Green and Gray December 2014

News and Opinions from the Students of Berkshire School

December 14, 2014

Inside the Storm, Before Dawn:

Berkshire Students and Faculty Attend SDLC and PoCC in Indianapolis “Love itself is a revolutionary act.” – Rodney Glasgow, SDLC 2014 facilitator.

On December 4-6, four Berkshire students, Amani Bethea ’16, Juan Cedeño ’17, Terryl Wilson ’16, and Maggie Zhu ’17; along with four Berkshire faculty, Gwyneth Connell, Jeconiah Cronze ’09, JJ Jemison ’09, and Sydney Satchell attended the 2014 Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC) and People of Colors Conference (PoCC) respectively in Indianapolis, IN. SDLC is an inclusive, multicultural, multiracial convention for high school student leaders, which features in-depth discussions on self-reflection, allyship, and community building. PoCC is a conference for educators, aiming to provide a safe environment to equip them with knowledge, skills, and experiences to improve diverse climate at their schools.

I sat down at the Grand Ballroom in JW Marriott Indianapolis with 1,629 high school students from all across the world attending SDLC and there was a heavy silence. “If you identify as __, please stand up.” The kid sitting diagonally in front of me stood up—being one of the few out of the crowd.

“Look at the ones standing with you, and the ones sitting down; reflect on the significance of both places.” Rodney Glasgow, one of the SDLC facilitators announced phlegmatically on stage during an activity called “Silent Movement.” The term was left blank because the infinite variations in the concept of diversity are not to be defined with any expression. The conference stressed that every individual varies in their own notion of the eight major social identifiers: gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, family structure, socio-economic status, religion, age, and ability; thus identities and diversity are celebrated. The students were split up into groups of 75 to workshop on each of the social identifiers. The group of complete strangers was surprised when individuals

By Maggie Zhu were open and conversation turned out to be raw and personal, due to the supportive environment. “I have never felt happier to be gay.” Ryan from New York City said joyously to the group. Such positive remarks flooded every corner where discussions took place as the conference progressed. Microaggression was a term frequently used in the conference which scientifically defines various social injustices directed towards a target or minority: brief and common verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignities whether intentional or unintentional, that communicates hostile, derogatory, or negative insults towards people who have been historically marginalized. In other words, Microaggression is present in phrases such as “what do gay people think like,” or “what really are you.” “Knowing what it is makes you feel connected and substantiates the social phenomenon.” Satchell comments as she felt the topic was the most significant in her experience.

The conference concluded as 1,629 students sat closely in a room shining in every aspects of humanity, leaving hardly any room for walking. Four lines were formed in the four directions of the room for a Quaker-style storytelling. Many had a heartwrenching past to share, and expressed their gratitude towards SDLC. Soon I found

Inside: D’Arco Cup photo recap

myself inside a storm of rage and tears, “Our world is so broken.” Andre from Missouri sat next to me and wept as a girl told a story of her life suffering in oppression. The reality is that people around the world are being discriminated against for being different, and are denied rights to simply be human.

I question, what gives us the right to be ignorant and pretend everything is fine when peaceful protestors are brutally arrested by police? However, there are always two sides to a story; the pain turned into power. We stood up, all 1,629 of us, as a gesture of love to support every soul suffering unjustly and to protest all the ugliness against humanity.

If there is any way to fix it, the hope lies in our generation’s hands.

As a journalist, I often try to refrain myself from emotions; however, I felt immersed in an ever-so thick, strong, loving, bitterly young revolutionary tide brewing as the moon was down, and ready to explode in any second into a break of dawn where the world is repaired of all brokenness. As Rodney Glasgow said, “love itself is a revolutionary act; it is the love, the hope in the world, for which we still have the faith to fight.”

I feel compelled to share this experience with the Berkshire community as I reflect back and forth inside the storm, before dawn.

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THE GREEN AND GRAY

December 14, 2014

Racial Tensions Rise

By Chelsea Leeds

On November 24th, the decision to not indict police officer, Darren Wilson, who shot and killed an unarmed African American teenager, Michael Brown, was made public. This has since resulted in a surge of fury and unrest not only in Ferguson, but the entire country. The central issue around the case is whether or not Wilson’s shooting of Brown was reckless and uncalled for. The people of Ferguson, a majority of which is African American, are displaying their anger throughout the city by burning down buildings and getting into fights with officers.

Tear gas has been used in attempt to break up demonstrators, but violence is still ongoing. While the riots continue in Ferguson, there have been more peaceful demonstrations in areas like New York City that shut down the Brooklyn and Triborough Bridge and halted traffic throughout Times Square.

