The ReMarker | Oct. 2022

Your guide to the midterms

MYLES LOWENBERG

Hello, certified civics experts! The cruelty of U.S. election law is keeping 17-year-old me from casting my vote, but it seems like a special group of seniors in my grade will finally be lucky enough to press one button among millions on a digital box. But with this — well, pretty small — power comes a pretty small responsibility. You have to pick the objectively correct candidates.

That’s right — both parties are lying to you. The powers that be are lying to you. There is a slate of objectively correct choices in this election, and you just have to figure out which ones they are. I think the government might actually give you a prize, like a spare F-35 or a couple million bucks from the Inflation Reduction Act they just kind of forgot about, if you do.

But figuring it out is a struggle, of course. There are so many candidates, and you have to decide correctly for all of them? Even for the FunnyLooking Train Commissioner and the Assistant Dog Catcher? Sadly, yes.

Alright, you might be wondering. Who are the candidates I have to choose to receive my prize? Well, I know, of course, but I can’t just tell you. That would take all the fun out of it. But I can give you some hints. When picking candidates, always look for these qualities:

Don’t you hate it when you have a great politician, and all of a sudden it turns out that he gets tarred with some scandal? Well, there’s a way to avoid that. Pick the candidates who have already had horrible scandals. That means that when they’re in office, all their dirty laundry has already been revealed, and there is no possible way they could ever be hiding something else.

Always pick the politicians that the most people are talking about. Everyone knows that people in the news media — especially high school newspapers — are simply more enlightened souls than you, and whenever they extensively cover a politician, that can only mean good things. Remember, air time is the fair time to pick your politician!

And with those two hints, I’d just like to remind everyone about the only two rules of politics: Be safe and have fun!

Every vote COUNTS

NEWS IN BRIEF

SHAKESPEARE PLAYS

Trustee Master Teaching Chair Lynne Schwartz gave extra credit to her AP English Language and Literature students who attended a production of Hamlet on Oct 8. Nearly 40 students went to Samuell Grand Park to see the performance. The play allowed the students to become familiar with the text they will be reading later in the year.

Schwartz is considering having additional extra credit opportunities like this throughout the semester.

HEART OF TEXAS DEBATE

The annual Heart of Texas Invitational debate tournament was hosted at St. Mark’s from Oct. 21 to Oct. 23. Juniors Sid Bidare and Anish Guddati made it to the quarterfinals in the varsity division. The varsity team of sophomores Sam Posten and Andrew Jin and juniors Ahsan Tahirkeli and Ashrit Manduva both had winning records of 4-2 and made it to the playoffs. Sophomores Chris

Han and Austin Dunbar made it to the semifinals in the JV division and placed in the top four. The tournament was managed by debate instructor Timothy Mahoney. The rest of the student body did not have school Friday, Oct. 21.

LION'S TABLE MEETING The first meeting of the Lion’s Table took place Sept. 20. The event, organized by the Inclusion and Diversity Leadership Council (IDLC), was held in Nearburg Hall and featured a discussion on how St. Mark’s is fostering inclusivity for the LGBTQ community. Around 50 students attended the first meeting. The IDLC considered the event a big success. The date for the next event has not yet been determined.

QUIZBOWL UPDATE The Quizbowl team hosted its first home meet in more than two years on Oct. 15. Additionally, team members seniors Arjun Badi and Ishaan Devalla and

juniors Aditya Shivaswamy, Vardhan Agnihotri and Ethan Bosita competed in a match against faculty members in an Upper School Assembly Oct. 14, which the students won. The team practices every Wednesday in math instructor Paul Mlakar’s classroom.The team is broken into four groups, and each group conducts a mock Quizbowl round. More experienced team members participate in optional practices during G block.

CONVOCATION The All-School Thanksgiving Convocation will take place at 9:45 a.m. Nov. 17, the Thursday before Thanksgiving. The entire student body along with all faculty and staff will meet for the second convocation of the year. A guest chosen by Headmaster David Dini will speak, and there will be a reading from Deuteronomy along with three other prayers. Due to Thanksgiving break, there will not be school the week after the convocation.

HEADLINES

Breaking down this month’s hot topics.

What happened: Venezuela and the United States organized a prison swap.

When: Oct. 2

Importance and

What happened: A mass shooting in a child care center in Thailand.

When: Oct. 6

Importance and relevance: At least 34 people,

22 children were massacared by an ex-police officer in one of Thailand's few shootings.

What happened: Uvalde school district's police force suspended.

When: Oct. 8

Importance and relevance: Following the shooting at Robb Elementary School, the entire Uvalde school district has decided to stop all police activity.

What happened:

When: Oct. 15

INSIDE

A deep dive into the legality of the Martha's Vineyard situation.

We sat down with teachers to discuss why they do what they do.

Transporting migrants Why do they teach? Election rundown

A look at the Voter Registration Drive and its motivations.

Importance and relevance: Nearly $725

Ukraine

PHOTO / CREATIVE COMMONS

From PEACE

On Sept. 14, Venezuelan migrants were flown across the country to Martha's Vineyard. Their voyage was orchestrated by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, an action done with little to no precedent. What does this mean for the future of immigrants to our country? We talked with political science professor at SMU Dr. James Hollifield about the issue.

STORY Dawson Yao, Keshav Krishna

There it was. The plane, in all its glory. The plane which would take them all the way across the country.

The plane which would take them to a, seemingly, completely new world. The plane which would rewrite each one of their futures.

The sad part?

They didn’t even know it.

On Sept. 14, around 50 immigrants were transported by plane from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, a small island off the coast of Massachusetts. The trip was organized by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

In the eyes of Dr. James Hollifield, a political science professor at SMU, the situation is merely a publicity stunt. Hollifield believes the governor’s actions come with a desire to increase awareness on the issue and do not indicate a willingness to effectively solve policy problems.

“Clearly, it’s what we would call symbolic politics,” Hollifield said. “They’re doing this to draw attention for themselves and to the immigration issue, to keep the issue in the newspapers and their names in the newspapers.

And they think they're sticking it to liberals, the opposition, by doing this. I'm sure it's playing well with the face of the Republican Party.”

The move to transport people to northern cities follows a historical precedent set in the 1960s in southern states.

“There’s a history of this kind of activity among governors,” Hollifield said. “Some of the conservative segregationist governors in

the civil rights era shipped African Americans north to places where they thought they would cause trouble for liberals. They’re taking a page out of a very old playbook here in terms of what governors can do to make a point when they're opposed to the federal policy.”

In many ways, Hollifield asserts, the coercion used to get migrants on board the buses to Martha’s Vineyard and other Democrat-governed areas originated with African Americans in the civil rights era as well.

“Back in the 1960s, African Americans had to be lured into making these trips,” Hollifield said. They were swayed with promises of a pot of gold, if you will, at the end of the rainbow, just like these migrants were recently. I'm not surprised that some of the migrants that were caught up in this would be suing the governors of states for getting them to make a trip on false pretenses.”

The illegality of such an action is clear.

“In Texas, if you transport somebody under false pretenses, it's a misdemeanor according to the Texas statutes, “Hollifield said.” If anyone you transport is under 17, that gets a felony here. You're not supposed to do this.”

Further complications occur in transporting these migrants.

“If you transport people who are in the country illegally,” Hollifield said, “then you could be charged under federal law with trafficking undocumented migrants.”

Despite the potential punishments, it is unclear whether they can be applied to the governors.

“We don’t know how much the two governors were screening the migrants in advance,” Hollifield said. “We’re not sure whether or not they were getting people who were willing to make the trip.”

However, even with the immense obscurity

in penalizing immigrants, it is still likely that the governors will be indirectly disciplined. “I'm sure that since this was very much a sort of political publicity stunt,” Hollifield said, “They thought they could do this very quickly, make their points and, that would be the end of it. But I suspect a lot of this is going to end up backfiring on both governors. It may end up causing them more problems than they anticipated.”

The issue is very different across the ocean, as countries in Europe share the responsibilities of one another.

“I’ve worked on migration issues all over the planet,” Hollifield said. “You certainly look at Germany, Britain and other countries, and there’s often a strategy to do what is referred to as burden sharing.”

The tactic involves taking asylum seekers and dispersing them across the European Union. As a result, immigrants are spread across the continent.

“You don’t end up with large concentrations of people in specific neighborhoods or cities,” Hollifield said. “No country in particular is too burdened by significant amounts of immigrants.”

This technique, however, has its disadvantages.

“Many of the asylum seekers were accepted by countries like Germany or Scandinavia, which are among the more liberal societies,” Hollifield said. “However, many other European states were simply not going to take these people, especially the very conservative and more xenophobic countries in Eastern Europe.”

FACTS & STATS

When: Sept. 14, 2022, 3:15 p.m.

Where: From San Antonio to Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts

Who: Flights organized by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis

77% of all migrants in the U.S. are legal

One in seven people is an immigrant, in the U.S.

One in eight people are U.S. born residents with at least one immigrant parent

44.9 million immigrants are currently living in the U.S., comprising 14% of the population.

Mexico, India and China remain the top countries of origin among immigrants, accounting for nearly 35% of all migrants.

Number of naturalized immigrants: 23.2 million

DR. JAMES HOLLIFIELD Political science professor

DR. JAMES HOLLIFIELD SMU political science professor

GRAPHIC / MATTHEW HOFMANN

FADING

Teachers are not only essential for learning, but also serve as great role models for their students.

Without them, classrooms would be empty.

TEACHERS TEACH

What would we do without them?

With more teachers leaving their posts and fewer youth choosing to enter the field, more attention has been brought to the fact that teaching can be a comparatively thankless and stressful profession. We sat down with a few of our own teachers, and a student considering teaching, to learn their motivations.

STORY Ian Dalrymple, Grayson Redmond

Every day, 911 boys walk onto campus.

Each one receives countless smiles, countless greetings, countless bits of knowledge from their teachers.

Teachers who truly give their all each day to not only teach their students, but also serve as mentors for them. Teachers who carefully craft their lessons, their presentations and, yes, even their homework assignments for the sole purpose of helping boys along their path to manhood.

Without teachers, the reality is simple: zero boys walk onto campus.

Educating is no simple task, either. Despite this, hundreds of thousands of teachers enter the workforce each year, eager to impart their knowledge and make an impact on the lives of their students.

This vast number of teachers find their way into the profession in very different ways, though. Director of Environmental Studies Dan Northcut ‘81 never seriously considered teaching until he tried it out and discovered his passion for it.

“When I was in grad school, I was a teacher's

assistant tutoring people in an oceanography course,” Northcut said. “That tutoring was what turned on the light and made me think, ‘This is what I want to pursue.’ Some St. Mark’s faculty members that were here when I was a student would say that I should be a teacher. So that was always in the back of my head. But it was sitting down with people, explaining stuff and seeing them light up when they understand what you're trying to explain that was the hook.”

Northcut says that seeing his students understand a concept is among his favorite things about teaching.

“It’s also seeing the curiosity and the motivation when you get into a subject, and the kids get interested in it,” Northcut said. “Seeing that sort of action and reaction really holds you to it.”

Unlike Northcut, English instructor Cameron Hillier ‘13 says that becoming a teacher was always the plan.

“I feel very blessed because I've never really questioned what I wanted to do,” Hillier said. “In eighth grade I thought, ‘I think teaching would be pretty cool.’ When I was a junior, I thought, 'Yep, I want to be a teacher.' I always loved working with and mentoring younger guys, whether it was coaching tennis or tutoring.”

For Hillier, much of that desire came from the education he received here.

“The environment here is phenomenal,” Hillier said. “The care that teachers have for the kids is remarkable. People like Joe Milliet or Stephanie Barta, a great biology teacher. I didn't even do that well in her ninth grade bio class, but she was a great role model. Bruce Westrate taught one of the best classes that I was in on the history of the British Empire. I think I hit a point where, even if the material wasn't my thing, I appreciated the teacher.”

Hillier says that his love for teaching others comes in many parts; the impact that teaching can have chief among them.

“There are a number of reasons," Hillier said. “If I had to try to narrow it down, I truly do believe that the kind of conversations that we can have around a table, the kind of ideas that arise out of one of the pieces of literature we’re reading, will yield positive results for young men in their lives.”

Senior George Genender has a few years to go before he enters the workforce, but education is already on his mind. Like Hillier, Genender says that much of the reason he’s considered teaching is the experience he’s had on campus.

“There were different times when I thought about teaching,” Genender said. “The first was in fifth grade. Mr. Davies was my favorite guy. I had great teachers before, but no one connected with me on that level of 'I am here to help you get better, but not doing it at your expense.' Then, my junior year, I had Mr. Hillier, and that’s when it hit me that I can go to college, come back and teach. Mr. Hillier and Mrs. Santosuosso were the ones who struck it home that it's a possibility.”

Genender says that, although he is excited to teach, there are some aspects that he is apprehensive about.

“I get nervous that I’ll have a day where I’ll blank out. I didn't get enough sleep or something like that. Besides that, my only reservation would be not knowing as much as my students. But, I’m okay with that because I have something to learn from them.”

BY Arjun Poi

A s the school becomes more interconnected with technology, many textbooks are beginning to be offered in an online form alongside, or sometimes even in place of, a physical textbook.

While the online presence of a textbook isn’t the sole reason a textbook is chosen, it does make a difference when considering which book to buy.

“As a math department, we don't pick a book just because it has an online presence or an online version, but we use it more as a convenience,” Mathematics Department Chair Shane May said.

Online versions of textbooks are often much easier to use, simply because they weigh less and take up less space.

“Say you’re going to a doctor’s appointment –you’re going to be in the car, you’re going to be at the appointment, you’re going to be moving around for three or four hours,” May said. “To me, that’s why online versions are perfect because you have everything on a

thin, one-centimeter laptop that weighs two pounds. That’s wonderful.”

But there’s a time and a place to use online versions of textbooks, and they can often be distractors in class.

“As far as using it in class, it could be problematic, because when I’m teaching and students’ computers are open, I’m just trusting that they’re where they’re supposed to be,” May said. “I realize that if a student pulls up something else, that’s really hard to police. So I’m trusting that the guys can just police themselves.”

However, physical textbooks can be more beneficial for students in some cases.

“We always like offering hardback copies of textbooks because many boys learn better with that,” Student Store Manager Nancy Goldberg said. “But I think it’s great to have the digital version available when possible so that you can access the textbook whenever you need it.”

This year, digital textbooks have been a solution for teachers whose physical textbooks haven’t arrived.

“Right now, in the state of the world with supply

chain issues, some boys are just about to get their Algebra II books,” May said. “They were ordered in May, and we’re still waiting. So in this case, online books have saved us. Could you imagine a teacher making digital PDFs and copies everyday, probably illegally? Having that digital presence has really saved us.”

In fact, May believes an all-online textbook future is possible.

“I think there's still a lot of good from having your hard copy at home and having the digital version with you at school for convenience,” May said. “But I honestly could see in the future having only an online book with the ability to have that book as an editable PDF – I use Notability to edit PDFs on my iPad. Is there really an advantage to having an eight pound book? Honestly, not really. I think it's more of a preference.”

SHANE MAY

CAMERON HILLIER '13 English instructor

PHOTO / NEIL SONG, MORGAN CHOW

Casting their ballots

The Voter Registration Drive is in full force this year with a prominent table in the Commons and driven parent and faculty leaders encouraging eligible students to embrace their civic responsibility to vote.

STORY Grayson Redmond, Hilton Sampson

What kind of work has gone into the Voter Registration Drive so far?

Dr. John Perryman, Director of Civic Responsibility: We’ve done this somewhat sporadically in the past, but last spring [Admissions Officer Korey] Mack [‘00], [Dr.] Moyo Ajaja [mother of junior Temi Balogun] Mrs. Aarthi Ram [mother of senior Akash Raghunathan] and I met with a goal of making this a more intentional process. We’ve had a booth in the Commons on Tuesdays leading up to the election and we had a speaker from March to the Polls, a nonpartisan nonprofit, speak with the seniors.

Aarthi Ram: The St. Mark’s Parents Association allocates a budget and appoints Voter Registration (VR) Chairs to register Seniors who will be 18 years of age in time to vote in the November or May elections. They prepare the schedule, and parent volunteers sign up to hand out VR cards. The St. Mark’s communications office also designs innovative displays that highlight the importance of voting. Last year, they created the popular blue and gold VOTE poster made entirely of St. Mark’s pins. Recently, our first-ever voting mascot, a 6-ft tall mannequin called “Mark” made an appearance in the Commons.

Why is it important for young people especially to get out and vote?

Admissions Officer Korey Mack '00:

There’s this misconception among young people that somehow their age, or lack thereof, disqualifies them from being involved substantively in the political process, and I think that’s nonsense. But I also was a young person in years gone by, so I understand why a young person might feel like that. Over the weekend, I saw a news story about a lady named Opal Lee from Fort Worth. She’s been dubbed the grandmother of Juneteenth having walked all the way from Tarrant County to DC to make Juneteenth a national holiday and to raise awareness about voting. She said that you’re never you’re never too young or too old to make a difference in this world. I think that is the reason why young people are uniquely and powerfully positioned to make the most difference in the political process, because they have bright ideas and an unconditioned view of the future.

