The Horace Mann Record, Issue 25

The Horace Mann Record HORACE MANN’S WEEKLY NEWSPAPER SINCE 1903

MAY 3RD, 2019 || VOLUME 116, ISSUE 25

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Jordan Roth ‘93 discusses activism Henry Owens and Gabby Kepnes Staff Writers

Courtesy of the Harvard Alumni Website

BIG SHOTS New Chairman of the Board Larry Grafstein with his wife Rebecca Grafstein.

Larry Grafstein becomes the new Chairman of Board of Trustees Vivien Sweet Staff Writer

INSIDE

Chairman of the school’s Board of Trustees Michael Colacino ‘75 P’22 announced not only his departure from the board, but also his replacement: Board of Trustees member Larry Grafstein P’11 P’12 P’15, at the annual Faculty and Trustee Dinner, last Thursday, much to the surprise of the attendees.

Colacino is stepping down from the position after 11 years of dedicated service on the board, including four years as Board Chair, Head of School Dr. Tom Kelly said. Grafstein, who has been on the board for 11 years, has served as the Co-Chair of the annual fund among other positions, some of which involve the school’s legal scandals over the past decade, Grafstein said.

Colacino, who described the dinner as his favorite night of the year as Board Chair, retired from the board primarily because he had accomplished two of his key goals this year, he said. “We had completed the new buildings, and we had hit our first major goal in the capital campaign,” he said. “It seemed like an appropriate endpoint.”

Under Colacino’s tenure on the board, the board raised threequarters of the money needed for Friedman Hall and the other renovations necessary in the gym facilities such as the pool, he said.

Grafstein believes that Michael’s accomplishments as the chairman were extremely impressive, especially HM in Motion, he said. “Sometimes construction projects don’t happen in a timely fashion, but Michael was able to finish the ambitious fundraising aspect and made the facilities ready for people to use,” he said.

Since the construction consisted of 100,000 square feet of new instructional space, Kelly thinks that Colacino’s experience in areas of real estate and development were a blessing, he said.

“As the project nears completion,

the fact that we are projecting a budget over run of less than one percent is nothing short of miraculous,” Kelly said. “That’s an accomplishment almost unheard of in the construction industry.”

Additionally, through this major project, Colacino was able to bring together many of the school’s families in supporting the campaign, Board of Trustees member Justin Lerer ‘[insert] P’[insert] said. “Michael was really just perfectly suited to this project, and he pulled it off phenomenally well.”

“From handling issues large and small, everyone admires his leadership for being communicative and decisive,” Board of Trustees member Samantha Cooper Brand said. She believes that Colacino left an incredible impression on the board and the future generations of Horace Mann, she said.

According to Colacino and Lerer, the board’s Committee on Trustees and Governance unanimously selected Grafstein through a series of interviews and discussions with the other Board members.

“Larry has been on the board for a long time, and he was kind of a consensus choice,” Colacino said.

“There was nobody really who thought he wasn’t the best guy for the job.”

Lerer hopes that Grafstein has “the opportunity to meet as many people in the school’s community as he can, so that they can see what a kind, thoughtful, and highly intelligent person he is,” he said.

“Mr. Grafstein has the breadth of experience to lead HM into the future as we absorb the many changes to the physical structures and academic programs that have happened recently,” said Brand.

According to Kelly, similar to previous board chairs, Grafstein’s responsibilities include “the oversight of the school’s operations in conjunction with the Head of School, the School’s finances, and ensuring the School’s compliance

2020 Politics

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Julia Hornstein (12) discusses Democratic presidential candidates.

with applicable state and federal laws,” he said.

Grafstein himself is looking forward to building on the tremendous tradition of leadership and education that the school has, he said. He believes that “the urgent cannot eclipse the important,” a phrase that he and Dr. Kelly thinks fits the school well, he said.

“Now that we’ve finished HM in Motion, there’s an opportunity to take a pause to think about types of next generation educational innovation that enables us to continue to differentiate ourselves as one of the top schools in the country,” Grafstein said.

Moving forward, Colacino hopes that Grafstein will continue the work that he started on finding a way to endow financial aid, he said.

Colacino thinks that financial aid benefits students on many different levels as well as “improving the diversity of the student body,” he said.

However, Colacino thinks that raising money just for financial aid as opposed to a more tangible thing as a building is especially difficult, he said.

“A natural goal of the school should be to make it so that it’s easier to admit more students who don’t have the money,” Colacino said.

“Some of our best and brightest kids receive financial aid.”

Fortunately, as Board Chair, Grafstein aims to keep the school dynamic and forward looking, while simultaneously keeping critical “tried and true” values of the school, he said. These values include facilitating diversity, staying ahead on intellectual trends, and providing the most holistic range of extracurricular activities for students, he said.

“With every new Board Chair, there comes a renewed enthusiasm in the work that needs to be done on behalf of a great school always looking to be even greater,” Kelly said.

Getting Educated

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School teachers discuss the mentors who inspired them.

As part of the Community Council’s (CC) Career Lecture Series, Jordan Roth ‘93 came to talk to students on Wednesday about his job on Broadway as a producer and as the President of Jujamcyn Theatres. Roth has won four Tony Awards for shows he’s produced, and he currently oversees five Broadway theatres.

Jaden Kirshner (10), a member of the CC, created the Career Lecture Initiative, which brings people with unique careers to the school to talk to students about the many available career options.

“Jordan Roth came to mind because he has this job where he mixes business and theatre; he runs theatres and he’s a producer,” said Kirshner. “I think it’s really unique because we don’t always see these interdisciplinary careers.”

The CC thought Roth’s career was significant to talk about because it involves both activism and also theater production, Chair of the CC Jeren Wei (12), said.

“I think that since HM is such an academic environment, art sometimes doesn’t get a lot of the attention that it deserves,” Wei said.

The event was formatted as a Q&A, with Kirshner and Natalie Sweet (10) moderating G and H periods respectively, as well as an opportunity for audience questions at the end.

“When Jaden invited me to come, I said ‘Let’s make it a Q&A,’ because I wanted to be able to bounce off of what is interesting and meaningful to the students here,” said Roth.

One large topic of discussion was education. Roth received his undergraduate degree in philosophy and later obtained a degree in business. Although philosophy was not something that led to a specific career, Roth uses what he learned almost every day in his work, he said.

“Don’t decide what you need to know before you know it,” Roth said.

“I like how he approached college, Griffin Smith/Staff Photographer

CC HOSTS Jordan Roth speaking during a Career Lecture Series period.

Spring Sports

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saying that you don’t know what you like until you try it. I think that’s a good way to think about the future,” Priyanka Voruganti (11), who attended the event, said.

Another reason the CC chose Roth was because the school is planning a Pride Week celebrating LGBTQ issues, Wei said. Jordan Roth is an advocate for issues related to the LGBTQ community, so the event is a nice introduction to Pride Week, Wei said.

One thing that differentiates Roth from previous speakers from the CC’s Career Lecture Series is that he is an alum of the school, Kirshner said.

“We prepared some questions about how Horace Mann influenced his career path,” Kirshner said. “I think those questions will add a new level to the event, and Roth can connect better with the students,” he said.

“I’m always happy to come back to Horace Mann because I had a really seminal experience here,” Roth said.

“I’m also always happy to talk with students and younger people who want to think about how to find their creativity in their life and/or in their profession.”

Kirshner hopes that students who attended the event learned that there are a lot of careers out there that aren’t just medicine or sports, he said. “If a student has two interests and they think, ‘I don’t know what to do,’ Roth can tell students and let them know that maybe there’s something that mixes their interests,” he said.

Ben Rosenbaum (12) appreciated Roth’s advice to not limit yourself to one creative outlet. “[Roth] said to show your whole canvas, the complete and the incomplete,” he said.

“I hope that students who I engaged with will take with them an ambition to activate all parts of themselves that are exciting and meaningful, and not just pick one or pick the easiest or pick the one with the clearest path, but to see how many of them they can activate and engage,” Roth said.

The latest on lacrosse, baseball, and tennis.

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THE RECORD OPINIONS MAY 3RD, 2019

Pura Vida: how a cross cultural exchange changed my point of view

which, after living in the Horace Mann bubble since sixth grade, spending a month in Costa Rica expanded my perspective.

