Issue 8

Volume 119 Issue 8

The Record Horace Mann’s Weekly Newspaper Since 1903

School mandates vaccines for LD students Emily Salzhauer and Celine Kiriscioglu Staff Writers Head of School Dr. Tom Kelly mandated the COVID-19 vaccine for all eligible students ages five to 11 last Friday, shortly after the FDA and CDC approved the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for that age group. All students in the Lower Division (LD) will soon be vaccinated. So far, 125 LD students have received their first dose, Head of LD Deena Neuwirth said.

When Kelly announced the mandate for eligible students and faculty in August, he said that a mandate would be likely for younger students following FDA approval.

Eligible students must submit proof of vaccination by mid-December to the division’s dean, Kelly wrote in an email to the HM community on November 5.

Consistent with the Upper Division (UD) and Middle Division (MD) mandates, Kelly must approve any exemptions, he wrote. “While each request is different, there is a specific committee charged with handling each type of exemption, with our Director of Medical [Dr. Miriam Levitt] sitting on the committee reviewing applications for medical exemptions.” The committee handles each application on a case-by-case basis, he wrote.

Kelly chose to mandate the vaccine for many reasons, he wrote.

“Given the success of the COVID-19 vaccines available to older students and adults, not to mention the medical community’s support of the Pfizer low dose COVID-19 vaccine for children ages five to eleven, [a mandate] was only appropriate for a school our size,” he wrote. “The decision to do so is in keeping with the data available about both the ongoing pandemic and the science associated with this latest COVID-19 vaccine, along with a deep understanding of what it continues to take to safely operate a school our size.”

Kelly took multiple factors into account when deciding to mandate the vaccine for all eligible members of the community, he wrote. “The size of our community, the number of zip codes served, the amount of

domestic and international travel our families continue to do for business and pleasure, and even the close proximity within which our younger students learn and play are all factored into our decision making,” Kelly wrote. “Of equal importance was hearing from the FDA, CDC, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Medical Association, among others, that requiring the shot was the prudent next step.”

Some families have decided to leave the school because of the vaccine mandate, Kelly wrote. “I hope to see the families who did leave back in the future.”

The vaccine mandate will allow the LD and MD to lighten some of their COVID restrictions, Kelly wrote. Asymptomatic students in the LD will no longer need to quarantine once fully vaccinated, and the division may transition to less restrictive co-curricular and athletic activities, he wrote.

The vaccination will not affect the cleaning routines and supplemental air filtration in classrooms that have

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chaotic and challenging to get him vaccinated, like it was when it first came out for adults, but I am over the moon relieved and grateful that we are offering it here at school,” she said.

“I am thrilled to see the families and students at the Lower Division embrace Dr. Kelly’s mandate for the vaccine,” Neuwirth wrote. “The young students are incredibly proud of themselves for ‘being so brave’ and I couldn’t agree with them more!”

Andrea Olshan ’98 P ‘30, ’31, ’31 and her children were very excited and relieved when the vaccine was approved for children ages 5-11, she said. ““My kids are ecstatic about this. They couldn’t wait to get vaccinated.”

Olshan thinks it was the right choice for the school to extend the mandate down to LD and ND students who are now eligible, she said. “I think that consistency across the divisions is important,” she said.

“This is a world where we’re all mandated to get many vaccines. It’s always been part of what we do in

“I am thrilled to see the families and students at the Lower Division embrace Dr. Kelly’s mandate for the vaccine. The young students are incredibly proud of themselves for ‘being so brave’ and I couldn’t agree with them more!”

-Deena Neuwirth been in place since the return to school last year, he wrote.

While eligible students can be vaccinated at any site in their area, they have the option to be vaccinated at school, Kelly wrote.

With Levitt’s help, the school has secured 300 first doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which will be available for students on campus, he wrote.

Raj Vaswani P’31 thinks that it is very helpful for the school to offer the vaccine, he said. “They are making it as easy as humanly possible for us to take care of the safety of our kids, so that is very commendable,” he said.

UD math teacher Brianne Gzik P ‘34 opted to vaccinate her son at school as well, she said. “I was originally worried that it would be

this country.”

Gzik agrees with the mandate as well, she said. “We have been following data and science to protect us from the very beginning and I think we have been very successful,” she said. Thanks to the school’s COVID protocols, Gzik has felt very safe at the school throughout the pandemic and is excited for her son to have the added protection of the vaccine, she said.

Olshan’s kids are eager to return to pre-pandemic socializing and “normal” in-person after school activities, she said. “They’re excited to have after school activities back and all the other in person social activities,” she said. Now that they are vaccinated, Olshan’s children will be able to take part in more indoor in-person Courtesy of Jason Caldwell programs again, she said.

Vaswani said his daughter is excited to get back to normal as well. His daughter is looking forward to getting her own vaccine card, he said.

Gzik looks forward to her son having more gatherings with peers, such as birthday parties and playdates, she said.

“I sometimes feel sad that younger kids are missing out on a lot of social interactions, which in my opinion are essential for their development.”

Olshan’s children feel hopeful that with vaccination, the school will be able to return to normal, she said.

“They’re thrilled and they feel like there’s finally light at the end of the tunnel.”

EVERYBODY GETS THE JAB Cam Caldwell (6) receives the COVID vaccine.

record.horacemann.org November 12th, 2021 Courtesy of Nikke Pande

DIWALI CELEBRATION Pande (9) poses in front of a statue of Hindu diety.

School closes in honor of Diwali Sean Lee Staff Writer

Classes were not held last Thursday to allow members of the community to celebrate the holiday Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights.

“While students and employees have always been welcome to take Diwali off without penalty, this is the first academic year wherein Diwali has been a scheduled day off for everyone,” Head of School Dr. Tom Kelly wrote in an email. This decision was made in accordance with members of the school’s Administrative Council, in addition to input from the rest of the community of students, employees, trustees, and alumni, Kelly wrote.

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with family.”

For Riya Daga (11) and her family, Diwali holds a large amount of significance, she said. “Diwali for us is another start to the year, a year for new beginnings and progress as well,” she said.

In many ways, the holiday is like a fresh new start, Subramanian said.

“My family always takes a photo and does spring cleaning,” she said.

While Diwali was not recognized as a day off by the school in previous years, having Thursday off for the holiday was only fair, as other religious and cultural holidays are given off for students and their families to celebrate, Mira Bansal (10) said.

Due to the day off, Daga was

“While students and employees have always been welcome to take Diwali off without penalty, this is the first academic year wherein Diwali has been a scheduled day off for everyone.”

- Dr. Tom Kelly The school’s academic calendar follows holidays afforded to Federal employees, which has responded to an increasingly inclusive standard, Kelly wrote. “HM has taken into consideration the composition of its own community and the customs, cultures, and religious practices included within it,” he wrote. “While it’s certainly not as simple as a show of hands, a day off in recognition of Diwali was in keeping with the increased visibility the holiday was having during and after school hours at HM.” On Diwali, Hindu families traditionally light diyas, or candles, around the house, clean religious shrines, and dress in traditional clothing before spending time with family, Nitika Subramanaian (11) said.

“The whole point of the holiday is the victory of light over dark,” Nikki Pande (9) said. “We’ve celebrated the holiday for generations now and so it’s a huge tradition, and it’s a way that I can celebrate and connect

able to spend the whole day participating in several traditions, including dropping off gift baskets at the homes of neighbors, praying, and lighting firecrackers with her family, she said. “We usually make desserts and put candles and other Indian traditional treats in a small basket,” she said. “We give one to a lot of people, about 150 people, just because I have a huge family and our Indian community.”