JP: We are fortunate to live in a republic where citizens get to decide who our leaders are going to be, what our policies are going to be, etc. In a monarchy or other forms of government when you are a subject and not a citizen, you don't have that opportunity. We should not take for granted this ability to shape the agenda and to decide the directions we’re going to go in. I tell my students repeatedly that

they have a job as a citizen to be informed, to read from a variety of news sources across the spectrum and to try to learn as much about policies and candidates as you can. That is your job from now on, now that you’re about ready to vote, for the rest of your life.

Do you think society does a good enough job in encouraging this civic responsibility among young people?

AR: I came across a Tufts University study that concluded that while youth voter turnout has increased across the country, the turnout among newly eligible voters is still low. Even though there are many youth-focused voting organizations today, I think society has more work to do to engage younger voters, and not just in the more visible federal elections but also in those less talked-about, yet more impactful local elections.

JP: In general, no. Dallas has had incredibly low turnout for mayoral elections, city council meetings and other things of that nature. I totally understand we all can get occasionally frustrated with these processes, but we need to realize how fortunate we are that we do have the opportunity to vote.

How can we better encourage them to embrace these responsibilities?

AR: One way is to help young people become informed voters. You’re more likely to vote if you’re better prepared. Am I eligible to vote? Am I registered to vote? Who or what’s on the ballot? Where’s my polling place? Thankfully these are all questions that can be answered by a click of a button. Another way is for young people to be proactive and get involved. Learn what happens in an election first-

Master teacher publishes new book, his first venture into fiction

a child – only 10 years old.

BY Neil Yepuri

hand. For example, Texas high schoolers who are 16 or older can serve as elections clerks at a polling place during Early Voting or on Election Day. Voting is a habit and the earlier in life we adopt it, more likely we’ll stick with it. Once you register and vote for the first time, it becomes much easier and maybe even routine.

KM: I don't think it’s society’s job; I think it rests solely on the individual. But individuals don’t exist in a vault or a vacuum. They exist in the greater society, so I can’t just parse this out and say it's the individual's responsibility. But, the individual is who gets to vote. It’s a uniquely individual exercise. I think we can do more to share, maybe not who or what we’re voting for, but that voting is important as individuals. It’s so important that I’m going to encourage all the individuals in my sphere of influence and my social networks to exercise that power. The higher the level of engagement that we all individually take, the better off our society will be.

JP: I would hope things like the [Voter Registration] Drive were going on at all schools. Also, maybe parents can make sure they’re occasionally sharing those sorts of conversations with their kids about how important it is so that when their child is of age they’ll get to the polls and know that process.

putting it and its people in the national spotlight.

N

ancy and Jeffery Marcus Master Teaching Chair Bruce Westrate recently wrote and published a new book, titled Apotheosis

Westrate has written and published books before, such as The Arab Bureau, an often-cited refinement of his PhD thesis, but this is his first venture into fiction writing.

“[The book]’s really unlike anything out there in the fiction world, in terms of its subject matter,” Westrate said. “It concentrates on a particular event in the novel and develops into something much more cosmic.”

Multiculturalism is a key point of the book, which focuses on the discovery a group of boys in the woods make while deer hunting. They find an offshoot Hindu ceremony taking place, called the Sati, where a widow is burned with the body of her deceased husband. However, in this case, the woman is

“This was investigated as a murder, but it was such a different type of crime for what the community had ever experienced before,” Westrate said. “And so, they have to become involved.”

The investigation sets up the main genre of the book as a courtroom drama. The main character, the prosecutor, is tasked with bringing down a powerful multiculturalist defense argument.

BRUCE WESTRATE

“What eventually is pointed out is that this act really has nothing to do with Hinduism,” Westrate said.

However, the event attracts a lot of publicity to the town,

“Those supporting an extreme multiculturalist view of things see this as an opportunity to elevate their profile,” Westrate said. “Outsiders are coming in and influencing, trying to redefine the small town.”

Generally, Westrate hopes that this book will be read by people near the middle of the political spectrum with open minds, and aims to provoke thought and question about what people try to impose on us.

“My target audience for this book are people who hear so much hyperbole and misuse of language,” Westrate said, “and I hope that the next time they hear these things, they bring with them a little skepticism and a little more critical thinking.”

Apotheosis is currently available for purchase on many popular websites where books are sold, such as Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

EXERCISING THEIR RIGHT Seniors Luke Stallings and Bijaan Noormohamed register to vote at the Voter Registration Drive's table in the Commons. The table was staffed by parents and was open every Tuesday during lunch for Seniors.

“ The higher the level of engagement that we all individually take, the better off our society will be.

KOREY MACK '00 Admissions Officer

KOREY MACK '00 Admissions Officer

PHOTO / ZACHARY BASHOUR

PERSONAL COLUMN

Look to the past to save our future

DAULAT Editor-in-Chief

My room is a collection of the past. Glass cases of rocks and gemstones — New Mexico’s Gypsum, South Dakota’s Rose Quartz, Vermont’s Granite — sit on the bedside table.

Between every novel on the bookshelf lies a fossil or artifact —razor-sharp shark teeth, Native American arrowheads and, you guessed it, dinosaur dung. On my desk are 23 Junior Park Ranger badges, each with its own memories of exploration.

To Mom, my room is a prehistoric mess. To my dog Scrappy, a confusing sight, not sure if he’s indoors or outdoors. To me? Well…

Since I was a young boy — when my idea of fun was letting our backyard’s roly-polies crawl up my arm — I’ve had a special relationship with nature. I’ve dragged my family across the country to visit every National Park we had time for — spending hours hiking, wading beneath waterfalls, and gazing up at the stars. To me, every fossil, gemstone, and arrowhead represents a more natural state. The older the artifact, the more I can imagine what the world must have looked like before. Before global warming and animal extinctions and glacier melting.

As the son of two avid travelers, I’m grateful to have explored the world outside the U.S’s national parks. It seemed everywhere we traveled, we observed the human effect: toxic, polluted waters in the bay outside my grandparent’s apartment in Mumbai, India, rising sea levels and increasing high tides that sink Venice, slowly but surely, endangered rhinos in the Serengeti — the majority poached or killed.

Now, I know what you’re probably thinking.

Not another saving-the-Earth column that I feel I've read hundreds of times

If that’s the case, here’s some perspective.

Environmentalism can get repetitive. It might make you bored. Or maybe it makes you anxious for our future. But don’t give yourself the luxury of thinking it's tomorrow's problem.

Every time you read a climate article, or see some guy on the news blabbering about wildfires or animal extinctions, pay attention. Whether through environmental journalism, or teaching lower schoolers about water conservation with the Green Mark’s club, or even annoying Environment and STEM Editor Aaron Augustine with facts about the ongoing Texas drought, I’ve found my biggest impact is made from environmental awareness. And I think it’s important for everyone to learn about climate change and to actively discuss it — it’s too late to turn a blind eye. And when you lack inspiration, look to the past, as I’ve often done. Nature existed before us. If everyone doesn’t start having these environmental conversations, it’ll outlive us too.

STEM IN BRIEF

BIOLOGY CLUB

The Biology Club conducts lab work like culturing bacterial colonies every Tuesday and Thursday at 2:30 p.m. in S109. Led by juniors Alex Pan and Sohum Sukhatankar and sophomore Benjamin Chen, the club seeks to increase interest in biology. Additionally, the club aims to help its members succeed in biology by going through topics and problems from the USA Biolympiad, AP Biology and freshman biology courses.

ROBOTICS KICKOFF

The Robotics Team set up a demonstration field for the BEST Robotics competition kickoff, Sept. 17. The team immediately started to strategize and brainstorm robot design to accomplish this game’s tasks. This year’s game involves the team’s robot having to actually control another robot using manipulator arms and

infrared commands. The season lasts eight weeks from the kickoff event.

HUNCH PROGRAM

The NASA Hunch program is a NASA-led program challenging students to create designs and prototypes for the International Space Station.

Students have a chance to collaborate and create and present their ideas. Sponsored by Makerspace Director Stewart Mayer, the meetings for the program take place in the Makerspace, with the first deadline for the project board and design Nov. 5.

MATH COMPETITION

Upper School Math Team members will compete in the 31st annual Texas A&M High School Math Contest Nov. 12. The competition will be held on the Texas A&M campus,

WEATHER REPORT

Today Highs in the mid to upper seventies. Lows in the mid to low fifties. 30%

of rain from the East.

Tomorrow Highs in the mid to upper sixties. Lows in the upper forties. No rain, cooler and drier behind the front.

Sunday Highs in the mid to upper sixties. Lows in the forties. No rain, pleasant day.

After an unremarkable hurricane season, Ian was the first major hurricane to hit the US as a category four, nearing category five strength.

Its destruction was widespread and resulted in the utter demolition of Sanibel Island. Although not as strong as some major hurricanes to hit Florida in the past two decades, it resulted in the deaths of 119 people, the most in Florida history since 1935.

with schools from all around the state coming to compete. Math Team members will travel to the Texas A&M University campus the day before the Saturday competition begins.

LOWER SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT TEACHING

The campus’s environmental awareness group, Green Mark’s Club, is kicking off this year’s Lower School environmental teaching program, starting in early November. Led by co-founders Sam Adams and Shreyan Daulat and newly appointed vice president, junior Baxter Perry-Miller, first through fourth graders will calculate their ecological footprints and learn about recycling, water conservation, air pollution and global warming. In addition, they’ll take part in activities in the greenhouse with club sponsor Dan Northcut.

Facing a technology epidemic, children are becoming addicted to their iPads.

As a decades-long drought

what can

10

iPad kids A national drought Robotics competition

do?

Four Marksmen traveled to Geneva to compete on a global stage.

closure

GRAPHIC / CREATIVE COMMONS

STORY Matthew Hofmann, Aaron Augustine

Ring ring – a new email just arrived.

A long-lost relative just won the lottery and wants to share some of the money.

The catch?

All you have to do is respond with your social security number, and your payday comes early.

Every day, hundreds of thousands of Americans are conned into giving out sensitive information over the internet. Whether through an email or a malicious download, cybercrime will account for upwards of ten trillion dollars according to Forbes magazine.

At a time when cybercrime is at an all-time peak, password management is of the utmost importance. Computer science teacher Kurt Tholking recommends the usage of several techniques.

“Making long or randomized number and letter passwords that can’t be easily guessed is my number one thing,” Tholking said. “If you have a strong password, you don’t need to change it often.”

Hackers often recognize that people use one password for the majority of their online accounts. To combat this, Tholking argues for the usage of several different passwords for different profiles.

“When websites, where you have a password saved, gets hacked, your email and password are out there,” Tholking said. “If you reuse that password, somebody’s going to try it on another site.”

To help remember the different passwords, password managers are very helpful.

“There are enough password management apps out there that it’s worth it,” Tholking said. “It’s worth paying for a good one, don’t use a free one, because you

never know how secure they are.”

Even with paid password managers, caution should still be taken as one of the most reputable password managers, LastPass, has self-admittedly been breached.

Social engineering , another tool of cybercriminals, is the exploitation of human trust to gain access to sensitive information.

“Our [school] directory is open and online,” Tholking said. “So, we get people who can see our email addresses and names. That’s social engineering, and then they try to guess the password.”

Upon being leaked, sensitive information will often be sold en masse on the dark web.

“People use that information,” Tholking said. “They notice that this person uses this username, email address, and password on ESPN, and they try it on other sites because they think they’re gonna get some banking account.”

Even the location of a workplace can be used by hackers in an attempt to breach accounts.

“They’d look at the map and look at banks around that area,” Tholking said. “Then they would go to their bank account and see if they can log in using the username and password that they got from the hack.”

Due to its large size, cybercrime as an industry has several entities that work together.

“There are two kinds of groups,” Tholking said.

“One group is focused on the big companies, and the other group is focused on the individual.”

The big group attempts to get large lists of usernames and passwords, which are then sold to the individuals who attempt to crack accounts one at a time. As technology improves, however, this cracking becomes easier.

“Most of them have programs that do it,” Tholking said. “They’ll plug in a couple of bank accounts, and the program tries thousands of passwords for each one. And if they get one out of 100, that’s worth it to them.”

Well aware of the ever-increasing threat that cybercrime poses, the school has made several adaptions to its security.

“We switched over to Microsoft quarantine to get prevent emails it automatically detects,” Tholking said. “Any email that has a bunch of links in it from somebody that’s never sent an email before is blocked. We have also introduced stricter password requirements, so no more Lions123.”

Despite the new security features, the school is still considering making information as secure as possible.

“Currently two-factor authentication is optional,” Tholking said. “We haven't forced that yet but that may be coming soon.”

No password or account is unhackable, so the most important key to security is knowledge.

“The most important thing is that there are resources out there you can go to,” Tholking said.

“Haveibeenpwned.com is one of those websites where you can input your email address to see if your information has been leaked.”

was seven

walked in and taught me chess.

Reed

When I was young, probably first grade, I went to a soccer

CN:

school,

no one showed up so one of the

made a camp with just me and he taught me

played a lot of

Christian, I

opening theory, and I solved puzzles on Lichess.

Reed and I played many online games, and I spent some time studying by myself, so lots of practice went

preparation.

final game, when I made a mistake and lost the game.

CN: During the tournament, I played against a 50-year-old man, who kept staring at me the entire time. It was pretty

intimidating until I beat him.

Do you prefer open or closed games, why?

RS: I prefer open games, because closed games are boring to play because they are too meticulous. Open games have a lot more ideas of sacrificing and stuff.

CN: Open is better because the games are more exciting and move quicker.

Favorite chess player?

RS: Levy Rossman. I watch his YouTube videos and chess recaps. He’s very funny and entertaining .

CN: It might be cliché, but there is a reason Magnus Carlson is the best player in the world.

KURT THOLKING Computer science instructor

GRAPHIC / JOSHUA GOFORTH

“ Making a long or randomized number and letter password is my number one thing.

KURT THOLKING Computer Science Instructor

REED SUSSMAN

PLAYTIME

Instead of playing with toys, many children have been spending more time playing videogames and watching videos on mobile devices.

Toddlers on tablets

Afamily of three sits down. Menus are placed before them.

The toddler looks disgruntled.

Engaged in intense conversation, the parents scrutinize the menu, paying little attention to their kid.

The toddler frowns.

Pineapple or green curry?

The toddler nudges his mom. Asking her for something. She shakes her head.

So like his parents, he picks up a menu, looking more irritated.

And it goes flying across the table, into another person’s back.

After a quick apology, the mom takes her phone out of her purse and hands it to the toddler.

By habit, he instinctively opens up a video of corporate animated characters singing “Happy Birthday.”

And plays it on repeat.

At max volume.

The screen lights up his face. His face buried in the screen.

Addicted.

Orchestra Director Dr. Sarah Choi’s approach to technology use in her family is very straightforward — limit it where possible.

“In terms of phones, I am very much on the conservative end,” Choi said. “My sophomore did not get his phone until he was a freshman. My daughter still has very limited use of a phone, and my fifth grader will not be getting a phone anytime soon, nor does he have a smartwatch or anything like that.”

However, even Choi has not managed to keep technology at bay.

“It just seeps into your life and becomes a regular part of it,” Choi said. “Last summer, [I spent] between four and a half to five hours a day [on my phone], typically just for checking emails and sending texts.”

But all students here are required to have their own computers in fifth grade, and kids have been exposed to it at an increasingly younger ages.

“It always strikes me when I see young kids always on the screen in a shopping cart,” Choi said. “And they’re not

Youth targeted alglorithms

he very basis of the internet is flawed. Companies, like YouTube generate profit by creating unique advertisement profiles for each of their users; they then use this profile to recommend products to the viewer.

With technology becoming more and more accessible, younger generations are becoming exposed to these platforms at earlier ages. These young children, barely old enough to read, begin to be monitored by these technology giants.

Not only is this a violation of the basic human right to privacy, but children are also much more malleable in

engaged with anything outside of that screen, wherever they are — in the middle of an airport, in the grocery store. [Even at the playground,] if they see a screen, they’re going to gravitate toward it.”

Choi has repeatedly seen this trend where kids of all ages drift toward an open device — even at social gatherings.

“If one kid has a screen — game over,” Choi said. “Everyone is going to gravitate to that screen. And that opportunity to engage and spend time with each other face to face is greatly diminished.”

Choi attributes many of the screen-focused eyes to a lack of engagement and a requirement to be entertained. But her solution is simple.

“I’m a big proponent of boredom,” Choi said. “Kids don’t need to be engaged with screens all the time. If they’re bored, it’s okay. Let them sit in the shopping cart without a screen, and [let them] just watch the world go by.”

However, Choi knows that it can be challenging for parents to adopt this method.

“When you’ve got a little toddler who has to be entertained or engaged, it’s really easy to just throw them in front of a screen,” Choi said. “I’ve been there, and it just requires more energy to not do that. It’s not always fair to ask that of the parents in whatever given situation.”

But when it comes to cognitive development, experiencing things hands-on and without the use of technology is essential.

“Development is multifaceted,” Dr. Sarah Kucker said. “When a kid sees something new, the best way for him to learn about it is to pick it up, touch it, and maybe even try to eat it.”

With technology-based learning, these aspects are lost. A child interacts better with an object in real life compared to its on screen counterpart.

“Especially in the last few years, we’ve seen rapid increases in children over the age of two using technology on a daily basis,” Kucker said. “It changes the way in which we're exposed to information. Now instead of learning about a cup by picking it up and touching it, you’re seeing a picture of it.”

