think that by this problem which many black even having black girls in lead girls with darker skin face, but roles we’re moving in the right its still unfair that I can’t go to direction. Hopefully, in the fu- a store and buy the nicest qualture, we’ll see a myriad of com- ity makeup because these complexions and hair types repre- panies fail to represent my skin sented among black women in tone.” films.”

Amakye also said that she Like Aire, Amaya Washing- sees colorism in the other inton ’21 said that she thinks Hol- dustries like modeling. lywood only portrays black girls “Often times a black woman as having a lighter skin tone with a darker skin tone is hired and believes that there is still for her “exotic” or “unique” look a lot more room for diversity in like it has never been seen befilm and TV. fore,” Amakye said. “Then, she “I feel like there are certain is never to be heard from again people who tend to try to work or is not booked with bigger against [the media thinking brands. This has been a danthat lighter skin black girls gerous trend in our society, but are the beauty standard], but progressive steps have been in general I feel like people made to change it. We have of darker skin color are dis- come a long way, and we still criminated against or just not have room to grow.” white s

ILLUSTRATION BY SAMANTHA KO, JEANINE KIM AND SPENCER KLINK

B8 Features

The Chronicle

March 1, 2019

Four students continue to make progress in their college admissions process, now confronted with key decisions about enrollment or other relevant issues.

By Kaelyn Bowers and Alison Oh The Sporty Scientist: Mary* The time for early decision results has come and gone, and Mary ’19 couldn’t be happier about it. On Dec. 13, she was admitted to Brown University’s Program in Liberal Medical Education (PLME), an eight-year combined baccalaureate-M.D. medical program.

Although she is done with the college application process, Mary said she is still focused on her academics.

“I feel less stressed because [it’s] second semester, but at the same time, I’m not the type of person to not turn something in,” Mary said. “I’m actually getting the same grades [as before I was accepted], maybe even better, but I have less stress about it, which is good, I guess.”

She said many of her friends who have been accepted to college are more relaxed and excited about going to school events and hanging out. However, some of her friends who haven’t gotten in are frustrated with her.

“I’m done-done, but it feels weird because I feel like I can’t talk to people about it,” Mary said.

“The people who aren’t into college are like, ‘But you’re into medical school already,’ and kind of hold it against me, almost.”

She said she looks forward to spending more time with friends during her second semester.

The Artistic Activist: Ashley* Unlike many of her peers, Ashley ’19 is still focused on her schoolwork, extracurriculars and

the college application process.

“It’s interesting because I don’t feel any type of senioritis at all,” Ashley said. “I don’t understand how people do feel that. I’m not in college yet, so that is probably why – I am still on that grind.”

Ashley was rejected from Barnard College of Columbia University, where she submitted an early decision application. Following her rejection, she submitted around 18 regular decision applications, a choice she said she regrets.

“I applied to way too many schools,” Ashley said. “I would recommend to juniors and other students to not apply to as many schools.”

Ashley said she was unable to devote as much time to each individual application because she applied to so many schools.

“I didn’t put in as much effort as I should have into the schools that I really wanted to go to because I was working on all of them at once,” Ashley said. “It was a whole mess and way too much to deal with.”

Ashley said her family has been supportive throughout the process.

“In the end, it isn’t just about me, it’s about my family too,” Ashley said. “Maybe it isn’t for some people, but [for me] it was a team effort. They very much believe in me and see the value in the things that I accomplish.”

Ashley is done submitting applications, but she said she is still busy with her extracurricular involvements and anticipates that she will stay busy until the end of the year.

“I lead and plan and host events,” Ashley said. “I even have to find funding and grants. It just

takes up so much time, so my social life is as it was at the beginning [of the year]. I won’t feel free until AP’s are over and I only have two classes a day.”

mental health [that’s made a difference].”

The Musical Mastermind: Mitchell*

Following his acceptance to Stanford University, his early action school, Mitchell ’19 decided Cody ’19 is feeling much happi- not to submit any more applicaer going into his second semester tions. However, he did not withof senior year. After committing draw his USC application, which to Grinnell College in Iowa to play he submitted before hearing from football for the next four years, he’s Stanford. had more time to relax and spend “I’m probably going to go to my time with friends. early school, but I’m still sort of He’s also keeping my options open,” Mitchhad more ell said. “I still want to hear from time for inUSC.” trospecSince Mitchell tion and applied to USC’s I’m underreflecting Thornton School standing myself on himof Music, he was self. also required to and what truly “ I ’ m audition in-permakes me happy u n d e r son. Although he and using that as standing mysaid the audition motivation.” self and what truly went fairly well, makes me happy and Mitchell said he —Cody* ’19 using that as motivaregrets not puttion to be better,” Cody ting in more effort. said. “Spending time with “‘I was sort of like, my friends makes me truly happy. ‘Oh, I wrote these songs. I guess I [I am] relaxing, really getting out of can do them fine,’” Mitchell said. “I the school mentality for a minute, feel like I could have done a little dropping everything and just en- bit more than that.” joying myself.”

Now that he is almost done with Cody said that although his the application process, Mitchell workload hasn’t changed substan- said he feels less stressed, but also tially, his lighter mental load has less focused as a result. resulted in helpful grade improve“I feel like before I was motivatments. ed to do well, but now it’s more “This has been my best year so like I’m just afraid to suck,” Mitchfar, like, I’ve almost had a whole ell said. “I don’t like sort of being point increase in my GPA,” Cody motivated by fear. I’m just chilling said. “It is really stepping out of mostly. I feel like some weight has the Harvard-Westlake bubble and been lifted off my shoulders, but feeling like I need to compete with not entirely.” everyone else, and instead focusing on what is best for me and my *Names have been changed.

Charismatic Captain: Cody*

ILLUSTRATION BY SPENCER KLINK

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT The Chronicle•March 1, 2019

Unconventional Artists Students share their hobbies of oragami, cooking and fashion design, and discuss how they use their arts to express themselves.

By TAMMER BAGDASARIAN Guy Hartstein ’20 is an artist, but he rarely touches a paintbrush, molds sculptures or draws on a canvas. Every day, Hartstein comes home to a stack of Japanese washi paper and delves into a world of traditional figures and mythical beasts. On the wall in his room, which Hartstein said he has designated as his origami museum, he hangs each model he makes and now holds a collection of over 100 origami works.

“I started doing origami when I was six,” Hartstein said. “That was when folding paper went from a mindless hobby to a synchronized art form for me.”

As he got older, Hartstein started joining origami societies such as the Pacific Ocean Pa-

per Folders Club, a group of origami enthusiasts of all abilities from beginners to professors at Caltech. Hartstein quickly gained experience, patience and appreciation for the craft, he said.

“I started to see origami as a way of life; a constant reminder of how geometry in nature makes an origami beetle crawl across my desk, or a frog leap out of my palm,” Hartstein said. “Origami involves manipulation, with pre-creases, marked points and base foundations that intertwine to form a living origami model.”

Many other students, like Hartstein, make art that is considered to be out of the mainstream, dedicating their own time to crafts often forgotten beneath conventional arts.

