Issue 22

Record The Horace Mann

FEBRUARY 28TH, 2020 || VOLUME 117, ISSUE 22

RECORD.HORACEMANN.ORG

HORACE MANN’S WEEKLY NEWSPAPER SINCE 1903

Cancer Awareness Club hosts first ever School implements Cycle For Survival at a High School coronavirus policy Izzy Abbott and Maya Nornberg Staff & Contributing Writers Students and faculty cycled, danced, and cheered on their peers in the Lower Gym Monday afternoon to raise around $48,000 in donations for the school’s first ever Cycle for Survival event.

Physical education teacher and certified spinning instructor Meredith Cullen led energetic 20-person spinning sessions. Cancer Awareness Club (CAC) co-Presidents Luke Weber (12) and Sam Keimweiss (12) gave their speeches and attendees played games such as ping-pong and cornhole amidst the music and cheers for bikers.

Given that Cycle for Survival requires that participants be at least 18 years old for safety reasons and that it costs at least $1,000 to ride in an event, it took many months of planning to make this the first time the organization allowed it as a high school event, Weber said.

Keimweiss and Weber began planning this event last March when they met with a representative from the organization at a Cycle event in Bryant Park, Weber said. Weber, who began speaking at Cycle events across the country after his last treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), wanted to bring together his bond with the organization and the school, as both places have supported him throughout his treatment, he said.

“I wanted to make sure this could be lasting like Relay for Life and there is no better place than Horace Mann to be the model for future high school Cycle events,” Weber said.

Cycle for Survival is a non-profit run by MSKCC that began 10 years ago. The organization is dedicated to raising money for rare cancer research. Although rare cancers comprise 50% of all cancers, there are not many treatment options for cancer patients, which is where Cycle comes in, he said. CAC has raised over $45,000 in donations from Cycle for Survival so far, $40,000 of which are flat donations, CAC Vice President Becca Rosenzweig (11) said.

At its core, Cycle is also deeply committed to bringing people together in the fight against cancer, Rosenzweig said.

To orchestrate fund-raising and community engagement for the event, students and faculty signed up in teams of five and pledged certain donation amounts per-mile biked, or made flat donations not dependent on the mileage. Students under 18 had their parents sign a waiver when they began fundraising. One representative from each team biked at a time and members switched places in 20-minute increments.

By sending out colorful, bold-lettered emails and making enthusiastic announcements at assemblies since winter break, they got the student body thinking about their teams and donations to rally as much support for the event as possible.

Teams signed up according to club affiliations, extracurriculars, sports teams, and more, with groups ranging from the Model UN (MUN) team to Horace Mann Dance

Gabby Fischberg/Art Director

Jackson Feigin/Staff Photographer

FIGHTING CANCER ONE BIKE AT A TIME Students and faculty at Cycle for Survival.

Company (HMDC). Some teams comprised of just students or teachers, but others, like the Counseling and Guidance team, had both faculty and student participants.

“It was a great experience, and I was very proud to support and represent the MUN team in this event,” Charlie Shapiro (11) said. It was a unique opportunity for teams to work together and collaborate towards an important cause, he said.

Some participants expressed feelings of strength and unity in engaging in this event, whether they were riding or cheering on their friends and teachers. The event was open to the entire high school, and over 75 students and faculty signed up in teams.

“I think that the event went really well, there were so many people who showed up to cycle and many people to just support others. It was really nice to see both my teachers and my friends at the event and I definitely felt that our community was united and working together,” Sarah Taub (10) said.

Students were empowered by seeing each other come to support the cause, CAC Cancer Projects Coordinator Deven Shah (12) said. “It was especially nice because there was so much school spirit before and during the event.”

Teachers were also elated to be participating among students as one cohesive community dedicated to a single cause. “It reminded me that we are part of something bigger than ourselves,” Dr. Ian Pervil of Counseling and Guidance said.

As words of motivation from Weber, Cullen, and other CAC members boomed over the speakers, encouraging students to push through the physical challenge and sharing their connection to the cause, students found common ground in all areas of the event– talking between riding sessions and dancing with orange-colored pom-poms on the sidelines.

“People who didn’t know each other too

well like faculty and students across grades came together and bonded over this experience and in this fight,” Weber said.

Some students and faculty were especially excited to participate because of personal connections to the cause.

Cullen, who had never participated in a Cycle event before, was intrigued by the event because she has family members who were treated at Sloan Kettering, she said. “I Jackson Feigin/Staff Photographer

GEAR UP Co-president Luke Weber (12) strikes a pose at the event. hope we can get the feeling of taking time out of our days to do something nice for other people and do something lasting.”

Other CAC members were drawn to a new club-sponsored event that could have as lasting effect as Relay for Life, an all-school event that also raises money for cancer awareness and occurs in late spring.

“I only joined the club this year but I think the event really brought people together and I hope more people get involved in the future” CAC team member Eli Scher (11) said.

The legacy of the event rests on younger CAC members who will continue to unite the student body in facing cancer, Weber said.

“I want this to become more than just an event, but I think it already has been that,” he said. “I hope the school continues to come together over more causes like this one that we are all passionate about.”

The commitment of not just the CAC but the greater school community to coalesce for Cycle for Survival is striking, and the club members hope that the spirit brought to the event persists for others like it for the rest of the school year, Rosenzweig said.

“The fight against cancer is bigger than one person, it’s about the whole community coming together in the face of something we all connect to in some way,” Weber said.

Julia Goldberg Staff Writer In response to the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) update on the state of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), which has now spread to the United States, Head of School Dr. Tom Kelly sent out an email blast to parents, guardians, and faculty in which he stated that the school is as prepared as possible for an outbreak, should one occur in New York City.

Jake Federman (11) said that he’s extremely worried about the coronavirus, in part because living in a major city significantly increases his risk of exposure. Nevertheless, Federman believes that Kelly is handling the situation properly. “The CDC told schools to prepare for the coronavirus, and within a day, Dr. Kelly had a plan that was ready to go and be sent out,” he said. “I’m impressed by the speed.”

“I was happy that there seemed to be a pretty clear plan in place, or at least a plan to have a plan,” English teacher Dr. Andrew Fippinger said. However, the email did not come as a shock to Fippinger; on Thursday, Head of the Upper Division Dr. Jessica Levenstein told faculty that the school was beginning to make contingency plans. Moreover, Fippinger had seen an email from the head of Fieldston earlier in the day, so he assumed all NYC independent schools were undergoing a similar process, he said.

The emailed outlined one policy which differs from the approach taken to the flu and other contagious diseases: families that travel to areas identified by the CDC as significantly impacted by the outbreak of coronavirus— which as of yesterday included China, Iran, Italy, Japan, and South Korea—must self-quarantine for 14 days and must be cleared by a doctor before engaging with members of the school’s community. The mandate incorporates two of the school’s core values, Mutual Respect and A Secure and Healthful Environment, the email said.

English teacher Dr. Deborah Kassel said that she hadn’t thought about the potential impact of travel during spring break for the school community until she read the email, she said. “I realized that it could lead to more potential exposure to the virus,” she said. “You realize how easy it is for something like this to spread.”

Carmel Pe’er (11) had a mixed reaction to the protocol.

“If you miss 15 days of school in any one class, you can’t pass, so missing 14 days is essentially not an option for any student,” she said. At the same time, Pe’er said that the aggressiveness of the policy made sense when factoring in the severity of the situation.

The email then provided a list of useful resources, including three links about the state of the virus itself and one which explained the methods by which parents could begin to discuss the virus with their children.

