The ReMarker | February 2022

REMARKER

the e

Friday, February 4, 2022 • St. Mark’s School of Texas • Dallas, TX • Volume 68, Issue 4

CENSORSHIP | Book challenge committees

Boys school conference details revealed

by Keshav Krishna, Aaron Liu ark your calendars.

In exactly four months and 26 days, hundreds of educators will arrive on campus to participate in the 30th annual International Boys School Coalition (IBSC) conference.

It’s a moment years in the making, and for some ­— like assistant head of Middle School Jason Lange — even longer.

At the 2019 IBSC conference at the Selwyn House School in Montreal, it became official — St. Mark’s would host the event in 2021. Soon, Lange was approached by Headmaster David Dini to head the newly-established local IBSC conference planning committee.

“I gratefully accepted,” Lange said. “The IBSC is probably one of the most important organizations in my professional life. It has helped me grow as an educator, perhaps as much as the schools I’ve worked at.” read more on page 7

M

BANNED It’s happening all across the nation. officials and parents are putting forth efforts to ban material in school they deem inappropriate due to their definitions of obscenity, pornography or questionable content.

We look at some of these incidents and ask the question: Could it happen at 10600 Preston Road?

See page 6

STORY Peter Orsak, Austin Williams, Toby Barrett, Ian Dalrymple

inside

news & issues 2 discovery & stem 10 life & 10600 14 indepth 18 arts & culture 23 ratings & reviews 27 editorials & opinion 28 health & sports 31

PHOTOILLUSTRATION Jonathan Yin

05border journey Anonymous Marksman parent’s expedition across the Mexico-Texas border.

18tech future

How is the school preparing students for a tech-driven world?

Vescovo ‘84 enlists Marksmen to create app

by Ian Dalrymple, Myles Lowenberg s many as 11,000 meters deep and covering over 70 percent of the planet’s surface, vast oceans surround us. And yet, according to estimates

by National Geographic, over 80 percent of it remains completely uncharted by humans.

That’s a number that Victor Vescovo ‘84 is looking to change.

Vescovo and his team are currently working with the Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) to create a map of the entire ocean floor by 2030.

“We specialize in the ultra deep ocean — more than 6000 meters,” Vescovo said. “And what we’ve been trying to do for the last four years is to develop technology that’s very repeatable, safe and effective.” read more on page 12

A

26‘newsies’

Long-awaited co-ed musical returns to the Black Box today.

2 Lifting up libraries

by Keshav Krishna t’s got four walls, a roof and a ton of books inside.

Ring a bell? It’s a public library. And chances are you haven’t been inside of one in a while. Maybe it’s because we can use the Green Library, which is pretty much a universitylevel facility. Maybe it’s because you just don’t have the time. But the vast majority of people are simply following the larger trend of digitalization.

Why take the time to check out a book when you can order one from Amazon or read an e-book from the comfort of your own home?

In general, the pandemic has accelerated humanity’s shift toward online resources.

In some cities, Keshav Krishna librarians Issues Editor have even been pushed into the role of frontline workers as libraries serve as COVID-19 testing centers.

As funding decreases and problems mount, there is a very real possibility that public libraries may not exist in their current form in the future.

To me, that’s heartbreaking. Public libraries have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. My love of reading first began with picture books in a public library. When the tornado caused a blackout in my neighborhood, I did my schoolwork in a public library. This December, when I was cramming for the SAT, I made my way back to a familiar refuge: a public library.

Personal nostalgia aside, public libraries still serve a vital role in communities and deserve increased attention and support.

After more than two years of isolation, public libraries represent a community space where people can gather and interact.

Support for public libraries has consistently diminished in the state of Texas over a fiveyear period. The Build America’s Libraries Act is a bipartisan bill that was introduced in the House and aims to improve public library facilities across the nation. If passed, this bill would transform libraries’ impact and secure their future.

Public libraries are the lifeblood of learning in this country. Use them, support them, advocate for their upkeep so that one day, your own children might explore the world of literature in a public library.

I

Issues

the remarker february 4, 2022

news &

philosophy

The art of living well We sit down with Leadership and Ethics Program Director Dr. Martin Stegemoeller to discuss the art and study of philosophy and ancient principles Marksmen can apply to their daily lives.

Philosophy comes from two Greek words: philea, one of their words for love, and sophia, their word for wisdom; so it’s the love of wisdom.

I try to get boys to reflect on the dimensions of life that have non-competitive goods, what those are, how to get them and how those aren't mutually exclusive with competitive goods. Everything’s not a competition.

There are three big questions in philosophy: what it means to be, or metaphysics, what it means to know, or epistemology, and what it means to live well, which is ethics. That's ultimately what it is. You're trying to live well, and to live well, you need to know what it means to be, and you should be knowledgeable about what knowledge is.

The older I get, the less I care about books and the more I care about talking with and enjoying conversations with people, reflecting on life and probing about how we could live better and more deeply.

That's what I ultimately think philosophy is. At least that's how it started. Now, it's become an academic thing, but I don't think that's helped it, unfortunately.

So many of our guys are trained to win. They think the goal of life is to win these competitions for status and that grades and sports are part of that.

They respond really well to competition when there's a clear winner and a clear loser, but the meaning available in life is often not competitive.

INTERVIEW Grayson Redmond PHOTO Warner Hartnett

PONDERING Stegemoeller sits resembling The Thinker, an iconic bronze sculpture by French artist Auguste Rodin. Unlike the statue, he is fully clothed.

issues in brief ALUMNI MAGAZINE The Pride magazine is set to come out late March, and it will be delivered to all members of the alumni association and much of the wider community. The Pride magazine serves as a way for the school to keep alumni connected, and it covers events ranging from alumni weddings to the results of the Winter SPC championships. The Pride magazine is created by the Development Office and is sent out biannually.

TEST OPTIONAL POLICIES For a second full year, the standardized test-optional policy will be in place, affecting current juniors applying to college next year. While students are still encouraged to prepare for and take the SAT or ACT, the college counseling team will work with students to decide whether the scores should be submitted.

Colleges confirmed to continue the policy include Harvard University and the University of California

school system. Colleges' main concerns include the comfort levels of students taking the tests as well as concerns that standardized testing exacerbates socioeconomic inequalities. This follows the discontinution of the SAT subject tests.

VOTER REGISTRATION Volunteers will register seniors for voting during Upper School lunch every Tuesday until the end of the month. Following several years of the Parents' Association organizing registration efforts, this marks the first year that the school has directly assisted their efforts.

Admission officer Korey Mack ’00 hopes that by facilitating seniors to vote, they will encourage seniors to embrace their roles and recognize the responsibility they have in their communities.

This follows the school's renewed commitment to civic responsibility and stewardship of the city of Dallas.

for your information ADMISSION DECISIONS The Admission Office is transitioning from recruiting applicants to evaluating applicants. Application and testing events will be hosted on campus every Saturday until the end of February. Final admission decisions will be posted on March 11. This admission class hit record numbers in applications which follows the national theme of increased applications.

BLOOD DRIVE The annual blood drive will take place in Nearburg Hall Feb. 16, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. The drive will benefit Carter BloodCare and local hospitals. As in years past, the drive is sponsored by the Community Service Board, led by Spanish instructors Jorge Correa and Isabel Cisneros. COVID-19 safety guidelines will be in place as donors donate blood. Members of the community older than 16 are encouraged to donate blood.

inside 04campus diversity

A look into the school's growth from a homogenous student body to its current high diversity mark.

05border crisis

One parent's harrowing journey crossing the southern border as an undocumented immigrant.

08PRICEY RIDES

Car prices increase, yet students' enthusiasm for driving hasn't diminished.

by the

numbers

8500 American troops on standby for deployment

3

Ukrainian districts contested

7

years since the conflict began

last month January 7 The Biden administration sued to block the results of the newest redistricting in Texas, alleging racial bias in the new districts. With Texas gaining population and therefore seats, this redistricting will create the new congressional seats for the next ten years.

January 11 Texas state representative Ryan Guillen, who switched parties from Democrat to Republican, hosted a rally in his district.

January 20 Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the subject of an FBI investigation and securities fraud indictment, is facing a heated primary challenge from numerous Republican challengers. Although former President Donald Trump has backed him, Land Commissioner George P. Bush, U.S. Representative Louie Gohmert and former Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman all face him in the Republican field.

January 15 Republicans have gained momentum after flipping a Texas State House of Representatives seat in the San Antonio area. John Lujan won with 51 percent of the vote in a district which President Biden won by 14 percent.

January 26 After promising voters a "parental bill of rights" as an amendment to the Texas Constitution, Gov. Greg Abbott has made parental rights in determining public school curriculum a central part of his reelection platform.

in the news...

Russia-Ukraine conflict What is it?

Russian President Vladimir Putin has massed troops along the border after backing separatists movements in eastern Ukraine, stoking fears of the start of the largest war in Europe since World War 2.

Why should you care?

The United States has already sent military aid, and although President Biden has ruled out sending troops to help defend Ukraine, American troops have been readied for deployment in surrounding NATO countries.

What now?

Much of that depends on Putin. If he does not back down, sanctions may be possible, perhaps restricting access to the US dollar and global financial systems.

PHOTO Courtesy Creative Commons

Issues

3

news &

the remarker february 4, 2022

news analysis

news anaylsis

The Jan. 6 insurrection

The riot, revisited

revisited Over one year ago,

It was known that the 2020 presidential election, filled with polarization, lies and high stakes would end with fiercely contested results. But nearly nobody foresaw the violent insurrection of Congress itself.

America is still as divided as ever, and the riot remains a hostile issue. So, what has changed in the past year?

Effects on Texas and the country Texas has been at the

forefront of the national debate due to many of its new laws that have been passed. Governor Greg Abbott is facing a primary challenge from his right flank by Don Huffines, a former state senator and hardline Trump loyalist.

Facing this pressure, Abbott and the Texas legislature passed Senate Bill 1, a law that would

restrict voting access out of concerns of election fraud, despite fraud not being a widespread problem.

The bill sets more restrictive Voter ID requirements and imposes further regulations and criminal penalties on officials proactively distributing mail-in ballot applications, while also banning drive-thru voting.

by the

numbers

62%

believe Biden won the election “fair and square”

32%

believe Biden won due to voter fraud

0%

change in voter fraud beliefs in one year

Source: Monmouth University poll

The nation’s opinions, unchanged In January of 2021, the

month of the riot, 32% of Americans said they believed President Joe Biden only won due to voter fraud, according to a Monmouth University poll. One year later, when asked that same question, the respondents’ answers did not budge. 32% still believed in a stolen election.

And from March to November 2021, the percentage of respondents

who thought that the anger behind Jan. 6 was justified went up from 26% to 27%.

Viewing other capitolrelated events in the context of this makes the situation seem even more polarized.

And so, despite fallout from the attack and election fraud lies being exposed, the national view of the situation remains unchanged. Many still believe in an illegitimate election.

5

New social media world

What does the future hold?

One year of investigations

After the Jan. 6 riot,

So much has happened

Seven months

Twitter permanently banned President Trump from the website, and Facebook banned him for two years.

It is unknown whether the ban will be repealed when it is set to expire in January 2023. That would be nearly two years before the

2024 Presidential elections, where Trump will be able to run for a second term.

Concurrently, Trump is headlining a new social media platform called Truth Social, set to be finished in a few months.

in the year since then, but the opinions and facts have still remained static. Video footage and testimony from the capitol police officers called by the Congressional committee have confirmed the levels of violence. No evidence has remotely suggested electoral fraud.

As the situation has only become more clear, the opinions of Americans have too.

Nearly nobody has changed. Belief in fraud and anger at the election results still grips many Ameicans—as many as last year. If there is an end to the polarization and lies, the last year has not shown it.

ago, the House of Representatives created a committee to investigate the riot. Since then, the committee has been working to uncover a larger picture of Presidntial actions, as well as revealing text messages of prominent figures like former Chief of Staff Mark

Meadows before and during the riot.

The state of Arizona’s Republicancontrolled legislature took the extra step to hold a larger audit.

Although it found no evidence, 29% of adults recently polled by Monmouth said that there was probable or significant voter fraud in Arizona alone.

ANALYSIS Myles Lowenberg, Aaron Augustine PHOTO Courtesy Creative Commons

Speaker comes to campus to give sexual assault prevention seminar for upperclassmen

by Nolan Marcus atie Koestner, a noted advocate against sexual assault, and her team visited campus for a sexual assault prevention seminar for juniors and seniors Jan. 10 and 11, continuing the school’s involvement in consent education.

According to Koestner, the goals of the lecture were to teach how one event can be perceived differently, what exactly is considered sexual assault or rape and how assault can happen anywhere with anyone. Koestner began by explaining what sexual assault is.

K

“We define sexual assault as touching any body part over or under clothing without effective consent,” Koestner said.

She then gave a scenario taking place at a hypothetical university and asked the students to vote whether it was a violation of university policy or not.

“At first, it was a very split vote across the board in terms of who they thought was responsible or not responsible for violating the conduct policy,” Koestner said. “Once we started debriefing them and talking about what elements colleges look at when it comes to these types of cases, votes were changed”

Koestner started giving these seminars after she was a victim of rape herself.

“I personally came to this work as a survivor,” Koestner said. “I went out to dinner with another student on a date and ended up be being raped that night by him.”

Koestner then became the first person ever to speak nationally about being raped by someone she knew and trusted, appearing at large scale events and institutions such as March Madness, the Pentagon and the United Nations.

“I had every opportunity to take that

one awful night and use it as a way to help raise awareness, empower people and change laws and policies,” Koestner said. “I’ve lectured at about 5000 different institutions.”

Koestner speaks out against sexual assault and date rape not only to heal her own wounds, but to help others not have to go through the same challenges.

“The only way for me to heal is to know that there’s something I can do for the folks who are going to come after me,” Koestner said. “I try to make sure that what I went through doesn’t happen to them.”

Issues

4 Access and affordability explored on campus

by Nolan Marcus ccess and affordability is a policy that most students at school don’t often think about or understand. Often mistaken for financial aid, access and affordability is an opportunity for those who cannot afford St. Mark’s but are qualified to be here. This includes tuition and supplemental assistance.

“Financial aid would be under the umbrella of access and affordability,” Assistant Headmaster Scott Jolly said.

“We are looking for any boy who has the ability to be here, to have the opportunity to be here.

And to have enough resources to help their families.”

According to Jolly, financial aid applies to tuition and supplemental expenses, and there is an application for a family if they wish to apply for it.

“Anyone who applies to St. Mark’s can also apply for financial aid if they wish, and basically it’s a matter of filling out some paperwork,” Jolly said. “It’s sent off to a third party that evaluates and then makes a recommendation whether the family should receive tuition assistance.”

The school then uses the budget for financial aid, which comes from the school’s endowment fund, to pay for approved students.

“The vast majority of tuition assistance comes from the endowment, and that amounts to a little over $2.5 million,” Jolly said. “That’s currently distributed to about somewhere in the neighborhood of 120 to 125 students.”

This mission to allow everyone who has the ability to attend the school will continue, Jolly said.

“We need to find deserving students, educate families and do our outreach work that will allow more families to know about St. Mark’s, Jolly said.

“That takes a long time. I think that all of these initiatives from every perspective play out over many years.”

In addition, the school works on spreading awareness about the importance of access and affordability.

“We want to get into other areas of Dallas, through increased outreach, grow the awareness [of the program],” Jolly said. “There are a lot of people out there who I have heard say I could never afford St. Mark’s, and there are people in the Dallas area who don’t even know about us.”

For Jolly the school wants to give every qualified boy an equal opportunity to succeed and receive the best education they possibly can.

“Let’s say someone comes from a family that pays full tuition and is able to take advantage of all the opportunities available and is able to participate in everything that the school offers,” Jolly said. “We would like for any student who received tuition assistance to also be able to participate in the full breadth and depth of the St. Mark’s experience, too.”

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news &

the remarker february 4, 2022

admission

Years of change on campus In the school’s alma mater, ‘Old and ever new’ describes much of the evolution at 10600 Preston Rd. The way diversity is considered in admission has stayed consistent over decades. But the makeup of the school has not.

THE MARKSMAN EXPERIENCE In admission, students from many different types of backgrounds have been accepted into the school for the ultimate goal of providing different types of diversity of perspectives in the student body besides the obvious option of ethnicity considered by many schools.

W

hen Bobby Walker ‘91 walked into class here for the first time, he looked different.

“I was a six-foot-tall Black guy from Oak Cliff with a Jheri curl,” Walker said.

He felt different.

“I remember going to a Valentine’s Day party with Hockaday,” Walker said, “and the other Black guys were doing dances that were popular for us at that time, and I remember everybody laughing at us. It was this small little gesture that showed us the school’s a different place.”

And at the end of the day, Walker was different from the majority of his classmates. He was a minority. He was on financial aid. Walker entered seventh grade as one of five Black students. By the end of the year, only one remained.

“I won’t speak for anyone else,” Walker said, “but, to put it bluntly, I couldn’t make the cultural transition.”

Walker chose to attend Lancaster Junior High School. For his mother, though, the school was an opportunity Walker could not afford to miss, and he returned for his freshman year.

“It quickly became clear to me that the Board of Trustees wanted us to be a school that was representative,” Holtberg said, “to ensure that ARNOLD HOLTBERG we had students from different neighborhoods in Dallas, different socioeconomic backgrounds and different ethnic and racial backgrounds because every conversation would be enriched and enlivened by having different perspectives on them.”

Admission Director David Baker sees that sort of diversity as a series of points of views.

“My view of diversity is as a synonym for perspective,” Baker said. “We believe a diversity of perspectives is important, as it adds context in classrooms, playing fields, studios—wherever. It is a part of this broader notion that our school is a series of conversations.”

Holtberg emphasizes what the school implemented was not affirmative action but rather merely expanding the school’s reach for qualified applicants.

“What we constructed was an action plan,” Holtberg said, “where we would bring the most capable young men with as much character as possible from as many different backgrounds as we could and create a wonderful stew where every conversation can be very, very rich. That was our goal, and I think we kept our eye on that objective.”

For Holtberg, selecting minority students to simply meet a quota was against what the school stands for. Instead, he strived to admit students who could “thrive,” a contrasting approach to other institutions.

The notion of diversity of perspective is that boys from different backgrounds, different ethnicities, different religious views, different socioeconomics, all make a conversation richer and deeper.

DAVID BAKER Director of Admission

“We did not want to go down the road of saying if we don’t have certain percent of minority students, we’re not doing our job,” Holtberg said. “Some universities admit people to achieve numbers, not because the universities are acting in the students’ best interest. And I believe that we are all equal and deserve equal opportunities, every last one of us, but we also need wise opportunities that fit us so that we can achieve the most.”

This opinion is in part derived from Holtberg’s personal experience as one of the low-income students at Princeton University.

“I was a scholarship student my entire way through college,” Holtberg said.

“My family couldn’t afford to send me to a private university, period. Being from a public school, I was not exposed to a real wide range of literature nor taught to write like my peers who had highoctane educations at schools like Exeter or Andover. At first, there were a lot of challenges. I was wondering what in the world I was doing there. That doesn’t have anything to do, in my mind, with one’s race or ethnicity. It has to do with one’s experiences and opportunities.”

Before admitting students, Baker identifies a base level of admissibility that includes energy and curiosity in all

sorts of ways, intellectually, athletically and artistically. From there, the admission process gets even tougher.

“First of all, we’re going to select from a group of students who are all past the hurdle of admissibility,” Baker said. “We don’t set a goal or requirement that our class has to be a certain percent this or certain percent that. Then, we select from within that group for all kinds of reasons.”

Baker also stressed the idea that there are far more ways to be diverse than just ethnicity.

“It’s easy for folks to discuss this issue and speak of diversity only as ethnicity,” Baker said. “But that’s not the way we look at it. We are looking at a diversity of viewpoints, of experiences. The boys that we bring to the school from other parts of the country or world are valuable to diversify the perspectives within our student body.”

To Holtberg, the impact a diverse student body would have on the community went beyond an arbitrary number or positive press.

“What we wanted to do was to make sure we had a community of young scholars who would contribute to the fabric of St. Mark’s School of Texas in their own ways,” Holtberg said, “Which meant we would have people who are from different backgrounds who would learn from each other and learn to have good, respectful conversations and disagreements. Our young men should be prepared for the world and not only be prepared for it, but to lead in it, and perhaps in a special way.”

STORY Myles Lowenberg, Keshav Krishna GRAPHIC Keshav Krishna by the

numbers boys enrolled at the school

903

13.3 48 percent of students recieve

2.5

percent students of color

million dollars in financial aid

the remarker february 4, 2022

Issues

5

news &

Border crisis

DESERT AND MOUNTAINS The inhospitable terrain of the border makes the journey dangerous and even deadly.

The journey of a lifetime

As the announcement of a state-funded border wall puts a renewed focus on illegal immigration, a parent shares the story of how he, at the same age as a sophomore, left his home and undertook a grueling journey across the border in search of better opportunities in America.

H

e’s not a rapist. He’s not a murderer. He’s never trafficked drugs. And yet, he’s been called all of that, and worse, by people he’s never met before.

Once, he was just a boy from Apaseo el Alto, Mexico with dreams sky-high and a ceiling right above him. This is his story.

At the age of 16, Antonio*, a parent of an Upper School student, made the perilous journey north across the border in search of work.

“I only came to Texas because Mexico was in a state of poverty,” Antonio said. “There wasn’t any money, and we didn’t have any money. There were virtually no opportunities. I couldn’t find work, and that’s why I left.”

In the early 1980s, Mexico was in an economic downturn. A national debt crisis had significantly devalued the peso. Antonio’s hometown of Apaseo el Alto, Guanajuato, north of Mexico City, faced rampant corruption.

Thus, Antonio left behind everything he knew for a better life. He left the town he grew up in. He left his friends. He left his family.

“Sad,” Antonio said. “That’s the word I would use to describe my parents’ reaction when they learned my intentions. They cried a lot, but there wasn’t anything

STANDING GUARD A patrol vehicle drives down the southern border along a completed section of the border wall.

Antonio’s journey: 1. Left his hometown of Apaseo el Alto, Guanjuato 2. Crossed the Rio Grande at Piedras Negras, Cohuila 3. Worked in farms in Texas, Florida and Michigan 4. Returned to Texas to start a family

they could do since there were jobs in Texas and none there. In the end, they only cared about my best interests.”

Joined by five men from neighboring towns all between the ages of 25 and 30 and with similar motives as him, Antonio journeyed north by train. They disembarked at Piedras Negras on the border before crossing the Rio Grande River.

“The point where I crossed was pretty deep,” Antonio said. “I had to swim the gap to get across.

Overall, the crossing was successful. No one got hurt and no one died, so we were very fortunate. When I arrived in the United States, it was an immense feeling of relief and happiness.”

For a while, Antonio lived a lonely life in the harsh scrub land and rugged hills that mark the border region.

Food and water were scarce.

“I ate whatever I could find,” Antonio said. “Cactus, rabbits, sometimes grass. I would get water from small ponds where sheep would drink from.”

Fortune favors the bold. In time, an opportunity presented itself, and Antonio took a car to Tyler, where he found work as a field hand farming sweet potatoes.

Passed in 1986, the Immigration Reform and Control Act gave amnesty to many undocumented immigrants, including Antonio. Now a legal immigrant, his career possibilities widened.

“After that, it was smooth sailing,” Antonio said. “I had everything that I had wanted and more.”

As a teenager, Antonio was unaware of the dangers he faced along his trip or the threat of law enforcement deporting him.

“The United States was a foreign concept for me,” Antonio said. “We never heard the term Estados Unidos. It was always just referred to as the north. I heard that there was money to be made in the north, and so I went there. I didn’t know about immigration authorities. I didn’t know much about anything, really.”

As an adult, though, Antonio now realizes the dangers and can empathize with those crossing the border currently.

“I can really identify with immigrants that go through the journey that I did,” Antonio said. “I understand why they’re doing it, and they’re really

IN THE SUN Like Antonio, many on either side of the border make their living in agriculture, often for low wages.

Law enforcement:

The causes for immigration:

Today, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security, is responsible for preventing illegal immigration and protecting the soutern border region.

dealing with the same stuff I dealt with.”

Today, Antonio has a wife and three kids. He makes a steady living cleaning portable toilets.

“For someone who has never had an education, my job is great,” Antonio said. “The money I make is pretty good, and that’s all that matters.”

Antonio never went to school — he taught himself to read and write. But Antonio wants his children to do more, to have the opportunities he didn’t have growing up in Apaseo el Alto.

“Because I didn’t really have a good education or career, that’s why I value education now,” Antonio said.

“I want my children to graduate university, get a career and be the best they can be in this country.”

* Editor’s Note: Antonio is a pseudonym used to protect the identity of the parent interviewed. This is the first of a two-part series on undocumented immigrants. Part two will appear in the March edition of The ReMarker.

STORY Keshav Krishna, Dawson Yao PHOTOS Ekansh Tambe

1.

Economic opportunity

2. Pervasive organized crime 3. Breakdown of governmental power 4. Separation of families

6

Issues

news &

the remarker february 4, 2021

CENSORSHIP | Book challenge committees, continued from page 1

BANNED

BOOKS In communities across the country, citizens, public officials and school boards are attempting to challenge and — in some cases — ban books deemed inappropriate for any number of reasons.

