The Horace Mann Record
DECEMBER 1ST, 2017 || VOLUME 115, ISSUE 10
HORACE MANN’S WEEKLY NEWSPAPER SINCE 1903
Dr. Renée Richards ‘51 receives alumni award
Freya Lindvall/Photo Editor
Courtesy of Ethan Klaris
RECORD.HORACEMANN.ORG
School recognizes doctor, athlete, and activist Surya Gowda Staff Writer
THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED (Left) Ethan Klaris ‘15 sets up campaign wall in Iowa; (Right) Vinson Cunningham ‘02 speaks about his unconventional career path.
Alumni share unique post-graduation experiences at assembly
Caroline Goldenberg Staff Writer
This past Tuesday, alumni Karen Pittelman ’93, Vinson Cunningham ’02, Molly Lister Weismann ’06, Renato Rengifo ‘07, Helen Feldman ’10, Ken Zhang ’12, Gabriel Grand ’13, and Ethan Klaris ’15 returned to the school to speak about their unique experiences after graduation at the “Road Less Traveled” assembly. The alumni each shared five minutes-worth of their experiences after graduation. Director of Student Activities Caroline Bartels wanted students to hear “a variety of stories” from alumni who had taken more unique “routes to who they are,” Bartels said. In the school’s bubble, students feel their “path is very linear, but most people will tell you that they couldn’t have planned for all the different changes in their lives,” Executive Director of College Counseling Canh Oxelson said. Many of the alumni took gap years and spent their time either traveling or working. “I struggled with the idea that there was one definition of success [in the school’s community], and I wasn’t sure I fit it,” Lister Weissman, who traveled during her gap year and now works for the gap year program, Global Citizen Year, said.
“I didn’t think about [a gap year] until the last two months of my time at HM, but as soon as I started thinking about it, I realized it made a lot of sense for me,” Grand, who traveled to Asia, Costa Rica, and New Zealand before attending college, said. Feldman, who traveled with a service focus, had noticed the pressure students at the school put on themselves and felt “that I did not need to be [putting] that kind of pressure on myself in order to be a good person, and in order to be successful in my life,” she said. Klaris worked on the Hillary Clinton campaign and spent time in Iowa and Colorado. For Zhang, as a student of less privilege around wealthy students at the school, a company start-up seemed “out-of-reach,” he said. Yet Zhang ended up taking a gap semester interning with a company in Shanghai, and afterwards, helping the team that started Think Board, helping to design white board stickers, he said. Other alums did not take gap years, but spent their time in other unconventional ways. Cunningham, who dropped out of Middlebury College in his junior year when he had a child, worked on the campaign for Barack Obama and is now a staff writer for The New Yorker. After dropping out of the University of Rochester, Rengifo found a passion for the new cake shop, Lady M
Confections, and went on to become Marketing Coordinator for the business. Pittleman, co-founder of the Trans Justice Funding Project, a communityled fund supporting grassroots groups, has donated millions of dollars in the years since graduation out of her commitment to the redistribution of wealth. She’s also a singer-songwriter in the queer country band, Karen & the Sorrows. Hearing from someone who had taken a less conventional path would have “meant a lot” to her when she was a student, she said. Students had a variety of responses to the assembly’s message. “Now I feel [a gap year] is more of an idea I would consider,” Stephen Angelakos (12) said. Despite the assembly’s message that one should take a gap year, a gap year is not something all can afford to have the experience of taking, Mahdid Uddin (12) said. “I felt inspired by Pittelman because…[of] the personal nature of her story…I felt a sense of community that these people had all come from HM just the way I had, even though we had deeply different lives,” Emma Jones (12) said. “Learn from whatever situation you are placed in…Whatever path you take, don’t compare yourself to anyone,” Rengifo said
On Thursday night, Dr. Renée Richards ’51 was awarded the Alumni Association Award for Distinguished Achievement at the annual Alumni dinner at The Palace Hotel. Dr. Richards, known as Richard Raskind during her time at the school, is “being recognized for her outstanding achievements in all three areas of her multi-pronged career: ophthalmology, tennis, and human rights,” Director of Alumni Relations Kristin Lax said. Dr. Richards studied at Yale University, became a renowned eye surgeon, rose through the ranks of the Navy, and became a champion tennis player with a famous left hand serve, Head of the Alumni Council Samantha Brand said. Dr. Richards took the United States Tennis Association to court in order to earn the right to play professional women’s tennis, winning the landmark case which remains an important precedent for transgender rights, Brand said. Dr. Richards’ time at the school was probably the most important formative years of her educational life, she said.
She chose to go the school by herself at the age of 12. Her parents had never even heard of the school before, she said. “I learned there how to behave as a good citizen, combining my own personal agenda for education and learning how to connect to my fellow students and teachers,” Dr. Richards said. The decision of the recipient of the award is made by a committee of alumni who serve on the Alumni Council, the governing body of the Alumni Association, who accept nominations from fall through spring then deliberate, vote, and confer the award each year, Lax said. The Award for Distinguished Achievement was first awarded to William Fletcher Russell ‘09 in 1939, she said. “Past honorees represent a complete range of professional pursuits -- authors, judges, doctors, entertainers, scientists, poets, politicians, composers, and inventors, among many others,” Lax said. Some previous recipients of the award are William Carlos Williams ’03, Justine Wise Polier ‘20, the first female Justice of New York, and Gil Shaham ‘89, a Grammy Award-winning violinist. “My reaction to finding out that I am being given this award was humility. The realization that I will be on a list of so many truly accomplished graduates- in so many diverse careers. Being given this award makes me very proud- that the work I have done in three disparate areas of endeavoris recognized as meaningful,” Dr. Richards wrote in an email. During her speech at the event, Dr. Richards spoke about all of the factors in her life which made her who she is today. She discussed all three of her careers along with the struggles that followed them.
Continued on page 9
Courtesy of Zimbio.com
Class created for students on B math track
Jeren Wei Staff Writer
Ariella Greenberg/Art Director
inside
Starting next year, the Math Department plans to introduce a new course called “Geometry and Problem Solving” for incoming 9th graders who were in B math in the Middle Division. Previously, these students had needed to take 8th grade Algebra 1 in 9th grade. The class serves to address concerns regarding
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equity for these students who are a year behind in math, math teacher Jessica Emory said. The idea was proposed by Math Department Chair Charles Worrall, and it aims to address foundational weaknesses, give students an intriguing math experience, and help students develop crucial skills such as numerical literacy and study habits, Emory said. Emory, along with math teachers Nicholas Perry and Richard Somma worked on a summer grant for the proposal of “Geometry and Problem Solving,” and helped determine what textbooks would be used in the class, the topics of the syllabus, and the types of problems that may be discussed in class, Perry said. “The course will be a great introduction to a more mature way of mathematical thinking and will prepare students for Algebra 2,” Worrall said. For the upcoming years, all 9th grade students will be taking Geometry in the high school instead of Algebra 1, Worrall said. Worrall believes that the course will address many of the frustrations students and parents have had with needing to take a summer math
Read about the sleep habits of HM students.
course, as well as the stigma that comes along with being a year behind in math, he said. “The math department has become aware that 9th graders who come into Algebra 1 feel separated from their peers since most students are taking Geometry,” Emory said Several students agreed with this sentiment and feel that it creates a sense of disconnection with their peers. “There is definitely a connotation of being in B math that you are not as smart as other people, which is false,” Maya Freeman (11) said. “Being a year behind in math really stressed me out a lot.” Some students believe that being a year behind in math has affected their ability to productively participate in science classes. “It got difficult because I felt like I couldn’t do some of the math in science classes. I still feel behind now, so I don’t think I’m going to take physics because the math aspect of science is something I can’t wrap my head around,” Abigail Salzhauer (10) said. Although students a year behind are not required to take a summer course for math,
many students feel as if they must take Summer Geometry to catch up with their peers, which may place a financial burden on some families and make students give up a summer, Emory said. “While finical aid does help, I think [summer geometry] is something that I should not have to pay for because I shouldn’t have to pay for a course to stay on the same track as the other students,” Jaden Richards (9), an Algebra 1 student, said. Summer school may require some students to give up a summer that could have been spent in summer programs or camps, Matt said. Furthermore, many students felt that taking Algebra 1 in 9th grade was repetitive, as the students had already taken Algebra 1 in 8th grade. “I felt like I was learning things I had already knew,” Sasha Matt (11) said. Although the system was “flawed before,” the changes in the curriculum and addition of this new class will make for a positive change for incoming freshman, Matt said.
Discussing accommodations Alum makes millions laugh
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Ruthie Yankwitt (12) explains her experience managing ADD.
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The Record sits down with alum and Seinfeld, Veep, and SNL writer David Mandel ‘88.