During the day, Pande was able to make a long commute to her temple, where she performed a ritual for prayers during Diwali. “Since we didn’t have school, I was able to make the commute out there,” she said. “That was pretty helpful because if I went after school then I wouldn’t really have enough time to do homework or anything.”

At the temple, different members of Pande’s family prayed to each statue of a god for a specific thing that god provided.

see diwali on pg. 5

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THE RECORD OPINIONS NOVEMBER 12TH, 2021

“What are you?” Grappling with questions about multiracial identity

Audrey Carbonell Even with an understanding that race is a social construct, we may still implicitly determine a person’s race due to preconceived ideas about the physical and behavioral traits that are associated with a certain racial group.

So what happens if a person, whether from internal or external perception, does not fit the traits to qualify as part of “one race”?

A person’s multiracial background cannot be broken up into quantitative parts, and an individual should not be regarded as “half ’ one race or “a quarter” another. Using this language diminishes the interconnections between one’s racial heritage.

However, in my experience, it is sometimes easier to talk about racial heritage in these terms.

This simplification of multiracial identity often makes uncomfortable conversations easier, especially those that revolve around the consistent and constant question: “what are you?”

I can easily pinpoint the countries

of origin of my ancestors, yet I cannot answer what impact these ethnic cultures have on my current identity.

With the results of a quick DNA test, I can list the racial composition of my ancestry, but the percentage of my genetic makeup that indicates a certain race does not necessarily reflect my level of affinity to that race. Being genetically “more” of something does not equate to an automatic personal association. Even now, I continue to struggle to answer the question about what my “race” means to me.

With my inability to define my race for myself, I find it even more difficult to explain my racial background to others. I resort to explaining the ethnic backgrounds of my mother, my paternal grandmother, and my paternal grandfather (which in itself is already complicated) to distance myself from this question of “what am I?” Instead, I answer the seemingly more simple prompt: “what is my family?” I consider this answer to be sufficient; the typical person who asks this question is most likely looking to validate their speculations about my racial identity, rather than expressing genuine interest in how I identify myself. Still, these conversations remind me that I lack the language to identify who I am for myself.

Even if people agree that I am multiracial, there is no consensus about how race dictates my physical appearance. I have often heard opinions about the singular race I look the most like or can “pass” as. People have even gone so far as to dissect my physical features and assign them to various racial groups. I do not know what to make of this “breaking apart” of myself, but it makes me feel as if my

identity is not whole.

What affects me the most is when a particular race becomes associated with my behavior. In the past, people have said that I am “practically” a singular race because I supposedly “act” in ways generally associated with that particular race. In hearing these comments, I was unsure whether or not I should have been hurt. Nothing explicitly offensive was said, but I was still left with a feeling of emptiness.

Others have even used my multiracial identity to justify racist remarks they have made to my face; they deemed that those comments

to myself — I identify as multiracial — but that often fails to be enough for others. Being “multiracial” in itself is not a sufficient racial indicator, as it must instead be followed up by the “set” races we have already defined as a society. Wasn’t this identifier the cause for the question in the first place?

The complexity of multiracial identity needs to be addressed within the school community.

After speaking with Director of the Office for Identity, Culture, and Institutional Equity (ICIE) Christine Moloney (who, like me, identifies as

do not pertain “fully” to me. In these instances, I stayed quiet and was hesitant to speak out either because they were my friends or because I was too scared to discover what their reactions would be if I told them I had taken offense to the comment.

The bigger question lies in why these questions about my racial background are asked in the first place.

What about my physical appearance indicates that I am not fully part of one racial category? Why does this variation need to be explained? I can answer with the response that is truest

multiracial), we acknowledged that our school lacks a space for those who identify as multiracial. Consequently, the ICIE established the school’s first Multiracial Affinity Group this year. I am truly excited for this new space; students of multiracial backgrounds can feel a sense of belonging without having to identify by the same races. I hope that people will recognize the steps HM is taking to become more inclusive and give a voice to perspectives that have been overlooked in the past.

Yet, I still have doubts. I find

work—I have two hours to finish my history homework and my physics problem set before leaving for school at 7:30 a.m. It’s going to be a tough task, but I know that I can do it.

For most of my life, I have managed to go to bed between 9:30 and 10:00 on school nights. As a result, every time I come home from a long day of school, I find myself getting tired at around 9:00 p.m. or so. However, as my workload gradually increased over the years, I found that I was not able to go to bed that early and finish my work. At the same time, I knew that if I worked late into the night I would not be able to reach my maximum productivity—one hour of work would end up taking two. I knew that I had to change my studying habits.

At the beginning of my sophomore year, I formulated a solution to my problem. Instead of studying late at night, I decided to wake up early to finish any remaining work. I shifted my schedule, waking up and going

to bed earlier. Now, I generally go to bed at around 9:30 p.m., and I wake up as early as 4:15 a.m. based on my workload.

Early morning studying was a game changer for me. When I study at night, I am trying to squeeze in as much energy out of a low battery level, whereas when I study in the morning I am able to work on a full battery.

Because of my increased productivity, I spend less time working, giving me more opportunities to catch up on sleep.

According to Oxford Learning, a student’s brain tends to be sharpest in the morning due to a refreshing night of sleep and a nutritious breakfast.

Moreover, with a more alert brain, students are better able to recall and comprehend details such as names, places, dates and facts. By boosting productivity, early morning study sessions can be incredibly beneficial to a student’s academic lifestyle.

My increased productivity in the mornings can also be attributed to

the fact that I am typically the only one awake in my house. I would be remiss to ignore the fact that I get distracted easily by social media and texting when I study. So, my morning studying helps me in this respect because almost no one is up, meaning that I can’t get distracted by texting when I wake up to study. At night, my house is also often busy. It is easy for me to get roped into a conversation with a family member or get distracted by TV in the background.

Thanks to the quiet, I can concentrate more easily in the mornings and I am able to better hear my own thoughts.

At first, my early morning studying caused me to become more tired during the school day, but my body has since become used to it. In fact, now I feel less groggy during my A or B period classes because I have already “warmed-up” my brain.

However, in order to thrive with this method, planning effectively and budgeting time in a reasonable manner is key. In determining when

Serena Bai/Staff Artist

that other students who identify as multiracial will benefit from this affinity group, but I am scared that they will not see the same importance in the space that I do. I have talked to other students who identify as multiracial, and while they are glad that there is a newly formed affinity space, they do not feel the need to be a part of it. I can relate to their views — in the past I have overlooked the influence of race in my life, and I have realized the implications of doing so. I did not understand or try to understand what being a part of a “mixed” family meant. It took me a long time to see the value and the beauty of my multiracial background, and I still have a multitude of unanswered questions.

Perhaps I will never hear concrete answers to these questions regarding my multiracial identity. Perhaps as I grow, I will be filled with more and more questions, never reaching a concluding point in my racial analysis. Nevertheless, Ms. Moloney has done incredible work to provide the opportunity for people of multiracial backgrounds to share their experiences grappling with their identity, and this year, I know I will have a space where I belong and where I can continue to change the direction of conversation alongside my peers.

The topic of multiracial identity has been lost in the larger discussion of race for far too long. Thus, I hope other members in our community who identify as multiracial will take pride in their “ambiguous” racial identification, just as I am learning to do.

Wake up early for peak productivity

Ayesha Sen At exactly 5 a.m, my alarm chimes, awakening me from a restful night of sleep. The house is silent, and all I can hear is the rain falling outside my window. Still groggy, I walk over to my bathroom and splash cold water on my face, while upbeat music blasts through my speaker. Within a few minutes, I am alert and ready to

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

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

to wake up, I give myself thirty minutes to get ready and eat breakfast.