C

an a school ban a book deemed ‘inappropriate’ by a community?

Tennessee — a school board removed Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Maus, because of its profanity and nudity, from language arts classes.

Can parents have a teacher’s coursework changed if it makes them uncomfortable?

Indiana — Senate Bill 167, sponsored by state senator Scott Baldwin, would require teachers to create a different daily lesson plan if they object to what is being presented to their child.

Can lawmakers legislate library reevaluations and force books out of schools?

Texas — in Granbury, just south of Fort Worth, state representative Matt Krause proposed a ban of 850 titles, mostly centered around topics such as race, gender identity, sexuality and other “pornographic” and “obscene” content. More than 150 books have already been pulled from library shelves.

Just 30 miles northwest of Dallas, Keller ISD made the front page of The Dallas Morning News last month for its behind-closed-doors committee decisions. Most of the books being challenged are related to these topics.

Therein lies the danger of these committees — are they really for educational transparency, or are they merely a means of silencing differing viewpoints?

As these efforts creep closer and closer to home, it begs the question — could this happen at 10600 Preston Road?

Stuart Taylor, former Headmaster Arnie Holtberg’s classmate at Princeton, is an award-winning journalist and writer focusing on legal and policy issues. Taylor thinks of the situation as a political battle.

“Political indoctrination in the educational system mostly comes from the left-wing,” Taylor said. “I think what’s coming from the right-wing are legislative overreactions. They’re reacting to something being taught that they think is too indoctrinating, but they’ll pass a bill that says something like ‘Let’s not have any divisive topics taught in school,’ Stuart taylor which is obviously ridiculous.”

Tinsley Silcox, director of libraries and information services, believes the movement to ban books stems from a stigma around marginalized communities.

“To put it bluntly, it’s advancing the notion that the marginalized should not be represented in libraries,” Silcox said. “I think that’s what it’s about. There have been attempts in Texas and in other states to remove materials from libraries about blacks, other people of color, the LGBTQ community and indigenous people.

Librarians, faculty and school board members have been threatened and even chased to their cars.”

Master Teaching Chair David Brown has seen similar reactions from parents earlier in his career. Brown recalls the impact of external community opinion on his choice of reading material when he was English Department Chair at Highland Park High School.

“When this had first happened at Highland Park, I had okayed a novel for seniors to read that one of my teachers wanted to assign,” Brown said. “This caused an uproar among a number of Highland Park parents who insisted that it be withdrawn as an assigned summer

SHELVES

off the

Attempts to remove ‘inappropriate’ works have long been a part of efforts to limit what can be read in schools across the nation.

Keller ISD

Just northwest of Dallas, this district maintains a table on its website listing ‘current book challenges’ and their updating statuses. Check out a few from the list: Keeping You a Secret

by Julie Ann Peters Themes: sexuality, homophobia, abuse Outcome: “This title has been de-selected according to our collection development processes and is no longer in any classroom or school libraries.”

Other banned works

Through the decades, various groups (parents, community members, school boards) have had books removed from libraries and classrooms. Some titles include: • Absolute Convictions, Eyal Press, 2006: About people threatening and killing abortion doctors • Be Dazzled, Ryan La Sala, 2021: Humorous gay romance novel • Can’t Take That Away, Steven Salvatore, 2021: About a genderqueer person who stands up for equality at their school • Citizen, Claudia Rankine, 2014: Poems and essays about race relations in the 21st century • Guardian, Alex London, 2015: Examines post-colonial era trauma, dismantling government, and the downsides of hero-worship • I Am Water, Meg Specksgoor, 2020: Story about a girl who doesn’t fit into gender stereotypes • In My Father’s House, E. Lynn Harris, 2011: Describes the struggles of closeted Black men.

• Into the Real, Z. Brewer, 2020: Genderqueer teenager fights monsters and solves a mystery • Lobizona, Romina Garber, 2011: Argentine folk stories meets Harry Potter, can’t tell what’s “bad.”

• Target, Kathleen Jeffrie Johnson, 2003: Story about a young boy who was sexually assaulted • The Eagle Kite, Paula Fox, 1995: About a young boy whose father has AIDS • The Great American Whatever, Tim Federle, 2016: A gay romance • The Grief Keeper, Alexandra Villasante, 2019: About a girl from El Salvador applying for asylum in the USA • The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander, 2020: About racial control surrounding colorblindness in the justice system

reading novel.”

Brown considers censorship of literature from two perspectives: teacher and parent.

“I remember asking myself — because I had two daughters who were fast approaching that The Bluest Eye same age — ‘Would I be reluctant

by Toni Morrison for my daughters to read this?’”

Themes: racism, incest, Brown said. “I remember child molestation, thinking, ‘I can’t think of anything religion Date challenged: I would be reluctant to have my 11/4/2021 daughters read. If my daughters Challenger affiliation: can be so easily influenced by Parent something they read after the way Outcome: I’ve raised them, then I’ve done a “Pending.” poor job as a parent.’”

As a teacher, Brown sees potentially distressing literature Flamer as a chance for meaningful

by Mike Curato classroom discourse.

Themes: homophobia, “Students should be able toxic masculinity to read really anything, and if Date challenged: 11/4/2021 it’s upsetting they can ask me Challenger affiliation: questions about it or talk with Parent me about it,” Brown said. “If it’s Outcome: controversial, and they’re not sure “No longer in the what side they want to take, it’s a district/campus circulation.” great opportunity for discussion.

It seems to me the parents who SOURCE: The Texas Tribute SOURCE: Dallas Morning News object to that sort of thing are coming from a position of fear — fear that their children will be and for a lifetime of reading.” corrupted or that they’ll be influenced in a negative way.”

As president of the Parents Association and mother of Trustee Master Teaching Chair Lynne Schwartz also freshman Henry Sun and fifth-grader Truman Sun, Megan taught at a Texas public high school before coming here.

Sun feels the school has done a great job of picking books Beginning her career at West Mesquite High School, that forward important discussions and grow Marksmen Schwartz eventually moved to Highland Park High into good men.

School, where Brown served as “I think we generally have chosen this school because her department head. When asked we trust it,” Sun said. “We don’t underestimate our kids. about the thoughts of her prior The school wants you to hear all the sides, and they want colleagues, Schwartz pointed to you to educate yourself and make your own informed the AP Language and Literature decisions. I just don’t see that this school would be a place Facebook group, where she sees an for any committee like that.” array of concerns almost every day.

Headmaster David Dini says the school has “I noticed a post today that absolutely no plans of establishing a similar committee, pictured boxes in a warehouse citing the school’s mission statement — a commitment David brown labeled with the names of to respecting the ideas of others as well as independent, books they removed from one teacher’s curriculum,” critical judgment.

Schwartz said. “Most of them were books you’d see “While, obviously, our team thinks carefully about on any bookstore’s tables — books you wouldn’t think the age-appropriateness of content, we believe it’s twice about letting your kids read. At my first school, I important to engage with a wide variety of subject remember someone telling me that they couldn’t have matters, regardless of whether you agree with them,” Dini Tarzan in the library. Why? Because Tarzan and Jane said. “The idea that we would catalog and rule certain weren’t married.” things out is just not the way we think. It’s the same While Schwartz maintains that it was 35 years ago reason we don’t tell The ReMarker that certain topics are when she heard about that scenario and that things off-limits. We want Marksmen to be exposed to the full must’ve changed, she believes St. Mark’s allows a much range of information — biased and unbiased, correct and more adventurous curriculum than most public schools. incorrect — because, guess what? That’s what the world is “I think parents here have a level of sophistication going to bring them.” that allows them to understand and applaud the risks we take — having their kids read even the great books that STORY Toby Barrett, Austin Williams, Peter Orsak, Ian might make them uncomfortable,” Schwartz said. “They Dalrymple know that experience will prepare their kids for college GRAPHIC Jonathan Yin

BOOKSHELF The Cecil and Ida Green Library serves as the center for research, academic instruction, study, and recreational reading for the school community. According to the school website, it is the mission of the Green Library staff to instill in students a love of the quest for knowledge, conjoined with teaching efficient and effective information-seeking behaviors and requisite critical thinking skills.

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IBSC CONFERENCE

THROWBACK A stream of visitors walk across campus during the last time the conference was hosted here (left). Reading material and itenararies for the conference are handed out (top left). Director of Admissions David Baker presents a slideshow (top right). Guests participate in a cultural event, one of the many downtime events planned during the conference (bottom).

From every corner of the world After a period of 17 years, the International Boys' School Coalition (IBSC) conference returns to the school.

Instructors and administrators from boys' schools around the world will participate in seminars, discussions and more.

M

ark your calendars.

In exactly four months and 26 days, hundreds of educators will arrive on campus to participate in the 30th annual International Boys School Coalition (IBSC) conference.

It’s a moment years in the making, and for some – like assistant head of Middle School Jason Lange – even longer.

At the 2019 IBSC conference at the Selwyn House School in Montreal, it became official – St. Mark’s would host the event in 2021. Soon, Lange was approached by Headmaster David Dini to head the newly-established IBSC conference planning committee.

“I gratefully accepted,” Lange said. “The IBSC is probably one of the most important organizations in my professional life. It has helped me grow as an educator, perhaps as much as the schools I’ve worked at.”

Lange first found the IBSC in 2006 when he was working at a previous school and attended that year’s conference.

“Immediately, I met people from St. Mark's because they were friendly and engaging,” Lange said. “They were open and welcoming. And for a number of years, I maintained professional relationships, not just with St. Mark's faculty that I met at the conference but also with other teaching professionals around the world. The IBSC also led me to do action research, which is guided research on how to improve education for boys in various ways. And ultimately the IBSC led me to St. Mark's when I was ready to make a change in my career.”

Because of the pandemic, the decision was made for the school to push back hosting until 2022. In general, Lange says the pandemic complicated the planning process despite some learning opportunities.

“Of course, the global pandemic has been a severe significant challenge to our planning,” Lange said. “But it

has also forced us to think about things in new ways and adopt some of the things we've learned over the course of the pandemic.”

Specifically, Lange remains cognizant of the global nature of the conference and the need to accomodate the distinct attitudes towards the pandemic in different countries.

“One of the challenges has been reconciling our pandemic protocols,” Lange said. “Here on campus, we function very well. We’re in Texas. We are in-person and have large group gatherings. We are a highly vaccinated community. And we live in a world where it’s nearly business as usual, so we have to constantly remind ourselves that a lot of our IBSC colleagues are not living in that world.”

We live in a world where it’s nearly business as usual, so we have to constantly remind ourselves that a lot of our IBSC colleagues are not living in that world.

Jason Lange IBSC planning committee head

Various countries not only have different mindsets but also differing travel restrictions. In the past, IBSC conferences have attracted north of 500 guests from across the globe. However, because of the pandemic, there is uncertainty about whether some schools can travel at all.

For example, Australians face strict international travel measures and even domestic restrictions. Lange, though, remains optimistic.

“We are hopeful that we will get more than 400 people to come to our conference,” Lange said. “We believe that North American attendance will be very strong. We think that Australian and South African attendance might become more robust in the months ahead as their nations allow for travel.”

For IBSC Interim Chief Operating Officer Amy Ahart, returning to a normal conference format is a big plus which she’s looking forward to this year.

“At this point, I’m most excited about bringing our coalition back together in person,” Ahart said. “It's been such a long time since we've last been together, which was 2019 in Montreal, and it's so important for us to have this gathering again.”

Founded in 1995, he IBSC is an organization focused on boys’ school education representing 270 members across 20 countries and five continents.

“We have a variety of member backgrounds,” Ahart said. “It's a combination of day and boarding schools of all age levels, whether pre-college, denominational or nondenominational, and it’s a very good representation of education across the globe.”

The conference, last hosted non-virtually in 2019, is an important gathering for both IBSC members and conference visitors to learn and socialize with each other.

“The annual IBSC conference is our flagship professional development offering,” Ahart said, “and it typically brings together 600 educators from around the world to focus on boys’ education in schools, their leadership teams and teachers.”

Ahart regularly works with Lange and Dini to organize specific program logistics.

“We both look at the same planning document,” Lange said. "This conference has been done 29 times before. So we're not reinventing the wheel. We are learning from those who have gone before us. There is a playbook for executing this conference that has very strict guidelines, very strict deadlines and very strict timelines, and I’m confident that we will put together a stellar event.”

STORY Keshav Krishna, Aaron Liu PHOTOS Courtesy Dave Carden, Development Office

Three guest speakers to address educators at the IBSC conference

Dr. Alan Stern '75 Consultant, former chief of all space and earth science programs at NASA

Career: Stern’s career experiences are centered around space exploration. He has served as NASA’s chief of all space and Earth science programs in 2007 and 2008. He is currently leading the New Horizons team in exploring Pluto and the Kuiper Belt.

Past experience: Stern has also conducted consulting for 14 years, having worked with clients like Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin, John Hopkins University, Ball Aerospace and Paragon Space Development Corporation.

Hobbies: Stern likes piloting, running, hiking and writing.

David Brooks New York Times columnist

Work experience: Currently, Brooks writes for the New York Times and The Atlantic, which he does in conjunction with commentating for The PBS Newshour, NPR’s All Things Considered and NBC’s Meet the Press.

Publication history: Brooks has published many books during his career, including The Road to Character, Bobos In Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There and The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement. Brooks explores relationships and person fulfillment in his writing.

Julie Lythcott-haims Author

Interests: Her interests lie in learning about humans and society along with exploring ideas like adulthood.

Written work: LythcottHaimes has written three books, including the New York Times bestseller How to Raise an Adult. Through writing and speaking presentations, she’s talked about topics including adulthood and her personal experiences as a biracial American.

10600 connection: LythcottHaims gave a presentation to St. Mark's and Hockaday parents about raising children to be adults in 2018.

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AutomobilE MARKET

$26K $25K $24K $23K $22K

RIDING THE RISE Since the beginning of last year, the automobile market has only seen climbing prices.

Are these expenses becoming the new norm?

$21K $20K JUN ‘20 AUG ‘20 OCT ‘20 DEC ‘20 FEB ‘21 APR ‘21 JUN ‘21 ...

What’s driving the car market?

After the recent climb of car prices nationwide, many people are worried about the future of their automobiles. Will these higher costs continue to increase? How will this affect the daily lives of families and small communities? We talked to specialists and car enthusiasts for their opinions.

I

t’s all you’ve ever wanted to hear.

“You passed.”

This means so many things. Fun and freedom and food whenever you want it.

Obtaining a driver’s license is a rite of passage for many students. It signals a new chapter in life, one that doesn’t involve sitting in the back of Mom’s old Honda Odyssey because you had to beg her to take you to your friend’s place.

Now the only thing that’s between you and the open road is getting that new set of wheels. But that’s as easy as just inheriting granddad’s old beater, right? Although this might be the case for some, others may not want to go this route or may not be able to altogether.

So you head to your local dealer or look on the used car market and… yikes. Your parents are no longer approving that car you wanted because it’s way too expensive, even though you did your research and could’ve sworn that wasn’t the manufacturer suggested retail price (MSRP). What happened?

Jake Pigott ’14, senior battery engineer at Rivian Automotive, attributes one reason of these high prices to a change in a different market: the chip market.

“During COVID, the supply of cars being produced drastically decreased,” Pigott said. “Because people were driving less and as a result, fewer cars were being produced, chip manufacturers had a decision – they could either prioritize making the old, low volume chips for automotive use or make really expensive chips for things like PS5’s and cryptocurrency mining.”

The chip in a car is an essential part of the Electronic Control Unit (ECU) and is essential in DAVID FISHER performing various functions such as making sure the engine, the infotainment and other parts of the electrical system are working properly. These chips are similar to the ones in iPhones but are typically much older. With the decline in automotive sales during the pandemic, chip manufacturers simply chose to focus on more consumerbased chips.

Additionally, another, lesser-known reason for the price inflation becomes apparent by simply looking at the road or your neighbor’s garage. Times are changing, and so are the automobiles around the country.

“There’s also a shift in what type of vehicles are being sold,” Piggot said. “In the US, the industry has shifted away from sedans to crossovers and SUVs, which are

about $10,000 more expensive than the equivalent sedan.”

As vehicles become more expensive, the buying power of the average American is struggling to keep up, according to David Fisher, History and Social Sciences Department Chair.

“Most people are experiencing a loss in real income,” Fisher said.

“Wages, which may be increasing, are not matched by the general rise in prices in society.”

Fisher believes a vehicle is not an investment but rather a consumer item that’s more than CHRISTIAN TSVETANOV what is simply necessary.

“The moment you buy a car, its value goes down,” Fisher said. “So why do many people buy the cars that they buy? It’s largely because of conspicuous consumption. If people just paid for what they needed, then they’d be taking public transport. But they’re paying for a lot more, such as image and comfort.”

Not only are people willing to pay for these amenities, but they’re also willing to pay more for vehicles as a whole, which contributes to the overall inflation, according to Transportation as a Service (TaaS) Club President Aditya Goel.

“The dealership network has been marking up newer vehicles,” Goel said. “But people are often actually willing to pay 10-12 percent over sticker price, which plays a significant role in price increases.

As a new motorist, Goel’s own car shopping experience was similar to what many other people are going through now as prices continue to skyrocket.

“I started driving in the summer of 2021,” Goel said, “and that was when things prices started to really go up.

I had been looking for a first car for around six months at that point, and I noticed that prices were around $5,000 higher than what they were in the earliest stages of the year, which made it very difficult.”

However, in addition to your average consumer, the enthusiast market has also seen dramatic change. Car modifications and even gas prices are becoming inflated as well, according to junior Christian Tsvetanov, who is highly involved with the car community.

“I’ve looked into modifications for my car,” Tsvetanov said, “and something like an intake, which is about the most common mod to find on any car, has more than doubled in price. When I first got my car, gas prices were relatively cheap, as well. But now, prices are ridiculous and it’s becoming a huge factor in how much I

drive places.”

Everything from the increased prices of cars themselves to car parts to gas seems to be indicating one thing: people in need of a car should hold off for a little bit. But there are other options.

“The simplest solution,” Piggot said, “is to wait, but I remember being 16 and wanting to drive as soon as possible. I ended up getting a hand-me-down, but I understand not everyone has that privilege. So one way to really save money and end up with a car is to buy a project car, which is an older vehicle that you typically have to wrench on. If you’re comfortable with that, it could be very beneficial.”

STORY Zack Goforth, Morgan Chow ILLUSTRATION Morgan Chow

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Starting prices of cars around the parking lot in 2018 and 2021 as of January 26, 2022 2012 Lexus IS 350 2018 value $24,990 2021 value $26,340 2018 Dodge Charger R/T Scat Pack 2018 value $41,000 2021 value $43,450 2018 Tesla Model 3 2018 value $46,000 2021 value $49,990 SOURCE: Kelley Blue Book

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Student siblings SIDE BY SIDE From youngest to oldest, eighth-grader Andy Wang (left), junior Alex Wang (middle), and senior Adam Wang (right) carry their family dynamic at home over to campus.

Three of a kind

With three brothers of different ages at the same school, the Wang family has a unique dynamic that affects the siblings’ lives both in and out of the house. Ranging from eighth to twelfth grade, the brothers have learned to embrace this dynamic each and every day.

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alking the halls each day, hundreds of faces pass by. Some known, some unknown.

Friends, teachers, coaches and, sometimes, even siblings.

Although most students have siblings, only a few, such as the Wangs, have the experience of going to and from school each day with their brothers.

Both positives and negatives come along with this dynamic as it can leave younger siblings with a great resource but also lofty expectations. Each of the Wang brothers benefits from the scenario in their own way.

Therapist and public speaker Dr. Kelly Jameson works in private practice and travels around the country, presenting mainly about the intersection of mental health and real life. However, birth order has stood out as an area of interest to Jameson since graduate school and is a topic she finds relevant in her current life as a parent.

Dr. Jameson spoke to the parents of St. Mark’s and Hockaday Jan. 20 about this topic, titling the presentation “First, Middle, Last: Understanding Birth Order.”

“Generally speaking, firstborns and only children are more time efficient,” Dr. Jameson said. “They have higher executive functioning: they’re more organized, they’re more achievement-oriented and they’re more driven, basically because their models of success and how to do life have been set by adults.”

While firstborn children have their parents as their main role models growing up, middle and last borns take on a different dynamic that leads to variations in development.

“With middle children, last borns or basically any other subsequent birth order, between you and your parents is a child or multiple children, and they’re

showing you a less effective way to do life than your parents would,” Dr. Jameson said. “It’s a more watereddown version on how to be efficient when you have other children as your model and not just adults.”

With an older brother at the same school to look up to, junior and middle child Alex Wang gets to sees firsthand the challenges he’ll soon be taking on himself next year.

“One advantage of being a middle child is that right now my older brother’s going through college apps, which does not seem very fun,” Alex Wang said. “Next year, when I have to do it, I’ll at least have his guidance to help with it. The same goes for courses and when I have questions about certain subjects. We take a lot of similar classes, so I can go and ask him anything.”

For the majority of the time, senior and firstborn Adam Wang finds it best to let his brothers make their own decisions and forge their own path in the world.

“I feel like the best thing I can do is let them do their own thing while I do my own thing,” Adam said.

“Inadvertently, I’ll often do things that influence them or set an example without even meaning to, but my mentality has always been to do my own thing and just follow my own path.”

Despite this philosophy, Adam’s decisions do sometimes rub off on his brothers, especially Alex.

“I’m not too great at making decisions and choosing what to do yet,” Alex said. “Sometimes, I just do what he does. For instance, when we were choosing our foreign languages, he went with Latin, so I just went with Latin too.”

themselves being held with high expectations, especially if their older sibling was particularly successful.

“Ninety-nine point nine percent of the time, if you’re not a firstborn, it is very clear that teachers are expecting you to be a certain way,” Dr. Jameson said. “You can get disappointed because you know you can’t meet the standard that your older brother or sister has set. If it’s not ever verbalized by a teacher, the child 100 percent of the time knows that they’re in the shadow of their all-star, firstborn brother or sister.”

However, upon reaching college, that weight can be lifted for non-firstborns, and they may find their firstborn siblings having more issues than themselves.

“With a transition like college, which is usually the first big transition that a firstborn is going to have, everyone’s expecting them to be just as successful as they were in high school or middle school, but that may not be the case,” Dr. Jameson said. “So, a firstborn who transitioned to college could silently struggle and not tell anyone they’re having a hard time because no one expects them to. Whereas with the middle or lastborn, that’s the Super Bowl for them. They’re going to thrive there.”

In families with three or more siblings like the Wangs, the dynamic at home shifts when one member moves out of the house.

“Once Adam leaves for college, things will be very different,” Alex Wang said. “I’ll have to take on the responsibility of looking after Andy [Wang], my younger brother, and being more of a role model to him. Whenever we go places together, Andy tends to stick with Adam, but once he’s gone next year, Andy will be following me.”

Sharing schools with an older sibling isn’t always easy, though. Oftentimes, younger siblings find

STORY Will Pechersky, Grayson Redmond PHOTO Neil Song

From the Vault: Opening of the Perot Quadrangle

by Morgan Chow he three-story Davis Hall once stood in the square of ground between what is now the Hoffman center and the Green library.

The cupola now on display in the library courtyard once sat atop the building, and on its south side was the old Headmaster’s house, a one-story brick house where the headmaster used to live.

Generations of students attended classes in Davis Hall, and a portion of its top floor even served as a dorm.

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The decision to remove the hall meant removing a place with much history, yet the reconfiguring of the space allowed for the opening up of a quadrangle that provided a space for students to play every morning and a sightline to Centennial and The Path to Manhood Statue from the front of the school.

The creation of the quad also allowed for an enlarged graduation space, creating an ideal forum for this important ceremony.

An earlier landscape of the campus.

The Quad, with Davis Hall pictured in center, pre-2008.

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Preserving the past

theGreen Corner

A look into the Arthur Douglas greenhouse, which opened in August 2019.

Director of Environmental Studies Dan Northcut ‘81 — who serves as its caretaker, waters plants and monitors pests — shares his three favorite plants. In his own words:

Golden Barrel Cactus: This was donated by Arthur Douglas, the caretaker of the original greenhouse. This plant serves as the anchor of the desert room, and its nickname is ‘mother-in-law’s cushion.’

Banana Trees: This is a tropical plant that has paddle-shaped leaves growing from its center.

The plant originates from East Asia and thrives in humid conditions.

The cave bear skeleton in the Winn Science Center is a dominating presence watching over students’ commute to biology classes. We sat down with Master Teaching Chair John Mead to learn about the bear’s history.

stats

It’s from Romania and it’s of the Pleistocene age, which puts it back in what we would call caveman times, in the time range of Neanderthals.

Scientific name

Ursus spelaeus

Height (on two legs)

11.5 ft

Average weight

Around 1,000 lbs

Eating habits

Omnivore

Habitat

Mountains in Europe

Last seen

Around 24,000 years ago

Very few people have ever seen a bear skeleton of any sort, whether that be a brown bear, grizzly bear or polar bear. So just having a bear skeleton in general is neat. I think a lot of people are surprised in part because it is in its vertical stature, which is a much more imposing view than if it were on all fours, which is where it probably spent most of its time. This was not a bipedal creature — you can notice how short the hind limbs are coming down from the pelvis and how much more robust the forearms are. A lot of that has to do with these large quadrupeds like bears having a lot of their musculature up in the shoulder area, as opposed to us because we are bipedal.