Berry Nakash ’20 also expresses herself through art, but instead of using paper as her medium, she uses food. To Nakash, cooking has always been about more than just the taste. From the time she was young, using the kitchen to escape her parents’ unappetizing cooking, to now, working with catering companies and designing ambitious plates, art has played a key role in Nakash’s love for cooking, she said.

“A plate is like a painting, but edible,” Nakash said. “You need to bring certain colors and certain textures because plating is half of the dish.”

As a drawing and painting enthusiast as well, Nakash said she enjoys utilizing artistic elements and techniques that she learns in class in her cooking. Drawing and painting teacher Claire Cochran ’06 has worked with Nakash for three years and said that when they first started painting together, she was impressed by how quickly Nakash caught on.

“When I asked [Nakash], she told me that she had taken cake-decorating classes, and I saw that cooking helped her understand art better and vice versa,” Cochran said.

“There are so many potential ways to arrange food and all the elements on the plate are like characters that interact artistically together.”

Art and food are not just hobbies to Nakash. While she has always wanted to work

in the culinary field, Nakash said that her love for art further inspires her to make cooking a career.

“I want to go to a culinary school in Japan after I graduate and do lots of internships at tons of different places, and then hopefully I can make an Israeli-Asian fusion restaurant,” Nakash said.

“I want to keep showing people the beauty and art in food, while also making it taste really good.”

The Upper School offers 20 visual arts courses that cover topics ranging from drawing and painting to video art to sculpting.

Cochran said that many students do not realize that the art department is open to a wide variety of interests, missing out on seeing each others’ and contributing their own work.

“I don’t think we have the solution yet for how to promote the arts,” Cochran said. “There is a lot of cool stuff going on in my studio and in the rest of the department, but that isn’t well known among the school community.”

To Ben Brill ’21, art is a creative expression that cannot be defined by strict categories, he said. In Brill’s case, his expression takes the form of handcrafted clothing. Despite a packed schedule of early mornings to catch the bus, heavy school work and after-school cross country practice, Brill said he still finds time to design and sew collections almost every day.

“I have always loved fashion and clothing, so making clothes seemed logical,” Brill said.

Although he does not work with the school art program on his clothing, he takes a clothing design class outside of school and has displayed his work in fashion shows and photo shoots. Brill’s latest project is a jacket with large pockets made of bandanas accompanied by a netsuke, a Japanese pouch that hangs from a belt.

“I like to draw ideas from a lot of different sources,” Brill said.

“Sometimes I am influenced by what other people are wearing, and a lot of the time I look at archives of fashion designers.

Inspiration can come from the material, like the bandanas in my latest project.”

To Brill, different art forms are not truly isolated. The colors on paintings show up in the

pants he makes and the lines and definition of photography appear in his clothing designs, he said.

Hartstein said he believes that all art, whether it be painting, cooking, origami or clothing, centers around a central principle of harmony.

“The purpose of art is to give order to something complex,” Hartstein said. “The chaotic things in this world are the ideal canvas for the creative mind. That’s why simple art is such a good indicator of creative brilliance. It doesn’t make itself.”

Cochran said that in the future she hopes more art students follow Brill, Hartstein and Nakash’s lead and engage in interests they are naturally drawn to. “ A n y time someone can develop an obsessive deep interest in something, it can become really meaningful,” Cochran said.

“If you get into something that is esoteric or off the beaten path, you might become the expert in that thing and find yourself being an authority on it later on, so I would say that if something you like seems strange, don’t avoid it. Instead, you should embrace it.”

ILLUSTRATION BY HANNAH MITTLEMAN

C2 ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

THE CHRONICLE

MARCH 1, 2019

Dancing in the Starry Night Students participating in the upcoming Dance Concert explain the thought process behind the concerts theme: Celebrating Art.

By KYRA HUDSON Sophia Nuñez ’20 frantically grabbed the costume box as she got ready to run onto the stage, excited for her upcoming dance. As the lights came up, she began her Lady Gaga dance, trying to mimic the performer’s unique persona in this year’s annual Dance Concert.

“We spend hours even after rehearsal ends practicing and cleaning because we want the show to be as powerful as possible,” Nuñez said. “Our goal is to honor the artists we are dancing about and remind the audience of how important art is to the world.”

This year the dancers in Dance Concert are playing homage to the work of popular artists, like Johannes Sebastian Bach, Frida Kahlo and Bob Marley.

The emulation of the art is expressed by intricate dances that connect different types of art, Advanced Dance I student and Guest Dancer Naomi Ogden ’20 said. The dancers are in the class Advanced Dance II with some in Advanced Dance I. “Basically, each dance tells a story, not just of the art, but each individual artist and how they come together,” Ogden said. “It’s beautiful to see all the dances come together because you contact artists you never expect to contact before.”

ILLUSTRATION BY SPENCER KLINK AND SAMANTHA KO

In the past, Dance Concerts have followed a story, like last year’s telling of the “Harry Potter” series through dances, but this year, the concert brings together many different types of art through powerful movements, Ogden said.

“At first, it doesn’t look like there would be a main story, but as the show progresses, the audience can connect the concepts to things in our own microcosm,” Ogden said.

Unity and community are big themes of the show, with many of the dances being ensemble pieces, Advanced Dance II student Jenna Kronenberg ’20 said.

“Without community, the show would not be as integrated and as full as it is,” guest dancer Echo Seireeni ’21 said. “Especially in the big dances, everyone needs to work together and basically have one communal brain or else everything will fall apart. We also have to be open to subjects, and I think, in that way, it is really like a family.”

The sense of community is also present outside of the dances, Kronenberg said.

“I really feel like dance has given me a whole different group of friends,” Kronenberg

said. “This year, I really leading up to the show, got to know the seniors the dancers participatand became really close ed in tech week, when with all of them. I love there were rehearsals afseeing people in the halls ter school everyday with and just feeling the sense the proper lighting and of community outside of music in Rugby Theater, the dance studio. In re- Kronenberg said. hearsal, there are occa“The rehearsals are sionally artistic differenc- definitely a time commites when choreographing, ment,” Advanced Dance II but nothing ever exceeds student Izzy Yanover ’19 the dancing.” said. “You have to be inThe showcase is stu- vested in dance, but they dent-run, and the dances are so much are choreographed fun. It’s also and taught to a chance to each other by the hang out with students, guest your friends dancer and Adon the weekvanced Dance I ends.” student Maddie The concept Boudov ’21 said. for the concert “Being a guest is very persondancer, most of al to some stu’ the choreography dents because Izzy Yanover’19 that I learned for it is connecting the first dance so many difwas either choreographed ferent aspects of art that by the group of guest people love, Yanover said. dancers in that dance “In many ways, dance or the other dancers in is an art form, so it is rethat dance who are in ally amazing to be able Advanced Dance II and to connect to other artist taught it to use during using art,” Yanover said. our weekend rehearsals,” “A big part of Dance ConBoudov said. cert that was very influThe styles of the danc- ential to me was being es range from contempo- able to learn about the rary to more classic piec- artists that we did dances with elements of ballet. es on. I felt like I was able “I love doing contem- to connect to what I was porary dances because dancing on, and it made I love working on new the dance more personways of choreographing al.” and dancing in ways I’m The concert is this not used to,” Nuñez said.

