The
C r i mson Sun Vol. 20, No. 3
The Student Newspaper of Morristown-Beard School 70 Whippany Road, Morristown, NJ 07960
May 2019
Photo courtesy of Aline De la Torre
The group assembles for a quick selfie before they proceed with their immersion into Colombian culture.
The Ambassadors: MBS in Colombia
by ANIKA BUCH On Saturday, March 9 at 3:00 AM, nineteen students and four chaperones met at MBS to embark on a week long trip to Cartagena, Colombia. It’s no secret that Colombia has quite a notorious reputation. In the words of Director of Global Studies, Spanish teacher and chaperone Aline de la Torre, “It’s a very peaceful country, but a lot of people in the United States don’t know that. We perceive Colombia as the Colombia of [Pablo] Escobar and Narcos. In reality, the country is much more than that." Instead of ignoring these more negative associations, students and teachers alike used it as additional motivation to go. Dyson Mitchell
‘20 said, “I’ve heard a lot of negative things about Colombia and I didn’t know if they were true.” Others saw themselves as part of a larger effort to debunk the negative stereotypes. Spanish teacher and chaperone Anna Pardo said, “I wanted to be part of eliminating the 'dangerous' stereotypes about Colombia.” Of course, a place cannot be limited to its stereotypes. Registrar, Spanish teacher and chaperone Rocio Romero said, “The beauty of Colombia lies in that is a place where unique culture, fascinating history, creative art, exotic food and lively music meet. Cartagena, the city MBS students
and chaperones visited, is one of Colombia’s crown jewels.” Once in Cartagena, the group checked into their hotel and went off on a walking tour of the Old City. Romero said, “we visited the Old City famous for its architecture, [and] urban neighborhoods, [with] booming street art and small plazas filled with locals enjoying live music.” According to a Colombia Spanish Immersion Trip blog entry written by students Sabrina Fagan ‘20, Julia Abbott ’20 and Sonny Hughes ‘20, “It was beautiful walking through the streets with all of the colorful buildings and pushy vendors.” As the hot summer day lent itself to
night, the students ate dinner at a local restaurant where they were able to sample of the local Columbian cuisine like fresh ceviche and paella. The next day, the group biked around the outside of the Old City, giving them an opportunity to enjoy more of what the city had to offer. The students stopped to see churches, museums, forts, and other attractions. A highlight of the day was a private coffee tasting. De la Torre said, “We tasted different coffee flavors and learned that the best coffee is actually sent out [of the country].” Nevertheless, these interactive cultural experiences are what led to the continued on p. 7
Pride Week: Love is Love
Photo ASHLEY CHEN
INSIDE THIS ISSUE Walks in the Arbo.................................p. 3 Stepping to Success...............................p. 9 Nights at MBS.......................................p. 10 Athletes of the Quarter........................p. 12
by VIKALP SHARMA In the second week of April, representatives of Spectrum, the group that supports the LGBTQ+ club and its allies on campus, held the first ever MBS Pride Week. Filled with events throughout the week during Collaborative Period, MBS Pride Week was co-president Quiya Harris’ ‘19 attempt at “inspiring the LGBTQ+ community at MBS to be open about their identities, and at the most basic level, live openly and freely at school.” Although certain events during the span of MBS Pride Week had happened before, like the Day of Silence, Harris thought that a week filled with daily events was a great alternative to the club attending NYC Pride in June. Harris gave her opinion on the im-
portance of recognizing the LGBTQ+ community at MBS, and how she wants them, “to feel accepted and celebrated” by their peers. Starting with “gender-bread” decorating on Monday and ending with the Day of Silence and Night of Voices on Friday, Pride Week without a doubt accomplished its goal: attracting and educating both allies and active members of the LGBTQ+ community. The events of Pride Week have been in the works for much longer than just a few months, with the idea starting back in May of 2018. It would eventually evolve into the planning of the event in January of this year, and finally implementing it this April. Before the week even began, Harris and her Speccontinued on p. 8