INTERVIEW Grayson Redmond PHOTO Warner Hartnett

STEM in brief GREEN MARK’S CLUB The Green Mark’s Club taught second and third graders about various aspects of the environment Jan. 5, 7 and 13. The event was organized by juniors Shreyan Daulat and Sam Adams along with Lower School science instructor Matt Dillon. They taught about carbon emissions, water conservation, reduction, reuseage and recycling.

The club also did community service events at the Trinity River Audubon Center and Cedar Ridge Preserve. At those sites, volunteers collected trash, removed harmful weeds and created an area for environmental education.

Daulat and Adams will host an Earth Day assembly in April. They will also give an environmental talk and may host a trivia game.

STEM CONFERENCE The annual STEM conference will take place the week of March 7, with the purpose being to broaden students’ understandings of science by inviting professionals

in their field to St. Mark’s. The event is coming off the back of a successful conference last year, featuring a podcast in space exploration hosted by senior Jeremy Yu. IPPF UPDATE The International Public Policy Forum (IPPF) team is in a national debate tournament, consisting of over 200 teams from across the world. The team is currently in the round of 32, where they exchange essays to participate in month-long debates. The team has its eyes set on the top eight, where they will have the opportunity to travel to New York City to compete. The captains are seniors Zayn Bhimani and Maxwell Chuang.

LOWER SCHOOL ROBOTICS The Lower School LEGO Robotics club has formed a team to participate in the LEGO Robotics League. The theme of this year’s competition is ‘cargo connect.’ The team will compete

11WINTER STORM

INTERVIEW Zack Goforth, Grayson Redmond PHOTO Warner Hartnett

It was a donation from the Crow family. My understanding is that it came from a private collector who had it. The Crows realized that the new Winn Science Center would be a great home for it, rather than a private collection where it might only have a few eyes on it at any given time. It gives it a much more public home being here.

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inside

Staghorn Fern: This plant has its own native Anole lizard.

The lizard found its way into the greenhouse last winter, took up residence and never left. This is definitely one of my favorites.

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A look back at the winter storm that terrorized Texans a year ago.

12Underwater app

Seniors and Victor Vescovo ‘89 created a navigation assistant, already used in multiple expeditions.

13NFT CRAZE

What even is an NFT? A look at the hot commodity taking over the crypto world.

for the tech geek by creating a robot, which is to deliver packages. This marks the first year the LEGO Robotics club has existed, and it has attracted much interest among lower schoolers. The LEGO Robotics team was chosen through class competitions.

OMICRON UPDATE The latest strain of the COVID-19 virus, the omicron variant, is the cause of eight positive diagnoses of COVID-19 on campus, as of the end of January. Owing to the pervasiveness of the virus both on and off campus, contact tracing has been deemed impractical by school nurse Julie Doerge and administrators. Since the omicron variant is a less deadly strain of COVID-19, however, public health officials have compared the variant to the flu. As such, school policy dictates vaccinated community members who test positive stay home for five days — the standard time away from campus for the flu.

last month

UPCOMING

January 18 Microsoft buys Activision Blizzard, the world’s first “thirdparty” game studio, for $68.7 billion. Following this, Microsoft will become the third-largest gaming company by revenue.

February 6 An Indian couple recently announced their plans to have a virtual wedding reception over the Metaverse, which will be the first of its kind.

January 20 Amazon announces its realworld clothing store with fitting rooms called Amazon Style.

The first location, based in Los Angeles, will open later this year.

January 24 A bipartisan group of attorney generals from Indiana, Texas, Washington and the District of Columbia introduced lawsuits against Google for tracking people without their permission.

February 9 The Valentine’s Day event for the popular mobile game Pokémon Go begins and lasts through Feb. 14, featuring many special in-game events and activities.

February 10 Samsung will release the Galaxy S22 and the Galaxy Tab S8 at the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked Event streaming at 10 a.m. ET on Samsung’s website.

what the tech El Salvador’s Bitcoin backlash What did El Salvador do?

The Central American nation of El Salvador introduced the cryptocurrency Bitcoin as legal tender and created Chivo, a governmental digital wallet. Alongside the US dollar, Bitcoin can now be used for transactions such as buying or selling goods or services. Chivo has already amassed 3.8 million users.

What’s new?

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) published a lengthy report detailing El Salvador’s economic situation recommending that the country’s $150 billion cryptocurrency fund be dissolved. This goes further than the IMF’s earlier request for Bitcoin to be discontinued as legal tender and puts to question Bitcoin’s future as a possible method of transaction.

Why does it matter?

As a volatile quantity, some speculated that it was unwise for an entire nation’s fortunes to depend on Bitcoin. The latest IMF news only confirms that.

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Environmental politics

The storm of the decade: a year later Nearly 12 months ago, Feb. 13, one of the coldest and most powerful snow events in generations swept through Texas, effectively terminating well over a million citizens’ access to power. Many attribute the severity of the power issue to improper planning on the part of the state. What’s changed?

BLIZZARD Citizens across Texas are complaining about a relative failure to enact change concnerning the power grid after last year’s storm.

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here was no mistaking it — a once-in-a-generation winter storm was headed for Texas.

Not just any winter storm, a borderline arctic blizzard, Austin incident meteorologist Troy Kimmel remembers.

“We essentially had an emptying of the polar regions,” Kimmel said. “A lot of arctic air last year moved south and settled down into the Central Plains and the eastern part of the United States.”

And Texas saw it coming.

“What was so interesting with the storm is that we saw it probably five days ahead of time,” Kimmel said.

“In Texas, that’s not easy to do, but once we got within about four or five days, we knew we were in trouble. I think the National Weather Service did a good job. I think that other meteorologists did a good job. I think broadcast meteorologists did a good job.”

So, surely, with five days’ notice, Texas was prepared?

Kimmel doesn’t think so.

“The problem was that, from an infrastructure standpoint, we just sucked,” Kimmel said. “There was no planning in my opinion. What did we say, four or five days out we were looking at these very cold temperatures? There were generating facilities in the state of Texas that were offline for maintenance. We saw that event coming. Why were they offline?”

Director of environmental studies Dan Northcut ‘81 agrees that, especially when compared to other states, Texas’ power plants planning was disappointing.

“There are plenty of states farther north that have much harsher winters than we do, even harsher than what our spell was last year,” Northcut said. “None of them have this problem because they follow the regulations and prepare the plants the way they need to be. There’s no excuse.”

Kimmel believes that the situation could have been even worse.

“We know now, mainly through investigations from folks in the media.” Kimmel said, “We were probably within five minutes of a statewide shutdown.”

After the storm cleared, new statewide directives were initiated to keep future storms from snowballing similarly.

Northcut doubts these endeavors made it too far, as the same promises were made after the major winter storm that hit the area in February of 2010.

“They all said they would fix it, that it would be fine and it’d never happen like that again,” Northcut said.

“What do you know, ten years later it happens again because they never really fixed the problem. They talk a good game for the first couple months afterward, and then it just kind of quietly goes away and gets forgotten until the next one.”

Kimmel is also doubtful that these efforts by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) are sincere.

“I’ve got to see more proof,” Kimmel said. “People can sit there and flap their jaws as much as they want to, but that doesn’t bite for me. I want to see it. I want to see that it works. I want to see what we’re doing that we can practice.”

We’ve got to see how we hold up in these colder weather events. I’m just not confident that the state has done a good job post-event as they perhaps indicate they have.

Troy Kimmel Incident meteorologist

Currently, the extent of this practice is winterization checks — inspections of generator facilities to ensure functionality when temperatures fall.

“You have to do winterization checks in person,” Kimmel said. “COVID, I think, has been a major pain for ERCOT over the last two years. So, the question is: how many of these winterization inspections at generating sites have we done in person? That’s what I want to know. I think they’ve done some of that, I’ll give them some credit, but I’m not sure, given COVID, that we’ve done as much as we need to do.”

This isn’t the only thing that can be done, though.

Given Texas’ unregulated approach to the power grid, many of the possible technology upgrades are left to the plants themselves, who often avoid these improvements to save money.

“There are certain regulations in place for other states that say all software or hardware, like pipes and valves, in a power plant have to be designed for worst-case scenarios, like zero degrees,” Northcut said. “Some power plants here decided that was not really necessary because we hardly ever get that cold. Only every few years, we get a really cold spell. But, if we had been made to follow those regulations, then a lot of the valves or pipes that ended up freezing most likely would not have happened.”

Basic investments like these must be made for the state to survive another widespread winter event, and Kimmel is still unsure about Texans’ safety in the event of another storm.

“As a politician, you sit here and tell people, ‘we’ve done our job,’ but the proof is in the pudding, in my opinion,” Kimmel said. “We’ve got to see how we hold up in these colder weather events. I’m just not confident that the state has done as good a job post-event as they perhaps indicate they have. I would like to be positive about it, but this was such a shock to the state of Texas last year, and I think we deserve a little more. I’m just not sure we’ve gotten that.”

STORY Grayson Redmond, Toby Barrett GRAPHIC Cooper Cole

essentials

storm m

Austin incident meteorologist Troy Kimmel gives his must-haves for any winter storm A gallon of water per person in the house Hydration is of the utmost importance, even when a monster storm rolls through. Stock enough liquids to last a few days.

Non-perishable food supply When the refrigerator goes out, turn to canned tuna, peanut butter and dried fruits and veggies.

They’ll beat the moldy groceries in your kitchen.

First-Aid kit Especially in an emergency, addressing medical emergencies is a must. Have medical supplies on deck.

A plan Texas weather is as unpredictable as it gets — be prepared for anything.

Photos: Creative Commons

STem

12 Senior working on research for local university

by Nikhil Dattatreya orking in biomedical research, senior Sampath Rapuri has helped with projects at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

While currently working on pathology research, the work is a bit different than usual.

Normal biomedical research conditions involve lab work and experimentation, but medical safety protocols meant Rapuri had to play a different role in the research process.

“All of the biomedical research I’ve done has happened to be virtual,” Rapuri said. “So it’s all been computational work and nothing like what you would see in a bio class with pipetting or any of the chemicals that you would get to interact with in a normal research lab.”

These computational jobs have given Rapuri a unique opportunity to apply a variety of skills he has learned. “[Lab work] was what I originally wanted to do, but because of the pandemic, I couldn’t,” Rapuri said. “That’s really why I had to find a way to continue pursuing biomedical research. I went through that program and learned a couple programming languages, but the day-to-day work in those projects is mostly similar in that it’s still what’s called a ‘literature review.’”

These literature reviews involve gathering and analyzing all the prior research on the particular topic in question. The process involves consistent contact with Principal Investigators, or PIs, whom Rapuri says helped him adapt to the unique conditions.

“Fortunately, the mentors I had there were pretty accommodating,” Rapuri said, “for a student like me and the questions I had, so they helped me along my journey.”

Rapuri recognizes that the way he learned to code fit whatever specific problem he needed to solve in the shortterm, leading to a harder time learning the basics.

“I really learned only what I needed to learn for these projects,” Rapuri said.

“It was a rough transition to actually learn everything that I needed because you can’t just learn how to program while contributing to this kind of project, which is all about using programming.”

Looking into the future, Rapuri says he wants to gain the lab work experience he initially pursued while continuing to apply his computational skills.

“I have always wanted to have the experience for the lab work component,” Rapuri said. “I took DNA science, and that was really similar to what I would be doing in that kind of lab setting. I do want to eventually have an opportunity like that. However, I’ve found that I really do enjoy this kind of computational work, so I do see myself continuing that aspect in the future.”

discovery &

the remarker february 4, 2022

Trilateration app

Below the surface

Victor Vescovo ‘84 is currently mapping the depths of the sea. When Vescovo wanted to expedite the process of locating his equipment, he turned to seniors Isaac Song and Benjamin Gravel for help.

W

READY TO GO Vescovo’s submersible (left) floats on the surface before diving under to map the seafloor. Vescovo (right) smiles from inside the cockpit of the submarine. Working with JETCO, Vescovo and his team specialize in mapping the deepest parts of oceans across the world.

A

s many as 11,000 meters deep and covering over 70 percent of the planet’s surface, vast oceans surround us. And yet, according to estimates by National Geographic, over 80 percent of it remains completely uncharted by humans. That’s a number that Victor Vescovo ‘84 is looking to change.

Vescovo and his team are currently working with the Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) to create a map of the entire ocean floor by 2030.

“We specialize in the ultra deep ocean — more than 6000 meters,” Vescovo said.

“And what we’ve been trying to do for the last four years is to develop technology that’s very repeatable, safe and effective.”

The technology in question was the Trilateration app, which would help Vescovo find the landers he sent to the seafloor. The app isn’t the first project that Vescovo has entrusted to students here.

“I’ve been in touch with [Makerspace director] Stuart Meyer, and I previously worked with the group on developing a mechanically powered sediment retrieval device for the lander as well,” Vescovo said. “That went pretty well.

And because of that good experience and the opportunities that it afforded to the students, I thought I’d give them a crack at it first, and they did great.”

The problem Vescovo had was finding the landers at the bottom of the ocean.

Using sound pulses, Vescovo would get the range to a lander and then move in a certain direction. Then, after 20 seconds, he would range it again, and see how close he was. Using this methodology, and a pen and paper for the math, Vescovo would find the landers. The process, however,

was long and imprecise.

“Previously, he had to go in sort of blind and see the changes,” senior Isaac Song said. “Now, he can actually pinpoint a specific location.”

Vescovo had a clear idea of what he wanted the app to accomplish.

“I had very specific requirements, and they needed to do the coding and the display on the device,” Vescovo said. “Anyone that’s done software development knows that the best type of project to have is one that is very tightly defined. That way, you don’t waste a lot of time going in avenues that you don’t need to.”

Vescovo’s well-defined idea helped Song and senior Benjamin Gravel develop the app. Gravel says their work relied on triangulation to find the lander.

“The app basically uses the mathematical concept where you can use three positions to find the lander,“ Gravel said. “He can move ten feet in one direction, then in another direction, and then in a third, and find its position that way.“ However, the creation of the app was more than just taking an idea and Victor Vescovo ‘84 making it a reality.

To Vescovo, the process was a chance to teach Song and Gravel more about realworld coding.

“I took this as an opportunity to teach them,” Vescovo said. “When you’re doing a coding problem in school, it may push you to learn new things, but it doesn’t

DIVING DEEP Vescovo and his crew hang a lander over the water and prepare to launch it into the Pacific Ocean. The lander was launched into the Mariana Trench, which measures at approximately 11,000 meters deep at its lowest point.

Enoch Ellis

have the immediacy or the real world applicability that something like this project has.”

Song echoes this sentiment. To him, programming extends beyond just the screen.

“Programming is more than just a basic concept — it’s managing the entire process of making a product,” Song said. “It relies a huge amount on communication. So, the best way to learn about it is hands-on experience, which I was lucky enough to have.”

Gravel agrees, and he adds that one of the most important parts of the process was keeping it simple.

“One of the biggest things that we learned is not to make a project too complicated,“ Gravel said. “We started adding a bunch of other stuff, but that ended up taking way too long to implement.“ Vescovo believes Song and Gravel were not the only ones who learned from the experience.

“One thing that I have found surprising is the level of capability that individuals can have,” Vescovo said.

“Many people will look at someone’s resumé and assume they can’t do something because they’re either too young or they don’t have certain experience. But there are a lot of extremely talented individuals out there. They’re people that have never really understood something as ‘impossible.’ They just know that there’s a problem, and they figure out how to fix it.”

STORY Ian Dalrymple, Myles Lowenberg PHOTOS Courtesy Victor Vescovo ‘84

stem

13

discovery &

the remarker february 4, 2022

blockchain technology PlANETARY McBee’s company helped Procedural Space render 18 million 4k NFT images.

What on earth is an

NFT? Are non-fungible tokens the verification codes of our future? Are they silly digital art doomed to pass like any other fad? Why should we even care?

N

ext to politics, the Omicron variant and murder in the array of New York Times headlines, you’ve likely seen three cryptic letters and wondered, “What on earth is an ‘NFT’?”

Garnering $4 billion in sales during the first half of 2021, non-fungible tokens have seen recent popularity as ‘ownership verifiers’ attached to digital art. Popular artist Beeple recently sold a massive collection of his art as an NFT for $69 million — this means that the buyer now possesses the art itself, as well as a piece of data verifying that he owns the original.

CoreWeave co-founder Brannin McBee ‘04 works on the cutting edge of new technology and interacts frequently with the NFT space.

“A couple of years after graduating from [the University of Colorado] Boulder, I was picked up by a family office to run a speculative portfolio trading electricity, agriculture and natural gas assets,” McBee said. “I did that for about seven years, and during that time, I gained an appreciation for risk management and optionality.”

In 2017, one of McBee’s former clients called him with an idea — to try and figure out cryptocurrency mining.

“One of the markets I traded in was electricity, and in effect, cryptocurrency is just an arbitrage between the cost of electricity and the product you’re able to produce,” McBee said.

“We started messing around with these units, eventually moved into warehouses and slowly expanded until we had interest from other colleagues. By the end of 2017, we had sold around $7 million worth of managed mining contracts.”

Brannin mcbee ‘04 As CoreWeave exists today, their warehouses full of computing power mine the most optimal cryptocurrency available, but their power is also available for leasing.

Clients might pay to use it for complicated visual effect generation or to train machine learning programs, but many want to render NFTs.

“Let’s say a client has a 10,000 unit project — it’s pretty computer-intensive to render that many 4,000-pixel images,” McBee said. “We keep finding more demand for our infrastructure within the blockchain space for services outside of cryptocurrency mining. It all comes back to optionality — the GPUs we have in our warehouses are really good at high-bandwidth computing and can be allocated to video processing, password cracking or even the rendering of a Marvel comic NFT.” While non-fungible tokens have existed as a concept for years, their recent popularity came out of nowhere, McBee claims.

“I look at NFTs as the lottery ticket everyone wanted access to,” McBee said. “There’s a ton of capital, there’s a ton of speculation, and your average participant in blockchain tech is very used to losses and gains. When you purchase an unrevealed NFT during the minting process, you could end up with a very rare version or just a generic one.”

As of right now, McBee sees non-fungible tokens as mechanisms to buy social credibility, sort of like physical art. Nonetheless, he sees a future where they find a plethora of practical uses.

“Ultimately, I think you’re going to see the Mark Cubans of the world go out and issue sports tickets as NFTs,” McBee said. “I think NFTs as an asset class, especially within the tech sector, will be used a lot — within the metaverse, for example. As digital art, I think it’ll slowly die off as projects lose uniqueness and there’s a refocus on usability.”

Senior James Singhal isn’t a fan of non-fungible tokens, citing how short the technology world’s attention span is.

“I’m a confident skeptic of cryptocurrencies and blockchain in general,” Singhal said. “I very much believe in technology, and I love seeing new technology come around, but I also believe that no new technology is guaranteed to succeed long term.”

Senior Zayn Bhimani, on the other hand, has embraced their functionality through GameFi — a marriage of gaming and cryptocurrency.

“Essentially, I’ve been buying NFTs that have utility in a video game,” Bhimani said. “For example, you could have digital hockey cards which transform into players on a virtual NHL game, where you’ll then be able to play with the hockey players you’ve acquired. If there’s an NFT version of Pokémon, you could see a Pokémon in the game and catch it. Then, that Pokémon would go into your NFT wallet.”

Although Bhimani has been busy with college applications and midterms, games like Axie Infinity and Legends of Venari have caught Zayn bhimani his attention.

“Axie Infinity is a one-on-one arcade battle with three creatures that fight, and the winner is reimbursed,” Bhimani said. “All of these games require buying an NFT to play, so it’s a little bit expensive, but they get really fun.

Sometimes you get cryptocurrency rewards in the game, which you can convert back into U.S. dollars.”

Bhimani found all of his NFT information through an online messaging platform, Discord. Junior Christian Tsvetanov also found his start through the app, although instead of playing games, he’s seen NFTs as an entrepreneurial opportunity.

“CryptoLyric is a project I started with [junior] Bowden Slates, and it’s a spinoff of the popular NFT project CryptoPunks,” Tsvetanov said. “CryptoPunks makes little 2D characters, and we essentially make CryptoPunks of famous rappers and personalities.”

Tsvetanov has seen success in his ventures, receiving an offer of $1,200 on CryptoPunk’s first day. Like McBee, he thinks the concept has a promising future.

“Logan Paul recently spent $3.5 million on Pokemon cards that turned out to be fake,” Tsvetanov said. “That could’ve all been solved with an NFT ownership contract to prove they’re real. NFTs eliminate the human error inherent to authentication.”

STORY Austin Williams, Aaron Liu PHOTOS Courtesy Brannin McBee ‘04

straight to

THE POINT

What is a non-fungible token?

• Non-fungible essentially means irreplaceable or one of a kind. The Mona Lisa as it sits in the Louvre would be considered non-fungible while a dollar found on the street would be fungible.

• The Metaverse combines virtual reality with a digital second life, an idea that has been prevalent in science fiction for decades.

• Each irreplaceable string of data is verified as real by a “blockchain.”

• For this world to work, tools like headsets, controllers and microphones are used. Headsets put people into the virtual environment. Motionsensing controllers allow them to interact with virtual objects while a microphone lets them communicate with others.

• A blockchain is a public ledger that’s stored between multiple computers — think of a notebook where someone writes down transactions. Now, think of it as digital, and all the computers managing it have to agree on each transaction as it takes place. Thus, transactions are secure and decentralized.

• To an extent, virtual reality gaming has already explored this idea. But never has it been connected to the real world. In the metaverse, what one does in the virtual world can affect the real world, like purchasing physical items or conducting professional business meetings without ever leaving the home.

• Token is a fancy word for a piece of data.

DATACENTER CoreWeave’s Las Vegas deployment contains more than 3,000 enterprise-grade NVIDIA GPUs and 25,000 CPU cores. Their computing power can be used to render NFTs, among other things.

What is the Metaverse?

INFOGRAPHIC Austin Williams, Morgan Chow

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14

the remarker february 4, 2022

life &

Hangin’ Out With

Akash Munshi

Because of his astute weather predictions, many call junior Akash Munshi the campus weatherman. The ReMarker sits down with him to learn more about his passion.

What are your weather predictions for February?

My predictions usually concur with those of the Farmer’s Almanac, and they are predicting a pretty bad snow storm in early February. However, this time my prediction is different. I’m expecting a decent cold front with temperatures in the mid twenties but with no precipitation. Farmer’s Almanac, if you are reading this, I think you are wrong.

How do you show people your predictions?

Some of my teachers allow me to give the week’s weather forecast before class.

The main way I share my predictions is through my grade’s GroupMe. Also, a lot of my classmates come up to me throughout the day and ask me for the forecast. I take a lot of pride in my predictions.

What weather models do you use to form your own weather predictions?

I cross reference ten weather models in order to form my own long-term weather predictions. My favorite weather models are the Global Forecast System, the North American Model, and the High Resolution Rapid Refresh. I like these the most because they have higher accuracy of predicting temperature, wind speed and precipitation than other models.

How are you going to use these tools in the future?

I am planning to pursue horticulture in college.

Weather, obviously, has a great impact on garden cultivation.

And, generally, this is a hobby that I see myself doing for many years to come. I really enjoy it.

BUILDING A HABITAT A group of over 15 students, including seniors Sahil Dodda and Adam Wang (top left) and freshman Zach Andrews (right), volunteered with Habitat for Humanity Jan. 22. The group instructor (bottom left) led them through the process of constructing walls for a house. The future build dates are Feb. 5, Feb. 19 and Feb. 26. Volunteers at those events will do similar activities to help families build and improve places to call home.

10600 in brief CELEBRATE ST. MARK'S The annual Parents’ Association fundraiser, Celebrate St. Mark’s, will be held Feb. 26 at 6:30 p.m. in the Winn Science Center. The event aims to raise funds to help build a new gym and includes the entire St. Mark’s parent community. The party’s theme is “Under the Big Top,” and will feature entertainers, a dance band, food, games, a live auction and a raffle for a vehicle from Sewell. This marks the first time the event will occur in-person in three years.

MODEL UNITED NATIONS The Model United Nations team competed in the Harvard MUN conference Jan. 27-30.

Seniors Tomek Marczewski and Rahul Gunukula both won "Best Delegate" awards for their conferences, and junior Roome Becker and freshman Arjun Poi won an honorable mention.

Previously, the team competed at conferences in Dallas and at the

University of Texas in Austin.

COLLEGE COUNSELING The three college counselers met with juniors Jan. 18 - 21 to introduce the basics of the college admissions process. These meetings were the first of many throughout the third quarter.

The counselers hope to build relationships with the students during this time. Another meeting will be held Feb. 25 for sophomores and juniors.

MIDDLE SCHOOL COAT DRIVE The Middle School Coat Drive Jan. 10 - 14 collected 270 coats. Eighth graders and Coat Drive Co-Chairs Rohan Vikar and Rohan Verma organized the week-long event. The Coat Drive supports the efforts of Community Partners of Dallas as they distribute new and gently used coats to their clients throughout the Dallas area. The drive was sponsored by the Middle School

for the Marksman Community Service Board and Co-Sponsors Kurt Tholking and Greg Crook.