The summer before senior year, the Lembo-Sperling travel grant gave me the chance to travel to Costa Rica with a company called Cross Cultural Solutions. I brought my passion for travel, education, and the Spanish language to Costa Rica, where I helped with construction and taught English at underfunded rural public schools for four weeks.

When I arrived in Costa Rica, surrounded by lush greenery and endless blue skies under the summer sun, I could immediately see how happy people were. When I was lost at the airport, everyone around me rushed to help. I met two Cross Cultural Solutions staff: Franklin, originally from Nicaragua, and Carlos, a native Costa Rican. They were two of the sunniest, most positive, and most enthusiastic people I have ever met. I visited local families who poured their hearts into creating traditional Guatil clay pottery and making their signature Turrialba cheese. The air was filled with joyous exclamations of “Pura Vida,” island’s motto meaning “pure life.”

In a country where over half of the population cannot attend college and many of the public schools are barely functional, I could feel the abundance of love, happiness, and enjoyment of life among its people. This atmosphere felt very different from the high intensity and stressful environment that can often be experienced at school.

One Sunday, we went to Tamarindo Beach to learn how to surf. Our instructor was a lean man with long blonde hair and a stereotypical “surfer bro” charming, chill vibe. As I waited for a wave to surf on, I asked him about his story. A man who I thought was in his twenties was actually only 16 years old. He had dropped out of high school because to him, “it’s a waste of time.” He planned to one day invest his money in something that becomes super successful and become rich. Meanwhile, he

Hannah Long Today, seniors swarm the halls wearing celebratory shirts with “college” written on them. At a prestigious, high-pressure college preparatory school like Horace Mann, going to college is an expected next step after graduating high school. For many students here, attending one of the country’s most selective colleges is their only goal. However, throughout the rest of the world, college is not automatic. In fact, even attending high school is a privilege many do not have.

However, I don’t want you to get me wrong. I’m not trying to say this culture is bad-- I am inspired by the motivation of Horace Mann students, and I am incredibly grateful for the amazing teachers, education, and opportunities here.

What I am trying to do, however, is simply share the way in

became a surf instructor to support himself because he enjoys the sport and beach life.

Art Director/Jackson Roberts

This ethos of life surprised and enlightened me-- I realized that there are an infinite number of ways to live a happy and fulfilling life. Going to a top American university is a far cry from the only worthy and successful endeavor.

So, I encourage you to keep your heart and mind open to all the possibilities and surprises of life and the world. When you come upon something which fulfills your sense of purpose, dive into it with passion and energy, even if it is not the exact path a school like Horace Mann expects you to take. As Carlos once said to me, “life is like a hot tamale. You cannot tell what is inside of it, but when you bite into it, it is delicious.”

Getting political: thinking ahead to the 2020 election Independence, slavery and gender discrimination were both deeply pervasive within the country. Rightfully so, it is difficult for many Americans, including myself, to separate this phrase from its abhorrent, unequal past, which substantially hindered Biden’s overall message.

Biden’s video showcased his take on what it means to be a viable presidential candidate as well as his unique strategies in the Democratic primary, specifically his attempt to unify liberals and centrists alike under his campaign. Biden made himself out to be moderate, appealing to older voters with a buttoned-up approach, strategically positioning himself closer to the middle of the political spectrum.

On the other hand, Cory Booker stressed the importance of

Julia Hornstein On the heels of a historic midterm election and looking ahead to what will probably be one of the most divisive presidential races in American history, I can’t help but feel overwhelmed. With twenty-one Democratic candidates vying for the nomination, it feels difficult for even the most politically involved to stay on top of everyone’s policies, polls, and twitter feeds.

In my eyes, politics is no longer a policy game––it’s about maintaining a strong social media presence, conveying a synthesizing and catchy campaign message, and getting the media to notice that you’re doing community service, meeting with local officials, and reaching out to the needy.

The day after Joe Biden announced his 2020 bid, my friend and I spent one of our frees watching his launch video, picking apart the graphics and utterances, and talking about how we thought he compared to more outwardly liberal candidates. I found that Biden’s utilization of the conflict over the Confederate monuments in Charlottesville as a synonym for beating Donald Trump in the general election paled in comparison to the upbeat, mobilizing, we-can-change-the-course-of-this-country narrative that Senator Cory Booker’s video presented.

Many have criticized Biden’s decision to open with the Declaration of Independence’s phrase “all men are created equal” because of the many apparent contradictions to this throughout American history. At the inception of the Declaration of

Gabby Fischberg/Staff Artist

giving younger generations a voice and listening to the needs of the people in an attempt to bring about systemic change in the realm of politics. In his video, Booker highlighted that he deeply cares about rehabilitating Newark, NJ––as this has been central to his work as a senator of New Jersey––and cities like it. He also emphasized that America must rally together to ensure that no one gets left behind.

Booker used his experience in the Senate to frame himself as an experienced politician who has made significant strides within

Volume 116 Editorial Board Managing Editor Betsey Bennett

Editor in Chief Lynne Sipprelle

Features Abby Kanter Megha Nelivigi

News Katie Goldenberg Surya Gowda

Lions’ Den Natasha Stange Brody McGuinn William Han

Photography Abigail Kraus Ahaan Palla Jake Shapiro

Faculty Adviser David Berenson

Issues Editor Sadie Schwartz

Opinions Rebecca Siegel Abigail Goldberg-Zelizer Art Directors Juli Moreira Jackson Roberts

Middle Division Sandhya Shyam

A&E Peri Brooks Jeren Wei Design Editors Allison DeRose Caroline Kaplan

Online Editor Henry Wildermuth

inner city communities in New Jersey.

For 2020, I think the Democrats are looking for someone who can give the DNC a foundation to introduce more liberal candidates in 2024, and someone like Biden fits that mold; he has past experience and can potentially swing people who voted for Trump in 2016 to the Democratic Party with his more centrist approach.

Although many young Americans are looking for an inspiring candidate like Cory Booker, Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, or Bernie Sanders, this younger demographic only makes up a small portion of the Democratic Party, which is why I think Biden might clinch the nomination. The Democrats need to win 2020 before rallying behind more liberal candidates; if Biden wins, it could give the DNC the opportunity to push for the introduction of even further left candidates––like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren––for 2024.

President Trump’s utilization of Twitter as one of his main ways to connect with the country reframed the way we view interactions between politicians and the public. Currently, more importance is placed on online aspects of presidential campaigns, like launch videos and Instagram feeds, as these platforms are easily accessible throughout the country. This election is the product of that decisive shift, and because of it, now more than ever before, I’ve seen an increase in person-to-person dialogue pertaining to politics in the Horace Mann community. A few of my friends have group chats dedicated to talking about the election, while some of my other friends and I talk about the election over dinner or on the way to a Model UN conference.

This increase in dialogue has been integral in involving younger generations in politics. But, I still wish there was more of a concerted effort on the school’s part to involve the Horace Mann community in the election. Whether it be through featuring speakers from all political backgrounds and parties during assemblies or even having open dialogue sessions during a few I period meetings throughout the year, I think Horace Mann should do more to open space for conversations on both sides of the political spectrum.

As a school that prides itself on educating truly brilliant kids to become involved members of society, we must allocate our efforts towards making room for conversations during one of the most influential elections in our country’s history.

Staff Writers Malhaar Agrawal, Laura Bae, Steven Borodkin, Andrew Cassino, Mayanka Dhingra, Victor Dimitrov, Amelia Feiner, Mark Fernandez, Nelson Gaillard, Leonora Gogos, Jude Herwitz, Edwin Jin, Spencer Kahn, Samuel Keimweiss, Gabrielle Kepnes, Suraj Khakee Madison Li, Darius McCullough, Noah Phillips, Eliza Poster, Julia Robbins, Kiara Royer, Abigail Salzhauer, Ranya Sareen, Nishtha Sharma, Masa Shiiki, Griffin Smith, Benjamin Wang, Robbie Werdiger, Simon Yang, Isabella Zhang, Izzy Abbott, Bradley Bennett, Sogona Cisse, Jack Crovitz, Jackson Feigin, Adam Frommer, Andie Goldmacher, Julia Goldberg, Avi Kapadia, Marina Kazarian, John Mauro, Henry Owens, Emily Shi, Samuel Singer, Sasha Snyder, Vivien Sweet, Natalie Sweet, Joshua Underberg, Talia Winiarsky, Lauren Ho, Katya Tolunsky Staff Photographers Eva Fortunato, Iliana Dezelic, Griffin Smith, Harrison Haft, Andrew Cassino, Julia Isko, Julia Robbins, Daniel Lee, Ava Merker Staff Artists Elizabeth Fortunato, Alexandra Crotty, Gabrielle Fischberg, Annabelle Chan, Julia Roth

Editorial Policy ABOUT The Record is published weekly by the students of Horace Mann School to provide the community with information and entertainment, as well as various viewpoints in the forms of editorials and opinion columns. All editorial decisions regarding content, grammar and layout are made by the editorial board. The Record maintains membership in the Columbia Scholastic Press Association and National Scholastic Press Association.

