Volume 120, Issue 16

HM246 hosts KHCC

Oliver Konopko Staff Writer

The HM246 service-learning program kicked off their winter trimester by hosting in-person visual arts, sports, and STEM activities with 40 kindergarten through fifth-graders students from the Kingsbridge Heights Community Center (KHCC).

The school has been working with the KHCC since 2006 on numerous programs, including HM246 and the Center for Community Values and Action’s other after school program, the Service Learning Team (SLT). KHCC coordinates SLT at PS.207, while HM246 takes place at the school so students have access to resources such as the photo-lab that they may not get at their own schools, CCVA Program Coordinator Melissa Doellman said.

The program has been very strong, CCVA Director Dr. Kimberly Joyce-Bernard said. “The KHCC students’ energy and excitement are palpable on Mondays.”

HM246 was virtual over the past two years and returned in person this fall, Doellman said. “I don’t think any of us were ready for the amount of energy that we would see on either side — the KHCC students were just absolutely elated.”

Covid and virtual learning helped the fellows improve their adaptability, CCVA Middle Division Coordinator and Associate Conasia Watts said. “I think our students have realized that you always have to have a plan B and a plan C on hand.”

Groups of fellows are assigned to each subject and spend Thursdays preparing for their Monday sessions.

Dylan Leftt (10) helps run the visual arts activity and pack supply bags for when the kids arrive, she said. The fellows have complete control over the activities they plan which allows them to be creative and share their interests with the kids, she said. For example, her group made penguins out of paper towel rolls using googly eyes and construction paper. The fellows do their best to plan activities the kids will enjoy, but sometimes they fall short.

Seifan enjoys spending time with the same kids each week and developing strong connections, he said. “I’ve been seeing these kids since the fall and I know them all,” Seifan said. “It’s like a mentor or big brother situation.”

HM246 can serve as a break for both the fellows and the students as it allows them to form connections and gain a new perspective by interacting with people outside school, Doellman said. “The world is heavy and our days can be heavy, so having that immediate moment of joy at the end of the day is something I’ve always hoped the fellows have.”

The Record

Horace Mann’s Weekly Newspaper Since 1903

Bahr advocates education for incarcerated people

Michelle Grinberg and Sofia Sahai

Contributing Writers

Black History Month assembly celebrates Black joy, excellence

Naomi Yaeger Staff Writer

The Union led an assembly featuring Black students and faculty to celebrate the start of Black History Month this Tuesday.

“Black culture is American culture,” co-president of The Union Allyson Wright (12) said. Wright and co-president Nia Huff (11) centered the assembly around Black culture to uplift the Black community at the school, Wright said. “Often, when we’re thinking of the Black community, it’s in regards to tragedy. We wanted to focus the assembly on Black joy and the appreciation of our culture to show how much the Black community has to offer.”

Last year, the school barely acknowledged Black History Month, only offering an assembly in March that featured dances without explaining how they were part of Black history, Wright said. “Horace Mann should have made it a priority to educate its students about the significance and impact of Black people and Black culture,” Wright wrote in an opinion article with Ashleigh Conner (12) (Volume 119, Issue 21). For this reason, hosting an assembly for Black History

Month was one of The Union’s goals for this year, Wright said.

In October, Huff and Wright reached out to the assembly committee — English teacher Dr. Adam Casdin, manager of the Theater Department Jonathan Nye, Head of the Upper Division (UD) Dr. Jessica Levenstein, and UD Dean of Students Michael Dalo — to explain their idea. “We said that we wanted to create something that was student driven, with student performances,” The Union advisor Toni Miranda said.

These meetings turned the assembly into an achievable goal, Wright said. “Mr. Nye and Dr. Casdin helped us in terms of understanding what it takes to actually put an assembly together,” she said. For example, they suggested starting the assembly with a performance, a rendition of John Coltrane’s “Blues Train” by Nate Ogiste (10) and James Moore (9), Wright said. Finally, Huff and Wright sent the program to Dalo and Dr. Levenstein for approval.

The committee was on board with the idea and asked them to submit an official proposal of what they wanted to include in the assembly. To put this proposal together, Wright and Huff

see ASSEMBLY on page 4

English teacher Rebecca Bahr was appointed to the New England Commission on the Future of Higher Education Behind Bars last September for her work with education in the criminal justice system both inside and outside the classroom. The commission is part of the New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) and The Educational Justice Institute.

According to the NEBHE website, the commission strives to “develop an action agenda, policy recommendations, strategies, and next steps to align institutions, policymakers, prisons, and industry to increase the life and career readiness of formerly incarcerated people.” It meets in October, December, February, March, and June to discuss how to secure grants to provide incarcerated people with quality education and technology.

Bahr attended the first commission meeting at MIT, where members discussed their goals and broke off into smaller groups to discuss the program’s priorities. “The breakout session was powerful because I really was able to talk about my experience and represent the women that I had worked with.”

By the final meeting in June, the commission plans to provide policy initiatives that enforce equal access to edu-

cation behind bars, she said. Bahr hopes to use her place on the commission to implement programs that bridge the divide between students and incarcerated people. “It is such a powerful experience of being able to give to people who haven’t had chances at education like we have here at Horace Mann,” Bahr said.

Bahr also plans to help the commission ensure that incarcerated women receive equal access to educational programs like their male counterparts, she said. In the committee, she discussed the discrepancies between men’s and women’s access to education behind bars. She proposed solutions to achieve equal access and change the trajectory of incarcerated women’s lives.

Bahr was appointed for her work with the Maine Department of Corrections and her senior English elective “Bridging the Divide.” She created the class with Simon Schnacker ‘22 to teach American literature in joint-classes with students and incarcerated women. Over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, her class visited the Southern Maine Women’s Reentry Center.

