Issue 14

Volume 118 Issue 14

The Record

Horace Mann’s Weekly Newspaper Since 1903

record.horacemann.org

Feature: ND and LD expand diversity Hanna Hornfeld Staff Writer One day in the Nursery Division (ND), Mekhala Mantravadi’s (11) grandmother, who always wears a sari — a traditional South Asian garment — came to school to pick her up. “I thought all the kids were looking at her through the door, and I was shooing my grandmother away, [saying] ‘Why are you here? You should have worn something different,’” Mantravadi said.

As one of three South Asian students in her grade in the Lower Division (LD), Mekhala Mantravadi (11) inadvertently suppressed her identity as an Indian-American to fit in with the other students, she said. She tried to emulate her peers by wearing leggings instead of dresses or skirts and taking out her braids on the bus in the morning.

In the 2010-2011 school year, 27% of LD students and 28% of ND students self-identified as people of color (POC). This year, 46% of LD students and 42% of ND students identify as POC. Beyond this growth, which is largely the result of outreach by the admissions office, the divisions have been working to deepen discussions of diversity and equity in their curricula this year. Hopefully, these changes will allow all students to feel represented while broadening their understanding of identity, Associate Director of the Office for Identity, Culture, and Institutional Equity (ICIE) Ronald Taylor said.

Children whose identities are not affirmed by their environments may develop negative

“

during the formative years of their lives. “As the Lower Division continually diversifies under the great leadership of Mrs. Neuwirth, what’s going to naturally happen is all students are going to have more opportunities to be exposed to difference,” he said. “That’s helpful because if you spent your entire

Courtesy of Marinés Arroyo

“Little kids look for similarities: you like to read, I like to read, we can be friends. One goal is to help foster a way of thinking where differences are valued too.”

-Gina D’Amico life only around people from the same walk of life, you’re not going to be thinking about other cultures and experiences.”

Because Kate Bown (12) was surrounded almost solely in the LD by people who had had similar experiences to her, she never had to reassess her view of the world, she said. “It was a lot of confirmation bias — everything sort of just reassures what you already know instead of challenging that attitude,” she said. “That’s something that has shaped me and something that I am continuously now trying to undo.”

Bown believes this constant validation of her Courtesy of Marinés Arroyo

ALL HANDS IN Students gather together for a class activity. perceptions of self, Taylor said. Growing up, Taylor experienced this phenomenon as one of two Black boys in the honors program at his school, he said. Especially in English and history classes, the curriculum and teachers centered around experiences and perspectives that Taylor could not relate to, which felt isolating to him. Eventually, the lack of classmates he could relate to led Taylor to question whether he belonged in those classes.

“As I got older I learned that it wasn’t because Black boys weren’t smart, it was because a school wasn’t doing what it needed to do,” he said. “I went into teaching because I was so disgusted with the apathy that I saw in my own education, with the lack of care. No child should feel like they aren’t worthy of a space.”

According to a January 2019 study by psychologist Danielle Perszyk, children can develop implicit and explicit biases by the age of four. In the study, children exhibited the strongest negative responses to Black boys and most positive responses to white children.

Aside from influencing social interactions, studies have found that students who attend more culturally heterogeneous schools generally perform better academically and professionally due to the diversity of ideas and opinions they’ve been exposed to, Taylor said. People can approach problems from more creative angles if they were surrounded by people with varying experiences

December 18th, 2020

identity gave her an advantage over students who may not have felt like they belonged. Because Bown has never felt unwelcome or isolated in the classroom, she has always been comfortable to confidently contribute her ideas in class and meet with teachers.

As the LD and the school as a whole grow more diverse, it needs to ensure that students of color and students on financial aid are cared for as well, Taylor said. “We don’t want to put a student of color in a school where they might have more unproductive experiences.”

Small acts of affirmation can change the way a student experiences an environment, Mantravadi said. When she was in third grade, one of her classmates told her she admired her grandmother and liked her sari. Mantravadi, who had spent a long time worrying that her classmates judged the way her grandmother dressed, saw her grandmother differently after that interaction. “I’m proud of the way my grandma wears a sari [now],” she said. “She did look beautiful, and she shouldn’t change for anyone. It’s this false perception of people judging you, but you’re the one who’s really judging yourself.”

Although Mantravadi now attributes her experiences to feelings of racial and cultural alienation, at the time, she did not see herself as different from her white peers — she had subconsciously suppressed her identity to the

A SPECTRUM OF SKIN TONES Students learn about the diversity of races and skin tones. point where she was denying her ethnicity. Because Indian Americans are seen as a model minority — a minority group stereotyped and idealized to be more successful than other groups — Mantravadi never saw a problem with having few or no people who looked like her in a particular space. “I got used to there not being a lot of Indians or Bangladeshis or Pakistanis anywhere I was,” she said.

Unlike Mantravadi, when Elyse Gay (12) was in the LD, she was more conscious of being one of five Black students in her grade — two of whom were her triplets. Until a large group of new students joined in the Middle Division (MD), Gay had a difficult time finding a community of peers with whom she could identify racially. Black students were able to understand Gay’s culture and experiences more deeply than the rest of her peers could, she said.

Jiyon Chatterjee (10) said his grade started growing more diverse in the fourth grade. That year, he was one of nine new students, most of whom were people of color. Coming from the British International School of New York, Chatterjee noticed that his new classmates were less ethnically diverse than he was used to, but he wasn’t particularly bothered by this change. He still had other South Asian students to talk to about his cultural identity, and race was not a major issue on his or his peers’ minds, he said.

“I had a bit of an accent, because I was from Britain, but no one really made any big deal about it,” he said. “When we’re younger, I don’t want to say we don’t see race, but we find it [easier] to have diversity, to have diverse opinions, diverse friends.”

In Avery Lin (11)’s experience, young children

Gabby Fischberg/Art Director

are less aware of racial or cultural differences and form friendships based on personality. “When you’re little, your own ideas aren’t necessarily so cemented, so, in this way, you have less prejudices and have been exposed to less conditioning that might otherwise make those friendships more difficult or less natural to form,” she said. “At the same time, I do think that little kids probably subconsciously gravitate towards those with similar experiences or ideas.”

When Lin, who identifies as Asian, was in the LD, she did not notice significant racial homogeneity and found that her friend group was racially diverse.

Looking back, however, she noticed that there was a lack of socioeconomic diversity — the majority of students’ families were upper or upper-middle class, she said.

Although she was not aware of issues surrounding socioeconomic status as a young child, Lin said this homogeneity may have had a subconscious effect on herself and some of her classmates. “Not having exposure to a diverse community in school can put young kids in a bubble where they don’t realize that the people at school aren’t a reflection of real life,” she said. Because the LD curriculum did not spend much time discussing race and class, Lin spent barely any time thinking about those topics.

