Volume 120, Issue 11

The Record

Mann’s Weekly Newspaper Since 1903

Ensembles sleigh holiday concert

Ariella Frommer Sta Writer

Math Team places second at Downtown Mathematics Invitational

Isabella Ciriello Sta Writer

Last weekend, a team of six students from the school placed second in the Sixth Annual Downtown Mathematics Invitational (DMI). e team, named Jones Polynomials for Upper Division math teacher and team leader Chris Jones, consisted of math team members Mary Wang (12), Kira Lewis (10), Andrew Glover (11), Carmen Zhang (10), Alicia Li (9), and Katherine Wan (9).

e tournament, hosted by Stuyvesant High School, consisted of individual, marathon, and tie-breaker rounds. In each round, competitors must solve a set number of problems in the alloted time. Lewis and Li placed second and h respectively in the individual competition, which consisted of ve two question rounds, lasting ten minutes each.

Jones was proud of the team’s excellent performance considering many members were underclassmen and had not prepared beforehand, he said. “It was really impressive performance by the students,” he said. “It seemed like

they really enjoyed each other’s company too.”

Lewis was surprised that the team placed so highly in the individual round, she said. A er each set of questions the judges revealed the answers to the participants. “I was stressed during that part, but then once I knew that I had a perfect score, I was pretty satised,” Lewis said.

Wang rst participated in DMI as a freshman, but was not able to compete again until this year due to COVID.

She was excited to mentor the younger team members, she said. “It’s a pleasure to just work with them,” she said. “ ey always have new ideas, and sometimes they are even doing better than I am.”

Glover was nervous going into the competition because he had never participated in a math tournament. “I was a bit intimidated at rst, especially with the team aspect,” he said. “I didn’t really want to let my teammates down, but it was a really cool experience.”

Glover found it fun to work with students from across di erent grades in such a high-stakes setting, he said. “It’s a really easy environment just to start

working on the math problems.”

Li was worried that as one of the two freshmen on the team she would not be able to complete the more di cult problems, but her teammates’ skill sets and ability to work well together made her feel comfortable, she said. “I didn’t really feel there was any signi cant age di erence,” Li said. “We all just worked together as a team, regardless of age, even if we haven’t met each other before.”

Wang enjoyed bonding with students across grades over a topic of mutual interest, she said. “Of course it feels good to win, but we went there to have fun and do great math problems.”

For Jones, placing second overall amongst over 40 teams was a memorable achievement, especially because the majority of the members were underclassmen, he said. In 2017, his team won, and in 2018 they came in second, Jones said. “We haven’t been to an in-person competition since before the pandemic, so I didn’t know what to expect,” he said. “I am really proud of what they accomplished.”

is Tuesday, Jazz Combo, Chamber Winds, Steel Drums One, Steel Drums Two, and Wind Ensemble showcase their musical talents in their annual holiday concert in the Cohen Dining Commons.

Each of the steel bands helped select one song on their setlist with Steel Drums One playing La La Jam Back, Jo Jo’s eme, and Low Rider, music teacher Alan Bates said. “A couple kids were trying to learn Jo Jo’s eme on their own, and when I heard them playing it, I brought in an arrangement.” In addition to the songs they chose, each steel drums ensemble played a variety of calypso music — a style from Trinidad and Tobago that Bates incorporates into all of his classes.

Steel Drums Two students requested to play Locked Out of Heaven for their song, along with Crazy Love which Bates selected. “We wanted to do a pop song and we thought that Locked out of Heaven would be fun to play because it is upbeat,” Maya Westra (12) said.

e Wind Ensemble performed Prelude and Fugue by Bach and American Riversongs. Elise Kang (11) enjoyed playing Prelude and Fugue the most, she said. “It is more oriented to high-note instruments, and we have more of those in the band, so it grew on me.”

e steel bands began preparing for this concert at the start of the school year, Bates said. “We started o in September getting into some basics, and then moved on to learning the songs,”

he said. “Everything they do on the instrument, even when they do scales, is leading towards playing our songs.”

Eliana Son (9) was excited and nervous going into the concert, she said. “I had never performed in the cafeteria before, and I was a little intimidated to play so close to the audience.”

is concert was the one of the rsts since COVID that felt quite normal, Bates said. “ e audience was really happy to be back and watching us perform live.” Also, students could listen to the other groups perform, which is an important part of being a musician, he said.

Son enjoyed watching the other groups she had not seen before, she said.

“I thought the other performances were really impressive, and I enjoyed getting to listen to all of them for the rst time.”

Although Odell tried to listen attentively to the other ensembles, she felt nervous since the Wind Ensemble per-

posed to a com puter screen,” she said.

Flo Ngala ‘13 and Jessica Chi ‘11 make Forbes 30 Under 30 list

Naomi Yaeger Sta Writer

FLO NGALA

Voted “most artsy” in the 2013 edition of the Mannikin, Flo Ngala ’13 is living proof that senior superlatives stick, as she was recently recognized on the 2022 Forbes Magazine’s 30 Under 30 list for Art and Style. Each year Forbes recognizes 600 entrepreneurs, leaders, and stars in a variety of categories including Sports, Finance, and Art and Style. “Being recognized felt really cool,” Ngala said. “One of the best feelings is to know that goals you once wished for are coming true.”

Ngala is a New York based portrait photographer and photojournalist who has amassed a portfolio of photos ranging from colorful candids of Cardi B to black and white snapshots of gure skaters. With a client list including Adidas, Busta Rhymes, and Billboard,

Ngala was the rst African American woman to photograph the MET Gala for Vogue from the inside.

Ngala found out that she had been selected for the Forbes list while at home with her mother, she said. Ngala’s friend, another member of the Forbes 30 Under 30 class of 2023, delivered the news via a phone call a er reading the list online, Ngala said. e timing of the call was perfect because Ngala’s mom had just stopped by for a surprise visit at her apartment, she said. “We got to celebrate that moment together.”

