Issue 5

The Record

Volume 119 Issue 5

record.horacemann.org

Horace Mann’s Weekly Newspaper Since 1903

October 15th, 2021

Ivy Preparatory League bans Hackley’s male field hockey player from league play Courtesy of Colin Ives

Ayesha Sen Staff Writer By a 7-1 vote held on September 27, the Ivy Preparatory League (IPL) ruled against allowing a male player on the Hackley School’s Varsity Field Hockey team to compete against the league’s allfemale field hockey teams.

Since field hockey is classified as a girl’s sport by the IPL, Colin Ives, a current senior at Hackley, and cocaptain of the Hackley field hockey team, was required to pass a physical fitness test before the start of each year’s season. Ives passed the test this year, as he had in the past. However, this season, the IPL received several complaints from IPL athletic directors, which prompted the board meeting.

The board, consisting of the eight Heads of School of Ivy Preparatory League, follows the Mixed Competition Rules set by New York State Education Department. The rules state when there is no boys or co-ed team available for a specific sport, boys can try out to join

“I have been playing for years, and I don’t think I’ve gotten more dangerous. Actually, I have gained greater control over my technique, which should make me less dangerous.”

- Colin Ives the girls’ team for that sport. According to the rules, each case is individually reviewed and approved by a panel consisting of the school’s physician, a physical education teacher appointed by the principal, and, potentially, a physician chosen by the student’s parents or guardians. The panel considers a variety of factors including medical health, maturity, fitness, and the individual’s skill in comparison to other members of the team.

According to the section on Mixed Competition in New York State Education website, “When the physical abilities of the individual are deemed by the panel to be short of or exceed the physical abilities of other team members, thereby creating a hazardous condition or unfair advantage for that student or other members of the team, denial of participation would be appropriate.”

Though Ives was initially approved to play, the IPL concluded in their

vote at the September meeting that his physical abilities exceeded his teammates and was therefore potentially creating safety concerns for other players. In 26 years of co-ed play, this was only the second challenge to the Mixed Competition Rule.

Hackley appealed the ruling, resulting in a second IPL meeting earlier this month, in which administrators once again voted 7-1 against allowing Ives to play. In both votes, Hackley was the only school to disagree with the choice to ban Ives from interleague play.

The school’s Girls Varsity Field Hockey team played Hackley’s Field Hockey team on Wednesday, September 29, but due to the IPL’s decision, Hackley played without Ives.

Even so, Hackley defeated Horace Mann 7 to 1.

While Ives will not be allowed to play against schools that are part of the IPL, he will still be allowed to play against schools outside of the league, Hackley VFH member Destiny Stephen said.

According to the Hackley school website, Ives is the leading scorer on their Varsity Field Hockey team. Ives plays in a variety of positions, including offensive, defensive, and midfield roles.

This season, Ives has scored 19 points; over his entire career, he has scored a total of 51 points.

Annunziata declined to comment on the IPL’s decision as the matter is an ongoing league issue. Kelly also declined to comment on the decision as he is currently the Executive Chair of the League.

Before the field hockey season started, Ives had heard about the complaints of athletic directors, he said.

However, he did not realize the severity of the situation until he learned he was no longer allowed to play against schools that are a part of the IPL. Ives found out that he was not permitted to play through his mother, Hackley’s field hockey coach, who learned of the decision after the IPL’s meeting, he said. “I didn’t even know that this meeting was happening or that there was a vote taking place,” Ives said.

“I got to know really out of the blue, so I couldn’t even state my case because the decision was already made.”

After Ives found out about the IPL’s decision, he wrote an email to the League’s heads, expressing his unhappiness with the decision and requesting more information about the circumstances of the vote, he said.

However, he did not receive a response.

“Obviously [the IPL heads] are very busy people, but I think that if I had gotten a response back from any one of them, I could’ve understood the decision more,” he said. “As of now, it’s still a mystery to me.”

The IPL’s decision gained greater attention through social media when Stephen uploaded a statement to her Instagram account @destiny.steph, Jiwan Kim (9) said. Stephen condemned the IPL’s decision and firmly voiced her support of Ives on behalf of the team.

In her post, Stephen criticized the decision as hypocritical, calling out the schools in the IPL for failing to follow through on their promise to uphold diversity and prevent discrimination.

“In addition to stating our stance, [the Hackley Varsity Field Hockey team] wants to say that we stand in support of Colin, and against the decision that was made by the league,” Stephen wrote.

“The results of the vote taken by the heads of school is an example of blatant discrimination based on sex.”

Members of the school’s VFH team learned about the decision through Stephen’s Instagram post, Kim said.

Led by its upperclassmen, the team then requested information about the situation from Physical Education Teacher and coach Caroline Surhoff, Kim said. As a result, Kelly decided that it would be best to explain the situation to the students directly, she said.

Kelly, Director of Athletics Robert Annunziata, and Head of the Upper Division Dr. Jessica Levenstein addressed the decision the following day at a meeting with the school’s Upper Division VFH team. The administration scheduled the meeting to prepare the school’s VFH team for their upcoming match with Hackley, since it was Hackley’s first game since the vote, Levenstein said.

“While many of the students on the team were already aware of the situation, the meeting gave them the chance to hear directly from Dr. Kelly and Mr. Annunziata about what the circumstances were for Horace Mann’s vote in that process,” Levenstein said.

“There was a concern that the [Hackley] players would be understandably upset or frustrated during the game, and we wanted to make sure that the girls representing Horace Mann had full information and felt the support of the school.”

Though Ives has played against Horace Mann before, the issue was repeatedly raised by IPL Athletic Directors more recently. “From what we were told, this was a problem from the beginning, and wasn’t addressed until now,” Alessandra Agopian (9) said.

Ives is unsure why his place on Hackley’s field hockey team just became a problem, he said. “I don’t want to speak for the people that made their decisions, but I have been playing for years, and I don’t think I’ve gotten more dangerous,” he said. “Actually, I

BEFORE THE BAN Hackley’s Colin Ives in action. have gained greater control over my technique, which should make me less dangerous.”

Agopian is confused by the IPL’s decision since this is Ives’ last opportunity to play, she said. “While I respect their decision, and it’s understandable that the Ivy League board has to consider all factors, I feel that since he’s been playing for the past three years, he should be able to continue.”

Ives has not played in a match against a school that is part of the IPL since 2019, he said. While Ives played matches against schools outside of the IPL this season, before the IPL vote, he had not yet received any cards or fouls this year, he said.

“Because of COVID and now this, I haven’t been able to play an Ivy League game since I was a sophomore,” he said. “The fact that no one [from the IPL] has seen me play in years makes me wonder what this decision was really based on. I don’t know if it was genuinely a safety worry, or if they just had a problem because I am a boy.”

While Kim disagrees with the board’s decision, she believes that their conclusion was not made with the intent to discriminate, she said.

“I definitely get that field hockey can be a dangerous sport, especially when players get aggressive, so to some extent, I do see where the decision came from,” Kim said. “But that being said, it definitely feels wrong, and I think that [Ives] should have been allowed to play.”

Ives believes that the IPL’s justification is invalid, as he has played with girls who hit the ball just as strongly as he does and with others who have an even harder hit, he said. “The argument that I’m too strong or am a safety hazard just doesn’t make sense,” he said. “What about the girls who are stronger than me or have more fouls than me?”

Ives also believes that the vote is disrespectful to the girls he plays against, he said. “If you ask me, it’s

sending an opinion or a message to the girls that I have to play against that they’re not strong enough to handle me, or that they’re too weak, which is absolutely not true,” he said.

Kim thinks that the bias in the situation is especially evident in comparison to the female athletes playing in male-dominated sports, such as football, she said. “When a girl plays football, a lot of people see it as being cool, like it’s woman empowerment,” she said. “But with a boy, like in this case, for some reason it’s weird to the world, which makes me wonder if this is really a matter of bias.”

Additionally, unlike sports such as football, field hockey is not a contact sport, which added to Kim’s confusion, she said. “For one girl to be tackled by several boys seems more dangerous than for one boy to try to hit a ball,” Kim said.