While the wound is still fresh from the Ferguson case, another decision involving violence between police and the African American community has raised questions about police tactics and accountability, leading people to hit the streets of New York City

once again. In July, police officer Daniel Pantaleo put unarmed Eric Garner in a chokehold for resisting arrest that would lead to his death. After reviewing the case, the grand jury, made up of 14 African Americans and 14 whites, decided not to indict Pantaleo. He has since publicly apologized to the Garner family for what had incurred, claiming it was completely unintentional. While there have been a number of arrests, no one has resorted to rioting. On December 3rd, the day the decision people are celebrating the tree lighting ceremony, people attempt to disrupt the ceremony to bring attention to the case, “I can’t breathe” in reference to the words Garner shouted to Pantaleo while in a chokehold.

The stories of Michael Brown and Eric Garner have gained national attention, unfortunately similar cases have occurred in the past and demonstrate that while the United States has made progress in regards to race relations, we still have a ways to go.

The shift to 24 hour news channels and the use of social media, have made it impossible to escape these stories. For example, NBC

has posted 467 stories on Ferguson alone.

While this topic is nothing new it has caused Americans to re-examine its racial history and economic inequality.

Following the grand jury’s decision on Ferguson, Obama made a statement to the nation. He asked protesters to be peaceful and the officers in Ferguson to act with care, as this is a fragile time for the city as well as mentioning the wishes of Michael Brown’s parents to not bring shame to Michael’s death with violence. While progress has been made in recent decades, Obama has acknowledged that there is a breakdown in the relationship between law enforcement and the African American community.

At a time when America’s racial tension are as high as they have been in recent years, the next steps will be crucial in moving forward and healing the nation. Obama will face the task of helping to mend the relationship between law enforcement and the African American community. Hopefully America will use this as an opportunity to grow together as a country.

The Bears Take Colorado

By Samantha Reagan Snow fell continuously for the entirety of the first four days. Most of the Berkshire School Ski Team was in Copper, Colorado to train over Thanksgiving break and they didn’t know ‘too much snow’ existed.

Annette Key ’16, Molly Coleman ’16, Anna Flaherty ’16, Catherine Quaintance ’17, Insha Afsar ’18, Emily Barclay ’15, Tyler Smith ’16, Lyons Brown ’18, Wilfred Dyer Kloman ’17, and I attended a weeklong session run by U.S. Elite Camps. Each day started at 6:00 A.M. with an optional morning run and stretch, which I participated in only once.

Sunday was a majority of the team’s first time on snow since March, so we attempted to take it easy. On the first day the coaches, John Borwick and Patrick Donovan, instructed the athletes to work on shaped turns and transitions, but we focused on pushing through the snow.

With moguls on one trail and knee-deep powder on another, the team had a difficult time focusing on technicalities and drills. However, as we tired on into the next day the temperature dropped and we longed to see the sun, or at least farther than ten feet in front of us.

On Tuesday the coaches set a Giant Slalom course, and the athletes made three runs pushing heavy powder out of the way. There was so much snow that our legs were tired before we were able to make one turn in the gates. But we reminded ourselves that too

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Annette Key ‘16 poses with Olympic Gold Medalist, Ted Ligety.

THE GREEN AND GRAY

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December 14, 2014

The Bears Take Colorado continued from page 2

much snow is better than the snow at Butternut (no snow at all).

Finally, on Wednesday afternoon the clouds parted. The athletes trained the last day of Giant Slalom with a newfound energy and excitement – they could see the sun and the view of the Rocky Mountains. For the rest of the week the sky was bright blue and the snow was perfect.

When Thanksgiving Day came the athletes did not relax with their families, they woke up at 6 and started the day like any other. Berkshire School ski team was training Slalom on the same trail as the United States’ A Team. On a random stroke of luck, the Berkshire girl’s team and Patrick Donovan were at the base of the lift at the same time as Ted Ligety, twotime Olympic gold medalist. The girls squealed like the teenagers they are (especially me) and took pictures with Ted. We were star stuck as he posed with us and signed our gear.

For Thanksgiving dinner the camp had a banquet in which prizes like “Super Camper” and “MVP” were awarded. Even though most of us were without our families, we had our team and an awesome week of skiing.

The camp ended and the Berkshire School Ski Team headed back home on Saturday. There was more snow than we thought possible. We met professional skiers like Warner Nickerson and Ted Ligety. We experienced the best training of the season, and we are excited to conquer the 2014-2015 season in the Brigham Ski League and the United States Ski Association. Go Bears!

Inside and Outside

Tyler Smith ‘16 shreds a slalom course.

Green and Gray Points Update

By William Pang My mouse hovered over the “Review and Submit” button.

