Issue 9

The Record

Volume 119 Issue 9

record.horacemann.org

Horace Mann’s Weekly Newspaper Since 1903

November 19th, 2021

School energy efficiency rated 12 out of 100 by EPA

Lauren Kim/Art Director

Vidhatrie Keetha Staff Writer Last week, the school received a grade of 12 out of 100 points — or a D/12 — as its Building Energy Efficiency rating for the 2020-2021 school year. This rating, administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), takes into account properties’ annual energy and water consumption.

In a Letter to the Editor published in The Record last week, Head of School Tom Kelly and Director of Facilities Gordon Jensen wrote that errors such as considering all the buildings in Middle and Upper Division campuses as one unit, miscalculating square footage, and indicating that there were no cooking facilities contributed to the low rating. Due to these factors, the school has reached out to the EPA to request a correction to the rating, Kelly and Jensen wrote.

As a result of recently passed legislation, which aims to significantly reduce energy consumption by 2024, New York City has given schools grades based on their energy efficiency since 2019. During the 2019-2020 school year, the school received a D/3 rating, or 3 out of 100 points. To determine a rating,

Other schools have also received low ratings, Jensen said. Since the pandemic began, Jensen, who is one of the co-chairs of the Inter-School Facility Managers Association through NYSAIS, hosted weekly Zoom calls with other facility directors to discuss pandemic protocol. “On the last call, when we all knew we had to post [the rating], the people who would tell me, they all had D’s,” Jensen said. “Even a school that was just built had a D.” Jensen attributes the low ratings to the fact that independent schools tend to have longer school days than public schools, a factor the EPA does not take into account. “My cleaners are here until one in the morning. We have students here sometimes until 10 at night. So there are activities going on, and we have to leave heating and air conditioning running during that time,” Jensen said.

Although there are many flaws with the rating itself, there are still flaws with the school’s current energy system, Jensen said.

In particular, Tillinghast is one of the school’s least energy-efficient buildings because fan units on its roof send air to each floor. “When you do that, you send down, say, cooled air when it’s warm out,” Jensen said. “If one room is a little bit cold, the heat will open. There’s

“The only time we’ve gotten these letter grades is during COVID. The windows are open and the heat is on, air conditioning is on, and we’re using a lot more energy with the HVAC systems.”

- Gordon Jensen the EPA considers factors such as the number of seats for students, how many computers are used, and square footage of the school, Jensen said. The EPA then considers how much energy is consumed per a square foot and compares this data to other buildings of a similar size, he said.

In previous years, the school was required to complete a process called benchmarking, a method of tracking energy consumption using the EPA’s Energy Star Portfolio Manager Tool. In 2017, before the construction of Lutnick and Friedman Hall, an inspector evaluated the school’s energy usage, Jensen said. Because the school has not undergone the benchmarking process since, the EPA did not take into account the added square footage when determining a rating. “They were only accounting for 75% of the square feet,” Jensen said.

Pandemic protocol has significantly affected the school’s energy consumption, Jensen said. “The only time we’ve gotten these letter grades is during COVID. The windows are open and the heat is on, air conditioning is on, and we’re using a lot more energy with the HVAC systems,” Jensen said. “We’ve also had to put in higher efficiency filters, which creates more static pressure, which makes the motor run harder to move the same amount of air.”

a coil in there that opens and it will bring the temperature up, so it’s not throwing colder air into an already satisfied or cold space.”

However, in buildings such as Pforzheimer, each room has individually controlled heating units which are more energy-efficient. “Each room has complete, individual control rather than taking it from one huge fan unit distributing to multiple spaces and then trying to send the ideal temperature,” Jensen said.

The inefficiency of the energy systems currently in place can be attributed to the age of the buildings, Jensen said. “At the time [they were] put in, it was probably state of the art and the best they had, but that’s not the case anymore,” Jensen said. “There’s so much more out there, [such as] vacancy sensors in classrooms, which we’re looking to put in so that the lights switch off.”

The school is working to improve older energy systems. For example, the school replaced incandescent bulbs with fluorescent bulbs when Tillinghast was renovated in 2004, and many of the bulbs are now replaced with LED dimmers. In Lutnick, lights only go up to 90% of full light, Jensen said. “You won’t even see the difference between 90% and 100%, but it’s still 10% savings on the energy that it uses,” Jensen said.

Newer buildings on campus are also more energy-efficient, Jensen said.

For example, energy systems redirect airflow to a classroom when carbon dioxide sensors detect high levels of carbon dioxide, causing problems with heating and cooling. “If you get a lot of kids in there, all of a sudden your carbon dioxide goes up. You want that below 1000 parts per million. So if it starts to hit that at about 800, you start introducing fresh air,” Jensen said. “If I introduce fresh air, I either have to heat it or cool it, but if no one’s in the room and I’m just at minimum air, I’m not really heating or cooling. So the building management system that we have between Pforzheimer and Lutnick that we’re integrating through the rest of the campus does all of that for us.”

The largest source of energy consumption at the school is lighting, Jensen said. “We use a fair amount of power here. It’s an active place, doors are opening and closing, kids in and out, but lights are the biggest consumption of power,” Jensen said. To consume less energy, the school replaced its high pressure sodium lights, which it previously used for exterior lighting, with LED lights.