When Stephen found out about the IPL’s decision, she was shocked. “It’s our senior year and Colin won’t get a proper season, which is crazy because he’s been on the team since freshman year, but because of COVID and now this, his high school field hockey experience has not been fair,” she said.

Stephen and other members of Hackley’s field hockey team have made efforts to protest the vote, she said.

“We’ve been wearing caution tape as headbands to our games since [the board] called Colin a ‘hazard,’” she said.

“And a lot of people who come to watch our games bring signs or posters to support Colin.”

However, Ives is grateful for the support he has received from others, he said. “A lot of the students at my school, especially my teammates, my coaches, my teachers, and even students from other schools have all told me that they’re standing behind me,” he said.

“Even though there’s not much I can do to change this decision, I think at the end of the day, I and my team are stronger and closer from this situation.”

School holds Homecoming in person for first time in two years Vidhatrie Keetha and Allison Markman Staff Writers “To me, Homecoming is HM at its heart,” Clementine Bondor (11) said. “The joy and enthusiasm that can be found there each year are difficult to find in such high concentration at any other time.”

The school held Homecoming in-person last Saturday with COVID-19 protocols in place.

Guests entered campus through checkpoints, where they were required to show proof that they were fully vaccinated. For those who could not show proof of vaccination, the school provided onsite rapid testing kits prepared, Director of Alumni

Relations Kristin Lax said. Children under the age of 12 were not allowed to attend the event, with the exception of student-athletes’ younger siblings, Lax said.

During the event, students attended sports games and participated in a variety of activities in the Homecoming tent, such as ping pong, a photobooth, and arcade games. For those who could not make it in person, sports events were streamed live over Zoom, and alumni panels were featured on the Homecoming website alongside student-led forums.

Alumni were not able to attend the event, with the exception of college-aged alumni, Director of Development Melissa Parento said. Older alumni were not allowed in order to protect the health of students, especially with the rise in Delta variant

cases, she said.

“When you look at who’s been on the fields and attending Homecoming for the last 20 years, there’s no comparison in terms of the number of students and parents that come versus the number of alumni that come back,” Parento said.

“Going into Homecoming, we felt like it was really important to try and protect that opportunity for the current students.”

For Parento, Homecoming is not solely an event for alumni. “While it definitely is an opportunity for alumni to come back to campus and see teachers, and people certainly do every year, Homecoming at Horace Mann has really evolved over generations for something that’s like a flagship event for the high school students,” she said.

Although older alumni could not attend

Homecoming, the fact that college-aged alumni were allowed on campus was meaningful, Lax said.

“One of the soccer players from the Class of 2021 came through our checkpoint, and exclaimed, ‘Watch! I’m gonna walk over to the soccer team, and they’re all gonna hug me and be so happy to see me,’ and that’s exactly what happened,” she said.

Dean of Students Michael Dalo appreciated seeing the alumni who were allowed to attend, he said. “It was really a nice moment to see some of the alums who did come back, who haven’t been able to be on campus for so long,” he said. “We had some alums from [the Class of 2020] who haven’t been here since school shut down.”

Usually, Upper Division Library Department see Homecoming on pg. 3

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THE RECORD OPINIONS OCTOBER 15TH, 2021

Line 3 pipeline and the climate crisis: Change requires an anticolonial worldview

Emily Sun Manoomin wild rice, meaning “food that grows on water” in the Ojibwe language, sways over the Great Lakes. Their green stalks and blushed kernels rustle with the wind, parting for canoes that weave through them during the fall harvest. Manoomin is a sacred crop for the Anishinaabe people who reside near the lakes and rely on it for cultural ceremonies and sustenance. As Fred Ackley Jr. of the Sokaogon Chippewa Community said, “When I touch the cedar sticks on that rice and it comes off, I know that life’s going to go on for another year.”

The Line 3 pipeline, which began to operate on October 1, threatens the manoomin and the Anishinaabe’s

traditions. It carries 760,000 barrels of oil every day from Alberta in western Canada to Wisconsin, putting 800 wetlands and 200 bodies of water at risk of oil spills and exacerbating the climate crisis. This week, hundreds of Indigenous activists marched in Washington D.C. at “People vs. Fossil Fuel” protests to demand that Biden withdraw approval for fossil fuel projects and halt oil flow in Line 3 until the federal government conducts a full environmental review.

Line 3 was built in the 1960s by energy infrastructure company Enbridge and underwent a restoration in 2014 to double its capacity and lengthen it to 1,097 miles. From its initial installment, the pipeline faced strong resistance from climate activists and Indigenous groups because it violates tribal treaties, damages surrounding ecosystems, and emits 193 million tons of CO2 emissions per year, the equivalent of 50 coal-fired power plants. However, the Biden administration ignored calls to halt construction and Enbridge completed the project this month.

I heard about Line 3 earlier this year from Heated, a climate newsletter by journalist Emily Atkin. Aside from that and local newspapers, the pipeline has gained little media coverage, especially in mainstream sources. My

initial response was to keep scrolling.

News of climate destruction often feels hopeless and unrelenting, and the economic privilege to not experience the brunt of natural disasters allows me, and much of this school, to disengage. A framework based on an anticolonial view of the planet could help us break out of this cycle of guilt, anxiety, and apathy so that we can engage in the fight against Line 3.

Simone Senogles of the Red Lake Nation in Minnesota conceptualizes the fight against Line 3 as a struggle between Indigenous and colonial ideologies.

“Those worldviews cannot exist together. The Earth is paying the price and so are we,” she said. After we celebrated Indigenous People’s Day on Monday, the Line 3 pipeline predicament tests our true commitment to recognizing our country’s settler-colonist past and charting a livable future free of fossil fuels. The first step is to recognize that the human and nonhuman worlds are inseparable.

Most of us have grown up in urban spaces, where our interactions with nature are sparse and separate from our daily lives. We can “enter” nature if we visit a park or go up to Dorr, but we don’t see ourselves as part of it; it is a backdrop to the central narrative of human industrialization and progress.

That disconnect is one reason why we have allowed the climate crisis to progress so far. How can we feel alarmed about mass species extinction, deforestation, or tar sands spills from Line 3 if they are far off and isolated, rather than seismic disruptions in a system that we share?

Not only do we frame nature as separate from people, but also as a resource for us to extract and profit from — a viewpoint that arises out of capitalism and colonialism.

Since the Industrial Revolution and imperialism, Europeans have framed the nonhuman world, a category that included POC, particularly Black and Indigenous people, as conquests.

This exploitative school of thought contrasts the Anishinaabe and Senogle, who said, “we consider water not as a resource, not something to be bought or sold, but a living, thinking, sentient relative and the portal through which everything comes to life.”

Instead of a linear and narrowsighted pursuit of “growth” with little regard for its long-term environmental consequences, confronting climate change requires us to consider how our actions ripple into the world, then back to us. That doesn’t just refer to how we destroy nature, but also how we can steward it. Human existence

does not require us to devastate our surroundings, and Indigenous practices like the manoomin harvest are proof of that. “We need to learn to be relationship-based in our way of thinking,” Joye Braun of the Indigenous Environmental Network said in an interview for Heated. “We need to quit thinking in a straight line, and start thinking more in a circle.”

Entrenched in an anthropocentric society, it can be hard to appreciate the spiritual and cultural importance of nature for many Indigenous groups. Even while I researched the manoomin’s significance to the Anishinabe, I caught myself asking, “it’s just rice, how can it be that special?”

I was able to appreciate its gravitas after I watched a video on theways. org, a site that hosts a collection of videos produced by native tribal groups in the Great Lakes, where Line 3 cuts through. I encourage you to do the same: challenge your internalized prejudices by seeking out Indigenous people’s stories and listening to them.

If we want to face the climate crisis, we need to shift how we see the natural world in relation to humans, from a disjointed and extractive view to one that is based on interconnection and Indigenous knowledge. Only then can we sustain the long fight for the future of this planet.

Social media and me: Holding companies accountable

Erica Jiang “Your phone is eating your brain alive.”

We have all probably heard this comment at least once in our lives. From Instagram to TikTok to Facebook, there are a myriad of issues stemming from the social media platforms on our phones. I often catch myself scrolling mindlessly through my feed, spending hours caught up in the algorithms and sacrificing my mental wellbeing for short-term entertainment.

