Volume 120, Issue 15

Horace Mann’s Weekly Newspaper Since 1903

Cost of living “great and giving” lives:

Tuition rises to $61,900, lunch returns to debit card for 2023-24 school year

Joshua Shuster

Sta Writer

Academic tuition for every grade starting with the Threes Full-Day program is rising to $61,900 for the 2023-24 school year — a 3.5% increase from this year’s $59,800, the lowest percent increase in over three decades. The figure was announced by Head of School Dr. Tom Kelly and the Chair of the Board of Trustees Laurence Grafstein in the enrollment letter sent to families last Friday.

New language in the 2023-24 contracts define “tuition” as academic tuition plus additional required fees, which will remain the same as this year: Parent Association Dues of $85, Activity Fee of $125, Facility Improvement fee of $1,150 for Middle and Upper Division; fees are

waived for Financial Aid (FA) recipients. Including all fees, the tuition is $63,260.

Tuition does not include costs for transportation, lunch, books, and any out-of-school trips. Starting in the 2020-21 school year, families paid a flat fee for school lunches instead of purchasing individual items with their student ID debit card. Next year, lunch will return to the debit card system to accommodate students’ varied dining choices.

“Some students like to bring lunch from home, others choose to eat a light lunch, and still others prefer two to three entrees,” the enrollment letter explained.

Every year, the Board of Trustees’ Finance Committee and the school’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) David Roberts recommend a tuition for the following academic cycle to the rest of the Board, who then dis -

cuss and approve the number, Kelly wrote.

Setting tuition is based on a comprehensive review of the school’s budget and estimated operating cost. The budget covers a wide array of expenses: academic and co-curricular programs for the school’s over 1,800 students from nursery through 12th grade; compensation and healthcare for over 270 faculty members; maintenance for three campuses in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Connecticut; market costs for utilities, food, contractual labor. “HM is more like a small college than it is an independent day or boarding school,” Kelly wrote.

The school website’s “Tuition FAQs” states that 85% of tuition pays for faculty salaries and benefits, while the remaining 15% pays for teaching materials, classroom equipment, class trips, financial

aid, technology, maintenance, and other expenses. Tuition alone does not cover the cost of running the school; the difference is made up by contributions to the Annual Fund.

While most other private schools

in New York City have not published their 2023-24 tuition, the school’s 2022-23 tuition ranks in the middle of the eight Ivy Preparatory League members.

The enrollment letter stated that the 2023-24 academic year is “one of the lowest tuition increases since 1986.” Tuition history dating back to the 1986-87 academic year provided by Kelly indicates the 3.5%

increase is the lowest of the past 37 years, following a downward trend since the 1990s.

The 1986-87 tuition for grades seven through 12 was $7,560, a 7% increase from the previous year

— lower than the 10% average increase across NYC private schools that year, as reported by the New York Times. Coming out of the 80s, the Board of Trustees invested more in personnel and facilities,

which led to atypically high budget increases, Kelly wrote.

In recent years, tuition increases ranged from 4% to 6%, according to the “Tuition FAQs.” “While there is always a desire to constrain tuition and charge only what we need to be successful, this year and last year there was the added burden of inflation and a possible recession,” Kelly wrote.

To keep the tuition raise at a minimum this year, the administration implemented a tighter budgeting process after the 2022-23 school year, Kelly wrote. That included an in-depth review of expenditures and all positions N-12 to identify cost savings, no increase in employee health insurance prices, no new positions for a year, and more intense scrutiny on replacing retirees.

To contextualize this number: according to the school’s “Employment” webpage, annual salary for

teachers in the MD and UD ranges between $68,000 and $123,000 depending on experience and education. A person living off of that salary would be unable to send their child to the school without significant FA.

