The ReMarker | February 2018 by St. Mark's School of Texas

The ReMarker newspaper • St. Mark’s School of Texas • Dallas, Texas • Volume 64, Issue 4 • February 9, 2018

REMARKER

Money’s worth One in seven students. $2.3 million. Financial aid’s impact on campus is fundamental. And its future is even greater. Page 7

• Story Kamal Mamdani, Rett Daugbjerg, Christopher Wang Photo Riley Sanders

Admission Officer Korey Mack ’00

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21 minutes with... I hope others who enjoy community service will look at what they enjoy doing and apply that to helping others.

Will Kozmetsky

Page 15

News in brief

For the record

Students compete at Yale

College deans visit campus Students in the Junior and Sophomore Classes Jan. 30 had the opportunity to learn more about college admissions through the College Counseling Office’s College Deans of Admission Program. Officials from Washington & Lee University, Emory and the University of Georgia attended this year. Parents also had an opportunity to hear from the deans that morning.

News in brief

22 5

Wins

Losses

VARSITY BASKETBALL

Twelve students in the school’s Model UN club traveled to New Haven, Connecticut Jan. 18-21 to participate in Yale University’s Model United Nations Conference. Spending days drafting resolutions and speeches, the students were among 1,500 other ambassadors from around the world and discussed issues such as climate change and immigration policy.

Inside News The manual Life Perspectives Buzz Commentary Sports Back page

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The ReMarker newspaper • St. Mark’s School of Texas • Dallas, Texas • Volume 64, Issue 4 • February 9, 2018

REMARKER

Money’s worth One in seven students. $2.3 million. Financial aid’s impact on campus is fundamental. And its future is even greater. Page 7

• Story Kamal Mamdani, Rett Daugbjerg, Christopher Wang Photo Riley Sanders

Sophomore Ricky Rodriguez

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21 minutes with... I hope others who enjoy community service will look at what they enjoy doing and apply that to helping others.

Will Kozmetsky

Page 15

News in brief

For the record

Students compete at Yale

News in brief

22 5

Wins

Losses

VARSITY BASKETBALL

Inside News The manual Life Perspectives Buzz Commentary Sports Back page

2 10 11 16 21 22 25 32

The ReMarker newspaper • St. Mark’s School of Texas • Dallas, Texas • Volume 64, Issue 4 • February 9, 2018

REMARKER

Money’s worth One in seven students. $2.3 million. Financial aid’s impact on campus is fundamental. And its future is even greater. Page 7

• Story Kamal Mamdani, Rett Daugbjerg, Christopher Wang Photo Riley Sanders

John Loza ’81

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21 minutes with... I hope others who enjoy community service will look at what they enjoy doing and apply that to helping others.

Will Kozmetsky

Page 15

News in brief

For the record

Students compete at Yale

News in brief

22 5

Wins

Losses

VARSITY BASKETBALL

Inside News The manual Life Perspectives Buzz Commentary Sports Back page

2 10 11 16 21 22 25 32

Page 2

Libya: ‘And for this, our hearts should be on fire.’

NEWS

witter was on fire that night. Musical proletariats argued on whose album reigned supreme while witty pundits stood on their virtual soapboxes, preaching the day’s political opinions. These two spheres make up my usual Twitter intake, an amalgam tailored both to my brain’s interests and to the ever-leeching sense of distraction lurking behind towers of homework. And yes, on that night, after hours of calculus, I was distracted. Except, instead of Zach hearing a Gilstrap snippet of a Managing editor new song or an endless thread of verbal jabs, I saw a lone report from CNN. “People for Sale: Exposing migrant slave auctions in Libya.” Over the previous few days, I saw headlines detailing the happenings in Libya, but I never pieced the story together. But, now, on my glaring screen, here it was: the ugly, despicable truth in unabashed form. The tweet linked to a CNN article, leading to a six-minute video report on the Libyan slave trade. I wasn’t exactly sure if I wanted to watch the video. I was wary of what horrors — horrors known too well by my ancestors — lay behind the play button. But still, I pressed on. Three young African men — labeled “the merchandise” — lined up on display, as muffled men in the distance announce the final selling price Jack McCutchan photo of 400 Libyan pounds a piece. Buyers in a remote and distant Junior Daniel Mirochna and his father, Conrad Mirochna, enjoy a Sage-prepared breakfast in the W. W. slaving town hosting a slave auction, Browning Jr. Great Hall during the Junior Father-Son Breakfast Feb. 26. The Junior Class came together for driving the price up higher and higher their last Father-Son Breakfast and recieved the traditional coffee mugs that come with every breakfast. as time passes. African migrants rescued from News in brief warehouses and slaving markets, cramped side-by-side in ferries on show like-fashion in which four Tim Mahoney, will compete in the The convention will feature Pacemaker award at the spring their way to freedom, the debilitating LUDWIG-BERNARDO CHOSEN AS SCOUT CHAPEL SPEAKER classmates from each class period national tournament. key speakers such as Neurologist convention in April in San Francisco. pains of turmoil emanating from the The annual Boy Scout chapel compete against each other for This tournament comes in the Dr. David Eagleman and Author A board of judges reviews all recently-scabbed gashes and cuts for the Lower School was held Jan. extra credit. middle of a long February for the Larry Roberston to eligible publications to determine coating their bodies. 31. The music, prayers and lessons In addition to refreshing the team, but Ratakonda maintains the discuss the science the finalists, which is based on differed this chapel as they were students on old material and team needs to stay focused as the behind how the excellence in design, photography, The world was on fire that night. oriented to support scout values. offering extra credit, Westbury debate season reaches its peak. brain works and concept, coverage and writing. These video segments are vignettes of Each year, an Upper School uses the trivia events to how to use it to The Marksmen is one of the an inhumane horror growing and fes- Eagle Scout is chosen to speak at provide instruction on how to INSTRUCTOR WILL ATTEND your advantage when teaching print-yearbooks chosen by the tering. The Libyan slave trade has its this chapel. The eagle scout who parenthetically cite sources. LEARNING CONFERENCE students. panel of judges to receive the grip on the lives of just under a million spoke this year was senior Eduardo Fifth grade humanities instructor Pacemaker award. migrants, all bearing the same scars, Ludwig-Bernardo. DEBATE SQUAD COMPETES Donna Mullet will attend the Winter YEARBOOK NOMINATED all recounting stories of enslavement, AT FLORIDA’S PINECREST OPEN Learning and the Brain Conference FOR NSPA PACEMAKER SCHOOL HOSTS ANNUAL QUIZ inhumanity and disregard. Why on HISTORY INSTRUCTOR HOSTS The debate team will travel in San Francisco Feb. 15-17. The 2016-2017 Marksmen BOWL TOURNAMENT INTER-CLASS TRIVIA EVENT to Fort Lauderdale, FL Feb. 14 to Teachers from around the yearbook was recently named as St. Mark’s B placed third and Earth is this still happening? History instructor Dr. Jerusha participate in the annual Pinecrest world will gather together at the a crown finalist by the National St. Mark’s A placed sixth at the We live in a world shrouded by inOpen debate tournament held at conference to discover the research Scholastic Press Association [NSPA], St. Mark’s Invitational quiz bowl stitutional racism and prejudice, har- Westbury held an inter-class trivia Pinecrest High School. behind the science of innovation, which honors the top student tournament. rowed by monsters conducting slave event as a fun and educational way Senior Harris Wilson and juniors new strategies to train creativity publications in the country. The school hosted the annual trades, disregarding the sacredness of to earn extra credit for her classes. These inter-class events are Samir Ratakonda, Wheeler Sears and innovation and how to improve The publication will find quiz bowl tournament Feb. 3 in humanity. Some believe we’ve grown and David Vallejo, led by coach student achievement. out whether it takes home the Centennial Hall. past Jim Crow racism, but, in parts of cumulative reviews held in a game — Ishan Gupta, Mateo Guevara, Sid Vattamreddy, Christopher Wang, Kamal Mamdani the world, we haven’t even grown past slavery. And this isn’t just happening Say what? Inside Around the corner in Libya. Take the countless women, men Comments made by students, faculty and staff around campus On campus and children stuck in the human and sex trafficking circuit. Or the homoThird grade fine arts night Cryptocurrency I’m allergic to pineapple, but sexual men in Chechnya, Russia, · Where: Lower School The overview on it’s so good. stuck in concentration camps, beaten · When: Feb. 13, 6:30 p.m. the phenomeon of · What: Artistic creations by third-graders and even executed for their sexual digitized currency and — Sophmore Pablo Arroyo as he continues to orientation. These examples of utter eat pineapple its rapid success. US Biology Olympiad horror thrive in our own country and · Where: Science Lecture Hall around the world, wreaking their · When: Feb. 8 havoc beyond our TV screens. But one · What: A standardized test for biology students If this quiz were a person, it would question still remains: What can we Boarding Program be in jail. even do about this? A look at the boarding One of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s program of the 50s and common mantras was to not “wait on 60s and the Marksmen — Senior Orlin Ware after turning in time.” We can’t stall — we have to stay who lived here. his English poetry quiz aware of our condition, shed our pride

CHOWING DOWN

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and complacency and do something. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with entertainment. We can spend time browsing social media sites and watching reality TV shows. But we can’t “wait on time” while some are waiting on freedom. Whether making an impact through volunteering in refugee shelters or donating to a foundation or spreading awareness on Twitter, anything counts. Any small step, single dollar or screen tap counts toward the freedom of the enslaved. And for this, our hearts should be on fire.

Net Neutrality

With the repeal of Net Neutrality, The ReMarker shows what will happen to the internet.

National Park Visitors

Seniors Ethan Pittson and Ben Hurst have traveled to more than 150 national parks.

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They called me ‘butter fingers’ in little league. True story. Everday I would go home and cry. — English Department chair Michael Morris

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DMA Pumpkin Show

Off campus

RFD-TV’s The American Rodeo · Where: AT&T Stadium · When: Feb. 25, 2 p.m. · What: The richest one-day rodeo Chinese! Sophomore Andrew Laczkowski in re— sponse to “What were most people in China?”

All The Eternal Love I Have For Pumpkins · What: A mirror pumpkin room · When: Feb. 3 - 25 · Where: Dallas Museum of Art

BIT RUSH

News • February 9, 2018 • The ReMarker • Page 3

Keeping Perspective

n 2009, an anonymous man ordered a Papa John’s pizza. But not just any old large two-topping for $20. In fact, he didn’t even use dollars. The cost: 15,000 bitcoins. If he had staved off hunger and saved his money, that amount of bitcoin would be enough to buy him a $2.5 million Ferrari F60. Sixty times over. The meteoric rise of cryptocurrency is shaking the world economy and redefining the concept of money. So, is cryptocurrency the way of the future? Or is it just a bubble waiting to burst?

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Bitcoin was invented in 2008 by an unknown man whose alias — of which he has many — is Satoshi Nakamoto. At first, it was worth next to nothing. Last year, it peaked at over $19,000 for just one bitcoin. The rise in price is owed to bitcoin’s cap on 21 million units present at one time. This prevents the currency from being devalued via overprinting by a considerable margin but makes the price to purchase bitcoin more and more astronomical. The process to obtain bitcoin without purchasing them is to utilize “blockchain” Emmett technoloBerger gy, where tracks bitcoin computers solve complex math problems to “mine” minute fractions of bitcoin. This process is mostly the same for most cryptocurrencies. Though ‘bitcoin’ and ‘cryptocurrencies’ have become hot-button words, the meaning behind them remains obscure to many. “I think that’s the biggest problem with bitcoin,” computer science instructor Kurt Tholking said. “A lot of people don’t understand it. They don’t know how it works and what to do. I think that prevented a lot of people from investing in it.” One of those people who didn’t invest was Tholking himself. Two years ago, when he first looked at the price with junior Emmett Berger, a student in his AP Computer Science class, the price was less than $400. Had he spent $400, his investment would have seen a $15,000, or 4,750 percent, increase. “I considered it,” Tholking said. “I actually got advice not to by someone

Percent price increase of cryptocurrency 2016-2017 NEO 169%

Bitcoin

Litecoin

Ethereum

1073%

4321%

10641%

The rise of cryptocurrencies makes people wonder if digital means of exchange have any long-term viability. who thought it would just crash and wouldn’t become anything. And that’s where you look at any of the other currencies right now. They’re at that point right now where bitcoin was a few years ago: unstable, and people thought it was something that wasn’t going to last or wasn’t secure.” At its core, bitcoin eliminates the ‘mid-

dleman’ role that banks serve by creating a peer-to-peer network through which people can directly pay one another. Rather than use credit cards that could have a three percent fee on each end, bitcoin users pay one another somewhat anonymously and without going to a centralized location. “If you work directly peer-topeer—I pay you, you pay me—we’re eliminating these centralized fees, so it becomes more valuable,” Tholking said. “You are taking out a tax. There’s a less than percent that goes back to the people who verify [bitcoin] transactions, and that’s part of the allure of the network. There’s still the value in verifying all transactions.” Berger has become a disciple of the cryptocurrency. He began following the coin at age 13, and now, at 17, has turned his knowledge from tracking the coin into smart investments. “I first started developing an interest back in 2014 when bitcoin was a measly $150,” Berger said. “Recently, I got a lot more interested when I uncovered the investment opportunities.” Just as those who invested in early bitcoin witnessed, choosing the right cryptocurrency can be thrilling and lucrative, and it is open to anyone in the world. “I think that there is a certain allure to investing in cryptocurrencies,” Berger said. “It seems like all the stories you hear are about people making thousands or even millions of dollars in a matter of weeks. But I would urge people not to rush their investments, especially if they know very little about what they are investing in.” That last piece of advice may be the most critical factor of investing in cryptocurrencies, especially given the unique volatility of the digital currency market. This instability is one of several aspects of cryptocurrency that has made Assistant Head of Upper School Chris Disimile hesitant of fully trusting the blitz of digital currency to market prominence. “I’m interested to see what happens, but I’m skeptical of bitcoin catching on in any real way,” Disimile said. “However, I wouldn’t be surprised if it filled a need for some industries.” In addition to the fluctuations in value, Disimile points out the still-developing security of bitcoin and the dangers for investors and owners to be hacked. “If people are stealing people’s computing power to mine bitcoin, then there’s obviously a problem,” Disimile said. “At some point, the government’s going to have to step in. In the Great Depression, if your money was in a bank, you lost all your money. There was an entire generation that was skeptical of putting money in the bank. That’s why the government stepped in and created all of these insurance programs.”

• Story Wallace White, Reece Rabin Artwork Nathan Han

INSERT BITCOIN HERE

Though hacking presents external security risks, the more significant threat may be as simple as forgetting a password. Unlike a bank, a digital wallet is often linked to either a phone number or a single password, so losing either of the two can result in a complete account loss with no way of recovery. Sophomore Jackson Singhal, bitcoin enthusiast and owner, believes that getting bitcoin stolen is very similar to getting any paper money taken. “In terms of hackers, there’s not much to do to hack it per se,” Singhal said. “You can find someone’s wallet code that designates their money, so if you had their password, you could hypothetically steal the money, just like any other currency.” The process of CPU hijacking steals

the computing power from other computers to mine cryptocurrency. Viewers that watched Homeland on CBS Showtime to wind down after a long day were unknowingly feeding hackers power to mine bitcoin with this process. CPU hijacking, once thought to only occur on illegal sites like The Pirate Bay, is now infiltrating seemingly clean places. Singhal believes bitcoin is like any other currency, and the unique quality it has is that its internet-based. “Just like other currency, it can get stolen, and there’s no specific problem,” Singhal said. “The fact that it’s on the internet does mean it’s a little more susceptible.” Stories of people forgetting their passwords and losing their fortunes are prevalent on the Internet, and Tholking has seen students encounter this problem first-hand. “If you don’t have a good wallet, you don’t have a secure way to keep [bitcoin], it doesn’t • ‘People use matter how many bitcoin to buy you have,” Tholking illegal goods said. “One student and services, but people who said he got something think this is all it overseas last year, but is used for have a very misguided he set it up with his Swiss phone number, view.’ and since he doesn’t Computer science instructor have that phone he Kurt Tholking has no way to recover that account.” This student’s investment was of little consequence, but hundreds of stories on the Internet document losses much worse than this. When an office cleanup resulted in an IT worker’s flash drive being thrown away, that worker lost the password to an account containing a large amount of bitcoin. Seventy-five hundred in fact. The value equivalent of 100 million dollars. “If you lose your account, your wallet, you’ve lost everything,” Tholking said. Despite the security risks, many still believe digital currency presents the opportunity of a lifetime. Furthermore, the technology from advancements like blockchain has the potential to be used in other financial avenues, whether they are used with bitcoin. Both Tholking and Berger have nothing more than guesses as to what currency will explode in value next. But that won’t stop them from trying to find out. “If I knew the answer, I wouldn’t still be at school,” Berger said. “But I am working with a couple of people to use regression analysis to try to see what variables have a meaningful effect on the price and hopefully I will have a better answer to this question soon.”

Page 4 • The ReMarker • February 9, 2018 • News

Boarding program

IMPERMANENT RESIDENCE During the 50’s and 60’s, Marksmen moved across the country to go to school here. And they didn’t regret it.

fter nine periods, two hours of sports, meetings and assemblies, it’s not a mystery that Marksmen can’t wait to get home. They can’t wait to get back to their own room and eat a home-cooked meal with their parents. A home is a place to escape from the countless stresses and trials of the school day, and a place where creativity can blossom in areas outside of school. But there were Marksmen who didn’t get to go home. After school, they would still be under the eyes of teachers and still be either on or close to campus. With roommates nearby, it was nearly impossible to escape classmates and friends. These boys were a part of the boarding program here in the 50’s and 60’s. But they would argue that this living arrangement was beneficial. Over the course of the boarding program, the school hosted Marksmen in many different places on campus, according to Warren Foxworth ‘66. “They stayed in a building that was called Higginbotham Hall,” Foxworth said. “Higginbotham Hall was a long, low building that was used as a boarding department and that was used in the early 50’s. Around 1960, they decided to do away with the boarding program, and they turned Higginbotham Hall into the Lower School along with administration.” One boarder who stayed in Higginbotham Hall was Jon Stasney ‘59. “It had the school nurse’s living quarters as well as some living quarters for faculty,” Stasney said. “Doc Nelson had an apartment there attached to it. J.J. Connolly was the dorm master, and so he had a

HIGGINBOTHAM HALL Home of the boarders when the program was on campus.

HANGING OUT Boarders spend time with their faculty supervisors in Higginbotham Hall, which is where the boarders would live during the 1950’s. The students played chess and ping-pong to pass the time.

room, kind of a little apartment.” In early 1960, the school got rid of the boarding program on campus. However, teachers began to keep students in their houses. “One teacher was J.J. Connolly, and the others were Arthur Douglas and Gerald Hacker,” Foxworth said. “Mr. Connolly lived on Emerson Lane, and Mr. Hacker’s house was on Orchid right next to school.” Another student who stayed with a teacher off campus was Bill Clarkson ‘66. “There were four students that Mr. Hacker and Mr. Douglas oversaw in the house,” Clarkson said. “We all lived in one bunk room and had our domestic duties for which we were responsible: Cleaning up, washing dishes after dinner, et cetera. Mr. Hacker who was the owner of the house, and he was a pretty stern taskmaster.” Some of those four boys that stayed in the Hacker House include Brit Kolar ‘64 and Tommy Lee Jones ‘65. While the Hacker house was under care of Douglas and Hacker, Connolly was in charge of both Higginbotham Hall and his own house in which he boarded students. According to Stasney, who stayed with Connolly, the boarders became very close with their faculty overseers. “When we first got there, everybody was scared of [Connolly], because he was such a disciplinarian and he required a lot from you in the classroom,” Stasney said. “But we sensed that love was behind it, that he really wanted our good and he became our class favorite, and he became the one that everyone visited, more than any other faculty member. We recognized that he really wanted the best for us, and that was the reason for his strictness.” Even though they lived in very different situations than a day student, the boarders’ lives were similar to a typical day student. “It wasn’t as different as it could be at a boarding school, where you were more confined to quarters, because we could go visit people and fellow students at their homes and do things with them on the weekend,” Stasney said. “Whenever the Texas State Fair was operating, we could go down

there and not have to be back till 11 o’clock in the night.” One of the reasons the boarding students felt more at home was the bonds they formed with their classmates and their classmates’ parents. “All four of us had close friends who were day students,” Clarkson said, “and these friends were very generous in inviting us into their homes. Some of my closest friends became like brothers to me, and their parents became second parents to me.” Much like college, the boarders experienced life without parents, which prepared them for their college years and beyond. “Had I gone to college right out of another high school, I would’ve been a disaster case,” Clarkson said. “I became prepared for life outside of high school, not just academics.” Even though students typically would be confined to the campus at typical boarding schools, Marksmen boarders would have lots of REACHING OUT freedom and activiBill Clarkson ’66 ties with their faculty shakes a hand during his senior sponsors. year. “Mr. Hacker would encourage us to go with him on Monday nights to the symphony,” Clarkson said. “He introduced us to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and we didn’t want to go with him originally, but to keep on his good side we’d go with him.” In the end, the boarders seemed to agree that it was the people around them that really made the experience worthwhile. “It was faculty, like J.J. Connolly or Victor White,” Stasney said, “and John Caldwell who lived in a small apartment in Wirt Davis Hall, who had a mentally challenged son who stayed there, and they took care of. These people were giants in terms of what they modeled. That was where the emphasis was: people who lived a life that was exemplary and made you want to be like them.”

In their own words While being around friends and classmates constantly, boarders have countless stories about some of their teachers, classmates — and even a snake.

> I still remember when one of them; a very lightweight kid with the highest grades in our class, who was also my roommate, was sent into his first football game to kick the extra-point after a touchdown. The coach was very nervous, but when I asked him if was concerned that my roommate would miss the kick, he replied that he didn’t care about that. He was afraid some opposing lineman would kill the kicker. — Richard Evans ’57 > We walked over to school one morning and a bunch of us had circled around on the football field because there was a small garter snake on the ground. Nobody wanted to touch it, and Mr. Douglas waddles over with his pipe and his tweed jacket, and he picked the snake up and rolled it into a ball and put it into his mouth and walked away. We couldn’t believe it, but of course he knew that when snakes are put in a dark place, they just curl up. He took it on to his classroom and put it in his terrarium. — Bill Clarkson ’66 > I was staying in and studying, and the headmaster came in and basically kicked me out, and he gave me the keys to his personal car. I was 14 years old, and I had just gotten my driver’s license, and he told me to just go over to Hockaday, just get off the campus, and I have never forgotten that. Having that kind of positive reinforcement made me want to keep behaving myself. — Jon Stasney ’59

• Story Lyle Ochs, Sid Vattamreddy Photos Courtesy of the Development Office.

Upper School Math Team leaves today to compete in Harvard-MIT Mathematics Tournament by Wallace White he math team is attending the annual Harvard-MIT Mathematics Tournament to compete against schools from across the world today. The competition has hosted over 200 teams since 1998 as a joint effort between Harvard and MIT students to foster interest in mathematics in high school students. The math team will compete at MIT this year. Math team sponsors Corindo Martin and Amy Pool selected eight members of the Upper School math team with an alternate. These include Seniors Kevin Feng and Jesse Zhong, Juniors Dylan Liu, Richard Shen and Albert Luo, Sophomores Sahitya Senapathy and Nicholas Tsao and Freshman Max Wu and David Yang. “Typically, you have to be in the top 40 teams to get asked back every

year, and we’ve been going every year,” Martin said. “We’ve usually been in there in 45th and 50th. We’ve been going very often. We wanted to do something to stretch our Upper School math team. Certainly, we want bright math scholars, but also ones that can work as a team.” The composition of a team is chosen based on the individual student’s specialties to maximize their efficiency. Since the math team is technically a club, they don’t have access to a typical class period like other schools. “We devote only two periods a week to this endeavor, and ask the kids to practice on their own,” Martin said. “We compete with schools whose only focus is math and science and finishing in the top 40 says a lot

about the quality of the students.” Martin hopes that the prominence of the tournament will inspire more students to join the math team. He hopes to challenge the math team’s students for a spot in the competition much like he

does with his soccer team. “You’re trying to create some competition within the team so that everyone gets better,” Martin said. “It’s a big deal, and this is the highlight of the year for our boys.”

News •February 9, 2018 • The ReMarker • Page 5

EXAMINING THE EXHIBITION In the picture

Senior exhibitions

THE TRADITION For decades, the senior exhibition has been a culminating moment for graduating seniors. However, how valuable they are to listening underclassmen has been in question for some time.

For nearly a quarter of a century, the senior exhibition has been a cornerstone graduation requirement. However, with the exhibitions becoming more routine, one question arises. How can we improve the senior ex?

hen students hear “senior ex,” they might think of football highlights, ceramics demonstrations or a slideshow of pictures from a Bhutan photography trip. These presentations usually center around one activity or interest of the senior and allow younger students to hear about the many different clubs, sports, publications and leadership opportunities that Marksmen have. But after sitting through dozens of senior exhibitions, the once open and excited eyes in the audience begin to close and doze off, un-interested in what their upperclassmen have to tell them. Senior exhibitions have been a long running tradition of the school and are culminating moments for seniors, but how much are students really getting out of the senior ex? The senior exhibition (senior ex) program

was created by former Headmaster Arnie Holtberg shortly after arriving at the school in 1993. “It was a program that he initiated,” Associate Headmaster John Ashton said, “that dates back to the mid 90’s as the school’s desire for a culminating presentation for seniors to give about a topic that they are passionate about in order to give them exposure to presenting to a large group.” The current senior ex system is the same as it was when it first started, still focused on a single activity or interest a senior has. “Students in the spring of their junior year identify a topic that they want to present on,” Ashton said, “and they sub-

mit that topic for approval. They choose a faculty or staff member to be their senior ex advisor, and the expectation is that they will put together a presentation that should be 15-20 minutes in length followed by a question and answer session about a topic that they are passionate about or that has significant meaning to them.” The Philosophy Club, run by Malcolm and Minda Brachman Master Teacher Martin Stegemoeller, has been discussing the current senior ex system and how it could potentially be changed. “I don’t know many seniors that feel great about it,” Stegemoeller said. “I don’t think there are many teachers or class sponsors that get excited when their grade has a senior ex. Not that they aren’t good or not helpful, I just think many people find it stale.” Senior Niteesh Vemuri, a member of the Philosophy club, also thinks the current system needs to be tweaked. “I personally find that people are more interested in hearing stories,” Vemuri said, “or watching some incredibly mind-boggling demonstrations. It’s not necessarily a flaw with the system, in my opinion, but it is a problem with the misconception that senior ex’s are meant to be narrow and explanatory rather than narratively-oriented, reflective and broad-minded.” Instead of focusing on one activity,

students have proposed broadening the senior ex speeches to a “path to manhood” style discussion. “I feel like senior ex’s could be far better served by talking more about a

• Story Andy Crowe, James Rogers Photo Adnan Khan

personal evolution,” Vemuri said, “or a mental or emotional journey rather than a sport or a fine art.” A presentation about a lifelong journey would allow seniors to present on something more meaningful than a club. “It’s designed to be about a slice of something you’re interested in,” Stegemoeller said, “instead of trying to sum up the entirety of what your time here has meant to you in your life, in your growth. It’s not an easy thing to talk about, how you’ve grown as a man.” Scheduling is another element to the senior ex speeches that might be changed. “One of the biggest tweaks that probably needs to happen is how we disperse the audiences to which the seniors present to more broadly,” Ashton said. “It probably won’t surprise you that Middle School gets the most presentations. Seniors often think, ‘well here’s what I wish I would’ve known when I was in seventh or eighth grade.’” With speeches not limited to a single activity of interest that shaped the presenter’s Upper School years, the senior ex presentations might become more relevant to younger students than they currently are. Regardless of future changes, the core of the senior ex is rooted in tradition and many community members admire the ability it allows students to learn about their upperclassmen and in turn, learn about something they might involve themselves in during Upper School. “The senior ex is unique to St. Mark’s because it gives the community an insight into an aspect of a boy’s interest that we might not get otherwise,” Ashton said,

“and I think that’s incredibly valuable. We get to interact with you guys in lots of different contexts, and we may know that you play sports, participate in fine arts or how you’re doing in classes. We may not know that you have this very specific interest in a specific way to the degree that you do.”

Senior exhibition: the fast facts Speech should be about five minutes Speech must be written one to two weeks before presentation Possible introductions: “hook” for interest, origin story or explanation of program Your senior ex advisor approves your speech, visuals and narration Seniors must practice in front of Rick Cerovsky before actual presentation Seniors must follow up with the class sponsor, coach or teacher to whose students they presented Advisor also writes your official evaluation

Page 6 • The ReMarker • February 9, 2018 • News

Behind the Wifi

Chief Technology Officer Paul DiVincenzo reveals the truth behind the school’s wifi and acceptable use policies. Andy Crowe: How does the Wifi policy help students? Paul DiVincenzo: One thing I’ve been trying to emphasize is the use of social media and what you do now is going to affect you five years from now, ten years from now. It’s going to follow you. Everybody is at a point where you don’t necessarily think about what the long-term impact is. So that’s what I try to emphasize. Think before you Snapchat, before you post on Instagram. I think everyone is pretty aware about what the do’s and don’t’s are in terms of internet usage on campus. We teach it in Computer Science starting in first grade. We have instituted a digital citizenship component to the Computer Science program. I think that as the boys progress through St. Mark’s, we are going to see the fruit of that. AC: What is the digital citizenship program? PD: What we are teaching is just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should— and really just how to be a good digital citizens. We’re teaching about cyber bullying and how it’s just as wrong to put something on social media or in and email or in a text message as it is to say it directly to someone’s face. I have seen the amount of cyber bullying decline significantly over the past couple of years. I’m very happy to be able to say that. AC: How does the school block content? PD: We have a content filter that helps with preventing access to certain sites. We do try to be as educationally aware as possible. We don’t want to block things for the sake of blocking them if there’s an educational element to it. We really have tried to tune the content filter to that. That said, the content filter also logs every click you make on the internet through the school. So you go to Google, it logs that you go to Google. AC: How does the school decide what websites to block? PD: The content filter is based upon ‘group definitions.’ As an example, one of the groups that we block is ‘gambling’ for obvious reasons. The company that we use constantly updates what fits into that algorithm. We don’t have to sit here and research what to block on a daily basis. AC: What happens if someone needs to access a blocked site? PD: What we do try to do is if there is a site that has been invariably included in a filter that a student or faculty member requests access to, we will whitelist it and allow access to it. We’ve had to do that for a number of sites that might otherwise be classified as ‘gaming’ sites. A great example of that is Minecraft which we are using in computer science as well as Dr. Westbury’s history class which uses it.

The Consensus Do you think the repeal of Net Neutrality will affect you?

67% 67% • YES • NO Do you understand Net Neutrality?

70% 23% • YES • NO Poll taken from 50 students

Now what?

CAUGHT IN A NET

With the repeal of net neutrality, how will campus internet usage change?

ybersecurity. Data throttling issues. Online harassment. Now, net neutrality joins the ever-growing list of issues facing internet-users. With the recent repeal of net neutrality, the power of managing online traffic has come under national limelight. How should we data-users wield this responsibility? Net neutrality is the concept that all internet traffic should be treated equally, from the smallest blog to highly-trafficked websites like YouTube and Reddit. Complications in managing this traffic arise when the wants of individuals clash with the needs of larger companies. With the internet only being invented a few decades ago, net neutrality is a relatively new topic. Chief Technology Officer Paul DiVincenzo believes the internet will most likely head in its own direction, regardless of attempts to restrain large amounts of users. “I personally feel that [the internet] should remain how it started out, which is simply a means of sharing information equal to everyone,” DiVincenzo said. “I don’t believe that’s how it will ever be, though.” When economics are considered, net neutrality is potentially a hindrance to the internet’s development. When bigger companies pay more for online privileges, they simultaneously support online growth as a whole, creating new avenues for smaller websites.

