The Horace Mann Record, Issue 25 - Junior Issue 2

The Horace Mann Record APRIL 27TH, 2018 || VOLUME 115, ISSUE 25

JUNIOR ISSUE 2

HORACE MANN’S WEEKLY NEWSPAPER SINCE 1903

Students participate in Green Action Week

Liz Fortunato/Staff Artist

Simon Yang Staff Writer

PRESiDENTIAL Nader Granmayeh (11) and Janvi Kukreja (11) pose as newly elected SBPs.

Andrew Cassino/Staff Photgrapher

Granmayeh and Kukreja elected as next year’s SBPs Jude Herwitz Staff Writer Choosing from a field of eight candidate pairs, the Upper Division selected Janvi Kukreja (11) and Nader Granmayeh (11) as Student Body Presidents (SBP) for the 20182019 school year.

The main ideas of their platform were “stress relief and having a positive impact on people’s day to day lives,” Granmayeh said.

They will try to make food more available around campus and arrange fun activities such as bouncy houses and chalk drawing, Granmayeh said.

They also hope to improve school spirit and unity between grades through programs such as SpikeBall tournaments. Lastly, they will make student input to the administration a priority, especially since the new school buildings will be opening next year, he said.

Kukreja and Granmayeh seem to be very organized and capable, Izzy Abbott (9) said.

Kukreja and Granmayeh will focus on communication with the administration and student body “every step of the way,” she said.

Chloe Bown (12) voted for Kukreja and Granmayeh partially because she wanted to have a female SBP after several years of only male pairs, she said.

“I know Janvi personally, and I know that she’s pretty great, and their ideas seemed pretty solid,” Bown said.

This year there were no

significant rule changes to the SBP election, Dean of Students Dr. Susan Delanty said. However, while she has administered the election in the past, this year it was organized

by Dean of the Class of 2019 Nick Perry, she said.

Each of the eight pairs spoke at the Meet the Candidates forum, which took place Monday I Period.

In the past the forum occurred during a mandatory assembly, Delanty said. However, that “format encouraged candidates to stray into self aggrandizement and attempts at humor rather than a focus on how each candidate was going to serve the community,” she said.

The forum was helpful because students could judge the candidates on how well they spoke in public and worked together as a pair, George Loewenson (12) said.

Before speaking at the forum, each pair had to qualify for the ballot, Eunice Bae (11), who ran with Olivia Kester (11), said. To qualify, each candidate pair needed signatures from 25 students in each grade, she said.

Once pairs qualified, the administration had additional rules about how campaigns could be run.

All candidates had to submit campaign platforms to Perry before posting them on Haiku, Gibby Thomas (11), who ran with Gavin Delanty (11), said. In addition, a maximum of 25 posters was allowed per pair, and each pair had to submit their posters to Perry for review, she said.

Among the rules listed in an email sent by Perry to the SBP candidates was a ban on any online presence.

Thomas thought the rule was reasonable because some candidates could have more Instagram or Snapchat followers and therefore an advantage in campaigning via social media, she said.

As the details of the campaign rules were clear and had the same impact on everybody, Kukreja and Granmayeh’s election was not helped or hurt by the rules, Granmayeh said.

In the rules Perry sent, the first listed was that “no one may use any position of authority or community affiliation to coerce voters to vote a certain way,” and that any attempt to do so would lead to “disciplinary consequences.”

Shay Soodak (10) agreed with this rule, she said. Otherwise, SBP candidates who are not club leaders would not have a chance of being elected, Soodak said While the elections will never be perfect, the administration’s rules alleviate some of the problems with them, Granmayeh said.

“There’s only a limited amount of things you can do to prevent club leadership positions from playing a role, and your friends telling you to vote for someone, and even people taking away your phone to vote for someone, Granmayeh said. “So at the end of the day, that’s still going to happen, but at least [the policy] is a step in the right direction,” he said.

Food for Thought: Grand opening of school food truck Sam Keimweiss Staff Writer Courtesy of Nikki Sheybani

inside

FOODIE HEAVEN Food truck is christened Food for Thought.

Walkout quotes

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Students share experiences from city-wide walkout.

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Exploring the school’s media obsessions.

reusable bottle, she said.

“We can all avoid lasting consequences simply by taking a few small steps, and so I think the week enabled students to realize that,” Bae said.

In addition to the daily Google forms, guest speaker Darius Nabors visited the school on Thursday. Nabors traveled to 59 national parks in 59 weeks, and shared the story of his feat.

Allen Park (11), who is a member of Green HM, believes that the week will raise awareness and action which will help the community take a step towards more environmentally friendly behavior he said.

“Hopefully after this week students won’t litter as much,” Park said.

Although Green HM was not directly responsible for the week, it actively supported the initiative, Jamie Berg (11) said.

“Framing the event as a competition really helps people see that their day to day action can really change the environment,” Berg said.

In addition to Green Action Week, Natalie Sweet (9), invited students to the Student Rally for the Earth on April 22nd, where they came together at Union Square Park to celebrate the earth, Sweet said.

Sweet also worked to reduce the number of plastic bottles used with her Take Back the Tap project, she said. This Friday, clear water dispensers with different infusions will be placed in the cafeteria, she said.

Sweet hopes the students realize that even an action as small as bringing a reusable water bottle to school can greatly affect the environment, she said.

“At the end of the week, we plan to look at the overall results,” Dr. Leo said. “I believe the power of many Courtesy of Nikki Sheybani people making very small changes will become clear in doing so.”

“Horace Mann has some catching up to do in terms of its sustainability,” Bomwell said. “We’ll see how the week goes this year, and perhaps bring it back in the same or similar form next year.”

REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE Students cut down on waste with reusable bottles.

The school’s first food truck, Food For Thought, rolled into business and served waffles to students last Wednesday. In a large ceremony, the food truck’s was named was announced to the school community, Senior Director of Dining Services Brenda Cohn said.

The truck was the brainchild of Cohn, Head of School Dr. Tom Kelly, and a team of three HM students: Radhika Mehta (11), Eliza Bender (10), Alexa Watson. The group has been working on the truck since last May, she said.

“I don’t think that there is a specific need for a food truck it is more of a

The tech effect

This week, faculty and students participated in the Green Action Week competition to minimize daily habits that hurt the environment in honor of Earth Day on April 22nd.

Green Action Week is a joint project between the Sustainable Committee of both the faculty and the Community Council. The Nursery, Lower and Middle Division already have a Green Action Week initiative, and this week was the Upper Division version of the initiative, music teacher Michael Bomwell said.

The week took place in the form of a competition between grades. Every day, a Google form was sent out, where members of the community could report on their sustainable actions for the day, such as bringing a reusable water bottle or eliminating food waste, science teacher Dr. Christine Leo said. At the end of the week, all of the points were added up for each grade, and the winning grade will receive a prize, she said.

