Tower Issue #7 Volume 76 2019-2020

The Masters School

49 Clinton Avenue Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. 10522

Tower

VOLUME 76, NUMBER 7

Editorial Editors-in-Chief Emeritus offer parting words and emphasize the importance of pursuing the truth and asking questions as COVID-19 spreads. Incoming Editors-in-Chief for the 2020-2021 school year discuss the benefits of embracing the uncertainties that lie ahead in the midst of the pandemic.

JUNE 2020

tower.mastersny.org

Social distancing shakes up commencement plans Nora Fellas & aNNie rubiNsoN Opinion Lead Editor and News Lead Editor

M

asters’ graduation is traditionally held in early June on the aptly named Graduation Terrace, where students, teachers, friends and family come together to send off the senior class. This year, as social distancing guidelines will remain in place on the original date of the 2020 ceremony, Masters has adopted a twofold plan for commencement: a virtual celebration and car parade through campus on June 6 (the original date), and a more traditional in-person commencement on August 15.

Dean of Students and the Class of 2020 Jeff Carnevale said the primary goals when planning these celebrations was to hold on to the values of the typical Masters graduation: recognition of the seniors’ accomplishments and saying goodbye to the community.

Throughout this process, Carnevale said he prioritized the incorporation of student input.

“If we’re doing this [commencement] in a different way, it should be in a way that is meaningful and worthwhile to the seniors,” he said.

Callie Leff, one senior among a group involved in the planning of the events, said she appreciated Carnevale’s efforts to “do what seniors want, not just what’s easiest.” Leff added that in addition to replicating a typical Masters graduation as closely as possible, the inclusion of Masters’ boarding and international communities was also a priority.

“A lot of people feel like a virtual graduation wouldn’t feel as real or personal, but we were also thinking about international students,” she said. “We wanted some sort of event where the whole class is together so it’s not exclusive, and we can be connected.”

The exact programming of the vir-

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION COURTESY OF ISAAC CASS/JOHN VOGEL

MEMBERS OF CLASS OF 2019 recess from the graduation terrace and walk down an aisle created by faculty and administration, dressed in their graduation regalia.

This year, there will be a recreation of this aspect of the ceremony, but instead of seniors walking through an aisle of faculty, they and their families will be in a car parade driving through campus to accomodate social distancing measures, while also bringing the senior class together to celebrate. Then on August 15, the in-person graduation will contain as many elements of a traditional Masters graduation as possible, while remaining in line with health, safety and government protocols. tual celebration is still being determined, though Carnevale said it is not meant to act as a replacement for graduation. A commencement speaker will not address the Class of 2020 until their postponed in-person celebration.

In terms of the car parade through campus taking place after the Google Meet celebration, Carnevale said the purpose is to recreate the traditional, celebratory feeling of recessing out of Graduation Terrace with the faculty lined up on either side of the aisle.

This is what many alumni told him was the most memorable part of their own commencement, he said. Finally, the

August 15 graduation will contain as many elements of a traditional Masters graduation as possible, while remaining in line with health, safety and government protocols.

“The most important thing to us is the health and safety of everyone who would attend,” Carnevale said. Some anticipated modifications include limiting the guest list to faculty, the seniors and their families, as well as moving the celebration elsewhere on campus where those in attendance can more easily distance themselves from one another.

Senior and co-chair Audrey Lockett,

Pittsburgh Library undergoes major renovations logaN schiciaNo Editor-in-Chief Emeritus A major redesign of the Pittsburgh Library and its surrounding spaces, in addition to parts of the garden level of Masters Hall, is underway. The construction project, which has been in the works for years, should be completed

by September 2020. With an emphasis on creating more collaborative and academic spaces, Director of Institutional Advancement Seth Marx said the project is more important now than ever.

The remodeling of the library includes a series of suites, built-in booths and study pods, as well as benches along the perimeter. Dean of Faculty Sam Savage believes these features are the highlights of the project.

“It’s going to create a more defined space for student to student collaboration on a variety of levels, and it’s going to create more space for faculty to work with students,” Savage said.

The construction began last week and is being done by Yorke Construction Corporation, according to Marx.

A Library Task Force, which includes Head of School Laura Danforth, Marx, Savage, Head of Upper School Peter Newcomb, librarian Judy Murphy and others, partnered with Mar-

vel Architects to generate the plans.

One of the goals of the task force was to keep the school’s mission statement in mind, specifically the clause, “we gather”, when imagining the new space.

Marx explained why this is especially important considering the current situation.

“At this moment in time, when we are in separate physical spaces and unable to be together, we miss out on not only a human need but certainly an educational need,” he said. “The day that we come back together, we’re going to have innovative spaces that emphasize interaction and collaboration and that makes me very excited.”

Shelves of books will line the walls of the library but in a smaller capacity.

Murphy was tasked with culling outdated and underused books.

who was also involved in the planning of these alternate celebrations, said that while she recognizes that the effects of the coronavirus pandemic are much more serious than missing Senior Spring, it’s still hard to lose out on a milestone like graduation.

“It’s been really hard to digest because all of our lives we’ve been looking forward to our high school graduation,” Lockett said, adding that it has been difficult to think back to previous end of school traditions because it reminds her of what she’s missing.

Carnevale, though not a member of the graduating class, felt similarly.

“I felt a profound sense of loss,” he said, reflecting back to the initial postponement of the celebration. “I was looking forward to senior spring as much as anybody.”

Lockett said these careful and active responses to the COVID-19 crisis have made her respect the Masters administration more, citing the senior class advisors who hand delivered “Class of 2020” signs to the seniors.

Carnevale concluded, “The most important thing is that we are able to close this chapter of their [the seniors’] lives as best we can, given the circumstances.”

This issue online: tower.mastersny.org

Co-chair-elects plan for next year amid uncertainty aNNie rubiNsoN, News lead editor

Continued on page 3

Remote learning model prompts schedule shift MARVEL ARCHITECTS

THE UPDATED PITTSBURGH LIBRARY will include various solitary study pods, booths, as well as learning suites equipped with harkness tables and screens.

Kira rataN, web editor

NEWS

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TOWER/JUNE 2020

The COVID-19 blame game Written and researched by Logan Schiciano, Editor-in-Chief Emeritus

W

hile the Trump Administration has pushed theories that COVID-19 started in a bio-lab in Wuhan, China, and also blamed initial Chinese responses to the virus for the pandemic spread of the disease, the Chinese government has denied these allegations.

Chinese boarding students at Masters were attending class on campus as the virus was raging in China, and many have since returned home. They have a unique perspective on the current conflict between the Chinese and U.S. governments.

This report unpacks the criticisms, accusations and rumors surround the origins and handling of COVID-19 by both the U.S. and China and includes reactions and opinions from various constituents.

T

(RIGHT) LI WENLIANG /WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

AN IMAGE OF DOCUMENTATION Dr. Li Wenliang was forced to sign. He was accused of “posting false and untrue statements on the Internet” and “disrupting social order” by the Wuhan South Public Security Bureau.

CHINESE PRESIDENT XI JINPING was criticized for not warning of a pandemic level threat sooner after he was briefed

by Chinese officials six days earlier.

RISEMEAGAIN/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

he widely accepted answer tosthe question surrounding the virus’ origins is that it originated in wildlife, and was then transmitted “naturally” to humans at The Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan, China where vendors sell live seafood and animals to customers.

The Wuhan Institute of Virology has also been accused by members of the Trump administration of releasing the virus. However, intelligence among the Five Eyes, an alliance that includes the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, has indicated that this is “highly unlikely.” In an interview with National Geographic in early May, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and one of the top scientists on the White House coronavirus task force, vehemently denied the theory that the virus was deliberately mutated in the Wuhan lab. However, members of the Trump Administration, including President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, continue to press these claims.

Trump initially praised China and President Xi Jinping for his “transparency” in January, yet continued to dub COVID-19 the “Chinese virus.” But as the situation in the U.S. worsened, the President regularly expressed his disapproval with China’s initial response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Chinese state media (and many American outlets) have been quick to point out the apparent illegitimacy of the Trump Administration’s beliefs,

T

THE EPOCH TIMES/FLICKR https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode

GAGE SKIDMORE/FLICKR https://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/2.0/legalcode

GRAPHIC BY LOGAN SCHICIANO

Virus accusations and conspiracies

calling Pompeo “evil” and the “common enemy of mankind.”

Xinhua News Agency, the biggest media agency in China, released an extensive report on May 9, contradicting many of the Trump administration allegations against China and, quoting Lincoln, said “‘You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.’”

ELLA TANG/TOWER Though it appears that claims that COVID-19 was AMID THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC the created by the Chinese gov- Trump Administration is putting blame on ernment are false, China’s de- China for underestimating the threat of the layed response and initial sup- virus. Many of the administration’s claims are pression attempts have been not backed with evidence. well-documented. Officials in Wuhan arrested doctors for spread- spotlight away from its own failures. ing “rumors” of a dangerous virus Trump initially said that the virus on social media. During a two-week was a hoax and critics argue that period in early January the Chinese his administration never had a comCenter for Disease Control reported prehensive strategy to combat the no new cases, despite videos surfac- virus. State governors across the ing of overwhelmed hospitals across country complained that they did the nation. Chinese officials realised not have enough personal protective the pandemic level threat six days be- equipment and ventilators to care fore President Xi publicly warned citi- for coronavirus patients. The Trump zens, a period during which hundreds Administration delayed the release of of thousands traveled in and out of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) China. specific, 60-page reopening guideThe World Health Organization lines until May 20, after most states has also been heavily criticized by made decisions to arbitrarily reopen President Trump – who withdrew without seeing a significant decline funding from the organization in in cases. Trump has also touted unApril – for “mismanaging” the initial proven drugs such as hydroxychlorooutbreak. quine, and has appeared to prioritize Many believe that the Trump Ad- the economy over public health amid ministration’s strategy of guilt-trip- a pandemic that has taken the lives of ping other countries and organi- over 100,000 Americans. zations is an attempt to shine the

Reactions to criticism and misinformation

he back and forth between the governments of China and the United States has generated varying responses.