Furthermore, Kelly wrote that the school is enhancing its sanitation protocols and spending time discussing how to continue teaching students in the case that it must be closed for a certain period of time.

Fippinger expects the virus to spread to New York City, but doesn’t expect it to become a crisis, he said. “My impression, which is no more informed than anyone else’s, is that we’re not quite in a place where we should be panicking,” Fippinger said. “There’s a decent chance schools might shut down for a little while, but that sounds more likely to be a preventative measure than a full-blown emergency.”

The article concluded by listing numerous methods to prevent the spread of sickness. “Together, we’re going to continue to make our children’s intellectual home—our school—as safe and healthful as possible,” Kelly wrote.

OPINIONS

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Editor-in-Chief Julia Robbins Managing Editor Mayanka Dhingra Issues Editor Jude Herwitz Features Nelson Gaillard Gabby Kepnes Kiara Royer News Amelia Feiner Madison Li Sam Keimweiss Simon Yang Opinions Victor Dimitrov Abigail Salzhauer Lions’ Den Darius McCullough Mark Fernandez Ranya Sareen Andrew Cassino A&E Nishtha Sharma Eliza Poster Eddie Jin Middle Division Ben Wang Isabella Zhang

THE RECORD OPINIONS FEBRUARY 28TH, 2020

The importance of exposing ourselves to diversity

Scarlett Goldberg

In the Horace Mann community, friend groups are often made up of individuals of the same gender, race, and socioeconomic class. Despite how diverse the school is, not many of us capitalize on the multitude of different perspectives available to us. The majority of people are confined to friend groups made up of individuals who identify similarly to them. Furthermore, beyond superficial similarities, friend groups often have similar political views, home locations, interests, and religions in addition to other identifiers. We stunt our personal growth by lacking connections with people different than us. Our restricted perspectives are rarely challenged, and as a result, we limit our ability to empathize with others who are different.

One’s unconscious is quickly able to sort individuals into groups, including by race, gender, or class, without requiring conscious awareness. To our ancestors in the wild, this behavior was advantageous as one could identify others belonging to the same group who were less likely to threaten their safety. Someone who does not believe they seek similarity in others is most likely unaware of the unconscious behaviors that drive societal divisions.

It is important to be mindful that our brains can process information unconsciously. I am often unaware of how similarity-attraction dictates my social interactions and I require self-reflection or another’s perspective to identify instances where I acted with bias.

Befriending those who are similar minimizes conflict.

Agreement on values, beliefs, and even favorite foods leads to increased harmony. One is more likely to strike up a relationship with someone who is superficially similar to them. In my experience at our school, people often use practicality to justify forming relationships with very similar people. This response is simply a defense mechanism so individuals do not have to confront their

Art Directors Annabelle Chan Gabrielle Fischberg Katya Arutyunyan

Faculty Adviser David Berenson

Staff Writers Izzy Abbott, Adrian Arnaboldi, Abby Beckler, Bradley Bennett, Sam Chiang, Sogona Cisse, Jack Crovitz, Adam Frommer, Andie Goldmacher, Julia Goldberg, Andie Goldmacher, Alison Isko, Avi Kapadia, Marina Kazarian, John Mauro, Yesh Nikam, Henry Owens, Oliver Steinman, Emily Shi, Samuel Singer, Natalie Sweet, Sasha Snyder, Vivien Sweet, Joshua Underberg, Talia Winiarsky, Chloe Choi, Emma Colacino, Yin Fei, Lucas Glickman, Claire Goldberg, Liliana Greyf, Lauren Ho, Walker McCarthy, Maya Nornberg, Morgan Smith, Patrick Steinbaug, Katya Tolunsky, Nathan Zelizer Staff Photographers Harrison Haft, Julia Isko, Daniel Lee, Ava Merker, Kelly Troop, Halley Robbins, Sophie Gordon, Amanda Wein, Maxwell Shopkorn, Emma Colacino, AJ Walker, Lucas Glickman, Lauren Ho Staff Artists Wilder Harwood, Rachel Zhu

respect and empathy, to create cooperative solutions for our country.

I believe it is extremely important to bridge the polarization of news sources and the divisions within our society.

If institutions, or friend groups, shut out opposite opinions, people will lack the growth and development gained by exposure to someone different than them. People do not need to change their beliefs, but if more productive and empathetic conversations between opposing sides would happen in our society, compromises would be more easily met. It is extremely uncommon to see individuals of opposite mindsets have patience and tolerance for each other, especially in our political climate.

Anyone who surrounds themselves only with their own opinions will lack the expansion of their worldview.

Repeated reaffirmation will stunt one’s ability to connect with individuals of completely different identities. It is crucial to reflect on one’s behavior in and out of the school community, and who each of us seek to form relationships with. Once we become more aware of how we behave, we can make a conscious effort to breach our comfort zones, reach out to others who we would never have spoken to before, and learn something new about our community, city, country, or world.

Annabelle Chan/Art Director

We shouldn’t feel forced to participate

Design Editors Euwan Kim Reena Ye Chris Ha

Photography Griffin Smith Ahaan Palla Jake Shapiro

unconscious, and sometimes conscious, biases against other races, genders, and socioeconomic classes.

People regularly seek confirmation and validation from others around them, especially when they cannot give it to themselves or receive it from important figures in their lives. By surrounding oneself with people of the same political opinions, one is made to feel that their perspective on the world is rational. It would be challenging to have one’s entire sense of reality disagreed with. It is possible the reaffirmation many seek from individuals similar to them could be provided by people different from them if there was less hostility between those of contrasting personalities. By creating an open and respectful school environment, people will be more open to engage in conversation with others who are different.

In the U.S., seeking confirmation is most evident in the polarized two-party system, in which people with similar political opinions often consolidate and shield themselves from opposing ideas, reaffirming each other’s opinions on social media, in the news, or in person. Consistent reaffirmation leads to “reference group effect,” which is when people perceive strong similarities between those of the same group and experience an intensely negative reaction towards people who are perceived as different. We need to expose ourselves to each other’s perspectives, fostering

Alison Isko

shake from the class when the teacher asks if anyone else got the same answer or having a teacher point out where you went wrong to the class can dissuade that person from wanting to participate again, as they don’t want to feel like the “stupid one” in the class. When participation is taken into consideration, students might get a lower final grade than they deserve based on the work they put in to better understand questions they got wrong throughout the semester and based on subsequent grades on homework and assessments.

Grading for participation instead of the quality of work can also lead teachers to value how well a student knows the material less. In middle school, I had to do a project for a class, and even though my teacher said that my project

followed all the criteria given, she gave me a B because she said that I didn’t participate enough in class—even though class participation wasn’t included on the grading rubric.

Not only did this not encourage me to raise my hand more, it negatively impacted my overall performance, as that project was important to my grade.

There’s a reason why teachers incorporate participation into students’ final grades:it lets the teacher see that students are thinking because it forces them to speak in class and ensures that they’re doing their work.most students, however, will participate whether they’re being graded for it or not. Class discussions would still be able to proceed if participation wasn’t graded and would occur much more quickly with a higher quality of engagement.

Gabby Fischberg/Art Director

When teachers grade for participation, it makes it more difficult for the class to cover material and to learn. Everyone wants to get 100% for participation, understandably, which leads to half the class raising their hand for every question.Since teachers try to call on as many people as possible, students derail the conversation: people raise their hands to repeat what somebody else already said to get those participation points, leading to multiple people saying the same thing in different phrasing, stalling the discussion. Thus, the material takes longer to get through, and penalizes those who may be confused by the topic; how can someone make a clear, coherent point about a topic that they don’t understand? Furthermore, many people are unwilling to admit to being confused about the material because of the competitive atmosphere of the school.