Then I calculate the least amount of time possible to do the work for each class, adding 10 minutes to each subject to be safe. Finally, I subtract the total time from the time I have to be ready to leave.

I highly recommend morning studying to anyone who finds it difficult to study late at night because it has genuinely created such a positive change in my lifestyle. I have found that in the mornings when I know that I absolutely must finish my work, the pressure motivates and encourages me to be more efficient.

Moreover, I think that the quality of my work has increased. Overall, I think early morning studying is extremely beneficial because when my brain is most rested and there are no distractions, it will result in my increased motivation and productivity.

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.

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, 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.

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THE RECORD NEWS NOVEMBER 12TH, 2021

LETTER TO THE EDITOR Dear Members of the HM Community, The NYC Benchmarking Law, Local Law 84 of 2009, has had various amendments through the years -the latest being Local Law 95 of 2019. The law requires owners of buildings that meet the criteria outlined in the law to annually measure their energy and water consumption through a process called benchmarking. The law standardizes this process by requiring building owners to utilize the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) online benchmarking tool, Energy Star Portfolio Manager®, to enter and submit the usage data to the City by May 1st of every year. This data increases transparency regarding properties’ annual energy and water usage – the first step for building owners and tenants in making their buildings operate more efficiently. We are required to submit data to the EPA by May 1st of every year for the previous year’s energy usage.

LL 95/2019 gives grades and ratings for the previous year and those grades - as of Oct 31st of this year - must be posted at the entrance to the building. This year we have to post our grade of D/12 for the 2020 calendar year. See attached. Allow us to share some context for the disappointing grade and what has been discovered in the process of doing our investigation. All the buildings on the Middle and Upper Divisions side of the street are combined in one Block and Lot even though each has its own address. The City combines all of those buildings into one total square footage and issues a grade for the combined group and not each individual building.

The Portfolio with Energy Star assessed the MD/UD campus at 266,800 square feet of buildings when in fact we have 353,976

square feet. That makes a big difference when determining the rating and using 75% of the total space and not the actual number. Also, the City has incorrect data for student seats in classrooms and indicated that we did not have cooking facilities All of these errors, combined with the fact that we used more energy due to the added protocols for COVID-19 (windows open - additional heating and cooling required, filters with higher MERV rating in HVAC units, over 250 air filters in classrooms, etc.), contributed to the increase in energy usage - and a lower grade.

An overwhelming number of public and independent day schools in New York City have received equally low grades for similar and other reasons. Regardless, HM will continue to endeavor to do better. We have reached out to the EPA to request a correction to our data and are waiting to hear if that will be retroactive for this year or if we must wait until next year for that adjustment to take effect. We have also been replacing higher wattage fixtures with energy efficient LED fixtures and motion sensors (where appropriate) all over campus. For those of you who are not aware, we have a 53kw solar array on the top of Rose Hall and we also purchase Renewable Energy Credits so that we use 100% Wind Power.

With our collective effort, an eventual return to pre-COVID-19 heating and cooling routines, and everyone’s help turning off lights in classrooms and spaces that are not in use (the little things do matter!), we will do our part to achieve a higher grade in the future.

Best wishes to everyone, Thomas M. Kelly, PhD, Head of School Gordon Jensen, Director of Facilities

Student and faculty react to election results Cece Coughlin and Lucy Peck Staff Writers Last Tuesday’s mayoral race in New York City and the gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey sparked political conversations in the school community.

In NYC, Democrat Eric Adams was elected mayor with 66.5% of the popular vote, according to Politico.

In Virginia, Republican Glenn Youngkin was elected governor and Democrat Phil Murphy is projected to be re-elected as governor of New Jersey.

Nitika Subramanian (11) finds key differences between

Sliwa, on the other hand, is antivaccine and will neither defund nor reform the police, two dealbreaking policies for Pustilnik, she said. Although he will not do so in the ways Pustilnik would like, Adams seems more dedicated to reforming or restructuring the NYPD than Sliwa, she said.

Subramanian also liked Adams more than Sliwa, although she said there were better options. One flaw she saw in Sliwa is the nonprofit group he established in 1979 when crime rates began to soar, called Guardian Angels NYC. The group’s volunteers patrolled the city’s sidewalks to prevent violent crime.

“They do good work, but sometimes

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space and certainly knows the city very well.”

Braden Queen (11) supports Curtis Sliwa, but he agrees that Adams can improve the city, he said. “Sliwa is a Republican, more moderate than Trump, who wants to make our cities low crime,” Queen said. “But Eric Adams is pretty moderate so I don’t dislike him. I think he will do a good job with his experience as a police officer, the police definitely need to be reformed.”

“New York is at a very precarious point,” Wasserberger said. “We will either go the wrong way and fall into chaos and see continual increases in crime and poverty or

“[Voting] is the most effective and important mechanism for us all to be governed in the ways we think are right. The idea of democracy seems to be under assault and I hope that the election winners can help with that.” congressional and mayoral elections. Congressional races rely more on specific policy while mayoral races are based more heavily on the leadership style of a particular candidate, she said.

This distinction is true for much of politics, Subramanian said. “Like electing presidents, people don’t care about politics as much as they care about how someone presents themselves and how big man macho they sound,” she said.

Members of the school differ in their opinions on what mayor Adams has to offer NYC. Dalia Pustilnik (12) is glad that Adams won over Sliwa. “Adams is open to the idea of more vaccine mandates in public office and public workers in the city and in public schools.”

- Charles Worrall

it feels like they are just raiding against homeless people for the sake of being homeless,” she said.

Michelle Orloff (10) is hopeful that Adams will bring positive social change. “Adams used to be a police officer so I think he will be able to help fix the police department,” she said. “His past might be able to help him better understand the roots of the issues and how to approach them and solve them,” she said.

Adams might also be able to relate and empathize with the police, she said.

Though Jordan Wasserberger (12) has heard the argument that Adams isn’t experienced enough to be a New York politician, he disagrees. “He’s clearly someone who does well for himself in that

we will do something to get the city back on track.”

During the NYC mayoral primary elections, there were multiple choices for candidates from various political parties. “The real choice was in the earlier primary election between the Democratic candidates,” UD English teacher Rebecca Bahr said.

Subramanian supported Kathryn Garcia, she said. Voting for someone that will be a confident leader, such as Garcia, is important, Subramanian said. “With mayoral elections, the person who you ideologically match with doesn’t matter as much as who you think is going to be a confident leader.”

Subramanian also liked particular aspects of Garcia’s campaign, she

irector im/Art D Lauren K

said. Garcia’s policies were relatively agreeable, and her leadership during the pandemic as Commissioner of the NYC Sanitation Department was notable, she said.

Wasserberger liked Andrew Yang and Ray McGuire’s qualities, he said. Yang thought outside the box with ideas such as “Forward,” a third political party, Wasserberger said.

“Ray McGuire shares a lot of those same qualities. He was also one of the more personable candidates.”

Leading up to the primaries, Bahr researched all the candidates using a few government websites that laid out political issues and explained what was happening, she said. “Sometimes I also read others’ opinions so I can see which candidate is endorsed by what website, and then I formulate my own opinion based on that research.”

VA’s race for governor had more shocking results than the NYC election for Subramanian. “It’s really interesting that a big part of the race was whether COVID vaccines and critical race theory should be required in schools in Virginia,” she said.

Democrats lost the conservative base they pulled from Trump during the 2020 presidential elections, Subramanian said. “There was increased voter turnout but Republicans won. Usually when

there is increased voter turnout Democrats win, so I thought that was interesting.”

Wasserberger expected a win for the Democrats given VA’s history.

“It’s one of the most remarkable political things that has happened in America in a long time,” he said.