While Bahr is involved in this work through the commission, students can become involved by participating in educational programs and organizing book drives for incarcerated people, she said. She suggests that they watch the documentary “College Behind Bars” to learn the basics of what education is like for incarcerated people.

East Wind West Wind draws full house with annual Asia Night food and festivities

Erica Jiang Staff Writer

Last Friday’s Asia Night featured a vibrant celebration of Asian culture through food and performances. East Wind West Wind (EWWW) also gathered donations at the event for Heart of Dinner, a non-profit that fights food insecurity and isolation among elderly Asian Americans.

The Recital Hall was packed with students, family members, and fac-

ulty coming together to celebrate the Lunar New Year, with some attendees even sitting in the aisles or standing in the back. “Asia Night is always really fun, but I think we had a particularly great event this year — from the audience overflowing into the aisles to the laughter and smiles as they watched the students perform, I think Asia Night truly accomplished the goal of celebrating Asian culture,” EWWW Board Member Jillian Lee (12) said.

The night kicked off with a lion

dance that weaved its way down the aisles, followed by the Japanese class’ annual Taiko drum performance, dressed head to toe in red, white, and black Happi. Each year, Japanese teacher Reiko Kawahara hires a professional Taiko master to help the students rehearse leading up to Asia Night, Lee said.

The mood of the night then shifted as board member Madison Xu (12) presented her independent study on child trafficking in China and the Chinese HuKou system,

which is their complex housing system. “I liked Madison’s presentation because it gave a more serious tone to Asia Night and helped people understand not just the culture, but what is actually happening in these countries,” attendee Rizaa Fazal (11) said.

The K-pop medley was a crowd favorite, featuring eight songs by trending artists like IVE and Nayeon that EWWW board member Daphne Tsai (11) helped pick.

Courtesy of Rebecca Bahr

ALL ABOARD Bahr’s English 12 elective visits Maine Womens’ Reentry Center.

Courtesy of Barry Mason

ON THE COLTRANE James Moore (9) and Nate Ogiste (10) jam out.

Participation should be factored into grades more

will be three quizzes and four tests during the first semester. The three quizzes will be averaged to count as a test grade. The final semester average will be calculated by averaging these five test grades.”

This policy oversimplifies learning. Students and their understanding of a subject cannot be properly defined by tests and quizzes. Those who are bad test takers, too sick to study, or too busy with other work often suffer from these unencompassing policies.

Class participation has been called many things during our time at Horace Mann: a grade booster, a drag, an inconvenience, an easy A, insignificant, and, our favorite: undervalued. As two self-proclaimed participators, we feel the way the school community views participation and how it is graded must change so it is valued more by both students and teachers.

Currently, participation rarely, if ever, factors into our grade. Our humanities and language classes count participation but usually for no more than 5-10% of the final grade. In STEM classes, many of our teachers have never used it in the grading process.

Instead, semester grades in STEM classes rely on a combination of tests, quizzes, labs, and occasional projects. In one of our precalc classes, the grading policy is as simple as this: “There

Even more importantly, devaluing participation sidelines a majority of the learning process — including homework and content discussed in class. This policy essentially says: if you can cram study for a test the night before and get an A, nothing else matters. In class, we have seen students sleep, play games, and secretly listen to music with hidden AirPods. By not considering participation, teachers disregard the effort students put into showing how they interact with material outside an assessment.

Participating in class forces students to self-assess how well they know the material, compare their ideas with their classmates, and think outside of their own perspective. All these benefits are lost when students choose to not participate because they lack the incentive to do so. This behavior needs to change and can only come when we reevaluate the way in which class participation is graded. If teachers grade students more based on how engaged they are in class, it would force those who slack off to alter their behavior, a benefit to both the student and their peers.

Participation needs to not just weigh more but be critically evaluated by teachers. We believe participation should count for 20-25% of our semester grade, equivalent to a typical major assessment, because the first step to acing a test or writing a convincing essay is sharing your ideas with the class. Student participation takes up a huge chunk of the time you spend in each of your classes — at least three hours a week. That effort reflects how much work a student devotes to a class and should be credited.

While most STEM classes are lecture-based, with participation rarely extending beyond answering a question here and there, students could be graded on their engagement during class time, labs, or individual work

prove how they share their thoughts and engage in group discussions.

Some may argue that participation is too subjective to grade heavily; it potentially can benefit those who are more extroverted and hurt those who are more introverted. However, it may be a good thing to encourage shy students to come out of their shells by incentivizing more participation. The solution requires a more nuanced approach to participation, one where teachers evaluate factors other than how often you speak — like paying attention, taking diligent notes, and being a focused class member.

Some students are poor test-takers and excel at verbalizing their ideas, but that does not inhibit teachers from making tests the main component of a semester grade. Why is it that strong test-takers, regardless of how comfortable they are at speaking, are the only ones spared the poor grade? In the real world, your collabmunication with others is a crucial part your work uated, as how you can a math

In our English teacher’s syllabus, he says “everyone is strongly encouraged to raise their hand and share something at least once during each class discussion.” We agree with this policy, especially for discussion-based classes such as English. If participation is not prioritized

in these classes, it leads to classroom environments where a small number of voices inadvertently dominate discussions.

Some students think that their participation level does not affect anyone else. This is a grave misconception. Deciding to sleep in class or speak every five seconds has a major impact on everyone else. In classes where participation is not graded or valued, some students often slack off and let their classmates shoulder the burden of livening every discussion. We have both been witness to this time and time again, especially in our English and history courses. We want to hear a variety of perspectives, and when students opt not to share theirs, it hurts the diversity of our learning. One could argue that if participation was weighed more heavily, students would only speak for a grade, not for their own benefit. However, we believe the incentive of a good grade would encourage students to improve their communication and participation, skills vital for success later in life, similar to how assessments that makeup the majority of a semester grade incentivize students to learn the material. In order to create a school environment surrounded by active and interested participants, we must challenge the current system in which students expect an easy 100. Only then, the thoughtful comments, intensive note taking, and active listening that students like us demonstrate on a daily basis will get the credit they deserve.