Feeling pressured to understand everything the moment that it’s taught makes class more stressful, which, according to mindful.org, can lead to students understanding less, as it’s harder to concentrate while anxious.

This problem is especially prevalent in classes like math, where there’s only one right answer. In math, one of the only ways to participate is to say the answer to a homework question or question that is being done in class, and giving the wrong answer can be embarrassing. Usually, when participating, a person is asked to explain how they arrived at their conclusion. Seeing the collective head-

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HORACE MANN NEWS FEBRUARY 28TH, 2020

English Dept. celebrates Black History Month through poetry Talia Winiarsky Staff Writer Poetry is a reservoir of emotion, energy, and psychology, English Department Chair Vernon Wilson said. On Monday in Olshan Lobby, students accessed these facets as they listened to and shared poems by authors of African descent in a celebration of Black History and Future Month.

The event lasted from F to H period on Monday and will be held again on Friday F to H period, Wilson, who has hosted it for the four years he has been chair of the English department, said.

As students and faculty members arrived at the event, Wilson laid out a selection of books and anthologies of poetry written by authors of African descent on the tables in the lobby. He instructed students to peruse the books with the intention of selecting a poem to read aloud.

The event was an engaging new experience,Ethan Irushalmi (11) said. “Usually, I never read poetry and poetry specifically on Black History Month or African Americans as a whole, so some of the language and poetry that we’ve read was really good to hear.”

The attendees read poems varying over subject and time periEmma Colacino/Staff Photographer

SHARED STORIES Students read out African American poetry.

od, including some famous contemporary works like “American Sonnets for my Past and Future Assassin” by Terrance Hayes, “Life on Mars” by Tracy K. Smith, older poems by writers like Lucille Clifton and Langston Hughes, and poems by lesser-known authors, like “(Afro)dite: A Black Girl’s Guide to PWIs” by Elon Collins, a 2019 graduate of Riverdale Country School.

Through reading Collins’s poetry, Sonia Shuster (11) said that she learned about the experience of attending a primarily white institution (PWI) as a person of color. Overall, poetry can help a reader learn about others, thus building empathy, she said.

“Writing is like a kind of outflow of emotion. So when you read someone else’s emotions, essentially on page, you can understand them better.”

Poetry fosters an understanding of others since it’s often told from the first person, film, video and photography teacher Jordan Rathus, who brought a photography class to the event, said.

Like photography, where the viewer can see an image of someone else, poems offer a perspective into the author’s identity. By reading poems aloud, the readers are speaking from the point of view of the authors, she said. “There’s something about the act of actually performing it and having these words spoken by you that does force you into an experience that’s more direct,” Rathus said.

For Laila Farmer (10), reading poems aloud gives them a different meaning, she said. “You can really enunciate some of the words that have a more powerful meaning. Whereas in your head, you’re just like, ‘Okay, so this is like, this is what it means.’ When you actually say it, you bring you basically bring the words to life and that really resonates with people.”

Through poetry, students learn about and appreciate one aspect of African American culture, and its large contribution to American culture, Wilson said. “Some of [the poems] are much more explicitly about African American life, experience, identity, right? But again, others are just naturally just very human.

And they kind of are not specifically about anything happening explicitly to do with African American history or culture or anything like that.”

Unlike other forms of literature, such as plays, novels, or screenplays, poems can be easily memorized,and briefly capture the historical resonance of a culture or group, whether African-Americans, Latinx groups, or women, Wilson said. “Poetry can be used to clear away or help to kind of shine a shining light on under-appreciated aspects of a given culture, pieces of culture that might otherwise be forgotten, or might not be known at all voices that might be that might not have been heard.”

Alexei Le (10) said that reading poetry offers a deeper level of understanding of African Americans in history than simply reading a textbook. “Finding a way to actually understand the emotions of the people going through something is more like helps you sort of understand the gravity of what happened,” he

Emma Colacino/Staff Photographer

WORDS OF WISDOM Wilson shares contemporary poetry. said.

Once a student found a poem that they wanted to share with the rest of the attendees, they walked up to the front of the lobby to read it. Wilson invited the audience to read alone, in pairs, or in a group; whichever way they felt comfortable.

At the beginning of the readings, Wilson said, attendees were not entirely comfortable reading aloud in front of a group, but by the end, the event had gained momentum. The energy and excitement of the reading, rather than the quantity of students, is how Wilson said he measures the success of the event.

At the beginning, students who had not participated in a poetry reading before were a bit nervous to read, Shuster said. By the end, however, the audience was enthusiastically participating and volunteering to read.

Students may not have been comfortable because race is a sensitive topic, Farmer said. English and history classes should talk more about race so that people can think about the idea of race critically, which will help, but not alleviate the discomfort that comes with talking about race, she said. “It’s just a really nasty thing that went on in American history. So that’s always going to be a part of learning it and talking about it.”

There were moments when the space was silent except for the flipping of pages and the shutter of a camera as students pored over poems to find one that they would like to read. For Wilson, these moments indicated a cycle of listening to one another, appreciating, and reading.

Debate and MUN participate in national tournaments Joshua Underberg, Claire Goldberg, and Clio Rao Staff Writers & Contributing Writer

Debate For members of the debate team, President’s Day weekend included several rounds of debate, countless card games, and many delicious meals, all to result in fantastic individual performances from team members. On February 14th, the debate team embarked on a journey to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where they competed in the 46th Annual Harvard National Forensics Tournament over the weekend.

“The President’s Day weekend tournament is unique because each school gets unlimited spots, and anybody who wants to go can go,” Sasha Snyder (11) said. “There were between 40 and 50 students from our school, including all of the freshman debaters, and for a lot of people it is their first tournament ever,” she said. This year, the HM team brought a larger number of competing freshmen to the tournament.

“This tournament was also very competitive,” said Jiyon Chatterjee (9). “It was definitely one of the most competitive, since it’s the largest.” Chatterjee won first place speaker in his J.V. division with his partner Gavin Song (9).

At the tournament, students debated whether the United States federal government should replace all means-tested welfare programs with a universal based income, Leyli Granmayeh (11) said.

Some impressive performances included Rhea Sanger (12) who placed third out of a total of 800 people for the varsity individual speaker awards, and Annabelle Xing (11) who placed as the eighth speaker for varsity.

Partners Ben Lee (12) and Owen Karpf (12) also performed particularly well, making it to

the varsity elimination rounds and eventually advancing to the octafinals, Michael Shaari (10) said.

“They are both very skilled debaters who have just gotten unlucky at the past few tournaments, so they definitely deserved the success that they had at this tournament,” Snyder said.

Lee and Karpf have done incredibly well, especially considering that this is their first year working together as partners, Granmayeh said.

In addition to Lee and Karpf, Granmayeh and Snyder also saw great results, making it to the octafinals.

up something in one of my speeches,” said Rhea Sanger (12). “I also wanted to cherish my last few moments of participating in debate as it has truly been something I have loved and will miss.”

Model United Nations Following days of hard work, the school’s Model UN (MUN) team won “Outstanding Large Delegation,” second place award at the North American Invitational Model United Nations Conference (NAIMUN). The conference took place at the Hilton Hotel in Washington Courtesy of Shay Soodak

SQUAD UP Debate team poses in front of the John Harvard statue.

For some seniors, this tournament was one of the last in their highschool debate careers. “I think that given it was my last year, I really tried to enjoy debating and give it my all rather than getting too stressed over bad judging or messing

DC over president’s day weekend, with hundreds of schools participating.