@hm.record @thehoracemannrecord Horace Mann School 231 W 246th St, Bronx, NY 10471
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THE RECORD OPINIONS DECEMBER 1ST, 2017
Navigating ADHD: in and out of the classroom
Ruthie Yankwitt Earlier this week, I received an email from my calculus teacher. The subject line was “YOUR GRADE – SEATING ARRANGEMENT,” instantly I felt my heartbeat quicken and my phone slip in my hands as my palms became sweaty. I wasn’t nervous about my grade; I was nervous about the prospect of another conversation where I pleaded my teacher to change my assigned seat. Every year, on the first day of each class, I make sure to pick a seat either at the front of the room or close to the teacher if it’s a roundtable-classroom. As my doctor explained to me many years ago, my ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder) medication only does so much. I have to put in the work to stay focused, and it’s significantly easier for me to do that from the front of the classroom. I hate having to approach a teacher after class to ask to be moved back to the front of the room. I’ve been accused of wanting to sit next to my friends or being unwilling to work with new people, but most frequently I’m told “to just give it a try” only to be told a week later that the teacher doesn’t feel comfortable changing the entire seating arrangement. When I opened the email, I instantly breathed a sigh of relief. Instead of having to ask my teacher to change the seating arrangement, my teacher had asked me if there was anything he should know when creating the new seating chart. My teacher had sent this email to the entire class, I was not singled out, and I could not have been more grateful. My teacher’s effort is what it means to actually
be accommodating and understanding to students with learning differences. Unfortunately, instances where I feel this comfortable with my learning differences are very rare. I have seen the efforts made by the Office of Identity Culture and Institutional Equity and the Office for Counseling and Guidance to have more open dialogues about learning differences, but that is very different from these ideals actually being integrated into everyday life at HM. Another way I’ve experienced difficulty is with my medicine. I am supposed to take two pills a day for my ADHD: one when I first wake up in the morning, and one around the start of G period. Unfortunately, taking pills during the course of the day is neither practical nor possible. Laws regulate that students can’t carry controlled substances around themselves, so they would have to go to the nurse’s office to receive their medication. The nurse understandably can’t be in her office at all times, catering to the demands of students who are looking for medication during a short window of time. That leads to anxious and frustrated students and can even have academic consequences. For example, I’ve had to take tests without my medicine, and this meant that I had an incredibly difficult time focusing and was at a disadvantage. The responsibility is not just on the teachers and administration to make our school open to students who learn differently; students have to actively participate in this process. Conversations that I have with students about learning differences often follow the same pattern: they make some joke about it being unfair that I take ADHD medicine, I try to explain myself, they become defensive, I become defensive, and we both walk away feeling annoyed and attacked. These conversations are in no way productive. The problem is that it does seem unfair: why should I be able to take medicine that helps me focus? My doctor explained it to me in this way: if every student has a number that is “the best” they can do, a student with ADD isn’t
able to reach that “best” without help from the medicine; I can’t control the way that ADHD affects my brain, so I do need help from my medicine to do my best. Even though the school administration is open to helping students with ADHD and other learning issues, the mechanisms are not in place to make this a reality. I don’t know how to solve the problem entirely, but a couple simple things could make the schoolenvironment significantly better for students with learning disabilities. Teachers shouldn’t assume that everyone in the classroom learns the same way (they should probably assume the complete opposite). For example, I learn best when I am hearing information rather than seeing it. I have often had difficulty in science classes where there are diagrams that make sense for other students, but have no meaning for me. Last year my physics teacher explained all diagrams that he showed us by diligently labelling everything drawn and explaining each piece of the picture. This was incredibly helpful, especially
in a subject where I already lacked confidence. If teachers can normalize these practices, it would help students with learning disabilities feel more included in the classroom and lift a burden off of our shoulders. I understand that teachers work incredibly hard to teach us material, and often don’t consistently have time to incorporate multiple different teaching techniques into every single lesson. Teachers and students alike need to be open to having difficult conversations about this topic. That’s easier said than done. While I am happy to see how far we have come, I have had bad experiences too. I know that I am quick to become defensive, and I think that this is something the our community can work on as a whole. In all conversations, if everyone were open-minded and focused on hearing what another person had to say, it would lead to more productive conversations not just about learning disabilities, but about all experiences of students at our school. A conversation is not going to magically solve all of the problems, but it’s a great place to start.
Courtesy of Gustie Owens
From the Olympics to Prettyman: a case for varsity ping pong
Robbie Werdiger In 2014, the sport of table tennis became an official varsity sport in New York City public schools. Today, 22 public schools throughout the five boroughs all compete against one another during the winter season in the PSAL (Public School Athletic League). The sport does not demand large quantities of space and requires equipment that is easily accessible. There is no reason
why Horace Mann shouldn’t add table tennis to its list of varsity sports. At the start of the school year Jack Blackman(10) and myself founded a table tennis club at Horace Mann. The club has developed successfully over the past three months as we have had around 16 different students show up to practices. We were excited to have played our first match on November 16th against the Ramaz School located on the Upper East Side. Our expectations were low coming into the match considering we were without our second and fourth best players as well as the fact that we were inexperienced and didn’t have a coach. Surprisingly, the match turned out to be a success. Even though we lost to Ramaz 4-3
our players had a great time and worked their hardest. Ramaz has a full-time table tennis coach and routine practices, whereas we practice every Thursday I period without a coach. I was encouraged to see that our players were able to pull out wins and force third sets against opponents who clearly had more coaching experience and superior paddles. Table Tennis is an Olympic sport that is unofficially declared as China’s national sport. Professional table tennis players compete year round on the ITTF (International Table Tennis Federation) circuit, leading up to the annual World Championships. The sport of table tennis is so appealing because in order to be skilled you do not have to be born with height and muscularity, physical traits which
Volume 115 Editorial Board Managing Editor Eve Kazarian
Editor in Chief Gustie Owens
Issues Editor Mahika Hari
Features Tiffany Liu Natasha Poster
News Sam Heller Yeeqin New
Opinions Seiji Murakami Rebecca Salzhauer
A&E Jonathan Katz Joanne Wang
Lions’ Den Peter Borini Ricardo Pinnock
Photography Amrita Acharya Freya Lindvall Abigail Kraus
Middle Division Ella Feiner Sarah Shin
Design Editors Evan Megibow Nikki Sheybani Lisa Shi
Art Director Ariella Greenberg
Faculty Adviser David Berenson
Columnists Lutie Brown Amir Moazami
Online Editor Michael Truell
are required in most american sports, making it one of the most popular sports across the world. Players must possess eye hand coordination, quick reflexes, mental toughness, and stamina to master the sport. Training involves physical workouts to develop core and lower body strength which are vital to build up stamina and increase shot timing and speed. In table tennis size is not a factor as the serve and groundstrokes revolve around spin rather than speed. Director of Athletics, Health & Physical Education Robert Annunziata explained the steps needed to develop table tennis into a varsity sport and they were completely doable. It was evident from the match that if we had a coach who could teach us
Staff Writers Malhaar Agrawal, Betsey Bennett, Peri Brooks, Amelia Feiner, Elizabeth Fortunato, Leonora Gogos, Caroline Goldenberg, Katie Goldenberg, Surya Gowda, Will Han, Jude Herwitz, Edwin Jin, Solomon Katz, Janvi Kukreja, Madison Li, Connor Morris, Megha Nelivigi, Noah Phillips, Eliza Poster, Julia Robbins, Abigail Salzhauer, Nishtha Sharma, Sadie Schwartz, Tenzin Sherpa, Sandhya, Shyam, Becca Siegel, Charlie Silberstein, Lynne Sipprelle, Griffin Smith, Georgi Verdelis, Ben Wang, Jeren Wei, Robbie Werdiger, Simon Yang Staff Photographers Iliana Dezelic, Eva Fortunato, Miyu Imai, Abigail Kraus, Daniel Lee, Mimi Morris, Benjamin Parker, Tatiana Pavletich Staff Artists Elizabeth Fortunato, Sofia Gonzalez, Surya Gowda, Damali O’Keefe, Spyridoula Potamopoulou, Jackson Roberts, Zoe Vogelsang
proper techniques with official paddles that we could make a decent competitive team that could compete on the varsity level. Although there are no ivy league private schools who have table tennis teams, we wouldn’t be the only varsity sport to compete against public schools as ultimate frisbee plays many public schools. We might be the private school that paves the way in turning table tennis into a varsity sport at numerous private schools in New York City. Most of our club members do not play winter sports and would love the idea of turning our club into a competitive team. By the time I graduate I hope that I can help achieve my goal of making table tennis a varsity sport.
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. LETTERS To be considered for publication in the next issue, letters to the editor should be submitted by mail (The Record, 231 West 246th Street, Bronx, NY 10471) or e-mail (record@horacemann.org) before 6 p.m. on Wednesday evening. All submissions must be signed and should refer to a Record article. Letters may be edited for grammar, style, length and clarity. CONTACT For all comments, queries, story suggestions, complaints or corrections, or for information about subscribing, please contact us by email at record@horacemann.org.
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HORACE MANN OPINIONS DECEMBER 1ST, 2017
Reflecting on a trimester of the athletic attendance policy
Euwan Kim The new athletic attendance policy, a well-intended attempt to ensuring students’ commitment to their sports teams, is not only difficult to execute but also an arbitrary annoyance to the students. It is difficult to enforce, unfair to devoted athletes, and burdensome for already-stressed student athletes. In previous years, absences could be excused with an email or a conversation with a coach before practice. This new policy, however, states that students are
only excused for school events, medical emergencies, or illness. Under these circumstances, students are required to fill out an athletic excused absence form. After the second unexcused absence, students are required to meet with their head coach and seasonal associate athletic director. Unexcused absences are a whole different thing: students are required to meet with their head coaches, seasonal associate director of athletics, director of athletics, and grade dean. After five unexcused absences, the student is cut from the team. This fall, I received four cut slips for missing practice (for a variety of reasons), and every time I received a cut slip, I needed to get my coaches to
sign it. Since practice was after school and my coaches were not available during the school day, I almost always handed in my cut slips late. One time, I handed in my cut slip a full week after it was
didn’t hear from their coaches. This can seem unfair to those students who have perfect attendance when their teammates can get away with missing practices, because the policy is not enforced. Furthermore, even if the policy was enforced effectively, it would be unfair to students who are talented athletes with good sportsmanship to be punished or even removed from the team for missing a few practices. This policy also discourages out-ofCourtesy of Eve Kazarian school athletes from due. My coach never confronted participating in school sports, me about the consequences of because they cannot find the my missed practices, and I was time to balance both activities. never suspended from a game. A I understand why the few of my friends have received administration implemented the more cut slips, and they also policy; last winter, only three
girls on the winter track team had made 90% or more of the practices. Although the policy is only in its first year, its inability to increase attendance has posed many problems for the athletic department’s future. At this school, there is a large focus on studies, so students can’t be expected to prioritize sports over academics. Many student athletes take an occasional day off to catch up on work, meet with teachers, or study for an upcoming assessment. It’s unreasonable that the administration expects students to find the time, energy, and mental strength to fulfill all academic and athletic expectations while also managing the rest of their lives. It is true that it is the students who make the choice to join a team, but there is a difference between participating in extracurricular activities and focusing solely on one sport.