Both students and faculty members engaged in the friendly competition, which encouraged people to change their smallest habits to make a big impact on the environment, Bomwell said.

According to Leo, even though the faculty was not in competition for the prize, they overwhelmingly defeated the students.

“We hope to incentivize self-reflection about the community’s own sustainable practices,” Dr. Leo said. “In doing so we hope students will discover the small ways they could improve their impact on the Earth.”

“Horace Mann students usually like a little competition, so this is a perfect way to remind the students of their environment,” Bomwell said.

Drawing from the goals of this week, Laura Bae (10) has abandoned her daily use of plastic bottles and is now using an aluminum bottle, she said. The week motivated her to make a quick change, and Bae feels better about using the

want. It just allows FLIK to show all of its catering capabilities.” Bender said.

At the opening, the name of the truck was announced, Cohn said. “We had a ribbon and giant scissors to do a ribbon cutting ceremony,” she said.

The name was chosen from submissions from around 80 students, Mehta said. She then worked with the other students to narrow down the list.

“We thought that it would be a really good name that would reflect the intellectual nature of the students here.”

Bender said.

“We were so happy with the opening,” Mehta said. “We had a ton of people there and everyone was really

Pippin premiere

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Behind the scenes of the school’s annual musical production.

excited.”

The group chose to serve waffles at the opening, she said.

“A lot of people liked the waffles,” Adam Frommer (9) said. He plans on returning to the food truck when it comes back, he said.

The next planned outing for the food truck will be the spring carnival at the Lower School, Cohn said.

In addition, the truck will be getting a card reader for ID cards, a screen for the menu, and various other amenities, Cohn said.

“That truck is loaded,” Cohn said.

@hm.record @thehoracemannrecord Horace Mann School 231 W 246th St, Bronx, NY 10471

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THE RECORD OPINIONS APRIL 27TH, 2018

Student Bo(d)y President: time to break tradition Although there were plenty of smart, tenacious, and driven potential female and non-white runningmates, I didn’t consider any of them an option. The general consensus was that running with a white male was the only way for me to have a shot at winning. I might not have been speaking to the right people, but in my experience, female pairs have been dismissed by voters as having no chance simply because they are female.

Each year, very few people actually read the platforms of each candidate pair, and even fewer show up to the SBP panel - this year, around 100 people attended - so it’s not about those who have the best ideas. Why does our community consistently believe that white males are the most fit to hold the most public student positions?

Women seem to be highly esteemed in the community, in that they are the current presidents and EICs of many of the school’s clubs, publications, and teams. It’s curious that this trend doesn’t translate to the foremost leadership position in the school.

Perhaps part of the reason is that after continued years of interactions between the members within a club, it’s easier to determine who is the most capable and qualified. The SBP

Lisa Shi Breaking school tradition, Janvi Kukreja and Nader Granmayeh were elected as SBPs this week. I say breaking tradition because in the last 12 years, only 3 of 24 SBPs have been female, and for the more than two decades when there was only one SBP instead of two, every single one was male. For a school that comprises 40% students of color and is roughly half female, SBPs simply have not accurately reflected the diversity of our student body. In all of the school’s history, we have never seen a pair of female SBPs. I’m not saying that should necessarily be the goal, but this situation certainly begs the question of why we’ve had so many white, male SBPs and so few of any other kind of person.

I ran for SBP last year, and when I was talking to my friends about it, we all came to the conclusion that my partner should be a white male.

elections, however, are undoubtedly popularity contests, a matter of who is the funniest and loudest during their campaign. Most students haven’t gotten to know the candidates personally, so it all boils down to who is most aggressive when convincing strangers to vote for them. These people tend to be those who are most comfortable with themselves and unafraid of being judged, and as our history shows, they tend to be white males who are well-established in the community.

What is the purpose of SBPs, and why do people run? Ideally, they’d care about making the school a better place and improving student life. Call me a cynic, but the reality appears to be that they’d like to pad their college applications. They claim to genuinely care about issues, make a bunch of promises on their platforms, and end up achieving just a fraction of what they initially set out to do during their campaign. To me, SBPs seem like glorified entertainers who crack a few jokes and introduce other speakers at the beginning of assemblies. We as a community have accepted this as the norm.

Society in general has had a hand in developing the implicit biases that are at play here, in that we see confident

Keeping activism real: it’s not about recognition Burke, originator of the “Me too” hashtag, or Erica Ford, the first person to use orange to represent peace, don’t work simply for attention. While these activists may have recently gained more attention, which is always appreciated, they would have continued their work regardless.

With the commitment of these community organizers in mind, it’s frustrating to have people with little to no interest in a movement say that they came to last Friday’s walkout specifically to be on MTV, something I heard at the rally far too many times for my liking. Of course, organizers can’t be picky; a body is a body, and the presence of even the most unengaged person still reinforces the rally’s message. However, movements exist beyond public protests, and so the question becomes: will these

Zarina Iman There is no activism rubric.

Most activists aren’t walking around judging how committed people are to a cause. We don’t have the time.

Nevertheless, as an activist, it can be frustrating having others co opt the “activist” title without the hard work.

Activism is not glamorous.

Recognition usually feels good but is fairly rare for most activists.

Committed activists like Tarana

people who willingly adopted the mantle of an activist continue to advocate for their cause, or will they stop as soon as they have gained the recognition they wanted?

It is my understanding that some believe being an activist is a ticket into college, and I can assure you that it is not. Frankly, no admissions officer cares about a student attending a single rally and holding a sign, especially if there is no deeper interest behind those actions. Showing up to a protest solely for an aesthetically pleasing Instagram photo, because all your friends are there, or limiting your discussion of the issues at hand to a kitschy caption is not activism. Consistency is key. If you are not ready to support and advance a cause through its unpopularity or even obscurity, you should not claim the label of activist, although no one will stop you.

This op-ed is by no means intended to call anyone out; all of us activists, including some of the most distinguished ones, are still learning. Everyone who participated in the walkout or rally should be proud. We are lucky to have such a supportive administration that has worked with us every step of the way.

However, in public schools across the city, administrators threatened students with disciplinary action if they walked out. Thus, whether you consider yourself an activist or not, we need to reflect and ask ourselves what we would have done had there been more at stake because rarely is resisting a system of power so easy.