Ngala’s interest in the arts was present from a young age, but it took time to discover the medium she wanted to pursue, she said. Ngala rst explored photography in the Middle Division and quickly fell in love with the art form, she said. “Photography was something that was very personal and very passion lled,” she said. “I realized that soon a er I rst learned to

use a camera.”

A er learning photography skills, Ngala began to explore her identity as an artist and the variety of ways she could utilize her cra , she said. “Photography allowed me to nd my own voice and space creatively,” she said. “I learned how to use my camera at school then I was able to capture my community when I would go back home.”

Today Ngala uses photography to depict the realities she observes and the people who surround her. “ e story that has always stood out to me was the rst New York Times story I ever did about Black gure skaters,” she said. “It was a personal project because I grew up gure skating. Speci cally capturing other gure skaters who were women of color was impactful.”

“Many of Ngala’s portraits celebrate the eeting, intimate moments that make us all human,” Photography

teacher Jordan Rathus said. “In capturing these small in-between moments along with the grand, Ngala brings the magic of everyday gestures to life. e bold act of creating these images builds community.”

Ngala hopes that young people who read the pro les of Forbes 30 Under 30 listers, regardless of the category, will see that one thing you can not get around is putting in the work, she said. “No matter what you want to pursue, try and fall in love with stepping up and doing the work.” Everyone on the list has a di erent story and journey that brought them there.

JESSICA CHI

From Revlon and L’Oreal Paris to Fenty, if you’ve stepped into an Ulta or Sephora you’ve likely come across some of Jessica Chi’s ’11 work. e 29 year-old Global Head of Marketing at Fenty Skin was recently recognized as

one of the most in uential young people in marketing by Forbes magazine on their 30 Under 30 list.

Since graduating from Horace Mann 11 years ago, Chi has cemented herself as a marketing enigma, specializing in the cosmetics industry.

In 2021, a er four and a half years managing campaigns for products including Garnier SkinActive at L’Oreal Paris, Chi received an MBA in Marketing and Management from Columbia Business School in New York.

Chi is now based in San Francisco where she is the Global Head of Marketing at Fenty Skin, a subset of the luxury beauty conglomerate LVMH. In August of 2021, Chi launched the brands’ rst fragrance, Fenty Eau de Parfum.

Horace

Y = MX + B Math team FOILs the competition.

Courtesy of Mary Wang

Amira Dossani/Art Director

Hu explores culture of Madrid at study abroad program

Tutoring Amidst the Pandemic Successfully (S.T.A.M.P.S.) program that I run at school.

Nia Hu

is summer, I attended INESLE, a study abroad summer program that matches American students with Spanish families who have children of the same age, in Madrid, Spain through the Lembo-Sperling Grant. ere, I immersed myself in the lively culture of Madrid and studied Spanish with an incredible host family. A er my four weeks there, I returned ready to speak comfortably in Spanish, a crucial asset for the Students

Due to the impact the pandemic has had on the education of so many students, in the summer of 2020 when re ecting on the pandemic’s toll and how the school could work remotely with P.S. 94 Kings College school — a school I partnered with previous to the pandemic — I worked with Dr. Kelly and the principal of P.S. 94 to create S.T.A.M.P.S., which started as an online tutoring program that prepared fourth graders for the NY state math exam in the 2020-2021 school year. From 10 HM students who tutored over 30 fourth graders, the program grew to 40 HM students tutoring third through sixth-grade students this year. We also began to partner with M.S. 380 to provide math tutoring to their sixth graders, whose rst language is Spanish. To better support these students, I wanted to improve my Spanish skills — that’s why I applied for the Lembo-Sperling Grant to attend INESLE last year.

At INESLE, American participants attend classes in Spanish while the Spanish host siblings learn English. In addition to the ve hours of Spanish classes on writing, speaking, and comprehension every day, we explored Madrid and nearby cities, visited famous museums, and even took a three-day hike along the path of the Camino de Santiago.

I initially underestimated how in uential the total-immersion program would be for my Spanish uency. INESLE proved me wrong. I became comfortable conversing in Spanish, I was able to better convey my thoughts, and I learned so much by implementing new words in my vocabulary daily. I took classes at a private school a bit outside the center of Madrid which were split up into two sections: morning and a ernoon. Each section was taught by a di erent teacher, and the morning classes covered grammar, conversations, and cultures. I was pushed and challenged but I could also make mistakes.

My host family was also an integral part of this learning process. In

our daily conversations, they gave me pointers on my Spanish and encouraged me to take risks, boosting my con dence. Every day, I sat with the whole family at dinner. Eating and preparing dinner was a central part of each and every day, as I learned about my host family and their recipes, shared stories and laughs, and chatted about our days and weekend plans. My host sisters and I practiced languages together, alternating between English in the mornings and Spanish in the evenings to help us improve our uency and share the feeling of not speaking our rst language. It was di cult not to revert to English, but I pushed myself to stick with it. Even though I was just there for a month, I felt a sense of belonging in their family.

Outside classes, we explored the Palacio de Real, the famous Reina de Sofía Museo, and other incredible sites in Madrid. We visited di erent cities throughout Spain each week: Toledo, Segovia, and Santiago. One of my favorite excursions was our three-day hiking trip on the Camino

Why college basketball is better than the NBA

ership — not just during the fateful month of March.

Each NBA team must play a grueling 82-game regular season with the potential for an additional 28 game postseason, o entimes full of backto-back matches. In contrast, a Division I basketball team will typically play around 30 games per season.