Sit down with the headmaster's wife to learn about her behind-thescenes impact on the school.

16CAFETERIA LEADERS

Get to know the roles, challenges and successes of two leaders in the cafeteria.

Today 11th grade father/son breakfast in Great Hall.

Eighth grade returns from three day campout Newsies production at 7 p.m.

CLASSICS CLUB COMPETITION A group of Classics Club members — senior Jonathan Yin and juniors Alex Wang, Michael Gao and Will Spencer — took home first place while competing in the advanced category at the +Falcon Friendly tournament hosted by Fort Worth Country Day School Jan. 22. Freshmen Surya Dinesh, Jeremy Mau, Tiger Yang and Linyang Lee achieved first place in the intermediate category.

Club members will attend the Area C regional convention hosted by the Texas State Junior Classical League Feb. 25. At the convention, club members will take competitive academic tests and compete in certamen, a trivia buzzer game. If they win first place in this competition, they will advance to the state competition April 8.

Saturday Newsies production at 7 p.m.

Habitat for Humanity build at 7:45 a.m.

Chapel Advisory Council visits Karya Siddhi Hanuman Temple Sunday Newsies production at 2:30 p.m.

Monday International Week Committee continues planning.

Tuesday Lions' Pause at 9:45 a.m.

AIME math test at 12:30 p.m.

UPCOMING March 3 Treble choir showcase.

Lions' Closet from 7:30 a.m. - 9 a.m.

March 4 Annual STEM Conference Executive Committee meeting and lunch at 8:30 a.m.

Trustee visitation day March 8 Lower School Leadership Wall assembly Spring advisor conferences: no Middle School/Upper School classes.

March 9 Ash Wednesday in Upper School chapel Faculty/Staff appreciation day March 10 First grade Fine Arts Evening

say what?

inside 15Nancy Dini

Next week

comments overheard around campus "The log only does 87 damage."

HARRY WANG Sophomore

"I'll undercut any girl scout on your block."

Hayward metcalf Junior

"No buts, no cuts, no coconuts."

Bowden Slates Junior

"I played Fortnite 'till 4:30 last night. Trying to make an economic decision."

Max vafa Senior

20Boykin's shoes

Learn about junior Henry Boykin's new shoe design and his inspirations.

"Adam, you're off 20 churros."

Adrian lutgen Sophomore

"Did you drop Tilted?"

Murphy paul Junior

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15

life &

the remarker february 4, 2022

Nancy dini

International Week on the horizon

The woman behind the scenes

I

Nancy Dini, wife of Headmaster David Dini, has been working in the background ever since her husband was hired by the school.

But what exactly are her duties as the closest confidant to the busiest man on campus?

T

he mother of their four children, the love of his live and his best friend.

She is often spotted spectating basketball games, watching quiz bowl tournaments or walking in and out of the Headmaster’s Office.

She’s been a part of the school’s community for over 25 years, yet most people don’t notice the role she plays in the school’s well-being.

In addition to supporting the mission of the school and the Marksmen who attend it, she relieves the heavy responsibility and pressure he faces. For example, when he comes home after a long day of work, she’s already planned the evening’s activities.

“Would you like to go to the soccer game? How about the piano recital?”

Evidently, the Headmaster’s wife doesn’t have an ordinary job.

Nancy and David Dini first met in Houston, their hometown, when they were both very young, Nancy being only five years old. The pair met through the friendship of their older brothers and have since become inseparable.

“Since we’ve known each other for so long, we got to experience a lot of things together,” Nancy Dini said.

“We grew up with NANCY DINI the same sort of challenges and excitements all together, which not a lot of people get to do.”

They started dating when Nancy Dini was 19, and they married a year later.

They moved to Denver, where David Dini worked for three years as the Director of Development at an institution. Finally, they moved to Dallas in 1994, when former Headmaster Arnie Holtberg recruited David Dini to our school to create the comprehensive advancement

program that the school enjoys today.

As David Dini settled into his role, the couple made the joint decision that Nancy Dini would invest herself fully into raising their four children.

“She’s a selfless caregiver and has been engaged in every aspect of our children’s lives,” David Dini said. “There were times during my work at St. Mark’s where I had to travel extensively. During those times, she had to carry a disproportionate responsibility for our family.”

Having raised four kids, Nancy Dini has learned a thing or two about parenting.

“Parenting requires patience and awareness. Each o f my four kids is very zcdifferent,” Nancy Dini said. “They each have different personalities. As a parent, you have to recognize that what works for one might not work for another. We had to learn that not everyone is going to thrive in a certain environment, and not everyone is going to reach the same goal.

All four of our kids have gone to different schools. All four of them have gone on different paths in college. So I think a lot of parenting is being realistic and understanding.”

We’ve grown so much together having been married for 30 years. I’m really blessed to have a tremendous partner who is also my best friend.

DAVID DINI Headmaster

Since their move to Dallas, the Dinis have formed a strong connection with the school community, especially because they lived so close to campus.

“We stayed in a house on Orchid Lane that the school owned for about five years,” David Dini said. “So we really grew up around the school physically, practically and metaphorically. The school was our home and our children’s home.”

FAMILY FIRST Despite being immersed in the school community for years, Nancy Dini has always found time to spend with her family, from when they were growing up all the way up until today.

by Aaron Augustine nternational Week Feb. 25 Feb. 29 is a festival centered around language learning and cultural diversity.

“The idea is to raise awareness about celebrating cultural differences,” Chinese instructor Janet Lin said. “We want to celebrate different countries’ languages and celebrate each student’s heritage.”

International Week is characterized by various events held each day, each having a different theme.

According to junior Bijaan Noormahamed, a co-chair of the event, Monday is a day dedicated to all cultures.

“We celebrate cultures from Asia, Africa and all kinds of others that we don’t really study at St. Mark’s,” Noormohamed said.

The following day of the week is Chinese Day. There are many fun activities such as a Chinese yo-yo event, and there is also an emphasis on the cultural diversity of China.

Wednesday will highlight Latin American culture.

“Wednesday is our Hispanic day,” Noormohamed said.

“We will talk about differences between Latin American countries and we will play different trivia games.”

Thursday is Latin day featuring Certamen, a trivia game focused on Classical civilizations.

The last day of the week will be another all-cultures day with a special assembly.

“We have something really exciting planned for that assembly, and we think everyone will enjoy it,” Noormohamed said. “Stay tuned for that.”

International Week also features a poster contest.

Foreign language teachers will introduce the contest in their respective classes, and the winners will receive rewards.

This year’s International Week Committee is making an effort to include younger students more.

“This is the first year the The week poster contest is Feb. 25 - All Cultures Day expanding to all Feb. 26 - Chinese Day three divisions Feb. 27 - Latin American of the school,” Culture Feb. 28 - Latin Day Noormohamed Feb. 29 - All Cultures Day. said. “Also, music, which is a really fun part of International Week, will be taking place in the mornings for all three divisions,” Noormohamed said.

They hopeh, by including younger students, they will be able to stimulate more interest.

“This time we are including [younger students],” Lin said.

“We are trying to encourage more people to get involved with these activities, including the lower school.”

Each day will also have a corresponding culturally themed meal provided by SAGE.

When David Dini was appointed Headmaster eight years ago, their lives grew even more occupied with responsibilities.

“We were already so entrenched in the school community before David became headmaster,” Nancy Dini said. “It was a smooth transition, because Mr. and Mrs. Holtberg were so welcoming to us, and we learned a lot from them. Our schedule definitely picked up quite a bit, however.

At that point, most of our kids were in high school, and some were in college, so my role transitioned from raising the kids to immersing myself more in the everyday activities and events on campus.”

The Dini house plays host to a plethora of activities and events, such as lunches with the Board of Trustees in January.

Nancy Dini does all the logistics and planning for these events.

“She allows me to come home from school ten minutes before the lunch starts, and she already has everything organized,” David Dini said. “She’s a really organized person and very particular. That is enormously helpful to me.”

David Dini is grateful to have Nancy Dini in his life. She has stood by him through thick and thin.

“We’ve grown so much together as partners, having been married for thirty years now,” David Dini said. “I’m really lucky and blessed to have a tremendous partner who is also my best friend.”

All things considered, Nancy Dini is satisfied with her life decisions.

“I chose the right path for me,” Nancy Dini said. “A lot of people probably wouldn’t have done what I did. I got married so young, and I had kids right away. I was 20 years old. But it was perfect for David and me. It worked, and I wouldn’t have changed a thing.”

STORY Shreyan Daulat, Nikhil Dattatreya GRAPHIC Jonathan Yin

GIVING BACK Community Service Director Jorge Correa, Nancy Dini and Kezia Stegemoeller, formerly of the Development Office, pose at the Austin Street Dinner during McDonald’s Week in 2015.

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CAfeteria

SAUCING IT UP Following a school year without panini presses, plates, trays or even a

Every morning, I lead a pre-service meeting where the entire team gets together — everybody from the dishwashers to the servers to the cooks.

Having that kind of teamwork creates a family atmosphere that is very crucial.

usable dining hall, SAGE Dining Services look to bring back the many lunchroom

VINNY TELLINI Senior Food Service Director

experiences that students, faculty and staff lost because of COVID-19. In particular, two leaders of the cafeteria — Senior Food Service Director Vinny Tellini and recently hired Executive Chef James Coulter — are a dynamic duo who work with the school community to prepare offerings that

I deal with presentation and the way food is delivered to the service line, so that when you guys come through, you can see a really nice, beautifully presented lunch.

everyone can enjoy. The ReMarker sits down with them to learn about

JAMES COULTER Executive Chef

their roles, struggles and successes.

How would you describe your role in the cafeteria’s day to day activities?

Vinny Tellini: I do a lot of the interpersonal relations in the school between faculty, teachers and students. I bridge the gap between the community and food services. I also do a lot of normal day-to-day stuff like schedules, and I help coordinate all the menu planning and special events within the dining hall.

James Coulter: My role as the executive chef is to oversee all the food preparations, and make sure that the food is ordered, received, stored properly and prepared safely.

What are some of the changes you have made in the cafeteria?

VT: When I first came to St. Mark’s, there really wasn’t much I needed to change. Instead, I focused on creating a positive environment for all of our team members and creating a relationship with the community by listening to what the students and teachers enjoyed and were used to in the cafeteria. Using that information, we made sure that the community’s favorite entrees were being served on a weekly basis.

How closely do you work with Vinny Tellini?

JC: Our offices are side by side, and I’m in his office pretty much every day. If I’m not in his office, he’s in mine. We’re always talking about future menus, the food that’s going on that week, how we can improve it and what we can bring in to make it new, different and exciting.

How exactly do you receive feedback from parents, faculty and students about the offerings in the cafeteria?

VT: I would say the majority of the feedback I received was just through word of mouth. If people enjoyed the meal, they are sure to let us know. Also, we have weekly food service meetings with the administration, where we discuss any feedback that they may have gotten. I also put together what I call a ‘communication station’ in the Commons. There’s a comment board along with some comment cards, and we’ve seen a lot of handwritten feedback.

What is the biggest challenge you have faced?

JC: I’d say catering to special dietary needs is a challenge that we have been tackling as well. We’ve got something for everybody — whether you’re gluten free, allergic to

eggs, vegan or vegetarian. Making sure that we have gluten-free crust on pizza day and that there is enough protein in the vegetarian offerings to create a wholesome meal are big challenges that we overcome everyday.

VT: The biggest challenge for me personally is figuring out what students are looking for. Finding those recipes that were popular in the past and making sure that we weren’t overlooking them was really important. I feel that we have accomplished that, so maybe it’s time to add more new and exciting out-of-the-box types of things to the menu.

How does SAGE decide its menus for respective schools?

VT: We build menus based on community feedback, and we meet with administrators and students using food committees, which is something we’re working on right

What would you put in your ideal panini?

VT: I would make an Italian Sub made with crunchy bread, filled with a combination of house herb-roasted chicken, ham, salami or pepperoni with melted cheddar cheese.

JC: I would enjoy a cheesesteak made with crusty bread filled with house roasted beef, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, red onions and horseradish pickles on the side.

now for St. Mark’s.

What were your first impressions of the cafeteria when you came here last November?

JC: I was really impressed. The Great Hall is such a great venue for the boys to enjoy their lunches. And the food service program included so many things like hot food items, a deli, a salad bar, a drink station, panini presses and soft serve ice cream. Not very many schools actually offer that type of service.

What can you use the SAGE Mobile App for?

VT: You can look at the menu and special events we have planned, and you can click on a menu item and rate it one to five stars. Additionally, you can upload pictures of the food you ate that day, and you can directly offer up suggestions. Also, you can get into direct contact with me via the app, and I will respond within 24 hours.

When did you start cooking?

JC: I’ve been cooking my entire life. I remember, as a young kid growing up, I started making dinner at home.

Then, I went through a traditional education in culinary school, and that was the beginning of my cooking career.

Because you come from an Italian family, is Italian food your favorite cuisine?

VT: Believe it or not, it is not my favorite food. But it is where I got my roots in cooking. I actually have a really strong passion for breakfast foods, and I have a pretty big sweet tooth. So dessert and breakfast are really fun for me.

What are your favorite entrees served in the kitchen?

JC: Definitely meatloaf, which we make from scratch. I taste just about everything that comes out of the kitchen.

I think lasagna is definitely another favorite because we also make it from scratch.

Outside the cafeteria, do you have a secret hobby or talent?

VT: One thing barely anyone knows about me is that I skateboarded from fifth grade until I was about 25 years old.

STORY Shreyan Daulat, Zack Goforth PHOTOS Charlie Estess

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CAfeteria

What’s in the kitchen?

Besides cafeteria staff, practically no one has been inside the kitchen.

Here’s a few appliances that executive chef James Coulter uses everyday.

Townsend leads cafeteria financial operations

by Shreyan Daulat gainst popular belief, SAGE does not offer different “levels” of dining service. Chief Financial Officer Suzanne Townsend doesn’t know how or where that rumor started a few years ago, but she hopes to clarify the way dining service quality was chosen here.

“Each school — and they provide food service for over 300 schools — works with SAGE to determine a budget that will work for that particular school,” Townsend said. “From day one, I have never asked that they ‘trim’ our budget in any way; I have only asked that St. Mark’s food be delicious, nutritious, and plentiful.”

According to Townsend, food service is an extremely high priority when compiling the school’s operating budget.

“Our actual costs have exceeded the amounts budgeted every single year we’ve been with SAGE,” Townsend said. “They have also increased more each year than most of the other budget line items. Some of that has to do with product pricing increases and the need for additional staff. Good food is important to everyone at St. Mark’s — including me!”

One addition to the SAGE staff is Executive Chef James Coulter, who began working here in the latter part of November. Townsend continues to be pleased with Senior Food Service Director Vinny Tellini.

“Chef James has decades of culinary experience, and I have found his menus and the food that he and his team prepare for us each day excellent,” Townsend said. “Vinny Tellini, our SAGE Senior Food Service Director, continues to do an outstanding job. I feel strongly that they and the other members of our food service team are to be commended for the many ways that they have quickly pivoted during the pandemic and through food supply product shortages to continue to offer excellent choices every day, which has not been easy.”

Townsend’s goals for the cafeteria haven’t changed regarding the quality and quantity of food served each day.

“Our goal is to offer menus that allow everyone to walk through the servery and find items they like, to use the highest quality nutritious ingredients, and to have plentiful amounts of food available each lunch period,” Townsend said. “The last lunch period should have all of the same menu items available as the first one and in adequate amounts without being wasteful. I know that the boys are all hungry when they arrive for their lunches and that their time is limited.”

A

DEEP FRYER The staff uses these appliances to cook chicken, catfish and chicken-fried steak. This is the home of all the deep-fried items.

TILT SKILLET Using this multi-purpose appliance, the cooks can prepare an assortment of entrees, such as scrambled eggs and pasta.

STEAM KETTLE This is where the soups are stirred. Tellini would like more students to take advantage of the soup variety served daily.

FLATTOP On Mexican food day, the quesadillas are grilled to crisp perfection here. This is also where the pancakes are flipped.

opinion

in my

Q: Do the cafeteria offerings suit your needs?

“I think the vegetarian options are good, but there can be a larger variety of offerings.”

Shaan Mehta Senior

“I remember in past years there were a lot of different ice cream flavors. I really liked the options.”

Greg Guiler Varsity Basketball Coach

“I wish the cafeteria had more options for kosher people. Sometimes I don’t have enough to eat.”

Daniel Weinstein Sophomore

“I really like the lemonade.

It’s something they’ve been doing for years, and it’s very refreshing.”

Adam Alfalahi Junior

1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1

11 1 W 0 0 0 11 1 0 Our 0 1 1tech00 1 0 10 1 1 1driven 0 0 0 1 1future 000 1 011 01 1 1 001 00 0 0 1 10 10 0 0 011 00 0 0 1 10 1 1 1 1 0 00 1 1 1 11 0 0 1 11 1 1 11 0 TECHNOLOGY | Looking forward

In an ever-evolving world, technology has rapidly risen to the forefront of society, visible in almost every aspect of our lives.

In this increasingly technology-dominated world, how does the school prepare its students to succeed?

STORY Will Spencer, Austin Williams, Jonathan Yin, Toby Barrett GRAPHICS Jonathan Yin, Will Spencer

Daily drivers

ithout a doubt, Chris Eubank ‘09 is a STEM success story. A Marksman through and through, Eubank traversed the chambers of the school’s Lower, Middle and Upper Schools and emerged from college a qualified engineer and veritable contender in the technology industry, where he now leads a team developing audio hardware for a corporate titan of the global tech market.

But Eubank’s success seems to take root not in any campus classroom, but rather in the sheer force of his own extracurricular drive. In the St. Mark’s of 2009, meaningful curricular opportunities allowing students to pursue engineering were few and far between. People like Eubank seem to have gained their knowledge and skills despite the school’s institutions, not because of them.

The world has changed drastically since 2009, but so has the school. As technology has come to increasingly dominate nearly every aspect of our lives, the school has hired new faculty, funded new buildings and instituted new programs to keep up. But how much has the school really changed in the past 13 years? Do the spectres of 2009 still persist? If human progress necessitates adaptation, just how well is the school preparing its students for our tech-driven future?

Young Eubank’s nascent interest in STEM was set in motion after a chance encounter with a fourth-grade classmate. Through a common interest, the pair got their start in the vast world of computer science.

“Stephen Friedberg [‘09], who became one of my lifelong best friends, was into making websites,” Eubank said. “We ended up collaborating and making a website that was about cheat codes and gameplay guides for video games on the PlayStation and Nintendo 64.”

Eubank continued to foster his computer science hobby throughout his years at the school, signing up for the AP Computer Science A class his sophomore year.

Though Eubank and his classmates were enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the subject at hand, their results on the end-of-year test were less than satisfactory.

“We all failed the AP exam,” Eubank said. “Honestly, I’ve been at this company for ten years now, and I have never once had to handwrite code. The last time I handwrote code was in a college class for a test, and it was dumb then, too. The people who were writing that test — they don’t know anything. It’s not relevant.

The best thing you can do is just punt on any computer science class. Go learn Python and go learn Swift.”

To Eubank, people like the College Board officials who control the curricula of AP classes are out of touch with real-world computer science. Eubank points to Master Teaching Chair Doug Rummel’s Information Engineering class as a gold standard for how engineering should be taught.

“I’d say to stop teaching classes on esoteric theory and instead teach kids how to build things,” Eubank said. “That’s why I liked Mr. Rummel’s class so much. When we left his class, we felt like we could build things on our own because we actually did so in the class. I don’t know if he still teaches it, but that class was Chris eubank ‘09 just awesome.”

To this day, Rummel does, in fact, still teach Information Engineering to interested Upper School students. Rummel points to Eubank as the kind of student whom his class aims to foster.

“Chris was a brilliant engineer,” Rummel said.

“He got his first taste of electronics in Information Engineering, and it turned out that he was really good at it. When he got his Presidential Scholarship to the University of Southern California, I told him to find an area of interest and hang out with professors who might

be doing cool things.”

Now in his 20th year of teaching Information Engineering, Rummel thinks it’s time to offer a greater number of engineering opportunities to students.

Rummel points to clubs like the Robotics Club, which he sponsors, for students hungry for more.

“I think that the more opportunities we have to interface with computer science, the better,” Rummel said.

“Computer science is not typing club. It needs to move well beyond that. Now, some clubs fill that void in some respects.”

Another prominent figure in the Robotics Club, Makerspace Director Stewart Mayer, aims to make the makerspace a center of engineering at the school.

“If you want to build, make, break, fix or invent something, it’s the place to be,” Mayer said. “In the makerspace, Robotics Club members learn how to work as a team, how to use various tools like the laser and how to use CAD [computer-aided design]. There’s lots of building and trial and error. It’s really about the process of trying something and then improving it.”

To Mayer, the school still has a ways to go in STEM education, but it’s made serious infrastructural and curricular progress in the past few years.

“In 2019, with the opening of the Winn Science Center, the school made a renewed commitment to education in science, engineering and technology and gave us the resources to provide a real hands-on education,” Mayer said. “My personal goal is to try to have an opportunity for students at every grade level to have some sort of hands-on STEM experience, whether it’s through a class or a club.”

Everything you need to learn to build a website or to build an app is all very learnable on YouTube.

Chris Eubank engineering manager

Aside from developments in the makerspace, Chief Technology Officer Thomas Eckel says his team has been working hard to keep technology around campus up to date. Eckel, Director of Media Services Rick Cerovsky and technology specialist Kevin Boone have been visiting other campuses for inspiration. Recent changes include upgraded wireless access points, three new Wi-Fi networks and increased infrastructure security.

“A big change is that every third and fourth-grader has a computer now,” Boone said. “That was brand new for both the students and the faculty down there. It should broaden the array of what and how they teach.”

Decisions of that nature are a collaborative effort between Eckel’s team and the computer science teachers on campus. According to Eckel, the driving factor behind giving younger students laptops was classes going remote last year — many eight or nine year olds don’t have access to laptops outside of their parents’ computers.

“Think about what that change will do five years down the road,” Eckel said. “As a nine-year-old, you’ve already mastered a laptop and its different applications.

Over the course of the next six or seven years, their proficiency will be exponentially greater than that of a current senior. Also, it’s not just the students that are learning — the faculty is being challenged as well. There are benefits on both sides.”

When the AP Computer Science A curriculum was first developed, it focused entirely on Java, as companies ubiquitously used this language to develop their programs. But as technology has developed, the need for a more diverse curriculum has grown.

“A lot of these companies still use the legacy systems they developed 20 years ago,” computer science instructor Kurt Tholking said. “We’ve seen a lot of problems where they still have to maintain those programs and the people

Some of the most impactful technology on campus SMART Boards An integral part of lower school classrooms, teachers use digital whiteboards to fully engage students, allowing them to solve problems on the board, interact with media, save markers and preserve lessons.

indepth

Laptops Key to student productivity, every student from third grade onwards has a personal laptop, used for notetaking, completing online assignments and staying up to date with the world around them.

that wrote them retired. So the companies start to look at the cost — is it worthwhile just to maintain the old systems? [Adding new computer science classes] would be a great idea. I think it would be well received by my students.”

Headmaster David Dini has heard Eubank’s notion before — conversations with young alumni have alluded to the school’s lack of emphasis on computer science and its adjacents. Those conversations spurred action, and over the past few years, Dini’s team has worked to expand the technological literacy curriculum across all 12 grades.

“We took a foundational approach, much like we

have with character and leadership,” Dini said. “As opposed to just adding upper-level courses, we laid foundational pieces starting in the Lower School to help progression throughout the entire curriculum. I think it’s something that’s as fundamentally important as any other aspect of literacy — language, history, science or math.”

Eubank gives one piece of advice for hopeful students wishing to succeed in our tech-driven future: just start building.

“You will learn more from trying to build something for yourself than you will ever learn from trying to learn how to build it sitting in a classroom,” Eubank said. “For folks interested in going into STEM fields: don’t wait until someone teaches you how to build to just start building.”

by the

numbers In a poll asking seniors their intended major in college, 28 of 63 responses were in STEM-related subjects.

44% interested in STEM majors

THE MAKERSPACE

The tools of the trade

Located on the first floor of the Winn Science Center, the makerspace houses dozens of cutting-edge machines needed for nearly any project imaginable, ranging from 3D printers to metal cutters. Here, we look at some of the most prominent.

Lathe

Metalwork Shop

Storage Closet

to Second Floor

Materials Storage

Ventilation System

Work Tables

Miter Saw

CNC Mill

ST. MARK’S SCHOOL OF TEXAS

Computers

CNC Router

Blackbaud After switching from WhippleHill, Blackbaud has served as the hotspot for assignment information, allowing for on-demand grade transparency and immediate teacher updates.

Laser Cutter

3D Printers

Computer Labs The dozens of iMacs set up in each suite provide students with the computing power needed for highdetail photo editing, max-resolution video rendering, and large screen page design.

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life & Sneaker Design

the remarker february 4, 2022

DYNAMIC DUO The mother-son bond between junior Henry Boykin and his mother, Nicole Musselman, strengthened during the pair’s time spent working together to launch the sneaker.

Mother-son business partners With inspiration from a family legend, junior Henry Boykin took on the challenge of designing his own sneaker through the medium of his mom’s clothing business. Now, he gets to see family, friends and more showing off the product that stemmed from his passion.