“The fact that Youngkin could single-handedly flip Virginia from what I would call a blue or certainly purple state to a fully red state at every level of the government is amazing. From a political science perspective, it’s remarkable.”

“At the same time, Youngkin is a very smart guy who ran a really good campaign and proved that you can win as a Republican and separate yourself from Trump,” Wasserberger said.

Queen shared a similar sentiment.

“Moderate Republicans that aren’t Trump can be a voice of reason,” he said.

UD math teacher Charles Worrall did not find the VA results unexpected. In fact, he was surprised that the press was so shocked. “Every year after a presidential election, the governors and other big races swing towards the party that lost the presidential election,” he said. “It’s absolutely not surprising, and I don’t see how the press can allow itself to become a single voice saying,

see election on pg. 5

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THE RECORD FEATURES NOVEMBER 12TH, 2021

Vivian Coraci/Art Director

“Death of a Suburban Dream:” Straus’ research on Compton schools Hannah Katzke and Neeva Patel Staff Writers

When history teacher Dr. Emily Straus ‘91 was a teenager, she would constantly read long biographies and books by famous historians, which, in addition to her “stellar” history education at the school, ultimately sparked her love for history, she said. Starting in college, Straus thought she would explore different topics. However during school breaks, she found herself gravitating towards history books.

After graduating from college and joining Teach for America in 1995, Straus taught at Willowbrook Middle School in Compton, California for two years. At the time, Compton’s school district was the worst in the state, she said.

Straus earned her Ph.D. after completing her comprehensive research on the history of the Compton school district, she said. Her research revolved around structural changes within Compton which resulted in changes in the school district.

In her research, Straus tried to understand the relationships between place, race, and education in Compton, she said. Straus’ dissertation research took around four years, starting in graduate school in 2000. In 2006, after receiving her Ph.D., she completed work on an academic article and a published book, she said.

Because of her research, Straus was interested in learning about people’s lived experiences along economic and political forces, she said. Straus analyzed her findings

using a modern approach, allowing her to place it all within a larger historical conversation relevant to society today.

Straus pursued a Ph.D. because she loved history and wanted to deepen her knowledge base to enhance her teaching, she said. “I loved doing research and wanted the chance to improve my research skills to do my own, original research,” she said. Straus had many ideas about what research she wanted to do, but she kept coming back to the topic of Compton schools because she remembered what it had been like to teach there, she said.

While Straus taught in Compton, the school district was under the jurisdiction of the state, which had taken over for the local school board, she said. This was a result of both financial and educational failure in Compton.

“When I was teaching in Compton, it seemed like a place that I wanted to understand more because I did not get how it had developed the way it had developed,” she said. Straus was interested in learning about Compton because of its oversized place in the American imagination, she said.

For Straus, being a historian means bringing together a wide variety of sources to understand a topic. During her Ph.D. research, she read through multiple newspapers from Compton, city council and school board minutes, and records of different organizations, she said.

Straus also conducted oral histories and spoke with people who grew up and worked in Compton. Some of these people were affiliated with the public school in Compton, while others were not, she said.

“I also went to a lot of conferences where I would get lengthy feedback on my work,” Straus said. From all of these sources, Straus uncovered what had caused the schools to reach this deteriorating state and why that was significant, she said.

Although research came easily to her, Straus found writing more difficult. Learning to organize all of the information she received while researching was challenging, she said.

“I wish I had tips on how to manage all the different sources I had gathered.”

In 2014, Straus published her book, titled “Death of a Suburban Dream: Race and Schools in Compton, California,” and in 2015, she published an article in The Atlantic using her research. Publishing a book is the standard for professors of history, she said.

Additionally, Straus thought it was important for her to share the story of Compton.

In order to convert her dissertation into a book, Straus had to return to her research and revise her findings. In her revisions, Straus took the dissertation committee and other scholars’ feedback, she said. “I elongated the timeframe I originally had so that I could explore deeper into certain things that I had not looked at before.” Once the book was submitted to the press, Straus got two anonymous readers’ reports, and she used that feedback to complete the manuscript, she said. “I had an amazing mentor during my postdoctoral degree at Rice and also a great editor at the University of Pennsylvania Press.” Straus shared her research by teaching and conducting presentations at conferences along with other historians.

When Straus’ book was published, she felt

both excited and terrified because she had worked on her research for almost a decade.

“It was one of the best things I have ever done since I got to share all of my findings with the world.” However, she also found publishing her book to be daunting since it was out in the world, and she could no longer edit it.

Currently, Straus is working on a book about “race and place” in Houston. The book developed from a conference she helped organize at Rice University, she said. She began her research on Houston during her post-doctoral fellowship at Rice in 2011 and finished it in 2013. She has a chapter in the book where she discusses the KIPP charter school system that first grew up in Houston.

Straus is currently researching the roots and history behind these charter schools, she said.

“We already have a book contract, so I’m excited to see another book of mine be put out into the world for others to read and learn from,” she said.

Amira Dossani/Staff Artist

Rosenblum’s research on Macaque species population genetics Hannah Katzke and Neeva Patel Staff Writers During school labs, Science Department Chair Dr. Lisa Rosenblum enjoys helping students come up with research questions and build a road map to narrow down a topic of research, she said.

Her love for biological research began as she worked in labs with other scientists in college, and it continued as she earned her Ph.D, she said.

Rosenblum received her Ph.D. in 1997 from Columbia University for her research on population genetics, or the genetic differences between populations, in monkey species living in Southeast Asia, she said.

Rosenblum focused on the Macaque genus in Indonesia, which has about 23 different species.

Rosenblum’s research took around six years to complete, she said. To collect information on the monkey species, she traveled to

Indonesia on two occasions each over a four month period and took blood samples, which she processed in a lab. “In collaboration with Dr. Jatna Supriatna from the University of Indonesia, we isolated and preserved DNA in the field,” she said.

Rosenblum also researched connections between the genetic differences in Macaque populations and biogeography, she said. Between 7,000 and 27,000 years ago, water levels rose to submerge land bridges, effectively isolating Southeast Asian mainland Macaque populations from Macaque populations on nearby islands. The now isolated Macaque populations accumulated mutations that can be traced back to these types of geological processes, she said.

Rosenblum has always been interested in how biological systems function, which led her to seek out opportunities to work in research labs during college. “When I was in undergraduate school, I started going to labs and asking them if

Riva Vig/Art Editor

they needed help from a student until someone said yes,” she said.

In the summer between her junior and senior year of college, Rosenblum began working in the lab of Dr. Steven Wolinsky, a professor in the Infectious Disease Department at Northwestern Medical School, she said.

Before she was interested in monkey population genetics, Rosenblum enjoyed studying viruses. While studying for her undergraduate degree, Rosenblum worked at Dr. Wolinsky’s lab where he researched HIV, in partnership with Cetus Corporation, she said.

Cetus Corporation was the first to invent polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing, so the lab helped to optimize PCR tests to detect HIV in individuals who may not have known they were infected, she said.

“We think about PCR all the time as something we use for COVID, but at this time, it was not optimized for virus detection, so we helped to do that,” she said. Rosenblum’s work at this lab got her thinking about diving deeper into genetics research, she said.

A paper discussing Dr. Don Melnick’s population genetic work on rhinoceroses and their speciation inspired Rosenblum’s Ph.D. work, she said. After reading this paper, which discussed the conservation of rhinos, Rosenblum contacted the author to tell him how interested she was in his research.

Rosenblum’s increased interest in research led her to submit applications to Ph.D. programs.

Rosenblum’s Ph.D. research took place in Dr. Don Melnick’s lab at Columbia, she said. At the lab, she thought about how

different populations within the Macaque species could have been a subspecies, or a genetically different group from the rest of the species, instead of a subpopulation, or a subdivision of a population, she said. Along the way, Rosenblum worked with colleagues in Indonesia because they were collecting blood samples from there in order to do the genetic work, she said.