EDITORIALS & OPINIONS Unsigned editorials represent the opinion of the majority of the senior editorial board. Opinion columns are the sole opinion of the author and not of The Record or the editorial board.

NOTE 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. The Horace Mann School is not responsible for the accuracy and content of The Record, and is not liable for any claims based on the contents or views expressed therein.

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HORACE MANN NEWS MAY 3RD, 2019

Rachel Zhu/Staff Artist

Seeds of Peace to host dialogue with Al-Noor School Emily Shi & Maya Nornberg Staff Writers Students participating in a training event with the nonprofit Seeds of Peace will share a unique opportunity to learn how to facilitate dialogue with people from different communities in the Cohen Dining Commons tomorrow.

Representatives from Seeds of Peace, a non-profit organization focused on helping students engage in important conversations with their community, will lead a workshop to train student representatives from religious and secular schools around New York City, co-President of the Interfaith Club Diana Shaari (11) said.

According to the organization’s website, Seeds of Peace aims to “inspire and cultivate new generations of global leaders in communities divided by conflict,” and helps students make progress towards peace through social, economic, and political changes.

The upcoming workshop will equip student representatives with the proper tools needed to engage in a productive dialogue session across different communities, Shaari said. Student representatives from Al-Noor, Trinity, Fieldston, Heschel, and Miraj will be in attendance, she said.

The facilitators will run a formal discussion with the students and teach them different strategies regarding how to engage in issues facing different

communities and begin conversations across cultures, co-President of the Interfaith Club Nader Granmayeh (12) said.

“The main objectives are really to get people to be more sensitive and engage in a more productive way when it comes to conversations about race, religion, and gender especially in a time when these issues are so contentious,” Interfaith Club member Gloria Khafif (11) said.

“It’s important for our students to understand different approaches to education and be exposed to students their own age who are guided by a very particular set of ethical values,” Head of Upper Division Dr. Jessica Levenstein said.

The training program is an extension of past initiatives of the Interfaith Club, a group of students at the school who work with the Al-Noor School, an Islamic school in Brooklyn, Interfaith Club member Roey Nornberg (11) said.

Previously, the group has engaged in a Muslim Students Summit, service projects involving food preparation, and visits to the Al-Noor school, Levenstein said.

Past dialogue sessions with Al-Noor have been student-organized. However, this Saturday is the first workshop event directly organized by the club’s parent organization, Seeds of Peace, Nornberg said.

“This Saturday, for the first time, we’ll learn how to run a more formal dialogue session and see the advantages of implementing those discussion

strategies in the future,” he said.

In the past, the Interfaith Club has spoken with Al-Noor about contemporary issues facing Muslim students and the differences and similarities between the two communities, Nader Granmayeh said.

“I’ve learned a lot about what it means to be a Muslim person in New York City in this time, as that exposes them to experiences I can never imagine having,” he said.

Leyli Granmayeh (10), who attended a past dialogue session, was captivated by stories of how Muslim students feel wearing a hijab each day, fasting during Ramadan, and dealing with stares on the subway, she said. She is looking forward to this Saturday to learn to engage in more productive discussions in the future, she said.

Leading up to the new event, the school’s Interfaith Club aims to gain more participants from the school community and share its mission with other communities, Nader Granmayeh said.

Nader Granmayeh’s goal for the workshop is to ensure that students uninvolved in the Interfaith Club and students from other schools can start to begin productive dialogues in their own communities, he said.

“This is a way for students to get outside the Horace Mann bubble in a thoughtful manner that allows for students to build lasting relationships, which has happened already,” Levenstein said.

School hosts Holi celebration

Courtesy of Brian Wu

Jack Crovitz & Hanna Hornfeld Staff Writers

BIG WIN Brian Wu poses with some of the other winners of the competition.

Students advance to ISEF competition Vivien Sweet Staff Writer

Sparks fly and tensions run high for the three students from the school whose projects were chosen for this year’s Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), one of the nation’s most prestigious and selective science competitions.

According to George Epstein, Upper Division Science Research Coordinator, students must first qualify through their state competitions first before having to the opportunity to be selected to go to Intel ISEF. This year, Malhaar Agrawal (11), Brian Wu (11), and Richard Han (11) qualified from the New York City Science and Engineering Fair (NYCSEF).

Horace Mann was the second-most represented school for the New York representatives, with HM’s students’ projects’ consisting of 3 out of the 13 total from New York for the competition. The final round of Intel ISEF will occur from May 12 to May 17.

Depending on the student, Epstein had varying levels of involvement on their projects, he said. All of the students have been working outside of school with mentors, except for Richard Han, who is part of the Science Research Elective and received advice on his presentation and writing from Epstein.

Malhaar Agrawal (11), one of the finalists for Intel ISEF, centered his project around prostate cancer in African American men; specifically, the biological markers that make it so deadly.

“African Americans have double the incidence of prostate cancer and triple the mortality but the scientific community doesn’t really know why this is,” he said.

According to Agrawal, this lack of knowledge is in part because communities of color have a legacy of distress with health officials that stems from the inequality they face, he said.

With his project, he intends to spread awareness regarding this crisis, especially to youth communities of color. Agrawal plans on publishing his paper in the upcoming months, which will hopefully shed more light on the subject in the scientific community, he said.

He first started his research when he created a non-profit called Health Disparity that educates students of color about various health issues, he said. For Agrawal, health disparities in minority communities is an issue that hits close to home, which inspired him to start this initiative.

His project included a 15-page paper. Additionally, Agrawal worked with a neurologist at his lab in SUNY Albany where the was able to conduct his research.

For Brian Wu (11), Intel ISEF is not a new competition. Last year, he found planets, brown dwarfs, and binary stars using the radial velocity method, which made him a finalist for Intel ISEF in 2018, he said.

Wu continued his research from this year by developing a new confirmation method to prove that the circumbinary planet he found is real, he said. According to Wu, a circumbinary planet is a planet that orbits around two stars.

Only 23 had been discovered prior to his project, making them relatively rare, he said.

“In astronomy, the only thing you can really measure to determine the status of a planet is light, but there are a lot of things that can screw up light before it reaches us,” he said.

His method used N-body simulations and allowed for stella spectra to be created, which enabled one to input characteristics of a stellar system into his program to get the spectra, he said.

“No one has created synthetic spectra in astronomy before,” he said. “Nor has anybody used the method I developed to confirm any planet.”

Similar to Agrawal, Richard Han (11) based his project on a specific type of cancer.

“I studied a bacteria called Fusobacterium nucleatum (F. nucleatum) and showed how it made esophageal cancer grow faster through a specific protein pathway,” he said. Han worked at his mother’s lab at Colombia University Medical Center, where he had continued the project from last year.

Han’s project consisted of four tests, he said. First, he found F. nucleatum in this cancer. Then, he tested to see if the bacteria stimulate the growth of this cancer. After that, he performed an experiment to determine whether or not F. nucleatum produce the protein that stimulates this cancer. Lastly, he tested to see if that specific protein actually stimulates the cancer. All of his results came back positive, he said.

“The reason I chose this topic specifically was because the microbiology lab I work at was doing something very similar with this bacteria in colon cancer,” he said. “I wanted to do something different, and even though esophageal cancer is very deadly, not too many people have looked into it.”

All three of the students will be heading to Phoenix, Arizona, for Intel ISEF in the upcoming weeks.