“Economically, net neutrality may stunt further investment in the internet by the big companies that carry the world’s traffic,” DiVincenzo said. “That’s one of the biggest arguments against it. [Policies against net neutrality] have everything to do with generating revenue to reinvest into the core backbone infrastructure of the internet.” However, DiVincenzo also believes that there are benefits to a net-neutral internet system. “The pros are pretty simple,” DiVincenzo said. “Equal access to content for everyone is exactly that. The little guy has the same fair shake as the big guy. Content is not censored in any way, whether it be politically, religiously or the ability to pay. Several companies have already managed to sidestep • ‘I don’t think the grasp of net neuwe’re going to trality. For example, see anything in some content providers the immediate future in terms of put themselves at an changes.’ advantage over similar Chief competitors by paying Technology wireless companies to Officer Paul let their users stream DiVincenzo content at no data cost. “In some ways, we already see [the repeal of net neutrality] now,” DiVincenzo said. “If you look at what some of the wireless companies are offering, you can watch Netflix or YouTube all you want without using your data. And that, in effect, is saying, ‘We’re giving preference to Netflix and YouTube.’ And how does

that impact other content providers such as Hulu or Roku who have competing services? They’re eating into your data plan, so effectively, there’s a charge associated with that.” DiVincenzo believes the repeal of net neutrality will have few short term impacts for internet users; however, after net neutrality falls out of the national limelight, the significant implementations will begin to take effect in weeks or months to come. “I don’t think we’re going to see anything in the immediate future in terms of changes and how the large telecommunications companies handle [the lack of net neutrality],” DiVincenzo said. “All eyes are on them for the immediate future, but over time as people tend to begin to focus on other things and become less focused on net neutrality as it drops out of the news, that’s when you’re going to start to see these companies make shifts and changes. Probably small at first, so as not to draw attention, but over time, I absolutely believe that we’re going to see a pay-to-play environment.” For campus internet usage, DiVincenzo foresees changes to our information intake that is vital to different classes. “Right now we have access to everything throughout the world on the internet equally,” DiVincenzo said. “Once that equality has been taken away, it’s going to be no different than a Google search, [where] top hits are based on advertising dollars and who pays Google the most.”

• Story Zoheb Khan, Michael Lukowicz Artwork Nathan Han

Junior Saha works with teen depression support group, We Fall We Rise by Christopher Wang s the suicide rate of teenagers in the U.S. steadily increases every year, support group We Fall We Rise (WFWR)—founded by Ursuline junior Isabella Hernandez— looks to cut this number down one by one. The support group is currently in the making with the help of various St. Mark’s students, including junior Aysuh Saha. He believes raising awarness and preventing teen depression is a cause worth fighting for. “It’s been [Hernandez’s] really long dream to create her own support group for kids who are going through all types of depression,” Saha said, “so she came up with this project.” Saha’s own experience with depression is what drove him to join Hernandez’s group. “I went through depression myself

for three years from seventh grade to ninth grade,” Saha said, “and I have many friends who are going through depression right now, so having been through that experience myself and having so many people close to me going through that experience makes me want to help others.” Future events are beginning to be planned, and WFWR is hoping to be in full swing by the end of March 2018. “There are many aspects to our group,” Saha said, “and we’re trying to have an event on March 22. We have an actual therapist to help us start the support group and [Hernandez] is also trying to pair up with my foundation, which is an arts and literature charity event. We also have a donation page to try to get a lot of resources to help kids.” WFWR’s message to teens who suffer from depression and are too scared to

ask for help is that there are some groups that are able to help them out in many ways. “Everyone’s situation is very different,” Saha said, “and I would never want to push someone to do something they wouldn’t want to do, but I would tell them that there are a lot of people and a lot of groups that there are a lot of resources he or she can do to help.” Ultimately, Saha wants the program to be open to kids under high stress and not just those suffering from severe depression. “This program isn’t just for people under severe depression,” Saha said. “This is for everyone under high stress, as I know this is a high stress school. For anyone going through troubles at school or with friends, you can easily be a part of this, and it’s not just for extreme depression.”

News • February 9, 2018 • The ReMarker • Page 7

MONEY’S WORTH CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE

Though not often talked about, financial aid is a major force on campus. Millions of dollars go into it and scores of students benefit from it. It’s important, and Goals IV makes it even more so.

very year he gives back. Gives back to the fund that gave him the opportunity to come here. Gives back to pay it for-

ward. Gives back to the school, so it can enroll students who are in the same shoes he was in many years ago. Every year, Admission Officer Korey Mack ’00 gives back to the St. Mark’s Fund. Not because he feels obligated, but because he recognizes and appreciates the doors that financial aid opened for him. Mack’s tale of going through the school on financial aid isn’t a unique one: nearly 15 percent of the student body receives some form of aid during their time here. Just last year, $2.3 million of financial aid was awarded to 125 boys attending the school. •••

“I feel very fortunate having started at St. Mark’s in 1989 as a financial aid student myself,” Mack said. “And as an alum it has really not only inspired me to want to join St. Mark’s in this role in admission, but it’s also inspiring when the development office asks for contributions to the St. Mark’s Fund. I feel it is incumbent on me to make a contribution every year because I know that others kind of paved the way so that I had the opportunity to go to St. Mark’s.” Mack’s contributions are paving the way for scores of Marksmen to attend the school. One of those Marksmen who benefits from the financial aid is sophomore Ricky Rodriguez, who lives with seven brothers and a sister.

Financial aid brings in $2.3 million for almost 130 students every year. And according to some, there’s still work to be done. “Financial aid has benefited me in a way that really helps because I have a lot of brothers and sisters and it’s kind of hard for us to manage every single kid,” Rodriguez said. “So by us having financial aid, it’s easier on my parents not having to pay the full tuition.” Rodriguez’s story is what the financial aid program represents. Headmaster David Dini suggests it’s about giving qualified boys who might not otherwise have the opportunity to come here a chance to be a part of the community. “Our goal is really to provide more future accessibility and expanded funding so that if a really talented boy comes here, but his family is in a position where they might not otherwise be able to send their son here,” Dini said, “we want to make sure we have the resources to say yes to that family.” And though financial aid might not be a visible force on campus, it is one of the core objectives de-

MORE THAN A NUMBER Three Marksmen — Korey Mack ‘00, John Loza ‘81 and sophomore Ricky Rodriguez were given the opportunity to attend the school through assistance from others in the community.

scribed in Goals for St. Mark’s IV, the set of resolutions meant to guide the next era of the school’s development. For many, it’s the silent force at the heart of it all. “Dating back to the school’s very early history, there was a focus on building the endowment and providing resources to ensure that St. Mark’s would be able to attract the strongest student body imaginable,” Dini said, “and to the extent possible, remove financial barriers for students and families who otherwise might not be able to attend the school.” Outlined in Goals for St. Mark’s IV as “Enrollment, Access and Affordability,” the approach to enrollment is being refined and expanded. Using Goals IV as a platform, the administrators are beginning to create a plan to address the topics. “The core objective of this year is formulating a really intentional and deliberate strategic plan for these topics,” Dini said. “We want to make sure in the future that we have an expanded resource base to address enrollment.” Before the administration put a heavy emphasis on making the school more accessible, it was viewed by many as a school only for the rich. However, established lawyer Adelfa Callejo, who passed away in 2014, took the initiative into her own hands: she provided financial assistance for Mexican-American students to attend private schools all over Dallas. One of those students was John Loza ’81, who went on to Harvard and SMU School of Law. At 33, he was elected to the Dallas City Council. Now, almost four years after Callejo’s death, Loza stresses the impact she made on his family and the families of so many others in the community was paramount. “Mrs. Callejo is a perfect example of someone

who changed things because of the opportunities with which she was presented,” Loza said. “She was a very inspiring person, instrumental in trying to get more educational opportunities for young Mexican-American students.” Loza remembers not only the importance of what Callejo did for the Mexican-American community, but also the importance socio-economic diversity holds at the school. “Having been born and raised here in Dallas,” Loza said, “I know that it’s important that we have a lot of bright, young kids from lower economic backgrounds that really have a great deal of potential for learning and for advancement. They have a great deal to contribute to the city. It’s important that St. Mark’s be reflective of that.” Director of Admission and Financial Aid David Baker has watched the development of the school’s financial aid program grow, and he says the advancements in the program are positively affecting the community. “I think we are on the verge of some very exciting and forward thinking times at St. Mark’s related to finance tuition assistance,” Baker said. “[Tuition assistance] is not just a benefit for them, it benefits everybody. They are important contributors to the conversation and that conversation is campus wide.” Loza hopes these advancements the school is making will inspire others in the community to advocate for education like Callejo did. “Education was always one of her priorities,” Loza said. “I’m hoping there are other Adelfa Callejos that come forward from all kinds of communities to give kids the chance to take advantage of the education that St. Mark’s has to offer.”

• Story Rett Daugbjerg, Kamal Mamdani, Christopher Wang Photos Riley Sanders. The breakdown of financial aid, both on campus and around the nation

$16,900.00

$2.3 Million

130 students

national average financial aid grant per independent school student

of tuition assistance awarded by the school last year

average number of students who receive tuition assistance each year

15 percent

of students are on financial aid at St. Mark’s

vs.

24 percent

of students at independent schools who are on financial aid around the country

The future of financial aid, as stated by Goals IV

Objective: Assemble the most qualified student body from a broadly diverse pool of applicants who exhibit intellectual curiosity, strong character and a desire to contribute to St. Mark’s in meaningful ways.

1. Evaluate and strength-

en our admission practices to attract, enroll and retain the most qualified students.

2. Increase the availability

of financial support at St. Mark’s in order to enroll the most qualified students, regardless of financial need.

3. Develop a long-term strategy to slow tuition escalation and improve access and affordability.

‘

As we look to the future and in Goals IV, we wanted to make sure that the continuing goal and objective is really highlighted and elevated in many ways.”

— Headmaster David Dini

Source: NAIS, St. Mark’s Office of Admission

Page 8 • The ReMarker • February 9, 2018 • News

APPS MADE EASIER College application tips

For many students, the college application process is a long and rigorous one. Here are some tips from seniors to ease the process. Harris Wilson Getting past the hard part

It felt so good to even get over that hump of writing quality drafts that [College Counselor Casey] Gendason approves, and then you know from there on out, it’s just editing and minor Harris tweaks. Wilson Clicking Currently undecided the submit button is incredibly rewarding. Connect with your college counselors early and get to know them so they can know you better and help support you more effectively. Kyle Zhang Beat the deadline

My favorite part or high point of the process was going through my accomplishments from the last few years of high school and selecting pieces for my resume. But make sure you map out your time wisely, especially if you’re applying to more than a few colleges. It’s easy to procrastinate until the end. Don’t just meet the deadline, beat the deadline.

GRUELING PROCESS Even when college applications are submitted, the pressure of what is to come after St. Mark’s piles on seniors up until the day they open their acceptance letters.

Get everything done early. Trust me. You’ll be a lot happier if you do. Niteesh Vemuri Care about your choices

The most imNiteesh portant thing Vemuri about the colWill attend lege process, I University of Pennsylvania think, is getting a head start. Make sure you know the schools you’re applying to extremely well, whether that means visiting or speaking with past alumni. Every school is different. I made the mistake of having some 18 schools on my list based on their names and reputations. Looking back on it, I don’t think I would’ve attended half of those. Sammy Sanchez Don’t procrastinate

I definitely think you should start working on your essays way before they’re due. Marksmen can be procrastinators at heart, and you make the whole process more enjoyable. I would also recommend getting to know both of the college counselors really well because they’re gonna be your

number one allies in all of this. Also, remember that there’s no secret to getting into a college that isn’t in your range—if you can’t get in, you can’t get in. On a similar note, don’t be afraid to let the counselors add a college or two to your list, even if you’ve never heard of them. Kannan Sharma Be honest to colleges

I know we’re all Marksmen, and we all procrastinate. I’m not gonna lie; there were some times where us seniors were finishing up an application minutes before it was due. If you really wanna get into the college you’ve been looking at, work on those apps. While you’re working though, don’t try and write super fancy essays that don’t fit your personality. Rohan Vemu Be open to new schools

Go into the college process with an open mind. Don’t restrict yourself on the colleges you plan on applying to because you think you “only fit” there. The low point of the college process is definitely waiting for your decision and

• Interviews Nick Malvezzi, Duncan Kirstein Photo Riley Sanders

procrastinating on homework and other college essays during that period of time. It ends up being worth it. Even the low points weren’t all bad. Just remember to keep an open mind and don’t get too stressed out about things. Don’t write something you think colleges want to hear. The college you go to doesn’t matter as much as you think. No matter what, you’ll do amazing things. Avery Pearson Talk to the counselors

The college process is very long and hard, but you gotta keep your head up, even if you get deferred or declined from a college. Just make sure you talk to the college counselors almost every day, since they’ll be your best friends by Avery the end of the Pearson Currently trimester. undecided Also, be honest with colleges. Colleges can always tell if you’re being genuine, and they’ll really appreciate it. You’ll get a lot more from the truth, and your essays will be a lot easier to write and edit that way.

In the picture

Preventing the flu With the flu being nationally recognized as an epedemic, here are some tips from School Nurse Julie Doerge to help with prevention.

Remember to get a flu shot as soon as possible to avoid the worst strains of the flu this season.

Always wash your hands before you eat, avoid touching dirty things and keep hand sanitizer nearby.

Make sure to cover your mouth if you cough to avoid spreading germs to others.

Chris McElhaney photo ARNOLD E. HOLTBERG ACADEMIC CENTER The Board of Trustees unanimously decided to honor the former headmaster of 21 years, Arnie Holtberg, Jan. 9. The board rededicated Centennial Hall as the “Arnold E. Holtberg Academic Center.” A plaque and inscription was added to comemorate the occasion. “The legacy Arnie has left here is incredible,” Headmaster David W. Dini said, “so it’s only fitting that his name should be atop this building.” New wording on Centennial Hall (inset) reflects the honor bestowed on Holtberg.

If all else fails and you do get sick, stay home because the flu is very contagious.

News • February 9, 2018 • The ReMarker • Page 9

MORE THAN JUST A VACATION National Park explorers

As the National Parks and Wildlife Service celebrates its 50th anniversary, seniors Ben Hurst and Ethan Pittson, seasoned explorers, share their stories.

VETERAN EXPLORERS For more than 12 years, seniors Ben Hurst (left) and Ethan Pittson (right) have spent their free time exploring the American National Parks.

tarving, thirsty and with a backpack weighing him down, senior Ethan Pittson took another step. The moon slowly disappeared in the horizon and rocks tumbled down the winding, unmarked path as gravity pushed his heavy feet down the side of the canyon. With no trail in sight, only one thought ran through Pittson’s mind. I’m going to die.

•••

Pittson and fellow senior Ben Hurst have traveled to more than 150 national parks combined. For both of them, it started out as a fun detour on a family road trip before they were even in first grade, but it ended up becoming a tradition they’ve continued for 12 years. The same tradition that’s been enjoyed by adventurers all over the country for half a century, as the National Parks and Wildlife Service celebrated its 50th anniversary Dec. 18. Even though they’ve been to many of the same parks, their experiences are widely different. Out of all the parks Hurst has visited, the Great Sand Dunes have been his best memory. “If I had to choose my favorite,” Hurst said, “I’d choose the Great Sand Dunes because it’s just massive, 700-foot sand dunes in the middle of a grassland with a couple mountains behind it.” But when Pittson visited the Great Sand Dunes, the ground was too hot to walk on, the river was completely dry and the temperature was above 105 degrees. He considers his favorite national park to be Crater Lake, the park in Oregon where he volunteered for four weeks last summer under the Student Conservation Association. It’s also where he almost died. “Our last weekend there, we decided to go out on a

day hike,” Pittson said. “We hiked to one place and set up tents there. The second day we did a day hike, and the third day we hiked back.” The group was supposed to follow a trail leading to a beautiful waterfall they wanted to see. But when they reached the trail, they realized a forest fire had burned everything down. With no map or GPS, the group found a separate path they’d hoped would lead them to their destination. It didn’t. “We were supposed to be going northeast,” Pittson said, “but I was pretty sure we were going west. I mean, we were looking straight at the sun.” By the time Pittson’s group realized they were walking in the wrong direction, it was 5:30 p.m., nobody had eaten lunch and the sun was on its way down. They knew they could find their way to the waterfall if they just headed due east, but there was an obstacle in their path: a 1,000 foot canyon. “We can’t see anything going up or down this canyon,” Pittson said. “It’s pitch dark outside, so that made it even worse. It’s probably the closest I’ve ever come to death.” With just one slip making the difference between life and death, Pittson spent more than seven hours climbing up and down the canyon. When he finally reached his campsite, he was completely out of breath and thankful to be alive. Even though it’s a vacation for them, Hurst and

Pittson have been pushed to their limits by the parks over the years. Through all the obstacles and difficulties, Hurst believes his adventures have helped him build character. “You’re hiking in the summer all the time,” Hurst said. “There’s the heat, the 105 degree heat, especially in some of the southern parks like New Mexico and Arizona, but you’re working towards a goal. You want

to see what’s out there, you’re exploring the world. That’s guided my perseverance into making me better in school and life in general.” Despite all the tough journeys he’s been through, Pittson still thinks of national parks as soothing sites with an abundance of history and views for him to take in. “It’s the calming setting that I really love,” Pittson said. “That’s why I find it as a vacation. Going there, it just brings me back to reality, even though it’s completely out of reality. Seeing so many amazing things on this earth, it’s just breathtaking.” Hurst and Pittson believe there’s no reason to be afraid

of exploring national parks. For them, it’s an eye-opening experience that’s become a major part of their lives. “There are purely historical parks, and there are ones like the Grand Canyon where it’s literally a grand canyon,” Hurst said. “Whichever one interests you the most, just go see that one because national parks, when you visit them, they drive your passion. And if you play with that passion, you’ll enjoy it more.” In the past two years, Hurst’s • ‘Going out and seeing summers have been too busy for all these amazing him to visit a park. He hopes that places, it really after he graduates, he’ll be able to gives you a different perspective and makes go on another road trip. Pittson you look at the world plans to major in Geophysics and from a different light.’ Geology, which will require him Senior Ben Hurst to spend time working in parks, but he still plans to spend his vacations exploring more new sites. “I’ve talked to my parents, and we’ll still be continuing to go to national parks in the summer,” Pittson said. “And I definitely plan on keeping up the tradition with my future family. It’s become one of my passions but also shaped all my other passions that have come to be what I’m going to pursue as my career.”

• Story Ishan Gupta, Chris Wang Photos Courtesy Ethan Pittson, Ben Hurst

Andrew Smith to compete in Poetry Out Loud competition by Ishan Gupta enior Andrew Smith will travel to Austin Feb. 24 to represent the school at the state Poetry Out Loud competition. Smith was chosen to go after he won the Upper School competition during an assembly. He performed the poem “The Destruction of Sennacherib” by Lord George Gordon Byron, which is also one of the poems he’ll perform at state. “At state competition, you have three poems that you say in a specific order,” Smith said. “I’m also saying ‘Ozymandias’ by Percy Bysshe Shelley, and that’s for the qualifying round. Then, if you get to the final round, you say another poem. If I make it to that, I’ll be performing ‘Israfel’ by Edgar Allan Poe.” Smith was not an avid fan of poetry, but he decided to give the competition his best shot when he was introduced to it during his English class. “It was [GayMarie] Vaughan and [Geoffrey] Stanbury who were the main ones who pushed it,” Smith said, “and they had mandated that everyone in their classes participate. Everyone had a poem and said it in front of the class to at least attempt to

qualify.” In Smith’s class, the students were given two weeks to choose their poems, and afterwards they practiced memorizing and performing their poems every Friday. Stanbury began the in-class competition with Vaughan this year to encourage their students to engage more in poetry. “We decided to try it this year just between the two of us in order to figure out how to do it well with the hopes that we would then share it as an option with the entire English Department,” Stanbury said. If Smith wins at state, he’ll go on to compete at nationals, which will be webcasted live. The semifinals and finals will be located at George Washington University. Smith was not originally set on making nationals, but now that he’s reached this level, he hopes to get as far as he possibly can. “I would like to see if I can make the nationals just because I put in the effort,” Smith said, “and I would like to see if I can get to that point. It’s a little bit of ‘Let’s see how it goes. I like poetry and, to a certain degree, recital,’ a little bit of happenstance and a little bit of ‘Sure why not, let’s go for it.’”

News • February 9, 2018 • The ReMarker • Page 10

THE MANUAL Your guide to all things manly

In this issue: Tech Highlights 2018 Sage Mid-Year Review

Vive Pro Purely wireless technology. Seventy-eight percent increase in resolution. Integrated headphones. Three major steps in the right direction when it comes to improving the virtual reality (VR) experience. PC gamers will greatly appreciate these Wireupdates from HTC that put the less Vive Pro at the forefront of VR Charging: systems. Like wifi, but for power. Completely wireless charging for all mobile devices, from phones to computers, is looking to be the future of how we power up. Company WiCharge integrated technology that converts light energy into more juice, just like a solar panel.

HQ Trivia

It’s the newest and hottest app on the market: HQ Trivia. In this high-stakes trivia game, players have the chance to win thousands of dollars. All you have to do is correctly answer 12 questions. Here are some tips and tricks to take your trivia game to the next level.

Tech Talk

Invite others to join

Whenever a new person joins and plays using your referral code, HQ Trivia rewards you with an “Extra Life” in your account, allowing you to continue playing after you answer a question wrong. It is applied automatically and can only be used once per game, but that could be just the sort of wiggle room you’ll need to win big.

Play with a group

Play as much as you can

Keep watching after you’re out

Laundroid: Fully-auThe world is changing. Fast. tomatic laundry-folding Last month, geniuses and closet-machine with entrepreneurs gathered built-in artificial intellifrom around the world to gence, voice recognition showcase their innovations. and a connected style We highligted the top app? No, it’s not a joke. products from this year’s Design company SevConsumer Electronics en Dreamers unveiled Show. Disclaimer: another prototype for their These will blow folding machine, taking your mind. The the connected home Wall: (and laziness) to No one asked a whole new for a 146-inch MicroLED level. TV, but Samsung made one anyway. The massive screen is made up of LEDs only one micrometer, showing brighter whites and deeper blacks with crisper resolution than displays currently on the market. The Wall shows off the fully modular and scalable future of Samsung, and maybe all, televisions.

Obviously, assembling a team of smart folks dramatically increases your chances at winning. Just make sure each person plays on their own device. That way, when there comes a question that everyone is iffy on, you can submit multiple answers and stand a better chance to make it all the way to the end.

It goes without saying that the only way to get better at trivia is to practice, so play as much as you can. Enable your notifications and you’ll receive an alert a couple minutes before each game so you’ll know exactly when it’s time to take that “bathroom break.”

As tempting as it is to close the app immediately after you answer a question wrong, it actually pays to stick around and watch the rest of the game. Not only does it hone your trivia skills, but you may have a chance at unlocking an extra life. HQ Trivia occasionally offers anyone who is playing or watching a prize box, which might reward you with an extra life (if you’re lucky).

• Compilation Zach Landry, Sam Goldfarb Photos Courtesy Samsung Presskit, Seven Dreamers Presskit, CNET.com, HTC Presskit

• Guide Zach Landry

Verbatim

HIGHS &v LOWS

Sage Soundbites

The following six entreés are some of the most liked and disliked foods, according to data obtained through responses in the Touch of Sage App.

Highs

Pollock Whitefish

Pizza

Enchilada casserole

Baked chicken

Indian food

Burgers

Tofu

Sloppy joes

Jerk chicken wings

Chili

• Infographic Nick Malvezzi

“

The panini is the best thing because if I don’t like a specific lunch, the panini is always a safe option. The fresh lemonade is pretty clutch too. I don’t really like the plates though. I liked the trays because you can put more things on them. – Junior Shane Ndeda

Lows

Cheeseburger Soup

After half of a year with Sage, students on campus give their opinions on the new food service.

“

Hot take: The most slept on food in the entire cafeteria is cottage cheese. – Senior Owen Berger

“

I like Sage. The food is good, but the lines are really long, and they don’t give enough of a portion on the first serving. – Freshman Sai Thirunagari

Page 11

Hanging out with... junior Landon Wood

LIFE

Find out about the Junior Class president’s leisure activities and special talents.

Ryan McCord photo What do you do in your free time? I play a lot of video games, just like everyone else, and usually hang out with [Hockaday junior] Elizabeth Burns, otherwise known as E. Burns, who everyone likes to poke fun at me for. What special talents would you say you have? I don’t really have anything that’s really cool, but I do have the innate ability to have Whataburger at least three times a week. Other than that, not really anything. What is the coolest thing you own? I took the football name plate off my locker that says “57 Landon Wood” and I put it on my door and I’m really proud of that. I think that was pretty sick. How would you describe your personality in three words? I would say caring, loud and thick. What do you have in your car right now? I have a dirty pair of sweatpants, a TI-84 calculator. I have my lacrosse stick, my swimming parka and a lot of fast-food receipts. What has been the most interesting experience as class president? Definitely the most fun thing I did was overseeing McDonald’s Week and being on several of those committees and working with [juniors] Blake [Rogers] and Parker [Davis] to do everything. What is your favorite Sage lunch meal? I can’t really think of a specific meal, but I will say one of the best items on their menu is the lemonade. It’s really good. What is your proudest achievement? Just being as involved with St. Mark’s as I can be and trying to do everything I can to make time at this school as meaningful for myself and others as possible. Favorite genre of music? I’m going to say indie pop. What is the luckiest thing that’s happened to you? Probably when Greenhill’s kicker missed their extra point in the first game of the season this year and we won. That was awesome. I didn’t have to do anything. I was chilling, and they missed it.

Kyle Smith photo

COOKING CONTEST

Competing for the judges’ approval, juniors Blake Rogers and Will Hunt (far end of the table) and freshmen Tamal Pilla and Gabe Bines (near end of the table) put the finishing touches on cupcakes. The event was presented by Elevated Eating Club in Upper School assembly Jan. 19 and concluded in the juniors winning the overall competition.

Life in brief SUCCESSFUL SOUPER BOWL COMMUNITY SERVICE DRIVE The Lower School shattered their goal of 2018 cans for the “Souper Bowl” community service soup can drive, collecting 2356 cans of soup. The drive, led by the Lower School Student Council representatives, ended Feb. 2 after almost three weeks of collecting cans from around campus. The cans of soup will ultimately be donated to the Salvation Army, Carr P. Collins Center. SCHOOL CHOIR PERFORMS THIRD EVENSONG OF THE YEAR Performing their third Even-

song this year, a total of 72 Upper and Middle School choristers sang in the chapel Jan. 28 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Before the evening ceremony, an organ prelude prompted the ceremony at 6 p.m. Then, beginning with an Introit and followed by scripture readings, Evensong progressed with the traditional songs “Magnificat” and “Nunc dimittis.” Various prayers and hymns concluded the evening ceremony. VISITING SCHOLAR PRESENTS ON CAMPUS Newbery Medal winner children’s author Grace Lin came to campus yesterday during a school assembly as part of the Dennard Visiting Scholar program. Daughter of Taiwanese

CONCERTS

Perry Naseck YA Finalist

Academy Awards

Reviews of both the best — and the worst — of some of the works up for nomination.

Feb. 17

Blake Shelton at the American Airlines Center

March 2

ALBUMS

Drop date

< Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life, The Wombats Little Dark Age, MGMT

Teachers as authors

Today

< G-Eazy at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory

Teachers teach from books, but how about the ones who actually write them?

their work. In addition, juniors Charlie Hubbard, Daniel Mirochna, Madden Smith and Davis Yoo were also named as winners in the competition. FINAL COFFEEHOUSE IN PLANNING STAGES The next Coffeehouse will take place Mar. 23 at 7 p.m. in Decherd Auditorium. Because this Coffeehouse will be the final one of the year, Fine Arts Board director Niteesh Vemuri plans on making the Coffeehouse interactive and dynamic for the audience and encourages seniors to participate. The theme for the event will be revealed sometime later in February, and the Fine Arts Board is already accepting submissions for performance plans.

Artist in action Concert date

Demi Lovato at the House of Blues

Habitat for Humanity

Profiling senior Perry Naseck, his work and his achievement in the YoungArts competition.

WOOD AND METAL PROGRAM FINDS SUCCESS IN CONTEST The Wood and Metal Program won five gold key awards, four silver key awards and five honorable mentions in the 2018 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. The recipients of the awards were announced Feb. 1 and honored a variety of winners, including seniors Crawford Helbing, Perry Naseck and Jack Parolisi for

Headliners

A look back at some of the families who’ve received homes from the organization.

EIGHTH-GRADERS TO RETURN FROM ANNUAL CAMPOUT The eighth grade is currently on its annual campout, taking place Feb. 7-9 at Lake Texoma. Because the campout is scheduled around annual weather patterns, this year’s campout was scheduled approximately a month earlier than when it normally takes place. In addition to the eighth grade campout, the seventh and sixth

grade campouts also take place throughout the second half of the year. The eighth grade campout serves as a brief sample of the annual Pecos trip, taking place in early to mid August.

— Sam Ahmed, Albert Luo, Mark Tao, Dylan Liu, Sam Goldfarb, Tianming Xie

Inside

immigrants, Lin’s stories focus on uniting her culture with creative tales and paintings. Her books and other works have been on display at the White House, and she has been recognized by the U.S. government as a Champion of Change for Asian American and Pacific Islander Art and Storytelling.

Kyoto, Tyga

MOVIES

Today Today

‘

Sophomore Nicholas Cerny and his violin The main joy I get from playing is meeting lots of different people from other schools and across the globe. Some of my best friends come from these music festivals.

hours spent per week practicing

performances in recitals per year

Feb. 16 Release date

The 15:17 to Paris Black Panther

< Red Sparrow

Today

Nicholas < Cerny

Feb. 16 March 2 Lee Schlosser photo

Page 12 • The ReMarker • February 9, 2018 • Life

Blast from the past

HONORING HIS LEGACY

“

• Story Sahit Dendekuri, Dylan Liu, Sam Goldfarb Photos Courtesy Development Office

From serving as a drama instructor to a department chair to lifelong mentor, Tony Vintcent built a lasting legacy that extends far beyond the Fine Arts Department, reaching around the nation to alumni and greater communities alike.

he last cent of the last dollar — gone. Everything he’d saved up for this absurd scheme, this on-a-whim bicycle trip down through the U.S., gone. He wasn’t too upset, though. Anything was better than the do-nothing life he’d left behind in Montreal. He hopped back on the old three-speed — or what was left of it anyway — and rode around the town trying to figure out what to do next. Reality had followed him South and finally caught up to him in Dallas. Tony Vintcent was officially broke. And he needed a job, fast.

