Volume 120, Issue 4

This year’s homecoming theme, “Mannkind,” is the brainchild of Director of Alumni Relations Kristen Lax. “I thought it would be fun to delve into some wordplay using Horace’s last name, ‘Mann,’ and ended up generating a list of words and phrases starting or ending with the letters ‘man,’” Lax said.

“The deeper meaning is coming together and being a community to support causes we all believe in. Some of those may be social justice movements like abortion rights cases or Black Lives Matter or even smaller instances like wining as a team or ending bullying. The goal of homecoming is to come together to support our teams and support each other on and off the field.”

“[The term Mannkind] really invokes themes of space and the show “For All Mankind.” In terms of Homecoming, humans are coming home to Mars. Since it’s a pun, it really symbolizes the witty spirit of Horace Mann.”

“It’s a celebration of people and friends. I just had my first model UN meeting and I am planning on continuing it and going to conferences. I am planning on being involved in other service learning programs within the school. I am excited for what HM lead is going to do with service learning in the Bronx.”

“You could take mankind and shrink it down to Horace Mann-kind, with all the diversity of the students. [I see Horace Mann-kind] on my normal days, just watching the students and everyone together.”

“I consider ‘Horace Mann spirit’ something that’s competitive yet incredibly friendly. I don’t know how Horace Mann does it! I’ve only been here for a month, but I can tell everyone is very lively. There’s never really been a class that’s “dead” or low on energy. Moments that make me feel a part of the community are in the locker room before and after practice. Being able to join in on all the talking and laughing really makes me feel like I’ve been here since kindergarten.”

“Mankind normally means people, but in relation to Horace Mann it makes me think of the Horace Mann community. [Homecoming is] a day for us to come together where we celebrate us and all the hard work we put into our school environment and sports teams. It perfectly captures that moment where everyone’s happy while smiling on the sidelines and rooting for their family and friends.”

“There’s 5000 people. That’s the thing I like about homecoming; you don’t even have to watch the sports, you just walk around having conversations with people and hanging out. I want to highlight all the positives that I see in the community; kids helping each other, packing books for or taking notes. That’s the kind of Mannkind I see around here.”

“My initial reaction was a sense of happy humanity and Horace Mann being one big family. [I most feel the Mannkind community at] graduation and Cross Country meets, track meets, and Homecoming games.”

Sophie Rukin, Harper Rosenberg, and Kate Beckler Staff Writers

Timmy Lipsey (8)

Nitika Subramanian (12)

Raina Shah (8)

Glenn Smith

Ariana Ferron (8) Ryan Lutnick (11)

Javaid Khan

Meredith Cullen

Keetha wins NSP award and performs poetry at White House

“My mom was watching TV and all of a sudden started yelling that Vidhatrie was on the news — I ran into the room and saw Jill Biden, and then Vidhatrie,” Paulson said. Paulson has watched Keetha’s talent grow since ninth grade. “This is probably one of the biggest accomplishments for any high school student to achieve, so I really feel some second hand excitement for her.”

A thoughtful and outstandingly strong English student, Keetha’s writing is excellent in every genre, English teacher Jacob Kaplan, who taught her in ninth grade, said.

“She’s a really talented storyteller, she was really good at creating vivid, surprising images,” he said. “I was struck by that from the beginning.”

an epithet and insert themselves into it. “She named her epithet ‘Creative Vidhatrie,’” Bahr said. “She took all her projects to the ninth degree, it was a pleasure to get anything creative from her.”

Erica Jiang Staff Writer

Vidhatrie Keetha (12) visited the White House on Tuesday, September 27 to represent the Northeast region of the United States as one of five National Student Poets (NSP).

In June, Keetha was notified she was an NSP winner, but had to keep it confidential until August for the official press release, she said. “It was surreal to me when I got the call from the director of the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers.” she said. “I never actually expected that I could win.”

Keetha applied for the honor after she won a gold medal for poetry in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards and became a semifinalist for the NSP program. The Alliance for Young Artists & Writers along with the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), a federal agency, hosts the NSP Program.

The NSP program was created by former First Lady Michelle Obama under the Committee on the Arts and Humanities in 2012 to encourage youth poetry ambassadors. Every year, the Alliance and IMLS selects five students for the program, each representing a different geographic region of the country.

Keetha completed an additional application for the program, she said. “I submitted a few more poems, a biography, a video of myself reciting poetry, and another video talking about why I write poetry and why I wanted to serve as a National Student Poet.”

Last week, Keetha attended a formal appointment ceremony at the Planet Word Museum in Washington DC. At the appointment, Keetha read two poems for families and program

alumni, she said. “It felt like a practice round for our trip to the White House.” The ceremony featured keynote speaker Naomi Shihab Nye, an American poet. “I got to know her on a more personal level, and she even helped to take pictures of me and my family,” Keetha said.

In addition to Nye, Keetha met 27 other alumni of the program. “An alum who represented the Northeast region in the past, who was also from the Bronx, approached me with suggestions for my community service project and told me about local poetry-related organizations,” Keetha said. “Many other alumni also approached me to talk to me about my poetry. Everyone was very supportive and kind.”

The winners went to the White House directly after the event at the Planet Word Museum. “When we walked in, there was a really nice reception with live music. Afterwards, they took professional photos of all of us with the First Lady and Ada Limón.” Keetha said.

Later, they went to the State Dining Room where family and alumni sat at circular tables, while the press was in the back of the room with cameras, Keetha said. Each winner read one poem, chosen by the White House, to a small live audience — including Dr. Jill Biden and Limón, the 24th poet laureate of the United States.

The event was live-streamed on the White House website and shown on various news stations. “I was getting texts an hour later from my friends that they had seen me on TV,” Keetha said. “I had never done a poetry reading in front of such a large audience.”

Giselle Paulson (12) is one of Keetha’s friends who saw her on TV.

As a NSP, Keetha must complete a community service project to spread awareness about poetry, ranging from local workshops to national programs. “For me, activism is an important part of being a National Student Poet because you have this platform that very few people do at our age — you can’t take that lightly.” Keetha is just beginning to form ideas about her project and has not arrived at a concrete theme yet, she said.