Epstein is extremely proud of the students, and he is looking forward to the final round of Intel ISEF. He thinks that the lengths that the students went to accomplished these projects was extremely admirable, especially since they dealt with such difficult topics, he said.

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Students from all grades and many faiths came together to throw colorful powder at each other on Alumni Field on Monday, in the school’s second annual celebration of Holi, a Hindu festival commemorating the arrival of spring and the triumph of good over evil.

Student Body Presidents Janvi Kukreja (12) and Nader Granmayeh (12) organized the celebration with the help of the administration and maintenance, Granmayeh said.

They chose to host the festival this year because they felt that a festival in celebration of color and happiness was an excellent way to both have fun and expose students to different cultures, Kukreja said. “Holi celebrations at schools and universities are becoming more popular around the world, and we wanted to bring it here,” she said.

Many of the students who participated felt that the results were refreshing and engaging.

Myra Singh (9) has celebrated Holi in the past with family and friends, and she felt that the school’s celebration was representative of the festival’s general mood and atmosphere, she said.

“It’s part of my culture and I always have a lot of fun celebrating Holi,” Singh said. “This year it felt nostalgic since I haven’t celebrated Holi in a couple of years, and I thought it was really great to do so with my friends.”

AJ Walker, Jr. (9), who had never celebrated Holi before, also felt that it was entertaining, he said. “It was very chaotic, but that’s what made it enjoyable. A lot of my friends participated, and it was just a great

time,” Walker said.

Other students, such as Ethan Waggoner (9) felt that the festival was not only an enjoyable bonding experience with friends, it was also a way to connect with other cultures, he said.

“My mom is from Nepal and did the same thing as a kid,” Waggoner said.

“While I’m Christian, I thought that it was a great experience to be able to come home at the end of the day and talk to her about how much fun I had.”

Arya Patel (10) agrees that the event was enjoyable, but she would have liked it if more people had participated, she said. “I wished that there were more people there, so that more of the usual chaotic but nevertheless positive energy was present,” Patel said. She was one of the few students in tenth grade and above who participated.

However, there were concerns that the school’s event did not clearly convey the significance of the festivity.

“I feel like [Holi] was just a fun thing that people saw their friends doing and then joined in, but not a lot of people knew what it’s about,” Walker said.

Planning the celebration was a challenge for Kukreja and Granmayeh, as they had to coordinate with the administration to find an adequate date during which the weather was good and Alumni Field was available, the Student Body Presidents said. As a result, the celebration was delayed to late April, despite the fact that the traditional date of Holi fell in March this year, Granmayeh said.

Despite the scheduling problems and other issues, the Holi celebration was an enriching experience that Granmayeh hopes will become a tradition that is continued in the future, he said.

Ahaan Palla/Photo Editor

COLOR WHEEL Students celebrate Holi on Alumni Field.

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THE RECORD FEATURES MAY 3RD, 2019

From Mentees to Men Chidi Asoluka Julia Robbins Staff Writer

Jackson Roberts/Art Director

“I never wanted to be a teacher,” English teacher Chidi Asoluka said. “I pitied teachers.

I pitied their job. I knew that a lot of my classmates didn’t read or do the homework.”

It only took one job interview to change the entire trajectory of his life.

Asoluka grew up in New Jersey and attended St. Benedict’s Preparatory School. Everyone in his grade knew that his dream was to attend Georgetown University in Washington D.C. In his senior year, Asoluka applied early decision and was accepted.

St. Benedict’s alum and CEO of MBNA America Bank, Charles Cawley, then met Asoluka and gave him a full scholarship to Georgetown. While Asoluka still isn’t entirely sure why Cawley gave him a scholarship, he thinks that Cawley had heard about his potential as a student and how much he wanted to attend Georgetown.

Besides granting him a scholarship, Cawley gave Asoluka internships at MBNA America Bank during his summer breaks from college.

“I worked in advertising, marketing, everything you could think of,” Asoluka said.

Despite his focus on business over the summer, Asoluka majored in English at Georgetown and spent much of his free time writing and performing poetry.

“I was like, ‘I’m gonna be a banker’” Asoluka said. “I know I’m writing poetry and stuff, but I’m gonna be a banker,” he said.

During his senior year, Asoluka became interested in the management development program at MBNA. If accepted into the program after college, he would be on track for a senior level position and a high salary, Asoluka said. When the day of the interview came, he put on his best suit and headed to the company’s headquarters in Delaware.

At first, Asoluka aced the interview, wellversed in the business model and inner

Juli Moreira/Art Director

workings of the company after interning there for four years. But then came his interviewer’s final question: “what would bring you the most happiness in life?”

“I was like, ‘what?’” Asoluka said. Then the interviewer asked, “What if you had the chance to design your own course with books you loved and kids who wanted to be there? And what if this course had the potential to impact their lives? Would you rather do that or be one of the Vice Presidents of this company leading us to record growth?”

“That question really cut something in me,” Asoluka said. “I never thought about life that way. I was like ‘ummmmm….working at the company, working here, yeah working here, working here is going to give me the most happiness, absolutely.”

But Asoluka knew this wasn’t the truth, he said.

Instead of ending the interview there, his interviewer said, “I don’t believe you. You’re very talented and you would be an incredible

and recognized his passion for English and writing, Asoluka said.

“If it wasn’t for that one woman, I would’ve been a banker right now and hated it,” Asoluka said. “But she found something in me that I didn’t know I possessed.”

He followed her advice and interviewed at a job for Prep for Prep, an organization that prepares students of color for success at independent schools. “This is how we frame Prep for Prep: Education is the civil rights movement of our times, and at Prep we’re on the front lines. Do you want to be on the front lines?,” the interviewer at Prep for Prep asked Asoluka.

“Yes,” Asoluka said. Currently, he has been in education for 14 years since. “When I teach, I get goosebumps,” Asoluka said. “It’s what God put me on earth to do.”

After Prep, Asoluka earned a Masters degree in Creative Writing at Rutgers University.

While studying for his Masters, he taught Composition 101 to college freshmen. “I loved

to his class “One day I had a dream. What if [students] read companies like books?,” Asoluka said. This idea combined his two interests in college: business and writing.

In NewComm, students analyze companies like pieces of literature, and, at the end of the year, each student creates a product that helps a non-profit company.

After seven years at GA, Asoluka decided he was ready to take NewComm to Horace Mann, where he had been thinking about working for a few years, he said.

“I wanted to be a part of a community that also supported the work that I was trying to do and not just me being the only cheerleader; I mean, I was the only black man in the high school for seven years,” he said. “I just felt I needed more than that.”

Horace Mann offered him the opportunity to work alongside engaged students and faculty who cared about his course’s purpose. The mission of NewComm is about “rooting social justice in radical and transformative love, Courtesy of Chidi Asoluka

BUSINESS MEN Chidi Asoluka (left) interning with friends at MBNA America Bank.

banker, but I need you to try and interview to be a teacher. I need you to do that for me.”

Asoluka still isn’t sure why the interviewer believed he would enjoy teaching, he said. He thinks she must have seen him as a successful communicator from his summer internships

facilitating conversations,” Asoluka said. “I loved using literature as a window into how the students saw themselves and the world that surrounded them.”

After graduating, he taught at a charter school in New Jersey, leaving after one year because he disliked the curriculum dictated by standardized tests and college acceptances.

“I was in the liberation business, not the memorization business. I mean, I thought that getting young people to talk about books was an opportunity for them to free themselves and become stronger.”

Asoluka then took a job teaching at Germantown Academy (GA), a high school where, according to its website, students of color currently make up 28% of the student body, and faculty and administration of color comprise only 10% of educational professionals. GA had offered him a different pitch than Prep for Prep: “A lot of these students have probably never talked to a black man in this capacity...they have never had one in the classroom who is more knowledgeable than they are, and that could be incredibly powerful,” the interviewer said. “You could be a game changer.”

In his final years at GA, Asoluka introduced the New Community Project, NewComm,

meaning empathy, not pity,” Asoluka said.

NewComm is more than one class at the school: Asoluka has also done various NewComm-inspired projects in Philadelphia, Newark, and New York. “They have mainly revolved around digital storytelling projects where young people engage in conversation about social issues,” he said.