TOP SECRET HUMOR: Leaked Math Department minutes

Over my four years in the Upper Division, the Math Department has given me whiplash with their constant changing of course names. We’ve gone from AB and BC to “enriched” to “honors.” Before, we could only assume the reasoning behind these changes. The most popular working theory is that admissions officers would be so confused about what was what, that poor grades would get lost in the shuffle. However, during a recent search of Hunter

Biden’s laptop, The Record obtained the official transcript of last year’s departmental meeting to determine math course names. Teacher names, of course, have been redacted due to pending litigation.

HORACE MANN SCHOOL DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS: MEETING, June 9, 2022

Ms. Smith: Hi everyone, thanks for being here. So today we’re going to review the Upper Division’s math course names.

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

Managing Editor

Emily Salzhauer

Opinions

Audrey Carbonell

Sean Lee

Lions’ Den

Max Chasin

Photo Directors

Sam Siegel

Ben Rafal

Aryan Palla

Jorge Orvañanos

Mr. Johnson: Hold on, where’s Mrs. Davis?

Mr. Rodriguez: She must be running late. I saw her in the cafeteria around 2.

Ms. Smith: Well, if she left the cafeteria at 2 and has to travel the distance of 768 feet at a rate of 5 miles per hour, she should be here in 3 and ¼ minutes or 195 seconds, so let’s just proceed.

Ms. Smith: We’ve gotten some negative feedback from students and parents that our course names contain some troubling subtext.

Staff

Staff Writers Ariella Frommer, Ava Lipsky, Blake Bennett, 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, Samantha Matays, Sofia 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

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

Mr. Green: Isn’t the whole point of math is that there is no “subtext?”

Ms. Smith: Correct. This is only subtext about the name of the course, not the content itself.

Mr. Johnson: OK but I do actually have a quick content note while we’re here: we should definitely think about revisiting “differential calculus.” Why, in 2023, are we focusing on difference? (with a raised chest) I do not see color.

Everyone: (awkward fidgeting, averting eye

see HUMOR on page 7

Editorial Policy

About 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

Online Editor Emily Grant Faculty Adviser

Isabella Ciriello and Sophie Rukin

Vivian Coraci/Art Director

Ariela Shuchman Contributing Humorist

The Panopticon

A one sided window, a one sided limbo. Twist your elbow and airbrush your thighs; You’re not meant to take up this much space.

Gazing at you through the lens of cupped hands, Cupped bras and contoured glands.

A debate between fragility and dopamine, Fragility continues to flourish with its shiny participation award; Dopamine takes home the winning prize. A transient, intangible joy via dopamine eyes.

He takes the trophy back home, back to the screen.

In such structure, where can we seek the

Scholastic Art & Writing Awards

possibility of perception’s interjection?

In another form of media? In another strand of consumption?

Each ion in this cloud in which we now live was not designed for your benefit; You condense attention and profit, until gold rains down onto your managers. Managing mechanisms to keep you in check–their check.

A checkbook of Monopoly money, a monopolized card deck.

You take their criticism, but you don’t want their advice.

You’re addicted to being perceived, You’re addicted to displaying yourself like a con.

You’ve been coaxed into the panopticon.

On Class Clowns

In fourth grade, the gap toothed boy abruptly decided that he had had enough. On picture day, he gored his signature red Gap-Kids sweatshirt against the wall hooks by the lost and found and replaced it with a silicon squirrel head that he noosed around his neck. While the photographer was fussing over the class photo, repositioning frilled shoulders and wilting collars and parent’s dress shoes 4 sizes too large, the squirrel emerged from behind the tilted heads like a desert mirage. The photographer’s neck blossomed a fire engine red and the class erupted into laughter— the knees-caving-into-ribs-into-stomach kind that lasts the remainder of the day, an hourly afterthought. We cheered his name as our homeroom teacher marched the half-boy, half-squirrel to the principal’s office. After that, the boy began to wear the squirrel head to school everyday, secreting his gap-teeth behind the unseeing whites. It didn’t take long for them to get sick of it— which is to say they had begun to get

increasingly unsettled by each lurking shadow that metamorphosed into the boy crouched feral.

But as long as the teacher continued to blame the boy as the source of all afternoon rowdiness, as long as no one else had to stay behind on Friday to stack the chairs back onto the desks, as long as they had something to laugh at come lunchtime when they got tired of forcing some meatloaf-and-milk concoction down the throat of some too-skinny boy, no one ever said anything, at least not to his face.

No, they concluded, no matador could be to blame for his metempsychosis*— the bull was charging through the ring entirely on his own.

*metempsychosis: The supposed transmigration at death of the soul of a human being or animal into a new body of the same or a different species.

Slow day by Lola Stern (11)

Harper Rosenberg (11)

Madison Xu (12)

Outlandish by Eliana Son (9)

Piece by Piece by Heidi Li (11)

Orange Everywhere by Jorge Orvañanos (11)

Each year, Horace Mann students submit work to the Scholastic Art & Writing competition. Here are some of the winning pieces:

asked members of The Union in November what they wanted to perform or to help plan the assembly if they didn’t want to be on stage, Wright said. “We met four or five times as a group to get ideas together and to plan it out.”

Some students participated in multiple performances, such as Ramatou Kirimou (10). Kirimou was in the step performance, created and edited a video where Black students shared their thoughts on the month, and read the poem “Beautifully Black Me,” by Erianne Flores (9). Kirimou was inspired by videos she had seen in past assemblies when she suggested the idea for a video to be played at this assembly, she said.