Friday and Saturday at The dancers re- 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at hearsed during class, 3 p.m. Tickets are availas well as on the able to all who want to weekends, for the see the show through the past two months. Harvard-Westlake box ofDuring the week fice.

WHITE S

March. 1, 2019

hwchronicle.com/ae

A&E C3

Students performed in a reimagined version of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” featuring two lead female love interests.

By Annie Beckman Students performed a redesigned version of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream on Feb. 8-10 including LGBTQ characters.

In directing the show, performing arts teacher Rees Pugh decided to put a progressive twist on the old Shakespearean story. The comedy portrays the events surrounding the forbidden marriage of two characters. In Shakespeare’s version, these characters are male and female. However, in Pugh’s version, both characters play female roles.

“I was looking for as many opportunities for female actresses as possible because we generally get two to three times as many girls auditioning as we do boys,” Pugh said. “When I looked at switching one of the love relationships to a samesex relationship, the play revealed itself as to why that could work, and why it would be updated in a meaningful way. I rewrote some pronouns, and a couple of other things to keep it rhyming, which was a fun little challenge.”

Andrea Yagher ’20 played one of these two female roles and said she enjoyed the experience.

Yagher is straight but said she thought that it was a nice challenge to play her character as a lesbian, and that it gave the character new depth.

“It

was a very enriching and beautiful experience to put our own twist on such a classic play, particularly with my character, Hermia, and her lover, Lysandra,” Yagher said. “I think it is a fascinating and fun adaptation for our modern age.”

Jake Schroeder ’20, a student-actor who identifies at LGBTQ, said he was also happy with Pugh’s decision to modernize the tale.

“The theater is a great place for forward thinking,” Schroeder said. “I am really glad [Pugh] made this change and can’t wait to see what else is in store for the future.

Shakespeare originally was intended to be performed by all male actors, and I think that our modern spin kept audience members on their toes while bringing new life to the play. It’s a timeless piece, and I think that changes like these allow for progress and acceptance in our community.”

The actors and actresses in the play aimed to create an enjoyable experience for the audience by facilitating their understanding of the obsolete Shakespearean language, Schroeder, who played the king of the fairies said. He said he felt encouraged by the complexity of Shakespearean language.

“A lot of people think that Shakespeare is for adults, or shouldn’t be performed nowadays because it’s really hard to understand when we read it in school, but I heard that a lot of the audience members had a

great time, and we definitely learned a lot doing it,” Schroeder said. “Understanding the language and analyzing the show was a big part of the process.”

Viewers said that they were impressed with the presentation of the play.

Pugh said he was amazed by how the set design, lighting, costumes and music all came together.

Pugh not only served as the director for the show but also designed and built the set. Aaron Martin was the lighting designer, and Lisa Peters was the costumer.

“Often times for Shakespeare plays, a director will come in with a very distinct, decided concept,” Pugh said.

“Like, let’s set A Midsummer Night’s Dream on Mars. But I didn’t bring any of that into this because I wanted to leave it as open as possible for the production team to collaborate and bring their ideas in. Lighting wise, I was very surprised and delighted with how vivid it all became between the two worlds. I didn’t expect that at all.”

According to Ben Beckman ’19, it is a common misconception that Shakespeare wrote melodic details and cues into his plays. In truth, he only wrote words, Beckman said. Pugh picked Beckman, a student composer, to write the music for the production.

In the play, there are two songs sung by the fairies, and two dance numbers. Beckman wrote the music for those, as well as for an over-

ture, various entrances and exits and bows.

“Although working with this piece of great literature and setting the beautiful texts were very rewarding, the highlight of the process was working with the incredible pit, cast and crew,” Beckman said. “I’m very thankful to have had this opportunity.”

Yagher also

e x pressed her gratitude for the experience.

“I feel so incredibly lucky to have been part of this production,” Yagher said. “I couldn’t be prouder of all the work each and every member of our cast and crew put into the design and the heart of the show.”

ILLUSTRATION BY SAMANTHA KO

C4 ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

THE CHRONICLE

MARCH 1, 2019

Megan Chang ’19 shares her experience playing violin and becoming immersed in the orchestra community. Chang says that performing has helped her overcome stage fright and has helped her gain confidence.

By SABA NIA

est in the violin. This past summer, Chang played at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute in Lenox, Massachusetts and performed in its Young Artists Orchestra. She was selected as concertmaster for the first concert of the summer, an honor Chang said allowed her to develop her leadership and communication skills. “[It was] honestly the best experience of my life,” Chang said. “Words cannot express how magical that summer was.”

Chang said that through out-ofschool programs such as Tanglewood and more local opportunities, she has been able to meet other musicians.

For the last two years, Chang has also been a member of the American Youth Symphony, a prestigious, pre-professional orchestra of mostly college and graduate students. Since she is one of the only high school members of the orchestra, Chang said she is motivated and inspired by her collegiate-level and professional peers.

Chang also continues to make the two-hour commute to Palos Verdes to play with the Palos Verdes Regional Symphony Orchestra (PVRSO), a community that she said has supported her since she first began playing.

“PVRSO has become almost my second home, like another family that I can always rely on for love, encouragement and joy through all the ups and downs of life,” Chang said.

Nearly a decade after first falling in love with the violin, Chang took the stage of the 2018 California Chapter of the American String Teachers Associa-

They moved in unison on the stage.

Bows sliding side to side, the violinists played their instruments as one fluid mass. Seated in the audience with her family, a nine-year-old Megan Chang ’19 sat transfixed.

As it ebbed and flowed, the music surrounded Chang. She was mesmerized by the violin sections as the musicians swayed together. When the Los Angeles Philharmonic Toyota Symphonies for Youth’s performance of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf ended, Chang knew she wanted to be like the performers gracing that stage.

“I think my favorite part of playing music is being able to share my love with others,” Chang said. “Music is just such a universal language that can touch the hearts of everyone and anyone.”

Following the performance, Chang joined her elementary school’s after-school music program, and at 10 years old, started taking private lessons outside of school and entering local competitions. Almost nine years later, Chang still practices every day for at least two hours.

Chang served as concertmaster of the Middle School Symphony, an experience that she credits as furthering her love of violin and currently serves as the concertmaster of the Upper School Symphony.

In addition to cultivating her skills in her schools’ music ensembles, Chang has attended programs outside of her community to further her inter-

tion State Competition at UC Davis in October.

A few months after attending Tanglewood, Chang said she felt as connected to music as she had ever been.

Ready to play, Chang approached the stage energized and enthusiastic.

As she lifted her violin towards her chin, Chang took a few breaths and let an unexpected calm overtake her. Buzzing from the rush within her veins, Chang moved her bow and lost herself in her performance, pouring her emotions into the music.

Chang said she was so immersed in her playing that she didn’t hear the judges and audience members clapping for her to stop.

“When I walked offstage, I was so happy,” Chang said. “I didn’t expect to win, just because there were so many amazing musicians competing against me, but I didn’t really care because I was so proud of my performance. And then when I found out that I had won, that was just the cherry on top.”

Chang considered her performance at that competition as an indication of the progress she has made.

“The competition aspect of music is one that I used to dread,” Chang said.

