The Horace Mann Record, Issue 11

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

DECEMBER 8TH, 2017 || VOLUME 115, ISSUE 11

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Students and teachers explore identity at diversity conference Amelia Feiner Staff Writer

FREE TO SPEAK HIS MIND Ian Manuel discusses his poetry and life experiences in prison with students and faculty in Recital Hall.

Andrew Cassino/ Contributing Photographer

Poet and former inmate visits school Betsey Bennett Staff Writer

Former prisoner Ian Manuel, once condemned to die in prison at the age of 13, shared his perspective on the injustice of the criminal justice system with students in the Recital Hall and in several Upper Division classes.

Although Manuel is now a client of the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), he was originally convicted of shooting a mother of two as a young teen and became one of the youngest children sentenced to die in prison in the country. He was held in solitary confinement for 18 of his 26 years in prison, and was released in November last year at the age of 39.

The woman survived the shooting, and while incarcerated Manuel cultivated a friendly relationship with her. She was one of the people who fought to get him released.

Student Body President Daniel Posner (12) heard about Manuel’s

story through a mutual friend who is close to EJI’s founder Bryan Stevenson. He invited Manuel to the school as a part of the SBP Speaker Series.

“Ian has such a compelling story about our justice system and its failures,” Posner said. “Hearing his story and the court case that saved him from a life behind bars raises our awareness of some of the fundamental pitfalls to achieving justice in our legal system.”

“I came to Horace Mann to speak mainly to expose its students to a world it is far removed from, the cruel criminal justice system, as well as to dispel the stereotype that someone like me was unfit to ever reenter society when I have so much to offer the world,” Manuel said. “I hope I was able to plant seeds in the young minds of future decision-makers of what good can happen when you give someone a chance.”

During his I period speech on Monday, Manuel showed a

video exploring the issue of child imprisonment, shared two of his poems, and answered questions.

“I was tortured, gassed, beaten, denied food, whatever could be done to add to my misery is what they did,” Manuel said in his speech.

“But writing is what I turned to help me get through some of the difficult times.”

Beatrix Bondor (12) thought that Manuel’s readings of his work were very powerful, she said.

“When he read his poems out loud, they just exploded and came to life, and I thought the performative nature of how he presented it was incredible,” Bondor said. “It really spoke to me the way he talked about the effect poetry had on him.”

“I was surprised by the way he described the relationships that he had,” Oldham said. “He said that he had associates but no one that he would call a friend.”

The drug addictions of his fellow inmates prevented him from

forming deep connections with them, Manuel said in his speech.

In addition to his I period speech, Manuel spoke in English Department Chair Vernon Wilson’s 12th grade English elective, an AP English class, and the Comparative Race and Ethnicity history elective.

Students took away a variety of lessons from Manuel’s visit. Some were exposed to a side of a system that they knew little about, and others were spurred to action.

“I think it gives another perspective into the United States criminal justice system,” Gabby Fischberg (9) said.

Gupta was moved to take an active role in the issue, she said.

“I like Ian’s idea of sending pictures of the outside world to people who are currently incarcerated,” Gupta said.

According to Posner, Manuel had a positive experience at the school and would be open to returning as an assembly speaker.

A bookworm’s heaven: annual book fair Katie Goldenberg Staff Writer

inside

This week, students and faculty dropped by the annual Middle Division & Upper Division Book Fair to peruse and purchase from shelves of gently used books and toys donated by community members.

With this year’s theme of “One World, One Book,” the fair’s proceeds and leftover books will be donated to organizations and communities in need around the country.

In the past, money raised by the fair and the accompanied bake sale were given to Katz Library, but this year’s proceeds will fund libraries affected by the recent natural disasters to help them regain footing, Middle & Upper Division Chair of the Library Department Caroline Bartels said.

With community support, the fair and bake sale usually raise approximately 7,000 to 9,000 dollars, she said.

Other organizations, such as Books

Tutoring

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Jake Shapiro/ Contributing Photographer

BOOKS WHERE? Community browses the Book Fair at Fisher Rotunda.

Behind Bars, which supplement prison libraries with literature, and Word Up, a community bookstore that relies on external donations, will receive physical copies of the extra books from the event, Bartels said.

Haylen Rosberger (12) will take some of the leftover books to rural communities within in Bhutan.

“Reading is something everyone can connect with,” co-Chair of the Book Fair Amanda Salzhauer P ‘18, ‘20, ‘23 said. “It’s so important within

Read about the pros and cons of tutoring at the school.

the Horace Mann community, and we want to help other communities as well.”

With preparations that begin in September, Bartels and committee members plan the event in a committee session at the start of the year; as the event approaches, they partake in sorting sessions to group books and flea market items into categories as well as a set-up day to prepare the rotunda for shoppers, Salzhauer said.

The perils of college apparel

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A poll reveals how seniors feel when students don university swag.

The event is different from a traditional school book fair in that it is entirely organized and operated by the school community as opposed to an outside company, Bartels said.

Laura Bae (10) loves the fair because of its low prices and variety of good selections. “Obviously you’re not going to find everything you’re looking for, but if you walk in there with an open mind and 10 dollars or so then you have a huge possibility of finding something that you could enjoy investing a lot of time in.”

“I like the books one of my history teachers assigned me so I made sure to check out their recommendations,” Andre Dang (11) said.

“This is one of my favorite events of the whole year,” Middle Division English Department Chair Drew Samuels said. “Everyone’s attention is turned to reading, and it’s inspiring as an English teacher and lover of books to see all the wonderful books donated.”

No laughing matter

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Spencer Kahn (10) performs at Gotham Comedy Club.

Six students discussed issues of race and diversity and listened to Ta-Nehisi Coates and Kimberle Crenshaw speak at the Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC) while 18 teachers across the divisions served as chaperones for SDLC and attended the concurrent People of Color Conference.