Social media can and has been used to perpetuate divisive rhetoric and harm younger users, as detailed by the Wall Street Journal in the recent document leak, the “Facebook Files.” On Sunday, October 3, Frances Haugen came out as the primary source for the files in an episode of 60-Minutes

and later testified in front of the Senate on October 5. As a former product manager at the company, she claimed that Facebook’s leadership repeatedly prioritized profit over the safety of their users.

Before she left the company last May, Haugen gathered internal reports and research in order to demonstrate that Facebook willfully chose not to fix the problems presented on its platform. During her testimony, Haugen emphasized the idea that Facebook’s engagementbased ranking algorithm provokes the spread of misinformation, hate speech, and even ethnic violence. Many individuals who oppose the influence of Facebook and Instagram, typically focus on its content and censorship policy. However, Haugen blamed the malignancy of social media platforms on the algorithm and platform design, as they tend to favor outrageous content which sparks debate and conflict.

Additionally, the files revealed that Instagram is worsening mental health among teenage girls. Haugen connected this phenomenon to engagement-based ranking systems as well, and told the Senate that it “is causing teenagers to be exposed to more anorexia content.”

Growing up in an increasingly technological world, I developed strong, false perceptions of my own body and wondered why my life didn’t look like the ones portrayed online. Throughout

Volume 119 Editorial Board Editor in Chief Hanna Hornfeld

Managing Editor Liliana Greyf

Features Mia Calzolaio Emma Colacino

News Claire Goldberg Katya Tolunsky

Opinions Devin Allard-Neptune Yin Fei

A&E Purvi Jonnalagadda Arushi Talwar

Middle Division Jade Ciriello

Lions’ Den Lauren Ho

Art Directors Vivian Coraci Lauren Kim Riva Vig

Design Editors Avani Khorana Myra Malik Arin Rosen

Photography Daniel Schlumberger Ailill Walsh

Online Editor Lucas Glickman

Head of Design AJ Walker

Faculty Adviser David Berenson

my early childhood life, I never really thought about how my body looked, what I was wearing, or how my Asian features contrasted those of my predominantly white peers.

But that was at a time when the only media I consumed was watching male soccer players on the pitch.

After expanding to social media platforms such as Instagram and YouTube, I began to watch as slim, white girls presented clothing hauls, went to the beach, or attended galas in tight corsets. It became ingrained in my mind that a girl should always have a flat stomach and a thigh gap, or she wasn’t taking care of herself.

I constantly kept an eye out for a promising new workout or diet and constantly found myself even more unsatisfied after I completed one.

“If they can look like that after this regimen, why can’t I?” My body was not the only aspect of me I compared to images I saw online: I also envied their lifestyles. I glamourized the lives of YouTubers and Instagram influencers, forgetting that what they show online is merely a highlight reel of their life. I thought it was normal to never have bad days or to never experience troubles in school or at home. I developed a habit of living vicariously through their experiences and in thinking that mine weren’t exciting enough.

Once again, I wondered why I was so dissimilar to them and why I couldn’t just fit in.

Although it can be hard to let go

of these notions of dissatisfaction, it is critical that, as social media users, we do not fade into the world of social media. We must constantly distinguish between the often false perceptions of life portrayed in the media and the reality of our world.

If a post triggers negative thoughts, it is best to scroll on to the next post or put down your phone.

While a solution to this addictive behavior could simply be turning on Do Not Disturb, larger media companies such as Facebook should also be held accountable for protecting their users and putting morals over profit. As we spiral into a technological age, it is as crucial as ever for platforms to take it upon themselves to create healthy environments.

Companies need to shift away from general engagement-based ranking algorithms to chronological feeds or more specific algorithms that track user’s interactions with certain posts. It would be better to promote posts tailored to what the user has liked or saved, rather than posts that all the users on the platform find most provoking. In the meantime, as users, though we are not able to fully disassociate from social media, we should always keep in mind the negative effects of it as we engage, remembering to put our own wellbeing over the false images we see in the media.

Staff

Staff Writers Rachel Baez, Audrey Carbonell, Max Chasin, Jiya Chaterjee, Cecilia Coughlin, Owen Heidings, Hannah Katzke, Vidhatrie Keetha, Celine Kiriscioglu, Zachary Kurtz, Alex Lautin, Jillian Lee, Sean Lee, Allison Markman, Audrey Moussazadeh, Divya Ponda, Clio Rao, Emily Salzhauer, Ayesha Sen, Aden Soroca, Emily Sun, Madison Xu, Alexandra Yao Staff Photographers Sophie Gordon, Amanda Wein, Emma Colacino, AJ Walker, Lucas Glickman, Lauren Ho, Sean Lee Staff Artists Tatum Behrens, Felix Brenner, Kayla Choi, Amira Dossani, Ishaan Iyengar, Isabelle Kim, Dylan Leftt, Sophia Liu, Samuel Stern, Sammy Underberg, Aimee Yang

CC Corner with Mally and Nornberg Welcome to CC corner! We look forward to providing the UD with updates throughout the year on the work we do in community council meetings, as a form of communication between the CC and the student body.

During our first full group meeting, the Community Council established this year’s committees and each committee’s goal.

Our ongoing committees are those with regular events or meetings throughout the year: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, Cafeteria Committee, Assembly Committee, and Career Lecture Series Committee.

Our initiative-based committees are temporary groups formed throughout the year surrounding specific goals: Mental Health Forum, Spikeball Competition, Water Bottle Initiative, and Thanksgiving drive.

We hope you are as excited as we are to see all the work that these committees will do in the coming weeks. Reach out to your grade representatives with any questions or ideas!

CC love, Maya and Rowan

Editorial Policy

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

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3

THE RECORD NEWS OCTOBER 15TH, 2021

from Homecoming on page 1

LION PRIDE Students rave over Spirit Squad at halftime.

Chair Caroline Bartels enjoys reuniting with her former advisees and other alumni during Homecoming. However, because the event took place during a long weekend, she chose not to attend this year, she said. “[Homecoming] pits my desire to actually have a three day weekend and go away with friends against wanting to see students,” she said. “I think it really is a hard call for a lot of faculty here. They need a break right now.”

A highlight of the event for Ellie Romero (9) was watching the football game with her friends, she said. “They got so into it, and it was very funny watching the football team cheer so loudly,” she said.

Although attendee numbers were limited, Alexa Schwartz (11) felt the atmosphere of Homecoming was fun, she said.

Schwartz attended the event to support her peers, she said. “I love attending school wide

events with all of the spirit,” she said. “I love seeing everyone decked out in their HM clothes.”

Dalia Pustilnik (12) attended Homecoming to support her friends, who participated in various sports, she said. “All my friends who are on teams got to play at Homecoming, so that was super fun.”

Jack Bleichmar (11) is grateful for the school’s faculty, who made it possible to hold Homecoming in-person during a pandemic. “Though we had to wear masks, the event as a whole felt pretty similar to past years, the energy was definitely the same,” he said.

Bleichmar enjoyed spending time in the Homecoming tent, playing ping pong, and watching the football and soccer games, he said.

Because parents have not been able to come to campus during the pandemic, Cathy Trentalancia P ‘23 was particularly excited to attend Homecoming in person. “I wanted the

opportunity to be back on campus to celebrate and cheer on the incredible HM spirit that has been so incredibly resilient during these challenging times. It was very moving to see so many happy faces.”

Jelle Westra P ‘23 was excited to support his daughter, who is on the Field Hockey team.

After a year and half without larger gatherings, attending Homecoming made Westra feel like life was slowly returning to normal, he said.

For Bondor, in-person Homecoming marked a transition into normalcy. “We still have dividers in the cafeteria, but entire families were walking around campus with plates of burgers,” she said.

“The change was welcome. I can only hope that the success of Saturday can serve as a reminder of how far we’ve come since the start of the pandemic, and hopefully signify a new chapter in HM life.”

Capó and Sueyoshi discuss intersectionality in year’s first history speaker series Audrey Moussazadeh Staff Writer

people of color, but they brought to light a lot of pieces of history that are important but had been hidden from the general public,” he said.