“I used to get so nervous and so in my head before competitions that by the time I had to audition, I had convinced myself I was going to mess up or somehow fail epically, which negatively affected my playing. But now, realizing that music isn’t solely about competition, I’ve been able to relax before performances, see each competition as a learning opportunity and appreciate

the music for what it is – art. There’s nothing quite like the feeling you get during or after a successful performance.”

Despite not auditioning for a conservatory, Chang said she still plans on playing music in the future. In college, Chang said she hopes to double major or minor in music, join her school orchestra and play in chamber ensembles.

“Playing violin has honestly become one of my greatest joys in life, and I am forever grateful that I have had the opportunity to learn and play,” Chang said.

“Through violin, I’ve been a b l e to express my emotions in a way that I cannot with words, I’ve developed bonds and friendships with other musicians and I’ve been able to share my love and touch the lives of others.”

Crossword

What Drives You 1

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Upper School Science teacher and Coordinator of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Nate Cardin presents Harvard-Westlake with a word challenge. Crosswords are released issue.

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CROSSWORD BY NATE CARDIN

Across 1. Weather forecasting aid 6. Two of a kind 10. Seats in some churches 14. Put up with 15. Ye ___ shoppe 16. Moisturizer ingredient that comes from a succulent 17. After her lesson on nuclear

chemistry, the science teacher drove home in her ___ 19. “Call Me By Your ___” 20. 50-50 situations 21. Found (in) 23. Chicken noodle or minestrone 25. Scary signs about the future 26. After their lesson on deriv-

atives, the math teacher drove home in their ___ 32. Popular font similar to Helvetica 33. Three squared 34. Toothpaste variety 37. Not hard 38. Military battlefield doctor 40. Town near Sonoma in North-

ern California that is also famous for its wineries 41. What Paul Rudd’s superhero alterego turns into 42. Choir part 43. Pulling a rabbit out of a hat, e.g.

44. After his student got into college (in part) because her parents went there, the dean drove home in his ___ 47. Place secretly 50. A ___ apple, B ___ beetle, ...

51. Starts a movie franchise all over again 54. Whiteboard accessories 59. Love, in Latin 60. After her lesson on community engagement, the government teacher drove home in her ___ 62. Bird that often represents peace 63. Many 64. Muse of poetry 65. Place just to the left of the decimal point 66. Dog from “The Wizard of Oz” 67. Put back to zero, say Down 1. River vessel 2. Peek___!

3. N, S, E, and W 4. Puts 2 + 2 together to get 4 5. “No. I won’t do it.” is one 6. American marsupial that often plays dead 7. Muhammad ___ 8. Ryan Seacrest show, for short 9. Nevada city that isn’t Las Vegas 10. Central American country with a famous canal 11. Make happy 12. More than half of all college graduates in the U.S.

13. What a gardener puts into the soil 18. “Once ___ a time...”

22. Command to a dog that isn’t right here 24. Box opener of myth 26. Org. at Cape Canaveral 27. Fe, to chemists 28. Sort (through) 29. ACT alternative 30. Top number on a grandfather clock 31. Company ending, often 34. Star of “A Star is Born” 35. Mind blowing 36. Like a frilly tablecloth 38. World Series org.

39. Posting at LAX (or the Greek version of “H”) 40. Pester to no end 42. Vehicle (like the four driven by teachers in this puzzle) 43. Threatening person 44. Makes loud noises while sleeping 45. Unfazed by 46. Currency of Turkey (and former currency of Italy) 47. Madrid museum 48. Yellow citrus fruit 49. Not below 52. Not this 53. Song for one 55. Royal title 56. Actresses Mendes and Longoria 57. Drugstore chain ___ Aid 58. Glasgow resident 61. “Just kidding!”

Scan for Answers!

SPORTS The Chronicle • March 1, 2019

Place Your Bets Sports Gambling has been legalized in seven states in the past year. With “March Madness” on the horizon, should the school interfere?

NCAA Tournament draws thousands games in which people would otherof fans worldwide, according to Sports wise be uninterested in,” Marcus said.

FanDuel requires all participants to Business Daily. However, Mike ThomMarcus* sat alone as he watched as ’20 said that most of those fans are be over the age of 18 to create an acthe final minutes of Super Bowl LIII more interested in beating their friends count. However, the system has many loopholes, and underage betters often from his leather sofa. It was late in the than the actual game itself.

“I think sports gambling encourages find a way through. Yet, the program fourth quarter, and all that remained of his pregame order were the scattered competition for the wrong reasons,” only requires one’s age, email and bones of his buffalo wings. He had de- Thomas said. “I think people should be credit card. In addition, the app only cided against attending a viewing party competing because they love the sport asks for verification until the particithis year so that he could focus on the or it is their job, not because they are pant wants to withdraw money.

Daniel* said that he prefers daily game without the annual distractions trying to make other people money.”

According to CBS Sports, March betting to fantasy sports. of chips, guacamole and social obliga“FanDuel was very fun,” Daniel said.

Madness brackets are just a small tions.

With the “I enjoyed it much more than regular Born and raised in Los Angeles, percent of sports betting.

Marcus had adopted the Rams’ fran- constant increase of technology, it fantasy football due to its flexibility.”

Last year, Daniel said he chise as one of his favorites after its is becoming easier to bet on stopped playing FanDuel, as move in 2016. In addition, the New sporting events every single his account was shut down England Patriots were one of Marcus’ day, with apps like FanDuel when he couldn’t verify his least favorite teams due to their seem- and DraftKings hosting daily account. Daniel said he was betting pools with participants ingly unabated success. forced to forfeit the remaining Yet, as the scoreboard flashed dou- across the country. funds in his account.

FanDuel and DraftKings alble zeros, Marcus celebrated. The New While underage gambling England Patriots had won 13-3, send- low fans to participate in daily remains illegal, sports gaming the Rams home empty-handed for fantasy sports without having bling has been legalized in sevthe off season. The Rams’ loss was the to wait months for the next ’ en states, with many others in least Marcus’ worries. He had just won season to begin. While fantasy the process of legislation. On Mike sports and sports gambling a bet.

May 14, 2018, the Supreme Thomas ’20 “I think [sports gambling] is really share many similarities, fanCourt ruled in favor of the fun,” Marcus said. “It’s a big part of tasy sports are not considered who I am, and it makes me a bit of a gambling, as most pools do not allow State of New Jersey, overturning the wagers to be placed online. Neverthe- 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports more fun and exciting person.”

Marcus is not alone. In a Chronicle less, many participants often set aside Protection Act and enabled states to allow sports gambling. poll, 26 percent of 325 respondents money for the winner of the pool.

Following the Supreme Court deci“I’ll get into differsaid they have particent types of games sion, five states have legalized sports ipated in some form of and different things gambling, joining Nevada and New sports gambling, and, to bet on depending Jersey. In addition, since the Supreme according to Street I think people should on the time of the Court decision, 29 states, including and Smith’s Business be competing because they year,” Marcus said. California, have introduced bills reJournal, Americans spent 4.87 billion dollove the sport or it is their job, “For example, during garding the legalization of sports gamfootball season, I’ll do bling. lars on sports betting not because they are trying to FanDuel. ” At school, gambling is strictly proin 2018 alone.