Given the high cost of attendance, the school practices a need-blind policy in the admissions process, meaning it does not consider students’ need for FA when deciding admission. According to its website, the school gave $12 million in total FA to 15% of students in the 2022-23 academic year. It also offers other forms of monetary support like the Student Assistance Fund, which covers school-related expenses for any students who apply, whether or not they receive FA

New Jewish Family Alliance hosts Holocaust survivor at Tuesday event

e Jewish Family Alliance (JFA) debuted at an event this Tuesday with Holocaust survivor Ilana Yaari.

Andrea Olshan ‘98 P’30, ‘31, ‘31 and Keren Weltsch P’28, ‘31 hosted the event. JFA was founded earlier this school year to celebrate Jewish identity, tradition, culture, and values, according to their mission statement.

At the event, Yaari spoke about her childhood as a Jewish person in Poland during the Holocaust. Weltsch invited Yaari so attendees could hear rst-hand testimony from a Holocaust survivor and actively engage with her, she said.

Yaari connected her message with the event’s theme: unity and advocacy for Jewish beliefs. She urged the students in the audience to

speak about the Holocaust in their daily lives. “[Young people] have a voice,” she said. “It is [their] most important tool — use it.”

A er hearing from Yaari, Mara Silverstein (9) felt inspired to advocate for more Holocaust education in schools, she said. e event was an enlightening, interactive way to explore the history of antisemitism.

Rose Kor (10) said. “It’s important to learn how to use our voices to spread awareness.” Being involved in Jewish communities is key to this, as “anti semitism is very prevalent in the world around us,” she said.

Yaari’s story was informative and inspiring, Ethan Furman (9) said. “It made me realize how grateful I am for the present, but also led me to realize how much we need to work towards a brighter future.”

e Parents Association, Center of Identity

Culture and Institutional Equity (ICIE), and the Jewish Museum of New York City supported JFA in hosting the event. ICIE secured the logistics and o ered advice in the planning,

while the JFA co-chairs proposed the event, selected the speaker, and coordinated outreach to the school community.

Surviving the digital age: How to avoid fake news and preserve traditional journalism

#MeToo movement was partially catalyzed by a series of articles that exposed Harvey Weinstein, such as Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey’s “Harvey Weinstein Paid Off Sexual Harassment Accusers for Decades,” in The New York Times. Yet, in our social media-dominated attention economy, traditional news outlets struggle to maintain viewership and relevance. Pew Research reports that American newspapers lost half their newsroom employees between 2008 and 2019. The remaining half make less than $40,000 a year, lower than the nation’s average wage index of

from a variety of angles. That way, we can evaluate information to make educated decisions and distinguish credible journalism from the confusion of social media news. To ensure that journalists can produce articles that ignite discussion and strengthen the fabric of our democracy, we can also lend our financial support. Subscribe to news outlets, make donations, or even buy merchandise. By backing credible news outlets, readers can help ensure that these outlets have the resources to continue producing high-quality, well-researched content.

When was the last time you read a print newspaper (aside from The Record, of course)?

As Tweets, Tik Toks, and Instagram stories increasingly dominate teenagers’ screen time, clickbait headlines, fake stories, and misleading content have replaced traditional journalism. According to a 2020 study by the Pew Research Center, 86% of Americans get their news from digital devices more often than from television, radio, or print publications. I’m not immune — DailyMail on Snapchat has a chokehold on me, and I’ve frequently seen my friends read articles on their phones from People

Volume 120 Editorial Board

Head of Design

Avani Khorana

Features

Vidhatrie Keetha

Ayesha Sen

A&E

Hannah Katzke

Allison Markman

Art Directors

Amira Dossani

Vivian Coraci

Sophia Liu

Editor in Chief

Emily Sun

News

Zachary Kurtz

Middle Division

Celine Kiriscioglu

Rachel Baez

Design Editors

Arin Rosen

Alara Yilmaz

Sophie Pietrzak

Online Editor

Opinions

Audrey Carbonell

Sean Lee

Lions’ Den

Max Chasin

Photo Directors

Sam Siegel

Ben Rafal

Aryan Palla

Jorge Orvañanos

With the proliferation of misinformation on social media, it is crucial for us as readers to actively support credible journalism.

