Fourcast December 2015

e HoCkaDaY SChOOl INSIDE

Wednesday December 17, 2014

PHOTO BY MOLLY WARING

A MARINE NO MORE Assistant Technology Director George Hanlon will soon retire from the United States Marine Corps and become a veteran after 29 years of service p7

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A YEAR IN REVIEW The Fourcast takes a look back at some of the moments that defined 2014

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POLITICAL CORRECTNESS Ferguson has the attention of the U.S., but is a taboo at Hockaday

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ARTS OUTSIDE OF HOCKADAY Students involved in fine arts productions outside of School

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FINDING THE PERFECT FIT Multiple places in the Dallas metroplex offer people options to get fit

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11600 Welch Rd. Dallas, Texas 75229

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Volume 65 Issue 3

Upper School Head Announces Departure

Ashton continued p3

 The Fourcast takes a look into

how individuals face obstacles and welcome new opportunites. p12

Protesters Take a Stand Against Injustice

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n Tuesday, Nov. 25, senior Azani Creeks gathered with almost 200 protesters near the Dallas Police Department headquarters. The crowd had assembled in an outcry against the controversial decision made by the jury the day before to not indict police officer Darren Wilson, who shot unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown.

Protest continued p2

PHOTO BY AZANI CREEKS

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fter six years of cheerfully guiding and supporting Upper School students and parents and working collaboratively with Upper School faculty and staff, Head of Upper School John Ashton will become the Associate Headmaster at St. Mark’s School of Texas in July 2015. As Associate Headmaster, Ashton will play a key role in providing strategic oversight and direction to St. Mark’s. He will work across all three divisions and with every administrative department, and he will be actively engaged in leading the School forward in every respect.

Throughout his time guiding the Upper School at Hockaday, Ashton has committed himself to improving the lives of our girls and the school as a whole with his encouragement, laughter, professionalism and human-centered approach to his work.

HOCKADAYFOURCAST.ORG

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY CLAIRE FLETCHER

IN searCh fOr An Open Door

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news p2 features p7 photoessay p11 infocus p12 arts & entertainment p14 sports & wellness p18 perspectives p21

IN PROTEST Senior Azani Creeks attended a protest against the injustices from the Dallas Police Department. Fellow protests held up signs such as “Black Lives Matter.”

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HOCKADAYFOURCAST.ORG

THE HOCKADAY SCHOOL DECEMBER 17, 2014

NeWs Science Meets the Real World

In Protest Protest continued from p1

Courtney Le Managing Editor

AP Environmental Science students plan projects to make a global difference.

PHOTO BY CLAIRE FLETCHER

The jury reached their decision after two days of reviewing extensive evidence, stating that they could not charge Wilson with a probable cause to arrest him. Creeks, who did not agree with the jury’s decision, joined the protest.

“I went with my dad, and we chanted things like ‘hands up, don’t shoot’ and ‘no justice, no peace,’” Creeks said.

Creeks attended the prayer vigil with local pastors that day at 5 p.m., and the actual protest began at 7 p.m., followed by speakers.

Other students share Creeks’ beliefs. Senior and Student Diversity Board Chair Anesu Nyatanga supported the protests because they “draw awareness to the problems and struggles that people are facing. When we think about any major change or any major shift in our society or our culture, it’s been brought around by protests.”

The main focus of the rally wasn't solely focused on Ferguson. According to Creeks, the protest was also “about the injustices inflicted by DPD. There have been 70 unarmed people killed by police in Dallas since 2003, and none have been indicted.” Creeks added that it was important to note that the Ferguson case was “not an isolated incident.” Most recently, Daniel Pantaleo, a white New York police officer, was not indicted by the jury after using a chokehold on Eric Garner, an unarmed black man.

Upper School Guidance Counselor Dr. Margaret Morse, who also sponsors the Student Diversity Board, said that “there are a lot of strong emotions associated with the Brown and Garner cases. I think that it would be good as a community to talk about what this means nationally, locally and personally.”

Nyatanga hopes to organize a forum to discuss the recent discussions led by the Student Diversity Board in a way where everyone’s opinions can be heard.

Nyatanga said that she, herself, reacted strongly to the cases.

“The thing that upsets me the most about the non-indictments is that I’m not surprised.

And I think that is terrible. It’s terrible that I am only 17-yearsold, and I’m not at all surprised by the normalcy in which black bodies litter the streets,” Nyatanga said. “I’m appalled that society has conditioned me to accept this as the norm.”

Creeks agreed, but she was encouraged by the protest.

“Every race was represented,” Creeks said. “It was very powerful in letting us know that Americans of all races can empathize with what we're going through.” F

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enior Madalene Danklef students “determin[ing] how jokingly posed a question to to raise edible fish for a single her AP Environmental Sci- family (or family group) in a deence class: “Wouldn’t it be veloping nation.” cool if we could grow fish?” Little But why fish? According to did she know that her idea would the National Oceanic and Atmobe put into motion as a year-long spheric Administration, fish are class project. “excellent, affordable source[s] of As part of the class’s curricu- protein, [are] low in fat and sodilum, the students had to think um and contain nutrients such of a project that would poten- as omega-3 fatty acids, which are tially improve environmental important to good health.” And problems in realthe idea of the project world situations. is to be able to proDanklef’s idea fit vide people, particuthe bill. larly children, in un“We were watchderdeveloped nations ing this video about with a reliable source fish farms, and so of protein.

I was like, ‘Well we “Salt fish are could do that for our things that you can project,’” Danklef keep for long periHUNGRY FOR HELP said. “It would be ods of time [and] are In hundred millions, something that a great lean protein the number of people would be able to source,” Lindsay said. in the world who give back to a com“Ultimately, they are suffer from food munity if we were trying to get a really deprivation today. actually able to do good, lean protein this successfully.” source, year round, in After the stusome way.” dents unanimously voted to use Like all school projects, the Danklef’s proposal to create a fish farm needs to meet certain sustainable aquaculture system requirements. First, enough fish for the project, Upper School must be raised to feed a family of science teacher Kirsten Lindsay, six, including leftovers for potenwho teaches the course, drafted tial off-seasons. Second, all of the tools necessary to create the fish a rubric for the class to follow. farm system must be affordable The assignment consisted of the and readily available to a real

HOCKAGREEN THUMBS AP Environmental Science students plant switch grass in the green lab on the third floor of the science building.

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family. And because it’s an environmental science project, the process must be safe and have a small ecological footprint.

But for now, the students have been researching a gamut of factors to be considered in the development of the fish farm— including what tools they should use, what fish they should raise and developing countries that could utilize the productivity of a fish farm.

Junior Mary Kate Korinek, a student taking the class, is researching potential outside variables that could affect the fish, like the weather.

“I’m looking outside of the range [of conditions] so that the fish don’t die,” Korinek said.

The fish farm will be built in one of the cement pods on the green lab of the science building.

The final construction plan and identification of the students’ chosen fish will be completed by Dec. 17, but the students will not begin construction of the fish farm until Jan. 9. After that, the students have until Feb. 20 to install the system and begin raising the fish.

Upon completion of the project, the students must write a paper that explains what they did, how they did it and what they hope to achieve.

Environment continued p6

HOCkABrIEFs STUDENT COUNCIL

Four pairs of seniors and one group of three seniors presented their Winter Formal ideas to Student Council the week before Thanksgiving Break. On Nov. 18 the council elected Harper Clouston and Ellie King, who applied together, to be in charge of the planning, decorating and revealing of Winter Formal. The chairs are responsible for meeting with the Council on a regular basis to select decorations, entertainment, food and refreshments for the event. Both the Council and chairs also work with freshman moms to plan the freshman dinner.

By press time, the venue and theme had been selected and will be announced to the Upper School students on Jan. 14. Winter Formal will take place on Feb. 21.

Location and time TBA.

TEACHER POETRY CLUB

Every Day 2, a dozen or so Hockaday faculty members convene during lunch as a part of a newly formed poetry group. The group has attracted Middle School and Upper School faculty members from four departments: English, History, World Languages and Fine Arts. Upper School English teacher Janet Bilhartz first suggested the idea of a poetry group, and the group took off from there. “[The group] makes us feel very much a part of the community,” Bilhartz said. “It enhances our friendships and stimulates us intellectually.” So far, the group has read, translated and discussed poems in Latin, German and Spanish.