Professor Avery Goldstein, the inaugural director of the Center for the Study of Contemporary China at the University of Pennsylvania, uses the disparity in these messages to try to get at the truth.

“When I’m trying to figure out an answer to a question I’m researching, I draw on sources that I know are going to disagree with each other…

If there’s a conflict over the facts between Chinese sources and Western sources, I’ll go to independent experts, for example scientists during the pandemic,” he said.

Goldstein said that “Trump’s accusation that China is responsible for the pandemic is almost certainly an overstatement.” Goldstein added that the reason for China’s slow response to initial spread, on both local and national levels, is not yet conclusive.

“Part of it, almost certainly, is that they didn’t want people, businesspeople, tourists, to stop traveling to China....They were hoping they would be able to contain it without having to report to the central leadership that they had this huge problem,” he said.

“There was a system put in place after the SARS epidemic in 2003 that was supposed to prevent local officials from covering these things up. But it didn’t work.”

Zhiyan “Alex” Wang, a junior who returned to Shanghai in mid-April, believes that the world’s media’s response to the virus has been troubling at times.

“There’s definitely some exaggerations [in the media], but I feel that’s really common both in the U.S. and China.” Wang said, “I think people right now are focusing on one side of the issue. They see the [Chinese] gov-

ernment trying to cover up the virus in the beginning, but they didn’t see that the Chinese officials who did this were replaced. There’s definitely been some misunderstanding.”

Junior Yijin “Carr” Li, who is now home in Shanghai, acknowledged that the local government in Wuhan faltered initially, though he believes that the Trump Administration’s claims are not an accurate representation of the entire situation.

“The government eventually realized its problems and took all the correct measures. I hope people understand that China is only the place where the virus started, but not the place responsible for the global pandemic.,” Li said.

Freshman Jingxuan “Jesse” Xu, currently living in Hong Kong, said that the Chinese media was very positive regarding China’s response.

“They were mostly reporting the good news – like when there was a new discovery, or maybe sharing advice from doctors and researchers,” he said. “People were making a real effort to solve the problem.” China’s highly-technological mitigation strategy has been praised worldwide, though it was not enacted until well after the virus first appeared.

Senior Sebastian Sawhney, one of the presidents of Next Generation Politics (NGP), believes the Trump Administration’s criticism is justified, but not for the purpose of shifting the blame away from itself.

“There is a large blame to be put on China. I think they’ve lied a lot about the number of cases and the way that they were dealing with things; however, that does not absolve the Trump Administration from failing to recognize the danger of COVID-19,” Sawhney said. “It’s not right to use it [the United States’ blame on China] as an excuse to cover up the [U.S.] feder-

INFORMATION FOR TIMELINE OBTAINED FROM THE FOLLOWING SOURCES: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, BUSINESS INSIDER, THE NEW YORK TIMES, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC AND THE SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST

Relations between the U.S. and China moving forward

A

s tensions have risen amid the pandemic, many believe that the future of United States and Chinese relations appear to be grim moving forward.

Goldstein said, “The Chinese government has discouraged Chinese students from going to the United States, because they want to discredit the idea that America is ‘a

land of opportunity,’” Goldstein said. He continued, “On the American side, there is a big push by the U.S. government to monitor, investigate and even prosecute possible suspicious or illegal activities between American educational institutions and China.”

Goldstein has recently seen an impact on his own school, the Uni-

versity of Pennsylvania.

“It has made the climate on campus more ‘chilly.’ Some of them [Chinese students] have expressed this kind of anxiety over whether everyone looks at them as a potential spy,” he said.

Li hopes that the two countries can move past their differences to overcome the pandemic.

al government’s problems in dealing with this pandemic.”

Xu noted that he has been in contact with many other Masters students from China, and that they have been a source of comfort amidst the chaos.

“Some [of the Chinese] students are pretty angry about the accusations, but it hasn’t affected our daily lives too much,” he said, adding that he felt supported by the greater Masters community when he was on campus.

Wang and Li expressed similar notions.

“For me, I’ve stayed in the U.S. for a long time, so it doesn’t really affect me. But for those [Chinese] who have never been, they don’t have a first impression. When they come to the U.S., their image of Americans will be different,” Wang said.

Li added, “It’s Donald Trump. He always attacks other countries. I wasn’t that surprised. I don’t like what he said but I know why he said it. It’s his strategy to blame his problems on other countries.”

Senior Matthew Pollack, the other co-president of NGP added, “He [Trump] is definitely worried about this election coming up. If I had to guess, he’s trying to distract people, even though he definitely has a lot of questions to answer around his handling of it [the pandemic].”

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

“

He said, “Some people think that the U.S. deserves all the loss from the coronavirus because of its lack of political organization. But for the majority of people, like me, we all hope that the world will recover and that cases will go down. I just want us to coexist peacefully and help each other at all costs. That’s the best situation. ”

PROFESSOR AVERY GOLDSTEIN, THE inaugural director of the Center for the Study of Contemporary China at UPenn, addresses the heightening tensions between the U.S. and China:

“This is the worst time for the U.S. and China to be unable to work together because they’re the two countries who have the ability and should have the interest to cooperate and lead the fight against the pandemic.”

- PROFESSOR AVERY GOLDSTEIN

NEWS

TOWER/JUNE 2020

3

Middle School makes the switch to co-ed Tim maThas and miTch Fink Opinion Editor and Editor-in-Chief The Masters Middle School will be shifting to completely co-ed classes beginning in the 2021-2022 school year, per an email sent to Middle School families by Head of School Laura Danforth and Middle School Head Tasha Elsbach on Thursday, April 30.

The gender-separated learning policy was implemented when the Middle School was established in 1994, as research was released about the benefits a single-sex Middle School experience could have, particularly with girls.

Danforth and Elsbach expressed three main reasons for this shift to co-ed classes: the financial benefits of greater enrollment agility, an adherence to the school’s equity and inclusion values, and the ability to balance the sizes of Middle School classes more effectively.

The Middle School has faced recent struggles in attracting applicants, particularly girls, because of the gender-separated class policy, Danforth said.

“We were doing the research, why we were not yielding more kids, and when we talked with families that decided to not attend here and go elsewhere, [gender separated classes] was one of the main reasons,” Danforth said.

The Middle School uses a single-gender quota system, which separates boys and girls in the admissions process, with a limited number of spots for students of each gender. As the disparity between male and female applicants has increased in recent years, the school has been faced with the issue of turning away qualified candidates in order to work with the single-gender quota system in place. This leads to fewer candidates being enrolled in the Middle School, and a subsequent loss in tuition.

“We have at least four, five, six mission-aligned, qualified boys that are on the waitlist for eighth grade. We’d love to have all of them, but we’re full. But we’re not full with girls,” Danforth said.

“To not be able to accept them because we are full and [having a vacancy with girls] is tough financially, particularly

ELLA TANG/TOWER

BOYS AND GIRLS SIT across from each other at a Harkness Table. Masters has recently made the decision to integrate boys and girls Middle School classes, ending their decades long method of gender separated education. The shift will take effect in the 2021-2022 school year. now,” she said.

There was no correlation between the decision and the COVID-19 pandemic, but the shift will give the school more financial leeway in a time that is difficult for admissions offices at many independent schools.

Middle School parent Amy Parsons, mother of eighth-grader Jack Parsons, believes that the shift was a step to remain competitive with other independent schools in the area, like Hackley or Rye Country Day. “Masters is a great school, and they have competition around them, and that keeps schools growing and changing,

and wanting to be that much better,” Parsons said.

Another key factor for the decision was the consistency that a co-ed experience creates when it comes time to transition to the Upper School, particularly by maintaining similar values on gender expression.

Co-Vice President of Masters’ Parents Association Marie Fabian said, “I think that just overall it felt like a natural step in a school that is really trying to be respectful of gender expression and acknowledge that the binary [system] that we have been accustomed to in the past is not going to be the right fit for

every student who could be a great addition to the community.”

Eighth grade student and Middle School co-chair Viviana Simon agreed.

“I’m in the LGBTQ+ community myself, and I’m really adamant about LGBTQ+ peoples’ rights, so it was a little concerning to me that there wouldn’t be a space for certain people on the gender spectrum [with the gender-separated learning],” Simon said.

Simon’s concerns reference the possibility that a student would have had to identify as either male or female to attend the Middle School under the gender-separated class system, which could

have created complications if a student didn’t identify with either.

Another goal of the shift to coeducation is the ability to distribute classes more evenly. Currently, many Middle School classes face the issue of having particularly small or large class sizes as a result of the gender separation.

Fabian said, “My daughter was in a four-person class when she was in eighth grade and it was not enough kids.

Especially for a school that wants to use the Harkness model and have classroom engagement amongst the students be so pivotal in the learning, there is such a thing as too small of a class.”

While many have expressed their support for this change in policy, for some families the gender-separated policy was one of the driving reasons for their child’s enrollment into Masters.

Parsons said, “You can go to any of [Hackley, Masters and Rye Country Day] and get a great education. The allboys learning was a differentiator for us and one of the big reasons why we chose Masters for our son.”

Much of the research which persuaded Masters to initially become gender-separated, such as Carol Gilligan’s book “In a Different Voice”, argues that single-sex education provides the best platform for Middle School girls to develop a voice in the classroom, and Simon hopes these values remain with the shift.

She said, “I hope that they find a way to still drive home the point that girls’ education and prioritizing girls’ learning is so important, because I don’t want it to turn into a place where it’s really male-dominated.”

Still, many Middle School students, faculty, administration and parents have received the news positively, especially given the new ability for the Middle School to become more aligned with its school-wide policy on gender equity and inclusion.