Clio Rao

With the World Cup, NFL, college football, and the NBA in full swing, many make the mistake of overlooking college basketball until the March Madness tournament, which is months away. While I can’t argue with a perfect football Sunday or a Bulls game, I believe Division I college basketball is the most enjoyable sport to watch, and should theoretically overtake the NBA in season-long view-

As such, college basketball games are typically played at a high energy level, and we see more defensive e ort, more opportunities for the fast break, and a general better ow of the game. Essentially, some NBA players like Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks make absolutely no e ort on the defensive end. On the other hand, the energetic nature of college ball, partly due to the shorter season (and shorter length of the game itself), is played more traditionally with high defensive engagement and passing, as opposed to an overblown focus on isolation ball and three-point shooting in the NBA.

In addition, college basketball fosters a higher sense of community within fans. For instance, college

basketball rivalries are iconic, while NBA rivalries, with a few exceptions (e.g. Lakers vs Celtics), tend to come and go. In college ball, Syracuse and Georgetown will forever hate each other, Louisville and Kentucky will always ght a little harder every possession, and, evidently, the Duke Blue Devils and the North Carolina Tar Heels will always be sworn enemies. I nd this heightened sense of rivalry encourages all fans, from undergrads to alumni, to be more present, to unite around their team, and to create a high energy, exciting atmosphere in the stadium that the NBA o en lacks. Similarly, college basketball provides much more opportunity for upsets, which o en have the potential to shock the nation.

We witnessed this last year with the shocking St. Peter’s Cinderella story, where a tiny Jesuit college eliminated No. 2 Kentucky and No. 7 Murray State, and then No. 3 Purdue in the Sweet 16 to become the rst 15th seed to reach the Elite Eight. We’ve experienced many classic upsets, whether it’s Lehigh defeating Duke in 2012, or

Staff

Oral Roberts overtaking Ohio State in 2021. With the NBA, especially because it is currently so starkly divided into the teams that can contend and the teams that purposefully lose for dra capital, these upsets are uncommon, creating a sense of boring predictability. It’s simple: everybody loves an underdog.

While the energy and passion of college basketball is unmatched, the primary reason for its superiority

de Santiago. We walked around nine miles each day, listening and dancing to songs, taking in the scenery, and stopping along in the small cities. While we only completed a small portion of the 500-mile trail, it was amazing to walk along a 1000-yearold trail, immersed in its history and language.

Studying abroad is something everyone should be able to try as they learn a new language, grow in ways you never once imagined, and meet lifelong friends and family. While four weeks seems like a short time in comparison to a school year, the four weeks in Spain truly impacted my life and made me view the world a little di erently. At rst, it might be scary to go to a new country, and live with a new family, however, if I could, I would go back to Spain and do it all over. I’m grateful for the experience that the Lembo family has gi ed me. I was able to strengthen my Spanish skills, something important to the future of my tutoring program.

over NBA basketball is that winning actually matters, prompting the teams to play hard and exemplify the true beauty of the game. ere is no situation in which a college team should have any incentive to lose a game. e NBA, however, has become overrun by tanking — commissioner Adam Silver has attempted to take strides to address the issue, but the tanking epidemic has already changed the meaning of the game.

Editorial Policy

About

Staff Writers Ariella Frommer, Ava Lipsky, Clara Stevanovic, Erica Jiang, Etta Singer, Hanzhang Swen, Harper Rosenberg, Isabella Ciriello, Jorge Orvananos, Joshua Shuster, Kate Beckler, Lucy Peck, Maeve Goldman, Mira Bansal, Naomi Yaeger, Neeva Patel, SamanSpencer Kolker, Audrey O’Mary, Brody Grossman, Emily Wang, Jacqueline Shih, James Zaidman, Malachai Abbott, Nikita Pande, Oliver Konopko, Rena Salsberg

Staff Photographers Nicole Au, Jorge Orvañanos, Trish Tran, Aanya Gupta, Jiwan Kim, James Zaidman, Emily Wang, David Aaron, Harper Rosenberg, Evan Contant

Staff Artists Sam Stern, Dylan Leftt, Sammi Strasser, Kristy Xie, Addy Steinberg, Ishaan Iyengar, Sophie Li, Serena Bai, Kayden Hansong, Aashna Hari, Karla Moreira, Isabelle Kim, Christain Connor, Sam

Editorials All editorial decisions regarding content, grammar, and layout are made by the senior editorial board. The unsigned editorial represents the opinion of the majority of the board.

Opinions Opinion columns represent the viewpoint of the author and not of The Record or the school. We encourage students, alumni, faculty, staff, and parents to submit opinions by emailing record@horacemann.org.

Letters Letters to the editor often respond to editorials, articles, and opinions pieces, allowing The Record to uphold its commitment to open discourse within the school community. They too represent the opinion of the author and not of The Record or the school. To be considered for publication in the next issue, letters should be submitted by mail (The Record, 231 West 246th Street, Bronx, NY 10471) or email (record@horacemann.org) before 6 p.m. on Wednesday evening. All submissions must be signed.

Contact For all tips, comments, queries, story suggestions, complaints and corrections, please contact us by email at record@horacemann.org.

Sophia Liu/Art Director

Founded in 1903, The Record is Horace Mann School’s award-winning weekly student newspaper. We publish approximately 30 times during the academic year, offering news, features, opinions, arts, Middle Division and sports coverage relevant to the school community. The Record serves as a public forum to provide the community with information, entertainment, and an outlet for various viewpoints. 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. Horace Mann School is not responsible for the accuracy and contents of The Record and is not liable for any claims based on the contents or views expressed therein.