But how do we do that in today’s crowded market? Start by prioritizing credible sources when consuming news: confirm the credibility of the news outlet and author and fact-check the information. In addition, readers must stay aware of their biases and actively seek out new perspectives by reading publications that report

tel, Samantha Matays, Sofa Kim, Sophia Paley, Sophie Rukin, Spencer Kolker, Audrey O’Mary, Brody Grossman, Emily Wang, Jacqueline Shih, James Zaidman, Malachai Abbott, Nikita Pande, Oliver Konopko, Rena Salsberg, Blake Bennett

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 Gordon, Dani Brooks, Aimee Yang

I am not asking you to unfollow all the news sources that you see on social media. However, by engaging critically and selectively, you can amplify the reach of reputable journals and their stories to counter the spread of misinformation. Social media is a valuable tool to educate the public, and we can use it to expose friends and family to factual, new perspectives.

As readers, it’s up to us to value journalism and demand accurate, reliable information from the countless media sources we consume across the World Wide Web.

Editorial Policy

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.

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.

David Berenson

Emily Grant Faculty Adviser

Erica Jiang

Julia Lourenco and Matthew Brand Contributing Writers

SHARING HER STORY Holocaust survivor Ilana Yari speaks at Jewish Family Alliance event.

Courtesy of Emily Salzhauer

Students should acknowledge sta who keep the school running

If HM student lives could be boiled down to a simple equation, I believe that the school sta would be considered the forgotten constants. From cleaners and cafeteria workers to ofce administrators and public safety, our school’s in credible sta forgotten heroes who make sure that every day, we can enjoy a clean, safe, smoothly functioning school to the fullest.

is is an issue with HM’s culture. Many of us are so hopeless ly caught up in our privileged lives that we o en don’t acknowledge the people making our school lives possible. However, this is an easily xable issue. Simply saying a quick ‘hello’ or ‘thank you’ to the under-acknowledged members of our community would be enough to start the process of truly appreciating and respecting all in our maroon family.

When I walk into the school every day, I see hordes of people stream into Olshan Lobby on their way to class with eyes buried in the latest Tik Tok trend, ignoring public safety spe cialist Glenn Smith and re ceptionist Olive Kee gan. complain about this reality, but the fact remains that Mr. Smith and Mrs. Keegan are

tasked with critical jobs that ensure our safety and comfort at HM. We should treat these unsung heroes with the basic courtesy of learning their names and giving a smile. e fact that only a few students acknowledge them is evidence of the issue that too many of us tend to ignore those working in the backAnother example is the treat -

ment of the FLIK cafe-

gardless of what you might think about the food quality or options, the reality is that FLIK sta in the building at 6 a.m. with the grueling job of feeding hundreds. Yet, they are rarely thanked.

I have heard them talked down to on several occasions, from middle schoolers com

didn’t clean up their mess. at, plus the fact that reminders about leaving trash around school is a mainstay in Sr. Dalo’s weekly email, prove too many members of the commu nity feel comfort able letting others clean up a er them. It’s em barrassing. Not only should we clean up a er our selves, but we should have more respect for the sta that end up cleaning up what we leave behind. At the very least, we could thank those who attempt to make the school spotless every day. e true number of these overlooked HM sta

backbone of HM would break. However, few ever thank these amazing people for their hard work. Instead, students stream past them as a formality before interacting with Sr. Dalo, Dr. Levenstein, Dr. Fippinger, or Dr. Kelly. So why is it that too many of

where too many disregard both our environment and the sta I am not saying that parents should forgo using their hardearned money to hire help, but in my mind, this is one factor that creates a culture of disrespect around those who work extremely hard and without thanks. e solution is simple: say a quick thank you so that the sta know that they are valued members of the community, and not people whose sole mission is to clean up a er you.

rush to rell the container, to high schoolers taking food without making eye contact or saying

A few weeks ago, food was banned from Friedman Hall because students had a food ght and