“We are able to get together to engage in intellectual inquiry,” Bilhartz said. “It has been a lot of fun, and we return to class inspired.”

Faith Isbell Staff Writer

Charlsea Lamb News Editor

NEWS: Year In Review / Page 5 •

First Female Attorney Elected / Page 6

THE HOCKADAY SCHOOL

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DECEMBER 17, 2014

Beyond Mixers and Football Games Hockaday and St. Mark’s Upper School come together for a new lecture series during lunch

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Both Hockaday junior Isabella Sanchez and St. Mark’s senior Adam Merchant found the discussions to be insightful and “helpful.” “[My table] got to discuss and debate about a couple different questions,” Sanchez said. “We all had our own opinions, but it was very interesting to hear each other’s thoughts on the subject.”

Merchant expressed that he would be “willing to learn” in future lectures.

“I like the fact that both schools are coming together,” Merchant said. “We can learn from each other with these types of strong discussions.”

The plan is to continue the Hockaday-St. Mark’s lecture series throughout the 2014-2015 school year.

Earlier in the

Ashton continued from p1 “I love interacting with the students and faculty. My six years in this role have been some of the most rewarding years of my career,” Ashton said. “I love walking the hallways in the morning, talking with the girls and teachers and staff, congratulating students on their athletic successes and arts performances, as well as simply asking them about their experiences on a day-to-day basis.”

During his time at Hockaday, Ashton has been part of several innovative programs. He collaborated with Upper School counselor Dr. Margaret Morse and the Upper School faculty to develop Hockaday’s Whole Girl Program, a thematic approach to guiding girls through Upper School by nurturing a student’s social, emotional and character development. Andre Stipanovic, Upper School Latin teacher, said, “His personal contact with both Upper School teachers and students has helped strengthen the bonds between students and faculty while he has been here. His approachability is one of his best assets, along with a great listening ear. He will be missed.”

Whether examining the need for a later start time to the school day, acknowledging the need to define boundaries regarding the use of email, examining, augmenting and revising curriculum or altering his schedule to make time for a colleague or student, Ashton strives to create a culture that supports students and adults. He believes, “Everything we do should be guided by our mission to nurture the healthy development of girls and by our respect for one another as we work together in support of that work.”

As the Head of Upper School, Ashton has always been cognizant of Hockaday’s mission and working with fellow school leaders and administrators to ensure bright futures for all students. Head of Middle School Linda Kramer says, “John’s vision, professionalism and grounded attitude have made my partnership with him a productive and joyful one. Part of what I will miss is his wisdom that helps me do my job. I’ve learned a lot from him!”

The depth of Ashton's impact was realized when the Senior Class of 2013 dedicated the yearbook to him. “I was shocked. I never expected nor anticipated this recognition from the students. I will always re-

PHOTO BY FAITH ISBELL

ecember kicked off a but this is another opportunity series of lunchtime for students to come together lectures that will and discuss current events in bring Hockaday and St world affairs and politics.”

Mark’s Upper School students Hockaday and St. Mark’s stutogether. The speakers are dents met in St. Mark’s Nearburg members of the faculty from Hall, where a catered lunch was Hockaday and St. Mark’s, and provided. The students were seated the topics range from at co-ed tables to enworld affairs to sciencourage discussion. tific exploration.

Walder inSt. Mark’s held troduced herself, the first lecture on provided a brief Dec. 10, and Hockaday overview of her Upper School history career in the CIA teacher Tracy Walder and the FBI and We want was chosen to lead gave a prepared the discussion and lecture titled “Unto foster a Q&A on ISIS, Boko derstanding Terrespect Haram and Osama rorist Networks.” around bin Laden.

“It’s always great When asked to to impart the knowlacademic speak, Walder gladly edgeonthem,”Walder and accepted. The lecsaid. ture, however, was The lecture intellectual not Walder’s first covered three terdiscussion. time on stage. rorists groups: al Assistant Head Walder regularly Qaeda, Islamic of Upper School speaks to the ForenState of Iraq and Elizabeth Jones sics class at the EpisSyria (ISIS) and copal School of DalBoko Haram. las, has given talks to Walder explained the World Affairs Council and the ideology, history, leadership TED, a global set of conferences and goals of each terrorist group. that address a wide range top- A brief Q&A followed. ics, and once mediated a debate Walder then opened up between an Israeli official and the discussion with a couple of a Palestinian official. guiding questions concerning “I think that [the lecture the United States and its current series] is a great idea,” Walder strategies against terrorism. said. “The social aspect between Each table was able to Hockaday and St. Mark’s is great, carry individual discussions.

fall, Upper School Head John Ashton and Assistant Head of Upper School Elizabeth Jones, as well as St. Mark’s Upper School Head Wortie Ferrell and Assistant Head of Upper School John Perryman met to brainstorm academic interactions between the two campuses.

Thus, the Hockaday-St. Mark’s lecture series was established.

Jones first advertised Walder’s lecture on Upper School Notices in late November, and the 20 spaces available filled up in less than a day.

“I was impressed with how the community responded,” Jones said. “The response was overwhelming, and it was more than I had initially anticipated.”

The second lecture is tentatively scheduled for early spring of 2015 and will be held at Hockaday.

“We hope that we can continue to bring Hockaday and St. Mark’s together beyond the social and extracurricular,” Jones said. “We want to foster respect around academic and intellectual discussion.”

Walder will be giving a similar lecture at Hockaday in January for those Hockaday students who were unable to attend Wednesday’s lecture. F Faith Isbell Staff Writer

member how special that moment felt,” he recalled. A student from the Class of 2013 reflected, “He did everything for one sole purpose: to make school life our second home, which meant giving every student a voice and getting to know each one of those voices. He taught our class the value of happiness and courageousness. We appreciated the lessons he taught us, the extra mile he traveled for us and the utmost understanding he expressed towards us.”

Prior to his time at Hockaday, Ashton served in administrative and teaching roles at St. Mark’s, the Episcopal School of Dallas and public schools in his home state of Indiana. I have no doubt that Ashton will continue to contribute in meaningful, demonstrable ways to the landscape of education as he begins a new chapter at St. Mark’s. While we will miss him in our hallways on a daily basis, we are delighted that he will continue his commitment to Hockaday as parent of Sarah Kate Ashton, class of 2021. Please join me in congratulating Ashton as the new Associate Headmaster of the St. Mark’s School of Texas. F Kim Wargo Eugene McDermott Headmistress

PHOTO PROVIDED BY 2010 CORNERSTONES STAFF

WaRd Dec. 18, 12 p.m.

Early Dismissal

Jan. 12 Fall Community Service Hours Due

Jan. 26, 11:15 a.m.

8th Grade US Shadow Day

Feb. 6 Hockaday Goes Red

Dec. 19 - Jan. 4 Holiday Break

Jan. 16 End of 2nd Quarter

Jan. 27, 11:45 p.m.

Student Diversity Board Forum

Feb. 6-8 US Musical

Jan. 5 Faculty/Staff In-Service (No Classes)

Jan. 19 MLK Holiday (No Classes)

Jan. 28, 11:45 a.m.

Whole Girl Program (Forms I, II, III)

Feb. 11, 3:00 p.m.

Sweetheart Tea

Jan. 10, 7:30 p.m.

Coffee House

Jan. 23-24 North Zone at Hockaday

Feb. 4 American Mathematics Competition

Feb. 12-14 SPC Championships in Houston

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THE HOCKADAY SCHOOL

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NeWs

DECEMBER 17, 2014

Reforming Meetings Form III has taken initiative and is changing the way form meetings are run The grade as a whole came up with these committees.

Buford said that the Executive Council held an open discussion with their form to brainstorm ideas. “We didn’t want it just to be us, the council, we wanted to give people the opportunity to participate and to help plan.”

The committees were open to the entire Form for signups. Each committee will plan events during form meetings.

These new committees are not just about fun and games, however. For example, the town hall committee, based on the Student Council Town Hall held for the entire upper school, serves to allow students to have a grade-wide discussion on topics that they find pressing or relevant. “These discussions allow for everyone in the grade to engage in an active discussion,” Brown said.

