The Rampage THE NEWSPAPER OF THE RAMAZ UPPER SCHOOL
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New York • Volume 66 • Issue 4 • Purim 2022 • Adar II 5782 • the-rampage.org
Ramaz Upper School Selects Stevie Lookstein, Age 2, As New Head Aviva Schilowitz ’24 This past week, Mr. Jonathan Cannon, Ramaz’s Head of School, emailed the Ramaz community to announce that, after a long search and process, Ramaz has selected Stevie Lookstein as its new Principal of the Ramaz Upper School. Stevie is a member of the Lookstein family, related to Rabbi Haskel Lookstein himself. When asked how old he is, Stevie replied “this many,” while holding up two fingers. The move caught some by surprise. One current Ramaz parent, who requested anonymity, thought the hire was intriguing but premature. “On the surface, he has all the things Ramaz should look for in a candidate. He plays well with others, is inquisitive, and has a spectacular beard like his grandfather, but I wonder if he has the temperament for this job. Ramaz is a pressure cooker. He’ll have to get up to speed quickly. Also, he’s two years old.” Not helping concerns about his temperament, Stevie was seen throwing his food and rubbing it into his hair during lunch in the Upper School cafeteria during a recent visit. Mr. Jonathan Cannon, Head of School, de-
fended the selection during a recent parent town hall. “Yes, Stevie is a little green and, yes, he does some-
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training, but we are confident that he will grow with the job. Also, please understand that he’s currently teething. An ice pop or teething ring will go a long way in his development.” Ultimately, Mr. Cannon feels confident Stevie has the character and college connections that Ramaz prizes in an Upper School principal. When reached for comment about his vision for the Upper School, Stevie blew raspberries before explaining his intentions. “Mommy. Want juice. No night night!” He then started crying for no apparent reason and ran away. Stevie’s future Upper School colleagues expressed excitement about the hire. Rabbi Schiowitz, Upper School Director of Judaic Studies and Religious Life, noted that Stevie is a fourth generation hire for Ramaz. “Continuity is important. He seems mature beyond his years. Just yesterday I saw him make the bunny ears with his laces for tying his shoes. He didn’t get them fully tied but he had the ears! Not every two year old can do that.” When asked if he would change Stevie’s diapers, Rabbi Schiowitz was noncommittal.
times lose his temper and is still struggling with potty
The Ultimate Schoology War Orli Rabbani ‘25 “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” Teachers were found singing all around the school. Finals time. A time of chaos and horror for students, and supreme excitement for faculty. It surely was a holly jolly time in Ramaz for teachers: even more fun for them when the dramatic snowfall finally arrived. The night before the first final, obviously, Ms. Krupka announced on Schoology: “Cancel your plans, we’re moving the test to 1:00. We don’t want you to trip on the half an inch of snow covering the streets of Manhattan. Sorry guys.” That was a lot of fun. Coming from a New Yorker, it surely was a struggle walking that mile in the light snow. Students began doing what they do best: Posting on Schoology! (A job that was once for the teachers has fallen into the hands of crazy teenagers.) “Watch how it doesn’t snow”, “Like this if finals should be in the morning instead of the afternoon.”, etc. We had planned and organized everything to manage our study time wisely (like the school TELLS US to do), and they throw us a virtually miserable
surprise party. However, what upset the students the most were the impromptu and unnecessary announcements less than
began posting even more than before, and they were much angrier. One thing is for certain. Teachers, more than anyone, hate admitting that they’re wrong. So their defense against the students posts was to take them down and write angry emails, banning them from posting on Schoology. What happened to freedom of speech? Students were frustrated with the administration’s logic: It’s unsafe for the final to be before 1:00 but detention is at 11:00. Additionally, the administration completely disregarded the commuters’ problems. Some commuters would not get home until 6:00 PM, and then would be unable to study adequately for the upcoming final. News flash: the roads wouldn’t only be icy at 9:00, but the whole day. And, there was barely any snow so this crazy hour of fighting on Schoology was just pointless! Between detention occuring before the tests — even though conditions were expected to be too bad for the final to be on time — and commuters getting home at an unreasonable time so they were unable to study, this was, overall, just a bad move. Thankfully, Ms. Senders made cookies and everything was peaceful. Thank you, Ms. Senders, for fixing all of our problems.
twelve hours before the exams and Rabbi Schiowitz’s later post. “Detention will be held at 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM tomorrow.” That was bad timing. Truly. Seconds later, students
InsIde thIs Issue... lounge takeover p.
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ramaz rams make It to the super BoWl! p.
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the scandal of the century
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