The ReMarker | March 2022

REMARKER

the e

St. Mark’s School of Texas • Dallas, TX • Thursday, March 10, 2022

Volume 68, Issue 5

ADMISSION | Getting accepted

‘You’re in.’

How did you get here? Do you remember the day you opened your acceptance letter? Do you remember getting interviewed, visiting campus or your first impression of the school? With RUNNING THE SHOW Director of Admission & Financial Aid David Baker reads every single application the school receives — this year that number was approximately 840 files.

admissions decisions being released March 11, we dove back into the details of becoming a Marksman.

See coverage, pages 14, 15.

STORY Toby Barrett, Austin Williams, Peter Orsak, Shreyan Daulat, Dillon Wyatt, Jonathan Yin

PHOTO Evan Lai, Lars Ochs, Courtesy Dave Carden

Science instructor Mark Adame appointed to Cecil H. and Ida Green Master Teaching Chair position

by Grayson Redmond iology and DNA science instructor Mark Adame has been appointed to the Cecil H. and Ida Green Master Teaching Chair in Science, Headmaster David Dini announced at a facultywide meeting Feb. 16.

Established in the early 1960s, the endowed master teaching chairs serve multiple purposes: a recruitment and retention tool as well as an affirmation of tenured faculty member teaching excellence. There are currently 16 Master Teaching Chairs and four other endowed positions across campus.

The main requirements for being named a master teacher include at least

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inside

10 years of teaching experience, a national presence in their field and additional contributions outside of the classroom, such as coaching a team or sponsoring a club. Upon reviewing these categories, Dini and Associate Headmaster John Ashton found Adame to be a perfect fit.

“When we were thinking about making an appointment to fill this chair, Mr. Adame’s was a name that surfaced in both our minds very quickly,” Ashton said.

“That’s not only because of his excellent teaching, but also his leadership and engagement outside of the classroom.”

Ashton also credits Adame’s vast impact on the community to the time he’s taken to form relationships with his

news & issues 2 discovery & stem 7 life & 10600 9 indepth 14 arts & culture 16 ratings & reviews 19 editorials & opinions 20 health & sports 23

05ukraine

How the Russian invasion has affected community members.

students, past and present.

“He’s certainly a master of content and has an innate ability to prepare lessons that engage boys — those are both critical to being a masterful teacher,” Ashton said.

“But an equally important piece is the connections he makes with the boys, and he has certainly distinguished himself in that regard.”

Upon receiving the news he’d been appointed, Adame was both extremely surprised he had been chosen and thankful for the opportunity.

“I was in awe,” Adame said. “I was telling myself, ‘This can’t be real.’ I had forgotten that there was even a chair open, and I had no idea I would be chosen for it.

12maintenance 26the lion Meet the Muratallas, who hold campus down behind the scenes.

I was numb for a couple of days as it sank in, but it was very exciting.”

Outside of the classroom, Adame spends much of his time outdoors, whether that’s on outings with the cycling club, which he sponsors, trips to the Pecos Wilderness with the freshman classes or weekend fishing trips.

“All of the five or six fish I’ve caught in the past year took me by surprise,” Adame said. “I was always distracted by the outdoors when they were hooked, rather than reeling in a fish-less lure and wondering why they weren’t biting. This chair appointment is like that — I’m doing what I love to do and, all of a sudden, this announcement surprises me.”

Examining the 116 year history of the school’s mascot, logo and colors.

Tim Hicks Long-time band director Tim Hicks passed away March 4 from complications of a scheduled surgery. The ReMarker will offer coverage of Hicks’ impact on the school in its April issue.

Issues

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AFFIRMATIVE ACTION

Getting a straight answer

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n the latest episode of the national fixation on race, the Supreme Court will hear a case brought by Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) alleging that Harvard University illegally reduces the number of Asian Americans admitted.

With a matriculation rate of nearly 100 percent, college admissions is something that Marksmen think about and work towards all the time.

Every essay, math test or sports practice KESHAV KRISHNA influences Issues Editor that overarching goal: getting into a good college.

For many, race-based admissions could play a part in that outcome.

The numbers tell the story: according to the Washington Post, while Asian Americans had, on average, better test scores, grades and extracurricular activities than their white counterparts, only 59 out of 1000 Asian American applicants were admitted compared to 80 out of 1000 white applicants.

What’s more troubling is that on Harvard’s subjective personality assessments, Asian Americans had lower scores than White applicants and other minority groups. For its part, Harvard says that its personality assessments are objective. If that statement is taken at face value, it only perpetuates harmful stereotypes that Asian Americans are boring or only focused on their work, which are of course untrue.

As an Asian American, that term doesn’t define me in any way. Asian Americans speak different languages, have different cultures and originate from various places across a vast continent: the designation is purely arbitrary.

I’ll soon start the admissions process.

It’s daunting, and the idea that I have to work harder because of my race is frustrating. But I see the value of a diverse campus. It makes for richer discussions and a more interesting college experience.

That’s why I believe colleges should be allowed to stick with race-based affirmative action, but with a caveat: under increased scrutiny. Harvard has yet to give a straight answer to genuine concerns of unfair treatment. Colleges should increase transparency on the role that race plays in their admissions process.

It’s the only fair solution.

the remarker march 10, 2022

covid-19 at school

The rise and fall of omicron by the

numbers

98

percent of faculty vaccinated

88

percent of Upper Schoolers vaccinated

85

percent of seventh and eighth graders vaccinated

The school has seen a rapid decrease in COVID-19 over the last two months after a surge when Marksmen returned from Christmas break. What will the future of COVID-19 be on campus?

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uring the past two months, the omicron wave of COVID-19 hit the school but has steadily diminished to almost no cases.

Since the wave reached upwards of 60 cases per week, school nurse Julie Doerge has observed an exponential decrease in the number of students infected.

“We knew once omicron hit that it was a less virulent part of SARS CoV-2,” Doerge said, “And that it would likely be more like a cold for

people than delta or the original in the faculty and Upper School virus that we saw take so many population. lives. So, we did see it go “In the Upper exponentially up, which School, we were close is what we saw in South to herd immunity Africa with omicron too, anyway because of our and then come down.” vaccination status,” With such a large Doerge said. “The population of students faculty are at about 98 now having caught the percent vaccinated, so virus and getting their they’re their own herd, Julie Doerge vaccinations, Doerge has and the Upper School seen a potential for herd immunity is now most likely upwards of 88

news in brief LITERARY FESTIVAL HEAD Sophomore Grayson Redmond was announced as director of next year’s Literary Festival Feb. 7. Redmond’s co-chairs will be sophomores John Ma and Sid Bidare. The two worked with Redmond on this year’s festival, which gave them the experience needed to run the festival this year.

Redmond’s focus now turns to assembling a slate of guest writers for next year’s festival, which he believes is the most important factor in determining its success.

Current freshmen are encouraged to apply for a leadership position, and an email with more details has been sent out.

QUIZ BOWL TOURNAMENT The Quiz Bowl A-team, consisting of seniors Tomek Marczewski and Mikhail Ghosh and sophomores Ethan Bosita and Aditya Shivaswamy, placed second in the Texas Quizbowl Alliance Yellow Rose Soiree, a statewide tournament Feb. 23,

after 13 rounds of play. Captained by sophomore Arnav Lahoti, the B-team made it to the quarterfinals before falling to the St. Johns A-team in a close, ten-point loss, finishing with a 7-2 record.

The team will participate in one more statewide tournament in March before setting their sights on top places in the Texas State Championship and the Small School National Championship, both in April.

TELOS PLAYGROUND The playground group that routinely plays with Lower schoolers has been postponed to the 202223 school year, due to COVID protocols. Instead, the Telos 4 group has been meeting with the fourth graders since September, covering a variety of topics including their futures on campus.

The goal is to provide a unique insight into the character and leadership principles of the school that cannot be taught in the classroom.

inside 03undocumented life

One student describes his life in Texas with an undocumented family.

percent vaccinated.

Doerge says that the widespread availability of vaccines has made the difference between the winters of 2022 and last year.

“We had many more cases this January than we did last January,” Doerge said. “But last January, we didn’t have the vaccine. So now, we feel much more at ease with the disease and not as worried about kids, grandparents or anybody else being hospitalized.”

for your information NEW SENIOR EXHIBITIONS The next round of senior exhibitions will take place March 24 and April 21, the remaining two of four dates designated throughout the year. This allows for the seniors to present directly to smaller groups of boys in advisories rather than entire grades. The intention is to make the events more manageable for the school community as a whole, while still maintaining the experience for boys in both Lower and Middle School.

ADMISSIONS UPDATE Admission decisions for the school’s incoming classes will be released tomorrow at 4 p.m.

This year’s application process was historic for the school. Over 800 boys applied across all the school’s grades, breaking the record for number of applications set last year. In the coming spring, social events will be held for all newly admitted students.

last month February 24 Former ERCOT CEO Bill Magness has testified in federal court that Gov. Greg Abbott set too-high electricity prices during the 2021 winter storm. Abbott denies this accusation.

March 1 Both Democrats and Republicans in Texas held their primary elections to decide their respective party’s candidates for the upcoming midterm elections in Nov. 2022.

March 1 In the primaries for the gubernatorial election, Democrat Beto O’Rourke and incumbent Republican Greg Abbott both trounced the competition, with both candidates taking strong majorities in the elections. This sets up a highly-watched race in the upcoming midterms.

March 2 In the 28th U.S. Congressional district in South Texas, progressive Democrat Jessica Cisneros will face the more conservative Rep. Henry Cuellar in the runoff after neither candidate got more than 50 percent of the votes in the Democratic primary.

March 3 Incumbent Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will face off against George P. Bush in a May runoff for the position after Paxton collected 43 percent of the vote, while the challenger, Bush, got 22 percent in the primary.

March 3 Dallas-area U.S. Representative Van Taylor has ended his reelection campaign after admitting to an extramarital affair with a former jihadist.

in the news...

What mask to get?

Cloth masks

Pros: Cloth masks are simple, common and can come in a variety of sizes and designs.

Cons: Although they are more reusable than surgical masks, they offer less protection against disease-transmitting droplets.

Surgical masks

04PANDEMIC PARENTING

Parents raise kids who have never been to a school free of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pros: Surgical masks are the cheapest and most disposable of the major mask types.

Cons: Although they offer protection against viruses, their protective barrier can wear down over time and they do not limit fine particulate matter.

N95 masks

05WAR IN europe

The Russian invasion of Ukraine affects families from the school.

Pros: N95 masks offer great protection against both fine particles and airborne droplets. They last longer than surgical masks and are often the preferred choice of medical professionals.

Cons: N95 masks heavily restrict airflow in order to work properly, which combines with their tight and cumbersome straps to give an overall uncomfortable experience at the cost of maximum protection.

Issues

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the remarker march 10, 2022

UNDOCUMENTED LIFE CROSSROADS For many undocumented immigrants from Central America, the decision to cross the border into the country comes down to better opportunities in the United States.

A life on the edge with undocumented parents After a wall along the Texas-Mexico border was announced and immigrants from Central America continue toward the United States, the topic of illegal immigration is as relevant as ever. A student whose parents are among these immigrants gives insight into life with undocumented parents.

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broken tail light.

That’s all it takes for Upper Schooler Alex* to have his parents taken hundreds of miles away from their home. Away from him and his little brother.

Away from the lives they’ve carefully built for over two decades.

Riding home from school, he sees that familiar glint of red and blue. Alex stiffens. His parents look straight ahead.

The police car rolls by. Not this time.

“We’ve been taught to be really aware, and I’ve been aware of a lot of things since a very young age,” Alex said. “And cop cars are definitely one of those things that make me nervous. We’ll be on high alert.”

Walking through the hallways clad in a white shirt and grey shorts with an unruly head of hair and mischievous smile, Alex doesn’t look any different from most boys. He has interests and goals and aspirations

and relationships like any other Marksman. But that might all change in an instant: his parents are illegal immigrants. In the late 1990s, they were trafficked across the southern border.

“My family just try to live our lives,” Alex said.

“We’re happy. We’re really happy. But you never know when that might change.”

His parents’ undocumented status has become a fact of life for Alex.

“I’ve learned to know how to lay low and not draw any attention,” Alex said. “We try our best to follow the law correctly, and then we’ll be fine. Just following the rules is a big part of it.”

At times, the trauma of his parents’ journey has resurfaced.

“I remember one time we were watching a movie that was about a group of immigrants,” Alex said, “The

movie detailed their journey, and I remember my mom just crying. She said they had to go through rivers barefoot and sleep on rocks. A journey like that one would be really difficult, so they definitely don’t want it to happen again. Being deported would ruin all of that.”

In the United States, Alex’s parents have worked to build a future for themselves.

“My dad started out as a Wendy’s employee,” Alex said. “He loved to cook, and he just kept on rising through the ranks.”

Over the years, Alex’s father has become an accomplished caterer, having cooked for many leaders of this country, such as former President George W. Bush and Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House of Representatives –– people whose decisions directly affect his status in this country.

“Ever since he got to America, he’s just been building on his passion for cooking,” Alex said. “And this country has helped him go so far, all because of his hard work and determination.”

Alex credits his mother with a similar work ethic.

“At first, my mom was just taking care of us kids,” Alex said. “After both of us became older, she went to work as a house cleaner. She’s been recommended to many people. What’s really impressive is that she’s been able to work despite her arthritis holding her back. She still just pushes through and gets the job done.”

According to Alex, this work ethic is a common characteristic of many undocumented immigrants.

“People have to understand that people crossing the border are extremely hard working,” Alex said.

“Most of them are just trying to find jobs.”

And for Alex’s parents, Mexico was a place with no real jobs. Though it meant crossing a heavily guarded land border, opportunities in America proved better than those back home.

“The only work you could find there is agricultural work; a lot of it is farming, fishing and a bunch of manual labor,” Alex said. “A lot of people can’t afford to do that because some of them have kids to take care of. The majority of the people coming from Mexico come to work hard, make a life and start a family. Back in Mexico, you couldn’t do that. America is the only place where you could make yourself a living.”

Because of the sheer desperation of many making the journey, Alex believes the construction of a border wall is pointless.

“People will always eventually find a way to cross, regardless of how you hold them back,” Alex said. “Maybe the concept of a border works, but the sheer amount of money being poured into this is just absurd.”

Even with the success of his family up until now, Alex knows that with just one slip up, it could all end.

“My family tries to stay away from trouble,” Alex said. “All of their efforts have lead up to this point in their lives, and it would be terrible if it all came crashing down after one simple mistake.” * Editor’s Note: Alex is a pseudonym used to protect the identity of the student interviewed. This is the second installment of a two-part series on undocumented immigrants. Part one appeared in the February edition of The ReMarker.

STORY Keshav Krishna, Dawson Yao GRAPHIC Cooper Cole

School leaders work to keep new tuition increase lower amid country’s high inflation

by Nikhil Dattatreya or only the second time in 30 years, the tuition will grow by 2.75 percent.

In a year of unprecedented inflation, members of the business office, Board of Trustees and administration have had to work together to minimize budgeting costs.

Chief among those involved in balancing the school’s budget is Chief Financial Officer Suzanne Townsend, who recognizes the cooperation necessary to organize such tight budgets.

“The school has endeavored to restrain tuition and fee increases in order to help our families as much as possible,” Townsend said. “For the past several years and the last two in particular, we have presented budgets with the minimum tuition increases without impairing programming

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or sacrificing anything that would negatively impact the experience and quality of a St. Mark’s education. The Board has been unanimously supportive of restraining tuition increases, and the administration has been completely transparent about the budget mechanics necessary to do that.”

The process starts almost a year in advance, as department chairs and supervisors receive budget request forms, which compare the amounts requested and used in the past year to give chairs a better idea of how much they will need.

From there, school controller Jim Windlinger compiles all the budget forms on a master spreadsheet, where he works with Townsend to finalize the expenses. “[Windlinger] and I work closely

together on the draft budget,” Townsend said. “We budget for payroll and benefits, including projected increases in both, and non-departmental expenses like property and casualty insurance and input those amounts into the worksheet.”

After considering additional sources of revenue, Townsend and Windlinger discuss budget plans with Headmaster David Dini and Associate Headmaster John Ashton.

“Once we have a draft operating budget that Mr. Dini, Mr. Ashton, Mr. Windlinger and I discuss at length and approve, that draft is presented to the finance committee of the Board for consideration, edits and approval,” Townsend said. “That meeting occurs in late October or early November, and the Committee forwards the draft to the

Executive Committee for consideration and approval at its December meeting.

The Board of Trustees receives the final draft and approves it at the January Board meeting.”

Townsend says that generosity from parents, alumni and other donors has given the school more flexibility and security for the future ahead.

“We all strive to be good stewards of the school’s resources, and we are conservative in our financial management,” Townsend said. “The St. Mark’s Fund has been very successful, and actual contributions received have exceeded amounts budgeted. We are conservative in budgeting enrollment numbers each year, and when we have more boys enrolled than we budgeted, the tuition revenue from the additional students goes to the bottom line.”

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the remarker march 10, 2022

Pandemic Parenting

when the walls

CLOSE IN Two years ago, teachers taught two classes eveyday from their homes. Students woke up, threw on a white shirt (or just a hoodie) over their pajamas and displayed their tousled hair over Zoom. A new schoolyear began, first online, then inperson with a new normal. Throughout, teachers and parents endured isolation, weathered uncertainty and bore the brunt of pandemic-driven changes. We sat down with members of the community to discuss trials and small joys of parenting during the pandemic.

FRUSTRATIONS The time spent at home due to the pandemic has taken a toll on both students and parents.

ONLINE SCHOOLING

THE FAMILY CONNECTION

Ashley Ellis has two sons — one current first grader and one current third grader: I’m grateful for the incredible job that the Lower School teachers did. It was definitely challenging for the parents and the teacher to keep the kids in their seats all day, but they were allowed to get up and go play, and the teachers did a great job directing them and letting them get up, run around for a minute and come right back.

Orchestra instructor Dr. Sarah Choi has two sons — one in fourth grade and one in ninth grade: I have a current fourth grader who was a new third grader to the school last year. Even though many people remained remote, we had to send him to campus because otherwise, it would not have felt like he had gone to a new school. Even though we felt hesitant in terms of the health risk, we had to send him because it was so important.

For my other son, a ninth grader, that lack of social interaction, that contact between students and teachers, was difficult. Those interactions are a huge part of their happiness and their engagement throughout the day, and for him to not have that was very isolating. For lack of a better word, it was a real downer, and we saw those effects on him a little more than on my younger Sarah choi son.

Dr. Gabby Reed, Director of Counseling: There’s information out there about the impact masks have on younger kids, especially in a social aspect. Because, when wearing masks, you’re dealing basically with just eyes, so learning to read facial expression is much tougher. A lot of the cues we get about other people, like their facial expressions, have to be visual. So, when we returned from remote learning and moved to masks, there were costs there for little kids.

Ceramics instructor Scott Ziegler has a third grader and a fifth grader: Both of my boys have a lot of energy, so I would make it a point to go outside if they had a break or to go throw a baseball or a football or go for bike rides if they ended early. We were also lucky enough to have a swimming pool in Scott ziegler our backyard. Getting them away from the screen and outside was important.

AE: I happened to be one of the grade representatives for my seconds grader last year. I got a lot of interaction via email with other moms, and so into the first semester, we started doing things with other kids. Sports started meeting, and signing up through the YMCA was really one of the only ways the kids had social interactions with each other. We as parents had to take control of this situation ourselves.

Julie Ziegler, Scott Ziegler’s wife: An issue we had was that I work full-time, and it’s hard to separate four people in four different Zooms and still have everybody be mostly productive. One thing I did was sit them together so they wouldn’t feel isolated and would be closer to everybody, which I feel like made a big difference.

SC: For us, it was not uncommon to have a couple people at the dining table or in their rooms. Whenever there was a break, we all had to be quiet because other classes were going on. Sometimes, the kids told me I’m teaching too loud. Overall, my kids were expected to be able to stay on their own track, but I know that there were a lot of families where the parent can’t be home. I don’t know how you expect a second grader to figure this out on their own. If you still have to go to work or not able to work from home, you can’t pop out to help the second grader who pressed a random button and left the meeting.