“I think that is invaluable.”

Brown also said he was excited about the business committee because he hopes that they can begin a “real business with a CEO and everything” that Form III would collectively be responsible for and would run.

“A lot of ideas were thrown around like starting a coffee business,” Buford said. “But nothing is really set in stone.

We’re all still bouncing ideas around and being flexible.”

Brown hopes that the changes Form III establishes this year will continue with that class next year. In addition, he said that he wants to have these committees start from Form I so that students can have all four years serving on a committee.

“I think that starting from freshman year would really

PHOTO BY CLAIRE FLETCHER

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he entire Form III gathered in the 7-8 commons as usual for form meeting, some sprawled on the floor, some on the couches and some at the tables. It was quiet, and they were looking around, waiting expectantly.

“Snaps to the swim team for beating 47 guys at the swim meet,” junior Erica Kleckner said. The entire form responded in snaps.

The current Form III, class of 2016, has a new tradition of “snaps” at the end of each form meeting.

“Snaps are for anyone if they have any shout-outs,” Form III President Brianna Buford said. “It’s to let people know what other people are doing and give people credit where credit is due.”

These “snaps” are evidence of the camaraderie between the juniors and just one of the many changes that Form III is taking to change how form meetings are run. The goal is to make form meetings less about announcements and more about student involvement.

The idea to alter form meetings was initially proposed by Form III Dean Andrew Brown. He began by approaching the other Form deans and the Form III Executive Council.

“Changing form meeting is something that’s been on my mind for a while,” Brown said.

“There was a point where I just said, ‘Let’s change it. Let’s do something new.’”

Among the changes are the formation of committees such as a song committee, a town hall committee, a competitions committee and a business committee.

CHANGING FORM Form III Dean Andrew Brown discusses the creation of committees and the upcoming events for the class at a form meeting.

help give students sufficient experience as leaders,” Brown said. “Like for the business committee, it would be great if girls could leave school with four years of entrepreneurial experience.”

The committees also offer more opportunities for new students to be involved.

Junior Olivia Lombardo, a new student this year, said that “form meetings are already more energized from just talking about change because so many people are a part of it. It’s nice that the changes focus on form meetings from a camaraderie view, so that everyone’s involved and it’s not just one person speaking.”

Brown said that these changes in form meetings could even change what it means to be a leader at Hockaday altogether.

“I think that a lot of leadership at Hockaday, people think of being top-down,” Brown said. “Sometimes that is necessary and we need someone to take charge and be responsible and delegate, but I think a lot of leadership should really be from a servant-based perspective, where the leaders are there to support what the community needs.”

The committees have already drafted proposals for their changes and hope to begin implementing their events this year.

“Form meetings should be about the form,” Brown said.

“The changes that we make at form meetings could have lasting impacts on the unity of a class and how they carry themselves as leaders.” F Courtney Le Managing Editor

Daisies Conquer Statistic Hockaday faculty and staff members stress the importance of writing skills in school and for the future

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ounds of students stressing about college applications and junior research papers fill the hallways at this time of year.

However, juniors and seniors often forget how well Hockaday has prepared them in terms of writing.

According to The Atlantic Magazine, the Nation’s Report Card, which records results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, only 1 percent of twelfth grade students in the U.S. in 2007 could write a “sophisticated, well-organized essay.”

According to Independent Educational Consultant and certified College Counselor Marilyn Kaufman, there is a reason for this low percentage.

“I can certainly believe the statistics by The Nation’s Report Card on only 1% of all seniors being able to write a cohesive essay. In some schools, curriculum goals do not always include personal essay writing and the emphasis has been on bringing up mathematical and science skills, as well as technology, rather than on developing personal essay writing skills,” she said.

According to The Program for International Student Assessment, in 2012, the United States ranked behind 29 nations and jurisdictions for math and behind 22 other education systems in science.

Thus, the United States introduced many STEM programs into high schools, despite the importance of writing.

However, Hockaday English teacher and Visiting Scholars Liason Janet Bilhartz shares a different view. She questions the validity of this statistic and said that there is another factor to consider when you look at these statistics and test scores.

“When you compare our schools to those of the rest of the world, if you screen out poverty—if you screen out the kids who are really poor, our schools are doing as well as schools anywhere in the world.

America’s problem is poverty,” Bilhartz said.

Regardless, “writing is one of the most important ways we communicate,“ Bilhartz said. “I think that Hockaday prepares you for writing because your teacher has time to grade papers.”

It takes Bilhartz, on the average, at least 30 minutes to grade a normal-length essay. She has about 75 students, which totals to almost 40 hours of grading per assignment.

Senior Jane Gu attended public school before coming to Hockaday in ninth grade. “I think teachers at Hockaday really want to look at every aspect of your paper,” she said.

“In public school, they always have a lot of students, so they can’t put in that kind of time [to grade papers],” Gu said.

Even before writing an essay for English class, Hockaday teachers offer a variety of preparation help.

“We always have writing sessions. Class periods before, we talk about what the teacher is looking for in the paper and what makes good writing and what doesn’t,“ Gu said.

Teachers even offer documents, tips and examples to help students with their essays.

Kaufman recognizes how important

writing is to students beyond the classroom. “The emphasis has not been on helping students to become better writers, however, there are many exceptional English teachers who recognize the importance of knowing how to teach the art of writing, and these students have a definite advantage over everyone else when applying to colleges,” Kaufman said.

Director of College Counseling Carol Wasden believes that Hockaday students are prepared when it comes to writing college applications.

“You’re expected to write at a very high level of analysis and thought and that comes through in [the college admission] process,” Wasden said.

Most colleges require a long essay consisting of 650 words. However, a personal essay differs from the typical analytical or argumentative essays written in English classes.

“It is oftentimes challenging to write about one’s self, as few of us are used to revealing our innermost thoughts and exposing our vulnerability,” Kaufman said. “Writing personal essays requires maturity and selfawareness as well as experience

ence in knowing how to write in a way that is engaging and memorable, so personal essay writing is significantly more demanding on the majority of young adults than analytical writing in my opinion.”

Although college admissions typically ask for personal essays and experiences and Hockaday students write more argumentative and analytical essays, “those skills in general creative writing can make your other writing livelier,” Bilhartz said.

However, a person’s ability to write extends farther from English class in high school or in college. Writing is an important life skill.

“In virtually any job, you’re having to present yourself to others and that might be in writing and that might be in speaking, but the skills will come through there,” Bilhartz said. “[Writing] is the way we convey our thoughts to the outside world, so it is really important that we do it well.” F Sonya Xu Staff Writer

ILLUSTRATIONS BY ANNABELLE FOLSOM

THE HOCKADAY SCHOOL

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DECEMBER 17, 2014

YEAR IN REVIEW: A Look at What Happened in 2014 PHOTO PROVIDED BY CLAIRE COKER

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Year in Review

As the year comes to a close, News Editor Charlsea Lamb summarizes some of the events that have defined 2014.

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February 7-23 2014 Winter Olympic Games

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March 8 Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 Crashes

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April 14 "Bring Back Our Girls" Campaign

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May 24 Hockaday Centennial Graduation

were almost 100 events, and the top three most watched were snowboarding, figure skating and freestyle skiing. By the Closing Ceremony on Feb. 23, Russia was in first place with 33 medals and the United States was in fourth with 28 medals. One of the most notable athletes included teenager Adelina Sotnikova, who was the first female to win a gold medal in figure skating for Russia. Junior Alexandra Randolph, an avid fan of the Winter Olympics, said that she “was very shocked that [Sotnikova] had beat Yuna Kim, the reigning Olympic gold medalist. Adelina skated very well though, and she definitely deserved her gold.”

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On March 8, Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 took off from Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing Capital International Airport. The flight

was reported missing after losing communication with air traffic controllers two hours into the flight. Although there is currently an ongoing search for the plane, the 12 crew members and 227 passengers have not been found. Three months later in July, Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 was shot down near the border between Russia and Ukraine. According to The Telegraph, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko said, "Today’s tragedy showed again that terrorism is not localised, but a world problem."

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3.