The school also sources renewable forms of energy. For example, the school installed a 53 kilowatt solar array on the roof of Rose Hall in 2016 that currently backfeeds power into Pforzheimer, Jensen said. The school is looking to additionally install solar panels on top of the aquatic center, Jensen said. “The school is also 100% wind power, we do source renewable energy credits for all the electricity we use,” Jensen said. “Everything we’ve done helps, and that’s why [the rating] came as a little bit of a shock to me, because we do so much to try.”

English teacher Rebecca Bahr said that although the rating may have relied on incorrect data, it still indicates that the school needs to put more measures into place.

“Hopefully, [the rating] is really wrong, and maybe it is, but how wrong can it be? Maybe we’re a C instead of a D,” she said. “The bigger picture is that okay, maybe then the next capital campaign’s got to be about really shoring up the way our school uses energy and gas energy.”

Emily Zeitler (12), who did not know about the school’s low energy rating, said that the majority of students and faculty are unaware of the school’s energy and water consumption.

“They’re not really thinking about the rate at which we’re consuming energy, which I think is a problem,” Zeitler said. “I think we all need to be a little bit more educated about what energy is, how it’s used, where we use it and how we can be more efficient when using it.”

Students are also unaware of how the school manages its energy and water consumption, Zeitler said. “A lot of us forget to turn off the lights, and the automatic lights help with that,” she said. “But in terms of water consumption, I’m not really sure other than in my day to day life as a student, and I’m not sure what’s happening behind the scenes.”

Nitika Subramanian (11) also said that she does not know much about how the school’s water and energy consumption is managed. “I knew about [the school’s energy system] but I don’t really know how it works,” she said.

“When I think about sustainability at HM, water isn’t the first thing I think of.”

Subramanian said that while students and faculty may be able to use energy more efficiently if they knew how the system worked, it is more effective for the system itself to become more efficient.

She is not surprised by the school’s low energy rating because of how old a few buildings on campus are, she said. “My building has a low rating, and I know many older buildings have lower ratings.” she said.

Bahr also said that the state of the buildings may have contributed to the energy rating.

“When they built Pforzheimer and Rose Hall, I know there were some significant problems with that,” she said. “We just have to make sure when we do repairs to try and do them as environmentally soundly as possible, so that we’re not just pumping out heat and whatever else we’re commissioning.”

Overall, Bahr hopes that the low rating will contribute to an increased awareness of energy consumption at the school, as well as other environmental issues in general.

“Hopefully people are paying attention to the environmental issues that are at hand, because it feels like we need all hands on deck,” she said. “People are starting to be aware, but it’s very hard to change. We should all be doing our part.”

Parliamentary debate team competes in year’s first tournament

Aashana Hari/Staff Artist

Rachel Baez Staff Writer This past weekend, the Parliamentary Debate (Parli) team attended the virtual New York Parliamentary Debate League (NYPDL) November Invitational.

Though the team consisted largely of new debaters, it performed well, Co-President Nathan Zelizer (12) said.

The team prepared for their first tournament by running through mock debates and exercises, such as building cases and argumentative speaking, Co-President Justin Gurvitch (12) said. “Seeing as this

tournament was many students’ first time debating in the Parliamentary style, our main goal was to teach them how to express their arguments confidently and coherently,” he said.

Elise Kang (10) and Naomi Yaeger (10), who were partners in the tournament, placed second and fifth respectively in the speaker awards.

This award is based on a debater’s persuasiveness and execution.

Gurvitch was impressed by Kang and Yaeger’s performance because they participated against over a hundred students nationwide in the varsity division, he said.

Although the pair did not win one of their rounds, they were

still happy because they thought that it was a respectable loss, Kang said. The team debated “Why one shouldn’t ‘Just Do It,’” arguing that “Just Do It” promotes impulsivity.

Another highlight for Kang and Yaeger was debating a round on censorship in Soviet Russia, Yaeger said. The team argued whether or not a woman should showcase her protest art at the risk of being put in a Gulag or Soviet prison camp.

Yaeger enjoyed this topic because it was interesting to think about something that did not have an obvious answer, shesaid.

Story Sossen (9) also had a positive experience at her first

tournament, she said. Sossen participated in two rounds; she lost the first and won the second. She improved over the two rounds, allowing her to win against a more experienced team, she said.

S o s s e n attributed her win to her extensive preparation, she said. For example, she bombarded the other team with questions, which stopped their train of thought, she said. “Practice is really important, even if you are

just sitting there watching people debate. Improvement comes from experience.”

Gurvitch is happy with how the first tournament went and looks forward to more debates in the future, he said. He is particularly proud that the students took the initiative to join Parli and are already improving.

Zelizer is also proud of the team’s development, he said.

“They all left the tournament much better debaters than they entered, which was ultimately the goal.”

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THE RECORD OPINIONS NOVEMBER 19TH, 2021

Takeaways from the Astroworld Fest tragedy: What makes a safe concert?

Justin Burrell It’s safe to say Travis Scott is one of the biggest artists out right now. Still riding the success of Astroworld, the rapper’s third studio album, he has obtained partnerships from major brands and topped the charts as one of the most commercially successful musicians today. I am a fan of Scott’s music, but I was horrified to learn about the controversy centered around Astroworld Fest, which emerged after several attendees died and hundreds were injured during his Houston concert two weekends ago.