A RETURN TO NORMALCY Ted Choi’s, Sarah Choi’s husband: For my son’s second year there, this has been a completely eye-opening experience. The first day back, he got to actually eat in the Great Hall that he’d never seen. There were kids in his grade that he didn’t know because they had never mixed last year. This was a completely different experience for him. He really enjoyed practically going to school for the first time again this year.

AE: I think young kids are always going to be fidgety, and I’m not sure if online school really enabled them to focus better when going back to in-person.

JZ: When going back to school, especially with my youngest son, because he lost a lot of his first-grade year to COVID and the tornado, was just getting into the routine. He wasn’t used to it because he never had the same school routine established like our older son, which I feel added some anxiety for him.

I don’t think the kids suffered socially, because everybody was in a similar situation, and it wasn’t like they were hearing about all these amazing, wonderful things their friends were doing. I think once we returned back to school, everyone reacclimated pretty quickly and found their people without much trouble.

Reed: One thing the pandemic showed us is that we can be resilient. We made it work. It’s pretty impressive that we and schools all over the country and world were able to educate a school full of people. Now that remote learning is hopefully behind us for Dr. gabby reed good, we can say that we learned a lot of lessons about security, internet and communication.

STORY Zach Goforth, Keshav Krishna, Morgan Chow ILLUSTRATION Morgan Chow

Record number of students qualify for national math competition after taking rigorous test

by Ian Dalrymple ighteen students qualified for the American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME) this year, a record number for the school.

Senior Jeremy Yu, who took the AIME last year and qualified for the USA Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO), spoke about the process.

“You start with the AMC, then if you qualify you move on to the AIME, then the USAMO,” Yu said.

Completing the tests isn’t easy.

According to Yu, they require solid familiarity with the topics.

“You have to do a lot of studying,” Yu said. “There are four broad topics that you have to be familiar with, which are algebra, geometry, number theory and combinatorics. But if you are just kind of familiar with the concepts, then

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you can’t really be adept at applying them. The reason why it’s difficult is because the tests go very deep into the topics. You have to do a lot of practice problems to get really familiar.”

While all of the tests require practice, each one presents a different depth of problems and unique time constraints.

Master Teaching Chair Dr. Zuming Feng says that the math team activities have changed to help students do well on the tests and accomodate to the varying tests.

“The main changes are in math team activities,” Feng said. “We have introduced some contest math curriculum to different activities. We now have three different group settings to meet the needs of students with different backgrounds, and this year there have been evening Zoom meetings

for those who can make it.”

Feng says that the math curriculum may also change.

“We are also going to try a new course next year: Algebra II/Precalculus Accelerated,” Feng said. “This course is for students who, among other things, have qualified for AIME. It likely will bridge classroom math topics with math extracurricular activities and contests more than other courses.”

The increased number of AIME qualifiers is encouraging to Yu, and he hopes that future test-takers will learn from their predecessors.

“The number of AIME qualifiers has been going up these last two years, and that’s super good to see,” Yu said. “I hope that they can look to upperclassmen as an example. They have a really bright future ahead.”

by the

numbers

18 25 9

students qualified for the AIME

problems in 75 minutes on the AMC

hours for the USAMO

the remarker march 10, 2022

Issues

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WAR IN UKRAINE

A new way of war and destruction

In the largest war in Europe since the Second World War, Russia has launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine both physically and in the information realm of propaganda. This ongoing conflict has not spared any Ukranian or Russian, including civilians connected to our school community in Dallas.

INVASION PLANS The Russian attack has taken place on almost all sides of Ukraine, from Crimea and the Donetsk and Luhansk breakaway states occupied in 2014 to the northern Russian and Belarusian borders. The darker red represents currently Russianoccupied areas and advances.

‘F

ascist.’

‘Traitor.’

Karren Uglunts has been called these by his own family — for not supporting what Russia claims is a “special military operation” in Ukraine.

Uglunts has a history of knowledge beyond the staterestricted media of his former home in Russia. He grew up in Grozny, a city in the Caucasus region, but left the Soviet Union in 1991 before a devastating war between Russia and Chechnya almost completely destroyed the city.

When Uglunts lived in Grozny, it was a thriving, multicultural city. He knew Armenians, Chechens and Azerbaijanis and was a godfather to his Iranian best friend.

But the city was shattered during the war. His father stayed in Russia and had pictures of living through the war in Chechnya, where he hid for three months and was nearly shot by a sniper while searching for food. When he showed those pictures to his son senior Daniel Uglunts’s history of special operations class last month, he had no idea what was about to happen in his former home country.

“I told them that they’d never see pictures like these again in their lives,” Uglunts said. “And in three weeks, you see pictures of Kiev, Kharkiv and all the other cities in Ukraine, and it’s exactly like Grozny. This is the Russian army’s modus operandi. This is the same thing as Grozny, as Aleppo in Syria. They don’t have the means to fight, so they just bomb the civilian population into submission.”

Before Uglunts immigrated to America, he served in the Soviet Union’s army. But when he got sick, he spent two weeks isolated in quarantine, where a nurse gave him a small radio that was already broken. Bored and alone, he experimented with it.

“I somehow managed to get one station by the window,” Uglunts said. “I could listen to only one, and that station was BBC radio. For two weeks, I could listen, and I didn’t know how the hell I got this station. I was looking for music because it was usually 24/7 propaganda.

And in two weeks, my eyes were open, and it changed me.

And now, we need to pay attention and counteract their propaganda machine which they’ve spent an amazing amount of money on.”

This propaganda machine remains today, just in a different form. When Uglunts’s parents came to live with him in America, he got them a TV with plenty of Russian channels for them to watch. He didn’t realize the effects it would have on them.

“After six months, I started noticing that they kind of changed,” Uglunts said. “They just started talking nonsense, and I didn’t know where they were getting this from. One breakfast, my mother had just said something about current events when she got up and said, ‘And you’re a facist!,’ and just left the table. Oh, now I know where it’s coming from. The next thing I know is no more Russian TV. And guess what? Six months later, they became normal again.”

One of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s reasons for the Ukraine invasion is “denazification,” out of the myth that Ukraine is run by and sponsors a military filled with neo-nazis. Uglunts’s cousins still live in Russia, and this myth created a rift in the family.

“I have cousins who are not talking to me right now because of the war,” Uglunts said. “They told me I don’t

know what I’m talking about and that I’m brainwashed by American propaganda and a fascist, and I should not talk to them anymore.”

Uglunts still doesn’t know whether his cousins or many Russian citizens really believe the propaganda about the invasion, with Russia monitoring messaging apps and announcing up to 15 years in prison for dissenters against the war. But to end the war, Uglunts believes Russians must speak their minds.

“Change is scary,” Uglunts said. “The first instinct is to block it. They will raise any excuse to do that. That’s what my cousins did. I think on some instinctive level they know this isn’t right, but they don’t know how to get through the propaganda” Contrary to the lies, the war still rages in Ukraine. Irina Burgess moved from Ukraine nearly 22 years ago. However, much of her family is still living there and is directly impacted by the war.

“It’s extremely stressful. Right now, they still have everything they need,” Burgess said. “They have electricity, gas and food. At this point, civilians are trying to be useful for the country. Some women are making food for soldiers or for hospitals. My brother patrols his neighborhood with some of his friends.”

Despite having their essentials, Burgess’s relatives aren’t safe from danger.

“They have to sleep in the middle of a room which doesn’t have any windows,” Burgess said. “Pretty much every single person in Ukraine can hear explosions all the time. When you live in surroundings like that, you don’t know if something is going to hit your apartment or not. You don’t know what’s going to happen if you go outside. Some Russian soldiers are dressed like civilians, so it’s hard to even trust other people.”

Burgess’s family is still holding on to hope. She says that the biggest thing they need is assistance from someone, anyone, who can provide it.

“When I call my brother, he talks about how he wants some support,” Burgess said. “From a country or someone who is not restricted. My friends as well are just hoping — constantly hoping — they will get some kind of help that will free them from this.”

Burgess also has relatives in Russia.

Many of them had no idea what was happening at all.

“Russia twists its news, and a lot of civilians in Russia don’t know what is going on in Ukraine,” Burgess said. “My aunt is living in Moscow, and she called my niece, who lives in Kiev. My aunt was asking ‘how are you doing?’ and my niece said, ‘Do you not know what’s happening here? There is a KARREN UGLUNTS

war here. Russian people are here and killing our people.’

My aunt said, ‘There’s no way that’s true.’ She couldn’t believe that. So my niece eventually convinced her, and she was shocked. She started crying and said, ‘Oh my gosh.

I’m going to start telling people the truth.’”

According to Burgess, even the Russian soldiers weren’t aware of why they were going to Ukraine in the first place. She says that many were told that the march through Ukraine was just for regular training.

“Some of the Russian soldiers did not know; the commanders told them that they were just going to training in Crimea and that they were just marching toward Kiev,” Burgess said. “So, when the shooting started, the soldiers started asking ‘What’s going on? Why are we shooting?’ And so these soldiers, some of them kids who were 18 or 19 years old, had no idea what they were doing there.”

And, for Burgess, that lack of transparency shows what the real purpose of the war is.

“More than anything, it’s not about people. It’s just some leaders, they want more land, they want more power, they want more financial gain. That’s what it’s about.”

STORY Myles Lowenberg, Ian Dalrymple GRAPHIC Will Spencer PHOTOS Courtesy Creative Commons

Issues

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news &

the remarker march 10, 2022

HOMELESSNESS

Blood Drive sees highest participation in eight years

NEVER ALONE Many organizations and shelters throughout the city offer aroundthe-clock resources for the homeless.

T

Homeless, not hopeless With the homelessness rate in Dallas increasing recently, many shelters, alongside affordable and transitional housing providers, have stepped up to the plate to take as many individuals off of the streets as possible.

M

ost residents of Dallas see a homeless person every day.

But as homelessness becomes more and more of a problem in the city, the vast majority of citizens choose to look forward and lock their doors instead of sympathizing with and helping these people.

Most of Dallas ignores a homeless person every day. Grace Bergeron, daughter of math instructor Greg Bergeron, doesn’t.

Bergeron works as a case manager for CitySquare, a nonprofit organization seeking to fight poverty in the area, with a specific focus on ending hunger and offering affordable housing.

“CitySquare goes about this mission in four different ways: by targeting housing, health, hunger and hope,” Bergeron said. “For hunger: we by the have a food numbers pantry that’s available to anyone, and you Average amount of can go there homeless people on an once every average night in Dallas two weeks.

County For health, we have a clinic that is available to Percent increase over people with the past 10 years or without insurance.

Lastly, we try to Years since inspire hope CitySquare Housing because we was founded believe that all of our neighbors have the potential to be great.”

One of CitySquare’s affordable housing programs is The Cottages, whose tenants include many chronically homeless individuals. Here, Bergeron and her colleagues supply them with important knowledge about homeowning they may have forgotten while homeless.

“I provide housing stability skills among a plethora of other things that people might need,” Bergeron said. “A lot of people who are coming out of shelters

4,750 32 21

by Myles Lowenberg he school blood drive collected the most blood since 2014 on Feb. 16, which could impact up to 84 lives in need of blood within the DFW area.

Community service director Jorge Correa attributed the large amount of blood collected to a turnout far greater than past years, with members from all divisions of the school community coming to donate.

“I’m very impressed and thankful everyone participated, not just students,” Correa said.

“I saw parents who came with their children. I saw faculty, maintenance people and administrative people there too. So, a lot of people take this opportunity to donate blood.”

The blood collected went to Carter BloodCare, a provider of blood for transfusions, which goes Blood bits to over 200 hospitals • Someone needs around the blood every two seconds in the area.

United States.

“We provide • The most common blood to blood type needed is what are Type O. called the blood • 4.5 million banks,” Americans need a Correa said. blood transfusion “Anybody every year. who gets • An average of sick may 43,000 pints of need some blood are donated extra blood, every day in North and they America. need to get it from • One pint of blood somewhere. can save three lives.

So, when SOURCE BLOOD.ORG we picked Carter BloodCare, we made sure that it would stay here in DFW.”

have never or haven’t in a very long time lived in an apartment or house. They don’t know what a lease is, they don’t know how to get a money order to pay rent and they don’t know how to put in a maintenance request. I mostly teach these basic housing skills and help reintegrate these people into a housing system.”

As an organization, CitySquare’s housing branch has built itself up from ground zero, gaining more than $200 million in assets in just 21 years since its inception and helping thousands of people get back on their feet along the way.

However, Bergeron believes they could do more in the community if they had more assistance from the government.

“Depending on who’s running the government, funds don’t always get distributed where they need to be,” Bergeron said. “One thing I’ve learned about is how tax cuts affect nonprofits.

CitySquare had to close several programs in 2019 because the one percent of the most wealthy people in the United States were given tax cuts. What people don’t realize is that those taxes fund our programs for people experiencing homelessness and our mental health clinics.”

The chair leans back. The gentle whir of the clippers fills the small backroom. Then, the spray bottle baptizes the client. With every pull of the clippers and snip of the scissors, hair leisurely drifts to the floor.

A haircut’s a new look, a fresh start. For many, it’s ubiquitous. But for the homeless Casey McManemin ‘79 sees, it’s a simple reminder of hope.

“Seven or eight years ago, we opened up a new barbershop CASEY McMANEMIN ‘79 at the shelter,” McManemin said.

“The thing about a barbershop is that it can help people with dignity and selfesteem. You might have a homeless person who has everything that takes to get a job but lacks the confidence in how they look to someone hiring them. We want people to feel good to get the mental attention that they require and deserve.”

McManemin is the chair of the board of trustees of The Bridge, a homeless shelter in downtown Dallas. He has been actively engaged in the leadership of the shelter for around a decade. Prior to that, he was a donor and volunteer.

“The Bridge is pretty much the only secular shelter in Dallas that has both day and night services,” McManemin said.

“Night services are just having the comfort of a bed and not having to spend the night out in the open. But day services are where a lot of people can really benefit from the facilities The Bridge has to offer.”

McManemin also emphasizes The Bridge’s policy of opening its doors to nearly all adults who arrive while maintaining the shelter’s security.

“Many places can’t have felons or sex offenders or separate couples who aren’t married,” McManemin said. “We welcome everybody, and there are times where we’ll have 800 people on our campus. A few years ago, we reached a thousand people.”

For McManemin, a path to getting back onto one’s feet is at the heart of what The Bridge provides.

“The Bridge is a recovery center,” McManemin said. “The language we use is important. We refer to the people there as guests. The idea is that from the first day someone walks in, we want them to know that we’re going to help them get housing.

We want them to know their current situation isn’t permanent.”

Funding for The Bridge comes from the municipal, state and federal levels, totalling approximately $14 million. But to McManemin, the impact of The Bridge goes beyond the numbers, and resides in the assistance they can provide their guests.

“While we are an organization that has a relationship with public funding, we do not evaluate ourselves by the number of people we bring in,” McManemin said.

“We are not an output organization, but an outcome organization. Our goal is that for every person that does come in, we are going to find a way to help them get housing and have the proper kind of experience.”

STORY Keshav Krishna, Grayson Redmond GRAPHIC Morgan Chow

The drive went on from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., but Correa would like for an expanded donation time during the next drive because of the busy schedules of many in the school community.

“We would like to keep our drive at the level it is at now because this is how it was before COVID,” Correa said. “We know it’s hard because you’re trying to do the drive and at the same time, attend your classes, sports and whatever you have to do. This was the most since 2014, so even before the pandemic we had less.

We used to have the whole day from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. because we had enough donors.”

Correa especially appreciated the influx of blood from the school community due to the lack of donations during the years of the pandemic caused by unwillingness to visit a hospital.

“What happens when there’s no blood left,” Correa said,”or when during the pandemic, they’re hesitant to go to a hospital to give blood because of all the COVID there? So now it’s starting to pick back up again, and that’s great. It’s something that people need to have, and we’re glad we can help collect as much as possible.”

the remarker march 10, 2022

stem

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discovery &

theGreen Corner

A look into the trees around campus, which are an important part of the look and feel of the school. In recent years, the trees of campus have changed greatly following the October 2019 tornado. Here are a few stalwarts who have endured.

SPEAKER INTROS The conference brought a diverse list of speakers.

Here are each of their fields of work:

Live Oak: This cornerstone of campus is widely regarded as an impressive symbol of strength and grit, staying leafy throughout the harsh winters. Standing for over 60 years, the live and red oaks around the quadrangle is an impressive reminder of nature’s hardiness.

• Quantum computing • Financial technology • Global reef systems • Phasmadynamics • Life support systems

STEM CONFERENCE Leanne Su, a doctorate student at the University of Michigan, speaks about ion thrusters (top left). Lizzie Mcleod, global reef systems lead at the Nature Conservatory, presents on reef bleaching (top right). The guests sit down and discuss their respective fields during the hour-long panel discussion in front of the Upper School, which included introductions, presentations and audience questions (bottom).

STEM in brief

Paw-Paw: Many people love the tropical-like taste of the fruit from this tree, the largest fruit from any North American native, weighing as much as a pound.

This particular tree is as big as they come, an excellent example of the “Poor Man’s Banana.”

MATH COMPETITION The annual Harvard-MIT Competition (HMMT) took place virtually Feb. 19. The event is considered one of the hardest high school math competitions in the United States, with teams from all over the country participating. Schools compete in teams of eight. Led

by Suzanne and Patrick McGee Master Teacher Dr. Zuming Feng, the school competed alongside Hockaday through different stages of the day-long competition.

POLLINATOR GARDEN The Cultivation Nation has just completed its first pollinator garden of flowering plants, consisting of nectar species to support Blackland Prairie insects, such as milkweed and Gregg’s mistflower. Their next mission will be a Blackland Prairie restoration, where they will grow over 50 different kinds of flowering plants in the greenhouse. The club expects its test plot to be grown by early summer, though it will take

several years for the Blackland Prairie to fully mature.

WILDERNESS UPDATE The sixth grade campout leaves March 31, while the eighth-grade campout has been rescheduled to April 13. Due to freezing conditions, the Wilderness Program was forced to delay the campout. The Pecos Wilderness trip will take place Aug. 3-11. This summer, two Pecos trips will take place because COVID-19 forced a delayal last year. The purpose of the Wilderness Program is to build appreciation for the environment and to develop the values of brotherhood.

LOWER SCHOOL ROBOTICS After the Lower School Lego Robotics club formed a team to participate in the Lego Robotics League for the first time ever, the fourth graders, led by Makerspace director Stewart Mayer and Lower School science instructor Aimee Whitaker, finished fourth

this page Eve’s Necklace: Brilliant pink flowers and black seed pods hang off this North Texas native, catching the eyes of passersbys and giving the tree its name. These fastgrowing trees bloom in late spring and are extremely drought tolerant, growing in many different soils.

This particular Eve’s Necklace is likely the largest one in all of Dallas County.

COMPILATION Zack Goforth PHOTO Zack Goforth

07CAMPUS TREES

for the tech geek overall at the regional qualifiers in Kaufman last month for the FIRST Lego League challenge.

Competing as the “Kids Robo Turbo Lions,” the team was composed of the eight top-scoring students from the grade.

According to Mayer, the team has been working hard after qualifying for regionals, which will take in early March. The team has been focusing on reevaluting their robot construction and strategy to maximize the points they capture on the field.

Additionally, the team also received the Core Values Award, given to “a team that displays extraordinary enthusiasm and spirit, knows they can accomplish more together than they could as individuals, and shows each other and other teams respect at all times.”

The annual competition tasks students to use a kit of Lego electronic and mechanical parts to create autonomous vehicles.

February 27 After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, tech platforms, including Meta, Youtube and Roku, have imposed curbs on Russian state-controlled media RT and Sputnik.

March 14 The Perot Museum of Nature and Science’s Spring Discovery Camps kicks off. The three-day event is intended for children who are interested in science.

March 2 Apple CEO Tim Cook announced the tech giant would be transitioning to a hybrid work environment in April.

Also, Apple stores will revert to a mask-optional policy soon.

March 4 Snapchat turned off its public heatmap feature in Ukraine, no longer showing how many snaps are taken in a particular location. The move is “a safety precaution”and comes as other companies are making it harder to track movements in Ukraine.

March 19 The Heard Natural Science Museum and Wildlife Sanctuary is offering an environmental science merit badge workshop. Much of the course will be done outdoors.