Mantravadi, however, was hyperaware of the socioeconomic differences between her family and those of her peers, especially when she was in fifth grade and her father lost his job. At the time, Mantravadi’s parents could not afford to send her to the school but did so anyway because they wanted to invest in her education. Mantravadi felt comfortable talking to her friends about her families’ financial situation, but these conversations did not eliminate the stress that she felt, she said. “That was my constant worry: that my parents would one day be like ‘Hey, we can’t afford to send you to Horace Mann anymore.’”

As a result, Mantravadi was always self-conscious about not having clothes from name-brands — such as Lester’s and Lululemon — like other girls in her grade, she said. “I would cry to my mom, who wanted me to wear froggy t-shirts to school, asking, ‘Can I please go to Lester’s?’” she said. “And there was no Lester’s near my house, and to get Lululemon leggings was a hundred dollars.”

Although 13% of LD families, 14% of MD families, and 19% of Upper Division (UD) families currently receive financial aid, only 5% of ND families are on aid. These percentages have remained fairly constant over the past ten years, Director of Institutional Research and Enrollment Management Lisa Moreira wrote.

“Every single year we have more applicants requesting aid than we are able to accommodate,” Director of Admissions Jason Caldwell said. “While we do a good job as a school, it is always hard that

see ND/LD Diversity on page 4

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THE RECORD OPINIONS DECEMBER 18TH, 2020

CC Chairs envision a stronger student government

Adam Frommer and Yana Gitelman Almost exactly two years ago, Jude Herwitz ‘20 wrote an op-ed discussing problems with student government at the school. Herwitz brought up the disorganization and lack of ambition within the Community Council (CC), as well as the lack of trust from the administration. Over the past few years, we have noticed many of these problems and have shared his frustrations. That is why we decided to run for the Co-Chair positions — to change the CC and bring real accountability to the student body.

Another problem that Herwitz did not mention but has been brought up at CC meetings this year is a lack of transparency and communication from the CC to the student body. In writing this op-ed, we hope to open up communication with students so that you are looped into the discussions and initiatives that the CC is working on and so that you can provide feedback to us. As the first-ever CoChairs, we hope to lay groundwork that will ensure more open communication in the future.

The first problem Herwitz identified was that “the CC lacks a standardized process for coming up with, discussing, and accomplishing

initiatives.” We agree — in previous years, there has never been a structured way to bring up problems we want to solve or solutions to those problems unless a brave individual student was willing to interject during a meeting and pitch an idea.

A big part of our job as CC Co-Chairs will be to create structure and accountability with our initiatives. We want to have purposeful brainstorming sessions, the first of which we had as a full group this Monday. Historically, when ideas have been proposed, we have quickly moved on without discussing any specific next

Lauren Kim/Art Director

steps. An offshoot of organizational problems on the CC is that there is no process where

returning members can teach new members how to accomplish initiatives efficiently. In the past, most of the new members have learned independently by trial and error. This year, we are taking a more hands-on approach. We have created an online organizational system through the interface Slack, which will allow us to be involved in regular initiative meetings and be there as point people to check-in with progress. We’ll also ensure that committees include students from multiple grades so that returning students can mentor new members in the process of implementing initiatives.

In addition to a lack of organization in the CC, Herwitz wrote that “the administration has deliberately removed power from student government in past years.” We agree, and many other students in the CC have expressed similar concerns. As a result, students feel disempowered from using the platform for real structural change. While we will continue to put energy into school spirit and games like Project X, we also see the opportunity for the CC to meet with the administration to discuss students’ very real frustrations. We would like for administrators who are not already faculty advisors to join in on CC meetings to listen to our thoughts as elected representatives of the student body. As CC members, we are naturally in a middle ground between students and faculty advisors and administrators.

We want to voice concerns on behalf of the student body, because we know that there are structural and cultural concerns to address.

Last year, we started to address HM’s culture of making light of mental health issues. We know there is also a culture of students being

competitive about grades. We know that testing schedules don’t work for everyone, despite the administration’s changing policies around them. As a group of students from all grades with diverse interests and from different social circles, we want the administration to use us as a representative focus group as they make decisions related to students.

Historically, the two Student Body Presidents and the Co-Chair of the CC have sat on the Committee on Instruction (COI), a committee composed of mostly faculty in charge of approving new courses in the Upper Division.

On the committee this year, we as students have a unique perspective to bring to the table. We appreciate that the COI embraces student input, and we think this structure should extend to other administrative work as well. We plan to open up a continuous meaningful dialogue with the faculty and administration that can be modeled after the COI. We also plan to get more CC members, not just us Co-Chairs, involved. Students have a unique perspective to bring up in any discussion — from disciplinary policies to scheduling to sustainability. As a result of increased communication with the administration, our initiative ideas are also more likely to be taken seriously.

In order to represent you, we need to know your concerns, needs, and wants. In the past, CC meetings have technically been open to the student body, but we have never made that clear. Look out for emails with opportunities to get involved. And of course, feel free to email us at yana_gitelman@horacmann.org and adam_ frommer@horacemann.org with any ideas you have.

Testing environments online ought to be changed

Nia Huff Although many students may argue that testing online is a more conducive environment to their success, I find the home-testing environment to be full of new challenges and distractions. The past few weeks have been flooded with tests, as teachers squeeze in the last few assessments and projects before winter break. Online assessments have become even more stressful because of printer and scanner issues, the distractions of my home, and the inability to communicate questions with my teachers during exams.

I find it very difficult to focus on assessments at home. When I’m taking an exam or participating in any academic activity, I need absolute silence. I thrive in a quiet environment; it allows me to focus and understand the work on a deeper level. Although it’s usually quiet at my house, it can be hard to remain focused when there are so many distractions. From my parents asking me what I want for lunch to my sister Zooming others in her room, disturbances fluster me during exams. Also, during back-to-back classes, it can be challenging to clean up my workspace from the past class and get ready for the next class. The absence of walking from one class to another makes it harder for me to adjust to and

prepare for the next task at hand.

Another difficulty I have experienced several times during inclass assessments is printer issues. Even though I have a working printer at home, there was one instance where my printer did not print the last page of my test. As I sat aimlessly wondering why none of my peers had completed their test, I communicated via the chat feature on Zoom with my teacher and asked how many pages the test was supposed to be. When I received the response of “five pages,” a wave of worry overcame me. I realized how much time I wasted and how little time was left to complete the exam. Although I was able to print the remaining page, this extra pressure made the experience much more nerve-wracking. Additionally, several times after completing an exam, I had trouble scanning the assessment and sending it to my teachers.