Though many features are lost, technology makes up for it by helping kids use their imaginations.

“In a lot of ways, we think technology might hurt learning, because you're not getting as rich of an experience,” Kucker said. “That said, there also might be

their thinking and beliefs. The content they consume easily influences how they think and act.

With controversial internet content generating large amounts of clicks and ad revenue, children are likely to be shown this harmful material. For example, the misogynistic Andrew Tate has amassed over 11.6 billion views on TikTok and has been one of the most widely known names on the internet.

Tate, under investigation by Romanian authorities for sexual assault, has seen an especially large receptive audience in young men. By his own admission, Tate is a misogynist who refers to women as “property.”

But what separates Tate from your average sexist?

Tate has mastered the art of manipulating social media search engines. Despite being banned from major platforms for nearly two months and having never showed

ways that it can actually help cognition and learning, simply because you can see things you can’t see in real life, such as a dinosaur.”

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the recommended age for children to begin noneducational screen time is two years. This is primarily due to lack of motor and social skills at such a young age, and time that could be spent engaging with the environment should not be used in front of a tablet.

“If a kid is sitting in front of a tablet all day, they’re not running around,” Kucker said. “Some technology, even at a really young age can be okay, as long as they’re still getting social interaction.”

In fact, when it comes to social interaction, technology can be great for bonding in long distance familial relationships.

“There’s actually some really cool research about really young kids who use FaceTime to talk to, for example, a grandparent,” Kucker said. “It actually helps the two [bond] in ways we couldn’t have done before.”

Despite the benefit, there are still numerous drawbacks; for example, transfer deficit.

“Even before tablets, with just TVs, we found that it was difficult to connect a screen with the real world,” Kucker said. “For example, if someone learns about an animal on TV, they may remember it tomorrow on TV. But, when they go to a zoo, they won’t recognize it, since that transfer is hard. Of course, it’s not impossible, and we get much better at it as we get older.”

Another trend that has arisen is a child’s increased competence over a device compared to that of their parents.

“A kid who has been exposed to technology at a very young age will naturally pick it up easiest,” Kucker said. “We know that we learn more flexibly when we’re younger, compared to a parent, who doesn’t even have a reference point for learning how to do it.”

For Kucker, the ideal parenting strategy certainly comes down to the child and the correct usage of technology.

“Technology should be used as a tool, and not as a crutch.” Kucker said. “If you can use technology as a way to engage and connect with a child, that’s perfect. What we don’t want is for parents to use [technology] as a babysitter. It shouldn’t replace any normal child’s playtime activities. This will make children familiar with technology, but, crucially — in a positive way.”

any interest in him, I can hardly go a singular day without seeing his content.

By encouraging his followers to share clips of himself on as many platforms as possible, he has seemingly beat the censors placed on him. But this begs the question: how can YouTube instantly remove copyrighted work, but not the seemingly endless waves of malicious content?

For these companies to effectively limit this content, they must make amends to their search algorithms, which would ultimately lose them money, so instead they opt for the Band-Aid solution: trying to remove the content after it was recommended.

We should not stand by as internet platforms profit off showing children increasingly radical content. If we do not put an end to it soon, I am deeply concerned about the future.

STORY Dawson Yao, Linyang Lee

Kids have been exposed to screens

increasingly younger ages — starting to use it decades earlier than their parents did. Does this use of mobile devices affect a child's cognitive development? How should parents approach their children's use of technology?

SARAH CHOI Orchestra Director

“ If one kid has a screen — game over. Everyone is going to gravitate to that screen.

SARAH CHOI Orchestra Director

SARAH KUCKER Assistant professor of psychology

ILLUSTRATION / MORGAN CHOW

T

AARON AUGUSTINE Environment & STEM Editor

The parched Earth

Texas has faced dry conditions for nearly two decades. Science instructors and student-conservationists speak on drought’s impact.

STORY Aaron Augustine, Akash Manikam

The sun sets as the ground is a little drier.

One day without rain.

The sun sets as plants begin to yellow from strain. One month without rain.

The sun sets as plants have wilted and died. Sixtyseven days without rain.

When the rain finally comes, it breaks the secondlongest dry spell on record.

Texas has been in a drought for nearly two decades, but according to former glaciologist and Earth science instructor Zach Smith, drought is much more complicated than a simple lack of rain.

“Texas is very complicated,” Smith said. “Because most places don’t have the variability in aridity. In the state of Maine, it just rains, so it’s lush everywhere. Texas is complex, because not only is it big, but it has a pretty good change in topography.”

Besides a simple lack of rain, drought includes increases in human demand.

“Part of the equation for a drought is how much water is needed,” Smith said. “So if Texas is just cotton fields, you only need so much water. But if it’s cotton fields and an entire city, that actually adds to the drought because the need becomes greater, and the amount of rainfall stays the same or gets less.”

The Texas drought is part of a larger global ecosystem

“The thing that seems to be another factor, is the El Niño and La Niña.” Smith said. “Currently we are in the ENSO – El Niño Southern Oscillation – The water builds up on one side of the Pacific every couple of years. Then the water expands and it actually swells up, and then it literally sloshes back to the other side. And that changes the whole circulation of rain and circulation of air.”

The Texas reservoirs, which are filled by glacial melting in the north, have been largely cut off from their sources.

“So there was a lot of melting water that used to percolate underground,” Smith said. “And that used to fill the aquifers here in Texas. But now there are fewer glaciers and less snow falling in the northern part. So the water is not recharging the reservoirs under there.”

The impact of lasting drought is most felt through resource prices like gas and food.

“The plants are going to get to the point where they just don’t survive anymore.” Smith said. “All of a sudden prices in the grocery store are going to skyrocket. And then gas is going to follow as well. That’s where it’s gonna get noticed.” Smith calls it truncated equilibrium

“We used to think climate change progressed linearly,” Smith said.

“Instead it is much more random, it follows equilibrium and then it just truncates and spikes.”

Junior Eagle Scout, Baxter PerryMiller, has already noticed the impacts of the drought.

“I’m very involved with quail conservation,” PerryMiller said. “So I know that the drought has affected the quail, because, without rain, the fields are suffering. And a couple of big days of rain a year or a month will not be enough. We need consistent rain throughout an extended period of time to prepare the fields for breeding.”

Perry-Miller believes conservation is the key to helping the issue.

“A lot of it’s down to Mother Nature right now,” he said. “And all we can do is to sit back and wait and hope. There are steps that we can take such as conserving water or not doing something stupid with fire in a place where it hasn’t rained in six weeks, because all our actions have impacts on the environment.”

Smith believes that we can greatly reduce the amount of water we use, but such efforts will be noticed

Alumnus assists robotics team in the Makerspace

BY Will Clifford

W ill Ferenc ’09 is helping the robotics team prepare for upcoming competitions. Spending the last 11 years working as an engineer for SpaceX, he is happy to be back where he sparked his interest in STEM.

“It feels great to return to the shop,” Ferenc said. “[Students] are doing a lot and just coming up with ideas, prototyping stuff, and moving fast.”

He decided to assist the team because he values the experiences he had on the robotics team as a student.

“It was something that was really important to me when I was that age,” Ferenc said. “I really enjoy both participating in helping form the ideas, but also in the

mentorship by pointing at things and saying we could build that a little bit better.”

He believes that the students’ physics knowledge and experience in the maker space prior to being on the team make the group unique.

“It’s actually pretty great to be in the shop and just talk to people on that level,” Ferenc said. “I can say, ‘Hey, let’s talk about what a force or torque on the system is,’ and to be able to use those kinds of terms and having that conceptual inventory to work with is super helpful when you’re doing these kinds of robotics activities.”

Further, he cites teamwork as a catalyst for the team’s

in our everyday lives.

“We can cut the water use, and people would notice but it wouldn’t be so bad,” he said. “We’re using over our share, and we could make we can do conservation in lots of ways: lawns, cars, showers, cooking, agriculture and on things like how much to water the plants outside.”

Perry-Miller hopes that future generations become better at water conservation.

“I work with the Green Mark’s club,” he said. “And [environmental education] is something that we try to teach to lower schoolers because that’s when kids need to learn the importance of conservation and environmental mindfulness. We explain it to them at a young age so that they grow up with it and form good habits.”

Perry-Miller wishes for the rain to return, so he can go back to doing the activites he loves.

“I go to Oklahoma to fish,” he said. “The few years I’ve been going there, I’ve learned that the fish beach themselves. The trout jump out of the water to kill themselves. The water was too warm, and they were going to die from lack of oxygen anyways, so they were literally throwing themselves. It was like the fish were saying ‘just kill me’ and as both a fisherman and a steward of the earth, that really tugged on my heart strings.”

continued success.

“Students get that I’m going to work with a group of people to accomplish a common goal that we all really care about experience,” he said. “The robotics team and robotics competitions are fantastic ways for folks who are more stem inclined to get that experience.”

Additionally, Ferenc emphasizes the importance of a team-first mentality when working with your teammates.

“You can’t be the dominant personality, because there are so many other great ideas and that’s really valuable,” Ferenc said. “There are not a lot of problems that can be solved by a single person. You’re going to need a small team, maybe even a large team, and a lot of problems at the intersection of different fields.”

GRAPIC / MORGAN CHOW

“ The water builds up on one side of the Pacific then it wells up and literally sloshes back to the other side

Zach Smith Earth science instructor

BAXTER PERRY-MILLER Eagle Scout

CRACKED Due to several factors, such as population growth and climate change, national and local drought has seen an alarming uptick. Conservation efforts can cut down on the overrall water consumption, but experts are unsure of how likely we are to curb the problem.

that the El Niño irreguarly fluctuates

Texans currently affected by regional drought

of Texas covered in moderate drought

GRAPHIC / MORGAN CHOW

Marksmen compete in international robotics contest

Global Challenge

Geneva,

Marksmen

freshmen Andrew Ye and David Hu, sophomore Joseph Sun and senior Anthony Wang

represented team

nations.

competition, teams of four countries came together to solve tasks related to carbon capture.

COMPILATION

Aaron Augustine

PHOTOS

Courtesy Joseph Sun

End of an ERA

NEW EAGLE SCOUTS

Ten students were named Eagle Scouts in the Court of Honor ceremony Sept 11. The students are as listed: Nikhil Dattatreya ’23, Henry Dobbs ’23, Rishab Siddamshetty ’23, William Clark ’24, Nathan Meyer ’24, Maddox Canham ’25, Lawrence Gardener ’25, John Householder ’25, Andrew Jin ’25 and William Morrow ’25.

Only boy scouts with top honors can receive this rank, and only two percent of scout members ever end up achieving the rank of an Eagle Scout.

UPPER AND MIDDLE SCHOOL CONFERENCES

Upper School and Middle School conferences will take place on Nov. 1, with school classes being cancelled for the day.

In both the Upper and Middle school, the students are expected to lead the conferences and walk their advisor and parents through what

their goals are for the year. They will focus on discussing topics like academic progress, co-curricular participation, as well as the habits they are hoping to set, with the goal of achieving success both inside and outside the classroom this school year.

LION AND SWORD OPEN HOUSE

The Lion and Sword Open House is set for Nov. 2 and will feature over 1,300 people from St. Mark’s prospective families from across the country. All Lion and Sword members are required to attend this event. Students from Lion and Sword along with the Board of Admissions will help guide families on campus as well as give some of their own insight as to their experience with the school.

FOOD DRIVE RESULTS

The 2022 Upper School Food Drive amassed 47 boxes of food, with 44 out of

the 54 advisories in the Upper School contributing. The food will go to support the Salvation Army Food Pantry and the Cesar Chavez Learning Center. The Food Drive began Oct. 3 and ran until Oct. 17. It was organized by senior Andrew Kogan, sophomore William Morrow and the rest of the Upper School Community Service Board.

WILDERNESS TRIP The seventh graders will travel to the south shore of Lake Texoma for an overnight campout Nov. 10. They will be split into groups of around 10 boys each, and each group will hike three to five miles of the Cross Timbers Trail, carrying packs with all their equipment as they hike.

The students will camp in primitive campsites, and they will learn to make fires, build shelters and treat water. They will return to school Nov. 11.

The fast and the furious

Zack Goforth

the sun sets, enveloping the landscape in a cover of darkness, the garage door rises, illuminating the driveway in a shower of light.

He grabs the radio and cranks it up. ’80s rock escapes the confines of the walls and runs wild. This will definitely stop the neighbors from sleeping.

And just to make sure, he tosses his buddy the keys to his 1969 Camaro — his baby. The ignition turns, the starter motor engages and the 327-cubic-inch V8 roars to life. Just as it did the first time he rebuilt it as a 14-year-old kid.

The weekend is finally here.

It’s all that’s been on his mind. Turning wrenches with his buddies, passing the time playing pool and laughing the warm Texas nights away with everything high school has to offer.

When his dad first taught him to restore a rusty heap of metal and rubber to its former glory, he never expected such a grimy and greasy hobby to generate so many good memories.

Good memories sleeping over with friends, pulling engines out and putting engines in. Restoring paint jobs and four a.m. trips to Whataburger because of built-up hunger from working. Living life a quarter-mile at a time.

And when the time comes to move on from his small Texas town, he takes that Chevy and its six-miles-pergallon with him. But things aren’t the same, and life gets in the way.

“When you settle down, get married and have kids, you stop going to the drag strip every weekend,” he said.

Eventually, he needs to trade horsepower for seats and torque for safety, so the car has to go. Fittingly, he sells it to a friend who grew up racing with it.

Nowadays, he’s judged a few car contests with his father and nods every now and then at some hotshot in a nice ride on the street. But it’s a far cry from what once was.

What once went way beyond cars.

“It was like a club anyone could join. Someone would pull up in a car, you’d start talking, and it was like you knew him forever. It really was some of the best times of my life.”

And it's the reason Shane May would do it all over again.

You guys really don’t want to hear the story about the pig.

STEPHEN HOUPT Physics instructor

Can I use your credit card for gambling?

REAGAN BROWER Sophomore

HOT ROD The red 1969 Camaro Convertible sits in the driveway, waiting to be driven.

PHOTO / COURTESY SHERRI DARVER

The longest haul

With some students and faculty on campus having to travel considerable distances to get to school every day, what are the short and long-term effects of living so far away?

It’s 8:30 a.m.

The bell rings, kids rush to their classes and stragglers pull into the parking lot.

For all students, it’s a constant routine. Every school day starts right at 8:30 a.m.

But when does it really start? When do students actually roll out of bed, fresh out of last night’s multihour grind? 7:30 a.m.? 7 a.m.? For most, it’s the same. But for a select few, their day starts before everyone else’s — before the sun even rises.

For freshman Jackson Barnes , who lives over 30 miles away in Prosper, his day starts almost two hours before the bell rings.

“I usually wake up around 6:30 a.m. to eat breakfast and get ready to go,” Barnes said. “That’s just to get to school on time, though. If I have any morning commitments before school, I have to wake up much earlier.”

This travel time has other restrictions, beyond just waking up earlier. Barnes believes it also affects his diet.

“Having to wake up so early definitely influences what I eat,” Barnes said, “I can’t sit down to eggs or bacon or anything like that. Sometimes, I can’t eat as much as I want either — it’s just grabbing a toasted bagel and water bottle and hopping in the car.”

Because of his daily commute, Barnes has also struggled with getting enough sleep.

“I definitely feel like I’m at a disadvantage in terms of sleep,” Barnes said. “Back in around eighth grade, I was averaging maybe five to six hours.”

But since then, Barnes has tried to manage his time more efficiently.

“This year, I’ve gotten my work under control, using that flex time after school,” Barnes said. “I’m able to get most of my homework done then, so I can get home and have less to finish up.”

For junior Harry Wang, who has up to a 50-minute commute, proper time management trumps all else.

“Everyone with a long drive to school is definitely at a disadvantage,” Wang said, “but I think that with good organization and time management, you can overcome this disadvantage.

Living far away is not really a great excuse to falling behind in school.”

Upper School Counselor Dr. Mary Bonsu believes that having a long commute time can even affect a student’s social life.

“If a student is coming from a place where not a lot of other Marksmen live,” Bonsu said, “this can be very disadvantageous. Things that other boys might be doing on weekends may be difficult for someone who lives completely removed from everyone else to participate in. Sometimes this may lead to a feeling of being left out, forcing them to connect with their friends via more virtual ways like social media.”

Wang also believes in the ability of social media as a substitute to seeing friends in-person when location

proves to be a complication.

“It’s definitely hard to hang out with my friends sometimes,” Wang said, “but it’s remedied by the fact that I use many helpful apps such as Discord to communicate and play games such as League of Legends with my friends. The only downside is sometimes I forget to touch grass because of how much I’m playing, but it makes me happy to be able to talk to my friends without actually having to get off the couch and drive anywhere.”

And it’s not just students with agonizingly long drives. Spanish instructor David Evans and his son, senior Grant Evans, leave home between 6:30 a.m. and 6:50 a.m. to avoid traffic.

“The tollway can be a complete parking lot,” David Evans said. “Sometimes if there’s an accident, it can be really, really bad. So I have to be sure to leave early enough and plan some alternate routes.”

There is also a whole host of other issues that come with spending hours driving to and from campus.