I am going to focus on one last group: administrative assistants. ey do the work to keep your life as a student running smoothly. Got an academic report? at went through Mr. Smith long before it hit your parents’ inboxes. Got your semester grade back? Depending on the grade level, that went through Mr. Smith, Mrs. Cassino, or Mrs. Gonzalez. Ever met with Dr. Kelly in Spence Cottage? Mrs. Joao put you in his calendar. If all these sta members called in sick one day and their work went undone, the

them, moving past them without even a quick ‘hello’ or a deserved ‘thank

I believe it has to do with upbringing. While the school has made notable strides towards a more socioeconomically diverse student body, the fact remains that statistically the majority of students come from wealthy families — including myself. For some, that wealth allows families to hire numerous

their own homes,

“Sam, you grew up in a wealthy family with cooks and nannies,” I imagine the angry reader saying; I acknowledge this and agree. In full transparency, I did not start interacting with these underappreciated HM heroes until my sophomore year. I was the stereotypical HM student that I describe, and I had to put a lot of e ort to actively change these behavior patterns. It took years, and I still have to remind myself to say thank you as o en as possible, but in my mind it is truly the e ort that counts when trying to change the situation.

As students, we need to do better. is behavior cannot stand. It is against every value that an HM student should embody. What if someone treated YOU like this a er a long and arduous day?

stu

dents to in ternalize the idea that they should not have to clean up a themselves.

at attitude transfers to school,

We all must acknowledge the people who work here, in the halls, in the cafeteria, behind the security desks. Say ‘hello’ and ‘thank you’, or even just make eye contact and smile, and show your respect by cleaner yourself. with the same respect you extend to your teachers and others.

It is really as easy as taking a second or two to say hello to the forgotten constants making life better for every-

Sam Siegel

Olive Keegan Telephone Receptionist

Ennis Smith Administrative Assisstant to the Grade Deans

Glenn Smith Public Safety Specialist

Laura Cassino Administrative Assistant for Data Management

Diana Gonzalez Senior Administrative Assistant to the Head of Upper Division, Dean of Faculty and Dean of Students

Jimmy Otsuni Maintenance Sta Member

Je erson Reyna Mail Room & Delivery Services Coordinator

MD and UD dancers spin across stage at Winter Dance Concert

Contributing Writers

The Horace Mann Dance Company (HMDC) performed “Re:Move!”, the Upper (UD) and Middle Division (MD) Winter Dance Concert in Gross Theatre last Friday. It was the first in-person dance event since the pandemic and the first concert to combine UD and MD participants.

33 dancers participated in the show’s 11 numbers, choreographed by dance teachers Angela Patmon and Patrick O’Neill. The numbers varied in style, from ballet and hip hop to contemporary and tap. Patmon and O’Neill also designed the

costumes, while Devan Joseph (11) designed the lighting to match each performance.

Patmon and O’Neill started planning for “Re:Move!” in the spring of 2022, Patmon said. Starting in October, the HMDC met on Mondays, Wednesdays, or Thursdays to learn choreography and rehearse.

“A lot of the dances were inspired from my childhood years. Many of the pre-performance rituals, gathering in a circle, would come from my experience as a cheerleader and dancer.”

HMDC Co-President Jillian Lee (12) performed four dances that included modern, contemporary, and ballet styles. It was her first time doing an in-person dance show at the

school so she was very excited, Lee said “When COVID hit, we had to film our choreography either in the studio with masks on or film little snippets at home. Being in person allowed us to connect and have a unique experience that we didn’t get in past years.”

Rhea Singh (10) also took part in the concert. She danced in a contemporary piece, choreographed by Patmon, to “Fight Song” by Rachel Platten which included difficult moves including a lift. “The piece was quicker, featuring lengthy movements at a pace that was faster than a lyrical style dance, which is what I’m normally used to,” she said. “Although it was a struggle for some time, the team ultimately suc-

ceeded and perfected the lift, working together as a unit.”