The team had been prepping for two weeks, delegate Rowan Mally (10) said. “We like to be

well prepared because if you want to win we all have to know our topic front and back and be ready for anything that could come up,” he said.

Prepping consists of making fact sheets, position papers on a country’s stance and solution to a given topic, and becoming well versed in the topic, delegate Ria Chowdhry (10) said.

NAIMUN is one of the most competitive competitions of the year, delegate Roey Nornberg (12) said. “Our biggest competitors from the country and the world attend,” he said. “It’s a really good opportunity for our team to show what we’re all about and how we stack up with the best competition in North America.”

Out of the 20 members who attended the conference, 10 won best delegate, meaning that they won first place in their assemblies, Nornberg said.

The team’s success can be credited to a number of factors, co-Secretary General Eliza Bender (12) said. “This year we really prioritized going to as many competitive conferences as possible,” she said. “Making sure that we had a competitive conference schedule kept everyone in the right mindset and made sure that all members had a lot of experience.”

Due to the competitive schedule, the team had to work extra hard to be prepared for this conference, delegate Maya Nornberg (10) said.

“This meant we researched really intensely and had a bunch of meetings during I periods and after school to make sure we were extra prepared and ready,” she said.

The team dynamic this year also played a big role in their success at NAIMUN, Mally said.

“We’re all really close so we work well together and learn from each other.”

“It’s this team and family dynamic that powers us to such impressive results,” Roey said.

“This time we came hungry and ready to go and we got really great results.”

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THE RECORD FEATURES FEBRUARY 28TH, 2020

Vivien Sweet Staff Writer

I

t’s a Saturday afternoon, and it’s finally your turn to decide what you and your friends are going to do for the evening. It’s too cold for the Great Lawn in Central Park, you don’t want to go to Serafina for the third weekend in a row, and you guys have already seen Frozen 2, so why not try something new? Here are a couple of underrated spots in Manhattan that are both quirkier than a typical sit-down dinner and easier on the wallet.

Steep Rock West

Location: 3225 Broadway Subways nearby: 1, A, C, B, D Price: $$ Category: Rock climbing Best for: 2-10 people

T

he truth is this: no one thinks bouldering is for them until they try it. However, Steep Rock West, a rock climbing gym featuring entirely glass walls and high ceilings, a minimalist structural design, and a friendly and helpful staff, makes the sport easy to jump—or rather climb—right into.

When I first went to Steep Rock West with my church’s youth group, I was admittedly dubious that all 17 of us would be able to climb at the same time given that the gym is on the Upper West Side. To my surprise, the varied selection of walls, each with about ten different color-coded climbing paths, proved to withstand a handful of large groups. The difficulty of each climbing path is indicated by a system of neon labels, tagged from V0 to V9, placed on each climbing hold. The higher the number, the more challenging a given route is, which can be controlled by the size of the holds or the space between them.

Steep Rock West offers a type of indoor bouldering called “free solo climbing,”

Food Gallery 32

Location: 11 W 32nd St Subways nearby: B, D, F, M, N, Q, R, W, 1, 2, 3 Price: $ Category: Food Best for: 2-6 people

W

hen Friday night finally rolled around, the biggest argument my friends and I always used to have was which cuisine to eat. Some argued in stringent favor of Korean fried chicken, some were adamant about having Shanghainese soup dumplings, while others just wanted a bowl of ramen—and dessert wasn’t even part of the question yet.

After years of debates that culminated in mediocre dinners with begrudged friends, I stumbled across a seemingly simple storefront in Koreatown called Food Gallery 32. Nestled between a karaoke lounge and a dessert cafe famous for its boba-topped bingsoo, Korean shaved ice, it’s easy to miss this food court’s awning. However, past the double glass doors that offer passersbys a glance into stalls serving everything from matcha tea custard to vegetarian tempura, lies arguably the most comprehensive Asian eatery in Manhattan.

Sprawling three stories high, Food Gallery 32 is home to 12 booths featuring vendors of varying popularity. Kung Fu Tea, a popular international bubble tea company, has a station near the door, serving as the main drink spot in the food court. On the other hand, the booth Jian Bing Mang, which serves a Chinese dish called Zhajiangmian

All art by Gabby Fischberg and Annabelle Chan / Art Directors

meaning that participants climb the walls without ropes harnessing them in. Though this may seem daunting at first to a less adventurous bunch, the employees take all climbers through a comprehensive safety orientation to prevent falls from becoming dangerous. Besides, the mats beneath each climbing wall are surprisingly springy and stop any drops from resulting in bruises.

Although you’re bound to see some bouldering regulars swing from hold to hold on V8 paths with unnatural ease and grace, the majority of the climbers at Steep Rock West are amateurs who came to race their friends up climbing paths. However, every climber, regardless of their experience level, must wear special bouldering shoes, which cost $6 to rent all day. A day pass costs $22 per person—$15 during the weekdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.—meaning that a climber can spend nearly all day (from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends and 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. on weekdays) at Steep Rock West.

I’m no Alex Honnold, but mastering V2 and V3 routes and reliving my elementary jungle gym memories through bouldering showed me that rock climbing isn’t just for middle-aged male gym rats. I encourage you and your friend group to take a break from Rumble and SoulCycle this weekend and opt for a more adventurous, less costly workout at Steep Rock West.

consisting of wheat noodles topped with beef and soybean paste, garners a smaller crowd of more experimental, older foodies.

If you and your friends haven’t yet been fully introduced to the multifaceted world of East Asian cuisine, Food Gallery 32 is the perfect place to dive into all different styles of Chinese, Korean, and Japanese food. The selection ranges from traditional meals— such as Bibimbap, a Korean rice bowl topped with kimchi, vegetables, an egg, and more— to more contemporary dishes, such as pocket buns, which are small pouches of dough stuffed with red bean, taro, beef, and other fillings.

A fair warning is that on weekend nights especially, the seating area can become quickly crowded, though tables do open up often due to the sheer number of seats. Although you and your friends could be surrounded by fifty or so people, the setting still feels intimate—nearly all parties are chatting casually (and sometimes boisterously) over Korean pop.

Bottom line is, even if East Asian cuisine isn’t exactly your cup of (bubble) tea, Food Gallery 32’s sprawl of cuisines is certainly worth a try. My favorite dish is from the booth Noona Noodles, which serves a flavorful bowl of Yaki udon: fried chewy noodles with marinated meat or tofu, vegetables, an egg, and soy sauce. And really, you can never go wrong with noodles.

Saturday Reviews:

Hidden Gems in NYC

Flamingos Vintage Kilo Location: 338 E 11th St Subways nearby: F, L Price: $ Category: Thrift Best for: 2-3 people

W

alking into Flamingos Vintage Kilo, I did not expect to get much out of a secondhand hole-in-the-wall that couldn’t have been bigger than 150 square feet. But what the store lacked in size it certainly made up in content. Here, I found everything from acid-wash Carhartt jean jackets to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse-themed Patagonia sweaters to only moderately-distressed Levi’s 501s for under $20.

Flamingos Vintage Kilo is best known for its unique “price-by-the-pound” system that most closely resembles that of a produce section at a grocery store. Jeans, hung on a waist-level rack for easy sorting access, go for $9.99 per pound, while shirts—including colorful corduroy buttonups and a seemingly endless supply of Coca-Cola t-shirts—range from $5.99 to $8.99 per pound.

For a well-organized New York City secondhand store that doesn’t smell like mothballs, the prices are more than fair.