March 21 Electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian Automotive could release additonal information on the much-anticipated R1T truck and R1S SUV. Rivian enters an increasingly competetive electric vehicle market with established companies and startups.

the science lecture hall How is it designed?

The acoustic design of the hall vastly enhances the projection of presenters without microphones. A curved front wall, acting as a parabolic reflector, pushes any sound from the focal point of the stage toward the audience. Sidewalls in the side and back have acoustic panels, deadening and absorbing sound to give a more directed flow of audio around the space.

inside 08TECH JOBS

How does it use technology?

The space boasts several audiovisual technological sources, such as a large mobile flat screen television, a projector and a connection to the large screen in the lobby of the Winn Science Center.

Examining the importance and benefits of having a job in the technology sector.

Science instructor John Mead will offer a new hominid evolution class.

UPCOMING

what the tech?

A look into the campus’s most significant trees and their characteristics.

08EVOLUTION COURSE

last month

GROUP SPACE The Science Lecture Hall

was created during the construction of Winn Science Center to address the campus demand for a space that could accommodate large meetings.

Like ancient amphitheaters, the lecture hall takes advantage of its structure to eliminate the need for a microphone.

Fletcher carron

STem

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discovery &

the remarker march 10, 2022

Alumni

Adapting to the modern market

As the years go on, changing technologies bring new careers to the forefront of the job market. Now, according to a list published by CNBC, some of the best jobs today are in engineering and management. We talked to former Marksmen to see what it is like to work in some of those fields.

Jeremy Ginsberg ‘96 Software Engineer Median Salary: $116,638 import urllib2 from random import randint def getRandom(num): response = urllib2.urlopen(‘http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random’) html = response.read() html = html.replace(“ “, “”) htmllen = len(html) data = html[l:l+num] return [ ord(x) for x in list(data) ] print getRandom(25)

Sahitya Senapathy ‘20 Machine Learning Engineer Median Salary: $130,489

What exactly does your job entail?

Jeremy Ginsberg: Right now, I’m working as an independent consultant to help startups in New Zealand figure out how to grow and improve how they build technology.

What was your experience like as a software engineer?

JG: Up until recently, my career was building software at technology companies — I spent ten years at Google, and then four years at Twitter. I ended up running all engineering and development of the systems that made Twitter money.

Then, I worked at a small startup where we tried to help people live longer using their genetics, so they wouldn’t die of cancer or heart attacks. Basically, I spent a long time building stuff. I think it’s super fun.

Why do you think jobs in technology are growing so fast?

JG: I think it mirrors the impact that technology is having on society. A lot more things can be done electronically. A lot more things are efficient. So, there’s pretty much limitless demand for people who are good at building these things.

What does a machine learning engineer do?

Sahitya Senapathy: It depends on what the machine learning work is. The first experience I had in machine learning was related to autonomous drones and space vehicles. That was primarily research about deep learning for applications relevant to national security, and the work was centered around how to make smarter decisions.

The second thing I did related to machine learning was a cryptocurrency trading startup where I was working on machine learning techniques for trading Bitcoin. Most recently, my last experience was at a company called Quantcast, and my work was centered around making better decisions about bidding. While traditional engineers might work on hard coding strategies or using data in some deterministic way, a machine learning engineer has to write programs that can make a difference.

What has your field taught you?

SS: Don’t make judgments based on a small set of data points. Just because you failed at a certain thing one or two times doesn’t mean you won’t succeed. That just means you haven’t tried the right way. Reserve judgment and be careful about the way you’re doing things.

A

year

Here’s a look at the new course offerings for the next school year.

David Short ‘05 Product Manager Median Salary: $125,317

What’s the best and worst part of your job?

DS: My favorite part is that I get to make software that impacts millions of people and moves billions of dollars. And my least favorite part is that sometimes, software breaks.

What does being a strategy manager entail?

Darrien Patterson: At the highest level, strategy management is looking at the assets that we have as an organization and looking at a three to five year horizon to think about how we can best maximize our assets to deliver the best experience for our customers.

What kind of qualities do you think someone in this field should have?

DP: Definitely a diverse set of people skills. It’s very likely that, whether you’re an internal facing strategy person or an external one, you’re going to be working with a bunch of different types of people. Different people focus on different things and want different things.

You have to be able to communicate to get what you need, as well as telling them things that are happening in other parts of the organization. I’ve also learned to balance competing priorities. There’s only a certain amount of capacity that the organization has, so sometimes I have to make decisions based on what’s more important.

by Nolan Marcus new elective on human origins and discoveries will be available for juniors and seniors next school year.

John Mead, Eugene McDermott Master Teaching Chair, will be teaching the course. According to Mead, he has wanted to teach this course for a while, but never had the opportunity to.

“With the change from trimester to semester, it felt like it was an opening for electives we had not offered before,” Mead said. “This is something that I have been interested in ever since I was knee-high to a June bug, and the opportunity to do a human evolution course is definitely worth it.”

The course will look to cover the history of discoveries made on human evolution.

next

What exactly does your job entail?

David Short: A product manager is responsible for setting the vision and work of an engineering team. So, I basically decide what the team should be focused on. Currently, I run four engineering teams, which are all focused on Zelle at Capital One. As a product manager, you’re kind of bridging the business world and the technology world — you need both skills in order to translate user experiences into something that an engineer can actually implement. It’s an interesting and exciting career where you actually get to see software developed based on the work that you’re doing.

Darrien Patterson ‘09 Strategy Manager Median Salary: $140,000

New human origins elective introduced in 2022-2023 school year

STORY Ian Dalrymple, Jonathan Yin GRAPHIC Jonathan Yin SOURCE CNBC

English

Gothic horror

Fine Arts

AP ceramics

Science

Human evolution

History and Social Sciences

AP art history

Mathematics AP calculus: BC

topics only - H Algebra II/ precalculus

accelerated - H

“We will begin with the first discoveries that were made in the 1800’s up until whatever new ones will be made over the summer or the next fall,” Mead said. “It will follow the path of discoveries and how they have changed our understanding of origins going back to six million years ago.”

Mead’s new elective will also go over figures who have made significant contributions to the understanding of human origin and evolution. Similarly, outside sources, such as Dr. Lee Berger, a world-renowned paleontologist best known for his discoveries in the Rising Star cave system in South Africa, will help instruct students.

For Mead, another reason why having the semester course is so important is because it allows him greater flexibility to dedicate his time to desired subject material.

“This is what makes having the semester so great,” Mead said, “because we will have time to cover all this information as opposed to a week or two in a biology class, where we can actually dig a lot deeper.”

the remarker march 10, 2022

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life &

Hangin’ Out With

Arman Desai and Miller Trubey With a towering height of 6’8”, senior Miller Trubey sees the world from a bit higher up than most others. First grader Arman Desai, however, has yet to grow to his vertical peak. We talked to both of them and asked how their heights affect their lives.

Marksmen and parents connect at traditional father-son breakfasts

by Will Spencer ather-son breakfasts, a long-standing traditional event offered to students every year in Lower School and every other year in Middle and Upper school, have returned to campus after a year-long hiatus caused by the pandemic. To Upper School Head Colin Igoe, the purpose of the breakfasts is to promote community cohesion.

“The purpose of the father/son breakfasts is strengthening community, which is really what makes this place special,” Igoe said.

“It’s a nice, joyful tradition that has become something that people not only look forward to but also look back fondly on.”

This year, Igoe’s son, first grader Mac Igoe, entered the school, making this year the first that Igoe has seen the breakfasts through the eyes of a parent.

“When you see things through the lens of a father, it’s hard to describe just how magical it is to experience things with your son,” Igoe said. “It makes your heart full. I’m looking forward to spending time with my son and seeing him with his friends.”

F Have you always been so vertically gifted?

MT: I’ve always a little bit taller than everybody, but I hit my growth spurt a little late and ended up growing from about 6’ my freshman year, to 6’3” sophomore year, and then 6’8” my junior year.

What are the drawbacks of being so tall?

MT: I cannot find a T-shirt that fits me. It’s terrible.

I used to have trouble finding jeans, but, as I’ve grown a little and put on some muscle mass, I can wear jeans, which is great.

Now, I can’t find a T-shirt that fits me – not even the “large tall” size; it’s not long enough.

What’s the best part about your height?

MT: It’s super easy to dominate some sports where height is an advantage like basketball and volleyball.

If you could, would you change your height?

AD: I feel like I’m perfect with how tall and short I am. I am not too tall, so if I run too fast and trip, it won’t hurt more.

MT: I’m pretty happy. Any taller, and I might have some problems healthwise.

If you get to anything around Tacko Fall’s height, you get some severe problems. Our bodies are not made to be taller than like 7’3”.

Have you ever for a second wanted to be taller?

AD: When my senior buddy carried me on his shoulders to put my ornament on the [Christmas] tree, he told me that we might have to try to put it higher than someone else’s.

BREAKFAST BONDING An Upper School Orchestra member, senior Enoch Ellis (top right), plays the cello for attendees. Chinese instructor Janet Lin and parent volunteers Kristie Park, Mohini Ati, Anjlica Dattatreya and Malisha Daulat (top left, from left to right) give out father/son mugs. Upper School Head Colin Igoe, junior George Genender and Board of Trustees Secretary Paul Genender ‘87 (bottom left) converse over coffee.

10600 in brief ST. MARK’S FUND The St. Mark’s Fund has already raised $3.68 million of the $4.1 million goal and has until June to accomplish it, well on its way to surpassing the yearly goal. This early success has been led by strong donation percentages from alumni, including 28 percent participation from alumni, almost double the national average for private day schools. The St. Mark’s Fund is also seeking to increase the current 62 percent parent participation to 80 percent.

SPRING AUCTION The Spring Auction, led by Marksmen parents and co-chairs Hollee Hirzel and Joy Coit, took place Feb. 26 at 6:30 p.m. under a 60,000 square-foot tent outside of the Winn Science Center with a theme of “Under the Big Top.” 42 teachers offered their time as auction items, from rock climbing with English teacher Cameron Hillier ’12 to attending the Star Wars Symphony with Upper

School orchestra instructor Dr. Sarah Choi. For the raffle, the Sewell family donated a vehicle of the winner’s choice that costs up to MSRP $50,000 or less.

SPRING BASKET DRIVE The annual Spring Basket Drive, organized by the Community Service Board, will collect baskets March 21-April 11. The baskets will be assembled in advisories, which will receive a list of the required items. Jubilee Community Center, West Dallas Community Center and refugee families will receive the baskets.

VISITING SCHOLARS The Visiting Scholars Program’s first guest of the year, Michelle Curran, came to campus March 9 and today. Curran is a former lead solo of the USAF Thunderbirds and a motivational speaker, who addressed Lower, Middle and Upper School students in separate assemblies across her two days on campus.

inside 10ALUMNus IN JEOPARDY

Toussaint Pegues ‘18’s experience qualifying for and competing on Jeopardy!

11Senior English

A look into a new senior English elective and its curriculum.

12BEHIND THE SCENES

An inside peek into the school’s maintenance staff and their daily duties.

for the Marksman DEBATE Seniors Max Chuang and Zayn Bhimani reached the finals of a debate tournament hosted by the University of Georgia before being eliminated Feb. 25-26. As individual speakers, Chuang was recognized as the second best in the tournament, Bhimani the third best and sophomore Sid Bidare the ninth best. Bidare and sophomores Anish Guddati, Ahsan Tahirkheli and Harry Wang reached the quarterfinals of the tournament.

CLASSICS CLUB Seniors Jonathan Yin, Spencer Burke and Axel Icazbalceta and juniors Alex Wang, Will Spencer and Michael Gao took first place in the advanced division of certamen, a classics quiz bowl game, at the Area C convention hosted by Jesuit Dallas Feb. 26. Freshmen Surya Dinesh, Jeremy Mau, Andrew Xuan, Lukas Palys, Hans Hesse and Daniel Deng took first place in the intermediate divison.

this week Today Visiting Scholar at 1 p.m.

First grade Fine Arts Evening Friday Admission Decisions posted Saturday Spring Break begins

AFTER THE BREAK Monday Classes resume Community Service Spring Drive begins Friday Lower School Father/Son Breakfast and chapel at 7:15 a.m.

End of third quarter

UPCOMING March 27 Evensong at 7 p.m.

March 31 Sixth grade campout April 2 ACT on campus 8 a.m.

April 4 Community Service hours due April 5 Upper School Chamber Recital Piano Recital 6:30 p.m.

April 12 Choir concert in the chapel April 13 Rescheduled eighth grade campout at 6 p.m.

April 15 Good Friday (No School)

say what? comments overheard across the dinner table • This issue, we’ve asked students to keep an open ear during dinner table conversations to capture the tastiest quotes that would normally be lost to time.

• Here are some of the highlights.

“I can’t remember whether some of my memories from the school are just scenes from Rushmore or not.”

Anthony Lowenberg ‘93 Father of junior Myles Lowenberg

“There’s nothing a meal can’t fix, if not, the food just wasn’t good enough.”

“Why do our spoons keep disappearing?”

Candy Chow Mother of junior Morgan Chow

Tianhui zhan Mother of senior Jonathan Yin

“When I was your age, I would nearly die three times every day riding my bike to school.”

"Don’t worry. You may not be my favorite, but I’ll still take care of you.”

Anand Krishnaswamy Father of junior Keshav Krishna

Scott Dalrymple Father of junior Ian Dalrymple

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ALUMNUS ON JEOPARDY! REPRESENTING Toussaint Pegues, wearing his college sweatshirt, stands to the left of his two competitors.

He particularly enjoyed the show's unique atmosphere when competing.

Who is the Marksman on Jeopardy?

Toussaint Pegues '18 participated in Jeopardy!'s National College Championship, which aired Feb. 9 to hundreds of thousands of viewers. Besides the possibility of coming away with a sizeable check, what were his motives when applying for the show? We sat down with him to find out.

THE FIRST CLUE Pay or get paid with this app, whose name comes partly from the Latin for ‘to sell.’

With a lightning quick reaction and no second thoughts, Toussaint Pegues ‘18 slammed the buzzer, eager to be the first contestant to take a shot at answering the clue.

“What is Venmo?”

Venmo is right!

Pegues, representing the California Institute of Technology, grinned and let out a sigh of relief. He had just earned the first $200 of Jeopardy!’s 2022 National College Championship Quarterfinal Game Three.

He still didn’t fully understand how he qualified for a game thousands of other college students applied for. But that wasn’t on his mind right now.

Right now, he had to focus. Right now, he had to put aside any nerves and accept the fact that he was on national television. Right now, he had to harness his competitive spirit and make a stand.

At that moment — Feb. 9 at 7 p.m.

— hundreds of thousands of people were tuning in to ABC watch. With his two other competitors — Mehek Boparai of the University of Pennsylvania and Emmey Harris of the University of Minnesota — standing beside him on the stage, Pegues was already in the lead.

INITIAL INTENTIONS Pegues' involvement with Jeopardy! officially started two years ago, when he found out that the game-show's former host had passed away.

“I saw in the news one day that Alex Trebek died,” Pegues said. “That got me thinking about the show, and I thought I might as well take the test. That’s when I

first got involved.”

As an active member of the QuizBowl team throughout his time at the school, Pegues was well acquainted with learning trivia-like facts. He must’ve performed well on the preliminary test, because, before long, he was contacted for a follow-up test.

“After the follow-up test, they invited me to do a fake gameplay via Zoom in January 2021,” Pegues said. “After doing a bunch of other forms and logistical things, I got a call from an unknown number in early October, offering me a spot on the show. I never thought they would actually select me, but when I got that call, there was no turning it down. At that point, I was all in.”

THE LAST CLUE Fast forward to Final Jeopardy! — each player had to wager a sum of money before the clue was revealed. Boparai bet $1 out of the $1200 she had. Harris bet $0 of her much larger $21,000. And Pegues? He definitely was going all in — well, almost. He bet $4999 of his $5000.

In 2012, these two neighboring states celebrated the centennial of their admission to the union.

Pegues lifts his hand up to his chin, contemplating a few answer choices while the Jeopardy! theme song hums in the background. He quickly scribbles down North and South Dakota right before the 30 second buzzer goes off.

Incorrect!

He now had just a measly dollar to his name. But Pegues wasn’t at all dejected.

While some may question his reasoning to bet almost his entire sum of money, Pegues asserts that he consciously made that decision.

“Only the winner of that round had the opportunity to move onto the semi finals,” Pegues said. “I was down so much money

that there was no way I could have caught up to the person in the first place. Both the second and third place of the quarter finals walk away with $10,000, so it didn’t matter how I placed at that point. By wagering all my money, I figured I would try to make it look like it was a closer game on the scoreboard, even though it didn’t really make a difference.”

MOVING FORWARD Even though he was eliminated from the game, to Pegues, it wasn’t really a loss.

After all, he was $10,000 richer. He already knew what he was going to do with the money.

“Well, when I called my parents after the show, we decided that I was going to invest most of the money,” Pegues said. “That was the smart decision, but I did get to keep a little bit of it. I bought leatherbound copies of the Way of Kings and the Mistborn trilogy. So my money went into investments and fancy books.”

For now, Pegues is finishing his senior year at the California Institute of Technology with a major in mechanical engineering. He found Jeopardy to be a positive experience overall, and would encourage other Marksmen to give it a shot in college.

“I’d definitely recommend giving Jeopardy! a try,” Pegues said. “There’s zero downside to it, and it’s not like it took a lot of time out of my life. In fact, I even got a big check from it. Even if you think it might not be for you, just try taking the preliminary test, and maybe you’ll discover a hidden passion.”

stats

fa acts &

Jeopardy!'s Toussaint Pegues Odyssey Correct

11 questions

Incorrect

2 questions

First to 22.81 percent; click buzzer 13/57 total

questions

Daily doubles 0/0 questions correct Final Jeopardy Question

0/1 correct; wagered $4999

Final score

$1

Prize money

$10,000

STORY Shreyan Daulat, Aaron Liu PHOTOS Courtesy Toussaint Pegues with permission from Jeopardy! Production, Inc.

Lower Schoolers select Neil Armstrong to be the next honoree for Leadership Wall Members of the Leadership Wall George Washington Abraham Lincoln Martin Luther King Jr. Harriet Tubman John F. Kennedy Mahatma Gandhi Nelson Mandela Norman Borlaug Mother Teresa Malala Yousafzai Jackie Robinson Rosa Parks Alexander Hamilton Barack Obama Neil Armstrong

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

by Nikhil Dattatreya ower School students chose engineer and astronaut Neil Armstrong to join the 14 other members of the Leadership Wall in early February.

This year, Armstrong’s life was presented by first-grader Felix Ruckel, second-grader Hunter Redlich, third-grader Christopher Flanagan and fourth-grader Andrew Langford in an assembly Tuesday, March 8 in Decherd Performance Hall.

Every winter for over a decade, Lower School students

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undergo a collaborative process to determine who they choose to honor on the Leadership Wall.

This process started back in January, when students discussed the leaders they wanted to nominate.

“The boys came down by homerooms and looked at the leadership wall to talk about the different people that were up there,” Darver said. “They then talked at home about leaders, living or deceased, and then students made nominations for about two

weeks.”

Students then voted from a narrower selection of candidates to choose a finalist.

After Armstrong was selected, teachers delegated one student from each grade to dive deeper into his life story.

“Starting mid-February, we had four boys do research on Neil Armstrong’s life,” Darver said. “We were looking for the traits he had as a child so that they could relate to what they see in Neil Armstrong’s life.”

Darver says the process

was changed a few years ago to give students a better understanding of leadership.

“They used to do it a little differently because they had a different nominee from each grade level,” Darver said, “and the teachers would have to work with those students on whoever they were nominating. But now, the teachers don't have to give up class time or their free periods to work with the students, and we get a deeper dive into the person that's actually going on the wall.”

the remarker march 10, 2022

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Senior elective CLASSIC CLASSROOM Math instructor Tolly Baker leads a fifth grade class of Marksmen in the 1960s.

from the

ARCHIVES

In the 2021-22 school year, seniors selected two semester-long English electives to fill their requirement. Hear from English instructor John Perryman about the course he teaches: ‘A 100Year Partnership: A History of Dallas and St. Mark’s.’

Where did the idea for this course come from?