Reshaping our outlook on service learning
Noah Phillips Serving meals at a food pantry, visiting a nursing home to talk with elderly residents, sprucing up a local park, joining Habitat for Humanity to build homes for displaced families--these are a few of the hundreds of volunteer service learning projects that Horace Mann students undertake each year. Right now, we all engage in annual service learning activities as a requirement for graduation and, based on anecdotal feedback, most students feel good about contributing time and effort to help others. But if service learning were not a graduation
requirement--would all or even a majority of students commit similarly to service? Many students see service as just a requirement to be fulfilled like any other. Begrudgingly, and with the help of resources from the Community Center for Values and Action (CCVA), students complete the requirement. The CCVA provides a list of projects, proposal forms, and reflection sessions to help students participate in a service project that they may be more passionate about. Even with the abundance of possibilities, there remains a group of students who view Horace Mann’s recently revamped service learning requirement as trivial and without significant long-term value. As students at this school, each of us has a pressing obligation to give back to the less fortunate communities around us, and the opportunities for community outreach offered at HM allow us to fulfill this obligation. Despite the opportunities made readily available for the student body, the faculty
struggle to alter any individual student’s preconceived notion that servicelearning, which takes time out of their busy day, is nothing to be excited about. Throughout my year and a half at this school, I have met many of these narrowminded people, not open to servicelearning no matter how persuasive I, the CCVA, and the administration may be. I have been deeply impacted by community service work, despite never expecting such a profound outcome. At the time of my Bar Mitzvah in 2015, I knew that I would have a “Bar Mitzvah Project” or some form of community-service to allude to during my speech. I envisioned this to be a one-time, easy job serving food on Thanksgiving night to the homeless in my neighborhood. I went to the school where the project was based, and ladled soup into the bowls of those I was serving. What truly struck me was the genuine and repeated thanks that those I served had, towards me, for somewhat absent-mindedly serving them soup. Everyone at that Thanksgiving
The Cults of HM
dinner seemed deeply appreciative to have a hot meal served to them that night. From their optimism and remarkable attitudes, the people that I helped that night changed my view of service dramatically, and I immediately recognized that I could make a real impact on the world if I invested my time and effort. I have continued to volunteer semi-regularly at my synagogue’s homeless shelter and always experience the same gratitude and personal connection from those I encounter. From the lasting effect that acts of community-work had on me, and from the impacts I see other service-learning activities has on my peers, it’s evident the great value of service-learning and work of the CCVA. In candor, those who approach service-learning with the sole purpose of filling a graduation requirement are missing out on an opportunity to better the society around them and better themselves through community service.
Editorial Assessing testing weeks As the Editorial Board sat down to reflect on the previous testing week, we could not reach a consensus: some of us had a blissful week without tedious homework assignments, others crammed for two tests they had in one day. While we appreciate the school’s efforts to reduce stress, our mixed reactions to this week indicate that there is room for improvement. We hope several changes can occur for future testing weeks. Wednesday should be reinstated as the break and serve as a day without tests in the middle of the week. Teachers should be discouraged from giving assessments the week before testing week. Most importantly, students should feel they can approach teachers if they need to move assignments. We realize that everyone will experience testing week differently but hope these proposed changes will generally make it more manageable.
Corrections - Issue 9 On the 1st page, Harrison Haft (11) was incorrectly attributed as a Staff Photographer, he is really a contributing photographer. On the 7th page, Abigail Kraus (11) was incorrectly attributed as a Staff Photographer, she is really the Photography Editor. Corrections - Issue 8 On the 5th page, Sarah Sun (9)’s name in Noh Theatre was misattributed as Sarah Shin (12). Katie Goldenberg/ Staff Artist
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THE RECORD NEWS DECEMBER 1ST, 2017
Theatre classes watch play, musical as part of curriculum Jude Herwitz Staff Writer
In a city so rich with plays and musicals, seeing real theatrical productions can make or break a theatre class, said Playwriting and Principles of Acting teacher Alexis Dahl. For this reason, she said, her class saw the play “The Wolves” Wednesday, and the History of Musical Theatre class viewed the musical “The Band’s Visit” on Tuesday. “The Band’s Visit” follows the story of a band of Egyptian soldiers who get stranded in an Israeli village and need to spend the night before they are able to make their way to the Egyptian embassy, Vani Prasad (10) said. Each trimester the History of Musical Theatre class sees a musical, Benjamin Posner said. The class covers the history of musical theater, from European opera to modern musicals, and the different types of productions in each era, Prasad said. However, due to the timing of the shows, “The Band’s Visit,” as well as the show seen in the first trimester and did not coincide with what they were learning about in class, she said. After seeing the show, the class compared it to other musicals that they had studied, Posner said. “In the first trimester, we went to see ‘Prince of Broadway,’ a revue show featuring selections from famous musicals that were produced by Hal
Prince,” said Posner. “This musical is different. It's contemporary and unconventional.” Posner said the “Prince of Broadway” was meant for an older audience, so it “was hard for the students to connect with.” “The Wolves,” which the Playwriting and the Principles of Acting class saw, tells the story of a female teenage soccer team in the winter season, Eliza Bender (10) said. None of the characters have names, but instead have numbers corresponding to their numbers on the team, Dahl said. Like “The Band’s Visit,” it does not fit in the mold of traditional theater said Dahl. “It won The Relentless Award, a really prestigious award for first time playwrights doing brave work in theater,” she said. In the Playwriting class, most days are spent doing free writes, although throughout the year they work on various different projects, said Bender. Principles of Acting, Dahl said, is the introductory acting class which
the school offers. “In the first trimester, they got to see a play called ‘School Girls; or, the African Mean Girls Play’ written by Jocelyn Bioh, and she came and spoke to our playwriting class and to other students,” she said. “The structures and styles of the two plays are very different.” Both trips had been planned since at least the beginning of the school year, said Dahl and Posner. While she preferred “The Band’s Visit” to the previous production the class saw, Prasad said, it did not live up to her expectations. “Even though the actors were really good and the general premise was good,” she said, “the story moved pretty slowly.” For “The Wolves”, judging from the class discussion, it was widely liked, Bender and Ben Rosenbaum (11) said. “It's important to have experience seeing live theater,” Posner said. “It is a living art form. It is very different reading a musical and even listening to a musical.”
Courtesy of nytimes.com
GIRL POWER Actresses from "The Wolves" perform in New York City.
School creates student narrated virtual tour of campuses Abigail Salzhauer Staff Writer
Recently the school launched a new student-narrated online virtual tour featuring a variety of 360° pictures of the main campus, Lower Division, Nursery Division, and Dorr and graphics of what the new buildings will look like. Current and former student ambassadors Cameron Chavers (12), Govind Menon (12), Marissa Parks ‘17, Merrick Gilston ‘17, and Karen Jiang ’17, act as the five virtual tour guides, Director of Institutional Research & Enrollment Management Lisa Moreira, who helped spearhead the creation of the tour, said.
Last fall, the school began working with YouVisit, the company who produced the tour and website, Head of School Dr. Tom Kelly said. “I fell in love with Columbia University’s use of YouVisit and, in particular, the student narrated tours and the ability to showcase the tour in multiple languages,” Kelly said. The virtual tour is offered in American Sign Language, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, and Spanish, and led by professional actors from the company rather than students. The “guides” appear as a video at the bottom of the screen while taking the tour. When the school began working on the tour, Kelly reached out
Courtesy of horacemann.org
VIRTUAL REALITY Karen Jiang '17 acts as virtual tour guide on school website.
to the student ambassadors due to their experience giving tours, Jiang said. On the Friday after last year’s graduation, all the student ambassadors guiding the tour recorded their sections for the virtual tour, Jiang said. While the group of students chosen to give the virtual tour was diverse, the majority of them were somehow involved in acting or public speaking, Chavers said. “The pulling together of the tour specific scripts, locations, and supplemental photos wasn’t easy, but well worth the effort when you see the final product,” Kelly said. The tour is useful and important for students who cannot visit the school to tour but are still interested in applying, Menon said. “I know that having come to Horace Mann from a school in the Middle East, such a tool would have been extremely helpful in determining whether or not Horace Mann was the right choice for me,” Menon said. The tour includes a virtual reality setting that can be used with the website. Both Moreira and Kelly were incredibly satisfied with the final results of the virtual tour and their experiences with YouVisit. “We look forward to bringing the folks from YouVisit back to campus next fall to update the tour with the new facilities,” Moreira said.
NEWS IN BRIEF
ROAR Students’ art project displayed at LD book fair.