The speakers discussed the importance of using investigative historical methods, specifically cultural and literary sources, DeMaio said. “Queer history is often seen as ‘erased’ or ‘invisible’ in historical reference,” she said. This is partially

term. “The term ‘queer’ helps question the norms and it is important that we looked at that and learned from their discussion,” Historians Dr. Julio Capó Jr. and Dr. DeMaio said.

Amy Sueyoshi discussed the role of Khorona enjoyed moderating the intersectionality in relation to queer speaker series installment because it was history in the first installment of this a good way to practice public speaking in year’s Upper Division (UD) speaker an engaging environment while making series, Intersectionality: Exploring Race, connections with prestigious people, she Ethnicity, and Sexuality, on Wednesday said. This month’s topic was of particular night. Mia Calzolaio (12), Avani Khorana interest to Khorona because queer history (11), and history teachers Dr. Alicia is not covered much in her classes, she DeMaio and Dr. Daniel Link moderated said. the event.

The installment resulted from a Capó is a transnational historian whose collective department effort, Straus research focuses on the intersection of said. “While I am the point person, it’s immigration, race, gender, and sexual really a collaborative piece by the history orientation in the United States. Capó department,” she said. has published several books covering Straus, Link, and DeMaio all felt it was the histories of LGBTQ+ communities, important to reinstate the speaker series specifically how transnationalism affects because queer people may chose to hide for another year after all the positive queer history. Capó won the Charles their identities from the public eye, she feedback it received from students and the S. Sydnor Award from the Southern said. administration last year, Link said.

Historical Association for the best book “We, the history department, felt Capó and Sueyoshi also spoke about the written on Southern history, according to difficult process of finding queer sources it would be important to continue to the UD History speaker series website. He and archives “lost” throughout history. foster lots of thoughtful and meaningful currently works as an associate professor Loren Pretsfelder (11) was particularly conversations in class this year the way in the Department of History at the shocked to hear about the difficulties of it previously has,” Straus said. “It is Florida International University. finding these pieces and archives, she important for the community to continue Sueyoshi is the Dean of the College said. “I had never really considered how these discussions, and it is an important of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State hard it could be to find resources on part of what we as historians can offer to University. Their research centers around queer people throughout history,” she the school.” the intersection of Asian-American and said. “I hadn’t even considered the role of Though this year’s overarching theme queer identities. Sueyoshi writes about the criminalization archives, or thought about is still race and ethnicity, the history relationship between sexuality and socio- how big of a role they play.” department realized that the best way to cultural norms. In addition to publishing History teacher Dr. Emily Straus approach the series is to broaden the lens in several academic journals, Sueyoshi appreciated Capó and Sueyoshi’s to a more intersectional approach, Link is involved in grassroots activism and discussion on how historians conduct said. Capó and Sueyoshi emphasized museum work, according to the speaker their research, she said. “[It] highlighted the importance of considering series website. when considering the complex process of finding the intersectionality Link was most struck by the voices of people whose voices have been history, Link said. “There is no history groundbreaking nature of the speakers’ marginalized,” she said. without intersectionality,” Sueyoshi said. research, he said. “So little work has been DeMaio hopes students learned from Capó and Sueyoshi also discussed the done up until recently about LGBTQ+ use of the word “queer” as an expansive the speakers that history is not just a Courtesy of Speaker Series website collection of facts, but rather something that needs to be interpreted, puzzled out, and put together into a cohesive narrative, she said.

Link hopes students retain a greater appreciation for the challenges of uncovering the voices of people who were marginalized historically, as well as the importance of doing so. “These people are a part of American history, and their contributions need to be studied and understood,” he said.

HISTORY THROUGH THE LENS The intersection between queerness, race, and immigration.

“There is no history without intersectionality.”

- Dr. Amy Sueyoshi

Homecoming was also a social experience for attendees. Amanda Salzhauer P ‘23, ‘20, ‘18 enjoyed reuniting with students, faculty, and staff whom she had not seen since before the pandemic, she said.

While others saw Homecoming as a return to normalcy, Salzhauer still felt the effects of the pandemic. “The presence of masks, which is somewhat normalized at this point, and the fact that attendance was limited for safety were definitely reminders of the impact of COVID,” she said.

Though COVID-19 precautions affected aspects of Homecoming, Trentalancia had a positive experience. “Everything felt exceptional,” she said. “There is so much effort that goes into these events, and I think everyone really appreciated that more than ever this year. I’m so happy I was there to experience the excitement.”

Editorial IPL should solicit outside voices

While The Record is committed to providing information about the recent controversy surrounding the Ivy Preparatory League’s (IPL) decision to ban Hackley senior Colin Ives from Field Hockey league play, our Editorial Board cannot come to a consensus about whether we agree with the schools’ actions. However, we have come to the joint conclusion that it was a mistake to make this decision without soliciting the voices of those most affected by the decision - league field hockey players themselves.

The Editorial Board cannot — and will not — state our opinion on Ives’ eligibility to play on Hackley’s team. The students on our Board disagree about the ultimate verdict. We do not know what was said in the meeting between administrators and we do not have enough information about why they took such sudden action. In addition, we understand that this decision is not ours to make; we as editors of a newspaper are not personally impacted by the issue. The people who need the space to voice their opinions, pro or con, are varsity field hockey players in the IPL — and they were not given the ability to do so.

As an Editorial Board, we agree on this: the students who played with and against Ives should have had more influence on the decision regarding his playing. Student athletes — including Ives — were not contacted about or notified of the IPL’s decision until after it was made. According to his interview with The Record, Ives emailed the IPL after learning of their decision and received no response.

At Horace Mann, field hockey players found out about the issue only after seeing Destiny Stephen’s Instagram post and subsequently voicing concerns with their coach. It is unfortunate that students were not even made aware of the conclusion by the adults who came to it.

We do not know if the administrators’ ultimate decision was the right one, but we believe that the process through which they came to that decision was undemocratic and ultimately unjust. We urge the IPL to reevaluate their decision — not necessarily to change its conclusion, but to take student and parent input into account when sorting through evidence. Players should feel comfortable voicing their concerns, and families who are impacted by the IPL’s decisions should be part of the league’s consideration.

4

THE RECORD FEATURES OCTOBER 15TH, 2021

Independent Study presentations begin

Functions and syntax trees: Acharjee unites math and linguistics Simon Shackner Staff Writer Dylan Acharjee (12) conducted their first Independent Study Project (ISP) presentation this Thursday on the intersections between math and linguistics and how their commonalities are used as foundations for our world.

Linguistics, which is the study of language and its structure, uses mathematics as its logic, Acharjee said. The logic behind math functions and the format in which they are written is quite similar to the grammatical structure of common global languages, they said.

Their presentation was on syntax, the structure that is used to make comprehensible sentences. “It turns out that syntax is quite a mathematical topic,” they said. In their presentation, they explained and taught people how to make syntax trees, which display the bases of sentence structure.

Acharjee began the presentation by explaining the definition of a syntax tree and showing a diagram of how parts of a sentence, such as nouns and verbs, come together to create the whole.

Additionally, they taught the class about determiners, which are articles and possessive pronouns that refer to specific nouns. For the first half of the project, they explained in depth the basics of grammar, they said.

After that, Acharjee provided example sentences to their peers so they could practice creating syntax trees. “Syntax trees help us better understand how to make grammatically correct sentences,” they said. To close the presentation, they explained how syntax, and

the way that sentences are structured, relates to mathematical principles.

Thus far, Acharjee has enjoyed exploring this connection between the two fields, rather than studying them independently from one another, they said. “Although I could study linguistics and mathematics separately, if I can study how these fields intertwine and intersect, that would result in a much more intriguing topic for me to spend the year investigating.”

The ISP course offering was the perfect opportunity for Acharjee to pursue their interests through a course at the school, they said. “The fact that I get to study math and linguistics at the same time and for an academic credit is just amazing.”

In preparation for the course, Acharjee participated in an online class about linguistics that was offered through Udemy, a site that allows instructors to build and offer courses based on their personal interests, they said. It taught them the basics of linguistics, a great starting point for their ISP research, Acharjee said.