Junior Issue #2 Editorial Board Managing Editor Katie Goldenberg

Opinions Solomon Katz

News Abigail Goldberg-Zelizer Lynne Sipprelle

Features Tenzin Sherpa Natasha Stange A&E Peri Brooks William Han

Editor in Chief Megha Nelivigi

Lions’ Den Jeren Wei

Art Director Jackson Roberts

Photography Ahaan Palla Jake Shapiro

Design Editor Caroline Kaplan

Faculty Adviser David Berenson

white men in the media more than any other demographic, and I’m sure that affects who we determine fits the mold of the “ideal” leader. Past SBPs indeed have made notable accomplishments, but one has to wonder if the school would have experienced fewer offensive moments during assemblies if we had a more diverse range of SBPs. Since the 2018-2019 SBPs are more diverse, I hope they will break the precedent and help foster a

more considerate, compassionate, and aware student body, instead of providing students with more frivolous things that we simply don’t need, such as more food trucks and t-shirts no one will ever wear. When elections come around again next year, I urge the students to be more involved with the process through the careful and rational evaluation of the candidates and their platforms.

Jackson Roberts/ Art Director

At the annual trustee dinner last night, faculty and staff were celebrated for their dedication to the school community.

Honorees included those who have been at the school in five year multiples. The Record proudly recognizes the honorees who have served the school for 25 years or more.

25 Years of Service Gregg Quilty || Athletics & PE Hemmath Dennis || Maintenance 30 Years of Service Robert Annunziata || Athletics & PE RJ Harmon || Athletics & PE Ron Logan || Arts 35 Years of Service Rudy Reiblein || Science Sheila Ferri || Arts 45 Years of Service Glenn Sherratt || Dorr 55 Years of Service Neil Berniker || Athletics & PE

Last week’s issue was the first Junior Issue.

A writer for “HM’s Melting Pot: Reflecting on immigrant experiences” was Staff Writer Simon Yang. He was mistakenly stated as Simon Wang in the article.

Dr. Bales was misquoted as Dr. Groppi in the article “AP World History to Metropolitan Museum of Art.” The Record regrets these errors. Please report any corrections to record@horacemann.org

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, Gabby Kepnes, 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

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

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

NOTE As a student publication, the contents of The Record are the views and work of the students and do not necessarily represent those of the faculty or administration of the Horace Mann School. The Horace Mann School is not responsible for the accuracy and content of The Record, and is not liable for any claims based on the contents or views expressed therein.

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HORACE MANN NEWS APRIL 27TH, 2018

Students join city-wide walkout to protest gun violence

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The most powerful thing about the rally was all the ranges of kids there from different high schools. It wasn’t just Horace Mann, it wasn’t just Beacon, it was all of us together protesting for what we believe in, which I thought was the coolest thing.

- Jane Frankel (12)

Sam Keimweiss & Vivien Sweet Staff Writers As organizers, we tried to make the rally as intersectional as possible and include voices from a variety of communities, whether that be the LGBT+ community or people of color, and that thought was definitely reinforced as I heard all the speeches.

- Zarina Iman (12)

I don’t agree with the reasons behind the rally. I believe in some forms of gun control, like background checks, but I feel like the attitudes of the people going to rally was to take away guns, and I’m a strong supporter of the second amendment.

- Peter Arvanitis (9) TAKING ACTION Freshmen students with posters

PASSIONATE ACTIVISM NYC students yelling anti-gun chants

Courtesey of Adam Frommer

Courtesey of Adam Frommer

MUN ends year, wins awards at Cornell Conference Bradley Bennett Staff Writer

Last weekend, Model United Nations (MUN) traveled to Cornell University for their last major conference of the year, taking home the award Oustanding Large Delegation.

“This was the most proud of the team I have been all year; this conference was really a culmination of all the hard work we have put in,” co-Secretary General Valerie Maier (12) said.

Arman Kumar (10), Connor Morris (11), and Shant Amerkanian (11) each also won individual awards for Best Delegate.

“We won because of our preparation and the fact that the team allows sophomores and juniors to work together, ask questions and help with research,” Kumar said. “We were up against the best schools in the country and showed a lot of skill,” he said.

In most Model UN conferences, an upperclassman will have “unders,” usually freshmen and sophomores, who help the upperclassman and give them a better chance of winning an award, Maier said.

However, at this conference, “there were no over and under partnerships, so students could take on more work,” Maier said. “It was a situation where both the over and the under could do well.”

It was fun that underclassmen could choose which delegates they wanted to work with at this conference, Roey Nornberg (10) said. “You don’t have to just do busy work while you have an ‘over’ doing the interesting things,” he said.

“Our goal is always to do well and win awards, but also to train younger delegates,” co-Secretary General Evan Megibow (12) said. “At this conference it felt like we were able to give sophomores their own committees.”

Model UN has participated in the Cornell conference for the past three years, Megibow said. “It’s always one of the biggest competitions of the year. It’s very well run and the team always has a good time.”

Since the conference takes place on Cornell’s campus, students had the opportunity to learn about the university, Nornberg said. “You get to see the different rooms of the college; you get to explore the college; you get to walk and see the town by yourself,” he said.

As a senior, this was Maier’s last conference. “It’s been four years of me dedicating time, so after finishing the last session I was definitely emotional,” she said.

GROUP HUG MUN celebrates their victory

Courtesey of Lauren Port

NYC SAYS ENOUGH Radhika Mehta (12) and Zarina Iman (12) in a crowd of students

Courtesey of Lily Mayo

I was up there speaking and leading chants and looking out at everyone and seeing thousands of people all coming together to share this one big ideal about stopping gun violence in America. It really showed that this youth movement is strong, and when we’re able to vote and our generation is in office, there’s going to be a lot of change, and it’s going to be good change.

- Radhika Mehta (12)

“Judaism in the South” Independent Study Marina Kazarian Contributing Writer

A year’s worth of work came together C Period Wednesday during Sam Stein’s (12) Independent Study presentation on “Judaism in the South.”

For the project, Stein researched his genealogy and tried to understand why two branches of his family, one from the 1840’s and one from the early 1900’s, settled in Mississippi, his Independent Study adviser Deborah Stanford said.

Over the past year Stein has collected data from books and databases, recorded interviews with his paternal grandfather, and studied primary source documents from his grandfather’s archives, he said.

“I’ve always had a close bond with my grandfather and this has brought us even closer. I feel like researching something that I’m so passionate about really drives me,” Stein said.

Stein’s presentation explored his interview process, especially the importance of framing questions carefully and the difference between closed and open questions, Stanford said.

“Open ended questions would lead to longer stories that

tended to uncover more details,” Arjun Khorana (12), who is in Stein’s Independent Study class, said.

Before Wednesday, Stein told the students in his class to interview a family member, Stanford said. During the presentation, the class broke up into groups of four to discuss and reflect on the interviews, she said.

Interviewing family members gave the students a better idea of what Stein had been doing the past several months, Khorana said.

Stein began his research by reading The Provincials by Eli Evans, a book about a Jewish family living in North Carolina, Stanford said. Stein then started to interpret what his sources revealed about his own family and their process of settling in the South and becoming part of the white community there as Jews, she said.