Keetha’s journey to NSP began in middle school when she started writing poetry during a poetry unit in her sixth grade English class, she said. “Before, I had thought poetry was superficial, because at an elementary level, we are only taught poetry through examples of rhyme schemes and specific sequences of words.” Nevertheless, her teacher encouraged her to continue writing, and even brought up her poetry at a parent-teacher conference. “I gained confidence to explore it personally, and started to see the value of poetry,” Keetha said.

Keetha’s interest in poetry deepened as she saw connections between art and activism, she said. “In my classes, we’ve learned about the significance of poetry in the political world and how it’s important to various revolutions, as well as activism,” she said. “That’s what motivates me to explore the intersection of poetry and activism.”

Keetha likes to incorporate descriptions of the natural world into her poetry, and is inspired by mythology and folklore, she said. “My family is from India, and a lot of Indian cultural poetry is intertwined with mythology, if you think about epics.” To Keetha, poetry is a unique way of telling stories by blending oral and written traditions, which cannot be done in prose, she said. “Poetry can be anything. It can be a speech, song lyrics, epic poems, anything, so I really like pushing the boundaries of what form my poetry takes.” At the moment, Keetha mostly explores free verse and prose poems.

Entering tenth grade, Keetha already knew a lot about writing, English teacher Rebecca Bahr said.

“She’s been writing since a little girl so she just vacuums up all that she reads on her own and anything you give her,” she said. For a project on the Odyssey, Bahr asked students to write

Kaplan was not surprised to hear about Keetha’s award and is incredibly proud of her, he said. “It’s easy for creative writing talent to go unrecognized. It’s not always a readily commodifiable thing, so I think it’s wonderful when institutions recognize this,” Kaplan said. “I really hope it encourages her to keep writing.”

Beyond Sea and Sunrise

Words I know, worlds I don’t know. I wish I could step into the water and pretend it was a portal to the sky. I want to look down from above & heal the hearts

of different people, different lineages. I can only pretend to write an homage to ancestors; only hope to tell their stories, one by one. I pretend to light candles for each one of their lives, & watch them burn in the darkness every evening, for seven nights. Their stories are stuck in an ocean between past & present: the old land where they died, and the country

where lives renew. Spices spilled like trails of blood on the way, & I follow the scent to retrace their path. I bite into each powder-covered spoon, notice how the taste has never gone stale, how my throat still burns so deliciously. I’m sorry — I don’t know your language, I am no longer your child; dead leaves & deciduous

forests have long replaced resplendent jungle, & even that melts away into cityscape. New York City indoctrinates its flashing lights & emblems, steals & disfigures culture. Six miles to the ships at the harbor, with docks that are stained with dreams & the residue of foreign syrups that remains sticky & fragrant across seas, shorelines, mixing with the taste of salt. This is melting pot; this is how people traverse sea & sky & exchange stories to the point I can’t even tell if I am doing my heritage a disservice by forgetting.

- Vidhatrie Keetha

WHITE

Vidhatrie reads to US Poet Laureate Ada Limón.

Sam Siegel/Photo

Where’s the respect? Take student athletes seriously.

of the most time consuming extracurriculars on campus. We give up weeks of our vacations for practice and have games over weekends. Regardless of a big project or standardized test the next day, if we are required to be at the practice or game, we happily will be. For those of us who play at higher levels, we often play on club teams outside of school and put in extra training hours. For me, playing baseball outside of school has been a huge commitment. Going from two hours of basketball practice at school, to a training session for baseball, then studying for a big test the next day is not an easy routine.

Just look at high schools like HarvardWestlake and Brunswick, and universities like Duke, Vanderbilt, Princeton, and Stanford. It might not be a 50-50 balance, but there are small steps that we can take to improve the student body’s attitude towards athletics, students’ pride in our school, and from there, our athletes’ competitive ability.

Imagine this: it’s the night before the biggest game of your team’s season, and you don’t have a place to practice.

The Boys Varsity Basketball team didn’t have to imagine this scenario. It happened before the 2022 Buzzell Game when we lost to Riverdale by just seven points. Would having a place to practice the night help finalize our defensive gameplan and plays have actually helped in the game? Maybe, maybe not, but we’ll never know — after we found out that the gyms on our campus were taken, we walked to the Lower School only to find that their gym was also being used, leaving us little time to practice that day. This disorganization is just one of the many issues that stem from the lack of a strong athletic culture at Horace Mann.

The commitment of a student athlete at Horace Mann is one

For all the work that we put in, it is fair to expect that we have adequate practice and playing facilities available. It takes a lot of planning, logistics, and flexibility to accommodate all the teams. With a plan, coaches can organize practice around what is available. But, to not have space to practice the night before Buzzell? To sideline Boys Varsity Soccer’s Homecoming game on the smaller Four Acres field? Why not let them play Friday instead? Not to mention the bumpy Baseball and Softball fields last Spring that were not just embarrassing to play on but were dangerous (the turf was replaced this summer, for which I am thankful).

Horace Mann is known as a strong academic institution, but too often our athletics are thought of as a joke. Academics and athletics can coexist.

Across the top-ranked high schools and colleges in the nation, you will find vibrant athletic programs and cultures alongside stellar academics.

Lions’ Den Editorial

By Max Chasin

Horace Mann athletics are vastly underappreciated.

When athletes put on our maroon and white jerseys, we want to play for a crowd that is proud of us and of our school. Any athlete knows that playing in front of a big audience brings an unmatched adrenaline rush. This year, I attended the first two home games for Varsity Football and had two disappointing takeaways: there were more students from Riverdale than Horace Mann at a game on our campus, and there were practically no students at the second game against Newark Academy. Football games, and any important sports event, should be big events with big crowds. Being able to come to campus on a Saturday is an opportunity we are fortunate to have, yet few of us took advantage of it.

