The Globe, January 2024, Issue 3, Vol 96

A Collection for Conversation

An anthology of essays from the Clayton community about the conflict in the Middle East pg. 23

Volume 96, Issue 3 Clayton High School. Clayton, MO. January 2024.

CONTENTS

news News & Notes

8

feature Dancing Through Life Shared Spaces, Shared Visions Ballot Brawl To Brew Knowledge Underground Talent Redefining Wellnsss Resilience and Hope

11 12 14 16 18 21 22

cover

23

A Collection of Conversation

opinion Breaking the Babysitting Stereotype

38

pro/con

40

Should heritage speakers be allowed in language classes?

review Music for All

42

sports Family Goals Setting up for Success Wenxu Makes Waves

43 44 45

staff ed

46

Grey Hairs and Political Affairs

January 2024 Volume 96, Issue 3

Junior John Panzer shoots the puck in a game againsg Webster. Photo by Owen Wohl

STAFF Editors-in-Chief JiaLi Deck Kipp Vitsky Chief Digital Editor Sidra Major Managing Editor-in-Chief Alex Cohen Managing Editors Charlie Meyers Ivy Slen Copy Editor Micah Lotsoff Feature Section Editors Lavanya Mani Rachel Chung News Section Editor Caleb Park Opinion Section Editor Zoe Daniels-Sankey Review Section Editor Sam Braidwood Sports Section Editor Alyssa Blanke Podcast Editor Elias Kilbridge Puzzle Master Chloe Lin Page Editors Anaïs Oge Analee Miller Anna McAndrew Bethany Lai Charlie Balestra Madeline Jeans Mira Stahlheber Riley Kerley Riley Zimmerman Sam Sun Yehia Said

Reporters Abby Rosenfeld Adam Watson Alison Booth April Kim Aylah Hopper Caitlin Kuhlmann Chloe Lin Dwight Erdmann Elisa Falsafi Ezri Perrin Fletcher Anderson Norah Gross Robert Gabel Sanjana Chanda Sritha Rathikindi Tessa Palermo Photographers Ashley Ngo Caitlin Gwydir Camille Matlock Camryn Markenson Davy Nhek-Morrissey Doria Guy-Bey Elliott Becker Eva Delannoy Eva Krauss Henry Gipson I’Ron Bell Isaiah Reed Jamie Griffin Lauren Young Leo Taghert Lucy Melander Madeline Littleton Owen Wohl Rachel Van-Rhein Regan Sparks Riley Zimmerman Sage Bernstein Stella Whitney Taylor Flotken Tierney Sweeney Tyler He Wendy Stephens

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From the Editor nitially, I didn’t want to work on this cover. I was a part of the last cover story, “Do We Trust Students?” and I was tired. Working on cover stories requires a lot of organization and time.

Plus, this one would be controversial, and I had seen enough of social media in the prior few weeks to know people would be upset no matter what was published.

I didn’t think I had anything important to say.

The Editor-in-Chief, JiaLi Deck, had to spend half a lunch period sitting at one of the blue picnic tables in the quad, convincing me that I had something to say and that people might actually listen.

And listen, I hope they will.

At the outset, JiaLi invited some reporters, friends of the publication and classmates to share their personal stories and reactions to the conflict in Israel and Gaza.

She had many conversations similar to the one she had with me, inspiring people to bravely chronicle their emotions and experiences surrounding a controversial topic.

She was the leader of this story. It became not just a collection of essays, but a passion as she strove to work with us, as writers, to bring to fruition her vision of conversation in print form. She gave us an initial set of guidelines that were intended to keep essays civil and within the scope of our abilities as a high school publication.

We all wrote in relative isolation, retreating into ourselves, our families and our communities to find our stories. I spent time interviewing and talking to my

I

collection evolved. No solution would maternal grandfather, my Papa, a retired make all of us happy, but agreement could Reform Jewish Rabbi and to my Uncle, a be found. lawyer and lay leader. I wove their ideas As writers, we want to emphasize the and experiences in with my own to craft an amount of time, care and attention that essay about the complexities of identity as went into every detail within this cover an American Jew. story. This is true of every article in our But writing my essay was a battle. I publication, but it is especially true of this nearly pitched my laptop across the room collection. From the order of the essays, at several points and even the dog was a the definitions provided, the photos on little scared of me. I wrote and rewrote the pages, every choice was intentional. several times. I asked for feedback from Editors were diligent in ensuring that the many people at school. I even accidentally authenticity of writers’ words, ideas and started some debates in the school library. stories were preserved at every stage. They Many of the other writers had similar maintained a constant, clear-eyed focus on or even more extreme experiences, as the goals of this collection; to foster prothe processes of writing and editing their ductive civil discourse while allowing the pieces inflamed disagreements with their genuine expression of students’ opinions. parents, friends and classmates. People With the publication of this collection, were even added and subtracted from the we hope to promote the same respectful, list of writers due to these conflicts. impactful conversations in the wider comAnd as the editing process progressed, munity that its creation sparked within our our period of isolation ended. We began newspaper. We ask you to take the time to to read and discuss each others’ essays. read and carefully consider even the opinWe spent hours seated on the couches and ions and ideas that differ from your own. floors of the journalism offices debating This conflict will get a lot uglier before what words and ideas should be included anything gets better and this war impacts and published in our collection. That was all of us, in one way or another. important. It was our collection. Because So, we hope to create a place of converwe were going to face the consequences of sation in our community. We hope that it together, it belonged to all of us. you will help us.

There were a great deal of internal disagreements, particularly over specific words and historical references that we spent time discussing and looking for compromise. JiaLi revised her initial MANAGING EDITOR-IN-CHIEF guidelines as our mutual understandings of the conflict and of the purpose of our

EDITOR’S LETTER 5

Bites of History AP United States History Dives into 19th Century with Historical Role-Play and Celebration Kipp Vitsky | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Photo by Taylor Flotkin

6 PANO

oom 124 transformed into a 19th-century party — the central table adorned with a tablecloth, candelabras and a meal.

The Age of Reform Dinner Party is a yearly tradition in Josh Meyers’ AP United States History (APUSH) class. According to Meyers, before the simulation, each of his students is tasked with researching a particular reformer from the 1820s through the 1840s. Before Thanksgiving break, they immerse themselves in the persona of their chosen reformer, gathering for a mock dinner party with tasty fare and beverages.

“Whether it’s abolitionists, education reformers or suffragettes, a lot of these reformers were educated together, their families knew each other and their paths crossed in many ways. I wanted to come up with an opportunity to let the kids research and immerse themselves in a role, which is something that we don’t have a lot of extra time to do in APUSH,” Meyers said.

He explains that his class covers content from the American precolonial era, to the present day.

“It’s the one time where I feel like I can give some time and space to do a simulation because the kids take it so seriously and enjoy it so much. I think they walk away with a profound understanding of how these reform movements were interconnected and

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intertwined and sometimes played off of each other in both good ways and bad.

And it’s a fun thing to do right before Thanksgiving,” Meyers said.

Senior Sam Braidwood took the role of Amelia Bloomer, a key figure in the women’s rights and temperance movements. “[Amelia] was a strong advocate for women’s clothing reform and is famous for inventing ‘bloomers,’ which were a more comfortable alternative to women’s clothing at the time. Mr. Meyers makes learning APUSH engaging, and this dinner party was an example of that. It was really fun, and the food was quite yummy,” Braidwood said.

Through conversations with others in the room, each student, such as senior Graham Keller, who portrayed Sylvester Graham — the renowned dietary reformer and father of American vegetarianism— demonstrated their in-depth research on their character. “[Sylvester Graham was] most known for creating graham flour, which is the main ingredient in Graham Crackers.

The dinner party was a great experience, allowing us to connect with classmates who were very knowledgeable about a specific historical figure, which made learning very easy and fun,” Keller said.

PANO 7

News & Notes Caleb Park | NEWS SECTION EDITOR

Students Enter St. Louis All-Suburban Musical Ensemble The St. Louis All-Suburban Music Ensembles is a band and an orchestra organized by the St. Louis Suburban Music Educators Association (SLSMEA).

It prioritizes well-performing high school and middle school students, given its workload.

Photo by Madeline Littleton

There are four rehearsals, the first three from 7:00-9:30 p.m. The last rehearsal is the day before the concert, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The rehearsal days are Nov. 27, Dec. 4, Jan. 5 and Jan. 6. The concert is Jan. 7. The band accepted seven students from Clayton, and the orchestra accepted four.

Acceptance into the ensemble requires auditions and a demonstrated commitment to music, including pitch accuracy, rhythm and tone.

“I felt like I had done better than when I auditioned my freshman year, but I knew I had made some mistakes, and I wasn’t sure whether I would get in,” junior Stella Plein said. “But overall, I’m glad I’ve improved and was good enough to get into the ensemble. I got fourth chair tuba.”

Homicide Reported in Clayton Shooting, First Since 2006 Trenell J. Johnson is in custody for shooting and killing Joshua Harris, 41, near his home on the 7500 block of Wydown Boulevard at 5:25 a.m. on Nov. 13. The suspect, an 18-year-old Ferguson resident, fired multiple shots at the man who was trying to investigate the suspect’s tampering with his car. The case is the first confirmed homicide in Clayton, Mo., since 2006.

“I was sleeping at home. My dad was walking by early in the night. He saw the car of the shooter parked in front of the house,” junior Leo Zhu said. “My father described [the gunfire] as sounding like a firecracker. Later, I saw the tape being set up and a camera crew filming for the news.”

Considering the Clayton Police Department’s annual report last year stated that violent crime is rare in Clayton, residents like Zhu were deeply shocked by the shooting.

“It’s very unfortunate and has put a stain on our city’s reputation as a safe environment,” Zhu said. “I hope there isn’t [a bad precedent], but it seems so.”

Missouri Voter ID Law Challenged by Civil Rights Groups

Photo by Element5 Digital

On Nov. 15, a trial against the Missouri state government started after two civil rights activist groups, the Missouri NAACP and the League of Women Voters, challenged a new statewide voter ID registration law.

They say the law suppresses voter turnout by disproportionately affecting low-income voters of color. State officials defended the law as a measure to prevent voter fraud.

“We don’t have a lot of voter fraud,” junior Liam Thackray said. “People aren’t properly informed about it. You don’t even need it; it’s not necessary, and a lot of people are confused about it.”

Concerned about the potential ramifications, Thackray shared his thoughts on how the law might affect voter turnout.

“It would decrease voting from people that have less access to information about the exact specifics of the laws, and it could generally change how the elections go from that.”

Photo by Scott Rodgerson

8 NEWS

Clayton Commits to Livable Community Master Plan On Nov. 15, the City of Clayton organized a meeting with the Mayor’s Youth Advisory Council to discuss the Livable Community Master Plan. This is a collaborative effort between the Department of Parks and Recreation

and the Department of Public Works to improve the city’s walkable spaces.

Initiated in June, the plan is set to end in the summer of 2024, and seeks feedback from residents on how to enhance pedestrian infrastructure. Among those

who have weighed in is senior Henry Shook, a longtime Clayton resident.

“I think it is a very good initiative, but it’s been a long time coming. I think we needed a formal renovation,” Shook said.

“Don’t get me wrong, Clayton is good at this, but we have room for improvement.

I assume there can be more infrastructure that can be added.”

Shook hopes to see improvements to parking spaces, more natural spaces and more winter activities, lamenting the demolition of the ice rink at Shaw Park in 2019.

“Every winter, my family went to the ice skating rink. When I think of Clayton during winter, I think of the ice rink,” Shook said. “But now there’s nothing.

Something could go there to bring the people to Shaw Park.”

Photo by Sage Bernstein

School Swap Program Commences for School Year In January, you may see six unfamiliar faces roaming the halls. These students are part of the annual School Swap by Cultural Leadership, a non-profit program that fosters social and emotional learning.

Participants engage in conversations on social inequities and injustices, including racism, antisemitism and Islamophobia.

By swapping students, the program hopes to foster greater understanding and empathy among St. Louis youth.

It allows students from less-resourced schools to experience a different learning environment in more affluent schools.

Conversely, it offers students from wealthier backgrounds a chance to witness firsthand the educational challenges in other communities.

A 2016 study by Teachers College at Photo by Sage Bernstein

Columbia University demonstrated that such reciprocal exchanges can enrich the perspectives of all participants, promoting a deeper, mutual understanding among local students.

“Throughout the year, we spent time learning about history, socioeconomic segregation in St. Louis and different forms of injustice in our society,” senior Sage Bernstein said. “About once a month, our cultural leadership class would come together to learn about topics such as African American history, Jewish culture, racism, antisemitism and much more.”

By learning about other students’ experiences, Bernstein gained a deeper understanding of their diverse backgrounds. She also realized how societal injustices can directly affect

students’ day-to-day lives.

“I think everyone gains something from the school swap,” Bernstein said. “We get to learn about each other and different school districts. It’s a very unique and interesting experience.”

According to Bernstein, the School Swap program provides an eye-opening opportunity. It exposes students to the realities of different school districts, allowing them to witness firsthand the disparities in resource allocation.

“When students visit Clayton, they can see how different their school is compared to Clayton, and it allows students to understand the disproportionate allocation of resources in St. Louis,” Bernstein said.

NEWS 9

Dancing Through Life The Flamenco journey of educator Destiny Hooper Aylah Hopper | REPORTER

he St. Louis Cultural Flamenco Society (SCFS) and the Alzheimer’s Association in St. Louis collaborated to put on a beautiful performance titled Dreams of Lost Memories. The event was used to raise awareness for Alzheimer’s disease and also celebrate the 40th anniversary of the SCFS. The performance portrayed a lady (a flamenco dancer belonging to SCFS) who suffers from Alzheimer’s. As she begins dancing, the movement and songs trigger memories.

Research has shown that music evokes emotions and memories, a very big aspect of Flamenco dancing is the powerfulness of the music. Flamenco is an emotion-filled genre of dance and music that many people, not just those of Spanish descent can connect to. This is hugely beneficial for Individuals suffering from Alzheimer’s. “When you see Flamenco you’ll see that the songs are sung in Spanish and yet, because of the emotional element behind it, most audience members are able to connect with the human experience”. The Alzheimer’s Association and the St. Louis Cultural Flamenco Society partnered to tell the story of how the disease affects so many people through song and dance.

Flamenco dance is a traditional style of dance originating in Spain. The art of Flamenco is used to convey passion and various emotions through the fluid movement of the hands, arms, and the percussive elements of footwork. The St. Louis Cultural Flamenco Society is the only Flamenco dance company currently active in St. Louis, founded by Marisel Salsacruz.

English teacher at Clayton High School, Destiny Hooper is a company flamenco dancer with the St. Louis Cultural Flamenco Society. Hooper began her dancing career at age 5, participating in dance genres including ballet, jazz, and tap. At the age of 11, she joined the SCFS and began learning flamenco. From starting at such

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English teacher Destiny Hooper performs at the St. Louis Cultural Flamenco Society (SCFS) and the Alzheimer’s Association in a performance titled “Dreams of Lost Memories.”