By including the step performance, The Union was able to work some education into the assembly, Flores said. “It was a way to give a little bit of Black history while also keeping it light-hearted and fun,” she said.

The Union also held some joint meetings with the Black Excellence Affinity Group (BlEx) to allow members of both groups to get involved in the assembly, Wright said. This included BlEx

faculty advisors Bri’ana Odom and Lisa Scott, who choreographed and performed in the step performance, as well as Office Assistant Shy Parris, who read Langston Hughes’ poem “Theme for English B.” Huff and Wright also asked administrative assistant Ennis Smith if he would sing in the assembly after being impressed by his talent during last year’s Music Week assembly, Wright said.

Each of the groups performing, such as the step group, rehearsed together on their own time, Kirimou said. “Ms. Scott and Ms. Odom choreographed the step and they sent us videos before winter break so that we could have the hang of it,” she said. “After we got back, during I periods on Mondays and Thursdays we had rehearsal periods.”

For Flores, who gave a reflection on how the school’s community helped her connect with her Black heritage, the assembly gave her a chance to express herself, she said. “Usually, when I perform in an assembly, I read poems, so I wanted to switch it up and tell my story that way.”

While students rehearsed on their own, the

group was unable to rehearse together before the performance, save for a quick sound check during B period the day of the assembly, Miranda said. “We didn’t have a big rehearsal, which made it a little stressful,” she said.

Despite this, the performance was a success, Huff said. “It just felt amazing to see all the work come to fruition, to see how much the community enjoyed it.”

Everyone in the performance supported each other, Miranda said. “I loved that when one student was performing, the other performers on the side were cheering them on,” she said. “It speaks to the spirit of celebration and joy in this community, how if students have a vision, they can see that vision through, see it come to fruition, and share it with the rest of the community.”

“I just choose the songs based on what I have been liking and the most popular current songs.” The dancers rehearsed after school and on the weekend. “The medley was the thing that took the most practice because we had to practice our quick changes,” Tsai said.

Following the medley, students danced to Akon and Hamsika Iyer’s Chammak Challo in traditional lehengas and flashy sunglasses. Fazal participated in the dance to embrace her culture, she said. “In previous Asia Nights, there wasn’t a lot of South Asian representation in all of the activities, so Rani [Ogden (11)] and I chained together to do a dance,” Fazal said. “We decided that we wanted to do sunglasses so the dance would be more light hearted since we weren’t great dancers.”

This year’s EWWW board prioritized inclusivity, Ogden, another EWWW board member, said. “The board was really supportive and encouraged the dance and my short film on Indian clothing,” she said. “I hope we can do more of it in the future.”

The show ended with another annual tradition: the fashion show. Students strutted the stage, flaunting vibrantly colored qipaos, han-

boks, ao dais and more. Brianna Wells (10) wore one of the dresses from her mother’s wedding day, she said. “My mom really wanted to see me in it.”

Compared to the virtual Asia Night during the pandemic and the scaled-down version last year, Tsai said that this year’s event was much more organized. “Last year, it was very last minute, but this year, I was already putting together dances during Winter Break.” Preparation began in mid-December. EWWW set rehearsal schedules and figured out other logistics of the event, Lee said. To gather performances, the board sent out a Google Form to club members to fill out if they’d like to perform or help MC the night, Lee said.

EWWW co-advisor and Visual Arts Teacher Mirrie Choi thought this year’s planning went smoothly. “I’m impressed at how the students handled everything on their own –– I don’t think there were many challenges because the leaders were so diligent and organized,” she said.

The advisors mainly helped connect with the administration and parent groups, Choi said. “The Korean Parents League, Chinese

Family Network, and South Asian Families have all been strong supporters of Asia night in the past.” The advisors reached out to those groups to ask if they would like to participate again, and there was no hesitation on their part, Choi said. “The parents associations helped provide and serve all the amazing food, which is a huge part of what makes Asia Night so special,” she said.

This year, EWWW joined forces with Studio HM and Fisher Gallery to broaden the festivities. “We thought that they would be great additions which would also help make the event bigger and reach more people,” Tsai said. The gallery was curated by Christine Tao (11) and Visual Arts Teacher Emily Lombardo using Asian students’ poems, ceramics, paintings, and other art. Studio HM will arrange the cardstock that students drew on during Asia night into a quilt to be hung in Fisher.

Seeing the large turnout this year, Choi hopes to continue expanding Asia Night’s reach, she said. This may include shifting the performances from the Recital Hall to Gross Theatre and including the Middle Division. “I’ve heard from parents who wanted to involve the middle school students, and I

think that would be a great way for students to foster relationships and mentorships in a fun way, earlier on,” Choi said. “As the Asian population is growing, there is a necessity for us to feel connected and appreciated.”

Choi also sees the importance of solidarity in light of the rise of violence against Asian people, she said. “[Asia night] is for Asian students, families, and faculty to really feel that they have a community in which their background, culture, and selves are appreciated and celebrated,” Choi said. “But it is just as much for the entire HM community to be able to enjoy and show their support –– there’s a lot of love for the Asian students, it’s wonderful that we have the opportunity to come together and celebrate it collectively.”

Asia Night is a particularly special event for Lee because it runs in her family. “My mom, Rosemary Yim, who graduated in 1996, was a co-president of EWWW so I think it’s really cool that Asia Night is a generational tradition.” Since then, Asia Night has grown into a larger celebration of Asian culture that has become more embedded in the community.

from ASIA NIGHT on page 1

Courtesy of Barry Mason

An Asia Night to Remember...