H o l i d a y C r o s s w o r d b y M e l i s s a M i g d o n

neath the tree 106) Bel-__ (classic French novel) 108) Female reproductive cell 109) Santa’s name is derived from this early Christian bishop 110) ” ___ Batman smells, Robin laid an egg” 114) A ordable hotel 115) Haw’s partner 116) Vow at the altar 118) Round piece of metal used as currency 119) ing painted during a manicure 120) Restaurant booking, abbr. 121) NYC public transport company 122) What you listen with 123) Assist in a crime 124) Decorative slab 125) Opposite of WNW 126) Communication medium for deaf communities, abbr. 127) College decisions usually released in the spring, abbr. 128) Statutory body that collects U.S. federal taxes 129) “Let it ___”

Down:

lay one another 32) Black forest and Prosciutto 33) Alias initials 37) Pre x meaning wrongly or incorrectly 38) Commonly torn knee part in athletes 39) Golfer’s stand 40) A long poem, the Odyssey is a famous example 42) Intense dust storms 46) Poem of praise 48) Attractive, in Northern english 49) Species of freshwater sh 50) Edmonton hockey player 51) (with 10 down) Where Santa and his elves live

53) Modern replacement for using a map 54) Employer funded group health plan 55) Opposite of urban 59) 3.14

Across: 1) Term for a Christmas Carol 5) Angry 8) e center of our solar system 11) Service that manages planes, abbr. 14) __ shed (equivalent to a mancave)

Jazz singer Fitzgerald 18) Shake ___ (Disney Sitcom) 20) Opposite of an amateur, abbr. 21) “Be quiet!” 22) Medical device used to analyze the heart rhythm and deliver electric shocks, abbr. 23) Dicaprio and Davinci 24) Rapper Lee who sang on Sunower with Post Malone 25) Genre of music sung by AC/ DC, Led Zeppelin, and e Rolling Stones abbr. 26) ___Lo Green, singer of 2010 hit song “Forget You”

Dangerous alkaline chemical used in soap

) 2014 Ariana Grande Christmas song

‘tis ___ (holiday phrase)

Child star with a twin brother named Dylan

(with 5 down) What you might want to stand under with your crush

Classic holiday song by Leroy Anderson, or what rudolph goes on while delivering presents

Little __ Peep

Locale for the 2016 Olympic Games

To make something neater or more attractive, with ‘up’

Equines under 14.2 hands tall, o en mistaken as a baby horse

Road fee

Russian monarch, up until 1917

Soccer legend Messi 65) La ___ vers l’or (the gold rush in French) 66) Character you can dress up and build houses for in a popular video game 68) Berry used in smoothie bowls 71) Unit of digital information or memory size 72) Letters missing from the

phrase: B_s_ of both wo_lds 73) Capital of North Kivu, a province in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. 74) Potato pancake in Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine, typically prepared for 36-Across 76) What not to do when Simon says freeze 79) Taylor Swi ’s ___ tour 80) Hands are to ngers as feet are to __ 81) First american spacecra to send humans to the moon, with ‘11’

83) One-hit wonder rock duo with hit song, “Steal My Sunshine” 84) __ Little Pony 85) It’s ______ Life, classic Christmas movie 89) Pre x with cycle and angle 90) General ___’s chicken 91) “I told you so” 92) Who Seven ate, in classic children’s riddle 93) Any member of several Turkic-speaking ethnic groups 97) Gattaca actress urman 99) What you might ‘deck’ during the holiday season 103) What someone on Santa’s nice list expects to see under-

1) American guitarist Cline 2) ___europaea (scienti c name for an olive) 3) SpaceX CEO Musk 4) Classic Holiday song by Wham!, that has since been covered by Ariana Grande and Taylor Swi , 5) (with 35 across) What you might want to stand under with your crush

6) Something that, if resurfaced on social media, can get you red 7) ___ citizenship, citizen of two countries

8) What shoppers go on during Black Friday and Cyber Monday 9) Vase with a base, o en used to store ashes 10) (with 51 down) Where Santa and his elves live

11) What a child throwing a tantrum causes 12) Here Comes ____, Beatles Classic

13) ey might turn red when you’re embarrassed 14) Chip dip

15) Snow (____), Red Hot Chili Peppers hit 16) Temptation garden 19) To hurl something at someone

29) Online service provider bought by Verizon in 2015 30) ___ e ect, optical illusion created when two patterns over-

60) Up until this point 61) Xmas decorations 63) II really, really, really, really, really, really ______, Carly Rae Jepsen lyric 64) Lime’s partner 66) Comparative adjective of sore 67) e 7th principle of Kwanzaa, meaning faith 69) House pet with whiskers 70) e building blocks of the universe 73) Hanukkah money 75) (he) is, in Spanish 77) Vintage 78) Online education, abbr. 81) Amazement 82) Walt Whitman, for one 85) “I’m coming too!” 86) Spouse’s dad, abbr. 87) NE college 88) ___ Misérables 90) Letters missing from the phrase: _he c_eam of _he _rop 93) √100 94) Common disease, associated with an inhaler 95) Principles or beliefs 96) ____ kingdom, Disney theme park 98) Loki actor Jonathan 100) More sacred 101) Special occasions 102) Center of activity 103) Sheets of glass in windows 104) Wash with water 105) One who hits the slopes 107) Old south american civilization 109) Male parent of an animal 111) Past participle of lie 112) Stitch’s human companion 113) killed in a violent way 117) Whom you might celebrate on Father’s Day

Humans of HM: Dr. Amir Khosrowpour

Piano player, teacher, and composer: Dr. Amir Khosrowpour shares his talent with the school

NEEVA PATEL Sta Writer

“When people hear the term self-defense they tend to fear it, thinking that it’s a bad thing, but for me, I’m in a world of being preventative,” Public Safety O cer Rob Aviles said. “It’s better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.” Aviles teaches the situational awareness unit in the school’s health classes and runs his own martial arts studio outside of school.

Before joining the school’s public safety department, Aviles worked as a sergeant for the New York City Police Department (NYPD). He served as a supervisor for his precinct, overseeing all of the o cers. “I was in charge of their training, making sure their work was being done up to par, and the administration and logistics of deploying the o cers,” Aviles said. “I was like the go-to person in the o ce.”

