The Pharcyde, 43.5

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@thepharcyde_tbs

THE BENJAMIN SCHOOL NEWSPAPER 4875 Grandiflora Road, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33418

14 December 2021

@thepharcyde_tbs Volume 43

Issue 05

It’s That Time of Year: Fill Yourselves with Holiday Cheer Lucy Rubin Staff Writer On Dec. 7, the Upper School held its annual assembly to commemorate the holiday season. Beginning in 2018, the Holiday Assembly has been a great way for students and teachers to celebrate the holiday season as a community. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Holiday Assembly was pre-filmed in the BTV studio and streamed in advisory classrooms for students. This made the 2021 Holiday Assembly even more special, as the full community was able to reunite and come back together after the pandemic separated us. The joint experience of everyone coming together to celebrate the most cheerful time of the year helped cultivate a great atmosphere and experience for the entire Benjamin family. The Holiday Assembly featured the Dazzlers, choral and instrumental performances, and the sharing of customs and traditions by various students and staff. Dr. James Haley, the Chair of the Science Department, orchestrated the event, managing the entire process. When asked about his role in setting up the Assembly he stated, “All I do is coordinate the

program, making sure I get all of the essential pieces in the program, put them in order, and the program usually runs itself.” Coordinating the assembly is no easy task as Dr. Haley started to plan everything in late October. He began

by creating an outline of the different performances, based on previous assemblies and then began asking around for students and teachers who would be interested in participating. Dr. Haley noted “I pick people every year that the community would

Following moving talks and performances from teachers and students, the Upper School Dazzlers took the stage to conclude this year’s Holiday Assesmbly with a moving performance of the “Waltz of the Snowflakes” from The Nutcracker. (Photo by Tvisha Goel)

‘Tis the Season of Giving

Upper School Holds Food, Toy Drives Joey Tomassetti Staff Writer Since the pandemic began, some families have had a hard time making the money to supply themselves with the necessities of everyday living. Each holiday season, Benjamin gives back to the community through their food and toy drives. Students, teachers, and faculty are able to help those in need by donating to this cause. Upper School Student Services Counselor Dr. Renea Yates, who organizes the drives annually, is very appreciative of the effort put forth by Benjamin. “I am, once again, in awe of the generosity of our Benjamin Community and their giving spirits. To know that we helped put food on the table for so many makes my heart happy,” said Dr. Yates. In regards to the toy drive, Dr. Yates would love to see the same amount of generosity shown as the food drive. “I would love for our community to come together once more to help our friends at ARC with adaptive toys for Christmas,” added Dr. Yates. The Arc of Palm Beach County, established in the mid-1950s, is a group of community volunteers who joined together to advocate for the rights and needs of people with intellectual disabilities in Palm Beach County. The volunteers- many of them parents of children with disabilitiesfirst started Arc with a vision of the creation of local community-based programs to educate and help their children live productive lives. Benjamin is helping to contribute to this cause in a big way. Upper School Science Teacher Mrs. Amanda Pierman, a frequent

be interested in hearing from and are maybe people that are not always up on the Benjamin stage making announcements.” His goal is to bring in a diverse group of students the community could learn more about while sharing in the festive holiday spirit.

donator in Benjamin’s charity drives, is a fan of helping out the community in any way possible. “I did donate to the food drive, and yes, I will donate to the toy drive. Any time we can do something, no matter how small or big, for someone else, it makes a world of difference for the recipient. It also makes the donor feel good too. It helps to remind my family and me how lucky we are to have and to be able to share,” said Mrs. Pierman. “When Dr. Yates sent out the images of recipients at ARC holding up t-shirts, my heart melted. Seeing their huge smiles, especially as one person

was holding up a shirt that my daughter had worn, made me exceptionally happy and satisfied with my decision to donate. Even if I did not see these pictures, knowing that I could make someone else smile is enough of a reason for me to donate and keep donating,” adds Mrs. Pierman. As each holiday season goes by, Benjamin and Arc’s relationship grows ever stronger. Thanks to the generosity and kindness of the Benjamin community, children’s lives all over Palm Beach county are improving in some shape or form. Excellent job, Benjamin, and keep up the great work!

Freshman Leah Klein helps to pack up some of the toys that were donated by Upper School Students to support the children of The Arc of Palm Beach County. (Photo by Joey Tomassetti)

Every year, Dr. Haley asks students to speak about the three holidays: Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. With the help of Mrs. Goldberg and the Jewish Student Union, as well as spreading the word through faculty, this year’s Holiday Assembly featured the sharing of Christmas traditions by Ella Pierman, Hanukkah traditions by Leo and Hudson Byrne, and Kwanzaa traditions by Victoria Powell and Micah Mays. Mrs. Wendler and Mr. Cramer also got to speak about their holiday memories. Mr. Cramer noted that he was excited to share a Christmas memory with the Upper School as it is his favorite time of the year. The Holiday Assembly shared fun holiday memories, taught us about the different experiences and traditions throughout the Benjamin community, and engaged us with exciting performances by various performing arts groups at Benjamin. With the hard work of Dr. Haley and everyone who participated in the 2021 Holiday Assembly, the Benjamin Upper School community got to enjoy yet another festive occasion to help lift everyone’s spirits as we get closer to winter break.

Annual NHS Poinsettia Sales Mark Arrival of Holiday Season Sophia Liporace Co-Editor-in-Chief Over the past month, Benjamin families have been ordering poinsettias to support the National Honor Society’s annual poinsettia drive, and NHS leaders have been busy delivering and coordinating pickup for over 700 poinsettias to spread holiday cheer throughout the community. According to Social Studies Department Chair and NHS advisor Ms. Sara Misselhorn, the poinsettia drive is the only fundraiser during the year to support the organization, and one of the many community service activities members partake in throughout the year; it is also beneficial to the Benjamin community. “Poinsettias are a wonderful holiday tradition, and the different sizes and colors of the beautiful plants NHS offers for sale are some of, if not the, best quality and prices in the community,” said Ms. Misselhorn. NHS sells pink, red, and white poinsettias that each come in small, medium, or large sizes. NHS Vice-President and Treasurer, seniors Jack Regnery and Joey Slyh, respectively, have been most helpful in the process: creating spreadsheets to keep track of the orders and profits and assigning NHS members to help with delivery. “As Vice-President, it is my responsibility to be in charge of the poinsettia drive. Earlier this year, I contacted the poinsettia manufacturer and made sure everything was good to go. I also made a spreadsheet that kept track of all the orders and the total amount of poinsettias so that we could ensure that all orders would be completed,” said Regnery. Each NHS member is required to sell at least 60 dollars worth of poinsettias and help distribute the poinsettias at some point on Wednesday, Dec. 1.

“Jack and I delivered poinsettias with the other NHS officers throughout the morning on Wednesday and coordinated all pick-up orders in the afternoon. As treasurer, my main responsibility was calculating the profit that the NHS would make, and I am now excited to be able to manage the budget throughout the year and find helpful ways to use it,” said Joey Slyh. NHS has plans to use their profits of over $10,000 for the greater good while also maintaining the chapter. “We intend to contribute to the school-wide service project, create and send cards to the troops, keep our membership supplies intact, continue to make and deliver no-sew blankets, and to help support any other service project that might need some funding,” said Ms. Misselhorn. After another successful year of poinsettias, Ms. Misselhorn and NHS hope to continue spreading cheer among the Benjamin community for years to come with their long-lasting and pet friendly poinsettias.

Members of NHS come in early on Wednesday, Dec. 1 to help count poinsettia orders. NHS officers spent nearly all day delivering poinsettias to local businesses. (Photo by Sophia Liporace)


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