John Perryman: I think knowing Dallas history, how a city works, the form of government, how to get things done in a city and how to most effectively use your voice and political power is important.

Also, school history is fascinating. I have an interest in institutional history, whether it’s the history of American higher education or the history of long-standing schools. St. Mark’s fits that bill, with the Terrill School dating back to 1906.

The school has grown with the city, and we’ve been grateful beneficiaries of the wisdom and gifts of many people who were important to the city’s history.

I think that it’s not just a class on the history of the school, but a class on Dallas and North Texas history as well as a dive into some of the literature of the area that I don’t think has gotten enough close scrutiny before, including the works of Ben Fountain, Fred Turner, Kathleen Kent and some others.

Could you tell me about the assignments in your class?

JP: We have regular quizzes on the readings and three short essays, where the guys will get a chance to write about Dallas area landmarks, including businesses, restaurants, city parks and some sort of unique North Texas experience.

I’m sprinkling a lot of shorter descriptive, reflective papers throughout the course of the year.

There’ll be a research paper at the end, and there will be tests and regular quizzes on material.

What’s the general topic of this research paper?

JP: It’s going to be largely open to student selection.

They’ll have to clear the topic with me, but it’ll be on either Dallas or North Texas history, and I’d like to get us down to the DeGolyer archives at SMU for access to some more primary documents on the

matter.

It could also be more of a project. I’d love to get guys digging through the archives under Mrs.[Jan] Forrester and Mr. [Alex] Eshelbrenner’s supervision to maybe produce an exhibit for the first floor of Nearburg or the second floor of Centennial.

Where did the idea of interviewing community members come from?

JP: Mr. Eshelbrenner and I have been talking about this for a long time. He’s been a great sounding board for ideas, as well as Mr. [David] Dini, Mr. [John] Ashton and Mr. [David] Fisher.

There’s so much great institutional memory alive in our retirees, and we want to make sure that we get accounts of their memories down on paper.

Exactly how we were going to interview folks has been something I’ve thought about on and off for a few years. I know we had some seniors last year who did podcasts with retired faculty and staff, so I’d like to contribute 16 interviews a year for as long as the class john perryman exists.

Ms. Forrester suggested that, at the end of the day, it might be most beneficial to the archives to have typed transcriptions of the interviews rather than recordings, because technology tends to become obsolete in ten or 15 years.

What sources or archives do you use for the course?

JP: We’ll be digging around in the school archives.

I don’t think any of that’s online yet, but they do exist, organized by year in archival boxes that are designed to protect the documents.

We’ll sample widely from a range of Dallas histories. I don’t think there’s been a definitive history of Dallas, but I’ll be having the guys read

PDFs from a variety of Dallas history books, and we’ve relied quite a bit on the Texas State Historical Association’s Handbook of Texas online, which is a scholarly resource with a lot of great information.

Are there any places students might visit for their work in the course?

JP: Yeah, I would love for the guys to visit the downtown public library.

The main branch is named for Erik Jonsson, who was a great supporter of this school. UTD has a pretty good research library with some 1906 — history sources on North Texas.

I don’t know as much about the University of Texas at Arlington’s holdings or University of North 1933 — Texas’s holdings, but I know that, when I was in grad school, I got to work at the DeGolyer Library, and it’s got amazing holdings of Dallas history. It’s got the collective papers of Stanley Marcus. It’s got a great 1946 — interview archive of important figures in American film. It’s a really neat resource that I don’t think enough people know about.

1950 —

dates

the

Menter B. Terrill and his wife Ada establish The Terrill School.

The parents of Menter Terrill’s former students join together to establish Texas Country Day School.

The Terrill School reopens as Cathedral School for Boys.

Cathedral School for Boys and Texas Country Day merge to form St. Mark’s School of Texas.

What do you hope will be the ultimate impact of the course on the school community?

JP: I hope that, every year, it produces 16 or more students who understand how city government works — who understand the history of Dallas and the history of our school — in order to be even better stewards of North Texas, Dallas and St. Mark’s.

INTERVIEW Axel Icazbalceta PHOTOS Courtesy Jan Forrester, Development Office

IN THE OLD DAYS Young Marksmen eat lunch in the cafeteria during the 1940s (above). Students stroll across the Science and Mathematics quad, which stood where the McDermott Green Science Building and the Winn Science Center now connect (below).

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the remarker march 10, 2022

FAMILY STAFF

Alumni Speaker Series to host and educate graduates

Working behind the scenes

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Over the past 30 years, six members of the Muratalla family have worked to improve campus.

Why did they all come here? What does the school mean to them?

The ReMarker sits down with three members of the family who are currently employees of the school to tell their stories.

STANDING PROUD Lupe, Jose and Alicia Muratalla (left to right) stand in front of one of many maintenance golf carts seen around campus.

STORY Shreyan Daulat, Zack Goforth PHOTO Shreyan Daulat

JOSE MURATALLA

LUPE MURATALLA

ALICIA MURATALLA

From blocks and airplanes to a maintenance mainstay

Reliably doing the little things like no one else

A jack of all trades for everyone to see

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s a kid, Jose Muratalla loved to work with blocks, create model airplanes, build Jenga towers — anything he could put together from scratch.

Unlike most kids, however, Jose Muratalla actually carried his childhood passion into his adult life.

He continued building, but on a much larger scale in the construction business. But the job was missing one thing: consistency. Some days, he would have a project to busy himself with. Other days — nothing. On top of that, he didn’t have good hours, salary or benefits.

When the school’s development office reached out to him 32 years ago to come work here, it was an offer he couldn’t refuse. It was a job where he could continue his passion and put his skills to use, just in a different way. It was then that JOSE MURATALLA he began working for the maintenance team.

He was the first member of the Muratalla family to come here, and he later brought his wife and two brothers.

Specifically, he’s worked with his brother, Lupe Muratalla, for over two decades.

As a skilled carpenter and craftsman, Jose Muratalla is a big contributor to the maintenance team. When a lightbulb goes out or an electrical system is outdated or a trash can overflows, Jose Muratalla is always there — in the background — improving campus, always with a smile on his face.

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enefits and better pay and real people who would actually smile back. Lupe Muratalla wanted all of this.

He wanted a home away from home.

So, when opportunity knocked and his brother told him about a boys’ school on Preston Road, he opened the door.

For the 27 years since, if anyone’s hands were full, Lupe has hurried over to open their door.

Working around campus and the fields and on decorations, Lupe puts effort into every small detail, making sure the sprinklers actually LUPE MURATALLA sprinkle and that the grass is well nourished, letting everyone know that our campus is in good hands.

Many faculty and staff acknowledge him as one of the most sociable characters at the school. Along with his tools, he’s always got a joke in his back pocket.

One can think of Lupe Muratalla as the master of the little things. The fine details. He may not be the most well-known man on campus, but he’s maintaining it. Improving it. You can always depend on Lupe, that’s for sure.

In 2007, the school let him know how much his hard work and dedication means to everyone in the community by awarding him the Superior Staff Award, given to members of the community upon whom we can always depend.

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licia Muratalla is essential to the cafeteria’s operations. She’s been a behind-the-scenes leader since her first day in 1999 — her most memorable day, in fact. She recalls her co-workers being helpful, welcoming and encouraging.

She used to clean houses with a group of maids, so she’s used to working with a team. But, like Jose and Lupe, her cleaning job didn’t give her the flexibility or salary necessary to have a comfortable lifestyle with her family.

From her first step on campus, she knew she found somewhere special to work.

With her brothersin-law already here, she felt ALICIA MURATALLA at home. Her husband, the brother of Jose and Lupe, used to work here too.

Alicia Muratalla pretty much “does it all,” as other cafeteria workers say. She transports the food cart with cookies, sodas and other snacks to the faculty lounge and to special events on campus when they occur. She also helps organize the deli and salad bar.

Most often, students see her at the window in the cafeteria, taking plates, silverware and cups from students after lunch and washing them. That’s her favorite time of the day, because she gets to interact with many members of the community — a simple “thank you” always makes her day.

opinion

in my

Q: Should student store snacks return?

“I always enjoyed going to the Student Store when I was hungry, it was nice to be able to grab a snack.”

John Stephen Hohmann Freshman

“I don’t think student store snacks are necessary since SAGE now gives us a snack after school.”

Keats Leffel Junior

by Dawson Yao he next edition of the Alumni Leadership Speaker Series will take place in the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum.

Organized by members of the Alumni Office, including Director of Alumni Relations Alex Eshelbrenner ’04, the event is a way for interested alumni to keep on learning, long after their professional schooling is over.

“The Alumni Leadership Speaker Series is designed for our graduates to be able to continue learning, whatever the subject matter,” Eshelbrenner said. “We try to focus on the important moments of our time.”

The event this time is structured around the Holocaust, where three alumni will come together to attend a panel, hosted

by Director of Civic Responsibility Dr. John Perryman.

“Dr. Perryman will be monitoring a conversation between three of our graduates — including Ned Price ’01 and Matt Osborne ‘90,” Eshelbrenner said.

“The idea is to provide each of them with different perspectives from different experts in their respective fields.”

A new venue and guest are also put into place every event to ensure a variety of topics are covered “To provide a learning experience, we try to bring out a topic where graduates don’t necessarily have the most experience,” Eshelbrenner said.

In past years, the speaker series has investigated topics that were relevant at the time, and it has brought in appropriate experts to speak about them.

“Our last conversation was with Mark Cuban, where we discussed cryptocurrencies,” Eshelbrenner said. “We’ve also had speakers like Clark Hunt come in and discuss sports.”

The series has also brought in members qualified field experts from the school’s faculty.

“One year, we had the science teachers present at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science,” Eshelbrenner said. “Another year, we had Master Teaching Chair David Brown speak at the Winspear Opera House about Death of a Salesman.”

The event is regularly able to secure respected speakers, but, due to the nature of the operation, guests can only be finalized at the last minute.

“It’s difficult to determine who, for certain, is going to be speaking,” Eshelbrenner said. “Though it can be really easy and fun to say someone is going to be attending, we always have to accommodate for a sudden change in plans.”

“I would love healthy snacks, like almonds, to be an option in the student store going forward.”

Michele Santosuosso History instructor

“I’d like them back, it was always super nice to be able to run in and get a quick snack in-between classes.”

Max Vafa Senior

the remarker march 10, 2022

10600 alumni overseas

Marksmen around the globe After graduation, many Marksmen find themselves moving out of the Dallas area, either through college or work.

While many remain in the US, John Robertson ‘85 and Matt Wallenstein ‘02’s journeys took them to other continents.

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or the most part, Texas was just about all that John Robertson ‘85 and Matt Wallenstein ‘02 knew when they turned 18.

After leaving the school, neither knew where his future would take him. Neither realized that, within a decade or two, he would each end up on the other side of the world.

Whether it was a life-changing study abroad experience or a bizarre surprise while on vacation, at some point, each Marksman’s future took a turn wide enough to bring them far away from Texas.

When entering college, Robertson didn’t have a clear academic path or preferred field of study.

“After graduation, I went to the University of Houston, but I didn’t know what I wanted to study,” Robertson said. “So, I dabbled in everything from archeology to anthropology to medicine and hospitality. I settled on architecture, and that’s now my career.”

It wasn’t until Robertson got word of a study abroad opportunity in France that he developed an idea for where he wanted to settle after college.

“I had traveled with my family overseas a few times, but I was born and bred in Texas,” Robertson said. “The opportunity to study abroad in France really opened up the world to me and made me rethink who I was and what else was out there. That was the impetus for me working overseas.”

Soon after graduating from the University of Houston,

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Robertson joined a company called TK Architects in the US. Eventually, Robertson moved to their London office, which he later left for his own design studio in the same city. It was in London where Robertson got his first experience with the Middle East, leading him to where he currently lives — Bahrain.

“I joined a company called RTKL, and I worked for them as a sort of policeman for all of their projects in the Middle East,” Robertson said. “After a couple of years, they asked me to open up their office in Dubai, so I worked for about ten years there, and it allowed me to see parts of the world that I hadn’t really seen before. I was looking after places like India, Lebanon and North Africa. After leaving them, I joined RW Armstrong, and after a couple more years, I moved to Bahrain.”

In a completely different field of study, Wallenstein went to Harvard College for pre-med and then to Columbia University for medical school. He now serves as a neonatologist, a newborn intensive care specialist.

In 2018, Wallenstein and his wife went on vacation to New Zealand, where they stayed at a country estate lodge near Wellington. Coincidentally, the Five Eyes, an intelligence alliance between the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, happened to be meeting at this same spot for a social barbeque.

“We were just staying there when all these Blackhawk-type helicopters showed up,” Wallenstein said. “All of the Secretaries of Defense and their whole staffs from all these countries just showed up to have a social barbecue where we’re staying.

Because it’s such a small hotel, the staff was like, ‘Feel free to go to the bar and socialize with them.’ So, we played croquet with the helicopter pilots, and we chatted with the military brass. It was the most bizarre thing ever.”

It was the officials they met at the lodge who encouraged Wallenstein and his wife to turn their vacation into a long-term stay, according to Wallenstein.

“My wife, who is a child psychiatrist, and I are both in medicine,” Wallenstein said. “[The Five Eyes officials] said, ‘It’s really easy to transfer your license. We need more doctors. Why don’t you just come for a six-month working holiday and live in New Zealand?’ We responded, ‘That sounds really fun.’ Initially, it was just for six months, but we’re still here four years later.”

Unlike Wallenstein, Robertson planned to live in Bahrain for a long time, but he still wasn’t sure what to expect further east. He found that the culture was accommodating and Western-friendly.

“English is spoken widely in Dubai and in the UAE [United Arab Emirates],” Robertson said. “Finding out that people were really generous, helpful and understanding was probably the biggest surprise for me. I’m not the first Westerner to show up there, but they were really receptive to me.”

Robertson says that his time in Bahrain enhanced his global outlook.

“I see things in a different light living abroad,” Robertson said. “For the last seven years, I have seen things from different perspectives: from a local perspective, from a regional perspective and from a global perspective. It’s also better going back to the United States and talking with people to see how they perceive the world.”

Wallenstein adds that living abroad gave him a stronger desire to find new experiences.

“It was very difficult to do something so out of left field, especially since I was on a set academic and medical track — even from high school,” Wallenstein said. “It felt very uncomfortable doing it at first, but now I think I’m ready to do anything. It has fueled my adventurous spirit.”

STORY Will Pechersky, Ian Dalrymple GRAPHIC Will Spencer

Alumni Weekend events to take place in April

by Aaron Liu he first normal Alumni Weekend since 2019 will take place April 21-23, with event updates and registration open on the school website. This year’s event marks a return to the traditions which usually take place.

“We hosted an Alumni Weekend in the fall, but it was a modified version, because we were still coming out of the pandemic,” Director of Alumni Relations Alex Eshelbrenner ’04 said. “This year, in April, we’re going to be able to host the full range of events, and we’re very excited about it.”

This year, the Spring Alumni Upcoming Dinner will honor retirees April 21 and award Golf tournament recipients from at Brookhaven the past three Country Club years.

“There are April 22 28 different Back To School Day members of Spring Alumni the St. Mark’s Dinner community who will be April 23 honored at Family Cookouts the dinner,” Eshelbrenner said. “We’ll also present the major alumni award recipients for the Distinguished Alumnus awards, the Alumni Service Medal and the Young Alumni Service Citation. We’ll also be introducing the Lee Smith ‘65 Courage and Honor Award for the first time.”

In addition to the regular weekend events, this year will include events for current students, including a special alumni chapel for Upper Schoolers featuring Board of Trustees member Fraser Marcus ‘72.

Eshelbrenner hopes that the alumni chapel session will be an opportunity for students to hear stories from school graduates.

“The idea of these alumni chapels is to share perspective and wisdom about what a lifelong relationship with the school looks like,” Eshelbrenner said. “Also, for speakers to answer questions like ‘Why is he still giving back to the school?’ and ‘Why do his relationships with his classmates still matter?’”

In addition to the alumni chapel session, a special assembly will take place on the Friday leading into the weekend, featuring Carl Sewell ‘02 of the Sewell Automotive Company.

“We’ll be hosting a moderated conversation with Sewell about people, culture and performance,” Eshelbrenner said. “I think what you’ll find is that their strategies, techniques and beliefs mirror those of our school, so there’s a lot of cultural alignment.”

Like with the chapel sessions, the discussion will be focused on real-life application.

“Hopefully, the conversation can help students see how concepts taught in school can be applied to the real world,” Eshelbrenner said.

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INSIDE LOOK

What makes a Marksman?

A process every Marksman has to go through to find himself here, the Admission Committee constantly works to refine the admissions process to attract and admit the best candidates to the school. Here’s a look at what happens in those conversations.

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ast year, everything freshman Luke Laczkowksi knew about St. Mark’s was overheard at the dinner table — how tired his two brothers were from basketball practice, how their physics exams went and how entertaining Upper School assembly games were.

With a global pandemic throwing the application process for a loop, Laczkowski felt lucky to already have a connection to the school through his brothers.

But even with their guidance, he still had a great deal of questions: How will I make friends if school is online?

How will I know what classes to take? How will I know if I like campus without a tour?

“The application process was all online,” Laczkowski said. “I didn’t know too much about student life and the experience here, and I couldn’t visit the school. I had my own perception of what the school was like, but I wasn’t really sure.”

That’s why Director of Admission David Baker and the admission office strive to be as open as possible about the potentially confusing road to stepping onto 10600 Preston Road for the first time. In essence, the clarity brought by Baker and his team works as a buffer against students’ uncertainty as they enroll.

“We want to make the school as inviting as possible to prospective students so that they want to make campus a better place,” Baker said. “We’re doing that to ensure students here are comfortable — because everything is about the boys.”

Making the school’s admission process about the boys starts with significant selfexamination.

“As a staff, as a faculty, as an office,” admission officer Korey Mack ’00 said, “Every year we ask, ‘Why are we doing this the way we’re doing this?’ And if we can’t come up with an answer, then we consider not doing it anymore.”

In addition to this regular, top-down look at the pros and cons of the system, the admission team employs unique methods in the application process to ensure that each aspect of the process is integral and necessary to a holistic look at every

applicant. this motive.”

Interviews, for example, are by no means standard Anna Crouch, wife of Director of Development Tim protocol. Baker and his team have revamped the interview Crouch, was recently announced as Senior Associate process to give boys more of a chance to demonstrate their Director of Admission and Financial Aid next year. character, eliminating one-on-one interviews.

Crouch brings more than a decade of independent school “We decided a long time ago that the classic school admission experience to St. Mark’s, having served as interview was a practice in search of a theory,” Baker said.

Director of Admission and Financial Aid at Mercersburg “We weren’t getting very much out of that. You Academy in Pennsylvania. put a fifth grader in one of those chairs one“One of my favorite parts of the admission on-one, and what are you gonna talk about? process is getting to know families,” Crouch His favorite Harry Potter book? What we came said. “I’m excited to learn from parents about up with is a one-page response paper. They sit why they’re looking for a St. Mark’s education, in a room, they read a passage and they write and I hope I can help families have an enjoyable an essay responding to the passage. And what process because I know it can be stressful at do we do? We have class. Because here, you’re times.” in class every day and you talk. That’s what Marksman parent Maritza Liaw, mother of Anna crouch school is about.” first-grader Quincy, fourth-grader Zachary and Along with good manners and strong character, math sixth-grader Dominic, was surprised by how transparent instructor Jeffrey Hale, who has conducted interviews and non-intimidating the admission process is. since his second year here, mainly looks for prospective “When you walk into a well-recognized prep school students showing genuine interest in the school. as a prospective parent, the impression is that you’ll be “There are some guys that I’ve interviewed whose told why it would be such a privilege to be there,” Liaw numbers are really high, but you fear that they’re not said. “I thought they were refreshingly open with an really in it for the St. Mark’s community –– they’re more attitude of, ‘We hope you like us. We’d like to tell you why in it for the school’s name,” Hale said. “That’s not the we think we have an incredible experience for boys, and kind of kid we want. We want guys that will come back to we hope you agree.’ And there were always current Upper campus, that will invest in the school, and may even want and Middle School students available to answer questions, their kids to go to school here because of the joy and love so it’s not just the administration.” they have for St. Mark’s.”

Everyone at St. Mark’s is an admission officer.