Photo by Kari Frey FREYtography

a young age, flamenco has grown to be an exceptionally important aspect of Hooper’s life. “For me, Flamenco is such an expressive art form…with the combination of the music and dancers, it allows one to…express everything through their movements,” Hopper said. “Flamenco’s really special because it’s one of the only art forms that I know where the dancer is the leader.”

The starting point of Hooper’s flamenco dance career came from a relationship between Marisals Salascruz, SCFS founder, and Hooper’s grandmother starting before the creation of the St. Louis Cultural Flamenco Society. Hooper’s grandmother was Salascruz’s first-ever dance student.

“My mom and my aunt are not dancers… my grandmother was like ‘I’ll put my granddaughter in dancing’ and then I loved it.

While pursuing her college education

at Loyola University, in Chicago, Hooper took a hiatus from company Flamenco dancing. She lived in Chicago beyond her college years and began teaching in the Chicago Public School District where she orchestrated an after-school Flamenco dance club called Flamenco FUNdementals.

Hooper got the opportunity to teach students a new genre of dancing that they had never heard of; “That was amazing, it was so much fun…I would be open to doing it here at Clayton if people would be interested” Hooper stated.

Before returning home to St. Louis from Chicago to be with her family during the pandemic, Hooper got the opportunity to study a conservatory at Hermanas Villaú Escuela Profesional de Danza in Sevilla, Spain. “I just like, slept, ate, breathed Flamenco 24/7. It was awesome.”

FEATURE 11

Shared Spaces, Shared Visions The Success Story of

in St. Louis

Across from rows of old apartment buildings, Delmar DivINe is located at 5535 Delmar Boulevard and holds over 30 meaningful organizations. Photo by Madeline Jeans

Madeline Jeans | Page Editor

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committed to delivering impactful services to clients, customers and the community.

According to Maxine Clark, Delmar DivINe’s founder and Chief Inspirator and Build-A-Bear, the organization was created in response to injustices in the community.

“In 2014, Michael Brown was killed, and lots changed for STL. We all became more aware of the inequities in many aspects of our systems,” Clark said.

The name came from the location, Delmar Boulevard, and the Delmar Divide, with the “IN” standing for investment, innovation and inclusion to change the perception of the area.

Construction began in July 2020 with a team including Clayco and CRG. The space was created in a former hospital and renovated to include housing, workspaces, food options, a fitness center for tenants, meeting spaces for the community and more. The collective has around 40 organizations that strive to help the community in many ways. The first two tenants were welcomed in August of

to west, features million dollar mansions directly to the south, and poverty-stricken areas to its north. What separates rich and poor is sometimes just one street block.”

The divide affects thousands of people in all aspects of their lives, including housing, education, crime and even grocery shopping.

For years, people have struggled simply based on where they live in relation to the road. But Delmar DivINe is striving to change the years of precedent.

Delmar DivINe’s mission is to champion excellence in St. Louis’ social service landscape by fostering a dynamic synergy among different agencies. Through shared spaces, empowering programs and dedicated support services, Delmar DivINe energizes a collective of -Jeanette Jones organizations

nce you cross Delmar — I don’t know, it’s a different world,” Jeanette Jones, a St. Louis mail carrier said in an interview with The Washington Post.

As many St. Louis residents know, the Delmar Divide has been a long-standing image of division and segregation that continues to exist in the city. The Delmar Divide refers to Delmar Boulevard, which cuts the city into north and south. South of Delmar is predominantly white, and the North is mainly African American.

According to the BBC, “Delmar Boulevard, which spans the city from east

“

Once you cross Delmar–I don’t know, it’s a different world.”

12 FEATURE

2021, and more continued to enter the community by the end of 2022.

Some tenants include a credit union, BHR mental health services, Bridge 2 Hope, The Charity CFO, Eye Thrive, Generate Health and Girls in the Know (GITK).

Bridge 2 Hope is an organization trying to “advocate for racial changes so our children get the high-quality education they deserve,” according to Delmar DivINe’s website. They are doing this because the education system has systematically failed black and brown people, and it is time for a disruption.

Eye Thrive provides vision services to children at schools and community centers. This includes eye exams and glasses that are made and delivered. The free service eliminates inequality and gives all children the proper eye care they deserve.

The Node is a co-working space that can be used by freelancers, entrepreneurs and remote workers. They can work there and access amenities, like unlimited printing and a membership to the facility’s gym, for an affordable price.

“One of my favorite and largest programs is the Wisdom Café, which is our programming for seniors in the neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods. It is a collaboration of many partners who work in the aging community. It is amazing and very well attended for our large meetings and smaller special focus meetings,” Clark said.

Delmar DivINe also has retail spaces on the ground floor that house local businesses that help further develop the community.

Deli Divine, a new authentic Jewish deli, was created by Ben Poremba to offer traditional Jewish deli foods to everyone in the area, not just the Jewish community.

Born and raised in Israel, Poremba brings his lifelong passion for cooking to the venture, ensuring the authenticity of the food.

“His goal is to run a sustainable enterprise by providing an equitable work environment and fair and safe corporate culture to his employees, who he greatly admires,” according to his website, Bengelina Hospitality Group.

Another local retailer is GreaterHealth Pharmacy and Wellness. The store is the first Black-owned pharmacy in St. Louis in more than 40 years, according to IFF’s photo tour on Delmar DivINe. Inside the pharmacy is an express health clinic that SSM Health runs to provide care and reduce socioeconomic and racial disparities.

Along with all the various tenants and services, there are 150 apartments for locals.

“Everyone who comes to our campus, whether tenant, visitor, neighborhood resident or collaborative partner, is valued so that when they leave us, they feel good about having interacted with us,” Jorge Riopedre, the Executive Director of Delmar DivINe, said.

Given its initial success, Delmar DivINe is positioned to contribute to the community’s development. Its ongoing programs and services are aimed at promoting local growth and enhancing community well-being.

Clark sees Delmar DivINe’s value in thousands of people’s lives and continues to follow the key principles of: “diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, respect, honest feedback, fun and constant learning.”

The directory that greets visitors when they arrive to the complex. St. Louis Community Credit Union provides inclusive access for those who live in the area of the Delmar DivINe. Photo by Madeline Jeans

Ballot Brawl Examining Students’ Views on Voting and Political Efficacy Ezri Perrin | REPORTER Art by JiaLi Deck

he media has published many think-pieces on the nature of Generation Z, ruminating on everything from their social media usage to their mental health. But what are their opinions on voting? A sizable portion of Generation Z, aged 1127, has just reached or is about to reach voting age. Their opinions on the matter will almost certainly affect the upcoming 2024 Presidential election.

Controversy has always surrounded the voting age, remaining up to the states until the ratification of the 26th Amendment in 1971. Before this ratification, the voting age across most states was 21, the same as the drinking age. After ratification, the federal government lowered the voting age to 18, aligning it with the age for military service signup.

Most CHS students surveyed approve of the current voting age of 18, and over 76% gave a rating of six or higher on a 10-point scale.

“I feel the current voting age is good.

Of course, there are going to be some 18 to 20-year-olds who misuse their vote to be immature, but I think a lot of teens have valuable opinions and deserve to be able to

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14 FEATURE

voice them,” senior Aylah Hopper said.

However, few 18 year olds are voicing their opinions. 18 year olds have had the lowest voter turnout and registration rates of any age group in America for over 20 years. In 2020, only 47.5% of 18 year olds were registered to vote, as opposed to the national average of 72.5%.

Even though 18-year-olds’ voter registration rates have increased since 2012, the youngest voters consistently lag behind their older peers in registration and turnout. From 2000 to 2020, 18-yearolds’ voter registration rates have lagged behind even 19-year-olds’ rates, with the discrepancy ranging from as low as 2.8% in 2008 to as high as 9.4% in 2016.

One cause for these low rates of registration could be lack of education about voting and its related processes in high schools.

“When I say [voter registration] isn’t talked about enough, I mean talked about in a learning way. I feel like those turning 18 should be taught how to register, and then that individual does what they please with that information,” senior Zoe Daniels-Sankey said.

Research suggests that voter registration

may not be a widely understood topic among young people. High school curriculums, including United States Government classes, often do not cover this subject. In addition, the transition to adulthood, characterized by increased academic responsibilities and college applications, can overshadow the importance of learning about voter registration for high school seniors.

“I don’t know how to register for voting.

No idea how it works, [plus] I’m a very busy person, so it’s just something that’s adding to my very large to-do list,” senior Sam McDonough said.

The discrepancy in voter registration rates among teenagers could also be attributed to the political attitudes of Generation Z towards voting. According to a survey conducted, 29% of student respondents rated the effectiveness of voting five or lower on a scale of one to 10.

“I think a lot of young people, even if they care, they just don’t wanna get out to vote because they don’t see the point,” senior Cecilia Dupor said. “Typically younger people are more progressive, and they don’t believe that politics will ever become progressive.”

Factors within the United States voting system, such as the electoral college, extended campaigning seasons and gerrymandering, could influence the voting rate. These elements may contribute to voter fatigue. The absence of a national holiday on Election Day could also lower turnout, due to the fact that those who cannot afford to take a day off from work may be unable to vote at all.

“Election Day should be a national holiday so that more people can vote. I feel like, since people are so disenfranchised, they’re not going to take the time out of their busy day to go vote unless there’s a day off,” Dupor said.

While voting is a key method for enacting change in the United States, it isn’t the only one. Social media, for instance, provides a platform for individuals, including those under 18, to express their opinions. Despite not being of voting age, this group comprises a significant part of the population.

“The more active you can be, the better.

Post on social media, knock on doors, educate yourself so that when you are 18, you’re a more informed voter,” Dupor said.

Methods of participation in the political system beyond voting include protesting, signing petitions, contacting politicians and donating to political organizations.

Additionally, staying informed about the political climate is a common practice among young Americans, as it helps them understand the news, engage in debates and prepare for voting when they reach the legal age.

“It’s good to stay educated, and if you do that, then you can get what you actually want to pass because you’ll be able to talk about things and debate properly,” McDonough said.

Voting extends beyond individual choice and ties into the larger political system. Many young people have expressed opinions about the structure of America’s electoral system. Among these, the Electoral College has been a point of discussion, with some finding it complex or questioning its usefulness.

“I do think something about the system is corrupt. I have felt like that since Trump did not receive [a] majority vote, yet he still won because of the electoral college,” senior Aylah Hopper said.

The opinions held by young voters could potentially influence the 2024 election.

Early speculations suggest the possibility of a contest between former President Donald Trump and current President Joe Biden.

Noteworthy developments include legal proceedings involving Trump and Biden’s stance on recent events in Israel and Gaza.

According to a survey by Data For Progress, 66% of American voters support a ceasefire.

Among interviewees and survey respondents, words most often used to describe one’s emotions toward the upcoming election included “nervous,” “scared,” “not optimistic” and “confused.”

Several self-identifying queer respondents expressed fear over the outcome of the election, considering the current reactionary backlash against transgender rights.

“I’m scared for the future as a queer American to see what happens to us next.

This is a scary time,” freshman Connor Riley said.

Along with their views on the electoral system, some individuals expressed a lack of satisfaction with the available choices in elections.

“It sucks that the only candidates are people who I’m not entirely happy voting for. Joe Biden is too moderate and old for me, but still, he’s far better than Trump or any other Republican. I wish Biden would’ve stepped down from running, but it is too late now,” said one respondent.

Regardless of young voters’ perspectives on the voting system and candidate choices, historical trends suggest that many newly eligible voters may not cast their ballots.

The potential impact on future election outcomes is yet to be determined. In this context, experts often recommend that young people research, educate themselves and stay informed about political matters.

“Stay educated about politics, even if you can’t participate or don’t want to,” McDonough said. “You should still know what’s going on. Being able to ignore whatever’s happening politically is a privilege that a lot of people in Clayton have, but a lot of people outside of Clayton don’t.”

Voter registration illustration.

By Ezri Perrin

FEATURE 15

Vending machines in CHS cafeteria with a variety of caffeinated drinks.

Photos by Ivy Slen

To Brew Knowledge Education percolates on school coffee grounds as caffeinated beverages remain popular among students.

Caleb Park | NEWS SECTION EDITOR

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magine a place where caffeine flows as freely as water, where energizing beverages are as much a part of the daily routine as checking your phone. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee from a school-based café, where a cup costs just $1.50, greets students as they enter. Fliers scatter throughout the building advertising the aptly named Hounds’ Grounds menu, and daily announcements are a reminder of the next caffeine fix. Vending machines dot the common areas, offering everything from iced tea to Mountain Dew KickStart, among various soft drinks. And if one craves a barista-crafted latte or tea, a popular coffee chain is just a quick threeminute drive away. Here, students and faculty members navigate their day with cups in hand, a testament to how caffeine has woven itself into the fabric of daily life.

Students are open about their reliance on caffeine for their academic careers.

16 FEATURE

Senior Art Chen-Wei doubles the coffee cups he regularly consumes during more stressful periods with higher workloads.

“If I don’t get a chance to get caffeine in my system in the morning, I try and get caffeine in the middle of the day at the very least,” Chen-Wei said. “Often, I find myself sleep-deprived [and] tired, and so I need caffeine to help keep me alert and focused throughout the day with schoolwork.”

Chen-Wei also highlighted how widespread caffeine consumption is among students, which often occurs as peer pressure.

“I know quite a few people who drink caffeine, [like] a lot of my friends,” ChenWei said. “Some people even consume more than me.”

Being largely academically driven, he and his friends often feel pressured to sacrifice sleep and consume caffeine to keep up.

“At this time and age, productivity is

valued in society, and getting [it] worked on. The environment at the school pushes for that, where you always have to be getting work done,” Chen-Wei said.

“Often, I think we get a lot of academic validation when we show how much work we’ve gotten done, which comes up [at] the expense of our sleep.”

Another student, junior Jynx Falk, also relies on caffeine for homework, whether in Starbucks, homemade coffee or a caffeinated juice mix. According to Falk, caffeine consumption can provide immense benefits in managing ADHD symptoms, especially inattention.

Demotivation and executive dysfunction can act as an aid to work properly in school. However, they also point out the consequences of too much caffeine.”

“Positive is, of course, stuff like energy, focus, less headaches, motivation. The negative side effects can be nasty, though.

Once, I accidentally ingested multiple

large Panera Charged Lemonades in quick succession,” Falk said. “They have about 400 mg each [...] Anyhow, I started having heart palpitations, paranoia, sweating, more-than-usual trembling and nausea.

Accidental over-ingestion of caffeine has happened to me a few times in the past four years I’ve been drinking coffee, and it never gets less scary.”

To Falk, most of their peers consume caffeine, and living without an almost constant stream is rare. They view the dependence on caffeine as a result of adolescent sleeping habits.

“We are expected to excel at more than the average student. This leads to increased sleep deprivation and consumption of caffeine at Clayton than the average school, two circumstances linked to severe negative health consequences,” Falk said.

“Another factor that influences caffeine consumption is the early school start time. It’s a well-known fact that teenagers have later circadian rhythms. We are biologically predisposed to waking up later.”