W

hat do you get when a bored teenager learns more about a family icon?

A brand new shoe, of course.

Like many students, junior Henry Boykin didn’t want to waste the summer of 2020 as COVID-19 persisted. But, regardless of the unfortunate circumstances, he was going to make something out of his time off from school.

He set to work designing a sneaker that honored a legendary figure in his family’s history. Working with his mom, Boykin set up photoshoots, looked at prototypes and engaged in meetings with his mom’s coworkers.

Despite limited resources, he pulled through, creating a shoe even his friends started wearing. Through the journey, he never forgot the expression stemming from his grandfather’s grit and determination: He believed in the longshot.

Boykin’s mother, Nicole Musselman, is the daughter of NCAA and NBA coach Bill Musselman, who set an NCAA record in 1969 for allowing the least amount of points scored against his team at Ashland University with an average of 33.9 points per game. This record led to Musselman’s creation of a book called 33.9 about his team’s defense, and the statistic now serves as the title for Boykin’s sneaker.

“My mom and I started to think about how we could create a movement behind a brand because we had just read about how the best brands have a mission statement for their company that the consumer can get behind,” Boykin said. “We wanted to do something with our family, and we thought there was no better person than my granddad.”

Through Boykin’s project, he’s been able to learn more about his grandfather’s career and honor his legacy by pursuing his own passion.

“I never got to meet him because he died before I was born,” Boykin said, “so it’s been nice to hear more stories about him and learn more about him through my mom, through different people, through the book and through the Internet in general. He lived a pretty incredible life from what I hear, so it’s been nice to combine something that I’ve been enjoying with learning more about my family as we go along.”

Over the summer of 2020, with the pandemic at full force, a common interest inspired Boykin to pursue this personal project by using his mom’s platform to turn his idea into a reality.

“We both love sneakers, so when he said, ‘let’s create sneakers,’ I was so excited because I think it’s something that I would have loved to do with my company, but I don’t think I would have without him bringing it to me,” Nicole said. “I said, ‘Great. You research it, you design it, and then I can help on the manufacturing side.’”

Part of Musselman’s mission at her company, KOCH, is “to get girls to make their mark on the world by being joymakers and risk takers,” so Boykin’s sneaker introduced her to a new angle.

“Not only to hear my son’s point of view,” Nicole said, “but also to have a male point of view when creating a unisex shoe was great because my company is womenfounded and women-run.”

Manufacturing at a smaller scale brought along new challenges for Boykin during the designing process of the shoe, one that followed a method of trial and error.

“Sometimes they can’t make what you want on the shoe, so you have to go back,” Boykin said. “[The manufacturer is] in Portugal, so it would take a little while for them to respond to a prototype that we sent them. It required a lot of patience.”

Through his involvement with the business, Boykin has had to take on new responsibilities beyond designing the shoe.

“I’m in charge of managing the Instagram account, so I upload photo shoot results and make sure people are looking at the account,” Boykin said. “Nowadays, a large portion of the business is the social media aspect, so right now that’s my main job.”

After the shoe’s release, Boykin received positive feedback on the product as it spread throughout the community.

“All my friends have a pair too, so it’s been nice to see them wear it out,” Boykin said. “It’s really exciting to see something you made that your friends are supportive of.”

Watching her son work within a team for the company gave Nicole a new perspective that a mom doesn’t often get.

“When you’re a parent, you don’t always have the opportunity to see your son or child work with a whole group of people because they’re in school or athletics,” Nicole said, “but to see him sit in my office at a table with ten people when I really can’t say anything, and I have to just step back and not be a part of it — that’s been really interesting.”

This mother-son business relationship has brought about a deeper connection between the two through a shared passion.

“Even though my mom is a co-partner in the business, she can still definitely get mad at me if I’m not doing the things I need to do, but it’s been really fun because we both have a love for the product,” Boykin said. “It’s really nice to connect as a duo on that level.”

STORY Will Pechersky, Dawson Yao PHOTOS Courtesy Henry Boykin

OUTDOORS Boykin approached the design process of the 33.9 sneakers with his love for sports and outdoor activity in mind, but the shoes are worn casually by non-sports lovers as well.

STRATEGY The insole of the 33.9 sneakers depict a basketball play taken from Boykin’s grandfather, Bill Musselman, during his record-setting defensive season as a coach for Ashland University.

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Student Research

Academia on their own Students spend hours doing homework, studying for tests and working out. It can sometimes feel hard to engage in off-campus opportunities.

Nonetheless, a few students have found a way to continue their pursuit of knowledge outside of the classroom through independent research.

R

esearch papers are a routine component of many history and English classes on campus, but students often take their interests off-campus to work on projects in more detail. Here’s a look at two student researchers and the processes behind their work: Senior Alex Geng’s research on the Korean War looks into the context and events leading up to the war’s onset. “[My research paper] was on the Korean War and how it started,” Geng said. “It followed the timeline of the three global leaders at the time — Mao, Stalin and Truman — and the maneuvers that led to how the war actually started.”

Geng first started writing this paper for Master Teaching Chair Bruce Westrate’s history class, when he became interested in how peace deteriorated into armed conflict.

“It was originally for my final history paper in Dr. Westrate’s class,” Geng said.

“While reading through different archives, I noticed that Stalin said he envisioned a long lasting peace of 20 to 25 years. But six months later, he agreed to help North Korean leader Kim Il-sung invade South Korea.”

The sources he gathered Alex geng needed to be accurate, so he scoured public archives and collections to find the information he needed.

“I looked through primary sources such as telegrams, meeting records and documents,” Geng said.

“They were from correspondences between these leaders themselves. There’s a lot of different individual bits and pieces here and there that I had to piece together.”

Geng said the variety of source material and information he had to gather took time to materialize into a concrete narrative.

“It’s like you’re building a puzzle, but you don’t really know the big picture,” Geng said. “You’re trying to fit the little pieces together, and you can see that one piece is supposed to go here and another piece is supposed to go there. The big picture starts revealing itself after you spend more time digging.”

Even after being published by the Concord Review, a history academic journal, Geng says his work hasn’t ended. He wants to delve deeper into the war itself.

“I want to research the war and the battles because I only got into the origins and the [events] before the war,” Geng said.

Although his initial motivations sprung from his

stats

facts acts &

interest in the Korean War, Geng says he now finds the patterns and relations between history and the present worth studying.

“Seeing how events in history and the maneuvers by global leaders at the time influenced today’s international relations and our policies towards areas in the Far East like Korea and Taiwan is really interesting,” Geng said. “At the time, you had Stalin, Mao and Truman, and now you have Putin, Xi Jinping and Biden.

It’s interesting to see how those maneuvers by the global leaders at that time translate or repeat themselves throughout history and even today.”

In his research, senior Zubin Mehta looks into the influences of society on personality and behavior.

His interest in personality began four years ago, when he struggled to answer a question.

“Someone asked me, ‘Do we all masquerade to be someone we are not?’ At the time, I just didn’t know how to answer that,” Mehta said. “Over a lifetime, all of us are encouraged to be outgoing, talkative and enthusiastic and to make every effort to fit into this extroverted persona so that we can be viewed as a good leader and a source of inspiration. It got me thinking about how these unconscious biases and personas impact us in society.”

Mehta says his research is split into two different methods: electroencephalography (EEG) analysis and acquiring feedback from test subjects. Both methods combined to support Mehta’s findings.

“The main thing that we found was that extroverts are drawn to extroverts,” Mehta said, “but introverts also gravitate towards extroverts, just because a lot of introverts tend to masquerade themselves as extroverts; society in general is somewhat similar, in [fields] like business or law.”

Mehta further expanded upon his research with a series of interviews with various industry leaders and politicians.

In particular, he mentioned his conversations with Pepsi CIO Shyam Venkat and former Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas. “[Venkat] explained to me ZUbin Mehta that they do something called reactive working, allowing voices to be heard like a roundtable discussion we have with Harkness tables. Former Gov. Douglas told me that the essence of a free society of democracy is to welcome different opinions. All of them agreed that the first step for leaders is to encourage people. It’s very hard to find

THROUGH THE ARCHIVES Student council president Alex Geng combs through documents in the library as he continues his research on the Korean War. Specifically, Geng is exploring the early history of the war to better fully understand it.

inspiration to act in a certain way alone.”

In the future, Mehta plans to pursue a more broad career path in neurology.

“I think I’ll focus [on] neurology but in the context of brain health,” Mehta said. “Another thing that got me very interested is how the brain perceives things other than just relationships. It’s a similar idea, just not personality.”

STORY Nikhil Dattatreya PHOTO Tiger Yang

Total global researchers 7.8 million (UNESCO Report) Share of articles 0.21% (ScienceDirect 2015) published in academic journals by young researchers (under 24 years old) Concord Review 5% (The Concord Review) publishing rate Zubin Mehta’s website zubinmehta.me

Swiss semester students Henry Hoak and Graham Estess return to campus

by Aaron Liu ec. 9, sophomores Henry Hoak and Graham Estess returned from the Swiss Semester after spending three months studying abroad in Switzerland.

The trip started Sept. 9, when the duo joined 50 other kids from across the country for classes and midday activities. Activities included climbing, hiking, geology labs and skiing, and weekends involving trips around Switzerland.

D

What was your favorite part of the trip?

Henry Hoak: We got to go on trips every weekend, where we’d go and explore

other parts of Switzerland, and do fun activities like ice climbing.

What were classes like?

HH: We had art history class and geology labs, and also all the same classes we have here.

What was your favorite part of the trip?

Graham Estess: I think just having a schedule where you can take a break during the day and do something fun was really cool. I also enjoyed exploring cities like Venice and Annecy during the trip.

RECREATION Henry Hoak enjoys a boat ride on a Swiss lake along with his fellow students.

Where did you stay during the semester?

GE: The school rents out rooms in a hotel, and there’s a special underground area

SNOW DAYS Sophomore Graham Estess soaks in the view while hiking in the mountains.

with renovated suites for classrooms, along with a big open room that acts as our study hall.

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JUNIOR ACtivITIES

Kicking back with Paulmer Murphy When Middle School computer science instructor Kendall Murphy's son, Paulmer, requested 'real ninjas' for his birthday, she wasn't sure what to do. After trying and failing to go through conventional routes, Murphy decided to look around campus for a savior. Juniors Jackson Whitaker, Blake Malouf and Luke Noack were there to answer the call.

fake ninja moves, and we did a little performance where we got her son to just beat us up.

LN: To be honest, it wasn't too bad.

When we got there, Paulmer was wearing a ninja costume too. He would occasionally ask us a question, and we would just have to make something up.

How did you got in contact with these three juniors?

Kendall Murphy: My son, for his first birthday party, wanted to celebrate at the airplane museum, and he wanted real ninjas to be there. After a ton of research, I discovered you can't hire real ninjas to come to a party. So I ran into Jackson Whitaker when he was talking to his mom, and I said, 'Listen, Jackson, I need a huge favor. If I buy all the uniforms, can you and a couple of friends dress up as ninjas? But here's the thing: you have to be real ninjas. You can't get out of character. You have to be real.'

What do you like so much about ninjas?

Paulmer Murphy: They're so cool, and I love their tricks so I just wanted to get into it and train for it to be prepared for anything that's bad for me. Like if a stranger comes, I can just kick them off. I wanted to do karate so I could prepare myself.

What happened after the museum tour?

KM: My son Paulmer said, 'I want the ninjas to eat cake with me.' They all sat with the kids, and the kids asked them questions like, 'How did you find time to get here?' And they'd say things like, 'Well, we spent a lot of time practicing and fighting crime.'

KM: When we were leaving, we got in the car and Paulmer looked at me and said, 'Mom, those ninjas were amazing.

This is the best day ever.

Can they please come over to my house sometime? Can they come to school?'

How did you find the people to dress up with you as ninjas?

Jackson Whitaker: I texted a group chat and said the first two people that respond get to do it with me, and they were the first two.

How do you think it went with the kids believing you guys were real ninjas?

JW: I think it went pretty well. We had a lot of kids.

We ended up trying to be around Paulmer the most

What do you have to say about your fight against the ninjas?

PM: It was amazing. I was prepared for that fight. since it was his birthday. He would kind of lead us. It was at the airplane museum by Bachman Lake, so Paulmer showed us all the airplanes and we were just hanging out with them.

How did you get involved with the party?

JW: I was in my mom’s office one day and Mrs. Murphy came up to the office, and she went, 'Oh, hey, Jackson, my son's birthday party is coming up, and we've been trying to find somebody to dress up as ninjas, but you can't get that anywhere. Do you think you can get some of your friends to do it?'

Blake Malouf: One of my friends, Jackson Whitaker, reached out to a couple guys and asked if anyone would like to be ninjas for Mrs. Murphy's kid's birthday party. I saw it as an opportunity to maybe make a kid's day and to be a role model. He just said that we were going to dress up as ninjas, and that's all I knew.

Luke Noack: Jackson texted me a couple of weeks out for this birthday party. We went to do it at the [Frontiers of] Flight Museum by Love Field, and it was actually kind of nostalgic for me, because when I was about Paulmer's age, I had a birthday party there. It brought back some memories for sure.

READY FOR ACTION Juniors Blake Malouf, Luke Noack and Jackson Whitaker back up Paulmer Murphy in his ninja pursuits

Are you thinking about becoming a ninja in the future?

PM: I want to be like one of those party ninjas. I'm preparing for that.

Who was your favorite ninja?

PM: All three.

STORY Will Spencer, Axel Icazbalceta PHOTOS Will Spencer, Courtesy Kendall Murphy

What was your favorite part of the party?

JW: Honestly, being in character is a lot of fun, but it was probably when we actually sat down with the kids for cake, and we just talked to them about what ninjas do. That was pretty hilarious. It was pretty much all improv.

BM: We got to walk around that airplane museum with Mrs. Murphy's son, and he just wanted us to show everything, and I thought it was cool. Just following him around was probably the best part.

Was it hard to stay in character the whole time?

Did the kids buy into it?

BM: It wasn't too hard. We had fun with it, you know?

The guys were pretty young, and it wasn't too hard to stay in character the whole time. I think all the kids bought into it, for sure.

KM: Paulmer was just thrilled. He couldn’t believe there were three real ninjas coming to his party. They had a posse of toddlers following them around the airplane museum. They taught him how to do different ninja moves.

BIRTHDAY BOY Ninjas eating birthday cake might seem uncharacteristic to some, but that's what Paulmer asked of them.

How difficult would you say the performance was?

LN: The only part I would consider difficult was right after we finished eating, Mrs. Murphy said, 'Okay, everyone, gather around. We're gonna do the Ninja Show.' And then we were like, 'What?' We didn't know what it was, so we had to just make something up. We went up in front of all the kids and showed them some

FLYING HIGH The party took place at the Frontiers of Flight Museum at 6911 Lemmon Avenue. Other kids at the museum reportedly joined the throng after taking an interest in the ninjas.

the remarker february 4, 2022

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arts & The Literary Festival: in review Literary Festival

my instagram A look at junior Warner Hartnett’s photography from his Instagram account, @hartnettphoto In his own words:

This photo, along with the other two, was taken during my trip to Petra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in Jordan and Egypt.

What’s interesting about this photo is that I originally thought the person was a boy, but on top of her turban, if you look closely, there is some hair. It was cool that I was able to capture the possibility of her being a girl.

The girl appeared to be selling rocks and picking up things, and I liked how her sweater had reindeer on it since I took this during Christmas, a western holiday.

This photo was taken on the way to a very popular site in Petra. The guy was making art out of sand and animals like camels and other objects, so I wanted to capture that, and it turned out pretty well.

After the successful 2022 Literary Festival ended Jan. 14, visiting writer Sam Kean, Brent P. Johnson ‘89 Guest Writer and novelist Rhodah Janzen and Master Teaching Chair David Brown, the festival’s sponsor, share their reflections on the event.

H

aving spearheaded the organization of the Literary Festival, Master Teaching Chair David Brown sees this year’s festival as a success.

“The most beneficial thing of the Lit Fest is having writers in classrooms in a smaller setting where they can interact individuall and where students can ask questions,” Brown said.

Kean puts forward a special hope that his work will spur interest in science.

“I hope they can connect science to something in the outside world,” Kean said.

“I do think there’s a sense that science is very technical and serious, but I hope people can connect it to their daily lives and realize that you can laugh when you’re talking about science.

Science is a very human endeavor, and there is a lot of emotion involved in it.”

Brown sees Kean’s writing as especially effective in making intimidating

topics enjoyable. “[Kean] makes topics that have not always been of interest to me interesting, and makes arcane scientific topics understandable and entertaining,” Brown said.

Brent P. Johnson ‘89 Guest Writer Rhoda Janzen hopes that students will take the life lessons she’s learned to heart.

“From my book Mennonite in a Little Black Dress,” Janzen said. “I would like my readers to take away the fact that when we’re heartbroken, when we’ve made catastrophically bad decisions, the fastest way to mending our heart and moving forward is to take a good, hard look at our own complicity in our bad decision-making.”

Janzen describes memoirs as a vehicle for conversations about the effects of traumatic events.

“With all memoirs, they invite people to a larger dialogue,” Janzen said.

“It’s not just about me; it’s about how we all move forward after tragedy.

When the world

(left to right) Rhoda Janzen, David Brown, Sam Kean

STORY Will Spencer, Morgan Chow PHOTOS Will Spencer

culture in brief AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL Two student-created short films — Anthony’s Annihilation by juniors Blake Backes, Jose Jimenez and Anthony Martinez and Duck out of the Water by seniors Jodie Thompson, Mac McKenzie and Elijah Baker — were accepted to 2022’s Austin Student Film Festival.

The films were created by the students as part of their film studies classes. The films will be shown to general audiences at the festival Oct. 27 - Nov. 3.

CHOIR PERFORMANCE The Treble Choir Showcase will occur March 3 at 6:30 p.m. in Decherd Hall. The event, an informal evening of choir music performed by Middle and Lower School choristers, is open for the school’s entire community to attend.

The Middle and Lower Schoolers will be singing in solos and small groups, performing light-hearted works, pieces from musicals and films, pop songs and more.

LOWER SCHOOL PLAY Third graders will perform the play Johnny Appleseed Feb. 24 at 6:30 p.m. in Decherd Performance Hall. The play will be performed as part of the third grade’s larger Fine Arts Evening. The play, directed by Lower School drama teacher Shannon Schnaible, was rehearsed and produced in the third graders’ drama classees.

Refreshments will be provided after the event.

MIDDLE SCHOOL ORCHESTRA Middle School honors orchestra students will give a performance in Decherd Performance Hall Feb. 9. The Middle School orchestra, directed by orchestra instructor Sarah Choi, will play the the traditional English song “Scarborough Fair,” “Wood Splitter Fanfare” by Brian Balmages and other songs.

for the arts enthusiast THIRD GRADE FINE ARTS The third grade’s Fine Arts Evening will take place in Decherd Performance Hall Feb. 24 at 6:30 p.m.

The event, organized by Fine Arts Department Head Marion Glorioso, will feature works created by third graders in their art classes. Light refreshments will be provided following the production.

CHINESE LUNAR NEW YEAR The Chinese Lunar Year Festival during community time celebrated the year of the tiger Feb. 1. The performance was organized by the Chinese Club and sponsored by parents.

At the event, students gave performances such as a dragon dance and a Chinese yo-yo showcase. Chinese Club sponsor Janet Lin initiated the event to connect the community in celebration of the Chinese Lunar New Year.

inside 24ROCK STAR This photo is simply epic because it looks like something out of Indiana Jones. He was about 200 feet up in the air, with his feet dangling off the cliff; he could’ve died if he slipped, so it’s unique to see his content with that. The guy was making money by trying to get people up on the cliff and see the view from a higher perspective, so I thought it was cool that he was making money off of neardeath experiences.

tells you what your meaning is, you can push back and say, ‘No, that’s not the narrative I’m interested in.’”

Brown commends Janzen for her command over the English language, both in speech and in writing.

“Janzen was really fascinating because of her wide reading, her vast knowledge, her intelligence and her wit,” Brown said. “She’s very articulate and can talk extemporaneously in language that includes serious, humorous, intellectual and low brow elements — all at the same time.”

Kean acknowledges the school’s execution of the festival and congratulates all who participated.

“I was very impressed that a high school was putting on a literary festival of this quality,” Kean said. “Usually, it’s a community event with adults running it, but these students really did a nice job of making us feel welcome, getting us around and putting on a great festival.”

Photos of the long-awaited play’s final preparations and vibrant dress rehearsals.

Saturday Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo at 8 a.m. - 9:30 p.m. at the Dickies Arena Downtown Dallas Comedy at 7 p.m. in the Clarence Music Cafe Sunday Hamilton performance at the Bass Performance Hall at 7:30 p.m.

Closing night for Newises at 7 p.m. in the Black Box Theater Friday Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra: Ron Spigelman Back to the Future at 7:30 p.m. in the Bass Performance Hall

videogames

25Youngarts

26Newsies

Today Opening night for Newsies at 7 p.m. in the Black Box Theater

UPCOMING February 18 Steve-O concert at The Factory in Deep Ellum at 7 p.m.

Cirque du Soleil - Ovo at the Comerica Center at 3:30 p.m.

February 19 Aminé concert at 8 p.m. at the South Side Ballroom February 20 Dallas Opera: Madame Butterly in the Winspear Opera House at 2:00 p.m.

February 21 Wale concert in the House of Blues at 9 p.m.

February 26 Festival of Black Dance: Rhythm and Soul of a People at the Bruton Theatre at 8 p.m.

headliners

Sophomore Judah Frenkel was living life normally until a new opportunity changed his future forever.

An inside look into the winners of the YoungArts competition and their entries.

Next week

movies Total War: Feb. 17 Warhammer III

Dog

Feb. 4

Uncharted

Feb. 4

Elden Ring

Feb. 25

Moonfall

Feb. 18

Gran Turismo 7

March 4

Jackass Forever

Feb. 18

Laurel Hell, Mitski

Feb. 4

Once Twice Melody, Beach House

Feb. 18

Run, Rose Run, Dolly Parton

Mar. 7

concerts

albums DaBaby

Feb. 11

Bruce Dickinson

Feb. 22

The Weeknd

Feb. 25

culture

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arts &

the remarker february 4, 2022

Student Artist

To be a rock star When sophomore Judah Frenkel received an offer to record an album with a musician he idolized, he was ecstatic. When he realized he had to decide between St. Mark's and Los Angeles, he chose the latter. After all, opportunity only knocks once.

T

he music industry is, without a doubt, a tough place to be. With predatory record labels, headache-inducing copyright concerns and a fickle consumer base, it’s hard to believe that anybody would actually want to be a musician.

Yet, some young artists decide to put themselves out there, brave all of these obstacles and dump their hearts and souls into their craft; all for a chance at stardom.

Sophomore Judah Frenkel aims to be one of these artists. After attending the school for ten years, he decided to leave in the middle of his sophomore year and hop on a plane to Los Angeles.

Why leave it all behind? What forces are at play?

What, exactly, does it take to become a rock star?

Like every musician, Frenkel started small. His bright future in music began reluctantly with something familiar to many: mandatory piano practice.

“When I was a young child, my mom forced me to take piano lessons,” Frenkel said. “Somewhat later, I started taking guitar, and I was like, ‘OK, I'm going to switch to this one.’ There was sort of a natural progression from playing songs to writing my own, and that’s led me to where I am now.”

By his own admission, Scott Frenkel, Judah’s dad, is no musician. To Scott, Judah’s passion and love for music has always been odd but also amazing to see.

“Judah has always been working on his own music,” Scott said. “If I ever got in trouble as a kid, my mom would make me practice twice as long. If I wanted to punish Judah for something, I would take his guitar away for a day. It's just his passion and his natural ability.”

As Judah developed his musical skills on the side while Scott Frenkel climbing up the grade levels of St. Mark’s, he joined the school band and the Blues Club to help cultivate his musical talent. All was going as planned — until a trip to Las Vegas changed everything.

“I was going to take him to a concert in Las Vegas of a performer who had been a big influence on him, but I thought it would be cool if we could somehow get backstage passes to meet him,” Scott said. “Judah replied: ‘You know what would be really cool? What if we could get him to play a song with me backstage?’”

Judah decided to send in a recording in an attempt to pique their interest. When the musician in question heard the recording, he decided to give Judah a bit more than he initally bargained for.

“Judah recorded himself playing one of this guy's hits, and we sent it to his agent,” Scott said. “Sure enough, the agent calls me, and he's like, ‘He's really talented. My client doesn't just want to meet him: He

wants him to fly to Los Angeles to make a demo.’”

One thing led to another, and a collaborative demo transformed into a full-blown album deal with Judah in the forefront. Now, a team of people with various specialities are working with Judah to maximize his potential.

“One is an agent who has raised multiple artists to stardom, and the others are musicians and producers,” Judah said. “One of them was previously involved with the band Weezer, which I’m a huge fan of.”

As part of the deal, Judah was obligated to make regular trips to Los Angeles to record with his team, which would interfere with his regular school schedule. Initially, the Frenkels were determined to take advantage of the situation without leaving behind St. Mark’s, but, eventually, it became apparent that they would have to choose one or the other.