Acharjee also took an online course on logic and mathematical reasoning through Brilliant, a non-for-profit website that offers STEM based courses and interactive lessons, they said. Aside from these programs, they have relied heavily on the school databases and Google searches to lay the foundations for the project. “This is still the very early stages of my project,” they said. “I am still doing a lot of surface level stuff at the moment.”

Acharjee ultimately hopes to create a new language with their knowledge of math and linguistics. However, the year-long project is not fully fleshed out yet. Every week, they meet

STUDYING SYNTAX Acharjee presents slide on parts of speech. with math teacher Brianne Gzik to discuss what they want to do in the following week.

“I like to set goals that are accomplishable and stay relevant to my topic,” Acharjee said. In the first few weeks, that meant researching the idea of syntax, which is the logic behind how sets of words are used and put together to form comprehensible statements, they said.

It has been difficult to maintain a schedule and stay on top of goals, especially without a definitive time table, they said. Vague tasks are challenging to follow through with, even if there is a certain end goal in mind. So, working with their mentor to make as strict of a schedule as possible has been a priority.

“If you give me a specific, detailed task, I will dive in and know what to do,” Acharjee said.

“I’ve been trying to make those for myself every week.”

Acharjee had been interested in mathematics and linguistics long before this project, they said. Their father is a mathematician, and they have been passionate about math from a very young age, they said. Since preschool, they studied math with their father outside of school and loved learning about math ahead of their grade level.

The linguistics side of the project was inspired by their mother, a native Bulgarian speaker. Acharjee, who wanted to learn the language, began to work with a tutor, and realized that they were fascinated with how the participles and grammar structures of Bulgarian compared to that of the English language. “It wasn’t about the end goal of knowing the language; it was about the process of getting there,” they said.

Highlighting disabled voices: Mavrides-Calderón investigates accessibility in education This Thursday, Isabel MavridesCalderón (11) conducted her first Independent Study Project (ISP) presentation on accessibility of education in U.S. public school systems before and after the pandemic. She hopes to focus on the issues that face disabled students, whose experiences are often under-represented, she said.

During the presentation, she discussed the first interview she conducted for her project — a conversation with a public school student who wished to remain anonymous and was given the name Taylor for the presentation, with whom she discussed their experience of remote learning before and after the pandemic.

According to the presentation, Taylor, a student of the San Diego Public School system, had received straight As in ninth grade, but was diagnosed with gastroparesis, a chronic stomach condition, in 10th grade. Throughout her time in the hospital, the school did not allow her

to join classes over Zoom, claiming that it would take away from other students’ education.

During the pandemic, Taylor was able to rejoin school via virtual learning, which was offered to everyone. However, since virtual learning is not an option this year and Taylor cannot risk her immune system, she was again left with no way to attend school.

Mavrides-Calderón wanted her presentation to make clear the flaws in the legal protections for disabled people. “There are so many loopholes in legislation that can make it hard for disabled students to have accessibility to education,” she said. For example, the law says that accommodations must be made for disabled students as long as it is not a burden on the school. This term is broad and can be interpreted in so many ways, she said.

For Mavrides-Calderón, her project is part of her engagement in the disability rights movement, which she has been involved in for a few years.

After suffering from back injuries and ultimately being diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, she quickly began to realize how those with disabilities are often mistreated, she said.

She has organized protests for disability rights and educates the public through social media platforms, such as Instagram and Twitter.

During the pandemic, remote learning options that were historically denied to disabled students became available to everyone, she said. The realization that remote learning is possible and that it can be consistently offered is a huge step forward for disabled accessibility in education.

Before the pandemic, if a disabled person was stuck in the hospital, they would not receive any sort of remote learning, Mavrides-Calderón said.

Now that it has become an option for all students, she wants to learn why it took a pandemic for this change to come and how we can use what has happened to further disability rights as life goes back to normal, she said.

Mavrides-Calderón is working with Head of School Dr. Tom Kelly, who is her official faculty advisor. She feels fortunate to have worked with him on this because he knows a lot of information about the policy that deals with disabled students, whether it is at this school or others, she said.

He has shown interest in MavridesCalderón’s activism outside of the ISP and asked to attend a conference about disabled rights that MavridesCalderón organized with the ACLU. “He has also given me access to disabled students of Horace Mann to interview,” she said.

At the end of the course, MavridesCalderón hopes to complete a full research paper about her topic by gathering information from interviewing disabled students and their experiences with accessibility.

“From all my experiences working for disabled rights, I have never heard anything from the disabled kids’ perspective,” she said. “I want to amplify their voices through my

work.”

Along with the research paper, Mavrides-Calderón hopes to propose new policy regarding accessibility, she said. To accomplish this, she has been reading Federal laws and policies, notably the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which aimed to protect civil rights for those disabled. She also read the book Disability Visibility, a collection of stories about people’s experiences dealing with disabilities.

Out of the entire project, MavridesCalderón has most enjoyed the interviewing process, which she feels has opened her eyes to the difficulties that disabled people face in the public school system.

Although disabled herself, coming from the school makes it hard to understand the entirety of the problems that most disabled people face. “Through interviewing, I’m really uncovering a unique, unheard perspective,” she said.

News: Outdoor mask requirement lifted for UD Students, MD/UD employees Ben Rafal and Jorge Orvananos Staff Writers On Monday evening, Head of School Dr. Tom Kelly announced that masks will no longer be mandatory for all Upper Division (UD) students and Middle and UD employees while outdoors. After several weeks of COVID-19 testing, Kelly feels comfortable allowing a well-deserved mask break, he wrote.

Kelly collaborated with nurses from all divisions and members of the Administrative Council to make the decision, he wrote.

Nurse DeAnna Cooper said the school’s weekly COVID-19 case numbers have been very low — even lower than New York City’s.

The community has done a great job of taking precautions and getting tested when symptomatic, she said. “We haven’t seen any transmission outdoors, so it makes sense to give students a break and staff and faculty a break while we’re outside.”

In his email, Kelly noted the importance of maintaining a threefoot social distance while unmasked outdoors. The school will also monitor students and employees absent for cold and flu-like symptoms unrelated to COVID-19, he wrote. If positive cases begin to increase significantly, UD students and MD/UD employees will immediately return to wearing masks at all times, Kelly wrote.

While Kelly is confident in his decision to allow UD students and MD/UD employees to not wear masks outdoors, he chose to not implement a similar plan for MD students, he wrote. He made this

decision due to the large number of unvaccinated sixth graders and the stigma around select numbers of unvaccinated seventh-graders who would be required to continue wearing masks outdoors, Kelly wrote.

“We will revisit the possibility of a thoughtful mask break for our MD students if and when the age-appropriate vaccines present,” Kelly wrote.

Mask fatigue was a major factor in making the decision, Kelly wrote. “While everyone is doing their very best to comply with the school’s pandemic protocols, it is increasingly clear to me that our UD students, and even many of our employees, are struggling in the absence of safe opportunities to go maskless,” he wrote. Kelly wrote that he hopes the opportunity to be maskless outdoors will provide students and employees the chance to breathe and socialize more easily.

The school is following CDC guidelines, which no longer recommend vaccinated people wear masks outdoors, Kelly wrote.

The school has also received external help when making decisions about new policies, Cooper said. Last year, the school hired medical director Dr. Miriam Levitt to help with decisions on COVID-19 policies, Cooper said.

Kelly’s decision will not change much of Theo Ziehl’s (10) daily routine as he will still have to wear a mask indoors, where he spends the majority of his day, he said. “It’s obviously fun when you’re outside with your friends and you don’t have to worry about keeping your mask on,” Ziehl said.

Harper Rosenberg (10) said the decision will not have much of an impact, because people will still wear a mask based on their own comfort levels, as they have been since the beginning of the school year.

Suzanne Silverstein P’23 ’26 said the lifting of the restriction will give students a more normal environment. She finds it important for students to have more time to breathe freely and see their classmates’ faces and expressions, she said.

Adjusting between mask-on and mask-off while at school has been challenging for Logan Scharlatt (9), he said. “I still keep my mask on even though I know everyone’s vaccinated because it’s a little bit weird to have masks on inside but take them off as soon as I get outdoors, it’s an unusual feeling for me, but I’ll get adjusted soon,” he said.