Both Chen-Wei and Falk recognize the benefits of utilizing caffeine for productivity and the problems that may arise from caffeine dependence, with Chen-Wei agreeing with Falk on the negative consequences of constant consumption.

“It’s really easy to get addicted to caffeine and fall into this trap of caffeine dependency, where if you’re not getting your caffeine, you’re not getting your daily coffee, you’re going to be grumpy and

annoyed throughout the whole day, and you’re not going to get any work done,” Chen-Wei said. “And so this addiction can have a lot of negative connotations on your life, and it’s also a very expensive addiction.”

A nationwide pattern among high school students mirrors this trend and is not isolated to just one place. According to research published by the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior in 2016, 83.2% of teenagers regularly consume caffeinated beverages, while 96% partake occasionally. Further surveys conducted for the research revealed that 44.6% of high school underclassmen sampled would drink caffeinated beverages one to six times per week.

“The environment at school pushes for where you always have to be getting work done. At times the school environment is really pushing overloads of work,” ChenWei said. “Personally, I use caffeine as a way to help. [Caffeine] keeps me awake as a result.”

AP Biology teacher, Adam Bergeron prioritizes student wellbeing and frequently discusses the importance of maintaining a proper work-life balance in his classes. He consumes significantly less caffeine than many of his students he typically drinks just one cup of coffee every morning - and Bergeron voices concern about students’ reliance on caffeine to stay alert. He explains that this dependence could disrupt a person’s sleep cycle, as caffeine, on a molecular level, prevents depressants from reaching the

nervous system. Bergeron underlines the restorative effect of sleep, emphasizing its core importance to an individual’s physiology.

“I think [relying on caffeine is] a red flag. There’s a difference between consuming a cup of coffee and then consuming caffeine throughout the day to get by,” Bergeron said. “If you’re so physically exhausted that you rely on a steady stream of caffeine to stay awake during the day, then that’s a problem, right?”

In research done on learning, Bergeron observed how sleep is essential for one’s ability to recall information. To a student, this means their ability to perform well on tests and complete assignments properly.

“Here you are, work, work, work during the day, trying to learn things, and then if you’re not sleeping enough at night, you’re undoing what you did during the day in terms of trying to store that over a long period,” Bergeron said. “We know [when] you keep an animal awake intentionally, it will not learn. It will forget what it did during the day.”

Bergeron hopes for students to place foremost importance on their health rather than the social trends surrounding them.

“I’m not specifically targeting any one adult who might consume a lot of caffeine, [but] it becomes an accepted behavior if [teenagers] see adults doing it,” Bergeron said. “I think anything you choose to use should be done responsibly, and that goes [for] sleep, hydration, eating, caffeine consumption, whatever it is.”

“

I think [relying on caffeine is] a red flag. There’s a difference between consuming a cup of coffee and then consuming caffeine throughout the day to get by,” - Adam Bergeron, AP Biology teacher

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Junior, Derek Crisp rehearses with SLUMS mentor, Jay Anthony, practicing riffs on his guitar Photo courtesy of Derek Crisp

Underground Talent How junior Derek Crisp tuned into his musical abilities and left his mark on the community Charlie Meyers | MANAGING EDITOR unior Derek Crisp would have never guessed that getting his ears pierced at Iron Age Studio in 2020 would have led to him playing his guitar in front of a roaring crowd of 400 people less than two years later.

Crisp, a Seattle native, moved to St. Louis in 2019 during his seventh-grade year and attended Wydown Middle School.

Now, at 17, Crisp has built up a hefty resume of musical endeavors and

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experiences and has expanded his musical talents to various instruments, genres and groups.

However, he wasn’t always involved in music. Crisp first paved the way for his musical interest while living in Seattle.

“My family is not musical,” he said, yet while not being exposed to many musical influences, Crisp found a way to maintain and nurture his curiosity in singing and music.

Crisp was mostly self-taught in guitar and piano and had a passion for vocal performance from a young age. However, he much preferred his form of learning

by experimentation and trial-and-error, compared to learning from a teacher.

“I took classical piano lessons for about a month in third grade, and then I promptly quit because it was too structured,” Crisp said.

After his years in Seattle, Crisp endured a change of scenery. At 10-years old, Crisp moved schools. And countries.

He attended an international school in France with a large English program focused on immersion into the French culture and language that also housed a successful theater program.

Every year, the school put on a play

and a musical, and Crisp was drawn to participate in these performances because of his passion for singing and performance.

In his second year in France, he participated in the production of “Cinderella,” and in his third year, he was selected to play Jack in “Jack and the Beanstalk.”

Crisp declined the role of Jack because his father had to move to St. Louis for his job in 2019. Having moved to St. Louis, he joined the Clayton School District and attended Wydown.

Starting in his seventh-grade year, Crisp participated in “Puffs,” the fall play, and “Matilda,” the spring musical. While his theater career was just beginning, he joined the school’s Jazz Band via an audition process in his eighth-grade year.

Little did he know that this introduction to Jazz would spark an entire career in performance of the genre.

The same year he joined the Jazz Band and another organization called St. Louis Underground Music Scene (SLUMS). This organization was a collective ensemble of around 30 musicians of different instruments, ages and backgrounds who would busk in the Delmar loop on any given night.

When Crisp got his ears pierced in his eighth-grade year, he saw these buskers playing in the loop. Being a beginner

musician, he was nervous but wanted to talk with them.

“My dad convinced me to go up to them and introduce myself, so I went up to them and said, ‘I’m a musician too,’” Crisp said. “And they were like, ‘Oh, yeah, just give us your Instagram, and we’ll text you when the next jam session is.’”

After the initial meeting, Crisp was pleasantly surprised when he received a notification with their message.

“They texted me and said, ‘Hey, learn these two tunes,’” he said. “‘We’re gonna play these tunes and whatever else we feel like.’”

Crisp went home, and those two tunes were his life for the next 24 hours.

“Then I went with them, and I played those two songs and nothing else. I just listened,” he said. “But that’s what’s been the most influential for me. It’s just listening. Listening to people, listening to music.”

Between his eighth-grade and ninthgrade years, he recalled spending hundreds of hours playing with and watching his band mates in SLUMS perform. However, as most of the musicians were high school seniors when Crisp joined, the group dissolved when they graduated, leaving only a few artists, including Crisp, in St. Louis.

The remaining players then decided to form a new group focused on indie rock

in 2021.

This group focused on playing live music in front of crowds at concert venues rather than busking in public spaces.

Crisp noted a prominent moment in that group’s career when they played at Blueberry Hill. “One of the most fun nights I’ve ever had in my life was January 2022, where we went to the duck room, and I played for maybe 300 or 400 people,” he said.

From exposure to SLUMS, Crisp garnered inspiration for forming the new indie rock group and learned many valuable lessons and teachings.

“This is sort of my philosophy,” he said.

“If you want to get better at something, surround yourself with people who are 50 times better than you.”

Taking this philosophy to heart, Crisp threw himself into the deep end when he joined SLUMS, a group of experienced musicians.

“Like the SLUMS, these are guys that have been playing for like eight years, 10 years, and I was there and had four months of experience,” Crisp recalled. “I’m sitting in with these guys, and it’s incredible to me because it’s all about listening and just immersing yourself in that kind of space.”

From his eighth-grade year to his transition into high school, Crisp joined a musical group called Jazz U. Jazz U requires an intense audition process,

Junior, Derek Crisp poses before his choir and jazz concert for the Night of Jazz Photo by Charlie Meyers

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“

If you want to do something or join something, just go for it.”

- Derek Crisp

which involves several stages and is very competitive. Once accepted, students join one of seven small combination groups where they learn to play jazz instruments and make music with each other, guided by professionals every week.

Crisp participated in Jazz U only during his freshman year and has now shifted his focus as a high schooler to be centered around high school theater, choir and Jazz, rather than SLUMS, his indie group or Jazz U. “Over these past two years, I’ve tried to focus on my music and extracurriculars within Clayton,” Crisp said. “Whereas, like my freshman year, I was doing Jazz U and my indie group, now I’ve got Jazz Ensemble four days a week, Jazz Choir, and I’m doing choir, musicals and plays.”

Now a junior, Crisp is a member of the established Jazz ensemble and the newly formed school Jazz Choir. The Jazz Choir, a novel addition to the school’s musical offerings, was largely introduced through Crisp’s initiative. His inspiration came from participating in the All-State Vocal Jazz Ensemble over the summer, a small group composed of 15 singers from across Missouri, selected through a strict audition process that involved a memorized performance and a scat solo.

Motivated by this experience and with the support of Choir Director Brian Parrish, Crisp brought the concept of a Jazz Choir to CHS. Within the theater program, Crisp has been selected to be the Music Director for the student-run musical “Legally Blonde” this spring and has auditioned for and received the role of Sweeney Todd in “Sweeney Todd” this upcoming semester.

Crisp has gained significant experience in music and theater over the past five years. With college just around the corner, he is also exploring higher education opportunities.

Luckily, Crisp has his eye on many college opportunities in the year ahead.

Thescon, an annual state-wide school music convention, is being hosted in Kansas City this upcoming January.

“Juniors are allowed to do an audition [for college opportunities,] so I sent them an audition tape. They have lots of colleges review [the audition tapes]. The colleges are mostly in-state but also include bordering states, and, if you’re selected as a finalist, you perform a live audition: one song and one monologue. Then, if they like you, you might get a scholarship, and it’s a great college opportunity.”

Crisp has various subjects and occupations he could enter whenever college applications roll around.

“Part of me wants to be a choir conductor. Part of me wants to go into performance. I love theater and instrumental music, so being even a pit conductor would be amazing,” Crisp said.

Crisp has high hopes for the coming

year, aiming to make it into Jazz U again - this time on piano. His goal is to form relationships and forge connections that could lead to scholarship opportunities.

As he looks ahead, he aspires to leave a lasting impact on the music industry and community. For those who aspire to a career in music, Crisp offers advice that has been crucial to his journey.

“If you want to do something or join something, just go for it,” he said. “That’s so cliche, but, if you want something, you got to take that first step. I think that’s a huge thing. For me, it was auditioning for my seventh-grade year because that introduced me to the theater. If you ask anybody who does theater, they’ll tell you it’s intimidating at first, but once you get in and meet these people, it’s very welcoming.”

Within the performing arts, it can be hard to appreciate the manner of the art form, Crisp noted. While paintings and film can be viewed multiple times and viewed for hundreds of years, music and performances do not linger after the performance.

“What stays there is the change that the people have gone through. Because you don’t know what’s going on in your audience’s life,” Crisp said. “Mr Parrish always says, ‘We’re in the business of changing people.’ That’s what fuels my love for music and how music has a big effect on me. Being able to do that to other people is a really, really cool thing.”

Junior Derek Crisp and his indie group band mates play in front of hundreds in the Duck Room at Blueberry Hill in the Delmar loop

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Photo by Derek Crisp

Redefining Wellness Wellness Insight Insightinto intothe thenew newWellness WellnessCenter Center Lavanya SECTION EDITOR LavanyaMani Mani| FEATURE | FEATURE SECTION EDITOR Riley | PAGE EDITOR RileyZimmerman Zimmerman | PAGE EDITOR Students meet to discuss important wellness issues.

Photos by Riley Zimmerman

hat does “wellness” mean? You might think it’s all essential oils and yoga studios—a goal to pursue when you meet all other needs. However, schools nationwide are challenging this idea by constructing wellness centers, which challenge the idea that wellness is inherently separate from academic and extracurricular pursuits.

Clayton High School is building one such center, but the ongoing construction is just the tip of the iceberg. Turning this project from a hopeful initiative into a material reality requires significant work behind the scenes. Though the Wellness Center is set to open in January 2024, student and teacher committees have held meetings and discussed important initiatives since August.

Wellness Director Jennifer McKeown leads the charge. Pulling from experiences with social work within the Ritenour District and therapy with Youth in Need, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering children, McKeown brings a lot of insight to her current role. These experiences have shaped her vision of the Wellness Center to

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be receptive to and centered around student needs.

“It’s really important to have that youth voice because we want to center students,” McKeown said.

McKeown envisions other initiatives, like a Destress Week before finals, which would bring wellness to all CHS students. This broad vision incorporates the students who are interested in helping their peers.

“I hope that we can provide a safe environment for people to go to when they require mental health [support], and I hope that with this Wellness Center, we can provide people with the support they need,” junior Molly Siwak, member of the Student Wellness Committee, said.

The student involvement with the Wellness Center provides ideas and perspectives that McKeown can incorporate into her plans while empowering students like Siwak to take initiative.

“I just want to be able to support people and know that I’m doing what I can to support my community,” Siwak said.

Siwak believes that the Wellness Center will be useful for everyone, even the kids who might just need a break.

“I 100% think that the mental well-being of CHS needs attention. No matter what mental state a person is in. I think having some sort of support is still beneficial,” Siwak said.

During the teacher committee’s inaugural meeting, Yearbook and Photo-J adviser Scott Kreher.Kreher noted the diversity of the teachers that were present, bringing the perspectives of various

departments. Their discussion focused on their meeting presence and understanding of mental wellness.

The teachers also discussed data gathered in Panorama surveys, which the administration asks students to take every year. While no students were present, the conversation focused on student needs.

Kreher and other teachers saw a video of a school Wellness Center in California as a guideline for what such a center might look like on campus.

“Seeing that [students] saw it as a comforting place was nice, and it seemed like a warm, friendly, relaxing and inviting place for students to go,” Kreher said.

While the Wellness Center has yet to open officially, the goal is clear: improving students’ mental well-being. The school community sees this initiative as an opportunity to shift attitudes towards wellness, fostering a more tranquil educational environment. While the Wellness Center’s impact is yet to be seen, it has the potential to serve as a model for other districts. McKeown, among others, hopes it will inspire similar wellness initiatives in local schools.

“This [is] a cool experience that Clayton has to make it an innovative thing for the Midwest. I hope it not only expands to our community but also beyond that to the St. Louis area and Midwest,” she said.

Scan here to watch a video on the student Welness Center committee Video by Dilia Berrios

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2

Resiliance and Hope The extraordinary life of Holocaust survivor Sami Steigmann Adam Watson | REPORTER

urvivor and speaker Sami Steigmann, who carries the physical reminders of medical experiments done by Nazi’s during the Holocaust, shared his life story and perspective with students during an optional assembly.

“I do not dwell on the negative. I do not associate myself with negative people. I always associate myself with positive people.

People that succeeded [I am] not as much interested in their success per se, as how did they succeed,” Steigmann said. “Learning from them, and always being an optimist sustained me throughout the very difficult stages of life that I had to go through.”

Steigmann’s perspective was shaped by his diverse experiences, including a significant event during his service in the Israeli Air Force.

“We [went to Israel] in 1961, and because I was a newcomer, I did not have to go to the military right away. They were willing to give me a period of time to adjust to Israel’s culture, but I volunteered and I was in the Israeli Air Force,” Steigmann said.

He explained that Jews were always dependent on the malevolence of the regimes in the countries where they lived.

Steigmann was proud the moment he saw a Jewish policeman during his time in the Israeli Air Force.

“This was the first time that we had our own country ... we were an independent country,” Steigmann said.