On Nov. 5, ten people died at the Astroworld Fest concert: Axel Acosta Avila, Danish Baig, Madison Dubiski, John Hilgret, Jacob Jurinek, Franco Patino, Rodolfo Peña, Brianna Rodriquez, Bharti Shahani, and nineyear-old Erza Blount. Scott is now being sued for $2 billion, as fans died due to the negligence and unsafe conditions of his concert, suffocating from the stampede of people and the overcrowded mosh pits. When I heard about what transpired at Astroworld Fest, I was disappointed and shocked: fans should not have to worry about

their livelihood while attending events.

The incident prompted me to reminisce on my experience at Rolling Loud this year, which took place at Citi Field a week before Astroworld Fest. What makes Travis Scott concerts incredible yet dangerous is the ambiance of the crowd. There were bright red, blue, and green lights that fluttered around the stage as the performer ran back and forth from the front of the stage to an elevator platform that resembled a UFO. During certain moments of the set, Scott and his DJ would yell into the mic followed by a giant strobe light flashing and fire coming out of set canisters.

As I read the news reports on the tragedy, I was reminded of the terror and excitement that ran through my veins during Scott’s set. Packed like sardines in the front of the crowd, people immediately started screaming and jumping up and down. I remember it was somewhat hard to breathe — I had to lift my head up to get extra air.

I struggled to stay with my friends and found myself having to push and shove my way to them. As mosh pits formed, I was in shock as people began to scream “I can’t breathe.” Unlike the previous sets of the day, it was impossible to escape.

When people screamed in pain and agony, they were pushed to the side. I held onto my friends as I desperately tried not to fall myself. While the live performance was beautiful to witness, every time the beat dropped I was concerned about my safety; I either had to jump up and down with the mob of ragers, or be consumed by the hot air and lack of space. I could only imagine how difficult it must have been to stand up straight at a concert the size of Astroworld Fest.

There is a lot of debate over who should be held accountable for this

tragedy. As I scroll through Twitter and Instagram, the majority of posts that I see attack Travis Scott. I also believe that the rapper is to blame. Over the years, he has enabled and fostered a toxic mosh culture. For instance, in 2018 Scott said, “it ain’t a mosh pit if ain’t no injuries.” In Scott’s 2019 Netflix documentary “Look Mom I Can Fly,” we see a scene from 2017 where a fan left a Scott concert in crutches shouting, “I survived, I survived! It’s all good!”

Yes, there are some risks in going to a concert, but Travis Scott does not make things easier by inciting violent rages.

Despite Houston Police Chief Troy Finner expressing security

concerns to Sophie Li/Staff Artist Travis Scott before the main event, the performer continued with his concert. His disregard was made even worse when he posted an apology a few days after the tragedy. I struggled to take the video seriously; the video was in black and white and seemed performative. I believe Scott is actually sorry for what happened, but his video led to memes and a new TikTok trend,

which is not what was intended.

While I agree with general accusations towards Scott, I also believe that a significant portion of the blame should go to Live Nation, the planners of the event. Although they were warned about the concerns of public safety, Live Nation did a poor job of hiring enough Emergency Medical Service (EMS) professionals on-site and ensuring that only people who paid for the event attended. With officially over 50,000 partygoers at NRG Park and thousands more rushing to the gates of the festival to illegally enter, 755 security officers were most certainly not enough to regulate a festival of such magnitude.

In the case of these emergencies, the officers were rendered useless since they were overwhelmed by people.

Rolling Loud was safer than Astroworld Fest for a few reasons.

First, Rolling Loud was secure.

From checking to see that everyone had a valid festival wristband to making sure everyone was vaccinated or had a negative COVID-19 test, it was comforting to know that the event planners were being thorough with their admission process (if not for their own moral reasons, but to oblige the rules of New York State).

Although my friends and I had to push and pull our way through people during the Roddy Rich set, I felt safe. Unlike Astroworld Fest where everyone was packed together, there were gaps in the crowds where security could stand and pull people out of the mosh pits if

necessary. Everyone who was there was also meant to be there, whereas with Astroworld Fest, thousands of people broke in. Moreover, Rolling Loud had multiple artists performing at the same time, so attendees did not flock to one individual performer. With fewer people present for the set, the risk of injury or death decreased, and attendees also had the option to leave if they wished. Going forward, we need to have more rules like these in place to ensure safety.

This week, rapper Lil Uzi Vert also faced backlash after he refused to stop his concert while the audience shouted “People are fainting.” In response to the crowd, Uzi said, “I don’t take no breaks.

If it’s gettin’ bad, leave. If you ain’t gonna leave, stay.” The instance in Houston was also not the first time that a fatal event occurred at Astroworld Fest. In response to hearing about this tragedy, I looked at Scott’s past events to determine the underlying causes of the tragedy that took place this year. The festival has had problems before — in 2019, three people were trampled and hospitalized with leg injuries.

I understand the appeal of such concerts — I myself went to Rolling Loud just to experience the intensity first hand — but I urge everyone to have conversations about what it means to have a “safe” music festival.

How can artists continue to “rage” while also considering the well-being of their fans? From event planners to artists themselves, the culture of live performances has to be adjusted to one that prioritizes safety. Before that happens, we must be more thoughtful about which artists we choose to support through attending their events.

Fans should never have to fear for their life to enjoy their favorite artists’ music.

Stop using the “r” slur: The harms of thoughtless language

Hannah Moss As Horace Mann continues to evolve into a more inclusive community, eradicating the use of the r-slur in conversations is essential. I have often heard students use the word as a casual insult or a replacement for “stupid” or “silly.” People who use this word do not realize that the r-word carries a much harsher meaning than its alternatives.