Students at Horace Mann lack school spirit. Opposing schools in our area have Friday night football or soccer games where the stands are packed, basketball games where the gym is so loud you can’t hear yourself think, and volleyball games where the stands are filled with students cheering on their peers. Students support their peers whether or not they are involved with athletics.

How can we bring more excitement to big Varsity sports games? Location

and timing is a significant challenge. How can everyone get home from an evening game or to the Saturday football games if they can’t drive or don’t want to spend money on an Uber? Making games more accessible for students to attend would be a starting point. Usually, the Friday night Varsity Basketball games start at 5 p.m. and the attendance is minimal because the late buses leave at 6 p.m. A solution for both the later Friday night games and the Saturday Football games could be to have two buses running to the East and West sides of Manhattan, where most students reside, that leave at the end of the game.

Another solution is to advertise sports games more. Students use social media and team spirit to promote their games, and Sr. Dalo mentions them in his weekly previews; the school can put up posters around the campus and on the monitors telling everyone when and where the games are. Last year, the Marathon Softball event drew more students to the Varsity Baseball game against Riverdale than any other sports games that season. It was well advertised, there were food trucks, and people could participate in additional activities that gave them incentive to attend.

It doesn’t just have to be schoolsponsored events like Marathon Softball. Students can build hype themselves: during Basketball season, there was a big Friday game against Trinity where the students promoted the game as a “blackout” and everyone wore black attire. People made posters

and even set up a fake “ESPN” table as students were walking in. The gym was loud, people were excited to be there, and it was one of the best games we played all season because we had our peers there to support us.

Sure, the teams at Horace Mann are not always the most successful and exciting to watch, and that might explain why students don’t show up to watch games. However, I believe this is merely an excuse. Many teams at Horace Mann are successful and it is always fun to attend a match where your friends are putting it all out there to win for the school. If attendance at games increases, maybe our teams will feel more support and show it in their records at the end of the season.

Last spring, the baseball team had a fun and winning culture. It started from Coach Russo’s motivation, continued with good senior leadership, and spread to the rest of the team who wanted to win, as support from the student body motivated us to take pride in our team and the school that we represent. If we want more teams at the school to succeed like Varsity Baseball did, we need to take action on these changes. Encourage your peers, create events around games, and get excited about taking part in improving the culture of athletics at Horace Mann.

We are an institution with great resources, people, and means; it would not take much to unite our community around an energetic athletic culture and support the student athletes that commit so much of themselves to our school.

HOT TAKES

Each day, after hours of solving calculus problem sets, analyzing Toni Morrison readings, and transcribing chemical formulas, student athletes persevere through physical fatigue and mental exhaustion to train for the sports they love. Whether it be Be it running miles upon miles through the back hills of Van Cortlandt Park, swimming thousands of meters in the bone chilling Jeffrey H. Loria Family Aquatic Center pool, or grinding through yet another set of full field sprints on the soccer pitch, athletes push themselves to extremes to improve, all the while encouraging their teammates to do the same.

Often, few spectators show up to watch the battles between our Lions’ and their opposition, be it the Fieldston Tigers, Hackley Hornets, or whatever other team stands in theirour way. I can speak from experience — Wwater Ppolo games don’t pack the stands full of fans, and many days, I can count our viewers on one hand (mostly the parents of students on the team).

Playing a Wwater Ppolo game in front of a crowd is like nothing else I’ve experienced in my life. The cheers of bustling fans over the roar of splashing waves and shrill whistles is exhilarating, and the crowd erupting when we score a goal provides an immeasurable amount of happiness. Each cheer gives me that extra boost to push through my exhaustion during a crucial moment of the game –– it’s almost like a free shot of adrenaline!

Homecoming is the long-awaited opportunity for an athlete to showcase the hard work they’ve put into their craft for a — hopefully — large crowd. Families, friends, and alumni come and show support to the teams, and, along with the food, performances, and carnival activities, the atmosphere is electric. I’ll never forget the Water Polo team’s Homecoming battle in 2019 (my freshman year) against Fieldston; the packed stands and festivity made for an unforgettable experience.

Before such a widely loved event, what better place to present our support and appreciation for school athletes and teams than in The Record! This week’s issue will cover all nine Varsity teams competing at Homecoming, detailing the results of their season thus far and their preparation in anticipation for Saturday. We hope to be where you can go to see the hard work each and every athlete has dedicated to improving their skills, and get excited for the most beloved day of sports this year.

Wear your maroon and white and come out to cheer on our athletes tomorrow at Homecoming — check the back cover of this issue for the full schedule of all the sporting events. GO LIONS!!!

Staff Writers

Opinions

Staff

^ sports

Avi Kumar (12)

The Eagles are the best football team. No question.

Ana Aguilar (12)

Dance is a sport that requires more skill than most other popular sports.

Divya Ponda (12)

We should be able to pick intensity of sports in PE — there should be an option to sign up for a super sporty PE vs. a chill one.

Eshan Mehere (12)

Patrick Mahomes is the most talented athlete ever— and will retire as the most decorated. Mahomes has been off the charts in every single performance metric possible. There has been quite literally zero historical precedence for his level of play.

Steve Yang (12) Roger Federer is the GOAT.

Moe Lawsky (12) The Steelers are the best football team.

Mikail Akbar (12) Soccer is the best sport.

Josh Winiarsky (12) Daniel Jones is a Top 10 quarterback.

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GO LIONS! GO LIONS!

Varsity Football

on the team this year,” he said.

“Like every Homecoming, we are going to be fired up and super focused,” Varsity Football Defensive Coordinator Ron Beller said. “At the

The team dynamic has played a prominent role in their success, Matthew Jacobson (12) said. “Having trust in each other and having strong friendships makes the team play much better,” he said.

ever played MKA, but they have played similar teams in the past, so they have an idea of where they stand and what the competition will be like, Jacobson said. “Based on the success of MKA, it’s going to be a pretty challenging

team,” he said.

Varsity Football coaches

same time, we have never played this team before, so it’s going to take a total team effort in all three of the game phases to compete.”