Thomas said that hibited. The 2018-2019 Upper School With March make other people money.” he thinks fantasy handbook states that “friendly gamaround the corner, —Mike Thomas ’20 sports make people bling for athletic contests or card sports fans across focus on individual games is also prohibited,” banning stuthe world are beginplayers more than the dents from pooling their money in fanning to dig into their wallets to place wagers on their “March team’s success. For example, in Jan. tasy sports and March Madness comMadness” brackets, a common prac- 2014, Green Bay Packers quarter- petitions. Despite the ban, 46 percent tice of filling out predictions for all 63 back Aaron Rodgers took a knee in the of students believe that they should be games in the Men’s NCAA Basketball fourth quarter to secure the victory for able to participate in sports gambling.

“I don’t think it is fair to ban sports Tournament. According to ESPN, 17.3 his team. However, the kneel caused million brackets were filled out in 2018 Rodgers to lose two rushing yards, re- pools at school,” Marcus said. “I think through their website alone. Many par- sulting in one less point for his owners. it’s a really fun thing and I think it’s a ticipants often compete in a large pool Outrage ensued, and many fans were good way to make friends.”

As more and more money is investof friends or relatives, pooling their eliminated from their fantasy playoffs because of Rodgers’ selfless act to win ed in sports, Marcus said that fans are money to reward a winner. going to have to adjust to the growing The structure of each pool varies. the game.

Despite the unpredictability of fan- industry of gambling, whether they like Some pools, like those on FanDuel, require an entry fee with the winner re- tasy sports, Marcus believes that the it or not.

“Sports betting is on the rise,” Marceiving all of the money, others divide positives about sports gambling outcus said. “Critics are just going to have up the winnings among the top finish- weigh the negatives.

“I would argue that websites such to deal with it.” ers and most, like Yahoo and ESPN, are simply for bragging rights. Regard- as FanDuel incentivize people to watch *Names have been changed less of the structure of each pool, the games and improve viewership in

By WILL MALLORY EUGENE WYMAN

AND

WHITE S

“

ILLUSTRATIONS BY SAMANTHA KO

D2 SPORTS

THE CHRONICLE

Game to watch

MARCH 1, 2019

Girls’ Soccer

MARCH 1 Boys’ Lacrosse vs.

Oaks Christian Ted Slavin Field After concluding last season with a record of 1711 and a loss in the Mission League finals, the boys’ lacrosse team looks to start this season strong in their home opener against Oaks Christian High School. The teams split the two games played last year, with each team winning at home. In their last meeting, the Lions won in a seven goal victory on their way to a 15-7 record.

KEY PLAYER Sultan Daniels ’19 Midfielder Sultan Daniels ’19, who was Mission League offensive MVP for football, brings that same level of play to the lacrosse team. Daniels brings veteran leadership to the Wolverines as a senior with three years of experience. He is considered by the coaching staff and players as one of the top players on the team.

& Figures Facts

23

Consecutive years girls’ water polo has won the Mission League Title

12.4 ESPN national ranking for Johnny Juzang ’20

Average rebounds per game for boys’ basketball’s Mason Hooks ’20

19

.71

LUCAS LEE/CHRONICLE

#NOPHILTER: Defender Natalie Phillips ’21 prepares to pass the ball while midfielder Whitney Elson ’19 looks on in the 1-0 Senior Night win against Notre Dame High School on Jan. 31. This win capped the Wolverines’ overall record off at 14-0-6.

Semi-final playoff loss ends squad’s undefeated streak

By WILLIAM SEYMOUR

The girls’ soccer team ended its undefeated streak by losing 3-0 at the CIF Southern Section Division I Semi-Finals to Los Alamitos High School on Feb. 16. The squad had an overall record of 17-1-6 and was 7-01 in league play, securing them the Mission League Title.

The team’s playoff run lasted four rounds, where the Wolverines beat San Clemente High School 1-0, Santiago Corona High School 5-4 and Cypress High School 3-0 in the quarterfinals before the loss to Los Alamitos in the semi-finals. “[Los Alamitos] gave us a very competitive match,” defender KK Bishop ’19 said. “I’m sure that if we play them again, we will take it to them even harder.”

The Wolverines’ game against Santiago Corona remained scoreless through regulation, first and second over-

times, which sent the game into penalty kicks. The Wolverines secured a 5-4 win through penalty kicks along with three key saves by goalkeeper Devon Carmel ’21.

“Beating Santiago is one of my favorite memories of the season,” forward Samantha Morris ’21 said. “It was definitely one of our most competitive and exciting games, requiring so much teamwork and determination to finally pull out the win.”

The Wolverines beat Cypress 3-0 on Feb. 12 with goals from Daniela Quintero ’22, Whitney Elson ’19 and Natalia Quintero ’21.

However, the team was unable to score in its Feb. 16 semi-final match against Los Alamitos, marking only the third game of the season in which the Wolverines did not put up any points and the first loss of the season.

Players said the squad

Boys’ Soccer

thrived due to its offense and ally, they posted a 1-1 draw experience, outscoring oppo- against Southlake Carroll High nents 54-20 overall this sea- School, the number one team son, but only had a goal differ- in Texas according to program ential of 9-7 in the CIF playoffs. head Richard Simms.

“We have a very deep team, “We became even closer so anyone on the bench can with each other during the tourcome on the field and make a nament while rooming with one positive impact,” Bishop said. another,” Morris said. “It was “We have all bonded an incredibly fun experithis season, so we ence and a valuable ophave great chemisportunity to play against try which leads to talented opponents from good performance across the country.” on the field. HowThe team has qualiever, we have a lot fied for the 2019 CIF Reof young players gional Soccer Champiwho aren’t as exonships, a tournament perienced but have that begins on Feb. 26. ’ been able to adjust “For the regional Samantha very quickly to the tournament, we have Morris ’21 competitiveness of been practicing hard,” high school soccer Bishop said. “I wouldn’t and what it means to play for say we are trying to change your school.” anything about our playing Players said that the high- style, but we are trying to imlight of their season was going prove the fundamentals that 2-0-2 in the National Elite Prep make us such a great team and Showcase in Texas. Addition- have allowed us to get this far.”

WHITE S

Winning season over with first round defeat in CIF playoffs

Average goals allowed per game by girls’ soccer

By LUKE CASOLA

Junior Varsity Boys’ Basketball Overall Record: 9-14 League Record: 1-9

Girls’ Soccer

Overall Record: 10-3 League Record: 8-1

Boys’ Soccer Overall Record: 8-8-2 League Record: 5-5-2

Girls’ Basketball Overall Record: 4-2 League Record: 0-0 LUKE CASOLA/CHRONICLE

SMASHER ASHER: Midfielder Asher Vogel ’19 gains control of the ball against Bishop Alemany High School on Jan. 30.

The boys’ soccer team placed second in the Mission League behind Loyola High School after finishing with an overall record of 11-6-2 and league record of 8-2-2.

“In regards to winning the league, we lost [senior midfielder] Alec Katz [’19] to injury early in the year and he was not able to return,” head coach Kris Ward said. “[Katz] was one of the dominant attackers in the league and a senior captain, so he was a rather large loss. We missed a few others due to injury and illness but ultimately it came down to our home game against Loyola, and we just did not play well.”