The offensive term is often used as a casual insult amongst friends. When people use it against someone else they are often implying that they are smarter or better than them which directly implies that developmentally disabled people are the opposite. The kids who use it do not realize the word’s

demeaning history and how it was used harshly against an entire group of people.

Though ableism has only recently become a topic of public conversation, the hate and negative context behind the r-word extends back as far as the early 20th century. Once used as a medical term, the word soon became a standard for describing both people with developmental disabilities and people who are not smart — which is simply untrue.

In various books, TV shows, and most commonly in conversations, the r-word is used to insinuate that someone did something silly or not worth respecting. The advertisement of the word even as a medical term put negative connotations on discussing those with developmental disabilities.

Rather than discussing their differences, the use of the word only focused on their “weaknesses.”

The r-word is extremely harmful when used to attack disabled people.

Each time it is used to call something or someone stupid or worthless, it disrespects the disabled community.

Whenever it is used, it implies that developmentally disabled people should be equated to the negative adjectives that society has associated with “the r-word.”

Volume 119 Editorial Board Editor in Chief Hanna Hornfeld

Managing Editor Liliana Greyf

Features Mia Calzolaio Emma Colacino

News Claire Goldberg Katya Tolunsky

Opinions Devin Allard-Neptune Yin Fei

A&E Purvi Jonnalagadda Arushi Talwar

Middle Division Jade Ciriello

Lions’ Den Lauren Ho

Art Directors Vivian Coraci Lauren Kim Riva Vig

Design Editors Avani Khorana Myra Malik Arin Rosen

Photography Daniel Schlumberger Ailill Walsh Sean Lee

Online Editor Lucas Glickman

Head of Design AJ Walker

Faculty Adviser David Berenson

This language is not only normalized in conversations but is also displayed on the internet for everyone to read.

According to Special Olympics, an organization that provides developmentally disabled children with opportunities to engage in sports, 70% of all social media posts regarding developmental disabilities contained negative language, and 60% contained slurs. This statistic shows that the large majority of content about developmentally disabled people is hate, which is more than enough evidence that we need to take action as a community to work to reduce the levels of disrespect.

One time in sixth grade, I was sitting on the bus on my way home from school, and next to me were a group of eighth graders who were using the r-word repeatedly in casual conversation. They were talking about something silly their friend had done but felt the need to keep saying the word. I finally mustered up the courage to tell them to stop, explaining to them how they should not casually throw the word around.

One of them responded, “Why do you care so much — who do you even know that has Autism?” My older brother has autism and my whole life I have had strong feelings towards

wanting to remove the word from everyone’s vocabulary. I looked him straight in the eyes and replied, “my brother.” Although that was enough to make him stop for the day, he continued to use it in conversation. This insinuated that he did not care enough about developmentally disabled people to change his language.

Four years later, I walked into the library at school and heard someone in my grade use the word in casual conversation. Again, I calmly approached the situation and explained the ramifications of the term and why it should not be used. I once again was glared at and the students proceeded to use the word multiple other times in the next sentence. At that point, I felt helpless. I was trying to explain the harmful implications of an extremely hateful term, but I felt like I was talking to a brick wall.

I realized that in order to get my message heard, I would have to display it on a much larger scale. Instead of dwelling on one person and their disregard for developmental disabilities, I looked at the school community as a whole. In my sophomore year, I decided to start the Autism Acceptance Club to bring awareness to the discrimination and hate towards the developmentally disabled community.

Staff

Staff Writers Rachel Baez, Audrey Carbonell, Max Chasin, Jiya Chaterjee, Cecilia Coughlin, Owen Heidings, Hannah Katzke, Vidhatrie Keetha, Celine Kiriscioglu, Zachary Kurtz, Alex Lautin, Jillian Lee, Sean Lee, Allison Markman, Audrey Moussazadeh, Divya Ponda, Clio Rao, Emily Salzhauer, Ayesha Sen, Aden Soroca, Emily Sun, Madison Xu, Alexandra Yao, Ariella Frommer, Neeva Patel, Lucy Peck, Ben Rafal, Athena Rem, Etta Singer Staff Photographers Sophie Gordon, Amanda Wein, Emma Colacino, AJ Walker, Lucas Glickman, Lauren Ho Staff Artists Tatum Behrens, Felix Brenner, Kayla Choi, Amira Dossani, Ishaan Iyengar, Isabelle Kim, Dylan Leftt, Sophia Liu, Samuel Stern, Sammy Underberg, Aimee Yang

There are a myriad of reasons why you should not use the r-slur in your conversations. As of 2010, it is no longer a medical term, so no situation necessitates its use. Using the word as a replacement for a harmless word like “silly” or “imbecile” directly implies that developmentally disabled people are not as smart or unable to accomplish great things.

Thousands of other words, which do not carry the same harmful meanings, will accomplish the same goal in the sentence. Choosing another word takes virtually no effort and contributes tremendously to ending the use of such a dehumanizing and harmful term.

When members of our community hear the word being used, we must act with more urgency. The bare minimum an able-bodied person can do to show respect for developmentally disabled people is to not use a word that has only demonstrated hate and disregard towards their community. Instead of allowing a friend to keep using it, correct them. As we continue to become a more accepting school, we must continue to watch what we say and take steps towards correcting ourselves and our peers around us to eliminate the use of slurs and derogatory language.