But ultimately, for me, what sets this thrift store apart is how curated the selection is for the price range. If you’re on a time crunch, the store’s displays save shoppers hours of sifting through Y2K low-waisted Hollister jeans and someone’s aunt’s floral polyester blouses. Rather than a large array of faded cargo joggers and flared yoga pants in miscellaneous sizes, the pants selection is filtered down to a handful of Lee, Levi, and Wrangler jeans. The tops are organized by color and material, so it’s easy to avoid the neon phase that the world went through in the early 2010s.

Even the belts are separated into genuine leather, imitation leather, and those skinny clear plastic belts that used to come with dresses from the Gap. The most glaring downside of Flamingos Vintage Kilo is the fact that it’s about as small as the second-floor library classroom. Clothing racks are situated fairly close together, making moving past other shoppers a tight squeeze, and there is only one fitting room. Ideally, it’s a fun place to stop by with one or two friends after brunch, especially if you’ve never been to NoHo before.

And if you don’t like the selection at Flamingos Vintage Kilo, there’s another thrift store called Buffalo Exchange, which is significantly larger but less curated and organized, right next to it. All secondhand stores considered though, Flamingos Vintage Kilo has been my go-to thrifting spot if I’m on a budget and looking to diversify my wardrobe.

5

HORACE MANN FEATURES FEBRUARY 28TH, 2020

SEW Sustainable: Fashion Design Club Sam Chiang Staff Writer Redesigning old garments, one of the newest fashion trends and an impactful way to reduce environmental waste, has become the focus of the school’s Fashion Design Club (FDC) as it practices a zero-waste policy. The club teaches members how to sew, hem, and patch, so that they may refashion old clothing instead of throwing it away, club leader Lily Seckendorf (12) said. This year’s policy is a slight shift from previous years as “this year’s group is very much into the idea of recycling and reuse, the idea of using older clothes and giving them a new life,” faculty adviser Caroline Bartels said.

Indeed, the the fashion industry generates 92 million tons of waste each year, the Global Fashion Agenda wrote in a recent report. “We live in a world where we just consume fast fashion,” Seckendorf said. “We buy cheap clothing and throw it away, but maybe [if ] it has a hole or something, you [can] just repair it instead or maybe make something new out of it.”

Each week, the club hosts sewing workshops for both serious members and those looking to dabble. While

long-term members find their fabrics and work on their own self-directed projects, less committed members can learn to sew, Seckendorf said.

In order to make the club more accessible to those without any sewing experience, the club purchased a sewing machine using leftover money from last year’s bake sale, Seckendorf said. While Seckendorf had limited experience, she took the machine home over winter break and learned to sew from reading the instruction manual and watching YouTube videos, she said.

Now, Seckendorf teaches club members how to use the basic functions of the sewing machine, Grace Ermias (12) said.

Once members become proficient using the sewing machine, many begin their own projects. Jihsu Ryu (12) said that she had been looking into reworking clothes on her own when she heard about the club. The club is a “nice space to relax and work on something else besides schoolwork for a while,” she said. Part of the reason Ryu was interested in FDC is because of its global impact, she said. “It’s really important to be mindful about the ways in which everybody

can lend a hand in working against furthering the ceramics studio, they create something the damage that we have done to our planet.” because it’s relaxing and therapeutic; I think At the beginning of 2020, the club’s mem- that’s what these guys are doing with FDC.” bers went to a Goodwill store together to pur- During most meetings, members of the club chase a piece or two to work on for the rest relax and work while listening to music toof the year. Seckendorf also brought in some gether, Ermias said. of her old clothes and some of her grandfaTowards the end of the year, the FDC is ther’s old ties which Ermias has considering decorating a galturned into a headlery for their final products, band, she said.

Seckendorf said. HowevArt b y Kia ra Ro Members of er, regardless of the final yer/F eatur es Ed itor the club also product, Seckendorf said plan to work that she hopes that memon largbers of the FDC are er group able to creatively exprojects, press themselves Ryu said. and that the FDC During serves as a relaxtheir trip to ing space. “And if Goodwill, nothing comes from the club what’s being created, purthat’s okay too because they’ve learned how to use a sewing machine, which is a good skill to have,” Bartels said.

“It’s more than just a fad, we should all be chased a picnic blanket more conscious about which they hope to refashion into pants how we consume clothes and a top. and ensure that they have “It feels like another form of art,” a proper lifetime,” Ryu said.

Bartels said. “When kids go to

Life of the Mind: Rosenblatt (10) conducts personality test Arushi Talwar Contributing Writer Alex Rosenblatt is attempting to create as “comprehensive of a picture as we can through these typology systems of the human mind and human personality” in his Science Research class this year.

The purpose of the Science Research course is to design, plan, and carry out a scientific experiment, as well as analyze data and present the findings at the Sci-Tech convention in April, Rosenblatt said. Rosenblatt has been developing a personality type study to determine if there is any correlation between students’ personality types and their participation in honors courses at the school. A month ago, Rosenblatt sent an email to the student body, which contained an assessment that would determine the student’s personality type. Students then submitted anonymous Google Forms with basic information about themselves, including which honors courses, if any, they were enrolled in.

“We start with an interest, and Alex has a strong interest in personality typing,” Upper Division science teacher Dr. Christine Leo, who teaches the Science Research class, said.

“We built from there what types of questions we could ask using personality type as a way to answer those questions.”

While there are many personality type testing systems, Rosenblatt’s study uses the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) test, one of the most common exams. MBTI is comprised of a series of questions about a person, the answers of which lead them to identify their personality type. There are 16 different possible types, all of which are based on four different dichotomies, each containing two different letters. Each letter distinguishes how you respond and deal with the world around you, Rosenblatt said. According to the Myers Briggs website, “The essence of the theory is that much seemingly random variation in the behavior is actually quite orderly and consistent.”

Rosenblatt was first introduced to these personality type tests in eighth grade at his old

school. “We were doing a partner project, and my teacher thought it would be interesting to take the Myers Briggs Type Indicator test to pair us by type,” he said. Since this original spark of interest, Rosenblatt has been conducting research into personality type tests, specifically more in-depth studies of MBTI. “I’ve been studying MBTI for a couple of years and have found the inner workings of people’s minds and how people’s personalities interact with each other really fascinating,” he said.

Through data that has been analyzed so far, Rosenblatt has come across many challenges within the completed portions of the study.

One big concern, he noted, was the validity of the data, and if it was truly representative of the entire school community.

Rosenblatt felt he had to ask himself the question, “Are these responses based off the people of HM or the people that are going to respond to a survey like this?”

Given the small number of honors students at the school, it was a challenge to get an appropriate quantity of responses from those enrolled in

honors courses, Rosenblatt said.

Even though his data analysis is not complete yet, Rosenblatt has discovered very inter-

esting instances in the results he has looked at so far. The personality type INTJ, although extremely rare in the real world, was the most common type at the school. The letters, which stand for Introversion, Intuition, Thinking, and Judging, are all aspects of how INTJs approach life. Even considering the scarcity of this personality type, Rosenblatt had expected many of the student body to have this response. People grouped in this type are typically the most logically focused with a tendency to plan ahead, Rosenblatt said.

Rosenblatt identifies a similarity between the stereotypical student at the school and the typical INTJ type, leading him to believe the school is self-selecting for these traits.

Mazyar Azmi (10), who is in the Science Research class, has decided to collaborate with Rosenblatt and is now asking for people’s MBTI type as a part of his own project.

“Alex is very interested in personality types and psychoanalysis,” Azmi said. “I think it’s super interesting how he

is trying to incorporate something you see every day with something he really likes.”