…

Vintcent was looking for a short-term job in education. A few months teaching here and there would give him just enough money to experience the city for a little while longer and get back on the road. “I went to Hockaday, and they looked at me and my short past and my bicycle gear and said ‘No,’” Vintcent said in an interview with Director of Development Jim Bob Womack ’98 “I went to Jesuit, Greenhill and finally St. Mark’s.” Despite being rejected by Hockaday, Jesuit and Greenhill, Vintcent found acceptance at 10600 Preston Rd. The headmaster at the time, Chris Berrisford, saw something different and compelling in Vintcent. Vintcent was hired as an English and drama instructor. And although his original plan was to leave after three short months, he soon became deeply invested in the school’s community and life. He knew he couldn’t just pack up and leave. “I thank God that Berrisford was here,” Vintcent said. “It was because of him that I was nourished by the children here and that I decided to stay. It made for me the most creative decade in my life.” As a drama instructor, Vintcent was always

NO ONE’S FOOL Always directing a new production, Tony Vintcent (top) led his summer theater troup, The Harlequin Players (bottom), through a rapid-fire series of demanding productions.

pushing boundaries, pushing his students to do more, pushing them to think differently. He didn’t view his students as “just kids”. His goal was to put on the best show possible, as close to a broadway show as a bunch of high schoolers could put together. “He would just do crazy things,” former student Michael Merrill ’72 said. “We did Threepenny Opera by Bertolt Brecht. It’s about prostitutes and drug addicts and all that. And where did we do it? Not in the theater! We did it in the chapel. It was kind of shocking at that time.” At one point, when Vintcent was directing J.B., they set up a massive carnival tent right outside the chapel as a stage for the play. “Every morning people came through the chapel, people had to go through this enormous scaffolding reaching the ceiling,” Vintcent said, “I don’t know how many times I asked for permission. I don’t think I did. We did them, and I got away with it.” Despite the success of the new and revitalized drama program, Vintcent wanted to do more. More for the school. More for his students. More for the arts in the city. There was band, choir and drama, but they were all separate entities. “I called [Headmaster] Barrister and asked, ‘Are we going to have a Fine Arts Department?,’ and he said, ‘Hire me a choirmaster,’ and I said okay,” Vintcent said. “He said, ‘Let’s get going on a Fine Arts Department and you chair it.’” Vintcent hired Jim Livengood, Alice Oltrogge, Bill Kysor and, as Merrill puts it, “a whole slew of other motivated and talented people.” And just like that, there was a Fine Arts Department. “Before, there was art, band, choir and drama club. That was it,” Merrill said. “And [Vincent] thought that just wouldn’t be suffi-

cient for an arts program. We’re going to have photography, we’re going to have sculpture, we’re going to have television and we’re going to have string orchestra. He just built on it and built on it, and he actually created that as a department.” In just seven short years, Vintcent had changed the school forever. With fresh ideas, an open mind and creative vision, Vincent made fine arts matter. But Vintcent’s impact on his students was just as powerful as his new program. Mark Capri ’69, a student of Vintcent’s who went on to act in Titanic and The Empire Strikes Back, said that Vintcent was always Michael Merrill ’72 pushing boundVintcent’s aries, motivating Former Student his students to do more and to think differently. “Tony exposed us to a broad range of culture that we never would’ve seen otherwise,” Capri said. “By performing the plays we produced, all of us in the program learned words and stories and ideas we wouldn’t have come across otherwise.” Beyond sharing his knowledge and passion for theater, Vintcent never missed an opportunity to teach his students something meaningful about themselves. “He had this idea about how a gentleman should act,” Capri said. “He always made sure we carried ourselves as such a gentleman. He used the time to teach us about character. Some days, we would just talk about life and learn about each other and what it means to be a man.” Merrill reminisces every day about the experiences he had with Vintcent and how much they shaped him into the man he is today. “What he did for us was so remarkable,” Merrill said. “He didn’t think of them as ‘just kids,’ he just said that we are going to do the best theater we can do. We are going to do it as close to a Broadway show as possible.” In honor of Vintcent’s legacy, alumni and former students from around the nation teamed up to raise enough money to dedicate an endowed Fine Arts Department Chair in Vintcent’s name. “When we put together the fund, we had almost 100 donors,” Merrill said. “There’s never been a fund at SM created for a chair with that many donors. And many of the donors, I’d say at least half, did not go to St. Mark’s.” Tony Vincent was a man of creativity, character, passion and drive. His trailblazing attitude transformed the Fine Arts Department into what it is today. But despite his tremendous accomplishments and contributions, Vintcent remains humbled by his time here and believes in the future of fine arts at St. Mark’s. “For a while, I might have been the catalyst to bring what was missing at SM half a century ago,” Vintcent said. “It is they who have taken that fragile flame that was developed in the early 60’s and grown it into an important enrichment of the human tradition that is today so important to so many students at St. Mark’s.”

WE WOULD’VE LEPT OVER THE OCEAN FOR HIM AND NOT EVEN THOUGHT ABOUT IT. WE DID THINGS THAT— NOW —WOULD BE ILLEGAL TO DO AND JUST DIED LAUGHING DOING THEM. HE DIDN’T ASK FOR PERMISSION. HE JUST ASKED FOR FORGIVENESS AFTERWARD IF HE THOUGHT IT WAS THE RIGHT THING TO DO. Michael Merrill ’72

“

TONY REALLY AFFECTED MY BROTHER BILL’S LIFE. BILL REALLY BLOSSOMED UNDER TONY’S TUTELAGE, AND HE REALLY ENJOYED IT. HE COULD’VE GONE TO A LOT OF DIFFERENT AREAS, BUT HE ULTIMATELY DECIDED HE WANTED TO BE AN ACTOR BECAUSE HE TALKED TO TONY ABOUT IT. Susan Hootkins, sister of Bill Hootkins ’66

“

HE ONCE SAID THERE’S TWO TYPES OF AMATEUR THEATERS: AMATEUR THEATERS, AND THERE’S AN AMATEUR THEATER. WHAT HE MEANT BY THAT IS THAT YOU CAN DO ABSOLUTELY OUTSTANDING AMATEUR THEATER WITHOUT A BIG BUDGET AND RESOURCES, AND THAT’S WHAT WE DID. THAT’S HOW WE LEARNED TO BE PRODUCTIVE. THAT STUCK WITH ME MY WHOLE PROFESSIONAL CAREER. Michael Phillips ’64

IN THE SPOTLIGHT Vintcent, a teacher loved by students and teachers, put everything into his work and his students, and is remembered for his character, pssion and drive.

Page 13 • The ReMarker • February 9, 2018 • Life

AND CANCER FREE A familiar face

PLANNING IT OUT Back in her office in Nearburg Hall after recovery, Communications Director Katy Rubarth and Assistant Director David Carden go over the schedule before a hectic week.

Communications Director Katy Rubarth is grateful to be back at her position on campus after years of battling cancer.

fter 13 years of hospital visits, chemotherapy treatments and countless appointments, Communications Director Katy Rubarth can finally take a deep breath. She can stop worrying if she can get dinner for her boys. Worrying if she can coordinate the new issue of The Pride. Worrying if she can still provide that kind smile and warm spirit for the community. Now she can finally say it. She can finally consider herself cancer free. ••• Since 2005, Katy Rubarth has gone in and out of treatment for cancer. She’s gone from seven years of being completely clear to doctors telling her she wouldn’t live past a couple months. Going through another round of chemo in mid 2016, Rubarth took off around six months to take care of herself. “I was not feeling well going through this,” Rubarth said. “It was a pretty aggressive treatment, and I was encouraged by Mr. Dini and others to take a leave of absence. Up until then I had been able to keep doing my job, but I was taking care of the boys, I was going through rough chemo and I was trying to keep things together here. It became too much for me to heal. I just really needed to take a step back from July until February.” Because Rubarth‘s presence in the office over the course of the treatment was diminished, her colleagues including Dave Carden, assistant director of communications and Alex George, communications coordinator, had to step up in a big way. “My job’s busy,” Rubarth said. “Something always needs to be done urgently, and that was the first time

since 2008 that I didn’t look at [my] email every day and was really able to step back and say, ‘Okay this place is bigger than just one person, they have offered to step up, they are going to help me heal.’” It’s been a year since Rubarth re-

turned to work, and now, more than ever, she appreciates the constant support and care she has received from the school community. “Everybody in this office supported us and made sure that we were well fed and that the boys had rides home if I wasn’t feeling up to driving,” Rubarth said. “We talk about this being our family. It’s more than words, and everybody feels that way. When I returned, everyone welcomed me back like I had never been gone.” Not only did Rubarth receive help at work, but she also received it at home from her son, sophomore Charlie Rubarth. Having to assume more responsibilities when his mom wasn’t feeling well was never a burden for Charlie. He felt it was a chance to give back to her. “My mom is the one person in the world who I have to thank for everything that I have,” Charlie said. “To me it’s a tremendous opportunity to be able to do anything for her. Even the small things just really add up to making me feel wholesome and good about who I am as a son and as a family member and as a supporter of her in this difficult time.” Friend and Lower School administrative assistant Kathy Mallick tried to do everything she could do to support Katy and her family by picking up dinner or giving Katy’s sons rides home.

• Story Sam Ahmed, Sahit Dendekuri Photo Charlie Rubarth

“I can’t make any medical diagnosis,” Mallick said. “I can’t make the cancer go away. There is so much that I can’t do, but I don’t want to stand on the sidelines and ask what can I do. It’s whatever needs to be done. I’m just the extra pair of mom hands.” Losing Rubarth for six months and on and off for recent health scares, Director of Development Jim Bob Womack ‘98 admitted it was tough without such a strong presence in the office. “Anytime you lose a member of your team it’s really challenging,” Womack said. “You miss their personality, their spirit and you miss all the intangibles that they bring to the table, and with her absence, there was a lot for the team to dive in, but obviously something we relished having the opportunity to do to support her. Each of us has faced a different challenge where we step in and help, and it really is a family.” Carden also applauds how the office came together to help Katy out. “I can’t underscore how extraordinary the other members of the Development Office team are,” Carden said. “It really was an illustration of the character-driven servant leadership Marksmen are taught every day.” With Rubarth back at school and

healthy, Womack is delighted to have her warm presence in the office and looks forward to working with her and the team for the rest of the year. “It’s wonderful and critical to our success because you hire someone and bring them into the family,” Womack said. “They have an ability to add value, so when you remove a piece, it’s really challenging. Having everybody together and

all of our complementary skill sets and strengths and all of us working together is what makes this thing move, but it wasn’t that we need her for getting the Pride done, we need her here for her spirit and personality above everything.” For Charlie, his mother’s presence has turned him into the person he is today, and he is glad to have her back on campus. “My mom is literally the strongest person that I know and will probably ever know. So I’ve come to expect it out of her,” Charlie said. “It isn’t really fair, but she’s my mom and she’s the rock that I base everything on, my personality, my life entirely.” Seeing his mom persevering through the tough times, Charlie • ‘I was able to go to my lives with someone doctor’s appointments who shows every other week and never worry about what’s him he can going on at home. The overcome security that I provide anything. for my family wasn’t “The a question, and I am only reason certainly blessed in that regard.’ that I wake Katy Rubarth up in the morning is because I know that my mom will do the same thing for me,” Charlie said. “Seeing her overcome so many things shows me that nothing is impossible.” Throughout Rubarth’s journey, she has felt the constant and steady support of the school community, and now that she’s back, she is grateful for the position she is in compared to others. “I have never had to worry about whether I have a job,” Rubarth said. “I’ve always felt secure in my job and the people that I work with, and I know what a blessing that is.”

Page 14 • The ReMarker • February 9, 2018 • Life

A HOUSE TO A HOME Habitat for Humanity

Years after their homes were built, we visited with some of the families whose lives were forever changed by Habitat for Humanity.

FAMILY HOMES (Clockwise from the top left) The Morenos, Julio Zamarippa, the Robledos, and Julio’s family— the Zamarippas—have all taken the buildings they moved into several years ago, and turned them into a place to call their own. Additionally, Julio has been able to purchase a truck to open a new company that entails car towing, something he attributes to the opportunity he received from the Habitat for Humanity organization. All families live on the same street and remain extremely grateful and blessed for what they’ve gotten.

atrick Robledo, like most of the recipients, came from an apartment complex. But then, their lives changed when they were awarded their very own homes from the Habitat for Humanity organization. With a brand new home constructed by professionals builders and high school students from our very own community, these families had received new place to laugh and a new place to share and make new memories. So, what memories, experiences and moments have the families had since they moved in? What lasting impact have these houses, built in the past few years, had on these people?

•••

Patrick lives with his wife Miriam, daughter Madeleine and son Isaac, and was first referred to Habitat for Humanity by several of his friends. “I love [Habitat for Humanity],” Patrick Robledo said. “I was recommended [by] other friends of mine to try to get involved and try to get assistance with Habitat, and it’s a real good learning experience for everyone. It fills the neighborhood, and that’s what we want.”

For Patrick and his family, the opportunity Habitat for Humanity gave him in 2011 to be a homeowner has been a good experience. “It’s a real learning experience to own a house,” Patrick Robledo said. “I’ve been living in an apartment all my life, and owning a house is a better experience.” And across the street from Patrick Robledo and his family, Julio Moreno lives with his wife Bertha Muñoz and two children Jose and Valeria Moreno, and is also grateful for the house he received in 2013. “We were living in [my wife’s] sister’s house,” Julio Moreno said. “It was a nice house, but we have two families. We had to move out. We lived there for maybe a year before we got this opportunity from Habitat [for Humanity].” Julio Moreno also remarked on the

positive building process and the level of professionalism that came from everyone involved. “It was a lot of young people from school,” Julio Moreno said, “helping to build the house, so we’re really pleased with those guys. Every single person in Habitat [was] really educated, and they were really professional.” Overall, Julio Moreno appreciates

the organization and what was done for him, his life and his family. “I’m really pleased with the whole organization,” Julio Moreno said. “I got one of the best experiences in my life because a lot of professional people help us out with the house.” Right next door to the Moreno family,

Julio Zamarripa lives with his parents Juan and Irma, and his little sister Irma. For them, Habitat for Humanity provided more than just a house. The organization provided a new opportunity. “Over the years, [the house] changed everything,” Julio Zamarippa said. “It was a 180-degree change, because we came to a safer environment.” Originally, Julio Zamarripa and his family had lived in an apartment complex where they had to lock the doors at 9 p.m. because “crazy stuff would happen outside.” However, their new neighborhood provides peace of mind and security. “Over here, we’re not afraid that somebody is going to steal our car or something like that,” Julio Zamarripa said. “And it’s [our own] home. We have more safety and more privacy. It was all for a better change, and it

helped us out a lot.” In addition, the house Julio Zamarripa received has given him the extra opportunity of opening up a business that specializes in towing cars. “Habitat [for Humanity] changed my life too,” Julio Zamarripa said. “Living in a better community, we managed to start doing better. Three or four days ago, we bought our first business truck, because I want to start my own business for towing, so this changed our life. I see this house as a step to moving further.” Ultimately, Juan echoes his son’s sentiment and recognizes the value in Habitat for Humanity’s mission. He thinks it is great. “I think [Habitat for Humanity]’s creating better communities, little by little,” Juan said. “This whole street is one of the safest streets out of all of these neighborhoods because of Habitat for Humanity. And it’s a lot of good people, good neighbors and we haven’t had any incidents or anything happen to us.” From security to opportunity, a new house opened the gates for the Zamarripas. But to Julio Zamarripa, the house means more than that. “It’s more than a house,” Julio said. “It’s a home.”

• Story Mark Tao, André Arsenault Photos Riley Sanders

The bottom line Swiss Semester

• Interviews Eric Hirschbrich

‘

The situation: Swiss Semester is a study abroad

program located in Zermatt, Switzerland that incorporates regular school life with hiking, skiing and weekend trips. Offered as an opportunity to sophomores attending our school, the program grants many the opportunity to experience a new world. For a program like Swiss Semester, I feel like it’s going to help me prepare for my college in the future as well for getting that done because it helps you realize that you have to get things done sooner and quicker instead of having to procrastinate and keep on putting it off.

Charlie Rose, Swiss Semester alum

‘

the application process involves writing short essays, sending in grades and getting recommendations from teachers. Here’s some of the best advice from two of the program’s alums, as well as its director, about the best advice in the application process, the program’s positive benefits as well as the lasting impacts that it has.

Try things. Be willing to take a few risks. Most importantly, talk to people who have been not only to Swiss Semester but other different programs and get an idea about what it’s about and learn the expectations. Hopefully, those people will get you excited about the programs because they know it first hand.

‘

Kristen Robbins, Swiss Semester Director

Alex Piccagli, Swiss Semester alum

It really helps with your dayto-day stuff because your time management just gets so much better because you have so little time to do so much stuff over there and here.

Life • February 9, 2018 • The ReMarker • Page 15

FIRED UP TO SERVE 21 minutes with... Will Kozmetsky

Junior Will Kozmetsky applies his ceramics skills by helping families in therapy create and glaze pieces of pottery.

e never thought he could change the lives of children using just clay, paint and the skills he learned in his ceramics classes. He never thought his modest idea of setting up a clay workshop in an abuse center would become a permanent program for every visitor to enjoy. But it happened. For almost a year, junior Will Kozmetsky has been using his ceramics skills and supplies to provide an activity for abused kids, their siblings and their parents at the Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center (DCAC) while waiting to start their therapy session. Kozmetsky’s service project started from humble beginnings: he constantly drove back and forth from the ceramics shop to the DCAC to transport the supplies for the children. “There was a clay shop that had both glazed and unglazed pieces of clay,” Kozmetsky said, “so we would just take the clay there to the center once every few weeks.” During this time, Kozmetsky also sat with the children before their therapy sessions and acted as a mentor to guide them through the art of ceramics. I would bring in the clay, sit there and help them paint,” Kozmetsky said, “and since they had once-a-week

appointments, I would take all of their projects at the end of the week to the place where we got the clay to get them in the kiln. After that we would take them back the week after for the kids to keep.” Initially, Kozmetsky found it hard to approach the kids because he didn’t really know what to do with them. However, once they quickly warmed up to him, both he and the children had a lot of fun creating various kinds of pottery. “I remember there was one time there was a guy who didn’t really do anything, wasn’t very involved,” Kozmetsky said, “but then he got the paints and grabbed one of the blank tiles and started writing stuff that he liked. It’s always fun to go there and see the kids and help out.” As of now, Kozmetsky visits the

DCAC less often, as the center itself is planning to make his service project into a permanent activity. “Before, I was just taking things over there, running it through with their projects manager,” Kozmetsky said. “But now, they’re trying to get it where they train people to work and play with the kids and the clay, actually firing the pieces and clay and just running a ceramics studio at the center.” Kozmetsky believes the opportunity to play with clay at the DCAC gives children an amazing, new and fun experience. “The best part about clay is making your own things and being able to work with it, especially at a young age,” Kozmetsky said. In fact, Kozmetsky drew his inspiration from working at an art studio at an early age. “I remember working with clay at an art studio when I was really little and how fun it was to SHOW AND TELL Children and parents from DCAC share make my own things,” their creations from Kozmetsky’s service project. CreKozmetsky said. “I ations include pots, tiles and heart-shaped ceramics.

ATTENTION TO DETAIL Junior Will Kozmetsky sculpts the rim of a bowl into ridges as he adds detailed layers into one of his ceramics projects.

actually talked to my art teacher from back then about this project, and she helped me get ideas for it.” In addition, ceramics instructor Scott Ziegler thinks Kozmetsky’s project is a great way to both help people in therapy and introduce them to the art of ceramics. “I think it’s awesome for him to be able to take his skills and put it to people that are in need and for them to be introduced to ceramics,” Ziegler said. ”It’s an incredible opportunity for him to be able to be willing to donate time and energy to this cause.” As a result, Ziegler hopes other students will be inspired by Kozmetsky’s combination of community service and ceramic artistry. “I’ve always been a firm believer of service projects,” Ziegler said. “We

• Story Dylan Liu, Eric Hirschbrich Photos Riley Sanders, courtesy Will Kozmetsky

Lower Schoolers engage in annual Screen-Free Week by Dylan Liu he Lower School participated in ScreenFree Week Jan. 28 to Feb. 3. During this event, Lower Schoolers were encouraged to abstain from all electronic devices with screens, ranging from TVs to iPhones. “Screen-Free Week is a nationwide program that we choose to do here during the week before the Super Bowl,” Head of Lower School Sherri Darver said. “It’s mainly to draw awareness of how much time we spend in front of a screen.” The event was also intended to raise awareness for both the students and their entire families. “Parents have said they like it too because it raises their awareness of how much time they’re on their screens,” Darver said. In place of their technology, the students were able to spend more time face-to-face. “During this week,” Darver said, “they put their phones aside and play board games and have much more meaningful discussions with their kids at the table.” Prior to the event, Darver and two students known as “screen-free captains” from

each grade meet to plan everything, from creating flyers to making record sheets. Furthermore, to motivate students to participate, a point system was added. “At the end of the week, the top four homerooms that have the highest percentage of screen-free time gets a free dress day,” Darver said. “Any home room that has 100 percent participation will also get a prize. It’s really about the whole Lower School participating.” Darver hopes Screen-Free Week will impact students’ lives and habits beyond the seven days that the event takes place. “The things the boys replace their screens with during this week are always so much better,” Darver said. And as the students learned to spend some time away from their phones, they were learning healthy habits. “They’re playing more board games,” Darver said, “they’re reading more, they’re outside more, and they’re just choosing to do other things that are so much more healthy for them than playing video games on their computer.”

just got done with something called Empty Bowls Project where I had students throw bowls and donate them to the North Dallas Food Bank, so I’ve always had that kind of component in my teaching.” Looking back, Kozmetsky realizes while the project benefits those in need at the DCAC, it has made a positive impact on his life as well by connecting him with others. “The project has really made me feel that I can make an impact somewhere,” Kozmetsky said. “By working with the children, I can see that I’m personally affecting them and making their day a little bit better, and it just makes me feel better as well. I definitely want to come back in the spring when I have more time to see how the program is coming along.”

Page 16 • The ReMarker • February 9, 2018 • Perspectives

the

power pets of

With more than 68 percent of all U.S. households having at least one pet, it’s safe to say that most people view their pets as not just a luxury, but a necessity. Whether they are providing emotional or physical support, pets have become invaluable members of the community. They lift our spirits and make us feel better even on the worst of days — showing us the power of pets.

So much more...

They’re more than just cute things to play with. Our companion animals play a large part in our emotional well-being. President and Co-Founder of Heart of Texas Therapy Dogs Sheryll Barker always knew she wanted to give back to the world, and pet therapy was the way for her to do it. From her experience in training dogs in behavior and manners she dove into filling the Dallas area’s tremendous demand for pet therapy. Her organization now reaches 65 facilities and counting with much more room to grow.

The St. Mark’s Cat For nearly 15 years, security and maintenance staff members have been raising an unnamed cat with food, water, attention — and love.

bundle of black-spotted fur scurries across the pavement around Hunt Field and ducks away under the merchandise trailer. Its feline eyes reflect the moonlight in a yellowish green beam. Fifteen years ago, this rogue cat made its way on to campus in search of a home. She survived for years sleeping in cracks and crevices, catching any mice that approached. Fifteen years later, this rogue cat is a legend among the security and maintenance workers. And most especially to night watchman Daniel Mauch, who has fed her, given her a bed and loved her for years. Mauch dedicates 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. to working the security shift. He organizes the traffic cones to set up for school. He patrols the property to make sure everything is in order. He feeds the white and black cat a nightly meal. He leaves for water out when the cat is thirsty. It has been like this for as long as the cat has been around. “In a way, I could humanize it to my point of view,” Mauch said. “I try not to humanize the cat because you get attached to things when you humanize them. It’s hard not to get attached though.” In lieu of assigning her a human name, Mauch has opted to call her “cat,” a name that has spread through the ranks of the security and maintenance team. “I call her cat. She’s a cat,” Mauch said. “She doesn’t really hang out with me. She’s

independent, but every now and then she comes up, and I’ll give her some food. She sleeps right by the office in her bed.” In addition to buying boxes of food for her dinner, Mauch and the team receive food donations from faculty and staff across campus who have had experiences with the elusive animal. “It’s nice, but she really doesn’t walk around with me that much,” Mauch said. “She is just there. She patrols the property and comes up every now and then, talks, goes over to the office, has a bite to eat and takes a nap.” Patrolling the property like a security officer has earned the cat a lot of love and affection. She was even gifted a brand new bed to sleep in. The team placed it right next to their office. “I have a box of cat food, and other people at St. Mark’s donate food,” Mauch said. “A lot of people know about her. All the maintenance people know about the cat, and people from the office know about her. She’s an elegant old cat.” Occasionally, feral cats from around the neighborhood come for a visit, but the cat is nearly totally independent. She haunts the property at night, eager to secure a mouse in her claws. Whether it’s underneath the trailer, over by the security office or in the central plant, the cat knows campus better than most students. Her years of scampering behind Mauch have taught her exactly where to hide

out.

Yet, after all her time at school, the cat still has a hard time warming up to people. “This cat just tolerates me,” Mauch said. “She’s a rogue cat so she tolerates most people. She’s getting friendly with people now—security guards. Dale [Hackbarth] and Fred [Katani] have been able to pet her, and I can pick her up every now and then.” Mauch has other cats at his home, but he has never even considered bringing this one back there. “I think that would be cruel,” Mauch said. “Taking her out from her area—from her place here to somewhere else—that would be cruel. That is taking her away from home. She would probably leave my house and walk her way up here.” She is the St. Mark’s cat, and this is her home.

SECURIKITTY With the help of faculty members, the St. Mark’s Cat never goes hungry.

Pets by the numbers

41% percent of pet households that have dogs

Source: American Pet Products Association

$69.36 billion

pets in America is a freshwater fish

spent on pets in America in 2017

> I was already involved in pet therapy by the time I came to Dallas in 1998. I went to graduate school in New Mexico, and I started doing pet therapy when I was working full time and going to school full time in New Mexico. I got a large scholarship that enabled me to quit my job and pursue going to graduate school full time. In that time, I had dogs and had been training dogs in obedience since 1984. Suddenly I had time on my hands and wanted to pursue something different with my dogs. I had a female colleague who just loved the world and was such a nurturing dog. I had taken her through a lot of obedience and she kept looking at me going, “I don’t like doing all this obedience, I don’t like being nitpicked like this, let’s do something else.” That’s how we got into doing pet therapy because there was a large group in Albuquerque, New Mexico. We started doing it and she loved it. That’s how I got going. when finished graduate school, my dog was already registered with one of the national groups. When things all came together we put up Heart of Texas in 2003. > If they are considering coming and volunteering with their job we tell them to come and watch and see if this is something they want to do. They usually come because they have seen the dogs working somewhere. A lot of folks have their own grandparents or parents in some sort of nursing situation or hospital and they see therapy dogs come to visit and they want to do that with their dogs. They have seen the therapy dogs used in schools and they have seen them in newspapers or publications and they think their dogs would be good at that. We don’t have to tell folks about it a lot. They have seen the dogs in action and the impact they can have and honestly that’s the best selling point we have, just for people to see the dogs work. > The needs with the kids are with schools. Reading to dogs has been proven to be one of the most effective ways of getting under-level kids up to reading level. We did a pilot program in Frisco back in 2006 and they took a few below level readers and did a six week after school program. Every one of the kids improved dramatically. One kid in six weeks managed to pick up an entire grade level. Encouraging kids to read to a non-judgemental presence seems to have a profound effect on encouraging children to read. We do a range of dog therapy. Even if we had 1,000 teams in the Dallas/ Fort Worth area we wouldn’t fill all the needs in the senior community. Over the last 12 years we have seen the needs in the schools explode. We can’t keep enough dogs for all the reading programs in the different schools. Even though pet therapy started in hospitals the needs in hospital are still very very large right now. The options for people volunteering are so varied that it is taking teams that would be involved in hospitals into schools or senior centers. The DFW Airport has the canine ambassador program where registered therapy dog teams will wander through the airport and try to help destress some of the more stressed out passengers. > I knew that pet therapy was something that I wanted to do. This is a way that good people can give back and show others that they really care. It’s the big smile. The way people connect as you walk in. People get so excited to see you and immediately say, “Thank you so much for coming to see us, this is such a stress-relief.” It is such an icebreaker. The impact is immediate, the smiles that you generate are real and if you’ve got a dog that really enjoys people, it’s really symbiosis at its best. You have a handler that likes being with people and wants to contribute to the world, you have a dog that enjoys the attention and loves people and you have people that are opening up and being encouraged to live on through whatever stress or challenges they are facing at that moment. It is a positive moment for everyone. > These dogs go through the Alliance of Therapy Dogs. The top three organizations are the Alliance of Therapy Dogs, Pet Partners and Therapy Dogs International. Our group is based with the Alliance of Therapy Dogs and all of our handlers are registered in the Alliance of Therapy Dogs. The Alliance of Therapy Dogs requires that the dogs pass a handling test, which is a basic obedience test to show that the dogs have the manners to be able to go to the facilities they visit. They show basic manner skills and show that they can be touched and pet by a stranger. After that, dogs actually go into facilities with one of the nationally approved testors and must show that they can successfully navigate these facilities three times before they are eligible to be registered with the Alliance of Therapy Dogs.

• Story Mike Mahowald, Andre Arsenault Interviews Alec Dewar, Sam Shane, Blake Daugherty, Eric Hirschbrich. Ishan Gupta Additional Reporting Michael Lukow

Perspectives • February 9, 2018 • The ReMarker • Page 17

all in the family

From rescued feral cats to dog show worthy canines, the community’s pets prove that they are more than just an adorable opportunity for you to post on Instagram— they’re members of our families.

After tragedy, healing All too often when tragedy strikes, the grieving process overwhelms all else: anguish, a flood of tears, sleepless nights spent tossing and turning. Then the never-ending questions — Why, God? How could this happen? What if it could have been avoided? It hurts. Badly. Some turn to family and friends, while others seek solace in religion. And yet, others turn to fourlegged, fur-covered animals for help.

•••

David Dini

Cal Rushton

Matthew Theilmann

Eugene McDermott Headmaster David Dini has always loved Golden Retrievers, when given the chance to get one, Dini jumped at the opportunity to raise one of his own.

Many people actively seek out a furry friend, choosing to buy a pet from breeders and stores alike. Senior Cal Rushton, though, rescued his feral cat—affectionately known as Peach—one early morning at his ranch.

With a litter of kittens in front of him, senior Matthew Theilmann quickly scanned the group, eagerly looking for the perfect pet. Within minutes, he decided on the obvious choice — the one that looked like Batman.

> Ginger was given to us by my aunt, who raises Golden Retrievers, and she bred one of her dogs and the dog gave birth to two puppies, a male and a female, named after Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, and so she kept the male. We have the female.

> My dad would always set up these traps for animals at night and show us what we caught the following morning. One night, we set up a trap and this little kitten was inside. Normally, these feral cats would hiss and claw at the cage, but this kitten sat and stared at us and meowed.

> In August, a friend of my sister’s heard that her company found a litter of kittens in the wall of a building they were knocking down. The construction workers were just going to throw them in the dumpster, but my sister’s friend heard about it and said “No, no I’ll take them.”

> You can have a really bad day and you can come home and see her. Ginger doesn’t know anything other than a good day.

> When we let her out, she didn’t run away but just stayed around with us. When we went back to the fire pit, she crawled onto my dog Siesta’s back. That’s when we knew when we would be taking her home with us.

> We went over there, and there were four of them less than two weeks old. We were all bottle-feeding them. The friend was just giving them away to her friends, and I was like, “I’ll take one.”

> She’s a great dog. We’ve had a lot of fun with her. She’s a great cuddler, so we hang around on the couch at night as a family and Ginger jumps and climbs on everyone. > Last weekend, she got into the pantry and pulled down a full bag of powdered sugar and ate the whole thing! She’s also a dog show dog. My aunt has taken her to a bunch of dog shows alongside her brother.

> The car ride back was awful. She was terrified, and we didn’t have a crate because we weren’t planning on taking a cat home with us. So, I held this feral cat in a pillowcase as these claws were sinking into my legs. That was the longest two-hour car ride from the ranch.