He hopes NewComm will become a national organization with a mission of bringing communities together by working with young adults, non-profit organizations, businesses, and other entities to create meaningful impact.

Asoluka’s parents, originally disappointed in his career switch from banking to teaching, now boast about how their son taught his own course during his first year as a teacher at Horace Mann, Asoluka said.

“It worked out for me, but in the beginning it was tough,” Asoluka said. “I just had to be strong and say ‘you know what Mom, Dad, I know you’re not happy with me right now, but I just really, truly believe in it,” Asoluka said.

“At the end of the day, if you’re not out here trying to find that thing that gives you goosebumps, none of this stuff happens,” Asoluka said. “I truly, truly believe that if you just follow what’s in your heart, the universe just opens up.”

5

HORACE MANN FEATURES MAY 3RD, 2019

ntors: Teachers’ Tales Ellen Bales Courtesy of Ellen Bales

ACADEMICS FIRST Ellen Bales (right) chairing a panel for an academic conference at the Harvard Kennedy School.

History teacher Dr. Ellen Bales grew up in Savannah; a town of a few thousand residents in the northwestern part of Missouri.

“It’s rural, and it’s rural Missouri,” Bales said. “There’s nothing cute or romantic about this at all; this is basically a town surrounded by agricultural land. Most of the people I grew up around were living at, or below, the poverty level.”

A minority of the town’s roughly 4000 people inhabitants went to college, and of those who did, nearly all attended a Missouri or Kansas state school..

Bales’ 10th grade English teacher, Irma Zapf, was a guiding force who helped her realize

she could exist in a world outside of this environment.

Bales was already an anomaly given that both of her parents were college educated and worked as teachers in the local public school system. “There was never really a question whether I was going to college; that wasn’t up in the air,” Bales said.

But Zapf was the influential factor in showing Bales that she could aspire to a private college out of state.

Although Zapf was very respected among adults at the school, many students disliked her exacting and rigorous teaching style, Bales said.

“In a public school in rural Missouri, that was really kind of a special and treasured experience because this was not a community where intellectualism was necessarily widely valued,” she said.

Zapf ’s appreciation for language led her to teach serious and complex works of literature in her class, including Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, Bales said.

“I remember having this sort of complicated relationship to that book,” she said. It wasn’t always a pleasant experience to read Great Expectations, but Bales understood the importance of her teacher trusting her with such a classic piece of literature, she said.

“This made me feel like one could do this kind of thing seriously and think seriously about literature.”

Zapf ’s class also included a journaling component. “She really invited us to write in our own voices and to write humor if we wanted to,” Bales said. “And she was critical of that writing in productive ways, but she was also really celebratory of it.”

This combination of high standards and investment in students’ success has influenced Bales’ own teaching style, she said.

For Bales, it was transformative that someone besides her parents believed in her work, she said.

“I don’t think I ever had a reader as appreciative of my work, and I think she really changed my relationship with writing and my belief that I could do it,” Bales said. “And that meant a lot to me in terms of thinking of going to college outside the state.”

Bales ended up attending the University of Chicago, where she majored in English..

After graduating from UChicago, Bales worked at her alma mater for several years

in admissions before moving to admissions at Columbia University and then college counseling at Trinity School. By the time she began applying for graduate school, she was already in her 30s, older than most applicants.

It was Dr. Catherine Carson, a renowned physics historian, who took a chance on Bales and accepted her into the graduate history program at UC Berkeley. “She was kind of taking a risk on me because I hadn’t been a historian before, and I really appreciated that opportunity,” Bales said.

Bales had reached out to Carson after becoming interested in the history of physics from taking two years of mandatory science classes at UChicago and reading books on the subject, she said. “History of physics seemed sort of attractive to me because it engages a lot of major philosophical questions and questions about the context in which physics is done,” Bales said.

Under Carson’s guidance, Bales studied the histories of environmental risk, quantification of risk, public health issues, and labor trends.

During Bales’ seven year graduate program, the two communicated frequently, often multiple times a week.

Watching how Carson worked and observing the disciplined and rigorous qualities of her mind were very influential, Bales said.

Learning how she approached the study of history and archival research was also very informative, she said. “It enabled me to change my intellectual and professional direction in a way that for me has been really satisfying and great, and I really do credit her with quite a bit of that,” Bales said.

“The need for mentors or the inputs of other people, I don’t think that ever really ends, not if you’re really honest about it,” Bales said.

Adam Casdin “I met a man once, and he said to me, ‘In your life, you will have seven mentors,” English teacher Dr. Adam Casdin said. “I thought to myself, this man is crazy.”

While Casdin hasn’t had seven mentors, one mentor in high school did change his life, he said.

Casdin grew up on the Upper West Side and attended the Collegiate School, an all-boys school known for its academic rigor.

“I was one of the worst students in the class,” he said. “I didn’t know what was happening or how to do what they were asking me to do, and it just progressively got worse. And because I was struggling academically, I started to act out socially in class.”

From seventh through ninth grade, the school advised Casdin to leave Collegiate, but each time, Casdin’s mother, a member of the Parent Teacher Association, convinced the school to let him stay.

In 10th grade, the school said, “This is it. If he doesn’t go to a tutor, we’re not going to want him because he’s just not functioning. He’s not doing the work,” Casdin said.

The tutor, George William Mayer Jr., changed his life, Casdin said. “He was a former department chair at Trinity who I think had problems working with an institution,” Casdin said. .

Twice a week in 10th and 11th grade, Casdin was sent to his tutor’s home for several hours.

Sometimes he would sit in Mayer’s bedroom all of Saturday doing homework while other students came in and out for tutoring.

Casdin had to walk between stacks of books to reach Mayer’s desk, which was filled with papers, books, and knick knacks. Mayer was a chainsmoking, denture wearing, well-read man, who

taught Casdin how to challenge his own ideas, he said.

“It was like walking into the mad genius’s laboratory,” Casdin said. “That was the way it felt to me. Sometimes I would come to work with him, and he would be eating some shriveled, overcooked piece of meat and drinking warm soda and smoking,” Casdin said.

Mayer showed him that he was a strong and capable reader, Casdin said. “He was the first person I met who didn’t say, ‘this kid’s out of control, he’s crazy.”

Mayer told him to write down his ideas about literature and handed Casdin a book after each meeting, which he had to read. The authors ranged from Tennessee Williams to Franz Kafka, and together, Casdin and his tutor investigated the books’ meanings.

“What I learned from him was not just to trust my own ideas, because it’s easy to say trust your own ideas, but to really evaluate them and interrogate them,” he said. “He wasn’t so much interested in what the correct interpretation of Gatsby was, he was interested in how I was responding.”

While Casdin had always been a reader, Mayer showed him that reading could translate into profound thoughts and ideas, he said.

“We would have these conversations about literature which seemed to me just off the cuff, and he would show me that [what I was] thinking was actually interesting,” Casdin said. “What he was helping me to do was discover for myself what I thought, and what I wanted to say, and how I wanted to say it,” he said.

Their relationship was one surrounding

Courtesy of Adam Casdin

#TBT Adam Casdin at the Collegiate School in 11th grade. literature, but “was fun and lively and personal,” Casdin said.

“What he gave me was the gift of having something I could do; I was still having all sorts of trouble in school, but I knew that I could do something,” Casdin said. “He opened up this writing ability in me, and that basically was the foundation for everything that happened after.”

Casdin was accepted into Vassar College after high school, but eventually dropped out and began working at a bookstore instead. Later he returned to college and received his undergraduate degree

in English from Columbia University before going on to earn a PhD in English with concentrations in British Eighteenth-Century Literature and British Romanticism from Stanford University.

When Casdin returned to college his second time, at 27 years old, he reconnected with Mayer.

They got lunch in the park and went to the theater together occasionally. At that point, he was no longer a mentor but a “trusted old friend,” Casdin said.

“I do wonder what would have happened if I hadn’t met him,” Casdin said.

6

THE RECORD ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT MAY 3RD, 2019

Students and Alumni Music Producers explore music-sharing platforms Shaw has been surrounded by Adam Fromer & Abby Beckler music ever since he was a kid, and Staff Writers In the surge of rappers engaging in music-sharing platforms, Student and alumni music producers have entered the scene singing, writing, and inspiring as they pursue their love of music.