Both conferences took place concurrently in Anaheim, California from November 30 to December 2.

Throughout the conference, attendees such as Alena Underwood (10) and Jessica Thomas (10) discussed their identities within the context of their experiences in and out of their independent educations and bonded with one another in small groups.

The groups talked about the eight identifiers: ability, age, ethnicity, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, and socio-economic status, Underwood said.

Unfortunately, a lot of issues involving students are color go unnoticed, Kaileen Germain (12), an attendee of the conference, said.

“Issues that are important to me or important to any black student are overlooked. We end up invalidating the students who are affected by any type of problem,” she said.

After the conference, Germain, Thomas and Underwood all hope to bring some of what they learned back to the school’s community. Coates told the audience that “school is not life,” and Germain believes that this is an important idea for her to bring back to the school where it is so easy to get caught up in work, she said.

Several students said that the conference was a life changing experience.

“I want to recreate the environment that so many students felt so comfortable to share their ideas in,” Thomas said. “The way I see everything is different,” she said.

Courtesy of Eunice Bae

BETWEEN ANAHEIM AND SDLC (Left to right) Kaileen Germain (12), Eunice Bae (11), Alena Underwood (10), Jack Eagan (11), Jessica Thomas (10), and Alba Bryant (11) take photo at SDLC in Anaheim, California. @hm.record @thehoracemannrecord Horace Mann School 231 W 246th St, Bronx, NY 10471

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THE RECORD OPINIONS DECEMBER 8TH, 2017

How we can improve HMO

Josh Underberg I recently completed Horace Mann Orientation (HMO), a required first trimester class for ninth graders. One teacher and multiple upperclassmen mentors lead HMO class discussions in a variety of different topics from stress management to interactions with parents to parties.

The class was very productive for the first few weeks, but was unnecessary to take an entire trimester. By the end, students stopped paying attention in class because they lost interest in the topics that seemed increasingly less relevant as the trimester progressed.

Parties, stress relief exercises, study habits, and a tour of the high school were the most important topics. The discussion about parties, for example, was very relevant to the lives of freshman students. There are not many parties in the middle school and if there were, they were completely unlike those in high school. In regards to stress

management, it was very helpful to discuss different strategies that help acclimate us to the new high school curriculum and take our minds off the increasing number of tests, quizzes, and papers.

The mentors are easy to relate to because they have all been in our position and work hard to create a stress-free environment. The tour helped all students navigate the multiple halls of the upper school. I’ve attended our school since I was three years old and still didn’t know certain areas of

“

By the end, students stopped paying attention in class because they lost interest in the topics that seemed increasingly less relevant as the trimester progressed.

the school like the location of the main office.

Other topics like relationships with parents at home are not as important especially in an orientation class. We have multiple guidance offices at the school that students can go to if they want to discuss their relationships at home.

Additionally, the ninth grade already had an entire mandatory evening program at the beginning of the year dedicated to parent-children relationships.

For those upset by a student wearing college apparel: clothing is clothing.

Do not give a sweater, hat, or shirt the power to elicit feelings of anger or disappointment from you. If you are annoyed, then perhaps HM needs to do a better job providing a space where students can peacefully think about things unrelated to college.

Within that night we covered a lot of what we already spent time discussing in HMO, such as what makes and doesn’t make for positive conversations with parents.

The HMO curriculum should only discuss stress management, parties, and study skills in addition to the upper division tour. These topics relate to ninth graders the most and would be the best use of time. This would also shorten the class, meeting for only a month or a month and a half leaving extra free periods for students throughout the first trimester. These free periods could provide time to meet with teachers to review for tests. My biology teacher has a busy schedule, and an extra free period would have been helpful for scheduling meetings.

By the end of the trimester I felt like I was dragging myself to the class, and talking about highs and lows, something we already do in advisory, became mundane. If the length of the class were shortened I, along with other classmates, would have the motivation to be more involved in class and the actual conversations would be richer and more meaningful.

HMO is an important class, especially to new students. For this reason HMO should be continued. I am not suggesting terminating the class, just shortening it.

Editorial

How to take action after inspiration: Ian Manuel’s visit

On Monday, by reciting poetry and answering dozens of our questions, both in an I period assembly and in three classes, Ian Manuel personalized the injustices within the prison system. He put a face and a story behind the 73 13 and 14-year-olds in the United States who have been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Many of the members of the Editorial Board were moved and shocked by his stories and poetry describing his 26 years behind bars, many of which were spent in solitary confinement. We appreciate this unique opportunity to speak to someone with such a positive outlook on life, despite his harrowing circumstances. His story made us more aware of the injustices of our justice system, yet in the face of that new knowledge we also felt overwhelmed with the idea of tackling such a large institution.

We want to thank the parents and the book fair committee for showing us how change can be incited by working the smallest action into our daily lives– the extra books from the Book Fair will be donated to an organization called NYC Books through Bars.

Angered by how difficult it is for people in prison to access decent educational and reading material, NYC Books through Bars works to provide reading materials directly to inmates.

We encourage you to donate any extra books you have. You can drop them off or send them to Freebird Books in Brooklyn at 123 Columbia Street. Visit their website: http://booksthroughbarsnyc. org to get more information on how to take action.

Corrections - Issue 10

In the print version, two articles were misattributed. Samuel Keimweiss co-wrote “A ‘fresh’ experience on varsity athletics” on page 11 and wrote “HM Chefs United hosts first dip contest.”

In “Speech & Debate program expands to include new formats” on page 9, there should be two clarifications: Mock Trial also incorporates debate skills, and Public Forum Debate is the oldest style of the four formats of Speech & Debate mentioned in the article, not the oldest debate based club at the school.

Are you upset or annoyed when other students wear college apparel?