“It really was painful to decide to actually pull him from St. Mark's,” Scott said. “I mean, we did everything we could to try and get him into St. Mark’s, and now we were actually ASPIRING ARTIST Frenkel styles himself an electric guitarist. He still plays electric to thinking about pulling him from what record, but he recently switched to using an acoustic guitar while song writing. Frenkel says that writing with an acoustic guitar allows him to pick up on more tonal details. we consider to be the best school.”

Judah was similarly conflicted of fun,” Scott said. “The studio sessions are super long, between the school and community that he’d been with like 12 to 14 hours. Sometimes we were finishing at 2 for ten years and an amazing but fleeting opportunity to a.m., and then getting up and doing it again. It's really pursue his passion in the big leagues. amazing to watch how the sausage gets made.”

“It was a very tough decision to make,” Judah said.

He doesn’t have an official release date yet, but Judah “It was essentially a crossroads between staying and not reassures eager listeners that it won’t be long before the trying for this career, and not staying and doing it. And album is released. ultimately, I decided to not stay and do it. The thing that “When this gets finished, which should be pretty I can’t replace is the amazing community at St. Mark's. I soon because we’re moving at a breakneck pace,” Judah miss it.” said, “we're going to be rolling it out on YouTube Music, Spotify, Apple Music, all of those streaming platforms.”

Judah’s unique musical style was clearly fresh Judah’s sights are set high, and his goals lofty. He enough to attract the attention of industry insiders, but knows he’s made his first big breakthrough into the he finds its nature hard to explain. industry of his dreams, but it’s anyone’s guess where the “If I had to describe it, I would say that it's pop future will lead him. Judah, though, is optimistic. melodies over hard rock riffs. I’d call it modern “There are a lot of people who are saying that this alternative rock,” Judah said. music is going to be something worth listening to, and Contrary to what one might imagine, the Frenkels’ what I see leads me to believe that my music might be trips to California do not include sightseeing and trips successful,” Judah said. “It's my dream to be a rock star.” to the beach. Scott describes a brutal schedule of pure artistic productivity.

“Those days in STORY Will Spencer California are not a lot PHOTOS Courtesy Judah Frenkel, Scott Frenkel

SOUND MIXING In a digital world, the music industry has certainly not been spared from the intrusion of computers. Today's musicians use computers to modify and arrange recorded sounds and to prototype melodies before any physical recording actually happens.

BIG LEAGUES At a Paramount Recording Studio in Los Angeles, Frenkel plays the guitar along with two other musicians. These recording sessions, which are still ongoing, often take all day. Frenkel is under an NDA (non-disclosure agreement), which prevents The ReMarker from identifying them.

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the remarker february 4, 2022

YOUNGARTS AWARDS

Designing with the best

Seniors Tomek Marczewski and Evan Lai were named YoungArts finalists in design arts and photography, respectively.

The pair heard from artists around the country at the virtual YoungArts Festival, gaining advice and a new outlook on all varieties of art Jan. 9-15. We talked to both seniors to understand their takeaways from the festival.

F

ive seniors were recognized this year

by YoungArts, an organization that awards the most talented young artists in the nation for their artistic talent: senior photographers Paul Valois and Owen Simon earned honorable mentions, and senior Ekansh Tambe received a merit award.

Most notably, seniors Tomek Marczewski and Evan Lai were named finalists in design arts and photography, respectively.

Through years of work, the two have amassed portfolios covering a wide range of topics, from food waste to political discourse to expectation versus reality.

The YoungArts Festival featured artists from all fields and encouraged the students attending the event to show their own style to professionals.

“We made a lot of photos throughout the week,” Lai said. “They would give us 30 minutes to two hours to shoot assignments, which was pretty challenging but also very fun. We shared our work, and we also talked to a lot of people inside the

photography industry.”

Outside of the photography industry, artists from all fields showcased their work. A product designer who worked with children to make prosthetics that were LEGO-compatible talked about his vision where children could have fun with something that’s normally utilitarian. A fashion designer for disabled people who makes accessories for wheelchairs wanted a world where those items would be just as aesthetic as they were functional.

Marczewski believes the artists’ stories left an impact and exposed him to a community he normally doesn’t interact with.

“I got a lot of insight into what the process is like for artists in all sorts of disciplines,” Marczewski said. “Having that perspective from someone who I wouldn’t normally talk to is incredibly rewarding and something that I really enjoy.”

In addition to hearing stories from experienced artists, Marczewski gained newfound confidence in his own ability and developed a different view of the artistic world.

“I was given the opportunity to think

Evan Lai: photography that inspires

P

hotography has always seemed to be a nuisance for senior Evan Lai. “My father always took a lot of photos on our family vacations,” Lai said. “I used to be pretty annoyed by photographers — especially my dad — because whenever he was trying to take a photo of us, I had to stand still.”

This soon changed, however, after he joined the photography program in the seventh grade, where he developed his skills and came to love his father’s passion.

Lai submitted two portfolios to the YoungArts Festival, covering years of work with photography instructor Scott Hunt’s guidance.

“Mr. Hunt was not only a really big contributor to my YoungArts journey, but also my source of inspiration,” Lai said. “Photography classes helped with the whole process of developing my cohesive ideas, and Mr. Hunt really helped me flesh them out and polish them. He helped me edit my artist’s statement, and we even worked with the order of the photos and their titles.”

Through his works, Lai hopes to make an impact on pressing issues surrounding everyday life, from food waste to political discourse.

CAPTURING THE WORLD Senior Evan Lai focuses as he takes a photo of the chapel in the Quad.

“The first is named Chromatic Remains — I’m trying to expose the innate beauty within food,” Lai said.

“I take it to the extreme by trying to find beauty within food scraps. My other portfolio is called America Divided, and that is a deep exploration of my personal perspective regarding not only the growing rift within our nation, but also the rift I saw within my personal life between friends and family members based on riveting political issues.”

STORY Jonathan Yin, Morgan Chow VISUALS Charlie Estess, Courtesy Evan Lai

in a different way,” Marczewski said.

“That’s really what doing art has given me: a new perspective on the world and on things like design and form that I wouldn’t necessarily consider.”

Although the YoungArts Festival was held online due to pandemic precautions, both Lai and Marczewski gained newfound perspectives.

“Honestly, it was one of the best experiences of my life in terms of how much I learned and the interesting people I talked to,” Marczewski said. “It’s sad that it wasn’t in person, but it was one of the few times I felt really engaged in Zoom meetings.”

For Lai, the program motivated him to be more honest and accepting in his work.

“The most important thing I learned from YoungArts is to be open-minded,” Lai said. “In your photos, there should be some sort of vulnerability — you should tell stories that are important to you.”

STORY Jonathan Yin, Morgan Chow PHOTOS Charlie Estess, Courtesy Evan Lai, Courtesy Tomek Marczewski

Tomek Marczewski: rewarding creations

M

aking tables out of chipboard after school, woodworking has always been part of senior Tomek Marczewski’s life.

“There was a woodshop at my old school, so I always put things together there,” Marczewski said. “When I joined St. Mark’s and saw that there was an option to take wood and metal, I jumped at the opportunity. Mr. Frost had a background as a sculptor, and he really got me to consider new topics. Slowly, as I kept going, my work became better and I was able to get a good portfolio together.”

Covering over two years in the studio, eight pieces and an artist critique, Marczewski’s portfolio revolves around a series of dysfunctional tools that almost work, but not quite.

“There’s not a message I’m trying to get across, but there is a context that comes with the pieces,” Marczewski said. “You pick it up and expect it to be rigid, and then it actually collapses under its own weight. I am playing with expectation versus reality.”

For Marczewski, he found his inspiration in the creative process itself.

“I’m just trying to be interesting,” Marczewski said.

“I like making things. Making

VAST PORTFOLIO Lai’s photographs range from political commentary to natural beauty. Above are two of Lai’s favorite pieces, named “What is truth?“ (left) and “Shrimp with Chili Black Bean Sauce” (right).

a thing of beauty that you put a lot of thought into and seeing it from the birth of the idea to the actual creation of the piece is a very rewarding experience and something you don’t get a lot of in a world where everything is streamlined for mass consumption.”

STORY Jonathan Yin, Morgan Chow PHOTOS Charlie Estess, Courtesy Tomek Marczewski

stats

fa acts &

2022 TPSMEA All-State musicians Band: • • • • •

Ian Lin, senior Ralph Steele, senior Miles Thornburg, junior John Zhao, sophomore Will Bowers, sophomore

Choir: • Xander Bowles, senior • Daniel Uglunts (ranked best tenor II in the state), senior • Ross Cunningham, junior • Logan Johnson (ranked third best tenor II in the state), junior • Sam Menendez, junior • Luke Stallings, junior • Matthew Gomez, sophomore • Adrian Lutgen, sophomore • Winston Miller, sophomore • Owen Ackerman, freshman • Surya Dinesh, freshman • Lukas Palys (ranked third best bass I in the state), freshman Orchestra: • Jedidiah Kim, senior • Svanik Jaikumar, junior •Aadi Khasgiwala (ranked third best cello in the state), junior • Akash Raghunathan (ranked third best violin in the state), junior • Branden Song, junior • Miller Wendorf, sophomore • Andrew Xuan, freshman • Daniel Sun, freshman • Jediel Sarfo, freshman • Adithya Munshi, freshman • Brandon Kim, freshman • John Householder (first alternate violin), freshman

SANDING DOWN Senior Tomek Marczewski, sporting safety goggles, smooths out a piece of wood with a power sander before using it for his work. Marczewski spends a lot of his time on campus in the workshop upstairs in Nearburg.

FINISHED PRODUCT After months of hard work, senior Tomek Marczewski finally completed this piece, named “Edge“, which was included in his YoungArts portfolio.

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Student theater

Drama students seize the day

After months of planning and rehearsals, the Newsies cast and crew are ready to show off their hard work to audiences in a series of performances starting tonight at 7 p.m. in the Black Box Theater. The show will continue tomorrow at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m.

SINGING HIS HEART OUT Senior Xander Bowles stars as the play’s protagonist, Jack Kelly.

“He’s 17 years old, and he dreams of moving to wide open spaces out west,” Bowles said. “When the newspaper company raises the prices, he is the leader of the revolting newspapers.

He’s riled up to fight the establishment”

PERFORMING TOGETHER Senior Daniel Uglunts (right) and sophomore Miller Wendorf sing in unison.

ARMS HELD HIGH The cast performs a dance number. Though the play is rather dance-heavy, many cast members had taken no dance classes prior ro the play’s preparation.

DRESSING IN RED Hockaday junior Sydney Hoyl plays the role of Medda Larkin, a singer who performs at a saloon the paperboys consider to be a safe haven.

CENTER STAGE The Newsies gather around Jack Kelly while preparing for their strike against the owners of The World, a fictional New York newspaper of the Newsies universe.

PHOTOS Owen Simon COMPILATION Will Spencer, Aaron Augustine

Marksmen Multicultural Night to be held by Inclusion and Diversity Leadership Council

by Nikhil Dattatreya he Marksmen Multicultural Night will be held by the Inclusion and Diversity Leadership Council (IDLC) Feb. 23 from 6:30-8 p.m.

Director of Inclusion, Diversity and Human Resources Lorre Allen hopes that the student-led event will give students a sense of belonging.

“It’s an opportunity for us to celebrate each other and learn more about the different cultures that we come from,” Allen said. “It’s going to be absolute fun.”

The IDLC will invite Upper Schoolers and their families to share

T

their cultural experiences over dinner in the Great Hall.

“I want people to come out and support us,” Allen said. “It’s important to learn about each other. We’re asking people to share the histories of their cultures, and we hope for it to be a family event where we can learn more about each other.”

Allen recognizes that students have little time on weekdays to spare, but she hopes the event will help expand their cultural awareness and appreciation. Even though the event is scheduled in the midst of International Week, she hopes students will have

time to come out and support the IDLC’s event.

“We’re so busy here on campus,” Allen said, “but to actually come together in an evening event, and to have that community engagement as an opportunity for us to get to know each other, where we’re from and who we are is why this is important. If people can come out and help support [the event], that is what the Inclusion and Diversity Leadership Council is hoping for.”

Allen says the Marksmen Multicultural Night is just one of many events the IDLC runs in order

to address and welcome conversation about diversity and belonging among the student body — an aspect of the school that Allen values greatly.

“Having the event helps create a sense of belonging,” Allen said. “It’s an opportunity for students to hear each other and talk about how we can ensure that we bring awareness to inclusion and diversity efforts here on campus. I hope that, when you see something from the IDLC like Lions Table, that you will participate and be part of the conversation. Having events like [these] is critical to the evolution of our school.”

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girl scout cookies

Door-to-door delights Every year, the knock-knock of girl scouts beckons us to empty our wallets and fill our stomachs. So, this year, here’s our take on three cookies.

Samoas I

know Samoas are probably some people’s favorite cookie out of the Girl Scouts’ lineup, but, in my opinion, they are overrated.

The cookie consists of a biscuit donut enveloped by a combination of caramel, chocolate stripes and coconut flakes on top, as well as a chocolate spread on the bottom.

I would enjoy the cookie if it only contained caramel and chocolate, but the addition of coconut flakes completely ruins it.

Their texture reminds me of having

Grade:

B+

hair stuck in my teeth, and its horrendous aftertaste lasts for far too long.

But other than the coconut, Samoas almost perfectly blend crispy and chewy with the cookie itself, adding a near-crunchy texture while the melted chocolate and caramel contribute to the chewiness. So, if you are a fan of coconut, Samoas will probably satisfy your desires. Otherwise, the white flakes will overpower the rest of the cookie.

Cost: $5 Cookies in box: 15 Total calories: 900 Total fat: 45 g

Grade:

B

Cost: $5 Cookies in box: 15 Total calories: 1065 Total fat: 52.5 g

T

agalongs might as well be advertised as Jif’s extra crunchy peanut butter, because that’s exactly what they taste like.

They are a crispy cookie infused with peanut butter and covered with a chocolate coating. However, the chocolate is completely overpowered by what’s under it, and the only evidence that it even existed was the glop of semi-melted chocolate on my fingertips after I finished the cookie.

The interior peanut

Adventurefuls

I

ntroducing Adventurefuls, the newest flavor of the Girl Scout cookie lineup added this year.

The Adventurefuls are definitely on the chocolaty end of the Girl Scout cookie spectrum, but the photos on the box — suggesting a soft, brownie-inspired cookie — are misleading.

Adventurefuls are actually quite crunchy. The cookie has a crumbly outer chocolate layer, and the top-

Tagalongs

middle potion is filled with caramel flavored crème, which has a sea-salt aftertaste and a firmness resembling that of icing on a cake. The salty taste compliments the sweetness of the chocolate.

So, if you like some salt in your sweets, you will probably enjoy Adventurefuls. If not, I would recommend something more sugary, like Thin Mints.

butter completely dominates the rest of the cookie, with its savory flavor and sticky texture filling your mouth as you eat it. The half-decent part of the cookie is its crunch, but it is hardly noticeable over the peanut butter filling. The only people I would think about recommending this cookie to are hardcore peanut butter fanatics, the type that eat it straight out of the jar. If that does not describe you, I would stay far away from Tagalongs.

Grade:

CCost: $5 Cookies in box: 15 Total calories: 1050 Total fat: 67.5 g

STORY Darren Xi, Shreyan Daulat

My winning predictions at the Oscars Before the Academy Awards ceremony, managing editor and movie buff Toby Barrett gives his predictions of the award winners in a couple of catagories.

Best Picture: Belfast

Best Actor: Will Smith, King Richard

P

I

eople really eat up coming-of-age movies — the brilliant Lady Bird, the genuine Eighth Grade and the once-in-a-lifetime Jojo Rabbit, just to name a few of the more recent ones. Being one, and being an immensely captivating picture, Belfast seems to be the obvious choice for best picture.

It actually has a lot in common with Jojo Rabbit: it is set in 1969 in Northern Ireland and presents us with complex historical issues through the lens of a young local boy. In

Belfast, his name is Buddy, an Irish Protestant played to perfection by the young Jude Hill in a time when friction between Catholics and Protestants was the source of a lot of violence.

Sure, it’s unbelievably shot, but we expect the Best Picture to be.

Rather, it’s this deeply relatable and personable protagonist, Buddy, and the film’s myriad of 3-D characters that really make the movie Best Pictureworthy. Plus, the film’s in black and white, which is pretty neat.

f there’s one thing people can’t seem to get enough of, it’s Will Smith, and King Richard is Will Smith at his most Will Smith.

He plays Richard Williams, father of Venus and Serena Williams, in a story that follows his relationship with his daughters, who, of course, become the famous Venus and Serena we all know.

Smith flaunts his distinct talent

Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza

O

kay, this one might be more of a long shot.

First of all, it’s another coming-of-age story, so that’s already an advantage for Paul Thomas Anderson.

Second, it’s a more stinging and enthralling critique of Hollywood and the movie business than we’ve seen in a long time. Anderson takes two protagonists — a young smug actor named Gary Valentine played

by Cooper Hoffman and a moody, slightly older secretary named

Alana Kane played by Alana Haim — and uses their superbly delightful relationship to tell a tale about people, California, the film industry and love in the 1970s that rivals any other narrative made this year. And, visually, Anderson’s work is golden.

Yeah, maybe I just think he deserves it the most, but Anderson has the qualifications and the argument for Best Director. I’m sticking with him, even if Spielberg’s his competition.

of portraying a flawed yet likable protagonist in a flat-out well-made movie. His dynamic with the actors who play Venus and Serena, Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton, reflects real father-daughter relationships.

So, for his raw, life-like depiction of Richard Williams — and partly for being Will Smith — I think Best Actor goes to him.

Details oscar ar Location

Dolby Theatre, Final Award Los Angeles Voting

March 17-22

Date

March 27

Host

Unannounced

Time

8 p.m.

Former host

Jimmy Kimmel

Nominations

Feb. 8

Oscars number

94th

Channel

ABC Producer

Will Packer

Director

Glen Weiss

Categories

23

opinion

28

editorials & Get out to vote in the primaries

MAIN EDITORIAL

As election season starts to ramp up in Texas, students of age and community members ought to register to vote and exercise that right in the primary elections this spring.

I

n less than a month on March 1, Texas will hold its first round of primaries for governor, House, state legislature and a myriad of other positions. Both the Democratic and Republican parties will hold elections for Texans to choose the candidates they want to see on the general election ballot come November.

However, data from the United States Election Project reveals only 21 percent of the voting eligible population in Texas participated in the last primaries of 2020. These numbers pale in comparison with the 60 percent of eligible Texan voters who cast a ballot for the general election of the same year. Though obviously the November election holds final say in determining who will become our elected officials for the next two, four or six years, to not participate in the process that decides what names appear on that ballot seems puzzling at best and irresponsible at worst. Primary elections serve just as fundamental a role in American democracy as general elections, and every citizen has a right and a duty to have their voice be heard in all elections, no matter how big or small.

At its highest levels in the past 30 years, barely over half of voters from ages 18 to 29 participated in the

WHO CAN VOTE?

The voter registration deadline was Feb. 1.

To register, prospective voters need to fill out an application and mail it to the Voter Registrar. Voters must be at least 18 years of age by Election Day to register.

2020 election. While lower turnout than older voters and a general sense of apathy among young voters has been the trend for decades, the data shows young people today are more politically involved now than ever.

We welcome this trend and embrace the role our students of age have in continuing it.

WE STRONGLY encourage all members

of the school community to register and vote in the upcoming primaries.

A voter registration booth was set up in the Commons during lunch two weeks ago, and we were pleased at the large number of people lining up to fill out an application before the Feb. 1 deadline. A guide on a short list of noteworthy candidates in the most prominent elections is included to the left, as well as a congressional district map.

In order to maintain a strong and healthy democracy, citizens have to vote in all elections, no matter how much media attention or perceived importance any individual election may have. The influence of primaries to decide the outcomes of general elections cannot be understated.

All responsible citizens should and must vote in these elections, starting on March 1.

214 67

Faculty and staff on campus Seniors who will be 18 on March 1

MEET THE CANDIDATES GOVERNOR DEMOCRATS

“Inno” Barrientez Michael Cooper Joy Diaz Beto O’Rourke Rich Wakeland

REPUBLICANS

Greg Abbott (I) Paul Belew Danny Harrison Kandy Kaye Horn Don Huffines Rick Perry* Chad Prather Allen West

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR DEMOCRATS

Michelle Beckley Carla Brailey Mike Collier

REPUBLICANS

Trayce Bradford Todd M. Bullis Daniel Miller Dan Patrick (I) Aaron Sorrells Zach Vance

ATTORNEY GENERAL DEMOCRATS

Mike Fields Rochelle Garza Joe Jaworski Lee Merritt S. “T-Bone” Raynor

REPUBLICANS

George P. Bush Louie Gohmert Eva Guzman Ken Paxton (I)

Members of the school community generally live in US House districts 3, 5, 24, 30, 32 and 33. Below is a map of congressional districts and incumbent representatives:

For more information on candidates and races and to determine what district you live in, head to apps.texastribune.org/features/2022/texas-2022election-ballot-primary/ * - The Republican candidate for governor shares a name with the former Texas governor and Secretary of Energy (I) - Incumbent

EDITORIALs

More infrastructure for students who have to stay home because of COVID-19

Lockdown drills should return for students’ safety

A

A

s cases of COVID-19 climb in our community and our city at large, faculty and students alike are having to stay home due to either close contact with a person infected with the virus or themselves being infected. After a positive test, students have to stay at home until they test negative or for the five days following the date of his positive test.

This means students miss out on lessons, notes, assignments, tests, quizzes and other classroom activities for up to a school week. At a fast-paced school like ours where losing a single day can leave students feeling behind in classes, the effects of being sent home because of COVID can snowball out of proportion.

For this reason, we ask teachers to do all they can to facilitate students’ transition back into the classroom. From ensuring that all assignments are posted on the school website to offering digital copies of class notes. For example, many teachers in the Math Department use a OneNote notebook accessible to all students to see class notes. These notes are then available

to students for reference during their days at home when they feel well enough to work on schoolwork.

Obviously, further help would be needed for students to fully catch up with their peers, but we see this as a good first step. Taking full advantage of office hours will be a necessity in the catching up process.

Secondarily, we encourage students who feel overwhelmed with school work to visit Coordinator of Academic Support Julie Pechersky to set up a plan to complete make-up work. We cannot stress enough the importance or the magnitude of help a visit to Pechersky could provide students feeling behind in their studies.

But above all, it is a student’s individual responsibility to find the best way for him to get back on track. No matter how much help teachers may offer, only by a student’s personal initiative can he make up for time lost in the classroom.

We ask teachers to help students in this process, but we expect all our peers to do their due diligence as well.

s the school makes a return to normalcy in the following months, we feel strongly that standard safety protocols should do the same — specifically lockdown drills.

School shootings remain constantly present in headlines throughout the nation, and the school has a responsibility to ensure everyone on campus is prepared.

Luckily, Director of Security Dale Hackbarth says we’re well on our way. The new schedule — while well-received by students — has created difficulties in scheduling, but Hackbarth and his team have scheduled multiple drills on a grade-by-grade basis, regardless.

We commend the school’s security team for their initiative in this.

Lockdown drills, while uncomfortable, familiarize campus members with the ways to protect themselves against a threat. Frequency is key to their success, and our community will be most prepared when it has had practice with the protocols.

Thus, if something were to truly go wrong, action could be taken quickly and efficiently, reducing risk for everyone.

the remarker february 4, 2022

student newspaper of st. mark’s school of texas 10600 preston road dallas, texas 75230 214.346.8000 Editorial Board editor in chief AUSTIN WILLIAMS assignments editor WILL PECHERSKY editorials & opinions editor AXEL ICAZBALCETA head photographer EVAN LAI indepth editor JONATHAN YIN managing editors TOBY BARRETT PETER ORSAK publications photo editor EKANSH TAMBE Section Editors arts & culture, life & 10600 SHREYAN DAULAT WILL SPENCER health & sports ARJUN KHATTI DILLON WYATT discovery & stem, news & issues KESHAV KRISHNA MYLES LOWENBERG Focus Magazine editors MORGAN CHOW IAN DALRYMPLE Creative graphics director COOPER COLE Advertising business manager IAN MIZE Writers BEN ADAMS AARON AUGUSTINE NIKHIL DATTATREYA ZACK GOFORTH GRANT JACKSON AARON LIU NOLAN MARCUS GRAYSON REDMOND MATTHEW REED DARREN XI DAWSON YAO Photographers ZACHARY BASHOUR HUDSON BROWN CHARLIE ESTESS PATRICK FLANAGAN WARNER HARTNETT SAL HUSSAIN AKASH MUNSHI LARS OCHS OWEN SIMON NEIL SONG TIGER YANG Adviser RAY WESTBROOK Headmaster DAVID W. DINI audience The ReMarker is intended for the students, faculty, staff and alumni community of St. Mark’s School of Texas. Press run is 4,000 copies, with more than 2,600 of those mailed out to alumni, courtesy of the school’s offices of External Affairs, Development and Alumni divisions. opinions and editorials Editorials represent the views of the Editorial Board and are not necessarily those of the Board of Trustees, administration, faculty or staff. All personal opinion columns, bylined with the writer’s name and photo, represent the views of that writer only and not necessarily those of The ReMarker, Board of Trustees, administration, faculty or staff. online viewing www.smtexas.org/remarker podcast @focalpointpodcast instagram @remarkernewspaper reader involvement The ReMarker encourages reader input through guest columns and story ideas.