Lastly, one of the greatest challenges I’ve confronted is the new way students must communicate questions and confusion about an assessment to a teacher. During in-person learning, it is easy to clarify a question about test material by raising your hand, but

Lauren Kim/Art Director

now it takes a few minutes to ask your question through the Zoom chat feature. Although a few minutes of waiting does not seem like much, in actuality, two to three minutes feels like forever during a test. The butterflies in your stomach during these anxiety-filled moments can make a test that you thought you were ready for turn into a test you are not.

At school, my brain is constantly in work mode. At home, I have trouble concentrating at the same level. Assessments feel more like homework assignments, and the great importance of grades, especially as we approach the end of the first semester, has made testing an even more painful task.

As we approach winter break, I am hopeful that there might be an easier approach to taking assessments during our remote period for students like me who find this environment stressful.

Although I understand the limited options our teachers have when it comes to testing, some measures can be put in place to help all students in the community. Even if we made tests 40 minutes instead of 45 minutes, this extra five minutes would give a cushion for technology issues, questions, and scanning time.

The flexibility to take an assessment on your own time would be beneficial. This would allow every student to take these important exams when they are best focused. I know I concentrate best in the morning when no one is up, and I have the apartment to myself.

For me, this time would be most ideal since I could simply focus on the task at hand rather than worry about all of the potential distractions. Even if students are able to go into a proctored Zoom room during a time from A-H periods, this flexibility would allow everyone to do their best and be successful during this unconventional year. I have found that a minute of silence between classes to be helpful since the break gives my mind the opportunity to relax and refocus. If these two approaches were implemented into the HM 2.0 assessment plan, I think many students would have a more positive approach to this already stressful situation.

Volume 118 Editorial Board Managing Editor Talia Winiarsky Features Henry Owens Emily Shi Vivien Sweet

News Sam Chiang Yesh Nikam Marina Kazarian

Staff

Opinions Maurice Campbell Avi Kapadia Natalie Sweet

A&E Izzy Abbott Abby Beckler Oliver Steinman

Staff Writers Devin Allard-Neptune, Mia Calzolaio Chloe Choi, Emma Colacino, Yin Fei, Lucas Glickman, Claire Goldberg, Tuhin Ghosh, Liliana Greyf, Lauren Ho, Hanna Hornfeld, Purvi Jonnalagadda, Oliver Lewis, Rowan Mally, Simon Schackner, Morgan Smith, Arushi Talwar, Katya Tolunsky, Nathan Zelizer, Max Chasin, Alex Lautin, Jillian Lee, Hannah Katzke, Vidhatrie Keetha, Zachary Kurtz, Clio Rao, Ayesha Sen, Emily Salzhauer, Aden Soroca, Emily Sun, Madison Xu Staff Photographers Kelly Troop, Sophie Gordon, Amanda Wein, Emma Colacino, AJ Walker, Lucas Glickman, Lauren Ho Staff Artists Eliza Becker, Felix Brenner, Riva Vig

Editor-in-Chief Julia Goldberg Lions’ Den Yotam Hahn Alison Isko Josh Underberg

Issues Editor Adam Frommer

Middle Division Adrian Arnaboldi Bradley Bennett Jack Crovitz

About Founded in 1903, The Record is Horace Mann School’s award-winning weekly student newspaper. We publish approximately 30 times during the academic year, offering news, features, opinions, arts, Middle Division and sports coverage relevant to the school community. The Record serves as a public forum to provide the community with information, entertainment, and an outlet for various viewpoints. As a student publication, the contents of The Record are the views and work of the students and do not necessarily represent those of the faculty or administration of the Horace Mann School. Horace Mann School is not responsible for the

Design Lowell Finster John Mauro Sarah Sun

Editorial Policy

Art Annabelle Chan Gabby Fischberg Lauren Kim Rachel Zhu

accuracy and contents of The Record and is not liable for any claims based on the contents or views expressed therein.

Editorials All editorial decisions regarding content, grammar, and layout are made by the senior editorial board. The unsigned editorial represents the opinion of the majority of the board.

Opinions Opinion columns represent the viewpoint of the author and not of The Record or the school. We encourage students, alumni, faculty, staff, and parents to submit opinions by emailing record@horacemann.org.

Letters Letters to the editor often respond to editorials,

Photography Jackson Feigin Julia Isko Maxwell Shopkorn

Faculty Adviser David Berenson

articles, and opinions pieces, allowing The Record to uphold its commitment to open discourse within the school community.

They too represent the opinion of the author and not of The Record or the school. To be considered for publication in the next issue, letters should be submitted by mail (The Record, 231 West 246th Street, Bronx, NY 10471) or email (record@ horacemann.org) before 6 p.m. on Wednesday evening. All submissions must be signed.

Contact For all tips, comments, queries, story suggestions, complaints and corrections, please contact us by email at record@horacemann.org.

3

HORACE MANN NEWS DECEMBER 18TH, 2020

“How to Paint a Dead Man”: Bauld publishes poetry collection

Design Editor/Sarah Sun

Liliana Greyf Staff Writer Last week, English teacher Harry Bauld published his latest collection of poetry titled “How to Paint a Dead Man,” a set of 24 works centered around themes of art and death.

The title of Bauld’s newest book, his third published work, is inspired by the first instructional book on painting, written by Cennino Cennini in 1437. Within it, there is a section titled “How to Paint a Dead Man,” a phrase which inspired Bauld to write a poem interspersed with quotes from Cennini’s handbook, he said.

Bauld writes poetry as it comes to him, taking inspiration from specific events in his life, he said. He often writes without specific intent; the poems he creates are not necessarily designed to be part of a larger collection. As a result, the collection incorporates a range of works: some are satirical, whereas others are dark, weaving together the mundanity, delight, and grief that are a part of life, he said.

“There’s a way that poems start to stick together,” he said. “You realize: ‘I’ve been working on one particular theme without even realizing it or admitting it to myself.’ And suddenly there’s a body of work.”

The poems in Bauld’s book cover a wide range of topics, but they ultimately come together cohesively. “I like to use a metaphor of a braid when talking about books [of poetry], because there are thematic metaphors that run through the collection,” he said. The poems in this book are centered — both in content and form — around the themes of art and death.

Bauld’s interest in visual art combined with his poetic fascination inspire the works in this book. “Most of the poems in this book are ekphrastic, meaning they are poems about works of art,” he said. “But they are about death, too, and how [the two] can come together.”

Bauld began the process of publishing the anthology two years ago, just after the completion of his first collection of poems. “[I was thinking] ‘Here’s this poem, and here are these other poems starting to gather around it’,” he said. “I can do something with this.”

To decide on an order for his manuscript, Bauld laid 50 pages of his own poems on the floor of his home. He walked through the maze he had created with a pen in hand, crossing out words on some papers and adding line breaks on others.