The anonymous quotes and data above were collected from the senior class

I t ’ s offensive to some seniors who are in the last stretch of working so hard to get into some of the schools that kids, who don’t even know where they’re applying yet, feel entitled to wear. When seniors are accepted into their college, they want to feel entitled to being proud of the college apparel they’re wearing, rather than seeing some freshman wearing the same sweatshirt and not understanding what it may mean to someone else.

I don’t like how people only care when the school is very competitive.

I only hear people complain about a certain type of school’s apparel, not one that is not on the school’s radar. I think it should be all or nothing. Either we care about every college, or we don’t care at all.

Volume 115 Editorial Board Managing Editor Eve Kazarian

Editor in Chief Gustie Owens

As a senior, the topic of college induces stress and seeing the names of colleges to which I am applying on people’s shirts is just a reminder of the anxiety surrounding my college process.

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

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

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.

HORACE MANN NEWS DECEMBER 8TH, 2017

Lower Division hosts Caring in Action Day Caroline Goldenberg Staff Writer

Lower Division students, families, and teachers participated in Caring in Action Day by visiting the Riverdale Senior Center and the Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital and holding a drive for donations to those affected by hurricanes in Puerto Rico. “[The day] is an opportunity for parents, children, and teachers to come together with a shared vision of helping those in need,” Head of Lower Division Deena Neuwirth said.

Activities included creating centerpieces, origami, and birthday cards at the Riverdale Senior Center, writing get well cards at the Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, and collecting flashlights and school supplies for students affected by the hurricane in Puerto Rico.

Creating origami flowers was the best activity of the day, Naina Mehrotra (5) said.

For the first time in the day’s history, fifth graders filled leadership roles, helping to run stations and plan activities, Neuwirth said.

Mehrotra guided younger students and helped them stay excited about activities, she said.

The fifth graders also helped to prepare for the day.

“The biggest preparation that was the most visible was the work that the fifth graders put into advertising the day. They signed up to go into different homeroom classes across the building, so every homeroom class had a fifth grader who came in and spoke to the

NEWS IN BRIEF

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Jeren Wei/Staff Writer

Courtesy of Jenna Freidus

FUN MUN Model UN team wins best large delegation trophy last weekend.

Model United Nations

Courtesy of Jasmine Ortiz

STARTING YOUNG Lower Division students participate in various forms of service learning

kids about what Caring in Action Day usually looks like, trying to get them excited,” Third Grade Team Leader Jessica Shapiro said.

So far during the school year, the fifth graders have taken on roles as “Hurricane Helpers,” choosing to raise awareness and gather supplies to help areas hit by hurricanes, Neuwirth said.

“There were a lot of people who didn’t have power, and they were suffering, and so we thought of a good idea: to raise money to help them,” Mehrotra said.

As the event has been going on for

several years, Shapiro, who works on the Lower Division yearbook and sees the photos from the event, notes that “the turnout is always very good,” and that, “It’s also nice to have parents come with the children and be involved with the project together,” she said.

Participation in Caring in Action Day helps students feel “empowered to embody all the aspects of a Horace Mann student, giving to others is at the top of the list,” Neuwirth said.

After taking part in the day, Mehrotra was “happy that it made someone feel good,” she said.

After working up to 20 hours a day at their first away conference in Rutgers University, the school’s Model UN (MUN) team won best large delegation and several individual committee victories as well.

The conference, held last weekend, was comprised of more than 1500 students from across the US, Radhika Mehta (12) said.

Since the conference was the first of the year, the team had focused on helping the underclassmen acclimate to the format of Model UN, Mehta said.

Despite the team’s victory, the group agrees that one of the most challenging parts of the conference was maintaining their energy and focusing consistently throughout the four days of the conference, coSecretary General of MUN Jenna Freidus (12) said.

“Each day of the conference we would be working from 9 am to 11:30 pm.” Shant Amerkanian (11) said.

Jamie Berg (11) found the conference both challenging and rewarding, he said. “ [I learned it is important to maintain] your stamina and keep pushing forward even when you’re exhausted. 20 hours of debate each day takes a great deal of mental fortitude to succeed in that environment.”

Unlike most conferences, committees were assigned two topics instead of one, which allowed students to focus on resolution writing, said Freidus.

“Evan Megibow, Valerie Maier, and I were happy with the performance of the team and we are excited to start off a great year,” said Freidus.

Model Congress

PARTY PLANNING Fisher Dining Hall in advance of the evenings festivities

Abigail Kraus/Photo Editor

School hosts Sanctuary holiday party

Edwin Jin Staff Writer Clients from Sanctuary for Families, an organization dedicated to helping victims of domestic and gender violence, created arts and crafts and were gifted book donations from the Book Fair at the school’s 25th annual Sanctuary for Families dinner party.

Attendees at last Tuesday’s event participated in activities, such as decorating bookmarks and painting, in The Cohen Dining Common and Faculty Dining Room. Throughout the evening, the Jazz Band performed light holiday tunes.

An new addition to this year’s gift bags were children’s books. Given that the Sanctuary for Familes event coincided with the book fair this year, a few parent volunteers suggested that they donate books to the attendees, Middle & Upper Division Chair of the Library Department Caroline Bartels said.

Bartels worked with the newly founded BiblioMann, a publication that publishes book reviews, to select

books to give to the attendees.

“One of my ideas when starting Bibliomann would be some service aspect with giving back to the community,” founder of BiblioMann Noah Phillips (9) said.

Judy Kluger, executive Director of Sanctuary for Families, was among the attendees.

“Many of Sanctuary’s clients come from abusive homes, meaning the holiday season can lead to tough times. This event brings a lot of cheer to them,” Kluger said.

In the past, the majority of volunteers at this event have been high school students, as the event counted towards their service learning hours, Bartels said. However, this was no longer the trend after service learning requirements demanded that students complete a project rather than fulfill a time requirement, she said.