Middle School humanities teacher Mary Chappell said, “Looking at our school community, we have students that have different identities, and we need to welcome and include them all.

It’s hard to do that when we only have a choice of one gender class or the other...

So, I think they made the decision for all the right reasons.”

Masters Hall renovations underway Continued from page 1 Marx also said the school is still unsure how the furniture from senior class gift will fit into the new space but that administration plans to work with students to find it a new home.

Another major change is that there will no longer be a physical distinction between the McKnight Room and the rest of the library, further opening up the space for all to enjoy; Marx anticipates that seniors will gravitate to the front “living room” area, complete with couches and tables.

On the garden level, the day student lounge will be remodeled and expanded better accommodate social interaction. Additionally, the Tower Lab and student-facing administrators’ offices – including those of Dean of Students Jeff Carnevale and Director of Residential Life Dena Torino – will be moved downstairs into the space where the lecture hall was previously.

The Masters Hall renovation is funded by donors who contributed specifically for this purpose and is part of the school’s Master Plan: a comprehensive road map highlighting the long-term vision for the Masters campus created in 2017, according to an email sent to the upper school by Newcomb on May 22.

While Marx said the school remains committed to completing the construction on schedule, an urgent fundraiser has also been started to help students and families struggling financially during the pandemic. A recent statement in the Masters’ weekly newsletter, The Messenger, states, “The Student Access Fund is a community-led effort dedicated to providing financial support to families impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. The funds raised through this initiative will ensure that all of our students can continue their Masters education without interruption.” The school asks families who are able to support the cause.

Marx explained the comprehensive strategy.

“We’re honoring the mission of the school, the intent of our donors and at the same time we’ve adjusted our approach to meet the needs of our community with a special fundraising effort for financial aid.”

Savage added, “At the end of the day, it’s about honoring the people who are investing in our mission and delivering on that in ways that are going to benefit everybody.” He concluded, “We are an independent school who is delivering an outstanding program in the middle of a deeply challenging time and that’s going to continue next year.”

PHOTO CREDIT HUMAN/POSITION

MARVEL ARCHITECTS

A RENDERING OF A new lounge space to be built in what is now the Day Student Lounge. This space will act as a social space, similar to the café area of the Fonseca Center. The Tower Lab and other administrative offices will be moved downstairs as well. The Masters Hall renovation is part of a larger, long-term road map for the school known as the Master Plan.

MARVEL ARCHITECTS

A RENDERING OF THE new working space that will take the place of the current library in Masters. The renovations are scheduled to be completed by the end of the summer. Members of the Library Task Force emphasized the importance of creating a collaborative and academic environment for students and faculty to enjoy.

OP-ED

OpiniOn

4

TOWER/JUNE 2020

2019-2020 Editors-in-ChiEf Mitch FinK Kate SiBery

EDITORIAL

Editors-in-ChiEf EmEriti Logan Schiciano MicheLLe Wei nEws LEad Editor annie ruBinSon

Embrace the new unknown W

ith every troubling situation comes a silver lining, and the COVID-19 pandemic is no exception. The past few months have been devastating, with lives and livelihoods lost at every turn.

However, in this disturbing new reality there is an unexpected benefit: the unknown.

Too often high schools, particularly “preparatory schools” like Masters, are seen as just one step in a life journey that is already completely planned out: a four-year education starting immediately after high school, and then the leap into the ever-competitive job market, followed by an almost obligatory spell at graduate school.

The effects of COVID-19 are adding question marks to each of the checkpoints in this journey. Colleges were forced to finish the second semester of the 2019-2020 school year online, and some, like the California State University system, have already canceled in-person classes for fall 2020. Accord-

ing to a BBC report, unemployment in the United States has risen to the rate of 14.7 percent. That rate is the worst America has seen since the Great Depression of the 1930s. In April alone, 20.5 million jobs were lost in the U.S..

Maybe instead of lamenting the demise of the traditional pathway to “success” we should use the uncertainty of this situation to our advantage. If there was ever a time to take that gap year, to do some service, or to break the norms that so many students are bound to, now is that time.

Expectations for many students at elite independent schools have grown to unreachable quantifiable standards: score in the highest percentile on standardized tests, participate in every extracurricular offered, and do it all while maintaining individuality so that colleges see that you aren’t defined by your transcript, and in the end be accepted to the college with the lowest acceptance rate.

And high school is only the beginning

nEws Editor M. Brody Leo opinion LEad Editor nora FeLLaS

of the race for various achievements.

Once in college, the race to a successful, and “fulfilling” career only intensifies.

Competition for high school leadership positions become the race for internships, and volunteer hours turn into bullet points on a resume.

Consider taking this time to pause; to take stock of what we value in our lives and accept that the best laid plans are often subject to change.

The time we are spending sheltering-in-place is an opportunity for reflection. Reflect on what it is you want to do. Take this time to remove yourself from the pre-mapped journey, which can seem like it’s flying a thousand miles per hour in high school, and slow things down.

In these times, no destinations are certain. No end goals lie at the end of a straight, clear path. Challenge yourself to embrace the unknown, and enjoy your unique journey, whatever the destination may be.

opinion Editors Sophie grand tiM MathaS fEaturEs Editors yaSMine paScaL oWen Strier sports Editors tyLer conWay gaBe KeLLer wEb Editor & soCiaL mEdia managEr Kira ratan photography & iLLustration Editor MattiLynn Stone aCCountabiLity & aCCuraCy managEr JacoB KriSS Copy Editor Sophia Van BeeK

2020-2021 Editors-in-Chief

In times of chaos, seek the truth Logan Schiciano & MicheLLe Wei Editors-in-ChiEf EmEritis

W

KATE SIBERY/TOWER

INCOMING EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Mitch Fink and Kate Sibery worked as Sports Lead Editor and Features Lead Editor for Tower in the 2019-2020 school year.

Fink, in his seventh year at Masters, is a member of the Model U.N. team, Gold Key tour guide and a Writing Center tutor. Entering her fourth year at Masters, Kate Sibery is a member of Outspoken, Panache and Masters Dance Company.

Advisers send off Editors-in-Chief eLLen coWhey & Matt iveS Faculty Advisers

E

very year brings challenges to Tower, but 2019-20 took those challenges to a new and frightening level. Editors-in-Chief Michelle Wei and Logan Schiciano had no idea what was in store for them when they first sat down in the Tower lab and sketched out the schedule for the year way back in September.

They were on the COVID-19 story early, writing about the early impact of the coronavirus in China and our students’ fundraising response in early February. Our fifth issue was set to be distributed on the day that school was unexpectedly closed in the week before spring break. And that’s when the Tower staff showed its true colors, jumping into action to cover the international story of the pandemic, with Westchester County and New York City squarely in the middle of the maelstrom. Their instinctual response to a crisis was to ask, “How do we write about this?”

Spring break was not a respite for Tower as the editors and staff wrote continuously, earning numerous awards for their coverage of events local and international. The Tower instagram page and Tower online became

even more important sources of information for the Masters community than ever before.

And in the end, despite unexpected twists and turns, Logan, Michelle and the rest of the team hit all the goals they set in the beginning of the year seven issues, five of them in print. In addition, they pushed successfully to put out Pravda, our April Fool’s issue, to have some fun in the middle of tragedy.

Through the confusion and questions of the pandemic, editors Logan and Michelle played a critical role.

They listened to and respected the voices of every member of the team and never hesitated to roll up their sleeves and do the work necessary to cover a story or get the issue out. We are grateful for their unfailingly brave and selfless leadership. And thank you to all of the seniors who made this such an amazing year in Tower: Tyler Conway, Nora Fellas, Gabe Keller, Jacob Kriss and Annie Rubinson.

We leave for the summer pleased with a job well done - and we really miss being able to say thank you and goodbye to all of our seniors in person - but we look forward to a calmer year, in a new space for Tower, with a lot less news and, most importantly, face to face.

hen the coronavirus pandemic hit our community nearly three months ago, we felt a shift worldwide. With uncertainty surrounding all aspects of the pandemic, all of us were worried, whether about our livelihoods, our health, our security, our loved ones, or our futures.

Life was transformed into an endless cycle of anxiety-inducing questions, not about how to succeed but about how to simply survive. While healthcare workers fight on the frontlines for both their own lives and their patients’ and essential workers bearing the brunt of the burden of the U.S. economy, all of us – as people – are also coping with a reality of constant instability.

In any area of unpredictability, journalists serve a duty to search for the answers to the questions people are asking. This is a time like no other for journalists to do their job and tell stories, even if it means venturing out into dangerous waters. For

Tower, this has meant covering the ever-changing scopes of academics, community, service, and daily life from the perspectives of individuals within our community, for our community.

But journalists do more than answer questions. In a time of frenzy, it’s the multitude of individual stories that can ground each of us to something familiar, something comforting.

In not only listening to stories but also telling them to others, journalists must engage with the humans of these stories, even amidst all our fear, biased media and everything that’s politicized. If we all employ a journalistic mindset and search for stories, we’re able to find people to connect to and recognize shared emotions of fear, empathy, grief and hope through listening.

The future of our country, our economy, our world, our mannerisms, our lifestyles and our ways of being are open-ended questions. Although everyone’s question looks different, listening and empathizing with individual narratives will be the pencils that we use to write our answers.