“I am cognizant of the price that we pay both in time and money with the tollway, and even climate impacts,” David Evans said. “I just tried to get a gas-efficient vehicle, and hopefully we will end up moving closer.”

However, the solution of moving closer to school comes with its own problems.

“The problem with [moving] is my daughter goes to school up where we currently live,” David Evans said.

“It’s not just about Grant and me; it’s about what’s best for the entire family. Do we uproot our other family members in order to benefit Grant and me, or do we stick where we’re at and let them be where they enjoy being?”

Even so, David Evans feels that the drive isn’t all that bad — sometimes, it’s actually enjoyable.

“I would rather have a shorter commute,” David Evans said. “But I’ve gotten so used to it that I kind of enjoy it. If it’s 35 minutes to 45 minutes, it’s nice to be able to listen to the radio, listen to the news, get caught up on the day and then also get entertained by some of the sports broadcasters.”

For Barnes, moving closer to school may also not be his best option.

“We’ve made a lot of connections where we are right now,” Barnes said. “Even though we’re in the financial place to move, there’s all these other things to consider.”

Ultimately, according to Bonsu, the disadvantages of living far away present a significant challenge, but it’s not an impossible one.

“There is definitely a burden placed on long commuters to work a bit harder,” Bonsu said, “but if free periods are used correctly and the drive to and from school is used productively to listen to audiobooks or podcasts teachers have assigned, it’s definitely manageable.”

BY Linyang Lee

First-grader George Leu has a column in his neighborhood’s monthly magazine titled “Curious George.”

Leu first started writing articles for his neighborhood’s magazine in May, after the editor approached his mother and commented on George’s varied interests.

“The editor of the magazine approached me and said, ‘I see George doing so many interesting and fun things,’” said Erin Leu, mother of Leu. “What would you think about him having a monthly column?’”

With that invitation, George set off to work, and has published two stories so far.

“Before writing, I first think of what the story is going to be about,” Leu said. “For example, I would think of usually something that not everyone knows about, so that way they might be learning about something for the first time. And

then we schedule a tour.”

On each tour, Leu is always excited to have a new article to put in.

“I’m also wondering about what their answers to my questions are going to be,” Leu said.

His first article was about his backstage tour of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. On his tour, George met a worldfamous pianist, learned how trombones work and toured the Symphony Library.

“I thought it was pretty cool that the bigger the instrument is the lower the sound it makes and the smaller the instrument, the higher the sound it makes,” Leu said.

For his second article, George met and talked with Council Member Paul Ridley, to understand how the City Council works, what the different committees in the City Council do and also how they handle zoning.

“I thought the zoning stuff was pretty interesting,” Leu said. “I didn’t even know that zoning exists.”

Leu has also toured Window Seat, a local coffee shop,

the SPCA, an animal welfare agency and interviewed County Commissioner J. J. Koch for upcoming articles he’s planning on writing.

“I really liked the coffee shop, and also I really liked the people there,” Leu said. “It was just really cool to get behind the counter, get to see how they make all the stuff, and see this really cool machine that takes loose ground coffee powder and turns it into a hockey puck.”

Although Leu didn’t get to brew any coffee, he did get to make a blueberry drink.

“Well, I kind of just helped them do it,” Leu said. “They took a syrup thing, and then they made this tea thing. Then they mixed them together to make the blueberry drink.”

Although his column shares its name with the popular children’s books, Leu says it’s just a coincidence.

“Well, I read the books,” he said. “I used to watch it.

But my column is not called Curious George because of that series. It’s called Curious George because my name is George — and I’m curious.”

STORY Zack Goforth, Linyang Lee

LATE NIGHT DRIVING To account for traffic-congested streets, many Marksmen wait until later in the evening before leaving for home.

PHOTO / SAL HUSSAIN

Leaving her legacy

She dedicated 45 years educating children in lower schools to help shape future generations.

Spending her last eight years in education as Head of Lower School, Sherri Darver will be retiring at the end of the school year.

Though she will not be on campus anymore, the impact she has had on equipping lower schoolers with the tools to be successful in the future will still remain.

Darver's impact on the school began in 2006 when she began teaching fourth grade humanities and science. After eight years, Darver took time away to be with her family after becoming a grandmother.

“I left St. Mark’s in 2014 when my daughter had her first child,” Darver said. “I decided just to serve as a sub for that year. Then Mrs. York, the previous Head of Lower School, announced her retirement that same year.”

With the vacant position needing to be filled, the school reached out to Darver in hopes that we would step in to the new role.

“Mr. Dini and I talked about coming in and just helping out because I knew the lower school well,” Darver said. “I would just be an interim until they hired somebody, which I agreed to do so wholeheartedly. I was excited to get here because I love this place. As soon as I got back and really started getting my feet wet in this new role, I really loved it and decided to put my name in the hat to be considered for this position. I was offered the position and I couldn’t be more grateful for such a fun, exciting place to be with these little guys and families and people.”

Watching the school change during her time on campus, Darver believes the school has always been steady with its faculty.

“I learned what an amazing faculty we have here in Lower School,” Darver said.

“I know everything that’s going on with all the fine arts, language, computer science and science. Things have changed so much since we got the Winn Science Center with Mr. Dillon over there. I truly appreciate what a great faculty and strong curriculum that we have, and I love the character and leadership education that has grown in leaps and bounds.”

Though Darver worked at many schools before coming to campus, something about our school holds a special place in her heart.

“St. Mark’s, particularly, I can never stop loving it,” Darver said. “We truly have a family here. Out of all the memories at all the other schools I’ve been at, St. Mark’s by

far holds a different place in my heart. It is difficult to put into words because it is such a fabulous place. Though I’m stepping away to be with my family, I’m never going to lose touch with this family either.”

Darver wants to thank the administration for bestowing her such a wonderful opportunity. Had she not been asked to interim, Darver most likely would never have been Head of Lower School.

“I’m really going to miss the people,” Darver said. “I’ve been able to be around such great people. I don’t think there is one thing that I am going to take away that I am most proud of. Just having this opportunity has been the very best blessing in my life. I have Mr. Dini and Mr. Ashton to thank for that because I don’t know if I would have pursued this had I not stepped in as an interim.”

Darver calls St. Mark’s home. Having been here for 16 years, she is going to miss seeing all the smiling faces and talking with all the friends she has made throughout the years.

“I’m going to miss everything about this place,” Darver said. “When I came back as a sub before I became an interim, I would come home and be so sad because I would miss this place so much. I know it’s going to be painful, but I know I have to step away.”

Class of 2023 breaks record for largest Senior Auction donation — $114,000

BY Dillon Wyatt

T he Senior Class showcased its talents to the community by auctioning off items such as pool parties, personal cooks for a meal and sports lessons. The money raised from the event goes toward the the rest of the Senior Class’s events for the remainder of the year and even after graduation.

“While the event affected the outcome of the rest of our senior year endeavors, we really wanted to focus on making sure the parents and their children had a great time,” Senior Auction Co-Chair Sammy Larkin said. “Because they had a good time, the class as a whole was able to have a successful auction.”

Similar to last year, the large donation allows the

administration to create a scholarship named after the Class of 2023 that will give students financial aid to attend the school.

“The scholarship is special to our class,” Larkin said. “The hard work we put into the auction is now going to allow for a student to attend here on scholarship. That is great to see.”

In order to sell live auction items, seniors had to create their own skits to showcase what their item would be and how the recipients would utilize them and have fun.

“The skits were flawless,” Larkin said. “It’s hard going up on stage in front of so many parents and faculty. If the skit was bad, it would negatively affect how much interest your skit would get. All our skits were engaging and fun, and they heavily contributed

to how successful we were.”

Larkin credits the school’s community for aiding the record-breaking donation.

“Our class sponsors did an amazing job getting the auction items planned out,” Larkin said. “Mr. Baker was great at moderating and keeping parents engaged with the bidding process. The $114,000 total is a testament to the success of the school.”

As the first of many events hosted by the Class of 2023, Larkin was proud that the seniors were able to put on a great auction and set the standard for the rest of the year.

“It was really great to see our whole grade contribute,” Larkin said. “Whether I was on stage or sitting with my classmates, I could tell we were bringing the energy.”

After

education and

years teaching here, Head of Lower School Sherri Darver will be retiring at the end of the school year.

LITTLE GUYS Darver always loves connecting with lower schoolers from all grades.

RAISING A POINT Darver briefs students on the coming year's schedule.

PHOTOS / COURTESY SHERRI DARVER

“ Though I’m stepping away to be with my family, I’m never going to lose touch with this family.

SHERRI DARVER Head of Lower School

Making Pecos

STORY Ian Dalrymple, Eric Yi

As climate change and other natural disasters continue to worsen, safety is the primary concern for the Pecos trip, where students make the weeklong journey in New Mexico. In order to ensure safety on not only this trip but many more to come, Dr. Christian Dean ’01 was appointed as the Medical Director of the Wilderness Program team.

Dean has vast medical expertise, and it all started in Upper School during a wilderness first responder class taught by Director of Environmental Studies Dan Northcut ’81. In college, Dean got his Emergency Medical Technician license and became a first responder. Afterwards, he returned to Texas, where he went to medical school and did his residency in family medicine, which he finished in 2015. His first job was in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

In addition to being a doctor, he also was extremely active and outdoors all the time.

“Parallel to all those things, I was doing a lot of alpine climbing, high altitude climbing, lots of backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering adventures,” Dean said. “I started serving as a ski patrol in Jackson Hole, and I was there for three years.”

However, out in the wilderness, Dean’s work is far different from ordinary doctors.

“One of the most obvious things is when you're in the city, you can drive to a clinic or a hospital or call 911 and have the ambulance come to you,” Dean said.

“In someplace like Dallas, it probably takes less than 10 minutes. Out in the backcountry, however, it's a matter of just dealing with whatever resources you have on your person. In terms of differences along those lines, I think there is this needed discussion or needed decision-making early on when trying to assess a trauma complaint or medical complaint. You need to consider if you can stay where you are and continue the trip as planned or if you have to make the decision early on to evacuate.”

After Jackson Hole, Dean decided he wanted to get more medical credentials.

“One [diploma] is called the Diploma in Mountain Medicine,” said Dean. “That is an international certification that you can get in maybe 15 or 20 different places around the world. I chose to do mine in Nepal so that I could get a bit more experience with highaltitude medicine. Another thing is the Fellowship in the Academy of Wilderness Medicine, which is put on by this academic group called the Wilderness Medical Society. I got both of those as further credentials to make me more legitimate.”

On top of that, Dean is also a wilderness medicine

the more safe

teacher.

“I've helped teach a couple of different things,” Dean said. “One of them is Wilderness First Aid. And there are some other more advanced things like Advanced Wilderness Life Support, which is a thing that all paramedics will have. It tells you how to treat heart irregular rhythms or cardiac arrest, and it ties together a concept of something called prolonged field care, which is more of a military concept.It’s taking care of somebody before they can get rescued.”

With his experience in the wilderness and altitudes, Dean was appointed to help with the organization of Pecos, along with the medical side of the trip.

“They had an unfortunate situation several years back where they had to evacuate a kid who ended up staying in the hospital in Albuquerque,” said Dean. “That was something that spurred a more formal conversation with me and the school.”

Dean has been engaging with St. Mark’s to converse on the matter and what impact he could bring to the program.

“In the last few years, I’ve chatted with [Wilderness Program Director] Cameron Hillier ’13,” Dean said.

“Intermittently, I also talked to [Headmaster] David Dini about some of the logistics. We talked about how the boys will acclimate in the Pecos. We want to give the whole trip a greater safety net so that we can continue it well into the future and maintain the awesome experience it provides for all the boys at St. Mark’s.”

Although Dean didn’t always think of a career in medicine to be his first choice, he certainly doesn’t regret it.

“I just kept the throttle going and continued to rack up certifications, fun expeditions and fun experiences,” Dean said. “Those have catapulted me to having experiences on places like Everest. This summer, I’ve been invited to be a physician for a couple of the teams that are climbing K2, and in a couple of weeks, I’m going to the UAE for a trip in the desert. It’s totally opened my doors in a way that I never would’ve thought.”

Dean is also grateful that his career has brought him back to his alma mater.

“I’m psyched to give back some of what I’ve learned from those experiences,” Dean said. “I want to help ensure that the Wilderness Program is a safe, long-lasting experience and opportunity for future St. Mark’s kids.”

REMEMBERING SHANNON SCHNAIBLE

Never

Lower School drama

Shannon Schnaible passed away last month after battling cancer. She was 35 years old. Schnaible started at the school in 2014 as a long-term substitute before taking on the position full-time. Her creativity and positivity with the Lower School students made her a beloved member of the community. Even in the midst of treatments and afflictions, Schnaible always strived to be on campus and foster learning in younger Marksmen.

“Shannon was my substitute teacher while I was on maternity leave. Her passion for theatre and vibrancy will live on in every boy she taught, and for that we are all so grateful.”

“The best way to honor Shannon is to perpetuate the values that she thought were the most important. In her case, that means educating children in fine arts, and theatre in particular.”

“On behalf of the student body, I can say that we'll sincerely miss Mrs. Schnaible. She was a role model for Marksmen, and I know we'll all keep her in our hearts and minds.”

on the 2023 Pecos

UP HIGH Dean looks back at the camera in the midst of traversing one of many icy pits he encounters on his climbs. In order to preform his job, Dean has an expertise not just in medicine, but in wilderness survival as well.

PHOTOS / COURTESY CHRISTIAN DEAN

Glorioso, Fine

TRAVERSING THE MOUNTAIN Dean uses a ladder to conquer the cliffs.

An inside look

• The new courts will feature six full-size arenas for athletes to practice and compete on.

TENNIS CENTER

• The courts will be named the Albert G. Hill, Sr. Family Tennis Center.

• The center will also a shaded viewing area spectators.

• This space will replace and stand on the site previous Hill Tennis Center.

A SPRAWLING COMPLEX

The new Athletic Complex, which is planned to be completed Jan. 2025, will encompass state-of-theart facilities to serve the entire student body’s communal, recreational and athletic needs.

facilitate meets for swimming and water polo.

• For the first time in the school’s history, the new natatorium will enable the school to host water polo games and tournaments.

• There will be a second-floor gallery for spectators viewing swimming and water polo games.

The new Athletic Complex Project, the next step of expansion on the St. Mark’s campus, will enclose 77,000 square feet in order to provide space for myriad of social, recreational and athletic purposes. The new complex will both replace the infrastructure destroyed by the local EF-3 tornado in 2019 and offer new facilities never before seen on our campus. Here are a select few of the many new facilities offered in the new complex.

Center.

GYMNASIUM

• The gym will serve as a practice and fitness facility for a diverse range of sports, including volleyball, basketball, fencing and

• This space will serve as a multi-use meeting venue for large gatherings, assemblies and school-wide events.

• The spectating area will contain bleachers with approximately 800 seats for viewers to enjoy games.

• The gym will also serve the younger members of the student body by offering ample space for physical education classes.

• This new locker room will replace the locker rooms destroyed by the EF-3 tornado that struck campus in 2019.

• The room will re-use the original locker stalls that were installed two months before the tornado, connecting the building to its history.

• The facility will offer changing and gathering space for athletes of football, basketball, swimming and more.

LOCKER ROOM

COMMUNITY AREAS

A hallway separates the natatorium from the gymnasium and will serve as a gathering area for Marksmen (top). The Alumni Room is one of many initiatives for facilitating community cohesion (bottom).

BY Arjun Khatti

As a design principal for CannonDesign, Roland Lemke has been a vital contributor in bringing the school’s goals for the Athletic Complex Project to life.

Finding the right design architect for this project began when the school sent an RFP (request for proposal) to a select number of architecture firms. After being shortlisted and interviewed, CannonDesign was ultimately selected for the job. According to Lemke, any large construction project like the Athletic Complex can be broken down into five major stages.

“The first part is programming — understanding what’ll be in the building,” Lemke said. “Then you do schematic design, which is developing specific ideas — how big it’ll be, how it’ll sit, etc. The third step is design development — getting into the nitty gritty of figuring out every single detail of the building. Next is making construction documents — very detailed drawings. The final part is building.”

Initial conversations during the programming phase introduced several key visions that the Project Planning Team wanted to develop.

“We came up with a sort of vision statement as well as some guiding design principles,” Lemke said. “For example, [Headmaster] David Dini is very focused on making sure the building is timeless. He wants it to reflect school pride — learning to win and understanding that you don’t always win. All those kinds of words came out, which helped us understand how the wanted the building to feel.”

Lemke worked with the team to translate certain words and themes into details within the building.

“There’s going to be a long lobby running down the building,” he said. “When you walk in, people can see the gym on one side and the pool on the other. We’re also using the same brick, wood and floor materials that are used across campus. I think all of those things will give it that timeless, enduring feel. There will also be oak boards that highlight accomplishments. That displays tradition, which is timeless.”

Overall, Lemke is pleased with how smoothly the project is running.

“It’s been a really great process,” he said, “and I’m not just saying that. The committee’s leadership has been deliberate and thoughtful. We’ve moved forward pretty methodically and in a very consensus-driven, collaborative way.”