Before the 1990s, when Rosenblum began her research, there were not many established techniques for collecting genetic information, she said. At the time of her research, she used new techniques such as mitochondrial DNA to look at genetic differences between populations within a particular species of Macaque in Indonesia. She also used phylogenetic tree algorithms, which at the time were just emerging as an analytical tool.

Though Rosenblum’s research resulted in two published papers, she wanted to dig deeper. “I felt like it was never done, and there was so much more to do, I actually never felt anything was ever complete,” she said. Rosenblum had to stop her research to move to London after her husband’s job moved him there.

Rosenblum’s Ph.D. research trajectory was linear, but looking back on it, she is amazed that it didn’t take her longer to finish, she said.

Rosenblum believes there is always more to do and discover with genetic research, but she enjoyed receiving a degree and then being able to move forward with new projects, she said. “Communicating research results with scientists is important and conferences are

an excellent way to get feedback on your work, ideas, and to find potential collaborations.”

Rosenblum’s favorite conference, which she attended in 1999 in Bordeaux, France, was about retroviruses. At the conference, she presented some of her postdoctoral research. “The conference was relatively small, as far as conferences go, and it was wonderful to be able to interact in small groups with known scientists in the field,” she said.

During her post-doctoral research in a lab at Imperial College in London, Rosenblum studied the Simian Retrovirus (SRV) that was well known to infect the kinds of monkeys she studied in her Ph.D. research, she said. “This research was about understanding how viruses use cellular receptors to get into the cell.”

Rosenblum found that the virus infects some of the 23 species causing illness. However, for other species, the virus does not cause illness. “We looked at different drugs to stop the virus, and we looked at different loads of the virus to see how that related to sequence variation,” she said.

Because Rosenblum knows what it is like to dig into a topic she is passionate about, she currently loves to work with students who are also interested in research, she said.

“Whatever students are interested in working on or researching, I am happy to try and help out with their journey,” she said.

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THE RECORD NEWS NOVEMBER 12TH, 2021

from Elections on page 3

from Diwali on page 1 Dylan Leftt/Staff Artist

“Since my brother and I are both students, we prayed to the god of wisdom, Ganesha, for academic success,” she said. After, the Pujari, a Hindu priest, led temple members in a prayer that worshipped all of the gods in the form of a song, she said.

Pande’s family also decorated floors with traditional chalk drawings of flowers, set up shrines with pictures of gods, and lit multi-colored diyas around the room they were praying in, she said.

Bansal used the extra time to complete homework before family members came over so she could better enjoy the celebrations, she said.

Divya Ponda (11) enjoyed having a stress-free holiday. “I really appreciated the day off as it gave me the opportunity to celebrate with my loved ones without having to stress about getting my work done for the day,” she said.

After religious rituals were complete, Daga’s family members came together during the night to have dinner and play card games, she said. “It’s always fun to dress up and eat good food and play games with family and friends,” she said.

The school also closed on Friday, November 5 for a mental health day, Kelly wrote. “This is my 17th year at HM and it was clear that students and employees were exhausted from

not only the mask mandate but from the mask mandate associated with a busier and longer day as all of our programming returned,” he wrote. “Teachers, parents and guardians and even administrators were reporting atypically high levels of exhaustion in the students taught and cared for, as well as increased levels of stress.” Kelly wrote that an unplanned day off would serve students well, allowing them to take a step back from both the rigor and pace of life at school.

Being able to spend the additional day off after celebrations to relax and de-stress was also helpful for Daga’s family, she said. “For me and my family at least, the day after Diwali is more when I need a break because the evening is when all the festivities happen, and I don’t really have any time to do work then,” she said.

Although Thursday is technically the last day of the holiday, celebrations of Diwali in the U.S. occur over a few days, Subramanian said. Having the day off meant less stress of what she had to do the next day, she said. “I’ve had years where I’ve been studying during Diwali parties.”

Besides spending time to celebrate the holiday, Pande was able to prepare for an upcoming debate tournament and spent most of Friday afternoon competing, she said.

Ponda was able to spend a relaxed Diwali due to the days off. “Diwali is a multi-day festival and I ended up spending a significant portion of my long weekend celebrating, so having Friday off was really nice,” she said.

‘Biden’s presidency is over because of this outcome.’”

Wasserberger was surprised by the outcome of the gubernatorial race in NJ, he said. “I don’t think people thought a Republican was going to win in NJ, because it is one of the deepest blue states in America, but the fact that Republicans got 49 percent of the vote is unbelievable.”

Regardless of where they are on the political spectrum, it is great to see that people across the board are more engaged with what is going on, Wasserberger said. “We are all more engaged with the rise of Twitter, Instagram and social media,” he said. “More people voting and participating in our democracy means that our democracy is healthier and stronger.”

Bahr also believes in the importance of voting. “We are citizens of this country and one of the only ways we can have a say in our democracy is to vote,” she said.

During the 2016 election with Donald Trump, the country saw the

repercussions of not voting, she said. “It is crucial to pay attention to all our politics, local, city, state and national, be an active member, and be informed.”

Worrall agrees that voting is crucial, he said. “[Voting] is the most effective and important mechanism for us all to be governed in the ways we think are right.” The United States cannot let the fundamental structure of voting come into question, he said.

“The idea of democracy seems to be under assault and I hope that the election winners can help with that.”

Lipsey (12) runs NYC Marathon as a guide Maeve Goldman Staff Writer

Ricky Lipsey (12) guided his blind friend Suleiman Rifai across the New York City Marathon finish line after running 26.2 miles on Saturday. “There are a lot of moments when you want to quit, but knowing that I was out there to help him, I physically could not quit because he needed me,” Lipsey said.

Prior to the 2021 New York Marathon, Lipsey had participated as a half marathon running guide during the 2018 and 2019 New York Marathons through the nonprofit organization Achilles International.

Lipsey began volunteering with Achilles International when he was 12 years old. “My dad was a member and he introduced me to the program,” Lipsey said. “I joined to use my passion for running to give back and help the community out.”

Achilles International pairs runners with disabilities with able-bodied guides who assist them during recreational and competitive runs. “It really brightens the days of disabled people who, without Achilles, would not be able to run,” Lipsey said.

“I never imagined I would be running any marathons when I first started running,” Rifai said. “It seemed so out of reach.

Achilles makes the impossible possible.”

Achilles also allows disabled athletes

to experience the pleasure of recreational runs. “I can enjoy the sounds of the trees and the birds and the smell of the park,” Rifai said. “My guides describe the scenery of the trees and reservoir so I can see the park through their eyes and really enjoy it.”

In order to guide blind athletes, Lipsey uses a tool called a tether, which connects him to the runner he is leading and allows him to pull the runner in the correct direction. “It’s kind of like a big wrist band,” Lipsey said. “I hold one end and Suleiman holds the other end so I can pull him.”

Running with a guide allows visually impaired runners to feel secure and focus on their run instead of their safety. “Ricky is a really amazing guide,” Rifai said. “When I run with him I can be thoroughly relaxed and enjoy the run.”

Although Lipsey only decided to run the NYC Marathon two months before its date, he has been training with Rifai since he was young. “Suleiman and I have run together for years and years now,” Lipsey said. “He used to push me in a stroller while running with my dad.”

Therefore, when Rifai expressed interest in running the 2021 marathon, Lipsey immediately offered to assist him. “I’ve been guiding him on runs for a while now and he needed someone to guide him in the marathon, so I started training with him,” he said.