Courtesy of Laura Cosson
Authors speak at annual Lower Division book fair
This weekend marks the return of the Lower Division book fair, which has been hosted annually for over 30 years. This year’s theme is “wild about reading.” This year the Book Fair is located in the Lower Division gymnasium, where students can browse books, participate in raffles, and showcase writing and art projects they have created. Three authors have been invited to speak about their own books at the fair: Stuart Gibbs, author of the “Spy School” series, and Ruby Shamir, author of “What’s the Big Deal About First Ladies”, and “What’s the Big Deal About Freedom.” “My Weird School” author Dan Gutman was unable to make it in time for the fair, but visited earlier this month to meet students. This year, the book fair is running in association with Caring in Action day, and will feature a scavenger hunt for students to enjoy on Saturday. “Our vision of the book fair is far more than just a book sale,” Lower Division librarian Laura Cosson said, “We really like to make it a community event.” - Spencer Kahn, Contributing Writer
Li (11) and Caosun (11) place at Princeton math competition On November 18, the school’s Mathematics team visited Princeton to compete in the Princeton University Mathematics Competition (PUMaC). The team ranked in Division B out of Divisions A and B, and member Matthew Li (11) won third place in combinatorics, third place in number theory, and second place overall while Andrew Caosun (11) won eighth in both combinatorics and number theory. According to Michael Caosun (12), the competition included geometry, number theory, combinatorics, and algebra sections, and each person chose two sections that they were to be tested on. PUMaC was Dora Woodruff ’s (10) first away conference, so she gained significance experience, Woodruff said. She enjoyed spending time with other students who enjoy math as much as she does, Woodruff said. Andrew’ awards for combinatorics and number theory caught him completely by surprise, Andrew said. “I was happy that I actually did well, but the experience itself was much more satisfying than the awards,” he said. The team prepared for this competition by doing many practice problems and developing a solid understanding of what to expect in different sections of this competition, Woodruff said. - Victor Dimitrov, Staff Writer
Courtesy of Stephanie Li
A SINE OF A GOOD TEAM Math Team pose with trophies after PUMaC.
HORACE MANN ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT DECEMBER 1ST, 2017
David Mandel ‘88: a career in comedy
Courtesy of Mannikin
Courtesy of IMDb
ALWAYS LAUGHING Mandel ‘88 as a high school senior (left); Mandel poses with his 2017 Emmy for Best-Comedy, Veep (right).
Solomon Katz Staff Writer 76.3 million Americans laughed in their living rooms while watching the series finale of Seinfeld, a show that David Mandel ‘88 helped write. On top of writing for Seinfeld in its final three seasons, Mandel has written for Saturday Night Live (SNL), been an executive producer and director of Curb Your Enthusiasm, and is currently the executive producer and show-runner of Veep. When Mandel was at the school,
he was enthralled by comedy, listening to old stand-up albums and watching movies and television shows including SNL, but he never envisioned it as his future career. “Even though I was a huge comedy nerd, pursuing a career in comedy was never something a student at Horace Mann could picture. I loved making my friends laugh as much as I could, but if you had asked me in high school, I would’ve guessed I would become a lawyer or something,” Mandel said. In high school, Mandel was
involved in many extracurriculars, none of which were related to comedy. He was very interested in photography and spent a lot of time developing photos in the dark room and taking pictures for The Record and Mannikin. Upon attending Harvard University, Mandel wrote for The Harvard Lampoon, the nation’s oldest humor magazine. “Working for the Lampoon allowed me to be exposed to a new environment of like minded people and was my awakening to
the possibility of pursuing a career in comedy seriously,” Mandel said. The Harvard Lampoon worked on a TV show on Comedy Central, which is where Mandel met comedian Al Franken. Franken snowballed Mandel’s career by setting him up with jobs writing material for Democratic and Republican conventions and writing for SNL. “I watch SNL because I don’t have to think about plot lines or deeper meanings, it’s just simply about getting a laugh,” Shant Amerkanian (11) said. Working at SNL, Mandel met Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, eventually leading to his participation in Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm. “I watch Curb Your Enthusiasm with my family, and Larry David’s social commentary is both ridiculous and hilarious,” Eliza Bender (10) said. “I had wanted to work on these enormous projects so much, and it felt good to be working with guys like Jerry and Larry who only cared about being funny and nothing else, which is what I love,” Mandel said. Mandel’s path has led him to his current job producing Veep, which stems from working with Julia Louis-Dreyfus on the set of Seinfeld. “Back in the time of Seinfeld, there weren’t so many channels on television and there wasn’t anything like Netflix, so everyone in America who was watching TV was basically watching the same show, and Seinfeld was a very popular show. There was nothing better than going
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out on a Friday night and hearing people all over talk about the episode I had just worked on,” Mandel said. Mandel has always been politically active since he majored in government at Harvard. Veep, a political satire, has had a complicated relationship in the past couple of years with the Trump administration. “It’s clever and funny to point out subtle hypocrisies in an overall good president like Obama, but Trump jokes are told so frequently that it poses a challenge,” Mandel said. Mandel genuinely feels bad about issues such as debt, the environment, and judges that the generation after his will have to deal with, so it’s hard for him to joke about such a real problem, he said. Events like Russians hacking the Democratic Party make any material writers can come up with for Veep seem boring in comparison, Mandel said in an interview on NPR. “Ah, I wish I had thought of firing the FBI guy,” Mandel said in an interview on Late Night with Seth Meyers. Although Veep is a way for viewers to escape real political problems by emulating a fictional presidency, Mandel hopes everyone stays on top of pressing political issues, he said. “I’ve always loved having the opportunity to tell the jokes I want to and make people laugh, but no matter what side you’re on, I want everyone to be politically active,” Mandel said.
Goldenberg (10) performs in professional musical Nelson gaillard & Isabella Zhang Staff & Contributing Writers As Caroline Goldenberg (10) makes her way to the stage, she instantly transforms into 14year old Carolyn, a character in James Robert Brown and Marsha Norman’s musical “Bridges of Madison County.” Carolyn is the daughter of the musical’s protagonist, the Italian woman Francesca, whose life changes when a famous photographer pulls up in her driveway. “I knew that from the minute she opened her mouth, this was a young woman I wanted to cast,” Director of “Bridges of Madison County” Claudia Stefany said. “She is energetic, committed, and confident.” “Bridges of Madison County” is more catered towards an adult crowd and has a cast with a wide age range, contrasting with the all-kid casts geared towards younger audiences Caroline Goldenberg has mainly been a part of, Caroline Goldenberg said. She wanted to audition for this musical due to the cast’s variety in age, as it would be a new experience that “puts me in a more professional environment,” she said. “Her audition was wonderful,” Stefany said. “I knew that she would really blossom
Moonlight
Art Display by
Emily Bleiberg
Courtesy of Caroline Goldenberg
THE BRIDGE TO SUCCESS Caroline Goldenberg (10) stars in out-of-school production of “Bridges of Madison County.”
during the rehearsals.” Caroline Goldenberg likes to “perform and take on different roles” because they offer different and fresh perspectives to what is going on in her life, Caroline Goldenberg said. Caroline Goldenberg’s family has a music-filled background and has always supported her as an actor and a singer. Caroline has been attending French Woods Festival of the Performing
Arts singing and acting since she was seven years old, and these activities allow her to showcase her talents to others, she said. “It is inspiring,” her sister Caitlin Goldenberg (11) said, “to see how much work she puts into preparing for her part.” Caitlin Goldenberg is proud to witness her sister develop as an actor and that her sister is “so passionate about what she is doing,” she said. Classmates Whitney Dawson
(10), Grace Ermias (10), and Sarah Acocelli (10) often help Caroline Goldenberg practice her lines during free periods and outside of school. As Dawson and Caroline Goldenberg were in chorus together during elementary and middle school, Dawson has witnessed Caroline Goldenberg’s improvements in voice control as a singer, she said.
Opened November 28th
Fisher Hall
How sleep affects stu 6
THE RECORD FEATURES DECEMBER 1ST, 2017
Which factors most affect the amount and quality of sleep you get?
92
*
%
SCHOOL WORK
54
%
TECHNOLOGY
47
%
On average, how many 409 students polled through a Google survey
Katie Goldenberg Staff Writer Listening to student conversation around the school, one topic remains consistent: sleep. Each day, students must make choices about how to balance their schoolwork and nightly rest, considering factors such as homework, caffeine, and sleep’s daily effect on student life. Student Sleep Schedules For Laura Bae (10), crawling under the covers at around 8:30 in the evening and rising at 3 in the morning to complete her homework is just an average weekday. “Getting a set amount of sleep is important, and I need to get my work done in one shot or I usually can’t relax,” Bae said. However, this year Bae decided to alter her sleep habits and shift to an earlier wake-up call in part because of her extracurricular activities, including the school’s Debate Club as well as violin, she said. “It’s been beneficial because in the morning there’s actually a lot fewer distractions and I get my work done more efficiently,” Bae said. Bae is not the only student at the school who has had to alter their sleep schedule in order to manage schoolwork, clubs, and other extracurricular activities. With the responsibilities that come with being a student, many students at the school have had to make choices in managing their time and incorporating nightly rest—whether to prioritize sleep or to put it on the backburner. At around 10:30 on a school night, Alexa Watson (11) goes to bed and wakes up at 12:30 the next morning to complete two hours of work. She then sleeps until 3 a.m. and wakes up at 5 a.m. to work for two more hours,
receiving five hours of rest overall. “It works for me,” Watson said. “After a sport, I can’t stay up until one in the morning without taking any breaks.” Jamie Berg (11) goes to sleep at around 11:30 p.m. and wakes up early to run and lift before school. “The amount of sleep I’ve gotten has decreased a lot as my commitment to wrestling has increased,” Berg said. According to Upper Division Director of Counseling and Guidance Daniel Rothstein, the recommended amount of sleep for teenagers is at least eight and a half hours, nine and a half being the ideal. Some estimates claim that a mere 15% of teenagers receive this amount, while the majority are sleep-deprived, he said. According to a recent anonymous poll conducted by The Record, 13.2% of the student population receives at least eight hours of rest on an average weekday, while 4.9% receives three hours or less. Josh Doolan (12) sleeps for around eight hours on a weekday, making an effort to go to bed around 10 p.m., he said. “I get a lot of my work done in the library during my frees and I’m far more productive at school,” Doolan said. “When I come home, I usually only have around an hour or two of work to do.” Many students’ sleep habits have changed during their time in high school. The amount of sleep that Berg receives has decreased. “I used to be really anxious about getting enough sleep, and now I don’t really care,” he said.