> I picked the boy who looked the most like Batman and named him Bruce Wayne before I even got home with him. Then for the next few weeks, my mom and I had to bottle feed him like every other hour, and we’d take turns waking up in the middle of the night to do that. > A kitten that young without a mother can die very easily, and he had to be constantly wrapped in blankets and sleep on a heating pad because they have to be kept extremely warm. > Bruce Wayne has grown into his name as he is often vicious and engaged in hand to hand combat.

Lynne Schwartz

borhood that I never would’ve met if I hadn’t had my dogs with me.

> We have a very large Great Pyrenees dog named Mariposa, and she’s a rescue. She was my husband’s dog before we got married. She and Rocky are best friends. Then, we have two Bengal cats, and Bengal cats are cats bred from African Leopard cats, and they look like little tiny leopards with metallic, gold fur. Their names are Sherlock and Max. > For us, they’re like our family. I have grown kids, but I don’t miss my kids because, first of all they’re in town, but also I have these other furry children that don’t require a lot of care. They don’t give you any drama, they’re affectionate, they’re happy when you come home, they jump around when they see you, they’re funny, and they are just delightful. > When he comes to greet me at the door, when I get home, he loves stuffed animals, so he takes stuffed animals to the door to greet me. ‘Here, Mom. I brought my elephant and my duck. Do you want to play with them?’

Marsha McFarland > I’ve always had pets. I started having pets in college. Somebody gave me a kitten named Books, so Books was my companion during college. I had no money but I shared my money with Books. I’ve always had them from then on. Pets are good for your life. I feel sorry for people without pets because they just enrich your life so much and give you purpose.

> I think animals calm you down, and

their love is just so pure that it’s just pure delight and so it’s a relief of stress for busy people. But also, dogs and cats give people somebody to care for.

wicz Photos Riley Sanders, Courtesy Daniel Mauch

Cecil H. and Ida Green Master Teaching Chair Marsha McFarland is no stranger to pets and the unconditional love they give — her current and former four-legged companions include two cats and four dogs. > They give you unconditional love, and they don’t talk back to you like children do, so they’re a lot of company, and I think they really calm you down too. My dogs make sure that I get exercise. I feel like I get out of my neighborhood a whole lot more because I walk the dogs and there are people that I know in my neigh-

Hunsinger/D Courtesy Nathan

allas Morning Ne

As adolescent children prepare to leave the nest, their parents often feel anxious about their departure. While Trustee Master Teaching chair Lynne Weber Schwartz certainly enjoyed the joys of motherhood and watching her children grow up into mature adults, her trusty cats and dogs were there to keep her company.

> I lost my father last summer, and not too long before, he ended up going into this rehab facility. I had taken Toby to see him and Toby immediately went to my dad and climbed into his lap and just settled down there and my dad was just petting him and I just thought that that was a really cool thing because my dad was reacting to that little dog and just thought he was so sweet. > Toby knew that this man needed some sort of consoling and he just jumped right up there in his lap. > Clear the shelters. You know, they have those clear the shelters days. When people go to breeders and pay all this money for special dogs, I just think that there are these wonderful mixed breeds that are waiting for a happy home so clear the shelters.

July 11, 2016 — four days after the horrific Dallas police shootings. Journalists, media workers and interns alike crowd the newsroom. The wounds are still fresh, the ghastly images imprinted on their minds. Police tape. People running hysterically. Wives turned widows. Sons and daughters wondering if mom or dad will be coming home. As the Dallas Morning News staff huddles around, trained professionals bring in a number of dogs—all large, fluffy, Golden Retrievers—in hopes of comforting the weary reporters. “The idea of just spending an hour with the comfort dogs in the newsroom was just a nice benefit that came to us out of the blue,” Dallas Morning News Editor Mike Wilson said. After receiving a call from a faith-based organization that provided comfort dogs, Wilson decided to take the agency up on their offer. “They knew of course that there was this tragedy in Dallas,” Wilson said, “and they realized that media people were among those affected by all the emotion and loss. So they called us and said, ‘Hey, we go all around the country with these cuddly Golden Retrievers, and if you would like us to pay a visit, we’ll do it.’” After coordinating their arrangement, the agency brought in six Golden Retrievers for staff members to pet, cuddle and play with therapeutically. “What happened was they came in, and people just flocked to them,” Wilson said. “They got down on the floor and just put their faces in the dogs’ fur and hugged the dogs—I did the same—and it was great. The dogs just lay there like it’s their job, they’re so happy.” With permanent staff members, as well as high school and college interns, working at the time, Wilson saw the opportunity as a great way to gain “comfort and closure.” “I knew how hard they had been working and how much they had been affected by these stories—having to talk to these widows and sons and daughters of police officers who had been killed,” Wilson said. “It was truly traumatizing for everybody. I was just so grateful for the opportunity.” In contrast with tragedy of the prior days, the comfort dogs enabled something else — a time of humanity. “We’re in a professional setting, you go about your work professionally,” Wilson said. “That’s what you’re focused on, but then to see these people’s humanity when they have the chance to let their guard down a little bit is just really memorable.”

Page 18 • The ReMarker • February 9, 2018 • Life

WOODWORK WIZARD Next level

> I really like working with my hands, and industrial arts [wood and metal] was a way for me to have a creative output that I couldn’t have elsewhere, a physical form of art where what I could visualize was what I could make. I really enjoyed doing that. > In sixth grade, it was just another elective. I was interested in it because I’ve always been interested in computers, electronics and making things. I was a kid that would spend hours in his room with Legos and K’NEX making contraptions. In sixth grade, we had to make some sort of vehicle, and it was entirely just technical, so I made a boat. > High school becomes an entirely different course. It goes from just making things to design with furniture design, object design and sculpture, which is a real field. In ninth grade, my first assignment was to take one piece of plywood. I don’t remember exactly what the project was, but I ended up making a shelf. > Last year, I completed an upholstery chair entitled “Soft.” So this is the first upholstery thing I’ve done with fabric and foam, and it’s a fully functional chair. Right now it’s on display at the YoungArts gallery in Miami. It’s an attractive chair, and I’m really proud of how it turned out. > They apparently tried calling me, but the call didn’t go through or something. I

Senior Perry Naseck has been recognized as a Presidential Scholar finalist for design art. Read – in his own words – a glimpse at his artistic process and journey.

didn’t have a message or missed call on my phone, so they called my dad. They said that there was an issue with my application. I was concerned, but I was also like “It’s YoungArts”. I wasn’t too familiar with it at that point. And so I called them back, and they said, you’re a finalist. And I was like “Oh, wow,” so I was very excited.

> Most of the disciplines [at YoungArts] just take what they’ve already done or already learned and they built on that or they just perform those pieces, most performance arts. Design arts is different because we make a complete piece in about four or five days. > Sunday, we got [to Miami], didn’t do much. Monday, we toured the Design District, which puts Dallas’s Design District to shame. Literally every crack in the pavement in this area is planned. Absolutely beautiful, stunning. > Before we got there, we had to pick a movement we were interested in, another artist that had used a movement to fuel a work, and their theme was marching en masse. So I picked Pedro Reyes. He runs a workshop where they take old guns and they make instruments out of them. > I made a vending machine, sort of a backpack as well, that was concentrated on social media because it held very personal items to me that I made. So when

• Story Matthew Zhang Photo Riley Sanders

MAKING MEASUREMENTS Planning for his new project, Naseck carefully measures his cuts again to make sure he can move on to the next step.

someone put in a coin, one of these items would come out. It was commentary on how you put everything about you in social media but what you get back is not the same experience as a human-human interaction. It’s sort of changed my art. Now I want to go to a more conceptual side than a design side. > I think the biggest challenge for me is I will map out, measure and sketch out my piece a lot before I actually make the first cut. Like a piece of a piece. I want to get it right the first time, and I don’t want to waste material by making a

drastically large cut if I don’t have to. > One thing I noticed at YoungArts was that there were a lot of people there with a lot of the same skills that people at St. Mark’s have. And there’s also just a different motive that St. Mark’s has toward art. I think that if people at St. Mark’s shift toward making art not just for the requirement, or “Oh, I like doing it,” then I think that arts at St. Mark’s would really expand, because what YoungArts really cherishes is not just that you do the art but that you can use your own expression in your art.

Life • February 9, 2018 • The ReMarker • Page 19

STRAIGHT FROM THE PRESS By the Books

How do you teach an English class? What really happened in the Arab Bureau during World War I? From design and poetry to nonfiction and education, members of the community talk about their published books.

PUBLISHING BOOKS From top to bottom, the books are written by Waseem Nabulsi (Under my Grandmother’s Olive Tree), Bruce Westrate (The Arab Bureau), Gopal Raman (Beyond the Edge), Janet Lin (How to Manage your Boss) and Lynne Schwartz (Laying the Foundation).

Chinese instructor Janet Lin

History instructor Bruce Westrate

Ever wonder how to build a healthy relationship with your boss? Chinese language instructor Janet Lin wrote How to Manage your Boss, which became the top-selling book in Taiwan at one point.

‘

Nancy & Jeffrey Marcus Master Teaching Chair Bruce Westrate wrote The Arab Bureau in 1992, a World War I nonfiction book based around the British intelligence officer, T.E. Lawrence.

Chinese people say writing a book is

‘

like having a baby. How long does it take to have a baby? Nine months, and a book takes even longer. When a mother bears a child, she says, ‘It’s not comfortable.’ That’s the feeling when you’re writing.

A lot of the books written in the period

have been written either by people who are Arabs or people who are Jews—I’m a Dutch Presbyterian, so I have no dog in the bite there, but I come with kind of a neutral perspective but as truthful as I can be.

Trustee Master Teaching Chair Lynne Weber Schwartz

Senior Waseem Nabulsi Written by senior Waseem Nabulsi, Under my Grandmother’s Olive Tree is comprised of personal poems about the Palestinian experience.

‘

Humanities Trustee Master Teaching Chair Lynne Schwartz and six other teachers wrote the five volumes of Laying the Foundation, a series that radically shifted the way English teachers structure their planning lesson.

Nearly every single day I would write

‘

a poem and for the longest time, it served almost like a diary for me. Poetry was an outlet where I could express my emotions in a beautiful and lyrical way.

Gopal Raman ’17

you affect more people than just the teachers. You affect all of the kids that all of those teachers are going to teach.

History and Social Sciences Chair David Fisher

In his sophomore year, Gopal Raman ’17 printed Beyond the Edge, a book featuring his compilation of design and photography, and profited $3,000, all of which was donated to buy uniforms for the students at Gooch Elementary School.

‘

When you write a book for teachers,

Fisher began his book, Let’s Go Spain & Portugal, through a Harvard undergraduate program grant. Through the program, he travelled abroad and explored different countries and cultures.

‘

I had no idea I was going to do a book

or anything like that. That definitely wasn’t the intention when I just started, but my mom told me, ‘what if you just try putting some stuff together and making it look like a book.’

I traveled through Portugal and Spain in

the summer of 1987 with a notebook and some other writing implements. Essentially I had to be a budget traveler with a backpack. Try to live in Spain and Portugal and write about my experiences.

• Compiled by Tianming Xie, Naftal Mautia Photos Riley Sanders

Eight choir students earn honors at Eismann Center for TPSMEA by Matthew Zhang Eight students qualified for All-State choir and performed at the Eismann Center for Texas Private School Music Educators Association (TPSMEA) Jan. 25 to Jan. 28. The students who made All-State were sophomore Camp Collins, freshman Vikram Ekambaram, senior Jake HorigomePigg, junior Will Hunt, freshman Leo Ohannessian, junior Ayush Saha, freshman Harrison Siegel and senior Ethan Pittson. According to choirmaster Tinsley Silcox, students had to pass two rounds of judging to qualify for All-State. “All Upper School Choir members audition for All-Region choir,” Silcox said. “We started preparing for the first round of judging in August. Those who make All-Region

have a second round of judging.” Choir students prepared two songs from excerpts that were chosen for the audition. “Difficult passages from pieces to be performed are selected,” Silcox said. “This year’s were ‘That Which Remains’ and ‘Domine ad aduvandum me.’” The results from the second round of judging were released November. At All-State, the students performed the two songs prepared for audition and another song selected from the choral repertoire. For senior Ethan Pittson, who rejoined choir his sophomore year, this will be his second and last time performing at All-State. “I practiced singing almost every day during my sophomore year and the subsequent

summer,” Pittson said. “So when I was selected as a junior, I was both proud of my accomplishment and grateful for the many hours Mr. Silcox and Benjamin Kolodziej, my church choir director, had spent with me to develop my voice.” Overall, Pittson believes All-State choir, from the lunches to the movies, was an unforgettable experience. “My favorite part of the experience was practicing and performing with some of the best singers from across the state,” Pittson said. “To hear the sound of the music reverberating throughout the ballroom in which we practiced was so pleasing and beautiful that I almost cried at some points. This is what I was looking forward to most for this year’s All-State choir.”

In the picture

Riley Sanders photo

COMMUNITY PRESENTATION We Charity founder Craig Kielburger spoke to various club members and parents about volunteer opportunities that kids can get involved with. The presentation occured in Decherd Auditorium Jan 24.

Page 20 • The ReMarker • February 9, 2018 • Life

Lookbook

‘RAISE THAT BEAM!’

Students gathered on the left baseball field Jan. 11 to witness the topping-off of the new Winn Science Center. The final beam, signed by the Class of 2018, was added to the dome, completing the framework for the new building.

RAISING THAT BEAM The beam (top), signed by all 90 members of the Senior Class was lifted and placed using an industrial crane. The construction workers (above) attach the crane cable to the beam. Two construction workers (right) guide the beam into its place atop the new building’s dome as an aerial drone records the proceedings and the gathered students and faculty cheer.

LOOKING ON Seniors stand alongside lower-schoolers listening to speeches by Headmaster David Dini and Senior Class President Edward Ro.

WELL SAID Headmaster David Dini and Senior Class President Edward Ro shake hands right before Ro addresses the students. Both Ro and Dini spoke at the event, delivering speeches to the donors and workers who made the project a reality.

Life • February 9, 2018 • The ReMarker • Page 21

OSCAR SEASON

BUZZ

The Academy Awards are back, and the nominees are in — as well as the debate that unfailingly follows them. What makes a movie the "best" is subjective though; as such, we've made this flowchart to help find your personal Best Picture.

Reviewing the best of the best... and the worst of the worst.

START HERE

In this issue: Academy Awards Politics and Entertainment

I'm depressed enough as things are. Laughs please. Do you prefer your comedy cut with...

Laughs, or tears?

How real do you want to get? The director Guillermo del Toro transports his audience into a dreamworld in The Shape of Water, this time to tell the story of a mute janitor and a creature known only as “The Asset” with whom she falls in love.

I'm tough. Bring on the tears.

Horror?

The brainchild of first-time director Jordan Peele (of Key and Peele fame), Get Out, which follows a young black photographer going to visit his future in-laws, tells a chilling, bitterly sardonic parable about race in America that is both brutally hilarious and hilariously brutal. It's a horror story even non-horror fans can appreciate.

I only watch movies to escape my real life.

Mystery?

How do you like your history? Loud!

A tragic, but clever and darkly comedic dive into the soul of middle America, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri follows a mother’s quest to ensure her daughter’s murder is avengedspecifically, by publicly challenging the authorities to solve the case.

The realer the better.

Chaos and explosions abound in Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk, which takes advantage of a tangled timeline and peerless practical effects to drop the viewer into the anarchy of its titular beach. Dunkirk follows both military and civilian perspectives, and in the face of despair, tells a surprisingly human story.

Funny

Anchored by a trio of powerful performances from Margot Robbie, Sebastin Stan and Allison Janney, this snarky, fourth-wallbreaking comedy-drama chronicles the (mostly) true story of the rise and downfall of Olympic figure skater Tonya Harding, following her (alleged) role in a brutal attack on her rival Nancy Kerrigan. Boasting a twisted sense of humor and a poignant emotional core, I, Tonya manages to be not only one of the best sports movies of the year, but one of the funniest.

Quiet...

Another story of the Second World War, Darkest Hour focuses on the trials of Britain’s most legendary Prime Minister, Winston Churchill (flawlessly portrayed by Gary Oldman, in what may be the finest performance of his career), as he struggles to hold his nation together.

• Reviews, flow chart Austin Montgomery

Political opinion, modern issues, entertainment and the Grammys — how they all go together by Austin Montgomery his year’s Grammy Awards opened with a jaw-dropping performance from Kendrick Lamar, using patriotic imagery to craft a blistering performance that touched on violence, race relations, poverty, and the American Dream. It was raw, visceral and blissfully honest, carefully designed to let all the viewers, no matter what their color, feel everything he felt and understand clearly where he was coming from. I was blown away, though as I would discover the next day, not everyone shared my opinion. “I don’t watch this stuff to be lectured about politics,” my colleague explained, as we moved boxes into a storage unit. “I mean, I get the idea, but it’s not the time and place for that, you know?” Not wanting to start unnecessary drama, I gave a noncommittal grunt and went back to moving boxes. The Grammy Upon Awards are a prime example of why it further considis important for all eration though, I came to a awards shows to conclusion: peoallow for political ple don’t want expression.

politics shoved into their mindless entertainment. And that’s exactly why politics needs to continue to be shoved there. Whenever some high-profile entertainer—an athlete, an artist, an actor—comes out to make a statement on an issue, you can usually find a litany of irate comments amounting to “stick to football/singing/ acting." People are all too happy to bury their heads in the sand about unpleasant matters, especially the ones that don’t affect them directly. They’ll cheerfully go about their lives, writing off important issues as somebody else’s problem—at least, until somebody with both the means and the influence to speak out forces them to pay attention. The celebrities of the world do something no ordinary person can—they can make the average person listen, and in doing so, they elevate issues into the public consciousness. Without their influence, these discussions would remained confined to internet forums and academic circles, languishing only as thoughts that never grow into anything bigger. Beyond that, music and movies were

always political exercises––musicians in the 60s crooned about civil rights, anti-war films and novels took off amidst the Vietnam War in the 1970s and critiques of soulless capitalism came into style during the materialistic haze of the 1980s. Already, we've seen the good that can come from artists and enetertainers speaking out- the cultures surrounding police brutality and sexual harassment have been fundamentally altered, and even if there is still work to do, victims now have a much better chance of getting justice. Causes that would normally only appear on the back pages of newspapers can become national outrages, and thanks to the power of internet communication, one person's causes and ideals can quickly take root in millions of minds. But back to the "time and place" comment. Many people will say “I sympathize with what they’re saying, but there’s a time and place for protests, and it’s not during my sporting event/awards ceremony/TV show.” Unfortunately, when pressed for what ‘time and place’ would work better, there’s a notable dearth of suggestions.

Why? It becomes clear when your realize that what they are actually saying is “protest when it's convenient for me to ignore, so I can pretend the problem doesn't exist.” They don't want to hear about actual problems; want protesters to stay in the designated Protesting Zone, and only protest during the designated Protesting Hours, where they don't have to listen. And that's why it's so important to make them listen. They're the people's minds you need to change. Even if an impromptu statement on the award stage won't completely reverse their views, it will forces them to make their arguments in the open, allowing for meaningful discussion that can ultimately be a powerful tool in creating meaningful change. So when the internet trolls crawl out of their caves, when the pundits and morning show hosts spew venom and derision from the television screen, when fire and fury starts pouring out of your Twitter feed, enjoy it. If your protest isn’t making anyone angry, you’re doing something wrong.

Page 22 • The ReMarker • February 9, 2018 • Commentary Staff editorials

FROM ALUMNI TO NOTABLE POLITICIANS, GUEST SPEAKERS TAKE MANY FORMS

While alumni speakers are always welcomed and enjoyed, outside speakers would add a new perspective for the students.

ne of the most valuable assets of attending a school such as St. Mark’s is the ability to attract influential business, political and community leaders to speak to students in a variety of venues — chapel, commencement, Visiting Scholars Program or special assemblies. In the past, speakers ranging from Ronald Reagan to Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings to Paleontologist Dr. Lee Berger have all fascinated students with wonderful presentations and speeches. Although the school’s ability to bring in big-name business people has not changed, it seems as if more and more of the guest speakers are alumni of this school. Certainly, our alums have engaged us with speeches and life experiences, and we treasure any advice we can learn from them. The school touts education of the whole boy. There is no better way to educate the whole boy than by hearing from guest speakers from all different walks of life with different lessons to teach us. We’d like to see guests from outside of 10600 Preston Road to complement our strong base of alumni speakers. For example, three commencement ceremonies in a row have featured speeches from alumni. We are not trying to take away from what these alumni shared with us, but we wish to go back to the days where men such as Ronald Reagan, then governor of California, sent the Class of 1977 into the real world. We do appreciate the recent strides the school has made in its efforts to diversify the guest speakers students hear from. Certainly, we commend the school for bringing Dr. Michael Sorrell, president of Paul Quinn College, to speak to the

Upper School during chapel. His powWe know the school has the resourcerful speech centering around giving es to bring in some of the best and most back to those who are less fortunate than influential leaders of this country both ourselves truly struck the hearts of everyfrom outside of St. Mark’s and within our one, providing us with a viewpoint from own community. This is why we would someone who has seen a different side of like the administration to start bringing life than the bubble that many of us live in more leaders to speak who come from in today in our communities. different backgrounds — because it is Similarly, this year’s Willard E. Walkhard to fulfill the promise of educating er, Jr. ’66 Visiting Scholar, Robert Edsel the whole boy if each student is only ’75 enthralled students with his talks seeing alumni who have had the same regarding art preservation and his efforts beginnings as we have today. to keep history intact. We want community leaders like n addition, we believe the Visiting Sorrell. We want political leaders like Scholars program has done an exReagan. We want to hear from people cellent job of bringing in non-alumni who weren’t born in Preston Hollow or to entertain students. Students were Highland Park because this will allow enthralled by the stories of bestselling students to more fully blossom and to author and Robert E. Dennard Visiting more openly learn about different chalScholar Casey Sherman, and we hope lenges that we are not exposed to in our to see more people like Sherman in the daily lives. near future. There is nothing wrong with bringing the occasional alumnus in to speak to students who has made a big difference in his community, and we encourage the administration to share with students all of the important contributions to the Dallas community along with the broader community that Courtesy Development Office these men have EXECUTIVE President Ronald Reagan delivered the 1977 commencemade. ment address after finishing his term as governor of California.

Amid growing concern over ISAS, students must adhere to policy

Now that the ISAS Fine Arts Festival is only three miles away from the school, students are wondering why they must attend the entirety of the festival without leaving — no exceptions. The answer? School policy.

he ISAS Fine Arts Festival is traditionally one of the highlights for students enrolled in one of the fine arts classes. Held each spring at a host school, it offers a three-day experience in which students develop their artistic talent and meet other art students from around the country. Traditionally, we have a large number of students participate each year. This year, with the festival being held at Hockaday, students were told they must ride the school-provided bus to the events and return with the group on that same bus. There are no exceptions to this policy, meaning if a student has a conflict such the ACT on the morning of Saturday, April 14, sports practice on one of the days or any other obligation which would take him away from the event, he must choose between the two. This raises the question of why —

since Hockaday is only three miles away — students are not allowed to do both. The reason is simple: school policy. While we understand this might seem excessive, we also understand why this must be the rule. First, ISAS rules dictate that during these festivals for which schools from different cities and states travel to attend, there must be a student to chaperone ratio of 12:1. This ratio ensures that there are not oversized groups without a safe number of chaperones to assist them in an emergency. Second, we must take into account that there are more than 5000 students attending the festival each year, consisting of 160 Marksmen, so there must be measures taken to ensure safety and order. If students could leave and return whenever they want, it would be too easy

to lose track of a student and not know where students are at any given time. So no students are allowed to leave the festival for any reason during the time they are there. Third, as the school’s director of student travel, Arnold E. Holtberg Master Teacher Scott Hunt’s position is to ensure a greater level of safety for all students when travelling on school trips. Simply put, it is school policy and we must adhere to it. While it is frustrating for students to travel so short a distance, the rules are in place to ensure our safety. The ISAS festival offers a great learning experience and further exposure to the arts. Marksmen will enjoy a great three-day experience knowing that, by adhering to school policy on student travel, a safe experience will be guaranteed as well.

How to make uniform pants look fashionable Step 1: Pair with a nice sweatshirt.

Step 2: Put on your coolest shoes.

Step 3: Hide behind a large object.

REMARKER STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF ST. MARK’S SCHOOL OF TEXAS. 10600 PRESTON ROAD DALLAS, TEXAS 75230 214.346.8000 EDITOR IN CHIEF KOBE ROSEMAN

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Commentary • February 9, 2018 • The ReMarker • Page 23

Confession: the time I stole a bracelet for my girlfriend

After all that, I can’t —won’t — let you quit

sneak into her bedroom, nab the first thing I can find. An elastic rainbow bracelet with a silver, heartshaped charm. The perfect gift. Youthful yet tasteful. Loving yet playful. Meaningful yet effortless. I take my loot — my fourth grade sister’s bracelet — to my room, hide it in my pillowcase. And I’m ready, ready to take it to school the next morning. To take my present to the love of my life.

wince as my little brother’s aluminum baseball bat scrapes across the concrete sidewalk. He –– like a caveman dragging his least favorite club –– begrudgingly trudges through the beams of my headlights and towards my car, exhausted, sweaty and mad. When we exchange a quick glance, I catch a glimpse of the fiery anger that brews behind his 14-year-old eyes. With disgust, he throws his catcher’s gear behind my rear tire. “Back up over it. We can tell mom it was an accident.” I get out of the car, grab his empty duffel bag, and start to collect the pads and helmet strewn across my parking space. I delicately place his now-stuffed duffel bag in my backseat and gently lay his now coarse, jagged baseball bat on the floorboards of my car. I click the buckle of my seatbelt, trying as hard as I possibly can to not look him in the eyes, to not look at the tears I know are there. But when his hands, now Davis Bailey almost as big as mine, find their Managing way to my shoulders, I’m forced editor to look up. “Davis, I don’t want to play anymore. I don’t want to do this anymore.” And now, I’m the one trying to bottle up and hold in that anger about to erupt out of me. I shake off his hands. How could my little brother — the quarterback, the point guard, the all-star catcher — have had enough? I keep my neck locked straight forward as I pull out of the batting cages’ parking lot, considering for a fleeting moment skipping the most important part of my weekly 8:30 p.m. batting practice pick-up duties –– snagging Whataburger on the way home. But I shake my head. I’m mad, not evil.

Everyday, I ride my seven-gear mountain bike to my new school — McCullough Intermediate School — a monstrous red brick palace where I’m sure I’ll gain my adulthood. And I meet her. Meet a girl we’ll call Stacey. And I spend time with her over Christmas break. Lots of time. Sitting on the monkey bars of Hyer Elementary. Chatting about the fifth grade struggles everyone goes through — not playing dodgeball in P.E., failing a multiplication test, a boring earth science lab. Stacey and I start to like each other. I get my first phone that January as a late Christmas present, and the game changes. The Pantech Reveal. Something about the feeling of sliding that phone open and hearing the clicks of the tiny little keyboard still sticks with me. Stacey and I begin texting nonstop. Our deep and meaningful relationship develops, and “Hey!” turns to “hi” with a semicolon and a close parentheses — winky face. We have a lot of classes together, yet the vast majority of talks are behind the safety of our screens. I’m a mature, almost-adult fifth grader, but face-to-face conversations are always awkward — come to think of it, almost as awkward as the side-hugs. I finally muster the courage to ask Stacey to be my “girlfriend” on the afternoon of Jan. 17 (I have to remember the date to wish her a happy anniversary every week). At this point, my parents have no idea who Stacey is because in the fifth grade I’m not allowed to “date” — or so my parents say. Naturally, like any other sly fifth grader, I “date” Stacey behind their back. During our six weeks together, I delete our constant flow of text messages twice a day — once in the morning, and once before my 8:30 p.m. bedtime when I check my Pantech into my parents’ bedroom. They are completely oblivious to my serious relationship… at least until they find out my iTouch password is “Stacey Stacerson.” But that’s a different story.

I strut into school the next morning, bracelet stowed in my pocket. I stand confidently in front of upstairs locker 232, our meeting spot. Oh shoot. I see Stacey walking up the stairs — black hair flowing with friends at each shoulder — with a giant, perfectly presented gift Rett bag. Daugbjerg Creative “Happy Valentines director Day, Stace,” I mutter, trying to suppress the butterflies, the blushing. I extend the tattered bracelet, presenting it to Stacey like a male penguin courting his significant other with a stone. She looks at it, a little puzzled, then gives me the ‘is this it?’ smile. She’s underwhelmed. She hands me her bag and I tear through the tissue paper in search of my present. I pull out a football signed by June Jones, the then-coach of the SMU Mustangs football team. And she dumps me three weeks later. And although she says it isn’t, I’m wholeheartedly convinced the crap-I-forgot-to-get-you-a-present bracelet is the reason. So, don’t fret about getting your significant other an awesome, unique, thoughtful Valentine’s day gift. Even if you steal a crummy bracelet from your sister, you still have at least three weeks before she kicks you to the curb.

•••

My anger, however, bubbles and stews as I drive, with each

GRID

THE

Our opinions on what’s going on around campus, all in one place.

NOTICED

BAFFLING

Sickness With this year marking one of the worst flu seasons in history, we want to remind everyone to make sure to wash their hands as often as possible. And most of all, do not come to school if you’re sick!

Work load before mid-trimester and break We were disheartened to see teachers pile work onto students right before Christmas break and the end of the mid-trimester. We would like to see more teachers coordinate when they give major assignments, either by using the school website or by direct communication.

•••

Cafeteria food After a strong start to the school year, students around campus feel like the options presented in the cafeteria in the last few weeks have been disappointing. However, we are positive that Sage will make the necessary improvements soon.

Student Sections Although it took a while to get to where it should be, the student sections for the past three basketball and soccer games have been better than ever, with fans showing up on time to cheer on Lions athletics.

Chapel Speech We would like to commend chapel guest speaker Dr. Michael Sorrell, president of Paul Quinn College and father to second grader Michael Sorrell, on giving one of the most powerful chapel speeches in a long time, showing students the importance of giving back to their communities.

Beam Ceremony We are impressed with the expeditious manner in which Beck Habitat for Humanity has worked on Many students are the Winn Scidoing an excellent ence Center and job of giving back to McDermott-Green their community by Science Building. building a house as The all-school part of the Habitat for ceremony to Humanity commucelebrate the nity service project. topping-off of the Keep up the good framework was a work! great way to celebrate the progress made and honor the Class of 2018.

BRILLIANT

silence-breaking sniffle from the passenger seat threatening to unleash an explosion of scolding. I let the conversation play out in my head; I tell my brother, imaginarily, how thankful he needs to be of his gifts, how he –– of all people –– should love the practice, love thriving at something he is so naturally talented at. I would never admit it in our imaginary conversation, but it’s a sort of distorted, twisted jealousy that pushes me to almost-yell at him. It’s the thrice-a-day, 100-degrees summer tennis practices. It’s the six-hour drives to fruitless tennis tournaments. It’s the shoebox half-full of bronze medals that sits unwanted, unloved under a pile of clothes in my closet. And it’s the knowledge that no matter how many hours I spend in the weight room, no matter how many summer nights hitting serve after serve under the blinding white lights, no matter how many practice matches I slog through, no matter how many times I run myself to the point of throwing up, I will never have what he has, never be as good as he could be. So when my car pulls into the Whataburger parking lot, I let him stay in the car. I jog up to the register. “What can I get you this evening?” “I’ll have one double cheeseburger, plain-and-dry, except for ketchup and extra lettuce please…” My eyes float out the window and into the parking lot. I see, through two layers of glass, pure, uninhibited joy on my brother’s face as he fiddles with my steering wheel. Hazards blinking, windshield wipers firing, and headlights flashing on and off, I can’t help but laugh. “… actually make it two of those. The exact same order.” And when I stroll back out to the car, I see the smug look on my brother’s face as he tries to suppress his fit of giggling. I open my driver’s side door and toss him the orange and white paper sack. “Alright, Ben, I’ll talk to Mom and Dad. You can quit.” He laughs.