Interviews play a key role in the When people find out where you go to school, admission team’s ceaseless evaluation by the they judge the school by you. Who we are is of how individual grades can be our best advertising. numbers strengthened, particularly through the lens of diversity.

David baker percent “The team is constantly working Director of Admission and Financial Aid acceptance to attract boys and families from all rate backgrounds,” Headmaster David Dini Dini puts extra emphasis on the fact that attending the said.

“We want a robust collection of school is not a transactional experience. average Marksmen who bring a wide variety of “Attending St. Mark’s is about interconnectedness — tuition experiences, perspectives, abilities and it’s about the ability of an individual to contribute to those interests to the table, making the whole around them,” Dini said. “We don’t just want someone million dollars school stronger. With application numbers who would do well academically, but someone who awarded in financial aid constantly going up, we’re actually going would actively make the community at large better. We to be expanding our team to strengthen want boys who will thrive and contribute.”

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Putting together the puzzle pieces An insider’s guide to the admission process

Getting Started Visit smtexas.org/ admission/how-to-apply for initial details. By clicking “Apply,” you can access the application form.

ST. MARK’S SCHOOL OF TEXAS How to Apply

Teacher and Parent Evaluations A personal and academic evaluation will typically be written by an English teacher and a math teacher. For students below 5th-grade, this will typically be written by their homeroom teacher.

Parent Letter Teacher Rec.

Parents are given the opportunity to write on behalf of their child, similar to a recommendation, in hopes that they can reveal more about their child and family.

indepth

ISEE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

Observation and Interview Unique to the Lower School, the observation is a set of tasks and activities done on campus in small groups — three faculty to eight boys.

“Is this guy ready to work hard all day?”

Baker said. “It’s not just the pace that makes St. Mark’s difficult — it’s also the depth with which they have to learn.”

In place of an on-campus observation, Middle and Upper School students take part in group interviews. Students would write short responses to broad, simple questions about a passage, and then discuss their responses with other students and a faculty moderator.

Standardized Testing In first grade, students take a test designed by the Independent Schools Admission Association of Dallas, of which the school is a member. In second grade and above, students take a variation of the Independent School Entrance Exam (ISEE). Students are then given a percentile ranking based on everyone applying to independent schools that year.

ADMISSION | Getting accepted

A HOLISTIC REVIEW:

Applying to

St. Mark’s

STORY Peter Orsak, Toby Barrett, Austin Williams, Dillon Wyatt, Shreyan Daulat, Jonathan Yin

GRAPHICS Jonathan Yin

PHOTO Courtesy Dave Carden

Student ambassador program: the buddy system

by Shreyan Daulat efore the pandemic caused a shift in policy, the admission office led a student ambassador program through which prospective students could shadow current Marksmen for an entire school day. Admission officer Korey Mack ‘00 played a key role in setting up this opportunity.

“Although the buddy program hasn’t operated in earnest since 2019, I was responsible for organizing all of those visits,” Mack said. “I assigned student ambassadors, communicated with parents, set their expectations and ensured they were great hosts to our applicant guests.”

Senior Zubin Mehta was a student ambassador for a large portion of his Middle and Upper School career, and remembers how the experience enabled kids to test the waters of school life in

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real-time.

“The thing I looked for as a student ambassador was how different kids reacted to the St. Mark’s atmosphere,” Mehta said. “I think every kid who joins St. Mark’s is academically gifted, but the student ambassador program was a good way to ascertain if the kid also has a personality that will enable him to thrive here.”

In addition to taking prospective students to all of his classes during the school year, Mehta’s involvement with the program has also enabled him to host accepted students over the summer.

Just before his freshman year, he was introduced to current senior Soham Verma, a recently accepted applicant at the time.

“Having a buddy family was a great way to get integrated into the school,”

Verma said. “Not only did I make a friend out of it, but our families got to know each other and our moms were in touch. It was really beneficial socially — we would go over to each other’s houses with other classmates, and I met new people.”

Mehta and Verma’s relationship continued to grow as school kicked off.

Not only did Mehta help him socially, but he also aided him academically during the school year.

“English class was where I was most lost when I came to St. Mark’s because there were so many standard conventions of the class that I had no idea about,” Verma said. “Zubin and other classmates really helped me get caught up.”

Mehta and Verma are one of many pairs of ‘buddies’ across all grades. Verma believes the buddy system allowed him to have a seamless integration into the

community, and he is thankful for it.

“It didn’t take me long to figure out that St. Mark’s is a special place, particularly because of the people that walk our campus every day,” Verma said. “While some of those people have been at St. Mark’s for a very long time, they took me in as one of their own. And that really made me feel like I belonged here.”

As the school begins its return to pre-pandemic norms, it’s worth asking — what will become of the student ambassador program?

“While I’m personally very hopeful it’ll return, it’s unlikely to function as it did pre-COVID, like most things,” Mack said. “The volume of applications we’ve been receiving may present additional challenges and the new schedule has its own conflicts, but it’ll be back, even if it looks drastically different.”

Family Photo “We offer parents an opportunity to include a photo of the student and the family,” Baker said. “It’s by no means required, but about 90 percent of applicants choose to.”

The Final Step Five-member committees review submitted files at the end of the process.

They’re divided up so each group has an approximately even number of applications to review. Each file is read by all 5 members — one of them is Baker, another is an admissions staff, the third is the division head and the other two are anonymous.

Report Card

CATS IQ Test Administered by a clinical psychiatrist, CATS tests directly gauge the IQs of potential students as a metric reflective of how they will perform in school. The tests are only used for applicants in the first through fourth grades, with second and third grade applicants not being required to take them.

Grades Official transcripts are also requested by the school.

However, they may not always be traditional letter grades.

“In first grade, academic grades come in all shapes and sizes,” Baker said. “A lot of them are just narratives.”

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culture

the remarker march 10, 2022

arts & Arjun Badi and the bagpipes STUDENT MUSICIAN

my instagram A look at freshman Jacob Lobdell’s photography from his Instagram account, @jacoblobdell_ photography.

In his own words:

I took this photo for an open-color assignment, and I think it was my best photo from last year. It got broadcasted during a Middle School meeting, which was pretty cool. I found a random flower in my backyard that I thought was pretty, splashed some water on it and took it.

After first hearing the bagpipes at a parade, junior Arjun Badi fell in love with the sound of the instrument and decided to learn to play. He often brings the pipes to campus, performing for classmates and faculty.

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hen it comes to his choice of instruments, junior Arjun Badi is the odd man out.

The school offers lessons and classes for a variety of instruments, such as the violin, tuba, cello, trombone and piano.

Badi, however, decided to venture outside of the school’s offerings by picking up an unlikely hobby: playing the bagpipes.

“One day, seventh grade Arjun went to the Scarborough Renaissance Fair, and it was Scottish-themed,” Badi said.

“They had a huge parade with bagpipes, and I was just like, ‘Dang, that’s interesting. This is very different from what I play.’”

Badi was instantly hooked.

After tracking down someone in town who could teach him, Badi started the search for his own set of pipes.

“With the bagpipes, you don’t start out on a full set, but rather on something called a practice chanter, where you just practice a melody and its fingerings,” Badi said. “At some point, I asked my dad, ‘If I get all A’s this semester, will you get me a set of bagpipes?’

I succeeded, and I got a set from the ‘70s made by the Hardy Company.”

Bagpipes are unlike any other instrument — both in their sound and in their necessary technique.

Badi asserts that the hardest part about playing them is the challenge of dividing his attention between multiple actions.

“Bagpipes have four separate reeds — three reeds on the three drones and one on the chanter,” Badi said. “It’s all about maintaining a constant air-flow into those four. It’s essentially like playing four instruments at once.

You need a lot of breath control and arm movement.”

Badi attributes his unique fascination with the Scottish instrument to the distinctly unique sound it can produce.

“I would call the sound of the bagpipes majestic,” Badi said.

“It’s tuned to a different frequency than the regular brass stuff we have in the United States. It’s strongly connected with funerals and weddings. Right now, I’m volunteering with the Dallas Veterans’ Funeral Home so that I can play for veterans and fallen soldiers.”

Badi also performs for

his friends, classmates and, sometimes, teachers. Just recently, he brought the pipes to campus for one such performance.

“It was a great experience, and there were about 30 people gathered behind the science building, listening to me play,” Badi said. “This is a unique skill, and I’m glad I can share it with those around me.”

As far as his future of playing the bagpipes — Badi isn’t certain what that’ll look like. But he has a connection with the instrument, and it helps him in his daily life.

“I think it is something I can continue through college, at least as a hobby,” Badi said. “I never want to forget the skill. In high school, playing the instrument has been a huge stress-reliever, and it gives me a sense of peace and reasurrance.”

STORY Will Spencer PHOTO Will Spencer

culture in brief

This photo was taken for an emulation assignment in my class. Its purpose was to copy the style of the original photographer.

I took this one up in Telluride, Colorado, over the Christmas Break. It was midday, the sun was bright and I took a couple of photos of this boulder.

This assignment was the first significant one in which I edited in color, which is a lot harder to do than black and white because you have to get a color balance.

BLUEPRINT GALLERY ARTWORK Seniors Cooper Cole and Adam Wang had their artwork displayed in the Blueprint Gallery, a contemporary fine art gallery that displays young, emerging artists. Cole’s artwork depicts several aliens and skateboards, while Wang’s is a self-portrait. Cole cited his frustration from COVID-19 as the source of his inspiration. While the works are no longer on display, the Blue Print Gallery annually hosts the winners of the Dallas Young Arts Exhibition.

YOUNG AMERICAN TALENT The winners of the Young American Talent Competition will be announced March 21.

The Young American Talent competition is a jury-graded art gallery, which offers students the chance to compete against each other. The competition holds several categories ranging from ceramics and painting to jewelry and sculpture. Online

submissions were closed Feb. 25.

The gallery show begins April 6.

Several students from the Fine Arts Department have submitted works to the competition.

CHAPEL ORGAN REINSTILLATION The reinstallation process of the chapel organ will commence in late March and will last four weeks. Canadian organ building company Orgues Letourneau is leading this initiative. The EF-3 tornado in Oct. 2019 severely damaged the chapel’s original organ, Letourneau’s Opus 127, which was installed in Oct. 2014, costing over $1.5 million.

The organ will be voiced and tuned in late May so that it is ready for Baccalaureate and Commencement.

ELEVATED COOKING CLUB The Elevated Cooking Club is working with the Upper School office to create a budget in order to provide free food to groups such

for the arts enthusiast as TELOS and the Community Service Board at the end of the year. At the beginning of the school year, the Elevated Cooking Club raised $1,500 through bake sales. They donated the money to the Community Service Board and plan to donate more to charities of the club’s choice including Vogel Alcove, North Texas Food Bank and other local organizations.

MAVS ART CONTEST Sophomore Noah Cathey’s digital art submission became a finalist of the Dallas Mavericks Black History Art Contest Feb. 23. He was awarded with suite tickets to yesterday’s game, and he was honored at half time. In addition, his art will be on display at the African American Museum of Dallas for a little over a month.

His submission was a design of important Black leaders in history, and he attributes much of his design skills to his work on the Marksmen yearbook.

inside 17International week

19PArAdox games

A deep dive into Paradox’s “grand strategy” games that have recently been sweeping the school.

FRIDAY Pop of Art: Dallas Museum of Art special evening and Studio Ghibli exhibit Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center: Renée Elise Goldsberry SATURDAY Oak Cliff Cultural Center mixology workshop David Spade presents Catch Me Inside in Majestic Theatre SUNDAY Mississippian Art from Spiro at the Spirit Lodge — part of DMA. New Texas Symphony Orchestra presents Renewal at Moody Performance Hall

videogames

March 16 Camino de Sacramento, a Spanish film, showed at Latin Cultural Center Free Resiliency Workshop by The Arts Community Alliance March 17 Emily and Jonathan Bragg duet at Sammons Center for the Arts Daniel Habif’s RUGE Tour at Majestic Theatre March 18 Dallas’ Russian Ballet presents Swan Lake at Majestic Theatre March 20 Final day of Nasher Sculpture Center special exhibit Me, Myself & Shirley performance at Eisemann Center

movies Grand Theft March 15 Auto V Remastered Rune Factory March 22

18Pet paintings I also took this in Telluride for the emulation assignment.

This is an old, abandoned barn in the mountains that I feel has been there forever. It’s a beautiful area, and I loved how the photo turned out because of the landscape’s cool tones mixed with the snow.

Today First grade students perform in Fine Arts Evening

UPCOMING

headliners

Photos and coverage of the week’s cultural festivities and competitions.

Middle School instructor Donna Mullet’s unusual hobby has captured the attention of many members of the community.

THIS week

Ghostwire: Tokyo

March 25

concerts

X

March 18

The Outfit

March 18

Alice

March 18

The Lost City March 25

albums Elton John

March 10

Cody Johnson

March 12

Dua Lipa

March 13

Great American Painting

March 11

Crash

March 18

Mainstream Sellout

March 25

Homesick

March 25

culture

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arts &

the remarker march 10, 2022

International Week

From each corner of the world After two months of preparation, teachers from the Foreign Language Department and many Upper School students came together to organize International Week, a week dedicated to learning about and celebrating the languages, cultures, art and customs of different people across the world.

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ere on campus, we hear a lot about the so-called “St. Mark’s bubble,” meant to describe the highly limited and confined life experiences of many students at the school. Many members of our community have spent most or all of their lives living in or around Dallas, only getting a glimpse of the outside world on occasional trips or through a television screen.

So, how does one change that? How does one take a geographically confined group of people and transform them into world citizens?

International Week attempts to be part of the solution.

The event and its sponsors seek to expose students to the customs, food, music, language and cultures of people living in a myriad of different countries, aiming to pop not only the St. Mark’s bubble, but also the Texas bubble and the United States bubble as well.

more diverse, and as we have had students take on more leadership, its purpose has broadened to celebrating the different cultures across the world.”

In order to organize the event, the faculty sponsors include many sampath rapuri students every year, some of whom become student co-chairs.

This year, the co-chairs at the helm of International Week were seniors Sampath Rapuri and Isaac Song and junior Bijaan Noormohamed.

“We’re According to Chinese instructor Janet Lin, one of involved in the the event’s faculty sponsors, the purpose of the week is to entire planning expand students’ understanding of different cultures past process — from the language curricula taught in regular classes. booking events and POSTER COMPETITION The International Week poster contest gives students “The purpose of International Week is to promote planning activities a chance to exhibit their art skills. Each language class has its own topic. This different cultures,” Lin said. “We learn new languages to organizing the poster, designed for a Chinese class by sophomore Nathan Meyer, was selected as the winer of the competition by a student vote. here, but we don’t just want to promote the languages; we potluck, buttons, also want to include different cultures.” music and really Bijaan Noormohamed Master Teaching Chair Nancy anything that Unfortunately for International Week, the inclement Marmion, another International you heard or saw during the week,” Rapuri said. “We weather and icy roads on Thursday’s Latin Day threw a Week sponsor, asserts that the had weekly meetings on Tuesday mornings starting in wrench into the planned schedule. purpose of International Week has December, where we met with Ms. Marmion, Mrs. Lin and “[The snowstorm] took a evolved with the ever-changing Dr. Erwin, discussed the ideas behind the activities and significant chunk our of our week, student body. made sure that people were doing the things they were as we’d planned out multiple events “The original purpose of supposed to be doing. on Wednesday and Thursday that International Week since before I Lin holds a special fondness for the International had to be rescheduled,” Song said. came to St. Mark’s was to celebrate Week potluck that was held on Tuesday, citing food’s “The World Cup Tournament Janet Lin the languages we teach,” Marmion unique ability to bring various people together. on Wednesday could not be said, “but, as our school has become “I think that the potluck is a great way for students to rescheduled and was unfortunately isaac song explore different cultures,” cancelled.”

Lin said. “For me. I spent six hours just making the Looking forward to future International Weeks, dumplings. It’s a lot of Noormohamed hopes for an increased emphasis on Latin work.” events and a more open environment for the entire student Many of the event’s body to enjoy. organizers relish the “Next year, I’d like to focus more on getting Latin Day fact that this year’s sorted, since there always seems to be a dearth of Latin International Week has members on the committee,” Noormohamed said. “I’d like been able to hold many to continue opening it up and allowing the whole student events that last year’s body to participate.” pandemic situation After a successful International Week this year, prevented.

Marmion hopes to continue to improve, develop and “We’ve been able to reinvent the event in the future. bring back some activities “I hope that we’ll continue to have students interested that we weren’t able to in serving on the committee who can bring new ideas,” do last year because of Marmion said, “and that we will the pandemic, such as the continue to have student leaders the food tasting event,” step up and help organize and run Marmion said. “I always International Week to make it an like the chapel, where we even bigger and more successful hear people saying prayers event in the future.” in different languages, and I always loved the trivia STORY Will Spencer BUZZER RACE Freshman Henry Roden, sophomore Mitchel Gallardi, Junior Michael Gao and game. I think it’s a lot of senior Sampath Rapuri all gather around junior Will Spencer for Certamen, a Quiz Bowl event PHOTOS Tiger Yang hosted by the International Week commitee on the week’s final day in the commons during lunch.

Nancy Marmion fun.”

TPSMEA auditions held for spots in all-region orchestra for Upper and Middle Schoolers

by Will Pechersky rchestra director Dr. Sarah Choi hosted a clinic and concert at the school for selected private school orchestra students around North Texas through the Texas Private School Music Educators Association (TPSMEA) Feb. 19.

Two orchestra groups, one for high school students and one for middle school students, met together to participate in the event, which serves as an opportunity to give students more experience before the All-State performance.

“One of the opportunities [TPSMEA] offers to both high schoolers and middle schoolers is to win a seat through a competitive audition for a middle school honor orchestra and a

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high school region orchestra,” Choi said.

“This is the precursor to the All-State experience, which is only for upper schoolers, and it’s the highest level we can offer.”

Four high school students and nine middle school students from the school were selected through an anonymous audition process to be part of the event.

“Students prepare an audio recording of the material, which is then submitted and judged by a blind panel of other fellow music directors,” Choi said. “Then, the computer does its magic and ranks them all. The top 60 kids get a seat, so we create this orchestra of presumably the best.”

With pandemic concerns remaining throughout schools, Choi stepped up and volunteered to host the event on her

own campus.

“Many campuses are working to figure out what is safe and what is not, so for many schools, they’re not ready to do that yet,” Choi said. “I didn’t know if our campus was, either, but I knew that we’ve been lucky enough to have sports events, social gatherings and festivals, so I asked for approval to hold an arts event on our campus. I received permission and then created safety protocols that the school, organization and families would be comfortable with.”

Choi and her colleagues played a major role in planning and organizing the event beforehand to bring it to life.

“My job was the site coordinator, so I took care of all the things like reserving spaces, making sure we had places to be

in terms of inclement weather, lighting, sound, signage, making sure we have enough space for everybody and all of those on-the-ground type of things,” Choi said. “There was a team of three of us who managed different portions to make Saturday happen.”

Especially after waiting two years since the last event due to COVID-19, Choi sees great value in the experience for students with differing programs in areas around the state.

“If you have a student who’s working hard in their own little pocket of Texas,” Choi said, “for them to come here for the day and sit in an orchestra of 60 other middle school kids who are just as dedicated and interested in this area as you is very exciting and inspiring.”

culture

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arts &

the remarker march 10, 2022

Painting

Putting the brush back to work Middle School humanities instructor Donna Mullett first started painting back in fifth grade, but her commitment to the hobby faded as her career took off as a teacher. Now, Mullet has found the time to reignite her artistic pastime in a new way.

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he edits papers, assigns readings and teaches her students about ancient world cultures.

On top of all the work that comes with being a teacher, she has found the time to rekindle a long-lost passion from when she was a student herself.

For Middle School humanities instructor Donna Mullett, painting has been both liberating and challenging. Because she was unable to keep up her former routine, Mullet initially picked up drawing to pass time during quarantine.

“When COVID hit, I couldn’t do all the things I normally did, like karate and going to the gym,” Mullet said. “I had a lot of extra time, so I needed something to do. I found a book at Barnes and Noble, and I just started doing pencil drawings each day based on the prompts.”

She felt confined by the limitations of the book, and a change in materials allowed her more creative expression on the page.