Steigmann moved to Milwaukee, Wis. in 1968 where he married, had a son and later divorced. He returned to Israel in 1988, but after five years he decided to return to the United States, settling in New York, where he still resides. For much of this time, Steigmann chose to distance himself from his Holocaust history, feeling his fragmented memories made his experiences less valid.

“I’m probably the youngest Holocaust survivor you will ever meet. In December I will be 84. At the same time. I’m a Holocaust survivor. I knew that, but I

S

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ignored it. In 2003, the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC closed its doors to the general public for two days and opened it up to the Holocaust survivors and their children. They did [this] for 16 years prior,” Steigmann said.

He never chose to attend, however in 2003, he decided it was time.

“There were over 8,000 people from all over the world. At the table where I was sitting, I met a man born in the same city.

[He was] in the same camp the same year.

He was deported when he was 8-monthsold. I was deported [around the same time] and by meeting him that was a revelation,” Steigmann said.

Recognizing the importance of his own history, Steigmann decided to stop disregarding his survival story. In 2007, he joined the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York, a living memorial to the Holocaust. By 2008, he had completed his first assignment: speaking to sixth graders about his experiences.

Hillel at Maryville University hosted motivational speaker Sami Stegman’s presentation at the high school. “To understand someone’s experience surviving the holocaust was life changing,” senior and JSU President Alex Gellman said. “The emotion, and the details made the information hold an incredible amount of value. [I] became motivated to approach life from the point of view of what Sami described as an Upstander.”

Photo by Todd Schumacher

“This first presentation was not the best. I did not think that I had a compelling story. The students sent me thank you letters, each one better than the others. But one-sixth grader changed my life forever.

When I saw the impact that I had in my first presentation I decided to dedicate the rest of my life to reach as many young people as I can nationally and internationally,” Steigmann said.

In his presentations, Steigmann told the audience to “never be a perpetrator.

But most importantly, never, ever be a bystander.”

“The greatest tragedy in human history, the Holocaust, and all the genocides happened because the world stood by and did nothing. As a bystander, you are part of the problem,” Steigmann said. “I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to be throughout life.”

A collection of objects chosen by the essayists which represent an aspect of their identity or the content of their essay.

Photo by AnMei Deck

M

A Collection for Conversation Intro & conclusion by JiaLi Deck

ost cover stories begin with history.

Some background. Maybe it gives a definition of a key phrase or humanizes the issue with a quote. But this cover story isn’t like most.

These are not articles. There were no formal interviews. An impartial, matter-offact tone was not used. There is bias.

This cover story includes seven essays written by students in their junior and senior years and one by Social Studies teacher Daniel Glossenger. Writers were instructed to share their thoughts and experiences regarding the conflict in the Middle East and its impact on them and their families. They were given instructions to not exceed 2000 words and to avoid information that is better left to national news outlets. What they wrote was entirely up to them.

This cover story is about impact. It’s about how young people view the state of our world. It’s about how hard it is to speak out while seeking college admission prospects and good social standing. How communities unite and friends are pushed

apart. This is about identity. And doubt.

And fear. And the constant stream of social media muddying the waters. This is about how a conflict 6,462 miles away impacts our community.

Considering the deeply complex and contentious nature of this issue, it is important to remember that these essays do not imply an endorsement from the Globe, but rather portray the individual experiences and perspectives of the authors. We had an ongoing commitment to provide a balanced picture with as many perspectives as possible, but recognize that this was not entirely achieved. This collection does not represent all perspectives and is only part of a larger, more intricate conversation. We encourage readers to seek additional information to become better informed on this issue.

So, we invite you to read with an open mind, consider a perspective perhaps different from your own, and realize we are all humans – hurt, angry, scared, confused – hoping for a better future.

The Hope is Still Real Alex Cohen I

am not simply a Jew or an American, but an American Jew. Since Oct. 7, I worry about the hostages and the soldiers in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). I worry about civilians in Israel and Gaza, especially those being used as human shields by Hamas in its pursuit of the elimination of Israel and Jews everywhere. I worry about those in my life who are highly impacted emotionally due to strong ties to Israel.

People like my grandparents, who spend too much time watching cable news, and my friends from temple and camp on potentially hostile college campuses.

People like my friends from Jewish overnight camp with Israeli relatives who go to sleep every night in fear of waking up to horrific news. I worry about all of them.

For many that I know, this conflict has become all-consuming. When the news first broke, I knew that could and would happen. Initially, I divested as much as possible from the conflict, at least online.

People constantly asked my opinion, and I didn’t have a clear answer. I was scared that the conflict would consume me and take me away from the other important aspects of my life. However, as the days of violence drew to weeks, information on social media, articles online and real-life conversations about the conflict became unavoidable. I believe in Israel’s right to defend itself. But not without limits.

I started to feel like I was drowning in all the bad news. Thinking about this piece made me feel simultaneously nauseous and like I could breathe a little bit again.

The conversations prompted by this piece have been constructive and illuminating, giving me moments of connection and learning with loved ones and friends in a dark time.

What follows is a combination of conversations I had with my maternal grandfather, a retired Reform rabbi and community leader, affectionately known as Papa, and my uncle Jeff, a lawyer and lay leader, and of my learnings, opinions and

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realizations from this time: The first thing I realized during these conversations was how much background information and historical understanding I lacked. I grew up around Israelis despite the relatively small Israeli community in St. Louis. There were always Shinshinim— Israeli teens taking a service learning gap year in the US—teaching at religious schools and day camps. There are a significant number of Israelis who work and attend my overnight camp. As I grew up, they were my friends and counselors; this past summer, they became my coworkers and campers. I sat through many lessons on Israeli history and culture in my 11 years of religious school. I was encouraged by rabbis and teachers to visit Israel to try to feel a connection to the Jewish homeland. My parents spent years trying to organize a family trip to Israel. I learned of the many cultural, religious and social ties between the American Jewish community and Israel.

But there was also a great deal that I didn’t know.

There is a significant financial connection between American Jews and Israel. The Jewish Federation of St. Louis financially supports a variety of constituent agencies, including the Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry, the Covenant Place—housing for at-risk elderly community members, Hillels and Chabads at local

universities, the St. Louis Jewish Light—a local Jewish community newspaper, among many others. But the Federation also donates millions of dollars annually to Israeli organizations. The US government also underwrites Israeli organizations and the government financially.

Money that American Jews donate to support Israel is money that is not going to support local Jewish and secular

Senior Alex Cohen holds a silver necklace with her Hebrew name, ‫יונה‬. The necklace was a gift from family friends for her bat mitzvah She wears the necklace every day.

Photo by AnMei Deck

Senior Alex Cohen and her papa embrace before she chants from the Torah at her bat mitzvah in April 2019.

Photo by Yana Hotter

organizations and institutions. Some argue that the financial support of Israel should be the responsibility of the American government, not the Jewish community itself. Others argue that Jews must support their homeland and their people.

But whose responsibility is it to help Israel now? Does Israel truly belong to all Jews?

The American Jewish community is not a monolith. Different towns, cities, organizations and families will make their own choices about how to support Israel.

Some American Jews support Netanyahu and, in my opinion, his deplorable treatment of Palestinian citizens. Some support Israel’s right to engage in a defensive war but not to occupy Gaza, whatever that means practically. Some believe there should be an immediate ceasefire. But despite the opinions of individuals, families and communities, due to our Judaism, we are all inextricably linked to the state of Israel and its concept as the Jewish homeland.

Israel has filled a historic need for Jews.

Jews were a stateless group for nearly 1900 years after they were expelled from the ancient land of Israel by the Romans. The political state of Israel is now regarded as the Jewish homeland. Israel is a Jewish state created by Jews for Jews. We know we will be safe there and could receive citizenship under the Law of Return,

which allows anyone with at least one Jewish grandparent to receive Israeli citizenship. Yet, Jews are not a race, but a religion. That makes our needs for safety and statehood no less valid but complex and unique.

Many American Jews see Israel as the pinnacle, the fulfillment of their Jewish identity, whether they realize it or not.

Children are taught that Israel is the place of return, the ultimate homeland and place of refuge for Jews. They are encouraged to visit Israel, to support the state and to consider making aliyah—moving to Israel—when they are older.

Yet, many American Jews will never physically set foot in Israel, and even fewer will ever live there. Many of us are not even considered Jewish by the standards of the ultra-Orthodox rabbis who command religious life in Israel.

Under Israeli religious law, one must have a Jewish mother or undergo an Orthodox conversion to be considered Jewish. Thousands of American Jews are disqualified under this definition.

There is a question of reciprocity between American Jews and Israel: Why do we give so much emotionally and financially to a place that may not give back to us?

We don’t need Israel in order to be American Jews.

I hope my argument is not misconstrued to mean that I believe Israel should not exist or that American Jews should stop caring about Israel and what happens there. Both our community and the state of Israel are important. I argue for balance; we should support Israel in ways that bolster our community as well. There are many opportunities to do this during the current crisis.

Both Papa and Uncle Jeff expressed to me in detail the shock and horror that they felt on Oct. 7 at the horrific loss of Jewish and human life that occurred and also the fear that it could lead to the end of Israel as we know it. They expressed anger at how many media outlets failed to acknowledge the horrendous massacre that was the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.

I spent the days after Oct. 7 sick to my stomach, avoiding social media for fear I would see a gruesome photo of a hostage or victim. These emotions of anger, pain and grief were nearly universal for the Jews that I know.

Yet, in this time, there are opportunities for hope and connection even during this time of suffering. Papa lauded the humanity-centric nature and healing potential of several community events that occurred in the month after the initial attacks. Gatherings at local synagogues and the Jewish Community Center (JCC) focused on sharing grief, togetherness and

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comfort —reminding people of the plight of the hostages. Uncle Jeff reminded me of how healthy it is for people to process their emotions together, sharing in each other’s strength.

But there is a sad danger in many of these gatherings. A rise in anti-semitism has accompanied the current conflict, and protests or large gatherings of Jews are often the targets of violence and hateful comments. Papa urged particular caution in associating ourselves too closely with the actions of any particular government in Israel. Age-old anti-semitic ideas emphasize that Diaspora Jews are more loyal to Israel than to their own countries.

While he believes it is the responsibility of American Jewish clergy and lay leaders to build support for Israel, he worries that actions such as the use of the Israeli flag at protests could lead onlookers to believe that we are separated from or disloyal to America. This is exactly the opposite of what we want in a time when antisemitism is on the rise, and we need more communal support than ever.

American Jews’ efforts to support Israel will increase our visibility and potentially invite hateful responses. We may become targets. What happens when the world turns its back on Israel, and if we are

so closely associated, by extension, on the Jews? Could signed letters or public statements of support for Israel be used against us in a darker future? Who would be there to protect us if that were to happen?

This is a dark vision of the future, one I hope will never come to fruition.

I hope and pray that our friends and neighbors will support and protect us, but history tells us that is not always true.

Jewish history is a history of triumph and renewal, of overcoming the obstacles of isolation, discrimination and hate. We, as American Jews, are currently in the best position in millennia to form a strong, stable community.

There is one fact that Papa told me during our initial conversation that I can’t stop thinking about. I mentioned it again to him while we were in the car on the way home from listening to Former US Representative Adam Kinzinger deliver a hopeful message about how America is a shining beacon of liberty. He told me that early leaders in the American Reform movement, nearly 100 years before the establishment of the state of Israel, such as Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, believed that the United States could be the adopted homeland of the Jews. This country could

be our Jerusalem, our safe haven, and the place where our community could settle and live in peace for eternity. Jews have enjoyed unprecedented religious freedom in the US, greater even, arguably, than they receive in Israel. Here, we can form assimilated and stand-alone communities.

We prosper in various fields, can attend universities and live in relative peace and harmony. We are safer than we have ever been.

This freedom has allowed us to build incredible structures, institutions and organizations, many of which have shaped my life and helped us maintain community. We have synagogues, day and overnight camps, religious schools, JCCs, homes for the elderly, charitable organizations and so much more. In many cases, these organizations serve both local Jewish and secular communities.

We are currently at an inflection point.

We have an incredible chance to create a vibrant community in both the US and Israel for generations to come. A healthy Jewish community in the US helps support the health of Israel and Jews everywhere.

That is impossible if we neglect the structures and organizations that form our American Jewish community and collective identity.

Togetherness in Trying Times Micah Lotsoff A

ntisemitism means to have a prejudice against the Jewish people simply because they are Jewish.

However, a speaker I was lucky enough to hear recently explained that he prefers the phrase “Jew-hater.” The speaker was Sami Steigmann, a Holocaust survivor who shared his story with an auditorium filled with students. Listening to Sami was beyond insightful, but I specifically took away that phrase and put a lot of thought into it. I agree with Sami here, especially in times like today, where hate seems to be everywhere.

I attended a Jewish private school from kindergarten through eighth grade where I learned Hebrew and Jewish history every day. We opened each morning with a prayer session called T’fillah, and I had

26 COVER

the privilege of reading from the Torah on multiple occasions. At the end of my eighth-grade year, I was supposed to go on a two-week trip to Israel with my school and other Jewish schools around the country; however, due to the pandemic, I had to settle for a campsite in Illinois, a small downgrade.

Before I was even in middle school, I witnessed eye-opening threats to my life simply due to my Judaism. There were several instances where someone would call, threatening to bomb the school, causing panicked evacuations that left students without any understanding of the unfolding situation.

When I transitioned to CHS, I feared that my Jewish identity might weaken. I found just the opposite to be true. Seeing

countless fellow Jews in my classes filled me with safety and aided my eventual adjustment.

I can now without a doubt say, I do not feel this way anymore.

After the events of Oct. 7, there was a gathering at the Jewish Community Center that my mom, grandma and I attended.

There were so many people, we had to get there early to make sure we could get a decent seat. On the stage at the front, members of the Jewish community spoke and illustrated that it is important for us as a community to mourn together.

Since that day I have mourned. I mourn not just for the civilian grandparents, some of whom are Holocaust survivors, mothers, fathers and babies who were taken as hostages, not just for those who were

raped, massacred, and paraded around Gaza on that Shabbat morning and not just for those whose bodies have turned up over a month later. I mourn for everyone who suffers under the awful situation that the Middle East finds itself in.

As a human being, I recognize that any loss of life is a travesty. I do not even necessarily wish for those responsible for the massacre in October to die. I would prefer for them to be captured and imprisoned for years and years.

Since the escalation of this conflict began, I have found that the most dangerous weapon has been one that our country knows all too well: Misinformation. I have heard more than I ever thought I would hear and read more than I ever thought I would read, for example:

Hundreds of Jews gather at the JCC in St. Louis following the events on Oct. 7.

Photo by Canon Shots Photography

“Jewish people are not native to that region. If they’re native, why do they have one of the highest skin cancer rates in the world?” “[Hamas’ attack] is not justifiable, but I understand why they did it.”

“Why are we prioritizing the lives of 200 white people over 2.2 million in Gaza?”

“This is the first time in 75 years that the resistance has actually worked.”

People spread hateful propaganda without even realizing they are doing so. I see it on Instagram stories, TikTok vvvv posts and even said around school. Fact checking has become the Iron Dome of information in times like these.