Stanford guided Stein’s research by helping him set clear goals and read historical documents, she said. Stein hopes to make his study a lifelong pursuit and something that he will pass down to the rest of his family, Stanford said.

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THE RECORD FEATURES APRIL 27TH, 2018

HQ, Fortnite takes school by storm Julia Robbins and Amelia Feiner Staff Writers

“I’m officially going on record saying this game is a pain in the ass,” Upper Division Chair of the Library Department Caroline Bartels said, referring to Fortnite, a video game whose popularity within the school has skyrocketed in recent months.

During frees and in between classes, students clamor for a library computer to play Fortnite, a free multiplayer game in which players battle their opponents in a world comprised of one hundred other gamers with the goal to remain the last one standing.

“They’re never quiet when they’re playing,” Bartels said. “If they’re playing, I shouldn’t hear them.”

Bartels took out three computers from the back of the library because students that wanted to study were being distracted by gamers, she said.

Yet Fortnite is not the first craze to have hit the school community this year. According to Nelson Gaillard (10), the mobile game “HQ” reached the height of its popularity in December and early January. Every afternoon at 3p.m., students circled around their phones with friends, hoping to advance through twelve increasingly difficult trivia questions to win a portion of the advertised monetary prize.

Carmel Pe’er (9) used to spend almost every H period free playing the afternoon game that HQ offered as a study break and way to socialize with friends, she said.

Nick Potash (10) began to regularly play the evening session of the game over winter break, he said.

Part of HQ’s appeal stemmed from the game’s host, alumnus Scott Rogowsky ‘03, whose charisma added to the fun of the game, Gabe Hernandez (11) said.

The cartoonish aesthetic and bright colors of the app also added to the game’s attraction, Potash said.

However, in late January, students from the school stopped using the HQ app as frequently, Gaillard said.

Potash decided to delete the HQ app on his phone because it was too much of a distraction to have the game at his fingertips, he said.

“Playing HQ kind of became more of a chore because I had work to do and it was really hard,” Pe’er said.

When people started realizing that winners have to split the total monetary prize and do not receive the full sum of money displayed on the screen, there was less of a motivation to play, Leyli Granmayeh (9) said.

Caroline Kaplan (11) was one of 27 winners to split a grand prize of $1000 in HQ in November. “I really didn’t think I could win. The questions just always get so hard at the end, but I mostly totally guessed and I got lucky,” she said.

Kaplan was a part of the minority

of the game’s users to ever win the game; according to an article in the Washington Post, most HQ users do not even advance past the fourth or fifth round of the game.

Laura Bae (10) never became hooked on HQ. “The entire concept of playing for money never really appealed to me,” she said.

While HQ rose in popularity by word of mouth, it fell in popularity because people stopped talking about the game as much, Veronica Stellings (11) said.

Fortnite became a trend soon after students stopped playing HQ. Stellings does not believe that there is a connection between the decrease in popularity of HQ and the rise of Fortnite because of the different nature of the games.

can watch lifestreams of other people playing video games, helped to increase the popularity of Fortnite, Stephen Angelakos (12) said. Fortnite also has a mobile version while similar games do not, which has increased the game’s user base as well, he said.

Fortnite allows cross-platform gaming, a feature that most video games do not offer, so people on different pieces of technology can all play together, Angelakos said.

Fortnite frequently releases new weapons, modes, and map updates, all of which attract users to play, Granmayeh said. “I think that that part of it is pretty unique because there’s always a new mode to play or a new weapon you want to try,” she said.

Potash was prompted to start playing Fortnite when he saw social

Gabrielle Fischberg/Contributing Artist

“Unlike other games in its genre, Fortnite is free, which is why it is downloaded so frequently,” Ryan Eastep (11) said.

One of the appeals of Fortnite is that while it can be a relatively simple game, it becomes more complex at higher levels, which means that it gradually attracts a wider audience, Hernandez said.

“I think Fortnite is really addicting because usually when you die, you’re pretty close [to winning], or it just gets really frustrating and you’re like ‘I was so close, now I have to play again,’” Granmayeh said.

“It’s hard to win, but it’s not impossible, so if you get close you’re like ‘ok, if I just play one more time I’ll be able to win,’ and you just get sucked in,” she said.

Twitch, a platform in which gamers

media posts of rappers Drake and Travis Scott playing the game. “That’s when I sort of got into it, when a bunch of very popular guys were playing it,” he said.

Stellings began playing Fortnite as a way to connect with her male friends, she said. She has found that in general, fewer females play due to the game’s violent nature, she said.

Students play Fortnite both in and outside the school environment. On the school’s spring break college tour, several students brought video game consoles from home to play Fortnite in their downtime, Jonny Oshrin (11) said. Many of those who played stayed up until midnight or 3a.m. to finish their games, he said.

Now that there is a mobile version of the video game, more people have

TECH

started playing it during the school day, Granmayeh said.

Students have even taken to playing Fortnite during class time, Kelvin Smith (10) said. These students will often open up their computers to pretend that they are taking notes, when they are really playing the video game. Some teachers don’t realize that their students are playing Fortnite during class, so the students don’t get in trouble, he said.

Fernandez wishes that people did not play Fortnite in class because he finds it distracting to see classmates playing a video game while he is trying to focus on the lesson at hand, he said.

Bae plays Fortnite for an hour each day on the weekend, as she doesn’t have time to play during the week due to schoolwork, she said. Bae enjoys the game because she likes building traps and setting people up in the virtual world, she said.

Every night for around an hour, Angelakos plays with a rotation of about 10 friends that he joins up with to create teams, he said.

With Fortnite nearly matching the popularity of fantasy sports, the HM E-Sports club plans on including Fortnite in its tournaments and practices once there becomes an option to make custom games, Eastep said.

Granmayeh does not play Fortnite during the week because she doesn’t have the time, she said. But she does see a lot of other people playing during their frees and at lunch during the school day.

Mark Fernandez (10) stopped playing Fortnite as frequently because it was “too distracting,” he said. He still sometimes plays with friends on the weekends, but he doesn’t play in school, he said.

While students need to take some breaks throughout the day, they should not be playing Fortnite all the time, Bartels said. The game is a waste of time for students who could be using free periods to study, she said.

For Potash, Fortnite is a complete distraction, he said. “For me, the way I think about it is it’s no different than people watching Netflix instead of doing their homework; [Fortnite] is just a different distraction,” Potash said.

“I think it’s seen as ‘cool’ if you’re good at Fortnite,” Stellings said. “I don’t think the game itself has gotten more fun, just more people have gotten introduced to it.”

“The thing about games that get popular at school is that they rarely get popular because Horace Mann kids think that they’re fun, but because outside media divulges into the school. We are never trend starters but we are devout trend followers,” Laura Bae (10) said.