Tower Editors-in-Chief Emeriti

VINCENT ALBAN/TOWER

EDITORS-IN-CHIEF EMERITI Logan Schiciano ‘21 and Michelle Wei ‘20 are moving on this year. Schiciano will serve as Tower’s New Ventures Editor for the 202021 school year. Wei will be attending Cornell University next year.

staff writErs ethan SchLapp caroL Queiroz KWynne SchLoSSMan staff photographErs iSaac caSS george chang BoB giLMartin Logan Schiciano staff iLLustrators Sophie grand Jiayun (eLLa) tang aViVi Wennan eLLie yang faCuLty advisErs eLLen coWhey Matt iVeS onLinE mEdia For more information, follow Tower on the following platforms: Website: Tower.MastersNY. org Facebook: MastersTower Twitter: @MastersTower d istribution proCEss Tower is hand-delivered on the day of publication to the Upper School. 650 copies are printed. In addition, a copy is sent to each of our sChoLastiC prEss affiLiaLEttErs and EditoriaL poLiCy Tower is the winner of the Pacemaker Award for Overall Excellence, an award-winning member of the National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA), Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA), Journalism Education Association (JEA) and Quill and Scroll. We encourage Letters to the Editor, which can be submitted to the following email address: TowerEditors@ MastersNY.org.

Published approximately seven times a year, Tower, the student newspaper of The Masters School, is a public forum, with its Editorial Board making all decisions concerning content. Commentaries and opinion columns are the expressed opinion of the author and not of Tower and its Editorial Board or its advisers.

Furthermore, the opinions conveyed are not those of The Masters School, faculty, or staff. tions ,

TOWER/JUNE 2020

OP-ED

5

If a pandemic won’t stop police brutatlity, what will? white supremacist and mass murderer who was convicted for perpretrating the Charleston Church shooting in 2015, upon his arrest, was allowed to go to Burger King before being taken to jail.

It is 2020 and black people are still being punished for the way they look. It is 2020 and black mothers still pray to God that a police officer won’t use their child’s body as another target practice. It is 2020 and black people still have to hold their breath when encountering a cop in hopes their name will not end up on the next hashtag. The United States has consistently struggled with making progress when it comes to racial justice and it seems as though when one barrier is broken, three others take its place.

My heart broke when I watched George Floyd, 46-year-old black man, lose his life as police offi-

AND/ TOWE

R

handcuffing them, while a woman tells the officers that they are on private property, hoping that they would leave.

Why were the Black Lives Matter protesters met with riot gear, assault rifles and tear gas, instead of the calm and respectful attitude that the Michigan protestors were privy to? Why are people who are protesting against the racial discrimation in America treated so poorly and harshly in comparison to people protesting staying home during a pandemic?

This same prejudice has caused the death of innocent black people at the hands of police officers. On Feb. 9 2019, six California policemen killed Willie McCoy, a 20-year-old black man, by firing 55 bullets in 3.5 seconds, while McCoy slept in his car. Yet, Dylann Roof, a 26-year-old

IE GR

T

here has been a long history of police brutality against black people in America, from shooting unarmed black men, like Greg Gunn in the street or Stephon Clark in his grandmother’s backyard - and most recently, the death of George Floyd in Minnesota. During this global pandemic, politicians have called on the American people to come together and do their part to combat the virus, but not even a disease that has taken the lives of over 100,000 people in America, has stopped some police officers from abusing their power.

On May 4, housing patrol officer Francisco Garcia threatened Donni Wright, a 33-year-old black man, with a taser, tackled him to the ground, punched him several times, kneeled on his neck and then proceeded to shout the n-word. This all began after several officers confronted a group of people not wearing face masks on the corner of Avenue D and 9th street. Video caught Wright approaching Garcia before being attacked by the police officer. This incident caused Wright to be hospitalized for severe back, ribs and chest injuries. Garcia has been named in seven civil lawsuits since 2015, including allegedly pushing a woman and calling her a “f--king d-ke”, and still continues to work for the NYPD. While one group of officers from the NYPD were beating and attacking black men in Brooklyn, another group was seen in Low-

er Manhattan and Williamsburg handing out masks to people who were blatantly defying social distancing guidelines. Yet, these police officers didn’t threaten to taser them, beat them, tackle them or berate them with racial slurs.

In both situations, the civilians involved were not following public health guidelines, but the former group consisted of black people while the latter was mainly white.

In late April, hundreds of people, mainly white people, gathered in the Michigan Capitol building to protest against the recent stay-at-home orders.

Many of these protestors were carrying assault rifles, shouting in the officers’ faces and not wearing masks. The officers, dressed in their normal uniforms, blocked the protestors from storming the House chamber, refusing to engage with them.

But, where was this approach with the Black Lives protestors? During those political demonstrations, police officers have worn full riot gear and carried assault rifles and batons. On July 8th 2016, Arizona police officers used pepper spray and tear gas in a crowd of about 1,000 people. The next day, a rally was w in Baton Rouge and police used “LRAD”, an acoustic device which emits an ear splitting sound to disperse crowds, and threatened to use tear gas. In a video from the incident, officers are seen tackling people to the ground and

SOPH

Yasmine Pascal Features Editor

cer Derek Chauvin, kneeled on his neck. I saw Floyd, pinned to the pavement, tell the officer, “ I can’t breathe. Please, the knee in my neck.” I watched as Floyd struggled to breathe and bystanders shouted to police to check his pulse. I watched as Floyd stopped moving all together. On May 25, Floyd died and his last recorded words were “They are going to kill me, man.”

In an interview with CNN Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd said, “They treated him worse than they treat animals,” and I cried.

There are no words of inspiration or wisdom left. If I encourage protests, I will have to watch videos of people being tear gassed and beaten, but still if I tell them to remain idle I will see another article on a black person being killed for being black in the wrong p l a c e at the wrong time. If I tell the police they need to hold their offic e r s accountable, they will say they are trying their “best” and implem e n t d i versity c o n f e r ences, as if that ever stopped a cop from taking an innocent black man’s life. I have no more words of encouragement, I’m just tired. I’m so tired.

SEE SOPHIA VAN BEEK’S editorial about protesting while following social distancing guidelines (below).

Senior Speech: When procrastination proves poisonous nora Fellas Opinion Lead Editor

I

t’s considered normal for most teenagers to procrastinate – put off that English essay, do your entire City Project the night before it’s due, study for your math test during X-band. And while teachers and parents would argue that

this is probably ill-advised, it’s worth considering that going to the extreme in the other direction has its own perils.

Last year, instead of procrastinating with my school work, I procrastinated with my health. Throughout the year, I had a chronic low level headache, but I lived with it because it wasn’t debilitating and I had more important things to focus on: the SATs, APs and my GPA. Then, in mid-April, things intensified: I started to see blue spots clouding my vision; I collapsed from the pain; I described feeling like tiny screws were being driven into my brain. I had to lie in my room after school with the lights off and no noise to get a little bit of relief.

But at the same time, I was writing essays, studying for tests, and attending classes.

By late May, my face had become swollen to the point

ELLA TANG/TOWER

that I couldn’t open my mouth to eat or speak. And yet I still went to school, despite my parents, teachers and friends telling me to go to the hospital. This is because, as irrational as it was, I was terrified that missing just one day of school would cause me to fail all of my tests, and then all of my classes.

I would then flunk out of Masters and not get into college.

Finally, on the last day of school, I couldn’t take the pain anymore, and left early to go to the ER. They discovered that I had a septic abscess in one of my back molars, which had resulted from a minor dental procedure in the previous summer and would have to have surgery. I couldn’t speak because my jaw was so swollen, but I remember frantically typing into Google Translate, “I can’t have surgery.

I have the SAT tomorrow.” My Dad agreed that I should take the SAT and

we argued back and forth with the doctor about the importance of the test.

“Can she leave to take the test and come back tomorrow evening?” my dad asked. It wasn’t until the doctor said I might die if I did that, that we stopped arguing.

I was rushed to another hospital in an ambulance, had my surgery, and was there for a week. Unfortunately, I lost a tooth (but it’s in the back so don’t worry), which wouldn’t have happened if I had come in earlier, when the headaches began. I also missed the SAT. This isn’t the first time I’ve let my obsession with academics come before my health. That same year, I broke my foot and refused to go to the ER until I had finished all of my homework and was sure I could go to school the next day. In my sophomore year, I sprained my neck when I fell on the stairs in Morris Hall, rushing from one extracurricular to the

next, and didn’t tell my parents until I couldn’t walk a few days later.

Since my experience last June, I can’t say I’m totally reformed – that would be a lie – but I’ve made baby steps in the right direction. For example, in February, I missed a free period to go to the dentist!

I’ve learned that it’s important not to allow a single-minded obsession, whether it’s your GPA, SAT, sports, theatre, etc., to monopolize your thoughts to the point that you lose all perspective. So, next time you have a fever, or you’re just really overwhelmed, trust that your teachers will be understanding, and that missing one day of school for an emergency is not going to be the domino that topples your carefully constructed academic career.

I’m Nora Fellas, and that was my Senior Speech (Tower article).

IT IS MASTERS TRADITION that seniors give speeches to the whole upper school during morning meeting, detailing lessons they have learned in their time at Masters and advice to younger students. This year, many students who were slotted to give speeches in the second semester of their senior year had the option to deliver their speeches over Google Meet to fellow seniors and other community members. Nora Fellas chose to use her platform on Tower to share her experience at Masters in lieu of a traditional speech.

Don’t let s o c i a l d i s t a n c i n g stop social justice soPhia Van Beek Copy Editor

O

ver 200 Masters students skipped school one Friday in September to protest the government’s inaction in fighting the climate crisis. The subways were packed. Waves of people filled Manhattan streets and Battery Park.

Strangers traveled in waves, bodies pressed against bodies. Nobody was wearing a mask and our voices were loud.

From the vantage point of May 2020, the idea of such a large demonstration feels like a misty memory, nearly impossible. Gatherings are, of course, reckless during a global pandemic. However, we cannot let isolation hinder our activism; we must turn this temporary obstacle into an opportunity.

Social justice is central to the Masters identity; I’m proud to be amongst a community of such involved individuals. And yet, one of the main ways we protest injustice or the inadequacy of government has been taken away. How can we practice civil disobedience, the peaceful protest, the march, the sign-making

and chanting, or the sit-ins when we can barely leave our own homes?