Before the marathon, Lipsey and Rifai

POST-RACE CELEBRATION Rifai and Lipsey snap a selfie with their medals.

needed to increase their training to ensure that they were both physically ready to run 26 consecutive miles. Their practice schedule consisted of running between four and eight miles on most days, as well as occasional longer routes. “The longest run we did together was fifteen miles,” Lipsey said. “Training was just as hard for me as it was for Suleiman.”

Although Rifai has run about 20 marathons in his life, the New York Marathon 2021 was Lipsey’s first full marathon. Lipsey had intended to run 13 miles and then switch with another guide as he had done in past years.

However, only two weeks before the race, Rifai asked Lipsey if he could run the whole race. As Lipsey had been training with Rifai, he felt prepared.

“I’m never going to say no to helping out those who can’t help POWER THROUGH Rifai and Lipsey finish the marathon together. themselves,” he said.

“I’m still thinking of the finish, it was “I was essentially electric,” Rifai said. “It felt amazing. We preparing all along to run the whole thing.”

On the day of the marathon, Lipsey and finished holding hands and did a leap up in Rifai were ready and excited to run, taking the air.”

Running the marathon with Ricky was the first thirteen miles in stride. “The first thirteen miles we were cruising. We were really special, Rifai said. “My first marathon was with his father and now my 20th is with making good pace,” Lipsey said.

As the race went on, both runners his son. It’s full circle,” Rifai said.

Lipsey looks forward to continuing experienced challenges from the longdistance and at times steep terrain. assisting runners with disabilities. “The However, despite feeling fatigued, they Marathon wasn’t my end goal — it was just persevered, using the crowd for motivation a stop along the way,” Lipsey said “Suleiman and support. “The crowd is probably the and I plan to run again next week.” most helpful thing for encouragement,” Lipsey said. “They ignite and push you.”

Overall, the marathon was a success, with both Lipsey and Rifai achieving their shared goal of finishing the race, Lipsey said. “Even though your body is in pain, it’s really rewarding to complete a marathon.”

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THE RECORD ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT NOVEMBER 12TH, 2021

A&E in Action: Club Spotlights Listen up: Excelsior’s popular podcast Ariella Frommer Staff Writer Last year, members of the Excelsior podcast used their phones to record episodes. This year, the podcast, which covers movies, TV shows, video games, and comic books, is created in the school’s recording studio with access to more tools, President and host of Excelsior Jordan Wasserberger (12) said.

Excelsior is dedicated to discussing and reviewing any topic within the “nerd culture” umbrella and creates a space for students to have a good time while talking about their passions, he said.

Founded in 2017, Excelsior was formerly a magazine. As Editor-in-Chief last year, Wasserberger spearheaded the change in medium. Now, three to five people record the podcast at least once a week, with an episode releasing weekly on Spotify and Apple Music, he said.

Each episode is 45 minutes long and takes around one and a half hours to edit, Editor-InChief and editor of the podcast Ethan Waggoner (12) said.

The structure of each episode is similar.

Waggoner starts with a recording of himself talking about the school’s community norms and a disclaimer that race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and socioeconomic status will be respectfully discussed in the podcast because they are important ideas in films and television shows. Then, the host of the episode, usually

Wasserberger, introduces the guests and the topic. When two episodes are being recorded simultaneously, others step in to host.

At the height of COVID, Excelsior — then a publication — started having discussions over Zoom instead of writing articles, club advisor and Director of Admissions Jason Caldwell said. “This pandemic has given us so many awful things, but from that, we got this podcast,” Caldwell said. As a podcast, more people are involved in the club, more episodes have been put out, and the content is more focused, he said.

Moreover, the accessibility of Excelsior increases the number of listeners, club member Jaden Piccirillo (12) said. “For other publications, you have to sit down and read it, but if you have a podcast, you can just listen to it on the go.”

For each episode, the leaders determine what to discuss based on trending or recent releases.

For example, last week, the podcast released an episode on the Netflix show “Squid Game.”

The host and guests discussed how the show is more than violence — it shows viewers the emotions of humans in dire circumstances. In the upcoming holiday episode, all the podcast members will rank the entirety of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a media franchise on superhero films produced by Marvel Studios.

Excelsior differentiates itself from other podcasts as students talk about topics of intersectionality, Caldwell said. “We’ve rubbed up against issues of race and gender in conversations that we’ve had about

The Mix finds community in music Heidi Li and Jorge Orvananos Staff Writers

“If you love music and you want to share your love and write something about something that you love, here’s an opportunity,” music teacher and faculty advisor Douglas Epstein said about The Mix, a music publication.

After two years of inactivity, Jonathan Mong ’21 brought the club back to the Upper Division (UD) in 2020 so that students can have a space devoted to music. “[Music is] one of those things that’s really just a connection across all barriers, whether they be demographics, language, or personality,” he said.

The Mix creates a collaborative environment for students that have a strong passion for music, senior editor Julia Grant (12) said. She joined the publication last year due to her passion for music. “While I’m a part of many communities, it was really nice to have a publication about music and a space to talk about music and the music business in general,” she said.

Epstein said his favorite memory of the club was reviving the publication last year.

Their initial meeting for this year’s issue on Monday was also very successful as many students came, he said.

“It’s great to get inspiration on what to write about from other students,” Grant said. “In the meetings, club members will bounce ideas off of each other and sometimes even collaborate on articles, which has been amazing to see.”

Epstein likes to step back during club meetings and allow the students to discuss their passions for music, he said. “I pitch in a couple of ideas from time to time but am very aware of leaning back and letting it be their club meeting.”

When Editor-in-Chief Ben Rothman (12) joined the club in freshman year, it had only published a few issues, he said. “We wanted to put out an issue last year but it never materialized. I became the Editor-in-Chief this year, and my goal is to really get out multiple issues,” he said.

This year, the club plans to publish three or four issues, the first of which will be released before winter break, Rothman said. Each issue will cover several different types of music and artists, he said. “We may highlight

popular music, lesser known types of music, or music that comes from the Horace Mann Community. We’re trying to include a wide variety in each issue,” he said. “I hope that students get into the music that we share in the articles.” He also hopes that students in and out of the publication can bond with one another over music.

Brian Puma (10), a student passionate about making music and the music industry, said that wide varieties of music are not known around the UD. He has released multiple songs which he produced and sang, and he is excited to learn more about new genres and recently discovered artists from The Mix, he said.

Rothman said the process from deciding what to write about to publishing has been very open ended.

“Anyone who has an interest can write about any topic related to music or the music industry,” Grant said. She has articles about a wide variety of topics that will be released in the first issue, she said. “I’ve written about concerts going virtual due to the pandemic, a case study on the dying Nigerian music market, and the inequities for artists within streaming platforms,” she said. “I want to polish up my article about the Nigerian music market right now, because it’s almost 20 pages long,” Grant said. After that, she plans to write an article about the meaning behind the lyrics of “Industry Baby” by Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow, released earlier this year.

Alex Rosenblatt (12) is currently writing an artist spotlight on the rock band Starset, he said. “I’m also looking to contribute a metalcore playlist because it’s a genre that I’m really into that very few people in the HM community know about,” he said.

“I’m also interested in writing about the types of people that the music industry produces. We may even do a flowchart about what song we recommend for you,” Grant said.

Grant enjoys how students within the club are united by their interest in music and have diverse interests in different genres, she said.

“There are so many publications at the school, but the fact that someone joins The Mix shows that they’re not joining for the writing aspect, but rather to have a space to talk about music,” she said.

Wandavision, Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Black Widow, and I love the fact that we can talk about these issues pretty seriously, but at the same time have a dialogue that’s completely enjoyable,” he said.