•••

We begin our relationship on Jan. 17, so Valentine’s Day comes up on me quickly. Very quickly. We went from just texting to buying gifts for each other real quick, and I didn’t even realize that Valentine’s Day was upon me until I get the text. The afternoon-of-Feb. 13-text that every boyfriend hates to receive. The text from Stacey’s best friend asking what I got her for Valentine’s Day. Frazzled, I think through my options: 1. Ride my bike to Kid Biz in Preston Center to buy a gift… This wouldn’t work for two reasons: my parents didn’t know I have a girlfriend, and I had no money. 2. Play the odds and hope that Stacey didn’t give me a gift — this was off of the table after her friend’s text. 3. Mount a daring heist on my fourth grade sister in a heroic gesture of young love — bingo. And that’s the night I sneak into my sister’s bedroom. I tiptoe across the hallway into her gumball-pink room. Her prized box full of cheap Claire’s jewelry stares me down.

OVERLOOKED

‘

Word on the

STREET

Students and faculty share their opinions on issues in the news and around campus.

‘

Our responsibility to our community is to give back. You should be able to accomplish more than five hours of community service in 12 weeks, no matter how busy you are. Spread the love. Beau Exall freshman

‘

I think mentoring kids in impoverished communities would really help them step up. Poverty is a disease, and helping the youth that are living in poverty is really important. Neal Reddy sophomore

‘

As long as we have an intense rate of poverty, it’s not going to go away itself, so we have to take care of it or else it’s going to fester and get worse and worse. Connor Cheetham junior

‘

Just continue to do community service through St. Mark’s and beyond. John David McClain sophomore

Dallas has one of the highest child poverty rates in the nation (www.dallasnews.com). What is our responsibility to our community? How can you help? If we think of ourselves as needing to move our community forward, we need to think far greater than just St. Mark’s School of Texas. It is our responsibility to benefit not only the boys here on campus, but also the city in general. Dean Clayman Middle School Head

‘

Our responsibility is to try to decrease that poverty rate in any way we can. Dallas is a very wealthy area, and it shouldn’t be as filled with poverty as it is. Judah Frenkel sixth grader

‘

Motivation through community service is a good way to help to at least put a dent in the problem. We can motivate other people to join, and set a precedent that community engagement is important especially at an institution like St. Mark’s where others look up to us. Emmett Berger junior

Page 24 • The ReMarker • February 9, 2018 • Commentary

The perfect joke: trying to impress my comedy mentor

t’s the perfect joke. Funny, smart, political with a twist. There’s no other fifth grader in the world who can top this joke. There he is. My target. My brother — Graham. Sitting on our brand new white couch, his feet hanging off the edge of the armrest. Pretty sure Mom told us not to do that, but that’s not important. What’s important is – he’s gonna laugh. Duncan He’s finally gonna Kirstein laugh. I’m gonna make Focus him piss his stupid Editor khaki shorts laughing. I cross the living room, my bare feet warming the cold wood floors. I’m barely able to hear my own thoughts as The Office plays on the T.V. I suppose this isn’t a bad thing, as potential failure was the principal thought in my head. I stand in front of my brother. My comedy mentor. The goal I’ve set for myself. There’s nothing I want more than to be acknowledged by the eighth-grader who sits before me. I mentally prepare myself for the joke, the joke that will get me one step closer to my goal. “Hey, Graham—what’s the opposite of progress…” Nailed the set-up; let’s bring it home, baby. Then I say, before he can jump in, “Congress.” Flawless delivery. I kept my cool, made eye-contact, didn’t laugh at my own joke… much. I’m still working on that part.

He doesn’t even look at me when he responds. “Needs work.” What the heck, man? That’s not the response I’m looking for. Whatever, it doesn’t matter. I don’t need his approval. He isn’t even that funny. He’s just my mean older brother, and I don’t care what he thinks. I shuffle off to my room. I’m never talking to him again. ••• One hour later, he’s still on the couch, feet still breaking Mom’s rule. “Hey, Graham… Wanna hear a really funny joke?” I stand there, waiting for him to look up. How did I get back here already? It’s a cycle of rejection. Again, I’ll tell a joke. Again, I’ll wait for laughter. Again— it’ll never come. He doesn’t look up, and I begin to drag my feet across the floor back towards my room. I decide not to tell the joke. Maybe instead I’ll try out a running joke. One I’ve never succeeded at. All I have to do is introduce myself. Then he’ll introduce himself. Then I will. Then him. It’ll continue until one of us laughs. I walk up to Graham, my confidence in myself shrinking with each step towards him. He’s now getting himself a snack in our kitchen—his face hidden behind the open refrigerator door, his right hand reaching for the mustard that will complete his turkey sandwich. I hold out my left hand and grab his. “Hi, Bill Hayes.” He looks at me and, without skipping a beat,

replies, “Jim Stochner, pleased to meet you.” “Paul Gerdson.” He shakes my hand again. “Ryan Coldstone.” This continues for a couple minutes. Suddenly, another name enters my mind. To most people, it wouldn’t register as a very funny joke, but to Graham it is –the perfect blend of realism and absurdness. “Hi!” I extend my hand for the shake once more. “Ron Paperorplastic’s the name, insurance is the game. Pleased to meet you.” He can’t keep it in anymore. Years of contained laughter spill out, and he’s laughing now, his hand slapping the refrigerator door, leaving a sizable hand print. He’s not just laughing at my stupid name joke though— but at my joke about congress, at my impression of Bill Clinton at the beach, at every joke I’ve ever told he didn’t laugh at. I don’t think he never laughed with me because he didn’t think I was funny but because he wanted me to be funnier. That’s when I realize — maybe he’s not being mean, maybe he’s just trying to help. Granted, he didn’t have to always tell me I took the joke and murdered it with a knife. Or stomped on it. Or shot it with a crossbow. Or some other brutal, violent way of telling me I took a funny joke and ruined it. But to me, he was always being nice in his own weird way… by being a jerk.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

‘St. Mark’s must declare itself to be a feminist institution,’ alumni assert

Dear Editor: Last August, a group of St. Mark’s students stood by while a copy of the book We Should All Be Feminists was burned in a Hockaday student’s home. The seeming indifference of the administration to this wake-up call has marked a failure of leadership by Headmaster Dini and the faculty as a whole. St. Mark’s must declare itself to be a feminist institution, immediately. This statement should be made via email

and out loud, at both Middle and Upper School assemblies. Feminism is not a political question. Feminism is a question of manhood. It is a question of responsibility. Feminism is the responsibility to act on the belief that men and women are fundamentally equal. And as much as our classmates liked to argue that they themselves never instituted the biases that act everywhere in their favor, it is impossible for us to go on accepting the benefits of an unfair status

Unsung hero

d the glob

oun

quo without also shouldering the blame for it. We live in an unjust world. That’s a fact. Now the school’s leaders need to decide whether they want its students to burn that fact off the covers of books or to stand up and do something about it. It’s time for an honest discussion about the values current and former St. Mark’s students are communicating in their interactions with women. The ReMarker has a vital role to play

A discussion of issues outside the scope of campus, around the country and across the globe.

TAKING

in this discussion and should continue to produce editorial work that holds students accountable for those values. Even so, debates between students have never determined where the school stands on this issue and never will. That particular responsibility falls on teachers and administrators. The failure to recognize this moment as an opportunity to do better is a failure in the education of young men. Matthew Conley ‘15 William Sidney ‘15

STOCK

Looking at the rising and falling stocks around campus Fourth grade WordMasters

Aziz Ansari accusations provide speed bump to movement, but progress will continue John Mead

Eugene McDermott Master Teacher

e would like to thank Eugene McDermott Master Teacher John Mead, not for his excellent teaching, although that would be appropriate as well, but for his entertaining YouTube page. Middle schoolers are obsessed with his page, which features many different scientific species, discoveries, interviews and announcements. In this world of growing technology usage, it is neat to see a teacher adapting to this change in society by sharing his insights through a medium students use. Mead is taking teaching to another level by expanding his lessons outside of the classroom and onto the internet for all who are interested to see, rather than just those who he teaches. For this reason, we recognize Mead for all of the work he does and for going above and beyond what is asked of him as a St. Mark’s teacher. His work is providing students with educational enjoyment on the internet well beyond the classroom. Thank you!

round Jan. 14 of this year, Aziz Ansari was thrown into the spotlight for the wrong reasons. In the midst of the #MeToo movement, a 23-yearold woman anonymously reported to Babe.net that after going home together after a date, the 34-yearold comedian and actor had pressured her into doing things with which she was not comfortable. The next day, she sent him a text sharing her discomfort, to which he reportedly responded, “Clearly, I misread things in the moment and I’m truly sorry.” While the article published on Babe.net was intended to tarnish the reputation of a man who has repeatedly voiced his support of the #MeToo movement and is publically an avid feminist and women’s rights advocate, women around the country have come to his support, explaining that the encounter between the Ansari and the woman did not seem to be more than a misunderstanding between the two. Ansari has since reaffirmed his support of women who have struggled with sexual harassment and sexual assault, saying “I continue to support the movement that is happening in our culture. It is necessary and long overdue.” However, while Ansari’s situation seemed like a normal interaction between two people on a date, it is vital to remember that part of the importance of the #MeToo movement is to demonstrate that what seems like everyday interaction between men and women can still be uncomfortable for the women involved. The #MeToo movement is showing men and women around the world how important it is to respect everyone, regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation. We hope it continues to empower women and promote equality for all.

Six fourth-graders earned perfect scores on the recent WordMasters Challenge, a national vocabulary competition with almost 150,000 competing. Nationally, only 95 students earned perfect scores. Congratulations to the fourth-graders and their “coaches,” fourth grade instructors Lynn Terman and Shannon Nadalini.

The Literary Festival We would like to show our appreciation to junior Sahit Dendekuri, sophomore Jack Trahan and Victor White Master Teacher David Brown for setting up such a wonderful Literary Festival with such a wide array of talented writers.

Student outfits

Although the weather might be freezing, students must abide to the dress code, which means no sweatpants during the school day, especially not during classes. If students desire to wear pants, they may wear the school approved grey pants, even if they might not be as warm as sweatpants.

Parking Lot Driving All members of the school community while driving in the parking lot need to remember to drive with caution. We have recently seen too many people speeding in the parking lot, putting the safety of faculty members and students at risk.

Page 25

The language of sports

SPORTS

n a cracked basketball court next to the Corporal Burns playground, overlooking Massachusetts’s Charles River, a 6-foot-5-inch Argentinian 17-year-old dunks a ball through the rusty hoop. Less than a minute later, a 5-foot-9-inch Croatian senior drains a long shot from beyond the arc. “That’s three,” he said in slow, cautious English as he held three fingers over the crest of his Dinamo Zagreb soccer jersey. Out of the ten on the court, only two of us — a kid from down the road in Boston and I —spoke what could be called even remotely fluent English. Everyone else knew enough to get by with hand gestures and the occasional use of Google Translate, but that was about it. Right then, the only thing we had in comParker Davis mon was Sports Editor basketball. I don’t play here. I never have. But it allowed us a way to connect, a way to have fun together where nobody even had to talk. We could just divide up the teams and tip off. That’s not to say it’s not the same with other sports. It absolutely is. That’s what this month’s Olympics are all about. Putting aside any barriers and competing for your country against athletes from across the globe. In a way, that’s what we do here, just on a much smaller scale. Every week, our athletes go out to compete against private schools from Dallas, Houston, Oklahoma City and more. Though we aren’t separated by language barriers, we still rarely come together, save for those Friday night basketball games, and yes, even the occasional freezing soccer game. In November, the soccer team shared a post-game dinner with soccer players from Kinkaid, who had driven up from Houston to the game. Outside of sports, where else would that happen? Nowhere. More than anything else, sports offer us a way to connect. To connect with our community. To connect with new people. If you’re out on the field or court, seize the opportunity to know the guy you’re guarding, the guy standing next to you on first base or the guy sitting across the field on the other team’s bench. But don’t stop competing. Dunk over that guy. Dribble past him and put one in the back of the net. Rob their next double with a diving catch in the outfield. Then — the next possession — do it again. That’s the start to any good friendship. If you’re in the stands, know someone in the other set of bleachers, whether it’s across Hunt Family Stadium or 20 feet away in Hicks Gym. But don’t stop cheering. Yell louder than that guy. Chant “Dup” more than him. Make more noise than him when the Lions take home the victory. Then — the next week — do it again. That’s the start to any good friendship.

FIGHT FOR CONTROL

SPORTS Riley Sanders photo

Senior Owen Berger battles with a Parish midfielder for the ball during the varsity soccer team’s game Jan. 5. The game, which the team lost 6-2, was their first of the new year and their last before the counter season began. The team, currently sitting in the top three in SPC standings, played a game last night against Home School Athletic Association, their last before the SPC tournament kicks off Thursday.

Sports in brief MIDDLE SCHOOL SPORTS APPROACH END OF SEASON With only a fraction of the winter season remaining, Lions Middle School soccer and basketball teams have a combined record of 38 wins and 18 losses. Of the teams, the eighth grade gold basketball squad and the seventh grade soccer team stand out, the former having 11 wins and two losses, and the latter with nine wins and just one loss. Finally, the combined seventh and eighth grade swim team capped off their season Wednesday with a strong showing in their annual Time Trials here. JV TEAMS BEGIN TO WIND DOWN STRONG YEAR As the winter season begins to come to a close, JV teams have shown their ability and readiness to move up to the varsity level in

coming years. The freshman basketball team has an overall record of 8-7 and is currently undefeated in SPC play. Coming off of a recent victory against Trinity Valley, the freshman squad faced Cistercian in an away game Feb. 6. The JV basketball team holds an impressive record of 9-5 and also squared off against Cistercian Feb. 6. Further down the road, tonight, the freshman team will compete against TACA and the JV team will play against the CHANT Chargers. Eddie Raj The JV soccer team holds a record of 11-2-2 and played an away game at Cistercian Feb. 6 and tonight will host Home School Athletic Association.

ALUMNI REPRESENT LIONS ATHLETICS ACROSS NATION Alumni have in recent monthscontinued to receive playing time at the highest levels of competition in collegiate athletics across the country. Parker Dixon ’16, a sophomore on the Princeton men’s volleyball team, was an important part of the effort to upset eighth-ranked Stanford in the 2018 Asics Invitational Jan. 12th. With 13 kills and five digs, Dixon was a critical part of the effort that led to a great start for the 2018 year for the team. Additionally, Will Ingram ’17, a freshman at Middlebury College, scored his first college basketball points Jan. 21 after struggling to break the rotation earlier in the season given his low seniority on the team. Finally, Jack Gordon ’15, a junior at Cornell University, has

been averaging 27.5 minutes per game and 6.9 points per game, including a standout performance in a win against Central Pennsylvania where he went 5-5 on three-pointers en route to a 15-point performance. PEP RALLY BRINGS SPIRIT, FUN TO WINTER SEASON A hundreds-strong contingent of suit-clad students turned out for the annual Fan Blizzard pep rally and basketball and soccer games Dec. 12 as a result of the “strictly business” theme introduced by the three Superfanmen. Activities during the pep SuperFan Man Avery Pearson rally included a three-point contest for points in the High School Cup (won by junior Jason

Peng) and the practice of chants in anticipation of the night’s rivalry matchups against the Episcopal School of Dallas. The games, in which both the Lions varsity basketball and soccer teams secured victories over the rival Eagles, added further to the theme, featuring a “stock market crash” in the second half. SOPHOMORE LACZKOWSKI RECEIVES ATHLETIC HONORS Sophomore Andrew Laczkowski received Honorable Mention for Dallas Morning News Player of the Week Jan. 28. Laczkowski, who averaged 27 points in two games in the week prior, is a starting guard for the Lions varsity basketball team. He was one of four sophomores to receive the honor, the rest coming from public schools in the Metroplex.

— Colin Campbell, Josh Daniels, Nathan Han, Jahaziel Lopez, Parker Davis

Inside

The scoreboard Varsity Basketball

22 5

Assistant coaches

Some teams across the school have nearly ten assistant coaches. Some have none.

Wins

JV Basketball

9 5

The best sports movies

We’ve all heard of The Sandlot. Talledega Nights. Space Jam. But which one will reign supreme here?

Wins

‘

Player-crowd relationship

First grade ballers

Losses

Varsity Soccer

6 7 1 Wins

Losses

Draws

8th Grade Soccer

9 2

Wins

Losses

SPC spectating tips from the Superfans

How teams feed off your energy in the stands and why it’s so important to be loud.

Reactions from a first grade Lions basketball game against archrival Good Shepherd.

Losses

Highlight reel

‘

It would be awesome if fans could carpool down to Houston for the tournament. In the past, a couple of seniors usually go down and cheer on the teams, but it would be awesome if we could get a full-sized student section down there for the tournament. The South Zone teams are going to bring all of their fans, so it would be cool if we could match their student — Senior Sam Sussman sections.” I feel that being as loud as we can and having control as we cheer is the most important thing [during a game].”

— Senior Avery Pearson

Senior center Sam Sussman

6’6” 1

Sussman’s height, making him the tallest on the team

points scored in the first five minutes of the team’s game against ESD

more than

Sussman’s amount of double doubles for the season

Page 26 • The ReMarker • February 9, 2018 • Sports

SIDELINE HEROES Assistant coaches

Up to 25 assistant coaches come on campus every day. But who are they? And what are they teaching our student-athletes?

The Lions basketball team has a total of six assistant coaches. More than all the other winter varsity sports combined. But what about the average American high school basketball team? If it has any, it has maybe one assistant. Villanova? Duke? Kansas? They boast a total of three. The Dallas Mavericks? Four. A stadium that could seat the school’s student body 20 times over. And two fewer coaches. $200 million in annual revenue. And two fewer coaches. Over a dozen players making $1 million or more. Still, two fewer coaches. With six assistants currently help-

3 p.m., then makes the trek to 10600 Preston Rd. in the evenings to coach. “I would say I’m the buffer,” Hershner said. “I’m the buffer between the student-athletes and the coach. I think I’m another voice but also just a different voice, with some coaches more than others. I think I fit in the middle to where I can relay information or say what head varsity cross country coach John Turek wants or what Guiler wants to give it to the kids a little better.” Some assistant coaches, additionally, come from around the school community. That’s by design, athletic director Mark Sullivan said. “The school deliberately goes out to find qualified faculty who are multi-talented,” Sullivan said. “So, whether it’s someone who can come in and help coach or someone who can come in and go camping with the Wilderness Program, that person is always the preferred candidate over someone who may just be myopic in what they do.”

have to worry about being diplomatic. I know what I want to do, and let’s get to it.” In Guiler’s eyes, finding coaches that

Some sports require more assistant coaches, but some simply have the luxury of more staff. Here’s how the numbers stack up.

10 5.3 1.7 5.8 16

SOCCER

FOOTBALL

BASKETBALL

mesh well with each other and the system a head coach operates is key to maintaining a healthy atmosphere around the team. “I’ve been fortunate in that I’ve never felt like the assistant coaches I’ve had were in a competition with me,” Guiler said. “I’ve been fortunate enough to never have an assistant coach that makes me dread to come to practice every day. I know those assistants exist out there, and I keep thinking one day I’ll be unlucky enough to have one, but so far I’ve been lucky.” But for Guiler, the culture the players, coaches and school can create is unmatched and anywhere. “I tell people all the time this is the best high school coaching job in the country,” Guiler said. “It is an unbelievable place because the guys compete, the administration gives me freedom and all of that just makes me look forward to each day I get to come coach here.”

Player-to-coach ratio by sport

BASEBALL

• Story Parker Davis, Colin Campbell Photo Riley Sanders

IN THE SHADOWS For how much work many of the assistant coaches around campus do, many athletes still see them as strangers.

TRACK

ing the program on a regular basis, the basketball team has one of the largest coaching staffs in the school. Despite the fact there are currently less than two players for each coach, only one assistant is actually paid by the school. The rest give their weekday afternoons to Guiler and the team for free. No matter who a coach is, however, “I actually went into the season the main goal is to find someone who thinking about having a smaller can lead Marksmen toward the virtue staff,” Guiler said, and morality the school “but there are just WITHOUT AN ASSISTANT, YOU JUST hopes to instill in its so many amazing HAVE TO MANAGE YOUR PRACTICES students. coaches. Every one “It’s always charA LITTLE BIT DIFFERENTLY of those guys is acter first,” Sullivan Varsity soccer head coach Cory Martin awesome, and they said. “Whether they’re all bring something a qualified candidate great to the table. Last year’s staff was in terms of how they know their sport even bigger. Some of the volunteers or whether they’re just someone who are the best coaches I’ve ever been is coming in and is maybe one step around.” ahead of the players at that particular The assistants include Tunde Abu, level, it’s all about character. What alumni Cameron Cole ’12 and Hank we’re really trying to do is help boys Williams ’11, Guiler’s father Scott and grow into good young men.” time-honored teacher-and-coach Tom New assistant tennis coach Kathi Adams. Guiler, who for most of his Eckel strives to do just that during her life has played on teams with one or time coaching on the court. two coaches in total, sees the staff size “The biggest thing I try to do is as a luxury, a way to provide multiple help [players] recognize that the sport voices for the team to hear at practices and game of tennis is long term even and at games. after you leave the court because of “If push came to shove, I could the discipline and character building, coach the team myself,” Guiler said. the team bonding,” Eckel said. “Those “It’s only 12 guys, and we don’t need things are the most important things a zillion assistant coaches. I just love that I’d like to impart as a coach.” having assistants because I think it When it comes to finding new helps the players have a better bridge assistants, Sullivan believes it’s key to the coachthat the head coach plays a part in the ing staff. If process because, in the end, they need Mark we have five Sullivan to be comfortable with the teaching Athletic the team gets each day. assistants director and a player “Chemistry is huge,” Sullivan can make a said. “Chemistry between players, connection with two of them, then all chemistry between players and coachof a sudden, there are two guys whose es and certainly chemistry between voices he trusts.” the coaching staff is very important if Guiler’s case, however, is unique. you want to have positive experiences Nearly every other team lacks the in athletics.” same amount of coaching resources as Varsity soccer head coach Cory his team. Ryan Hershner, an assisMartin, who currently coaches the tant coach for the cross country and team alone, sees both pros and cons of track and field teams as well as with having an assistant. the basketball program, is a example “There are days when I do miss of what some may think of as the having an assistant,” Martin said, school’s “typical” assistant coach. “especially when I feel I’m not at my Every weekday, Hershner works best. At the same time there are some at the Cooper Clinic from 6:30 a.m. to days when I’m glad because I don’t

Numbers from seasons beginning in 2017

Sports • February 9, 2018 • The ReMarker • Page 27

A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN Alpha males

Before they began at the front of a class or at a desk in the Admission Office, members of the faculty and staff held promising athletic careers. Josh Daniels: What initially sparked your love or passion for your sport? Head Varsity Lacrosse coach Hayward Lee: The thing that ignited my passion for all sports is just being immersed in it since I was a boy. Where I grew up that was just what you did. I loved playing everything. There was never a time that we weren’t going out and playing a sport in somebody’s backyard, in the street, or on the playground. I was a little gym rat, a sports nerd. Head Varsity Baseball coach Johnny Hunter: Growing up my favorite sport was actually soccer. I played club soccer, but when the travel schedule and the team dues became pretty expensive, I decided to put aside soccer. When I got into high school, I looked into baseball and basketball. Baseball was not my number one, but it was a sport that I grew to love. Strength and Conditioning coach Kevin Dilworth: I was a football player from the start. If you were a football player, you normally had to do track for your speed development. I think I developed a love for it not just through the running, but the performance of learning how to long jump. Once I learned how to long jump, defying gravity for that little bit of time seemed to be fun. JD: What moments would you say defined your athletic career or would you regard as the highlights of your time competing? English Department Chair Michael Morris: I went to Williams College in Massachusetts. I felt like it was a program where I could contribute. One moment that I really cherish, after I graduated from college to work in New York City and I worked probably 100 hours a week. But the one break I would give myself is I would go to Central Park every Sunday morning and I’d bring my ball and I might spend a few minutes by

myself juggling or whatever, but sooner or later people would emerge from all different sides of the park onto the soccer field and within a short time we’d have a full game going. HL: Certainly you remember big games won or championships. I remember getting on a run my senior year of college. We beat the number one team in the country and got on a run that took us through a conference championship and then to the NCAA’s. I remember having a tryout in Houston and making the Dynamo. That was a cool moment, being embraced into a new world where there were really elite players.

IN THEIR PRIME (Clockwise from top left) Hayward Lee in uniform for Washington and Lee. Assistant coach Jason Leneau jogs onto the lacrosse field. English instructor Michael Morris jumps to head a ball during a game at Williams College. Strength and Conditioning coach Kevin Dilworth charges into his long jump. Humanities instructor Johnny Hunter’s baseball card from his time playing for the Double A Bay Bears.

Assistant football coach Jason Leneau: I was fortunate enough to be apart of a championship program at Virginia and win a state title a couple times at the high school and middle school level. I’ve been apart of undefeated high school programs. However, I bring it back to highlights of the interactions I’ve had with people— the competitive nature to strap on a helmet or put on a uniform and go out and compete and at the end of the day shake hands and say, “Hey man, good job,” win, lose, or draw. JD: What was the highest level you competed at? What was that like? HL: I played with Houston and Nashville briefly which would’ve been the equivalent of Double A baseball for soccer. You step into this next world and there’s all these guys that aren’t even US citizens. All they’ve ever done is soccer. Some of them didn’t even finish the equivalent of high school and it’s incredibly humbling and inspiring at the same

time. That was a great education for me.

athletics?

JH: I had the incredible luck and good fortune of being drafted in the 21st round by the San Diego Padres. What’s usually standard is each major league team has five to six affiliate teams. A little later on, I made the Double A team in Mobile, Alabama and then along the way got a chance to play Triple A in Portland, Oregon. I was right there on the door steps of the major leagues and that was quite the experience.

MM: As St. Mark’s guys know, in an academic environment or a serious work environment, there is much to do with the mind. The body needs it’s time too and sports are a great way to make sure you get that time.

KD: The Olympics was an experience like no other. I’ve had plenty world championships and those are nice, but its nothing like opening ceremony. Being around 50,000 people was huge. Just to walk in with other countries and to have that experience…it’s breathtaking and you really have no words. You just take in the emotion and the experience within itself. JD: What has been your greatest takeaway from

HL: My experience in athletics ultimately taught me that I wanted to be a coach. I think it’s learning through my experiences playing and then having my college coach sit down and tell me that this is something you ought to think about doing for a living, you’d be a really good coach. JL: My collegiate coaches, my professional coaches, you put them in the same category as your parents. They all love you. They all care about you, but that type of emotion that goes into a coach and an athlete that kind of give and take that you hate doing the extra burpee or gasser, but you know that the intention is to get you a little bit further than you were before.

• Story Josh Daniels Photos Courtesy Hayward Lee, Jason Leneau, Michael Morris, Kevin Dilworth, Johnny Hunter

Andrew Lin ’17 continues to enjoy success on Princeton water polo team by Aaron Thorne ndrew Lin ‘17 joined the water polo team at Princeton University as a walk-on and participated in the fall season, following a successful high school career in the sport. While many walk-on athletes undergo a grueling process to join their college teams, Lin found his process to be much simpler than he thought it was going to be beforehand. “I emailed the coach at the beginning of July and explained my water polo background and asked how I could begin the process,” Lin said. “He responded by saying that there was an open spot for me if I wanted to join. I think he made a couple phone calls just to make sure I was who I said I was, and then he offered me a spot.” Even though Lin is walk-on member of the team, he tries not to think of himself like that. “It’s dangerous for me to think of myself as a walk-on because it gives me an easy excuse for any mistakes I make or any swim sets I don’t finish in time,” Lin said. “I try to compete at a level equal to the other guys and hopefully get some big

minutes in big games by the time I’m an upperclassman.” One of the things motivating Lin to succeed on the college water polo stage is the advice and words of wisdom of the water polo head coach here, Mihai Opera. “The swim team meetings and lessons learned through hard work in the pool and careful management on deck have helped shape my current decisions and character,” Lin said. “Coach Oprea has extremely high expectations and motivates people in a way that only those who’ve had the privilege to be an athlete under him can truly understand.” Even though the coaches at Princeton move at a fast pace, Lin feels that high school water polo has prepared him for whatever may come his way in his college career. “Coach Oprea certainly made sure the fundamentals were ingrained in us, which has proven invaluable in the water so far,” Lin said. “The coaches assume you already know everything, so everything except game strategy is a direct translation from high school water polo.” While the addition of water polo practices and games to his schedule

makes him busier, Lin has found it pretty easy to balance the academic rigors of Princeton with his new career as a college athlete. “It’s not much more practice than I did in high school, and I am a lot less involved in other areas of the school than I was at St. Mark’s,” Lin said. “I have a ton more free time and it’s been super manageable so far.” The team went 22-6 and is ranked 14 in college water polo. Lin started in 14 of the teams 28 games, and scored a total of five goals and racked up seven assists. Joining the team at Princeton has given Lin a community and a group of friends with lots of experience who can help him in his transition. “At the beginning of the summer, I remember working out and feeling like something was missing,” Lin said. I’d been staying in shape to perform in sports for so long that something just felt off when I didn’t have a goal to work for. Being on the team has given me another athletic goal to work toward as well as an instant connection with a tight-knit group of 18 guys who are involved in all sorts of areas on campus.”

In the picture

ReMarker archive photo TOP CORNER Andrew Lin ’17 rears back for a shot during a varsity water polo practice during his time here. Lin is currently a freshman on the Princeton team.

Page 28 • The ReMarker • February 9, 2018 • Sports

BUY ME SOME POPCORN AND CRACKERJACKS 5 4 3 2 In review

Upper school students participated in a poll to determine their top five favorite pieces of sports cinema.

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS

THE SANDLOT

SPACE JAM

REMEMBER THE TITANS

In the small town of Odes-

The Sandlot’s timeless adven-

For young sports lovers, Space

Arguably one of the most

NASCAR phenomenon Ricky

sa, Texas, the only thing that keeps the racially-divided and economically-struggling town afloat are the Friday night lights. Rich in winning tradition, the Permian Panthers football team is led by their superstar running back. After a career ending injury to their star in the first game of the season, the team and town are left without hope. Somehow, the coach is able to lead the team through a huge comeback season, sharing along the way powerful statements about overcoming struggles and adversity.

ture stories and nostalgic comedy makes it one of the greatest sports movies of all time. When a boy called Smalls moves into town, he desperately tries to fit in. The only problem is that everyone plays baseball, and Smalls has never touched a bat in his life. After working hard to learn the sport, Smalls grows to love it as he and his new friends participate in many hilarious ventures, both on and off the field. The Sandlot is indubitably one of the most classic, family-friendly sports movies to ever exist.

Jam is the perfect movie. When a clan of aliens called the “Nerdlucks” come to capture the Looney Tunes characters, the two groups agree to settle their conflict with a game of basketball. When the aliens gain a crucial advantage on the Tune characters, they seek the help of the legendary Michael Jordan. The optimum mixture of NBA basketball and wonderfully colorful, vibrant cartoons brings to life all children’s sports cinematic dreams to life in this classic 1996 film and makes it one of the best ever.