“Ms. Hickerson’s goal was to bring the Upper Division connection back through more clubs,” Bartels said.

Some of the new clubs at the event were Art Detectives, Habitat for Humanity, and Bibliomann.

However, due to an emergency, Hickerson left the execution of the event to Middle Division (MD) math teacher Tom Petras, MD science teacher Donnet Bryan, and MD history teacher Eve Abbamonte.

“In the original conception of the event, these clubs were going to run and organize some of the activities, but that didn’t work out as well as intended,” Petras said.

Ultimately, some of the clubs’ activities got canceled due to a shortage of tables.

“It’s something that will be worked out in the future,” Petras said.

As in past years, members of the Horace Mann community volunteered to staff the event.

Every year, Luis Maldonado of the Security staff dresses up as “Santa” to take pictures with the children.

“It’s nice to help out people who don’t have the same opportunities that we have,” Naren Beepat (12), a volunteer for the past four years, said.

Beepat fondly recalls his first year at the event, when a young child clung to him throughout the night, painting his arm, Beepat said.

The school’s Model Congress team won various individual awards at their first conference of the year at Yale.

“The conference was the biggest Model Congress Conference Yale had ever hosted, and the hosts expanded the conference by around 200 delegates,” Arianna Laufer (12) said.

“Achievement wise we did not win the conference, but everyone did perform exceptionally well and we had a lot of people attending their first conference win awards at the conference, and it was overall an incredible experience,” Arul Kapoor (11) said. Preparing a bill regarding carbon tax, Kapoor earned the best delegate award at the tournament, he said.

“Everyone was engaged and it is good that people had conversations outside of the rooms and not going through the motions of debate,” Ruthie Yankwitt (12) said. “The team focused on learning and having interesting conversations about debates.”

The freshmen that had attended the tournament performed well and set a strong introduction for the year. “We had a very strong group and the underclassmen did exceptionally well. Many freshman performed at a high level and it was incredible to be able to see them speak eloquently on intricate topics,” Kapoor said.

Laufer believes the team has learned from the experience. “The one thing that the team learned is that when we are winning we are winning together and when we lose together we take the sentiment of the team because it is about the team as a larger entity as opposed to the individual person,” she said.

“It may have been disheartening not to win, but we will use this conference to make us stronger, and we will work very hard to win our the next conference,” said Laufer.

Courtesy of Arianna Laufer

LOCO FOR MOCO Model Congress team attended Yale conference last weekend

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Surya Gowda & Lynne Sipprelle Staff Writers It is a truth universally acknowledged that a physics student must be in want of a tutor.

Out of 185 upperclassmen who are currently taking physics or have taken physics and responded to an anonymous poll by the Record, 30 percent used a tutor. Many students expect physics, whether taken over the summer or the regular school year, to be a difficult course and seek help outside of school.

“Driving the need for tutoring can be a mix of many factors, including but not limited to the rigor of one’s course load, the presence of a learning or other disability, a family crisis, competing interests both in and out of school, or the pressure associated with any given year, Head of School Dr. Tom Kelly said.

“Summer physics (SuPhy) was really intense and I needed someone to help because if you don’t get it, you’re screwed. You need to have someone extra to help you because the teachers are helping other kids during the day,” Malka Krijestorac (11) said.

Every year for the past four years, Library Department Chair Caroline Bartels has sent out a tutoring list to every student taking Summer School, she said.

On the second day of SuPhy, Bliss Beyer (12) said, “This isn’t going to work without a tutor.”

Beyer did problem sets and ICPs (in-class practice problems) and studied for tests with her tutor. She would not have passed summer physics without him, she said.

“I used a tutor every night

THE RECORD FEATURES DECEMBER 8TH, 2017

for at least five hours during SuPhy,” Beyer said. “That’s not an exaggeration.”

Science teacher Dr. Jane Wesely said she knows students in her physics class use tutors. “I don’t know how many use tutors because students don’t tend to talk about it to me,” Wesely said.

Science teacher Oleg Zvezdin worries that using tutors may distract struggling students from using resources they already have and that he recommends, such as meeting with their teachers and working with their classmates, he said.

Casey Lutnick (11) said

Physics is adored by much of the student body, but perceived as consuming too much time outside of school, Kelly said.

“Our teachers worked diligently to make some changes to this year’s program in light of reported concerns, and have committed the bulk of their free time on campus to supporting their students,” he said.

“We have made some changes over the last few years cutting some content. We thought hard about the overarching themes we wanted to run through the course and cut a few topics which felt least connected to those themes.

Out of 342 students polled, 61.4 percent believe that tutoring creates an unfair advantage for people who have them over people who do not.

her physics tutor gave her an advantage in some ways over other people because she could have her questions answered out of class.

“There are times when I see students do particularly well on problem sets in physics, but their work on tests is not nearly as good,” Science Department Chair Dr. Stephen Palfrey said.

“There can be lots of reasons for that, but one thing I often end up being concerned with is ‘Are they getting too much help from somebody else?’”

We have also tried to incorporate more time throughout the week for problem solving in the classroom,” Zvezdin said.

Tutoring is common for other academic subjects as well; out of the 342 students who responded to The Record poll, 49 percent have used a tutor for an academic class.

Ben Rosenbaum (11) has used a tutor in science and math. After struggling with tests, his parents pushed him to get a tutor, he said.

Rosenbaum tried two tutors, but both of them just did all of his

schoolwork and did not help him to understand the material, he said.

“I was not doing much of my work and relying on them,” Rosenbaum said.

“At any given time, the school probably recommends outside tutoring for approximately ten15 percent of the student body,” Kelly said. “As for what the number looks like beyond what the school recommends, it’s hard to say. I’m well aware of many students thoughtfully engaged with a tutor who have chosen not to share this additional level of support with the school,” Kelly said.