Physical Education (PE) Department Chair Amy Mojica has had a more difficult time remembering the names of students while masked, and believes outdoor PE classes will greatly benefit without any barrier. “You will be able to see your students, know your students better, pick up on facial cues. Interacting with people is a big thing when you’re reading expressions. That’s a lot of information that you don’t necessarily get,” Mojica said.

As long as members of the community remain vigilant and the number of positive cases remain low, Ovie Ayanruoh (10) believes the school should keep moving forward with their decisions regarding COVID-19 policies, he said.

Viviana Coraci/Art Director

THE RECORD FEATURES OCTOBER 15TH, 2021

5

Uncovering the archives: This week in HM History October 6th-October 16th

For this issue, The Record looked through the Horace Mann archives to find articles published this week in past years. The articles displayed on this page range from 1931 to 1990 and cover a variety topics from the school’s internal history to its existence within the larger context of the world. As the editorial board of a newspaper that has published for over a century, we are in a unique position—we are able to gather information about our school’s history. In an effort to share our findings with the community, we hope to continue printing excerpts from the archives over the course of this year.

Volume 69, Issue 4, October 10th, 1975: Coeducation begins at the school Coeducation at the school began in 1975 with the admission of 130 girls across grades 7 to 11. As the article notes, girls would be favored in admission to grades 8 to 12 until a 1:1 ratio of male to female students was reached, though the school would adopt a gender-blind admissions process in the following ‘76-’77 school year.

As one faculty member noted, the school’s academic standards saw no significant change during the first year of the co-ed program.

Volume 39, Issue 4, October 15th, 1945: Ex-editor of The Record Arthur Fields ‘42 wounded in WWII After the end of World War II, The Record reported on alumni and former editor Arthur Fields ‘42, who had been gravely injured in combat with German prisoners. Fields was a college junior majoring in English at Harvard.

Volume 25, Issue 3, October 16th, 1931: Student reflects on Great Depression Two years into the Great Depression, during the Hoover presidency, a student argues that though things may seem bleak, the country has taken a pessimistic view of its current economic state.

Volume 83, Issue 5, October 6th, 1990: Editorial Board debates “Columbus Day” In these editorials, which ran next to each other prior to “Columbus Day” weekend in 1990, editors argue both for and against the celebration of the holiday. Current New York Times reporter and former Editor-in-Chief of The Record David Leonhardt ‘90 contributed to the column that denounced posititve recognition of Columbus. The editorial ends with the words “We should not celebrate.” This past year, the school officially changed the name of the off-day to “Indigenous People’s Day.” To read these opinions, published 31 years ago, is to recognize the stagnation of this dicussion— and its ongoing solution.

6

THE RECORD LIONS’ DEN OCTOBER 15TH, 2021

HOMECOMING

5

FINAL

Horace Mann

2

Riverdale

Boys Cross Country Jillian Lee and Sean Lee Staff Writers The Boys Cross Country team raced against more than 100 schools in the Manhattan College Invitational, the largest Cross Country meet on the East Coast, Jake Ziman (11) said. “The atmosphere is definitely more exciting than our normal meets between the other Ivy Prep League schools.”

Despite the competitive nature of the meet, the runners were able to keep up with the other runners, achieving some personal bests, Boys Cross Country coach Jon Eshoo said. Spencer Kim

(10) and Ryan Finlay (12) performed the best out of the team, finishing the 2.5 mile race under 15:30. Most runners were able to cut between 10 and 20 seconds off their times, Ziman said.

Some runners also persevered through injuries, including Eric Do (11) who fell in the back hills during the race and suffered a cut to his knee, but got up and finished the race, Eshoo said.

“The coaching staff is very proud of his effort and representation of HM XC. [Do] showed great heart and courage.”

Having community members watching and the fierce competition they faced in the meet helped motivate the runners, Ziman said. “Because it

was our homecoming, we had lots of HM students cheering us on, which [was] great motivation to perform your best,” he said. “The competition [motivated] us to run faster, so most of us ran our fastest times yet of the year.”

Due to the season being cancelled last year, runners are excited to be competing again, Ziman said. “It feels good to get back to competing and it feels quite normal,” Eshoo said. The team is excited to carry this momentum into future meets, including the Collegiate Invitational and the Ivy Championships that the team is training hard to prepare for, Ziman said.

Jillian Lee and Sean Lee Staff Writers

LINE UP Girls XC poses in Van Cortlandt Park before their race.

Field Hockey Ariella Frommer and Heidi Li Staff Writers

Varsity Field Hockey’s preparation and hard work throughout the season finally paid off when the Lions won their first game of the season at Homecoming, beating Riverdale 1-0.

Team member Maddie Yoon (11), who plays left forward, scored the goal within the first couple minutes of the game.

Their strategy was to pass the ball to the outsides of the field and keep it out of the middle, Zoe Turteltaub

At homecoming, the Girls Cross Country team participated in the Manhattan College Invitational, the biggest meet of the season. The team competed against over 100 schools, Girls Cross Country Captain Sareena Parikh (12) said.

“All of the girls ran really well,” Girls Cross Country coach Meredith Cullen said. Story Sossen (9) stood out as the team’s top finisher at 43rd place with a time of 18:11, Claire Goldberg (12) broke her season record, and Parikh

WAY 2 XC Boys XC suits up before their meet.

Girls Cross Country

broke her personal record of 19:24 with a new time of 18:49, Cullen said.

In the days leading up to the meet, the runners paced themselves, Catherine Mignone (12) said. “You don’t want to be putting out these max outputs — before a big meet like the one on Saturday, [you want to take a] slower pace.”

The scale of the meet also influenced how the team prepared in the days leading up to the meet, Cullen said.

“We talked a little bit about crowding on the trails, how to set a good pace, how to get in front of people,” she said.

“It was a little more of a competitive atmosphere than the meets that we’re Courtesy of Sam Siegel

(9) said. This strategy creates more room to pass to attackers around the field, which makes it harder for the opponent’s defense to stop them, Vivian Coraci (10) said.

In preparation for the game, they practiced offensive corner plays, Sophie Pietrzak (10) said. The offense used code words such as “pink” or “paw” to tell each other what plays they will use during corners to try to make goals, she said.

The team was excited to win their first game of the season, team captain Jhanae Ottey (12) said. “We’re more organized than we were during our first game and we really stepped it up

for Homecoming, so as the games go on, we’re just going to get better and better,” she said.

This game especially bonded the team because it was the first varsity win, Pietrzak said. Additionally, the pre-game rituals — dressing up on Friday before the game, the team breakfast, and presenting posters for their seniors — hyped them up.

“When we got to the field, we were all really motivated, focused on winning, and ready to defend our turf,” she said.

The Lions will play at Riverdale’s Homecoming this Saturday, and they hope to beat Riverdale for the second time this season, Pietrzak said.

SHOOT TO SCORE Field Hockey players before their victory.

Courtesy of Barry Mason

Jillian Lee and Sean Lee Staff Writers

TACKLED! Football ends Riverdale’s winning streak.

used to.”

On the day of the meet, runners prepared by staying hydrated and participating in a group stretch and warm-up prior to the race, Lauren Landy (11) said. After the meet, all of the runners gathered together and congratulated each other, she said. “A challenge itself was the race, but I feel accomplished after it and I feel like my practices have more meaning now, so I work harder.”

Runners will continue to put in their best efforts, Cullen said. “Work hard, take care of yourselves, stay hydrated, practice hard. And always, always do your best — that’s all we can ask.”

Breaking Riverdale’s six year winning streak, the Varsity Football team won their homecoming game this past weekend, with a sweeping victory of 21-7, Varsity Football Coach Ron Beller said.

A highlight of the game was when Damian Stellings (12) blocked Riverdale’s field goal attempt at the end of the first half, which kept the score tied at 0-0, Beller said. Another great play was two touchdowns in the third quarter

by Nate Wildman (11), Julien Harcourt (11) said.

In the practices leading up to

the game, the team tailored their strategies to gain an advantage on what they already knew about Riverdale’s team, Harcourt said.