I, Tonya, like it’s titular character, is brutal. By Aaron Thorne hile I, Tonya may be about a formerly famous figure skater, the film encompasses so much more than just a sports movie. I, Tonya, directed by Craig Gillespie, tells the story of Tonya Harding, a girl born to “white trash” who nonetheless managed to rise to the highest

Release date Now showing Rated Stars Director

Bobby is a national star due to his “if you aint first, you’re last” approach. He and his partner/childhood friend, Cal Naughton Jr., are a dynamic duo, using the “Shake and Bake” technique to virtually win every race, creating an unbeatable one-two punch. Their relationship is quickly tested when French Formula One driver Jean Girard challenges the pair for NASCAR supremacy. Ricky Bobby must face some of his largest fears in order to reclaim his spot as the best driver ever in this comedy romp.

Top Five Sports Movies, by percent

MOVIE REVIEW

I, Tonya

inspirational sports films ever seen, Remember the Titans is a memorable and emotional film for all. With legendary actor Denzel Washington, Remember the Titans tackles the adversity of the separation of black and white high schools in a football setting. When the two communities integrate and the African-American coach is made head coach of a strained and broken team, the drama makes the film one of the most memorable, hard-hitting films of the catalog of sports movies.

TALLADEGA NIGHTS

Dec. 8, 2017 AMC theaters, Magnolia Theater R Margot Robbie, Allison Janney Craig Gillespie

level of her sport—at least until she became a part of one of the largest legal scandals in sports history. The movie goes back and forth from the retelling

of Harding’s life to a fictional documentary in which older versions of the characters reflect on their lives. The movie begins with Harding’s life as a young girl at the age of four, when she first walks into a skating rink with her abusive mother. From there, the story flips back and forth from the simulation of Harding’s life to a fictional documentary in which older versions of the characters in the film reflect on Tonya’s life as she grows up. Despite Tonya’s difficult upbringing of an abusive mother and instable income, Tonya falls in love with and devotes her life to figure skating, and eventually becomes one of the top skaters in the world. The movie takes the

• Story Jahaziel Lopez, Aaron Thorne

viewer through Harding’s rise to power, her relationships and rivalries and ultimately her downfall during the incident at the 1994 Olympics. Gillespie’s movie portrays deep drama and a forceful sense of dark humor, drawing much of its comedy from the wild swings between joy and violence, as well as the titular anti-hero’s numerous profanity laced rants about her situation. If you’re looking for a great film that at any given moment could make you laugh uncontrollably, scream in horror or cry hysterically, grab someone 17 or older, and catch I, Tonya at a theater near you.

24.2%

Talladega Nights

22%

Remember the Titans

18.9%

Space Jam 15.3%

The Sandlot Friday Night Lights Other

13.4%

6.2%

From a poll of 170 Upper School students

Sports • February 9, 2018 • The ReMarker • Page 29

GLIDING ON ICE Alpha male

After years of figure skating, Matthew Ho has a second home on the ice. It’s not easy, but Ho works to improve everyday. Skating is second nature.

SOARING Freshman Matthew Ho executes a difficult jump with ease, landing with precision.

tep by step. Going through his usual routine. Twirling. Spinning. Jumping. He’s done it a thousand times. But this time, he’s more nervous than he’s ever been. As he goes through his footwork, usually the easiest aspect of his figure skating routine, freshman Matthew Ho stumbles at the sectionals competition— one of the biggest skates of his life. Ho walks off the ice, embarrassed. But he also feels determined. Determined to never let what had just transpired happen again. Ho’s passion for skating first developed

when he was in first grade. “I would go [to the ice rink at Stonebriar Mall] for fun occasionally,” Ho said, “and as time went on, I started skating more and more. That’s how I really got started. It was a gradual transition. By first grade, I was skating for fun regularly and taking private lessons.”

As Ho’s interest in skating grew, he began to practice more and started working toward participating in figure skating competitions. “I think what I did was actually thinking of it as something to do outside of just fun,” Ho said. “I actually put time and effort into it, practicing more, and as I progressed, I learned it’s not only the time you spend on ice but also the time you spend off ice, like exercises.” Ho eventually began competing in figure skating events, first as an individual, but more recently in pair competitions. “When the season is active and the competitions are coming up, I’m doing some skating-related activity every day,” Ho said. “I really try to at least get in 30 minutes on ice, so [it could] possibly be an hour to and hour and a half or so.” Throughout his journey figure skating, Ho has had to face several significant challenges. “I’ve gone through periods where I’ve thought I should quit,” Ho said, “be-

• Story Connor Pierce Photos Lee Schlosser

Wrestling team places eighth in Prep State Duals tournament by Nick Walsh ead by first-year head coach Reynold Arredondo, the wrestling team placed eighth in the Prep State Duals Tournament Jan. 20, where they wrestled against various SPC and TAPPS schools. The team has put a big focus on dual tournaments where the entire program competes as a team against other schools. Arredondo believes this helps build team chemistry and success. “Even though this is an individual sport, when we are connected together as a team, the strength of our avatar is amazing,” Arredondo said. “The stronger the connection is for us, the better we’ll be.” Arredondo is especially pleased with the amount of support the program has received this year. “When I came into this job, I was told I would have four wrestlers returning to the team,” Arredondo said, “and to see where we’re at now is pretty fantastic.” This dedication is something Arredondo was looking to instill in the program when he first got here. “The biggest part of what I want to try and bring to St. Mark’s is to have wrestling be

something fun and something [the students] want to come do,” Arredondo said. Arredondo thinks his own experience in wrestling shows the various life lessons the sport provides. He hopes he can instill some of the values he has picked up in his athletes. “Wrestling, to me, is not just about the sport,” Arredondo said. “It’s about the development of a young man and what the sport can do for you, so it’s nice to have a team growing in many ways in front of our own eyes.” Similarly, Arredondo hopes he can help his athletes grow both on and off the wrestling mat. “Nothing brings me more pride than to help these young men realize their dreams,” Arredondo said. “Not just in wrestling, but in their short-term goals and even where they want to go to school after St. Mark’s.” Overall, Arredondo is excited for the rest of the season. “We’re kind of in the last third of the season,” Arredondo said, “what I’m calling the close fight. Now we’re building our trenches and defenses and it’s time to get ready for the fight ahead.”

cause sometimes I just don’t see myself as being competitive because other people are always on the ice and doing so many harder tricks. Also, my plantar fasciitis doesn’t work well with the skates, and my feet will start hurting.” Motivated by the obstacles he has faced, Ho has been able to persevere through hard work. He looks forward to continuing to perservere. “I’ve been able to overcome such difficulties by just pure effort, getting used to the pain. Just getting used to it,” Ho said. Ho has been able to use that hard work

to find success in skating. He has made the sectionals competition multiple times as an individual and once this season in pair competition. “I placed fourth in pair skating [at sectionals this season],” Ho said, “which was actually to my surprise. We were so close to making it to nationals.” Ho believes he owes much of the

success he has experienced in skating to his parents. “I definitely credit my mom and my dad,” Ho said. “My dad has been such a great help to me. He’s been the one who’s been there beside me when I’ve fallen. My mom has to deal with the hectic schedule of getting to the ice rink.” With the success and growth he has had from his determination in skating, Ho now laughs when he remembers that humiliating fall at sectionals. The fall now seems like a distant memory. “Yeah, that was embarrassing,” Ho said. “Now looking back on it, it’s funny. But at the time it was, ‘Ouch!’” For now, however, Ho’s mind is focused on the future and on what he can do to find even more success on the ice. “I definitely want to keep on skating,” Ho said. “I’d love to go back to sectionals if I qualify. I’d like to give pairs another try. Who knows? We were so close to making it to nationals. We’ll see what happens.”

In the picture

Riley Sanders photo STARTING FRESHMEN With the addition of five freshmen to the varsity soccer squad and three consistently in the starting lineup, the team has had to adapt to more freshmen on the squad than in recent years. These freshmen have been producing results for the team and making effective plays. Eric Yoo (25) had two goals against ESD and Trinity Valley, among many other strong performances, and Knoble Hunt (27) had a goal against Trinity Valley.

Page 30 • The ReMarker • February 9, 2018 • Sports

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS Player-crowd relationship

hen junior Seun Omonije takes a deep breath and focuses on each step. It’s his first time running the anchor leg of the 4x400 as a varsity sprinter. As he approaches the home stretch, the crowd begins to roar. He nears the line. Just as he breaks the tape, the second-place runner overtakes him by a millimeter, handing him a loss in a photo finish. “If you’re in the lead and the crowd is silent, you know you’re good,” Omonije said. “But if the crowd starts to get louder, you know someone is gaining on you.”

Omonije, just like so many athletes, sees what the crowd can do for a game. “The crowd definitely has a huge impact on the game,” Omonije, who was also a football captain and starting wide receiver, said. “They’re like the 12th player on the field at times.” The impact of the large crowds on athletes can’t be overstated. At large sporting events, especially football and basketball games, the crowd is a crucial part of the game. To senior Will Wood, the crowd is a fundamental part of any sporting event. As a Superfanman, it’s his job to create the

From orchestrated cheers to the legendary ‘wave,’ the crowd has become a vital part of the sports-watching experience.

best crowd energy possible. “My goal for every game is to have an impact on the game,” Wood said, “whether we’re cheering, being loud or just being there with the team. We make it a big deal to do whatever we can off the court to help the athletes that are playing.” Another part of his “job” description is to help out the sports that don’t receive the same amount of fans as giants like football and basketball. “With sports that crowds don’t tend to go to as much, we’ve tried to find other ways to get more people there,” Wood said. “We’ve talked with the captains of the sports and picked an event that means the most for them to go, and we try to get everybody to rally around that event.” At one of the most anticipated basketball

LOUD AND PROUD Students cheer on the basektball team during their game against ESD Jan. 12, nearly all of them decked out in suits for the “strictly business” theme.

• Story Nick Walsh, Nathan Han Photo Riley Sanders

games of the year Jan. 12 against ESD, the Superfanmen made the theme “strictly business,” with the crowd dressed in suits and celebrating shots with fake money. The Lions went on to win a crucial victory 55-48 behind one of the biggest crowds of the season. “From a crowd’s perspective I love the fact that you can be in the game without even playing,” Wood said. “I think the louder and crazier you are, the more success you’ll have as an entire sports team.” Assistant Athletic Director Josh Friesen has a different perspective on crowd energy. While he thinks cheering loudly is beneficial, he believes there is a line between friendly encouragement and insulting the other team.

Friesen feels the Superfanmen and class leaders are instrumental for balancing the line between cheering and jeering. “A sarcastic crowd that makes attempts at humor throughout a game can be distracting to a team,” Friesen said. “But this year’s group of Upper School fans has really committed to supporting one another in all sports, and this common mission helps bond the brotherhood of Marksmen. The leaders of the class are also good at self-policing each other in the event a cheer misses the mark.” While it is easy to cheer for a successful team, Friesen feels it is very important to encourage teams experiencing rough patches in their seasons. “Teams can really feed off the energy of a good crowd,” Friesen said. “The best fan bases support a team year in and year out, no matter how strong they might be.” Friseen believes, at the end of the day, there is nothing like having a loud, cheering crowd backing a team as they look to come out on top. “Teams can really feed off the energy of a good crowd,” Friesen said. “Never underestimate a good home court advantage.” No matter what sport he’s competing in, Omonije continually feeds off the energy from the crowd. “There are times where you get into a zone,” Omonije said. “But most of the time, when you make a big play and your [home] crowd goes crazy or the [road] crowd goes silent, it’s an amazing feeling.”

Sports • February 9, 2017 • The ReMarker • Page 31

THE HOME STRETCH Two minute drill

Lions sports teams wind down their winter seasons looking to take home the hardware at SPC.

Basketball hopes to cap off strong season by taking home first title in over a decade

2018 RECORD 22-5 2017 SPC FINISH 9th NOTABLE The team has exceded expectations, finding success despite a rigorous schedule. The team has found a key balance of veteran experience and underclassmen contributions. THEY SAID IT “We want to unite and win a championship, and we have the firepower to do that this year, and that is a goal on the horizon, but I just want the guys to relish every minute of getting to play this game.”— head coach Greg Guiler

CRUNCH TIME Freshman Jackson Fair attemps to take down his opponent at the Tri-meet against Kimball High School and McKinney Christian in Spencer Gym Dec. 15.

Wrestling looks to succeed through passion and dedication to continued improvement

2017 SPC FINISH 10th NOTABLE This year’s motto of the 15-member program is “average is the enemy,” and the squad is doing everything it can to win.

THEY SAID IT ”One of the big pieces of victory is the sheer dedication the guys have put in. Really my main goal this year was to try and bring some love back to wrestling. ” — head coach Reynold Arredondo

Soccer looks to build off recent successes in final SPC counter games

2018 RECORD 6-7-1 2017 SPC FINISH 10th NOTABLE The team has three starting freshman players—Knobel Hunt, Eric Yoo and Henry McElhaney—who have made an impact in their short time on the squad. THEY SAID IT “Once you get into SPC, it’s hard to describe. You just take it one game at a time and you just got to find a way to win. It’s not always pretty. You’ve just got to be effective enough to win the game.”— head coach Cory Martin UP THE FIELD The sole junior captain on the varsity soccer team, Seth Weprin (5) dribbles the ball through traffic in a game against Greenhill as sophomore William Holtby (8) trails behind. The team lost the Jan. 19 game 1-0.

Swimming aims to win yet another SPC championship

2018 RECORD 4-1 2017 SPC FINISH 1st NOTABLE After losing to Highland Park 72-98 last year, the swim team got its revenge in 2018, defeating Highland Park in a close match 89-81.

THEY SAID IT “We’ve had a great start and things are going well, but we’re not there yet. We still have a lot of improving to do. We have great leadership with our older guys, and we’ll see how SPC goes this year”— head coach Mihai Oprea

SURGING FORWARD Pushing for the wall, sophomore Ramsey Beard takes one final stroke during the final strech of a tight race during the team’s 137-27 home victory against Bishop Lynch Jan. 9.

• Compilations Connor Pierce, Jahaziel Lopez, Aaron Thorne, Nick Walsh Photos Lee Schlosser, Ryan Norman, Christopher McElhaney

DOWN THE LANE Protecting the ball, freshman Harrison Ingram looks for an open teammate in the paint during the team’s game against ESD Jan 12. The Lions would go on to win the rivalry game 55-48.

In the picture TAKE-DOWN Senior Calvin Hosler tries to flip his opponent over to pin him during the wrestling team’s tri-meet with Kimball High School and McKinney Christian Dec. 15. It was the team’s only home meet of the season.

REMARKER

St. Mark’s School of Texas

10600 Preston Road Dallas, TX. 75230

Sports • February 9, 2018 • The ReMarker • Page 32

FIRST GRADE FAST BREAK Nowhere is the intensity of Lower School sports teams more apparent than the blood, sweat and tears left out on the first-grade basketball court.

frenzy of untied basketball shoes, reversible blue-and-gold uniforms and multicolored sweatbands ravenously swarm the basketball like a pack of wolves – and it’s only the warm up. The first graders – all on the same Lions basketball team – disperse into layup lines strictly run by head coach Scott Ziegler (the school’s ceramics instructor and father of first grader Logan Ziegler). And as the two minute warm-up clock dwindles to the last seconds, most of the little Lions wander over to half court to recite the “YMCA Pledge” and – more importantly – to stare down their arch-rivals: the Good Shepherd Cougars. While most sports fans upon hearing “basketball rivalry” think of the decades long struggle between Blue Devils and Tar Heels or the back-to-back-to-back NBA Finals bouts between Cleveland and Golden State, the tension, competitiveness and pure energy between the Cougars and Lions tops rivalries at both the college and professional levels. To fuel the rivalry even more, the teams face off with a set of modified rules to keep the game clean. League regulations require both the ‘I think we won Lions and Cougars that game beto run strict mancause we scored to-man coverage, more points than with each player the other team in only allowed to both halves.’ guard the member -First grader Timmy Strauss of the opposite team wearing the same color wristband as him. And to dial back the effect of defensive juggernauts like the Lions’ very own Timmy Strauss, the referee enforces a unforgiving, uncompromising “no steals” rule until the ball crosses half-court.

The game got off to a slow start, looking after the first five minutes as though it might end as another low-scoring thriller, typical of the YMCA first grade basketball league. But just into the sixth minute of the game, after grabbing a rebound just inside the three-point line, Logan Ziegler sprinted down the court and scored a layup for the first basket of the game. For the rest of the first half, the Lions went off, scoring a dozen more points before the horn went off at the end of the second quarter. “Our offense was remarkable,” Scott Ziegler said. “Better than ever.” On top of that, the Lions played stellar man-to-man defense throughout the entire first half, holding their opponents to only three points at the half. The Lions started off the second half with a bang, too, as forward Jake Wilkinson opened up the third quarter with an early basket from inside the paint. He, just like his coach, believes the key to winning the game was their offense. “I think we won that game because we scored more points than the other team in both halves,” Wilkinson said. Wilkinson would end up finishing the game with a double-double, totaling 14 points and 11 rebounds. The performance mirrors the rest of the team’s defensive effectiveness, a trend he hopes to continue as their season nears its close. “I think the best thing that happened the most on defense,” Strauss said, “was how we stuck to our men and dodged enough balls so that our team could score the most points.” Wilkinson, Strauss and Ziegler all agree that winning that heated 36-minute rivalry match with a score of 24-8 was “awesome.”

STARE DOWN First grader Timmy Strauss glares down the opposition. Strauss and the rest of the first grade Lions play their final game tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. at the Town North YMCA.

• Story Parker Davis, Davis Bailey Photos Parker Davis, Davis Bailey, Kyle Smith

HANDS UP First grader Jake Wilkinson (98) looks to shut down the pass of the Good Shepherd point guard. Wilkinson would finish the game with a doubledouble, totaling 12 points and 11 rebounds in the game.

FAST BREAK Lions guard Logan Ziegler dribbles through traffic after coming down with the ball on a long shot by the Cougars. Ziegler finished the game with 14 points, the most on the team.

EYE ON THE BALL Wilkinson charges into the lane, looking for another board off a Good Shepherd free throw.

SWISH Launching into the air, center Brennan Bosita tacks on two more points to the Lions’ win over rival Good Shepard Cougars.

FOCUS MAGAZINE | A REMARKER PUBLICATION | FEBRUARY 2018

GENDER IDENTITY

YOU’VE HEARD NEWS STORIES. READ HEADLINES. AND NOTICED IT. MAYBE YOU’VE SEEN SOMEONE ON THE STREET AND DONE A DOUBLE TAKE. YOU SAW THE COVER OF VANITY FAIR AND NOTICED IT, TOO. ACROSS THE COUNTRY — IN SCHOOLS, IN RESTROOMS, IN THE MILITARY AND IN LEGISLATION CHAMBERS — PEOPLE ARE NOTICING IT. THEY’RE TALKING ABOUT IT. FIGHTING FOR IT. SOME ARE EVEN SHOUTING IT. BUT WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

e know what you’re going to say. Why us? Why now? Why gender identity? Many people believe journalists live for shock value — writing about a topic for the sheer purpose of keeping readers riled up. In the past, publications here have been accused of doing that very thing: reporting on homosexuality, the Black Lives Matter movement, the ambiguities of sexual aggression,

WHY? among others — topics that are stymied in backlash. Now, we explore gender identity — what it is, what it brings forth and its implications on our society and school. If you take offense to taking on this topic, consider this: our duty as journalists is to inform — inciting conversations that will allow readers to reach their own conclusions. We believe this complex topic and its implications on campus can no longer be ‘the elephant in the room.’ What’s the point? The goal of this publication is not to influence, to attack or to push forward opinions on our readership. Our goal is simply to educate — to equip our community with the facts

2 GENDER IDENTITY

necessary to draw independent, individual conclusions. It’s not our goal to change your opinion or stance on the topic of gender identity. Just like our readers, we want to be educated and informed enough to develop our own opinions. In these 28 pages, we will share the stories and present the facts of the transgender population that is becoming more prominent in our society — a population that, by its very nature, brings radical change to our politics, to our social systems and to schools like our own. THIS IS RELEVANT. From the Texas Privacy Act known as the ‘Bathroom Bill’ to President Trump’s transgender military ban and Danica Roem’s recent election to the Virginia state legislature, the growing prominence of gender identity issues in the national media make this a harder and harder topic to ignore each time it’s brought up. THIS IS LEADERSHIP. As Marksmen prepare to enter the larger world, we encourage students to embrace the challenging topics — not turning a blind eye to that which we do not know. THIS IS EDUCATION. The facts, experts and faces of this magazine — whether Navy SEALs, activists, children or parents — are guiding us as we learn, grow, accept and understand. And that’s exactly what we hope this magazine does for you.

6 Navy SEAL, Kristin Beck

Riley Cole ’17

The politics Stephe Koontz: transgender politician Kristin Beck: a Navy SEAL for her country Boy Scouts: the changing Scout culture The faces Danielle Canterberry ’99: a Marskman transitions Jazz and Evan: stories of identity and realization Riley Cole ’17: discovering their truth Paula Ellis: activist for all Your questions answered

5 6 8 10 11 12 14 16 17

The science When’s the right time? The facts: studies, numbers and details from the experts in the field

18 19 20

The schools SDLC: diversity, focusing on tomorrow IBSC: viewpoints of boys’ schools around the world Instructor: Alex Myers, trailblazer in the journey toward education Marksmen: administrators look to the future

22 23 24 25 26

FOCUS MAGAZINE

Focus, a thrice-yearly magazine supplement to The ReMarker focusing on a single topic, is a student publication of St. Mark’s School of Texas, 10600 Preston Road, Dallas, TX 75230. Editors CJ Crawford Duncan Kirstein Photographers Riley Sanders Kyle Smith Writers Andy Crowe Sahit Dendekuri Zach Gilstrap Ishan Gupta Nathan Han Eric Hirschbrich Zoheb Khan Nick Malvezzi Kamal Mamdani James Rogers Kobe Roseman Mark Tao Wallace White Tianming Xie

Photo: Courtesy Kristin Beck

From courtrooms to city streets Government officials are at odds over many things, and for the past few months, transgender issues have spurred plenty of controversy. An entire population finds itself in the spotlight as people argue over which bathroom should be used, whether or not they can fight for their country and a myriad of other topics. In 2017, the trans-

gender community saw record political gains. School board officials and city council members who are openly transgender were elected, and the first openly transgender state legislator, Danica Roem, was elected in Virginia, making history and paving the way for future transgender politicians. The voter turnout and election results show people are increasingly willing to throw their support behind a transgender candidate. The next five pages will

discuss the events of recent years â&#x20AC;&#x201D; providing context for the stories to come. Right now, the world is changing. Tolerance is becoming a norm and acceptance the status quo.

THE POLITICS

THE MOVERS, THE SHAKERS, THE POLICIES

4 POLITICS

SPEAKING OUT On the anniversary of President Trumpâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s inauguration, both cisgender and transgender Dallas citizens rally in protest and support of gender causes.

IN THE DEEP SOUTH, A NEW FACE IN POLITICS

A CONCERNED CITIZEN Koontz talks to a crowd of eager listeners after winning the city council election by just six votes— becoming Georgia’s only transgender elected official. She hopes to be a role model for youth and an important figure in her city.

Stephe Koontz has been wanting to give back for a decade. Now, as a transgender woman and city council member in Doraville, Georgia, she has that opportunity. When I signed up to run for city council, I wasn’t running to be a transgender candidate. I was running as a 30-year citizen of this city who was concerned with the issues that we were facing. For the last ten years, I’ve been considering running for city council, and every time I would talk to friends, they told me that “you’re transgender, you’re unelectable, you can’t run for city council.” And so I basically bought into what people that I trusted were telling me and never signed up to run. There were several things that made it a perfect storm for me to sign up to run. It just felt like the timing was right, especially with when the federal government policies towards transgender people were being removed. I wanted to try and be a role model to transgender youth, to show them that, win or lose, I’m out here in the public eye, running as an openly transgender person. I think it sends the message of hope, that [transgender youth] don’t have to hide who they are. I feel like, in some ways, it broke this glass ceiling that transgender people couldn’t do certain things simply because of who they are. What I’m really proud of my city for is that nobody here has made a big deal out of me being transgender. I think the people here just see me as a qualified councilperson now. The times are changing, and people are able to look past someone being transgender or someone being gay. I feel like we’re heading in the direction

where that’s not going to be an issue in the future. I feel like probably part of the reason that my being transgender wasn’t a big issue is that I’m a female-appearing person, and it’s easier for people to wrap their mind around you being one gender or the other. They can understand that you are born male, but now you’re living as a female. And I’m not sure how long it’ll take for somebody to do what I did as a gender non-binary person. I can’t speak for all transgender people, but I know for myself. I’ve known that I was born in the wrong gender since I was two or three years old. It was probably one of the first things I remember in my life, realizing that something didn’t align. This isn’t a lifestyle. I think one of the worst things about LGBT people is calling it a lifestyle. That bad language needs to be eradicated. This isn’t a choice. When I was early in my transition I dealt with quite a few really rude, hostile people publicly shaming me. There were a handful of people that lived in Doraville that said some very ugly, hateful things to me about me being transgender. It’s bizarre —those comments came from gay and lesbian people. We have to stop attacking each other. I’m not going to pretend that there’s nobody in the city that voted against me simply because I’m transgender. I’m sure that happened. It was a very close election. From my perspective, there were six more people that did support me in spite of the fact that I’m transgender. And to me,

that’s huge. I think not only me, but also the other transgender officials that got elected this past cycle have just sent a message out to the country that transgender people exist as more than whatever they thought transgender people were, and that we are citizens who are contributing to society and willing to serve the public. My first thought was ‘I actually won an election as a transgender woman in Georgia’ and just being proud of the fact that the community I live in has changed their mindset to the point where enough people live here so that I could be elected. The swearing-in night was probably the happiest I’ve ever been, and I’m 58 years old, so I’ve had different experiences through my life. And that was by far the happiest moment in my life.

TIME TO SHINE Koontz’s plan as a council member is to inspire positive change and influence not only in Doraville, GA but in the greater American psyche, as well.

This is something I said to several of my friends: By winning this election as the first elected transgender person in Georgia, if I never do another thing in my life, this act has made the world a better place, and I’m very proud of being able to make a difference in making the world a better place. This is the year of transgender awareness in the national news, in the normal press, instead of being in the little magazine you see as you’re checking out of the grocery store. And I think that’s a huge difference. We are actually now in normal news that normal people are in. It’s the beginning of the normalization of being transgender, which is huge, just for LGBTQ people in general.

Interview: Ishan Gupta, Photos: Riley Sanders, Courtesy of Stephe Koontz POLITICS 5

BA NN ED

After two decades of war, Kristin Beck is home. She has served her country, and she’s done it as a transgender woman. She wasn’t the only transgender American to put their life on the line, though. Almost 10,000 people who currently serve our country don’t identify as their assigned gender. Their elegibility to serve, however, was contested last year.

Story: CJ Crawford, Tianming Xie Additional Reporting: Sam Goldfarb

6 POLITICS

n 2011, Kristin Beck retired from the Navy after 20 years of service. After earning various service medals, four commendation medals, three acheivement medals, two campaign medals, two expiditionary medals, two marksmanship medals, one NATO medal, one special forces command (USSOCOM) medal, one presidential unit citation, one joint meritorious unit award, one good conduct award, one combat action ribbon, one Bronze Star and one Purple Heart, she felt like she could finally breathe. Breathe like her freedom had just begun After 13 deployments, she was ready to reunite with her family for good. But instead of the expected warm welcome, she was met with a “I don’t want you to affect my kids,” from her only sister. Her mother was worried about what their neighbors would think of Beck. But why? Because, for 45 years, Kristin Beck was Christopher Beck, and after spending her life “starving [her]self,” she’s brought her true identity to the public eye. … The ex-Navy SEAL has become a crucially important activist in transgender rights over the past five years, especially after a documentary about her life aired on CNN in 2014, as well as her co-written book, Warrior Princess, received national acclaim. After President Trump’s call for a transgender military ban last year, her message of mutual understanding reached congresspeople, senators and generals. “We’re Navy SEALs — we’re welders, builders, truck drivers. We do everything. We’re all around the world since the beginning of time, and we’re pretty much just regular people,” Beck said. “If you can understand that, then you understand that we’re here… I don’t want extra privileges or an extra piece of cake with my supper, I just want what everyone else gets, just that same amount of liberty.” As far as a way to help integrate openly transgender soldiers, Beck suggests that

For her country the U.S. to move faster in terms of catching up to other countries such as Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and many more that have been striving for acceptance for 10 to 20 years. She believes in looking at what these countries’ tolerance policies practice in order to jump start the U.S. in its integration of transgender individuals in the military. For Beck, starting from square one while other countries are years ahead means the U.S. can learn what is the wrong thing to do. “When Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (U.S. policy restricting openly gay/lesbian service members) [DADT] was repealed... there were all these nay-sayers, all these people who said the world was going to end, and all these things are going to happen. Everyone was up in arms,” Beck said. “ ...then the next day, a week later, a month later, a year later and everybody’s still waiting for the other shoe to drop.” In Trump’s twitter declaration, two key reasons for his ban were the medical cost of a trasngender individual and unit cohesion. Beck realizes while medical cost is involved at times, some trans people just want safety, which in turn can improve the community environment. “Not every transgender person is going to want to have surgery,” Beck said. “There’s a lot of transgender people who are just like, ‘On weekends, I just want to live a little freedom. I just want to be with my friends and not worry about somebody witch-hunting.’ And when you are living under that fear... It’s not a productive environment. You’re always hiding.” lthough now she embraces her identity, Beck has traveled a long way to get to this point. As early as first grade, Beck began to feel a disconnect between the gender she identifies herself as and how others perceived her. Yet, until she retired from the Navy, she suppressed that disconnection for decades. For decades, she felt like she was depriving herself of a basic need. “It goes beyond comfort, me being able to be myself; me being able to be Kristin Beck is beyond comfort,” she said. “I put up a huge wall [between] my own personal life and my own personal purpose. [I decided] I would rather have myself oppressed

and in a bad spot to make sure that I can serve my country.” However, while DADT was in talks of being repealed in late 2010, Beck decided she would finally take some small steps toward ending her 20-year-long “hunger strike.” o one day, she decides to go out with friends on base after returning from Afghanistan, wearing a pierced diamond earring in each ear. “One of the other officers was like, ‘Hey Beck, what’s with those earrings?’” Beck said. “I was like, ‘Oh shit!’ and I put my hand up, and I [pulled] my earrings out really fast, and I was going, ‘nothing, nothing’ and he [said], ‘alright.’” Looking back, Beck calls the encounter as funny and awkward, but she is still yearning for an America that isn’t taken aback by what she wears or refers to herself as. That encounter is the first of many in her new life as Kristin Beck. “This is me as an American citizen with some freedoms, and this is who I am,” Beck said. “If everyone turned around and said, ‘Ok, y’know, whatever, rock on. You’re good,’ I’d be like, ‘all right, that’s a good answer, thanks.’ If I just had a T-shirt and jeans on, and I was just walking about, and they still treated me the same as if I had a dress on, then I would be ok. But the thing is, people don’t.” Despite her desire of acceptance, however, her spiritual beliefs and patriotism look at the big picture. The big-picture being that gender — male or female — is insignificant. She believes when death arrives, there is no gender, and we are all nothing more than energy. Eveything she does now is to help people understand this fact, and to promote tolerace through this understanding. “I know a lot of trans-men in the military especially, and you’d be really hardpressed to note the difference,” Beck said. “That guy right there is a kick-ass soldier, and you wouldn’t ever know that it’s a transgender person… just say hey, what’s the difference, this kid is just there, and what’s the difference? Treat the person as just another one of the kids, and just leave it alone. It’s not a big deal.”