“Right now, [SoundCloud] is where popular music is. I might have more enjoyment writing jazz; it is all a compromise between what people like and what I like to do myself as an artist,” Jacob Shaw (9) said.

therefore naturally was drawn to it, while Kyle Gaillard (12) entered the music world in ninth grade, going to the studio with upperclassmen, and watching them work.

Music production can often be a long and tedious process filled with retakes and editing. “It could take anywhere from up to a day to multiple weeks to produce a song, and it depends on the song.

Sometimes, I can get it right on the first take and other times, it will take

20 or thirty takes,” Dylan O’Reilly (9) who raps under the stage name Kidd Danger, said.

While long, to many students the process is a rewarding experience that allows them to expand their musical abilities. “After about a month, I made a song, and over time I got better,” Gaillard said.

Each artist has a unique creative approach to music production.

“Usually I’ll start with a beat and then I’ll add lyrics that I either have already written or just fit them to the beat after,” O’Reilly (9.

Jake Shaprio/ Photo Editor

On the other hand, Shaw’s ideas can come from anywhere. “I am always getting ideas, and probably one percent of the ideas that I have I actually can write down since I am getting ideas everywhere like in the shower, or on my way to school,” Shaw said.

Similarly, Gaillard’s creative process comes in sporadic waves. “As soon as something comes to mind, I write it down to make a note of it so I can come back to it later,” he said.

“It probably takes me 20-30 minutes to write a song, and I’ll either record it here or at a studio,” Gaillard said.

Making music by themselves can sometimes be a challenge for the musicians, as there are many possible technical mistakes that can be made, so O’Reilly usually goes to Doug Epstein, Music Department Chair, for help.

Epstein denies being a large presence in the content production of these artists’ music. “I haven’t actually had a hand in a lot of that besides teaching them how to fish.

They’re making up their own stuff,” Epstein said.

“Mr. Epstein is a huge help with technical details and music theory stuff that I should know to perfect what I have actually been trying to work on,” Galliard said.

For the style of each song, Shaw

enjoys incorporating jazz and classical music into rap songs.

“I was classically trained, so I like being able to apply music theory to the modern context,” Shaw said.

Ethan Matt ‘18, a student studying music at Michigan, is trying to develop more of his own sound by refraining from diverting his style from popular music.

Moreover, Matt strongly values collaboration in music production.

“I am super passionate and it is super fulfilling to make songs together with other people,” Matt said.

“I know how to make a mainstream hip-hop beat, but the challenge is that people have heard that before. More recently I’ve learned to combine styles, Matt said.

Gaillard writes to be an inspiration for others, with a message for kids to shoot for the stars, while Matt instead writes without an audience in mind. Both, however, have amassed a large audience; Matt and Gaillard have thousands of listens to their songs, Digital Love and Girl from Japan, respectively, and Galliard’s song Legends has over 23 thousand plays on SoundCloud.

“I don’t write songs to evoke an emotion. I don’t write things for other people. I’m just trying to express myself or tell a story,” said Matt.

MAKING MUSIC Kyle Gailard (12) and Rish Sinha (11) create music in music production studio.

Student Art Showcased at Met Emma Colacino Contributing Writer

Exhibiting the works of Gold Key Awardees for the scholastic art competition for fifth consecutive year, the Metropolitan Museum of Art will features over 600 original works of art at Ruth and Harold D. Uris Center for Education from March 22nd to May. The Alliance of Young Artists and Writers holds the scholastic art and writing competition celebrate the creativity, vision, and talent of adolescent artists from seventh through 12th grade.

“Each year we have a good number of Gold Key winners for art,” Art Teacher Kim Do said.

Among them this year are Benjamin Hu (12), Ragan Henderson (12), Cy Goudsmit (12), Malka Kriještorac (12), and Siona Gupta (12).

Hu submitted art for the past two years and was awarded the Golden Key in the sculpture category for his works in modular origami, he said. “I found inspiration from Chinese folk tales and believe there is a strong cultural component to my origami sculptures,” Hu said.

While he believes that origami may be an unconventional medium of sculpture, origami, like other forms of art, shares a central aim to visually articulate a message to the public, he said.

Similarly, Ahaan Palla (11) submitted 7 pieces of art under the category of photography, and earned one silver key and three honorable awards after hearing about the competition from his Photography teacher Aaron Taylor.

For some students, teachers may play a supportive role in the submission of artwork for the competition. “I’m always proud of all my students, because just being able to create something original in our society is a major achievement,” Do said.

The exhibition amassed a large audience. “On opening night alone there were over 400 people at the reception. The exhibition is free and open to the public who come through the 81st street entrance, where a lot of groups gather and the general public enters,” Associate Museum Educator in the Department of Education at The Metropolitan Museum of Art Darcy-Tell Morales, said.

The exhibition is organized by common themes. “We try to see which works ‘talk’ to each other in order to allow for flow throughout the exhibition,” Exhibitions Manager for the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, Andrea Zlotowitz said.

The competition and exhibit has also exposed students to a variety of careers in the arts. “we feel that this exhibition encourages students to keep creating and to pursue all

Courtesy of Ben Hu

FUNKY FOLDS Ben Hu’s modular origami sculpture featured at various angles

/ Art Director

Juli Moreira/ Photo Editor

Courtesy of Ben Hu

Talent show raises funds for music education charity Andie Goldmacher and Katya Tolunsky Staff Writer

OUTSTANDING ORIGAMI Ben Hu’s Chinese folk tale inspired sculptures poses at various angles creative avenues that come their way,” Zlotowitz said.

Similarly, Hu believes the competition believes has made him more open minded about his career options. “The coopetition opened my eyes to a bunch of new potential careers and has really made me consider pursuing a career in the arts, such as architecture,” Hu said.

For awardees, the exhibit is an opportunity to celebrate and share their works with public. “Students often see historical works and artifacts at the museum and to see their own artwork hanging in the same building creates a sense of pride in their work and the possibility of having a future work live in a museum permanently,” Zlotowitz said.

“I felt really proud of myself when I saw my work in the exhibit,” Hu said. “I always thought of Origami as a hobby, so it was really cool to have my work displayed in the museum.”

The Show, taking place after school next Friday, will feature student talent in music, comedy, slam poetry, beatboxing, and more.

Bernie Williams, a Grammynominated artist, former Yankee, and school alumnus, will also perform in the Show.

“We are hoping older Yankees fans and music fans will show up as a result,” Eunice Bae (12), who helped organize the event, said.

Williams runs a charity in Puerto Rico called the Oboe Mobile Foundation, which helps underfunded music programs teach music to kids, James Gluck (12), another organizer of the Show, said.

All the proceeds from the Show will go to the charity in the school’s name, Gluck said.

Though the organizers are still spreading the word about the Show, “approximately eight different acts and 15 students signed up to perform already,” Bae said.

“This year is special because we are funding music programs that are vastly underfunded throughout the world and helping relief from a

hurricane, so this a double whammy in the help we can give,” Eva Fortunato (12), another organizer, said.

Audrey Yu (12), Cindy Kaiser (12) and Dora Woodruff (11) will be performing in a trio at the Show, Yu said. Yu will play the cello, Kaiser the flute, and Woodruff the oboe.

Ben Rosenbaum (12) and Muhaiminul Ashraf (12) plan on beatboxing for their act in the Show.

Having performed in the Show twice before, Rosenbaum believes that the Show “is a great opportunity for people to show their talents but for a good cause, not just for the purpose of showing off,” he said.

In addition to music, the event will feature comedians like Spencer Kahn (11). Kahn participated in the Show two years ago and is excited to return, he said. The set he prepared is one that he also performed “at a competition with Kenan Thompson, which took a few months to prepare,” he said.

“The show has gone on for at least five years,” Fortunato said. However, this year’s show is different from past shows in that “instead of solely music, the Show is embracing other talents from unconventional musicians,” Fortunato (12) said.

7

HORACE MANN MIDDLE DIVISION MAY 3RD, 2019

New kid on the block: author Jerry Craft discusses inclusivity

Chloe Choi Contributing Writer

Sixth grade English classes eagerly poured into the Recital Hall this past Thursday for an assembly highlighting guest speaker Jerry Craft, a successful American cartoonist and children’s book author. In the sixth grade curriculum’s recently implemented Seminar on Identity (SOI), students were tasked with reading one of Craft’s books, New Kid, which discusses the experiences and assumptions a new middle school student faces.