Courtesy of Emily Sun

Commutes, coffee, and clubs: A day in the life at Horace Mann

Harper Rosenberg Staff Writer

Adam Resheff Pete Clancy

7:00am: “Waking up is my least favorite part of the day — not because I don’t look forward to the day, I’m just tired,” Resheff said. During the week, he usually wakes up in a hurry. “I just grab everything and run.” On Resheff’s 30 minute drive to school, he listens to his playlist on loop, bopping to Swedish DJ Avicii and electronic dance music, rap, and a little bit of pop.

7:30am: He arrives at school and gets straight to work. “Going over lesson plans and getting coffee are the two things in the morning that are essential,” Resheff said. Teaching his four classes is his favorite part of the 12:00pm: Lunch! “In my first years teaching at HM, I got very used to going to lunch every day with the math department. Now, I’ve branched out a little bit more,” he said. Math is discussed occasionally when Resheff eats with other math teachers; during other lunches, he talks about “whatever” with his colleagues.

1:15pm: Time for some self care: walking to the staff cafeteria for the drip coffee machine. As the staff dining room in Fisher has the best coffee using actual beans, Resheff likes to walk over from Tillinghast to get some fresh air, get some steps in, and re-energize.

3:20pm: Depending on the day, Resheff advises one of three clubs: HM Investors Club, HM Stock Analytics, or Dungeons and Dragons in the Middle Division?. Although he has not participated in a full Dungeons and Dragons game yet, he has learned how to play and finds it “amazing.”

4:00pm: After school, Resheff tutors students in math, goes to the gym, or plays basketball and sees his friends. “During breaks in high school I watched every TV show I could ever want to watch, so now there’s nothing that’s really appealing to me.” Instead, Resheff usually reads the news — either “The Economist” or “The New Yorker.”

5:15am: Wake up, check emails and respond to phone notifications.

“There’s not too much that goes on before my work day. I make my coffee and off I go.”

7:00am: Arrive at school after a 45-minute drive. First item on the agenda: check the green sheet in his email for the daily events. Depending on what is happening that day, Clan cy may have to move public safety officers around to handle traffic con trol, pedestrian crossing, directing people, and checking visitors in.

8:00am: Prepare for the second bus iest time of the day: arrival. and other public safety officers ensure students cross the street properly and parents comply with drop off procedures. The criss-crossing buses, pedestrians, and cars make it a dangerous time. “We have to have everybody in place and everybody’s got to be on their toes.”

8:30am: Adjusts the cameras all over campus for daily observations from the Public Safety Office. The corner of 246th and Tibbett Avenue requires special attention, being “the hub of the whole campus” (also known as the place where students pick up their Starbucks/Dunkin Donuts/Pearl Dynastea orders).

Kate Kerrick

5:30am: Wake up and meditate for a few minutes. If there are no students at Dorr and she does not have breakfast duty, Kerrick does a quick workout. “I always feel both energized and calm starting the day that way.”

6:00am: Breakfast while listening to the news. “I do a few house odds and ends if I have time, [such as] glamorous adult things like emptying the dishwasher.”

8:00am: If students are at Dorr, Kerrick meets them for breakfast. If not, she drives to the Dorr campus, where the faculty meets in their office. The morning is her favorite part of the day. “It’s full of possibilities and my energy is usually higher.”

12:00pm: “Every day is an adventure when you work at Dorr!” Sometimes, that means multiple conferences and discussions throughout the day with an hour-long lunch break. “Days when we don't have students, I will schedule several meetings or calls, but when students are here I try to be present with them.” After meals, she usually listens to music while washing the dishes with students and takes requests from them. When students are at Dorr, there are often no breaks in her schedule until they go to bed.

4:30pm: Without students on campus, Kerrick usually leaves Dorr by the afternoon and heads home. Then, she either goes out to community events or relaxes at home with television. “My partner and I are currently making our way through The English and rewatching 30 Rock.”

10:00am-3:00pm: Daily briefings from the New York Police Department (NYPD) on the happenings in the city, ranging from events to protests to potential threats. “I’m particularly concerned with the Bronx and Manhattan because we have campuses in those locations.” The briefing also touches on larger world events such as a terrorist threat or an international crime problem that he should be aware of. Clancy leaves time for journaling and prayer during his day. The aquariums in the Public Safety Office help him keep calm and relaxed.

Evening: If he has time and there is a game on, Clancy watches football and hockey games, rooting for the New York Giants and the New York Rangers. He also listens to classic rock music from bands such as Pink Floyd and The Who.

11:00pm: Bedtime — Resheff aims for eight hours of sleep per day (a luxury his high school students can only dream of).

10:00pm: Hit the hay for seven hours of sleep.

9:00pm: When there are students at Dorr, Kerrick leaves later at night after students have gone to sleep. At home, she stays on-call in case any emergencies arise.

10:00pm: Close the day with gratitude journaling and a sentence-a-day diary. Kerrick tries to get to bed on time every night. “I value my sleep!”

Naz Yetis (11) Kofi Asante-Abedi (8)

7:00am: Wake up and immediately check the time. “I have to because I’m like, what if it’s already 8:25 and I’m not at school?” Then she checks her notifications, brushes her teeth, and gets dressed. “I used to always be late to school last year because I could never pick out an outfit on time. Now I pick it out the night before.”

8:15am: Arrive in Ol shan Lobby and chat with friends. “Starting my day off socializing and talking to people makes my day a bajil lion times better.”

10:00am: Snack! “I normally just sit in Olshan, eat food, talk to people, and complain about my tests.”

11:05am: During lunch Yetis normally goes to the cafeteria and sits with friends unless she is meeting with a teacher. Yetis has another block free during F period, so she either goes to the cafeteria to hang out with friends or the library to catch up on school work.