Bae’s recent changes to her sleep schedule have increased her average amount of rest each night from three or four hours to between five and seven hours. “Last year I started to crash around D period,” Bae said. “I think sleeping more has definitely changed my performance.” Effects of Sleep on Student Life Sleep affects a variety of factors, the first of which is learning, Rothstein said. “If you study the night before and you’re not getting quality sleep and going through all the cycles, it can affect how much information you retain,” Rothstein said. According to Sleep.org, sleep consists of two major cycles: Rapid Eye Movement (REM) and NonREM. Four sub-stages of lighter NonREM sleep eventually transition into the REM cycle, consisting of a deeper sleep in which the brain becomes active and processes information from the previous day. REM occurs approximately 90 minutes after falling asleep; the average adult will experience five to six REM cycles per night. A lack of sleep also leads to decreased concentration during class, Rothstein said. “Sometimes around E or G period I start nodding off slightly, especially if I don’t have my morning coffee,” Bae said. “I usually don’t come to class tired and I’m always energetic, but if I don’t get a lot of sleep, I feel dead for days afterward,” Doolan said. A lack of sleep also greatly affects mood, Rothstein said. With less sleep, individuals start to feel more irritable and impulsive. Sleep-deprived individuals also
SPORTS
44
%
OTHER EXTRACURRICULARS
*This information was obtained through a recent random poll conducted by The Record, which received 458 responses. The numbers are rounded to the nearest whole number and only relate to Upper Division students. Damali O’Keefe/Staff Artist
Numb have difficulty managing intense emotions, he said. “If it starts to become chronic, it can affect mood in a bigger way, causing depression and anxiety,” Rothstein said. Sleep deprivation can be harmful not only to academic performance, but to external factors such as driving. Research shows that out of the accidents that occur as a result of overtired drivers, 50% of the cases involve drivers aged 25 and under, Rothstein said. “We talk about the dangers of teenagers driving, and obviously some of that is bad judgment, but some of that is because kids are too tired,” Rothstein said. Many schools around the country have made the shift to a later starting time due to these factors, Rothstein said. “The recommendation is to not start earlier than 8:30,” he said. “Unfortunately, we are a commuter school, so even though we start later, some students are still waking up at 6 or 6:30 and getting too little sleep.” Conservation of Energy Power napping is one method many students utilize to squeeze in more sleep during the day and increase concentration without compromising work output. Immediately after Siddharth Tripathi (12) comes home from school, he takes a 45-minute nap before starting his homework and goes to bed around 2 in the morning after he has completed all of his work. For Tripathi, napping allows for more productivity and compensates for reduced sleep overall, providing sufficient energy for the evening and school day, he said. “Napping can be refreshing, but you have to keep it brief, so under half an hour,” Rothstein said. “Once you start to enter a deeper phase of sleep, waking up can feel really disorienting, and it can be hard to get going again.” Another popular method to improve focus and energy is caffeine; according to a recent anonymous poll conducted by The Record, 38.7%
udent wellness
HORACE MANN FEATURES DECEMBER 1ST, 2017
hours do you sleep per day on weeknights?
Sleep Experiment:
Two Upper Division students volunteered to sleep at least eight hours every night for seven days and track how getting extra sleep affected their mood, concentration, and lifestyle, in general.
0.50% 10+
ber of Hours Slept on School Nights of the student population drinks caffeine, and 74% of which consume caffeinated beverages before 9 a.m. Gabi Rahmin (12) consumes an average of two cups of coffee per day—one in the morning and one in the afternoon, she said. Her caffeine consumption does not impact her sleep schedule, she said. Caffeine can be harmful to drink later in the day, Rothstein said. “After 2 p.m., you shouldn’t be drinking caffeine, because it’s going to keep you up, you’re not going to sleep well, and you’re going to need more caffeine the next day,” he said. Student Sleep on Weekends Many students use weekends to catch up on rest, while others maintain their weekly schedule. According to a recent anonymous poll conducted by The Record, the majority of students sleep eight to nine hours per day on weekends, while the majority of students sleep six to seven hours per day on weekdays. Zoe Swift (9) goes to bed at around 10:30 p.m. and wakes up at 5:30 a.m. on an average school day. On a typical weekend, she will go to sleep at around 12:30 in the morning and wake up at 1 or 2 in the afternoon the following day. However, Olivia Kester (11), who sleeps from between 12 or 3 a.m. to 7 a.m. on an average school day, also goes to bed at 1 a.m. on weekends, maintaining a regular four to seven hours of sleep. According to Rothstein, a regular sleep schedule is one of the best sleeping habits. “Sleeping late feels good in the moment, but when you have an erratic sleep schedule it affects everything,” he said. “Having a regular time gives you a proper rest in which you go through all the phases of sleep.” Homework Cap During the week, many students must face the dilemma of whether to sleep or to finish their schoolwork. According to The Record poll, 91.7% of students said that schoolwork most affects the amount
and quality of sleep they get. Berg will choose sleep over finishing an assignment, he said. “Finishing an assignment helps me to achieve a single goal, while sleeping helps me to achieve a variety,” he said. “I need sleep to fulfill myself athletically, emotionally, and academically.” According to the Student Handbook, “the maximum time required to complete regular weekly homework assignments for a major course should be equivalent to the class time for that course for a week.” Math teacher Richard Somma asks students to do their best on homework assignments in 40 to 45 minutes, giving students the permission to stop after that period of time and take care of other needs. “The more I teach, the more I become sensitive to student needs,” Somma said. “I think that if there are issues with homework, it’s being criticized because it’s busy work, and it should be something that’s intellectually interesting.” Competing with Sleep Some students believe there is a perceived correlation between going to sleep later and working harder at the school. “People take not sleeping as an act of pride at Horace Mann,” Doolan said. “I think there’s this pride thing where kids compete with one another to see who sleeps less for whatever reason,” Berg said. Tripathi acknowledges that there is a notion that kids who sleep later are more hardworking, but does not believe it to be true, he said. “It just depends on what works for you and what you do outside of school.” To receive a better quality of sleep, Rothstein recommends decreasing the amount of time spent on technology prior to sleeping, as the stimulation tricks the brain into staying awake, he said. “You can take 15 minutes to just chill out with your phone away, and maybe listen to some music,” Rothstein said. “You’re just telling your mind and your body that you’re making a transition.”
When The Record asked me to participate in this sleep study, I was unsure I would be the right subject. Although I do not get eight hours of sleep every night, I definitely prioritize sleep and go to bed early, usually before 11 p.m. How much difference could sleeping an extra half hour per night make? It turns out, a lot. When I started the experiment on Sunday night, I was stressed about the coming week. I planned on staying late at school several days for tennis practice and the athletic banquet. In Elizabeth Raab (12) terms of academics, I had a daunting week: a chemistry test, French presentation, and math problem set were all due or scheduled on Friday. As a first trimester senior, I was also nervous about a college interview that I had to arrange for the next week. On top of all that stress, I had to worry about going to bed by 10:30 every night, meaning I would either have to finish my homework faster or not do some of it at all. Sunday night, I got to bed early and slept for more than eight hours. The next day, Monday, I was able to do something I hadn’t been able to in a few weeks: put in my contact lenses before boarding my bus. It sounds trivial, but I had been storing my contacts in my backpack, walking to the school bathroom entirely disoriented and unable to recognize anyone, before correcting my vision. This ritual wasn’t the best way to start my mornings, so after eight hours of sleep, easily slipping in my lenses was a real gift—a small miracle every day that week. Sleeping even just a little bit more had other benefits, too. I felt more focused in classes, more engaged in conversations with my friends, and calmer when I started my homework every night. Sleeping more did not solve all my problems, though. It did not make my chemistry test any easier. It did not cure my stress dreams. It even created a few problems when I did not have that extra half hour to finish my assignments and had to go to school without having completed all of my homework. Overall, though, that week taught me that no matter how much stress I am under, I can take one important step to feel better: get just a little more sleep. I normally get six to seven hours of sleep on weekdays. I can function during the day after getting that amount of sleep, but I would rather get more sleep because I feel tired a lot of the time. Going to bed early during the sleep study allowed me to wake up energized for the first couple of days, but the effect lessened as the week progressed—maybe because I started to get used to sleeping more or because I exercised on certain days of that week, which used up my energy and made me more tired. I was able to get eight hours of sleep each night by really concentrating on my work and not Joshua Benson (11) allowing myself to be distracted by YouTube or my friends. Specifically, I compartmentalized my work by doing 25 minutes of work and then taking a five-minute break. Before this sleep study, I would often procrastinate because I was too lazy to start my work. I am accustomed to getting little sleep on both weekdays and weekends, so the extra sleep I got during this study had no effect on my grades. Overall, I’d say the stress from having to finish work early or doing it on the way to school outweighed the slightly more energy that eight hours of sleep gave me.