During the assembly, Craft shared details about his life and the journey of overcoming hardships due to his race which eventually

led to his major success. He spoke about the degrading assumptions and prejudice he faced on a daily basis, being only one of ten African American students in his entire Fieldston class.

Middle Division (MD) librarian Rachael Ricker thought that considering students are learning about microaggressions, she hopes that having Craft speak about his life and experiences as a ‘new kid’ will fit and assimilate well with everyone, she said. “It’s always more powerful and meaningful to have an author actually come in and meet students,” she said.

Daniel Pustilnik (7) was especially excited to speak to Craft and feels that it’s so important for all students to fully understand the power of assumptions, and to always think twice before making one, he said. Rayhana Choudhury (6)

Amanda Wein/Contributing Photographer

EMBRACING YOUR DIFFERENCES Craft offers advice to students in assembly.

has faced many of the same experiences as Craft, and found New Kid to be exceptionally relatable, she said. “I was surprised to see that there are so many people going through the same struggles as me, and it feels really good to know that I’m not alone,” she said.

Craft would like to offer a word of advice for those who are going through the same struggles as he did in middle school, he said.

“It’s crucial to find people who are more like you and respect you,” he said. “Always make sure to embrace your differences. You should never change yourself to fit other people’s expectations or views.”

“I find Mr. Craft to be really inspiring,” Olivia Coward (6) said. “He turned the bad experiences in his life into something great that also helps others. Also, when all publishers turned him down, he never gave up and created his own publishing company.”

After the assembly, many MD students joined Craft in the library during their lunch periods to ask him questions and talk about any experiences they may have gone through as well.

Neeva Patel (7) was among the numerous students who joined Craft during D and E periods. She hopes that after the assembly, all students will be more mindful of the consequences and effects their assumptions have on people, she said. “Our community should work to accept everyone’s differences and be more aware of how we treat and perceive people,” she said.

“I particularly liked how Mr. Craft drew while still talking about really serious topics, he was really engaging and interesting to listen to and watch,” Coward said.

Following the assembly, Craft hopes that New Kid can work to open up more conversations. “These topics seem to make people uncomfortable, especially middle schoolers, so I hope that everyone will begin to realize and respect differences after today,” he said.

Courtesy of Sandhya Shyam

FITTING IN Craft’s book discusses middle school struggles.

New York through the years: analyzing city streets Claire Goldberg Staff Writer 30 sixth graders will travel to the Lower Manhattan to take part in a walking tour covering the creation of New York this Saturday, May 4th.

The trip fits with the sixth grade Museum project and also serve as a bridge between the sixth grade and seventh grade curriculum, while also being an extension to what the students have been learning in class about the history of New York.

The walking tour was planned by English teacher Isaac Brooks along with the sixth grade history teachers, who will be chaperoning the trips. They will begin at the Alexander Hamilton Customs House around 10am, and end at the African Burial Ground around 12pm. Students are encouraged to bring their parents or even their dogs on this trip, Brooks said.

“We talk about the different people who have transformed Manhattan, from the Native Lenape, to the Dutch, to people that were enslaved, and to Jews seeking sanctuary from the inquisition in South America,” Brooks said.

“It’s fun because you’ll be on a street that doesn’t look like much, but then the students learn about it and it comes alive,” history teacher Natalie Wiegand said. “The best thing about it is Mr. Brook’s storytelling. He paints the picture really well.”

Brooks selects three main stories to follow throughout the tour and utilizes them as a lens to

answer the key question, “Who built this city that we know today?” he said.

“Their goal is to come back from the trip and connect it to their classroom learning,” Catherine Garrison, another chaperone, said. Students will also be encouraged to take photos on the trip to use for their project, but Garrison thinks that listening and absorbing it all is the best thing the teachers

could hope for, she said.

The students chose this trip for a variety of reasons. “The reason I chose this trip was because it was the most practical for my schedule,” Alessandra Agopian (6) said. However, Rose Korff (6) will attend because it seemed like the walking tour would provide a variety of different thoughts on Dutch New Amsterdam and New York, she said. “I

Wilder Harwood/Staff Artist

Students walk for an impactful cause Yin Fei Contributing Writer

The Middle Division (MD) Sanctuary for Families Walk-a-thon is a fundraising event that is hoping to aid those who have either been victims of abuse at home. This year, the walka-thon was originally scheduled for today, and the students planned to walk from through much of Upper Manhattan. Unfortunately, with the possibility of heavy rain, the itinerary has been changed.

“The advisory will now eat lunch during D period, and then walk around the HM campus together during E and F periods at least six times to reflect the six miles we were planning to walk,” dance teacher Denise DiRenzo said.

History teacher Katharine Rudbeck’s and DiRenzo’s advisees are the main participants and contributors to organizing this walk-a-

thon as well as Caitlin Hickerson, the MD service learning coordinator. “Ms. Rudbeck has led a few of her advisories on this walk-a- thon in previous years,” Hickerson said. “Typically, it is a follow up to their volunteering at the Sanctuary for Families dinner,” Hickerson said.

“It has become like a sort of tradition for the homeroom,” Jiyon Chatterjee (8), a member of the advisory, said. “We even spend some time before the walk researching the cause and talking about ways we can continue to make an impact outside of school,” Chatterjee said.

“We try to get our fellow classmates to learn about the sanctuary and encourage them to come to the walk too,” Chatterjee said. “I think that the walk-a-thon is really beneficial for the advisory because we spend time that would otherwise be wasted for a good cause instead.

We all learn about the ways we can help out even as a couple of middle schoolers.”

“It can really help a lot of families,” Ishaan Iyengar (8) said. “It’s a great resource for those that come from broken families, to know that there are others in both Horace Mann that want to be of service to them.”

The walk-a-thon gives a chance to both the students and parents of the school to donate to a worthy cause. And because the walk usually takes place through the city, other people who are passing by might also take interest after seeing what the kids are doing, Iyengar said.

“If more people knew about Sanctuary for Families, they would definitely not hesitate to assist them,” Iyengar said. He also believes that he as well as others are guilty of tending to live in a bubble, where they only think of themselves and the issues within their own lives, he said.

Both Iyengar and Chatterjee wish that the walk-a-thon could be expanded to a school-

would like to learn more about individual people who lived in Lower Manhattan over time,” Korff said.

Carmen Zhang (6) is excited to see things she’s never noticed before, she said.

“I’m looking forward to seeing the buildings and everything with my own eyes,” Blake Bennett (6) said. “I’m most excited about walking in the same areas that the Dutch walked in many centuries ago.”

Since students go on a variety of trips for the Museum project, the walking tour is an opportunity for the students to take what they learned on the trip and share it with the rest of their class who didn’t go, Garrison said.

“My class of 14 is going to a number of different places and the kids on the walking tour will be able to present to the other kids what their tour was like,” Garrison said. “They will make posters and presentations.”

In the past the walking tour was offered to seventh graders at the beginning of their year, rather than for the sixth graders. “It used to serve as a review for the seventh graders about what they learned the previous year, but it fits better now,” Garrison said.

She thinks that offering the trip as an extension of the school with chaperones rather than having it be an individual trip will make it more accessible for students, so more people can go, she said.

“It’s a great culminating activity at the end of the year to put together geography, people, and learning skills,” Brooks said.

wide event, rather than just their advisory, they said. Other than that, the school could also try to hold more than one walk-a-thon, in favor of raising even more money for Sanctuary for Families, they said.

Laila Farmer (9) also participated in the walk-a-thon last year when she was in Rudbeck’s advisory and was proud of their charitable actions, she said.

“We walked about eight miles from just before the George Washington Bridge to 89th street,” she said.

However, Farmer also wishes that more people participated in the event, she said.

“Walking is good for you. So why not get your exercise in the beautiful spring weather and raise money for a cause that everyone cares deeply about. It brings everyone together in more than one way and keeps you healthy,” Farmer said.