“It got to a point where I didn’t like drawing in the small spaces of the pages, so I wanted to have bigger paper,” Mullet said. “Then I wanted to have color, so I switched to colored pencil on real paper, and then I switched to watercolor, which was the first time I have ever used watercolor.”

From there, she challenged herself to try new styles, and, after stumbling upon a dog painting guide, she was hooked.

“I was watching a lot of YouTube videos on techniques, and I found one that was about painting a dog,” Mullett said. “After watching, I thought I could do it, so I looked for some people to paint their dogs. Of course, I painted my sister’s dog. I did paintings for some people in the Upper School office and Middle School office. That’s how I started.”

Even though she had not painted in over a decade, Mullett painted when she was a student, first learning to do so in fifth grade.

“I said to my mom, ‘I want to paint,’ and I got a little paint kit,” Mullet said. “My mom found me a painting class that was on the top of a supermarket, but what she didn’t tell me was that the class was all grandmothers. So I was like ten, and I was going to this class with grandmothers, and they were all painting still lifes and flowers, while I was painting clowns, puppies and dolls.”

Even though she’s had practice with many different coat colors and animals, she still finds it difficult to recreate certain photographs by painting.

“If I don’t have a clear picture of their face, it’s hard for me because I can’t do the painting that I envision,” Mullett said. “I don’t have that kind of skill, so I find it hard when the photograph I’m working with isn’t the clearest.”

Black and white pets cause their own issues through the nature of the paper and the limitations of watercolor.

“I also find all-black or all-white pets the most challenging because I’m working on white paper,” Mullett said. “I have a background in acrylics and oil, and I paint in a different way. In watercolor, I have to leave the space white. I did use some white gouache [before], but because gouache is opaque, and watercolor isn’t, you can use it, but it doesn’t

PAINTING PETS Recently, Middle School humanities instructor Donna Mullett has committed specifically to painting dogs owned by members all throughout her extended community. The passion was first rekindled at the start of the pandemic when Mullet had extra time on her hands.

make it as white as you want it to be. So I still have some things to learn.”

As for the future, Mullett says she doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon.

“I’m happier this year since we have returned, but I also think adding art back into my life has made me happier,” Mullet said. “So I’m not going to walk away from it like I did years ago when I stopped … [Art] has become a part of my life that I’m glad I reconnected with. I joke with [Lower School art teacher Suzuko] Davis because she says 100 is a special number in Japanese art, but I’m already at around 80, and I’m gonna hit 100. I don’t want to quit thinking ‘Oh, I’ve done 100 dogs, now I’m done!’ I want to keep painting them. I’m not tired of it.”

STORY Nikhil Dattatreya, Will Spencer PHOTO Evan Lai, Courtesy Donna Mullett

Pets

naming

Spanish instructor and community service director Jorge Correa has received paintings from Mullet depicting all five of his dogs. Here are examples of Mullet’s artwork along with the names of Correa’s pets.

Higgins

Tango

Woodstock

Selfy

Epi

reviews

the remarker march 10, 2022

ratings & Territorial tactics

19

Strategy games

A subset of strategy titles made by Paradox Interactive have lately made an especially large splash in the world of video games. We’ve taken a look at some of their most popular games to see whether or not they hold up.

A delightful dive into the Modern Era

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uropa Universalis 4 (EU4) has so much replay value that it’s scary. I was initially intimidated by some of EU4’s mechanics, but it wasn’t long before I felt adept enough to really dive into a run. Despite its name, EU4 allows the player to take control of any historical country in any place in the world from the year 1444 to 1821.

Though the game has a roughly historical setting, as soon as a run begins, the computer-controlled opponents and the player are both perfectly free to go off the rails of history and do whatever he or she may want to do.

As for what options are available to the player: the sky’s the limit. You can transform the Italian state of Naples into a colonial superpower, take over Australia as the Ming Dynasty of China, flip the

script and conquer Europe as the Aztecs, or restore the Roman Empire in the modern era as the Kingdom of Mali from western Africa. If you can think of it, and you have enough skill to bring it about, you can probably do it in EU4.

The game’s mechanics are interestingly complex, but not so complex that they become tedious. The game’s computercontrolled opponents are actually quite impressive and present a satisfying challenge to the player.

The only notably bad thing I can think of about EU4 is that much of its content is paywalled behind DLC, but constant sales ultimately make these pretty affordable.

Overall, Europa Universalis 4 is a must-try for anybody even remotely interested in grand strategy games.

Europa Universalis 4 Simulation, Strategy Paradox Interactive Released 9/13/13 Price: $40

Grade:

A

A limited experience in a limitless setting Stellaris

Simulation, Strategy Paradox Interactive Released 5/9/16 Price: $40

Grade:

C+

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tellaris’s premise seems to lend itself to infinite replay value, but, after finishing my fair share of runs, I can definitively say this is not the case.

Stellaris is the only Paradox game to feature a procedurally-generated map and randomly generated computer-controlled empires, but this apparent opportunity for variety is nothing more than a thin layer of makeup poorly concealing a repetitive and empty game.

In Stellaris, unlike other Paradox games, the player starts out roughly equally matched to his or her opponents, with the exception of a few “fallen empires” which are deactivated, and therefore irrelevant, until well into the late game.

The computer-controlled opponents are frankly not that good at doing anything and are especially

bad at managing their own economies, so it won’t be long before they don’t present even a slight challenge to the player.

In the beginning of the game, the player starts out isolated and is unlikely to even encounter an enemy while they might still have an advantage.

The vibrant, interesting and varied maps of other Paradox games is replaced by a bland network of randomly-generated stars, each barely distinguishable from any other. The game’s addons offer some flavor, but they fail to satisfactorily overhaul Stellaris’s fundamentally uninteresting gameplay loop. Stellaris’s space setting gave me an expectation of massive scale and near infinite possibilities, but the actual gameplay feels far more caged than comparable offerings.

An gripping take on history’s biggest conflict

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f all the video games people around campus play, Hearts of Iron 4 might have the most fearsome reputation. Perhaps you might even have a friend or loved one suffering from the effects of this game.

If someone can make it through the first ten or so hours of gameplay, you’ll start to see the symptoms. They’ll be active on Steam until four a.m., the hours of their nights consumed by staring at the exact same map, over and over again. At this point, their condition is terminal. There’s nothing you can do.

Hearts of Iron 4 is a map-based game that takes place during World War II. A player can take over any country in the world, from the Soviet Union to Liberia. From there, the game offers a massive number of ways to play.

Along with these nearly unlimited ways to play the same game, Hearts of Iron includes detailed features of weapons, ships, planes, tanks, and spy agencies from the time period.

These mechanics take a long time to learn

though. A YouTube search for “Hearts of Iron 4 Tutorial” will yield videos up to seven hours long!

The learning curve is the biggest negative to the game; it forces people to take hours of their time to try and get acquainted with a game they might not even like. But — with the numerous gameplay opportunities that separate Hearts of Iron 4 from others like it — the tough learning curve might be worth it.

Most Hearts of Iron 4 players would agree that their hours might be better spent doing other things, like showering, going outside, getting a girlfriend or pretty much anything even slightly productive.

So is Hearts of Iron 4 a net drain on society, sapping away thousands of collective hours that could be spent on productive things? Yes. Has it diminished the amount of people who show up to Homecoming or Winter Formal? Probably. Has it been one of the most fun games on PC for more than five years now? Definitely.

Hearts of Iron 4 Simulation, Strategy Paradox Interactive Released 6/6/16 Price: $40

Grade:

ASTORY Myles Lowenberg, Will Spencer

A four-step guide to winning at

Wordle is a game that’s easy to play but hard to master. After countless runs, we’ve compiled four essential strategies to think about when playing.

STEP 1: FIND AN OPENER

STEP 2: GROUP LETTERS

I’ve seen a lot of debate over what the best Wordle opener is, and a certain popular math video on the subject has given some the self-assured satisfaction that “crane” reigns supreme, but I don’t think it’s that simple. A good opener is all about setting up your game in a way that makes it easier for you find the final answer, so I think that the best opener is, to a certain extent, subjective. I’m a fan of “adieu,” since knowing the word’s vowels makes it easier for me to intuit the final answer.

It can sometimes be hard to find likely positions for the letters you’ve uncovered, so you might want to make the process easier on yourself by consciously grouping letters together. Grouping common diphthongs — such as “ea,” “ie” and “ou” — and common consonant digraphs — such as “tr,” “ng” and “th” — can greatly simplify the sorting process. Make sure, however, not to get too bogged down in this process, since it might lock you into a mindset that would make you miss the actual answer.

STEP 3: NARROW OPTIONS Many learned this lesson the hard way a couple weeks ago when the word “shake” ruined streaks everywhere.

Most of these unfortunate players were able to discover all but the fourth letter and guessed words like “shame,” “shave,” “share” and “shape” until their guesses ran out. When put into a situation like this, you might want to guess a word like “privy” to learn about the letters p, v and r before making a final guess.

STEP 4: GO FOR GOLD When you’re making your final guess, don’t just put in the first word that pops into your head and fits the criteria you’ve discovered. Keep in mind that the final answer will only ever be a relatively common word, so you probably shouldn’t be guessing something like “fovea,” even if it seems to fit the script. Be patient, and don’t jump the gun. Try to identify the most common word you can think of, and hope for a row of green.

by Will Spencer

20

opinion

editorials &

MAIN EDITORIAL

New senior exhibition format could use improvement

The new format for the senior exhibition, part of a pilot program, avoided roadblocks but has room for improvement.

the remarker march 10, 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 graphics director COOPER COLE 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 discoveries & stem, news & issues KESHAV KRISHNA MYLES LOWENBERG Focus Magazine editors MORGAN CHOW IAN DALRYMPLE Advertising business manager IAN MIZE

SENIOR EX Editor-in-chief Austin Williams and Managing Editors Toby Barrett and Peter Orsak present a senior exhibition to eighth grade advisories on their time on The ReMarker.

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school tradition for many years, the format for senior exhibitions was changed this year to both adapt to an uncertain school year due to COVID-19 and best suit the school’s mission with the senior exhibition program. Head of Upper School Colin Igoe has made it clear in an interview with The ReMarker that, while the current shape of the senior exhibition program sets the new template for this school tradition, changes in the future are possible and likely.

The new format has all senior exhibitions occuring on four Thursdays, once a month for four months, starting in January. The exhibitions occur during community time to groups of a few advisories of middle schoolers or to an entire Lower School class.

Seniors fill out a form in December listing who will give the presentation — if in a group — what the desired topic is, and preference ranks of grade levels to which to speak and dates of exhibition. Two weeks before their exhibition, seniors meet with the Upper School office to receive information regarding their presentations, and most importantly, to what grade they will be presenting.

Though we may have concerns for the new senior exhibition format, we first recognize that the current format is the best that could be done with current circumstances. As the Middle School has only one chapel and much more programming during class meetings and middle school assemblies, having senior exhibitions take place in the form of chapel talks or during class meetings or assemblies is currently unfeasible. There is so much programming already packed into those Middle School community time periods that adding senior exhibitions simply does not fit the schedule.

Furthermore, though smaller groups may not be the best for certain presentations, for

senior exhibitions that don’t need a wider audience, the smaller groups offer great interactive opportunities, which ultimately make such a presentation better. These are a few of many benefits considered in the planning for this year’s slot of senior exhibitions, and we applaud administrators for the thoughtfulness in their planning, even if we may have some critiques and suggestions.

There is a diversity of opinions in the senior class, this Editorial Board as a whole felt the new senior exhibition format could use key improvements that the previous format held: • As there are only four dates for senior exhibitions, there are many less opportunities for seniors to attend many of their friends’ senior exhibitions, as had been the case before. Having more dates on which these exhibitions could occur — without the return of the three-visitor cap on senior exhibition attendance — will give seniors more opportunities to support their classmates in this seminal tradition.

• Concentrating and fixing the dates of senior exhibitions to four days in January through April limits seniors’ ability to tailor the timeliness of their presentation. Though having all senior exhibitions occur after the college application process has pretty much wrapped up is a benefit, the ability to schedule a presentation in the fall could prove valuable, as giving a presentation on a topic during the time of year that topic is relevant greatly improves it.

• Giving a presentation to only a few advisories limits the reach of certain exhibitions which are more tailored to entire grades. For example, some members of The ReMarker staff gave their senior exhibition on their experience

PHOTO Austin Williams

on the newspaper and the growth a student could experience in journalism. While the presentation went well and certainly impacted the audience, an exhibition to the entire eighth grade would have ensured that all aspiring journalists would have heard about the opportunities in journalism and been encouraged to join. Finding a way to host bigger audiences with the current schedule may prove tricky, but we believe it would be of great benefit in certain key instances.

• There are some presentations that make most sense for Upper School students. A plethora of past seniors gave their senior exhibitions on a summer experience of theirs, such as a job or internship they held. Such jobs and internships are only open to older boys.

It makes little sense to give a presentation on a job and encourage the audience to spend their summers that way to seventh graders who won’t be able to work for three more years. It makes little sense to make a senior exhibition on internships exclusive to high schoolers to a group of sixth graders. While the overarching lessons of the presentation may transcend age, applicability and relatability play an enormous role in the success of a senior exhibition.

All in all, we recognize the limitations that make the new senior exhibition format necessary and the benefits derived from it.

Our main plea to the Upper School Office and senior advisors is that the above concerns are taken into account as the senior exhibition format is tweaked and improved in years to come.

This is a great opportunity for seniors to pass on their accumulated wisdom to younger Marksmen, and we eagerly anticipate what changes will be made to make the senior exhibition a memorable experience for everyone involved.

EDITORIAL

Upper School athletic tutorials should make return in 2022-2023 school year

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way for students to fulfill their athletic requirements outside of the school’s offered programs, sports tutorials are no longer offered to the upper schoolers, and are now only available to middle schoolers.

This change was made when our athletic requirements changed as a result of the new schedule. With the introduction of mandatory PE for freshmen and sophomores, students only have to participate in one sport per year to fulfill their requirement.

Nonetheless, we believe that bringing back

the sports tutorial program for Upper School athletes could only bring a welcome, positive change. Although the school offers plenty of athletic opportunities for students to fulfill their graduation requirement, there are still many other sports the school does not offer. The only way students are able to further pursue these sports — in which they have often participated for several years already — and receive credits for their efforts is through the tutorial program.

We recognize this change comes from an intent to get more students involved in the

school’s sports teams, but we believe giving students the liberty to participate in other sports in which they feel more comfortable supersedes this.

We do not believe students who pursue a sport — often competitively — outside of school need to be forced into a school sport or another semester of PE. We believe the return of the sports tutorial for Upper School athletes would be heartily welcome and improve the culture of athletic excellence at the school.

Writers BEN ADAMS AARON AUGUSTINE NIKHIL DATTATREYA ZACK GOFORTH GRANT JACKSON AARON LIU NOLAN MARCUS GRAYSON REDMOND 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.

opinion

What’s happening to journalism in Hong Kong?

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hen it’s time for icebreakers, I’ve been blessed with a unique response.

Q: Tell us something most people don’t know about you.

A: Hong Kong, China was my home for almost ten years.

Ten years? So are you fluent in Chinese? … Not really?

That’s probably what Ms. Lin would say. It’s way harder to be fluent in Chinese than something like Spanish — you don’t have the alphabet to lean on.

Tangent aside, my home has been in the news a lot lately.

COVID has been the biggest catalyst — Hong Kong recently lost its status as a global leader in “containing the spread.” New measures were enforced (read: mandatory COVID testing for each of the seven million residents), so take that as you will.

And while it’s faded in the face of the pandemic, freedom of the press has been a huge issue.

Here’s a quick debrief: Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region (SAR), controlled by China, meaning that the island maintains a level AUSTIN WILLIAMS Editor-in-Chief of autonomy. It has its own government (sort of — I won’t get into that), a capitalist economy and some of the classic American freedoms like speech, press and protest.

Recent threats to freedom of the press have been serious — a draconian Chinese national security law meant that, among others, a prominent pro-democracy media tycoon was arrested in his newsroom.

The law is vague — it was put into place after an array of anti-government protests, and it’s focused on terrorism, subversion, secession and collusion with foreign forces — but it clearly has other implications.

As a journalist, it’s extremely scary to witness all of this.

Apple Daily, the pro-democracy newspaper home to formerly mentioned media tycoon, was cited as “endangering national security.” But where’s the line?

Many Hong Kong journalists have resorted to self-censorship.

Why risk arrest (or worse) when you can avoid touchy topics, cut questions from your interview slate and praise the government?

I know why — because journalism is the backbone of society. It empowers the public with information, exposing lies, corruption and the genuinely terrible things that would go by the wayside if it weren’t for the press.

Journalism is the pursuit of truth — truth governments don’t want you to see.

It’s easy for me to soliloquy from my desk in Dallas, and I get that.

My livelihood isn’t on the line. But this situation is important, and I want more people to be aware of it.

To be completely honest, I worry about Hong Kong. But I also have faith in its people.

Yellow umbrellas, underground publications and grievance graffiti — Hong Kongers have already shown that they’re prepared to fight for the truth.

21

editorials &

the remarker march 10, 2022

EDITORIAL

Failure to adhere to Community Service deadline calls for greater student responsibility, harsher punishment

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hile we would like to applaud those who completed their Community Service requirements at the Jan. 24 deadline, far too many students did not.

This year, an unprecedented 22 percent of the Upper School — 90 students — failed to complete their hours on time.

This is completely unacceptable.

While we understand that in the past two years, due to pandemic restrictions, Community Service hour requirements were relaxed and then completely removed, as we slowly continue our transition to normalcy, it is time to get back on track. Countless organizations and individuals in our community rely on the student body’s constant support — support that needs to be offered.

We would like to remind students that the annual 15 service hours are a graduation requirement, not a suggestion.

Community Service allows students to experience firsthand the diversity of our community and develop a deep sense of empathy and awareness for those in need. It is as much an integral part of a St.

Mark’s education as classes, sports and extracurriculars.

There should be no reason to place the hour deadline at a lower priority than any other school commitment.

We would like to take this opportunity to encourage students to work towards their hour goals steadily throughout the year, so that they will not be left scrambling. Regrettably, the student body’s penchant for procrastination — due tomorrow, do tomorrow — does not work for Community Service. This, however, should not pose an issue.

Throughout the school year, every effort has been made to provide ample opportunities for students to complete these hours on time — announcements by the Community Service Board during each Upper School Assembly, followed by emails from the Board detailing weekly opportunities provide constant communication of available volunteer opportunities and hundreds of hours are posted on X2Vol, the school’s community service website, each week.

In addition, the Board encourages the submission of personal projects if a

WATCH

stocks to

student would like to participate in events not offered on the website. There should be no excuse for late hours.

Do your hours. On time.

Finally, we urge Upper School administrators to consider creating a harsher punishment, one that would better push students to meet the requirement on time. In the past, students were not allowed to return to school after the deadline if their hours were not completed.

While we do not encourage the return to such a policy, we do think that a Saturday detention every Saturday —starting the Saturday immediately following the deadline — until hours are submitted and approved would be appropriate and further emphasize the importance of the deadline.

As we move forward, five Community Service hours will be due April 4 — the next and final deadline for this school year.

We expect to see considerable improvement.

the bulls and bears of stocks on campus

Grade-level basketball leagues

Senior parking SLIGHT INCREASE

SPIKE

More senior parking spots being available for seniors in the morning is a welcome improvement.

A great way to improve morale and lift spirits, we’ve been really happy with all the grade-level basketball leagues.

Fan behavior ON THE RISE

After some issues at basketball games, we are happy to see fan behavior get better for the winter SPC tournament.

Upper School assemblies STEADY DECLINE

After a strong start to the year, recent Upper School assemblies have felt less exciting and more filler-heavy.

around the quad

STUDENTS AND FACULTY ANSWER OUR QUESTIONS

I really enjoyed seeing the vast array of cultures represented at MMN and how enthusiastic people were about their own cultures and learning about other peoples’ cultures.

ARJUN BADI Junior

My favorite part of the multicultural night was seeing so many different backgrounds represented.

I had no idea that St. Mark’s was so diverse.

ZAYN BHIMANI Senior

Q: What was your favorite part of Marksmen Multicultural Night?

My favorite part was the hula dancing performance, especially when the woman said, ‘Pineapple’s a bush, Google it.’