Riverdale often runs the ball, which meant that the team had to plan on stopping those runs with strong defense, Harcourt said. “Our game plan of stopping the run was logical and paramount to us winning the game,” Beller said.

“The biggest thing that we did really well during this game is keeping our composure and staying level-headed in the game,” Harcourt said. Maintaining this headspace was crucial during a game like homecoming, which brought in many more spectators

Football

than a regular game, he said.

“Homecoming is different than any other game because of all the excitement of playing in front of a big crowd and in front of a lot of past Horace Mann football players,” Beller said.

The excitement from Homecoming motivated the players to play hard, especially because this was the last homecoming game for seniors, Harcourt said. “It [was] the seniors’ last homecoming so there [was] a lot of emphasis on winning and playing hard for them.”

The team is optimistic about their upcoming game against Fieldston this weekend where they hope to repeat their win, Beller said.

7

THE RECORD LIONS’ DEN OCTOBER 15TH, 2021

Boys Soccer Jillian Lee and Sean Lee Staff Writers

The Boys Varsity Soccer team won 3-1 against Riverdale at Homecoming, putting them in third place in the Ivy League behind Fieldston and Trinity.

Riverdale was aggressive and technically skilled, Gabe Jaffe (10) said.

“They were very good at moving the ball around and pressuring our defense and wingers, but we were able to figure out their strategy, and we just fought for every ball,” he said.

Their strategy was simply to give it their all, captain Julian Silverman (12) said. “The team and Coach Quilty

Courtesy of Sam Siegel

always preach to give every ounce of energy that you have on that field because you’re going to have time to rest after the game,” he said. Coming off that field, Silverman said that the Lions played with everything that they had.

The highlights of the game came in the second half, Jaffe said. “We went into halftime down 1-0 and our coach gave a very motivational speech, so we came out of the halftime huddle very determined and in the first 15 minutes [of the second half] we scored two goals,” Jaffe said.

The team was motivated to win because of the different sentiment playing at Homecoming compared to a typical game, Jaffe said. “You have

the pride of your school on your jersey because you’re playing on your home field with friends, family, and teachers watching you,” he said.

The team has formed a stronger bond than in previous years, Boys Varsity Soccer coach Gregg Quilty said. “We’re definitely seeing more camaraderie amongst the teammates,” he said, “They get along really well, and we have really good team chemistry which we didn’t have a few years ago.”

“We will try to carry our momentum into games this week, mimic any good parts of the Homecoming game, and call out anything that did not go well,” Silverman said.

GOAL! Boys Varsity Soccer on their way to victory.

Courtesy of Sam Siegel

Ariella Frommer and Heidi Li Staff Writers

ON THE PITCH Girls Soccer gives it their all.

Girls Tennis Ariella Frommer and Heidi Li Staff Writers

The Girls Varsity Tennis team competed in five matches against Fieldston at Homecoming and lost with a score of 2-3. They played two doubles and three singles matches. Both doubles teams won their matches, with Rhea Patel (12) and Sammy Blackman (12) winning 6-1, 6-2, and Jade Ciriello (12) and Bella Colacino (12) winning 6-0, 6-0.

Patel and Blackman, who have been doubles partners for the entire season, wanted to have fun with their

Girls Varsity Soccer celebrated the goal made by team captain Laila Farmer (12) with a triumphant dance during the first half of the Homecoming game.

Although the team ultimately did not win, the game was still rewarding since everyone played to the best of their abilities, team captain Rachel Kuhn (12) said.

Almost half the team was injured, Farmer included, Carlson said. As a result, the team had fewer players overall, since some could not play due to injury.

last Homecoming at the school, Patel said. They figured out which of their opponents was the weaker player so that they could hit to them more often, but they did not focus much on their strategy besides that, Patel said.

They focused on maintaining consistency, Blackman said. “Our opponents were not better players than us, so we needed to make sure we didn’t make any unforced errors and keep the ball in play.”

Leading up to Homecoming, Patel and Blackman played against their teammates during practice, which was very helpful because it allowed them to learn about each other as players, Patel

INFINITY AND BEYOND Volleyball seniors dress up before their game.

Jillian Lee and Sean Lee Staff Writers

The Varsity Water Polo team defeated Riverdale 25-2 while friends, alumni, and parents cheered them on. “There was simply a sense of normalcy at this game because there were so many people,” Varsity Water Polo Coach Michael Duffy said.

The team was able to secure an early lead with the seniors starting off the game and playing a bulk of the first quarter, Duffy said. Younger members of the team also stepped up, with Alex Lautin (11) making several steals and defensive plays, team captain Spencer Rosenberg (12) said.

“Riverdale has a very young team,

Girls Soccer

was a great experience for the team especially amidst the pandemic, Carlson said. “I can’t stress enough how lucky I feel to be able to play because I know that the seniors last year did not get this opportunity,” Kuhn said.

Homecoming always brings a larger audience compared to other weekly games that the team has, Carlson said.

The crowd not only motivated the team, but also created a sense of normalcy during the pandemic, Kuhn said.

After their Homecoming game, the Girls Varsity Soccer team members are looking forward to redeeming themselves at Riverdale’s homecoming this weekend, Carlson said.

Courtesy of Sam Siegel

said.

Although Blackman enjoyed the number of spectators at her match, it was nerve-wracking at first because she was not used to it, she said. The distraction of the talking behind them was also something new to get used to.

“Since we were winning and playing well, [the crowd] was only something that helped us as it was really fun to have our closest friend cheering us on.”

The highlight of the match for Blackman was when they won, she said.

“All the hard work that we had put in during practice over the past few weeks and during the match was paid off with the win.”

Ariella Frommer and Heidi Li Staff Writers

Water Polo

Those who played while injured were not at their peak ability, Sophia Liu (10) said. Furthermore, athletes had to play different positions than they normally do to compensate for the loss of numbers, Liu said.

Prior to Homecoming, the team played multiple games a week, which made it difficult to find time for practices, Kuhn said. In the few practices that they did have, the team worked on defensive stances, she said. The team plans on working on communication and passes in their upcoming practices, which is something that they struggled with during the game on Saturday, Liu said.

Nevertheless, the Homecoming game

The Girls Varsity Volleyball team beat Riverdale at Homecoming 3-0, winning the first set 25-17, the second set 25-16, and the third set 25-16.

They had the most fans out of any of their games at Homecoming, and the lively mood encouraged players to be at their best, Joann Yu (10) said. “The atmosphere was a lot louder, spirited, and excited, but also tense because everyone was cheering for us.”

“We wanted to show all these people who came to watch us how good we

GAME, SET, MATCH Tennis players on the courts.

Girls Volleyball

were,” Maddie Kim (10) said.

When the Lions won the final set, the team and spectators ran into the center of the court to celebrate, Yu said.

“It was my first time experiencing that as a player on the team in that moment, rather than a spectator,” she said.

During the game, the team struggled to minimize their unforced errors, Yu said. “You can’t control how the other team plays, but you can control how you play, and we definitely lost points [because of] what happened on our side of the net,” she said.

To prepare for this game, the Lions practiced the basic techniques of volleyball, team member Jaelah Taylor

(11) said. “Sometimes the team gets lost in trying to impress the other team and ourselves that we forget the basics,” she said.

Additionally, the mask requirement affects their playing, Kim said. It was hard to call for the ball and talk loudly because the masks make players out of breath, she said.

Yu, who played at her first Homecoming this year, said that it was a vastly different experience to play in the game than to watch from the sidelines when she was in middle school, she said. “I was now playing with those players who I looked up to in middle school.”

Courtesy of Sam Siegel

and I don’t think they had as much experience as we did in the water,” Duffy said. Instead, the team focused on defense, Rosenberg said. “Our coach wanted us to give them a bit of mercy, which meant we shouldn’t just score on every possession.”

The team worked on collaborating together as a whole and trying to make the other team feel good as well by keeping the game fair, Julian Hernandez (11) said.

The team also worked on playmaking and coordinated strategy, making sure that players made movements together instead of passing the ball around until they shoot, Noah Castillo (9) said.

Starting with defense and limiting the other team to two goals, the team

achieved their goal of playing a solid defense, Duffy said.