Katie Goldenberg/Contributing Artist

HORACE MANN FEATURES APRIL 27TH, 2018

5

obsessed App-solutely addicted to social media Caroline Goldenberg and Eliza Poster Staff Writers Early in the morning, before eating breakfast, brushing his teeth, or even climbing out of bed, Luke Weber (10) scrolls through his Instagram feed. It’s compulsive, he said, describing how he finds himself checking the app frequently even if there is nothing new to see.

Positively or negatively, social media undeniably shapes student life in countless ways. While providing an extremely efficient and accessible platform for communication and sharing, it is also a substantial distraction, as students report neglecting schoolwork and sleep in favor of spending more time on social media.

Social media has “become so ingrained into our lives, it’s become part of our day,” Ella Anthony (10) said. For most people, it’s barely a choice to participate or not due to the normalcy of social media in teenage culture, Anthony said.

After deleting her Instagram account and noticing that she felt less distracted, Alexandra Reich (11) decided to explore the psychology behind the Online Disinhibition Effect (ODE) in her Junior Research Project this year. The ODE is the shifting of social restrictions typically present in face-to-face communication due to time spent on the Internet. In the community around her, Reich had seen mixed impacts of social media use, inspiring her to choose the topic for her project, she said.

Social media is addictive for Anthony, who has found that she spends “hours on end” looking at her screens instead of doing homework, exercising, or spending time with family. Now, when she gets home from school, she turns her phone over to her mom because she wants to be more productive, she said.

Reina McNutt (10) prevents herself from procrastinating through a similar method: by hiding her phone in another room or asking her parents to do so, she is able to focus on work without getting distracted by her phone, she said.

“Trying to get off my phone is difficult sometimes. I think, after the whole day, I kind of want to relax,” Arul Kapoor (11) said. For Kapoor, spending time on his phone, whether it be on social media or other apps, helps him unwind after a long day, but can also make it hard for him to start his homework earlier, he said.

“It’s so easy to procrastinate on social media,” Sarah Acocelli (10) said.

“There are so many different ways you can reach it - even if I put my phone in the kitchen, it’s not difficult for me to type in Facebook or Instagram on Safari.”

Sean Zlatev (10) abstains from all forms of social media, knowing that participating in it would distract him and enable procrastination, he said.

For the school’s community, however, choices like Zlatev’s are uncommon.

Despite its likelihood to enable procrastination, a survey conducted among 317 members of the student body showed that an overwhelming majority of students (87%) have at least one social media account. However, 65 percent admitted that social media diverted their attention from schoolwork, and 57 percent found that it also interfered with their sleep habits.

Over half of the students with social media accounts said that they use Snapchat the most. Edward Ahn (11), who created his Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook accounts during freshman year, uses Snapchat the most because “it’s the most direct form of messaging,” he said.

Jackson Roberts/Art Director

One of the greatest motivations to use Snapchat regularly is to maintain ‘streaks,’ a record of the number of days for which two people have consistently communicated with each other through the app. Ahn, who has approximately 70 streaks, some as long as 500 days, believes that they allow him to strengthen and prolong relationships with people with whom he might otherwise lose contact, he said.

Catherine Zhang (9) also uses Snapchat the most out of her three social media accounts as many of her friends use the app, and it is often the easiest and fastest way to communicate, she said.

For Phoebe Williams (12), Snapchat has become a habit. “I will just continuously snap random things to my friends throughout the day and talk about nothing,” she said.

“Nothing’s real.

On social media, you get a jaded perspective of everything and everyone, and it makes you feel like you need to tailor your life to imitate that in some way, shape, or form.”

-Daniel Kramer (12)

Katie Goldenberg/Contributing Artist

Ahn, Zhang, and Williams aren’t alone.

To Sam Harris (12), Snapchat seems to be the most commonly used form of social media, especially to communicate with people outside the school’s community, he said.

Dora Woodruff (10) initially used Snapchat to talk to her friends, but deleted it because it became too much of a distraction from her work. Now, she uses Facebook exclusively. Woodruff, and many other students, regard Facebook as an academic obligation.

“A lot of my classes or clubs have Facebook groups, so it’s just more convenient for me to be on Facebook,” Woodruff said.

For Kapoor, who uses Facebook groups to interact with other members of his math and science classes, “having one posting wall allows everything to be more structured,” he said. “It lets everyone tackle one thing at once, and Facebook is a lot easier to read” than other options, such as an iMessage group chat, he said.

Ben Lee (10) only checks his Facebook once a week to stay connected with the school community, while he uses his Instagram account daily, he said.

For Sam Stephenson (12), who spends approximately two-and-a-half hours on Facebook a day, Facebook provides an opportunity to explore his

interests in comedy and philosophy. He runs three meme pages and philosophy groups, which he plans to continue in the future. He prefers Facebook to other forms of social media, particularly Instagram, because it allows users to join groups, which are more intimate than just following and liking posts, Stephenson said. He also likes that a user can post text alone instead of having to share an image.

Instagram is another social media platform widely used by the student body.

It allows users to share pictures, garner ‘followers’ and ‘likes,’ comment on each other’s images, and direct message one another.

Ahn believes that likes are emblematic for the “friendliness” between two people, while Williams finds them gratifying because it means that the other users think her posts are “cool,” she said.

Whitney Dawson (10), who created her Instagram account in fifth grade, enjoys watching videos and scrolling through her Explore Page to discover new accounts when she is bored, she said.

“I use Instagram because I like sharing photos, and I like seeing other photos people are sharing, where they are, and I think it’s a fun way to [do that],” Claire Griffin (10) said.

Priyanka Voruganti (10) uses Instagram as an artistic and business tool, either to promote her own poetry and events which she is involved with, or as a mode of expression, she said. She primarily uses Instagram to work, communicating with people and organizations she wants to collaborate with. She prefers Instagram to other forms of social media, she said.

“There’s a huge community online, especially on Instagram, for people who are making art, or are pursuing [art], especially in New York - and through following one person you can essentially find everyone else; that’s how simple Instagram is, that’s why I feel like it’s the best tool to pursue whatever you want to do,” Voruganti said.

Kyle Gaillard (11) also uses Instagram for enterprising purposes, posting pictures of clothing from his fashion brand ‘Wonderboy,’ and promoting his own music. His Instagram account has helped him reach a wider audience, he said. He also enjoys the creative aspect of orchestrating his posts on his social media account. Kate Bown (9) uses her Instagram as a creative vehicle as well; her posts allow her to explore her interests in photography and photo editing, she said.

Despite the fun they offer, social media platforms such as Instagram often breed insecurity, jealousy and exclusion, Bown

said.

Griffin has noticed that it’s common, especially among female adolescents, to look at Instagram and compare themselves to other people, she said. Over 57 percent of students surveyed admitted to “stalking” or obsessing over the profiles of other people on social media.