Bauld compiled the pieces and sent them to dozens of publishing houses, he said. “They all said — as publishers will say — ‘no, no, no, no.’

But then, a couple months ago, one said ‘yes.’”

When Bauld heard back from the publishing company — Finishing Line Press, based in Kentucky — it had been over a year since he had looked at a copy of this original manuscript. “It was a great benefit to look at the works with a set of fresh eyes,” he said. “I looked at it again and I was like ‘oh, there are some poems I’ve been writing recently that fit here.’” Half of the poems that are included in the book were written two to five years ago, and the other half were written in the last year, he said.

The third poem in the book, “I Drop Mark Strand into The Toilet at The Mansion,” is characterized by its accessible narrative and humorous plotline. It follows a true occurrence in Bauld’s life: a moment he dropped a book of poetry into the toilet at a diner.

The poem is filled with lyrical musings and comedic word play.

Bauld takes the book into the bathroom because he does not want “to leave Mark stranded (sorry!),” and he watches as it “slips from its high perch atop the Pulitzer.” After he has rescued the book, he comments that this was “not the relief [he] was looking for,” and “of course there are no paper towels to dry [himself] of the drenching reek of poems.”

While this work is light and playful, others are more profound.

In “Death Penalty,” Bauld writes about the death of his father, interrupting his own language with that of a news report from the shooting at Fort Lauderdale airport in January of 2017.

Art history teacher Dr. Anna Hetherington pre-ordered the book as soon as she heard about it, and she recently finished reading the collection. Because she is knowledgeable about art and art history, the collection resonated with her, she said. “There’s a lot of evocation of song and of paintings, of works of art,” she said. “It’s poetry that deals with other mediums and also is very contemporary and at the same time very lyrical. It’s wonderful.”

Hetherington’s personal experiences have given her a closer relationship to the text. “You know the paintings; you know the songs,” she said. “I know Mr. Bauld, so that all gives a more nuanced reading of the art.”

Although Hetherington has only recently finished reading this collection, she has already found herself coming back to several of the pieces, she said. Some of the pieces, such as “Eyes,” and “Me and You, Canaletto,” seem relevant to the current moment, she said.

The cover of the book is Rembrandt’s painting “Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp,” an image of men hovering around a dead body. Bauld chose this painting because of its multiple connections to the text — his ekphrastic work in this collection includes poems about Rembrandt’s art, and this painting literally symbolizes the title of the book, as Rembrandt had to know “how to paint a dead man.”

After years of work, Bauld’s book is now published. “I have other stuff that I am excited to be working on,” he said. “And I hope people enjoy this one.”

The Eyes

by Harry Bauld Most of these Germans scare the paint out of you, Felix Nussbaum in the camp, a few bones in the background and another figure struggling up from voiding in a trash can, the sky dark with its human smoke.

Everyone’s looking at you except Max Beckmann. Otto Dix’s gaze is all Aryan accusation but you do not confess. And he is no Nazi. That is just you soiling yourself. Your daughters are Jewish. Keep repeating. Lovis Corinth gives himself in the mirror another mirror. Does he even have a good side?

Do we any longer?

Kirchner’s garish complementaries look forward—

to what, in that Germany? Always now it seems we look at art and it looks back at us on trial. Your daughters are Jewish. Your gorge rises

against history. You are not getting anywhere that way, seen and seeing and stuck. Enough.

Can’t you take it? The gallery empties you onto the same hot and sunny avenue

where the president says he can shoot someone and not lose a vote.

Annual holiday assembly shifts online Rowan Mally and Helen Fajemirokun Staff Writers On Wednesday, December 16, the school held its first ever online holiday assembly, showcasing various student performances and a strong festive spirit to close out the year. While only spanning 31 minutes, Head Librarian Caroline Bartels began her preparation weeks in advance, she said.

“It takes a while for everything to come together because there are so many moving parts.”

Eli Scher (12) started the assembly with his senior reflection, in which he discussed how students can be a positive influence in the environment around them. His motivation to share his senior reflection was to help at least one of his peers realize the value of coming into their “true, genuine self,” he said. “It’s pretty obvious when someone changes their personality in different situations, it’s so important to be yourself and never forget who you are,” he said.

Scher’s reflection was followed by 60 Seconds of Peace, which included a communal lighting of candles. After Scher, the assembly featured performances including the Steel Drums Ensemble’s rendition of “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd.

“We decided we were going to perform ‘Blinding Lights’ during our first class of the year,” Ari Salsberg (12) said. “Since then, we have learned and practiced the song every class period, so it has definitely a lot of work in the making.”

Salsberg said he believed the song’s energy would appeal to students. “It’s a well known, upbeat song, so I hope some students recognized it and sang along,” he said.

Ariela Shuchman (10) was impressed with the ensemble’s performance. “I really enjoyed the steel drums performance,” she said. “‘Blinding Lights’ is one of my favorite songs, so it was really fun to see it performed on the steel drums.”

Shuchman was struck by the players’ skill and level of practice. “It looked really difficult, but they played the whole song with ease and energy,” she said.

The assembly also featured various silent films from Theater teacher Haila VanHentenryck’s Acting for the Camera class, including: “Pursuit,” “The Lunch,” and “The Unlikely Scholar.” Emily Sun (12) starred in both “Pursuit” and “The Lunch,” and discussed the hard work the students put into their films.

“It took us over two to three weeks to film and edit our silent films,” she said. In fact, Acting for the Camera sent seven films to Bartels for her to choose between, and she eventually narrowed them down to the three shown on Wednesday, Sun said.

Anna Miller (10) enjoyed the film’s lightheartedness. “They provided much needed comedic relief during a really hard week,” she said.

“They did a really great job.”

While Ria Chowdhry (11) found the holiday assembly enjoyable, she did notice obvious differences from prior years. “It did feel less

Courtesy of HM Holiday Assembly

ALL FOCUS John Mauro (12) plays the violin while socially distancing from his peers. festive than in years past,” she said. “Though this was probably just due to the fact that we all weren’t celebrating in Gross Theater together, an undeniable consequence of online school.”

“The real challenge of all these assemblies is making them feel as normal as possible,” Bartels said. The combination of an online and in-person audience for each assembly has been extremely challenging, as distributing Zoom codes and ensuring social distancing become overwhelmingly complicated, she said.

Despite this, Bartels tries to remember that

assemblies are not “Broadway productions” and do not have to be perfect, she said. “Watching it all come together in the end with people who haven’t seen it is so rewarding.”

Chowdhry was still grateful for the work put into the assembly and believed that the school made the most of the given circumstances. “Even though we watched a pre-recorded video in our individual advisories, it did have a communal feeling,” she said. “The holiday assembly is a necessary send off as students head into break and the new year.”