3:20pm: During I periods Yetis usually goes to one of the following clubs: Bioethics Club, Hospital Outreach, or Students in Medicine.

4:00pm: Yetis has ski team practice but due to shoulder injuries, she sometimes has to go to physical therapy or the doctor instead. Otherwise, she stays at school to get some work done and talk to friends who are still around.

6:00pm: Yetis leaves campus and goes to her home, which is only ten minutes away. There, the first thing she does is change her clothes. She washes her face, showers, and settles in with a bottle of Yerba Mate for an energy boost, then it’s time to study — almost. “I procrastinate my school work a lot at night, so I might as well do something productive while procrastinating.” That means reorganizing her room, choosing outfits for school, reading books (she’s currently halfway through “Crier’s War” by Nina Varela), and making Spotify playlists.

2:00am: Sleep, at last. She is trying to go to bed earlier, but 2am remains the average for weeknights.

6:45am: No time for breakfasts — Asante-Abedi wakes up, showers, and leaves for the school bus that arrives

At school, he heads to R204 to meet up with friends, where they chat before classes begin.

12:00pm: Lunch time! Asante-Abedi grabs food from the cafeteria with his friends before heading to the second floor of Lutnick to eat and socialize. His goto order: a bowl of pasta and a lemon Snapple.

3:15pm: School ends and Asante-Abedi hops on the bus so he can go back home, watch YouTube videos, make TikTok videos on a soccer fan account he shares with his friends, and eventually start his homework.

6:30pm: To Randall’s Island for a ninety minute soccer practice with the Manhattan Soccer Club.

10:00pm: Bedtime, ensuring a minimum of eight and a half hours of sleep each night.

All art by Amira Dossani/Art Director

Aryan Palla/Photo Director

Sam Siegel/Photo Director

Courtesy of Dorr

Evan Contant/Staff Photographer

Lions’ gambit: Students obsessed with chess

Blake Bennett Staff Writer

In the halls of Tillinghast, tables of the cafeteria, and aisles of Gross theater, the sight is ubiquitous: students with a green and yellow checkerboard on their computer screens, calculating their next move in their chess match.

“There has definitely been a boom in the popularity of chess in recent years, something that I’ve also noticed within the HM community,” Ellen Wang (10) said. “I see kids in the Middle and Upper divisions who are playing on their phones or computers in the hallway, the library, and all across campus.”

“There seems to have been a recent resurgence of chess, but we can’t re ally explain why. We’re happy it’s hap pening, though,” co-president of the Chess Club Sam Korff (12) said.

Before the recent rise, the Chess Club, which has existed since 2017, had very few members. “In the past couple of months, it has been much more active, with 10 to 20 students showing up at meetings,” club advisor and Upper Division Science teacher Dr. Matthew Wallenfang said.

At club meetings, members play each other online using chess.com. “I love the sense of community and camaraderie that the club brings. Everyone is able to have fun and play chess in a lighthearted and low-stakes environment,” Ellen

from HUMOR on page 2

contact, and disapproving groans)

**Mr. Johnson mysteriously disappeared after the meeting and has been missing for three days. If you have any information that could lead us to his location, please send it to therecord@horacemann.org. Let’s pray that we find him alive and woke.

Mrs. Davis: Sorry I was late everyone. But I take issue with “integral calculus.” Of course I understand that integration is fundamental to Newtonian Calculus, but I just think it’s time we reconcile with the fact that many spaces remain segregated to this day. So I’m worried about using the term “integrated” so flippantly.

Ms. Smith: So why don’t we just abolish integration and differentiation in the calculus courses? Neither provide a holistic understand ing of our present moment or the intersection of duality and perspective.

Mr. Green: But those are the two units of calcu lus! Without them, there is no course!

Ms. Smith: Yes, but imagine how good the grades will be!

Ms. Smith: Let’s get back on topic. So right now we offer the following math courses in the Upper Division:

Geometry and Problem Solving

Geometry

Geometry Honors

Algebra 2 and Trigonometry

Algebra 2 and Trigonometry Honors

Precalculus

Precalculus with Theory

Precalculus with Theory Honors

Calculus

Wang (10) said.

At first, she joined the club to hang out with her friends rather than playing the game itself, Wang said. “However, as I began progressing and playing more and more, I realized the beauty behind the game and loved the constant problem-solving and logical thinking aspect of it.”

Ruby Wildman (10) started to play chess for its fun and challenging aspects. “I started playing chess recently because I wanted to play with my friends, but now I really enjoy playing

“I am interested in chess because it involves strategical thinking along with math and probability,” Gabe Jaffe (11) said. “It is all one big puzzle, and it can be fun not only for that aspect but for the competitive aspect

Korff enjoys all types of different chess games. “Each game is different and provides unique intellectual challenges — blitz games are also fun because of the time pressure they provide,” Korff said.

The club even attended a small tournament at Fieldston a few weeks ago. Horace Mann won a decisive victory: 9.5 to 4.5. “Ellen Wang was our top seed and stood out by winning both of her matches,” Korff said

“The idea for this was originally floated by the

Calculus with Theory Calculus with Theory Honors

Math Seminar

Ms. Smith: So who has comments or concerns?

T6: I guess my first concern is with Geometry and Problem Solving. We are implying that students enrolled in Geometry and Problem Solving are themselves somehow a problem needing of solving.

Mrs. Davis: Plus, to say that shapes and angles need problem solving is honestly to disregard the true injustices that are in need of solving, like gun violence or the overturning of Roe v.

Mr. Green: But it’s Geometry AND Problem Solving. Doesn’t that mean that students can learn theorems AND solve global issues?