More than 270 Nigerian girls were captured by Boko Haram, a terrorist Islamic group working out of Nigeria and whose purpose is to

institute Islamic law, on April 14. The girls were sleeping in their dorm rooms at a boarding school in Chibok when the terrorists set fire to the school to force the girls outside into vans. Although the Nigerian government has attempted to form truces with the organization, no progress has been made. This event prompted the start of the "Bring Back Our Girls" campaign and has been sponsored by many wellknown figures including Michelle Obama, Justin Timberlake and Kendall Jenner. Senior Anne-Marie Hwang said, “I was really horrified that Boko Haram targeted girls, but I think it says a lot about how powerful an educated woman is.”

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The Hockaday Class of 2014 received their diplomas on May 24, making them the one hundredth class to graduate from Hockaday. The girls

were able to wear pastel colored hats—pink, blue, green, purple or white— as they glided across Graduation Terrace in their white dresses to receive their diplomas. The Class of 2014 selected Robin Roberts, host of ABC’s "Good Morning America," to deliver the commencement speech. Robert’s advice to the graduates was to "‘focus on the fight, not the fright."

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August 4 Kimye Reaches 73 Days of Marriage

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY ATOS INTERNATIONAL, CLAIRE FLETCHER, AMANDA KIM, ASHNA KUMAR AND COURTNEY LE. ILLUSTRATIONS BY CHRISTINE JI.

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The 2014 Winter Olympic Games were hosted in Sochi, Russia this year and began on Feb. 7 with the lighting of the torch. There

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August 9 Michael Brown shot in Ferguson, Mo.

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August 27 Hockaday Science Center Opens

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November 8 Hockaday Wins SPC Field Hockey Championship

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Kim Kardashian and Kanye West reach 73 days of marriage—Kim’s record! The couple got married on May 24 in Florence, Italy. Kim’s pre-

vious husbands have included music producer Damon Thomas and NBA star Kris Humphries. "They are truly an amazing couple and I aspire to be them. They are the dynamic duo that we need in this country. I love the strong, interracial relationship they have," sophomore Isabel Smith, who is very passionate about the couple, said. However, sophomore Alex Shaw feels that there are better couples out there like Beyoncé and Jay-Z.

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An unarmed, 18-year-old black teenager, Michael Brown, was shot by Darren Wilson, a white police officer in Ferguson, Mo. near

St. Louis. The teen was shot at least six times by Wilson, and the autopsy concluded that all six bullets were shot at Brown’s front side, two of those six in Brown’s head. Protests and civil unrest broke out in Ferguson after news got out that Brown’s body had been left on the street for hours. Ferguson police arrested unruly protesters, used tear gas and called in the Missouri National Guard. At press time, protests continued across the country. On Nov. 24, a jury decided not to indict Wilson because there was not enough evidence to charge him with a crime. Less than a week later, Wilson resigned from the Ferguson Police Department. "Ferguson illustrates: one, the pervasiveness of racism in our country and two, that racism is very far from over," senior and Student Diversity Board Chair Anesu Nyatanga said. For more information on this subject, read "In Protest" on page 2.

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The new science center opened after over a year of construction.

The opening ceremony of the science building took place during

Opening Convocations on Aug. 27, when Eugene McDermott Headmistress Kim Wargo put on her safety goggles and broke the ribbon by incinerating it. The three-story science building is complete with a greenhouse on the roof, IDEA labs, a new JETS lab, a planetarium and a Foucault pendulum. Junior Berkley Wood, who is currently taking comparative vertebrate anatomy in the new science building, said, "The IDEA lab in the science building is really useful for projects and brainstorming. The white boards on the walls really allows you to get all your ideas organized for a project."

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On Nov. 8, Hockaday won the SPC Field Hockey Championship against The Kinkaid School on Hockaday’s fields. In overtime, the

daisies pulled through and won 1-0 with a 5-4 shootout. Hockaday had also competed against St. John’s School and All Saints Catholic School, both located in Houston. "We are champions. And it feels awesome," senior and Varsity Captain Morgan Allen said.

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THE HOCKADAY SCHOOL

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NeWs

DECEMBER 17, 2014

First Female DA Elected in Dallas County Dallas’ 291st District Attorney, Susan Hawk, will take office in January as the first female District Attroney in Dallas County

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district attorney.

“I think it’s a struggle, but if you have the right diplomatic abilities and are able to negotiate across the aisle and not polarize your political opponents, then that’s really the best way to get policies in place,” Turner said.

Steve Spencer, who teaches World History and United States Government, also believes that keeping politics out of the DA’s office might be difficult.

“This idea of government officials not being political, that would be a nice ideal. But the reality is that she ran affiliated with a political party as did her opponent; they come into office affiliated with a po-

litical perspective and point of view and set of values, and then all of a sudden, they don’t reflect that in office? That seems a little bit unrealistic,” Spencer said.

Hawk also hopes to focus on stimulating relationships between law enforcement and the community as well as better connecting the DA’s office to law enforcement.

“I’m going to try and develop relationships where I can ensure that no matter where you live in Dallas County, when a crime is committed, no matter if you are a citizen, police officer, professional, it doesn’t matter, you will get prosecuted,” Hawk said.

After investigating a case,

the police must give all the ney, people told her that she information collected to the could not do it, that she was District Attorney’s office. With to young, too inexperienced, this information, the DA de- but she kept remembering her cides whether or not there is dad’s advice: “Don’t let anybody enough evidence to prove be- tell you that you can’t just beyond reasonable doubt that a cause you are a girl. Do a job crime has been committed to that nobody else wants to do further an investigation. and do it well-done.”

“I believe that it is the disHowever, Hawk does not trict attorney’s job to keep the want her legacy to just be the community safe. Most impor- first woman District Attortant is to prioritize which types ney in Dallas County history; of cases get prosecuted so if you she wants it to be much more have violent offenders or ha- than that. bitual offenders, they need to “I want it to be that I did be prosecuted,” Hawk said. my very best and I was the best When she takes office in DA that I could possibly be,” January, Hawk plans to start a Hawk said. mentorship program between While history has shown senior and young attorneys. that breaking away from just “They could advise them and having a legacy of being the help them make [decisions]. I first woman to do something had that, so it was able to make is difficult, Turner believes me more successful in a lot of that it is possible. “I think she ways,” Hawk said. will have a legacy of reformHawk’s philosophy is to ing the judicial system in Dalfind solutions to problems. las; that will be her legacy and She plans to start a diversion being a woman will just be a program so that great plus.” an individual can Spencer believes get the help they that being a womneed before bean would not affect ing convicted. She Hawk’s job in any wants to “really way. “We’ve had lots understand the of ‘firsts’ already; it causes of a crime.” would be nice to just I believe Rather than putget beyond that and that it is ting someone in judge her based on jail, Hawk believes her performance as the district that “instead of the DA,” Spencer said. attorney’s just putting someDespite what one in jail,” it is some may think, bejob to better to “fix the ing a woman does not keep the various probchange the nature of community lems that, in [her] how Hawk will do mind, are fixable.” her job. safe .

S p e n c e r “Women tend to Dallas District agrees that diverhave a unique perAttorney Susan Hawk sion programs spective with difwould be a good ferent issues, but idea. “If she can it’s not going to be come up with a program skewed in any way, just simthat would help people not ply because I am a woman,” continue with criminal acts Hawk said. I just think that or be able to somehow re- as a woman, you just have enter into society, that’d be to prove yourself, just like in great!” Spencer said. any other job.” F As a woman, Hawk has had to overcome many obstacles to get to the position she is Ashna Kumar in today. Throughout her jourStaff Writer

green lab] is a space where we can do different kinds of experIf the students succeed in creat- iments that we’ve never done ing an effective and functional before because we have this fish farm, their paper will have great space that is exposed to the opportunity to get pub- natural conditions.”

The class planted three wild lished in a scientific journal.