4

THE RECORD FEATURES DECEMBER 18TH, 2020

from ND/LD Diversity on page 1 we can’t provide aid to more people.”

Tuition is the same for all grades — $55,200 a year — except for the part-time Threes program, which costs $39,636 per year. The ND has a smaller percentage of families on financial aid in part because not as many families choose to invest that much money into education so early on, Caldwell said. Families on financial aid still have to pay what they can afford to, and for many, it is easier to wrap their heads around spending money on kindergarten or sixth grade than nursery school.

In addition, it is easier for families from Westchester, the Bronx, and New Jersey to access the LD, MD, and UD campuses in Riverdale than the ND building in Manhattan. Although families on aid come from all over, the increase in socioeconomic diversity in the LD and MD is related to the increase in geographic diversity, Caldwell said.

Overall, the admissions office receives more applications from racially, ethnically, socioeconomically, and geographically diverse applicants for older grades, which contributes to the increase in financial aid awards in those grades, Moreira wrote. The applicant pool for the MD and UD is also more diverse because the school works with several organizations to identify applicants of color for those divisions, Caldwell said.

To identify applicants of color for kindergarten and first grade, the school has a partnership with Early Steps, an organization that aims to enroll children of color in independent schools by helping them through the admissions process and financial aid applications if they need them, Caldwell said.

In any given year, roughly 10% of the incoming kindergarten class will come from Early Steps.

However, the admissions office does not use quotas to match the diversity of the applicant pool to that of admitted students — they admit students based on how well they would fit at the school, Moreira wrote. 62% of students applying for admission to the Threes, PreK, and Kindergarten for the 2020-2021 school year self-identified as POC, and 53% of new students in those grades identify as POC, Moreira wrote. Last year, those numbers for the overall applicant pool were 64% and 60%, respectively.

Although the student body grows more diverse over time, Bown has observed that the predominantly white environment of the younger grades can have a lasting impact on some people, including herself, she said. Going into middle school, Bown’s friends were all white, and most of them lived in the same neighborhood. She made friendships with students of color in her advisory, but it wasn’t until high school that she became extremely close with people of color. If Bown’s grade had been more diverse earlier on, it would have been much easier for her to form friendships with people different from herself. Instead, she spent much of middle school afraid to step out of her comfort zone, she said.

When children are young, their friend groups are essentially defined by who they have classes with at school, Daniel Pustilnik (9) said. Because he had no way of meeting new people in clubs or on sports teams, Pustilnik almost solely interacted with his Gabby Fischberg/Art Director

school friends, most of whom were white or Asian.

Once large numbers of Black and Latinx students joined Pustilnik’s grade in the MD, his friend group grew much more diverse.

Although the racial makeup of Pustilnik’s grade in the LD did not influence his future friendships, he cannot tell if it impacted him in any other way because he was not actively thinking about race at the time, he said.

Gay has noticed the influence of the LD student body’s racial makeup in the ways that she and her younger sister made friends in the MD, she said.

Gay’s sister, who is currently in sixth grade, had a much more racially diverse grade in the LD than Gay did. Her sister was able to get to know new

Rachel Zhu/Art Director

people in the MD much more quickly than Gay did in part because it was easier for her to connect with and understand other people after having been exposed to more cultures and ideas, Gay said.

Beyond learning from other students, LD students can be introduced to diverse cultures through their classes and school events, Mantravadi said. Mantravadi felt affirmed when her teachers talked about Diwali in a lesson about different festivals of lights, such as Hanukkah, Diwali, and Kwanzaa. She also remembers a multicultural food day, when students would bring foods from their respective cultures to school, explain the foods’ history to their classmates, and eat together.

Although Mantravadi enjoyed both events, she still wishes the LD had done more to expose students to diverse cultures. For example, at the food day, much of the “diverse” food — including what Mantravadi brought — was left untouched, she said.

Mantravadi would not have expected young kids to choose food they were unfamiliar with. To make everybody feel included, the event should have been set up so that all students were given a little bit of each person’s food — that way, no student would be left with large amounts of unwanted food they had brought in, she said. “I know it’s a small event, but the fact that everyone is able to take part in it makes your culture valued.”

Outside of Black History Month, Gay does not recall having many conversations about race in the classroom. She wishes the school had taken time to explain cultures and history in depth for each heritage month, instead of simply acknowledging Native American Heritage Month and leaving it at that, she said.

Similarly, in the LD, Pustilnik had never had a serious conversation about racial injustice. Although it can be difficult to talk about such intense topics with young kids, Pustilnik would have benefitted from spending more class time on those issues because he would have been more deeply aware of their importance from an earlier age, he said.

In addition to history class, LD students should take courses about race and identity, similar to sixth and eleventh grade Seminar on Identity, Emmi Zeitler (11) said. “It’s always important, no matter how old you are, to hear about people’s experiences,” she said. “It would have been beneficial in lower school to have taken a course like that. It’s important that we’re all educated on how we can make everyone feel welcome and included, and that’s something we should be taught regardless of our age, regardless of the division.”

ICIE appointed Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) chairs to each division this year with the goal of identifying and implementing the necessary changes to make each of their respective divisions more equitable, Taylor said. The ND and LD have been working closely with Yale’s RULER program for social emotional development, and this year, they are formally introducing naming anti-bias as a part of that work, LD DEI Chair Gina D’Amico said. By engaging students in conversations about identity, racial literacy, and social justice, the school hopes to truly incorporate anti-bias into the fabric of the curriculum, as opposed to treating it as something separate and occasional.

Mantravadi is a member of the Student Ambassador program, and as a panelist at a ND open house in September, she was pleasantly surprised to learn that the ND and LD have taken many initiatives to improve cultural awareness and teach students vocabulary to talk about race, gender, and sexuality. “Seeing now that they’re implementing awareness — even among kindergarteners — is incredible,” she said.

One of the ICIE and DEI chairs’ biggest projects of the year has been reexamining curricula so that

students do not only learn about negative aspects of their racial history, Taylor said. “When we cover African American history, it’s always enslavement; when we cover Latinx history, it’s always about colonization,” he said. “But the reality is that despite enslavement, there is so much that African diaspora have contributed to this world. We’re going to acknowledge the things that happened, but there is much more that we should be centering.”

The ND, LD, and MD history departments all adapted a racial literacy curriculum called Pollyanna this year. In August, ND and LD faculty members

history classes have introduced a unit called “The Development of Culture and Civilization — How Geography Gave Some Populations a Head Start (Dispelling Myths of Racial Superiority).” Fifth grade classes discuss the persecution, resistance, and contributions of immigrants and enslaved people in the United States.

Fourth grade teacher Mary Jean Hughes said that Pollyanna has made class discussions richer and more nuanced. “Any time you add depth to academic material, you improve the quality of the discussion, and it automatically becomes more exciting because it is no longer one-dimensional,” she said. “Students of all ages want to question, think, and be presented with as many perspectives as possible.”