Gray wins 3-1 in broom ball game I paused and gave a sigh of relief, knowing that my applica#BearHunt – Gray (19 total tweets) Green (16 total tweets) tion will travel through a bunch of ones and zeroes into the #BearHunt – Best Overall Photo, Victor Li, Gray Team database of my early decision school. The memories of pullGREEN: GRAY: ing countless all-nighters to work on essays, sitting four and Kevin Kim – Intel Science Competi- Mary Gao – Intel Science Competia half hours in multiple testing centers, and begging students tion, Entrant tion, Entrant to participate in club meetings seem to hit me all at once. Like Mr. Cronze, Mr. Jemison, Ms. Justin Donowa, Jack Harrison – Obama, I feel like I’ve aged ten years.

Satchell –Attendee at the People of High School All American Soccer As I continuously tell myself that I will not get into my Color Conference, Indianapolis, InGame in North Carolina ED school (the psychology of lessening the pain of potential diana Amy Rowland – Morning Carols disappointment), I can’t help but wonder how the college proMaggie Zhu – Attendee at the Stuin Berkshire Hall cess would prepare me for a world outside of academia. Sure, dent Diversity Leadership Conference Terrell Wilson, Amani Bethea, I could list how I’ve become more mature, more independent, Indianapolis, Indiana Juan Cedeno– Attendee at Student and better at time management. But what have I learned exMr. Moodey – Coaching at the Diversity Leadership Conference Incept the rules of the college admission game?

High School All American Soccer dianapolis, Indiana The American college process can best be described as Game in North Carolina Ms. Bellizzi – Faculty of the Month, crazy, ludicrous, and impossible. Most countries administer Ms. Driscoll- Faculty advisor for the November a government issued national exam for high school students, outdoor rink Ms. Connell - Attendee at the Peoand the college decision is based solely on the candidate’s perMr. Wysocki – Helped to lead effort ple of Color Conference, Indianapolis, formance on the exam. Conversely, the American college pro- with Sheffield Fire Department to fill Indiana cess has no magic formula or equation. Attaining high GPAs, outdoor rink Pancho Anselmi – Got sprayed by scoring on the top 1 percentile of the SAT, and building a slate Mr. Perkins – Lead faculty in outskunk (for the second time) full of extracurricular activities will not guarantee a place at an door rink Ivy League.

Total: 321 Total: 372

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THE GREEN AND GRAY

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December 14, 2014

D’Arco Cup Photo Recap

By Simran Chatani and others

Inside and Outside

Photos from the 2014 D’Arco Cup, December 6th.

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The beauty of the college process is not the creation of a multimillion dollar industry where parents send their kids to SAT classes or hire college consultants; the beauty lies in the cultivation of hybrid thinkers.

The first component of being a hybrid thinker is the ability to think inside the box.

While educators continuously advocate students to think outside the box, admission officers rely on assessments that judge how you think within in a box. Students who succeed in high school and attain high GPAs understand the rules of the game: study hard, participate in class, do your homework, and review for the test. Predict when the next pop quiz will come, understand the style of how a particular teacher writes a test, when and when not to argue for points are all skills that an observant student will acquire when he/she plays the game long enough. The same applies to standardized tests: drill and continue drilling on past SAT tests, skim over the passage and spot for key words, eliminate answers, and disregard un-

important information (thank you Princeton Review, Kaplan and Barron). The morale of the story is colleges expect us to be great in the box thinkers, students who are able to strategize and succeed within a set of defined parameters.

The second component is the ability to think outside of the box. Most colleges phrase it under the banner holistic admissions, an approach where colleges with the time and resources look beyond a candidates GPA or SAT scores. College essays, work and life experiences, and extracurricular activities will factor into the admission decision. Students who have worked on a project beyond the boundaries of school curriculum will be familiar with the fears of wasting time on a project that might not bear fruit, the challenges of working without a set of rules and guidelines, and the passion that seems to extinguish quickly as you enter the third or fourth week of the project. Colleges value students who can demonstrate passion outside of the classroom because it’s often a

tough and frustrating process. But it is the same process that will teach you to innovate and strategize without a given parameter, developing skills that cannot be gained through lectures or multiple choice tests.

And if you’re the person who can only think outside of the box, don’t worry… Google has a job for you.

As we enter into a technological era where an increasing amount of universities are providing online degrees, one’s ability to think inside and outside of the box is going to be a crucial component in the hiring process.

Companies want employees who understand the culture and mechanics behind a corporate environment, but employees who can innovate and think beyond the set of rules will rise to the cream of the crop. The college process might seem brutal, tough, and depressing at times, but it is the set of skills developed throughout the process that truly matters.