I write this hoping Reform Judaism - A- A movement of of Reform Judaism movement that one might try to Judaism that began inin central Germany inin Judaism that began central Germany understand the perspective thethe early 1800s.

It used thethe local language early 1800s.

It used local language of someone who wants and encouraged some degree of of assimilation. and encouraged some degree assimilation. safety for their people.

Today, it is thethe largest, fastest-growing sect of of Today, it is largest, fastest-growing sect However, I also write American Judaism.

(Alex Cohen) American Judaism.

(Alex Cohen) this to illustrate that someone who is Diaspora ( Jewish) - dispersion of of Jews, Diaspora ( Jewish) - dispersion Jews, pro-Israel does not formerly Israelites, from their ancestral formerly Israelites, from their ancestral homeland inin thethe Middle East to to where they homeland Middle East where they automatically make now live allall over thethe world.

(Alex Cohen) now live over world.

(Alex Cohen) them anti-Palestinian.

If we can have Shinshinim - (plural) Israeli teenagers who Shinshinim - (plural) Israeli teenagers who compassion for each spend a year inin thethe USUS working inin synagogue spend a year working synagogue other even as we and other Jewish organizations (Alex Cohen) and other Jewish organizations (Alex Cohen) disagree, then all hope is not lost.

Ultra-Orthodox Chief Rabbinate - Main Ultra-Orthodox Chief Rabbinate - Main

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religious authority inin Israel (Alex Cohen) religious authority Israel (Alex Cohen) Junior Micah Lotsoff holds his kippah, or yamaka, from his Bar Mitzvah. He wears it every time he attends services.

Photo by AnMei Deck

Aliyah - A- A Jewish person immigrating to to Israel Aliyah Jewish person immigrating Israel (Alex Cohen) (Alex Cohen)

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Mindful Engagement: Navigating Social Media and Strong Emotions During Conflict Daniel Glossenger

M

y mind kept returning to what my friend and a teacher at this school had lately told me. She said that recently, when she had been scrolling along in her latest social media daydream, she suddenly was shocked to see gruesome photos and videos of the violence in Israel.

She had not followed any accounts reporting from the region, nor had any of her friends posted about the violence. The company’s algorithm had simply shown her the images, just as the perpetrators of the violence had hoped for. More violence, more outrage, more eyeballs, more revenue for the firm. Economics really is the dismal science.

When she told me all this, my heart sank. If she had seen these awful things, we agreed, then no doubt our students had seen them and worse. Social media had been weaponized to further the suffering of the war, far beyond Israel. And this was particularly true of visual social media such as Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat.

Please don’t mistake me– I don’t advocate you put your head in the sand and stop reading the news. But the power of social media should not be underestimated, and you can get your news elsewhere. Its power to spread suffering rapidly lies in its ability to provoke equally powerful emotions among its users.

As I’ve read the latest news from Israel, I have often felt the powerful emotions of anger and grief rising inside me. And then I remember to breathe and to be mindful of these feelings.

Emotions such as anger and grief are

strong. Focusing on our breathing allows us to identify them, name them and connect with them without allowing them to overwhelm us.

I cannot imagine how overwhelming those feelings would be if I subjected myself to Reels and Snap stories from the front lines of a war zone. I can be informed about the war without carrying videos of its carnage around in my pocket.

Even without social media’s pernicious striving to spread sorrow among us, you’ll still live through plenty of things that will prompt your anger and grief. Learning how these feelings grow can help us process them.

These feelings dwell within us, just like seeds in the earth, waiting to be watered and awakened. Everything we do waters different seeds within us and makes them grow.

When we read a book or watch a play, and when we volunteer our time or meet up with a friend, we water seeds of joy.

When we watch yet another batch of TikToks instead of living in the moment, or when we devote more effort to our Snapstreak than to meaningful conversation, we water seeds as well.

Much of what we consume on social media waters seeds of selfishness and jealousy and materialism,

and at its worst, our feeds and streams and stories end up watering seeds of inadequacy and anger and grief. And in times of war, social media is at its worst.

We know that social media platforms are designed to promote the most arresting, most attention-grabbing imagery, grasping for you to look awhile longer. So the algorithms feed you the most violent and awful imagery from Israel they can find, hoping you can’t look away.

And these images water seeds of hatred and division.

As with all seeds watered well, in time, they germinate and grow and become our inclinations. They become what we tend to do and feel and think without even realizing.

So let me tell you something I have learned the hard way. When you water certain seeds for a very long time, you grow a forest, an absolute jungle.

When you have spent too long watering seeds of rage and grief, when you have watched a thousand videos of suffering,

“

When you have spent too long watering seeds of rage and grief, when you have watched a thousand videos of suffering, then you will grow a forest of furious wrath.”

-Daniel Glossenger

28 COVER

then you will grow a forest of furious wrath.

Such a dark forest will be a very difficult thicket for you to find your way out. You will find yourself quick to anger, without patience, and you will tend toward vengeance and sadness. I hope you can avoid these inclinations, put down your phone and make a real connection instead.

You don’t have to end up overwhelmed by your feelings.

But I also have a little advice if you are already feeling that way, overwhelmed and even hopeless. The conflict in Israel has been long, so I understand if you worry it will never end.

Many years ago, a Buddhist monk named Thich Nhat Hanh lived in Vietnam.

He and many others had suffered greatly during the terrible war there, which had involved many nations from near and far away.

The war had lasted for a very long time, and desperate people would ask Thich Nhat Hanh if the war would end soon.

He didn’t know. But he knew that if he said that, their suffering would multiply.

So he replied, “Everything is impermanent, even war. It will end someday.” And it did.

When overwhelming, powerful emotions emerge, when you think about Gaza and Israel and only feel hatred or hopelessness, remember

that it will end. Not soon enough, but one day, this entire conflict will be over.

I’d like to leave you with an excerpt from a poem by Thich Nhat Hanh, which he wrote as a reminder to young people during that awful, seemingly never-ending conflict in his country. I think it’s a good reminder to us today:

“Even as they strike you down with a mountain of hatred and violence; even as they step on you and crush you like a worm, even as they dismember and disembowel you, remember brother, remember: man is not our enemy.”

Social Studies teacher Daniel Glossenger looks down at a Tibetan singing bowl that he keeps in his classroom.

Photo by AnMei Deck

COVER 29

Stuck.

I

Yehia Said

n the eighth grade, my final year of Arabic school, I was given a gift.

Ms. Ebtisam, the teacher I had had for the past few years, handed me a box. On the outside was a geometric design delicately carved around a picture of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, surrounded by flowing Arabic writing. On the inside was a copy of the Quran, itself embellished with images of the city.

Growing up, I never understood Palestine. Dreading the boredom of Islamic school on Saturdays, I couldn’t comprehend why my Palestinian teachers felt so passionate about not calling it Israel. The politics seemed so large and uninteresting. I was growing up in a Democracy, far away from any of that danger. Where I lived, anyone could express their opinion. Anyone could change and shape the world through only their voice.

As I entered middle school, my voice developed. I began seeking knowledge and became more aware of the situation my old teachers used to talk about. Seeing me as more mature, my parents began to include me in talks about the issue. Finally getting a phone, I had yet another way to access information. I found others who related— friends at school, family members, and even figures like Representative Rashida Tlaib.

I learned of the decades of decimation, the Nakba of 1948, the Naksa of 1967 and the Sabra and Shatila massacre of 1982. These thousands of lives, killed and displaced from their land, had never directly intersected mine, but they struck me with grief.

I could not understand how history could unfold this way, with the world standing by. Taught that peace for humanity was the goal of world leaders, I was shocked that Palestinians were never included in this humanity. I became angry.

I wanted to cry out, force the world to stop ignoring what was going on right before their eyes.

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Learning of these events shaped my beliefs. As I read of the modern violence, I realized the destructive occupation of Palestine is nothing new. My phone background has proudly declared “from the river to the sea” since seventh grade. Seeing the misinformation and ignorance around this phrase, misconstrued as somehow calling for extermination when all it begs is peace, has been infuriating. Freedom should not be so controversial.

When the recent conflict erupted, I felt lost. I knew it would escalate. Everything seemed immediately uncertain.

I am overwhelmed. What is happening now is unlike before. I have witnessed Israeli aggression on the news before, trying to tear down the resistant spirit. This time, however, it has been immeasurable. We will continue to fight and advocate, but the human cost has been so grand. I am tired of watching children cry over dead parents, tired of crying with them as the force of the bombs slashing through their homes radiates through my phone screen.

Those children are not Hamas. The constant pressure to clarify is exhausting.

The US classifies the military branch of Hamas as a terrorist organization, born out of decades of destructive oppression.

The Israeli government may consider Hamas’ actions representative of the Palestinian people, but they are not the same. With no state or home, the people have no say in who controls them. Over half the population in Gaza was not old enough to vote for a Hamas-led government the last time it was called into question, nor can they even worry about

politics when the first thing on their mind is getting water and fuel in a repressive regime.

As I continue to educate myself, I feel one thing more than any other: fear.

On a personal level, I am horrified.

Every word I say is twisted. As politics become intertwined with religion, standing against Zionism is viewed as standing against Judaism, despite many Jews being anti-zionists themselves. Each phrase becomes controversial, the

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disinformation becoming grounds for silencing.

I am scared of my peers, as everyone has suddenly become an “expert.” I am scared of backlash affecting how I do in school, teachers seeing my writing and subtly holding it against me.

At school, bias seeps into everything.

Teachers use language that clearly favors a side. When Clayton administration first sent out an email, I felt the ignorance through the screen as they recognized “terrorist attacks in Israel” and the antisemitism but not the children dying in Palestine and the Islamophobia. Even after weeks of indiscriminate Israeli retaliation, there was no email addressing the loss of Palestinian lives.

Just writing this is daunting. One day, an admissions counselor could stumble upon my essay and reject me just for my beliefs. Many colleges have been no stranger to dismissing pro-Palestinian groups, silencing their opinions as they speak out. As Jewish Voices for Peace and various Palestinian solidarity organizations face disappearance, I fear the silencing of my own voice before I can even reach the campus.

Even in the government, which is meant to be impartial, representatives who speak out, like Representative Tlaib (the only Palestinian in the House), find themselves censured. I was shocked when I saw 22 of her Democratic colleagues stand to silence her voice just because she acknowledged ongoing catastrophe. If those in power cannot speak out, how am I to find that strength?

Nobody understands my deep connection with the people of Palestine. I am

not Palestinian, but I understand their struggle. I see their pain, and I cannot bear to stand on the sidelines, silenced by societal pressure. It is not a matter of identity; it is simply humanity.

On a community level, I fear for all of us. Hatred continuously torments the Muslims and Arabs of this country. We are no strangers to this. I have heard stories about how paralyzed we were after 9/11, the whole world seeming to turn on us. I witnessed it firsthand after the two mosques in Christchurch were attacked in 2019. Walking into my mosque later that day, I felt the unsettling silence of a community shaken. We were all scared for our lives.

This conflict has already created danger.

When I first heard of Wadea Al-Fayoume, the Palestinian boy from Chicago who was killed by his landlord in October, my mind rushed back to 2019. I felt the same terror, the potential for my community to be destroyed. The mosque I have been to since I was a child, the Arab church our friends go to, the restaurants that shaped my childhood—any of them could be devastated in a moment.

I have already seen lives demolished.

One of our close family friends grew up in Palestine, forced to learn Hebrew to survive. She came to the United States for opportunity, eventually going to law school and becoming an immigration lawyer herself. Seeing the pain in her eyes has been devastating. Dedicating her life to helping others, she cannot help her relatives and friends in Palestine. Yet again, she must witness her people destroyed, but now with millions watching silently.

I fear that this is our new normal. As I watch Egypt, my own mother country, turn a blind eye to the suffering of people, choosing to prioritize their money and resources over helping anyone, I am saddened. If even Egypt no longer stands with Palestine, then what has become of

our identity? Who are we anymore?

My community is furious that countries around the world continue to ignore the lives that are destroyed day after day.

Institutions blindly back the Zionist state, ignoring their own colonial past.

Our perspective cannot be heard. Every time we warn the world, pleading for mercy, a permanent ceasefire, anything, we are ignored. Still, my phone will not change, and neither will my Instagram. I have always believed in unwavering belief.

I will not stop speaking out, no matter the risk. The silence is just as loud.

I want to believe that my voice matters.

I want to believe that our writing— whether etched on a delicate, ornate box that declares “Al-Quds al-sharif,” the noble Jerusalem we wish to keep safe, or transcribed into news articles and memoirs—can change the world. I want to believe what I was taught as a child, that I have the power to stand up for those who cannot.

The reality, however, is that what I say will not change what is happening. This conflict has grown so much larger than anything I can affect. No matter how many stories I repost, there will still be hate. Regardless of my choice to boycott companies that support the occupation, the US will continue to send weapons to tear up Palestinian lives. This piece of journalism cannot make up for the massacre of journalists in Gaza.

I feel useless. I feel hopeless in trying to aid others. I wish I could say that Palestine will escape this stalemate and one day become free, but the suffering feels neverending. Neither side will change its strategy, and neither can compromise when so much is on the line.

I am powerless, stuck in a larger system.

Until this system changes, hope can only do so much.

Junior Yehia Said holds the box given to him by his Arabic teacher.

Photo by AnMei Deck

COVER 31

Ivy Slen

W

e need to step back.

As dawn broke at 6:30 a.m. on Oct. 7, the wailing sound of air raid sirens pierced the quiet morning in Jerusalem, signaling a dire warning of an impending attack. That day would see a hailstorm of rockets and more gruesome attacks launched by Hamas, reaching all corners of Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu underscored the severity of the situation when he declared, ‘Israel is at war.’

The attacks by Hamas on Israel are, by definition, terrorism. While inexcusable, the years of dispute in Israel have led to the support and justification of these heinous crimes. Although violence should not be the solution, sometimes defending a country already under attack is necessary.

The Israeli Defense Forces shouldn’t be expected to stand idle while Israeli citizens are being murdered. Some response is justified if not necessary. What is the job of a country if not to defend its citizens?

Israel wants to avoid Gaza becoming a pile of rubble, so the question becomes how Israel can meet their responsibility but not overdo it?

Plato’s Allegory of the Cave illustrates the unintentional self-delusion of human beings. Every human being is essentially the man chained to the wall, only seeing a shadow of reality because we are all shrouded in ignorance. Social media (where a large sum of people get their news from) is generated by algorithms that promote our biased ideas and lead to the polarization of the media we consume. By being digital citizens in the 21st century, we all live in our respective caves.

Every day, just scrolling through posts by friends, celebrities and news outlets, I see comments on the war. Being a high schooler with little agency in how to voice my perspective, reposting a “pro-Israel” infographic or even an article would be a logical option. Although I want to share my solidarity and support for Israel, I am hesitant about news found on social media.

I know that the media I consume is fed to me by algorithms, and I wouldn’t want to fall deeper into the cave by unintentionally

32 COVER

A Meditation for Peace

posting false information. Even though my Jewish friends and family have noticed my silence online, I choose to remain that way because of my deliberate pragmatism and nuanced understanding.