A er he retired from the NYPD in 2016, Aviles began teaching law enforcement tactics at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and for the State. He currently consults for the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, training instructors in law enforcement tactics, who then train NYS recruits and police o cers. e curriculum covers law enforcement defensive tactics, including hand to hand combat skills such as striking and grappling, arrest tactics, handcu ng concepts, baton training, communication training, adult learning, coaching, and legal procedures, Aviles said.

In 2018, Aviles started to work part time for the school. He was rst invited to train school sta by Assistant Director of Public Safety Pete Clancy. “I used to work with Pete, and he felt the need to get some training done for the sta and told me that there was a position available,” Aviles said. “For me, because I was already working with the NYS training Law Enforcement o cers on a consulting basis,

I thought you know what, this is something that I might like – it’s a see where it goes kind of thing, it’s something di erent.”

Now, Aviles teaches the situational awareness section of the Physical Education Health class with Assistant Athletic Director and Physical Education Department Chair Amy Mojica. “I wind up teaching that probably three quarters throughout the year,” Aviles said. e situational awareness section of the Health curriculum was rst introduced in 2018 when Aviles joined the sta dent mentioned it to Ms. Mojica, so she then looked toward public safety and reached out to me because I had that background.”

ers what situational awareness is and how to recognize cues that indicate potentially unsafe situations. It also teaches tactics such as basic strikes, wrist grab defense escapes, move ment training, and how to break your fall and get back up to your feet in the event you are pushed to ground, Aviles said.

Outside of the school, Aviles is passionate about martial arts and runs his own studio in Chester, NY, called Aviles Mixed-Martial Arts. Aviles started martial arts when he was as a result of his father’s encouragement. “My fa ther trained at a studio, so he started to bring to classes –– eventually became an instructor too,” said. Aviles rate, and then continued exploring other martial arts such as Judo and Jiu Jitsu. “It’s something that, for whatever reason, just lls so many voids,” he said. “You learn how to become an individual while still focusing on working within a team.”

Aviles opened his studio in 2018.

His motivation for launching his own studio was simply that he holds a deep love for teaching about self-defense and enjoys being around like-minded people who are always trying to better themselves, mentally, physically, and emotionally. “It’s really rewarding to see people enjoy martial arts,” Aviles said. “What use is it if I hold onto this information and it just stays with me?”

Before the pandemic, Aviles’ studio taught both adults and kids. He

skills to the school, as he taught Judo to the school’s Japanese classes in 2019 for Japan Day. “ e Japanese teacher at the time sat down at lunch one day and mentioned that she was Japanese, and Judo originates in Japan, so I told her I trained Judo and she invited me to teach at the festival.” Aviles taught Judo to 15 students, including a few that had already gone through the situational awareness unit in Health, he said. “ e energy from all the students and their willingness to learn and take on something new was very cool, they were all in.”

On a typical day at the school, Aviles is stationed at the Lutnick guard desk. “I do anything from safety to what I like to call high end customer service, having answers to any potential problems,” Aviles said. He proactively pinpoints issues early on so they do not become a larg-

that I can anticipate needs, even if that may just be handing someone a pencil.” Aviles helps students locate items in the Lost and Found, helps visitors who do not know where they are going, and pays attention to any person in need of medical or emotional assistance, he said.

For both himself and his students, practicing martial arts can improve health, relieve stress, prevent injury, develop camaraderie, and most importantly, pose a discomfort, Aviles said. “You need to train yourself to be comfortable in uncomfortable situations and challenge yourself so that in any unknown experience you can avoid going primal, reacting unconsciously, and avoid tunnel vision.”

With working at the school during the day and running his own business at night three to four days a week,

Aviles requires structure in his dayto-day life, he said. ough Aviles does employ one other instructor at his studio to help him, he is still very busy with work and spending time with his kids. “Structure and discipline buys freedom, so I’m very structured in what I do and I don’t waste time worrying about little things.”

Instead, he worries most about not doing anything. “I’m always trying to do something because as we get older, time gets smaller, so you need to learn to be e cient.”

Ultimately, Aviles believes martial arts and self defense permeate all areas of life. “Self defense is an approach to learn how to be under stress and reverse engineer scenarios on the y.

at’s what life is about— it’s about being able to react under stress very quickly,” he said. “You want to respond as opposed to react.”

When he worked for the NYPD, Aviles always had to respond to calls concerning crimes such as robberies.

“Your adrenaline’s high but you need to make sure you’re at the right location, you have the right person, and you deploy in a safe manner,” he said.

Aviles’ martial arts experience helps him stay calm and weigh all of his options before deciding how he is going to handle a situation.

Martial arts also transforms a person’s perspective, Aviles said. “You realize that you can dictate where things are going, and if something doesn’t work out, you can take it and build from it,” he said. “In any situation, either you win or you learn.”

Aviles believes the activity helps people move from a closed to a growth mindset, because they are actively breaking down a skill in order to master it. “Everyday you need to make the conscious choice to break big things apart and always keep moving forward –– the sky’s the limit.”

Dr. Amir makes music.

PIANO MAN Dr. Amir performs at 2022 Unity Week.

Courtesy of Barry Mason

Evan Contant/Sta Photographer

Vivian Coraci/Art Director

Khosrowpour and Rob Aviles

Martial arts, law enforcement, and security: Rob Aviles pursues safety and self defense

ERICA JIANG Sta Writer

“When people hear the term self-defense they tend to fear it, thinking that it’s a bad thing, but for me, I’m in a world of being preventative,” Public Safety O cer Rob Aviles said. “It’s better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.” Aviles teaches the situational awareness unit in the school’s health classes and runs his own martial arts studio outside of school.