“

For all those transgenders out there who want to be in the military, there’s a lot of people in your corner. — Kristin Beck Navy SEAL

Events surrounding the transgender military ban. July 26 — President Trump declares via Twitter that the military will refuse the service of transgender individuals. The reasons for the ban are unit cohesion and medical costs. Aug. 25 — Trump signs an official directive banning transgender soldiers from the military. Oct. 30 — U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly rejects the Trump administration’s plan to ban transgender people from military service and to require the military to allow enlistment beginning Jan. 1, 2018. Dec. 11 — Pentagon announces it will allow transgender people to enter the military and repeal Trump’s ban.

POLITICS 7

THEY’RE JUST SCOUTS For years, the Boy Scouts of America organization has been known for educating young boys on leadership and responsibility. After much pressure in 2017, this opportunity was announced to be extending to girls, boys and transgender individuals —changing the life and definition of a scout forever.

Story: Wallace White, Kamal Mamdani Photos: Duncan Kirstein

8 POLITICS

n 1907, Robert Baden-Powell had an idea. He envisioned a place where young boys could become the next generation of leaders. The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) has always been committed to training tomorrow’s leaders, but until 2013—if a boy was gay— he was denied that opportunity. Now, in 2018, with the transgender movement being more prevalent than ever, the Boy Scouts has opened its doors to not only transgender boys, but girls as well.

t. Mark’s Troop 730 Scoutmaster Jerry Birdwell believes the lessons and skills taught in the Boy Scouts program are universal, applying to everyone regardless of race, creed, gender or sexuality. Along with the inception of Boy Scouts in 1901, a girls-only program called Girl Guides was created three years later. This allowed for similar opportunities to be given to both boys and girls, but this program quickly lost popularity, fading from much of the public eye in the U.S.. In 1912, Girl Scouts was founded. “It’s not that the BSA has always been single-sex, it’s been designed as a leadership and character development organization,” Birdwell said. “We are open to diversity based on race, spiritual background and orientation.” Birdwell believes the decision to allow girls and trans boys into Boy Scouts was largely made due to societal pressures and an ever-more tolerant culture heading into the 21st century. He feels while the Boy Scouts were pressured to make the decision, that doesn’t necessarily mean it was a bad one.

“As we are approaching this new era of more inclusivity and less exclusivity. We will embrace [BSA] guidelines,” Birdwell said. “Something we pride ourselves on in Troop 730 and BSA is inclusivity and recognition of diversity. Although girls are allowed into Boy Scouts, freshman Josh Mysore, Troop 730 senior patrol leader, is skeptical as to whether girls will even want to join the organization, as the organization is already mostly boys. “The reason there’s so much backlash is because there are already programs out there like venture scouts and girl scouts which cater to boys and girls and give opportunities to them,” Mysore said. “I think girls don’t even want to join [Boy Scouts]. I think 90 percent wouldn’t be comfortable anyway in a majority-boys program.”

he BSA is not implementing this change as soon as possible; however, Cub Scouts will start accepting girls in 2018, then Boy Scouts in 2019. Mysore thinks this gradual change is necessary to make sure no undue turmoil arises from rapid change. “I think they’re going to try and take it slowly versus quickening things and implementing this huge change. It’s shaking a foundation that’s existed for over 100 years,” Mysore said. “In the ‘70s and ‘80s Boy Scouts were not as welcome to change, but now that it’s more modernized, they have more acceptance between gay and transgender members.” Eighth grader Sahil Dodda said the new addition of girls into Boy Scouts will help diversify the community and its ideas. “I think having girls is better,”

THEIR MENTOR Scoutmaster Jerry Birdwell (above) lays out the nightly plans for the boys of Troop 730. GROUP UP Three scouts (below) discuss merit badges and prepare for a productive meeting.

Dodda said. “They will bring more points of views on certain things that Boy Scouts has been previously been closed about.” Sophomore Mason Antes is supportive of combining the values of Boy and Girl Scouts, but understands the change will not happen without trials and tribulations. “I believe that there is a transition being made,” Antes said. “I feel like there should be an integration of Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, but it will be a really hard and very long process.” The future of the scouting program is uncertain, but the precedent it sets for single-sex organizations could shake the social and business landscape as we know it. “Hopefully the Boy Scouts can still keep its foundations of working hard and having a strong work ethic.” Mysore said. “We’re getting used to the change, and understanding that the Boy Scouts we have now is not the same as it was 30 years ago.”

FIFTY YEARS OF PROGRESS A history of gender in the Boy Scouts of America organization

1967 Den mother— the head of a den of cub scouts— is changed to den leader to allow both men and women to participate and assist young Scouts.

1973

ON THE FIELD, ON THE MAT

A look at transgender athletes and the rules that help or hinder their competition In the wake of transgender wrestler Mack Begg’s win in the Texas state girls’ wrestling tournement, the University Interscholastic League (UIL) faced backlash for a rule that required Beggs, who transitioned from female to male, to wrestle with girls, despite the fact he was taking testosterone hormone treatments as part of his transition. After the controversial title, which was met with boos and jeers from the crowd, a Coppell lawyer filed a lawsuit against the UIL claim Beggs, who would prefer to wrestle

Women are allowed to serve in all-adult pack leadership positions; however, this does not include Cubmaster and Webelos den leaders, as well as their respective assistants.

1976 The Cubmaster — the head of multiple dens of Cub Scouts— assistant Cubmaster, and all commissioner positions can also now be filled by women. Catherine Pollard was the first female Scoutmaster in the Boy Scouts of America; The BSA refused to recognize her as a Scoutmaster until 1988.

2017 Jan. 30 BSA announces transgender boys would be allowed to enroll in boys-only programs effective immediatly.

Southwest Preparatory Conference

BSA announces girls will be allowed to become Cub Scouts, beginning in 2018. In 2019, a seperate program will be available that will allow girls to attain the rank of eagle scout. Scout dens will remain single gender, though.

Because the issues surrounding gender are fairly recent— the controversial UIL rule was only proposed in late 2015 and implemented in 2016— the SPC still doesn’t have a direct rule address the issue of identifying gender for wrestlers or any other athlete. The SPC Member School Handbook does state, howev-

The National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) rules regarding transgender athletes, implemented in 2010, are considered one of the more progressive set of guidelines. A transgender man not taking testosterone may compete on a women’s team or a men’s team. A transgender woman not on testosterone suppression may only compete on a men’s team, not a

2017 Oct. 11

The International Olympic Committee

against boys, had an unfair advantage due to his treatments. The UIL, however, has a rule regarding the issue. It states steroids can be used under special medical circumstances. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed by a Travis County judge, and Beggs will be allowed to wrestle again, albeit as a girl. The issue of identifying the place of a transgender athlete is a topic that continues to elude policy organizers and administrators across the globe. Over the spring and summer after his title, Beggs wrestled as a male

The University Interscholastic League

er, if the question of a student-athlete’s eligibility is under question, the Member School must receive a written ruling before allowing the athlete to participate in SPC athletics. The Handbook also states an eligible girl can play on a boys’ SPC team when there is no comparable girls’ SPC team available to her.

women’s team. A male transitioning to female must be on testosterone suppression for at least one year before she then becomes eligible to compete on a women’s team. Before the one year period expires, she remains eligible to play for the men’s team. Beggs (see above), if he chooses to continue to wrestle in college, will wrestle with a men’s team under the NCAA rules.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was one of the first to address the issue of transgender athletes in 2003, with harsh guidelines that mandated athletes needed surgery in order to participate as transgender athletes. In November 2015, though, the IOC agreed to new guidelines which state those who transition from female to male are eligible to compete in the

at USA Wrestling events thanks to a new policy loosely based off of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) guidelines. These same guidelines have shaped transgender policies everywhere, including ten states that have set their own guidelines based off of the IOC’s new policies, which were adopted in 2015.

National Collegiate Athletic Association

male category without restriction But those who transition from male to female are only eligible to compete in the female category under the condition the athlete has declared her gender identity is female. This cannot be changed for at least four years, and the athlete must keep her total testosterone level below a certain threshold. Story: Nathan Han

POLITICS 9

Stories and struggles revealed, lives and lessons explored The percentage of the U.S. population that identifies as transgender is small. This begs the questions, why does something have to be done? The military ban, Bathroom Bill and other legislation affects so few people. The key word, however, is people. Those who are transgender are people. There are faces behind the statistics — and consequences to oppression and discrimination. One person knows

this well. Founder of Dallas Fort Worth Trans Kids and Families (DFWTKF) Melissa Ballard has seen kids go through everything from love to hate during her time with DFWTKF. The organization began in 2015 with around 20 people going to group therapy weekly. Therapy ended with dinner at Hunky’s, one of the few restaurants that would take the group of kids and parents in. There were other kids, however, that felt alone. These kids wanted a group too, and so, Ballard’s group

outgrew the restaurant, and then they outgrew houses. The group kept growing until they were over 600 strong. A group of kids and parents numbering over half a thousand. These families that are a part of the organization have stories. They all have lives—and they don’t even make up the entire Dallas trans community.

THE

FACES

THE PEOPLE, THE STORIES, THE STRUGGLES

10 FACES

JUST ANOTHER DAY As arguments and debates regarding gender identity issues heat up, are people losing sight of who is truly affected by the legislation and policies in question?

GRADUATED A MARKSMAN Nineteen years later, Danielle Canterberry ’99 is still a Marksman...

he sums it up with a simple analogy: Imagine you are a fireman. You’re pretty good at being a fireman, you’re respected for being a fireman, you’re paid for being a fireman-—you’re comfortable being a fireman. But one day, someone says otherwise. Without warning, you’re given a police badge and a police uniform, and you’re expected to be a policeman. The police attire might fit you, but something’s not right. You know what you are. But, people don’t seem to get the hints. Danielle Canterberry ’99 had been living with an unshakeable feeling of false identity her whole life. ••• Even as a child, she knew something was off. In the way others interacted with her, how she interacted with others—something didn’t feel right. Sometimes, she would explore her gender identity, careful not to get caught. Canterberry says it was very much a game of keeping herself hidden. “There were definitely signals, for sure,” Canterberry said. “I was always questioning, but I didn’t really know what it was. And my parents, God knows what they thought.” Through her three years at St. Mark’s, Canterberry says she was a fabrication—a fiction made to help cope with her own confusion. “It was a little purposeful in that I kind of created this stuff about me that may or may not have been true,” Canterberry said. “I was trying to fit in and was trying to have fun. It was also very unintentional. I wasn’t trying to deliberately put up this fake front in front of everyone.” But she did, and Canterberry regrets doing so. As a Marksmen, she had made close friends, friends she was supposed to have for life, but they never met Danielle. They only knew the boy from St. Mark’s. And now she hasn’t spoken to them since 1999. She hasn’t spoken to anyone except two or three of her former classmates. She deliberately made a point to not reach out

to anybody. “I don’t know why,” Canterberry said. “I just assumed that if there were people who wanted to interact with me they would.” Four years passed, and she was gradually starting her process of transitioning. Every year meant another phase. A little more make-up to her face, a little more puff to her hair. Slight changes to her clothes, slight changes to her voice. At the time, she was a marketer and sales manager for Jemco USA, and she began to see the uglier side of people around her. Her boss was supportive, but business relationships and long-time customers were suddenly non-existent. Eventually, extended family stopped talking to her. Then in 2004, Canterberry started the hormone and medical treatment, and she was at the end of her rope. She felt like she was going to die. She was broken up inside. “For me it was ‘I’m going to kill myself,’” Canterberry said, “or ‘I’m going to start this transition, and one of those things are going to happen.’” But it’s a continuous process, and with help from her therapist and her fortress of friends, she is in a much better place now. “People I interact with on a daily basis have been interacting with me and I’m comfortable interacting with them,” Canterberry said, “and that opens up for more stable and complete friendships and relationships.” However, Canterberry says it comes at a cost. She’s more introspective and exclusive now because she observes that today’s America isn’t so welcoming to the transgender community, as she expected it to be. But there was only one relationship she worried for the most: her parents. Even though she’d been living in the role for three years at that point, it still felt like she had this pent up secret — like she was doing something wrong. Canterberry knew what she

Story: CJ Crawford. Photo: courtesy Danielle Canterberry ’99

...even if the Class of 1999 graduated with someone named David.

had to tell her parents, and she knew that if she didn’t do it, she would forever feel like she was playing the hiding game all over again. “That was probably the hardest conversation of my life,” Canterberry said. “I was convinced that I was gonna get permanently disowned and never talk with them again, but it took a little coaxing from them and a lot of crying from me until we got to the conversation.” The call ended, and Canterberry didn’t talk to her parents for a

“

You have more loving friends, family, and allies than you know about, never stop looking for them. They will be your shelter. — Danielle Canterberry ’99, St. Mark’s alum

week. For a week, they thought about what they’ve learned about their daughter. For a week, Canterberry prepared for the worst. “But then they called me back saying they were going to support me and do whatever to help,” Canterberry said. “[I felt] immediate relief. I was so convinced that as soon as my parents found out what was really going on that I was never gonna talk to them again.” But her parents have been nothing short of welcoming and understanding, trying to learn everything about their daughter and understanding all that she goes through. While people will still discriminate, Canterberry thinks improvement is possible with understanding, and sees the knowledge of transgender people and transgender care percolating through society. She refers to it as a “transgender tipping point.” “Society just went ‘Oh this is a thing,’ and everyone was just everywhere in the news for a while,” Canterberry said. “It’s improving. [But] there’s always going to be

people that fear what’s different from them, and they’re not going to try to understand it because they don’t have to.” Canterberry stresses that people who are just becoming aware or marginally aware of transgenders underestimate the life-changing experience of transitioning. They understimate the gates people have to go through. “More attention needs to be given to the fact that no its not where you decide to do a thing,” Canterberry said, “and the next day you have all the medical treatment you want. It’s years of doctors and therapists. It will get better.” ••• The year 2018 comes around, and Canterberry has had an amazing vacation. She’s spent it in Seattle with friends, family and someone she plans on marrying. She met Jessica Grey while working for Blizzard Entertainment, and they’ve been together for two years. Canterberry knows she is the one. She takes a leap of faith and asks the big question. “She said ‘yeah,’” Canterberry said, “and that’s a wrap… You have more loving friends, family, and allies than you know about, never stop looking for them. They will be your shelter. Don’t be afraid to embrace your authentic self.” From the 1999 Marksmen yearbook Here are Canterberry’s credits as listed on the senior yearbook page Varsity track and field 10,11,12 All-SPC discus 10 Varsity wrestling 10,11,12 SPC champion 10,11 Preseason 12 Writer’s Club founder 10,11,12 Varsity football 10,11 Concert Band 10,11,12 Studio Band 11,12 Orchestra 10,11,12

FACES 11

JAZMINE &EVAN Both Evan and Jazmine* are transgender. While Evan goes home to a supportive family that embraces him for who he is, Jazmine was thrown out of her house by the very people who loved her.

BRYAN, MELA AND EVAN The Singletons (above) sit down to share their experiences with transgender issues. *For legal reasons, we are unable to show Jazmine’s face.

12 FACES

t had taken years for Bryan and Mela Singleton to fully understand and accept their transgender son Evan. Their misunderstanding had made him push down his true self and live as something he was not. Their little house in Murphy, Texas had been filled with a sort of sadness for years. The rust-colored leaves beneath the barren branches of the trees on Oak Lawn marked change — both in the air and in the home of the Singletons. Fall would soon become winter, and Bryan and Mela would do everything in their power to support their son during his transition. This meant not only giving Evan the love the two had for him as his parents but also making sure he was surrounded by people who wouldn’t make things any harder than they already were. With Christmas fast approaching and the Singleton family celebration on the horizon, Bryan and Mela sent out an ultimatum to their lovedones. The two parents were determined to help their child through this period in his life, and their instructions were abundantly clear. Use the right pronoun, or don’t show up. If you’re going to call him Eevee, don’t show up. Show us respect, or don’t show up. Mela and Bryan were confident in their choices as parents, and they were confident in their love for their son Evan. They weren’t confident, though, in whether or not all of their family would show up. Mela didn’t have much family, and she didn’t have many friends. Everyone in her life was hand-picked for their love and support. She prayed that same love would carry over to her transgender son. If they did show up, then Mela hoped they would show him nothing but the love a family shares. If they didn’t, then that was the only message the Singletons needed. Christmas time is a time to revel in happiness. Mela just wanted Evan to be happy in his own skin. Evan just wanted to be accepted for his true self. Come Dec. 25, the table was set, the tree was decorated and the Singletons’ minds were made up. If someone didn’t show up today, that was it. That was the message they needed.

veryone came, everyone had fun and everyone wished Evan a merry Christmas. At first glance, this was a normal Christmas. Nothing really unusual happened. Hugs, food and gifts were exchanged. Grandma gave everyone candy even after Mela told her not to, and everyone had fun. Not long into the celebration, snow began to fall. All the Singleton kids and their friends ran outside to play. Eventually, the adults ran outside to play with their kids, nieces and nephews. Evan joined them too, and for a moment, he was normal. Everyone got along and played together. The bullies in the past and the future were silent. Evan was at peace. It wasn’t until Mela was driving home that a thought hit her. All four kids were in the back seat, cold and tired from an hourlong snowball fight with the entire family. All of them. Everyone came. Thinking back to the way everyone treated Evan, one thing was clear: Mela chose well. Evan knew he was a boy from the beginning, but as a two-yearold, it was hard to communicate to his mother and father despite being born a girl biologically, he was, in fact, a boy. It was during bath-time that this topic would come up the most, but in the end, it was dismissed as Evan — then Eevee — just not understanding basic biology. Evan would attempt to explain to his mother he was a boy, and Mela would, with a smile, give a short biology lesson to the toddler in the bathtub. Each time the lecture on his body would force his true self further down, forcing Evan to fake a smile and play the part of a girl. Eventually, Evan’s sadness and anger got the best of him. Being forced to hide drove him to be hostile, scream and break things. These exchanges continued over and over for a while, and it wasn’t until Evan turned seven they realized what he had been trying to explain all this time. It happened when Evan got a brand new black bike. It was great, but it had just one problem. Bright pink stripes down each side screamed girl. “Mom, Dad,” Evan started. “Would you give this bike to Ike?” Both Mela and Bryan were taken aback. Would they give the girly bike to Evan’s younger brother?

“No — I guess we wouldn’t,” Mela answered. “Then why did you give it to me?” Evan responded, tears welling up in his eyes. With that, both parents finally understood what Evan meant when he said he was a boy. It meant he was boy.

ompletely understanding Evan, however, did not happen all at once. Mela and Bryan had new realizations about their transgender son with each new day, and with new understanding came more support. Because Evan’s birth certificate said he was a girl, did liking guys make him gay or straight? Did it really matter? Mela and Bryan supported him anyways, and so did Evan’s extended family. If Evan was a boy, then why did he like to wear nail polish or pink shirts sometimes? This confused Mela most of all, as she sometimes found herself feeling embarrassed that her son had his nails painted. Over time, though, she overcame these feelings. Not everyone loved Evan like his family, though. He would find himself eating alone at lunch or with people he didn’t know—no one would save him a seat. “What’s it doing here?” “Why is she sitting with us?” “Freak.” The students of Cooper Junior High had found a target, and they wouldn’t let up until the school got involved. While the school could make kids not bully Evan, they couldn’t make them like him, talk to him or pick him as a partner in class. Nobody wanted a trans, gay and “weird” friend. Outside of his home, Evan often found himself alone. That was the breaking point for Bryan and Mela. After the success Evan’s younger sister Izzy found in an online school, they were determined to enroll Evan online as well.

ow, Evan is surrounded by loved ones and supportive people. He has a loving family and the support of the group cofounded by his mother— Dallas Fort Worth Trans Kids and Families. Evan is living his truth, but his story is not only one of many. It is extremely unique. One girl’s experience shows the other side of life as a transgender person. Jazmine “Jazz” Wilson’s life has changed more times than she can count, moving from both

family homes and shelters until she found haven. After Jazmine’s mother’s drug problem grew in severity, Child Protective Services removed her from the home. She was transferred to her sister’s house. The change in clothes began with a bracelet or necklace, something that would make her feel more comfortable, more authentic. Soon, she was wearing pink shirts, skirts and dresses. Jazmine, named Jacobi at the time, was comfortable in her own 16-year-old transgender skin. Her sister, however, was not. A subtle look or passing words was all Jazmine needed to get the message her sister was trying to send. Despite being a lesbian, Jazmine’s sister did not accept

“

People are used to what they’re used to. When you challenge that, people will often take offense and take it as a criticism to them rather than just an opposing thought. — Bryan Singleton, Evan’s father

Jazmine as her true self and did not approve of her clothes. Jazmine didn’t care. And she didn’t care when her sister, in the North Garland High School parking lot, told her she was done with the girly clothes. Jazmine was now faced with a choice: stay as a boy or leave as a girl. Her truth, however, was more important to her than the roof over her head. She went inside the school to call her case worker, but when no one answered, she went back outside. Jazmine’s sister was nowhere to be found. Jazmine got a ride home from a friend, but she arrived at her sister’s house only to see new locks on both the front and back doors. Jazmine was officially without a home or a bed. After staying at a friend’s home for a few days, Jazmine was forced to go to school. It was there her lack of a guardian was discovered by a social worker, and she was taken to an all-boys shelter—a dangerous place for a transgender girl. fter a few weeks, Jazmine was taken in by two transgender foster parents, Ginger and Connor McMurray. In her new environment, Jazmine was shy

and somewhat afraid, but after a couple weeks of love and acceptance, she came out of her shell. But there was still one more big change to come about in her life. Emerging from her bedroom, having finished her last online class for the day, Jazmine walked into the kitchen and began pouring herself a glass of water. knock on the door held the potential to change her life, though. Ginger’s “Come in!” echoed through the hallways of the home, reaching Jazmine’s ears and making her wonder who was on the receiving end of the greeting. Her foster mother stepped into the doorway of the kitchen and quickly asked Jazmine to go sit in her room. The stranger in the house and the frantic order from her foster mother made Jazmine’s heart beat fast. Really fast. She walked to her room, stopping short of the door and quietly shuffling over to the entry to the living room, just out of sight. Jazmine’s foster parents were talking in hushed voices, but the stranger wasn’t so careful. One word rang through the house, shocking Jazmine and changing her life forever. Adoption. Tears threatened to run down her face as she burst into the room, wrapping Ginger and Connor in a hug. She had parents. She had a home. But nothing was certain then, and even now, the future is unknown. The process for the McMurrays to adopt Jazmine has not yet come to a close, and the threat of her birth parents trying to reclaim their status as Jazmine’s guardian looms. If Ginger and Connor cannot adopt Jazmine, she will be forced out of the foster care system once she turns 21; but, Ginger has made it clear to her that she always has a home at the McMurray’s. Jazmine and Evan are two of countless stories of transgender youth. Both found haven with their parents—foster or birth— and now they have their entire lives ahead of them. Drawing on the strength they have used to survive and the lessons they have learned, Jazmine and Evan are setting examples for their respective communities. They are two transgender people. And they’re proud of it.

Story: Duncan Kirstein FACES 13

A NEW SELF Riley Cole`17 went through life as something they were not, but now they can see their own place in life. They are gender-neutral.

Photo: Kobe Roseman 14 FACES

I’M RILEY I’M RILEY

For years, there were no words to describe it. And at an all-boys school, it wasn’t always easy to articulate. But inconspicuously placed in a senior yearbook blurb, Riley Cole ’17 found the words: ‘I am gender-neutral.’

s an eight-yearold, something was different. It happened during one of Carol Rice’s famous second grade creative writing

assignments. While the rest of the class dreamt up worlds filled with Marvel superheroes, all-star athletes and Star Wars characters, one student wrote about Riley. Riley wasn’t like the masculine heroes who lived in the pages of the other kids’ stories. Riley wasn’t a boy or a girl. And while the student didn’t know it at the time, Riley held something about themselves, something about their identity and something about their name that describes who they are today. Riley Cole ’17, previously Zachary, identifies as gender-neutral or gender non-binary—a gender identification that takes “they/them/ themself” pronouns. “I identify as a gender-neutral person,” Riley said, “meaning I fully claim my male sex, I don’t have any feelings that I don’t fit in my own body. I also don’t claim the definitions of man and woman.” For Riley, the discrepancy between gender (how Riley identifies) and sex (the gender Riley was assigned to) was the root cause of their gender-neutral identity. “Because of my sexuality,” Riley said, “I’m not straight, therefore my brain anatomy is more similar to a heterosexual woman’s. In my head, gender and sex may not match. I’m sexually a male because of my body and as for gender, which is more of a perception of yourself, I actually have brain anatomy that isn’t the same as a cisgender male—meaning agreeing with their sex.” As a student at the school, Riley got the sense that the issue wasn’t

something to be heavily discussed at a single-gender school. “At St. Mark’s, it was, ‘I just shouldn’t talk about it all the time,’ and ‘Let people think what they think,’” Riley said. “There isn’t as much fear as a lot of people feel. Because of the all boys environment, it is really hard for people to express how they feel, how they identify. It was easier for me to quietly be who I [wanted] to be.” However, Riley remains grateful for the experience they had at St. Mark’s—an experience with little physical bullying. “I know St. Mark’s is really great,” Riley said. “We don’t have a lot of physical bullying or anything like that. There were times when I got the miniature version of physical bullying with older kids, when I was in Middle School, with high school kids and that was really weird. In High School, nobody cared again.” But when Riley would leave school to go home, the conversations Riley would have with their family regarding gender identity weren’t always easy, and the experience of having those conversations was something the family found hard to accurately remember. “[My mother would tell me], ‘That’s wrong, that’s not who you are,’ as anyone does when they’re raising a kid and it’s not what they expected,” Riley said. “It did make me sad, but at the same time, it further rooted me in my conviction to be this person.” By contrast, Riley’s mother, Barta Cole, remembers the conversations she had with Riley more positively. “It’s never really been an issue for me at all in any way, shape or form,” Barta said. “I’m his mom, and I love him, and I just want him to feel comfortable. It’s been very easy. It’s not something we really talk about, because Zach is who he is, and he’s an amazing young man, and so it really doesn’t matter to me.” Ultimately, for Riley’s sister,

Melissa Cole, the conversations the family had about gender identity were never shunned as a topic of conversation, which she ultimately believes helped Riley throughout their transition. “[Barta] never disowned [Riley],” Melissa said. “She never said, ‘That’s it, we’re not talking about this,’ and a lot of times it was an open conversation. A lot of times it was mom, or even me, just trying to do the best we can to help [Riley] get to his identity, but keeping his mental health intact, because that’s the most important thing to us.” And although Riley now identifies as “they/them Riley,” Riley doesn’t expect the same identification from Barta and Melissa. “Part of the reason why I don’t ask my family to address me differently [is] because it’s out of love,” Riley said. “It’s not about the fact that they don’t care. I know who I am, and it’s not teaching people about gender neutrality,” Riley said. Now, having graduated Riley reckons with their experience at the school, particularly with the school’s message about manhood and leadership. A topic Riley brought up in their senior blurb. “There is a point of an all-boys school,” Riley said, “and right now it needs to be teaching these males how to be good people, and St. Mark’s has the emphasis on strong male leadership.” But ultimately, Riley recognizes the principles of leadership that the school attempts to instill as integral parts of the whole-person education. “These values are so important,” Riley said. “The reason I’m at the top of my class [at USC] is because I went to St. Mark’s, and I learned the ethics and values to be in a top position. My strong person isn’t a masculine, path-to-manhood leader. It’s something else, with the same values, the same universals.”

Story: Kamal Mamdani, Sahit Dendekuri, Mark Tao

FACES 15

RANS– CENDENCE

As vice president of Trans-Cendence International, Paula Ellis knows what it means to struggle with gender identity. From depression to divorce to transitioning, this is her story.

or the first 50 years of her life, Paula Ellis was living a lie. Everything was fake. Her 25 Facebook friends. Her 17-year long marriage. Almost every single human interaction. The entire world was telling her that she was a man. Every day, they told her she was immoral, so she accepted that she was immoral. But after 50 years, Ellis could simply not take it anymore. When the panic attacks and anxiety got to her, Ellis knew there was no feeling in the world that could be worse. In 2013, she attempted to take her own life. ••• Ellis always knew she was different. Growing up, she had issues. She spent her time trying to be what the world told her she was. Ellis asked herself the same question every time she interacted with someone: “What would a dude do in this situation?” She knew it wasn’t right, but for her entire childhood, she didn’t know how to fix it. The first time transitioning even crossed her mind was when she was 18, but there were two problems: it was 1981 and she was living in Texas. To Ellis, transitioning seemed like an excellent way to ge get herself get herself killed.

Because she didn’t identify as gay, Ellis had no connection to the gay community. The only transgender people she knew of were rich or famous. Any program she could find to help transgender people was being shut down. There was no one who could help her.

“

Responding the way men did was not natural to me. I tried to be what the world said I was. It was terrible. — Paula Ellis

Ellis did what she was supposed to do. She got married. She spent 17 years pretending to be a happy man, a devoted husband. But it was too much. After she survived her attempted suicide, she knew she had to transition. But the moment she mustered up the courage to come out as transgender, her wife wanted nothing to do with her. She began losing friends and colleagues. People were shutting her out of their lives. Ellis was still miserable. “I realized that I was either going to do this or die,” Ellis said. “I thought I’d probably die, to be honest, because I’d waited so long. I realized I would try this, and if it was better then I wouldn’t kill myself.” Over the last five years, Ellis’s life has turned around. Now presented as a female to the rest of the world, she feels okay with herself, with her body. She’s real. When she was little, Ellis was petrified of speaking in front of people. Now, she’s the Vice President of Trans-Cendence International, a BREAKING THE support organization for transgender MOLD Transgender people and their loved ones.

16 FACES

rights activist Paula Ellis spoke to the crowd and marched at the Dallas Women’s March Jan. 20 alongside 7,000 other women.

Story: Kamal Mamdani Photo: Riley Sanders

With a mission of keeping families together, what Ellis and the organization want most is for people to understand that transgender women are no different than any other. “Transgender people are who we say we are,” Ellis said. “We go to great effort to be authentic and to be real. The way the world perceives us when we’re younger, that’s the act.” And now, a happier woman than she’s ever been before, Paula Ellis interacts with people from all backgrounds, and has more than 1300 friends on Facebook. “For the last five years, I’ve transitioned, and my life is a whole lot better now,” Ellis said. “It’s not like everything’s perfect, but I feel much better. My interactions with people feel real. They’re not fake, they’re not forced, I’m just me, and it’s wonderful.”

THE ORGANIZATION Paula Ellis is vice president and Dallas Chapter Director of Trans-Cendence International. Mission: To support transgender people and their loved ones and keep families together. Give people a place to talk about their problems. Who: The organization is open to those who identify as transgender, those who are thinking about questions of gender and those who support the transgender community. Where: Trans-Cendence is currently located in Dallas, Fort Worth, Denton and Oklahoma City.

PRONOUN CONFUSED?

THE ‘AWKWARD’ QUESTIONS YOU’RE TOO UNCOMFORTABLE TO ASK, ANSWERED.

• What name do I call a transgender person by? Many transgender people, after transitioning or “coming out,” change their name to match the gender they identify as. Call a transgender person by whatever name they present to the world as their own, not as whatever the name is on their birth certificate. A good rule of thumb is to just call a transgender person by the name they introduce themselves to you as. • What pronouns should I use? If you aren’t sure about which pronouns to use for someone, it is always more appreciated if you ask than if you assume and use the wrong pronouns. If you accidentally use the wrong pronoun, however, just apologize and don’t make a big deal out of it. If you are uncomfortable asking about pronoun usage, listen in to people who are close to that person and try to discern which pronouns they use when talking about him or her. • Does being transgender have any relationship to a person’s sexuality?