Lions’ Den Record Sports

MAY 3RD, 2019

Boys Varsity Volleyball makes history with six game win streak Jude Herwitz & Suraj Khakee Staff Writer

The Boys Varsity Volleyball team finished their regular season on Wednesday with a win against Lycée Française de New York, and are heading into the Ivy League playoffs with a 7-5 record. The team Courtesy of Marjorie Kaufman

ALL SMILES Volleyball players pose for the picture after a win.

rebounded from a rough start to the season where they lost four straight before going on a six game winning streak, the longest win streak in team history.

The poor beginning stemmed from a variety of factors mostly out of the team’s control, Head Coach Jason Torres said. The combination of an abnormally short preseason, a difficult schedule, and a suboptimal rotation system led initial four losses, he said.

“Out of our first four games, three of them were against two teams that played in the state championship game last year. So clearly the competition level was high,” Torres said.

After the initial slump, changes in the starting line up and more frequent substitutions propelled the team, Torres said. The wins started coming once the team had more time to become comfortable playing as a unit.

Beyond mental and tactical strength, the team’s technical skills manifested themselves on the court, Evan Wu (12) said.

“Our hitting has been really been clicking this year but we still have to work on blocking and serving. Improving in those aspects can help us keep winning and hopefully have a good shot at states,” Wu said.

The starting six consists of exclusively of seniors which is unique for the team and will present challenges for next year, Eric Ohakam (12) said.

To give more game time to the underclassmen, the team had two Varsity-B matches, for those who do not normally start to have the opportunity to play, Ohakam said.

“This is my first year ever playing volleyball, so it’s been great to have them guide me and teach me the ins and outs of the game while also really welcoming me as a member of the team” Rowan Mally (9) said. “Nyle Hutchinson (12) plays my position, so he has been extremely helpful in mentoring me and teaching me where I need to

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be on the court and what I need to do,” Mally said.

The seniors have also shown up and competed on the court. They are a huge reason for the team’s success, Griffin Klein (9) said.

“Captain Sam Benchimol (12) is a great captain. Stewart Hughes (12) and James Gluck (12) have been great for us as well,” Klein said.

“They all know how to handle pressure and bring energy to both practice and games.”

The seniors have also kept the team much more competitive than in previous years, as Mally remembers some of his brother’s winless years in the sport, he said.

“Two years ago my brother was on the volleyball team and they won just one set the whole year. Now we have won six games in a row and we’re looking forward to a playoff run, we’ve really come a long way,” Mally said. “Coach Torres has done an incredible job guiding our team and morphing the volleyball program,” he said.

One of the reasons that the team has found a way to succeed is better chemistry, Benchimol said. The team really bands together during some of the big moments and important plays.

One example of this came last week in a close win against the Masters School, Benchimol said. “There was a long rally during which Park made two or three incredible digs to really kept us in it.

We ended up winning that point, and we used the momentum from that play to win the first set. We would go on to win the game 3-2 in a close battle.”

The team looks forward to the beginning of states next week and the final stretch of Horace Mann Volleyball for the seniors, Benchimol said.

“This season definitely means more to me personally. I know this is going to be my last season playing for HM so I want to make sure that I did my best and that this team ends off on a positive note,” he said.

Boys Varsity Tennis undefeated Joshua Underberg Staff Writer

In the past two seasons, Boys Varsity Tennis did not lose a single regular season match.

This year, they’re living up to that same caliber with an undefeated start.

The team has played eight matches so far, including two in California on their Spring break trip, Yesh Nikam (10) said.

“Our matches in California were close, but we’re solid throughout our whole lineup,” he said.

“After our two wins against seasoned Cali teams, we started off our regular season with a match against the next best team in the Ivy League, Riverdale, which we dominated 4-1, setting ourselves up for another undefeated regular season,” Connor Morris (12) said.

“Beating Riverdale 4-1 was also a big win. We all had tough matches, but we stuck through it in the end,” Robert Werdiger

(11) said.

Each year, every player improves, Bradley Bennett (10) said. Though they lost three seniors, their top three players remain on the roster, he said.

Nikam believes the makeup of this year’s team is similar to last year’s, he said. “We lost two starters, but our freshmen have handled filling their places well.”

“Everyone’s stepped it up.

Bradley has been undefeated in the league so far, and Yesh and Damion have entered our lineup as strong doubles,” Werdiger said.

“Bradley trained intensely during the offseason, and his natural instinct to win is coming out fiercely,” Morris said. “He’s definitely stepped up as an aggressive and reliable singles player.”

There are 12 members on the team, and it’s a good mix throughout the grades, Nikam said. “The juniors are the real rock of the team, and they help

Jackson Roberts/Art Director

carry us through a lot of our matches,” Nikam said.

This weekend, the team will compete in the New York Invitational, in which the best teams in the Tri-State area play in a winner-takes-all format, Nikam said. “We’ve never participated in it before, so we’re excited to play some really good teams--teams we’ve never even seen before,” Nikam said.

Later in the season, the team will compete in the Ivy League playoffs. “I’m looking forward to it because of the intensity; everyone always gets so into it,” Bennett said. “Obviously the regular matches are always spirited, but we try to take it to a new level in the playoffs,” he said.

The team is also looking forward to the Mayor’s Cup, where the top tier teams from New York State compete. “Last year, we progressed to finals, but that’s where we lost,” Nikam said. “Hopefully, this year, we can win it all.”

Though the team has won Ivies both last year and the year before that, they’ve lost in the finals of the Mayor’s Cup to Beacon both times. This year, they have the opportunity to change that, Morris said.

“I’ve been to the finals of Mayor’s Cup every year since I was a freshman, and now as a senior, with a lot of love for the Horace Mann tennis team, I want nothing more than to win Mayor’s Cup, and this year we have a team capable of doing it,” Morris said.

Courtessy of Daniel Green

ATTACKING Diana Shaari (11) charges forward.

Girls Varsity Lacrosse defeats Dalton Julia Goldberg & Avi Kapadia Staff Writers

This year’s Girls Varsity Lacrosse team has reached a record of four wins and seven losses, with a win this week against Dalton.

The other three wins occurred against Dalton, Masters, and a 15-7 drubbing of Chapin.

The Lions have also had some close losses, including a 11-13 loss to Riverdale.

“A lot of our losses have been very close games or teams that I definitely think we have a chance in beating the second time we play them,” Leyli Granmayeh (10) said.

This year’s team consists of 16 members: five seniors, seven juniors, three sophomores, and just one freshman.

The one freshman, Sadie Warshaw (9), has been a huge asset to the team. “Sadie is aggressive, she knows the game like a pro, and she also has the strongest shot on the team,” co-Captain of Girls Varsity Lacrosse Noah Goldberg (12) said. “She’ll adapt and grow into the player she could be—which is good enough to possibly play in college.”

Compared to last year’s team, the current roster consists of a much wider spread of contribution throughout different grades.

“Last year we had a lot of good seniors, and the team was more individual, meaning that only a couple players would do most of the work,” Kelly Troop (10) said. “Now I think we play more cohesively and allow for everyone to get a chance to do something.”

This year’s team is strengthened by its consistent effort to work as a collective unit,

Girls Varsity Lacrosse Coach Keri Panarelli said.

“We lost five strong seniors who were very fast and mentally tough, and we also had some players who were skilled but played more as individuals instead of playing for the team,” Panarelli said. “This year, we are more of a unit, and the senior leadership is very strong in terms of how they lead. There is no star player, so we must play as a team to be our best.”

Last year’s freshmen have improved a lot from last year, Goldberg said.

“Kelly and Leyli have totally stepped up this year as leaders on the field, to get the ball to where it needs to be,” Goldberg said.

“Sofia is also 10 times the player she was last year, as she’s faster, more athletic, and more aggressive.”

Co-Captain of Girls Varsity Lacrosse Abigail Kraus has also taken on a leadership role with this year’s team. “[Abigail’s] passion and motivation does not waiver and personally inspires me to lead this team,” Goldberg said. “She’s an asset to this team, and she’s truly making us better.”

The team will keep fighting all the way through the end of the season, Diana Shaari (11) said. “We have definitely improved since the beginning of the season and are still working,” Shaari said.

With six more games to play this season, the Girls Varsity Lacrosse team hopes to end the season on a high note, Panarelli said.

The Lions look forward to a rematch against Trinity on Four Acres today.