Hughes hopes that all divisions continue to enhance their history curricula over time to help students truly understand the complex and flawed nature of history. “After living through 2020, it is becoming clear that many people in our country have not been taught the basics about their own government or how to be more discerning about the information that they consume,” she said.

Besides implementing the Pollyanna curriculum, the ND is working to provide students with toys and books that are reflective of diverse ethnicities, cultures, and family structures, Arroyo wrote. They thoughtfully curate their collection of library books to include authors and illustrators of color. “We carefully evaluate the photographs, drawings, and content using an equity lens and intentionally search for literature that will support our commitment to Courtesy of Marinés Arroyo

SELF PORTRAIT A pre-K student paints a self portrait for a class project. participated in a two-week training session to learn about the curriculum.

Pollyanna was created by independent educators to teach students to think about race and identity, Taylor said. Sociologists Debra Van Ausdale and Joe Feagin found that children can develop biases based on race and ethnicity by the time they are three years old. “While children may experience race in unique ways, it is clear that most, if not all, of our children are already operating in a racialized world before they even learn to read,” the Pollyanna website states. “Such studies support the importance of developing our children’s racial literacy skills and exposure to positive portrayals of a diverse range of people — across race, gender, socioeconomic status, etc. — as young as possible.”

The Pollyanna curriculum varies from grade to grade. ND students already learn about skin tone through a self-portrait project where they look in mirrors and use different media to draw and paint themselves. The Pollyanna curriculum will help them to dive deeper into this work, Head of ND Marinés Arroyo wrote. Teachers now spend lessons on colors in the world as a whole, which helps set up a stronger foundation for conversations about skin color, she wrote.

To do this work, ND students have read Karma Wilson’s Bear See Colors, Leo Lionni’s A Color of His Own, and Roseanne Thong’s Red is a Dragon and discussed colors that remind them of people, places, and things they love, according to a newsletter sent out by Threes teacher Ditjona DiMaio. “When children share their experiences, they begin to understand that our physical world is full of colors,” DiMaio wrote. “As a collective, we find similarities and differences in our daily lives but also construct an understanding that colors shape one’s culture, identities, and celebrate our uniqueness.”

In older grades, the Pollyanna history curriculum looks at complex topics more closely. Fourth grade

anti-bias work.”

This year, the ICIE office is growing the Students Together Empowering People of Color Successfully (STEPS) Program — in which UD students of color are partnered with MD students of color to mentor — to include students in the third through fifth grades. They had originally planned to do this in March of last year, but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the program’s expansion. Much like the MD STEPS program, the LD program will resemble an intentionally planned affinity group, Taylor said.

“We want students of color to connect and see each other, because depending on the classroom, you might be in a class with a few other students of color, or it might just be you.”

All of the new initiatives will build appreciation among students for the diverse world around them, D’Amico said. “Little kids look for similarities: you like to read, I like to read, we can be friends,” she said. “One goal is to help foster a way of thinking where differences are valued too.”

Fourth Grade Language Arts teacher Nimrita Daswani has not been directly involved with Pollyanna, as she does not teach history, but she has still seen changes in the school’s culture and in herself this year. Daswani regrets not taking significant time to discuss Black Lives Matter with her students in June last year, she said. This year, following a moment of silence for Breonna Taylor in a morning announcement, she made a point to have an in-depth conversation with her students about racism and police brutality.

“I think we’re more open to having these conversations and leaning into the discomfort,” Daswani said. “[Young kids] need to be aware. In order for change to happen, as long as we’re using the right kinds of words and making them feel comfortable in the classroom to have these kinds of discussions, it will benefit them in the long run.

These children I teach, they’re our future.”

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HORACE MANN ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT & MIDDLE DIVISION DECEMBER 18TH, 2020

Unruly queen: Ellen Wang’s (8) chess journey Alex Lautin, Sam Stern, and to the UNICEF Covid relief fund Even though Wang has progressed but also shared the strategy aspect of also admires Hou Yifan, the former women’s world chess champion. She and have raised over three thousand in her chess playing skills, she Go, he said.

Ben Rafal dollars thus far, she said. Along with still enjoys the social aspect of the Wang has been training seriously finds their life stories and the ways Staff and Contributing Writers Ellen Wang (8) earned the title Woman FIDE Master (WFM) in 2017 after winning the North American Youth Chess Championship that year.

Wang, now one of the top 50,000 chess players worldwide, is proud of her title because it recognizes her achievement and devotion to the game, she said.

Chess has given Wang a platform to help those in need, she said.

Earlier this year, Wang and her chess team, Unruly Queens, began to host tournaments, open to all, on the online platform Chess.com. The tournaments themselves are free, but Wang and her friends take donations

hosting tournaments online, Wang and some of the top chess players in New York promote chess by giving free lessons to young kids, her father, Jun Wang P ’25 said.

Wang’s favorite tactic is a fork, a movement when a piece attacks two others at once, she said. “You learn it when you are a beginner, but you use it up until you’re a world champion,” she said. There are many variations of the fork which all relate back to the same move, she said.

When it comes time to compete, Wang is not overly aggressive on the chess board compared to many of her opponents, Jun said. “Her personality is easygoing, but she is mentally tough when facing challenges either on or off the board,” he said.

game. She likes meeting new people at tournaments and making new friends, she said. “I’m proud of where I am and I worked hard to be here so there’s no reason why I should regret anything.”

“When there is my opponent or just somebody that I meet in the hallway of the hotel, even if we don’t speak the same language, we can exchange souvenirs from our country, and I still have contact with a lot of players,” Wang said.

Wang began playing chess at six years old. Her parents noticed that she had a sharp memory and strong problem solving skills. “I didn’t really enjoy [chess] that much [then],” she said. However, her parents had faith in her potential, she said.

Wang always plays chess with her father. He is familiar with strategy-focused board games, as he played the strategy-based board game, Go, before playing chess with Wang when she first started.

He wanted his daughter to play a game that was more popular and widely played by people

since she was seven or eight years old, she said. “I would do a couple hours a day,” she said. “Obviously, when I came into middle school, the training cut back because school is always the number one priority.”

Recently, Wang succeeded in international tournaments, she said. In 2017, Wang won gold at the North American youth chess championships, bronze at the Pan American Games, and bronze at the World Chess Championships.

Although Wang was 10 years old at the time, she and her family decided that she would compete in the 14 and under age group at the North American youth chess championships, she said. “It’s more of a challenge, and it also was just a good experience for me to play against older players,” she said.

Wang also has a few role models in the chess world, she said.

She looks up to Magnus Carlsen, a Norweigan chess grandmaster who is also the world chess champion. Wang

that they started inspiring, she said.