In the 4-1 loss to Loyola on Jan. 11, the Cubs began the game with a 3-0 lead in the first half. Ward said that beating Loyola would have positioned the Wolverines well to win league.

Despite the team’s placement in league, Ward said that he believes it was a positive season due to several standout players. Goalkeeper Charlie Mendes ’19 won Mis-

sion League Goalkeeper of the year and forward Langston Holly ’20 led the team in goals scored.

Midfielder Gabriel Palacios ’20, defender Pablo Greenlee ’20 and forward Henry Sanderson ’20 were named to the All Mission League First Team.

Holly, midfielder Asher Vogel ’19, defender Alexander Schindler ’19 and midfielder Connor Colao were all named to the All Mission League Second Team and Honorable Mention.

“Greenlee as one of our wide backs was one of our most dangerous attackers and a big key to our success,” Ward said. “But, this year, we had a solid group that played together, battled together and showed a tremendous amount of heart.”

Team camaraderie also contributed to its success, midfielder Vogel said.

“We got a lot closer on and off the field this season,” Vogel said. “Personally, I became much better friends with my teammates, and I think we got to know each other’s playing • Continued on D7

March 1, 2019

hwchronicle.com/sports

Sports D3

inbrief

Girls' Basketball

Squad gains experience after loss in semi-finals

By Will Mallory

Despite a quarterfinal exit in the CIF Division I Playoffs on Feb. 13, the girls’ basketball team finished a strong season in the Mission League, posting a 21-9 and 6-2 overall and league record, respectively. Led by talented underclassmen, Kiki Iriafen ’21 and Kimiko Katzaroff ’21, the Wolverines will have a lot to look forward to both on and off the court in the upcoming years.

For two players, though, the 54-42 loss against Long Beach Poly marked not only the conclusion of their season but also the end of their high school basketball careers. Seniors Emma Sunkin ’19 and Gianna Hubbard ’19 are planning to attend college next year, leaving the young squad without two of its key leaders of this past season.

“I will really miss all of the fun times that we had together,” Hubbard said. “I can’t wait to see what this team does in the future.”

Since winter break, the Wolverines continued to build on their early success as they prepared for league play and CIF Playoffs. They defeated Notre Dame High School in their first league match Jan. 8 in dominant fashion, routing the Knights 66-35 on their home court.

“It was definitely nice to get our first league win in their gym,” guard Mirabella Wong ’20 said. “It helped boost our

confidence for the rest of the season.”

After defeating Alemany 6549 on Jan. 12, the Wolverines, led by program head Melissa Hearlihy, struggled against Chaminade High School, falling 73-41 on Jan. 15. Hearlihy labeled the loss a fluke and used it to motivate her players to beat the Eagles in the future.

“The Chaminade loss was very uncharacteristic of us,” Hearlihy said. “We’ll bounce back strong and beat them at home in a couple weeks.”

The squad did just that.

After the loss, the Wolverines won four straight league games, including a nail-biting 47-46 victory in a Jan. 29 rematch against Chaminade.

“It felt really good to beat Chaminade after our first loss,” Wong said. “Especially after our first loss against them, it was nice to finally prove that we could beat them.”

The Wolverines fell to Marlborough High School 64-56 in their final league game of the season, eliminating their chances at winning the Mission League title after going undefeated just one year earlier.

Despite the loss, the team was able to secure a high seed in the CIF Division I Playoffs.

In the first round, the Wolverines traveled to Santa Barbara High School on Feb. 7, where they routed the Dons 60-30 in a statement victory. Just two days later, the squad defeated

Mendes ’19 named MVP at his position

Charlie Mendes ’19 was named the Mission League goalkeeper of the year for 2018-2019.

His national rank is 382 and his rank in California is 144. Mendes is also considered an amazing punting prospect. The varsity boys’ soccer team lost its most recent game Feb. 7 at the playoffs. Their overall record was 11-6-4, while their league record was 8-2-2.

Additionally, Mendes signed his NCAA national letter of intent to commit and play football for Rice University. Chris Sailer Kicking claims that Mendes has potential to compete with the best in the nation and challenge for a D1 punting spot.

—Eugean Choi WILL MALLORY/CHRONICLE

HARD IN DA PAINT: Forward Kiki Iriafen '21 lays the ball up over a defender in a 71-43 win over Palisades Charter High School.

Esparanza High School 47-42 in the second round to book a Feb. 13 match with Long Beach Poly High School.

The Wolverines’ success fell short in the quarterfinals of the CIF Playoffs, where they lost to the Jackrabbits 54-42.

Although the game marked the final home game for Hubbard and Sunkin, it clearly was only the beginning for the young squad.

Along with Iriafen and Semaan, sophomores Kimiko Katzaroff, Melissa Zozulenko and Paula Gonzalez have developed connections with juniors Ella Price ’20 and Wong, setting high expectations for

the following season. Katzaroff said she was excited with her team’s performance this year but hopes to make it farther in her junior season.

“I’m really looking forward to next year and the years after,” Katzaroff said. “This team has so much potential because we are such a young group.

Hopefully next year, we make it even further.”

For now, the Wolverines are scheduled for a well-deserved off season for the remainder of the school year. That won’t stop Iriafen, the team leader in points and rebounds per game, from establishing her mindset early.

Mission League champions eliminated from CIF playoffs Boys’ basketball finished its regular season and lost in the third round of the CIF SS Division I tournament to Santa Margarita High School.

Despite early season struggles, the team ended with a 21-9 overall record and won the Mission League title for the first time since 2011.

Program head David Rebibo said that although the squad’s CIF loss was difficult, he is proud of the team’s strong work ethic throughout the entire game.

“Losing is never fun or easy, especially with an opportunity

Lawrence Li ’20 created an e-sports club Feb. 13 open to all upper school students. The club will be for both recreational video game playing and for intense competition in tournaments.

Head of Athletics Terry Barnum is open to the possibility of e-sports one day being an activity that the school can excel in.

The club is currently working on organizing a Super Smash Bros Ultimate tournament but are currently facing difficulties finding enough students to join the club.

—Zack Schwartz

Boys’ Basketball

By Keila McCabe

New e-sports club created at the school

at the championship on the line,” Rebibo said. “I was very pleased with our effort and defensive execution of the game plan. Sometimes shots just don’t fall, and that’s what happened on Saturday. I am proud of our guys and the effort they put forth. We are extremely excited that the season is not over yet.”

The Santa Margarita Eagles defeated the Wolverines on Feb. 16 in the semi-finals of the CIF tournament, 50-45. Guard Johnny Juzang ’20 led the team in scoring with 19 points.

Throughout the game, the Wolverines trailed the Eagles due to an inability to convert on of-

fensive opportunities.

“Our biggest problem is that we couldn’t really get into a rhythm offensively,” wing Holden McRae ’20. “We held a pretty prolific offense to 50 points on the defensive end, but our shots just were not falling.”

In addition to not being able to get in a groove offensively, guard Cameron Thrower ’22 said the team did not play like its usual self.

“As a team, we did not hit shots we normally make,” Thrower said. “Also, we did not have the same confidence and swagger we have always had throughout this playoff run.

Lastly, we became more and

more selfish as the game got tighter, and we tried to do everything by ourselves.”