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.

THE RECORD FEATURES NOVEMBER 19TH, 2021

Decoding the school’s language program from past to present tense

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Art by Lauren Kim/Art Director

Zack Kurtz Staff Writer When former World Language teacher Nathaniel Glidden taught seventh graders between 1963 and 1976, he invented his own vocabulary words and taught their definitions to students. Years later, Glidden’s former students still remember his classes, but the course he used to teach is no longer offered and the school’s overall language curriculum has evolved significantly.

Throughout the school’s history, the World Languages Department has changed its language offerings on many occasions. Spanish, French, Chinese, Japanese, Latin, and Ancient Greek are the current course options, but over 10 languages have been offered at the school during different years.

In 1954 the World Languages department offered two types of courses: General Language and typical language courses in Spanish, French, German, Russian, Latin, and Greek.

Seventh grade students took the General Language course to prepare for high school.

According to the 1954 Program of Studies, the General Language class had two goals: “to stimulate a feeling for, a liking for, and an interest in, the study of a foreign language,” and “to determine, as best as can be ascertained, which language a boy is best suited for.”

The class included preliminary lessons in languages including French, Latin, Spanish, Russian, a n d German.

During the 1972-1973 school year, the General Language course was a requirement for all seventh grade students, known at the time as first form students. The World Languages Department also required students to take two years of a modern or classical language while in high school. The department currently requires that each student takes up to the third level class of a language.

Robert Feinberg ’71 took the General Language course, taught by Glidden, as a seventh grader and took both Russian and Spanish during the rest of his time at the school, he said. “The General Language course is one of the things that for seventh graders made Horace Mann very special,” Feinberg said.

Glidden had a love for languages and words and was passionate about the course, Dr. Mace Rothenberg ’74 said.

“The concept of General Language was to expose us to many languages, and he wanted to help us understand the breadth and beauty of language.”

There are currently multiple Facebook pages devoted to Glidden as well as a website containing all of the daily vocabulary words that he wrote on the board. Jeffrey Wecker ’80 remembers when Glidden created the word “sesquidoon,” meaning a lively folk dance for one and a half people, as well as when he taught the class the word “defenestration,” which means to throw someone out of a window, he

said.

Nicole Kaufmann ’89 did not have Glidden as her General Language teacher, but nonetheless, the course piqued her lifelong curiosity for languages, she said. The course gave her confidence to learn new languages during her travels in Europe and Asia.

It helped her develop an ear and a facility for different languages, but not fluency, she said.

The General Language course spent a few weeks on each language, which was only enough for a brief introduction, Rothenberg said. It included a mix of different languages depending on the school’s offerings at the time. Rothenberg remembers learning French, Spanish, German, Russian, Latin, and Esperanto, he said.

After completing this course, students chose to continue with either Spanish, French, Russian, German, or Latin — depending on what the school offered that year. The World Languages Department offered various levels of French, Spanish, German, and Russian in 1954, and the Classical Department taught courses in Latin and Greek.

However, the school only offered Greek if the demand for the course was high enough.

Students at the school could also take a second modern language as their elective course. Feinberg took Russian in eighth grade and picked up Spanish as a second

language course in 10th grade, he said.

Penny H e c h t ’94 P ’23 ’26 took French for three years after taking General Language in seventh grade, she said.

Hecht remembers all of the language courses being popular and had friends who took a variety of languages after finishing General Language, she said.

Hecht’s French classes utilized a VCR that they would roll into the room to watch French In Action, a series of romantic comedy scenes interspersed with grammar and vocabulary lessons, she said. The language classes also utilized the language lab where students would record themselves speaking and then listen to those recordings to improve upon their language skills, she said.

Adrienne Fields ’96 P’28 loved studying French at the school as it gave her opportunities she otherwise would not have had, she said. While in high school, she studied abroad in Paris and Nice because she wanted to see how French was used abroad, Fields said. “I would never have been able to have all of those experiences abroad if it were not for all of the fundamentals that

Anna Miller/Staff Photographer

PARLEZ-VOUS FRANÇAIS? Students hard at work in French 4.

were given to me at HM.” Fields’ job as an attorney practicing intellectual property law has allowed her to continue using French, she said.

She has represented painters, sculptors, and architects from all over the world, so being able to speak and read French has been key to interacting with her clients, Fields said. “Studying French at Horace Mann was instrumental because it opened up so many doors and so many opportunities and has played into my real life career.”

Kate Fisher ’06, who took Spanish and Italian at the school, remembers having language days each year, she said.

There was a Spanish language day and a French language day while Fisher was at the school, she said. “I remember my AP Spanish Literature and Culture class putting on a somewhat questionable production of Don Quixote for the elementary school students in the black box theater.”

Today, the Lower (LD) and Middle Divisions (MD) only offer French and Spanish. Once a student reaches the Upper Division, the options expand to include Chinese, Japanese, Latin, and Greek.

In the LD, the French and Spanish language classes are not taught from a textbook so that the courses are tailored to younger students, LD World Languages Coordinator Marielle Coadic said. Both French and Spanish have similar content levels so that students do not choose one language over the other because it is easier, she said. The courses in the LD mainly focus on vocabulary building and small conversation until the end of third grade, with grammar studies beginning in fourth grade, Coadic said.