MARION GLORIOSO Fine Arts Department Chair

All the different types of food that people brought and Sage made was really, really good.

MIKI GHOSH Senior

The excitement in the air bringing people together for an event that is near and dear to my heart.

VERONICA PULIDO Director of College Counseling

22

opinion

editorials &

CARD

Cotton-headedness, bulldogs and rebounds: how I started wanting more for myself

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oach Morrison pulls me aside before the game.

Stay under the basket, Toby.

My neck cranes upward.

“Just stand under it?”

He peers back down. Yes. If you get the rebound, pass it back to one of your teammates and stay there.

I’m the tallest secondgrader on the court, so it’s only reasonable that my only job is to get the ball for the other Scrappin’ Bulldogs.

And to be fair to Coach Morrison, though, I’m not just the tallest on the court — I’m also the most cottonheaded. I often gaze around in a sleepy daydream, and I’m never the most Toby barrett passionate Managing Editor player on the court.

That cotton-headedness exists in abundance off the court, too I often forget to do my chores, leave my toys all over the house, lose my Magic Treehouse books in troves.

It irritates my parents a little bit, but they feel like some of my behavior is typical young boyishness.

What they don’t like, though, is the way my absentminded demeanor leads to poor performance in school.

I’m held back my first year of Pre-K (I’m prone to using scissors to cut the table instead of the paper given to me).

And I often stare off into space while my classmates diligently color in their pictures of elephants and flowers and clouds and horses.

Back then, the word “achievement” isn’t in my vocabulary.

What is winning? I mean, I know that if the Scrappin’ Bulldogs have 25 points and our opponent has 22 points by the time the fourth buzzer sounds, we win the basketball game.

But what about personal victory? What does it feel like to really succeed?

I don’t know those answers at that age, nor do the questions even cross my mind.

But my parents know, and they want me to find out.

Even today, I remember the white room.

The dim fluorescent lights, plaster walls and atrociously grey carpet. The smiling middle-aged lady with purple reading glasses and a green sweater and the papers my parents sign.

I remember the questions they ask, remember some of the answers to the math questions they give me (apparently I could do math at a fourth-grade level).

I’m pretty sure they even put some gizmo on my head and measured my reaction time.

It turns out I have Attention Deficit

Hyperactivity Disorder, what most people refer to as ADHD. The lady with the green sweater and her associates find out that, despite my advanced skills at adding numbers with more than one digit, I work enormously slow for my age.

They prescribe me an amphetamine — a stimulant called Vivance. I start taking it the very next day. That day, I suit up for the Scrappin’ Bulldogs.

And as I stand under the basket, the rebounds come fast. Faster. Even faster.

By halftime, I have eleven. I remember because I count them myself — and I never count anything, ever.

For the first time in my life, I block someone. I make a layup. I steal the ball.

And as the last seconds before the buzzer count down, I even make a threepointer to tie the game. Me — the tall, cotton-headed blond kid with a buzzcut.

The Scrappin’ Bulldogs go home that day with their tails between their legs, but I walk away with a head full of silk. I like that silk.

the remarker march 10, 2022

report repo rt School wifi

Dropped connections and the need to disconnect and reconnect has been a common nuisance for students on the “Students” wifi network.

Short weeks

Though often for reasons out of anyone’s control, having only three fiveday weeks between Christmas and Spring Break has been heartily welcome.

STEM Festival

THE PUP TURNED DOG At the end of his season with the Scrappin’ Bulldogs, nine-yearold Toby holds up a tournament finalist trophy.

A very informative event with interesting professionals from a diverse set of backgrounds, we thoroughly enjoyed the STEM Fest.

Newsies

The return of co-ed musicals with Newsies was a great success.

We wholly enjoyed the show, and we applaud the whole cast, crew and everyone else who made Newsies possible.

Coffee availability during lunch Before COVID, coffee was available in the lunchroom for students.

We would welcome its return, for those of us who need an extra kick at midday.

Marksmen Multicultural Night The first annual Marksmen Multicultural Night was a great success. We commend the Inclusion and Diversity Leadership Council and all others involved. We can’t wait for next year.

The one where nobody spoke a single word the whole ride

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Sadly, my basketball career is over. The Scrappin’ Bulldogs have disbanded, and Coach Morrison doesn’t have to worry about his center staring off into space.

And I’ve stopped playing — to give LeBron a fair chance.

I don’t take Vivance anymore.

And yeah, admittedly, I’m still cotton-headed. I forget things a lot, and I still daydream. But I know now the first step toward selfgrowth — no matter who you are — is wanting more for yourself.

Even if I’m stuck under the basket, even if I shoot and miss the basket entirely — I’ll always chase that rebound.

y dad doesn’t talk much.

Especially in the car.

Usually he blasts music or a podcast loud enough to blow out my eardrums. But sometimes, he turns the music down to a barely audible level — and just drives.

I used to think his silence was some kind of social cue I wasn’t picking up, his way of silently begging me to ask him something.

Anything. His way of asking, Please start a conversation.

But whenever I tried, I was met with a barrage of one-word answers, a please-shut-up-I-don’t-want-totalk look on his face.

That barrage, those looks, really don’t bother me, though.

I don’t love talking either.

When I’m around people, I try to contribute to conversations, try not to be socially awkward. But my thoughts are always moving a mile per minute. How many of the Final Four will I pick correctly this year? What am I eating for dinner tonight — tacos or pasta? What is the meaning of life?

My brain is so busy thinking about everything I see around me that it’s often hard to say what I want to say without tripping over my words.

Which is why I love those silent car rides.

I played on a baseball team this summer that traveled around the state, and every weekend I found myself in the car headed to Fort Worth, Waco, Corsicana, or some other small town an hour away.

All the traveling may seem awful at first, but it blessed me with plenty of those silent rides — and plenty of time to think.

At first, my dad’s silence hurt — I’ve got more time with my dad than I’ve ever had before and he’s got no interest in talking. What did I do wrong?

Then, I had a chat with my friend which changed my perspective instantly.

He had just gotten his license, and I asked him what it’s like to finally be able to go out on a drive by himself.

It’s almost therapeutic for me. I go on silent drives all the time, especially after I fight with my family or when I’m stressed.

And then he said something that really connected the dots in my head: I find my mind’s completely clear when I get back home.

Wait! So there’s no malice in what my dad’s doing?

Is the car just my dad’s safe haven — a place he can go to escape the endless bombardment of work emails, GRAYSON REDMOND the perpetual Staff writer screaming of my sister and the bustle of the outside world?

Wow... why didn’t I think of that?

Everyone my age wants to be an adult — to go off to college, find a job, not have to listen to anyone. But adults have problems, too.

And with the many added responsibilities they have, it must be much harder to find an escape.

So, for now, I’m all right just where I am — in the middle of nowhere, sitting in the car with my dad, letting him have his escape.

Driving in silence. And now I enjoy every moment of it.

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 march 10, 2022

Sports

health &

DECATHLETE

Hangin’ Out With

Henry Estes The ReMarker sits down with freshman two-sport varsity athlete Henry Estes to see what it’s like being a signficant contributor on varsity football and basketball as a freshman.

Swiss army knife

How did you set yourself apart from other athletes during tryouts and the rest of the season?

My work ethic; I set these goals for myself and wanted to make these teams, and I believed I could do it.

So, when I got to tryouts, I wasn’t really nervous. I was confident in the work that I put in and let my game speak for itself.

As a freshman, did the older guys ever pick on you or tease you?

A little bit. Definitely more for football, but we had a joking bond. And in basketball, we had a really tight-knit group. It was all in good fun.

If you had to pick, what’s your favorite sport right now: football or basketball?

I can’t say that I’ve made a decision yet. However, currently, I can see myself going further in football, and I do have goals of playing football at the Division I level. We’ll see where I’m at come recruitment time.

Now that the fall and winter seasons are over, would you say you were happy with your performance?

Yeah, I was really happy with both sports and for the opportunity, but I know this is just a stepping stone for what I can really accomplish. I always could have done better, but that just motivates me for the next three years. One goal I have is to win an SPC championship in both sports.

Freshman Mateu Parker explains his newfound love for decathlons.

How did you first get into decathlons?

I’ve always done track my whole life basically, but it started when, in eighth grade, [varsity track and field] Coach Turek came up to me after one practice and explained what decathlons were and that he trained decathletes. He asked me if I wanted to be one, so I talked to my dad, and that’s how it started.

Is it difficult going from event to event?

Yes, but Coach Turek gives us a routine to do between events. We have 30 minutes in between events. In the first ten minutes, we analyze what we did in the last event. In the next ten minutes, we listen to music and forget about the last event. And in the last ten minutes, we start focusing on the next event.

Can you break down your competitive career so far?

When Coach Turek first asked me, I only had two months to train, so at my first decathlon, I fared well in some areas and didn’t do as well on the more technical stuff.

I got sixth place out of 13 at the Texas Greatest Athlete Invitational.

At 6’4, you’re exceptionally tall for your age. When did you hit your growth spurt?

It’s been kind of continual throughout my whole life, but it started at an early age –– probably third or fourth grade. I think I was around six-foot heading into fifth or sixth grade.

23

Are you competing in any decathlons coming up?

We have the Texas Greatest Athlete Invitational again on June 4-5, and hopefully I’ll be a lot better since I’ve had a year to practice. Last year, I just tried to get the basics of every event. But this year, I’ve been working with the new pole vault and high jump coach and the new sprinting coach to get better. After that, Turek’s going to see how I am, and I may compete at regionals and beyond. He’s got a whole schedule for this summer.

< Mateu Parker

What’s your favorite event?

It’s a little controversial, but probably the 400 meter race. A lot of people don’t like it because you feel like you’re going to pass out at the end.

What’s one lesson you’ve learned through decathlons?

Coach Turek told me that “the key to being a good decathlete is not just being good at one or two events but being sufficient in all events.” I think that applies to a lot of things in life.

How did you get the nickname ‘Matoo’?

Everybody would try and correct Coach Turek that my name was pronounced ‘Mateo,’ but he told them “No, because it ends in ‘eu’, it’s actually ‘Matoo.’” So everybody started calling me ‘Matoo.’

STORY Peter Orsak PHOTO Sal Hussain

sports in brief MILESTONE FOR MARTIN Varsity soccer head coach Cory Martin won his 350th game of his career Feb. 7 in a 2-0 counter victory against ESD. As a threetime SPC champion, Martin has been part of the soccer program for over 20 years.

Notably this year, the Lions finished first in SPC North Zone while not allowing a single goal in counter play and ended the season with fourth place in the SPC tournament.

1000 POINT CLUB Varsity basketball senior captain Corvin Oprea scored his 1000th career point in the Lions’ first round game of the SPC tournament against Kinkaid Feb. 10.

From then on, he totaled 49 more points through the team’s last three games, helping the Lions end the season with a fourth place finish in the tournament. Oprea, along with fellow senior captain Tate Laczkowski, also finished the season as an All-SPC selection.

LUNCH BASKETBALL The Senior, Junior and Sophomore Classes have each started their own respective 3v3 basketball league during lunch. Each league consists of seven to ten teams, which will play in regular season games, followed by a playoff bracket.

Each league also has its own official Instagram page filled with highlights, statistics and schedule information. The Sophomore Class has been especially creative, sporting a separate meme page and a weekly newsletter called the “Ball Analyzers.”

ALUMNI UPDATE As winter athletes reach the final stretches of their season and spring athletes begin training, keep a look out for these alumni: Harrison Ingram ‘21 continues his stellar freshman year with five Pac-12 Freshman of the Week awards and has helped lead Stanford to a 15-15 record, averaging 10.5 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3 assists and one steal a game as of March 8. Aaron Thorne

for the sports fan ‘20 begins his sophomore baseball season with Carlton College and has his first game today against University Of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Jonathan Taylor ’19 has already started his lacrosse season at Villanova, and he plays his next game March 12 against Penn.

WRESTLING NATIONALS Three varsity wrestlers made it to the round of 16 at the 86th Annual National Prep Wrestling Championships: sophomore Quina Perkison in the 106-pound weight class, senior Jedidiah Kim in the 145-pound weight class and senior Elijah Ellis in the 195-pound weight class. The tournament took place in Upper Marlboro, MD Feb. 25-26.

All four competing wrestlers made it to the national stage after qualifying at the Prep State Tournament Feb. 19, in which Ellis, Kim and junior Hayward Metcalf earned first place, while Perkison earned third place.

inside 24Sports drink review

Grading five lesser-known sports drinks and their replenishing values.

26MAscot history

An in-depth look at the school’s mascots, colors and logo since its founding.

this week Today Varsity baseball at Cistercian at 4:30 p.m.

Varsity lacrosse at Southlake Carroll at 7 p.m.

Varsity tennis at Jesuit

March 19 Varsity track & field competes at the Texas Distance Festival at Southlake Carroll March 22 Varsity baseball at Covenant at 5 p.m.

Varsity lacrosse vs. Lovejoy at home at 7 p.m.

Varsity water polo at Jesuit at 6 p.m.

Friday Varsity water polo begins Aggie Lane Invitational at Texas A&M Mavs at Rockets at 7 p.m.

Saturday Varsity lacrosse begins spring break games in Florida Varsity track & field competes at BVU Invitatonal at home Aggie Lane Invitational day two Stars vs. Rangers at 7 p.m.

Sunday Varsity lacrosse spring break trip game two Wednesday NFL free agency begins at 3 p.m.

March 25 Varsity lacrosse at St. John’s at 7 p.m.

Varsity baseball at Trinity Valley at 5:30 p.m.

Varsity track & field begins Jesuit-Sheaner Relays at Jesuit Varsity water polo begins Marcus Spring Invitational at Lewisville ISD April 1 Varsity baseball vs. ESD at home at 5 p.m.

scoreboard < Ian Mize

9 goals through 3 games

3 assists through 3 games

43% shooting percentage

27spring preview

Looking forward to the lacrosse, baseball, tennis, water polo, crew, track & field and golf seasons.

this month

91 mph

top shot speed by senior captain Ian Mize

3/5/22

varsity baseball

20 St. Mark’s

0 Dallas Lutheran

3/5/22

varsity lacrosse

17 St. Mark’s

2 Houston Christian

3/3/22

varsity tennis

5 St. Mark’s

4 Cistercian

Sports

24

health &

Got thirst thirst??

the remarker march 10, 2022

SPORTS DRINKS

It’s time to move on from Powerade and Gatorade — they’re getting old. We got our hands on five lesser-known drinks to let you know if they’re worth trying at your next workout.

Elite taste but questionable ingredients: Prime

by Arjun Khatti rime is just one of several successful, social media influencer brands that have popped up in the last couple of months. And in my opinion, it’s one of the better ones.

Started by YouTubers Logan Paul and KSI, the product is marketed as a refueling hydration drink with an emphasis on

P Where to buy: Kroger, Walmart, The Vitamin Shoppe, GNC Price: $29.99 for 12 bottles Flavors: Orange, grape, blue raspberry, tropical punch, lemon lime

premium taste. It contains 10% coconut water, which provides far superior hydration when compared to regular water. While this coconut water taste is very prevalent in other drinks such as Body Armor, I could only taste the slightest bit of it in Prime.

But the most impressive aspect of this drink is the flavor. Each of the five

unique flavors are on-point and will have your taste buds begging for more.

My personal favorites are lemon lime and blue raspberry.

The one serious downside of Prime is how unhealthy it is compared to other drinks on this list.

Besides coconut water, the drink is filled with cheap ingredients, and it even

substitutes real sugars for artificial sweeteners such as sucralose and acesulfame potassium. That being said, it still deserves some serious credit for its taste.

Grade:

B+

Long-lasting and consistent energizer: UCAN Edge Energy

by Arjun Khatti ou’ve probably heard the name UCAN swirling around campus ever since our very own junior Patrick Flanagan became sponsered by them. Their most popular product, Edge Energy, is a sugar-free energy pouch with a distinct gel-like consistency. It also has a slightly gritty texture that comes from their signature

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SuperStarch, which is responsible for providing the stable, long-lasting energy that so many athletes look for in this type of product.

The first time I tried it, however, I couldn’t even finish it because of how weird the texture was.

Despite this abysmal first impression, I eventually had to give it another go.

During the snowstorm

in early February, I found myself hours deep into an intense football game and needed a boost. Little did I know, Edge Energy would do the trick. About 30 minutes after finishing the orange-flavored pouch, not only was I reenergized, but I was actually going back to get a second one.

Sure, UCAN’s Edge Energy is probably the

strangest item on this list.

Heck, it’s technically not even a drink. But if you’re able to get over the odd texture, you’ll find yourself enjoying one of the best sports energy products on the market.

Grade:

A-

Where to buy: UCAN.co, Walmart, The Vitamin Shoppe, Amazon Price: $34.95 for 12 pouches Flavors: Orange, strawberry banana

Poor flavoring and unexciting features: Bolt 24

by Dillon Wyatt atorade has been a staple of the sports drink industry for decades. But, with the rise of other replenishing options, the company decided to think outside the box and create a new product in collaboration with eight-time Olympic medalist Usain Bolt: Bolt 24. While the idea was

G Where to buy: Walmart, Target, Sam’s Club, Amazon Price: $1.50 for 1 bottle, $18 for 12 bottles Flavors: Cherry lime, apple pear, watermelon strawberry, tropical mango, mixed berry, orange passion fruit, peach mango, strawberry lemon

solid, their execution was subpar to say the least.

Whenever I’m finished with a workout or lacrosse practice, and I’m craving a Gatorade, the variety of flavors allows me to choose a drink that will not only refuel me, but also taste refreshing. The drink’s three versions — Energize, Antioxidant and Restore — do their jobs

decently well, but they will leave you struggling to finish the bottle.

When I went to the supermarket and glanced at their flavors, I had to look for a second time to see if they were real.

Cherry lime? Apple pear?

Orange passion fruit?

While Bolt 24 certainly got creative making these flavors, I’m questioning

whether or not they tried them before releasing them to the public.

With average workout benefits and even worse flavor options, Bolt 24 sits at the bottom of our list.

Grade:

C+

Efficient and reliable hydration: Liquid IV

by Dillon Wyatt iquid IV Hydration Multiplier has been a new craze around campus due to its ability to hydrate athletes in a quick and easy way.

All you have to do is get a bottle of water and fill it with a single pack of Liquid IV powder, and you get the same essential nutrients and amount of water as three

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16-oz bottles. Their secret?

CTT. Cellular transport technology is a specific ratio of sodium, potassium and glucose that enters the bloodstream faster and more efficiently than water can.

Although Liquid IV’s passion fruit and lemon lime flavors taste a bit sour, they only contain 11 grams of sugar, making Liquid IV a healthier alternative than

other sports drinks.

I personally believe this powder makes the best sports drink on the market. With limited time in between classes to refill my water bottle, ripping open a packet of Liquid IV makes things easy and efficient.

For Lion athletes, this should be a go-to option for before, during or after a workout.

Where to buy: CVS, Tom Thumb, Target, GNC, Walgreens, Amazon

Grade:

A

Price: $25 for 16 packets, $16 for 10 packets, $9 for 6 packets Flavors: Passion fruit, lemon ginger, Açai berry, lemon lime, guava, tangerine, blueberry lavender, strawberry

Solid for recovery but lackluster in taste: Pedialyte

by Nolan Marcus edialyte has been around for quite some time but has remained fairly under the radar throughout its history.

While it provides some benefits for athletes, it is also great for someone who’s sick. Pedialyte is often given to patients who are severely dehydrated, and it can

P Where to buy: CVS, Target, Walmart, Walgreens, Amazon, Sam’s Club Price: $7-12 for 1 bottle Flavors: Orange breeze, grape, kiwi berry mist, cherry punch, strawberry, unflavored, tropical fruit

also relieve cold and flu symptoms.

The hydration aspect of the drink is definitely useful for an athlete before and after practices or games, serving as a great way to prevent muscle cramping. In addition, Pedialyte has 280 milligrams of potassium per serving, which helps ensure proper muscle

function and is vital for synthesizing protein.

Yet, there is one major downside to this seemingly perfect drink that explains why so many athletes don’t use it. To put it bluntly, Pedialyte doesn’t taste great. It tasted like that type of bad cough syrup that makes your nose scrunch up every time you take a sip.