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THE RECORD FEATURES DECEMBER 1ST, 2017 Zoe Vogelsang/Staff Artist
Why some students and teachers are putting the “no” in technology Jude Herwitz and Amelia Feiner Staff Writers Science teacher Dr. Megan Reesbeck developed her notechnology policy for note-taking long before she got her first high school teaching job. As a teaching assistant at a university, she sat in on lecture classes and stared at the backs of 300 students glued to their screens. Most of the students were not taking notes. “These are college students who are deciding to take this class; it’s their choice, and they are actively disengaging through looking on Facebook or reading some article or doing something completely different,” Reesbeck said. “I don’t feel confident in allowing high school students to make that decision for themselves,” she said. Reesbeck is one of many teachers
TOP 5 REASONS STUDENTS PREFER... TYPING NOTES
1. Can use “command+f ” to search for key words quickly 2. Neat and organized for people 3. Faster and easier to keep up with the teacher 4. Makes my backpack lighter 5. I can go back and add notes neatly
HANDWRITING NOTES
1. I don’t get distracted with technology 2. I internalize and remember the material more 3. Flexibility to include figures, graphs, and notation 4. You can doodle! 5. Feels more secure than a computer file *From a survey of 315 students, these were the predominant responses.
reevaluating how technology should be used in classrooms as devices become faster, sleeker, and more addictive. Despite its ease and efficiency, many Upper Division teachers and students remain wary about the use of technology in classrooms. Studies have shown that students who take notes by hand conceptualize information more efficiently, and teachers are not always sure what their students are doing online because they can’t see the screen of the students’ devices during class. However, many students depend on technology for organization and speed during the school day. When asked if they preferred to take notes by hand or by typing, more than 61 percent out of 315 students polled said that they choose handwriting over typing. Technology is used differently in various academic departments in the school. Though Spanish teacher Pilar Valencia uses technology for audio and video in class, she only allows her students to take notes by hand. “There have been a number of studies that point out the benefits of taking notes manually. Among them, the slow speed of taking notes by hand allows for more processing time and requires some quick reorganization of the information,” Valencia said. “Typing, on the other hand, allows you to copy almost verbatim, with minimum processing of the information,” she said. A study published in Psychological Science by Pam A. Mueller of Princeton University and Daniel M. Oppenheimer of the University of California Los Angeles supported the benefits of Valencia’s policies. Mueller and Oppenheimer showed the same presentation to two groups of college students. One group was forced to take notes with pencils and paper, while the other
group took notes electronically. When tested on the information they absorbed, the study showed that the students from both groups performed equally when asked fact based questions, but when asked questions that had to do with conceptual application, the students who hand wrote outperformed the typists. Economics teacher Gregory Donadio does not allow technology for note taking during his class, except in special circumstances, he said. “Inside a class, where you have interaction... people looking endlessly at a screen and not talking, because they’re taking notes on the screen, means discussions are less effective,” Donadio said. Class of 2020 Dean Dr. Susan Groppi, who teaches History, while discouraging her students to use technology, does not completely disallow it most of the time, she said. “I don’t outright ban it, because I think especially for older students, you guys are learning for yourselves what is most effective,” she said, “and maybe for some students that actually is the answer.” However, from time to time, Groppi does put a classroom moratorium on computers for a week, or sometimes a month, she said, “if I have a situation where either a lot of people are using them inappropriately in the classroom, or if I think the wall of laptops is impeding discussion.” Owen Karpf (10) has a special accommodation that allows him to use a computer to take notes due to his dysgraphia, a fine motor skills disability, he said. Karpf said that he sometimes has trouble copying what is written on the board and thinking about it at the same time. “Sometimes I just quickly type down what was on the board and I
In your 5 major courses, in how many of them are you allowed you take notes on a computer?
don’t really read it or recognize what it says, but I can always just read my notes,” he said. Billy Lehrman (12) began handwriting all of his notes after reading a study in his freshman year that detailed the benefits of taking notes by hand. However, he believes that technology is useful in class when sharing ideas and collaborating with classmates. Despite sometimes strict technology policies, students feel that teachers want their students to do as well as they can, and policies are malleable when students have accommodations or struggle with handwriting. “Most teachers are very willing to let you do what helps you needs,” Lehrman said. “Usually [my teachers] are fine with it,” Karpf said of his accommodation. “I’ve actually requested on the course assignment sheet teachers who are more accommodating so I don’t really have to deal with blow-back.” Akash Nayar (10), who has a special accommodation, uses his computer to take notes in almost
every class. He also encountered no resistance from teachers at the school even if the teacher’s class policy discourages the usage of technology, he said. The Middle Division technology policy breaks sharply from that of the Upper Division, which is to allow teachers to determine the rules for their classrooms. Instead, the Middle Division requires all students to have either a schoolissued or personal iPad at the beginning of the school year and expects them to utilize the device for most schoolwork. Adam Frommer (9) said that the iPad was heavily used in most of his classes other than math in Middle School, a sharp contrast to this year, when “all my teachers, except a few, don’t allow computers at all,” he said. The transition from the two differing policies “could have been done in a better way,” Frommer said. “We used all this technology in preparing us for high school, where we don’t actually use it.”
Model Congress, and Mock Trial each require public speaking and debate skills, Speech Team, Public Forum Debate, Parliamentary Debate, and Lincoln-Douglas Debate have different opportunities and challenges for each student within the umbrella of speech and debate. Radhika Mehta (12) and Evan Frommer (12) are the founders and co-Presidents of Parliamentary Debate at the school. Mehta and Frommer also established the New York Parliamentary League with students at both Dalton and Stuyvesant. The league now consists of 11 schools in the tri-state area. “Parliamentary Debate really emphasizes critical thinking, public speaking, and argument formation. You can’t bring in any outside research or use the Internet, and because of that, you need to
think quickly on your feet and of arguments in that time,” Mehta said. “The people in Parli debate care about what they’re doing but don’t apply the intense pressure that people in other debate clubs might,” Robbins said. With their mantra of “Work Hard Parli Harder,” Parliamentary Debate enjoys a supportive atmosphere to couple their focused rounds of debate, Mehta said. Contrasted with Parliamentary Debate, in which students can’t prepare before the round, Public Forum Debate, headed by Honor McCarthy (12), Ella Feiner (12), and Elizabeth Raab (12), is the oldest and most popular style of debate at the school, with upwards of 75 members, McCarthy said. McCarthy noted that one of the great values of partaking in Public Forum Debate is the writing and
public speaking skills developed during tournaments. Founded by Ishaan Kannan (10) only this past year, the Speech team at the school competes in the New York Catholic Forensics League, along with various other Speech teams in the tri-state area, in a singledebater format that emphasizes personal expression, Kannan said. “Honestly, you’d think you’d have to be an extrovert and really confident, but that’s not the case. A shy person can pick a piece to deliver that matches their personality and do really well. Anyone can do Speech,” Kannan said. Within Speech, there are many formats that involve different content and oral-delivery tactics, Kannan said. Lincoln-Douglas debate, founded by Philip Chien (10) this past year, is a debate club that focuses on
philosophical arguments, Chien said. Chien became “enthralled” with the philosophical component of Lincoln-Douglas debate, compared to the research-driven Public Forum platform which he formerly competed in, he said.
315 students were polled using Google Forms. The students were from all four grades.
Speech & Debate program expands to include new formats Noah Phillips Staff Writer
In her fifth round at the Vassar Invitational, having been given the topic for the round only 15 minutes prior, Julia Robbins (10) carefully listened to her opponents speak about mandatory minimum sentencing while simultaneously outlining a passionate and convincing opposing case to defeat her competition. In Parliamentary Debate, the style of debate Robbins competes in, students receive the topic of debate right before the round and are expected to use logical arguments and powerful rhetoric to win over the judge. With the formation of two new debate clubs this year, students have the opportunity to try out a variety of forms of debate. Though clubs such as Model United Nations,
Courtesy of George Loewenson
PARLI IT UP Eli Bacon (9) and Nelson Gaillard (10) win finals at the Vassar Invitational in early November.
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HORACE MANN NEWS DECEMBER 1ST, 2017
Advisories participate in reflections on diversity
FAKE NEWS ALERT
Ariella Greenberg/ Art Director
Every senior takes a gap year Aaron Snyder Not a Staff Writer The college counseling office was forced to close on Tuesday after being swarmed by seniors asking if they could take a gap year. The seniors, likely inspired by Tuesday’s assembly, also wanted to know it was too late for them to apply to Colorado College. The high cost of gap years made the college counselors hesitant to recommend that the entire senior class take a year off between graduating from Horace Mann and beginning college. To address the concerns of their counselors, the seniors worked together to devise a plan to subsidize their gap year. The class came up with two promising proposals. The first was a plan to work on a presidential campaign. That plan had to be rejected after the college counselors reminded the seniors that their gap year would not coincide with an election year. The second was a plan to start a business selling whiteboards. That too had to be rejected after the seniors learned that the whiteboard market was already cornered by a different HM alumnus. Just as all hope seemed lost, an anonymous HM alumna generously donated $12 million to fund the seniors’ gap year. When asked what they planned to do during their gap year, the two most common responses were “travel the world” and “reevaluate every decision I made while at HM.”