Those topics of intersectionality are Le’s favorite to discuss, Le said. “Falcon and the Winter Soldier was a great episode because we talked about what it meant culturally as the Black Lives Matter movement was happening at the same time of the release,” he said.

Additionally, the podcast is interesting because the students are passionate about what they are discussing, Caldwell said. “During the ‘Injustice’ episode, Jordan and Alexei had a little bit of a meltdown because this is a storyline that they liked quite a great deal in the comic book form, and they made it into a movie that was not very good,” he said.

Piccirillo’s favorite memory is his first episode being on the podcast. “I just remember how much fun I had having a conversation where we made jokes, and we played around, but we were also talking about something that we were really passionate about,” he said.

The variation of content in the podcast is unique and Piccirillo hopes to start an anime series

and bring Eastern media representation into the podcast in the future, Piccirillo said.

Wasserberger hopes the future of the club will involve discussing a larger variety of topics and recording multiple episodes per week, he said.

For now, he wants to make sure that the club has a stable base from which students can grow so whoever leads the club next year is prepared to take the club to new heights, he said.

Waggoner is proud of the podcast’s success, he said. “The podcast was something we were sort of throwing together last year, but now I’d like to say it is a real thing, so it felt great to put in a lot of effort into something and feel like we actually made something.”

Courtesy of Excelsior Courtesy of Excelsior

LOKI FIRE Students deep in discussion.

Isabelle Kim/Contributing Artist

Sophie Li/Staff Artist

Crafts for Cancer knits for patients Ben Rafal Staff Writer To combine their interest in knitting and crocheting with their commitment to helping cancer patients, Amira Dossani (11) and Emma Chan (11) founded the Crafts for Cancer club during the pandemic.

Both club leaders have personal ties to the cause. After witnessing a person close to her battle with cancer, Chan began to think about how she could use her interest in knitting for a good cause, she said. “My mom always suggested that I make a hat because they had lost their hair and their head was cold,” she said. “I always felt like it was really nice when I was able to do something to help.”

Last school year, after the creation of the club, Dossani’s grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer, she said. “[My grandmother] lives in Virginia, and there are these types of programs there too, and she used to always get really excited about the hats [patients] were given.” The patients were especially enthusiastic about the interesting designs knitted into the hats, she said.

Chan and Dossani have held three meetings this school year, and they plan to continue to host one meeting per week. In club meetings, students create hats and blankets to donate to patients in cancer treatment programs at various hospitals.

The club’s faculty advisor, Visual Arts Teacher Mirrie Choi, knows how to knit and is enthusiastic about the idea of using art to make a gesture supporting a community in need, she said.

Becoming a Crafts for Cancer member does not require any prior knowledge of knitting or crocheting, since returning members of the club with more experience are paired with inexperienced members to teach them the basics, Chan said.

Chan was first inspired to create the Crafts for Cancer club after expressing to her eighth grade advisor, history teacher Katharine Rudbeck, that she had no way of putting her knitted creations to use, she said. Her advisor suggested the idea of donating her projects to hospitals or people in need.

Tyler Rosenberg (10) joined Crafts for Cancer at the beginning of last school year after attending Cancer Awareness Club meetings and becoming interested about giving back to the community, she said. “One of my friends’ moms has had breast cancer and is still battling, and that was one thing that motivated me to learn more and more,” she said.

Due to COVID restrictions, the club was unable to work directly with hospitals last year. Most hospitals had closed down their gift receiving systems, especially for hand-made items such as hats or blankets, Chan said. Chan and Dossani thought creatively about a way to keep the club operative while school was remote, and partnered with a program called Knots of Love, which shipped the club’s creations to hospitals that were still open, she said.

Additionally, during the first meeting this year, club members decided on a unique way of packing their gifts for the hospital, Choi said. “[We] may be able to have custom shopping bags created once we complete our donations as a club and a design for the bag,” she said. “It would be another way to show our care and bring joy.”

In the future, Dossani hopes that the club can go to hospitals to donate their creations in person and spend time interacting with the patients, she said. “We do want to try and go to hospitals and teach patients at hospitals how to knit and crochet, as some sort of pastime that they could have,” Dossani said.

Dossani hopes club members find it rewarding to engage in a craft they enjoy while helping the community at the same time, she said. Rosenberg remembers her first few times attending club meetings, and has fond memories of learning how to knit and crochet from her friends, she said.

The two leaders hope that club members recognize and appreciate that everyday gestures that can make a meaningful impact. “Care and love for others can come in a lot of different forms,” Choi said. “[Making hats and blankets] is a really particularly beautiful way that someone can experience [this love] by holding something.

I think by interacting with people who are in the community in that way is really beautiful.”

THE RECORD MIDDLE DIVISION NOVEMBER 12TH, 2021

Middle Division faculty meets to discuss “Grading for Equity” Jiya Chaterjee Staff Writer

“It’s important to understand that the traditional grading system that most schools, including HM, use today was invented over 100 years ago as a response to the needs of a very different world,” Middle Division (MD) Dean of Faculty and history teacher Eva Abbamonte said. On Tuesday, the MD faculty had a meeting to discuss whether the process of grading students that is commonly used today is appropriate anymore.

This discussion was centered around Joe Feldman’s book “Grading for Equity,” which the faculty read this past summer. The book focused on how grades are counterproductive and potentially damaging for a student’s learning process. It provided statistical as well as historical background to support the argument, Abbamonte said.

Head of MD Javaid Khan helped plan the meeting together with Abbamonte, he said.

Instead of one large meeting, teachers from various departments had conversations in small groups. By having teachers from different departments share their thoughts, a multitude of ideas could be shared, allowing for subsequent department meetings to have more robust conversation about their grading policies, he said.

“This meeting was a ‘kick off ’ meeting to share early reflections and take-aways,” Khan said. “Collective wisdom is a really important aspect of a school [because] we come from

different experiences and perspectives, and it is always helpful to share ideas to push ourselves to think about what is possible.”

After reading Feldman’s book, Abbamonte reflected on how she grades as a history teacher and what changes she could potentially make in the future. For example, Abbamonte already removed giving zeroes as a grade for student assessments. According to Feldman and Thomas Guskey – who Feldman and Abbamonte are both inspired by – giving students zeroes makes them less motivated to improve, because zeroes bring down their average significantly. By giving students a 55%, which is still a fail, students are still able to pull up their average, thus giving everyone the chance to succeed. “Having an equitable grading system improves the learning of all students,” she said. “Relying more on intrinsic motivation than on extrinsic rewards and punishments allows students to take more ownership of their learning and to really engage in the learning process.”

Abbamonte also appreciated how the book made her aware of different mathematical issues with the current grading system, such as inconsistencies with the 100 point scale, and how vital it is to have statistically valid as well as reliable assessments.

By reading “Grading for Equity,” Chair of the Department of Theater and Dance Benjamin Posner had further faith in his process of grading, specifically his style of utilizing rubrics. “It’s a far more equitable way of grading and assessing something as

Pull up a chair! Come see The Dining Room today—Friday, November 12th—at 3pm or 7pm or tomorrow— Saturday, November 13th—at 7pm!

Photos of rehearsal courtesy of Barry Mason

subjective as art,” Posner said. “I also allow students to redo presentations if they are unhappy with their submissions – they are allowed to revise and retry as many times as they want. Some people call that process formative assessment, I call it the rehearsal process.”

The goal from the meeting was to start an important conversation about grading that will carry on beyond Tuesday’s faculty meeting, Abbamonte said.

Each department is scheduling a full day retreat, which Abbamonte hopes will focus on improving grading as a department based on their takeaways from the book. Abbamonte hopes now teachers are aware of possible issues with their grading styles, she said. “My impression

7

from the meeting was that many of us in the Middle Division share similar concerns about grading,” Posner said. “If people learn from mistakes, then why should mistakes be penalized?”