Science and math are the two most common subjects for students to be tutored in.

According to a recent poll of 342 students, of the 185 that had a tutor, 55 percent have been tutored in science and 66 percent have been tutored in math.

Maya Scholnick (12) began using a tutor because she was “struggling to understand concepts in science and wanted to make sure that [she] stayed at the same level as [her] class,” she said.

Anya Swift’s (12) tutors clarify the material by explaining and personalizing it, she said. “In many science classes, I found that with people who understood everything, teachers would teach at those people’s level and leave the rest of us in the dust,” she said.

Having a math tutor once a week made going over homework, studying, and doing test corrections easier because concepts that confused him were easier to understand with a tutor, Josh Benson (11) said.

School policy allows teachers to tutor students outside of the

Gabby Fischberg/Contributing Artist

classroom, as long as they are not tutoring students they teach in school, Mathematics Department Chair Charles Worrall said.

“I do think it’s appropriate for some kids to have help with tutoring sometimes,” Worrall said. “I tend to think it’s good when it’s about helping kids to catch onto things they weren’t totally catching on to, as opposed to drilling to make the difference between an A- and an A or something like that,” he said.

Math teacher Jessica Emory occasionally tutors students in school. “Everyone benefits from hearing information from a number of different voices and resources,” Emory said. “If your teacher works, that’s great, but if not, having a tutor gives you another resource.”

Julia Robbins/Contributing Photographer

HORACE MANN FEATURES DECEMBER 8TH, 2017

49 percent of students have used a tutor for an academic class.

Data taken from an anonymous poll of 342 students using Google Forms.

Out of 342 students polled, 61.4 percent believe that tutoring creates an unfair advantage for people who have them over people who do not.

Benson said his tutor gave him an advantage over other students because it was a resource other students in his class could not access. “That’s why, when I stopped needing one at the end of sophomore year, I dropped it,” Benson said.

Scholnick, who uses a tutor in math and science, said it was extremely helpful. “It was nice just to have the one-on-one sessions and have things reexplained and to slow it down to make things easier to follow,” Scholnick said. “It hasn’t made me do better than other kids, but advanced me to do better than I could and try to get back to the same level as other kids,” she said.

Although science and math are the two subjects in which students receive the most tutoring, students have tutors in history and English as well, where in addition to the issue of receiving too much help, there can be concerns about plagiarism.

Grace Sander (12) uses a tutor for math and for writing essays.

She has found her tutor to be very helpful, mostly because she always has access to him, she said.

English teacher Harry Bauld is against tutoring because it is used by students to get better grades

than their work deserves and because it currently favors those who can afford tutors, especially the “best” tutors, he said.

Lucy Rittmaster (11) also uses a history tutor. “My history tutor forces me to reread my work and helps with some grammar,” Rittmaster said.

“We want students to think for themselves,” English teacher Deborah Stanford said. “We want them to process information to the best of their capability.”

“I think the whole issue of tutoring is abused because students are using it when it’s not needed,” Stanford said.

“They’re trying to short-circuit the learning process.”

“It’s to succeed in this competitive environment for the endgame of college. Our mission is to make students better learners, more analytical, adaptable, creative readers, writers and thinkers,” Bauld said.

Stanford has occasionally talked to students about plagiarism in papers they submit.

“The issue of a paper being organized, conceived, written by someone else, someone else feeding ideas and or words; that’s plagiarism,” Stanford said.

“You have a conversation with the student, a one-on-one asking what the process was in constructing the paper,” Stanford said. ‘It can sometimes be a very uncomfortable conversation where the young person immediately gets on the defensive and the adult is struggling to figure out how to make this truly a teachable moment.”

“You can tell the difference in someone’s authentic voice.

Students don’t understand how easy it is to tell the difference between work you actually wrote and work that has been advised by others,” Bauld said.

There have been incidents in the past where tutors can aid students too much in their work, leading to students receiving “academic penalties of plagiarism,” History Department Chair Dr. Daniel Link said.

The percentages of students who receive tutoring in each of the five main disciplines, based on the 342 respondents to the Record Poll

Data taken from an anonymous poll of 342 students using Google Forms.

A PREVIEW

175 students report the prices of their tutors Read more about the socioeconomics of tutoring in an upcoming issue.

A later issue will feature the second part in our series on tutoring, focusing on the socioeconomics of tutoring as well as the school’s Tutoring Center.

Data taken from an anonymous poll of 342 students using Google Forms.

5

6

THE RECORD ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT DECEMBER 8TH, 2017

SPOTLIGHT: SPENCER KAHN Kahn (10) performs in comedy club

Lynne Sipprelle Staff Writer To Spencer Kahn (10), comedy is no laughing matter.

“Ever since I was young, I always liked watching comedy movies with my parents,” Kahn said. When Kahn was 11, he started taking classes with the organization Kids ‘N Comedy. A year later, he began performing with Kids N’ Comedy at the Gotham Comedy Club on 23rd St. in Manhattan.

Kahn and other Kids ‘N Comedy teenagers perform their bits once a month at the club for the public, who come from all over, Khan said.

“Usually I base my material off everyday life or things that I think about sarcastically,” Kahn said.

“I have a little notebook I carry around where I write down ideas when I think of something.”

Kahn said that when he’s working on a joke, he tries to slip it into conversation in order to test it out. “It’s very much a serious extracurricular,” Kahn said. “I spend a lot of time on the weekends and such, when I don’t have schoolwork, writing ideas for the next week.”

“I’ve been listening to his comedy for years,” Luke Weber (10) said. “He’s been one of my best friends since I was three and even before I knew he was interested in comedy, he’s always been one of those guys who’s just really funny.”

Kahn’s classes at Kids N’ Comedy are two hours long and take place every Saturday for three months at a time. “We write material, compare ideas with other people, and eventually form our ideas into bits,” Kahn said.