When Acocelli created her Instagram account, she was around ten years old, had few followers and simply posted photos of trivial things, such as a new keychain on her backpack, she said.

“Now, the whole ideas of social media are changing, and I think it’s making kids grow up faster, but if it was the way I used my Instagram when I was ten, I wouldn’t think it was a big deal,” Acocelli said.

“Before I started using Instagram as a way to brand myself, it was such a source of stress about my body, or my friends or my ratio, all this stupid stuff,” Voruganti said. Williams believes that the tendency of people to use likes as a form of validation is unhealthy, she said.

Meryeme Elalouani (10) sees how younger children use social media differently from how she uses social media. “Each generation has its own thing to obsess over. It’s not the childhood that we recognize, in a way. I definitely see how different it is from the way we grew up,” she said.

Anthony, whose five-year-old brother knows how to use an iPhone, fears the effect online exposure will have on him. She believes that face-to-face interactions are extremely important, she said.

According to GlobalWebIndex, the average person spends approximately two hours a day on social media. 37 percent of students surveyed said that they spend a similar amount of time (one to two hours) online everyday. However, nearly forty percent of students surveyed also believed they could go longer than a month without using social media.

Daniel Kramer (12) believes the way that social media values the superficial introduces people to unhealthy habits, which can hinder young people from establishing a sense of identity, he said.

“Nothing’s real. On social media, you get a jaded perspective of everything and everyone, and it makes you feel like you need to tailor your life to imitate that in some way, shape, or form,” Kramer said.

“The Internet is so vast - it can be very intriguing,” Charlotte Cebula (10) said. “Younger kids especially can’t distinguish between what’s on the Internet and what’s real.”

Pippin The Spring Production

6

THE RECORD ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT APRIL 27TH, 2018

THEATER REVIEW

PIPPIN TAKES THE STAGE Prince Pippin opens with solo.

Madison Li Staff Writer A comical announcement by the royal Charlemagne, played by Liam Bodurtha (12), boomed over the chatter of the excited audience, demanding spectators “turn off your cell phones or you will be hanged.” The curtains withdrew, the lights dimmed to darkness, and as the stage and theater disappeared into the dark, the audience was launched into the intriguing world of Pippin.

A black light shone from the ceiling and illuminated the audience’s white program notes.

Onstage, members of the ensemble, known as Players, snuck on one by one, blending into the unlit stage with their simple black clothing. The only thing to be seen were the dancing gloves of the Players, which radiated a radioactiveblue hue.

The Leading Players, Mikayla Benson (9), Cameron Chavers (12), Emma Kelly (12), and Gibby Thomas (11), beckoned the audience

Courtesy of Allison DeRose

CATHERINE MAKES AN ENTRANCE Catherine sings with ensemble.

within the first minutes with a whispered “join us,” which made the spectators feel as though they were a part of the play. The four Players shone brightly onstage, clad in purple vestcapes lined with glittering sequins, donning flashy silver barrettes in their hair.

The theater was continuously enveloped in perfect harmony and pitch throughout the entire production, and the accompanying musicians only added to the spectacle. The music ranged from major to minor, upbeat to somber, utilizing instruments such as the alto recorder, played by Michael Bomwell, and the flute, played by Cindy Kaiser (11).

Accompanying the song was extravagant dancing, especially that performed by the Leading Players. To contrast the bowler hats and flamboyant jazz, other Players appeared to be floating down from above, twirling in and out of billowing red and white silk sheets that draped from the stage ceiling. In a later scene, the Players used the sheets as a whimsical prop, attempting to serenade Pippin, played by Ben

Rosenbaum (11), by prancing gracefully.

Out of all the ravishing set designs, one audience favorite was the stunning set pieces that hung as the backdrop, which appeared and levitated away depending on the scene.

The wood and cardboard pieces, designed by Nora Nickerson (12), burst with brilliant reds, oranges, greens, and blues. The pieces, along with the constantly changing stage lights that were pointed at the audience, greatly enhanced the ostentatious performance. All combined, the different aspects of the play unified to create an unforgettable and lively extravaganza for the spectators.

Punchlines and dry humor sprinkled throughout the play kept the audience engaged and wanting more. Some notable moments include Charlemagne and his constant outbursts and swift flicks of his goldembroidered royal purple cape.

A few of the most captivating song performances included Bodurtha, whose robust voice could strike fear into any of the

audience members’ hearts and fit his role perfectly.

Binah Schatsky (12), another standout actor, singer, and dancer, showed incredible talent in all three aspects of her performance. Her voice vibrated from the stage and resonated with each audience member. She absolutely owned her role and perfectly embodied the airy and egoistic personality of Fastrada, Pippin’s stepmother.

The atmosphere created by the lights, set, and music combined created an energetic ambience that engaged the audience throughout the play.

Multiple times, the Players spoke directly to the audience, especially during “No Time at All,” sung by Berthe, Pippin’s grandmother, played

by Charlotte Pinney (11). Leading Players held up signs for the audience to sing along. The finale included an encore of the song, and by then, the audience knew almost every word to the chorus and proudly sang along.

Student musicians accompany Pippin Nishtha Sharma Staff Writer As the cast of Pippin graces the stage of Gross Theatre, eager musicians, both professionals and students, vivify the musical with their accompaniment from the concealed orchestra pit below.

Pippin, which opened Thursday night and has two more performances, continued the longstanding tradition of using an orchestra for the Upper Division musical at the school, conductor and first keyboardist Bill Stanley said.

While the orchestra is usually primarily comprised of professional musicians, this year it includes three students along with 12 professionals: Bliss Beyer (12) and Karen Jang (11) playing violin, and Cindy Kaiser (11) playing flute, piccolo, and alto flute.

Jang chose to get involved because of her interest in music, and she was eager to play in an orchestra pit for the first time, she said.

“It’s a lot of fun to work with professionals,” Beyer said. “Performing in a pit feels like we’re in a professional environment where we’re all treated like adults.”

Musicians received the music a couple of weeks prior to the show, music teacher Michael Bomwell, said. Bomwell plays flute, clarinet and

alto recorder in the orchestra.

This past Sunday, the orchestra congregated for the first time, and musicians ran through the entirety of the play during a four-hour rehearsal.

They met again to perform with the cast each day thereafter, Bomwell said.

“With a live orchestra, we can add repeats if needed, cut unnecessary sections, and stretch music out for a particularly dramatic moment,” Stanley said.

There’s not really a standard repertoire all the time and sections often get moved around, or we make cuts to measures in order to fit in with the rest of the play, Kaiser said.

Several musicians are playing five or more instruments, Stanley said. The guitarist, for example, is playing banjo, mandolin, ukulele, acoustic guitar, and electric guitar, he said.