Team member Sam Spector (11) is confident that the team will have a successful rest of the season. “We weren’t satisfied with our record last year, which inspired people to work over the offseason and get better and stronger, and impacted the talent

The team also spends time with each other outside of school and after games, bringing closer with

The team faces Montclair Kimberley Academy (MKA) tomorrow at Homecoming. The game will be the first time the Lions

Varsity Water Polo

Julia Bouchut Staff Writer

“Homecoming is a big day. It’s the biggest crowd of the year, so everybody should be very excited about it,” Varsity Water Polo Coach Michael Duffy said.

The Varsity Water Polo team will play Riverdale this Saturday. The team has played six games in the season so far; they won five and lost one to Staples High School.

The team’s main goals are the same as they have always been, Duffy said. “Work hard, have fun, and we’ll see where that takes us.”

They have not yet played Riverdale this year, so they do not know the team’s strengths or weaknesses, Duffy said. “If we play the way we’re capable of playing, we’ll be fine.” Last year, the Lions played Riverdale on Homecoming and beat them 25-2.

Because the team doesn’t know what to expect from Riverdale, they

plan to start the game with strong defense, Duffy said. “If we play some really good defense, we’ll get some turnovers and then that will feed our counter attack.”

To prepare for Homecoming, the team has been working on fundamental skills like individual pressure defense and teamwork, as well as conditioning — the team tries to swim at least 1000 yards each practice.

If the team does not swim quickly, they cannot get back to the other side of the pool to defend properly, Jared Contant (12) said. The team has also been practicing new strategies like sloughing – double teaming the hole set – and blocking by putting the defender in front of the hole set, he said.

“Scoring is not a problem, but getting back on defense and stopping them is,” Noah Catillo (10) said. “So we’ve been working a lot on ball security.”

In addition to looking into MKA’s track record with other teams that the Lions have played, the team watched videos of MKA’s games to get a for how play, said. “We are definitely looking forward to playing in front of our home crowd, and we hope for a big turnout,” he said.

To prepare for Homecoming, practices have become more intense, Spector said. “We want to get the [offense and defense line] more riled up than they have been and to be more aggressive and attack the other

Matthew Russo and Beller have played a large role in preparing the team mentally and physically for the game, Jack Mogelof (11) said. “Coach Russo is really trying to light a fire inside of each player and get them to play to their full potential,” he said.

As a coach, Beller aims to provide every player with the most positive experience that they can have, he said. “If we do that, then we can establish some lifetime memories and life skills that they can carry on with them for the rest of their lives.”

Although it is important to consider that this is one of the

most significant games of the year, it’s crucial to treat it like every other game, Jacobson said.

The goal for this season for the entire team is to make the MIFL B playoffs, Jacobson said. “It is still up for grabs right now, but I think as long as we do what we know we are capable of doing, we should be in a good spot.”

No matter the score of the game, Beller is proud of his team.“To me, it’s not about wins and losses, but it’s about really controlling the approach, controlling what we can control, but more importantly, as a coach, teach life skills that [the players] can carry on throughout their lives,” Beller said.

Even though the team lost to Staples, they played a good game and had some successful moments come from it, Contant said. He and a player from the Staples’s team matched up evenly and defended each other the entire game, he said. “At the end, we high-fived and made one of those little connections.”

Other players on the team have also been doing very well, Duffy said. Goalkeepers Oliver Konopko (10), Contant, and Rohan Mahajan (12), as well as Castillo and Alex Lautin (12) have improved their skills, he said.

Captain Max Chasin (12) and Castillo have played particularly well this season, Duffy said. Since

stronger players to score goals, they try to include everyone when have taken leadership roles, Duffy said. “They lead by example and

GET OPEN! Rohan Mahajan (12) throws the ball downpool.

Sam Siegel/Photo Director

NOT SO FAST Matthew Jacobson (12) tackles the opposition.

Rena Salsberg Staff Writer

FIRST DOWN! Nate Wildman (12) cuts through defense.

NOT IN MY HOUSE Noah Castillo (10) goes for the block.

Sam Siegel/Photo Director

All photos courtesy of Barry Mason

GO LIONS! GO LIONS!

Boys Varsity Soccer

Naomi Yaeger Staff Writer

Ranked third in the Ivy Preparatory League, Boys Varsity Soccer (BVS) is ready to defeat Riverdale at their Homecoming game, Jem Klancnik (11) said. “We think that we can beat them — we are at home so we have that advantage, and we’re going to give our all,” he said.

The key to the team’s success has been consistent passing, Klancnik said. “We have been working on our build-up play, meaning we do a lot of passing, rather than just super long balls.”

Looking ahead to Homecoming, the team has focused specifically on their one to two passes in practice, Matteo Monti (11) said. “In a one to two pass, you would pass the ball to someone and then the other person would pass it right back in a

matter of a split second, just so the defender has to run back and forth and it tires them out,” he said.

The team has many strong players this year, such as center backs Max Ting (12) and Dylan Greenberg (11), Coach Gregg Quilty said.

“They’re probably the best center back combo that I’ve seen so far.”

Center backs work together on defense to protect the goal.

The team has also been successful because every member plays their part, no matter their grade, Monti said. “All the seniors are really good leaders, and then we have the freshmen who are really funny and enjoyable to be around,” he said.

“Everyone plays a role, and we all go really well together.”

However, the team still faces some challenges, Quilty said. “The lack of size, speed, and experience has been holding us back on the offensive

Girls Varsity Volleyball

Ava Lipsky Staff Writer

The Girls Varsity Volleyball (GVV) team is gearing up for success in tomorrow’s Homecoming match against Riverdale.

over half their games this season and qualify for NYSAlS. So far, small mistakes have been undercutting them, he said. “Our strategy is to play at our full potential, every day.” Team member Daphne Tsai (11) feels confident going into the

said. In their game against Dalton this Monday, the team turned a low scoring match into a win. “It was 0-0 for the majority of the game and in the last five minutes, we scored a goal,” Monti said. “They were demoralized, and we were then able to score another goal.”

At Homecoming, BVS will play Riverdale for the first time this season, Owen Stafford (12) said.