Along with playing chess, Wang recently watched the Queen’s Gambit, a mini-series about chess prodigy Beth Harmon who becomes the greatest chess player in the world. In the series, Beth Harmon rises to the top and becomes chess Grandmaster, a title that Wang someday hopes to achieve. Wang also found Harmon’s personal growth to be inspiring, she said.

Even though Wang is very talented at chess, she and her family do not see the sport as a career for her, Jun said. “Her focus is, of course, school work first.” However, she will keep improving her chess skills and competing in both elite national and international tournaments, Jun said.

Vivian Coraci/Staff Artist

HMTC performs devised production “Connecting...”

Cecilia Coughlin and Audrey Moussazadeh Contributing Writers On Thursday, the Horace Mann Theatre Company (HMTC) presented a live performance over Zoom called “Connecting…” which illustrated the struggles of Zoom by telling the story of four friends who come together to connect after a difficult day of HM Online 2.0.

The show covered how to connect with one’s peers, discover relationships while virtual, and learn to be close over Zoom and online school, Co-President of the HMTC Sarah Taub (11) said.

“Technology brings us apart and brings us together in a million different ways,” Assistant Director Stella Shah (11) said. “It’s really confusing navigating that world right now.”

“Connecting…” follows the day of four main characters at a school similar to

Horace Mann. The scene opens with the four students attending an online Dance P.E. class together. As the day progresses, the audience sees snippets of their days: the freshman attends a grade meeting for new students, the sophomore talks with friends in a breakout room, the junior receives a C on an assignment and meets with their teacher, and the senior meets with a college counselor, theatre teacher Haila VanHentenryck said.

Although each of the students are at different stages in their high school careers, they all experience difficulties throughout their days on Zoom. By the end of the play, a Zoom call allows the four kids to comfort each other. “By connecting with each other, the characters feel better about themselves,” Hecht said.

The creative process behind the production was evenly distributed throughout the cast, VanHentenryck said. The 10 actors worked together to write a script from start to finish in only 10 rehearsals, she said.

“I always say that devising a piece is an

Courtesy of Emily Sun

FINAL REHEARSALThe cast prepared for Thursday’s performance.

inherently democratic way to make theatre because there are no main roles or traditional casting.” Working together ensured that no one had a more powerful voice in the process than another, she said.

However, since everyone had their own creative input, at times it seemed they would never finish writing the show, Shah said.

VanHentenryck, along with Shah, decided on the direction of the play. They wanted to focus on connection and empathy, since it is easy to be disconnected from others while online, she said. To create a baseline for the show, VanHentenryck and Shah planned activities, such as the cast members interviewing one another about their online experiences, in order to guide the actors into the direction of the show, VanHentenryck said.

To prepare, small groups of two to three students each worked on a particular character.

Athena Spencer (10) belonged to the group that helped develop the character of the freshman in the show. “We wanted to make sure the voices of our protagonists were constant throughout the play,” Abigail Morse (12) said.

Each group wrote two scenes for their character, said Divya Ponda (10), who worked with Bailey Hecht (10) on a sophomore character.

“We would talk about how to really show the characters even though we were stuck on Zoom,” Morse said. The group decided to intensify reactions, play with video filters, and make their own props and backgrounds for character development, she said.

Along with the four characters, the show also portrayed Zoom stereotypes that many of us have become familiar with this year.

“You will see all the classic Zoom things: the student who is always eating, the student that’s

wearing a hoodie, the student where all you can see is their forehead, the student that isn’t paying attention, or the student that’s filming a TikTok,” VanHentenryck said. Non-student Zoomers also played a part in the production, taking on the roles of parents and teachers with even a cat or two in the background.

The preparation for this online production was different from their last devised show in October, Twas the Night Before Halloween.

This production was devised 100% on Zoom, and the rehearsals were also all virtual. “We wanted to acknowledge [Zoom’s flaws] and make it about Zoom,” Vanhentryck said. “If there are tech issues on Thursday, then tech issues will happen. If people get frozen, then people get frozen.”

Rehearsals via zoom have also had some benefits, Ponda said. “It’s been easier to balance schoolwork with the show in comparison to previous years as there is more time while online,” she said.

Online preparation had other effects on the cast. “One of the easiest parts was that the way Zoom highlights one person talking at a time,” VanHentenryck said. If we had rehearsed in person, the cast might have tended to talk over one another, but Zoom has helped them to fully listen to everyone’s ideas, she said.

“The show is about Zoomers, by Zoomers,” theatre teacher Jonathan Nye said.

Although Zoom has presented a different stage for the actors, it still allows them to have fun and bring people together, particularly in a year as unpredictable as 2020, he said.

“Theatre gives us a great opportunity to get closer as a Horace Mann community, bring laughter and happiness into a tough year, and bring light into people’s days,” Taub said.

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HORACE MANN ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT DECEMBER 18TH, 2020

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Neeva Patel Contributing Writer

Once he discovers he is human, Buddy the Elf leaves his home at the North Pole and travels to New York in hopes of finding his real family. However, after being raised by Santa Claus and elves his whole life, Buddy faces some modern difficulties while navigating his way around the unfamiliar Big Apple.

“Elf,” starring Will Ferrel, is a comedic classic I find myself watching every time the holidays roll around. This film perfectly captures the charm of New York City around Christmas time. To non-New Yorkers, the experience comes across as magical, and although many of us HM students are used to the New York area during the holidays, it still delivers that sense of enchantment we crave when we put on festive movies. Additionally, Buddy’s obliviousness to the systems and unwritten rules that govern the city serves all audiences just the right amount of witty humor. Even though most of us do not believe in the mythic Santa Claus, this movie reminds viewers that faith in tradition drives our holiday spirit and cheer. At times, however, the screen time of other characters is sacrificed to maintain appearances of Buddy and the abundant humor tends to overshadow the main plot.

Nonetheless, the relaxed storyline and focus on Buddy’s absurdity makes this film perfect for the holiday season— a time when you just want to snuggle on the couch while it’s snowing outside and watch a ridiculous, spirited movie.

Although it’s baffling how thoroughly confused Buddy is by the city, it’s impossible for me to hate him; his confusion is what makes him so lovable and hilarious! Compared to characters like the Grinch or Charlie Brown, Buddy is my favorite by a long shot, although Kevin McAllister has my heart. I highly recommend watching “Elf ” over the winter break—whether you are staying at home or traveling—and if it’s not already your top holiday film, it is a great one to add to your list!

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Each year when school is let out for winter break and Christmas lights are strung up around my house, I know it’s time to watch my favorite Christmas movie: “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” Despite enjoying holiday festivities, one of my other favorite activities is watching the story of someone who absolutely hates Christmas. While the Grinch begins as a cynical, cold-hearted villain who plans to steal the Christmas of the Who’s in Whoville, he soon has an epiphany about the true meaning of the holiday.