Dr. Hart: No. And I’m quite frankly exhausted by people who think that justice can be multi-

Ms. Smith: “Honors” also obviously has to go. Non-honors students have personal dignity and integrity as well. How about we just go back to

Mrs. Davis: Well we can’t say “enriched” because the “rich” really sticks out: with tuition on the rise, we can’t give “The Post” more reason to call us classist.

Mr. Green: What about “with theory”?

Ms. Smith: That should work. Anything else?

Mr. Rodriguez: My Precalculus class is currently learning combinatorics, and I’ve been rethinking the “cookies and kids” unit because a lot of kids do not have access to cookies, let

Fieldston Chess club,” Wallenfang said. “Everyone involved had a lot of fun, and we’d love to repeat it, perhaps with other schools involved.”

The Chess Club is also planning on a schoolwide chess ladder competition. “Our email list right now has 70 people, and is growing with our chess ladder initiative,” Korff said. Wang hopes more students will give chess a try, she said. “I hope more people will be open to the wonderful opportunities and benefits that come from playing chess, and the stigma that ‘chess is just a game for nerds’ is broken down.”

Tips from Chess Champion Ellen Wang (10)

1. Chess is a very psychological game! Your mental strength is equally important as your technique and strategies. Stay calm, objective and optimistic while pressuring your opponent and making their heart beat fast.

2. The game isn’t over until it is over! Overconfidence and impatience may ruin your win, but perseverance and resilience may earn your chances back. Time scrambles can be heartbreaking, but can also present opportunities.

3. Enjoy the moves and don’t become obsessed with the results. Your moves are more demonstrative of the quality of the game, and good results will come eventually. Whoever shakes off a loss faster will win the next game.

4. Find players to share your passion with and build a community. A sense of connection and belonging keeps you going with the game and offers comfort and support whenever you need it.

5. Create your own rhythm of improving. Your goal is not to catch up with others for ratings or titles, but instead, to become a better player while embracing many other wonderful aspects of life. As long as you work on your weaknesses, you can become a chess master at your own pace.

alone the scourge of gluten-free allergies and obesity.

Ms. Smith: Good point. Let’s call that concept “trophies and kids.” So for example, “if I have 7 trophies, how many ways can I distribute them to 3 kids” could be a potential test question.

Mr. Rodriguez: As long as everyone gets a trophy, right?

Ms. Smith: That goes without saying.

Dr. Hart: Changing “irrational numbers” is long overdue. Clearly that is a gendered dog whistle for the trope of a “shrill” and “hyster ical” woman. I propose we shift to “slightly peeved” or “calmly advocating for herself” numbers. So 2 is a “calmy advocating for herself” number.

Ms. Smith: Done!

Mrs. Davis: So in my Geometry class, we’ve been talking about similar triangles, including the Angle Side Side principle.

Mr. Green: (snort) That’s what she said. (Mr. Green nudges Mr. Rodriguez and whis pers): I like an obtuse Angle Side Side.

(Mr. Rodriguez moves his chair away from Mr. Green and assures Mrs. Davis that he is an ally: he does the dishes once a week)

Ms. Smith: Excuse me, Mr. Green. Do we need another PowerPoint about acceptable work place behavior?

Mrs. Davis: As I was saying, Angle Side Side is like essentially a cat call. Is this a math class or a construction site?

Ms. Smith: Mmmmmmm, noted.

Ms. Smith: We also need a quick refresher on rounding.

Mr. Green: Rounding?? Kindergarteners learn how to round.

Ms. Smith: Yes, however the department will now abide by a new set of rounding rules: “equity rounding.” So for example, an 89.4 or an 89.00001 no longer rounds down to an 89 but rather rounds up to a 90.

Mr. Green: So we’re just going to throw away centuries of rounding rules like that? That seems a little irrational, don’t you think?

Ms. Smith, Mrs. Davis, and Dr. Hart (stands and threatens to shiv Mr. Green with a pencil): Oh no you did not!

Mr. Green: Sorry sorry, I mean it just seems a little bit, uh, calmly advocating for herself. Like you are all clearly doing right now…

Sophia Liu/Art Director

Aryan Palla/Art Director

Courtesy of Emily Sun

CHECKMATE Students spotted playing chess.

Lions’ Den Record Sports

Personal records broken at Track Ivy Developmental V

22 members of the Boys and Girls Varsity Indoor Track teams set personal records at the Ivy Developmental Meet V last Wednesday. The meet took place at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island and was the final Ivy Developmental Meet before the championship, which will take place on February 16.

Ben Rafal (11) set a new personal best of 3:21 for the boy’s 1000-meter dash. At recent practices, he worked to decrease his time by running shorter intervals, such as 200 meters and 400 meters, allowing him to control his pacing better and increase his

speed throughout the race, he said. “[This] helps with learning how to do a single lap at a faster pace versus running a longer distance, which helps more with conditioning.”

Maddie Offit (10) decreased her previous time in the 600-meter dash by 1.34 seconds, setting a personal best. This new personal record of 1:52.46 now qualifies her for the girl’s 600-meter dash at the New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS) championship. Offit previously qualified for the girl’s 1000-meter dash in the NYSAIS championship with a time of 3:37. At the boy’s 1600-meter dash, Logan Scharlatt (10) reduced his time by 9 seconds, from 5:37

to 5:28. Scharlatt had more time than usual to practice his event over the two-and-a-half-weeks between this meet and the previous one, he said. “[During the race,] I kept counting the number of laps I had left, which distracted me from focusing on how tired I was and helped me push through.”

Every second in a race is crucial, which is why Maya Yoon (9) practices her starts each day in practice by running short distances, she said. At the meet, she achieved her goal of breaking 8.19 seconds for the girl’s 55-meter dash, finishing with a time of 8.15 seconds.