Contact the appropriate editor for suggestions. letters to the editor Letters to the editor are welcome and encouraged. They must be typed, signed and not exceed 300 words. E-mail submissions are not accepted. advertising Contact the business staff at 214.346.8145. We reserve the right to refuse any advertisement. Inclusion of an ad does not represent an endorsement by the school’s administration, faculty, or staff or ReMarker staff members. membership The ReMarker maintains membership in the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, New York City, NY; National Scholastic Press Association, Minneapolis, MN; and the Interscholastic League Press Conference, Austin.

the remarker february 4, 2022

Quick question: why be happy when you can be interesting?

O

kay, I know how this sounds. “Axel hates happiness.” “Axel wants us to be busy and miserable all the time.” Axel hates this, Axel wants that. That’s not the point. The point of this column is to entice you to get your sorry behind off your bed, off your phone, off TikTok and onto something productive, something that will actually help you down the road.

I’m no psychiatrist, but I don’t think mindlessly scrolling through six inches of LED lights in different configurations to the benefit of a soulless, capitalist conglomerate and to the detriment of your critical thinking skills will do you much good. Just a thought. So let’s change that. For you.

So what’s this happiness I seem to be railing against in the title? Simple concept, complex nuance: happiness, as we define it today, is a meaningless, facile, vacuous feeling of the lack of any discomfort in life that allows you to do nothing for hours on end and not feel guilty for it.

Simply put, we think of happiness as the freedom to do nothing. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

We used to derive AXEL ICAZBALCETA Editorials & Opinions Editor happiness from actually doing stuff. Learning, hobbies, spending time with friends and family.

But now, times have changed. For the worse.

The fundamental problem is that we don’t actively pursue happiness anymore: we just watch content — in various mediums — from our screens. Passive entertainment. But life cannot be lived passively. Only by living life will you gain any satisfaction from it.

You have to actively decide to get out of your comfort zone and do different things, try out different activities to find out what suits your passion.

For me, it’s been learning history, politics and philosophy. Though it’s been a very unorthodox journey, little by little I learned about these three different fields in my own way. When I had some free time, I listened to a podcast or watched a video or read a book.

Imagine that, I read a book!

Now, I understand that I may sound like a big fat hypocrite for saying the way I followed my passion included listening to podcasts and watching videos when I just said stuff like watching TikTok is a waste of time. But here’s where I see the fundamental difference: scrolling through Instagram and seeing an interesting post is an isolated event, while learning new knowledge and building on WE USED TO DERIVE that knowledge HAPPINESS FROM ACTUALLY DOING throughout time STUFF. LEARNING, takes a concentrated, HOBBIES, SPENDING prolonged effort.

TIME WITH FRIENDS Spending 15 AND FAMILY. BUT minutes scrolling NOW, TIMES HAVE on Twitter takes CHANGED. FOR THE no effort, but WORSE. continually going back to learn the history of Rome from the birth of Romulus to the death of Caesar does.

If your passion falls into the umbrella of academia — like most of mine have — ­­ go on a deep dive, learn as much as you can and find ways to apply what you’ve learned to your everyday life.

Or if you prefer more active pastimes, like playing sports or biking or anything like that, more power to you. You’re putting in the physical work alongside the mental work. You’re doing better than me, king.

So what’s the point? What’s the purpose of putting in all this effort when I didn’t need to? It’s the feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment that follows. It’s knowing you’re good at something and liking that you’re good at it. It’s finding your own form of happiness in the stuff you like to do, breaking up the monotony of life.

The point, in fact, is happiness, and finding a true form of it.

So maybe the title was clickbait-y. I don’t care. Clickbait is an art. Ask any YouTuber.

opinion

29

editorials &

‘Will’s Tips & Tricks to the College Application Process’

C

olleges love an upward trend in grades.

Make sure you’re keeping track of your activities.

Start putting together a list of schools you’re interested in.

It’s hard to believe, but just 12 months ago, I stood at the starting line of the daunting college application process. The Class of 2022 had recently begun receiving seminars from the College Counseling office, so trust me, I’ve heard these same messages plenty of times. And if you haven’t gotten used to it already, prepare to keep hearing them for a while.

But I’m not here to give you the same advice you’re already going to receive. The counselors will advise you side-by-side through the meat of the process much better than I could.

With the application process all wrapped up, I’m here to share my personal experiences and lessons beyond the essentials. Hopefully I can give y’all a sense of what I did well and what I could have done better so you can make your application process as smooth as an incredibly unsmooth process can be.

So to the juniors and below, I now present ‘Will’s Tips & Tricks to the College Application Process.’

Take my advice at your own discretion.

Tip #1: Start early.

If you only take one tip away from my message, this would be it.

I can’t explain how valuable the time I wasted on TikTok over the summer would prove to be. When you have an AP microeconomics test to study for, a unit’s worth of math homework to catch up on and an in-class essay to prepare for — along with all the other work to complete on five-and-a-half hours of sleep — college apps do not get done when you think they will.

And trust me, there’s plenty of work to do. This time last year, I ambitiously told myself that I would do as much as I could over the summer — and some of y’all will think the same thing.

But with vacation, relaxation and procrastination, it just didn’t happen.

I’m not saying it’s impossible, but you’ll need to truly commit yourself to make significant progress.

Even though you won’t have access to most school-specific essays, the

resume, Common App, ApplyTexas and personal essay leave you with more than plenty to accomplish in the meantime.

For the majority of y’all that will inevitably fall into the same trap over the summer, making most of your progress during the school year is still doable — but less than ideal.

I quickly learned that weekends were the only days I could realistically work on college apps.

Chipping away at something for maybe half an hour was the best I could do on a weekday. Personally, I (reluctantly) committed myself to use Saturdays as best I could to work on applications, and left Sundays to do schoolwork. As this developed into a habit, the process became much smoother. Consistency is key.

email to a college counselor is always better than the alternative of messing up something small — especially when you’ve worked so hard on the rest of the application.

And if that doesn’t convince you, keep in mind that the college counselors write a letter of recommendation for every student that gets sent to every college you apply to. And as always, the more specific, the better, so give them things to write about.

Now that I’ve gotten my main pieces of advice out of the way, I’ll leave you with a few smaller tips that can make a difference.

Mini-Tip #1: Visit as many schools as you can. This whole process has gotten thrown off by the pandemic, Tip #2: Develop a relationship with but touring a campus in person gives the college counselors. you a feel for the school You’ll find this valuable and the city that you just for a multitude of reasons. can’t get online. And if As you get to know each possible, visit them during of them better, you’ll the school year so you get probably find yourself to see students around gravitating towards one of campus. Almost all of my the three — whether one’s college tours took place experience applies to your over the summer, so I felt goals or you simply relate Will Pechersky like I slightly missed out on Assignments Editor to one more. feeling a campus’ culture Once this happens, — especially if the school they’ll become familiar with your didn’t offer official tours during the plans and be able to give more pandemic. specific advice as they get to know you better. And yes, they know Mini-Tip #2: Apply “Early Action” what they’re doing. All three college to every school that offers it on counselors read student applications your list. This may have been my for colleges in their pasts, so not only best decision in planning out my do they know what makes a quality applications. You’ll learn all about essay, they can also tell you what the different application deadlines, they get sick of reading about. but long story short, with Early When they give you a suggestion Action, you apply earlier and receive on an essay that seems pointless to your decision earlier. When you’re you, I strongly recommend going reading this, I will have received an with it — even if it means doing admission decision from eight out more research, taking apart an essay of the 11 schools I applied to. I don’t and starting from scratch. You won’t know about y’all, but if there’s a way regret it in the end. to hear back from a college before Beyond essay editing, you’ll April, it’s worth it to me. Yes, it’s find yourself with plenty of specific more work at the beginning of the questions about each application. school year, but it can be done.

Unfortunately, no two colleges seem to do things the exact same way, so Mini-Tip #3: Finally, do your having a go-to college counselor to best to approach the process with answer your questions is a must. excitement. If you think about how Be proactive. If you have any you’re in (somewhat) control of doubt about if you should submit a choosing the place where you’ll resume or if your status portal looks spend the next four years of your right, don’t be afraid to ask. The life, the process becomes more of an two minutes it takes to write a quick opportunity than a chore.

CARD

report rep ort Christmas party

Fan behavior

New Senior Ex format

Literary Festival

College Deans’ Program

No homework weekend adherence

Having this time-honored school tradition important to seniors and lower schoolers alike back in the Great Hall was a great way to kick off Christmas Break.

All Senior Exes happening on four days to groups of two to four middle school advisories takes away seniors’ options to give their presentations to larger groups and in different formats.

The College Deans’ Program, an event bringing four deans to campus, proved to be very informative for juniors and sophomores entering the college admissions process.

Fan behavior at games has gotten so out of hand. A basketball game had to be stopped because fans were too rowdy. Come on guys, be better.

The diverse slate of authors invited on campus brought a unique perspective from their different field for Upper School students to hear and learn from.

Having heard of only a handful of teachers assigning homework at semester’s end, we are pleased with the progress made on this front.

opinion

30

editorials &

From a three-sport to a one-sport athlete

E

ntering my room, it all hits you.

A life-size Fathead of Tony Romo.

Countless golden figurines eternally lunging. Thirty-two miniature helmets –– and two full-size ones.

This kid must love sports more than anything, you think.

And you’d be right.

For 17 Sundays out of the year, I sit in my bed glued to my screen as I pirate –– uh, I mean watch –– NFL Redzone on my Macbook, checking my fantasy team every 30 seconds just in case anything’s changed.

I can’t miss any of the action.

“Are you playing any sports this year?”

Uhhh, yeah just baseball…just focusing on baseball, I respond.

My heart sinks into my chest. This was not what I had imagined going into high school. I was supposed to spend my Friday nights under the lights and my Sundays getting up shots, not writing about other people doing it.

You see, growing up I played every sport in the books. Football, basketball, baseball, soccer, tennis, volleyball, you name it. Sports were my identity. They picked me up when I was down and helped me make friends when I was too shy to try.

So, in Middle School, the only question I had about sports was ‘which should I pick?’

I decided on those first three: football, basketball and baseball –– in that order.

I spent seventh and eighth grade only leaving the game when it was already won.

And starting high school, nothing had changed. I was one of a handful of three-sport athletes left in my grade, and I loved every minute of it. While everyone else was out helplessly searching for their passions, mine was always right in front of me.

I could get used to this, I thought.

minutes on JV the year before, nothing was guaranteed.

But, junior year, I began to question I’ll save y’all some heartbreak. everything. After six months of the At five-feet-eight-inches, it should’ve pandemic, school was just around the been no surprise that I got cut. But I had corner, and I was terrified of all the never been cut before. I had started on responsibilities waiting for me. every basketball team I’d ever played on.

I had been named Sports Editor of Getting cut was certainly not in the cards. the newspaper. I was a leader for various Even though I lost football just three community service organizations. The months prior, this was different. It wasn’t rigors of junior year and standardized my decision to stop playing this time. I had testing were ever approaching. And oh, taken my position on the team for granted, yeah, I still played three sports. and it was swiped from underneath me.

I began to panic.

While I struggled at first, I eventually Am I stretching myself too thin? How am came to terms with being a one-sport I going to balance my time? Why can’t sports athlete. just be fun again?

I still love sports and play pick-up And even more questions. whenever I get the chance. Although I What if I do quit football? definitely miss being on the What would my parents think? team, I’m proud of the decision What would my teammates think?

I made to let go of football. At UGHHH. the time, I hadn’t realized it, but The stress was so my true passion was actually overwhelming. I couldn’t take it journalism –– and it still is. It anymore. wasn’t easy, but I made a tough decision and never looked back.

“Why, honey? You’ve always As for basketball, it was about loved football. Maybe just stick PETER ORSAK time someone told me to stop Managing Editor with it one more––” launching deep threes.

NO. No, I’m done. It’s over, I While those six months respond as I stomp off in dramatic teenage were some of the worst, I realized fashion. sometimes it’s better to self-reflect and It was the last day before football prioritize what truly makes you happiest practices began, and I couldn’t put it off than to forever remain in limbo between any longer. I needed to quit or my whole the dozens of invisible forces tugging you world felt like it would come crashing in each and every direction. down.

And don’t get it confused. I’m not Over the next three months, there at all recommending you to give up on were mixed emotions. A weight had been your obligations and coast for the rest of lifted off my shoulders, but at what cost? your life. Quitting was not an excuse to be Regrets and what-ifs filled my head as I lazy, but a reason to devote my entire self livestreamed Lions football, but for me, I to being the best student, journalist and knew I made the right decision. person I can be.

Before long, basketball season was Change is hard, but sometimes it’s a week away, and I hadn’t picked up a okay to let go of something you love if ball since summer. While I played big that’s what you feel is truly best for you.

around the quad

STUDENTS AND FACULTY ANSWER OUR QUESTIONS

Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s The Gulag Archipelago. My reason has to do with, what seems to me, an alarming receptivity among young people toward Socialism which, according to Marx himself, was the original name for Communism. bruce westrate History instructor

I think we should read The Martian because it’s an interesting book written in an unconventional way. alden reagins Freshman

I think Hamlet is one of Shakespeare’s best plays, and I wish that play was standard in English classes.

NAT FISHER Junior

Q: What book would you like to see added to the English curriculum and why?

I think we should include The Giver by Lois Lowry. in the curriculum because it paints the picture of a corrupted dystopia we must avoid at all costs. james singhal Senior

Brave New World speaks to concerns that a technocraticled society could cure social ills. Plus there’s some pretty racy stuff in it.

DAVID FISHER History instructor

Slaughterhouse 5 is a book where you’re forced to figure out what’s going on yourself.

That abstract nature would be interesting for students, I think.

TOMEK MARCZEWSKI Senior

CARTOON Cooper Cole

Follow The ReMarker on Instagram at @remarkernewspaper Also follow Focal Point at @focalpointpodcast and listen on most major podcast platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts Go to linktr.ee/theremarker for these links and more

the remarker february 4, 2022

Searching for spirituality in Istanbul

W

e should all strive to be spiritual people, whether it be through religion, environmentalism, social action — whatever your calling may be. Some go to church every Sunday. Some take five minute showers to lower their carbon footprint. Others pray five times a day, no matter what.

And then there are the atheists and agnostics. They may not be religious, but as I see it, you don’t have to believe in a higher power, perform rituals or read scriptures to be a spiritual human being. Spirituality is about thinking and caring deeply about the way you want to live your life. And from my admittedly limited experience on this planet, most people are spiritual — they just don’t know it.

I’m grateful my parents have given my sister and me the opportunity to travel to a multitude of countries. When they told us we were going to Istanbul over Christmas break, honestly, I didn’t know what to expect. Thinking back on the trip, Istanbul was unlike anything I have ever experienced. It was there I started thinking about the small moral dilemmas — you know, like the meaning of everything.

From a tourist’s point of view, the entire city revolves SHREYAN DAULAT around religion.

10600/Culture Editor Istanbul has over 3000 mosques with intricate architecture and towering minarets. Five times a day, people congregate in these religious buildings, face their bodies toward Mecca and recite the opening chapter of the Qur’an. I even stumbled upon shopkeepers who couldn’t leave their store to go to the nearby mosque, so they brought out a small rug and completed their prayers in silence, politely asking tourists to come back in 10 minutes. Without a doubt, I recognized this as an example of spirituality.

I also met a young lady in a vegan restaurant where we were eating. Maybe 22 years old. Five foot four, with long dark hair. She said she was a student at a STEM college not too far from the city.

Her English was pretty good, and our conversation started when I asked her for her recommendations on the menu. We got to talking about Islam in Istanbul, and she said she stopped practicing the religion ever since she left home for college. She didn’t see the point in praying five times a day, performing yearly fasts or taking a hajj once in her life. She didn’t believe in the five pillars of Islam.

“I didn’t want to disrespect my parents by not practicing Islam while I was living in their home,” she said, “but now that I have the opportunity to be more independent, I want to be true to myself and do the things that I believe in.”

This too, was an example of spirituality.

Just in that brief, ten minute conversation with her, I gained enlightenment about what I really wanted. I don’t mean I want to give up Jainism, the religion my family and I practice. Rather, I think I get caught up doing things that I don’t, on a spiritual level, believe in. And I think a lot of people can agree with me on this.

Have you ever been so mentally exhausted on a school night you can’t bring yourself to lift your pencil up again, so you just copy the answers down from the back of the book? Have you ever told your parents over the phone you’ve already taken the trash out — so you don’t get in trouble — and then rush to do it before they get home?

How can we stop doing things we know are immoral? My time in Istanbul has taught me that connecting with yourself is crucial. Identifying what’s important to you is crucial. Spending time in unfamiliar environments is crucial. And through all of that, maybe you’ll find your purpose in life. Maybe — just maybe — you’ll achieve spirituality.

the remarker february 4, 2022

Sports

health &

Hangin’ Out With

Jake Park

The ReMarker sits down with junior and Air Force lacrosse commit Jake Park to see what his future holds both athletically and career-wise.

Why did you decide to commit to the Air Force?

I could tell the coach wanted me, and he told me if I committed to the Air Force, there would be a pretty good chance that I could start freshman year.

What is something that makes the Air Force stand out from other schools?

It’s cool that the school is free, and they actually pay me to go there. Once I graduate, I will be debtfree. Plus, I’ve heard from friends that once someone graduates from the Air Force, companies look for servicemen because of their leadership and how they could lead a company.

How did you know the Air Force was right for you?

The Air Force is in Colorado Springs, and when I went on my visit, I loved the school. The campus was insanely beautiful. The school is right next to the mountains, and the weather is always in the 60s and 70s.

After you graduate, what are you hoping to do in the Air Force?

I am really looking forward to representing my country because, at the end of the day, who wouldn’t? I hope I can be a pilot who flies planes or helicopters, but I will do whatever I am asked to do.

How do you think your development from freshman year to junior year has helped you make this decision?

The Air Force coach and coach [Hayward] Lee have been friends for like 20 years, so the Air Force coach and I really connected through him.

And since I was able to start freshman year, that really helped my lacrosse abilities as well.

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Winter craze How did you first get into ice skating?

When I was four, my mom forced me to take an ice skating class. I basically fell in love with it, so I asked my parents if I could play ice hockey. Unfortunately, they gave me a firm ‘no’ because they didn’t want me to get hurt. So instead of playing hockey, I went to the next closest thing which was figure skating.

OLYMPICS

A former figure skater and hockey player, senior Shaan Mehta shares his passion for the Winter Olympics, which officially begin today.

Who’s one Winter Olympics athlete to keep your eye on?

Nathan Chen for individual men’s figure skating. You should keep an eye on him. He’s the reigning world champion, and he’s won the world championship three times, but at the last Winter Olympics he had a disappointing finish, so he’s coming in with a chip on his shoulder.

< Shaan Mehta

What can we expect from USA men’s hockey?

Since the NHL pulled out of the Olympics to make up for lost games due to COVID-19, they just have a bunch of college players. So honestly, I’m not too optimistic about it, but it’ll still be fun to watch. I think Russia, Canada, Finland and Sweden are all gonna do pretty well.

What’s the funniest or craziest story you have on the ice?

One time in a game, a kid got really mad and took off his skates and started chasing people around trying to cut them. My teammate juked him out, and he fell down and got really mad. He had a history of doing stuff like that, so the refs tackled him and took him off the ice. I think he got suspended for the rest of the season.

Why did you first start following the Winter Olympics?

Obviously, I was a figure skater. Figure skating doesn’t really have a big stage except for the Olympics. I always thought it was a lot of fun to watch. I especially enjoy helping my friends understand what’s going on and what all the rules are.

What’s the most unique winter sport people should check out?

Since I’ve been on the Winter Olympics channel so much in previous years, I started watching a lot of luge and bobsledding. Also, the skiing event where they jump off the ramp and fly down the slope in the air is awesome. Oh, and I love curling. Curling is my favorite for sure.

sports in brief ALUMNI UPDATE Many alumni have continued to dominate the collegiate winter sports scene recently.

Harrison Ingram ‘21 has led Stanford to a 12-6 record this season, he leads the team in points with 11.6 per game and rebounds with 6.9 per game. Ingram has won Pac-12 Freshman of the Week four times this season. Andrew Laczkowski ‘20 has helped Penn achieve a 5-2 Ivy-League record this season as well. Cooper Ribman ‘21 continues his wrestling career at Harvard as a freshman, currently weighing 149 pounds. While he has not been able to wrestle this season, his senior brother Tucker Ribman ’18 has a 1-2 record so far with the Crimson in his 149 pound weight class.

Jan. 26 that he will continue his football career at Johns Hopkins University where he will play defensive back.

Senior crew captain Drake Elliott committed to Massachusetts Institute of Technology Dec. 20 to continue his rowing career the next four years. Elliott will join former Lions rowers Blake Hudspeth ‘21 and Christian Duessel ‘20 in Cambridge, MA next school year.

Senior swim captain Nicolas Gomez committed to Washington University in St. Louis Dec. 12, where he will to continue his swim career as a Bear.

Senior water polo captain Brett Honaker committed to UCLA Jan. 31. He will join his brother Chase Honaker ‘21, who currently plays goalkeeper for the Bruins.

COLLEGE COMMITMENTS Four Marksmen have recently committed to play their respective sports at the collegiate level next school year.

Senior Zack Stone announced

TRIPLE JUMP RECORD Junior Zane Wallace broke the school record for triple jump with a measure of 47’11.5”. Wallace accomplished this last month in a meet for his club team in Euless,

inside

What’s your all-time favorite Winter Olympics moment?

I wasn’t alive for it, but the 1980 ‘Miracle on Ice’ where USA beat the Soviet Union 4-3 in the championship is definitely my favorite. They were four-time defending champions, and we were huge underdogs. I got to watch it back, and it’s pretty special.

Who’s winning it all in Beijing this year?

I have to go with the USA man!

STORY Peter Orsak PHOTO Sal Hussain

for the sports fan Texas. Wallace has competed in a club setting since seventh grade, an endeavor that has contributed to his success on the Lions track team.

Wallace also came just short of the long jump record, jumping 23’5.5” compared to the school record of 23’6”.

FATHER-SON GOLF DUO Lee Trevino and his son Daniel Trevino ‘11 placed 20th overall in the 2021 PNC Championship at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Orlando, Florida Dec. 19. The duo has competed in the event for several years, with their best placement being 3rd overall in 2020.

The PNC Championship, formerly known as the Father/Son Challenge, was established in 1995 and consists of father-son duos, in which the qualifying player must have won a major championship or The Players Championship.

Previous winners and runners-up have consisted of other legendary golfers such as John Daly, Tiger Woods and Bernhard Langer.

Next week Today JV soccer vs. ESD at home at 5 p.m.

JV basketball vs. ESD at home at 6 p.m.

Varsity soccer vs. ESD at home at 6:30 p.m.

Varsity basketball vs. ESD at home at 7:30 p.m.

February 10 Varsity basketball and soccer SPC tournaments begin in Ft. Worth

Saturday Varsity wrestling Prep State Championship at St. Thomas High School at 8:30 a.m.

JV basketball vs. DASCHE at home at 1:30 p.m.

Varsity basketball vs. DASCHE at home at 3 p.m.

February 12 Varsity wrestling SPC championship begins in Ft. Worth

Sunday NFL Pro Bowl at 2 p.m.

Monday Varsity soccer vs. Home School Athletic Association at home at 7 p.m.

February 13 NFL Super Bowl at 5:30 p.m.

February 25 National Prep Wrestling Championships begin in Maryland for varsity wrestlers February 26 Varsity lacrosse vs. IMG Academy at home at 1 p.m.

WRESTLING TEAM SENIOR NIGHT Seven wrestlers were honored Jan. 14 in their third home meet against St. John’s and Plano East.

Each wrestler shook hands with head coach Reyno Arredondo ‘87 during the ceremony.

With the sport moving to the fall next school year, see what its future will look like.

33NEW TENNIS COURTS

How junior Patrick Flanagan inspired the recent refurbishing of the facility.

In a world full of recruiting, the athletic program still prides itself on tradition.

February 11 Varsity swimming SPC championship begins at Arlington ISD Natatorium

snapshot

32WATER POLO CHANGE

35DEVELOPING ATHLETES

UPCOMING

SWIM TEAM SENIOR NIGHT Marksmen supported their classmates by showing out to their Senior Night Jan. 20 against Greenhill. Many brought signs to cheer on the nine seniors who were honored for their dedication to the sport.

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WATER POLO

A new era Following in the UIL’s footsteps, Lions water polo will become a fall sport next school year.

DELAYED The TISCA Water Polo Board initially approved UIL water polo for this previous 2021 fall season, but the impacts of COVID-19 delayed its arrival until this upcoming 2022 fall season.

S

ix of the last seven state titles. Fifteen of the last 16 regional titles. Ten Division I athletes.

The Lions water polo program has emanated greatness ever since it won its first state championship in 1975.

Yet, the sport is only sponsored in eight states across the nation. Even then, recent Marksmen have helped put Texas on the map among powerhouse states such as California.