“Riverdale lost a lot of seniors since last year, so the line-up is going to be new to us and apparently they have a lot of young talent.”

The team beat Riverdale at Homecoming last year by a score of 3-1, Santi Simonian (11) said. “It was a really good game with lots a really good

The larger crowd at Homecoming helps the team play their best, Stafford said. “We all definitely feed off the energy from the crowd,” he

first Homecoming game. “I’m just looking to play my best and treat my first Homecoming like any other game,” he said. He believes that with the right amount of focus, the team will pull through for the win. “Our team’s chemistry, talent, and coaches can’t be matched by Riverdale,” he said.

If the team concentrates and works hard together, they should be able to beat Riverdale, Monti said. “The team strategy is simple: every game we run hard, do what our coach wants us to do, and then score goals and hopefully win.”

For Stafford, the higher stakes of the Homecoming game is just what the team needs to push them to the

GVV has been playing better than last year with a 3-3 record so far, Coach Jason Torres said. The team has been preparing for their Homecoming match against the Falcons all season. The expectation is they will play well and win the match, he said. They hope to win

homecoming match. “We have had our fair share of wins and losses, but we are determined to win our Homecoming game.”

Homecoming is the team’s chance to shine, Michelle Orloff (11) said. “I’m hoping that we start to win more games this season, and

Homecoming can be a really good opportunity for us to get our drive back,” she said.

Games at Homecoming have a different atmosphere than regular games due to the larger crowds, Tsai said. “It gets us more hype because people are cheering and watching,” she said.

Homecoming allows the team

demonstrate their progress to the greater school community, Ariella Weber (11) said. “We get to showcase our team to the school and play in front of such a large and lively crowd.”

To prepare for the game, the team has been

said. “We really appreciate them, and sometimes it can rattle the other team a bit,” he said.

As a freshman on the team, Henry Stevanovic (9) is excited for his

win. “It’s definitely higher stakes, especially for our seniors,” he said.

“It’s our last Homecoming here, we definitely want to end it on a win.”

honing different skills, Orloff said.

“We are primarily doing drills that target the team’s weaker points like serving and serve receive,” she said.

Serving is one of many skills the team has been working on. “Serving is important because it is the one part of the game where our team is in complete control,” Weber

Some standout players on the team are Jaelah Taylor (12) and Eva Campbell (12), Torres said.

“They play hard and come up with big plays at the times we need one, like a big hit, big block, or great save,” he said. Taylor is currently leading the team on hits with

84 this season, and Campbell leads the team with nine solo blocks.

Other strong members include Orloff, who is a great asset on defense and an aggressive attacker, Tsai said. Maddie Kim (11) is playing setter for the first time this season, meaning she hits balls near the net, and despite it being a challenging position, she has done a great job, Tsai said.

The entire team is working hard to play at their full potential, Weber said. “Whether it is playing on the court, or supporting the team from the bench, everybody is contributing.”

PASSING THROUGH Owen Stafford (12) boots the ball upfield.

WATCH YOUR BACK Nigel Harris (10) steals the shot.

Players seize up the opposition.

LOCKED AND LOADED Michelle Orloff (11) goes for the serve.

GO LIONS! GO LIONS!

the Lions played Riverdale on Homecoming and beat them 25-2. Because the team doesn’t know what to expect from Riverdale, they plan to start the game with strong defense, Duffy said. “If we play some really good defense, we’ll get some turnovers and then that will feed our counter attack.”

To prepare for Homecoming, the team has been working on fundamental skills like individual pressure defense and teamwork, as well as conditioning — the team tries to swim at least 1000 yards each practice.

If the team does not swim quickly, they cannot get back to the other side of the pool to defend

properly, Jared Contant (12) said. The team has also been practicing new strategies like sloughing –double teaming the hole set – and blocking by putting the defender in front of the hole set, he said.

“Scoring is not a problem, but getting back on defense and stopping them is,” Noah Catillo (10) said. “So we’ve been working a lot on ball security.”

Even though the team lost to Staples, they played a good game and had some successful moments come from it, Contant said. He and a player from the Staples’s team matched up evenly and defended each other the entire game, he said. “At the end, we high-fived and made one of those little connections.”

Other players on the team have also been doing very well, Duffy

said. Goalkeepers Oliver Konopko (10), Contant, and Rohan Mahajan (12), as well as Castillo and Alex Lautin (12) have improved their skills, he said.

Captain Max Chasin (12) and Castillo have played particularly well this season, Duffy said. Since the start of the season, Chasin has made 57 goals and 12 assists, and Castillo 19 goals and 6 assists. “I’ve been here a long time, and [Chasin] is blowing the statistics out of the water,” Duffy said.

The larger crowd makes Homecoming more personal than other games, Castillo said. The energy of the crowd really pushes the team for the rest of the season, Hernandez said.

Especially this year, the seniors have taken leadership roles, Duffy said. “They lead by example and that’s kind of trickled down to our younger players and even to our JV team,” he said. “They come to practice with a serious attitude, and they work really, really hard.”

of playing, we’ll be fine.” Last year,

Varsity Field Hockey

Oliver Konopko Staff Writer

Girls Varsity Field Hockey is set to play Riverdale on Alumni Field tomorrow at 1:00 pm. Last year, the team won during Riverdale’s homecoming, and they hope to extend their streak on Saturday, Sydney Kurtz (9) said.

The team began their season 0-3 against two of the best teams they will see all year, Hackley and King, Girls Varsity Field Hockey Coach Caroline Surhoff said. Those games gave a lot of experience to newer players and set the tone for the season, she said. “It’s good to be challenged, to learn how to pick yourself up and to encourage each other.”

Last year, Piper Wallace ‘22 was a strong goalie and Jhanaie Ottey ‘22 was a strong defender, Surhoff said.

Since they graduated, the team has been working to build up a strong defense, she said.

In addition to building up the team’s defense this season, the team is also improving their ball movement, Surhoff said. They

is trying to solidify a starting lineup so players can become comfortable with each other and really learn their positions, she said.