“At Kids N’ Comedy, we grow hilarious children in test tubes, and then set them loose on New York to run amok and make neighboring states funnier and odder places to live,” the Kids N’ Comedy website said. “We teach our students how to write and perform standup comedy, while providing a nurturing community and a space where they can be themselves in all their smart, weird, edgy, baffling, adolescent glory.”

“All our ideas and bits we write are individual, but sometimes we’ll submit them for peer review,” Kahn said. “It’s like, ‘Hey, I think there’s an opportunity for a joke here. You should go back to the drawing board and think about what you can write.’”

Kahn’s humor is very dry, Weber said. “Even when you’re just talking to him, you don’t know he’s going to be funny until you’ve talked to him for a minute or two and you just end up cracking up,” Weber said.

Kahn’s humor is generally observational.

“I was cleaning up my room and I found this thing and apparently it’s called a ‘VHS tape,’” Kahn said in a video of a Kids ‘N Comedy

performance at the Gotham Comedy Club. “Now looking at it, it’s this big black brick and it’s got to be like a thousand years old or something. But I’m looking at it and I can tell two things. One, it cannot plug into my computer,” Kahn said. “And two, it cannot toast bread. So, it is completely useless to me. But I picked it up and I dusted it off and I saw the word ‘Titanic’ on it,” Kahn said.

“So I said, ‘Oh, it must be from the Titanic.’”

Nate Chiang (6) has taken classes with Kids N’ Comedy as well and has seen Kahn perform.

“He’s really funny and very good,” Chiang said. He likes Kahn’s comedy because Kahn does a lot of act-outs, which are when the comedian acts out different characters while also commenting to the audience, Chiang said.

Kahn has performed standup comedy several times for the school community as well. At the end of eighth grade, Kahn did a storytelling performance as part of an English elective. He was then asked to tell the story at Upper Division Orientation Dorr (UDO).

However, Kahn suggested a comedy performance instead of the story and has done a comedy routine at UDO every year since then, he said.

In addition to UDO, Kahn has also performed at talent shows and at Multicultural Night at the school.

Caption Contest

Ariella Greenberg/ Art Director

WINNING CAPTION: “The Stages of College Applications: Anger, Bargaining, Acceptance.”

- Mr. Fippinger

HONORABLE MENTIONS: “Who said kidney beans couldn’t have kidney failure?”

-Jude Herwitz (10) “Ugh, homework! Wait, I don’t have hands? Darn, now I can’t get an A.” -Abigail Morse (9)

Abigail Kraus/Photo Editor

Courtesy of Spencer Kahn

STANDING UP Kahn performs at Gotham Comedy Club in New York City.

Red Telephone

by Beatrix Bondor (12) I think the green bananas are a kind of street sign, and that the wind behind the lens is misleading.

Polka dots are classy, in a way only salt crystals could understand, and this striped world could learn by not hanging up the phone - the world could learn a lot by pronouncing the ‘tele’- and twisting its coiled cord like the 80’s, or the curls of a girl before straight was the style.

Seventeen failed relationships darken my mind tonight, and so does one successful marriage.

So does the right choice, and so do the peppered canyons between the seconds before my very first kiss. I hope the words don’t learn about caution. I hope they’ll tumble forever, without searching for another time. I hope you’re awake right now to share the night with me, because someone, somewhere, is tasting for the very first time champagne, crayons, red canyons, saltshakers, the bravest sand dunes, and the bladed bananas in all their terrestrial tartness.

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HORACE MANN MIDDLE DIVISION DECEMBER 8TH, 2017

Middle schoolers star in...

13! The Musical Julia Robbins Staff Writer

Abigail Kraus/ Photo Editor

Courtesy of zimbio.com

EXCLUSIVE: Interview with 13!

Writer Jason Roberts Brown Jason Robert Brown is a Tony Award-winning composer, lyricist, and playwright. He wrote the music and lyrics for “13: The Musical,” the Broadway show starring an allteenager cast and band which the Middle Division is performing this week. Megumi Iwai-Louie (7) had the chance to discuss the musical with Brown.

The Record: What inspired you to write “13”?

Jason Roberts Brown: I wrote “13” because I was starting to feel burned out on writing Broadway shows, and I wanted to write something that made me feel like I did when I was a teenager at performing arts camp, when I really first fell deeply in love with musicals.

TR: What research did you do to prepare for the show?

JRB: My biggest research was into Archie’s condition – we never say it in the show, but he has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and it was very important to me that I understand the specifics of his condition if I were going to write a part for someone with that kind of illness.

As far as research about how kids talked or how they acted, well, I didn’t have to work too hard to remember what it was like when I myself was 13. Once we started doing readings and rehearsals of the show, I picked up things that the kids would say to each other and sometimes threw them in.

TR: Who is your favorite character and what is your favorite song in “13”?

JRB: I don’t know that I have a “favorite” character – my own personality is sort of a combination of Evan, Archie and Patrice, so getting those three characters together always made me happy. To that end, I think “If That’s What It Is” is my favorite song – it just says something I wish I’d known how to say when I was 13. But I also like “It Can’t Be True” a lot, that’s a really fun groove.

TR: Do you still keep in touch with any of the original cast members of “13,” which included Ariana Grande?

JRB: I keep in touch with almost all of the original cast members, which is pretty surprising since the

show was almost ten years ago. Ari and I have gotten to do some fun things together – I wrote a song on her last album, and she and I performed it on The Tonight Show as well as at Madison Square Garden!

But while Ari is the only one of those kids to become a global superstar, they’ve all actually done quite well for themselves – most of them graduated from wonderful colleges, some of them have very successful TV careers, and some of them left show business entirely but have found really fulfilling and joyful vocations. My favorite thing about the whole show has been seeing those kids go out into the world and accomplish amazing things.