“Publishing the paper depends habitat seeds on Nov. 22. Two of on their success,” Lindsay said. the seeds grow native flowers “But I have every faith that they while the other grows native grass. The goal of this are going to do great.” project is to observe Science Departwhat types of spement Chair Dr. Marcies the plants attract shall Bartlett emphasuch as sparrows, sizes the essential wrens or warblers. differences between Although it doesn’t learning in a classapply to real-world room setting and approblems, it just goes There is a plying knowledge to to show that both the world. great deal projects are signifi“There’s a differof learning cant to learning about ence between trying and appreciating the to figure out how a that actually environment. process or a system takes place Unlike the green works in the classlab project, the fish room and trying to when you farm involves design. make that same sysoperate Bartlett stresses the tem work under the growing emphasis constraints of the under more on designing things real world,” Bartlett and more like the fish farm in said. “Resources are the Hockaday science constraints. limited, or you may curriculum to influnot have the best Science ence students’ learnconditions to make Department ing experience. everything happen.

Chair Dr. Marshall “The idea of de[But], there is a great Bartlett sign is not just ‘We deal of learning that are going to make actually takes place when you operate under something that looks cool,’ but design in the sense that we more and more constraints.”

Along with the fish farm, have a problem and we need to the AP Environmental Science apply that knowledge that we class began another project have learned to come up with a that consisted of planting seeds solution,” Bartlett said.

The emphasis of design not in the pods of the green lab.

“It is an outside experimen- only occurs in the AP Envitation,” Lindsay said. “[The ronmental Science class, but

also in a Lower School science course named Invent to Learn that focuses on different aspects of design and the thought processes involving them.

But the fish farm project was manufactured with the idea of changing the lives of people in the real world—not just in the classroom.

“I think this is one of the most clear-cut things in our learning curriculum: where we can take things that stu-

dents are learning in the classroom and give them the opportunity to see their application in the real world,” Bartlett said. “This [project] is actually one that matches our resource capacity—we can build something on a small scale and show that it works.”

Whether or not the project gets published in a scientific journal, the students are still inspired by the fact that their aquaculture system has the po-

ILLUSTRATION BY CHRISTINE JI

allas County will inaugurate its first woman District Attorney into office this January. With this change of office, there will be many adjustments regarding the integration between the community and the governmental procedures, as well as many improvements within the department itself.

Susan Hawk, a woman in a high government position, will pave the way for Hockaday students and countless others to follow her footsteps and enter a new sphere in politics. With Hawk in charge, Dallas can expect numerous changes that will better connect the criminal justice system with the community.

Susan Hawk began her professional journey when she was offered a position at the Dallas District Attorney’s office after graduating from Texas Wesleyan University School of Law in 1995. She was hired to work under the DA at the time, John Vance. Hawk focused on prosecuting child abuse cases.

After spending seven years working as an assistant DA, Hawk was elected as the 291st district court judge and served from 2003 to 2013.

“I was a judge for 11 years and then I was on the bench and just had a front row seat to what was happening in the criminal justice system,” Hawk said. “I just thought that I could do a much better job. So I resigned to run for DA.” Hawk noticed that political agendas were often coming into play before the welfare of citizens, skewing right from wrong within the justice system. “I did run as a Republican, but I said from the beginning that it should never come into play when we are making decisions, because it affects peoples’ lives,” Hawk said.

Juliette Turner, a junior at Hockaday and president of the Young Republican’s Club, agreed with Hawk about the role of politics in the job of the

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Environment continued from p2

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tential to help people in need of food and fresh water.

“I think that it really makes a global difference,” Korinek said. “It connects what you’re learning to real-world problems and provides an opportunity to help people.” F Erin Thomas Web Editor Additional Reporting by Noor Adatia Staff Writer

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Hockaday Joins the Conversation

THE FEW, THE PROUD

The Fourcast explores the nature of race relations and social justice discussions at Hockaday.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY AZANI CREEKS

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walls. DADYO President at the St. Mark’s School of Texas, Senior Miguel Plascencia, said that many people devalue their own opinions by saying that because they are not directly directed, they should not participate.

“None of us know everything about any situation but that doesn’t mean you don’t have to talk about it,” he said. “It’s not the specifics of any singular event; it’s about the conversation and the concerns that arise out of them. And everybody has an opinion on that.”

Senior Sarah Bourek, who has been participating in these conversations, explained the reason behind this thinking. “I feel like for some topics there are some people who have the belief that since they aren’t subject to the discrimination, they wouldn’t be able to understand or contribute. But that isn’t true,” she said. “This conversation is for everybody.”

But girls might not be confident enough in their conversational abilities in order to speak out.

Upper School Guidance Counselor and sponsor of the Student Diversity Board, Dr. Margaret Morse, said that “many girls might not know how to handle confrontation or how to disagree with each other in a graceful or respectful way. So when we take these conversations out of the formal setting of a forum, you get students who might not know how to

Features Editorial

anoosha Tatatonga? Did I say that right?”

"M “Yeah that’s close! It’s actually Manisha Ratakonda!”

(Muh-NEE shuh Rat–a–KON-duh) The above is a routine conversation that takes place between a stranger and me at least once a week. I’m not very good with first impressions as it is, but somehow, having a weird name makes introducing myself to strangers much worse. Before I even begin talking to someone, I anticipate the dreaded question, “what’s your name?” Upon recently meeting a teacher for the first time, our actual conversation went: “Hi, how are you?”

“Manisha...”

Followed by a few seconds of uncomfortable silence as it slowly dawned on me that the teach-

er simply hadn’t asked me for my name.

This wasn’t the only instance though; a similar conversation with a Starbucks barista went: “Hi! What can I get you?”

“Manisha…oh sorry, that’s my name, not my order.”

Which was followed by a mutual cringe. But hey, it’s not my fault for being nervous and uncomfortable, I mean Starbucks is notorious for messing up people’s names. This is why the majority of the time I go there, I attempt to create a new, simpler name for myself. The go-to is usually Maya: easy and believable. Yet when it’s my turn to order, I always freeze and end up blowing my cover by blurting out my real name.

Sharpie in hand, the barista always ask (and I don’t blame them), “how do you spell that?”

“Ma–ni–sha.”

I have to say it with a specific rhythm–slow enough for them to understand me, but fast enough for me to get it over with. If you watch closely, you can see the barista’s hand tremble

approach disagreements.”

Head of Upper School John Ashton urges the Hockaday community to have an open-mind when it comes to discussing race relations and be willing to be uncomfortable.

“I think a starting point for us is to start from a place of good intentions and to acknowledge that everyone is seeking to understand. If we can hold those two beliefs together and agree to those assumptions, I believe we could really create a space to have this conversation,” he said.

Shelby, as a diversity leader at the school, asks the student body to join in on the conversation.

“If we are trying to be a community that is fostering women of the future, I think it’s important to discuss these things in an environment that isn’t always uncomfortable because the world isn’t always comfortable,” she said.

“Talking about racism should be uncomfortable. It’s uncomfortable to be oppressed, but we have to talk about it”. F Avita Anand Business Manager

Maria Katsulos Staff Writer

my name are “Man”…. case rested.

But, in addition to all of the consequential difficulties, having a weird, unique, complicated name can be beneficial. The lack of “Manishas” at Hockaday and possibly a 10-mile radius of the school makes it impossible for someone to ask “wait, which Manisha?”Having a weird name makes you unique and memorable. After someone asks you to repeat your name a few times, there is almost no way she can forget who you are. And, you get to be part of the rare-name club, the super exclusive group of people who share the uniqueness of their names.

Plus, since I have an uncommon name, I can while they speedily copy down my name. pull a Beyoncé and just sign my first name on I think the reason my parents didn’t give me a everything, AND, I have the career option/ pomiddle name is because they simply couldn’t fit it tential to become a rapper, with my rapper name in. But maybe if I had a middle name, my initials being “Young Money-sha.” Swag on. F wouldn’t be so terrible? I mean anything would beat having the initials “MR.” Yeah, like Mr. And, Manisha Ratakonda to make matters worse, the first three letters of Graphics Editor

FEATURES Sonya Xu's Frocket Business / Page 9 •

ILLUSTRATION BY KATE COOPER

What's in a Name

DIVING INTO DIVERSITY DISCUSSIONS Hockaday students and faculty recently attended a Student Diversity Leadership Conference in Indianapolis, IN

PHOTO PROVIDED BY GEORGE HANLON

n the last couple of weeks, the nation has engaged in a renewed conversation about discrimination and prejudice in America, inspired by the grand jury decisions on the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner.