Masterminding the complex

After years of planning and coordinated efforts, the Athletic Complex’s arrival will benefit every athlete, finally resolving the complications that arose from Hicks Gym’s destruction in 2019.

a terrace overlooking the football field. There will be many great improvements and expansions to our previous gymnasium.”

teams. Ultimately, they moved to the outdoor basketball court for daily practice, which created several new challenges for the team.

It’s January 2025.

A gymnasium that seats more than 800.

A natatorium with a competition-grade pool to host water polo tournaments for the first time in school history.

State-of-the-art locker and team film rooms.

Six full-sized tennis courts and a viewing area to suit.

And so much more.

The school first began creating long-term goals of athletic facility expansion in January 2017. But when the EF-3 tornado cut across North Dallas, damaging parts of campus and leveling the Thomas O. Hicks Family Athletic Center and Albert G. Hill Family Tennis Courts, the plans became urgent. Following the October 2019 tornado, the Board of Trustees established the Project Planning Team — led by Carl Sewell III ’02 — entrusted with determining the best route for replacing the gym and expanding facilities.

“There’s always been an understanding that over time, things were going to need to evolve on the north end of the campus,” Sewell said. “The tornado obviously provided a blank slate for what that could be, and out of that challenge came opportunity. So, once the dust had settled, and we understood what was possible, it was clear what we needed to do. As we started talking with other families and having different board-level conversations, it became clear that this project needed to do something really special. We decided this wouldn’t just be a gymnasium, but an athletic complex.”

Sewell sees this facility as a visual and architectural statement, much in the same vein as the Winn Science Center is on the opposite side of campus.

“We’re going to add state-ofthe-art locker rooms,” Sewell said. “There’ll be an alumni room with

The Project Planning Team has been meeting regularly, and conversations vary in nature. Many members of the athletics department — including Director of Athletics Sean Lissemore — have played a huge role in looking at programmatic needs in the future.

“There’s several different components to the planning,” Lissemore said. “Some meetings are more conceptual and design oriented. Some focus on the general landscape and other things like maintenance, IT and traffic flow. And others are more programmatic, focusing on what the needs are for each sport.”

When discussing aquatic sports, it became evident to the team that the current pool isn’t up to par. For junior Adrian Lutgen, three-year water polo player, the current pool situation has been anything but ideal; but they’ve made it work.

“One side of our current pool is really shallow, so we can’t tread water,” Lutgen said. “Also, it’s a really narrow pool that’s practically half the size of what a competitiongrade pool is.”

The new natatorium will feature a pool capable of hosting water polo and swimming events to a greater degree, and Lutgen is particularly excited at this prospect.

“Because we can’t host tournaments on campus, we’ve been forced to travel really far,” Lutgen said. “This year, we’ve traveled to Houston, San Antonio and California because most schools in Dallas don’t host either. Hosting our own tournaments will be great because we won’t have to travel, and it’ll also benefit players academically because we’ll have more time to do homework or study.”

The fencing program may also benefit from the construction of this new complex. The team lost access to Spencer Gym for practices after the tornado because the gym was more critical for other

“Our gear is not suited for outdoor play,” senior fencing captain Branden Song said.

“During the fall season, it’s extremely hot practicing outside with thick, protective clothing on. We also saw equipment break down. Fencing outdoors is like playing football in a gym; it just doesn’t make sense.”

Though Song will have graduated by the time the facility is completed, he really hopes the new facility will allow future fencers to avoid the problems that he has faced the past few years.

“Fencing is a professional sport that requires a lot of sophisticated training,” Song said. “To really grow this program, to train dedicated fencers that can compete in tournaments, to build the program back up to the levels it was before the tornado, it’s really important that we go back indoors. I’m excited for younger Marksmen.”

Beyond athletics and physical education, Lissemore sees the new facility as an area of community engagement.

“We’ll host all sorts of events there. It’ll be a great gathering location,” Lissemore said. “We want it to be a place where students can hang out during free-periods or after school.”

Ultimately, Sewell believes the Athletic Complex will spotlight athletics to a greater degree at St. Mark’s, allowing athletes, coaches and fans to continue building lasting legacies.

“Our mission here is to build the whole boy, and athletics is a cornerstone of that process,” Sewell said. “There's truly something about getting knocked down and picking yourself back up that’s really important. It’s character building. The tornado set Lions sports back, but our hope is that this new complex will take athletics to new heights.”

STORY Shreyan Daulat, Will Spencer

ROLAND LEMKE

Design principal for CannonDesign

RENDERINGS / CANNONDESIGN IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE BECK GROUP

Key players

In 15 years, Lions athletics has won 13 SPC Athletic Directors' Cups, and the new Athletic Complex will only facilitate continued achievement for future generations of Marksmen. Here is the Project Planning Team behind this ambitious project.

Trustee Leadership Team

These six organizations have offered their respective services to aid St. Mark’s in the completion of this project:

The Beck Group serves as the architect of record and construction manager.

CannonDesign acts as the design architect.

Counsilman-Hunsaker leads the planning of the natatorium.

Jeff Blanchard maintains architectural consistency on campus.

Legends Project Development specializes in sports venue development.

Raymond L. Goodson Consulting Engineers has expertise in solving engineering and construction problems.

BLANCHARD

St. Mark’s Senior Administrative Team

The administrators involved in the project have a wide range of responsibilities necessary for moving the project forward.

BY Arjun Khatti

Whenever a new building on campus needs to be built, one thing is for certain — fundraising must occur. St. Mark’s never uses tuition nor endowment money, thus calling for widespread support in the form of donations. Director of Development Tim Crouch believes this method of fundraising is a special feature of the school.

“It’s a pretty big deal at any place, but certainly at St. Mark’s, to maintain that discipline over time,” Crouch said. “Because, in theory, you could increase tuition to fund a specific project, but that has very clear drawbacks. You could borrow money, but then your tuition is indirectly going toward financing debt, which doesn’t feel good. St. Mark’s is a place where folks have gone above and beyond to support initiatives like the Winn Science Center and now the Athletic Complex Project. ”

Soon after the school’s need for a new athletic space became evident, several families stepped in to support the school’s efforts. Even without a clear timeline or idea

of cost, these community members were committed to supporting the project early on.

“There were three “lead” gifts that were given early in the planning process,” Assistant Headmaster for External Affairs Scott Jolly said. “That was in the fall of 2021. We’ve certainly received very generous gifts since then. But those three jumpstarted everything.”

When working with these “lead” gift donors or other potential donors, Jolly emphasizes the personal nature of the relationships formed.

“It’s normally not one conversation that leads to a gift,” Jolly said. “It’s usually a series of conversations. Just like a relationship with a friend, it’s about building trust. Eventually, if someone is interested, they make a gift that feels right to them.”

Jolly states that completing the school’s fundraising efforts in a given time frame is crucial to the success of the Athletic Complex Project.

“Everything that we’re working on from a fundraising perspective is to make sure we have it completed in accordance with the timeline,” Jolly said. “We’re looking

Years won 2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010 2010-2011 2011-2012 2012-2013 2013-2014 2014-2015 2015-2016 2018-2019 2019-2020 2021-2022

to put a shovel in the ground and begin construction in May or June of next year, so our work is geared around making that happen.”

Crouch adds that timing fundraising efforts is important in making the entire operation run smoothly.

“It’s so important to know that you have reached a critical mass or a tipping point,” Crouch said. “When you’re in a good spot in terms of the fundraising process, that’s the moment to pull more folks in. It’s in very close concert, and we’re in constant communication in terms of how things are messaged so that, ideally, everyone arrives at the same place at the same time.”

Without the outpouring of support from many generous community members, the Athletic Complex Project wouldn’t be possible.

“We’re so grateful for the love and care that goes into the gifts we receive for this project,” Jolly said. “It’s special to have community members who want to invest in the future of St. Mark’s athletics and its boys. To have people essentially raise their hands and say, ‘This is important to me’ is incredibly inspiring.”

SCOTT JOLLY Assistant Headmaster for External Affairs

DAVID DINI Headmaster

TIM CROUCH Director of Development

SUZANNE TOWNSEND Chief Financial Officer

SEAN LISSEMORE Director of Athletics

JOHN ASHTON Associate Headmaster

KRISTIN MLAKAR Project Manager

2022

The Board of Trustees act as the final executives of the project and the coordinators of all the different parties involved.

JEFF HILLIER ’76 Board of Trustees President

KATHY CROW Immediate Past President CARL SEWELL III ’02 Trustee Leadership Team Chair

ARTWORK / MORGAN CHOW

Getting back to the food, festivities and fun

COMPILATION

Nikhil Dattatreya PHOTOS

Courtesy Dave Carden

Inspiring the masses

Organ Club

Senior Sam Menendez, president of the newly found Organ Club, was first captivated by the instrument eight years ago.

“The school installed the old organ when I was in fourth grade,” Menendez said, “and I remember going into the chapel while it was under construction. I was amazed at all the parts scattered on the floor, and from then on, I was interested.”

Two years later, he began taking lessons from organist and choirmaster Glenn Stroh.

“Mr. Stroh started teaching me in sixth grade, but I eventually lost interest,” Menendez said. “I got busy with other commitments and couldn’t find time for it.”

But last year, the electric organ was installed, giving Menendez a chance to return to the instrument.

“It’s much more accessible than before because there’s no longer a key for the off-and-on switch,” Menendez said. “So, I asked Mr. Stroh for permission to start playing again.”

Now that he’s had a year to refocus on the organ, Menendez shares his knowledge and skills through his club. The group has already met several times.

“Our first meeting was mainly an introduction to the organ,” Menendez said. “We went through the basics of how it functions. Some people went in the case while I performed so that they could see and hear what was happening inside the organ. Then, I had them experience the same thing from the outside. At the end, I let them play if they wanted to.”

Menendez ultimately hopes the club’s monthly meetings will inspire more students to take up the complex instrument.

“There aren’t many people interested in the organ,” Menendez said. “It’s hard to get into. So, I hope my club makes it a little easier for students to get involved. It shows a side of campus that people experience every week in the chapel but don’t really know much about.”

Poker Club

For senior Will Grable, poker is an essential skill. While people have many different reasons for playing the game, Grable’s interest involves a career path he hopes to pursue.

“I want to get into corporate finance,” the Poker Club president said. “One of the most important traits for that is a good temperament. Poker helps with that. I also heard an investment manager speak at St. Mark’s last year, and he said the game greatly improved his career skills. All of his connections played it, so I figured I might as well learn.”

In addition to fueling his career path, the club provides other benefits for Grable.

“Even though I got involved with poker as a means to an end, I also realize that it’s a great way to decompress,” he said. “And, as a disclaimer, I’m not a great player. One reason why I started this club was to improve.”

Right now, Grable is teaching the basics of the game to club members. Once he’s laid some groundwork, he hopes to organize a variety of tournaments.

“First, we’ll get handouts and links sent out so that everyone is on the same page about rules,” he said. “For tournaments, I’d like to have two groups to accommodate for varying skill levels. Later on, we’ll try to teach some variations so that people can sit down at any table, but it’ll mostly be Texas Hold ’Em.”

Another aspect of the club that excites Grable is the

amount of time a poker game can take. While the longer duration may be a negative for some people, he sees it as a special opportunity to zone in on the task at hand.

“Aside from sports or school, I think it’s rare for us to be totally plugged into one activity for a huge period of time,” Grable said. “The way we consume content and entertainment is so quick nowadays. I’m actually excited for a nice long session of focus.”

Climbing Club

A club member’s arms, limp with exhaustion, struggle to hang onto the wall. Shouting advice from below, junior Clark Cooper remembers when he was first taught how to rock climb. Years prior, his cousin was the one carefully guiding him through each movement, sharing the exact steps needed to complete a climb. Now, Cooper tells the aspiring Marksman climber to use his feet to maneuver himself up the wall and finish the climb.

Cooper started the Climbing Club for moments like this.

“I thought it would be a good idea for others to just experience my love for the sport,” Cooper said. “It’s something that’s different than most sports but also interesting and athletic.”

According to Cooper, rock climbing attracts athletes because it pushes them physically and mentally.

“It doesn’t come down to straight physical strength,” Cooper said. “You can usually get around with some sort of techniques, especially for the guys who are beginning.”

The club’s climbers range from novice to advanced.

“We definitely have some people who are very talented and some people who haven’t gotten the experience,” Cooper said. “Newer climbers come because they’d like to get more practice.”

The club fair helped boost interest in the new club.

“I brought all my climbing gear and laid it out on the table,” Cooper said. “People came over wondering if they could play with the carabiners or see what each thing did.

By the end of it, 34 people signed up.”

Cooper has plans for the club to bring in guest speakers.

“As of right now, we meet at 6:30 p.m. every Wednesday at Summit Plano,” Cooper said. “We’re going to organize a few meetings with guests, either over Zoom or on campus. Whether it’s an American Alpine Association guide or an international climbing guide, we want to hear from experienced people so that we can become more involved with the climbing community.”

American Sign Language Club

When junior Rishi Rai realized there was little representation of the deaf community on campus, he took the initiative to start the American Sign Language Club.

“I wanted to start a club where we could learn about ASL and also get involved in the deaf community by volunteering at the Dallas Deaf Action Center,” Rai said.

He thought the club would be a good way for students to learn new material and positively impact the community.

“A couple years ago, I took a small course in ASL, and it was really fun and interesting,” Rai said. “At St. Mark’s, there’s not really anyone teaching it, so I figured I could start a club on it.”

Before each meeting, Rai plans out what the club will learn that day.

“We are using ASL University, a free online course,” Rai said. “Right now, we are just learning the basics. By the end of the year, we hope to know 500 words in ASL and be able to form basic sentences.”

Additionally, Rai wants the club to have an online presence to positively impact the ASL community.

“We’re also filming videos of us using the language that we will later post online,” he said. “Those videos function as resources for other students to learn from across the world.”

According to Rai, this club is not another language class but rather an opportunity for students to learn and contribute to a bigger cause.

“In a language class, you are in a fixed structure, just studying textbooks and doing worksheets,” he said. “In our club, what we’re doing is more open. It offers students the opportunity to learn without worrying about testing. In addition, we foster a really uplifting community. It’s a lot of fun working with the members.”

SIGNUP

The club fair, which took place Sept. 20 in Spencer Gym, is the perfect place for students to discover and connect with a variety of organizations.

HOLDING ON Sophomore Andrew Jin scales a wall at Summit Climbing, a local center where Climbing Club members will visit throughout the year.

3rd

(left)

1st

STORY Arjun Khatti, Will Clifford

PHOTO / SAL HUSSAIN

PHOTO / COURTESY CLARK COOPER

Hear from one of the creators of the latest art featured around campus.

How’d you come up with the idea to set up this scene for a photo?

Nathan Meyer: It was mainly inspired by a couple photographers whose work I looked at. There were a lot of untitled film stills by Cindy Sherman, and also a few self portrait images. This photo was influenced by a lot of those works.

Gregory Crewdson was also a source of inspiration. The assignment for this photo was just to photograph a scene where something was happening, and I chose this topic.

How’d you set up the scene — are those two of your classmates in the photo?

NM: Actually, the two people in that image are both me. I took two separate images — one of me in the pickup, and then one of me on the outside of the pickup holding the gun — and then I stitched the two photos together using Photoshop.

CULTURE IN BRIEF

YOUNG ARTS PHOTO CONTEST

Seniors in photography submitted photos for the Young Arts competition Oct 14. Students chose to turn in either a 10-image portfolio or two separate five-image portfolios. The portfolios contained selections from the applicant’s best work, with photos in multiple styles. For the competition selection process, a rotating panel of judges will evaluate the portfolios behind closed doors and reveal the winners for the different levels of awards later this year. Young Arts is the premier arts competition in the United States and being named a finalist or Presidential Scholar is the highest accolade a high school senior can earn in the photography arts.

US CHOIR HOCO PERFORMANCE

The Upper School choir, led by choirmaster Glenn Stroh, will perform the national anthem tonight at the start of the homecoming football game. The event marks a

IN THE CITY

beloved choir tradition, which has been around since the school’s first homecoming. All 28 boys in the Upper School choir will be singing on the football field in the Hunt Stadium.

ELEVATED COOKING CLUB

TRYOUTS Elevated Cooking Club tryouts are underway, and for the first time since the pandemic, they are looking forward to getting back into the kitchen, along with taking classes with the Sage staff. The club is looking for members who aren’t necessarily already great cooks, but simply enthusiastic about baking. Along with the ability to start taking classes again, the Elevated Cooking Club is looking forward to partnering with the community service board to sell food on campus.

ORCHESTRA RECITAL Middle School and Upper School students had the chance to perform on stage to an audience, with piano

Pursuing musical GLORY

Former Marksman Judah Frenkel left school last year to follow his musicmaking dreams. A year later, he has produced a music video and is performing in concerts around America. See coverage, page 24

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra

accompaniment provided. The Orchestra Recital was at 4:30 p.m. in Decherd Oct. 18. It was an optional opportunity and around fifteen students participated in the recital. These students range from new orchestra members who just started learning, to more experienced members, playing more difficult pieces.

ORCHESTRA ALL-STATE AUDITIONS Orchestra All-State Auditions will happen at the beginning of December, with results to be released before Christmas Break. Orchestra members received their music at the end of last year around May and have been practicing their pieces throughout the summer. Along with practicing on their own during the summer, students will be start reviewing their music in class with Dr. Choi. Those who make it past the auditions will attend the All-State Clinic up in Richardson later in January.