RELATED ARTICLES Assembly Committee decides to have 60 minutes of peace for next assembly. MD SPECIAL: Puberty. It’s what’s happening. Independent study project on procrastination receives an incomplete. Grade inflation student first A++.
gives
Katie Goldenberg Staff Writer
Following the school-wide implications of a racist joke made at a recent SBP Assembly, students and faculty have participated in designated advisory sessions to discuss the impact of the event on the community. In an email written by Dean of Students Dr. Susan Delanty, the November 14 and 21 advisories were devoted to continuing community conversations “through written personal reflections and shared discussion within the advisory group.” The latter session replaced a previously planned assembly in order to continue the dialogue. The advisories were an organized effort between the ICIE and the deans to create a built-in space for students to process their thoughts in smaller groups, co- Director of ICIE John Gentile said. During the first advisory session, students and faculty were asked to write their answers to two questions. The first asked, “What does it mean to be a responsible member of a diverse community?” The second inquired, “What steps can you take in your daily life to ensure that every person’s identity
Continuation from Dr. Richards on page 1 “My personal struggle with gender dysphoria and its ultimate resolution was private and hardly humanitarian. My decision to become a professional woman tennis player was the first selfish thing I had done and only eventually after I started that struggle that I realized the affect that it was going to have on disenfranchised groups,” Dr. Richards said during her speech. Two years ago Aurora Grutman (12) planned a conference about gender and equality and invited Dr. Richards as one of the keynote speakers, Grutman said. After reading her books and learning about her life, Grutman became fond of Dr. Richards, Grutman said. She was thrilled when she found out Dr. Richards was receiving this award, and was “surprised that this award hasn’t come sooner,” Grutman said. “Why do I think I’m being given this award? I don’t know...maybe they ran out of potential candidates! I had three careers; medicine, tennis, and human rights. Recognition for all three? Just two? Maybe three? Not for me to say,” Dr. Richards wrote in an email.
is valued and affirmed here at Horace Mann?” Participants were invited to share their responses with their advisory group to promote conversation amongst peers. “The question was an opportunity to think of this not as a singular incident. It’s not just about what happened on stage – it’s about the community, the culture we’re creating, and our responsibilities to each other,” Gentile said. “A written response allows people to collect their thoughts before speaking,” ICIE Associate Sharina Gordon said. “There were a lot of people who wanted that space to talk and process and be heard.” Over the course of the second advisory session, advisory groups discussed trends in the community’s answers to the written response questions as well as the idea of intent versus impact. “The November 21st advisory allowed us to let students know that we read every response, we heard their concerns, and we will continue to do our best to ensure that all members of our community feel heard, valued, and respected,” Delanty said. Students and faculty had mixed
reactions regarding the structure and the success of the advisory sessions. Science teacher Dr. Rachel Mohammed found the writing and discussion within the advisory session to be beneficial in helping students to work out their thoughts, she said. “Reading the responses from the entire school and discussing them together in our small group let us know the voices of HM students have been heard,” she said. “The responses about ‘moving forward’ resonated with our advisory group.” Nshera Tutu (9) also found the advisory sessions to be helpful as regulated spaces to talk, she said. “The discussions we had were thorough, and the advisories allowed us to get our feelings out in a healthy way,” she said. Ishaan Kannan (10) found the proposed written response questions too broad and ineffective in creating constructive conversation surrounding the assembly’s implications. “The generality of the questions given during the advisory was an unwillingness to directly acknowledge a sensitive issue,” he said. “By having these mediated
discussion sessions, I feel a sense of being controlled.” Josh Tom (11) also found the provided questions to be unsuccessful in producing productive discussion and found the question to be “too watered down.” Science teacher Dr. Matthew Wallenfang emphasized to his advisory that “the focus was to be on the broad question of what it means to be a member of a diverse community, and we shouldn’t make it about a specific incident or individual,” he said. Kannan believes the best way to deal with the issue is individual conversation with peers without the feeling of supervision, he said. “That’s the real way to have a strong community,” Kannan said. Tutu believes after-school discussion groups in which students and teachers can come together would be beneficial, she said. “I was disappointed that other than the Union meeting there were no discussion groups set up for students to talk,” she said. “It allowed some people to take the situation lightly.” English teacher Jonathan Kotchian liked the writing prompt but suggested more time postprompt in pairs in his advisory. “It would be good to let each pair or small group really develop a conversation before bringing it back to the advisory,” he said. In order to keep facilitating discussion, Gordon suggests that students maintain the conversation with their peers as well as continue to reflect on their words and actions. “These conversations are about creating a community where we can have those difficult discussions with humanity and tact,” Gentile said. “Disagreement should be a beautiful beginning, not a fearful end.”
HM Chefs United hosts first dip contest Sam Keimweiss Staff Writer
Faijul Rhyhan (11) and Emily Zeppieri (11) won the first annual dip contest, called “The Big Dipper,” in the Cohen Dining Commons on Monday, November 29. The contest was held by Horace Mann Chefs United, a new club run by Evan Wu (11) and Rebecca Siegel (11). Rhyan won the teacher’s vote, judged by English Teacher Dr. Adam Casdin. Rhyan made a Shuzy dip, which was made of “ground up rice, milk, and sugar,” Wu said. “There was something electric about it on the tongue,” Casdin said. Zeppieri won the popular vote with her herb dip, which she said was made of mayonnaise, sour cream, cream cheese, dill, parsley, and scallions. She beat out Siegel by two votes, who came in second with a baba ghanoush dip. “I thought it would be a fun competition,” Zeppieri said. The club decided to have a student and teacher vote to remove bias, Siegel said. “We realize that students might be biased based off the name of each person participating,” she said. 14 students submitted dips to the event, which was open to both students and faculty. There was a large range of dips, from a bean dip by Halley Robbins (10) to a fig dip by Elizabeth Fortunato (11). According to Wu, this was HM Chefs United’s second event. Their first was a pasta making workshop earlier this month. They also held a bake sale on Thursday November 30th. “A lot of kids cook in their own time and they like cooking, so the competition format is really good,” Wu said. He saw the competition as a success and thinks the club will hold it again next year.
Courtesy of George Loewenson
YUM! Students present dips at “The Big Dipper” contest.
10
THE RECORD MIDDLE DIVISION DECEMBER 1ST, 2017
Nichols shares research on executive function with parents Gabby Kepnes & Abigail Goldberg Staff & Contributing Writers Two weeks ago, Middle Division psychologist Dr. Christina Nichols and Riverdale Country School psychologist Christina Young presented their recently published book about executive function at a coffee hour with Head of the Middle Division Robin Ingram. The hour was a time for parents to listen and ask questions as to how they can support their children and help them learn necessary skills. Nichols and Young co-wrote “Executive Functions at Home and at School: Six Skills Young Learners Need to Succeed,” a book that serves as a guide for parents to help their children become successful academically and in life in general. At the coffee hour, they discussed the
importance of emotional regulation, which is the ability to identify how you’re feeling and evaluate what the situation calls for. Young talked about how parents should model emotional regulation for their children. If children are unable to regulate their feelings it could affect planning, creativity, good judgment, and impulse control. On the other hand, successful emotional regulation leads to healthy relationships, success in the workplace and good mental health, she said. “We wanted to demystify the term “executive function,” Nichols said. Nichols has been working for 18 years as a learning specialist and a psychologist, she said, so she was familiar with the ideas of her work. She hopes that the book will serve as a resource for parents and offer more information than what she can provide
Mimi Morris / Staff Photographer
EXAMINING EXECUTIVE FUNCTION Nichols poses with recently published book.
in a short meeting, she said. “We wanted to give a background into organization, activation, reflection and balance,” Nichols said. Her job as a psychologist in the Middle Division helped tremendously in expanding the key concepts that are made clear in the book. Nichols and Young first met about five years ago at a professional development conference, hosted by Horace Mann. From there, they began sharing resources and discussing current research in neuroscience, which they then shared with parents, teachers, and students at their respective schools, Nichols said. “Christina started writing it all down,” Nichols said. “And that was the beginning of the project.” “The main point of the book is to show that it is all connected: academic skills, including executive functions; social-emotional skills; and physical, social, and emotional health,” Young said. “In order to do your best work over time, through college and into your adult life, you have to know how to support yourself as a learner and a person,” she said. “We dive into each of these areas and share current theory, research and discuss brain development. When we all have this information, we can all understand that these skills continue to grow into adulthood and that there are ways we support younger learners to develop the skills,” Young said. Ingram is deeply invested in this project, she said, as she believes that being organized and planning ahead are the two biggest challenges that middle school students face. “Teachers and parents were saying the same thing about being organized and planning over and over again.” she said. “It just made more sense to make a book out of it.”
Gabby Fischberg / Staff Artist
Sixth graders explore astronomy at Museum of Natural History Abigail Salzhauer Staff Writer This past Thursday the sixth grade visited the Natural History Museum’s Rose Planetarium to enrich their knowledge of meteors and astronomy. They were able to begin touring the museum before it was open to the public, Middle Division science teacher Jodi Hill said. In the classroom, the sixth graders currently study astronomy, Hill said. The students went to nine different exhibits relating to astronomy, where they answered questions and took pictures of what they saw, Head of the Middle Division Robin Ingram said. The students each picked one exhibit to focus on and spent time taking pictures and notes on how that exhibit could be improved while at the museum. Once the students get back to school they will begin working on a presentation about their suggested improvements for that exhibit, Ingram said. “Going to the museum is important because it is a way for us to learn outside the classroom while applying what we already know,” Ella Shaham (6) said. “We got to learn new things from other people’s ideas which
teaches us more about astronomy,” she said. “Learning about how big the universe is makes me curious and I would love to learn about all the planets, stars, and how things in the universe work,” Zain Latkey (6) said. Going to the museum is exciting for the students because they get to see how astronomy concepts are presented to the public in addition to observing appealing exhibits like the photos from the moon, Ingram said. It also helps them to become critical thinkers, Ingram said. “It is eye-opening to learn science outside of the classroom in a new environment,” Aamri Sareen (6) said. “Before embarking on these types of excursions, the concepts appear more abstract,” Sareen said. The ability to see visuals of what the students are learning helps Sareen deepen her knowledge and understanding on the topics. “When studying astronomy it is so wonderful to be able to go to one of the best natural history museums in the world to see their exhibits. We are lucky to be able to this. It ties into our curriculum perfectly,” Hill said.