However, the team also faced obstacles during the game, Castillo said. “Spacing is the biggest problem — we’re all too clumped up in the middle and we can’t move the ball around without having a defender jump right on it,” he said.

The team used the opportunity of playing a less experienced team to ensure everybody got playing time, Duffy said. “The whole team was able to play because we were able to score a lot of goals early, so it was just a great game for everybody to get in and get a lot of playing time,” he said.

“We’re just looking forward to the rest of the season.”

SEA LIONS Water Polo dominates the pool.

8

THE RECORD ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT OCTOBER 15TH, 2021

MUSICIAN IN THE MAKING: O’REILLY’S (12) ARTISTIC JOURNEY Kate Beckler and Naomi Yaeger Staff Writers In seventh grade, Dylan O’Reilly (12) first began spending time in the school’s music studio. “It was only juniors and seniors in there, and I was this little kid,” he said. “But I wanted to make music, so I sat in on the sessions, they taught me stuff, and I eventually started recording my own music.”

O’Reilly started on his path towards songwriting in the Middle Division (MD) by writing and performing rhymes for his friends, he said. The summer before eighth grade, O’Reilly recorded and released his first album Endless. O’Reilly released his first published song “Phone Calls” at the beginning of 8th grade, he said. Five years later, O’Reilly has recorded and published 20 songs with several in the works.

Last summer, O’Reilly began working on his most recent releases, one of which is his newest song “Palace,” he said.

“It’s darker and eerier than anything I’ve released so far, and it encapsulates how I’ve been feeling internally,” he said. “It’s a pretty unique song and it has sort of a lonely moody vibe to it.” Once it’s finished, O’Reilly plans on releasing an album that includes “Palace,” he said. “I don’t really want to give away too many details, but I’ll say that it’s a lot different from music I’ve released in the past.”

“Palace” and his other song “Modern Life is Boring” are available on Spotify and Apple Music under his stage name “oreilly.wav.” O’Reilly worked with his friend and Horace Mann graduate Arjun Swarup to produce

“Palace,” setting the tone for the album he plans to release.

Generally, O’Reilly’s songs are composed of different musical sections. A standard rap, a genre he often works in, has a chorus, different verses,

mixed and mastered so that it actually sounds good,” O’Reilly said. “After I have the final master of the song, I’ll upload it to a website called Distrokid and choose a release date.” After Distrokid approves the song, it sends the song, artwork, and credits to the streaming services O’Reilly requested.

For his songs, O’Reilly takes inspiration from other artists including Kanye, Ty l e r, Vivian Coraci/Art Director Kevin

and a refrain. “I like to think of a verse as what you really want to say in a song,” he said. In most rap songs, a verse is between 16 and 32 measures while a refrain is a phrase that is repeated throughout the song, O’Reilly said.

During the song writing process, O’Reilly tends to collaborate with friends. Last year on Valentine’s Day, he released a song with Wavehill Collective featuring his own verse and refrain, he said. Wavehill is a seven person band started by Jacob Shaw (12) that formed for the purpose of creating the song, “Love.” When writing his verses, O’Reilly said he used his intuition as a guide. “I really just wrote the lyrics based on how I was feeling at the time.”

O’Reilly has become more comfortable with writing music and believes this will shine through in his upcoming projects.

“The songs are more personal and they come from a real place,” he said. When he first started making music as a freshman and sophomore, O’Reilly was not looking to find his unique style. “I was just trying to sound like everybody else,” he said.

Although O’Reilly’s favorite part of songwriting is working on the lyrics, writing the song is only half of the work to getting it published. “After a song is recorded, it has to be

Abstract, Playboi Carti, and Prince.

Through pulling inspiration from rappers, O’Reilly incorporates many musical genres and styles in his music, he said.

In the future, O’Reilly sees himself pursuing a career in music while incorporating his other creative goals as well, such as screenwriting.

“My goal is to combine all those elements into one thing or multiple projects down the line,” he said.

Ultimately, O’Reilly aims to make his music a way for listeners to feel supported and comforted. “I like artists who can connect with their audience or deliver a message that’s real,” he said. He strives to provide a similar experience for his listeners. “I just want to create a safe space.”

Aashana Hari/Staff Artist

FALL MOVIE REVIEWS The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Knives Out

Lucy Peck Staff Writer

Sophie Rukin Staff Writer

Those of us who are shy and socially awkward have finally found a movie we can relate to.

“The Perks of Being a Wallflower” follows Charlie Kelmeckis, played by Logan Lerman, as he navigates the beginning of high school.

Charlie has always felt out of place in life; he has never been good at making friends and does not feel seen.

However, after meeting step-siblings Sam and Patrick and finding a mentor in his new English teacher, Charlie learns to embrace what it means to be a “wallflower” — someone who appreciates life from the sidelines.

Charlie flourishes with the support of his two new friends and mentor as he transitions from adolescence to adulthood. Over the course of the film, Charlie experiences many firsts, including his first kiss, first relationship, first party, and first time confronting alcohol and drugs. He simultaneously struggles with depression, school bullies, and a difficult home life.

“The Perks of Being a Wallflower” creates a refreshingly destigmatizing and realistic portrayal of mental illness. While many classic comingof-age movies trade in clichés and happy endings, this film paints a less glamorized and more nuanced teenage experience — one more relatable to young adults today. The film adeptly touches on other difficult topics including teenage domestic

abuse, sexual abuse, and LGBTQ+ acceptance.

I found myself laughing along with some of the moments while others incited frustration or tears.

Ultimately, I became hopeful when Charlie stood up in the back of Sam’s truck, arms stretched out, eyes closed, head tilted back, and exclaimed he felt “infinite.” From then on, he resolved to make the most of his adolescence and no longer let life pass him by — a lesson we can all take to heart.

Vivian Coraci/Art Director

If you enjoy a modern twist on a classic murder mystery and find yourself with a free evening this fall, I suggest watching “Knives Out.” The movie, like most murder mysteries, begins with a dead body. The deceased, a critically acclaimed mystery writer named Harlan Thrombey, leaves behind a massive inheritance. The film quickly introduces the eccentric Thrombey family and the protagonist, Harlan’s caregiver, Marta.

When the family learns that Harlan left his inheritance solely to Marta, relationships crumble, drama ensues, and the truth begins to come out.

The movie has all the typical aspects of an enticing m u r d e r m y s t e r y while also

speaking to the immigrant experience in America. Marta is a second-generation immigrant working for the Thrombeys, a wealthy, white, New England family. The film depicts the corrupting influence of money and power while also echoing the perseverance of immigrants.

While entertaining, “Knives Out” induces critical thought as it transports you into a game of 21st-century Clue. I love the combination of the fall movie spookiness, funny moments, and great plotline. I especially enjoy how the movie provides a strong charismatic protagonist who the viewer wants to support. She demonstrates the importance of being a good person and encouraged me to look introspectively.

“Knives Out” is a movie you must watch during the Fall with family and friends.

Dylan Leftt/Staff Artist

Little Women Lucy Peck Staff Writer

The 2019 adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s novel “Little Women” is a classic period piece with a melodious soundtrack — the perfect movie to watch on a rainy mid-October day.

Set in 19th century Concord, Massachusetts, the film follows the adventures of the ambitious March sisters, Beth, Amy, Jo, and

Meg, and the rich boy next door, Laurie. The film switches between the past, when the girls were young, and the present, 1868, when the girls are all adults. As adults, Jo is an aspiring author in New York, Amy is a painter in France, and Meg and Beth have settled down close to home.

“Little Women” is my favorite movie to watch during the autumn months because of its romantic and whimsical aesthetic. The

cinematography and settings are absolutely gorgeous, especially in one of my favorite scenes when two characters argue upon a beautiful hilly landscape filled with vibrant autumn foliage. Each character’s costume also adds to the movie because of its detail and how well it fits the film’s time period.

Throughout the movie, I also enjoy following each character’s relationship with one another. The scenes the March sisters

share are so precious and heartfelt, and by the end of the movie, you will feel like part of their small family. While there are definitely some great fall movies that don’t take place in the past, I think period pieces such as “Little Women” are all the more comforting to watch during this cozy time of year.