For Dani Koplin (10), taking the test taught her aspects of herself that she previously did not know. “Many of the questions asked during the test were ones I had never thought about in my life, and required me to think hard,” she said. Even just defining herself as an introvert or extrovert, for example, was difficult, as she had to look at herself from a different perspective. Now, after learning her type, INFJ, which stands for Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Judging, Koplin wants to meet more people of the same type and see how similar they really are.

AJ Walker (10) also found that the directness of the introvert or extrovert question left no room for any answer in-between. “The results of the test were not exactly what I expected, but I think that for the most part, it captured my personality fairly accurately,” he said.

Still, these tests are more about how you think and less and about your personality, Rosenblatt said.

“The more I’ve been studying this system, the more I’ve realized that even though we are trying to group people into boxes, every individual is unique,” he said. “These types are just what you identify with most, but no type system is perfect and no type system will be able to perfectly describe a human personality.”

6

THE RECORD ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT FEBRUARY 28TH, 2020

From NY to Florida: HeymanN((12) Plays Piano for the nation Emily Shi Staff Writer The poetic and melodious flow emitted from Jasper Heymann’s (12) piano performance for the National Public Radio (NPR) captivated both a live audience of 350 people and countless others listening nationwide. As a part of the organization’s “From The Top” classical music program featuring young musicians, Heymann performed a solo piece of “Transcendental Étude in F minor, “Appassionata” S. 139 No. 10” by Franz Liszt and a duet of “Dizzy Fingers” by Edward Elzear “Zez” Confrey with Co-Host and Alumni Pianist Peter Dugan, who appeared on the show in April 2007.

Four years ago, after his friends and parents encouraged him to apply to the program, Heymann did not anticipate hearing back, he said. As a result, when he received an invitation last fall to travel to Key West, Florida and perform this January, his initial reaction was shock, confounded by the fact that he had even forgotten he applied, he said.

After Dugan and Elena Urioste, another cohost and violinist, introduced him, Heymann presented the title of the piece and immediately delved into a dynamic flow. Throughout his performance, the melody escalated into faster and higher notes with a powerful tone throughout.

Dugan characterized the performance as “rhapsodic” and announced his praises to the audience after it concluded: “It roared, it thundered, it had such an incredibly dynamic range,” he said.

“We are all just still recovering from what that performance was. Bravo.”

In his second performance with Dugan of “Dizzy Fingers,” Heymann displayed his versatility as an artist in multiple genres.

Heymann has also played many other types of percussion, such as timpani, mallet percussion, and drums. “He’s done pretty much everything percussion related,” music teacher and Director Michael Bomwell said. “I think I’ve seen him become more comfortable in different musical settings and more at ease with just any kind of situation that he finds himself in playing-wise.”

Courtesy of Jasper Heymann

VIRTUOSO Heymann’s performance moves crowd.

Heymann has performed at numerous concerts and festivals throughout his music career, including the school’s “Concerts in Motion” show, Wind Ensemble performances as a principal percussionist, and a two-week tour abroad in England with the Leeds Piano Festival.

Still, this experience was unlike any other, he said. “There was a really scary thought that, ‘Oh god, almost everything I do and say will be heard by half a million people around the country,’ but even though there are tons of microphones on stage, you forget when you’re up there because it’s actually a really casual experience.”

Heymann said that the interview that followed his first performance allowed him to relax and interact with the audience. “It broke a barrier between the performer and the audience that usually is so prevalent from concerts,” he said. …“The fact that the entire show was recorded was completely drowned out by the fact that I could really engage with the people who are listening to.”

Bomwell attributes much of Heymann’s suc-

cess to his sensitivity and attentiveness of his surroundings, he said. “He is able to put together all the different aspects of ensemble playing that we hope every member does, but he does it with such ease and grace and humility that it’s a pleasure to work with.”

The interview, conducted by Urioste, covered not only Heymann’s musical experience but also enabled him to share about different aspects of his life, he said.

The lighthearted aspect of the interview made it his favorite part of the entire experience, Heymann said. “We were talking just about life, not just about music, but about how life is going and about school and stuff – it’s great to get off my chest and to kind of share with people who I normally wouldn’t talk to.”

Apart from the recording of the radio show, Heymann’s trip also included a day of community service where the young musicians visited a school of adults with learning disabilities and performed for them. “It’s a great opportunity to

learn about how music can help those who usually don’t have resources and education in the arts,” he said.

During the concert, Heymann said that many of the adults started to dance and sing along to the music. The most rewarding aspect of the concert was watching people who typically didn’t have resources or education targeted towards the arts open up and relax with the music, he said.

Prior to this experience, Heymann had searched for many other community engagement opportunities to fulfill his desire to give back through music, he said. This past year, he has performed in locations such as care centers, nursing homes, preschools, and hospices.

In addition to its role in service, Heymann said that he views music as a key part of his identity and development, as he has played piano since he was five years old, and spends over twenty hours practicing every week.

As a five-year-old, Heymann wanted to start out by playing drums, and his parents encouraged him to study piano as well in order to gain a solid musical foundation and an understanding of basic principles of music theory, his father Andrew Heymann said.

In college, Jasper plans to continue to pursue music as a field of study to delve further into communicating. “Right now I’m kind of in an atmosphere where I’m not surrounded by a lot of kids who do what I do in music, and college is the perfect opportunity to finally introduce myself to the greater music community,” he said.

“I’ve always told Jasper that if, when he’s my age, he can sit down and play a beautiful piece of music decently, it will bring him great satisfaction,” Andrew Heymann said. At the same time, his father is looking forward to being surprised

by Jasper’s potential as an artist and his ability to weave different interests together.

Jasper’s goal is to pursue a field of science and music simultaneously after he graduates, as he said that he draws many connections between the two. “I know a lot of engineers who perform as a secondary job,” he said. “That’s kind of the dream for me.”

Steeling the show: Drummers showcase their skills Aden Soroca and Devin AllardNeptune Staff Writers The school’s steel bands performed tunes from all across the globe yesterday, from Jamaica, Trinidad, Columbia, and the United States.

Last night’s performance was not the only concert the steel band has played. In December, the steel band performed alongside the school’s Wind Ensemble, Concert Band, and Jazz Band in the annual holiday concert. The concert last night featured only the steel band, making the annual concert unique, Alan Bates, the director of the Steel Drums bands, said.

Three classes, a total of 39 students, participated in last night’s concert. According to Bates, the bands are separated by age and experience.

Each group played four different songs, with genres ranging from Calypso and Reggae to Pop. Half of the songs that were played at the concert were selected by the students. The other songs were selected by Bates with his students’ capabilities in mind. “I chose some of the music for them that I thought would be good for the level that they’re playing at,” he said.

The performance was structured so that the youngest band composed of freshmen and sophomores played first, Bates said. While the setup of the concert was based upon the experience of the players, none of the music was easy, Bates said. The first group played a rendition of “Baby Shark,” which was altered to be more “interesting.”

In addition to “Baby Shark,” the first band also performed “La La La Brazil” by Shakira, a Calypso titled “Both of Them,” and “One Drop” by Bob Marley. “We have been practicing for the concert since the very start of the year,” Griffin Klein (10),

a member of the first band, said.

“We have learned multiple songs, and through many months of practice, we have tried to perfect them for the concert,” Klein said. The first band is performing two new songs that they have never performed at a concert before. “It is definitely challenging to learn a new song but once we spend enough time working on the song, it becomes fun to play,” Klein said.

In preparation for the concert, each song was practiced repeatedly, said Leonardo Hess (10).