Surhoff is particularly proud of the effort that the midfielders, such as Ava Parento (9), Kurtz, and Zoe

While the team often relies on the stronger players to score goals, they try to include everyone when they pass the ball around at games, Julian Hernandez (12) said. “Even if somebody is not a strong player, just having them play, like passing and shooting, is going to make us a better team.”

The team looks forward to showing off their skills at Homecoming, such as the strength they have built training in a deep pool, Duffy said. “Everybody’s really pumped. It’s good for the community to see how hard this group of kids works.”

LIONS!

16, Migdon made 28 saves.

To prepare for the game, the team watched old game film on Thursday in order to understand what they need to do for Homecoming, Yoon said. The team had a regular practice on Friday to make sure everyone is ready for the game, Migdon said.

Besides practice, the team will be doing two main things in preparation for the game: team spirit and the pep rally, Yoon said. The seniors choose what costumes the team will be wearing for team spirit and no one else on the team knows what they’ll be wearing until they get to school on Friday, Yoon said.

After spending the whole day in

costume, there is a pep rally on the field, which the team is very excited about, Migdon said.

To prepare on homecoming day, the team will have breakfast together at school and then go to the field to warm up as a team, Kurtz said. She looks forward to playing in the game, especially after watching it last year, before she joined the high school team.

Homecoming increases the odds of the team winning their game on Saturday, Yoon said. She does not feel extra pressure to play against Riverdale and continue HM’s win streak against them. “It’s like any other game, except for the fact that it’s Homecoming.”

HUDDLE UP GVS warms up for the game.

GOOD HUSTLE! Jane Offit (11) sprints for the ball.

WATCH

Maddie Yoon

attacks

ball.

Sophie Pietrzak (11) leaps for the shot.

GO LIONS! GO LIONS!

Girls Varsity Tennis

Audrey O’Mary Staff Writer

The Girls’ Varsity Tennis Team (GVT) started off their season with four wins in the Ivy Preparatory League and one loss against Hackley. Tomorrow, they plan to defeat Riverdale at Homecoming.

The team is ranked second in the league and players aim to win the league and do well in the New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS), team member Emma Chang (10) said.

The team has grown closer

Varsity (JV) team last year, and by comparison Varsity feels considerably higher stakes because everyone is so committed, she said. But, with the increased stakes comes a stronger sense of community, she said, “There’s generally really solid team chemistry among us.”

The team consists of players from all four grades of the school and they have formed a pretty cohesive unit over the past month, Troop said. “[The] seniors have stepped

Girls and Boys Varsity Cross Country

Oliver Konopko Staff Writer

This Saturday, for Homecoming, selected runners from the Boys and Girls Varsity Cross Country teams will participate in one of the tri-state area’s largest events: the Manhattan College Invitational. At the meet, the seven best runners from each team will compete against runners from about 100 other schools.

Cross Country Homecoming is very different as they do not have traditional “games” like other teams, Clementine Bondor (12) said. Although Homecoming is special because there is more support for the team, the runners treat it like any other race.

The runners have continued to improve throughout the season, Coach Meredith Cullen said. They perform consistently at practices and races and are running slightly better than last year, in part due

to active senior leadership from Bondor, Cullen said. Because of Bondor, the team has been able to bond at practices and meets to foster a healthier environment, she said.

Last year, runners only practiced with two-thirds of the team at once because of the relaxed attendance policy, Bondor said. A much stricter policy this year has incentivized consistent attendance, which helps build morale and tighten team relationships, she said. The team has also brought back the tradition of stopping at Lloyd’s Carrot Cake after each meet to boost spirit after tiring races.

Spencer Kim (11) believes that the Boys team is performing better than last year, with a higher sense of morale on the team compared to last year, he said. Due to last year’s slow start to the season because of the COVID virus’s effects, he was excited to be able to have a much

more structured and consistent start to the season this year.

This season, Story Sossen’s (10) goal has been to improve her times, even just by a few seconds every meet, she said. Many teammates share this goal, and it is helpful for them to consistently practice at Van Cortlandt Park, so they are familiar

up to the plate, and have really been leaders,” he said.

Although some tennis players in the Upper Division choose not to join the team on the advice of their personal coaches, the team is still very strong and doing well, he said. The number one singles player this year is Diya Chawla (10), and she has been a real asset to the team. There are also several freshmen on the team who have also been doing well, Troop said.

does their best, she said.

Last year, Sossen found that it was easier for her to improve her time at the Homecoming race because of the huge number of participants. Since runners are never alone on the hills, they are always competing with each other, and are forced to have better times come out of the race.

Although the team focuses more on the competitions in the NYSAIS and Ivy Preparatory Leagues, Kim believes that Homecoming will be a special chance to bond with teammates and prepare for more intense races in the future, he said. Kim is also excited to see some of his friends from other schools and to run against them at the race, he said, and he hopes that the larger format of the race will allow him to set a new personal record.

IN THE TRENCHES Story Sossen (10) runs with the pack.

GOOD GAME Sammi Strasser (12) and Emma Chang (10) strategize.

Zack Kierstead (12) crosses the line.

EYES ON THE PRIZE Diya Chawla (10) watches the competition.

Athletes dress up for comraderie, bonding, and fun on game days

Isabella Ciriello

“Team spirit is one of my favorite parts of the [field hockey] team because it just adds a really fun sense of community and a playfulness that I really enjoy,” Ellie Romero (10) said.

On game days, many sports teams participate in team spirit where they dress up in creative costumes to boost team morale and bond.

Michelle Orloff (11), a member of the Girls Varsity Volleyball team (GVV), always

member Maya Glickman (9) said. Her favorite theme this year was pajamas because it was the most comfortable, she said. She also liked when the Varsity Water Polo team did beach-themed spirit because they got to wear bright flower-patterned shirts and sunglasses, she said.

Another classic theme is ski goggles and sports jerseys, which was one of Edelman’s favorite team spirits from last year, he said.

Another one of his favorite themes is when the team travels to Poly Prep and they act like they are going on a big trip to an airport because the school is so far away, he said.