Students at the school select the language they want to take very early on. Jared Contant (11) chose to take French after first grade when his class studied both French and Spanish, each for half the year, he said. “I took it because I thought everyone was taking Spanish, and I wanted to do something different.”

The LD teaches first and second grade students both French and Spanish to expose them to both languages, Coadic said. Students choose the language they want to pursue after second grade, she said.

World Languages Department Chair Maria del Pilar Valencia said that parents generally help their kids choose which languages they are taking, especially when they are younger.

Parents will choose the language based on their background and beliefs on what would serve their child best, she said.

Many believe that students learn languages based on their heritage or if it is useful, but this perception of the language program is limiting, Valencia said. “While it’s important to nurture one’s cultural background, the idea of the language requirement is to offer students the possibility to broaden their horizons and really become global citizens, and that only happens if we offer the student as many different cultural perspectives as we can.” If a student is already familiar with a culture due to their family heritage or otherwise, the department will not achieve this goal as effectively, she said.

In 1991, the World Languages department started to offer Japanese.

According to an article published in The Record on September 6th, 1991, the course was added in response to students’ requests the previous year.

The course was taught as a half-credit for six years before becoming a full credit course.

“When languages are up for consideration to be added, the school looks very carefully at the significance of studying that particular language,” World Languages teacher Dr. Cornelie

Ladd said. “For example, if Chinese is deemed to be relevant for students at Horace Mann School, if there is a body of students that can require that knowledge, then of course, the school thinks very carefully and moves deliberately to make it available to students.”

Global politics is one of the m a j o r factors that

influences the addition of new languages, as well as which languages are the most popular, Valencia said. Students tend to be more interested in taking a language when major events are happening in the part of the world that speaks that language, she said. For example, during the Cold War, many students wanted to learn Russian and the Russian departments grew at many institutions, Valencia said.

Chinese was first added to the school’s language offerings in 1972 due to popular student demand but was removed from the offerings soon after. The language department chose to add it back to the course offerings in 2006. Chinese Teacher Frances Fu took over from Siaxiang Wang ’02 in 2009 and was responsible for recreating the Chinese program. She incorporates Chinese music, movies, calligraphy, and current events related to China to expose her students to Chinese culture, she said.

Between 1997 and 2013, the school removed the course offerings for both Russian and German. Most recently, the school removed the Italian program in 2018.

student may not necessarily earn more money, be able to get a job, or become successful from speaking that language, but they will gain a lot from learning it, she said.

Languages are added to the curriculum when there is enough demand for it. “I believe that the more languages possibilities we have, the richer the program will be,” Valencia said. “I would love for us to have an open eye to new languages that we could incorporate.”

The cultural components of language courses are vital, Valencia said. She wishes that the school could offer more languages than it currently does to expose students to even more cultural perspectives.

The language program is especially enriching since students can study both modern languages and classical languages, Ladd said. “We offer languages with cultural relevance and significance for our students as global citizens: the languages we teach are spoken all over the world.”

Ariela Shuchman (11) has enjoyed learning about the culture of different Spanish speaking countries around the world, she said. “One of the coolest parts of Studies is that our homework is listening to music. It doesn’t feel like homework or even a class, just a discussion with classmates about what we like, don’t like, and find interesting in a poem or song,” Shuchman said. “Just a few days ago we listened to ‘Patria y Vida,’ a super catchy, Latin Grammy nominated Cuban song that I loved.”

Valencia takes issue with the typical transactional presentation of languages, or the belief that certain languages are more useful than others, she said. The

“We offer languages with cultural relevance and significance for our students as global citizens: the languages we teach are spoken all over the world.”

- Dr. Cornelie Ladd The department strives to offer students as many choices as possible but cannot continue to offer a course if not enough people sign up for it, Valencia said. It also does not make sense to have a part time program if the school cannot guarantee its continuity, she said.

Leonardo Hess (12) took Italian in his freshman year, the last year it was offered. During his sophomore year he chose to take Spanish, he said. “If there had been more Italian to take, I would have taken that,” Hess said.

“I was certainly disappointed

when I heard that Italian wouldn’t continue being offered.”

The Italian course was removed because there was not enough enrollment, Valencia said. Only four students took Italian in 2018.

Valencia learned Italian in school as a child and was saddened by its removal since the language is a large part of her identity, she said.

To keep a course in circulation, teachers must maintain students’ interest, Valencia said. They must convince students that learning languages is not a transaction; the

use of languages is to offer different cultural perspectives which means that all languages are useful as they allow you to look beyond your own perspective, she said.

Though Contant does not view the language component as the sole purpose of his French course, he does feel that the class is practical as it teaches students about French culture. “The culture of French speaking countries is very deep and strong and I think it’s interesting to be able to understand that.”

On the other hand, Eric Do (11) views all courses as transactional in some capacity. The class gives students the skills of speaking, understanding, and writing in the language, he said.

Shuchman has taken Spanish since second grade and is currently taking the Studies in Spanish course, she said. “Studies has been an incredible experience so far and it has not only improved my language production and listening skills tenfold, but I feel like I am fully immersed in the Spanish speaking world around me,” Shuchman said.

“I feel really accomplished leaving each day knowing I’ve had a real conversation in another language.”

4

THE RECORD ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT NOVEMBER 19TH, 2021

The Dining Room: HMTC’s first live performance since COVID Emily Sun Staff Writer “And, the dining room,” Cat Mong (10) said as the Agent. With that, the Horace Mann Theater Company’s (HMTC) production of A.R. Gurney’s “The Dining Room” launched into 15 vignettes with 43 characters, set around one table for six.