Several members of the team said they were disappointed with the outcome of the game.

Forward Trumann Gettings ’21 said the loss stung more, knowing the team’s potential was much greater.

“The loss was very rough,” Gettings said. “The worst part about losing that game was that we all knew that we should have won. There is almost no room for error once you start playing higher level teams and are in big games.”

• Continued on D6

Baseball team places first in major tournament The Harvard-Westlake baseball team won the Easton tournament, winning the final 7-1 over previously undefeated Sherman Oaks Notre Dame on Feb. 21. In the preview of a Mission League showdown, the Wolverines held the Knights to only four hits.

The Wolverines stayed undefeated and moved to 5-0 on the year. HarvardWestlake had previously defeated Thousand Oaks and Birmingham in tournament play scoring 14 runs and only giving up 3.

—Charlie Wang

Boys’ soccer players get many league honors

ALL PHOTOS BY RYAN ALBERT/CHRONICLE

DOTTIN YOUR I’S: Wing Brase Dottin ’20 (left) shoots over a defender in the Wolverines’ game 66-61 loss to Loyola High School on Jan. 11. Guard Spencer Hubbard '20 (right) dribbles around a defender and prepares and passes the ball in the same game.

Boys Soccer athletes Pablo Greenlee ’20, Henry Sanderson ’20 and Gabe Palacios ’20 were all named to the first team all mission on February 20th. The team lost in the first round of the playoffs to Hueneme High School on February 7th with an overall record 11-6-4.

Connor Calao ’21, Asher Vogel ’19 and Alex Schindler ’19 were all named to the second team all mission league with Langston Holly ’20 receiving an honorable mention. Charlie Mendes ’19 was also named MVP at his position.

—Zack Schwartz

THE CHRONICLE MARCH 1, 2

D4 SPORTS

March

7

April

3:30 p.m.

Windward

Notre Dame

15

3:00 p.m.

March Oaks Christian

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5:00 p.m.

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14

Chaminade

3:15 p.

RCH

1, 2019

HWCHRONICLE.COM/SPORTS

SPORTS D5

Sprouting into Spring As the winter season comes to a close, spring sports begin.

The Chronicle encourages you to check out a notable home game for each team.

March

7

March 3:30 p.m.

Francis

Calabasas

Oaks Christian

3:15 p.m.

St.

5

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March

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PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY KEILA MCCABE

D6 Sports

The Chronicle

March 1, 2019

Juniors lead team to the CIF Semis

Girls’ Water Polo

•Continued from D3

KYLE REIMS/CHRONICLE

MAGIC MAGNA: Freshman Ayva Magna ’22 looks for an open teammate in the 12-3 win against Flintridge Sacred Heart High School on Jan. 17. After the win, the squad went on to beat Oaks Christian High School 13-12 Jan. 19 and Notre Dame High School 21-6 Jan. 22.

Squad completes first season in Open Division

By Kyle Reims

come down to knowing we do it with people we respect and Girls’ water polo wrapped trust and love,” Adeline Jackup its debut Open Division son ’21 said. “This team is season with an 18-12 overall the hardest working group of record, culminating in a four- women you will ever meet. We point loss to Santa Barbara all love to dance and have fun High School in the CIF quar- together and the level of respect terfinals. The team extended for each other really makes it its Mission League dominance, amazing. Every game we go out taking home the league title for and play for each other, and it’s the 23rd straight year and fin- a powerful feeling.”

Alex Button ’21 said the ishing with an undefeated 8-0 league record for the 11th con- team’s season was full of validation and growth. secutive season.

“I feel that we Reflecting on her proved that our team time with the team, deserved to be D1 or goalie Emily Hilliard D2 competitors,” But’19 said she feels exton said. “We showed tremely close to the strength and determirest of the players. nation through games “Playing with that were historically these girls has been not in our favor. But, amazing,” Hilliard above all, we grew as said “I train with them ’ athletes and as teamyear-round and they Emily mates, learning how are like my family.

Hilliard ’19 to communicate and When I’m not training in the pool, I’m hanging out learn from each other’s miswith them. The girls work their takes. Playing a sport is so much butts off, and I respect them all more than showing up to games so much both in the pool and and practice, it is improving as a unit together through the bad outside of the pool.”

Other team members and the good that has gotten us echoed these thoughts on the as far as we are today.” team’s bond.

Hilliard agreed and said she “The journey, struggles and felt a lot of pride in how the seasuccesses on this team really son turned out. white s

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“It’s super exciting to see this program go from the Division III team I joined in freshman year to a Division I team,” Hilliard said. “This year has been so historical, and I’m just really proud of everyone. We have beat teams such as Huntington Beach, Agora, El Toro and Santa Barbara this year, which has never been done in Harvard-Westlake girls’ water polo history.”

Juliette O’Brien ’21 also emphasized the significance of the team’s historic accomplishments.

“Our team made history this year in defeating teams we have never defeated before, and that is something we are all really proud of,” O’Brien said. “It was our first year moving into the open division, and we were all really happy about how we performed in a more competitive bracket than we have ever faced.”

Although they’re proud of how far they came, many team members are not prepared to rest on their laurels, Button said. Discussing the goals for next season, Button said the team isn’t content with the recent success the team has attained.

“Our focus for next year is to

continue our progress in changing Harvard-Westlake girls’ water polo history,” Button said.

“We have set the stepping stones for our future success and will not look back.”

When looking forward to next year, the team is also finding new incentives from this season to reach their lofty goals.

O’Brien said she feels the team’s concluding loss is a catalyst for the success they would like to enjoy next year.

“Because we lost in the quarterfinals for CIF, we are now even more motivated to continue to work hard throughout the club season to do even better than we did this year, and hopefully win a CIF championship,” O’Brien said.

Not all of the players will continue with the team to see next year’s season, however.

Hilliard, one of the team’s two seniors, said the advice she’d give the younger players is to continue to strive and try their best.

“No matter how hard it seems in the moment, when you’re strong as a team and push and support each other, the payout will always be more than the pain,” Hilliard said.

Despite exiting earlier than the team expected, McRae said that he is proud of his team for being resilient and winning the Mission League title. He said he hopes the same resiliency can carry through to CIF Regional Championship Playoffs.

“I am most proud of our ability to bounce back,” McRae said.

“We had two tough losses in a row heading into the Mission League Tournament and left with the championship. I know that we are capable of bouncing back from this game and competing for a state championship.”

After a long season with a difficult schedule, the team commented on its most important lessons throughout the year.

Forward Mason Hooks ’20 said constant concentration was his biggest takeaway.

“You need to be focused no matter what to win,” Hooks said.

“All the time, for every game.”

McRae said he is proud of the persistence of the team and learned that competitive basketball requires consistency and competitive spirit.

“Every team has its ups and downs, but the great teams overcome whatever they have gone through to get the job done,” McRae said. “We have faced a fair amount of adversity at times this season, but we have responded fairly well so far. I am hoping that continues throughout the rest of our season. To compete at the highest level, one must bring the same mindset, energy and effort into every game. Every day, play and moment of ‘resting’ on the court will show when that final buzzer sounds.”

Heading into the CIF Regional Championship Playoffs, Rebibo said he believes the team is ready to work hard after overcoming hardships early in the season.