“We bring suitcases and pillows because it’s

gets excited for team spirit. It brings the team together,” she said. “We all have to text each other to figure out what we’re wearing, and sometimes we can make it goofy.”

Last Friday, GVV dressed up as their “red flags,” or toxic character traits, which they taped onto red shirts. Some examples were “forgets to block,” “serial dater,” “bodies the net when she hits,” and “doesn’t move their feet,” Orloff said.

While there are themes teams often repeat each season, such as blackout, pajamas, white lies, and business casual, the more creative costumes are funnier and strike

such a long car ride.”

Last year, Romero found it funny when the seniors chose Adam Sandler as the theme for basketball. “It was the dead of winter, but we were asked to wear shorts and oversized shirts,” she said.

The day before Homecoming, the sports teams go all out and dress up in elaborate costumes, ranging from princesses to pirates and everything in between.

Last year, Romero enjoyed dressing up as one of Snow Whites dwarfs because it was a creative costume and helped her to bond with her teammates, she said.

GVV member Isa Melián (11) always

said. The seniors were chefs, the juniors and sophomores were vegetables, and the freshmen were rats, the most embarrassing costume. “We just thought it was the funniest thing ever.”

Dylan Greenberg (11) is also excited for Homecoming team spirit because it is always creative and funny, he said. Last year, he liked how the BVS goalkeepers, Spencer Kolker (11) and Edelman dressed up in matching inflatable unicorn costumes.

Team spirit helps the team play better in games because it demonstrates solidarity and commitment to the team and each other, Schamroth said. “When only half the team does team spirit, it’s a little bit annoying because if we all walk around the school looking silly, we’re all doing it together,” she said.

English teacher Dr. Adam Casdin enjoys seeing different teams’ outfits because they are often funny and remind him of the lighthearted, less academic side of the school, he said. “Students are just walking into a class and all of a sudden there’s someone dressed up as a teddy bear.” Team spirit brings together students across different grades and makes the school community bond in a playful way, Casdin said. He appreciates

how team spirit shows teachers a different side of students from their classroom selves. “We see a student on the field and in different contexts, and different qualities of that student emerge,” Casdin said. “That’s just thrilling. I love that part of it.”

History teacher Melissa Morales enjoys how team spirit brings together such a large and diverse community of students and faculty with its silly and sometimes embarrassing get-ups. Seeing team spirit encourages her to attend more games and support her students’ teams, she said.

Orloff appreciates team spirit because it models the behavior a team member should have: being able to joke around with friends while also being serious about the sport, she said. “It’s just another form of having good sportsmanship and being a good teammate.”

up more conversations, Orloff said. One of her favorite team spirit costumes is “soccer moms,” where the team dresses up in leggings and Lululemon zip-up jackets.

The seniors of Boys Varsity Soccer (BVS) decide on each theme a few days before a game and text the team group chat, Matthew Edelman (12) said. “We love it. It’s so funny,” he said. “We take a picture right in the morning and we’ll send mirror selfies of us in our outfits.”

The Junior Varsity (JV) Water Polo team decides the theme as a group, which makes it easier to include everyone’s ideas, team

enjoys finding out what the seniors pick for Homecoming. This year is her first on a varsity team, so she is excited to be a part of the tradition, she said Sela Schamroth (12), a member of Girls Varsity Soccer (GVS), has been looking forward to picking the theme since she was a freshman, she said. “It’s just so fun that we get an opportunity to lead the team in a different way. It also shows our team’s commitment to wear such silly costumes around school with zero embarrassment.”

Her favorite Homecoming team spirit costume was when the seniors chose “Ratatouille” in freshman year, Schamroth

ADAM SANDLER What are you doing here?!

DRESSED TO IMPRESS Football gets fancy.

“It’s just so fun that we get an opportunity to lead the team in a different way.” - Sela Schamroth

SOCCER GETS SNAZZY Suited up for the game.

Courtesy of Varsity Football

Courtesy

Varsity Field HockeyInstagram

Alumni reunite on Homecoming

Neeva Patel Staff Writer

“Reunions across the country might initiate anxiety and bring back feelings of being 17 again, but when people go and just connect with people they’ve grown up with, it’s always a really fun experience,” Director of Development Melissa Parento ‘90 said.

Every year the school hosts class reunions on the evening of Homecoming for past classes to reunite, Director of Alumni Relations Kristin Lax P’22 ‘26 said. The reunions also encourage alumni to attend Homecoming, since they are already in the area for reunions, Lax said.

This Saturday, 13 classes will reunite: the Class of 1957 and every multiple of five onwards until 2017.

Khan has attended almost all of his class reunions and will be attending his 30th this weekend. “In the fiveyear reunion, everyone is saying ‘we should hang out more or exchange numbers,’ but by the 30th it’s just good to see everyone, there is no promise beyond that,” he said.

Reunions differ depending on the class’ age, Parento said. “The older classes might have a seated dinner and cocktail hour or something more conducive to what a 65-yearold would enjoy, while the younger classes have a cocktail reception with hors d’oeuvres,” she said.

In the Class of ’87’s room, Parento and Lax will play an 80s-themed playlist; for the Class of ’92, they made a playlist from that generation. “Kristin has good taste in music, so she’ll put popular modern songs in and mix it with songs from the class’ generation,” Parento said.

are a large number of weddings in Manhattan this weekend, Parento said. Luckily, the Harmonie Club had a last-minute cancellation and enough individual spaces to host all of the classes in one place.

Working with the alumni volunteers is always easy, Parento said. “The thing people find out over time is that everyone always has fun at the reunions,” she said. “Often alumni say, ‘should I go, should I not go, are you going?’ We always say ‘just trust us.’” Year after year, alumni express how glad they are that they attended, and many say that the reunions were much more fun than they expected, she said.

“It’s very interesting that there is still peer pressure at our age — if you are on an email chain with 15 people and a lot of people are saying ‘come on let’s go,’ it’s hard to turn that down,” Owens said.