During the pandemic, the right to protest is seen along the lines of political right versus political left, which makes protesting politically divisive right now. Anti-government protesters pressed into the Michigan State capitol building, violating social distancing norms to protest stayat-home orders, with some carrying guns or wearing confederate flags, swastikas and nooses.

Suddenly, the playing field is uneven when it comes to protesting government action; COVID-19 is exposing inconsistencies in who is allowed to protest, when, and about what. To read more about this inequity, read Yasmine Pascal’s op-ed (above).

The right to protest should not be partisan – regardless of your political affiliation, I encourage us all to remain politically active in socially responsible ways. There is a presidential election quickly approaching and critical political opinions to unpack, and we must explore new ways that are equally powerful as they are responsible to confront injustice. Our generation has already translated much of our activism to the platform of social media, which is proving to

be a powerful tool for advocacy.

For instance, when two Georgia teens made an incredibly racist Tik-Tok, they were expelled because Twitter users were able to circulate the video and pass it back to the school they came from, all from the comfort of their own bedrooms.

Ahmaud Arbery, a young black man, was chased and gunned down by two white men in February while jogging unarmed in his neighborhood. No arrests were made until two months later, according to CNN, when a video depicting the attack reached social media. Only then were the men who participated in the murder arrested. If it weren’t for social media pressure, the case, which should have been undisputably ruled murder, would have continued at a stagnant pace.

By election day on Nov. 3, 2020, we may still be in some form of quarantine, whether it is by choice or mandated by the government. The instinct to question the status quo, especially after the very polarizing past four years of Trump’s presidency, will give everyone a lot of reasons to protest and use their voices. Masters’ instinct to be a power for good in the world will have to translate

ELLA TANG/TOWER

SOCIAL DISTANCING ISN’T AN excuse to abandon advocacy, argues Sophia Van Beek in this piece. She writes that there are ways to remain politically active while honoring public health guidelines. Van Beek outlines the ways to keep sight of important causes and stay safe, in particular, using technology to organize while in isolation. to new media, and I sincerely hope we don’t lose what makes us distinguished –our passion for social justice and desire to make change.

Let’s take summer to recover, but

also to read, be aware, and regroup.

Let’s envision new ways to practice activism and advocacy. We cannot let the causes we are so dedicated to and passionate about dissipate.

6

COLLEGE CENTERSPREAD

COLLEGE CENTERSPREAD

TOWER/JUNE 2020

Wesleyan University

Princeton Yale University University

Trinity College

East Stroudsburg Lehigh University University Nouran Youssef*

Jessica Pordy

Matthew Pollack

Lawrence Azzariti

Olivia Sharenow

Gwenn Sabato*

Gabriela Seguinot

Sinan Aksu

New Haven, CT

Princeton, NJ

Middletown, CT

East Stroudsburg, PA

Hartford, CT

Bethlehem, PA

50

of America Simon Wu

Julia Bavaro

Vassar College

Ella Furniss Brian Margolis

Sophie Lai

Jack Horowitz

◄

◄

University of the Arts

Lafayette College

Institute

Lyall Talarico

University ◄ of Pennsylvania Sarah Tretler

Drexel University

Rutgers University

◄

Chelsea Hall

Buster Scheuer Charlie Loigman

College of Staten Island

Bryn Mawr College

Noemia Massingue*

Sophia Herzberg

◄

Swarthmore College

◄

◄

◄

Owen Pietsch

Bronx, NY

The Masters School Bates College Matteo Pagano Garrett Wenberg*

Lewiston, ME

SUNY Geneseo

St. Michael’s University College of Vermont

Sebastian Sawhney

Nathan Schmitt Haakon Sheehan Haley Schickman Geneseo, NY

Colchester, VT

Alexa Boglitz

Burlington, VT Washington, D.C.

Colleges arranged in order from closest to Masters to farthest NOTE: mileage markers are not exact *college athletic recruits

Smith College

Brooklyn, NY

Fordham University

Columbia University

Barnard Parsons School College of Design

New York University

St. John’s Pratt University Institute

Fernanda Perez

Jonas Kolker

Li “Carey” Ji

Anna Bluhdorn

Olivia Knowles

Ty LaColla

Zifei “Linda” Liu

Rong “Matilda” Fu

Ella Weinstein

Junrong “Karen” Li

(Dobbs Ferry, NY)

Georgetown University

Queens, NY

Manhattan, NY

Nicole Newman

Hannah Kreutzer

Bentley College

Brandeis University

Chloe Radke

Dara Anhouse

Rosemary Termini

Union College ◄ Mikkel Reid

Waltham, MA

Yijie “Jerry” Liang

◄

Bryn Mawr, PA Swathmore, PA Northampton, MA Schenectady, NY

0

Middletown, CT

The Culinary

◄

Philadelphia, PA

Hyde Park, NY Staten Island, NY New Brunswick, NJ Poughkeepsie, NY

100

ROAD TRIP! Class of 2020 Class of 2020S Speeds to College

7

Yingge “Cici” W

August Peterson*

University of Richmond

◄

Medford, MA

Boston, MA

Howard University

Cornell University

Audrey Lockett Annie Rubinson Jie “Joyce” He

Riley Block

India Isaacson

Nova Rivers

Michael Garcia

Eli Rubinson

Jaelyn Felton Maxwell Goldrich

Sam Holliday

Tufts Emerson University College

Michelle Wei

University of Virginia Taha Dinana*

◄

Colby College

500

Massachusetts

Boston University Calliana Leff

Institute of Technology

Lewisburg, PA

Harvard Bucknell University University

Muriel McWhinnie Sarah Faber

Arnav Garg Zeynep Ozturk

Babson College

Binghamton University

Skidmore College

Brown University

Nil “Sera” Gungor

Olivia Richmond

Zia Foxhall

Hamilton, NY

Norton, MA

Zachary Barnet

Colgate University

Wheaton College

Zoe Goldberg Jacob Kriss

Maya Asante Michael Van Demark Maddox Wray 2000

Centerspread design by Logan Schiciano and Michelle Wei, Editors-in-Chief Emeriti

Tulane University

Data collection by Mitch Fink and Kate Sibery, Editors-in Chief

Carleton College

Maxwell Levy

1000

Dorian Gilmartin*

Joshua Grossman

Boulder, CO Colorado Springs, CO Claremont, CA Los Angeles, CA

University of Colorado Colorado Boulder College

Scripps College

Seattle, WA

Pittsburgh, PA

Columbia, SC

Bloomington, IN

Chicago, IL

Savannah, GA

Atlanta, GA

Nashville, TN

Madison, WI

St. Louis, MO

University Carnegie Mellon Point Park University of Indiana School of the Art Savannah Morehouse Vanderbilt University of University of Institute of College Washington, of Buffalo University College University University Wisconson University South Carolina Chicago of Art and Design St. Louis Isabel Semel

Leo Hsu

Ariana Copland

Maelani Groff

Colette Stack Madison Burton Timothy Borowiec Judah Francella Nora Fellas

Sofia Benson Jordan Troy

Winter Park, FL

Rollins College

Jessica Jacobs Alexandria Batson

Santa Barbara, CA

Occidental University of University of California, College Washington Santa Barbara

Christopher Rhodes Gabriel Keller Marina Shishkina Natalie Lockhart Jonas Abady

Buffalo, NY

Alexander Feiner

Julliet Chollet

Mackenzie Jarecki ◄

Cambridge, MA

Providence, RI

Congratulations Class of 2020!

Eric Dowd

San Francisco, CA

George Washington American University University

Ithaca, NY

Saratoga Springs, NY

◄

San Jose, CA

◄

Washington, D.C.

Binghamton, NY

◄

Luis Obispo, CA

St. Lawrence University

Wellesley, MA

3000

Syracuse, NY Canton, NY

Tyler Conway

◄

Richmond, VA

Syracuse University

◄

Waterville, ME Charlottesville, VA

◄

New Orleans, LA Northfield, MN

16 members of the senior class whose names and colleges appear on this page consented to having this information displayed. Seniors whose names do not appear did not consent or did not reply to the Tower survey which requested the information by May 20.

200

University of San Francisco Audrey Corrigan

San Jose State University Joshua Gitlin

California Polytechnic State University

◄

Sophia Forstmann

6

COLLEGE CENTERSPREAD

COLLEGE CENTERSPREAD

TOWER/JUNE 2020

Wesleyan University

Princeton Yale University University

Trinity College

East Stroudsburg Lehigh University University Nouran Youssef*

Jessica Pordy

Matthew Pollack

Lawrence Azzariti

Olivia Sharenow

Gwenn Sabato*

Gabriela Seguinot

Sinan Aksu

New Haven, CT

Princeton, NJ

Middletown, CT

East Stroudsburg, PA

Hartford, CT

Bethlehem, PA

50

of America Simon Wu

Julia Bavaro

Vassar College

Ella Furniss Brian Margolis

Sophie Lai

Jack Horowitz

◄

◄

University of the Arts

Lafayette College

Institute

Lyall Talarico

University ◄ of Pennsylvania Sarah Tretler

Drexel University

Rutgers University

◄

Chelsea Hall

Buster Scheuer Charlie Loigman

College of Staten Island

Bryn Mawr College

Noemia Massingue*

Sophia Herzberg

◄

Swarthmore College

◄

◄

◄

Owen Pietsch

Bronx, NY

The Masters School Bates College Matteo Pagano Garrett Wenberg*

Lewiston, ME

SUNY Geneseo

St. Michael’s University College of Vermont

Sebastian Sawhney

Nathan Schmitt Haakon Sheehan Haley Schickman Geneseo, NY

Colchester, VT

Alexa Boglitz

Burlington, VT Washington, D.C.