Red team triumphs in Middle Mania dodgeball tournament Edwin Jin Staff Writer
Looming over the atrium in Rose Hall are giant, painted banners that signify the beginning of the annual Middle Mania competition. Middle Mania, which culminates in a day of competition in the spring, also includes events during the school year. Two weeks ago, the entire Middle Division gathered for a dodgeball tournament, which inaugurated a series of competitions between five teams: red, blue, green, yellow and black, green team captain Kate Feiner (8) said. The red, black, and blue teams swept the top three places, giving them a lead in the competition so far. The tournament turned out great and everybody participated, Eighth Grade Dean Carlos Aguilar said. “It was a lot of fun competing with my classmates and friends,” Aryan Palla (6) said. The goal of Middle Mania is to promote school spirit and allow the students to enjoy themselves, Head of Middle Division Robin Ingram, said. “A lot of kids are so overscheduled so it’s nice to have a chance to have fun during the school day,” Ingram said.
During Middle Mania, many teachers assign less work, giving students an opportunity to relax with their friends and have fun,” Palla (6) said. The Middle Mania events are organized by team captains, who are eighth graders selected by a faculty
committee, and grade deans, Ingram said. “They help to create the posters and banners and go to all the events so they have to get excused from class. It is a big time commitment for captains,” Ingram said. In addition to planning events,
Middle Mania captains help to animate events and raise spirit amongst students. “We give out candy, lead team cheers, and encourage the participants,” black team Captain Catherine Mignone (8) said. “As captains, we need to always
Caitlin Goldenberg / Staff Artist
stay positive and optimistic even if our team is losing, Feiner said. “We are also responsible for being good role models for younger students.” Aguilar is also an essential figure in Middle Mania planning. He has a multitude of responsibilities, from coordinating events with team captains to storing mascots’ costumes in his office. Every time a dean reaches the eighth grade shift, they are in charge of Middle Mania, Aguilar said. Additionally, other teachers are often asked to assist with certain events. There’s a volunteer basis for when teachers get called upon to help out, robotics teacher Glenda Guerrero said. At times, events will require specific teachers to help. For example, the Athletics Department played a large role in the dodgeball tournament, and the “Name that Tune” contest required the help of the Music Department, Guerrero said. The Middle Mania competition is an integral component of student bonding, Vincent Li (8) said. “I would not have met a lot of my teammates if it weren’t for Middle Mania,” he said. “It creates a sense of community that we highly value,” Aguilar said.
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HORACE MANN LIONS’ DEN DECEMBER 1ST, 2017
A “fresh” experience on varsity athletics Samuel Keimweiss & Jack Crovitz Staff & Contributing Writers
Many of the freshmen who earned their positions on varsity teams this fall season found that they eventually became comfortable on the team, despite insecurity at the beginning of the season, and made friendships that will help them throughout their high school careers. While freshmen have no prior experience on a varsity teams, many of their teammates already knew each other from previous seasons. “I was intimidated,” Zoe Swift (9) said. “I felt like an outsider.” Swift played on Girls’ Varsity Volleyball. For freshman, it is often challenging to keep up with the more intense members of the team, Natalie Sweet (9), one of the freshman from Girls Varsity Cross Country, said, but the support of her teammates helps them to navigate the struggles. Coaches approach placing freshmen on varsity teams carefully, especially if there is a junior varsity team, Girls’ Varsity Field Hockey Coach Caroline Surhoff said. “There’s definitely a big jump in the level of play between the Middle Division and varsity. I usually will not take a freshmen unless I know that that person will either start or be a major contributor to the season,” Surhoff said. This year, Abigail Morse (9) started for the field hockey Lions. She feels that Surhoff “paid attention to me more because I was new and she wanted to see how I was progressing, ” she said. While it is often harder for freshmen to make varsity teams, once they are on, their experience is usually similar to that of other players. Varsity Water Polo Coach Michael
Freya Lindvall/Photo Editor
Freya Lindvall/Pahoto Editor
LION CUBS Livy Steinberg (9) and Natalie Sweet (9) competing in varsity competitions.
Duffy takes the same approach to coaching freshmen as he does seniors or other returning athletes. However, he does prioritize communication and mutual understanding with freshmen. Duffy believes that it is extremely important for a freshman athlete to “feel comfortable communicating with the coach if they have any questions,” he said. Upperclassmen often become very supportive of the underclassmen on their team. Swift become more comfortable and found her place on the team, as the other players gave her more tips that would help her improve her skills, she said. “The upperclassmen built me up a lot of the time,” Lyndon Gay (9) said. Gay played on Boys’ Varsity Football. “Everyone was super nice on the team, and they all wanted the freshmen to feel comfortable,” Talia Winiarsky (9), a runner from the Girls’ Varsity Cross Country team, said. The Girls’- Varsity Cross Country team felt like a family to her, Sweet said. “It’s
really nice to be part of such a welcoming team,” she said. Many freshmen saw their experience on varsity teams as helpful in integrating themselves into high school life and making new friends. “They told us what we needed to know to start high school well and get on track,” Winiarsky said.
on Sabrina Freidus (9), she said. “I have never seen more desserts for 13 girls in my life,” Freidus said, describing the “Teamsgiving” party. The night continued with “Pitch Perfect” accompanied by singing, laughing, and crying, she said. Freidus felt comfortable and welcomed by her teammates, she said. Another challenge for some freshmen on varsity teams was balancing schoolwork and athletics. When she first started on the team, Swift was still getting her bearings with the school and the workload, she said. Swift is not the only one who considered the balancing of schoolwork and athletics to be a challenge. Morse “didn’t know which teachers liked to give homework and how the testing worked. [She] got home later and had to figure that out,” she said. Morse found that while her time on the team taught her skills in organization and schoolwork, she was always rushed. “I probably could have spent more time on homework if I had more time after school,” Morse said.
“I formed a lot of relationships that will last through high school. Now I’m friends with a lot of my teammates,” - Zoe Swift (9) The freshman met their teammates for the first time during preseason. “It was a great way to make friends before I knew anyone at school.” “I formed a lot of relationships that will last through high school. Now I’m friends with a lot of my teammates,” Swift said. Girls’ Varsity Tennis held its own “Teamsgiving,” which had a positive effect
While there was a learning curve, there were also perks to being on a varsity team. There was also a pride factor that comes with being on a varsity team, especially as a freshman. “It felt great. There’s a certain level of respect you earn by being on varsity,” Gay said.
Winter Teams Previews Girls’ Varsity Basketball
Boys’ Varsity Basketball
Abigail Kraus/ Photo Editor
“Our goal is very simple; it is to improve every single day. We have a young team but a very talented team. Everything has been going great so far, and we expect that to continue. If that is the case then it will be a great season.” - Boys Varsity Basketball Coach Tim Sullivan
Varsity Fencing
Miyu Imai/Staff Photographer
“We have 9 girls all contributing equally and have a really strong group of people.” - Girls Varsity Basketball Coach Ray Barile
Varsity Ski
Miyu Imai/Staff Photographer
“ We are the best school in the league, last season we went undefeated and hopefully we will be able to repeat that this season.” -Varsity Fencing Coach Julio Benjamin
Courtesy of Caroline Troop
“We have a great team this year with a lot of seniors, very experienced seniors, who race outside of school.” - Varsity Ski Coach Rawlins Troop
Reporting done by Adam Frommer (9) and Natasha Stange (11)
Lions’ Den Record Sports
12
DECEMBER 1ST, 2017
Winter Teams Previews Reporting done by Adam Frommer (9) and Natasha Stange (11)
Boys’ Indoor Track
Girls’ Indoor Track
Freya Lindvall/Photo Editor
“The team is committed to doing the best they can and finishing as high as they can in the Ivy championships.” - Boys Varsity Track Coach Jonathan Eshoo
Boys’ Varsity Swim
Miyu Imai/Staff Photographer
“We only have a team of nine, which is difficult for indoor track since you usually want to fill up events. Nonetheless we are looking forward to a great season.” - Girls Varsity Track Coach RJ Harmon
Girls’ Varsity Swim
Abigail Kraus/Photo Editor
“Our goals are always to have fun, come together as a team, and swim our best at the end of the year.” - Boys Varsity Swim Coach Michael Duffy
Varsity Wrestling
Abigail Kraus/Photo Editor
“Ultimate goal is to win the season. Something that I love about swimming is that it is very much a team driven sport as well as it is an individual sport. The team goal is to get the best team together so that we can try to challenge the league and try to win the title.” - Girls Varsity Swim Coach Oleg Zvezdin
Varsity Squash
Miyu Imai/Staff Photographer
“The team has older wrestlers who are very experienced and are coming in with wins, but the new young wrestlers look promising too.” - Varsity Wrestling Coach Greg Quilty
Courtesy of Connor Morris
“We didn’t lose any seniors last year, and we are looking to be strong again this year and to win.” - Varsity Squash Captain Connor Morris