The last two meets have been positive for the team, with five members qualifying for the NY-

SAIS championship, Boys Varsity Track Head Coach Jon Eshoo said. “We have a great group of guys this year,” he said. “They are dedicated and very supportive of one another, especially when they train.”

The girl’s Varsity Track team saw eight members clinch a new personal record at the meet, with four girls qualifying for the NYSAIS championship, Girls Varsity Track Head Coach R.J. Harmon said. “Sometimes [a team member] will hit a plateau for a period of time, but they continue working hard,” he said. “It’s been a fun, exciting season, and we are all having a good time and doing well.”

Rafael Nadal’s success undercut by injury

Zach Hornfeld Contributing Writer

Of the 128 athletes competing in this year’s Australian Open, Rafael Nadal, ranked second in the world, was favored to win the title. However, in the second round of the tournament just two days in, he lost in straight sets to unseeded American Mackenzie McDonald. Afterwards, he shared on Twitter that he had a pain in his left hip, and following an MRI scan, he discovered a grade two injury in the iliopsoas muscle — the major flexor of the hip joint — requiring an estimated six to eight weeks of recovery time. While McDonald certainly deserves credit for beating him, the loss was disappointing for many fans who expected a better result from Nadal.

The Australian Open has proven to be a humbling moment for the so-called new generation of tennis legends — namely, former champions Taylor Fritz and Emma Raducanu.

Nadal has won 22 Grand Slams in his career — a record that Novak Djokovic just tied after winning the Open on Sunday — but not without overcoming his share of injuries. By the time he won his first Grand Slam, the French Open in 2005, he had already been diagnosed with Mueller-Weiss syndrome, a rare disease that causes gradual deformation of the back of the foot, which, in Nadal’s case, translates to pain. In spite of this, he has continued playing for over 17 years. He even received a pain-killing injection during the French Open last June, which he went on to win after recovering from yet another injury: a stress fracture to the rib in the finals of the Indian Wells Masters tournament. Competing against players who were born after he started playing professionally, some speculate that Nadal might retire soon. But the 36-year-old informed the press he had no plans of doing so: “don’t keep going (on) with the retirement, because I’m here to keep playing tennis.” He will continue adapting to and persevering through injuries — after all, it was his adaptability that let him begin playing with his left hand when he was a teenager for no other reason than because he thought it would make him a better player.

Fritz, a 25-year-old American currently ranked eighth in men’s singles, was defeated by the Australian Alexei Popyrin, ranked 90th, in the second round. Fritz has never won a Grand Slam, but began a promising career after defeating tennis legend Rafael Nadal at the 2022 Indian Wells Masters.

old Brit Raducanu won the US Open in 2021, consistent losses dropped her to 77th place on the tour. Raducanu, like Fritz, was also eliminated in her second round match.

players are one-hit wonders –– they had the poten tial to be #1, but crumbled under the pressure. Fritz and Raducanu have switched coaches multiple times since going pro –– likely creating inconsisten cies in their training schedules. In comparison, Nadal switched coaches only three times over the past 19 years. These players seem to care more about maintaining their slipping titles for celebrity status, influences on social media and TV, rather than perfecting their athletic abilities.

Fritz and Raducanu lack consistency and drive compared to legends like Nadal or even 19-year-old Carlos Alcaraz. Fritz and Raducanu’s lack of focus and desire for fame and glory led to their tennis careers going astray. With this lack of dedication, they will never be able to match the players of the past.

AUS OPEN RECAP

Last Sunday, 22-time

Djokovic secured his 10th Australian Open Title and 22nd Grand Slam against the world’s third-highest-ranked male player, Stefanos Tsitsipas. The win returned him to his No.1 spot in the rankings, a position he has held longer than any player in history — 374 weeks.

Last year, Djokovic could not compete in the tournament after refusing to get a Covid-19 vaccine. The Australian government and tennis officials exempt him from the rules so he could play, but upon arrival in Melbourne, border officials deported him because he didn’t meet vaccination requirements.

Djokovic then filed a legal appeal on the false claim that he could not get vaccinated due to previous Covid infections; the appeal failed and he was banned from the country for three years.

Djokovic, an Orthodox Christian, has previously claimed that vaccines oppose his Christian beliefs and dismissed the seriousness of the pandemic. He is no stranger to promoting pseudoscience, preaching about false remedies and misinformation on social media.

win the Men’s Singles title at the Australian Open. With controversy buzzing about both players, the match polarized fans who supported one player over the other.

Djokovic fans had one more reason to root for him, on top of admiration for the No.1 player: Tsitsipas was accused of cheating at last year’s Open by receiving coaching from his father during the match.

At this high level of tennis, one of the most critical factors in any match is players’ mental strength.

Athletes in the top 10 seeds possess the same physical abilities, which brings the competition down to their mental acuity. When a player as acclaimed as Tsitsipas receives an unfair edge, tennis fans can’t help but root against him. Even though Tsitsipas avoided accusations this year, his reputation colored my view of him. While it’s important to acknowledge criticisms of Djokovic’s personal beliefs that oppose vaccines, there’s no denying that on the court, Djokovic is a more highly respected player.

I was shocked to see Djokovic’s name in this year’s Australian Open. His three-year ban was reversed with a temporary visa, as Djokovic’s popularity generates a large portion of the tournament’s revenue by attracting viewers, so without him, the Australian Open wouldn’t be nearly as exciting — or profitable. Popular or not, he shouldn’t have been allowed to play. It sends the wrong message to young people who look up to him, as though status allows someone to cheat the system. Even the top tennis player in the world should follow the basic Covid rules that every other player and fan is subject to.

Avery Vukhac Contributing Writer

Diya Chawla Staff Writer

Julia Lourenco Contributing Writer

Hannah Becker Staff Writer

ALMOST THERE! Alex Ment (12) sprints.

Courtesy of Barry Mason