The classes that graduated five or ten years ago tend to have a higher attendance rate than older classes, Parento said. Milestone years such as a 25th or 50th-year reunion always garner more attendance than usual. “It really has to do with the class — you can even feel now that certain classes are really close, and that carries through to the reunions as well,” she said.

The reunions will all take place at the Harmonie Club in Manhattan, with different spaces reserved for each of the different classes. The reunions are managed by the Alumni and Development Office, and Parento and Lax plan most of the events, she said.

Robert Owens ‘67 P’18, P’21 loves to attend reunions because they allow him to once again share a space with the intelligent people he grew up with, he said. “The nicest thing was the camaraderie,” he said. “You share your school career with some incredibly interesting and smart kids, and then you all go on your own way.”

Although Owens does not attend every reunion, he was keen on attending his 50th reunion five years ago because of how special and important of a year it was — in total, around 25 alumni attended. “Everyone was sitting around big tables over dinner and either saying, ‘do you remember that weird thing that happened in 7th grade?’ or just catching up on what people have been doing with their lives,” he said. Since several of Owens’ classmates had passed away, the class held a moment of silence to remember these individuals.

Andrew Peck ‘87 P’24, P’26 also enjoyed reconnecting with various members of his class during reunions, the vast majority of which he had not seen since graduating from the school. The last reunion Peck attended was 15 years ago. “It was interesting to learn where various people had ended up not only personally, but also professionally

In past years, Lax would personally design a playlist based on the music a class listened to in high school, she said. However, she now plays a Spotify pre-made selection for each party.

Ticket prices are also carefully picked so that a wide range of alumni can attend the reunions. Older classes typically pay $100 while younger classes pay anywhere from $50 to $75, Parento said.

The school subsidizes the budgets

Lax has also noticed that classes have distinct personalities. “Some classes are extremely enthusiastic about coming together while others are not,” she said. For the 50th Golden Anniversary Reunion, alumni wear name tags featuring photos of their senior portraits and their names, and guests get a kick out of seeing how their classmates have changed over the years, she said.

“The pins they gave us at the 50th were so interesting to look at because

for reunions depending on the number of alumni attending. Hotel venues in New York City can cost up to $295 per person for cocktails and dinner, but the school only charges a maximum of $100 per person and covers the rest, Lax said. “If anyone has difficulty paying for their ticket, we always are flexible, because we don’t want cost to prevent anyone from attending,” she said.

Parento and Lax select the venue, pick out invitations, curate the menu, and engage with different members of the class, she said. Alumni on the volunteer committee are only responsible for helping with outreach.“It always works best when you have reunion chairs who can be the champions to send emails and motivate their classmates to come, so Kristin and I work with these

“It’s very interesting that there is still peer pressure at our age — if you are on an email chain with 15 people and a lot of people are saying ‘come on let’s go,’ it’s hard to turn that down.”

and geographically,” he said.

For Head of Middle Division Javaid Khan ‘92, reunions remind him of how his classmates’ faces really haven’t changed, he said. “If you haven’t seen someone for five to ten years, you expect not to recognize them, but the minute you see them, you feel like you are back in the cafeteria again,” he said.

members of the class to help others get excited and to attend,” Parento said.

The directors book a venue and send a “save the date” once the Athletics Department decides a Homecoming date over the summer, Lax said.

It was difficult to find a venue for Homecoming this year because there

we all looked so different back then — I mean we were wearing suit jackets,” Owens said.

Although reunions have existed for a long time, the current format — where they host Homecoming in one venue with different individual spaces — has only been around for the last 15 years, Parento said. When alumni walk into the venue there is one main check-in area, but each class is led into their own separate rooms. “In each room there is buzz and excitement and music and laughing and food. It’s a really nice environment to be in,” she said.

For Khan, the only downside of reunions is that you can really only connect with your class, he said. “You are sometimes closer with people in the class above or below you, but since you can’t see them at the reunions, that is what Homecoming is for,” he said.

The check-in area of the venue buzzes with excitement as alumni arrive, and becomes so busy that it can be challenging to coax the guests into their respective rooms. The highlight of reunions is glimpsing the joy on the faces of classmates who haven’t seen each other in a very long time or who are surprised to run into one of their former teachers, Lax said.

This weekend, Khan is excited to see how his classmates are progressing in their life, career, and family, but most of all, he wants to be around friends again, he said. “Even if you don’t keep in touch with people after graduation, your high school career still matters tremendously to who you are now and for that, I am very grateful.”

CLASS OF 1957

CLASS OF 1962 CLASS OF 1967

CLASS OF 1972 CLASS OF 1977

CLASS OF 1982 CLASS OF 1987

CLASS OF 1992 CLASS OF 1997

CLASS OF 2002 CLASS OF 2007

“If you haven’t seen someone for five to ten years, you expect not to recognize them, but the minute you see them, you feel like you are back in the cafeteria again.”

- Javaid Khan

- Robert Owens ‘67

“It was interesting to learn where various people had ended up not only personally, but also professionally and geographically.”

- Andrew Peck ‘87

Homecoming CROSSWORD

By Sophie Pietrzak

Across Down

Protect the (18 Across) from the _____.

Someone who helps score

King of the HM court

Spiky athletic footwear

Water Polo head coach

Best publication on campus (humbly)

An unathletic way to escape PE

Protect the ____ from the (1 Across)

12 pentagons and 20 hexagons

Last resort in a game

Cheerleaders, HM style

What season is it?

Available in many flavors, non edible

Fhockey position

a corner

Coach with vibrant hair

Football objective

(24 Down)’s head coach

Zero, in tennis

Game, ____, match; also a volleyball play

Same sport, same name

Boys XC head coach

Blue and purple monster

Football position, George Blanda for example

Amazing serves

Stylish water polo attire

Ex-robotics coach

Elevated field up a flight of stairs

October 8

Soccer girl’s headband

Athletics Director

Tennis championship venue

Water Polo’s home country

Strengthens hair or muscles

On ice or a field

XC competitions

Short volleyball player

Winning team!

Sports arena

Zero, in soccer

Striped and blind (sometimes)