Colleges arranged in order from closest to Masters to farthest NOTE: mileage markers are not exact *college athletic recruits

Smith College

Brooklyn, NY

Fordham University

Columbia University

Barnard Parsons School College of Design

New York University

St. John’s Pratt University Institute

Fernanda Perez

Jonas Kolker

Li “Carey” Ji

Anna Bluhdorn

Olivia Knowles

Ty LaColla

Zifei “Linda” Liu

Rong “Matilda” Fu

Ella Weinstein

Junrong “Karen” Li

(Dobbs Ferry, NY)

Georgetown University

Queens, NY

Manhattan, NY

Nicole Newman

Hannah Kreutzer

Bentley College

Brandeis University

Chloe Radke

Dara Anhouse

Rosemary Termini

Union College ◄ Mikkel Reid

Waltham, MA

Yijie “Jerry” Liang

◄

Bryn Mawr, PA Swathmore, PA Northampton, MA Schenectady, NY

0

Middletown, CT

The Culinary

◄

Philadelphia, PA

Hyde Park, NY Staten Island, NY New Brunswick, NJ Poughkeepsie, NY

100

ROAD TRIP! Class of 2020 Class of 2020S Speeds to College

7

Yingge “Cici” W

August Peterson*

University of Richmond

◄

Medford, MA

Boston, MA

Howard University

Cornell University

Audrey Lockett Annie Rubinson Jie “Joyce” He

Riley Block

India Isaacson

Nova Rivers

Michael Garcia

Eli Rubinson

Jaelyn Felton Maxwell Goldrich

Sam Holliday

Tufts Emerson University College

Michelle Wei

University of Virginia Taha Dinana*

◄

Colby College

500

Massachusetts

Boston University Calliana Leff

Institute of Technology

Lewisburg, PA

Harvard Bucknell University University

Muriel McWhinnie Sarah Faber

Arnav Garg Zeynep Ozturk

Babson College

Binghamton University

Skidmore College

Brown University

Nil “Sera” Gungor

Olivia Richmond

Zia Foxhall

Hamilton, NY

Norton, MA

Zachary Barnet

Colgate University

Wheaton College

Zoe Goldberg Jacob Kriss

Maya Asante Michael Van Demark Maddox Wray 2000

Centerspread design by Logan Schiciano and Michelle Wei, Editors-in-Chief Emeriti

Tulane University

Data collection by Mitch Fink and Kate Sibery, Editors-in Chief

Carleton College

Maxwell Levy

1000

Dorian Gilmartin*

Joshua Grossman

Boulder, CO Colorado Springs, CO Claremont, CA Los Angeles, CA

University of Colorado Colorado Boulder College

Scripps College

Seattle, WA

Pittsburgh, PA

Columbia, SC

Bloomington, IN

Chicago, IL

Savannah, GA

Atlanta, GA

Nashville, TN

Madison, WI

St. Louis, MO

University Carnegie Mellon Point Park University of Indiana School of the Art Savannah Morehouse Vanderbilt University of University of Institute of College Washington, of Buffalo University College University University Wisconson University South Carolina Chicago of Art and Design St. Louis Isabel Semel

Leo Hsu

Ariana Copland

Maelani Groff

Colette Stack Madison Burton Timothy Borowiec Judah Francella Nora Fellas

Sofia Benson Jordan Troy

Winter Park, FL

Rollins College

Jessica Jacobs Alexandria Batson

Santa Barbara, CA

Occidental University of University of California, College Washington Santa Barbara

Christopher Rhodes Gabriel Keller Marina Shishkina Natalie Lockhart Jonas Abady

Buffalo, NY

Alexander Feiner

Julliet Chollet

Mackenzie Jarecki ◄

Cambridge, MA

Providence, RI

Congratulations Class of 2020!

Eric Dowd

San Francisco, CA

George Washington American University University

Ithaca, NY

Saratoga Springs, NY

◄

San Jose, CA

◄

Washington, D.C.

Binghamton, NY

◄

Luis Obispo, CA

St. Lawrence University

Wellesley, MA

3000

Syracuse, NY Canton, NY

Tyler Conway

◄

Richmond, VA

Syracuse University

◄

Waterville, ME Charlottesville, VA

◄

New Orleans, LA Northfield, MN

16 members of the senior class whose names and colleges appear on this page consented to having this information displayed. Seniors whose names do not appear did not consent or did not reply to the Tower survey which requested the information by May 20.

200

University of San Francisco Audrey Corrigan

San Jose State University Joshua Gitlin

California Polytechnic State University

◄

Sophia Forstmann

FEATURES

8

Features & arts Faculty and staff members bid farewell to Masters community...

“

Through Masters, I have met a lot of wonderful people whom I I hope to stay in touch with for a long, long time.

- EMILY ZOCHHI

TOWER/JUNE 2020

Thank you to all the faculty and staff who are leaving the Masters community and have made it a better place by being here. The Tower staff wants to thank each of you for your contributions, time and dedication. Read more in-depth articles on these individuals on our website:

“

tower.mastersny.org

Thank you for 16 years of fun times.

I enjoyed laughing with you and the many interesting conversations that have entertained me in my time here. I wish you all well and stay healthy in these new times. Remember sometimes you are asked to do things you do not want to do. And I will finish with my favorite saying, Have a Great Life.

- KEN VERRAL

“

Being here has taught me compassion and patience for the young people I teach and has had me awe-struck at what many of them create. I will miss many things about my time here, but I also know that once again, Masters has helped prepare me for the next chapter in my life.”

“

Words are fun, and knowing stuff is cool.

- KEITH KITCHEN

- RALEIGH CAPOZZALO

“

Thank you to all the students, faculty and staff that made my time at Masters so special.

-

MARGOT PHELAN

“

My four years at Masters have been the happiest I’ve had in a long time. I will always cherish my experiences as a part of this community, getting to know the students, and working with the math department.

-

“

I will miss my students the most.

There have been so many moments during my time at Masters when I have been amazed as to how creative, talented, expressive, and respectful you guys were. I’d like to thank you all for making my experience here unforgettable!

- REBECA BATALLER

BRAD TUROW

“

I’ve loved my year at Masters!

Serving the community has been an honor and a privilege. I will continue to live on campus with my family, so I hope to see you all often!

- CAROLINE SAVAGE

TOWER/JUNE 2020

9

FEATURES AND ARTS

Adjusted AP exams yield various responses Gabe Keller Sports Editor

W

hile APs are traditionally taken in silent rooms filled with students, this year they were taken from home, surrounded by barking dogs and talking relatives. On Mar. 20, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, The College Board released updates for the 2020 AP. These modified exams, meant to be taken from home on an electronic device, were to last 45 minutes each and be open-note. The schedule for exams was also pushed back a week, with the exam period spanning from May 11-22 instead of the original window of May 4-15. Several units were cut out from many exams, under the assumption that they weren’t taught while students were physically in class.

Senior Joshua Grossman took AP US History and AP Environmental Science last year and takes AP Physics C and AP Calculus BC this year.

Grossman said he struggled with finding motivation to study for his exams this year.

“I certainly studied less this year and was less motivated to do well because I’m not sure how much credit I’ll actually end up getting for college,” he said.

Grossman was also disappointed by the relevance of the exams to the classes in general, speaking about AP Physics specifically.

“The [physics] exam really poorly represented the contents of what I spent all year learning, especially considering they had to cut half the content from the exam,” he added.

For junior Matthew Nappo, it was his first year taking AP courses, and he took four: Computer Science Principles, Computer Science Applications, Chemistry, and US History. Computer Science Principles canceled their exam

GABE KELLER/TOWER

A DESK WITH ALL of the materials needed to take one of the 2020 Adanced Placement (AP) remote Exams. Students in AP classes took their exams from home due to social distancing guidelines. Each of the exams were 45 minutes long, as opposed to typical AP Exams which typically take multiple hours to complete. The exams were also open-note in 2020, allowing students to reference outside material in their answers. The exams took place from May 11-22, pushed back two weeks from the initial time frame of May 4-15.

though, so Nappo only ended up taking three.

“Luckily, all three of my exams took place within one week, which I preferred more than having them spread out over a longer period of time,” Nappo said. “I studied by reviewing past FRQs [free response questions], which was nice because I was able to focus on one type of question,” he added.

Nappo also felt that the College Board did the best with what they were given, and believed they acted in the students’ best interests.

“Overall, I think the College Board did the best they could to transition to online tests in

such a short time window,” he said.

Unfortunately, not all students were so lucky in their test-taking. Many students around the world faced technological challenges submitting their exam answers, and junior John Vogel was one of them. On his AP Chemistry exam, Vogel was unable to submit his answers as photos on time.

“I’d practiced this before, but this time, somehow, the pictures I sent were not in the correct format that the College Board requested,” Vogel said.

“Once I’d gotten the photos the way they were supposed to be, my AirDrop was not working,”

A handful of international students remain stateside S

ophomore Sunny Shi, an international student from Guangdong China, said, “I don’t really feel safe traveling right now, that’s the reason why I’m still in [the] States.

Also, my parents want me to be safe, so, for now, they probably want me to stay where I am.” hi said that she will most likely be returning

separated from their loved ones for so long, under the stressful circumstances that everyone is facing, problems Features Editor like homesickness and stress may start to affect some of the students still in the United States. Many people seek coms the COVID-19 panfort and warmth from their demic reached the family members during hard New York metropoltimes like this and these stuitan area, and Masters andents aren’t able to do so. nounced its deShi said, “I’m living cision to close in NJ with my family school for the friend. I’m kind of in rest of the year, an awkward situation most of Masters’ because I know my I DON ’T REALLY FEEL SAFE TRAVELING RIGHT NOW , THAT ’S international host well, but I’m not THE REASON WHY I’M STILL IN [ THE ] S TATES . A LSO , MY PARENTS students were very close to my host’s WANT ME TO BE SAFE , SO , FOR NOW , THEY PROBABLY WANT ME able to make it kids; they are all oldTO STAY WHERE I AM . er than me and we home.