When the word ‘transgender’ comes up in conversation, especially at a single gender instituiton, it’s often immediately trailed with a string of tangential hypotheticals and curious questions, questions that not all members of the community would be comfortable asking. We asked those questions so you won’t have to.

A person’s gender identity and sexual orientation are different. Post-transition, most transgender people remain attracted to the gender they were interested in before “coming out” as transgender. • What does it mean to transition? “Transitioning” is the blanket term for any step in the process of beginning to live as different gender. The transition process is different for each transgender person; some change the name and gender on their driver licenses and birth certificates, some undergo hormone replacement therapy and some undergo surgeries to alter their bodies to match their gender identity. What is true about any person transitioning, however, is that their gender identity does not depend on the degree to which they have physically transitioned. • Do most transgender people undergo a physical transition? Close to 30 percent of people who identify as transgender have undergone some sort of gender transition surgery, while most transgender people are unable to handle the $20,000 to $30,000 average financial burden of transitioning. Gender reassignment surgery, however, is on the rise, up 19 percent this past year. Answers from National Center for Transgender Equality

SEXUALITY, GENDER AND SEX This diagram, provided by Director of Counseling Barbara Van Drie, shows the independent spectrums of sexuality, gender and sex. Any one person can be exist at a different location on each of the lines below.

Biological Sex male

intersex

female

Gender Identity genderqueer

Gender Expression stereotypically “masculine”

stereotypically “feminine”

Degree of Sexual Attraction very sexual

asexual

Sexual Behavior sexual with women

sexual with men

FACES 17

Fiction and myth busted Fact and truth uncovered Experts in psychology, pediatrics and neurology have strived to answer the questions that have gained the national spotlight along with the transgender population. What causes a person to feel like they don’t identify with their current gender identity? Is it right for parents to entertain a child’s desire to transition? How early is too early

to transition? How late is too late? These questions and more will be explored in the next three pages to reveal and discuss the facts that lie beneath the fiction that shrouds the transgender community. From those who work in schools, dealing with the nuances of adolescent behavior, to those who work in residencies, answering the questions that swarm people’s minds when beginning a transition, experts of

all backgrounds seek to eliminate the myths around transgenders. With the air of secrecy gone, a clearer picture will emerge, and a greater understanding and communication will come to fruition.

THE SCIENCES

THE PROGRESS, THE QUESTIONS, THE ANSWERS

18 SCIENCES

Illustration: Matthew Coleman

When is the right time to transition. And how does the brain know?

WHEN The best time to start having talks

HOW

The way the brain copes with gender

THE BRAIN, THE TALKS T

he best time to start conversations entailing topics of gender and self-identity is difficult for any family to know, according to Director of Counseling Barbara Van Drie. How a parent responds [to this issue] makes such a huge difference in their child’s adjustment,” Van Drie said. “I absolutely understand that it would be difficult and that it takes time, in the same way it’s difficult for parents to accept any difference their child has from their expectations.” However, regardless of a parent’s personal beliefs or expectations, the gender identity of a child seems defined at a very young age. “I think when we talk to the children or the adolescents or the adults who feel this way,” Van Drie said, “they’re clear. They have clarity. This isn’t a question. I’m not saying everyone is clear, but in the situations I’ve seen or in the cases I’ve read, there

was clarity in very young children who know.” To help foster an environment encouraging gender clarity, having conversations with kids who are as young as five can encourage informativeness and education from as early an age as possible. “Part of it is just learning to have the talks,” Van Drie said, “the conversations, and it’s not a talk. Early on children start realizing, ‘I didn’t just appear one day,’ so the conversation is age-appropriate. These are conversations to keep having from age five to one. But also part of that conversation is making sure that we stop talking about these things as binary, because few things are binary.” Similarly, adolescent psychiatrist Dr. Reese Abright ’65 believes in the importance of discussion, but also emphasizes the role the school can have in facilitating a smooth transition.

“Say an individual student wants to talk about something like [gender identity],” Abright said, “then sometimes [counselling-based] services can provide public education within the school about specific issues like [gender identity], or depression or other things like that.” Ultimately, realizing the complexity of the issue is an important step in realizing gender identity. “I think the human brain likes to categorize things and Reese Abright make things simple,” Van Drie said, “and human beings are not simple. In psychology, if we know anything, it’s that human beings do not fall into nice categories, and they’re very complex and unique, so we sit with that discomfort.”

have gender dysphoria. “We know children with gender identification problems suffer from high rates of depression and even suicidal tendencies,” Everett said. “Among the many factors leading to depression are potential rejection and stigmatization from family and peers as well as internal conflict that naturally occurs when the child identifies with the sex that doesn’t match his or her biological sex.” Furthermore, Van Drie believes the medical resources available to families in Dallas enables easier transition at any age. “We are very fortunate in Dallas to have resources here in our city like in Children’s Medical Center that has a unit which deals with transgender children,” Van Drie said, “because the earlier that parents can be supportive, the better the outcome for the

child.” Abright also remarked on the issue of gender identity becoming more normalized in the medical field. “In order to try to reduce some of the stigma associated with [gender identity],” Abright said, “the term ‘gender dysphoria’ came about, which was supposed to be a more neutral way of expressing that the person has some discomfort regarding their perception of their gender identity and their biological gender assignment.” And as the issue becomes more commonplace in the medical field, doctors are being educated on how to deal with gender identity. “To me,” Abright said, “this indicates that the profession of psychiatry has become more involved with issues like this, and that we’re also trying to educate ourselves.”

s cases of gender dysphoria become more common in hospitals, the correlation between mental illness and gender dysphoria has drawn a lot of attention, as many suffering from gender dysphoria are also prone to disorders like depression and anxiety. “Individuals who are having this kind of dysphoria can be prone to other kinds of emotional and psychological issues like depression or anxiety,” Abright said, “and other Hal Everett emotional complications that can interfere with not only their enjoyment in life, but also with their academic life.” Pediatrician Dr. Hal Everett also associated high rates of depression with those who

Breaking it down Here are recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics on how to approach transgender and LGBT youth: • Pediatricians’ offices should be teen-friendly and welcoming to all adolescents, regardless of sexual orientation and behavior; this includes training all office staff and ensuring that office forms do not presume heterosexuality of patients (or parents). • If a pediatrician does not feel competent to provide specialized care for sexual minority teenagers and their families, he or she has the responsibility to evaluate families and then refer for medically appropriate care. • All adolescents should have a confidential adolescent psychosocial history. Verbal histories and/or written questionnaires should use a gender-neutral approach. • LGBTQ adolescents and MSM and WSW should have sexual behaviors and risks assessed and should be provided STI/HIV testing according to recommendations in the most recent sexually transmitted diseases treatment guidelines from the CDC. • Strengths, resources and risks should be assessed and targeted behavioral interventions should be implemented to allow the adolescent to maximize strengths and acknowledge and minimize risky behaviors. • Pediatricians should be available to answer questions, to correct misinformation and to provide the context that being LGBTQ is normal, just different. • Transgender adolescents need to be supported and affirmed; they need education and referral for the process of transition and about avoiding the pitfalls of using treatments that were not prescribed by a licensed physician. • Pediatricians should support parents in working through adjustment issues related to having a child who is LGBTQ while continuing to demonstrate love and support for their children. • Pediatricians should educate themselves about organizations that serve sexual minority youth and families in local communities and national organizations with information, support Web sites and hotlines

Story: Mark Tao, James Rogers

SCIENCES 19

ASK THE EXPERTS PSYCHOLOGIST DR. AMY SHEINBERG

Dr. Amy Sheinberg, PhD, is a female health care provider in Dallas, specializing in with clinical psychology. Her practice is located at 8333 Douglas Avenue.

What does it mean to have gender identity issues? Gender Dysphoria describes a conflict between a person’s physical gender and the gender with which he or she identifies. At what age do these problems tend to arise? Early-onset gender dysphoria typically starts in childhood and continues into adolescents and adulthood, while late-onset gender dysphoria occurs around puberty or much later in life. Are there known causes for these identity issues, or is it something genetically based? The cause of gender dysphoria is unknown, but hormonal

influences in the womb are suspected to be involved. The condition is rare and may occur in children, adolescents or adults. There is evidence showing that transgender people appear to be born with brains more similar to the gender with which they identify rather than their assigned genders. Do some patients eventually become secure in their gender assignment, or do they usually all transition in some way? Yes, many adults with gender dysphoria find comfortable, effective ways of living that do not involve all the components of the three-phase treatment— psychological, hormonal and surgical. While some individu-

als manage to do this on their own, psychotherapy can be very helpful in bringing about personal discovery and maturation that facilitate self-comfort. Can gender identity problems lead to depression or other mental health disorders? The short answer is yes. Because mental illness as well as gender non-conformity are still stigmatized in our society, someone with Gender Dysphoria may not seek out or get proper help. They may suppress their feelings and turn to self-medicating which can lead to a deepening of depression, anxiety and set them up for increased self-harm and suicide attempts/completions.

Interview: Andy Crowe

GENDER EXPERT DR. RENEE BAKER Why do certain people transition? Theres a lot of different reasons, most people want to feel comfortable with their body. Most people will feel comfortable with a masculine body or a feminine body if it goes with their gender and their bodies align with their gender. What challenges involving public identity do transgendered people face? Usually most people that go through a gender transition will need to change either their gender marker or their name and not all judges are amenable to that. So for example, we’ve had clients who go to a Fort Worth judge and the judge did not want

to change the gender marker for an individual so that person might have to go to Dallas county. What effect does the pressure of societal norms have on people’s ability to transition? Most people are very biased in their view of gender. They tend to lump it into male or female. The reality for trans people and intersex people is that they feel pressured to be someone who they are not. How does the lifestyle of a transgendered person differ from someone in the closet? The person who is in the closet won’t be able to be as present because they’ve got too much inner conflict

going on inside them. It’s a hard question to answer, but basically, you have to ask yourself if you, as someone who is male, had to wear a dress all day, would that affect your day? Would you go through your day as normal, or would that affect you? Why don’t some transgendered people transition? A lot of people lose their families, they lose their jobs, they lose their religions. They’re shunned by society, they get teased, they get bullied, some get killed, some get hurt. There’s a lot of violent crime against transgendered people. There’s an inability to figure out how to make it in the world, basically.

Dr. Renee Baker has a doctor of philosophy degree from the University of Texas at Dallas and is a specialist in gender identity issues.

Interview: Eric Hirshbrich

20 SCIENCES Photos courtesy of Dr. Amy Sheinberg and Dr. Renee Baker

GUIDANCE COUNSELOR BARBARA VAN DRIE

and anxiety, and a high risk of suicide, but with support and understanding from the most important people in your life, your parents, the outcome can be different. The most important places that support needs to come from include your parents. your school, your friends and your peers. That’s why this is an important mission of information and education.

that a student just start telling peers, ‘I think I’m transgender.’ Peers would be least helpful in assisting someone to navigate this situation because they have no expertise and no training. Peers could be supportive or not.

How can an instructor go about explaining the concepts of gender identity?

What’s critical and why it really matters that people understand [gender identity] is because of the danger that is there for these individuals in terms of their safety. From themselves due to self-harm, but also for the violence that is perpetrated against them because of people’s lack of knowledge and ignorance.

I think people have to understand what we mean by the term gender, what do we mean by the term sex, what are the definitions of these words. I like to teach these concepts together, so we can see the contrast. Do people usually doubt their transition once they have gone through it?

For 18 years, Barbara Van Drie has served as director of counseling here. She has a master’s degree from the University of North Texas in clinical psychology.

What are the most important terms to define when addressing the topic of gender identity? I think we need to understand what it means when we talk about what someone’s sex is and what someone’s gender is, so we have something to compare and contrast. Is [gender] a social construct or is it also biological? And what does it mean when we say sex is biological? Does that mean your chromosomes, your brain, or your physical genitalia? And what if they are not aligned? Are chromosomes directly correlated with genitalia? When a baby is born, people [think] it’s a boy or a girl based on the baby’s genitalia. Rarely is anyone doing chromosome testing on babies. But one of the things we know is that sometimes genitalia is not the correct marker. Genitalia can indicate one thing and chromosomes may be something different. The brain may be different. Also, sometimes genitalia is ambiguous and decisions have to be made. Could you explain some of the correlation between mental disorders and those who suffer from gender dysphoria? There are significant rates of depression

I think when we talk to the children or the adolescents or the adults who feel this way, they’re clear. They have clarity. This isn’t a question. I’m not saying everyone is clear, but in the situations I’ve seen or in the cases I’ve read, there was clarity in very young children who know. Why are gender identity and sexual orientation often associated with each other, and what are the difference between the two? Gender identity is different than sexual orientation, but sometimes people get confused about that. A person’s sexual orientation is just separate from their gender identity. When gender identity is in-play, people immediately ask, ‘Who are you romantically attracted to?’ One does not beget the other, they are just two separate things. How do you think the school would react, and what what happen if a student were to come out as transgender? I wouldn’t want to see a long-term student be removed from St. Mark’s because of his gender-identification. And gender identification, the individual having a sense of their gender, is different from gender expression. [St. Mark’s] is currently a place where you see all aspects of gender, stereotypical ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’ traits, expressed. You see guys [of varying masculinity] who are all over the place. How would a student ideally go about making their gender transition as smooth and as peaceful as possible? In an ideal world, this is something they’ve been aware of since prior to first-grade so it’s a known situation. I would never recommend

How could ignorance potentially harm a transgender student?

What’s the best way to begin to understand the concept of gender identity as somebody who may not be familiar with the issue? I think that once you understand the idea that [gender identity can be a continuum], then it becomes less difficult. You look at these other facets of our gender, like our gender roles. These are a complete social construct, but no one would say ‘you can only choose A or B’ for the female gender role or the male gender role. How can people in general create a world that’s safer to individuals with uncommon gender identities? I think sometimes when people have a strong reaction to something, it’s the fear of the unknown, the things they don’t understand. And the more information they have, the more they understand, the less scary it is. Could you give insight on the connection between an issue like gender dysphoria and its legislative impact? A lot of people don’t know much other than what they might read in the newspaper, and they may not been informed. Law and medicine in psychology typically have not caught up with each other in a lot of ways. The law doesn’t really often times reflect what we know in terms of research, in terms of science, and all those things, but that may be all people know at this point. How could the politics of the issue potentially affect a transitioning student? For some people, a lot of what they’re seeing is legislating around a bathroom than what people should be seeing which is educating about the science of this. And again because it’s not a high prevalence situation a lot of people don’t know and not too many people have talked about it, and so I think it is something our society needs a lot more education on.

Interview: Mark Tao Photo: CJ Crawford SCIENCES 21

On campus and around the country As a single-sex institution, it is unlikely that we will ever have a formulaic procedure to address the changing gender identity of a student or potential student. Most likely, the school will address any potential situations on a case-by-case basis â&#x20AC;&#x201D; without a written policy. But schools around the country and around

the world â&#x20AC;&#x201D; along with the organizations these institutions are a part of -- are quickly adapting to the ever-evolving social landscape, a social landscape in which the topic of gender identity is quickly becoming more and more relavant. In the next five pages, expect to hear the voices of several members of the International Boys School Coalition and the National Association of Independent Schools,

along with the experiences of groups on campus like DADYO and the coalition of students who have been to the Student Diversity Leadership Conference on behalf of the school, in addition to hearing from administrators here at 10600 Preston Rd.

THE SCHOOLS

THE REACTIONS, THE POLICIES, THE RESPONSES

Walking forward As the public perception of transgender and gender nonbinary individuals shifts, single-sex schools like our own are forced to take a reflective look at their policies and philosophies.

22 SCHOOLS

Photo: Riley Sanders

Dean of Campus Scott Gonzalez and junior Richard Shen had the privilege of attending the 2017 Student Diversity Leadership Conference in Oneanta, NY.

Photos: CJ Crawford

A CHANCE TO REFLECT

SCOTT GONZALEZ

Dean of campus, Freshman Class sponsor

'MY HOPE WOULD BE THAT WE LOVE AND RESPECT OUR STUDENTS FOR WHO THEY ARE.' What have these conferences told you about gender issues? What we need to do is to remember that young people have, at their disposal, ideas and concepts and ways of identifying themselves that have been around for a long long time. Now, as a society, we are coming around to being able to be comfortable enough with general neutral terms and accepting of them too. It’s really about learning to understand an individual on his or her own terms. To start saying if you wish to be identified or are you going through the process. Your right as a human being overshadows my feelings about what I may think. I think the things that we are going to have to wrestle with and have already started wrestling with is, when we accept a student here, we accept the student for who he is. People change over time, and

with the onset of puberty and the different psychological aspects of growth, I think that it’s our responsibility to continue to embrace that individual and to see what we can do best to support them. How can we relate gender issues to a student? It may be that, in the big picture of the individual who is going through gender reassignment or going through identifying themselves as a different gender from what is considered birth gender, no longer feels that they are comfortable in this environment. We then have the responsibility to help that individual find a place that's better suited for them; if that’s their choice. My hope would be that we love and respect our students for who they are and to support them as long as we can, as long as they are okay with it as well. If all we are

is an educational institution, then we can do whatever we want. But if we really are an educational community, then it lies upon us to make sure we are doing what we can to support that individual. Is there anything we need to do different as a school, like even a specific policy in Lion Tracks? My concern would be if you write a policy, put on the books and then we run into a situation that we weren’t prepared for. Somebody would use that as leverage, not to support a child and his family, but to put up a shield and statue that’s used to get rid of somebody based on that. I think you have to do it as such so that families will understand that we really are supporting them and that we're not doing this to be punitive.

'WOULD I BE COMFORTABLE GOING TO SCHOOL WITH A TRANSGENDER CLASSMATE? SURE.'

After attending the conference, what's your opinion on how schools like St. Mark's should approach the issue of admitting a transgender student? I have to say, I don't think that there's any way to enforce a no-transgender policy. When I applied here, I filled out my birthday and put in a picture of me. No

birth documents or anything. It was all predicated off the fact that I knew I was applying to an all-boys school and that I identified as such. I think that makes the admissions process gender-blind? Or I guess it's assumed that only boys would apply. Conversely, as with workplace discrimination, it would be easy for any institution to deny admission to a transgender student on the basis of any other measurement since the process is not transparent. I do think, though, that it wouldn't be a bad thing to give Marksmen increased exposure to diversity as it relates to gender identity. I personally have only met a single person to this day who does not use the pronouns associated with their sex. That's probably bad as there are more than one people in this world who identify as transgender. But I guess that's what you have to expect when apply to an all-boys school.

Story: Nick Malvezzi, Zoheb Khan

Member of the Junior Class

What did you learn at the conference and how did you feel after versus before? If you think about a place like St. Mark's, sure it's called "all boys," but some kids are more masculine and some more feminine,

even though everyone has the same sex. Anyone who knows me knows I'm not the spitting image of manhood. That's why I think its more fair to say that we are a single-sex school rather than single-gender. As for admissions, I honestly don't think it's my place to say what should or shouldn't be done. Would I be comfortable going to school with a transgender classmate? Sure. Would everyone? I don't know. There's also that religious aspect to it, but again, I'm not very well-versed in those laws.

RICHARD SHEN

Did you discuss anything related to gender identity at the SDLC Conference? We did this activity where you would stand closer to either side of the room (or off the spectrum) based on your gender identity. I was actually surprised to find that almost nobody stood directly next to the wall: the majority of people were somewhere in the middle. Private schools get a lot of criticism for reinforcing gender binaries, which might be true, but there's where the distinction between gender and sex comes in. It's not as if all of us are homogeneously straight, white or definitively masculine.

SCHOOLS 23

SINGLE SEX iNSTITUTIONS One of the premier single-gender school organizations in the world, the International Boys' Schools Coalition weighs in on the changing reality of gender Identity.

ingle-gender schools are tackling a multifaceted issue: how to create policies to address transgender students who are enrolled at or are applying to the school. These schools are looking to reconcile the values of gender non-conforming students with gender-specific mission. The International Boys’ Schools Coalition (IBSC), a group of international schools that champions boys’ educations, has begun to spark discussion amongst single-gender schools on the topic of gender identity. Striving to advance boys’ education across the world, the IBSC seeks to provide answers to pressing questions such admitting transgender students to single-gender schools. As transgender students join school communities across the nation, IBSC Executive Director David Armstrong believes the IBSC plays several key roles in catalyzing dialogue about necessary changes to school services. In recent IBSC discussions, leaders have focused on the practical steps and nuts-and-bolts decisions schools must make to approach the sensitive topic of admitting transgender students. “The IBSC Board assigned a task force to generate discussion about transgender issues that consisted of 10 members that were headmasters and deans of students,” Armstrong said. “who play important leadership roles in some ten countries in different parts of the world that came from different types of schools — faith-based school secular schools, et. cetera.”

“

The single-sex schools, whether they are an allgirls or all-boys school, have to weigh a lot of factors and balance those two issues in a way they feel comfortable with.” —David Armstrong IBSC Executive Director

Armstrong believes the IBSC plays several roles in helping single-gender schools address gender-identity issues. The IBSC sparks discussion about these issues to engage different member schools. “We see the IBSC’s role as, first, a catalyst for discussion for our member schools and for anyone else who reads the website,” Armstrong said. “Schools should engage in the various and multiple issues that need to be engaged while talking about sensitive topics like gender identity.” Armstrong also believes, with its diverse group of member schools located all around the world, the IBSC a valuable means for all-boys schools to gain experience and a swath of perspectives. “We want to serve as a resource,” Armstrong said, “so what we did for our member schools is we put together a series of various resources that talk about all aspects of it and groups that are advocacy groups and health groups that talk about different policies they might adopt.”

ltimately, Armstrong sees the IBSC as a way for schools to discuss sensitive issues like gender identity among other member schools. “We want to serve as a hub that will connect our members in dialogue,” Armstrong said, “where different member schools can share their experiences with the issue and how they dealt with some of the situations when they didn’t have a policy in place.” In many ways, the IBSC connects schools facing similar concerns and issues. “It’s a way they can connect with different counterparts from different schools around the world,” Armstrong said, “that are going through that schools might be considering.” Moreover, with several IBSC member schools having already tackled the issue of admitting or creating policies

for transgender students, Armstrong believes the range of experiences are an invaluable asset to schools trying to develop new policies. “Many the men and women on the task force have counters and experiences to share,” Armstrong said. “They’ve gone through the building up process and the reaction to a person with a transgender experience when they apply or are at a gender identity transition while at the school. Schools can share their experience with who do we want to get involved in the conversation.” However, Armstrong also maintains there are multiple layers of discussion in addition to being a single-gender school. With single-sex schools attempting to maintain institutional and traditional missions, Armstrong sees complications in reconciling tradition with change, “It’s quite complicated, but this task force has been set-up and is willing to share those experiences with other members,” Armstrong said, “and means by which any other member can reach out to them and say we’re thinking about developing a policy and statement.”

The IBSC When? Founded in 1995 Where? Schools in 15 countries on five continents Who? Not-for-profit organization of member schools dedicated to connecting and developing boys’ education worldwide What? Discovering and sharing knowledge among all-boys teaching professionals worldwide

Story: Zoheb Khan National Association of Independent Schools weighs in on transgender topics An NAIS webinar on May 10, 2017, addressed “Supporting Transgender and Non-Conforming Students.” Here are some highlights from the many recommendations that were discussed:

Education and Communication

Gender Audit

Signage posted throughout facilities: Post both literal and figurative signs signs to show support of inclusivity. Signs will allow for questions from students because the topic is so new and perhaps uncomfortable.

Assess gender segregation: Find places where gender is used to segregate, sort, or distinguish people and figure out in what way those designations are arbitrary.

Gender Support Plan: Create a list of questions the school can ask a student who has some interest in communication with the community about some aspect of their gender or transition.

24 SCHOOLS

Conversation and Task Force: Forge a list of goals as a community and make proposals that are small steps to a much larger goal.

Make a timeline: Once the gender audit is executed, create a timeline for the issues found: what can be done within the school year, what can be done tomorrow, and what can be done on a long term plan? Impact cultural shift: Execute goals stemming from Gender Audit and change the campus culture surrounding gender identities.

SHIFTING THE PARADIGM

He was the first transgender student at the storied Phillips Exeter Academy. Now on the school’s faculty, Alex Myers has become a nationally-known expert in gender identity.

REVOLUTIONARY Myers talks to an auditorium of students at the Taipei American School in Taipei, Taiwan. All students in grades nine to 12 read his book, which is about a 22-year-old woman fighting as a man in the American Revolution.

eople keep saying it. “What do we do? What do we do? What do we do?” They come to him with an endless barrage of new questions, new issues, new controversies. As a student at Phillips Exeter Academy in 1995, Alex Myers’s transition from female to male brought its own wave of challenges — and a bit of what-do-we-do chaos. At first, “everything was a problem.” “When I first came out,” Myers said, “it was very much like, ‘You, individual transgender student, are a problem, and we need to figure out which team you’re gonna play on and which dorm you’re gonna live in.’” Myers quickly became the community’s facilitator for gender identity discussions. But with every what-do-we-do question, Myers ushered in, what he calls, “a shift.” Changes in locker room privacy, changes in bathroom use, changes in dormitory housing — Myers ushered in a shift on campus thinking centered around realizing these types of decisions don’t just affect transgender students, but, rather, they affect every student at the school.

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You need to go in there and say, ‘What’s going on in our school culture that some kids feel [they] don’t belong here, [they] don’t feel safe here?’ How can we address the issue?” —Alex Myers “Now the shift has started to be,” Myers said, “every student on this campus has a gender identity and every student needs to have a good experience regardless of their gender identity.” Today, Myers works with school administrators through the National Association of Story: Kobe Roseman, Zach Gilstrap

Independent Schools (NAIS), leads webinars, hosts TED talks and speaks with media outlets like The New York Times and PBS to educate the public on a topic some know very little about. Now an English instructor at Exeter, Myers uses the lessons from his experience at his alma mater to inspire the work he now does regularly. He constantly tries to get schools ahead of potential issues in the hopes that administrations do not put all the burden on transitioning students during the process of coming out. “The school needs to be ready for them,” Myers said. “The school needs to say in advance to them coming out — or even in advance of a student applying to the school, — ‘we are ready for you, we know who you might be, what you might need, and we’ve got it in place.’ This way, the student can have as smooth sailing as possible and is not in the position of constantly explaining and having to ask for basic services.”

nd in many ways, Myers believes schools could be going about these issues all wrong. For starters, he says there’s something wrong when schools approach this topic in a negative frame from the get-go — there’s something wrong about approaching the topic as “issues and problems.” “One thing that single-sex schools can do is they can think about how and why they should include gender-nonconforming individuals,” Myers said. “That’s a very different frame of mind than saying ‘This is a problem and we need to address it.’” Getting down to the “how” and “why” behind policy and infrastructure reform, Myers says, is the most essential step in supporting transgender students. On top of this, Myers points to the St. Mark’s mission, highlighting the benefits that

stem from clarifying the wording. What’s the vision that the school embraces? And how do gender-nonconforming individuals fit into that? Are we a school for people who are masculine, who are biologically born male or identify as boys? “Those are three very different values,” Myers said. “And depending on how you answer that would be how you would then respond and say, ‘This is what we need to do to our school culture to make our school more inclusive and open.’”

or Myers, the what-do-we-do questions are more than familiar. Even long after his transition as an Exeter student, he still travels from school to school embracing each one that comes his way. When answering these questions, Myers believes clarity is essential. He stresses all of these questions aren’t “a transgender issue,” but rather, an issue with school culture. “The school needs to articulate and make known language that is specific,” Myers said. “So that if for no other reason than marketing, people can then know whether or not this school is for them.”

AN EDUCATOR A trailblazer at his own school, Phillips Exeter Academy, Myers hopes to similarly affect the nation and community around him.

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The tides of change Shirts and skirts. Dresses and pants. What’s a school to do when it is faced with one of the most challenging and divisive issues of our time?

ender identity issues spark headlines. They spark conversations in national newsrooms, at family dinner tables and under social media posts. And they spark controversies in school boards, legislation chambers and workplaces. With more and more students coming out as transgender, schools across the country are having to quickly adapt — pushing to redefine policy and infrastructure to support transitioning students. When it comes to St. Mark’s, Headmaster David Dini and Associate Headmaster John Ashton echo the state-of-mind of other school administrators nationwide: the issue is “complex.” Dini recognizes that as a single-gender institution, the school has its own “nuances” to consider. The fact of the matter, he says, is that the school isn’t a boys school by accident. It’s not just a tradition for tradition’s sake. Helping boys find their identities, he says, is deliberately built in the mission and purpose of the school. But what if a blue oxford shirt is more comfortable with a plaid skirt? What if a white tuxedo would rather wear the white dress? What if a transgender student applied to St. Mark’s? Dini and Ashton don’t think speculating on these hypotheticals is a productive exercise. Although the administrator have not directly changed policy to support transgender students, they strongly believe in championing the well-being of all students and engage in many discussions. “What schools are trying to understand and develop an appreciation for,” Dini said, “is to not necessarily think about this issue in a policy-driven, linear way. But rather, in a way that is grounded in the mission and purpose of the school while also navigating complex issues with a focus on the well-being of the student and making sure that those two elements fit together successfully.” Whether it’s on-campus with the Board of Trustees or participating in presentations as part of the International Boys’ School Coalition and National Association of Independent Schools, the administration has made efforts to stay ahead of potential issues. But at the same time, Dini and Ashton agree there is no “prescription.” Other than simply adhering to the school’s mission of serving each student, there is no 26 SCHOOLS Story: Zach Gilstrap, Kobe Roseman

universal answer to prevent controversy, balance tradition with change and support transitioning students. “It’s very case-specific,” Ashton said. “It’s a very scenario-specific circumstance that the school will try to navigate with the student and the family to a good place — wherever that place is as far as an outcome.” Citing the school’s intrinsic mission to educate and cultivate the whole boy, Ashton echoes that the community was made with boys in mind — and built to serve them in every way. “Our traditions, practices and rituals are designed with boys in mind, for boys, about boys because all of those things are outcroppings of what our fundamental mission is,” Ashton said. “We are here for one reason: to develop boys into good men. Everything else we do is in service to that mission.”

ut what about the lines between shirts and skirts, dresses and pants, tradition and change? The clarity around how gender-nonconforming individuals fit into our school’s mission? The balance between collective mission and individual well-being? Despite the charge for clarity, the challenging questions, search for answers and nuanced issues at a single-gender school still remain. “We don’t ever want to be caught flat-footed on issues,” Dini said. “Either issues that are currently before us or prospective issues that might come to us on the horizon. Because that’s part of our charge as a school — making sure that we are adhering to our mission and purpose, building on that and thinking about what our core principles are and living those out to the best of our ability.” At the end of the day, Ashton highlights the school community’s passionate discussions around important issues. He believes this passion will guide the school toward caring for all its students — no matter what gender identity. “For us on campus,” Ashton said, “it just feels in a very powerful way that we engage in very complex social issues and challenges and we try to understand them but all in a higher way. That’s pretty special and unique here. At the end of the day we are going to care for everyone in this community and wrestle the complex issues together with great trust and knowing full well that we can find our way forward in the best of ways.”

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The questions around rituals and traditions in single-gender schools is coming up for discussion more and more if you look in the country, whether it’s at the university level and in some independent schools. Schools and institutions are just questioning some traditions that are tied to a specific or single gender identity. — John Ashton, Associate Headmaster

THE FUTURE In the shadow of Centennial Hall, students head to classes at a school ready to address the ever-developing issues of the world.

Photo: Riley Sanders SCHOOLS 27

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This is the year of transgender awareness in the national news, in the normal press, instead of being in the little magazine you see as you’re checking out of the grocery store. And I think that’s a huge difference. — Stephe Koontz, sworn in as a Doraville City Council member Jan. 5 as Georgia’s first elected transgender official.