People around the country are participating in city-wide protests and voicing their opinions over social media, using the hashtags #crimingwhilewhite, #ericgarner and #mikebrown. However, these conversations haven’t fully permeated into the Hockaday hallways.

Senior Staci Shelby, co-president of the Hockaday chapter of the Dallas Area Diversity Youth Organization, said that although Hockaday is an educated community, topics such as race and sexual orientation are still avoided and seen as taboo.

“I think people here can ignore it," she said, "and that’s a privilege that people here have that they don’t know they have."

In a recent poll to which 172 Upper School students responded, 43 percent said that they did not believe the Hockaday community talked enough about race relations and other societal issues.

Shelby credits this culture to the fear of being judged. In the same poll, 67 percent of the Upper School confessed to having withheld their opinion for fear of being criticized or offending someone.

And this fear is also perceived outside the Hockaday

On Jan. 1, the United States Marine Corps will retire another member from their ranks: the Assistant Director of the Hockaday Technology Department.

Lt. Col. George Hanlon is retiring from the uniformed services of the United States after 29 years in the service.

After taking part in the Platoon Leader Class program, he was commissioned as an officer the day he graduated college on Dec. 20, 1986. He was on active duty until 1990, first in Okinawa, Japan, and then as a combat casualty deplacement officer in Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War. What happened next turned a four-year tour into the 29-year portion of Hanlon’s life that he has devoted to the Marines. “I had a former Marine I worked with call me up and say, ‘Hey, do you want to join the Marine Reserves?’” Hanlon said. Though he did not know this at the time, the Marine Corps Reserve's mission is to augment and reinforce the active duty Marine forces in times of war, national emergency, or contingency operation. “I really hadn’t planned on joining. I had planned on that being it. But then he said, ‘Why don’t you join us?’ and I did.”

Since then, he has worked as an infantry officer, a member of the draft board and a logistics officer in America; overseas, he was a truck platoon commander and a company commander, both in Iraq. His fondest memories come from that time, promoting members of his company. Though he will miss wearing his uniform and being part of a unit, the retirement is bittersweet: less time away means more time with his five kids.

“The jobs that I’ve had, I’ve been very fortunate to be able to do,” Hanlon said. “[But] I’m ready to stay home.” F

A Day In the Life of Beverly Harris / Page 10

THE HOCKADAY SCHOOL

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A Boy Band With A Twist Hockaday senior Charlotte Bagwell performs in a bluegrass band

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Senior Auction at St. Mark’s, house parties, ISAS, Klyde Warren Park, House of Blues and the Ronald McDonald House.

Bluegrass music has been around for a long time and is a mixture of country and blues music, with a strong emphasis on the banjo and the fiddle.

“It’s really the test of time and [the music] tells great stories,” Clark said.

Bluegrass music is considered a type of American roots music and incorporates roots from Ireland, Scotland and England. It includes jazz elements as well.

Clark had not listened to much bluegrass music before he joined the band. However, he said, “it has really opened my eyes to this whole genre.”

And to Bagwell, this is where the excitement lies.

“It’s fun to be exposed to a new type of music and feel for the songs,” Bagwell said.

Clark values what Bagwell has brought to the band. Bluegrass music’s vocal harmony is a distinguishing characteristic in this genre.

“Charlotte started practicing with us a few months ago when we realized we needed

someone to sing the really high notes in a couple of songs, and she’s a great singer,” Clark said.

“She’s really been nailing it on the harmonies.”

Even though Bagwell is currently the only female band member, she was not the first.

Madison Kaminski ‘14 was a vocalist for the band while she was at Hockaday.

Bagwell is friends with the other members of the band, so it is fun for her to perform songs and meet with them at rehearsals. However, as the only girl, she says that she does not have much of a say.

“I was added later so I don’t really make a bunch of suggestions,” Bagwell said.

Her greatest challenge in being a part of the band is staying patient with the guys, but Clark thinks that there have not been any hardships.

“She’s really done a great job of just coming to practices and really performing well at shows,” Clark said. “I don’t really look any differently [at Charlotte] than all the other members of the band.”

The band rehearses two or three times a week before performances and does not

PHOTO BY TORI GUDMUNDSSON

ally’s Fiddle Boys is an all St. Mark’s boys bluegrass band with one exception – the singer.

Since last October, senior Charlotte Bagwell has been singing alongside five boys, but when she is on stage with them, her voice makes up for the fact that she is the only female.

“I just love singing with them. They’re pretty good, and it’s fun to perform,” Bagwell said. “It’s casual. It’s just for fun.”

The band members, who play a variety of instruments such as the fiddle, the upright bass, the harmonica, the washtub bass, the banjo, the guitar and the tamborine recruit new players once senior members graduate, to keep the tradition alive.

St. Marks junior, Will Clark is a vocalist, plays the guitar and has been a member of the band for almost a year. He said, “[The band’s] been around in some form or another for a really long time – like one of the guy’s older brother was in the band.”

Sally’s Fiddle Boys has performed songs such as “Wagon Wheel” by Darius Rucker and “The Weight” by The Band, at events such as Hockaday/ St. Mark’s Coffee Houses, the

practice as much when they do not have a gig coming up. Their rehearsals range from one to three or four hours and are usually held at St. Mark’s or at a band member’s house.

Bagwell does not attend all of the rehearsals but attends more of them when they have a performance coming up. It does not affect her schedule tremendously, but she gets home late on the days she does attend their rehearsals.

This year’s Sally’s Fiddle Boys members are seniors Walter Johnson – fiddle and manager/leader of the band, Travis Nadalini –harmonica, Matthew Conley –washtub bass and Andrew McClain –banjo; junior Will Clark – guitarist and vocalist; and senior Charlotte Bagwell – vocalist and tambourine.

“We are also planning a tour this summer,” Clark said.

“We are trying to save up money to rent a van or bus of sorts to tour around north texas, possibly surrounding areas.” F

Sonya Xu Staff Writer

Café Momentum Gains Momentum Café Momentum continues to expand and grow with a television appearance and plans for a brick-and-mortar restaurant

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hirty-five pop-up dinners, three years of work since its establishment and one feature segment on a national television show later, Café Momentum has finally found a home.

Since speaking at Hockaday on Oct. 21, Chad Houser, Executive Director, chef and Cofounder of Café Momentum, has not only been featured on the Rachael Ray show, but has started construction on a new, full-service restaurant located at Thanksgiving Square in Downtown Dallas.

Café Momentum employs juvenile offenders from the Dallas area in paid internships

to make meals and run dinners. Since June 2011, Houser has worked with more than 160 young men to host monthly pop-up dinners, all of which have been sold out.

According to Café Momentum’s website, Café Momentum provides “intensive culinary, job and life-skill training” as well as “mentoring and support to foster successful reentry into the community.”

And this shows: for the interns at Café Momentum, the recidivism rate, which measures the tendency of kids to relapse back into criminal behavior, is 11 percent, contrasting the 47 percent that is the

GET A ClUe Match the item with the student or teacher.

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Programs at Café Momentum, agrees. “It really boosted their confidence and it shows that what we’re doing, the concept, the fact that we believe that they have a future, is shared,” he said.

Café Momentum’s appearance on the Rachael Ray show provided it with the national presence that will be helpful strategically. Since the feature, Houser has been contacted by people from several different states about the restaurant.

The Café Momentum project will also continue to expand with the opening of the new permanent restaurant. A primary focus is breaking the stereotype of who the interns are. “A lot of features have been strategic in creating interactions with the interns and the guests,” Houser said.

One example of these features is a dry erase board next to the host stand, which provides the interns and guests with an opportunity to interact with each other through writing. An intern at Café Momentum may write an greeting, recommendation or message of gratitude on the board, such as “I’m thankful for my mom” or “order the salmon, it’s going to be the best you’ve ever had.”

In response, guests can also write on the whiteboard with messages such as “I love the salmon tonight.” Thus, it becomes a communications tool.

Inside the building, a classroom next to the restaurant

will be built to give interns the skills and resources that they may not have. Classes such as parenting and financial literacy, government activism, social media training, health care information, art lessons and book clubs will be available for the interns.

“With the classroom, we will be able to build relationships with the guys,” Thomas said. “For [the interns] to have a place that they can call their own, outside of the restaurant, that’s important.”