INSIDE

Seeking out the suspect

A preview of the upcoming Upper School fall play.

Making it big in music

Musicmaking with former Marksman Judah Frenkel.

Finding the best pie

The best pies for your Fall and Thanksgiving get-togethers.

An Evening with Nigella Lawson

WHAT A talk showesque conversation that will take a deep dive into this food writer’s experiences WHEN Nov. 17 @ 7:30 p.m.

What inspired this photo?

NM: I was looking around in my garage and found a key on a lock, and I thought that’d be interesting for a photo.

What was the hardest part?

NM: Mainly just coming up with the idea, and also setting everything up.

What do you enjoy photographing most?

NM: Pretty much anything. Although I especially enjoy doing photography that evokes emotion and makes people think about it.

WHERE Eisemann Center

DMA: Texas Bound

WHAT Hear from artists of varying fields, from musicians to actors WHEN Nov. 7 @ 7:30 p.m.

WHERE DMA, Horchow Auditorium

IN MUSICMAKING

PERFORMING

Marksman

performs

song

concert

song

Spotify

INTERVIEW Aaron Liu

Film Still by Nathan Meyer Featured in Winn Science Center

Key on Lock by Nathan Meyer

Featured in Winn Science Center

PHOTO

/ COURTESY JUDAH FRENKEL

Murder in the air tonight

From the conflicts surrounding a young United States to a 19th century newspaper strike, the Drama Program has depicted many American historical scenes in recent years. This fall, the action moves to the quiet British town of Cloisterham, where a spooky tale of murder and mystery unfolds.

identity, murder mystery, ambiguous justice and revenge. The Return of Edwin Drood takes its audience through the journey of a town dealing with the arrival of one of its long-lost inhabitants.

play originates from an unfinished work by Charles Dickens, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, which has led to many spinoffs, each with their own continuation of the novel’s events.

Fine Arts Department Chair and Drama Program Head Marion Glorioso-Kirby says the play’s genre and literary relevance stood out to her as she chose a production to put on.

“I wanted to do something that was a mystery or something sort of spooky,” Glorioso said. “I love murder mysteries. I think that genre of theater is a lot of fun, and I always try to pick something that’s got some historical, literary or social reference to it that I think gives us a little more material to dig into. The Mystery of Edwin Drood is a novel by a very famous novelist, and for students to be exposed to that novel and the characters and then also play out those characters on stage is a real gift.”

Even after settling on the source material, choosing a particular rendition was tough. Glorioso says she factored in both the selection of potential cast members and the members of the community who would make up the audience.

“There is more than one theatrical production of Edwin Drood, and I had started out thinking I wanted to do the musical version of Edwin Drood,” Glorioso said. “But the voicing parts for that musical are geared more towards the female voice than the male voice, so I landed on this great script by Michael Druce. It is appropriate for everyone from around third grade all the way up to high school and beyond, and it’s worked well for our campus and the makeup of the audiences that are usually in the Black Box.”

The play centers around two main questions: whether the man claiming to be Edwin Drood tells the truth and who was involved with the murder of an unidentified body.

Especially in a mystery play like this, Glorioso finds that the actors’ ability to portray their characters’ inner thoughts and personality is crucial.

“As an actor’s director, my favorite part is always getting to the meat of who a character is and what the character wants,” Glorioso said. “I’m asking what the playwright heard and saw in their imagination when

they were writing this text. The personalities of the students are so different and they are really giving their all in playing the roles of these Victorian England era gentlemen who are also trying to figure out this mystery.”

For senior Chase Fisher, who plays the character of John Jasper, this character-personality matching is the most interesting aspect of the script.

“There’s a real contrast between how other people think of [Jasper] and how he sees himself, which adds a level of complexity to his character,” Fisher said, “because as an actor I have to try and convey both sides of the same person. I think I share several similarities with Jasper, and I enjoy exploring those similarities as well as our differences to really develop a unique character that brings the script to life on the stage.”

Even after multiple plays with the Drama Program, Fisher says this play’s tone provides new challenges.

“This play is probably the most melodramatic play I’ve done. There are several heavy and emotional scenes throughout the play. I’ve done some comedic or actionoriented plays and a few musicals, which are usually more lighthearted in general, so it’s fun to explore something a little different from what I’ve done in the past.”

Glorioso similarly has new techniques to factor in, including a new lighting system to replace previously cumbersome set design.

“We are using projections, which I have not worked with regularly,” Glorioso said. “I’ve done some work on projections just with our lower school students, and that played into my decision to use projections for this show. The show does move from location to location quite frequently, and we’re limited in the amount of space that we have in the black box for scene changes and large set pieces.”

Fisher looks forward to the opportunities these projections open up.

“We haven’t had any rehearsals with them thus far,” Fisher said. “I’m very excited to see what they come up with because I think that they’ll just help transform the black box stage into something that really helps bring the show together.”

For Glorioso, another enjoyable aspect is guiding the cast through these unknowns in a way that keeps the audience constantly questioning who tells the truth.

“There’s all these clues throughout the play about

who’s a suspect and who’s not a suspect,” Glorioso said, “and certain characters have traits and attributes that could be viewed as something a little malicious or just a part of who they are. Everyone’s a suspect in the play. And that’s been fun as a director — finding little hints in each scene to indicate either who the real culprit is or to try to trick the audience into thinking that it’s somebody else.”

Roosevelt Family Pipe Organ fully restored after almost three years

BY Joseph Sun

Over the summer, the Roosevelt family pipe organ was reinstalled back into the chapel after being damaged by the 2019 tornado.

The organ was donated by the Roosevelt family and first installed in the chapel in the fall of 2014.

“The instrument was custom-built for us at St. Mark’s,” organist Glenn Stroh said. “Several companies came and visited our chapel. They listened to chapel services, listened to the choir, listened to the Fine Arts, and listened to music ensembles. They thought about what would be the right concept for our space visually and tonally orally. So based on that, the original instrument was conceived and designed, engineered, and ultimately built by hand custom built for us.”

The organ was built by Orgues

Létourneau Ltée of Québec and replaced the old Redman Organ from 1988.

However, the organ suffered irreversible damage in 2019 from the tornados and ultimately needed to be sent back to Canada for fixing.

“They deconstructed it, and they packed every component very carefully,” Stroh said.

“They had 253 foot long travel trailers drive it back up to Canada, from Dallas. They began the process of cleaning it and salvaging it or refurbish it. If it couldn’t be salvaged, then they’d start from scratch and build. So it was a really long painstaking process, which is why it took a couple of years for us to get it back.”

Stroh hopes this will be the last time the organ would face damage this sever.

“It’s not uncommon for them to last 100 years or more,” Stroh said. “In fact, a lot of instruments we have, especially in Europe

and some of the historic instruments, they are centuries old instruments, and they’ve had to have maintenance and maybe restoration over the years, but they’re they last a long time.”

The organ itself is a very complex instrument and requires around a house sized area to fully function.

“There are these reservoirs that keep pressurized air, there’s channels for the wind to go, there’s tons of electrical components and circuitry,” Stroh said. “And that’s just really skimming the surface. The part of the organ you see is such a small percentage of the instrument and it is just what we call the facade.”

The organ pipes range from just pinky sized holes to massive, 16 foot pipes. Combined with the shear amount of types of sounds and pitches, it creates over three thousand total pipes.

“Each pipe only plays one individual node. Then you multiply that by the number of different stops, that you have a stop is what you pull out at the side that controls the sound,” he said. “So some might sound like a flute, some might sound like a string instrument. The largest one goes up from the floor of the loft to the chapel all the way to the ceiling of the chapel.”

GETTING IN CHARACTER Inspector Wick, Madame Robert and John Jasper, played by freshman Alex Dahlander, Hockaday junior Matt Shaw and senior Chase Fisher, respectively (left to right), practice in costume as they prepare for the final production.

STORY Nikhil Dattatreya

MARION GLOIOSO-KIRBY Drama Program Head, Director

CHASE FISHER Senior, plays John Jasper

PHOTOS / NIKHIL DATTATREYA

From Marksman to musicmaker

INTERVIEW Aaron Liu

Aaron Liu: When we talked to you last February, you were just getting started on recording your music. What was your schedule like at the time?

Judah Frenkel: Ever since we started, I would go to L.A. once every month or every two months, something like that. And once I got there it was a constant grind every day. I would go to the studio pretty early in the morning every day and leave the studio pretty late at night, until we were done with work.

AL: So, did you just work on putting the tracks together during your time at the studio?

JF: Yeah, that was what we did at LA. If you're familiar with the Theseus ship concept, we would basically take the pre-production version and replace parts of it with tracks re-recorded in the professional studio.

AL: You mentioned you were working on releasing a full album — what inspired you to write each of those 10 songs?

JF: That’s a really good question. The song inspiration can come from any one of myriad sources. For lyrical content, it could be something as simple as something that happened to me during the day. Musically, I like to listen to a lot of songs at a very high volume in varying genres. Sometimes I'll think, well, that’s cool — I want to do something like that. And then I'll write a song with similar elements. And when you throw the songs through the wash, they don't sound like copies. They sound like new songs inspired by the original. For

BY Matthew Hofmann

Sophomore Daniel Sun attended the intensive, 4-week Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival (GMCMF) in Vermont this past June, developing his violin skills and furthering his passion for music.

Boasting world-class faculty and teaching, GMCMF requires extensive applications due on Dec. 1 every year.

“The application required sending recordings of your music,” Sun said. “Then you write an essay about why chamber music is important to you, something less common for music camps.”

At the camp, Sun spent most of his

“123” specifically, I had come up with the song’s chorus previously, and it was based on the F-minor to A-flat to C progression which I thought it was really cool. Then, we just made the rest of the song built around that.

AL: I noticed your stage name on Spotify is Judah Haley — how'd you come up with that?

JF: Well, I don't think my real last name, Frenkel, is particularly euphonic or anything. There was a rock star in the 50s and 60s called Bill Haley, so I thought it would be a fun way to pay respects to those who came before me by making my stage name Judah Haley instead.

AL: There was a lot of phone drilling in your music video — what was it like filming all of that?

JF: It was a pretty involved process. I was actually really scared the first time I nailed one of the phones because I heard that piercing a lithium-ion battery carries a significant risk for explosion. But none of them exploded, so I’ll consider that a win. The music video was recorded in San Francisco over four days, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day, so it was pretty laid back and it all went very smoothly.

AL: I also heard you had a concert in Dallas recently — what was that like?

JF: My set consisted of seven songs, six of which were originals from the album that will be released, and one of which was a cover of the Weezer song “Buddy Holly.” I brought my whole band from Oakland, California, and we played together. Playing live was totally different

time honing his skills.

“Basically, you just practice the chamber music [that they give us], along with your own pieces all day,” he said.

“The schedule had four hours in the morning for personal practice, so it was pretty time-consuming.”

All of this hard work was something Sun embraced, in pursuit of improving at his instrument of choice—the violin.

“I mean, the violin is better than the viola because the viola is too high, and the cello is too low and my brother plays it, so I wanted to choose something original,” Sun said. “Violin is kind of like that middle ground where it's not too high but not too low, and I find it easy to play.”

At the camp, Sun played in a quartets and trios, smaller ensembles that differentiate chamber music from an orchestra.

experience — there is nothing quite as exhilarating as playing live. The nerves are unbridled when you start, but the good news is that as soon as you play the first chord, the nerves sort of turn into energy. Playing live was also kind of hard, because it's not guaranteed that you'll be able to hear everything you’re playing.

AL: Are you thinking of balancing music with studies during your time in college?

JF: Yes. There’s a musician called Rivers Cuomo — he’s the lead singer of the band Weezer — and I really plan to follow in his footsteps. His band made it big time — they had hits from the 90s all the way up just last year. And he actually attended Harvard while smashing the charts. If I can go to college and be like that, then I'll go for it. I'd love to do both at once.

AL: Do you have any advice for other aspiring musicians?

JF: If you plan to make music commercially and want to get noticed, then never delete a contact. You’ll need all the connections you can have. Connections are the name of the game.

on

“Usually quartets are made up of two violins, a viola and a cellist,” Sun said, “and then if it's a trio then there’s like one violin, one viola, and a cellist. But sometimes, there would be other trios, like with a piano, a violin, and a cello.”

Playing in smaller groups at GMCMF has taught Sun valuable lessons about music making.

“If you have four people, and you combine all of those different people

music studies

together, the music sounds better and more melodious,” Sun said. “It makes me want to play with other people and it helps you reach out to other people.”

The camp also taught Sun valuable life lessons.

“If you really love something and if you have the passion for it, then you should really work hard and try to achieve those goals you set for yourself,” Sun said.

And currently, Sun participates in Chamber Music International (CMI), a service group that promotes chamber music in Dallas.

Taking the lessons he learned this summer, Sun is planning to continue his passion for music in college and potentially beyond.

“I'm planning on pursuing music as a minor,” Sun said. “Whatever college I want to go to, I want to join that orchestra.”

PHOTO / COURTESY JUDAH FRENKEL

Cut into these pies — if you dare

Halloween Ends: A dissapointing conclusion

BY Blake Backes

A nyone could predict the conclusion of David Gordon Green’s Halloween trilogy without even watching it. Green stated in interviews that he originally envisioned Kills and Ends as one long movie before the studio suggested splitting them apart. This isn’t abnormal, from “Harry Potter” to “The Hunger Games”, the endings of franchise films are often segmented to make the most out of lucrative properties.

Buttercream Gang: Could be better

This buttercream pie will leave you and your family wondering why you even tried to pull off something new at your Thanksgiving meal.

Unfortunately, you won’t find a creamy custard filling in this pie as advertised.

You might have a hard time making your way through the chewy, dry bite, and the sticky feeling in your mouth will send you searching for a beverage to wash it down.

Even the appearance of the Buttercream Gang won’t entice you. A baked, brown top matching the color of the crust is the only effort made to make the pie appear appealing.

Because the main component of this pie misses the mark, the simplicity of this dessert only accentuates its flaws.

There is no fruity punch, no sweet topping; there’s just a below average custard. The baked top layer of the pie adds nothing special either.

The crust at Emporium Pies, however, is everything you could ask for. A flaky, thin pie shell provides the perfect foundation for a delicious filling.

In this case though, the exceptional aspects of this pie start and end with the crust.

The flavor of this pie does not surpass the traditional desserts you likely enjoy on Thanksgiving Day, so I wouldn’t be too eager to replace any fan favorites with the Buttercream Gang.

The Nannerez: A banana letdown

T his banana cream pie doesn’t really do it for me. The core of the desert, the sliced banana layer on the bottom of the pie, is not the creamy, fruity flavor punch you think it will be.

Instead, the bananas feel like a wet mush which might make you lose your appetite.

The second layer, featuring a creamy vanilla custard, definitely has more of an appetizing flavor than the bananas, but it doesn’t pack enough punch to make the pie worthy of purchase.

Just above the custard, you’ll find a thick layer of whipped cream which only takes away from the other flavors of the pie, masking each mouthful.

While a caramel drizzle layered on top provides a bold flavor to balance the duller flavors of the pie as well as nice visual contrast and appeal sitting on top of the white whipped cream, it does not drastically improve The Nannerz.

The crust, like the Buttercream Gang, is a great first step towards a great pie, but the filling once again comes up short.

Based on these first two reviews, you might be thinking Emporium Pies is not the place to do your holiday dessert shopping, but their menu has more classic offerings that might better satisfy your Thanksgiving guests.

The Nannerz, however, probably won’t do the trick.

The Nutty Honey: A pleasant surprise

Peanut butter lovers are in for a treat with this one. The Nutty Honey combines flavorful, creative elements to make a peanut butter explosion in your mouth.

At first glance, you might not even think the Nutty Honey is a pie. A dense layer of honey roasted, crushed peanuts covers the top of the dessert which might make you mistake this holiday dessert for a bowl of salted nuts.

But one clean slice later, the Nutty Honey will reveal its true colors.

Under the outer coating of the pie, you’ll once again find a thick layer of whipped cream. In this pie however, the whipped cream perfectly balances the creamy peanut butter filling on the bottom, making each bite both savory and sweet.

The crushed peanuts on top add a great crunch — another perfect contrast to the smoother textures of the other layers.

The Nutty Honey, unlike others at Emporium Pies, is encased in a crumbly graham cracker crust, a delicious, sugary bite that adds another flavorful element to this dessert.

As you can see, this pie is made for peanut butter lovers. Peanuts make up so much of this pie that you might feel a little overwhelmed, but once you start eating it, you won’t be able to stop.

This pie is definitely different from the Thanksgiving classics, but it’s undoubtedly the best on this list. If you are feeling adventurous this holiday season, give the Nutty Honey a try.

Even the two existing films in the trilogy took place on one night: Ends would do the same. It made perfect sense why Kills had so much filler: Ends would continue right where it leaves off and pay off the Laurie v. Michael abandoned hospital showdown that previous movie awkwardly set up.

This third installment of the most recent Halloween trilogy, satisfying but unsurprising, doesn’t exist. No, “Halloween Ends” doesn’t take place in the Kills’ hospital, nor does it directly follow that movie, in fact, Michael Myers doesn’t even appear for more than ten minutes of the two-hour runtime.