Kaiser, who plays three instruments, finds the main challenge of playing in Pippin getting to her cue on time while playing different instruments, she said.

On top of the instruments, Pippin encompasses a variety of musical styles - funky rock songs, blues waltzes, folk ballads, and more.

Majestic fanfares introduce the palace scenes.

Fiddle-filled bluegrass underscores the farm scenes, Stanley said.

“Playing accompaniment in Pippin is something different for me because I’m used

Courtesy of Adam Fife

IN THE PIT Orchestra’s tunes complement the actors on stage. to playing classical violin,” Jang said. “Playing broadway music is a very different vibe because of the different genres.”

“The orchestra can really set the mood. You’ll notice that the music is setting the scene as much as the set pieces are,” Stanley said. Fifteen instruments can obviously add much more color and nuance to a performance than a single pianist can,” he said.

Cast ensemble member Isabel Mignone (10) finds that the music definitely sets the scene.

“Even when it’s just going along with dialogue, it adds to the drama and to the quality…for example, the score is about 300 pages long, and there are maybe two pages, maximum, of dialogue that don’t have an underscore of music,” she said.

7

HORACE MANN ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT APRIL 27H, 2018

Set design brings Pippin to life Isabella Zhang Staff Writer

SET DESIGN Set design enhances the Pippin experience.

Bright colors, intricate set design, lighting, and sound complement the actors and enhance the audience’s excitement during Pippin.

Each actor, actress, and stage manager are

like pieces of a puzzle, where everyone should be equally supportive or else it will not work, stage manager Ashley Dai (10) said.

Nickerson’s inspirations for the set were fiery medieval stained glass and wrought iron, she said. “My Pippin set uses a contrast between minimalism, beauty in simplicity and maximalism, and ostentatious ornamentation to emphasize the theme in the play that love is the only thing you need to live a fulfilling life, as opposed to glory, fame, or power,” Nickerson said.

Without set, lights, and sounds, a show would be no different from rehearsals, student technical director Maya Dubno (11) said. The magic, flow, and reality of the show is brought to life by the working crew members, she said.

Nickerson constantly tries to to “find more creative ways to accomplish things,” she said.

From the moment when she picks up the script, her scaled drawings of the set are always changing and being modified right up until the last show, she said.

“The light and the set really transform the space; they bring you out of reality and into this different world,” Dubno said. “They help actors and actresses do their jobs too,” she said.

Dai, Dubno and Nickerson all love these behind the stage programs, they said.

“It is nice to be a part of the crew and learn from others,” light board operator and master

electrician Sophia Reiss (11) said.

The designers worked a lot with director Denise DiRenzo, Theater, Dance and Film Studies Teacher, and Joel Sherry, faculty technical director, to determine the themes of the show and provide feedback for the designs, Dubno said.

For this show, set and lighting designers were able to come up with their own creative ideas, Nickerson said. However, costumes and sounds were designed by the directors, Nickerson said.

This year the costumes were picked by Stewart Lee and Wendy Kahn who volunteered to help with the play, Dubno said.

The show is “pretty incredible,” and the audiences should look forward to silks hanging from the ceiling and dancers doing acrobatics on them, actor James Arcieri (12) said. “The set looks gorgeous and they did something really cool with it,” actress Gibby Thomas (11) said.

Courtesy of Allison DeRose

KING CHARLMAGNE RULES A grand entrance.

LEADING PLAYERS Leading players narrate the show.

A WORK OF FATE Catherine finds Pippin.

Cast profiles Eddie Jin Staff Writer

Ben Rosenbaum

Charlotte Pinney

Ben Rosenbaum (11) plays Pippin, the titular character of the play. Rosenbaum has been playing piano since he was five years old, and began studying theater at the age of nine, he said. He has done every play since middle school, but this will be his first time in a lead role. It initially felt strange to be in the lead role, but he has adjusted to it with the help of the supporting cast, he said. Rosenbaum describes Pippin as a character who “yearns to be extraordinary,” and gets disappointed in the process, he said. “I relate most to the moments where everything is falling apart and he doesn’t know what’s coming next, because I definitely feel that,” Rosenbaum said. “It reminds me that these feelings are valid.”

Charlotte Pinney (11) has taken part in every school play since the sixth grade, when she first participated in theater. One of Pinney’s favorite parts of productions is the Horace Mann Theater Company (HMTC) community, she said. In Pippin, Pinney plays Bertha, Pippin’s grandmother.

“She’s funny, goofy, and has a whole lot of grandma character,” Pinney said. Pinney feels that her character reflects her own personality, she said. “At my heart and soul I’m just a goofy grandma,” she said.

Mikayla Benson

Jada Yang

Mikayla Benson (9) is the narrator of the show. Benson has been involved in musical theater since middle school, she said. “There’s a more genuine aspect of acting and being a part of a group than playing solos,” she said. Benson originally auditioned for a smaller role on the play, and was surprised to receive one of the four Leading Player roles, she said.“It was really confusing for me because I didn’t think I could relate to the play at all,” Benson said.

“But towards the end of the show process I realized that the leading characters have every characteristic of a human; they symbolize all of the wants that we have in life. I might not be the narrator of any story in real life, but I have the characteristics of any person out there.”

Jada Yang (12) is a silk dancer in Pippin.

Yang had always wanted to participate in a school production, and finally got the chance this year, she said. “Pippin is a really dark play, and I think the jokes and dances are there for comedic relief,” Yang said. The silk dancers come out on silks during the war against the Goths, and perform the Mance in 10. There are a lot more moving parts for dances in plays compared to individual dances, Yang said. “Dancing in a theater production is very different than dancing for HMTC,” she said.

Lions’ Den Record Sports

8

APRIL 27TH, 2018

Crew team launches into competition season Abigail Salzhauer Staff Writer

The Girls and Boys Varsity Crew teams begin their competition season at the Cooper Cup Regatta in New Jersey this weekend after a month of conditioning.

The team has worked hard to prepare for this season and has had extremely tough practices that pushed its athletes, Benjamin Hu (11) said.

“The team has only been on the water for two weeks and still has some learning to do, but I think the new rowers have advanced very quickly,” Head Girls Varsity Crew Coach Matthew Boller said.

While the team started going to their boathouse in New Rochelle the week after spring break, the practices have been fairly weather-

dependent, Head Boys Varsity Crew Coach Chelsea Ernst said.

During practices, half of the team trains on the water, while the other half stays on campus to train on the erg machines, indoor rowing machines used for conditioning.

When not on the water, the team conditions on campus working on the ergs, she said.

Spending more time conditioning has pushed the whole team to improve more and row faster than last year, Mark Perrachia (10) said.