However, when the class needed to learn a new song, they were encouraged to sight-read in order to improve their playing and reading abilities, he said.

According to Hess, the biggest obstacle the steel band faces is time. As a result of the busy schedules of the players, most players can only practice in class. This stresses the importance of having productive class periods, which is another struggle for the band, Hess said.

The second band, which included Sophomores and Juniors, played “Crazy Love” by Michael Bublé, “Forget You” by Cee Lo Green, a cover of “I Got You Babe” by UB40, and “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell.

“One challenging aspect was the rhythms in some of the songs which were slightly difficult for the entire class to play in sync,” Kristin Yung (11), a member of the second band said. “We also finished our last song very recently, so we have not had too much time to practice.”

The third band performed “Passionfruit” by Drake, “Dancing Queen” by ABBA, “Wild Wild World, and “Jaws,” a Calypso from Trinidad, said Bates. “Sometimes I’m too energetic during rehearsals cause the music can just take over,” Peter

Courtesy of Eddie Jin

HIT THE DRUMS Steel drums bands performed in the cafeteria last night.

Lehv (12) said. “You’ve got to stay grounded and realize that we are all playing for a common goal of steel pan greatness.”

According to Vani Prasad (12), who is finishing her fourth year playing steel drums, this particular song selection makes the concert more fun to learn and play. “We are playing ‘Dancing Queen’ by ABBA, which made it much easier for many of us to learn since it’s a song that we all know and love,” she said.

“There is definitely a feeling of satisfaction that

spreads throughout the room when we play a song in its entirety for the first time,” said Hess.

“Practice can be challenging, but once we realize what comes out of it, we feel good about the work we put in.”

7

HORACE MANN LIONS’ DEN FEBRUARY 28TH, 2020

Squash Nationals Girls Squash finishes 32nd

Boys Squash places 30th John Mauro Staff Writer The Boys Varsity Squash Team ended the season travelling to Hartford, Connecticut to compete in Squash Nationals at The Westminster School. Playing in the New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS) and 2020 HEAD U.S. High School Team Squash Championships, the team won third place in NYSAIS with a 14-5 record and obtaining a 30th place finish at nationals.

Compared to last year, the team is much deeper in terms of ability and chemistry, Kush Malhotra (11) said. “We have more talented players than last year, so we’re able to win more matches.” The team featured both talented players and family dynamics, Daanyal Agboatwalla (11) said.

Unfortunately, Peter Lehv (12), one of the team’s captains and best players, injured his thumb and was unable to play in regular games this season. This hindered the team’s ability to perform at their best, Ag-

boatwalla said.

However, other players rose to the occasion, proving how strong the team really was, Malhotra said.

“Agboatwalla, Malhotra, and Sam Chiang (11) stepped up as leaders and helped the team,” Lehv said.

The three juniors stepped up in matches and led by example on the court, Lehv said. They also all took the responsibility of getting on court with the underclassmen and sharing their knowledge, Lehv said.

“Squash is a lot of mental,” Agboatwalla said. “I know my teammates have helped me a lot with the mental aspect by cheering me on and encouraging me during a match.”

Agboatwalla believes that the players do better when they have people cheering them on, he said. “I think that was our biggest strength this season.”

For practice for nationals, the Girls and Boys Varsity Squash Teams would often scrimmage against each other and work on improving their fitness, Malhotra said.

In the last upcoming days nationals, the team intensely practiced and challenged themselves.

Beller believes that there were moments at nationals that Lehv and the squash team will always remember, he said. “Peter got cleared to play a week before nationals, and he played a grueling match that was watched by hundreds of people in the venue,” Beller said.

The match went back and forth and came down to the last few points. Lehv was able to win in the last few points in a dramatic fashion, letting out a huge roar, Beller said. This was out of character for Lehv, who is usually calm and quiet, he said.

At that moment, Agboatwalla saw how much the team meant to Lehv and his teammates, he said.

“We had a really good team going into this year; we overcame our challenges and had a great season,” Chiang said. “We’re all excited to continue the legacy left behind by our team next year.”

Adam Frommer Staff Writer At U.S. High School Team Squash Championships, the Girls Varsity Squash team cheered for each other so loudly all weekend that a handful of players lost their voices, co-Captain Rhea Sanger (12) said.

The team, which was founded last year, finished 32nd in the country at the Nationals tournament this past weekend. After competing in the fourth division out of six last year, the team qualified to play in the second division this season. While the team lost every match, they did not have high expectations considering the high caliber of their division this year, Sanger said.

Amanda Katiraei (11) played the best squash she’s played in a long time, she said. Having all of the teammates in the arena to cheer her on brought out her best playing by making her feel supported, she said. For Katiraei, performance in games often depends on her mindset at a given moment. “Other teammates were coaching me between matches and giving me advice, and I gave them mine,” she said.

The team had a really strong start to their season, having won all 21 individual matches of their first three team competitions, Sofia Jiang (11) said. After the beginning of the year, two starting players ended up off of the court: co-Captain Chloe Kim (12) suffered an ankle injury and Divya Acharjee (10) left the team.

As a result, the team had to adapt and take on new playing positions on the team, Jiang said.

Being injured for most of January and February, Kim spent time attending

games to cheer on teammates. “Being there at matches and watching everyone else play just made me want to play more,” she said. Kim was able to return to play for Nationals but said that she had a tough time in her first few matches because she had not played in so long.

Jiang plays as the team’s number one player, and Ria Chowdhry (10) plays in the second slot. Since Chowdhry and Jiang play outside of school, they juggled going to school practices with their other teams. Since the school team has a wide range of skill levels, Chowdhry would often practice with the Boys Varsity Squash team, she said.

Because of its individualized nature, squash is not quite as team oriented as other sports, Katiraei said. “I think inherently we all like doing our own thing, which is why we chose a sport like squash.” Still, it is helpful to practice together as a team. “Nobody wants to do it alone,” she said.

This season, the team had to learn to get to know each other, Chowdhry said. “It was an issue making sure that we were all friends with each other.”

Because of the age range of players and existing friendships, the many players didn’t know one another. Katiraei said she hopes to improve upon the team dynamic and build up more team camaraderie next season.

For Sanger, Sunday’s ride home from Nationals was filled with mixed emotions, she said. “It was kind of sad coming home and being done.” Still, Sanger said that she is proud of the team’s progress and is excited to see the girls succeed in the coming years.

Courtesy of Nora Balidemaj

POINT LIONS Rhea Sanger (12) scores a point.

SLAM! The team smiles admist a successful season.

Sam Mayo (12): the journey of improvement Yotam Hahn Staff Writer After being cut from the squash team his sophomore year, Sam Mayo (12) has come a long

way to earn a spot in the starting lineup. “In the off-season I started training really hard, and it felt good to see it pay off,” Mayo said. Coming into the season Mayo was projected to be a reserve player, but his hard Courtesy of Sam Mayo

GET READY Mayo steadies himself for a shot.

work and dedication helped him reach as high as number six in the starting lineup, which is a true testament to his hard work, Head Coach Ronnie Beller said.

Stemming from his knowledge of the game and hard work in the gym, Mayo’s on-the-court performance has improved immensely as the season went on, Beller said. “One of his best qualities is his competitive spirit, teammate Kush Malhotra (11) said. “Mayo went 6-4 as a starter this year, which is a great accomplishment playing in the competitive Ivy League, he stepped up big time and I am extremely proud of his efforts,” Beller said.