Immediately, bewilderingly, Ends slams on the brakes, starting with two separate time-jumps that not only give the audience whiplash, but also bring the momentum the last two films built up to a screeching halt.

If viewers trust this was a wellthought-out and purposeful decision to lead the story in a better direction, then the next hour of setup is fairly enjoyable, albeit slow.

The movie explores how Myers’ reign of terror stretches far beyond his murder spree, leading Hattonfield citizens into destructive cycles of fear, persecution, and isolation. While this by no means feels like a Halloween film, interesting choices in the script and behind the camera are enough to hold an audience’s attention and pique their interest.

Once it finally turns Halloween day, a change that indicates the end of the first act in many horror flicks, the audience intrigue was at its peak because, after the film took so long to lay its foundation, viewers could finally start to see what the filmmakers were building. Then, Ends abruptly ends.

I stayed in my seat when the film cut to black, thinking this was certainly just a false victory midpoint for a long movie. How could a movie suddenly drop all so many plot threads that it meticulously built up over the last hour and a half?

Unsurprisingly, the movie’s ending was rewritten numerous times to cause this Frankenstein monstrosity of a narrative.

This movie is neither good enough to sit down and watch nor mindless enough to put on in the background, instead existing in a strange limbo that raises the question of what demographic this was even made for.

Although the original script likely would have also made for a subpar conclusion to this trilogy, that earlier idea is leagues better than this bizarre, confusing tangent in the Halloween franchise that, despite End’s title, will inevitably be rebooted, remade, or “requeled” within a decade.

BLAKE BACKES

REMARKER

Giving back

EXPANSE

One of the largest metropolises in the country, Dallas’s skyline is dotted with high-rise buildings. In a city so large, giving back is everappreciated.

St. Mark’s’ location in Preston Hollow can seem like a bubble, isolated from the rest of Dallas and in its own world. There is a clear problem with this view of the school, though: one of the most important parts of a good education is being able to interact with and learn from the entire city, not just the places near here.

So far, the Civic Responsibility Program has mounted an admirable effort to get Marksmen more engaged with our city, and with the upcoming midterm elections once again bringing civics to the forefront of our discussions, we would like to urge students here to use this opportunity to be a better Dallasite.

One especially timely way to make a mark on Dallas is for seniors over 18 to vote. When we look even closer at local issues, it is clear that our vote matters even more when the elections are smaller and the consequences are directly impacting the places we live.

It can grow tiring to see popular votes for the U.S. president have a gap of millions of voters, but within our city — even while it is one of the biggest cities in the country — just one or two people

deciding to vote can have an outsize impact. Elections for municipal offices and the local Texas state legislature seats can be decided by extremely narrow margins.

So, while the eyes of the country may still be on some of the flashier races in the midterm elections that are taking place in other states, it is important to not forget our own backyard. Candidates for many municipal seats are nonpartisan, so local press like the Dallas Morning News is a good place to get information about the positions these candidates take and stay informed about what you are actually voting for. And for juniors and seniors, the school offers plenty of classes, like AP United States Government, AP Comparative Government and Politics and A 100-Year Partnership: A History of Dallas and St. Mark’s that give a practical civic education to the people who take them.

But after a month, the midterm elections will be over, and there will be a wait until the next ones — although it might not be as long as you think. Many city elections are actually done in “offyears” when there are no presidential or midterm elections.

Still, there are many times where there simply isn’t much political

engagement to be done, especially if you are not an avid partisan for a certain party or cause. Times like these — and all times — are great for community service, another key part of the Civic Responsibility Program. Some service can be done at school or facilitated by the school, such as participating in McDonalds Week to raise money for Austin Street Center, volunteering for Habitat for Humanity or working in the Brendan Court Summer Enrichment Program, which educates middle schoolers from DISD over the summer without any tuition being paid. These opportunities are a phenomenal service to the greater Dallas community. Plus, through its community service program and civic initiatives, the school has made them very easy for Marksmen to access.

Besides these community service events, though, there is a whole city full of places that need people like us to step up and help others. When we don’t interact with Dallas through these ways, not only do the people around us lose someone who could be using their energy to make the world a better place, but we also lose an essential part of our education — the part that will never be read in a textbook or answered in a test but will decide something far more important: who we are as people. So this fall, when Dallas is buzzing with debate and x2VOL fills up with opportunities that rely on us, remember that our time as responsible people can start now.

Increased guidance on leadership a pathway for growth

Across campus, there are a plethora of opportunities for students to engage with the school and greater Dallas communities while honing their leadership and collaboration skills. For high school students readying themselves to enter college and the workforce in the future, this is a critically important step in the process of moving toward manhood.

Organizations and activities such as the Literary Festival, STEM Conference, publications, clubs and student council present challenges for students to learn and overcome obstacles. For students with a passion for the arts, the Fine Arts Board

offers them a role in organizing Coffeehouse. For students interested in athletics, sports captaincies provide leadership positions on and off the field.

Yet, a few students still cannot find a place to channel their passions into a leadership role, and many Marksmen face initial difficulty as freshmen and sophomores in determining activities to pursue. We believe that the school should more directly provide students with guidance on how to involve themselves with the St. Mark’s community. The Ethos Leadership Program goes a long way to equip students with many of the skills, concepts and values necessary

for leadership. In advisory, leadership loops help formulate Marksmen’s perspectives on what good leadership looks like. While advisories point students in the general direction of how to get involved, there’s still a lack of concrete guidance on specifics. A possible remedy to this would be to treat extracurricular activities with the same seriousness as academics in advisor conferences, presenting freshmen with a goal of picking five or six activities to explore in their first year and sticking with about half that they’ve enjoyed, providing them a few communities to explore for the next four years. We hope the administration considers our proposal.

EDITORIAL

faculty or staff.

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While the eyes of the country may still be on some of the flashier races in the midterm elections, it is important not to forget our own backyard.

The school presents numerous opportunities for student engagement with Dallas communities through the Community Service and Civic Responsibility Programs. Now, it’s up to students to take advantage of those and give back.

PHOTO / CREATIVE COMMONS

The art of collecting sports cards

Keshav Krishna Editorial Director

I walked past the discarded shopping carts and cigarette butts in the parking lot and made my way to the store entrance. When I crossed the road, I didn’t look both ways. My eyes were set on my goal. A car had to stop in a hurry for me to pass. Even if I had been hit by that car, I might’ve just gotten up, dusted myself off and continued into the store. My mom raced to catch up with me and apologized to the car that had almost hit me, which was more like the car I almost hit.

I walked past the candy aisle, past the popcorn machine, past the Starbucks. I nearly succumbed to the buttery smell of the popcorn, but I did not look back. I had a greater prize in mind.

I scurried past the other shoppers on my eight-year-old legs. When I reached the sports cards in the corner of the last aisle before the checkout area, my eyes lit up. For two years,

collecting football cards had been my favorite pastime. I was very particular about finding the very best cards — the ones that were autographed or had a piece of a game-worn jersey in them. Because of this, I carefully felt each pack before buying them to see if they were the right size to have those cards. A long time had passed before I had single-handedly bought more than half of the packs in the store. I didn’t know how my mom would react to that. After my mom returned, her shopping cart full, she saw my heap. She just rolled her eyes.

“Fine. It is your birthday, and that’s all you asked for. Do you want popcorn?”

I nodded.

When I got home, I threw away the empty popcorn bag and set the 30 packs of football cards on my desk, arranging them by brand and series. I opened all of them, around 50 cards, and sorted them into stacks by the team. I set aside all the ones which had autographs, jersey patches or limited print. I sat looking at those cards for a long time. I touched the jersey cards. I sorted them and then re-sorted.

Stocks to watch

Lunchtime athletics

SLIGHT INCREASE

From spirited games of volleyball to the ever-present pickup basketball games, boys have stayed active at lunch.

And that’s when it dawned on me. All I ever did with these cards was look at them. They served no purpose whatsoever. I couldn’t even resell them. As a second-grader, I hadn’t paid much attention to the wear-and-tear on the cards. Though they may have looked nice, they didn’t give me any real happiness.

Sitting there in my room, looking at my 50 worthless cards, I wished I would’ve sprung for another large popcorn instead. At least you can eat popcorn. The cards went into an old shoebox. For my next birthday, I didn’t want to buy something at Target: I wanted an experience. We went to Arizona. Feeling card packs to see if they had valuable cards was nothing compared to carefully climbing up a rock face to get a better view.

After that trip, I’ve collected rocks from each of the places I visited on my birthdays and placed them in a shoebox. But what’s more precious to me are the memories that I made at those places with my family. I remember them like yesterday. As for my shoebox filled with football cards, I haven’t seen that in years.

The bulls and bears of stocks on campus

Elevated Cooking Club

SPIKE

The Elevated Cooking Club has carried out incredibly wellorganized activities, including bakesales, with amazing treats.

Community health

KEEPING STEADY Sickness is in the air. Marksmen and faculty have continued to fall ill more frequently than normal. Wash those hands!

End of quarter workload

STEADY DECLINE

We’d like to see our teachers spread out tests a bit more near the end of the quarter.

REPORT CARD

Lunch lines

In general, lunch lines have seen a rise in chaos and disorganization. We implore older boys to set a good example: queue up and wait patiently. Pushing and shoving is unacceptable.

Spirit Week

With several innovative themes, Spirit Week saw Marksmen coming out in full force before Homecoming weekend. We love the school spirit. Let’s channel that for the game tonight.

Superfanmen

They’ve been really dedicated to every sport, giving the spotlight from water polo to football, volleyball to fencing. They’ve traveled hours just to support our athletic teams. Keep it up!

Diversity talks

Discourse is always great, but those conversations haven’t always been the most productive. There are a lot more off-topic tangents and discussions than we hope for.

Traffic

DIP

For many, the commute to school has become nightmarish with increased traffic. Plan on arriving earlier next quarter or those tardies could stack up.

Late textbooks

We understand supply chain issues from a lack of paper have affected textbook production and delivery, but for years we've been plagued by late textbooks, which impairs learning.

Homecoming dates

Many upperclassmen are going to homecoming alone, and while that's their prerogative, there are many Hockaday girls who would love to attend. Next time, consider taking someone.

As voter registration comes to a close, here are a few polling dates that seniors should remeber before they have their voices heard.

day of early voting by personal

Trenton Williams’ journey in sports announcing

BY Eric Yi

Eighth-grader Trenton Williams started announcing middle school football games Sept. 2021.

Last year, Williams broke his wrist during practice and was told he would have to wait for it to heal before he could play again. Initially, he was upset because he enjoyed playing football.

Despite not being able to play, Williams still wanted to contribute to the sports community here.

“I asked if I could announce the upcoming ESD game,” Williams said. “And since then, I’ve been the main announcer for Middle School football.”

At first, Williams wanted to announce the games just until his wrist healed, but as started announcing more games, his perspective changed.

“I knew deep down that I would be much better at announcing than football,” Williams said, “so I had to sacrifice that. Talking and orating have always been my talents, and I had to put them to use.”

Williams believes that his wrist breaking was meant to be.

“I just love talking so much,” Williams said. “I’ve always enjoyed making other people happy and seeing them laugh. I’ve won multiple oratorical contest awards along with two spelling bees. I just think this is what I’m supposed to be doing in life.”

Through announcing, Williams found a new passion and possible career for himself.

“In the future, I intend on being a sports broadcaster, a public speaker or something similar to a TED Talker,” Williams said. “I want to use my voice to make an impact on the world and bring light to different situations.”

During some of his games, Williams has had some memorable moments that will stick with him forever.

“One time, when I was announcing one of the eighthgrade games, we scored a touchdown and I said, ‘If you don’t like this, you don’t like Middle School football,’” Williams said.

Williams is always looking for ways to improve his announcing.

“Another time was when I accidentally announced that the ball was at the 53-yard line, but obviously, there is no 53-yard line on the football field,” Williams said. “I’m always trying to learn from my mistakes and apply what I’ve learned in future games.”

State champions

SPORTS IN BRIEF

JOB OPPORTUNITY The Athletic Department is offering middle and upper school students jobs for the current and upcoming sports seasons once again. Upper school students are paid anywhere from $15 to $18 an hour and are offered a wide range of positions, including working the chains on the field, announcing for Middle School and JV games and operating the scoreboard. They usually work for 90 minutes, making around $25 on average per game. Middle school students are not paid but have a good opportunity to gain work experience.

SEVENTH-GRADE STAR

Seventh-grader Michael Sorrell has proved himself to be a notable up-and-coming basketball prospect. Sorrell has played up on multiple levels, including playing up two divisions as a fifth grader on the AAU circuit and earning Top 60 in the TB5 Reports camp as a fourth grader playing up in the fifth-grade

division. Sorrell was also named to the Alabama All-Tourney team for a national tournament in July. This past month, he was chosen as one of the standouts at the pro insight camp and ranked third out of all the middle schoolers attending the camp. Sorrell looks to make varsity basketball as a freshman and create an immediate impact on the team. The school is looking forward to watching Sorrell progress into a high-achieving basketball player.

ALUMNI UPDATE Alumni athletes this fall have been competing around the country and have demonstrated that they can hold their own at the next level. Fisayo Omonije ’22, a cross-country runner for Johns Hopkins University, placed 38th on his season debut with the team. The Blue Jays have the NCAA MidAtlantic Regional coming up Nov. 12 and the NCAA Championship Nov 19. Conner Gaffney ’21 and the United States Merchant Marine

2-MINUTE DRILL

Academy football team recently won against the Norwich University football team 19-7. The USMMA football team will be playing Springfield College Oct. 29.

SPC CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND

The volleyball and cross country teams will compete in SPC championships the weekend of Nov. 5. Boosted by a strong sophomore lineup, the volleyball team has a record of 8-5. The team will travel down to Houston Nov. 3. The cross country team began their postseason Oct. 21 with the North Zone race. The top ten finishers from the race were given all-North Zone honors and will have the opportunity to compete in the SPC Championship in Tomball Nov. 5. Both the cross country and volleyball teams won the SPC Championship last year, and each team’s performance this year will be a major factor in the Athletic Director’s Cup.

INSIDE

MOSSED Junior wide receiver Lucas Blumenthal has 51 catches for 784 yards

nine games, along with eleven

in his first year on varsity football.

Dan Hunt ’96 puts Dallas soccer in the international spotlight.

World cup in Dallas Olympic figure skater

Former Marksman Paul Wylie’s journey to figure skating glory.

The mental battle

Junior water polo player Caleb Maddox shares how he overcame his hardest times as an athlete.

On Deck

ONE MORE At the TISCA Private School State Championship, the Lions defeated Dallas Consolidated 14-7. The tournament took place in San Antonio Oct. 15.

PHOTO / COURTESY AADI KHASGIWALA

TRENTON

Should fencing get more attention?

BY Lawrence Gardner

A s a program, the Lions have earned more fencing titles than the football program, yet the gap in funding between the two leans mainly in favor of the football program. This lack of attention has evoked a sense of worry within the two senior fencing captains, Arjun Badi and Branden Song, about the program’s future.

“The fencing coach is approaching retirement,” Badi said. “He has expressed a lot of fear that St. Mark’s will just retire the program when he retires. [Director of Environmental Studies] Mr. [Dan] Northcut ’81 was captain of the fencing team and later a fencing coach when he started teaching here. Fencing is a long-standing tradition, and letting it die from disrepair and lack of funding and resources is not the best thing to do.”

Though Song believes the lack of funding and attention to the fencing program are significant issues, he knows they’re not the only things holding back fencing’s growth as a program.

“Undoubtedly, the biggest change I’ve seen is our shift from indoors to outdoors ever since the tornado hit,” Song said. “Fencing is an indoor sport, and it took some time for the team to adapt to practicing outdoors. Without designated fencing strips to utilize and adequate space to set up the electronic equipment, the program itself has shifted away from the looks of conventional fencing.”

With the change to outdoor fencing, the equipment needed for fencers to compete has continued to decay due to the stress the outdoors puts on indoor equipment. Despite the alarming situation of the fencing program, its athletes have continued to push through the harsh circumstances to increase their skills and keep the program alive.

Spinning into skating history

After spending five years at St. Mark’s, Paul Wylie moved to Colorado and excelled in a new passion: skating. But his journey to an Olympic silver and beyond didn’t come without some bumps along the way.

Paul Wylie’s heart stopped beating.

A CPR attempt didn’t bring him back to life. Neither did the defibrillation from the paramedics on the scene.

Paul Wylie, an Olympic silver medalist, was put into a medically induced coma.

Days later, he woke up. Miraculously, he beat the odds and did not suffer any long-term damage.

Seven years later, the former Marksman reflects on the scariest moments of his life and everything that led up to it.

In his early years, Wylie attended St. Mark’s and still holds the school close to his heart.

“I love St. Mark’s, and I went there from first to fifth grade,” Wylie said. “It was fun, active and challenging. The teachers were great, and I enjoyed the fellowship of the school.”

Wylie still remembers his experience vividly and is able to fondly recall some of his Lower School teachers.

coach was Carlo Fossey, who trained multiple Olympic champions.”

At this center, Wylie was able to develop his skills while watching other great skaters train.

“When I moved to Denver, I was an intermediate skater, then I moved up to novice and went to Nationals,” Wylie said. “Just watching other great skaters helped me improve, and after I moved up to novice, I made juniors, where I won nationals and junior worlds.”