Many of the sophomores have been stepping up and rowing best times, specifically Ben Goodman (10) and Ben Doolan (10), Perrachia said. Co-Captains Zaie Nursey (12) and Sam Heller (12) have also stepped up in leading warm ups and stretches each practice, Leonard Song (11) said.

The team is more prepared for their first regatta than they were last year, Natalie Baer (10) said.

Splitting up each practice half the at the boathouse and half at the school has given members of the team the ability to spend more time actually in the boats on the water, Baer said.

The team has a great dynamic and an intense work ethic, Hu said.

“Anytime we have a difficult set, we always support each other and cheer each other on every step of the way,” Hu said.

“Rowing is a team sport that relies heavily on chemistry and coordination,” Doolan said. “Rather than one athlete dominating, I think that our ability to row in sync will be the determining factor of our success on Sunday.”

“I’m excited to get out on the

Jake Shapiro/ Staff Photographer

ROW, ROW, ROW YOUR BOAT Crew practices for competition. water at the Cooper Cup for our first regatta; it should be a great race,” Doolan said.

Cooper River is a great venue for Sunday’s regatta, Boller said.

“The first time on the water

for new kids is always memorable because they get so excited and nervous to actually row on water,” Nursey said.

Pedal to the medal: triathletes reflect on their process and performance Benjamin Wang Staff Writer

the globe, she said.

During the summer of eighth and ninth grade, Jin spent 25 to 30 Swim and Track Coach Caroline hours a week training for the race, Shannon and Eddie Jin (10) are with two hours of swim training a among the few people at the school day. After the two hours, he would who participate in triathlons, take a short nap and then get back three part races comprised of a to work, Jin said.

Continuing his training session, 1.5-kilometer swim, 40-kilometer Jin would start a one to two-hour bike ride, and 10-kilometer run.

Starting in seventh grade, Jin bike session, one to two-hour explored the sport, not really strength training session, or one to taking it seriously, Jin said. Then in two hour running workout, Jin said.

Before Jin started training for ninth grade, he started racing elite competitios, competing in states these races, he “thought it was just such as Florida and Virginia, Jin swimming, running, and biking put together. I was wrong,” Jin said.

Shannon dabbled in triathlon said. Despite the grueling training, racing in 2000, but didn’t start Jin thinks the hardest part of the training seriously until 2011, whole experience is planning and Shannon said. Last year, she earned execution, he said.

“You need experience to figure her professional card at the NYC Triathlon, allowing her to compete out what works for you. [You] need with the most elite triathletes across to read manuals, books, and articles to look for helpful suggestions,” Physical education teacher Gregg Quilty, whose daughter also competes in triathlons, said.

Similarly, Shannon believes in employing a strategic and meticulous plan. There’s a different tactic to triathlons, she said. “In a swim race, you just get on the block, dive, and go. There’s no more than 1500 yards, not more than 20 minutes. In triathlons, you need to swim in a way to position you well to get out the water, and change out of your wetsuit,” Shannon said.

Likewise, Jin believes that efficient transitions between races is crucial to a successful performance.

“You have to get out of the water as fast as you can.

Courtesy of Eddie Jin Then you get on a bike NEED FOR SPEED Eddie Jin (10) bikes to finish path. Every split-second

counts. If you make a mistake in the water or the transition getting on the bike, it’s going to hurt in the race,” Jin said.

During his races, Jin keeps many things in his mind, such as the aerodynamics of his form while riding his bike, he said.

Jin believes that triathlons are different from any other sport he has tried. “When you do a sport, it’s usually just putting in the hours. For triathlons, it’s about experience. You have to do the swimming, biking, running, and put them all together. You have to do the training and have the skill,” Jin said.

According to both Shannon and Jin, pacing is a key component of the race. “When you’re in the race, there’s a lot of things going on.

You’re working as hard as you can, but you have to stick to the plan,” Jin said. “If you don’t there may be consequences. Especially the biking section can be very dangerous.”

“It’s important not to burn yourself out in the beginning,” Shannon said. “You need to pace yourself.”

As a result of his training, Jin earned 29th place in the 13-15 age group at Nationals. Currently, Jin is 14th in the country for his age group and hopes to continue his competitive career for another two years.

Jin has also been voted a USA Triathlon All-American for 2017, Jeff Boyer, Jin’s coach, said.

Despite Jin’s 14th rank in his age group in the country, he does not aspire to be an Olympic athlete. “If I was going for the Olympics, I got a little bit of a late start, and I’m not in the right environment right now,” Jin said. Shannon, on the other hand wants to continue in the sport, “until I can’t,” she said.

Dakota Stennett-Neris/ Contributing Photographer

CHILL-LAX Girls Varsity Lacrosse prepares for game against Trinity.

Girls Lacrosse team beats Trinity for first time in four years Oliver Steinman Contributing Writer Last Wednesday, the Girls’ Varsity Lacrosse team beat Trinity 8-7 for the first time in four years, with cocaptain Nikki Sheybani (12) scoring the winning goal in overtime.

Coming into the game against Trinity, the Lions had a 3-2 record.

Although some of the team’s most talented players graduated last year, The Lions replenished their numbers with some talented and athletic underclassmen who have stepped up during games, Sheybani said.

The team prepared themselves for Trinity’s team, which they knew to be quick and aggressive, Sheybani said. For this reason, the team focused more on its defense and spent time practicing transition and connecting passes, and “our passes were key to winning this game,” Sheybani said.

“In the end, we left everything we had on the field until the last seconds of overtime,” she said.

What ultimately gave the team the victory was the team’s accurate offense and consistent defense, Noah Goldberg (11) said. “Although the ball was mostly on our defensive side for the majority of the game, we managed to block and save most of the goals,” she said.

“Every game against Trinity for the last four plus years has been neck-and-neck. This year’s tension was definitely intensified due to the

Trinity-initiated rivalry from their homecoming winter games. Overall, it was surreal to finally beat Trinity and it was honestly the best game of lacrosse I have seen us play in my four years on this team,” Sheybani said.

“This game was about who wanted it more, and after five years of losing we weren’t about to take another loss. So we pulled together as a team, tightened up our defense, passed more on offense, played clean and smart, and that gave us the win,” Goldberg said.

“Trinity has always been a tough team to beat for us. They are consistent and experienced, and we fought really hard to come up with a win in overtime this game,” Abigail Kraus (11) said.

The win was significant not only for the team’s placement in the tournament but because it was also the first time the seniors have beaten Trinity, Head Coach of Girls Varsity Lacrosse Keri Panarelli said.

“Our victory sets us up to have a really great second half of the season, but we need to finish strong and win out the rest of our remaining games,” Panarelli said.

“Looking forward, we need to beat Trinity again and continue to win our upcoming games as we compete for a good seed in the tournament,” Kraus said.

“We showed up to have fun and play hard for each other, and along the way, we won,” said Sheybani.