The cave is comfortable. Inside the cave, even if we stumble upon a post that shows opposing views, we can reject those ideas, deem them untrue and keep scrolling. I challenge my views when I get the chance. I venture to “pro-Palestine” profiles and read the information they put out. Instead of ignoring information about the wrongful actions they say Israel has committed, I look for other sources to fact-check. I do the same with “pro-Israel” profiles as well because part of challenging my opinions and stepping out of the cave is not just looking at opposing views, but seeing if the media I am relying on is even factual.

Even just one foot out of the cave requires discomfort. It is difficult to look at contradictory news and make sense of it.

In the Zen Buddhist tradition, koans are used to break down dichotomous thinking and binary logic. Koans are very short stories, similar to riddles that contradict their thought.

They attempt to teach living with ambiguity. For example, “What is the sound of one hand clapping?”

Zen koans are a useful tool in this regard to help us as we think about this conflict and to help us come out of the cave. The answer goes beyond A or B, yes or no, black or white, Israel or Palestine. The world has to be in shades of gray.

Both sides are deluded, caught in their ways, and can not be objective. William Blake, a romantic age poet, wrote

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in “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell,” an idea which has stuck with me this time: “If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is: Infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro’ narrow chinks of his cavern.” If both parties stepped out of their caves and into the light, they would see a more pure reality. One that disregards opinions and is based on fact. While it is difficult to step away, it is exactly how more people should be learning to think.

Stepping out of the cave for a second will not solve the conflict but will help bring light to the shadows.

vv

The Numbers Game I

n sixth grade, my teacher told me it was nearly impossible to grasp the concept of a million. At some point, numbers get so big we forget they are just ones added together. We lose our understanding of the number altogether.

2.2 million Palestinians reside in the Gaza Strip. Over nine million people live in the occupied territory of Palestine as a whole. If we forget about the individual, we lose understanding of the value of these numbers. And when we focus on the numbers, we do not think about the people. But how do we communicate the gravity of the ongoing conflict without losing sight of the impact on the individual?

It feels like a game of sorts. There is a strategy for choosing the infographics and statistics and videos to repost on your Instagram story. It is a battle of which death toll is bigger, which story is more tragic because that determines who the good guys and the bad guys are. 15,000 civilians dead. 1,200 killed in a day. We do not see their faces or know their names.

We do not know their fight, their struggle, their lives. Perhaps that makes it easier to weigh the numbers and play the game.

Besides, you cannot be a martyr if you are still alive.

It is not always like this, at least within my little bubble. Usually, people are on the same page regarding the history and the power dynamics that have led to the latest call for activism. The recognition of the lives lost and those still at stake are not a matter of political debate. There is no need to boil colors of complexity down to black and white sides.

I am used to things being this way. I have never truly been in an environment where my views are controversial. My takes are mostly lukewarm at best. I stand on the same side as the majority of my classmates, friends and family. In all honesty, I have never had to think fully for myself. Those around me have reaffirmed every moral stance I have ever had to take.

Worse comes to worst, just agree with the Democrats.

Now, as I tap through Instagram, each person contradicts the next. 2,900 prisoners: detained without trial. 240

SelectedDefinitions Definitions Selected

Medha Narayan

hostages. I feel sympathy for every life affected, Palestinian or Israeli. How could I not? But when it comes to these posts, often, it is not truly about them. It is about the land that these lives are being sacrificed for. That is where many of my former political allies and I fundamentally disagree.

I feel our clashing perspectives hang in the air when we smile at each other in the halls at school. It is as though we all signed a contract to keep our thoughts to ourselves and our social media. School is a designated no man’s land. To voice our opinions is mutually assured destruction.

I miss my history table being a forum for nuanced discussions, but part of me is relieved. I am new to disputes this heavy, and I am not sure I can carry its weight outside the confines of my room. I do not want to admit that I am having trouble seeing my “school friends” as still my friends due to our opposing views. I do not think this issue is something we can converse about without solidifying these personal ramifications, and I am not one for confrontation.

It is strange not having strong support for my beliefs. The same people I marched for justice alongside in 2020 now stand on the other side of this discussion. The same liberal activists with whom I shared my decolonization, Vive la résistance mindset, are posting in support of Israel’s declared territorial bounds, empowering the legitimacy of stolen land.

Our perspectives are no longer in harmony, but I feel strongly in my views nonetheless. I see fabricated facts and twisted narratives circulating among those around me, and I cannot be silent. The ethnic cleansing and expulsion of Palestinians is being justified, and I cannot be silent. And as I watch all Palestinians being held responsible for the actions of a few, it becomes impossible to distinguish the condemnation of

Displacement - The process, either official or Displacement - The process, either official or unofficial, of people being involuntarily moved unofficial, of people involuntarily moved from their homes being because of war, government from their homes because war, government policies, or other societalofactions, requiring policies, societal requiring groupsorofother people to findactions, new places to live groups of people find new places Technology) to live (Florida Centertofor Instructional (Florida Center for Instructional Technology) Ethnic cleansing - the expulsion, Ethnic cleansing the expulsion, imprisonment, or -killing of an ethnic minority imprisonment, ormajority killing ofinanorder ethnic by a dominant to minority achieve by ethnic a dominant majority(Merriam-Webster) in order to achieve homogeneity ethnic homogeneity (Merriam-Webster) Occupation - the effective control of a power Occupation - thetoeffective control of has a power over a territory which that power no over a territory to which that power has sovereign title, without the volition of no the sovereign title, the volition of the Justice sovereign of without that territory (Transitional sovereign of that territory (Transitional for Israel/Palestine: Truth-Telling andJustice Empathy forinIsrael/Palestine: Truth-Telling and Empathy Ongoing Conflict) in Ongoing Conflict) From the River to the Sea - A slogan From theforRiver the Sea - A slogan calling peacetoand freedom from Israeli calling for peace and freedom from occupation from the Jordan RiverIsraeli to the occupation from the River to the Mediterranean Sea,Jordan the area of historic Mediterranean Sea, the area of historic Palestine (Yehia Said) Palestine (Yehia Said) Senior Medha Narayan looks at a mug she bought from a Palestinian artisan in Jordan.

Photo by AnMei Deck

COVER 33

terrorism from the condemnation of resistance entirely. I must not be silent.

I struggle to find the right voice, however. Throwing out numerics does not amplify people’s stories. As I read of the 80,000 Palestinian casualties since 1948 or even the hundreds of Palestinian deaths since last week, I cannot see the ones adding up to these large numbers. But if not the individuals’ stories and resistance, what am I trying to empower?

I seek these stories; they exist, not in article headlines but in the conversations we have and the words that we share. I recall my experiences and am reminded of the ones who have shared their journeys with me. In my memories, I find what matters.

Two summers ago, I studied abroad in Jordan through the U.S. Department of State’s National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) program for six weeks. I spent five hours every weekday in class studying Arabic and spent the rest of my time exploring the city of Amman.

After an afternoon of visiting different sites and trying various foods and spending way too much money, I would return to my host family’s home and be greeted with a meal that could feed the entirety of Europe and simple conversation.

During my time, I was naturally exposed to the various aspects of Jordanian culture and history and to my surprise, Palestinian customs. It made sense that there would be a hefty amount of Palestinian Jordanians, given

the countries’ proximity, but I did not expect them to make up around 60% of Jordan’s population. Yet, my interaction with the environment and the locals only reaffirmed the statistic.

Anytime I walked into a touristy store in downtown Amman, I saw Palestinian flags on magnets next to the Jordanian ones. Many of the houses I entered held the imagery of a key, representing their rightful ownership to their home despite Israel’s occupation. The friends I made, the teachers I had, the cab driver taking me home, they almost all had connections to Palestine, one that runs deep through time and culture.

Prior to arriving in Jordan, the program directors warned us to avoid conversations regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict due to the risk of controversy and offense.

However, with many of the people I met, Palestine was not a political or touchy subject. Rather, it was their history, their culture and their home. They would tell me about their nation and I would listen.

In all the little anecdotes and personal vignettes I heard about Palestine, one conversation in particular resonated with me. It was with a woman, an artist, who was selling her hand-painted mugs at the Friday market. As I approached her table and picked up a mug to inspect, she watched me intently. The moment I made eye contact with her, she gave me a warm smile and greeted me with every introduction in my “Al-Kitaab” Arabic textbook and more. Clearly, I had the look

of a tourist, so she asked where I am from.

I told her a little about me, utilizing all the vocabulary words from class, as she nodded along.

She gently took the mug I was holding from me and grazed her hands over the patterns and told me where she is from.

She spoke to me about Palestine. The woman had previously lived in Palestine, in the West Bank. While much of the community dissolved during the exodus of 1948, her family remained. However, it was impossible to stay despite how much they wanted to, which is why she is now in Jordan.

Throughout our conversation, she only ever spoke highly of Palestine. She told me of its beauty and the remaining community’s livelihood. She never delved into the conditions that forced her to leave, and I did not ask her. She has not lost her home because it is still hers. Between her fragments of English and my broken Arabic, there was only so much I could understand. But I could feel her pain and see her strength. It is her resistance I aim to empower.

The woman told me whenever she paints, she thinks of Palestine. I imagine the intricate designs and vivid colors on the mug are her happy memories of home made tangible. Whenever I hold the mug and brush my fingers over the patterns, just like she had, I think of Palestine as well.

14.3 million Palestinians worldwide.

Each one lives a story of resistance, begging to be told.

1. Senior Medha Narayan stands in front of Al Khazneh in Petra, Jordan.

2. Senior Medha Narayan walks towards the Roman Amphitheatre in Amman, Jordan.

Photos from Medha Narayan

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Sukkat Shalom Sheli (My Shelter of Peace) Molly Siwak

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s my friends and I entered and exited our hotel at the Jewish National Fund (JNF) High School Summit, riots lined the sidewalk, the first weekend of December.

This terrifying experience, where adults called us, teenagers, “little terrorists” and yelled “Gas the Jews,” served as a stark reminder of the challenges Jews face in today’s climate.

What was intended to be a weekend aimed towards spreading light on the darkness of this war and reuniting with friends, turned into a terrifying encounter with antisemitism. My parents thought I was enjoying my time reconnecting with friends, but then opened their phones to videos of violence aimed at their teenage daughter.

The event required the fencing along the hotel’s perimeter, the intervention of the SWAT team, FBI, local Denver police and undercover officers in order to keep us safe.

We were instructed to not engage and to remain calm and respectful. The rioters said it was us- the innocent and silent teenagers- who were the violent ones, and I saw nothing but irony in the juxtaposition that they couldn’t see. We wanted to cross the street; they wanted us dead. I will never forget the fear of simply existing as a Jewish teenager today.

During Israel Studies class, junior Molly Siwak This incident, while disturbing, did not explores the Bar Kochba caves. Siwak climbed deter me from continuing my journey to through the caves that were once used as a fighting tactic. understand and connect with my Jewish Photo from Molly Siwak heritage.

Just months earlier, I blindly stepped return, and when I was 10, we did. Every into what would be the most incredibly time I return to Israel, my love for it grows moving eight weeks of my life. I left my stronger. home to begin my experience studying Over winter break my freshman abroad in the beautiful country of Israel. I year, I talked to friends who completed lived in Hod HaSharon, about 20 minutes a semester abroad at Alexander Muss northeast of Tel Aviv. While living in Israel High School in Israel (AMHSI). I was was the most impactful adventure I have immediately interested. And eventually I ever experienced, Israel’s impact on my life decided to take this opportunity to study dates back far before my study abroad. abroad and have a high school experience Typically, in Judaism, the parents give in Israel. a newborn baby a Hebrew name. I was In the spring of 2023, I spent two not only named “Molly Danielle,” but I months with 40 strangers from all over had the name “‫( ”מנה מלכה דודה‬read the U.S. Despite being strangers, our right to left as Minna-Malka Davida) Judaism and willingness to go to AMHSI as a part of my identity as well. When immediately connected us.

I was six, I visited Israel for the very A regular school day began with a first time. I instantly fell in love with four-hour-long Israel Studies class and it and its community. Just being continued with one-hour core class in Israel provides me with such a periods. My friends and I left campus after warm and welcoming feeling that is hard to explain to someone who school to walk around Hod HaSharon.

In Israel, where Judaism influences has never been. During a visit everyday life, the school week runs Sunday to Shuk HaCarmel (the Carmel through Thursday, with a half-day Friday Market) in Tel Aviv, I bought a due to Shabbat, which begins at sundown. beautiful Star of David necklace For the first time, I didn’t feel like I was from a local artist who had living in a Christian world. my Hebrew name engraved The program did not always follow the on it. This necklace became a regular bell schedule and we spent three comfort to me. to four days on educational trips with my I begged my parents to Israel Studies class each week. We learned Junior Molly Siwak holds necklace she bought from a jewler in Israel.

Photo by AnMei Deck

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1. On a hike in Tel Gezer, junior Molly Siwak’s class stops to learn about the history of the national park and the monuments surrounding it.

2. JNF Sderot Indoor Recreation Center is used as an indoor playground as well as a bomb shelter.

3. JNF Sderot Indoor Recreation Center and bomb shelter after being hit by Hamas.

Photos from Molly Siwak

5,000 years of Israeli history through no ordinary learning style: my experience was not limited to Hod. I spent 30 days at different locations experiencing what I could only read about in a textbook back in St. Louis.

We crawled inside the caves at Bar Kochba; we climbed Masada and spent the day at the top learning about King Herod; we walked along the Cardo in the old city of Jerusalem, and observed countless sites, all of which have a deep and meaningful history. At the Shuk HaCarmel, I was looking at some jewelry that caught my eye. I somehow came across the artist from whom I bought my engraved Star of David necklace 10 years prior. I knew I needed to buy another piece from him. Now I wear my new necklace daily to keep me close to Israel.

In addition to sightseeing, we spent most trips on hikes. One that is memorable was in Tel Gezer. We walked along a path where the East and West borders were visible; I saw into Jordan. I also visited near the northernmost point of Israel and looked into the Golan Heights, Lebanon and Syria. We traveled to Eilat, one of the most southern cities, and Sderot, a town outside of Gaza.

Over those 30 days of field trips, I have seen enough of Israel to understand the beauty of its varied landscape confidently.

Both the paths that wind through the walls of the Old City in Jerusalem and the metropolis along the scenic beaches of Tel Aviv are equally encapsulating, and the

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dry Negev desert still holds beauty despite contrasting the blue Sea of Galilee. Israel is fascinating, and I never want to stop exploring its beauty.

To myself and many others, Israel is more than just a country; it’s a home.

Israel has really become home to me. I feel strongly gravitated towards it, and I want to make Aliyah for a few years after college.

The high concentration of Jewish people in Israel gives me a strong sense of community that is hard to explain.

Walking around, knowing 73.5% of people who pass by me are Jewish, makes me feel a sense of belonging. Israel is the only place I have felt completely comfortable being Jewish. It is a home where people can lean into their Judaism with pride, unlike other locations where they might hide in fear, discomfort or shame. I want to be able to lean into my Judaism with pride.