Before joining the school’s public safety department, Aviles worked as a sergeant for the New York City Police Department (NYPD). He served as a supervisor for his precinct, overseeing all of the o cers. “I was in charge of their training, making sure their work was being done up to par, and the administration and logistics of deploying the o cers,” Aviles said. “I was like the go-to person in the o ce.”

A er he retired from the NYPD in 2016, Aviles began teaching law enforcement tactics at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and for the State. He currently consults for the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, training instructors in law enforcement tactics, who then train NYS recruits and police o cers.

e curriculum covers law enforcement defensive tactics, including hand to hand combat skills such as striking and grappling, arrest tactics, handcu ng concepts, baton training, communication training, adult learning, coaching, and legal procedures, Aviles said.

In 2018, Aviles started to work part time for the school. He was rst invited to train school sta by Assistant Director of Public Safety Pete Clancy. “I used to work with Pete, and he felt the need to get some training done for the sta and told me that there was a position available,” Aviles said. “For me, because I was already working with the NYS training Law Enforcement ofcers on a consulting basis, I thought you know what, this is something that I might like – it’s a see where it goes kind of thing, it’s something di erent.”

Now, Aviles teaches the situational awareness section of the Physical Education Health class with Assistant Athletic Director and Physical Education Department Chair Amy Mojica. “I wind up teaching that probably three quarters throughout the year,” Aviles said. e situational awareness section of the Health curriculum was rst introduced in 2018 when Aviles joined the sta . “An interested student mentioned it to Ms. Mojica, so she

then looked toward public safety and reached out to me because I had that background.”

e situational awareness unit covers what situational awareness is and how to recognize cues that indicate potentially unsafe situations. It also teaches tactics such as basic strikes, wrist grab defense escapes, movement training, and how to break your fall and get back up to your feet in the event you are pushed to ground, Aviles said.

Outside of the school, Aviles is passionate about martial arts and runs his own studio in Chester, NY, called Aviles Mixed-Martial Arts. Aviles rst started martial arts when he was ve years old as a result of his father’s encouragement. “My father trained at a studio, so he started to bring me to classes –– eventually he became an instructor too,” Aviles said. Aviles rst started learning Karate, and then continued exploring other martial arts such as Judo and Jiu Jitsu. “It’s something that, for whatever reason, just lls so many voids,” he said. “You learn how to become an individual while still focusing on working within a team.”

Aviles opened his studio in 2018. His motivation for launching his own studio was simply that he holds a deep love for teaching about self-defense and enjoys being around like-minded people who are always trying to better themselves, mentally, physically, and emotionally. “It’s really rewarding to see people enjoy martial arts,” Aviles said. “What use is it if I hold onto this information and it just stays with me?”

Before the pandemic, Aviles’ stu dio taught both adults and kids. He was forced to switch studios due to the pandemic and is only teaching adults for the moment, but is excited to bring back the kids’ program in the future, he says. “We always discourage ourselves before we even try, so it’s re warding to see the look on people’s fac es when they really want to train and take the bene ts.” Aviles also trains his three daughters in the basement of their house, which is equipped with mats and weights, he said. “We have an active lifestyle so they train with me at the house a lot.”

In addition, Aviles believes knowing that one can defend themselves helps build con dence. “Because of the day to day struggles in training, you start to respect the human dynamics of life,” he said. “It just checks so many boxes.” Aviles has also brought his Judo skills to the school, as he taught Judo to the school’s Japanese classes in 2019 for Japan Day. “ e Japanese teacher at the time sat down at lunch one day and mentioned that she was Japanese, and Judo originates in Japan, so I told her I trained Judo and she invited me

to teach at the festival.” Aviles taught Judo to 15 students, including a few that had already gone through the situational awareness unit in Health, he said. “ e energy from all the students and their willingness to learn and take on something new was very cool, they were all in.”

On a typical day at the school, Aviles is stationed at the Lutnick guard desk. “I do anything from safety to what I like to call high end customer service, having answers to any potential problems,” Aviles said. He proactively pinpoints issues

With working at the school during the day and running his own business at night three to four days a week, Aviles requires structure in his dayto-day life, he said. ough Aviles does employ one other instructor at his studio to help him, he is still very busy with work and spending time with his kids. “Structure and discipline buys freedom, so I’m very structured in what I do and I don’t waste time worrying about little things.” Instead, he worries most about not doing anything. “I’m always trying to do something because as we get older, time

al assistance, he said.

For both himself and his students, practicing martial arts can improve health, relieve stress, prevent injury, develop camaraderie, and most importantly, pose a discomfort, Aviles said. “You need to train yourself to be comfortable in uncomfortable situations and challenge yourself so that in any unknown experience you can avoid going primal, reacting unconsciously, and avoid tunnel vision.”

Aviles believes the activity helps people move from a closed to a growth mindset, because they are actively breaking down a skill in order to master it. “Everyday you need to make the conscious choice to break big things apart and always keep moving forward –– the sky’s the limit.”

ON GUARD Aviles keeps an eye on Lutnick Hall.

Cooper Ferdman/Sta Photographer

Sophia Liu/Art Director

All art by Vivian Coraci/Art Director

Behind the scenes of MD Musical James and the Giant Peach

Lucy Peck Sta Writer

Fernando Rivera (6), who plays the grasshopper in the Middle Division (MD) production of “James and the Giant Peach” was originally hesitant to audition. “I actually wasn’t planning to join the play, mostly because of stage fright,” he said. “But then, my friend Hugo convinced me and after a lot of emailing, he convinced me on the day of the auditions,” he said. Since then, Rivera has had a lot of fun during rehearsals. “I have made a lot of new friends in the cast,” he said.

Rivera is one of the many MD students, teachers, and parent volun teers who collaborated to create the final product of the musical, taking place today and tomorrow. Director, dance teacher, and choreographer Jonathan O’Neil chose “James and The Giant Peach” the school year one of my favor I loved reading the book when I was a kid,” he said. “And there’s no Broadway cast re cording, which is kind of cra zy… so I was interested.”