Lee also faced some challenges with her stamina, strength, and patience for the longer numbers. “I had never danced in one piece for that long, but it was important because we got to collaborate with the choreographers and add some of our own moves.”

Having the MD and UD dance together in the same concert thrilled Patmon, she said. “While the MD dancers were bold and ready to perform, it was important for them to have UD students to look up to and guide them throughout the process.”

Vivianna Ding (6) performed in three pieces: contemporary, hip hop, and rhythm. Being new to

Horace Mann, she joined the concert to meet new friends and utilize her past experience with dance. Since she was used to performing solo, working in a group was the hardest part, she said.

Ding was surprised that the HMDC could pull off a successful concert with so little time to prepare, she said. Many times, dancers wouldn’t be able to make it to the practices, but the dancers were able to catch on quickly.“I was impressed with how good the Upper Division dancers were, and I want to continue dancing for the HMDC.”

Diya Chawla and Liliana Frangenberg

Photos courtesy of Emily Sun

Nikita Pande Sta Writer

Students celebrate Lunar New Year with traditional dishes

HONG BAO

“In Chinese culture, it’s essential for young people to show respect to the elders among us,” Emma Chang (10) said. One example of lial piety during Lunar New Year is the gi ing of hong bao — red and gold envelopes that contain money. Usually, older generations o er younger ones wishes for successful lives through these envelopes. According to an ancient Chinese myth, the color red deters evil spirits, while gold signi es prosperity. When given an envelope, you should not open it right away, Chang said. What’s most important is not money but exchanging greetings for the new year.

Yú wán is a Wenzhounese dish Elizabeth Lam (9) enjoys during Lunar New Year. The dish is made from the brown croaker, a fish found along the Atlantic coast. “My uncle makes it fresh every single time,” Lam said. He grinds up meat from the fish into a paste and rolls it into fish balls, then boils them in a soup. Her family gathers to eat the dish at their new years dinner, a meal that is especially important to Lam because it is one of the only times she sees her mother’s side of the family every year.

e Record’s Guide to Chinese Zodiacs

NIAN GAO

The best dishes are homemade — especially nian gao, a meal Max Feng’s (11) mother made for Lunar New Year, she said. The rice cake is decorated with dates circling the middle. “It’s sweet, but not too sweet,” Feng said. His mother made the dough and steamed it before their family gathered for their new year meal — as pandemic restrictions loosened, they were able to celebrate with a reunion and savor traditional foods like nian gao together, he said.

Dumplings are a dish Ben Wu (12) makes with his grandparents when they visit his house for Lunar New Year. This year, the recipe called for minced pork, diced vegetables, and grated zucchini. The critical final step is squeezing the zucchini to remove the water so that the dumpling filling doesn’t turn into a soup, Wu said. Then, he wraps the filling in circular wrappers, pinching the edges to form a crescent. “The crescent shape of dumplings represents the moon, an important sign of Lunar New Year which symbolizes prosperity and potential,” he said.

“Every year, my family gets a big suckling pig that’s the size of my desk,” Nicole Au (10) said. In fact, it is so massive that her family cannot carry it home by hand. When her family purchases the pig from Chinatown — pre-ordered a month in advance due to popular demand — they have to drive up to the store and load it into their trunk, then drive back home where they unload it in their kitchen. The most delicious part of the dish, albeit unhealthy, is the pig’s crispy skin, Au said.

Every new year corresponds with one of the 12 animals on the Chinese zodiac calendar, which repeats every 12 years. To nd the zodiac animal for your birth year...

1. Identify the most recent year when you turned a multiple of 12.

2. Subtract that year from 2023.

3. Starting with the rabbit on the zodiac circle, count counterclockwise for that number of years.

4. e animal you land on is your zodiac! (Alternatively, Google it.)