TR: Did you ever think about “13” being an unlucky number, and if so were you worried?

JRB: I’m not much into superstitions, so I never worried about “13” being an “unlucky” number. I did suggest that our ad campaign on Broadway should be: “Broadway’s got a new lucky number!,” which I thought was pretty clever, but no one went for it.

Oh well.

TR: Are there any lessons you want people to take away from seeing “13”?

JRB: Here’s what I think: You are who you are. If you’re not into football, if you don’t like Beyoncé, if you think pizza sucks, you’re going to have a hard time convincing anyone that you’re “just like them.” The only person we’re “just like” is Ourselves.

And I think, for teenagers especially, that can be really frustrating – why can’t everyone just like what WE like?

But the point of “13”, to me, is that you will find the people who understand you, who connect with you, who support and define you, and those people are your tribe those are the people who will get you through all of the hard stuff.

Evan tries to be someone he isn’t, and in the end, he realizes that what he is is pretty special. No one in this play is perfect, and no one behaves particularly admirably, but everyone gets through it, and ultimately, everyone comes out okay. Fingers crossed, that’s what I hope life is like too.

Laughs follow accidental kisses, singing Rabbis, and love triangle drama in 13! The Musical, this year’s MD production.

The musical focuses on a 13 year old boy named Evan Goldman, played by Matthew Aponte (8), who moves from New York City to the Midwest, Director Benjamin Posner said. “He has to quickly establish himself in the school and find friends to come to his Bar Mitzvah,” Posner said.

Goldman’s parents get divorced and due to the divorce Goldman moves to Appleton, Indiana with his mother, Stage Manager Grace Ermias (10) said.

Posner decided to put on 13! because the message of the story is universal, he said. The musical is a “fish out of water story” that helps show people how to be accountable for their own actions, Posner said.

It is a challenge to learn “how to act with other people around you and develop your character alongside other people’s characters,” Liliana Greyf (8) said.

“I learned how to interact with other people in different ways and see their mindsets and the way they think,” she said. “[13! is] one of my favorite shows, but you can’t do it with high school students because they never want to play anyone younger than themselves, so it has to be with middle school age students,” Posner said.

The actors in the musical play people who are similar ages to them, so it is not “that difficult for them to jump into those characters,” Posner said. “They just have to be brave enough to do that,” he said.

One challenge for Dalia Pustilnik (8) who plays a cheerleader in the chorus has been playing a character that she relates to in real life, she said. The character is the same age as her in real life which has been an odd experience, Pustilnik said.

Catherine Mignone (8) plays a Rabbi in the chorus of the show, and to get into character, she wears a black suit, a prayer shawl, and a yarmulke, she said.

Peter Wang (7) “plays a boy who has a degenerative muscular disease, so he did a lot of research on what the effects of that disease are,” Posner said.

“

The musical is a “fish out of water story” that helps show people how to be accountable for their own actions.

-Benjamin Posner

Theater, Dance, and Film Studies Department Chair Alison Kolinski is the choreographer for the show.

“The number that has the most choreography is ‘Opportunity’,” Kolinski said.

‘Opportunity’ features the cheerleaders in the show, which brought back fond memories for Kolinski who was a cheerleader in high school, she said.

‘Opportunity’ is the most exciting scene in the show, Greyf said. Greyf plays one of the cheerleaders and is manipulated by her character’s best friend throughout the entire show, she said.

Emma Jones (12) designed the majority of the set for 13!, Student Technical Director for Stage Crew

Ariella Greenberg/ Art Director

Maya Dubno (11) said. Dubno helped to create the play’s “cartoon set” that is “a larger than life interpretation of the world,” she said.

The set pieces are colorful and large, and there are some big pieces of scenery that fly onto the stage, Dubno said.

The main part of the set in the show is a large piece that resembles a huge box on wheels with a different scene depicted on each side of the object, Ermias said.

The scenery depicts are middle school lockers, the New York City skyline, a movie theater exit sign, and an Indiana road sign, Ermias said.

Most of the challenges that arose while putting the musical together were related to time management and having only short periods of time to rehearse, Posner said. Middle schoolers cannot get around independently, so rehearsals had to be organized so that parents could get students to and from rehearsal, he said.

To help set the tone for a musical about 13 year olds, Posner collected photographs of teachers and faculty at the age of 13.

“I asked the faculty and staff to send me photos of themselves when they were 13, to play in a slideshow while people are making their way to the seats, and they did,” Posner said.

“As much as it is an academic and a musical experience where you can add on to your abilities as a performer, I think that you also gain a lot of friendships from the musical,” Mignone said.

Mignone, who has not participated in a school show before, was excited to perform in front of an audience for the first time this Friday, she said.

Griffin Smith/ Contributing Photographer

13! MD students perform 13! the Musical at the Lower Division, lifting up Matthew Aponte (8).

Lions’ Den Record Sports

8

DECEMBER 8TH, 2017

Lions advance to the Peg Duggan Finals

Boys’ Varsity Basketball falls to Regis in a highscoring match Leonora Gogos & Natasha Stange Staff & Contributing Writers The Boys’ Varsity Basketball team defeated York Prep, 74-44, to advance to the championship game of the Peg Duggan tournament. Although they were disappointed by their 74-87 loss to Regis in the championship game, the Lions plan to learn from the experience.

The tournament included non- Ivy League teams, allowing players to compete against teams that they wouldn’t otherwise play, Kyle Gaillard (11) said.

It was good practice for the games that the Lions will play this season since their opponents were similar in skill level to the Ivy League teams, Gaillard said.

Noah Simon (12) thought that competing in the tournament gave the players an opportunity to learn more about each others’ playing styles, he said.

Simon said that the team played with toughness and intensity throughout the game, citing the team’s successful ball movement.