O’Neil began the process with auditions, having stu dents read a few scenes to give him a feel for their act ing abilities. “We look for flex ibility and imagination,” O’Neil said. “I wanted to choose people that were playful and that had an idea of what they wanted to do and didn’t just come in and read words on the page.”

Hugo Ha (6), who plays James, was anxious during these auditions, he said. “I was a little nervous during it, but it was okay because a lot of my friends tried out with me.”

The crew began rehearsing at the end of September. O’Neil’s favorite part of the process was witnessing the talent many of the new students bring to the table, he said. “I’m most excited to see what the new students that we have this year will do and what they will bring.”

Michael Oyaniyi (8), who plays the earthworm, found that the crew’s biggest obstacle was learning their lines. “It was a little bit challeng-

ing, but I think we are making it through.”

Ha faced the same challenge. “We had a lot of lines, like 40 or 50, so memorizing all of that was tricky.”

However, Ha has had some experience with this task as he sang in a Lower Division (LD) musical performance and participated in the LD chorus.

O’Neil, on the other hand, found it difficult to deal with the large number of students who wanted to participate in the play. There are 35 cast members in total, so most roles are double cast including James, the Matron nurse, and all of the insects. “This gives more students the opportunity to shine because

Despite the difficulties, Lee has enjoyed preparing for the play. “My highlight so far is bonding with the cast and getting to try out a new role.”

Bailey Hecht (12), the set designer and Student Technical Director, struggled with certain aspects of the set design, especially the size of the peach, she said. “As the title says, it’s “James and the Giant Peach,” so the question was always, ‘how giant can giant be?’” she said. “We ended up with a roughly eight foot peach that the lead actors spend most of the play on top of.”

Oyaniyi’s favorite part of his performance is the song he sings about luring seagulls into the peach entitled ‘Plump and Juicy.’ “It’s just hilarious and I’m really excited to sing it,” he said. He expects a great performance and is excited to get on stage, he

Ha’s favorite moment of the rehearsal process was choreographing the song ‘Right Before your Eyes.’ “That’s the curtain call song and the prologue and it’s the song that stands out the most,” he said. It was especially rewarding to choreograph this song because they had been practicing it for so long during rehearsals, he said.

administrative aspects of the performance, was impressed by the students’ performance during rehearsals. “I stopped in after the SATs to watch a little bit on Saturday, it seemed to be going great,” he said.

“I expect a fantastic performance.”

Theater teacher Benjamin Posner

also anticipates an amazing performance. “I’m looking forward to seeing a group of students having fun and sharing a story with the audience.”

Director

to give each actor individual attention, O’Neil said. “It’s been very challenging to have enough times where all students feel prepared and they’ve had the appropriate amount of rehearsal.”

Albert Lee (8), who also plays the grasshopper, found the rehearsal schedule to be challenging while practicing for the performance. “We are nearing the end of the prep time and we found that we were running out of time to block scenes and then to finish up choreography.”

Oyaniyi looks toward the looming performance with anxious anticipation, he said. “It’s going to be a very good performance but I feel a bit nervous because it is my first time performing in a musical.” Ha also feels a mix of anxiousness and excitement. He is happy to get the chance to perform with many of his friends, he said. “I’m lucky to have such great cast members to be performing with.”

For Hecht, the most exciting part of the preparation process has been seeing her creation from start to end. “I had the opportunity to design, build and run this show and I learned many valuable lessons and skills along the way,” she said. “I am extremely proud of what Ms. Miller, Stage Crew and I have built.”

Manager of the Theater Department Jonathan Nye, who handles

All photos courtesy of Bailey Hecht

Vivian Coraci/Art

LIONS’ DEN

Varsity Table Tennis starts season strong Opinion: A

Gillian Ho Sta Writers

e Varsity Table Tennis Team drubbed the United Nations International School (UNIS) 5-0 in their rst match this Monday.

e team’s end goal is to win the Independent School Table Tennis League (ISTTL) championships as they have in previous years, team member Jiyon Chatterjee (12) said.

Practices consist mainly of friendly matches which train players to adapt to real-life competition against other schools, team member Henry Levinson (12) said. During

practice, the team aims to improve their strategies to win the matches as well as improve their technique. For example, they practice serves, forehands, and backhands, he said.

Jiyon’s torn ACL has been a major setback for the team so far this season, Levinson said. However, two new talented players, Siddhant Jain (10) and Jason Chae (9), will be an asset to the team, and will help ll the gap le by Jiyon’s absence, he said.

Another unique aspect of their team is their female co-captain, Jiya Chatterjee (12). “It’s really cool to have a female captain for a predominantly male team,” Jiyon said. “She has

a really positive attitude even in the face of obstacles, she makes an e ort to bond with underclassmen teammates, and she’s been a great player on the team since freshman year.” is year, Avi Kumar (12), along with Jiya, were voted by the team members to be team co-captains. e game against UNIS was successful, with all players––three singles players and two doubles partnerships––winning their matches. “I think we did an especially good job of adapting to their tables, which were di erent from ours, playing consistently, and not making too many unforced errors,” Levinson said. Jain particularly stood out to Levinson: “[He] deserves a shout-out for winning his rst ever match on the HM table tennis team as rst singles.”

Even though the competition was tough at times, trusting his instincts worked well for Jain, he said. “[Sometimes] in the game [I felt like I was] lagging behind and it felt like he would beat me,” Jain said. “In the end, it felt great to win.”

“We have fun and enjoy competing. We have an experienced team so they don’t get nervous for matches. ey feel they are prepared for anything,” Coach Caroline Surho said.