“We were faced with a tough start to the season between injuries and illness and continued to work and get better,” Rebibo said.

“We are Mission League champions and will be working very hard to become State champs.”

The team’s first game of the CIF Regional Championship Playoffs is Feb. 26.

March 1, 2019

hwchronicle.com/sports

Wrestling

Sports D7

Team struggles to overcome injuries

By Eugene Wyman and Zack Schwartz

ZACK SCHWARTZ/CHRONICLE

SURF-BOARDMAN: Paul Boardman ’21 grapples with an opponent from Crespi Carmelite High School. Boardman advanced to the CIF Southern Section Championships in individuals this year.

Despite a season plagued by injuries, including wrestlers Kanoa Young ’21, team captain Kevin Chen ’19 and Chronicle Layout Assistant and Staff Writer Lucas Lee ’21, the wrestling team was able to maintain a positive mindset as they look forward to next year.

The wrestling team didn’t win any games against other schools this year, suffering a 36-24 loss to Crespi Carmelite High School and an 84-0 defeat at the hands of Bishop Amat High School.

Paul Boardman ’21, who reached the CIF Southern Section Finals, said the defeat at Bishop Amat was a turning point for the team.

“The next day, in the wrestling room, the atmosphere changed,” Boardman said.

“Everyone was pushing harder, and we all trusted each other to improve. I’m very excited for next year’s wrestling season and seeing Bishop

Amat again.”

Boardman remains optimistic for his future in the program, despite his loss at CIF. “After seeing the competition at CIF, talking through some issues with others and getting a chance to rest and focus on the bigger picture, I feel more ready [for next year] than ever,” Boardman said.

The team will only lose one senior, Chen, so its core will remain intact next year. The returning members said they were left wanting more feeling unsatisfied with this year’s results.

“Next year, I look forward to more competition,” Justin Baiden ’22 said. “I want to work harder, I feel as if I could have done better.”

Boardman said the obstacles the team overcame will help prepare the team for next year.

“This season was a perfect blend of success, experience and failure, allowing me and my teammates to be ready for bigger and better things,” Boardman said.

Boys’ Soccer

Early wins push team into the CIF playoffs •Continued

from

D2

styles a lot better.”

Ward also said he believes that the team emphasized becoming a tight-knit group.

“Players worked and pushed each other from day one until the end,” Ward said. “We have talented players for sure, but the group dynamic is what carried us through much of this season.”

Several players, including Vogel and midfielder Gabriel Palacios ’20, said that the team has a bright future.

“Towards the end of the season, we had a lot of leadership coming from our sophomore and junior class, and I think that’ll carry directly into next year, so there is definitely something to look out for with this proADVERTISEMENT

gram,” Vogel said.

Going into next season, the team’s goal will be to win a league and a CIF title, as it always is, Ward said.

“We came very close to ousting Loyola as league champs, so next year I definitely believe we can win the league title and even a CIF Championship,” Palacios said. “I know a lot of the current seniors that just played their last game as a Wolverine feel we have something special going on here and RYAN ALBERT/CHRONICLE are going to be even better next season. And I’ll be a senior next year, so I’m go- SHOOTERS SHOOT: Connor Colao ’21 takes a shot during the teams 2-0 win against Crespi Caring to have to carry on that melite High School on Dec. 5, 2018. The team tied Dos Pueblos High School two days later. same leadership that they pects of the team to focus on goal scoring, to become more best defensive team in the all did throughout this seato take the team’s play to an- dangerous from a number of league. We have been close son.” spots and a little less pre- the last few years but to reOther than winning other level.

“I’m looking for more dictable,” Ward said. “Be- ally own that mantle and be league or a CIF title, Ward said that there are other as- players to be involved in yond that, I want to have the stingy defensively.”

D8 SPORTS

MARCH 1 2019

THE CHRONICLE

WOLVERINES ONLY

BY

CHARLIE MENDES

RYAN ALBERT/CHRONICLE

I started playing soccer when I was five. My parents never forced me to play, but, as a Brazilian, soccer was ingrained in my life from the second I was born. One of my earliest memories was setting up two trash cans in my front yard as goals and playing my dad one-on-one or listening to him yell at the television as his team played.

When I was about six, I would wake up early on Sunday morning to drive out to Moorpark to watch my dad play in his Sunday league soccer games.

They were called the Sporting Bellies because it was a bunch of overweight 40+-year-olds, but we didn’t care. We were just happy to be attached to the game in any way we could.

I can’t remember a specific moment that I fell in love with the game because, for me, my passion for it was always there. When I started playing as a five-year-old, I was that one kid who would never pass and just try and outdribble the entire team. For a couple of years, I was the star forward of every American Youth Soccer Organization team that I was on, but once I got selected to play on the all-star team, I realized that I was nothing special. There was a whole group of boys just like me, and thus, my journey to the back of the field started. In my first game with the team, I hurt my knee. Not wanting to miss any playing time, I volunteered to play goalie. I had never played before, but everyone on my team despised the position, so there was an opening. I ended up being pretty good at it, so even when my knee healed, my coach

still forced me to play goalie. I hated it.

All I wanted to do was run around on the field.

A couple of years later, that team disbanded, and when I went in search of a club team, I told myself I would never tell any coach that I could play goalie. Around this time, I started to grow a lot. As I got taller and my legs got longer, my brain wasn’t able to adjust, and I soon found myself unable to run the way I used to. I was just a skinny uncoordinated kid running around the field trying to help. I was not as talented as before, so I slowly started moving further back in the field. One year, I was a midfielder, then a defensive mid, until I found my place at center back.

One day, our goalie didn’t show up to practice, and when it came time to scrimmage another team, I again volunteered to play goalie. I didn’t have any gloves and hadn’t played for years, but I was tired and wanted a break.

I don’t know what changed, maybe it was the fact that I realized I could have just as much fun playing goalie without having to do any of the running, but I remember absolutely falling in love with the position. However, we already had a goalie, and I was our starting center back. Suddenly, I was begging my coach to give me a chance. At first, he thought I was joking, but after my continual pleas, he let me start training as a goalie, with the exception that I would play center back during our games. He gave me the smallest of opportunities, but it was all I needed.

This was right before I came to Harvard-Westlake, and up until my first tryout, I still was unsure of what position I wanted to go out for. I realized that if I wanted a chance to play varsity, I couldn’t stay a center back.

So, by the time I was a sophomore, I had earned the starting goalie spot.

Since I was five, I played for countless teams, have had experience at every position on the field and have had just about every level of success.

For me, playing soccer was about being around the game; I didn’t care how, I just wanted to be a part of it.

I got lucky in high school that I hit a big growth spurt because honestly, without it, I don’t know if I would have amounted to anything. It also doesn’t hurt that we are probably one of the only high schools in the country that has a designated goalie coach, but even if I weren’t getting playing time, I would have come back year after year because all I wanted was to be near the sport I loved.

When I stepped off the field for the last time in our playoff game a couple of weeks ago, I couldn’t help but tear up knowing I would never get to play the sport again. Soccer was my childhood; it’s a part of my culture; it runs through my blood. It’s going to be strange not playing soccer in college; I know that I’ll never have any other experience like it.