The four performances, which took place last Thursday to Saturday, were the HMTC’s first live, in-person stagings since the pandemic began in 2020.

“It’s been forever since I’ve been able to perform on stage,” Celia Stafford (10), who played Dora, a maid, and dinner party host Ruth, said. “My first thought was ‘oh my god, there’s actually a lot of people out here who all came to see it.’”

Seeing the audience react boosted Amaris Christian’s (9) confidence, she said. Christian, who played Mother and Kate, said there were some fumbles during the show, but mistakes give live theater its raw and real quality.

“My friend was so nervous because she stuttered on a line, but it just makes you seem more natural. That’s how a normal human would respond.”

All the actors were nervous going into their first scene since it had been months since their last show in front of a live audience, Ross Petras (11), who played Arthur, Paul, and Gordon, said.

“I remember pacing up and down the hallway before my first scene.”

“The most intimidating sight of that entire of the three nights was during the first performance on Friday as the Grandfather, when I stared Tom Kelly down the entire time,” Matthew Peeler (12) said. Head of School Dr. Tom Kelly sat right behind Peeler’s scene partner, Jah’si Eyre (10), who played his grandchild, Nick. In his other scene as Ted, another actor tried to make Peeler break character in every performance, he said. “I was just holding my breath like “don’t laugh, don’t laugh, don’t laugh.”

Mong, who plays the Agent and Ellie, waited outside of the Blackbox and cheered on her castmates before getting in the right headspace for her entrance, she said. “Right before I got on, I would take a deep breath and when I walk on stage, I’m no longer me, I’m just the character that I’m playing.”

The play’s director, Manager of the Department of Theatre and Dance Studies Jonathan Nye, chose the play for its themes and structure and because it was the last show he performed in college, he said. “It’s the place where people gather for their meals, but that tradition has slowly gone away, it’s a metaphor for the decline of a culture where we all come together.” The play’s non-linear format jumps through time to depict various “life moments” that circulate the same

In one scene — in which Amaris Christian (9) plays Mother and Arushi Talwar (12) plays her daughter, Charlotte — the actors spent over 30 minutes determining how Talwar would push in her chair, Christian said. “It was so miniscule and it really showed me how much [Nye] cared about the play.”

Nye also allowed actors to experiment with their scenes during rehearsals and shows, which made for a more genuine performance,

Dick, played by Eyre, because it walks the line between loss and humor, and because he hung the stage light that focused on them.

The cast warmed up backstage with typical “theater kid” activities, Christian said. “We take things so seriously at school, so it’s nice and refreshing to just come to the theater and be silly,” she said.

The actors prepared for roles with various techniques. “I imitated my brother, who’s about two years old,”

CAST DINNER Dining Room cast celebrates final performance. table, as if the characters are ghosts tethered to it, he said.

The HMTC offered Nye an opportunity to direct when he started at the school, but he was worried about whether students would audition, how the community would react, and what his creative vision would be, he said. He agreed to direct for the first time after the fall play slot opened up following former theater teacher Joseph Timko’s retirement.

Over the summer, Nye gathered inspiration for the staging, set, lighting, props, and costumes, he said. From September to November, he worked with the cast and crew to bring it to life, Nye said. “I enjoyed the experience 500% more than I thought I would, and I’m looking forward to doing it again.”

Mong said. She varied her actions in each show for her scene with Oscar Shah (10), who played her character’s husband Howard, Billy, and the Client. “There was a moment when I improvised taking off my [wedding] ring and slamming it on the table, which made for a very dramatic scene.”

Watching the show live and inperson made for a more communal experience, Bethany Jarrett (10) said.

“You can be immersed in not only the acting and the story, but also the lighting and the atmosphere in the room of having the audience around you.”

It was rewarding for stage crew members to watch their efforts pay off, James Zaidman (9) said. He liked the scene where AJ Walker (12), who plays Harvey, plans his funeral with his son

Angela Jin (9), who played two young girls, Lizzie and Sandra, said.

Similarly, Peeler changed his voice and physicality when playing a young boy, he said. “I found some recordings of myself as a child and tried to make my voice sound like that, though it cracked six times before I got close to it.”

Some scenes were awkward because of the romantic tension, like Petras and Dalia Pustilnik’s (12) under-thetable exchange as Paul and Margery, Petras said. But, after over 30 rounds of rehearsals, the embarrassment wore off, he said. “We’re actors. That’s what we do.”

Even after the preparations, it was hard for Eyre to shed his nerves because all eyes would be on him when he walked onstage, he said. He calmed

himself with an internal monologue: “You’ve prepared for this for months, you know what you’re doing, there’s no reason to be nervous.”

The final show was triumphant yet bittersweet, Christian said. “I was just thinking, ‘Why is no one else crying?’” she said. “I didn’t realize how quick it was gonna go by, and we were trying everything to get in every moment we could out of that Saturday.”

After the performance, the seniors presented gifts to their underclassmen, such as earl grey tea for Christian, a notebook labeled “The Communist Manifesto” for Serena Bai’s (10) progressive character, Tania, and weights for Eyre —a play on his line, “I need some buffing up.”

The juniors also wrote speeches and gifted roses to the seniors in the cast and crew. “Our stage manager Yunshu cried instantly, the second the speech started,” Petras said.