After climbing the ranks swiftly, Wylie was finally able to make the jump to the Olympic team and placed 10th in the 1988 Olympics. Four years earlier, though, he found himself struggling to even make the team.

“When it came time for the Olympic trials, I actually only made the team by 1/10 of a point,” Wylie said. “I spent four years working really hard, and it finally paid off.”

Upon making the team, Wylie returned home and immediately began working with his trainers and sports psychologists. Despite this motivation, Wylie did not expect to compete for a medal.

freer life he had before the Olympics.

“We would go for four or five months at a time and spend no more than two days in the city,” Wylie said. “That really wears on you after a while, so I decided to go to business school and change that trajectory to study general management.”

SHOWING SKILLS After his silver medal in the 1992 Olympics, Wylie traveled across the country to perform in skating shows and display his skills, as seen in this show, “Kaleidoscope on Ice.”

TRAINING Wylie started skating at a young age, really focusing on it once he moved to Colorado.

BRANDEN SONG Fencing senior captain

“When it is too hot to put on equipment, we do conditioning,” Badi said. “Sometimes, we will go up to the weight room to lift. We are trying our best just to hang on.”

Song knows with the help of the school, the fencing program has the ability to expand.

“I believe the fencing program has the potential to grow to much larger levels, but it just requires more support, from regaining a designated indoor space to having more equipment and motivated fencers,” Song said. With all these boxes checked, I am sure the fencing program will flourish.”

Looking back at his time in fencing, Badi has developed a genuine love for the program and his time spent within it.

“The fencing program has been a constant for me at St. Marks,” Badi said. “Some kids do not want to play football or basketball but still want to play a sport, and fencing is where they turn. I came in as a freshman not knowing anything, but the team is what got me acclimated to St. Marks. The fencing program has so much potential; we just need a chance to shine.”

“I had a music teacher in Lower School who recently retired, and her name at the time was Ms. Sharp,” Wylie said. “Then she became Mrs. Livengood. We also had this amazing PE teacher, Monsieur Nevot. He taught judo and fencing and would teach us a lot of fun things in first and second grade. He also had a great French accent, which was really fun.”

Wylie left St. Mark’s and moved to Colorado after fifth grade due to his father’s new job. While Wylie was upset to leave his former school and friends, this move helped spark his passion for skating.

“I wound up getting more focused on skating when we moved to Colorado because there was an amazing training center in Denver,” Wylie said. “My

“My sports psychologist told me to focus on the possible, not the impossible, and that really motivated me to work my hardest,” Wylie said. “I was expecting to place maybe 5th if I skated my best. I didn’t think it was possible to be higher than that knowing the way skating works.”

Contrary to his worries, Wylie’s efforts were rewaraded when he earned the silver medal for free skating.

“It was an amazing breakthrough for me personally,” Wylie said. “Then it changed the direction of the rest of my professional career because I was able to be in shows and compete as a professional on television.”

After winning the silver medal, Wylie’s life was packed with shows across the country; eventually, he longed for the

Sabre

Wylie went on to graduate from Harvard business school and then worked a few different jobs, including DotCom and Disney, before he started his current job.

“Now I work in New York, where I’m the Director of Sports for the Olympic Regional Development Authority,” Wylie said. “The mission is to operate facilities from the 1980 Olympics and have events and training for top-level athletes but also for locals and New Yorkers.”

Then came that fateful day – April 21, 2015. During a workout in Charlotte with a group named S3, Wylie suffered from cardiac arrest and was put into a medically induced coma called therapeutic hypothermia.

“Only 5% of the people that come out of something like this really have their functioning brain,” Wylie said. “It’s a miracle to think about having the ability to be with my family and support them.”

In the foil — a basic rapier — discipline, fencers must use the tip of the sword to hit the torso, back or groin of their opponent, with any hits on the head (mask) or limbs not counting.

A long, thin blade with a curved hilt over the hand, the sabre has the familiar look of a cavalry weapon, which is what this discipline evolved from.

The epée — a heavier sword with a larger hilt and an inflexible blade — can score a point anywhere on the body.

ARJUN BADI Fencing senior captain

STORY Ben Adams, Lawrence Gardner

PHOTOS / COURTESY PAUL WYLIE

Dallas — the new center of American soccer

As FC Dallas President and Dallas’s 2026 World Cup Host City Bid Chairman, Dan Hunt ‘96 is making a difference in the soccer community. From building an academy that breeds future World Cup players to ensuring Dallas will host high-stakes World Cup matches, he’s bringing his efforts to a global stage.

November, the United States Men’s National Team will compete in the 2022 FIFA World Cup — the most-watched event in all of sports, drawing billions of fans to “the beautiful game.”

Nearly a third of the roster will be composed of former or current FC Dallas players.

In the summer of 2026, the World Cup, co-hosted in the U.S., will come to Dallas for several games, including for a possible semi-final or final.

And it was Dan Hunt ’96 who worked tirelessly to make it happen.

Hunt’s father, Lamar Hunt, was one of the founders of Major League Soccer (MLS), the top American professional soccer league, in the 1990s.

“He initially wound up with the Kansas City Wizards and the Columbus Crew,” Hunt said. “But in November 2001, the league gave us FC Dallas, named the Dallas Burn at the time. We eventually moved the team here in Frisco at Toyota Stadium and renamed it to FC Dallas.”

From his family’s leadership in the creation of MLS to his four-year varsity soccer career here, soccer runs in Hunt’s blood. In Nov. 2012, Hunt took a major step in his career when he became the interim president of FC Dallas.

“My family asked me to take over operations on an interim basis. It was only about a week and I loved every bit of it,” Hunt said. “I said, ‘I’m going to work my tail off on this,’ and I became full time president of FC Dallas in January 2014.”

Each team in MLS — and around the world — has its

own academy system, in which they try to produce youth players that will eventually compete on their senior team.

“We’re traditionalists of the game, and if you look at the clubs around the world, about 96 percent of them are net developers of talent, and they develop their own players,” Hunt said. “We believed that was the direction for Major League Soccer for a very long time because that’s how it’s done in the rest of the world.”

Over the last decade, FC Dallas has solidified itself as the top academy in the MLS through its success in youth competitions and the number of “homegrown” players produced. Now, the rest of the world will see the dividends of the investment put into the FC Dallas academy at the World Cup.

“We’re going to be a huge contributor to the World Cup team,” Hunt said. “In fact, we’re going to be a contributor at FC Dallas in a way that only Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Barcelona are to their national team squads. Very few clubs in the entire world will have a percentage like we will have of players that have come through FC Dallas one way or another.”

Although the competition for the starting striker spot on the national team is still taking place, two of the consensus top three strikers were both developed by FC Dallas. Ricardo Pepi came to FC Dallas when he was 12, staying with the team until he was sold to German club FC Augsburg for a club-record fee of $20 million euros. Jesus Ferriera, currently still playing with FC Dallas, has been with the club for even longer.

“Jesus Ferriera has been with FC Dallas since he was eight,” Hunt said. So we’ve known everything about him and watched him develop and grow into a top talent. We know who he is, and he’s going to be a big contributor.”

Along with Hunt’s goal of winning the MLS Cup with FC Dallas and helping provide players to the national team, he also understands the bigger picture — for soccer to gain popularity in the U.S. Therefore, he knew his job as Dallas’s chairman for the 2026 World Cup host city bid, the same job Lamar Hunt held for the 1994 World Cup, was very significant.

“I’m incredibly proud to be the chairman and lead that effort, but there are a lot of great people involved,” Hunt said. “It is such an incredible honor to bring this here, and we were told to assume that we’ll get a minimum of four games at AT&T Stadium, and I think there’s a potential to get a maximum of seven games. Obviously the big prize is the final — that’s what I’m chasing.”

No matter what Hunt has been able to accomplish in his career, he will not forget the memories made or lessons learned here on campus. In the most difficult times of his job, he was able to rely on his past experiences.

“St. Mark’s is one of those special places in the entire world, from the administrators to the students to the facilities,” Hunt said. “Everything is done with such a high level of integrity, and St. Mark’s taught me that nothing comes easy. It’s about hard work. COVID was incredibly difficult, and we had this whole World Cup process going on in the background. I think St. Mark’s prepared me for that.”

As the World Cup nears, soccer fans around campus make their picks

BY Oliver Peck

Who do you think has the best chance of winning the World Cup this year?

Sophomore Alden Reagins: I believe that France has the best chance of winning the World Cup this year. However, I do think that Brazil is a tough competitor, and Argentina as well. France will win because they have the strongest and fastest center-backs. The addition of key players such as Kylian Mbappé and N’Golo Kanté are very important as well and will help lead France to a World Cup victory.

Junior Alex Soliz: I do believe France will win the World Cup again this year. But France, Germany, Brazil, Argentina, and maybe Belgium are all strong teams as well.

How do you think the USA will do?

AR: At first, we thought they were going to perform well, but in these recent pre-World Cup matches, the United States has performed poorly. Particularly versus Japan, in which they actually ended up losing 2-0 before the end of the first half. It’s not the results we like to see out of our home country’s squad, so we’re going to have to see, but it’s not looking too bright right now.

AS: I think the USA will definitely put up a good fight.

Who is your underdog pick to make a deep run?

AR: I think Senegal, the AFCON Cup winner, is an underdog team that could make it far in the tournament. Sadio Mané and Kalidou Koulibaly are both excellent players that could take them far.

AS: I think the Netherlands is definitely an underdog team who could make it far. People don’t talk about them enough.

How do you think Argentina and Messi will do in most likely his last World Cup?

AS: I think this is definitely Messi’s last World Cup, but he’s the greatest player in the world, so I think Messi has a good chance of carrying Argentina to the finals. But he also doesn’t need to carry his team completely because he has good teammates.

AR: He’s a washed old man. I could beat him in a 1v1.

FIFA WORLD CUP

YOUTH INITIATIVE Hunt awards medals to members of the FC Dallas Special Olympics program.

GIVING ANSWERS Hunt speaks on various FC Dallas initiatives during a press conference.

ALDEN REAGINS Soccer fan

SOLIZ Soccer fan

STORY Ben Adams

PHOTOS / COURTESY FC DALLAS

Entering the abyss

What would you do if you felt all alone and life seemed hopeless?

What if your daily goal was just to reach tomorrow?

What happens when the pressure and anxiety to perform at a high level keeps building up and up and up, until it’s too much?

How would you try to heal?

How would you feel whole again?

Junior water polo player Caleb Maddox struggled to answer these questions until it was almost too late.

“I didn’t talk to anyone or try to rely on anyone,” Maddox said. “I just tried to handle all my feelings and thoughts alone.”

It all started at the beginning of sophomore year with problems stemming from a combination of overcommitment and lack of time management.

“I didn’t know how to manage my social life, schoolwork and my sports,” Maddox said. “I was starting to get sleep deprived. The sleep deprivation affected my mental health.”

The academic rigor of this school can unfortunately compound the pressure of being an athlete. With a lack of time and building pressure, it can feel like the work continues to pile and pile on.

“I know St. Mark’s, and there’s just tons of stuff that you have to do,” sports psychologist Dr. Yolanda Brooks said. “It keeps adding on and on and on, and you don’t get more hours in the day.”

For Maddox, everyday was a challenge. That was only the beginning of his struggles.

“At some point, I just wanted to get through school, get through sports and then try to do whatever work I could,” Maddox said. “If I was lucky, maybe I would get four hours of sleep.”

Even sports, something that used to be a source of joy, became a burden too great to bear.

“Saturday and Sunday in the fall, I had early morning practices, so there were no days I could sleep in or catch up on sleep,” Maddox said. “In the fall for water polo, my coach and I agreed on days that I couldn’t practice because I had tutoring. Then in the winter, I had to talk to my coach and tell him I couldn’t swim because I had to get my grades up.”

However, because Maddox could not make every practice, the stress and pressure to perform in the pool grew, starting a cycle of added anxiety from school which led to anxieties for sports.

“There’s a guy on the team who is really good, and I’m always competing with him for the starting spot.” Maddox said. “This competition was a lot of pressure because he’s a guy who is on top of things. He never misses practice, and he’s always working hard, so having him on my trail was a big pressure.”

In addition to the pressure of keeping his job, Maddox always felt like he was losing the respect of his teammates because of the time he missed during practice.

“Trying to make sure I don’t let down my teammates was a big thing too,” Maddox said. “No one on the team knew what was going on, so it looked like I was the kid who was skipping practice just to skip practice. I didn’t want to be seen as that.”

Brooks notes that a change in demeanor could mean

that a person is struggling with their mental health.

“When someone who’s outgoing — very gregarious and the life of the party — is suddenly withdrawn and quiet, not hanging around with typical friends and being isolated, that’s something to look at,” Brooks said.

For Maddox, this period was one comprised of isolation and loneliness.

“I felt alone because some of them would give me crap for missing practice or not making early weightlifting sessions,” Maddox said. “I just felt like I couldn’t talk to them about it because a lot of it was personal. I just felt like an outcast.”

However, an easy way to help fellow students and athletes is to open up to them, especially if you see something wrong.

“I do think that being attentive and just saying, ‘Hey, buddy, I’m here, and if you need anything, just give me a holler,’” Brooks said. “It’s hard for people to ask for help. The most difficult first step is to acknowledge that there’s an issue and then to ask for help.”

All the pressure and anxiety from performing academically, keeping his starting spot and feeling isolated from the team snowballed into an impossibly difficult spring for Maddox.

“During the spring season, I chose not to talk to anyone, and also that was the hardest time for me because of the situation I was in,” Maddox said. “I missed a week of school before spring break, and I started my new medicine. So, all of that made it really hard.”

These issues can also become more serious because of athletes’ reluctance to talk about them.

“A lot of people pretend they’re doing okay, but they can’t keep it up for long because that drains them even more — when they’re not being authentic and congruent,” Brooks said. “Meaning what they are telling you is consistent with what they’re feeling — as opposed to pretending everything is okay when it’s really not.”

Finally, after suffering alone, Maddox allowed himself

to become vulnerable and asked for help.

“I finally opened up to [Coordinator of Academic Support] Mrs. [Julie] Pechersky, [Upper School

Counselor] Dr. [Mary] Bonsu and my mom,” Maddox said. “If it weren’t for those three, I would not have made it through sophomore year.”

From opening up, he found a system of time management that worked, and he was able to reconnect with his team.

“Dr. Bonsu gave me great advice, Mrs. Pechersky helped me organize my schedule with homework and tests and my mom did all those things and more,” Maddox said. “Also, I started working in my coach’s office with teamates, all working together and have fun. Now, I just try to spend as much time with them as possible because I fit in and can be myself.”

By rekindling his unity with the team and consistently working with the counseling office, Maddox has found happiness in life once again.

“I found the balance for sports and academics,” Maddox said. “I can focus in class, work hard in the pool and come home and do homework. Especially with the team, a lot of these guys are willing to help me with school. I’m also in a position to maybe be captain next year. Now I’m in the best spot I’ve been in throughout Upper School.”

Water polo dominates the competition to win fourth state title in five years

BY Nolan Marcus

The varsity water polo team won the state championship at the TISCA (Texas Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association) meet at Alamo Hights in San Antonio Oct. 15.

While the team closed out their season out with a bang, the road to winning a state championship was not without scheduling confusion, highs and lows and hard work and dedication.

“This was the first time that the season took place in the fall,” varsity water polo head coach Trenton Calder said. “There were a lot of uncertainties because so many of the UIL teams were figuring out their schedule. We weren’t sure what we were going to get.”

The team started their season on a road trip to

Houston for a difficult set of games at Strake Jesuit.

“We started off going to the Strake Jesuit tournament [Crusader Classic Tournament] with two wins and two ties,” Calder said. “That was an uncertain tournament for us because we lost our captain [senior] Sammy Larkin, so we had to adjust. The guys did a great job of that.”

The second game against the Scots was the Lions’ most impactful one, according to Calder.

“Our biggest turning point as a team was the second game against Highland Park,” Calder said. “Both were really important, but we were a bit overconfident in the first game. In the second one, we

CALDER

came back and did a lot better but still saw what we were missing. After that game, everyone was all business. That second game is what brought us together.”

When the state tournament finally came around, the team was ready to dominate.

“We had a very good game against JP II [John Paul II High School]. For the second game versus Dallas Consolidated, we had scrimmaged them, so we were ready,” Calder said. “We took control from the get-go and never looked back.”

But the water polo team still had work to be done, which would come at the Steve Pal Memorial Tournament in Orange County. The Lions wanted to finish strong in their final games of the season.

“Now, we’re ready for this weekend because we’re going out to California. We want to take it to those teams as badly as we did against Highland Park,” Calder said.

ALONE Maddox puts his head into his palms as he tries to muster up the courage to open up and allow himself to become vulnerable.

THE TRUTH Maddox’s willingness to turn for help has allowed him to develop a healthy lifestyle as an athlete.

Junior water polo player Caleb Maddox shares his struggle through loneliness and pressure as a high school athlete.

STORY Nolan Marcus, Neil Yepuri

PHOTOS / ZACHARY BASHOUR

Lions

STATE CHAMPIONS The Lions water polo team unleashed a dominating string of performances in San Antonio to win the Fall TISCA State Championship title.

team

VICTORS The Lions cross country team holds

their trophy after scoring

PHOTO / COURTESY SAMMY LARKIN