Lions’ Den Record Sports

NOVEMBER 12TH, 2021

Fall teams finish the season strong

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Photos courtesy of Flickr

Alex Lautin and Nia Huff Staff Writers

After a year-long hiatus from playing against other schools, the school’s fall varsity teams have completed a full season of triumphs and losses. Regardless of whether the season started off slow or strong for each team, all ended on a high note.

The Girls Varsity Volleyball team had a successful season. At first, the Girls Volleyball season suffered two tough losses against Trinity and then to Fieldston, Eva Campbell (11) said.

However, these losses encouraged the players to work harder and improve as a team, Campbell said.

Since many of the players on the team had watched the upperclassmen play on the court during their middle school years, the moments on the court were special for all of them, specifically during homecoming when they had the opportunity to play in front of a big crowd of their classmates who cheered them on, Destiney Green (12) said. “I went from watching them on the court to playing with them,” Joann Yu (10) said.

COVID-19 affected the volleyball season drastically since the break limited everyone from practicing together and playing in real game environments. This challenge encouraged the

team t o work even harder i n games and practices, Green said.

Similarly, though the Girls Varsity Tennis team lost some games, by the end of the season everyone was determined to end the season with successes, Chloe Trentalancia (11) said.

Originally the team had lost to Riverdale, but then by the end of the season, they beat Riverdale, Diya Chawla (9) said.

Chawla and Emily Grant (10) were notable members of the team this year as they were tough and strong players, Trentalancia said.

Additionally, Isabella Colacino (12) and Jade Ciriello (12) were great doubles partners and Sammy Blackman (12) and Rhea Patel (12) were extremely consistent, Trentalancia said.

The most exciting moment for Chawla was homecoming, she said. The players were able to play on the courts in front of everyone, get ready together and make posters for the seniors, Chawla said.

The Boys Cross Country team experienced challenges of returning to the season after

COVID-19, but by the end of the season everyone was working hard and taking practice seriously, Ethan Waggoner (12) said. Normally, the team has around 30 members, but because of college applications and other commitments, this years’ team was made up of just 13 members, Justin Burrell (12) said.

For Burrell, a highlight of the Boys Cross Country season was the homecoming pep rally.

After the pep rally, everyone became more of a team as they started running together and having fun in practices as the pep rally was something fun the team did together, Burrell said.

“Overall it was a very positive season,” Boys Cross Country Coach Jon Eshoo said. “The guys trained and raced hard. Spencer Kim (10) was our top runner and we’re looking forward to seeing him and the rest of the underclassmen improve next year.”

The Girls Cross Country team also had a great season, Girls Cross Country coach Meredith Cullen said. “Everybody did really well. We had some new freshmen that really came into their own. We had great seniors. Overall it was a really good season,” Cullen said.

Story Sossen (9) was a standout runner throughout the whole season, Joelle Maddan (12) said. Sossen ran a 23 minute 5k, her personal record (PR), and placed 33rd overall in the NYSAIS meet, Cullen

lot, Hannah Bodner (9) said.

Co-team captain Eliza Becker (12), goalie for the team, played a substantial role in the success of the team as her communication and strength encouraged her teammates to push through, Bodner said. Choi said the team will miss Becker dearly and it will be hard to replace her.

“Every player worked hard and showed us how important the team is to them,” Sullivan said. “The attitude of the players who were not on the field, their spirit and enthusiasm was contagious.”

Similarly, the Boys Varsity Soccer season was very competitive, with each game close in score until the end, Coach Gregg Quilty said. “We ended up [having] seven wins, six losses, and three ties.” Thirteen of the team’s sixteen games were separated by a single goal, Quilty said.

The Boys Varsity Soccer team also qualified for the NYSAIS tournament, though they lost in the opening round with 40 seconds left, Quilty said. The team tied for fourth place in the Ivy League, Quilty said.

One of the team’s best games took place at the school’s Homecoming. The Lions defeated Riverdale three to one, Quilty said. Another one of the team’s highlights was against Poly Prep at Home on Senior Day, in which the Lions won one to zero and avenged an earlier loss against Poly Prep, he said.

Team members’

with six wins and zero losses, Duffy said. In addition to the Ivy League schools, the team played schools from three different states: Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey, he said.

“We had a very big win against the Pingry school, which we haven’t beaten in at least a decade and probably only had two or three wins ever against them,” Duffy said.

The team’s final game against Greenwich Country Day School was exciting, Duffy said.

“We were down seven to one in that game,” he said. “We changed some tactics and gave a good team effort and we fell short by a goal.”

During that game, Max Chasin (11) started guarding the opposing teams’ top scorer.

The team also stopped counter attacks from happening. “Once HM was able to stop GCDS from scoring, we were able to slowly add on goals,” Duffy said.

The Varsity Football team won their game at Homecoming against Riverdale, whom they had not beaten in six years, Nathan Zelizer (12) said.

“Our team turned out really well. We were really tough, resilient, and worked really hard in every practice and [in] every game,” Zelizer said.

The team experienced a loss at Fiedston’s Homecoming as a result of injuries which contributed to the team not playing as well as they could have, Ryan Lax (12) said. “It was a very tough loss because we

said.

In addition to Sossen, the whole team improved as each individual on the team hit their PR Sophie Li (10) said.

However, a challenge for all of the runners was balancing their workload and school work, especially for the senior athletes, Maddan said.

The season for the Girl’s soccer team started and ended strong. The team started off with a big win against Trinity, made it to the first round of the NYSAIS Championship, and placed fourth in the league, Kayla Choi (10) said. The first win was notable for the team as it was the second league game the team has won in three years, Eliza Becker (12) said.

“We improved a lot as a team, more than any other year I’ve been on the team — and I’ve been on the team for four years,” Becker said.

Unfortunately, the team had a large amount of injuries during the season, from concussions to ankle sprains, which presented some challenges on the field. Yet, despite the challenge of never having a full bench, as the team became more comfortable with one another, they achieved a

c h e m i s t r y improved along with their skills over the course of the season, Lucca Correia (12) said.

For example, the members of the team were able to learn what each player’s strengths were and which foot they like to shoot with, Correia said.

The Girls Varsity Field Hockey team finished the season with three wins and four losses, according to the school’s athletics website.

This season, the team didn’t have one of their coaches who worked a lot with the goalies, which was a challenge, Maddie Yoon (11) said.

“I think we’re pretty close as a team since everyone has a lot of spirit, and there’s barely any separation between JV and Varsity,” Yoon said.

“One of the most exciting moments during the season was when we scored at the last second during a game against Hackley.”

The Varsity Water Polo team’s season went well this year, Varsity Water Polo Coach Michael Duffy said. “It was great to have everybody back in the water together and competing competitively against other schools,” he said.

The team won the Ivy League Championship

could have won — it was an easy, winnable game.”

Nate Wildman (11) played quarterback for the first time this season, Zelizer said. “By the end of the season, Wildman was throwing as though he had been playing quarterback for a few years,” Zelizer said.

“Julien Harcourt (11) and Adande Nartey (10) also stepped up big on defense. They played 110% every play. Brady Winter (10) and Sam Spector (10) stepped up on offense,” Lax said.

While Choi looks forward to winning a championship next year in Girls Soccer and playing consistently throughout the season, Yu looks forward to forging deeper connections as a team, with both old and new members within the Volleyball team.

“Clearly from the participation this fall season, the enthusiasm and passion for interscholastic athletics is alive and well and I couldn’t be prouder of everyone involved to provide a safe and meaningful experience,” Director of Athletics, Health & Physical Education Robert Annuziata said.