For many years, the sport has been offered in the spring season, resulting in scheduling conflicts with eager competitors in more established water polo states.

But now, after a long-awaited push for change, the UIL has created its own water polo league for the upcoming fall season.

And while the Lions are not joining UIL water polo, they’re transition into the fall season will open up a variety of new opportunities for the team to gain better experience and better competition.

In order to fill their schedule during UIL’s conference season, varsity water polo head coach Trenton Calder is looking to participate in a new private school league, which is still in the works.

“Putting together this private school league has proved a little bit more difficult just because there are so few private schools that have pools or teams already,” Calder said. “But in the end, I’m not worried about it.

There are other schools out there such as Bishop Lynch, Greenhill and a few schools down in Houston that have been rumored to be interested in the idea. I think that as soon as a few of the SPC schools go on board, the dominoes are gonna tip, and others are going to join.”

According to Calder, the Lions will likely still have a chance to uphold their status as defending state champions toward the end of the fall season.

“We’re already such a small sport, so we really need to stick together,” Calder said. “Unfortunately, UIL can’t make exceptions for schools to join in for only one sport. It’s all or nothing, so our whole school would have to join UIL in order to be a part of their water polo league. Obviously, that’s not going to happen because we have such a strong SPC conference, so we will make something happen to have a good end-of-season tournament. There’s talks of UIL privately coming up with a tournament that combines all of the leagues to crown a real state champion.”

While Texas isn’t necessarily the most prolific for water polo, it has gained immense attention recently.

“Water polo is the second fastest growing sport in the nation,” Calder said. “Water polo and lacrosse are pretty much head-to-head in that regard, and Texas is by far the state with the fastest growth in the sport. So, USA Water Polo is happily on board with facilitating and

organizing an ultimate state championship for all top teams at the end of the season, which is very exciting to hear.”

Even though water polo is growing rapidly in Texas, the recruitment process has still been tough for Marksmen compared to athletes elsewhere.

“Water polo right now is very California-centric,” Larkin said. “A lot of players are trying to get recruited, but the fact that we are from Texas makes it ten times harder. The guys from California who are no better or worse than guys from Texas will get more offers because they get more exposure to the sport.”

By joining the fall season, Calder is confident his athletes will get seen by more top Division I programs.

“This will keep us on the same schedule as California, Florida and the rest of the country,” Calder said. “We can be more involved in those longer running tournaments, which I think will help all Texas athletes in terms of getting better and start breaking into that elite group for national teams and top college programs. We already have a good amount of that here, but more is what we’re looking for. Getting into the fall season is the best way to do that.”

With players such as junior Sammy Larkin playing for the U.S. in the Maccabi Games and several other talents participating in the Olympic Development Program and the Junior Olympics, the team is already accustomed to playing water polo year-round.

“Training outside of the school team can be intense,” Larkin said. “But I think we’re all used to it. The only time we don’t have tournaments going on are in December and January. Other than that, we are playing all of the time.”

Many of these same athletes choose swimming as their winter sport to stay in shape for the upcoming season, but even with the sport’s shift from spring to fall, the year-round team bonding will still prove beneficial.

“Even though swimming is a winter sport, the school’s aquatics community is very tight,” Larkin said.

“The water polo season may be over after fall, but our

STORY Arjun Khatti, Dillon Wyatt PHOTO Warner Harnett, Courtesy Sammy Larkin

ONE LAST RIDE The Lions look to get their third state championship in a row this year in their final spring season before moving to the fall. Flower Mound is the only team besides the Lions to have won a state championship in the last eight years.

ON THE PITCH Senior Zack Stone takes a strike in warmups. Stone has helped the Lions on all parts of the pitch, having roatated through right back, left back, center back and right wing over the course of the season.

Sports junkie A deeper dive into Lions sports.

Statistics and records reflect games for the winter season as of Jan. 31 Basketball

community is a big part of our team. Continuing to swim for the swim team is just part of the hardwork we put into each season.”

With just three months in between the spring and fall season, getting right back into the next season may seem tough for some athletes, but Larkin believes the team will persevere.

“I’m confident that the team will adjust to the switch,” Larkin said. “Our coaches are awesome, and the club teams we play on are very competitive, so I believe that we won’t be phased too much by the transition.”

Soccer

Wrestling

Swimming

Advanced stats:

Advanced stats:

Advanced stats:

Advanced stats:

The Lions have scored 70 or more points in four of their last eight games.

Since entering counter season, the Lions have scored seven goals while holding their opponents to zero goals.

Senior Jedidiah Kim, junior Hawyard Metcalf and freshman Teddy Fleiss all went 5-0 in the Prep State Duals Jan. 22. Senior captain Elijah Ellis and junior Silas Hosler both had lightningquick victories, pinning their opponents in six and 44 seconds respectively. The Lions went 3-2 on the day, while shutting out Casady with a score of 77 to 0 in the process.

Out of the team’s three meets against conference opponents, the Lions have won by an average of 174 points. In their two nonSPC victories, the Lions won by an average of 143.5 points.

The Lions will honor their three senior captains for Senior Night in their final home game of the season against ESD tonight.

This game will also determine the second seed in North Zone and the team that will get a bye game in the SPC tournament Feb. 10.

Senior goalkeeper Stephen Moreno has pitched a shutout in the Lion’s last five games as the team stretches its win streak. The Lions continue to be at the top of the SPC North Zone standings with one more game left on the season.

Season record: 15-11

Season record: 14-3-1

Last three results:

Last three results:

62-37 win at Trinity Valley School on Jan. 29

1-0 win vs. Greenhill School on Jan. 28

26-44 loss vs. Greenhill School on Jan. 28

1-0 win at Casady School on Jan. 22

77-50 win at Casady School on Jan. 22

1-0 win at Cistercian Prepatory School on Jan. 19

Season record: 10-6 Last three meets: 51-15 Win in dual at ESD on Jan. 26 6th place in Prep State Duals on Jan. 22 0-2 in duals vs. St. John’s School and Plano East High School on Jan. 14

The Lions have earned first place in every event in two meets this year. They first accomplished this Dec. 7 against Fort Worth Country Day and did it a second time Jan. 11 against Bishop Lynch.

Season record: 5-1 Last three results: 301-145 Senior Night win vs.

Greenhill School on Jan. 20 181-249 loss at Southlake Carroll High School on Jan. 13 223-50 win vs. Bishop Lynch High School on Jan. 11

by the

numbers

4

teams that will compete for SPC titles

90

Basketball’s most points in a game

7

Soccer’s most goals in a game

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the remarker february 4, 2022

New tennis courts

Turning imagination into reality

Being a three-year player on the varsity tennis team, junior Patrick Flanagan wanted to help the school select a design to replace the destroyed Albert G. Hill Tennis Center by making one of his own. Thinking of ways to design his model, he turned to a favorite pastime of his youth.

BUILDING THE FUTURE Junior Patrick Flanagan’s Lego look-a-like returns a ball on his design, while Patrick returns a ball across the court on the newly refurnished Albert G. Hill Tennis Center.

N

o tennis courts.

No place to play.

No plan for the future.

The varsity tennis team lost their home when the tornado ripped through campus in 2019, leaving the Albert G. Hill Tennis Center destroyed.

Last year, the tennis team had to play all of its matches away, including playing at SMU for the SPC tournament.

This season, however, the team wanted their home back. They wanted to find a way to refurbish the courts.

For junior Patrick Flanagan, he used this opportunity to create his own design through one of his favorite passions: Legos.

Ever since he was a toddler, Patrick has been building Legos. Whether it was Star Wars, Lego City or making Lego designs of his own, Patrick always used his imagination when working with the tiny blocks.

With the news that the school wanted to renovate the tennis courts, Patrick decided to throw his hat in the ring with a design.

“I had heard from my dad that the school was considering resurfacing our courts so we could play home matches,” Patrick Flanagan said. “I thought if I designed a model and showed some enthusiasm, it might persuade the school to go ahead and build the courts quickly.”

Patrick’s three-step process to creating his design began with brainstorming different color combinations

and tennis court designs, and then putting them all together on paper.

“I was studying with my friends in the science building by the fish tanks,” Patrick Flanagan said. “I saw some colored pencils on the table and began drawing an initial sketch of what a new tennis court would look like.”

Using Lego Digital Designer, Patrick made a 3D model to help him make his tennis court design.

“As founder of the St. Mark’s Lego Club, it was a pretty straightforward decision to make a model out of Legos,” Patrick Flanagan said. “I was already familiar with the software needed to make it.”

With his design finally finished, Patrick showed it to his coaches, but he knew they weren’t going to be able to pass the design. So, he turned to his dad, Michael Flanagan ‘87, with hopes that he could get it approved at a higher level.

“I showed my design to members of the Athletic Department and the coaches I was close with,” Patrick Flanagan said. “Once they approved, I passed the design along to my dad and he handled more of the administrative burden.”

Michael contacted Assistant Headmaster for External Affairs Scott Jolly who looked at the design and immediately felt like the design should receive strong consideration going forward.

“My initial thought was, ‘Wow, I think this could look really good, and we should try it,’” Jolly said. “It was obvious that Patrick put quite a bit of work into his

design. So, in talks with Michael, we both decided to see how it would look.”

With Jolly and other school administrators approving the design, the school immediately got to work to give the Lions a place to play for the spring season. But for Patrick, his design being chosen came as a surprise.

“I actually had no idea the design was approved until I was walking into school one day in November and saw construction starting on the courts,” Patrick Flanagan said. “When I saw the new blue on blue surface, I ran to all the coaches I had shown my design to and thanked them for their help.”

Throughout all of the disruptions the past two years, Patrick’s design aided the school in getting tennis the courts it needed.

“I am really thankful that Patrick took the time and invested in creating this design,” Jolly said. “And looking at it now after completion, it really looks tremendous.”

Even though it was Patrick who created the Lego model and his dad who got it passed, Patrick knew he was giving all of his teammates and the future of the tennis program a new home.

“Although COVID-19 and the tornado stole our team’s chances to compete for SPC two years in a row,” Patrick Flanagan said, “I am proud that I have found a different way to make a lasting impact on St. Mark’s.”

STORY Dillon Wyatt, Ben Adams PHOTOS Sal Hussain, Courtesy Patrick Flanagan

Sophomore reveals the unique dynamic of traveling to play a sport not offered by the school

by Zack Goforth ver since he was eight, sophomore Peyton Militello has been immersed in the world of hockey. From a very young age, his passion for the sport was fostered by his father.

“My dad is from Michigan,” Militello said, “and he practically forced me on skates when I was two and a half years old. Even though my dad didn’t have any competitive hockey experience as a kid and, ironically, only started playing when he moved to Dallas much later, he always loved hockey and was my coach until I was around seven years old.”

Militello believes his father instilled in him a love for the game that would carry through most of his life, ultimately culminating in a goal of playing beyond high school.

E

“Ever since I was little,” Militello said, “I always wanted to play hockey at a high level. My current goal is to be able to play at a Division I school for college, but if that doesn’t work out, I’d be fine with a Division III school.

I really don’t see a future for me without hockey.”

Militello PEYTON MILITELLO currently plays for the Dallas Stars 16U team, which competes at the highest level of hockey in North America. However, even though they share the same name, the youth team is not closely related to the NHL team, according to Militello.

“We take their name and logo,”

Militello said, “but we’re very different.

We’re not really tied to the professional organization. We don’t get any funding from them or anything, so we’re essentially like a private club team.”

Even so, Militello believes the team is helping him achieve his goal.

“There are some coaches who help us and also work with the Dallas Stars,” Militello said, “but the real benefit of playing on the team comes from the level we play at. Most players that end up in the NHL start off by playing on a team like this. We’re the best team in Texas and in some surrounding states, so the experience is really crucial.”

Due to this level of play, Militello has tournaments, often every other week, which interfere with his school schedule and cause him to miss days and even weeks. But he knows there are

ways to deal with this “First of all,” he said, “I always try to email my teachers two or three days before the tournament at the very latest,” he said, “and I always try to do makeup tests before the actual test date.”

Militello believes hard work and a good amount of preparation are necessary for balancing school and hockey.

“I think planning ahead and communication are key,” Militello said, “and you’ve got to be fairly organized.

Regarding school, you have to go into one of these tournaments knowing your workload and being communicative with your teachers. Over the years I’ve gotten pretty accustomed to it, but you can’t get caught up on the work and let it interfere with your mindset.”

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TRACK STAR

Staying on track, one step at a time From 800-meter SPC champion to finishing 16th in the Eastbay Cross Country National Championship, senior Sahil Dodda has done it all. However, his road to glory was much tougher than one might expect. Now, Dodda reflects on his journey so far and prepares for the next phase in his career.

S

enior Sahil Dodda went from a solid sophomore runner to the best cross country runner the school has ever produced in the span of just six months.

He told himself he was going to improve as a runner.

He told himself he would run for a Division I athletic program someday.

He told himself he was going to work hard and that he was going to love the process just as much as the results.

Then, he did just that.

Varsity cross country head coach John Turek believed Sahil Dodda was a solid, but not special, runner during his first two years of high school.

However, that all changed during the summer before Dodda’s junior year.

“During the summer after the pandemic hit, Sahil emailed me and Coach Hershner,” Turek said. “He said, ‘I’ve been training really hard. I ran a two mile time trial by myself and I ran 9:40.’ We were a little skeptical because it was huge PR, but we told him we were looking forward to seeing him in training.”

In addition, Dodda loved the idea of achieving tangible improvements in his running, such as his times in practice or during meets.

“I just love seeing the results from my hard work and dedication,” Dodda said. “That’s why I love running so much. There are tangibles.

If you put in the work, you can genuinely see results.”

These tangibles also add to Dodda’s motivation to push himself to become the best.

“Whether it’s in a race or in training, your times will get faster,” Dodda said. “That’s why I love to push myself.”

Dodda won every race the Lions ran in during his historic junior season, and he was looking for more competitive races that he could push himself in.

“Sahil came to me and said he wanted to do more,” Turek said. “Coach Hershner and I found a race for him in Alabama, but we couldn’t go, so he went there by himself. He ran a 15:04 5K and shattered the school record by over 30 seconds. He even finished nationally ranked.

We said to ourselves, ‘he is at another level,’ so we immediately started training him a little differently.”

Turek has no doubt that Dodda’s

unprecedented improvement over the summer of 2020 was mainly due to his mindset and determination to become a better runner.

“It’s a matter of the development of a person in all aspects,” Turek said. “He not only pushes himself in meets, but he pushes himself every day in practice, which in the meets becomes a byproduct. His ability to dream big and go after it is what makes him what he is.”

Dodda’s desire to run at the next level was another coal added to his furnace of motivation to become the best.

“Trying to get better without anything to look forward to, like a meet, helped fuel my motivation,” Dodda said. “Just working hard for the sake of working hard made me love the sport and made the daily grind a lot more enjoyable.”

However, the physical part of running is not the whole battle. The mentality of a runner determines whether they succeed or not.

“When you are running, you have to embrace the pain, and realize that once it starts to hurt, that’s when the race really starts,” Dodda said.

“That’s when you see what you’re made of.”

Dodda faces the pain with the mentality that if he doesn’t leave it all on the track or the course, it will hurt him much more after the race than during it.

“In my head I can only think that I have to give everything I’ve got. Otherwise I would be furious with myself,” Dodda said. “It’s about having that motivation inside yourself and then just going for it.”

After finishing second in SPC, Dodda took his talents to the national stage, winning the Nike Cross Regionals South meet and later competing at the 2021 Eastbay Cross Country National Championship. Although he eventually finished a very impressive 16th in the nation, Dodda was not feeling well the night before the meet and even during the race.

“I saw him halfway through the race and saw he really wasn’t feeling well,” Turek said. “I just watched him and could tell he was not going to end the season without going all out. You could see it, he just gutted it out. And when he got done, I could see he had nothing left. He had given it all he had.”

STORY Ben Adams, Nolan Marcus PHOTO Courtesy Sahil Dodda

Dodda by the

numbers

15:04

School record cross country 5k time

9:10

School record track two mile time

2x

All-SPC runner

EMBRACING THE MOMENT Dodda (left) hugs fellow senior captain Fisayo Omonije after winning the 2021 SPC championship at Norbuck Park. Dodda (right) finishes first place and ten seconds ahead of the runner-up at the Nike Cross Regionals South Nov. 20. He crossed the finish line with a time of 15:15, beating out 192 other runners.

STAYING FOCUSED At the Eastbay Cross Country National Championship in Balboa Park in San Diego, Dodda crossed the line with a 16th place finish, running a time of 15:34.9. Despite not feeling well during the race, he pulled through, finishing not too far from his SPC rival, Emmanuel Sguoros from St John’s.

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DEVELOPING ATHLETES

Building the future of Lions athletics Marksmen have the unique opportunity to compete and train with the same teammates for up to 12 consecutive years. How has our physical education program prepared us to compete with top athletic schools in the area?

B

ehavior, attitude, sportsmanship and effort are more important than athletic ability and fitness.

That’s how athletic trainer Doc Browning has started every P.E. class for the last 20 years.

Twelve years ago, Browning’s first grade class included four future collegiate athletes. Among these four was senior Fisayo Omonije.

Omonije was a talented athlete, even back then –– a basketball star on the court and a soccer phenom on the pitch. But above all, he could run, and run fast.

While he and the few other top athletes in his class eventually reached athletic stardom, the process of getting there was unique to 10600 Preston Rd. Every year, first grade students are required to exhibit their athletic ability by running a mile in under ten minutes. Omonije had no problems with this. He consistently placed among the top of his class on the track, running a seven minute mile with ease.

But by putting an emphasis on behavior, attitude, sportsmanship and effort at a young age, Omonije believes the school is able to develop athletes in a way most high schools cannot.

“St. Mark’s has been so important in my development as an athlete,”Omonije said. “Since I was introduced to the many different sports in Lower School, I’ve been able to find what I excel in. I think experiences like those really shaped me as an athlete, and I’m especially grateful for them now, because I have the opportunity to run at the collegiate level.”

Director of Physical and Experimental Education Mark Sullivan has worked in several different positions within the Athletic Department over the past 30 years. For him, the uniqueness of the program starts with making the most out of every opportunity.

“There’s not many first graders in America who are running miles,” Sullivan said. “The way we see it, there’s no reason why they can’t get out and push themselves around the track. For some of them, it’s not their favorite thing to do, but they take pride in their improvement.

And for a lot of other schools in the area, they might have one 25-minute class with 80 kids at a time. So for us to have an entire facility to use for a 32-boy class is awesome. We try to make the best use of it.”

In a world of numerous powerhouse athletic high schools and sports academies, the athletic program here still manages to succeed through tradition.

“We can’t worry about what other schools are doing,” Sullivan said. “How they get their athletes is up to them. But certainly through our admission process and the general success of our school, we feel like we have a program that is attractive to outside students. We have a history of success that we can rest upon to prove that our method works. It’s been working for decades.”

While schools in the area may use other methods to get top athletes to play for them, Sullivan believes that every method has advantages and disadvantages.

“One of our advantages is having younger kids, in swimming and water polo for example, who are learning

basic skills that directly translate to the varsity level,” Sullivan said. “In a way, our Lower School and Middle School kids feel like they’re a part of the entire program. For other schools, they’re advantage might be attracting a 250-pound lineman to come to play for them. Well, at the end of the day, you can’t teach 250 pounds. We know we can be successful without having to look for outside athletes.”

Varsity basketball head coach Greg Guiler believes that the way students here are able to grow and develop together through athletics is special.

“I love what St. Mark’s is,” Guiler said, “because as a student-athlete, you don’t have to spend your entire athletic career looking over your shoulder wondering, ‘what kid is going to transfer next and displace me?’ It’s still competitive, and new kids arrive, but I think there’s a camaraderie THE NEXT GENERATION Senior Johns Hopkins track and field commit Fisayo Omonije gives advice to his first grade buddy Taylor Kirkwood about high school sports. Kirkwood that exists because of guys being together for such a long period of plays goalie for his soccer team and says he plans to play volleyball in Middle School. time. When Harrison Ingram goes “Beginning in Middle School and now in Upper from being in my fourth grade P.E. class to becoming School, the coaches have helped me immensely in a McDonald’s All-American, there’s something so terms of my development as an athlete,” Omonije said. fulfilling about that.”

“Consistently training with great coaches like Coach While bringing in highly talented athletes would be beneficial, the school does not give any short cuts for certain students purely due to their athletic ability.

“The school is very eager to bring in the most talented guys from a variety of spheres,” Guiler said.

“We just aren’t going to do it in a way that we think is somehow prioritizing sports overall. We don’t want to put a young man in a position where he’s just going to be drowning academically simply because he can put a ball through a hoop better than anybody else in the school.”

Guiler has even experienced a scenario in which a couple of top prospects were interested in playing for the school’s basketball team for their senior year.

“Harrison was such an unselfish guy. People wanted to come play with him,” Guiler said. “We had two guys who are now in the NBA that wanted to come to St. Mark’s, but we don’t accept applications from seniors. I told them I was really grateful for them reaching out, but that’s our philosophy.”

Now, as Omonije heads off to compete at Johns Hopkins University in track and field, he recognizes the special traditions that helped shape his high school career and many others’ into what it is now.

Turek and Coach Dilworth has opened many new doors, and I’m so grateful to St. Mark’s for providing these kinds of opportunities for each of its students.”

STORY Peter Orsak, Arjun Khatti PHOTO Jake Robinowitz

commits

senior ATHLETE

Drake Elliott Nicolas Gomez Evan McGowan Fisayo Omonije Adam Lai Ian Mize Rana Thakkar Sahil Dodda Brett Honaker Zack Stone Miller Trubey Tate Laczkowski

ENTERED SM, SPORT

First grade, crew First grade, swimming First grade, crew First grade, track & field Third grade, fencing Fourth grade, lacrosse Fourth grade, squash Fifth grade, cross country Fifth grade, water polo Fifth grade, football Fifth grade, volleyball Ninth grade, basketball

Alumni return to assist the varsity basketball team as they enter final stretch of the season

by Dillon Wyatt ill Ingram ‘17 and Jack Gordon ‘15 returned to campus this season to help coach the Lions basketball team.

With both coaches playing basketball for the Lions all four years of their high school careers, Ingram and Gordon have used their knowledge to help improve the varsity squad.

Playing for the Lions together for one year in 2015, both remembered the team’s culture and varsity head coach Greg Guiler’s impact on them.

“I graduated college in May and started working a job in June,” Ingram said. “Coach Guiler then texted me about coaching, but I wanted to make sure I had a good working routine before I comitted. Coach Guiler, though, has done a lot for myself, my family and my little brother as well so I

W

decided to come back.”

While Ingram started this year, Gordon was able to get a little bit of exposure to the team last season.

“I coached last year a little bit, but we didn’t have a full season,” Gordon said. “Last year was the first time I hadn’t been playing competitive basketball in my life. Being away from basketball for so many months, I wanted to be around it again and help and coach them.”

As part time assistant coaches, Ingram and Gordon find themselves helping the team improve in many different ways.

“Guiler has us doing a lot of stuff on any given day,” Gordon said. “We might walk into the gym one day and he’ll tell us to take our shirts off and play for the skins team, and another

day it’ll be completely different, so it’s really about supporting the players and getting them to play their best.”

When Ingram and Gordon were on the team, they had the privilege of having KJ Wiggins ‘10 come back and coach them. After seeing the impact Wiggins had on themselves, Ingram and Gordon hope to replicate what he did for the program.

“For Will’s sophomore and my junior year we had KJ as a coach,” Gordon said. “He’s a legend. He was awesome, and part of me wanted to be like him since he was great as an assistant coach.”

With Ingram having played college basketball at Middlebury University and Gordon having played at Cornell University, both coaches have been able to teach the players from their

experiences at the next level.

“The biggest thing is the mentality of being in college,” Ingram said. “Nerves and pressure really affect players in high school because they don’t have the on-court experience to be comfortable in situations like that. It’s cool to simulate that in practice and give feedback to players and help them.”

Because many seniors graduated last year, the team needed younger players to step into big time roles. Playing against some of the best teams in Texas, Ingram noticed how this young team steps up for every game.

“The team shows toughness and tenacity,” Ingram said. “We’re not the most athletic or strongest group, but when we are playing a really good team, the players never back down and always compete together.”

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the remarker february 4, 2022

REMARKER

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ST. MARK’S SCHOOL OF TEXAS 10600 PRESTON RD. DALLAS, TX 75230

SURVEYING THE COURT Senior guard Caleb Vanzant advances the ball into the front court, looking to control the floor and make a play for the team against Greenhill. The Lions fell to the top-ranked Hornets 44-26 Jan. 28 in counter play.

WHITE-OUT

Fan Blizzard Friday: a rivalry matchup The school community came together in all-white apparel for the “Fan Blizzard,” a comemmoration of school spirit and athlete support. Students, parents and faculty cheered on the Lions varsity basketball and soccer teams as they competed against the Greenhill Hornets Jan. 28.

THREE BALL Junior Silas Hosler (right) and the student section (left, below) cheer on the varsity basketball team.

WHITE-OUT Leading the student section in a “Let’s go, St. Mark’s” chant, senior Toby Barrett encourages Lion fans after freshman Luke Laczkowski scores a clutch basket.

COMPILATION Ekansh Tambe PHOTOS Ekansh Tambe, Sal Hussain