However, some of them - SUNNY SHI don’t actually have have not been common interests. I able to make it stay in my room every back home or day and I only come just do not feel out during lunch or safe enough to dinner.” t the moment, travel at the current moment. While most Noon “Stellar” of the international students Guangdong in June on a char- Son, Junior and international have been able to go home to ter flight designated to bring student from South Korea, is their respective countries, home Chinese international living with her friends’ host while a few still remain in the students. The Chinese Em- family in upstate New York, United States, living with dis- bassy has been sending these rather than being home with tant family members or legal charter flights to the United her family. guardians.

States in order to bring these Son said, “I am honored to Some of these students have students home. The flights be in this community because had the option to return home have been coming in waves. many of my friends and facby taking a commercially operShi said, “[There are] more ulty members have asked me ated flight, but have opted not flights coming in June, so how I am doing, worried about to do so over health and safe- there’s a chance for me to get me, and taken care of me virty concerns, or their parents/ on one of the charters and get tually as they know I am not guardians feel it may be best a direct flight back home.” with my family. I think I don’t for them to remain where they With these students being miss my family much because are instead of returning home. away from their homes and I am with my second family.”

Owen Strier

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he added.

Vogel had to email the photos to himself, but they didn’t register as sent and he ran out of time.

“This process could go smoothly, but there are also just so many ways it could go wrong,” Vogal said. He will need to take the make-up exam on June 2. After the first few tests saw lots of instances like Vogel’s, the College Board allowed students to email their answers.

AP US History teacher Eric Shapiro recounted the adjustments he had to make in preparing his students for the exams as compared to past years.

“The main difference was

that [Mrs. Roche and I] had to focus the studying process more on the Document-Based Questions, which were the only type of questions that appeared on the exam,” Shapiro said. “I think, of all of the types of questions traditionally on the exam, the DBQ was the best one to choose for the adjusted exam, rather than having the students focus more on specifics in their studying,” he added.

Decluttering and organizing can seem more than overwhelming – it can seem as difficult as getting to Mars. Call Allison Wohl for a fresh start in 2020!

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917 - 733 - 5232 allison@rockettomarsorganizing.com rockettomarsorganizing.com

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FEATURES AND ARTS

TOWER/JUNE 2020

Admissions adapts to new circumstances MicheLLe Wei Editor-in-Chief Emeritus

When the cherry blossom tree in front of Masters Hall blooms each year, Masters Hall’s wooden doors typically open to 400 admissions visitors, with 650 total students applying every year. The admissions visitors are both prospective students and newly admitted students, deciding whether to apply or revisiting before they attend in the fall. This year, these visits start with clicking a zoom link instead of walking through the doors of Masters Hall. These admissions events are one of many that moved online, as the admissions office has adapted to the new reality of social distancing during a pandemic.

Since school has moved to remote learning, there has been a virtual boarder revisit day and two online student panels meant to build a connection between the School and applicants. These events have drawn in many visitors, mostly students looking to apply as well as students who have already been admitted. The second student panel had over 100 people RSVP. Sophomore Gold Key tour guide Briana Diaz reflected on being a panelist during one of these events.

“It was really well-organized. It’s very different from when it’s in-person because you’re not able to have conversations oneon-one, but it was still nice,” Diaz said.

The admissions office has planned to continue these student panels over the summer, one in June, July and August. Student panels are typically not as frequent, especially during summer break, but the two virtual ones so far have been so successful and the admissions office has seen a demand for these virtual events, according to Director of Enrollment Emma Katznelson.

Sophomore international boarder Sar-

ah Wu shared her experience with virtual boarder revisit day, “It was pretty good, it’s really helpful for the newly accepted students to get more engaged with our school since they can’t really physically visit the school. I think it would be a bit helpful if maybe the admission or if the School could give the new parents and students a chance to tell them the school’s plan if there will be a second wave of coronavirus so parents will be more comfortable, especially for people who live far away from New York. I know parents are very, very worried, especially if their children are under 18 because if the school closes the dorm, they have nowhere to go. If they go to a family friend’s house,

that poses a risk too.”

Additionally, the admissions office has put out more video content and website information for these prospective students by working closely with the communications office.

Besides student panels, the spring also typically involves admissions officers beginning to meet with consultants and placement directors to prepare work with prospective families for the seasons ahead, for the 2021-2022 school year. Instead of traveling to different conventions and schools both nationally and internationally to attract applicants, these types of recruiting events are now taking place online.

Katznelson also predicts that she and other admissions officers will be invited to talk and interact with students from Masters feeder schools, instead of visiting their campuses in-person. These feeder schools, which are schools that Masters receives applications from every year, include The Elisabeth Morrow School, The Allen-Stevenson School, Village Community School, The School at Columbia, Bank Street School, New Canaan Country School, Rippowam Cisqua School, La Salle Academy and Town School.

The School will still require the standard SSAT and ISEE scores for private high school admissions from applicants in the

fall since the exams will be administered online for at-home settings in the summer.

However, Katznelson emphasized that the admissions department is being flexible in this immediate period before summer. Applicants from other private elementary or middle schools who have taken ERB testing can submit their ERB scores. For other students who might have taken an ISEE last year but can’t take one right now, their previous ISEE score may be accepted.

Katznelson said, “We’re being as flexible as we can and understanding as we can.”

Although COVID-19 has caused uncertainty about student yield and admissions for many colleges and private schools alike, Katznelson is optimistic.

“I’ve seen interest in the school only continue and in some ways intensify because people are really getting very clear on what they need for their kids, especially if school looks different than what they’re used to. I feel really confident that interest in Masters will continue to be strong especially because people are hearing about how happy students are with the online learning that is being offered. I feel cautiously optimistic, I would say,” Katznelson stated.

A large part of Masters’ appeal is that students feel cared for, even at a distance, according to Katznelson.

Katznelson added that she feels really proud of Masters and to be working with her team and for Head of School Laura Danforth; managing family life and a full-time job is not easy to do.

Katznelson elaborated, “My colleagues don’t want to let this place down. They’re really working very hard to make sure that we continue to recruit really wonderful, mission-aligned families even if they’re doing it in their living room, or their bedroom, or

wherever their new home office is. This ELLIE YANG/TOWER A MASTERS ADMISSIONS OFFICER celebrates Masters from their remote desk. The admissions office has adapted to Mas- is a team effort and I’m really grateful ters’ shift to remote operations by hosting a number of virtual student panels with members of Gold Key. Unlike the typical I’m at a school that feels easy to tell people about still.” summer season, the office will host more student panels to inform potential applicants of the school’s many offerings.

Yearbook perseveres to create “Masterpieces” M. Brody Leo News Editor

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a great job of teaching our staff this year,” she said.

As a freshman, Hannah Schiciano was new to the yearbook team, making virtual layout an even more complicated task for her.

Though she had to work through spring break more than previous yearbook staffs, she believes that the staff was able to stay motivated by how important they find the final product to be.

Schiciano said, “Yearbook is the way the events from the year can be highlighted and remem-

hen Head of School Laura Danforth announced that classes would be cancelled through spring break, yearbook editors-in-chief Ariella Uribe and Kishan Mangru never expected the impact it would have on their staff. With three months of normal schooling down the drain, the yearbook staff has been forced to We did pull through in the end, extend themselves furand I think that shows that we did ther than ever to get a great job of teaching our staff this the 2019-2020 yearyear. book, titled Masterpieces, published.

- ARIELLA URIBE ‘21 Their first challenge actually came before the school officially closed, as their yearbook printer, a company called bered. For people to look back on Josten’s, informed the staff that the yearbook years from now and they would have to submit their to see the memories, that makes pages the week after spring break yearbook important to me.” to expect printed yearbooks by Another challenge that the staff graduation. This deadline was a faced was making up for the lost month earlier than it had been in pages from cancelled springtime previous years, and for the staff, it events. The length of each yearmeant working overtime through book is determined early on in the spring break. Uribe was especially year and according to Mangru, proud of the work that their staff could not be changed by the time put into finishing the yearbook. they saw that so many of the page “We did pull through in the end, spreads they planned like spring and I think that shows that we did sports could no longer be created.

“

The staff adapted to the circumstances, finding ways to fill the blank space.

“We had a lot of blank pages due to the lack of events around campus, so we had to improvise like with COVID-19 spreads or college recruits spreads,” Uribe said.

Now that the pages have been submitted, the printing should be complete by late May, according to Mangru. Once printed, the yearbooks will only be shipped to graduating seniors due to high shipping costs. According to Yearbook Faculty Advisor Raleigh Capozzalo, shipping will cost the school $8 for each domestic senior and $30 for each international senior.

Although only a small number of the school will receive their yearbooks through the mail, it will still cost the school $1000 more than previous years.

Those who do not receive yearbook shipments will be able to pick up their yearbooks on campus in the fall, and in the meantime, an online issue will be sent out as classes end.

The editors acknowledged that the situation is anything but normal, but they have been working to make it as close to a conventional yearbook experience as possible.

“One thing that might be disappointing to some people is that they won’t be able to sign yearbooks this year. It won’t be the same, but we’re trying to find a

way for people to have a similar experience, like a digital signing.”

Mangru said.

According to Mangru, the digital signing program is provided by the same company responsible for their yearbook’s distribution, Josten’s.

If school remains closed through September, students may have to wait to get their yearbooks, but that is not Mangru’s biggest concern with an online start to the year.

“It’s really hard to teach a new staff remotely, because a lot of teaching is hands-on, like laying

out a page or using a camera,” Mangru said.

Despite the concerns that the editors have for the next year, they believe that dealing with these unpredictable conditions bodes well for the coming years.

Uribe said, “I think this has made our staff stronger. It’s hard to make up a page out of thin air with no events, but I think we did a really good job.”

Capozzalo echoed a similar sentiment, stating that even though this may be his last year with Masters, he believes in a positive future for the yearbook staff.