The requirement of hiding my nametag at the JNF conference is evidence that I needed to hide my Judaism, rather than be comfortable with it- as I would be in the home of Israel.

As an unknown author said, “Israel isn’t why antisemitism exists. Antisemitism is why Israel must exist.” After the Holocaust, the world created Israel as a safe space for Jews. With antisemitism rising worldwide, it is essential for Israel to continue to exist.

We need our sukkat shalom. We need our shelter of peace.

Understanding the differences between my two homes, America and Israel, is

important. Living in Israel gave me insight into living in a place of constant conflict.

Our school familiarized us with each of our four bomb shelters, informing us that if we heard a warning siren, we had 90 seconds to reach safety.

We practiced running to the bomb shelter countless times until our madrichim (counselors) were confident we knew how to get there in less than 90 seconds.

In other areas, there is as little as 15 seconds to get to a bomb shelter.

At AMHSI, we had weekends to stay with friends or family. Due to rocket attacks, we had to cancel these visits and could not leave campus.

At one point, I planned to go out to dinner with my brother, whom I hadn’t seen in four months, but the nearby rockets made it too unsafe. The norm of always needing to be on alert for rockets was foreign to me, yet that is the everyday life of Israelis.

One specific experience that impacted me emotionally was in Sderot, less than a mile from the Gaza Strip. Here, I visited a children’s bomb shelter within a typical neighborhood of young families.

Monkey bars, a bounce house, scooters and trampolines decorated the inside of the bomb shelter. In anticipation of possible rocket attacks from Gaza, which would allow only a 15-second rush to the shelter, many parents bring their kids to this playground to help them become comfortable in the bomb shelter.

During my visit to the bomb shelter, I saw a few dozen kids having fun with their friends and families. On Oct. 9, as I was scrolling through my Instagram feed I came across a post with the caption, “The JNF Indoor Playground in Sderot has sadly been hit. The fire is under control and being put out at the moment. Thankfully, it seems like there was no one injured, but this is an ongoing incident.”

My heart dropped, and I was brought to tears. I couldn’t look away from the image of this shelter in flames. Just four months prior, I had been standing in the exact spot where the rocket had hit. It was a playground of joy and safety that is now destroyed.

The families of Sderot are now living in the same dorm building as I was in Hod. They are receiving housing, food, therapy and other resources on my campus provided by JNF. Although my classes were among other American students, I did not fail to make lifelong connections with Israelis. I cherish these relationships and cannot address these important people in my life without also addressing the horrible trauma they are enduring as a result of the recent attacks by Hamas.

There is no doubt that people all over Israel and its surrounding areas are

experiencing great fear. I have so much empathy for all those in danger, and my experience in Israel only tightens the emotional tie I have to the ongoing conflict. My Israeli madrachim, teachers, family and friends are people I formed remarkable connections with. I do not know strong enough words to describe my fear for them at such a difficult and violent time.

My Israel Studies teacher, Jon, attends four to five funerals weekly.

My madrich, Yotam, was deployed as a reserve in the IDF and can only contact me once a week to let me know that he is safe.

My family friend, Clayton alumnus Myles Rosenblum, is an American defending Israel by voluntarily serving in the IDF. My friend, Eden, hears rockets above her head daily and has little contact with her sister who is currently fighting in Gaza.

My cousins, who I don’t have contact with, have no way of telling me if they are dead or alive.

My people in Israel are all suffering.

They are all my sisters and brothers.

With so few Jews worldwide, we all share a connection, personally or through acquaintances, to an Israeli for whom we fear and worry.

Jon’s next funeral could be his family

member. I might not hear from Yotam next week. Myles is putting his life at risk.

Eden has no way to help her sister. My young cousins are growing up learning how to be scared. It’s terrifying knowing the possibilities of what might happen to my loved ones.

I am lucky to still be able to wonder.

It is all the more terrifying that there are people who don’t need to imagine. These victims of the terrorist attacks are likely people who I have brushed shoulders with on the sidewalks of Israel. They don’t have the luxury of curiosity.

They are innocent civilian hostages being held by Hamas. These people are not just headlines and statistics, but real people with families, friends and lives. I do not understand those who use politics to rationalize anyone’s death. Death cannot be justified.

Oct. 7 marked the largest number of Jews killed in a single day since the Holocaust.

The people within this conflict deserve to be humanized rather than simply be a comparison of numbers. I understand that without a personal connection, humanizing this conflict may be challenging. Yet, this situation is real. By sharing my personal connection, I hope to inspire empathy and understanding.

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ost cover stories end with next steps, but this is not about solutions.

As we conclude, we want to recognize the courage it takes for writers to share their stories. As a platform for expression and dialogue, we hope these essays have impacted both writers and readers alike. Although every one of

Note When this is published, over a month after it was written, things will have changed. To reflect these changes, writers have had the opportunity to edit their essays as they feel is necessary in the wake of recent news. The most recent versions can be found at chsglobe.com. A note will be posted at the top of the page denoting whether changes have been made.

us holds a different opinion about this conflict, what can be agreed upon is the pain. Our hearts ache for the thousands of innocent civilians who have been killed and their families who will feel the impact for the rest of their lives. We scorn the terrible rise of hate crimes against Jewish and Muslim people and never endorse

violence as a cure for pain.

The future of this conflict is unclear.

Attempting to predict or steer it in what one believes to be the right direction is perhaps a futile ambition. The future of our community, however, in that we might have a chance.

By practicing courtesy and understanding, we don’t have to be torn apart. We can disagree. We can fight. We can keep sharing our views, adamantly and without equivocation, but we can also choose respect. We can choose empathy. We can choose to see each other not as governments or symbols of hate but as people, for kindness and controversy are not mutually exclusive.

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Breaking the Babysitting Stereotype Boys in the babysitting business Sidra Major | CHIEF DIGITAL EDITOR magine a world where your gender determines your career. Sounds absurd? Yet, just 80 years ago, this was the reality. Today, men and women populate all sectors of the workforce, shattering old stereotypes. It’s no longer unusual to see a male nurse or a female engineer. But how did we get here, and what does this mean for the future of our workforce?

Babysitting is an exceptionally popular part-time gig among high school students.

Parents with young children reach out to friends and coworkers, hoping to find a teenage student in the neighborhood who can watch their kids during date night.

However, most of the time, they envision a female babysitter.

According to Priceonomics, only 2.9% of babysitters are male. Why do girls dominate the babysitting industry? Teenage girls may be seen as more nurturing or mother-like when it comes to young children, a perception stemming from societal norms. However, in some circumstances, the avoidance of male caretakers has a sexual basis.

“On a subconscious level, most of our society believes that a man who wants to work in a career involving children must secretly be some kind of sexual predator. There’s a deep level of mistrust there,” Matthew Taylor, author of Babysitting Business Secrets, said in his article “Are Male Babysitters Safe?”

However, I don’t think the majority of parents actively hold these mentalities today; rather, they just follow the pattern, a social norm that has been in place for years.

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The gender roles and stereotypes labeled in the early 1900s might be to blame. Pre-World War II, young girls were raised in preparation to be mothers and homemakers, whereas boys were more involved in sports and outdoor tasks. But by the late 1990s, as the Vietnam War ended, the role of fathers evolved and set the stage for the 2010s where gender equality became more of a reality, and parental roles looked more similar in many families.

Nonetheless, the mentality around parental roles may have evolved, but thoughts around the babysitting industry never did.

“I have younger cousins, and I grew up watching them, so I have lots of experience babysitting already. But then when I got older, our family friends always reached out to my sister, not me,” said an anonymous male student. “I like babysitting as a job because it makes bank, and it isn’t hard to do. But for some reason people ask my parents for my sister to watch their kids and don’t ever think of me.”

Considering that most babysitting tasks involve heating spaghetti or playing rounds of Go Fish, there is no reason that boys are less capable than girls.

In addition, I have seen that the parents aren’t the only ones to blame for a lack of hired male babysitters; the boys themselves aren’t interested. The source I interviewed

Teenage boy holding hands with toddler Illustration by Sidra Major

earlier chose to remain anonymous. He didn’t want his friends at school to label him as a babysitter. Ironically, society views babysitting as a feminine role, even though babysitting tasks resemble parenting, which should be gender neutral.

The mentality surrounding babysitting follows an archaic structure that we must reevaluate. If we as a society breach gender equality and condemn outdated gender

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Our family friends always reached out to my sister, not me” -Anonymous roles, why do we make an exception for babysitting? Parents can play a crucial role in considering the capabilities of their sitters, gender aside. At the same time, male teenagers open their minds to jobs that may have been women’s jobs decades ago but are not today.

Dr. Sue Hong, DDS, MA Board Certified Orthodontist

Should heritage speakers be allowed in language classes?

Sam Sun | PAGE EDITOR he veins in my arms begin to pop as my face inches closer to the ground. I try to ward off the class uproar, giggly laughing at my feeble attempt to push myself back up. I start to lose count in my head. Has it been 10? 20? I can’t do this anymore.

The strength in my arms slowly fades, and despite my final push, my arms succumb to fatigue as I collapse helplessly to the ground. Beads of sweat roll down the back of my neck; my hair spikes in every direction, disheveled from my excruciating task. My black hair-- once a proud mark of my Asian heritage, now turned a vile shade of scarlet, a mark of my unprecedented lack of proficiency in Chinese.

Push-ups for each time I spoke English.

This is the punishment for being a bad heritage speaker.

To deny heritage speakers the choice to take their native language is to grossly generalize the entire population of secondgeneration immigrants and assume their ability to be completely fluent. Heritage speakers often possess conversational fluency but lack reading and writing skills due to the prioritization of English literacy in American education systems. This situation creates a gap in their linguistic abilities, preventing them from achieving full fluency in their heritage language.

At 4 years old, I focused on learning one language at a time–handling two was too much for me.

Consequently, as heritage speakers age, they find themselves estranged from a part of their cultural identity, unable to fully connect with their heritage due to their limited linguistic skills. This generalization bars second-generation immigrants from the ability to reconnect to their culture and forces them to pursue another language—

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one with no connected culture or influence to them.

The presence of heritage speakers in the classroom can significantly enhance the learning experience for non-heritage learners. These students often bring natural fluency and a colloquial understanding of the language, which can expose other students to authentic, everyday use of the language. A teacher cannot always replicate this real-world application alone, especially if the teacher is not a native speaker. By interacting with heritage speakers, students gain exposure to native pronunciation, idiomatic expressions and colloquialisms that textbooks or non native speakers may be unable to convey.

Moreover, heritage speakers can share cultural insights and nuances that enrich the understanding of the language.

Language is deeply intertwined with culture, and learning from someone who has lived within that culture adds depth and context to the language learning process. This can include cultural references and traditions that textbooks may not cover. Interaction with heritage speakers encourages other students to use the language more frequently and in a more natural setting.

It creates opportunities for spontaneous conversation and practice crucial for language acquisition. This immersion aspect helps build confidence in speaking and understanding the language in a way that traditional classroom settings may not always provide.

While yes, there are those who intentionally flunk placement exams, these same people have also presented themselves as the greatest learning tool in my Chinese classes.

Working alongside

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these people has been critical to my advancement in Chinese. Additionally, the gap between heritage speakers and non-native speakers is addressed in the classroom, where expectations are altered to better even the playing field. Heritage speakers are expected to write more, read more nuanced passages and engage in class discussions at a higher level than a non-native speaker. Group projects are organized to encourage collaboration between non-native and heritage speakers, creating new opportunities for learning that a classroom banning heritage speakers simply cannot provide.

Rather than creating a blanket solution that will harm all and benefit none, restructuring language courses to accommodate and value the unique linguistic and cultural skills provides a much better solution to this issue.

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JiaLi Deck | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

f you already knew the curriculum of a math class, would you be allowed to take that class? Of course not. Even if it was good practice.

Even if you perhaps forgot a little bit. Even if your handwriting was a little messy.

You’re not allowed to take classes on topics you already know, especially when there are opportunities to take classes in which you actually would be learning something.

Why should language classes be an exception to this common sense rule?

At Clayton, heritage speakers, or students who speak a language other than English at home, are allowed to take that language in school. Now, there is an important distinction between a heritage speaker who speaks Spanish with their parents and a student who went to a Spanish immersion elementary school.

Although both might have heightened language knowledge, being a heritage speaker means the student has ample opportunities to practice and experience their language outside of the classroom.

This privilege is something that other

language students simply cannot make up for, regardless of hours spent studying.

One of the main reasons heritage speakers are allowed into language classes is that they cannot read or write. Since language competency includes literacy skills, these students technically aren’t “fluent” in the language. However, even if heritage speakers are illiterate, they still have a huge advantage in language classes. In an immersive environment, comprehension of audial instructions is key to success. Simply understanding what a teacher is asking is the first step to completing assignments or participating in activities. By having a greater vocabulary, as well as more opportunities to practice listening, heritage speakers have no problem understanding in an immersive environment. Even if they cannot read or write, by comprehending directions, they are further along than the rest of the class.

Additionally, grammatical principles and sentence structures don’t need to be memorized because they are common sense to heritage speakers. On a test, someone who speaks the language doesn’t need to remember if the sentence pattern is location, object, verb or object, verb, location; all they need to do is say it out loud and see which one “sounds right.”

Such a skill can only be learned by true fluency in a language.

These advantages aren’t necessarily terminal to the education of non-heritage speakers, but in classes such as my Mandarin class, heritage speakers dominate the class. The number of students learning Chinese is outnumbered by those who speak it fluently at home. I’m not even at the highest level the school has to offer, yet my class is filled with students far more advanced than I. This is because many heritage speakers know that taking a class in the language

they speak at home constitutes an easy A. Sometimes, placement tests are purposefully flunked so that students can take an easy, coasting class rather than another language class they would have to study for. Additionally, underclassmen who have the comprehension skills to do reasonably well in the highest level of a language are placed in a lower level so that they have another class to progress to for the following year.

The presence of a large number of heritage speakers changes the expectations of the class and makes the pacing more attuned to students who are already fluent rather than ones who are actually learning the language. Although some adjustments are made to certain speaking assignments, such as having to give longer presentations, written and listening tests are identical.

Now, some defend heritage speakers in class as a way to preserve their culture and not forget their familial language.

While the preservation of culture is vital, the purpose of language learning is also to discover more about cultures different from your own. Since language classes teach cultural traditions in addition to vocabulary, these students miss an opportunity to discover more about other cultures. If a student wishes to uphold their native tongue so as to remain connected to their heritage, these endeavors should be pursued outside of school hours. In school, language instruction should focus on teaching languages and cultures to people who don’t already know them.

In other subjects, the expectations are clear: if you already know the content you don’t take the class. In the math department, students ahead of their year are offered opportunities to take higher level classes at Washington University instead of putting them in easier classes where they already have the skills being taught. If we intend classes to focus on teaching new information to those who wish to learn it, language classes should be no exception.

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Music for All Duolingo drops new music course Rachel Chung | FEATURE SECTION EDITOR

Playing “Fascinating Rhythm” in Unit 64 Photo by Rachel Chung

ccording to Duolingo, more than 3.6 million students still need access to music education.