It felt surreal to receive the roses, Juliette Shang (12), who played Carolyn and Brewster, said. “In sophomore year, I remember watching all the juniors get roses for the seniors.

It’s crazy that I’m a senior now.”

“I couldn’t control myself from crying because this show has been a huge part of my life for the last three months,” Jin said. The cast made her feel welcome in her first year at the school, like on days where she had four-hour rehearsals on top of assessments and Chris Smith (11), who played Psychologist and Winkie, brought brownies for the cast and crew.

Christian also said that the cast and crew helped her feel included and appreciated. “At the first rehearsal, I was really nervous because I didn’t know any of these people’s names, then AJ made this big circle and he said, ‘let’s all go around and say our names, pronouns, and our favorite ice cream.”

“It’s sad that we’ll never have all these people in another cast,” Jin said. The transitoriness of theater productions is tough, but she is excited to join future shows and meet new people, she said.

At the end of the play, all five seniors — Shang, Pustilnik, Talwar, Peeler, and Walker — sat around the dining table and raised their drinks to a toast. Their glasses clinked, the chandelier winked, and Walker delivered the final line: “to all of us.”

Conner (11) takes the stage at the Met Opera Audrey Carbonell Staff Writer “The moment the curtains open, I see thousands of outlines of people that I can’t quite make out — except for the front rows,” Ashleigh Conner (11) said. A singer at the Met Opera, Conner is performing in La Bohème and Turandot for the 2021-22 season. “To know that all of these people are watching gives me a boost of energy and I throw myself into my performance. This, along with hearing the orchestra take off, is the best feeling I have ever had.”

Conner was first introduced to opera around the age of seven when she attended a music camp with her siblings, she said. “We watched The Magic Flute on this TV, and my sister said this comment, ‘how did they get such tiny adults to be in the opera?’ and didn’t realize they were kids.” Conner was inspired to audition for the Met Opera immediately after this experience, and she has been a part of the Met Opera’s Children’s Chorus ever since, she said.

“It is wonderful to see a musician like Ashleigh, who is so incredibly talented, also be so kind and such a tremendous team player with such humility,” Music Department Chair Timothy Ho said. As the choir director, Ho works with Conner in Concert Glee Club and Treble Choir, he said.

When participating in the Concert Glee Club and Treble Choir, Conner sings in styles different from the one she performs in at the Met, Ho said. Depending on the size of a choir group,

singers have to adjust their volume, their vowel shapes, and their expression in accordance with the other members, he said.

“When [Conner is] doing her work at the Met, it is not miked, so it’s a different technique which allows her to have a broader, larger sound that will carry unamplified since it’s literally her with some other singing,” Ho said. “A lot of that, in terms of technique, relies on her being a really smart musician and knowing when to use what style of singing at what time.”

During her time at the Met Opera, Conner has performed songs in Italian, French and German, she said. However, she does not find learning songs in multiple languages to be challenging. “My director teaches it from memory,” she said. “We never have sheet music, he just plays the music and we learn it like that.

So memorization has never been hard.”

When on stage, Conner has a mix of feelings, she said. “When I’m singing by myself, that’s very nerve-racking. But when I’m singing in a chorus, it’s mostly just excitement.”

Even with the occasional nerves, Conner said performing is one of the biggest enjoyments in her life. “It doesn’t feel like a job. It just feels like I am having fun, which is awesome.”

Being immersed into the melodious blend of singing and instrumental music fuels Conner’s love for performing, she said. “The sounds are just breathtaking — listening to the orchestra play is one of my favorite parts of singing at the Met.” Conner is also awed by the visual scenery that surrounds her during each performance, she

said. “The stage is huge, and all of the sets are so interesting and detailed, so I see something new every time I perform,” she said. “In La Bohème, some of my staging is determined by me, so I can wander around the plaza and look at everything, which is awesome. Each night I do something a little bit different which makes my experience very exciting.”

Although Conner loves her costumes, they have their ups and downs, she said. “We’re wearing so many layers, and the stage lights are very strong, so by the time that Act II is over, everyone is drenched in sweat and it’s terrible.

But it’s worth it because we’re having so much fun.”

With about three performances per week, balancing school and work can sometimes be challenging, she said. “Most of the time I get home around 10:30 or 11, but if the performance starts late, sometimes I won’t get home until one.”

Because of her work schedule, Conner has learned to put wellness first, she said. “Being a performer, one thing you really need to learn is how to prioritize yourself and the things that are most important to you — and to make sure that your mental health is not coming last.”

Alongside her performances at the Met, Conner also studies opera at Juilliard PreCollege and takes dance classes four times a week, she said. “It’s insane and very, very stressful, and sometimes I feel like I can’t do it anymore, but I think learning how to manage your time best is really the only way you can make it out.”

Courtesy of Ashleigh Conner

CONNER IN COSTUME Conner poses postperformance.

For Conner, time management includes meeting with teachers before exams so she can feel prepared even if she does not have time to study, she said. “I have to sleep at some point.”

Conner wants to pursue the performing arts in her future, she said. “I want to sing opera, pop, musical theater, everything,” she said. “Just to be a performer is my dream.”

Conner’s goals include acting on Broadway and starring in an opera, she said. “When you’re a teenager, there aren’t that many roles you can do [on Broadway], so I’m waiting until I turn 18 so I can audition for everything.”