KAO ZHU YU WAN

JIAO ZI

Let them eat tendys: From kitchen to counter in the cafeteria

Kate Beckler and Naomi Yaegler Sta Writers

The votes are in: the student body rejected Tendy Tuesdays in a Record referendum (read: poll with 274 responses). The poultry purists lost by a slim 2% — 48.5% cast their ballots for the school sta ple, 51.5% against.

day, over 1,800 stu dents, fac and staff choose array of lunch options from the Upper Division (UD) and the Middle Division (MD) cafeteria all thanks to FLIK Independent School Dining (FISD), a food management company.

The cafeteria features ten food stations: grill, hearth (pizza and similar foods), entrée, specialty (pasta), salad, grain bowls, deli, beverage, and last, but certainly not least, the “nibbles” or fried foods station. Those nibbles and every other option are covered by a flat fee paid at the start of the year. Students feeling peckish can purchase other items outside lunch hours — there is a breakfast station during A and B periods, a bakery station, ice cream bar, and caffeinated or sugary beverages. The school’s partnership with FLIK began during the 1996-97 school year, according to a Record article (Volume 94, Issue 2). Before the school partnered with FISD, the cafeteria was run by the school administration. With FLIK, the school could purchase food and supplies from markets for 20% less than before. While the kitchen staff remained the same, they began to receive their salaries and benefits from FLIK.

According to its website, FISD is part of the FLIK Hospitality Group, founded in 1971 by Rudiger and Julie Flik to provide food services. In 1995, the company was purchased by Compass Group, the largest food company in the world, and incorporated into its North America Division. FLIK’s many branches, including FISD, serve organizations across 35 American states including airport loung es, conference cen sports sta diums, and, of course, schools.

The school purchases its food from FLIK’s ordering guide of pre-approved vendors, Senior Director of Dining Service Brenda Cohn said. “Everything on that guide has met the standards set forth by the company,” she said.

To ensure that all the ingredients arriving in the cafeteria are high quality, FLIK monitors the vendors that the school purchases from, Cohn said. “If you say that you are getting [the school’s] spinach from a farm in New Jersey, they will physically go there to ensure that this is true and that the farm is up to FLIK’s sanitation standards.”

Typically, Cohn approves the menus for the school’s UD and MD, Lower Division (LD), and Nursery Division cafeterias a month before they are served. “I design the menus with the chefs, or the chefs design the menus and then I review them, and if need be, tweak them,” she said.

The MD and UD cafeteria is split between student and fac- ulty or staff sec -

tions.

The staff cafeteria has the same menu as the student section, except for the grill and the fried station, with the addition of a soda fountain.

When creating the menus, the chefs follow FLIK’s standards, which abide by New York state regulations, Cohn said. “There must be at least a protein, a vegetable, and a starch every day,” she said. The cafeteria alternates be tween serving carbs and grains and be tween different proteins like chick en, pork, and tofu in or der to create variety in the options each week.

Physics Teacher George Epstein likes to vary what he eats from day to day, he said. “I like to eat across the food pyramid,” he said. He occasionally goes for something less healthy if the dish is worth it. “Whenever I see the mac and cheese or the frank and beans, I walk into the cafeteria and go ‘alright, it’s a good day,’” Epstein said.

Sometimes, Cohn expects a menu to be unpopular but it ends up becoming a hit, she said. example of this was a few years ago, when Chef Adam Cohn served a halal spread, with lamb, in the UD, she said. “When it was out on the counter, I looked at it and I said ‘who’s eating this? Students aren’t go ing to like this.’ But he kept insisting ‘wait and see, they’re going to love this.’ And he was right,” Cohn said. “Stu dents were coming into my office saying ‘Best. Meal. Ever,’ and now, I’m going to [put it on the menu] again.”

their

Many other private schools around New York City also use FLIK, including Trinity, Columbia, Dalton, Rodeph Sholom School (RSS), and Hackley. Their menus differ depending on each school’s unique student body. For example, RSS, a Jewish school, has bagels with cream cheese or sunbutter every day. Because their cafeteria keeps kosher, lunches at the school alternate between meat days, when dairy isn’t served, and dairy days, when meat isn’t served.