Duolingo hopes to change this.

Released Oct. 11, the Duolingo Music program provides gamified learning of basic music notes, rhythms, note locations on piano and ear training.

Currently, there are 69 levels of lessons, with the same exams as other Duolingo courses. While Duolingo does have an adfree paid subscription, all functions are free.

Currently, the program is only available in English and Spanish on iOS devices (16+).

I have been privileged enough to take piano lessons when I was younger, and I am also able to continue to engage with music in the school’s band program. Across the US, many have not had the same opportunities, and school music programs have been battling a lack of funding and an increasing attrition rate. Per a study from 2013-2020, Texas public schools had a band attrition rate of 80%, and a 2021 study

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found that 50% of all students quit music lessons between ages 15-17. Duolingo Music provides an easily accessible outreach and a user-friendly interface. With its strategies of streaks and rewards, it’s also easy for those same students to stay hooked.

Some lessons remain harder than others, especially the lessons with finicky timing.

On some rudimentary levels, I even found myself being frustrated by mistakes that kept me from attaining all three stars.

Although I had understood the content and my timing was on, a millisecond of disruption between my phone screen and my thumb made the action incorrect. Many lessons ended up feeling more like Piano Tiles than authentic learning. Despite this, most lessons were engaging and easy to navigate, and I experienced no earthshattering technical issues.

Music education online, like Duolingo Music, also lacks the key interpersonal experiences that often make music so rewarding for many people. Music educator

Sammy Miller writes in the New York Times, “It’s often been repeated that ‘music is a language,’ yet we’re reluctant to teach it that way. When we learn a language, we don’t simply memorize phrases or spend all day reading — we practice the language together, sharing, speaking, stumbling but ultimately finding ways to connect. This should happen in music class, too.” Is it truly deep and lasting outreach to communities without access to music education if a key aspect is missing?

However, in the end, the reality is that while it may not be deep outreach to communities, it’s a good start. Other options for music education include Yousician or Tenuto for more complex music theory, but both are paid applications, and I have not personally tried them. Duolingo Music provides a fun, albeit basic introduction to music and piano that hopefully introduces many others to the joys of music education.

Family Goals

Max and Niko Vuong pass the ball to each other and making their way up the offensive line, avoiding tackles, to score a goal.

Photo by Leo Taghert

Brothers finally get a chance to play on the same team Micah Lotsoff | COPY EDITOR rothers, sophomore Niko Vuong and senior Max Vuong teamed up on the varsity boys’ soccer team for the first time in their sports careers. Their unique teamwork as siblings translated into a fierce duo on the field, with the brothers ranking in the league’s top 10 for total shots, goals scored and assists. This marked a significant milestone not just in their careers but also in the team’s dynamic. Max formerly played for the St. Louis City Academy team, a program that offered advanced training with a possible path to Major League Soccer. After an ankle injury in his junior year, he decided to step away from the Academy team and play for Clayton with his brother during his final high school season. “[The high school and academy environment] are similar, but the technique and skill level might be a little higher at the academy. People play with a lot of aggression and heart [in both],” Max said.

Despite never having played on the same team before, their on-field chemistry has yielded an impressive number of successful passes and coordinated plays. Head coach of the varsity team, Brendan Taylor, has been coaching for 20 years, four at the high school.

“They are two of the smartest soccer players you will ever meet,” Taylor said.

“On the field, the two were pretty in sync since their soccer IQs are so high.”

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The team’s success reflects the brothers’ impact on the field and as leaders.

“Their ability to know where to be on the field helped the offense become one of the better offenses in school history,” Taylor said.

When the season’s opening game

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They are two of the smartest soccer players you will ever meet.”

-Coach Brendan Taylor

arrived, it was the first time the Vuong brothers had competed on the same team.

The season promised to be memorable, a fact highlighted when they collaborated to score the team’s first goal. According to the team’s statistics, this was the first of seven goals the Vuong brothers jointly contributed to during the season.

“I’ve always wanted to play with [Max],

and I think a big reason he wanted to play for Clayton this year was so we could get one year together on the same team,” Niko said.

The clock wound down below the one-minute mark in a tie game against Kirkwood. The brothers found each other to score the game-winning goal in a pivotal win.

“My favorite moment was when I cut the ball back and found Max open in the middle of the box. I passed it to him, and he scored to win the game with around a minute left,” Niko said.

The Vuong brothers fulfilled their goal of playing on the same team, making it to the second round of districts.

“It was special. At first, I didn’t think it would work because when we were younger, my brother and I never really got along. When we got to the field and that first game, we connected on our first goal, and I knew from there it was going to be something that was going to work well for us,” Max said. “[We] have a good understanding of each other, and already having chemistry because we’re related helped our team a lot. It was something I’ve wanted to do forever. It’s made us closer. Niko had a great season, and he’s only a sophomore. I hope he can continue growing and become a better player. I know he can help us win next year.”

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Getting in position to spike the ball across the net, junior Lauren Young jumps to receive a pass back.

Photo by Leo Taghert

Setting Up For Success

Junior Lauren Young nets 1,000 assists in only two seasons Micah Lotsoff | COPY EDITOR or the first time in 40 years, the 2023 girls’ volleyball team clinched the district championship following a season of nine wins and eight losses. Their journey to the top required fighting to the district finals two years in a row.

A significant contributor to this success was junior Lauren Young, who reached her 1000th assist over her high school career.

She accumulated 695 assists this season, more than twice as many as she recorded in 2022. Her consistent performance led her to multiple 40+ assist matches.

“My journey to 1,000 assists was very unexpected because I wasn’t expecting to get it so soon,” Young said.

Young attributed her success to playing all around the court. She took on a more prominent setting role this season, leaving the rest to her “smart hitters.”

Young has played volleyball since elementary school; reaching 1,000 assists has been her goal for years.

“I started because my mom has always coached volleyball. In fifth grade, she started a team for my age group. Since then, I have always been a setter,” Young said.

With her mother watching from the stands, Young executed her 1000th assist.

The crowd and her teammates erupted in excitement, the energy heightened by the

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fact that her milestone assist also marked the game point of the match.

“Lauren is a gifted athlete,” her mother, Coordinator of Athletics and Activities T’Shon Young, said. “Her personality shines [on the court]. She plays with confidence, and it makes me very excited to see her excitement during every play of every game.”

Junior Hannah Taylor, Lauren’s teammate who has played with her throughout high school, was also on the court when Lauren tallied her 1000th assist.

“It was so exciting and a complete surprise to the rest of the team,” Taylor said. “We surprised Lauren with a poster and balloons during her English class. She has the best energy and attitude, and I can’t think of anyone who deserves it more.”

Taylor added that Lauren’s time to reach the milestone was impressively short, earning her 1000th high school assist in only two years. Lauren had not played during her freshman year; she was looking to focus more on basketball, but when she returned, she found she had not lost her magic touch.

“Lauren was always our consistent factor [through the position changes faced throughout the year]. She did a great job communicating to the team,” Taylor said.

Lauren credits much of her success

on the court to her friendships with her teammates. Over the years, these connections have boosted her performance and shaped her personal development.

“Volleyball has taught me to become a better leader,” Lauren said. “When we were playing against Parkway South, they were starting to make a comeback against us. [I saw] our energy began to go down, and as the setter, I knew I had to keep it up.”

After demonstrating her leadership in crucial games like the one against Parkway South, which Clayton won 3-2, Lauren proved that her decision to return to the sport after sitting out her freshman year was worth it.

“I was afraid [Lauren] had lost her love for the game, but during the summer going into her sophomore year, she decided to try out for the team,” Young said. “Even after a year of sitting out, she was able to pick right up where she left off.”

Although Lauren does not want to pursue volleyball as a player after high school, she still wishes to stay in touch with the sport, whether that means watching games or simply passing along her expertise.

“Volleyball has helped me create many friendships that I hope to have for a long time,” Lauren said. “I hope my kids will play volleyball one day, so I can stay around the game.”

Wenxu Makes Waves From Summer League to State, Wenxu is a Rising Star in the Swimming World Bethany Lai | PAGE EDITOR

Sophomore Wenxu Yin competes in the 100 breaststroke during a home meet against Lindbergh High School on Sept. 7. The competition concluded with the Greyhounds and the Flyers scoring 88 points, resulting in a tied final score.

Photo by Tyler He

icture a young boy, barely six, plunging into the pool for the first time in a summer league.

Fast forward to the present, and that same boy, now sophomore, Wenxu Yin, is making waves in the swimming scene — his willingness to succeed and desire to win has earned him accolades and inspired his teammates.

A typical day for Wenxu involves an afternoon practice or a 5 a.m. session.

Wenxu has maintained a 4.2 GPA on a 4.3 scale and, at the same time, has excelled in swimming with consistent top performances in competitive meets.

“I make sure that I study before a large competition so I have no work I need to catch up on,” Wenxu said. “During the school day, the library’s my sanctuary. It’s the only place I can escape the constant buzz of activities and get some work done.”

As a disciplined student-athlete, Wenxu has excelled in swimming. This season, he clocked 53.12 seconds in the 100 butterfly event at the Missouri State Championships, earning an All-State award from the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA).

This achievement is not his first triumph; as a freshman, he won gold in all four events at the Conference Championships.

His signature stroke, the butterfly, led him to place third in the 2022 Ozark Division I Championships at 14, completing the race in 57.77 seconds. “[The Ozark Championships] was sort of the turning point of my career,” Wenxu said. “Many times throughout my career, I wanted to quit swimming because I

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hated it. Sometimes, practices became unbearable, or there were things that interested me more than swimming. But eventually, I’d get back to [swimming]. I grew more serious about swimming after [the Ozark Championships]. The pool became almost like a second home. I found myself craving the rhythm of laps, enjoying those early mornings and late nights at the pool and focusing even more on my technique,” Wenxu said.

Teammate Leo Zhu knows firsthand the level of Wenxu’s tenacity and skill in the pool. Having competed against him, Zhu has a unique perspective on Wenxu’s abilities.

“In the few match-ups I’ve had against Wenxu, I can say, with total confidence, that each experience was humiliating. He’s too fast,” Zhu said. “Wenxu is tireless in his pursuit of winning. When he races against somebody, he makes it his mission to beat them at all costs. He constantly monitors his closest competitors and ensures he’s in front of them, adjusting his speed accordingly even when he’s tired.”

Wenxu’s triumphs in the pool are not just a testament to his determination and skill but also a reflection of the support and camaraderie provided by his teammates.

Their mutual encouragement and shared passion for the sport have served as a powerful catalyst for Wenxu’s performances.

“I have competed against Wenxu.

Although we seem quite competitive, we respect each other,” team captain and junior Casey Chu said. “When one of us

does well, we always congratulate each other. With self-motivation, it’s all about you. You’re the one pushing yourself. But with team motivation, it’s about something bigger than yourself. It’s about feeling like we’re all in this together. And that’s something that Wenxu has embraced over the years.”

Teammate Aaron Duan can further attest to Wenxu’s role as a motivating force for the team.

“As Wenxu continues to progress in the sport, he motivates his peers to push for greater heights. People have found motivation from simply watching him compete. He improves the entire team by training and competing like he always does,” Duan said.

As Wenxu reflects on his record of 40 swimming competitions — excluding 17 school meets this past season — he is considering how his relationship with the sport might deviate. Wenxu plans on swimming in college if they have a swim team.

“It could also become less of a passion sport and more of a means to stay fit. If I still swim in a college club, it will remain a passion sport, but it doesn’t mean it can’t be just exercise,” Wenxu said.

Wenxu is open to the evolution of his relationship with swimming.

“I’m excited to see where swimming takes me. Whether it remains a passion that fuels me or becomes a source of lifelong fitness, I know that swimming will always continue to enrich my life.”

SPORTS 45

Gray Hairs & The Globe’s perspective on America’s aging government ithin the past century, America has strived for diversity. The equality movement fueled better representation of race, ethnicity and gender in private and public sectors.

Lawmakers put Civil Rights legislation in place to prohibit discrimination, educational institutions used affirmative action to bolster diversity and businesses have implemented inclusion initiatives to promote diversity in the workplace.

With each passing decade, America is progressively mirroring the diverse makeup of our nation across various sectors and settings.

But what about age?

If President Joe Biden completes his first term, he will be 82, and should he be re-elected, he will be 86 at the end of his second term. This would make him the oldest president in U.S. history, which raises questions about the physical and mental demands of the presidency in relation to age.

In addition, former president and leading Republican candidate for the upcoming term, Donald Trump, is right below Biden at 77 years old. The old age of politicians has become the norm. Often, Americans don’t think twice about the geriatric state of most political candidates.

However, we do.

According to the 2022 census, the age gap between political leadership and constituents is striking. While the average eligible U.S. voter is a youthful 38.9 years old, and the average registered voter is

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46 STAFF ED

An illustration of the Republican elephant and the Democratic donkey covered with cobwebs.

Illustration by Charlie Meyers

Political Affairs 52.6, our leaders often surpass these ages by decades.

As for Congress, the average member of the House is 57.9 years old and the average senator is 65.3 years, according to the Pew Research Center. Our current congress is the oldest it has ever been, with eight members of Congress born in the 1930s.

Why don’t we talk about equity in age? The very people who are elected to represent us grew up in an America that was different from ours. How are they able to govern in a way that considers our perspectives?

They can’t.

As technology advances at a rapid pace, it profoundly impacts all aspects of American life, including legislation. Yet, according to a 2014 Pew Research Center survey, only 23% of U.S. adults aged 65 and older felt confident about using electronic devices such as smartphones. Given that the average age of a Congress member is 57.6 years, this raises questions about their familiarity with and understanding of the technologies they’re legislating.

For example, if many struggle with the latest smartphone updates, how prepared are they to vote on complex tech-related issues?

Evidence of our Congress’ failure in technology came during last year’s TikTok hearing. Viral video clips, such as those featuring politicians struggling to understand basic technological concepts like WiFi or smartphone filters, have brought the issue into the spotlight. These moments underscore a concerning gap in

technological understanding among some of our representatives, which could have implications for their ability to effectively legislate in our increasingly digital world.

In other words, if they can’t navigate the iOS 17 update on their iPhones, how can they rule on issues that concern it?

Not only does an aging Congress pose a problem as technologies advance, but there arises an issue with the mental fitness of our nation’s leaders—especially in times of crisis.

If the police force or the medical field consisted of so many gray hairs, we would be worried. Could you imagine a group of 80-year-old police officers trying to do their job? The public would immediately want to bring in younger replacements to instill public safety and efficiency.

Politicians should not be an exception.

Considering the current Israel-Palestine conflict, our government leaders are responsible for making life-and-death decisions for those on the other side of the world. The weapons and medical supplies that America sends can directly change the course of the war; there is absolutely no room for a lack of mental acuity due to age when it comes to the fates of human life.

Our nation’s leadership ought to reflect the diverse and dynamic landscape, ensuring each generation’s voice is proportionately heard. We need young leaders who have lived in current America and consider the values the youngest generations hold. It is time to rethink the status quo and rebuild a government that is more knowledgeable and equipped for the challenges that lie ahead.

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