Before 2018, my family loved watching the 1998 Animated “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” which, even after countless viewings, has never failed to entertain me. In 2018, a remake of the Grinch was released, and that Christmas my entire family went to the theaters to watch it. This movie not only tells the original story of the Grinch, but is filled with details that enrich the plot, such as the backstory of the Grinch’s lonely Christmases in an orphanage during his childhood. The story is also brought to life through its soundtrack, with songs by Tyler the Creator, Nat “King” Cole, and many more. How the Grinch Stole Christmas is more than a movie I watch every holiday season: it is a display of the importance of understanding and forgiving those around you, making it a must-watch this winter break.

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Emma Colacino Staff Writer

reached the top 10 on The Billboard 200 chart every holiday season. The album features Bublé’s rendition of nineteen holiday classics, ranging from “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” to “Feliz Navidad.”

While numerous artists have created holiday albums, no one has replicated the success of Bublé’s.

What sets “Christmas” apart is Bublé’s beautiful voice — it has an indescribable texture, perfect for relaxing, joyous Holiday music. It is soft, smooth, and restrained and backed by crisp instrumentals and background vocals. He doesn’t attempt to flaunt his range and hijack the song. Instead, he lets his serene voice convey the music’s beautiful meaning.

Amid a year full of changes and uncertainties, it was reassuring to see my mother once again bring out the dusty CD player radio on December 1. Even if we can’t celebrate the holidays the way we normally do, Bublé’s album serves as a timeless reminder of my family’s holiday memories.

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Yesh Nikam News Editor

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PICKS "

Of the many Christmas movies available to us during the holiday season, “Home Alone” is a popular comedy that never fails to entertain. For those who haven’t watched this movie, it chronicles the story of a kid who is forgotten by his family and left at home over Christmas. Kevin McCallister, the main character, is an eight year-old boy planning to travel to Paris with his entire family, including cousins, aunts, and uncles, for Christmas. The night before their departure, Kevin misbehaves after his family members irritate him. Kevin is forced to sleep in the attic as punishment, which is when it all goes downhill. The next morning, the family is running late and in all the chaos, nobody remembers to wake Kevin before they leave. Kevin has been left home alone. Staying home alone is Kevin’s dream, and he initially enjoys this freedom. Soon, however, he discovers that two robbers are planning to break into his house. Realizing that he is the only one who can protect his territory, Kevin sets up various traps. The movie ends happily as the burglars are caught and Kevin’s family returns just in time for Christmas celebrations.

“Home Alone” is one of my favorite movies because of its seemingly unrealistic aspects. On top of that, the audience is able to see how Kevin sets up the innovative traps and the blueprints he uses to do so. The movie is comedic, especially because an eight year-old is able to outsmart two burglars while only using homemade traps. However, while any kid Kevin’s age would likely be afraid to be left at home for so long, Kevin celebrates his independence. Moreover, in reality, an eight year-old would probably knock on a neighbor’s door or go to the police if left in such a situation; Kevin, on the other hand, takes a trip to the grocery store and cooks for himself. Although “Home Alone” may be unrealistic, that is part of what makes it so humorous and what earns it the title of a holiday classic. After all, who would want to watch a movie in which nothing goes wrong?

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Lauren Kim / Art Director

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HOME ALONE Purvi Jonnalagadda Staff Writer

I am not Christian, nor has my family ever celebrated Christmas in a traditional manner. We have never put up a Christmas tree in our home, the thought of snow and sub-zero temperature repulses all of us, and since all of my family lives thousands of miles away, large gettogethers have never been possible.

To me, Christmas always just meant a nice two-week break from school.

However, my family has created one holiday tradition.

Every December, my mother would take out our old, dusty CD player buried in the closet and perch it atop the living room window-sill. For the next month, the 19 songs from Michael Bublé’s Christmas album, “Christmas,” fill our home. I return home to Bublé’s beautiful take on “Silent Night,” do my homework while listening to “Silver Bells,” and awake to “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.”

Bublé’s 2012 album “Christmas” has been a staple in holiday festivities for years. In its first year, “Christmas” sold over two million copies, making it the second most popular album of the year.

Since its release in 2012, the album has

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While I understand that romantic tragedy and reunion is the focus of these films, the film felt like yet another queer movie made to show a straight audience the struggles of coming out. I’m appreciative of the fact that a queer woman, Clara Duvall, wrote and directed the film and that it includes queer actors such as Kristen Stewart, Dan Levy, and Aubrey Plaza, but the movie lacks originality.

In the last few minutes of the film, the audience witnesses what I would characterize as queer joy, albeit queer joy that is representitive of a slim margin of the LGBTQ+ community; however this resolution fails to make up for the fact that the entire movie has capitalized on queer suffering. Why not focus on the better parts of the queer experience? It’s as if feels like Duvall took one of the most difficult parts of the queer experience, copy-pasted it into the typical movie format, and threw in a happy ending.

I understand that this movie is groundbreaking in its category, and for anyone that enjoys the traditional Christmas movie, this checks the boxes; however, it also falls short for the audience it was made for. The queer community and experience is not entirely white lesbians and coming out. I would hope that in the years to come, when this movie is no longer the only of its kind, writers and directors use the “Happiest Season” as a template for what they can do to improve.

MICHAEL BUBLÉ CHRISTMAS

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The movie “Happiest Season,” released in November of this year, offers a refreshing break from the typical heteronormative plot of Christmas rom-coms and Kristen Stewart movies.

The film plays on the typical themes of Christmas, as Harper’s wealthy family hosts and attends luxurious parties complete with mistletoe, wreaths, and jingly music. However, the movie also is less traditional in the sense that it follows girlfriends Harper and Harper Abby as the pair travels to visit Harper’s family for Christmas. It is revealed early in the movie that Abby plans to propose during the holiday, but when the two arrive it is clear that Harper has different expectations of what the trip will look like: she has not yet come out to her family or anyone in her hometown. Instead, Harper introduces Abby as her orphan friend who needs a place to stay. Soon after their arrival and Abby’s subsequent realization that her wedding proposal is off the menu, Harper explains that she hopes to come out to her family after Christmas, when her identity won’t impede upon her father’s mayoral campaign– the main agenda for all the grand gatherings.

Abby confides in her best friend John, who offers solace for the rest of the film.

While the movie offers comforting scenes of festivity, familial joy, and Christmas spirit, I found that my enjoyment of it was impeded by the lack of representation and stereotypical “coming out” narrative. I struggled to understand whether the film was made for a queer audience or the white, heterosexual individuals often represented in any other Christmas romance movie.

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Mia Calzolaio Staff Writer

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