Even though there are three servings in a bottle, I still wasn’t too happy about paying $10 for it. So, I really can’t see myself drinking Pedialyte unless I’m super dehydrated or recovering from sickness.

Grade:

B-

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SPC RECAP

Wrapping up the winter storm Despite falling short of first place, each varsity team ended the winter season with at least a top four finish in SPC.

Lions cap off end-of-season tournaments with third place at SPC and three state champions

by Arjun Khatti ix All-SPC selections. Five SPC champions. Three state champions.

Even though the varsity wrestling team placed third overall in SPC, they cranked out a multitude of impressive end-of-season accomplishments that head coach Reyno Arredondo ‘87 is proud of.

“The most important thing to me is how the guys feel about their accolades and their performance in the tournaments,” Arredondo said. “I can tell you that they left everything on the mat and competed hard. And the guys

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who lost didn’t lose in vain, which makes it pretty easy to move forward into next year.”

The Lions’ main rival in recent years has been St. John’s; they have won the last five SPC tournaments and a total of seven since 2000. But Arredondo believes the team has and will continue to size up to that competition.

“There were two teams that left the tournament with five SPC champions: St. John’s and us,” Arredondo. “The one thing that hurt us was our depth, but having that same number of champions makes a big statement. Also, every time

ATTACK MODE Driving into the lane for a layup, senior captain Caleb Vanzant contributes to his first career triple double and a 68-39 win against Kinkaid in the first round of the tournament.

we matched up with St. John’s, we beat them. That’s a big indicator that our program is headed in the right direction.”

The Lions also had wrestlers competing at each weight class for the first time in Arredondo’s coaching career. He believes that this is crucial for building the program’s future.

“It’s pretty important to me because it shows how the community is looking at wrestling now,” Arredondo said.

“The sport offers such an experience, and when guys are showing up at my doors and I see the numbers on our team growing, that’s awesome.”

RALLY THE TROOPS The varsity soccer team huddles before their SPC semifinal against Kinkaid. Despite being undefeated in North Zone competition, the Lions fell short of a championship.

STATE CHAMPS Senior captains Jedidiah Kim and Elijah Ellis and junior Hayward Metcalf pose after winning state championships in the 138, 144 and 195-pound weight classes.

FINAL STRETCH Coming up for air, sophomore Adrian Lutgen competes in the 100-yard breastroke race of the SPC championships, helping the team place fourth overall.

Basketball finishes fourth

Soccer loses late in semis

Swimming races to fourth

by Peter Orsak ith only three returning varsity players, many members of the community were unsure of what was to come for Lions basketball this year. After losing a few of the best players to ever join the program, senior captains Tate Laczkowski, Corvin Oprea and Caleb Vanzant were tasked with leading the way.

Entering the SPC tournament, the Lions were seeded third in the North Zone. In the first game, the team cruised by the sixth-seeded Kinkaid School, winning by 30.

But, in the second round, the team fell behind early to a strong Houston Christian squad. With the help of Lions fans, the team fought back and won convincingly 84-68.

“The atmosphere was incredible,” Laczkowski said. “The fans brought tons of energy, and we went on a 23-4 run in the second half. That was probably the most fun game of the season.”

Ultimately, the Lions placed fourth in SPC, losing to Greenhill in the third round and St. John’s in the third-place game. With a lot of young talent, Laczkowski is hopeful the team will be able to make a strong run next season.

“The younger guys really stepped it up towards the end of the season,” Laczkowski said. “They’re going to have a really good team next year. They have a lot of chemistry together, and I’m really excited to see what they’re able to do.”

by Nolan Marcus he soccer team finished their season placing fourth in the SPC tournament after losing to Kinkaid in the semifinals and Greenhill for the third-place game. But for head coach Cory Martin, the season was a success.

“I think, overall, I would call our season to be successful considering the players we graduated and how the younger guys on the team stepped up in a big way,” Martin said. “We had a lot of guys transition from just being part of the success to a determining factor in our success.”

Martin was especially proud of his team during the SPC counter season, in which the team went undefeated and did not concede a goal.

“Our counter-season play was a testament to our team, because we were not really known as a defensive team, but I think the way we played said a lot about the defense we put together this year,” Martin said.

Overall, Martin was incredibly impressed with the team’s heart and character, and he cannot wait to work with the boys next year.

“If I told you during preseason that we were going to finish fourth, I think a lot of people would have thought that was pretty optimistic,” Martin said. “The way that our boys played and the way the younger players stepped up showed character and heart. I give them an A-plus for that.”

by Nolan Marcus he swimming team capped off their season at the SPC tournament by finishing fourth overall. According to head coach Tenton Calder, the season had its ups and downs.

“It was great because we swam really well when we needed to at SPC,” Calder said.

“The meet was very fast and every one of our swimmers had a personal best at the meet.

However, it was a little disappointing because we came in fourth place.”

Unfortunately for the Lions, some controversial calls held them back from finishing in third place.

“We had two disqualifications in relays that would have been big points for us and had we won those relays, we would have finished third,” Calder said. “But it is what it is, and a third-place finish still is not something we were shooting for.”

However, Calder was still pleased with the season and the effort the athletes put into this year.

“What was great was that each guy went out there and he saw the culmination of an entire season’s worth of work coming together,” Calder said. “They put together really great times.”

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PHOTOS Alex Barrett, courtesy Alex Soliz, Adrian Lutgen and Camden Reeves

Varsity track and field team welcomes former Division I decathlete as assistant coach

by Zack Goforth avid Grzesiak joined the track team this spring to assist in coaching pole vault and high jump. Grzesiak, who graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 2012, ran as a decathlete for the Badgers.

“Being a decathlete is a little bit of a mixed bag,” Grzesiak said. “Decathletes run ten events, so every day you’re working on two or three events. You’re never really able to master one, so instead you are a jack of all trades.”

In addition to running Division I track, Grzesiak has also experimented with more

D

unorthodox sports, such as Australian football.

“I started playing [Australian football] after college for fun,” Grzesiak said. “It’s a mix between the physicality of rugby DAVID GRZESIAK and the movement of soccer. I ended up going to Australia for the International Cup, and we took fourth in the world in 2017.”

After playing Australian football,

Grzesiak decided to try another challenge in American Ninja Warrior.

“I had gained a little bit of weight,” he said, “So American Ninja Warrior was an incentive to lose 10 or 15 pounds. I decided to get down to below my decathlon weight and did my best. I didn’t win, but I had a lot of fun.”

Grzesiak’s journey to coaching the Lions started over this past summer.

“One day, I saw that the Texas Greatest Athlete Invitational [a decathlon meet open to high school, collegiate, and unaffiliated athletes] was taking places at St. Mark’s,

which was 10 minutes away,” he said.

“I decided to check it out and saw some people competing in the decathlon. That’s when I decided I wanted to get back into coaching.”

The team chemistry was one of the many things that stuck out to Grzesiak when he first arrived.

“I was impressed with how respectfully everyone listens,” Grzesiak said, “They implement everything you ask them to do really well. The facilities are great, the coaches are top notch and it’s a really nice place to be around.”

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MASCOT HISTORY

Taking a look back to 1906

Over time, many sports teams change their mascots, logos and team colors — most recently the Washington Commanders and Cleveland Guardians. Now, sports history buff Bud Brooks ‘79 and history and English instructor Dr. John Perryman dissect our school’s athletic history.

Texas Country Day School 1933 to 1938: Terriers

BB: First of all, Texas Country Day School always had purple and gold colors. When the school was founded in 1933, they didn’t have much of a sports presence because they only had 10 students that first year. So, 1934 was the first year they had football and other sports teams. Those teams were called the Terriers. I have never been able to find any image or wordmark that says Terriers. It’s only referenced in the yearbooks and in the Dallas Morning News. I don’t think too many people know that; it’s probably the most interesting thing I’ve found through this research on mascots and nicknames because it’s a very hidden fact.

1946 to 1950: Gargoyles

BB: The Cathedral School’s mascot was the Gargoyles, and they wore purple and white. Their newspaper was also called The Purple and White, and there’s actually some copies of those in the archives at school. The name for their yearbook, The Gargoyle, also took inspiration from the mascot.

I personally think it’s one of the weirdest names in the history of organized sports.

I don’t think I’ve ever The Cathedral Gargoyles logo heard of a team called the Gargoyles. I could only find one reference to the name in the Dallas Morning News for the four years that the school existed. Other than that, it was only referenced in their yearbook.

St. Mark’s School of Texas 1950 to 1980s: Purple and Gold Lions English and history instructor Dr. John Perryman: When conversations began about the merger between the Cathedral School and Texas Country Day School, they wanted to change things here and there. Two of them were the school name and mascot.

They were considering the lamb because it’s associated with St. James, but they felt that was

March Madness expert Sammy Larkin gives his tips on how to make the perfect entry for your NCAA basketball bracket pool

1Secure a Cinderella team

While it’ll be easier to find a good sleeper team when the official bracket comes out on March 13, it’s a good idea to think about some potential options now.

Two teams that I think could be deep sleepers are Rutgers and Loyola Chicago.

Rutgers has tough competition in the Big Ten, but they’ve already beaten all the top teams in that conference. If their name is called on Selection Sunday, just know they’ll be ready. Loyola Chicago has an automatic bid, and just know that they’ve made several deep runs in the tournament despite their low seeding. At the end of the day, make sure you have a sleeper team that you’re confident in.

2Pick Final Four wisely

I would not recommend putting all four 1 seeds in the Final Four. While this might be obvious to veteran bracketologists, for all the novices out there, just know that it’s only happened four times in the history of March Madness. I’d say having a couple 1 seeds is a good plan, followed by some other fairly high seeds and maybe a lower seed sleeper team. My favorites are Gonzaga and Baylor — they’ll both be solid throughout the tournament.

3Be strategic about upsets

The 5-12 and 4-13 matchups always have a couple upsets waiting to happen. I see Providence as a very upset-prone team, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them get upset in the first round. I’d definitely recommend one to two 5-12 upsets and one 4-13 upset to get a realistic chance at keeping a perfect bracket. But keep in mind that 11 seeds are historically the best underdog to choose to make it into the Sweet Sixteen — they’ve had ten appearances since 2011.

5

1980s to present: Blue and Gold Lions

JP: The lion was a staple of the school for 30 years. Very early on when the mascot was decided, the colors were purple and gold.

The color combination joined purple from the Cathedral School and gold from Texas Country Day School. But as time went on, the school had many reasons to change colors. One in particular Current St. Mark’s Lions crest was that they couldn’t find uniforms for purple and gold colors. So, after careful consideration, the administrators switched to dark blue and gold. The colors and mascot we have now embody the school, and it’s hard to imagine us having another mascot.

STORY Arjun Khatti, Dillon Wyatt PHOTOS Courtesy Bud Brooks

LOOK

inside

If you thought the Cathedral Gargoyles was an odd mascot, check out some other strange mascots in Texas:

Skeeters — Mesquite High School, 23 miles away Dragons — Southlake Carroll High School, 26 miles away Parrots — Polytechnic High School, 40 miles away Zebras — Grandview High School, 57 miles away Porcupines — Springtown High School, 63 miles away Hippos — Hutto High School, 186 miles away Pied Pipers — Hamlin High School, 228 miles away Burrs — Chinquapin Preparatory School, 270 miles away

1960 St. Mark’s Lions crest

thing thin gs to know

4Ride the hot hand

Teams that end the season on a high note are bound to continue that momentum in the tournament. Pick teams that perform well in their conference tournaments if you need a little extra assurance. Also, if a team has a really easy matchup in the first round, and it looks like it might be a blowout, see that as an opportunity to ride that momentum for the following rounds.

5Team experience is crucial

Teams that are very accustomed to the March Madness environment have an upper hand against the newcomers. For example, don’t count out Duke just because they missed the tournament last year. I also favor well-coached teams, which includes Duke as well as Arkansas and Villanova. Sometimes, talent can only take you so far, so bank on teams with great experience and coaching for some more reliable picks.

Junior Sammy Larkin

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BB: At some point in the early 1920s, the school started to get the nickname Terrill Tigers, but I don’t think it was official until the mid-1920s. There’s no clear date as to when the mascot was first introduced or made official, but even after this change, they were Banner of the Terrill Tiger still referenced as the Black and Gold occasionally. Their 1944 yearbook had a tiger image on the front cover, so it was a very wellknown mascot once it was introduced. Another fun fact is that when they started introducing JV and Middle School teams, they would call them either Little Tigers or Tiny Tigers. So, there was some evolution with how that mascot spread throughout the school.

The Cathedral School for Boys

not the best mascot for sports teams. St. Mark’s was another school name that was being looked at, and its historical depiction is the lion. So, after much thought, both the Cathedral School and Texas Country Day School decided on St. Mark’s School of Texas, and the Lions were born.

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Mid-1920s to 1946: Tigers

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Bud Brooks ‘79: For the first 15 years or so of the Terrill School’s existence, they were strictly known as the Black and Gold.

That’s how they referred to their sports teams in the yearbook, which was also initially called The Black and Gold. Something interesting I found is The Terrill School’s 1911 yearbook that all the different opponents that they ever played against were also referenced by their colors, as opposed to a mascot. In the articles, you’d see the Blue and White or the Blue and Red, or whatever color combinations they had.

That was basically before anyone in the area had a true mascot.

BB: In the fall of 1938, Texas Country Day School’s nickname suddenly became the Broncs. This is the mascot that most people recall when they hear of Texas Country Day School, and they kept this mascot and their purple and gold colors until they closed in 1950.

I think it’s confusing that they shortened Broncos to Broncs, because when you hear the name, you think of the borough in New York.

After this change, all of the yearbooks had an image of a Texas Country Day School’s cowboy riding a horse, and 1940 yearbook, the Latigo the book itself was called the Latigo, which is a special kind of rope used on a horse and saddle. It’s a very Western name, which goes along with the very Western theme of the school.

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1906 to mid-1920s: Black and Gold

1938 to 1950: Broncs

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The Terrill School for Boys

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Spring preview

Springing forward Two SPC champions. One state champion. One second place national finish. With multiple spring teams winning championships last year, this season, the bar has been set high for Lion athletes.

Lacrosse returns with experienced team 2021 RECORD 7-7 2021 FINISH 4th place at THSLL Class A Championship ATHLETES TO WATCH FOR Senior Ian Mize, senior Conor Duffy, junior Jake Park, junior Henry Boykin NOTABLE After having no seniors last year, the team has returned all of its previous starters.

THEY SAID IT Head coach Jason Leneau “There are no easy games, and these guys wanted a tough schedule. They also wanted to set the record straight with some teams. It’s important to the current seniors to leave their mark and hopefully carry that legacy forward.”

RIP IT In a tightly contested battle, junior Henry Boykin scores a goal in the Lion’s home opener during the team’s 11-12 loss to IMG Academy Feb. 26.

LIFTOFF Junior Zane Wallace, who broke the school’s triple jump record over the winter break, prepares to make his jump.

Track and field looks to defend SPC championship 2021 MEETS WON 8 2021 SPC FINISH 1st place ATHLETES TO WATCH FOR Senior Sahil Dodda, senior Enoch Ellis, junior Zane Wallace, junior Jack Jackson NOTABLE The team will host the B.V.U. Invitational for the first time since March 12 2019.

THEY SAID IT Head coach John Turek “It all points to one meet for us. Some other meets have value but ultimately it comes down to SPC. We don’t have district. We don’t have regionals. We have the SPC championship. We like our chances of competing for the championship.”

FINAL STRETCH After losing many seniors last year, the crew team will look for success from its younger rowers this season.

Crew prepares for nationals with influx of new athletes 2021 MEDALS AT REGIONALS 5

VARSITY BOAT Senior Evan McGowan, senior Drake Elliot, senior Paul Valois, junior Brendan Kelly NOTABLE The team will travel to White Rock Lake for the Texas State Rowing Championships April 23.

THEY SAID IT Junior Spiros Hallax “Our expectations this year are pretty high. We have a really good varsity boat that has the potential to compete at nationals.

This season is also important to guide the new rowers so we can improve overall.”

COUNTER ATTACK With two defenders approaching, junior Michael Gao finds a teammate at the 1709 Invitational Feb 26.

Water Polo vies for state championship repeat 2021 RECORD 18-0 2021 FINISH 1st place at TISCA State Championship ATHLETES TO WATCH FOR Senior Brett Honaker, junior Sammy Larkin, sophomore Ethan Gao NOTABLE Senior Brett Honaker will be playing water polo at UCLA next year.

THEY SAID IT Head coach Trent Calder “Our goal is to be a cohesive group that is willing to work hard for the little things, and our individual goals are for each player to be better than the guy he was yesterday and bring the level of the team up every single day. The ultimate goal is to win state.”

BATTER UP In the Lion’s season opener, senior Cole Norman controls the mound in a 6-8 loss to Shelton School Feb. 18.

CHIP IN On the green, senior Mac McKenzie gets the ball up and in, finishing +13 at the Play to the Maxx Tournament Feb. 21.

GAME POINT Sophomore Amogh Naganand returns the ball across the net as the Lions defeat Cistercian 5-4 March 4.

Golf approaching SPC tournament step by step

Tennis seeks back-to-back SPC championships

2021 TOURNAMENT WINS 3 2021 SPC NORTH ZONE FINISH 3rd ATHLETES TO WATCH FOR Freshman Rhett O’Rear, junior Logan Johnson, senior Mac McKenzie NOTABLE While the team travels to Topgolf and has multiple tournaments during the regular season, the SPC champion will be decided by one 36-hole tournament April 25-26 in The Woodlands, Texas.

THEY SAID IT Junior Logan Johnson “As a team, we want each individual to have a scoring average lower than they’ve ever been. We have really good leadership that are really competitive. But overall, our main goal is to use each day to get better and put in the work for every tournament we play in.”

2021 RECORD 9-0 2021 SPC FINISH 1st

Baseball eyes success with poised group of seniors 2021 RECORD 6-10 2021 SPC NORTH ZONE FINISH 4th ATHLETES TO WATCH FOR Junior Silas Hosler, senior Camden Reeves, senior Toby Barrett NOTABLE The Lions went 2-1 in the annual Hillcrest High School Tournament March 3-5, shutting out both Rice High School and Dallas Lutheran by run rule.

NOTABLE The team will return to the Albert G. Hill Tennis Stadium to compete this season after not being on campus for two years.

THEY SAID IT Head coach John Hunter “We are going to be very competitive this year. We have a bunch of new players on varsity who will be competing for starting roles since we lost so many great seniors. I expect us to come out firing come SPC time, and I look forward to a really fun competitive season.”

THEY SAID IT Senior Jeremy Yu “We have high expectations this year and are hoping to bring SPC back home again. We lost some really impactful seniors last year, but I think with our new seniors stepping up as leaders on the team and our young guys putting in the work, we will be in great shape for SPC.”

COMPILATIONS Dillon Wyatt, Ben Adams PHOTOS Preston Patton, courtesy Alex Geng, Zane Wallace, Evan McGowan, Sammy Larkin, Logan Johnson and Shreyan Daulat

ATHLETES TO WATCH FOR Senior Jeremy Yu, junior Shreyan Daulat

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REMARKER

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ST. MARK’S SCHOOL OF TEXAS 10600 PRESTON RD. DALLAS, TX 75230

BATTER UP Stepping into the batter’s box, junior Keats Leffel eyes the pitcher as he gets ready for the pitch in the Lion’s 4-3 home opener win against Texas Alliance of Christian Athletes Feb. 28.

BASEBALL SEASON

Marksmen step up to the plate

The Lions baseball team started its season going 1-1, however players have steadily improved as they finish the Annual Hillcrest Tournament 2-1.

The team looks ahead to their game against Covenant March 22 and counter season matchup against Trinity Valley March 25.

CURVEBALL Commanding the strike zone, senior Camden Reeves strikes out his opponent swinging.

RUNNING OUT Getting his mind right for the looming series, junior Silas Hosler runs out to his shortstop position.

FOCUS UP Sophomore Alex Barrett mentally prepares himself for the upcoming game.

STAND READY Senior Max Vafa takes the plate, getting ready for the upcoming pitch from senior pitcher Camden Reeves.

IN THE ZONE With the oppenent leading off first base, senior Toby Barrett prepares to tag him out.

COMPILATION Will Spencer PHOTOS Sal Hussain