Head Coach Tim Sullivan said that he was proud of the effort that the team put into the championship game regardless of the outcome. All members of the team contributed in different ways, but Kelvin Smith (10), in particular, played extraordinarily well, leading with 25 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists, Sullivan said.

Ben Goodman (10) attended the game with his friends and said that he found it exciting to watch.

In preparation for games, the team reviews the strategies that their opponents are known to use and creates a specific plan to work against them, Smith said.

The main challenge the Lions faced was that Regis’ team was comprised primarily of seniors, giving it the advantage of having stronger and more experienced players, Sullivan said.

The school’s team, in contrast, has ten underclassmen, who work hard to ensure that they make positive contributions to the team. They put forth their full effort in order to improve both individually and as a team, Darius McCullough (10) said.

Many members of the team are unfamiliar with one another. As the team continues to practice, players should become increasingly familiar with each others’ playing styles, which

Girls’ Varsity Basketball loses to Maria Regina despite valiant effort

Becca Siegel & Isabella Zhang Staff & Contributing Writers After winning three out of its four games, including a win in the Peg Duggan Tournament, the Girls’ Varsity Basketball team is on track for a successful run in the Ivy League this season.

The Lions have played one scrimmage and four games so far, winning 55-14 against

Julia Isko/Contributing Photographer

Julia Isko/Contributing Photographer

NOTHING BUT NET Darius McCullough (10) and Halley Robbins (10) show their prowess on court.

should help the team improve as well, Gaillard said.

The team always has a positive attitude and is willing to practice the details necessary to improve. Sullivan is pleased with how hard the players have worked so far and is excited to see what the rest of the season holds, he said.

Berkeley Carroll and 62-25 against Inwood Academy in the earlier rounds of the Peg Duggan Tournament, and losing to Maria Regina in the finals, 46-54.

The team this year consists of nine players, which is small in comparison to the teams of the other Ivy League schools, Natalie Sweet (9) said.

Despite the team’s small size, many players

believe that the skills each member brings will lead them to a successful season. Each player’s skill set comes from an understanding of the game that developed over years of practice, coCaptain Zaie Nursey (12) said.

Halley Robbins (10) acts as the main three point shooter. Ella Anthony (10) navigates the game well, adding her ball-handling and finishing to the team, Head Coach Ray Barile said.

Nursey can play in all five positions on the court, and alongside Olivia Kester (11), they dominate opposing players, Barile said.

Additionally, Anthony, Halley, and Julia Robbins (10) score many points for the team, each of them averaging about 200 points each during last year’s season, Barile said.

Barile has also noticed the talent of this year’s team. “I feel very confident. We are way ahead of where we were last year,” Barile said.

However, the team members will still have to work hard to become a championship-winning team, he said.

In his attempts to push the team, Barile runs physically demanding practices, enforcing conditioning and stamina through sprint repeats, Kester said. The nature of these exercises is different from last year, when the girls were mainly learning the plays and focusing less on conditioning, she said.

The girls practice everyday, so they have plenty of time to bond, which helps them play better as a unit, Kester said.

“The team is really welcoming, especially to Natalie and I. They seem much more like family than the previous teams I played on,” Vivien Sweet (9) said.

“We are going to be really good this year, and I encourage everyone to come to our games and cheer us on because they are going to be exciting, fast-paced, and hopefully we will win,” Nursey said. The team’s next game is on Monday against Dalton at home.

Varsity Squash battles the other hill schools early in the season Jude Herwitz & Steve Borodkin Staff & Contributing Writers Coming off two big wins against Fieldston and Riverdale, the Varsity Squash team heads confidently into its match today against Dalton, co-Captain Siddharth Tripathi (12) said.

The team hopes its success over Fieldston and Riverdale translates well into against Dalton, with whom it has had a roughly even record over the past few seasons.

“I don’t think we’ve lost to [Fieldston] in three or four years, so we were feeling pretty confident about Monday. The matches against Dalton are always close; we sometimes play it out, we sometimes lose,” Tripathi said.

The team went undefeated against Fieldston, winning every one of its matches. ”We won seven to zero, no one lost a match, everyone played pretty well, and it was an easy victory,” Lehv said.

“I think as a team, we got some stronger players, and we played very well today everyone seemed really ready to go and was excited about the match,” Lehv said.

Going into the year, the team didn’t lose any players, since no seniors played on last year’s team, Tripathi said. This helped the team retain

Courtesy of Analisa Gagliardi

NOT A VEGETABLE Kush Malhotra (9) winds up before starting the point.

its chemistry, which ultimately improved with the addition of the freshmen players.

“Although squash is an individual sport, the matches really allow us to come together as a team and support and cheer for one another,” Rhea Sanger (10) said.

“We’ve been bonding as a team and supporting each other during matches. I think

because of this there are not many nerves, and everyone is feeling more relaxed because they know that they have the support of their team,” Lehv said.

As for the match strategy, the team planned on starting off aggressive and focused, and maintaining that mindset throughout the match, Tripathi said. “If we are aggressive in

every single match that we play this week, regardless of the opponent, I think then we will get the result we are looking for,” Tripathi said.

The team also changed the order in which its players play this season. Co- Captains Aman Sanger and Connor Morris play first and second in the lineup respectively. Lehv plays third, he said.

This year, in preparation for the matches, the team placed a greater focus on fitness and conditioning than it has in the past, spending more time during practice running around the track or doing court sprints along with other exercises.

One thing we’ve been working on this year is certainly fitness. After last year we realized we had a lot of tight matches with Poly [Prep] or Hackley that could have gone either way, but maybe they didn’t go in our favor because of the fact that we were not as conditioned as we should have been. I know Coach Beller has done a great job making sure that every practice we are not just playing squash,” Tripathi said.

After opening up the season with two victories, the Lions hope to use its momentum to build on its immediate success throughout the season and continue to win its games.