Aside from his excellent work ethic on the squash court, Mayo has been eating more of a plant-based diet, which has helped him transform his body significantly, Beller said. “He is really motivated and works on his strength and fitness a lot, which is one thing that I along with the rest of the team try to replicate,” teammate Kush Malhotra (11) said.

Mayo had played only a few times in middle school just for fun, but it was not until his sopho-

more year when Peter Lehv (12) and Tommy Kagan (12) convinced him to start playing seriously.

Mayo has benefited greatly from participating on the school team, “being on the school team exposed me to a high level of squash, since there were people who had been playing their whole life,” Mayo said. The team has also given Mayo a lot of match experience which has taught him how to play his best under pressure, he said. Being on the team has taught Mayo how to be a leader and support his peers, he said.

“He is very knowledgeable about squash,” Beller said. “And as for the younger guys, when Sam talks they certainly listen.”

“I try to include the underclassmen as much as possible,” Mayo said. “He cares for everyone on the team,” Malhotra said. “We thank him for making our squash team become more like a family,” Beller said. Not only does Mayo lead vocally, but he also leads by example. Everyone sees how hard he works, and we all aspire to attain his level of intensity and work ethic, which has made the team better as a whole, Malhotra said.

Lions’ Den Record Sports

Congratulations to Wrestling for winning the NYSAIS Championship for the second year in a row!

8

FEBRUARY 28TH, 2020

GVB wins first NYSAIS Title in historic season Marina Kazarian Staff Writer Girls Varsity Basketball won the state championship game for the first time in history by defeating The Masters School 55-33 last Monday.

It marked their second consecutive year of being undefeated in the Ivy Preparatory School League.

Having lost the championship last year against the same opponent, the team was more motivated than ever to win, Head Coach Ray Barile said.

Masters also beat the Lions in the state championship semifinals two years ago. “We felt like we had to get revenge and come back from that reputation that they had,” Rosy Arora (11) said. “We knew going into the game that we were the better team, and we proved it on the court.”

In the first quarter, both teams made several successful shots, giving no clear indication of who might take away the trophy. The quarter ended with the Lions in the lead with a score of 21-12, and they brought the score up to 34-12 by the end of the second quarter. The team’s focus on defense is what prevented Masters from scoring any points in the second quarter - something that is very rare, particularly in a championship game, Barile said.

Co-Captain Ella Anthony (12) also had an impressive fast break during the second quarter, using speed to her advantage to quickly turn and bring the ball back up the court toward their hoop to shoot. “We were pushing the pace, and we knew they couldn’t run with us,” co-Captain Halley Robbins (12) said.

While Masters’ scored 21 more points during the second half, the Lions also increased their score by 21, solidifying their win. In the end, Masters only scored 33 points, which is much lower than their average of about 60 per game.

The Lions’ unity and energy this year were two of the main factors of their success.

Mia Calzolaio (10) said that all the members recognize the importance of bringing good energy to the game. “The bench is a really big part of that, because they are the ones that keep the morale of the team up even if players feel they aren’t playing well,” she said. “During the championship especially, there was a lot of cheering, standing up, and staying loud, and I think that was one of the

Courtesy of Next Subject

CHIP SEASON Team hoists their NYSAIS Championship awards for the first time in school history. reasons why we won.”

The captains also boosted the players’ mentality by giving pep talks and advice, Arora said.

Barile said that the team has become very cohesive, with strong, confident players from all different grades.

Physical preparation and dedication also contributed to the Lions historic season.

The team practiced on Saturdays and went to Florida over winter break for a tournament. “We got to play harder teams from all over the country, and it really took the competition to another level,” Arora said.

In addition to putting in extra effort throughout

the season, the team made sure to prepare carefully for the championship game. “It was a very well-coached game,” Robbins said. “Barile did a very good job scouting the team. We hadn’t played them earlier this season, but he watched a lot of tapes, and he prepared us for our match-ups very well.”

Masters has proven to be an efficient offensive team, whereas the Lions are a more defensive team. As a result, one of the Lion’s priorities was to guard Masters’ most skillful scorer - a junior named Brooke Tatarian - and capitalize on their strong defense, Barile said.

Halley Robbins was in charge of guarding Ta-

tarian, whose height made her an even more intimidating opponent. “I was kind of nervous about that match-up, but we played a special defense on her; I wasn’t in help defense, I was just guarding her and that was my responsibility,” Robbins said.

The trust that she was able to place in her teammates, especially with leaving the help defense to the other players, was very beneficial during the game, she said.

The team consistently developed upon their strengths as they moved through the season and put together the best basketball game they’ve ever played for the final championship, Barile said. “It was a pleasure to watch.”

Boys Varsity Basketball ends season falling to #1 seed Portledge Adrian Arnabaldi and Max Chasin Staff & Contributing Writers

The Boys Varsity Basketball team’s season came to an end after a tough loss against Portledge in the quarterfinals of the New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS). The team finished the season with a 13-8 record, earning them a fourth place finish in the Ivy Preparatory League.

Going into the year, the team didn’t have many expectations, but they did have a few goals, Robert Mantz (12) said. “I think our goals were to compete with everyone and hopefully steal a few big games and get into the playoffs.”

While many of the players desired to make a deeper playoff run, the season was still considered a success. The team was able to play to their strengths to win games. The Lions are the best shooting team in the league, Ben Chasin (11) said.

The team’s success can, in part, be attributed to the growth of team chemistry. “We have been playing with each other for a couple of years and are all around the same age, so it’s easy for us to bounce ideas off each other and push each other to work hard everyday and be the best team we can be,” Ethan Irushlami (11) said.

Multiple players, including starting point guard Eddie Mantz (11), played a crucial role in the team’s success. Mantz “[Mantz] always managed the team on the court and was in control on both ends of the floor,” Avi Kapadia (11) said.

Another player on the team who played especially well during the season was Darius McCullough (12), Chasin said. “Darius was really big for the team coming off of the bench,” Cha-

sin said. “He rebounded incredibly well, and had some clutch buckets late in games.”

The captains, Mantz, Mccullough and Jack Blackman (12), have had an immense impact on some of their younger fellow teammates. The captains are always encouraging the team and lifting everyone up, Chasin said. They were a big part of why the team was so close. “They have helped the relationships with everyone on the team grow stronger,” Chasin said.

“Our captains have pushed us everyday in practice,” Irushlami said. “Their goal was to win.

They made us just work as a team and stay focused and disciplined.”

With the leadership of the seniors, the team was able to conduct effective practices where some players drastically improved their game.

“I think we learned a lot about sharing the ball, running through the full offense, and communicating on both ends of the floor,” Irushlami said.

The team’s lack of height forced them to navigate through taller opponents. Chasin praised the team’s ability to secure rebounds and box out despite the size disadvantage.

“We definitely realized throughout the season that no matter our size, we can beat any team in this league,” Chris Robinson (11) said.

Looking back on his high school career on Boys Varsity Basketball at the school, Mantz is thrilled to be able to say that the team has improved drastically over his years playing with everyone. “We were 1-13 in the league my sophomore year,” he said. “To be able to look back on that record, all those years ago, and recognize the fact that the team went 13-8 this year is amazing.”

For Mantz, the season’s coming to a close is an unfortunate occurrence, he said. “I’ve played

Courtesy of Barry Mason

SMACKDOWN Ben Chasin (11) and Jaden Kirshner (11) play tight defense. basketball for 13 years, so the fact that my highschool career is coming to an end is sad, but I couldn’t be happier with how it went.”

Next year, the team hopes to build off their strong showing this season and continue to build

chemistry and make a deeper run into the playoffs, Irushlami said.