COURTESY OF ARIELLA URIBE

THE YEARBOOK STAFF MEETS virtually to work on their plans to complete the 2020 yearbook. The staff has been forced to lay out virtually, which was particularly challenging for their newer members. The staff has worked to adapt to the remote circumstances, replacing spreads intended for spring activities with other designs.

TOWER/JUNE 2020

SPORTS

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Panthers stay active from home Mattilynn Stone Photo Editor As the school year comes to a close, the loss of fitness and the spring sports season this year is magnified. This sports season hosts boys’ volleyball, tennis, track and field and lacrosse, and girls’ lacrosse and track and field.

Freshman Sabine Godwin, lacrosse player, said she has noticed a loss of motivation to stay fit during quarantine without her teammates.

“What has been different is not being able to laugh with my teammates, struggle and succeed with my teammates. I can’t do that online and I miss them. We motivate each other and it is definitely harder to stay motivated when we are not together.”

Godwin discusses how initially it was really hard to find inspiration on her own. She said, “I try to remind myself of my goals and what I need to get there. I’m also using this pandemic to possibly get ahead of my competition.”

Godwin does this by playing lacrosse in her yard, doing Peloton workouts, participating in online workouts with her lacrosse team-twice a week, running, and training with a sports specific training program called Blue Streak.

Junior Franny Mann, lacrosse player, talks about what she’s done to stay active during quarantine. She said, “I did the Chloe Ting 2 Week Shred Challenge at the beginning of the pandemic, but since then, I’ve been running almost every day, and on the days I don’t run, I do core and leg exercises, or I ride my bike. I also have Zoom soccer practices two times a week; one of them is a goalkeeper training session, and the other is with my whole team. We do individual dribbling and agility work on those calls.”

Chloe Ting is a Gymshark athlete and youtuber who does workout training programs for different target areas like abs, arms and legs.

Mann explained how she has kept motivated during quarantine. She said, “I have a twin sister who runs a lot and would normally be running track right now, and she has better endurance than me. We have been competitive since day one with everything, so I push her to sprint faster, and she encourages me to run longer. She will also shoot on me in goal because she also plays soccer, so we work together and hold each other accountable.”

Junior Reed Gilmore discussed the loss of being away from his volleyball team this season. What he misses most

across all the sports he plays is being a part of a team and the motivation they give each other to work harder.

Gilmore expressed the loss further.

He said “the energy and friendship I have with each of the boys on that team is greater than possibly any other team I have been on. Many of the boys were seniors so it was my last chance to be with them in a team environment so I have been feeling that loss pretty sorely.”

Gilmore has found that the Masters’ community and various club sports have kept him focused on staying in shape and helped with being away from his team.

He said, “I am training for next year’s seasons which will be my last, given I will be a senior, making them all the more important to me. I also play for a club soccer team and our coach has set a weekly bench mark of 20+ miles and 1,000 push ups so having those boys doing that and being able to create a competition has helped keep each other motivated.”

Gilmore concluded, “The encouragement from the Masters Athletic Department to keep active has helped in creating a community of it all, through things like after school workout programs and daily Panther workouts.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF FRANNY MANN

JUNIOR FRANNY MANN PRACTICES soccer outside of her home. Mann is the starting goalkeeper for the girls’ varsity soccer team. Like many other athletes, Mann has had to adapt to stay-at-home orders to continue her practice regimen.

Pro sports leagues prepare for the future ethan Schlapp Staff Writer

ETHAN SCHLAPP/TOWER

When football icon Tom Brady holed out from 100 yards for birdie on the sixth hole of The Match: Champions for Charity COVID-19 relief golf tournament, the world seemed to regain something that had been lost during the pandemic: excitement. The event, which pitted golf and football legends Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning against Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady, raised 20 million dollars for COVID-19 relief and gave athletes and fans from all across the world an opportunity to enjoy a fun competition for a good cause.

But while golf remains one of the only sports that can be played while following Center for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines, many other major sports are on hold. It has been two months since baseball season was set to begin, the National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals were supposed to be on the horizon, and the 2020 Olympics were this summer’s

main event. But as millions of fans await a return to sports, there’s some good news – sports may make a return this summer.

On May 11, Major League Baseball (MLB) commissioner Rob Manfred announced that team owners approved an official plan for the season. Highlighted by a shortened season, the league is willing to do whatever it takes as long as the safety of its players and fans are not in jeopardy.

St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Andrew Miller told ESPN, “I don’t think anything can be done until that [safety] can be guaranteed and we feel comfortable with it.”

New York Yankees Catcher Chris Ianetta, an MLBPA Pension Committee Representative, believes that the league should prohibit fans from competitions and honor the risk that players, staff, and coaches are taking through fair reimbursement. “[Even] if there’s no fans in the stands, there is an intrinsic risk that players are going to undertake. There is an intrinsic risk that support staff and coaches are

going to undertake, and we should get fairly compensated for taking that risk for the betterment of the game and the betterment of the owners who stand to make a huge profit off the game,” Ianetta told ESPN. However, MLB’s recent economic proposal surely left players like Ianetta discontent, which proposes major pay cuts for players.

Though many believe that sports without fans would be disappointing, some suggest that sports shouldn’t even continue until fans can return.

Senior Brian Margolis said, “I think you call off the [sports] seasons, I really do.” He continued, “I would wait until fans are allowed.

I would wait until there’s a vaccine.”

Contrarily, many fans will take anything they can get. Sophomore Aidan McLaren, a Yankees fan and a pitcher and infielder himself, said he just wants some form of entertainment at this point. “[I hope] there’s at least some sort of season and it’s not just [a] complete cancellation,” McLaren said. “Even if there’s no fans wel-

come at games, as long as I have baseball televised sometime over the summer, I will be satisfied,” he continued.

But although baseball in the United States stays tabled at the moment, the sport did return on an international level. The Korean Baseball League (KBO League) implemented safety measures such as screening for all athletes, coaches, and umpires before games, prohibiting fans from entering stadiums, and banning players from high-fiving or signing autographs, in hopes that the league can complete the usual 144game season.

As for the NBA, commissioner Adam Silver has not made any concrete revisions for the remainder of the 2020 season, but talks of the league using the ESPN Complex at Disney World in Orlando, Florida have arisen.

In addition, the 2020 Olympics have been officially postponed until the summer of 2021, when global health risks are more likely to have reduced and sports can reach their full excitement and potential.

SportS

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SPORTS

TOWER/JUNE 2020

Year in review: highlights of the 2019-20 sports seasons Girls’ Varsity Basketball

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Boys’ Indoor Track

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It’s hard to not try and predict when the cap gun is going to go off before the race, because then you can get a false start...

There is always such a big rush of adrenaline coursing through you.

As the season went on, our stamina had increased so we adapted to the fact that we only had seven players and not our full team size, which was twelve.

- ALLIE KOZIARZ ‘21

- JUDAH FRANCELLA ‘20 PHOTO COURTESY OF BOB GILMARTIN

SENIOR CAPTAIN JUDAH FRANCELLA broke four school records this year, including a 55 hurdle, the 200 meter indoor and a high jump record. Francella qualified for NYSAIS championships and placed second in hurdles and fourth in 300 overall. The team excelled this year, with a huge number of PRs and records broken at almost every meet.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ISSAC CASS

JUNIOR POINT GUARD ALLIE Koziarz played in the starting lineup for the third consecutive year this season. Koziarz was named Most Valuable Player at New York Matin Luther King Tournament at Truman High School in the Bronx. The teamexcelled this season with 14 wins and 6 losses, and advanced to the NYSAIS championships, where they were defeated.

Girls’ Varsity Swim

Boys’ Varsity Swim

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My highlight was when we, as a team, beat Hackley. Even when I wasn’t on the team in years prior, they had always beat us, but we came together and played really well.

“

I think the senior game was definitely my highlight of the season.

I had all of my friends and family there, and though we didn’t win, it was a really special and unique experience.

- JADEN BASCON ‘23

PHOTO COURTESY OF ISSAC CASS

IN JUST ONE YEAR, freshman Jaden Bascon has broken three swim records: 500 Freestyle, 100 butterfly, and 200 freestyle. Bascon’s best and favorite event is long distance freestyle, and not only does she compete at Masters, but she competes outside of school. The girls’ varsity swim team finished with a record of five wins and two losses.

Girls’ Varsity Fencing

- MIKE VAN DEMARK ‘20

LOGAN SCHICIANO/TOWER

SENIOR CAPTAIN MIKE VAN DEMARK, who has been on varsity since his sophomore year, watched the varsity squad evolve throughout the years. Van Demark believes this past season was a big rebuilding year, and with the aid of a new coach, they started to develop a new culture for the team. Van Demark has been on the starting lineup as a point guard for about two seasons.

Boys’ Varsity Squash

GEORGE CHANG/TOWER

JUNIOR SOPHIA VISCARELLO FENCES on the girls sabre team, and has been doing so since her freshman year at Masters. Viscarello and the girls sabre team had a successful season, with 9 wins and 1 loss.

“

Fencing takes a lot of focus. I have to make sure I don’t get discouraged even when I’m behind. I have to block out all of the noise. You can’t be listening to what people are saying on the sidelines.

- SOPHIA VISCARELLO ‘21

Congratulations athletes!

These sports teams were selected for their overall success throughout their seasons, impressive number of broken personal records and breaking team bests during the 2019-2020 school year.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ISAAC CASS

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SENIOR TAHA DINANA HAS been undefeated at Masters for this entire winter season on the squash team. Dinana is the U17 #1 ranked player in the USA and was recently awarded an All American Award from US Squash, given to the top four squash players in the nation. The varsity captain will continue his career at the University of Virginia.

I always have to step on the court with the perfect mentality. I can’t have any distractions. It doesn’t matter if it is a school match or the final for a major tournament, when I step on the court, I have to clear my mind and just go in there to win.

- TAHA DINANA ‘20