Houser also emphasizes the classroom’s importance.

“We’re dealing with kids that literally have nothing,” Houser said. “Basic things like knowing what a bank account is, they don’t know them..”

Regardless of the television appearances, renovations and new expansions, Café Momentum continues to be what it was established to be: an organization to help juvenile offenders.

“These kids have been told since the day they were born they were a statistic, the cradle of prison pipeline,” Houser said.

“For them to not only beat those odds but be featured on national TV as a success story is a really big deal to those kids. It makes them feel like somebody.”

Café Momentum will open in January 2015 at 1510 Pacific Avenue in Downtown Dallas at Thanksgiving Square. F

?

Jenny Zhu Staff Writer

A) Anesu Nyatanga B) Frances Burton C) Abby Fuller D) Ellie Bush

Answers: 1D, 2B, 3D, 4C

PHOTO PROVIDED BY JEF TINGLEY

PHOTO PROVIDED BY BRANDON THIBODEAUX

BUILDING MOMENTUM Café Momentum’s permanent storefront stands in Thanksgiving Sqaure in Downtown Dallas and will open in Jan 2015.

average in Texas.

Some Hockaday students, including sophomore Addie Walker, support Café Momentum’s cause.

“We often forget that the youth are in trouble too; we don’t give them second chances. We think that if they’re bad now, they’re going to be bad later on,” Walker said. “They’re still kids, they still have a chance at life - too many people tell them they don’t.”

According to Houser, Cafe Momentum’s appearance on the Rachael Ray Show also gave this feeling of hope for the interns. “We had three young men who were interviewed and featured on that show. You could basically see the swell of pride that they had,” Houser said.

Houser himself also gained a few other things from the appearance. “I got a lot of random friend requests on Facebook,” Houser laughed, “which is kind of creepy.”

Houser also said that, after repeatedly being told Café Momentum wouldn’t work by many of the people around him, the show gave it credibility.

“As I’ve joked before, when you say you’re going to take kids out of jail and teach them to play with knives and fire, people think you’re crazy,” Houser said. “[The show] is very validating to say, ‘No, I’m not crazy, I’m actually doing something right.’”

Darian Thomas, the Director of Case Management and

THE HOCKADAY SCHOOL

THE FOURCAST 09

ffatUres

DECEMBER 17, 2014

Big Business, Bigger Dreams Hockaday student entrepreneurs start their businesses now for successful futures

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provide many benefits because it can add valuable experience and potential income.

Xu is acquiring exactly this experience by making business decisions and expanding income streams.

She sells her frocket tees for $18. In order to build sales rapport, Xu also sells custom tees in which customers can choose the pocket pattern and color of tee through her online store for a higher price of $22.

She makes two types of frocket tees: one with print pockets and the other with fabric pockets. While Xu finds Tumblr Transparent prints online, she buys patterned fabric from fabric stores.

Mintee Designs has a shop on Storenvy.com, an online marketplace for custom stores and shoppers. She has sold more than 450 shirts to people living in places all over the U.S. and in countries such as Canada, United Kingdom, France and Singapore.

“It makes me so excited when people from different countries order, because I’m really surprised that it actually reaches out to so many different people,” Xu said.

She chose the name Mintee Designs because mint is one of her favorite colors and she thought “Mintee” was a “good combination of my personality and also what I sold.”

The idea for Xu’s business stemmed from her love for sewing. This hobby matched her desire to help those struck with an illness beyond their control.

“Sometimes, little things can make [cancer patients] smile,” Xu said.

Xu decided to sell frocket tees because they were “in” at the time. “Everyone loves frockets,” she said.

Mintee Designs, according to Xu, is based almost entirely around social media. She created an Instagram to publicize her business with the username ‘minteedesigns’ and has gained over 13,000 followers and much positive feedback.

“I was surprised at the reaction I got from the Insta-

PHOTO PROVIDED BY TESS AND SARAH BEHANNON

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n an early morning research charities in the Dalin June, sophomore las area in compliance with its Sonya Xu scrolls on- slogan: “Look Good, Do Good.” line through Tumblr Starting a business, accordtransparent designs until she ing to Dr. William Brueggefinds the right design – the one man, a business professor at with the shades of palm trees Southern Methodist Universwaying in the foreground of a sity, can range in difficulty degradient sunset sky. pending on the originality of She prints the palm tree the product or service sold. design onto iron-on transfer “If the business is an estabpaper, contemplates which lished activity such as babysitcolored stock T-shirt would ting, pet care, house sitting, etc. match well with the print and it will be easier to start because decides on a gray one. the processes are familiar and Xu irons the print onto a prices will be set by competipiece of white fabtion. In such ric, shaping the fabcases, qualifying ric into a pocket. She coworkers and pins and then sews developing a the pocket onto the marketing plan gray tee using a to reach customsewing machine. ers will be most As hour by hour important,” passes, Xu piles up Brueggeman It makes me so frocket tee after said. “On the frocket tee before other hand, if it excited when her, and later packis a new idea or people from ages and ships them product, starting off to customers different countries a business will across the country much more order because I’m be and on the other side difficult because really surprised of the world. in addition to “I’ve always marketing, the that it actually liked sewing, and so product must reaches out to so be developed, during the summer I just decided I hadn’t tested and delivmany different sewn in a long time,” ered. In this case, people.

Xu said. “So, I thought the business will for fun that I would be riskier and Sophomore Sonya Xu make some frockstressful.” ets for a few of my Xu testifies friends, and then I decided that to the difficulties brought by I really enjoyed making them, starting a relatively original and it was really fun coming up business, but she manages to with different designs and dif- balance the workload. ferent colored shirts to match “I try to respond to emails with the designs.” during car rides, but other Entrepreneur magazine things such as updating items and other local newspapers have or managing the site is diffirecently reported on high school cult to do from my phone, and students-turned-entrepreneurs of course, I can’t make shirts who have become multi-mil- in the car,” Xu said. “I don’t get lionaires before reaching the a lot of sleep with sports and age of 18. Their products include homework, but it’s worth it. mobile apps, clothing lines and During the weekends, I try to pet service companies. do most of the sewing so that Some of the students at on weekdays they can be packHockaday have also started aged and shipped.” their own businesses, includThe prospect of starting ing Xu. Her business, Mint- a business in high school, acee Designs, sells handmade cording to Dr. Don Vandewell, frocket T-shirts and donates a business professor at Souththe profits to children cancer ern Methodist University, can

FANCY FROCKETS Instagramers Tess and Sarah (@Tess_and_Sarah) Behannon model Sonya Xu’s frocket tees. gram account. There were a lot of positive comments,” Xu said. This positive response inspired her to move forward with and build her business.

The garnering of attention also brought many Instagram celebrity sponsors such as Whitney Woof from the popular teen YouTube reality series “Summer Break.”

“People usually hear about me through Instagram. And so with the help of sponsors, I’m able to reach out to more people,” Xu said.

Although Xu rarely meets her customers face-to-face, Instagram has allowed her to build more personal relationships with her customers.

On Instagram, Xu asks customers to comment and direct message their favorite designs and any suggestions.

Some customers have even chosen to share their own personal stories.

“I have had people message me or Kik me saying that they were once patients in these children’s hospitals,” Xu

said. “I really like the interaction that we can have. Even though it’s through social media, I feel like it’s been a really big catalyst.”

Xu also interacts with customers via email. She finds that contacting customers through Instagram, however, is much quicker.

From building her business, Xu has learned to face harsh criticism.

“You always have the people who are like ‘oh, your tees are too expensive’ or like ‘oh, I can just make this myself,’” Xu said.

“You always get negative criticisms sometimes, but you just have to learn to ignore those.”

The Fourcast, in the next two issues, will introduce other Hockaday student entrepreneurs and feature the businesses they have founded.

For more information regarding the future of Mintee Designs, go to http://hockadayfourcast.org/?p=8655. F

ing up,” Colliton said.

Turner agrees. “Since the first primary is Jan. 26 of 2016, we might start, but it will all be pretty hypothetical,” Turner said.

Regardless, the Young Democrats and Young Republicans will have plenty to talk about in the upcoming months.