Werdiger (11) wins Gold Ball in tennis

Julia Werdiger (11) won the Girls 16s National Indoor Tennis Championships at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota over anksgiving break. Going into the tournament, Werdiger was seeded at number nine.

Werdiger was thrilled to win the tournament, she said. “Winning the tournament was an indescribable feeling because I could nally see all of my hard work pay o .” A golden ball is awarded to anyone who wins rst place in one of the four largest national tournaments, a dream of Werdiger’s since she was a child; her victory in Minnesota allowed her to accomplish that goal.

A week before the championship, Werdiger practiced every day in order to prepare. at said, she generally practices on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, ursdays, Fridays, and Sundays, Werdiger said. Werdiger practices at the Cary Leeds Center for Tennis and Learning, which is located in the Bronx.

Because of school demands, Werdiger’s practice time is limited, and tends to be less than the majority of her competitors, as most of them

are home-schooled and have upwards of four to ve hours to play, she said. “I have to focus a lot during the times I do get to play and make the most out of every practice.”

e competition began by selecting the top 64 ranked girls from those who applied to the tournament and are 16 or younger across the country, she said. If a player loses in one of their rst three rounds, they go into a period of consolation.

Consolation consists of two separate draws: the consolation one draw, which groups together the players who lost in either the rst or second round, and the consolation two draw, which groups together the players who lost in the third round, Werdiger said. In these pools, players compete in additional matches in order to establish what place they will achieve in the tournament.

e competition was exhilarating to play in, Werdiger said. “Being able to go so far, which I had never done before, was such an amazing experience.”

While playing in her semi- nals match, Werdiger reached a critical point in the match where she was down six to four in the tie break, she said. A tie break is a result of each player winning six games in

the set, tying the score. Despite being down two set points, she came back and won the set, Werdiger said.

Even though the tournament was an intense environment, Werdiger and others had the opportunity to utilize the impressive facilities at the university. “At the University of Minnesota there is an amazing viewing area so every court is on display.”

Additionally, the championships felt very o cial due to the matches being o ciated and the serve speeds of the balls being displayed on the scoreboard, Werdiger said.

“Over winter break, I have the Winter National Championships, which is in Orlando, Florida,” she said. roughout the weeks of December fourth and eleventh, Werdiger’s practice schedule will remain the same, but it will shi when she travels to Florida as she will have more time to practice. “I am going to be training in Florida so I will get to play outdoors a little bit, play a little longer, and adapt to the conditions there,” Werdiger said. She also looks forward to playing in the Easter Bowl, which will take place during March in Palm Springs.

Messy, Messi

Tournament

Jiyon Chatterjee Contributing Writer

“The little boy from Rosario, Argentina, on behalf of every little boy wearing his shirt. Messi on a million backs. Messi for a million flashbulbs…one kick of the football. He’s done it before… he must do it now. Messi must.”

I was one of those little boys, sitting late at night during my summer break in India with wide eyes glued to the dim, box-shaped television set. My nine-year-old heart shattered as Lionel Messi skied that free kick, missing his chance to lay his hands on the golden trophy in Brazil.

The 2022 FIFA World Cup is Messi’s last chance to make up for that loss in the 2014 final and earn the most storied title in football. Millions of fans like me are watching with bated breath as the 5’7 magician from Argentina takes on this final journey with his strongest-ever group of international teammates: the reigning champions of the 2021 Copa America.

My support in this World Cup for Messi and his band of Argentines, despite my British and American citizenship, is emblematic of what being a football fan is about: love for something more than just the political boundaries of a country — love for “the beautiful game.” But hosting the World Cup in Qatar — controversial for its treatment of the migrant workers who constructed the stadiums for this tournament and its oppressive laws against LGBTQ+ right — has alerted fans to a darker side of the sport.

Host nations for World Cups have traditionally been selected with the game’s best interests in mind. Holding the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, for instance, contributed to the promotion and growth of the sport in a continent that has historically been overlooked due to more lucrative opportunities in European football. In contrast, FIFA’s acceptance of Russian and Qatari bribes to grant both nations the 2018 and 2022 World Cups represents the triumph of financial corruption within football authorities.

The consequences of choosing such nations have not been trivial. For Russia, the opportunity to host

the world’s most-watched sporting event gave Vladimir Putin the veneer of international respectability he needed before catching the globe off-guard with his invasion of Ukraine only a few years later. Awarding hosting rights to Qatar directly caused problems: the nation’s lack of stadiums, hotels, and other infrastructure necessary for a successful tournament meant that poorly paid migrant workers had to toil in dangerously hot weather and hazardous working conditions. Thousands died on the job.

Fans cannot let the Qatari government and FIFA officials win the World Cup. Calling attention to the corruption and embracing the sport’s excitement are not mutually exclusive. If anything, watching the matches allows us to tune into global struggles, even beyond those in Qatar. A particularly inspiring political moment from the tournament was the Iranian team’s courageous refusal to sing their national anthem, showing solidarity with protestors back in Iran who are resisting their government’s theocratic tyranny. Another was the Moroccan team’s waving of the Palestinian flag, reminding the nations of the world not to forget those who are still fighting for a sovereign nation of their own. International sports tournaments provide us with a unique opportunity to learn about and stand with the oppressed anywhere––whether they’re migrant workers exploited by their state, women fighting religious autocrats, or people living under occupation.

Qatar can try to sport-wash its government’s record, and FIFA can try to hide its corruption, but football will never belong to the authoritarians of the world. It belongs to the fans whose teams give them a voice on the global stage, who see beauty, unity, and purpose in every dribble and step-over. And it belongs to Lionel Messi, the son of a factory worker who went on to become the greatest player of all time and now carries the hopes of an entire nation on his back.

At this World Cup, let’s support our teams and their worthy causes.

Samantha Matays Sta Writer

SERVES UP Lions go for the winner.

Courtesy of Nala Sagna