Henry Greenhut (11), who switched schools in ninth grade from the Cathedral School, enjoys Horace Mann’s level of cafeteria service, he said. “Coming from a different middle school, I am appreciative of all the options that the cafeteria has,” Greenhut said.

As prices fluctuate, Cohn and the cafeteria staff reevaluate the menu to be as economical as possible, she said. “We try to manage the lunch program as best as possible with inflation being the way it is right now,” she said. “We do our best to watch the market, and when prices come down, we grab what we can and bring it in for you.”

Another factor behind some of the changes in the cafeteria menu was the decision by the school to charge everyone a set price at the start of the year for all lunches that year, instead of charging students separately for each dish they purchased, Cohn said. “For example, we used to sell sushi,” she said. “When it became all inclusive, sushi was not on the table for giving out to students.”

On the other hand, sometimes a meal that the dining staff expects to be popular ends up being a flop, Cohn said. “At the Lower School, we tried chili. We had vegetable chili, we had beef chili, kids only ate rice,” she said. “Now we know, don’t serve them chili.” For these reasons, the cafeteria staff are always open to suggestions and comments from students on meals they enjoyed and other meals they would like to eat, Cohn said. One way stu dents can give this feedback is through a form titled “Menu Feedback,” posted on the Student Life website, under the “Community Coun cil” subpage. Students can use the form to submit feedback on a meal, request a new item to appear on the menu more often, or make other suggestions about cafeteria options. The responses to this form are given to the FLIK staff for consideration.

One dish that has been impacted by the all inclusive format is the fish offerings the cafeteria has, Cohn said. “Fish is triple in price at this point,” she said. As a result, the cafeteria has served less fish this year than in years prior, Cohn said. However, fish has not been eliminated from the school menu — just last Friday, the cafeteria served blackened tilapia.

Juliet Burgess (11) has noticed some changes to the menu post-Covid, she said. “There’s some foods that we used to have that we just never have anymore,” she said. “We used to have burritos and tacos, and I really liked that.”

On the faculty side, however, Epstein hasn’t noticed any significant changes in the menu since the start of the pandemic. “Everything that stuck with me as something I would want, is something that we have access to,” he said.

107 students chose the sandwich section as their top choice

42 students chose the fried section as

35 students chose the grilled section as their top choice

43 students chose the pasta section as their top choice

56 students chose the entree section as their top choice

11 students chose the salad bar as their top choice

Crossword by Melissa Migdon

Across Down

1) __ it go

4) What are the __?

8) “Me personally….”, in text speak

9) Wed

11) Sphere

14) __ Trapp Family

15) Something parents might steal from their kid, as a joke

16) Garland o en given to tourists in Hawaii

17) Fine textile ber

20) Japanese alcoholic beverage

23) Brainstorming product

24) Little __ Peep

25) Actresses Michele and ompson

26) ___ and Sound, song by Capital Cities

29) ___FRAGILE, 2022 K-Pop hit ( at will be danced to at Asia Night on January 27th be there!!!!)

32) Injure, as a toe

36) Require

37) City in California, or one of the 50 Nereids in Greek Mythology

38) Low sensitivity organic compound, 2,4-Dinitroanisole

39) Relating to a speci c geologic era

40) Pre

41) Jazz singer James

42) Tenth letter in the Hebrew alphabet

44) Organs in women’s lower bodies

47) Cast a spell on

49) Australian ostrich relative

50) Brought into being 51) “ text

52) Music genre for Kendrick Lamar

53) Su turns “strength” into a verb

54) 2019 Taylor Swi

55) Internet slang popularized by a video game

1) How Bon Jovi survives, spiritually?

2) Rock music genre

3) e two round lumps in the back of your throat

4) Chefs selection, at a sushi restaurant

21) One in a six pack

22) It might end a boxing match

27) Fleetwood Mac’s favorite natural disaster?

28) Taylor Swi ’s favorite times?

30) Endangered Hawaiian bird

31) Group of individuals working together

32) Judged or made assumptions about someone

33) What a kid might call a fart

34) Inch or foot

35) ____ of you, 2004 Kelly Clarkson hit

43) Pulp ction actress urman

45) What the man without a heart is made of

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LIONS’ DEN Record Sports

Varsity Wrestling tackles opponents, makes impression at Mayor’s Cup Pro le: Kelvin Smith ‘20, Yale footballer

Oliver Guyer Contributing Writer

Five Lions on the Varsity Wrestling Team placed within the top ten winners of their weight classes at e Mayor’s Cup tournament last Saturday.

e New York City high school championship included the top 16 wrestlers in each weight class. is year was the rst time that three private schools — Horace Mann, Collegiate, and Poly Prep — placed in the top ten winners, Quilty said. “It gives us a sense of pride, especially with this young team, that even as a small school we are able to compete with the larger ones,” he said. “It also gave a chance for the teams in the [New York State Association of Independent

Schools] to prove they could compete with other schools.”

Jovanny Nazario (11) had the highest results of the team, placing second in his weight class. Nazario was the rst Lion to become a nalist in many years. Last year, he nished fourth in the tournament. “My goal for this tournament was to nish higher than last year — which I accomplished,” Nazario said. “Next year my goal is to nish rst.”

Krish Gandhi (11) nished fourth in his weight class.

Ivan Dolphan (11) nished eighth in his weight class a er losing a very long match. “ e match went into triple overtime –– it was really exhausting, but I pushed through it.” e results motivate Dolphan to keep working hard, he said.

Quilty was impressed by Dolphan’s ability to nish the match because triple overtime is rare, more time consuming, and requires tremendous amounts of stamina compared to a typical match, he said.

“It was the longest match I’ve ever seen,” Nazario said.

Co-Captains Sam Kor (12) and Lucas Borini both nished sixth in their respective weight classes. It was Kor ’s rst Mayor’s Cup due to a combination of injuries and the pandemic. “ is win means a lot for our team going into the future,” he said. “Our team is still young. e biggest nishes for us were both juniors and second-year wrestlers. I have no doubt that next year, the team will repeat its success.

“Not to be cliché, but there’s nothing like that feeling when you’re out on the eld, and you make a big play, and you look up and see the crowd around you. ere’s a reason why people go through all these struggles to play college sports —– it’s not just for nothing,” Yale football player Kelvin Smith ’20 said. Ironically, Smith’s journey to playing football at Yale began with basketball, which he had been passionate about since he was young, he said. A year before he graduated from the school, Smith transferred to e Hun School in Princeton, New Jersey, because it was more athletics-focused and would give him a better shot at getting recruited by college coaches, he said. “I sat down with the football coach [at e Hun School] and he asked me where I wanted to go to col lege. I told him I wanted to go to an Ivy League school but to play basketball.”

he could help him get into an Ivy League school, not for basket ball but for foot ball, so he started to take the sport more seriously. Because Smith’s recruitment co incided with the height of the pan demic, much of the process was virtual. He sent highlight tapes of him playing in games to university coaches, who evaluated the clips. If the coaches then asked for a recording of the complete game, he had a shot with the school. Since coaches compete with one another to re cruit the same people, they withhold their o as long as possible to en sure that athletes accept or place their o athlete is will

ing to take a chance with them. Yale was Smith’s rst o er.

Getting recruited to Yale was a huge surprise, Smith said. In the summer before his senior year, he went on Twitter for the rst time in a while and saw messages from various Yale football assistant coaches. “I responded to these texts thinking that they were just fan accounts — I didn’t know they were actual coaches reaching out to me because I was not used to using Twitter for recruitment purposes.”

Shortly a er he responded to the messages, a Yale coach set up a Zoom call with him and gave him an o er. “It was a shock to me, but it was good to see that my work was gaining attention, and coaches were seeing what I could do,” he said.

A er a year of attending Yale as a student-athlete, juggling work, socializing, and athletics is still

Rena Salsberg Sta Writer

Photos courtesy of Luke Harris