“[There’s] always something to talk about in the world of politics,” Turner said. “lt’s never dull.” F

Catherine jiang Sports Editor

Political Clubs Look Ahead A Preview Into Future Events for the Young Republicans and Democrats Club

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are being brought forth that weren’t before.

“This is whether [President Barack Obama] is going to sign [bills] or not, or what Obama is going to do regarding executive orders,” Turner said.

Young Democrats president senior Bridget Colliton will be taking a similar approach and wants to let people discuss the topics they’re interested in. “I want people to be able to learn about those [topics] and present things about them,” Colliton said.

Such topics include “stop and frisk and unlawful searches and seizures.” Colliton plans to introduce these topics because she doesn’t think a lot of people really know about it, but “a lot of them would care if they did know.”

However, not everything will have a political bias. “I definitely think it’s good to know what the other side is thinking, because I don’t think that anyone 100 percent agrees with their party on every single issue,” Colliton said.

Besides current eventsbased topics, Colliton plans to talk about the upcoming presidential election and its candidates.

“We’ll probably do something on 2016 and Hillary Clinton, and some of the other potential Democrats, like who her VP will be, and we’ll proba-

bly also talk about Republican candidates too, since there’s not really a clear frontrunner for the Republicans in 2016,” Colliton said.

The Young Democrats club aims to meet once a month, and the Young Republicans club plans to meet once a quarter. At least one joint meeting is tentatively scheduled for next semester.

For the 2016 elections, most of the events will occur from May 2015 and onwards because, according to Turner, “we’ll probably start seeing candidates step forward at the end of this year, come May, but before that I’d be shocked.”

After that, campaigning will begin throughout the end of 2015, and primaries and caucuses will start in spring of 2016. Democratic and Republican National Conventions will occur in August and September of that year, and the presidential season will finally culminate on Nov. 8, 2016.

While both club presidents plan on noting the upcoming presidential events, Colliton and Turner do not plan to focus extensively on the 2016 presidential elections. “[The presidential election will] definitely be a next year’s Young Democrats topic, but I definitely want to get started because I think it’s something that’s been build-

Sunila Steephen Cast Off Editor

ILLUSTRATION BY KATE COOPER

ith the 2012 presidential elections long in the past and mid-term gubernatorial and legislative elections finished, the world of politics has quieted down. But this doesn’t mean that Hockaday’s Young Democrats and Young Republicans Clubs have nothing to talk about—in fact, they’re just getting started.

“There are always political issues, even if it’s not an election year—even in non election years, there are things that concern us and that we want to be involved in, and it’s good to keep the club together rather than just have it for election years,” History Department Chair Steve Kramer said.

Since mid-year elections recently finished, Young Republicans president junior Juliette Turner plans to focus on the newly elected politicians.

“We can talk about how the new politicians are doing.

We can also talk about how the issues are coming to the forefront now that there are new faces in congress, both state and national,” she said.

According to Turner, since the Republicans have the majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, there are many topics of discussion that can arise from this. Since the balance of power was shifted, new issues

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A Day IN the LiFe The Fourcast takes a look into the life of Beverly Harris from the Housekeeping Department 5 a.m.

the bathrooms are stocked with adequate amounts of toilet paper and paper towels.

On special days during the year, such as Alumnae Day, Harris often heads to the dining room to help the kitchen staff with decorating at this time.

Harris’ morning begins with the buzz of her alarm clock. She tiptoes past her daughter’s room, making sure not to wake her up. After feeding her cocker spaniel Max and letting him out to use the bathroom, she climbs into her car to drive to Hockaday. Harris’ drive from Oak Cliff to Hockaday is usually 30 to 45 minutes long, and she is usually one of the first people to arrive on campus.

3 p.m.  After finishing her job for the day, Harris goes home to watch TV or take a nap. “I’m always just plain exhausted,” she said. On Wednesdays, Harris goes to Bible study with her daughter. Harris considers it her duty as a mother to“try to teach [my daughter] to have faith and to trust in God when facing challenges.”

On Thursdays at this time, Harris rehearses with her church choir, a ritual that brings a smile to her face.

6:15 a.m. Harris arrives on campus and heads to Tarry House. Her first job is to vacuum and mop the area near the Tarry House couches and dispose of trash. She then cleans the bathrooms near the nurse’s station; occasionally, Harris washes dishes in the Tarry House kitchen area. “I usually only clean up if students have left dirty plates and silverware in the sink,” Harris explains.

6 p.m. Harris usually cooks dinner for her 15-year-old daughter Brianna, a student at Gateway Charter Academy, or picks something up to share with her. Some of Harris’ favorite things to make are spaghetti, casseroles and chicken. Afterwards, she drops off her daughter, who is a cheerleader, at football games or other social events.

7:30 a.m. After a productive morning, Harris stops to eat breakfast in the dining room with the kitchen staff and boarders. After eating, she goes up to the Lower Trent Hall to dispose of trash, wipe the kitchen area and quickly tidy up the living area.

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8:30 a.m.

After dinner, Harris enjoys watching television, especially comedic shows, like the Big Bang Theory, as well as horror movies. If Brianna is at home with her, Harris talks to her and asks her how her day was. “I give my daughter advice on dealing with boys and academic challenges, and I only use positive language around her,” Harris said.

Because school officially starts at this time and all the boarders are in class, Harris is able to attend to one of her most important jobs: cleaning up girls’ rooms in Lower Trent. If Harris can easily access a boarder’s dresser, she wipes it off and tidies it up. She then enters the bathrooms in each of the rooms to mop, clean up, and dispose of trash. Harris doesn’t clean girls’ rooms or make their beds because those duties are each boarder’s individual responsibilities.

9 p.m.

PHOTO BY ESHANI KISHORE

9 a.m. Harris heads to the main administrative hallway to mop the 5/6 bathroom floor, clean the counters in the bathrooms and dispose of trash. She also ensures that

Harris goes to bed after a long day.

At this time on weekends, she enjoys shopping and watching movies with her daughter or simply talking to her while picking her up from a football game on a Friday night. F Eshani Kishore Staff Writer

Teacher Sells Olive Oil through Family Business Lower School teacher Shannon Nadalini's family runs an olive oil business in Tuscany, Italy

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According to Shannon Nadalini, there is a prevalence of polyphenol in extra virgin olive oil, an antioxidant found in green tea, grapes and olives, and is used in many skin-care products for its skin-healing properties.

One of the Nadalinis’ mostvalued customers, Kathy Fechtman, Fitness Director of the Wellness Center, has been buying Tutta Toscana extra virgin olive oil for nearly four years now. Upon trying the Nadalini family olive oil in 2012, she was “shocked at how great [the oil] tasted,” and ever since, she has been using it in her pestos and salad dressings. Having never known “that there was such a difference in taste and quality of olive oils before,” Fechtman now makes a point to purchase a three-liter supply of Tutta Toscana once a year. She resists using the olive oil in anything requiring heat as she considers her limited, yearly supply “too precious to be used as a cooking oil.”

The Nadalinis have recently imported their fresh batch of extra virgin olive oil to the United States—you can contact Shannon Nadalini at snadalini@hockaday.org or visit http:// www.tuttatoscana.com if you are considering buying a bottle... or two. F Hufsa Husain Staff Writer

PHOTO PROVIDED BY SHANNON NADALINI

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t has been almost 16 years more for the experience of since the in-laws of second owning and running an olive grade teacher Shannon tree orchard than profiting off Nadalini moved from the of one. Currently 68, Nadalini United States to Tuscany, Italy wishes he had started Tutta Tofor the final time and almost 12 scana, which, in Italian, means years since they first began to “everything Tuscany has to ofproduce their very own extra fer,” earlier in his life, considvirgin olive oil. ering the energy required to When Cesare continually harvest and Betty Nadalini olives on an annual began living in Tusbasis; nonetheless, cany in 1998, they he is extremely faced a dilemma: satisfied with and how to use their four proud of the Nadremaining acres of alini olive oil farm. land. After turning Because too Too precious much down the idea of competition beginning a wine exists in Tuscany’s to be business on the baolive oil indusused as a sis that grape vines try, the Nadalinis cooking oil. choose to import require a high level of maintenance, their olive oil to the Fitness Director the couple instead United States one to Kathy Fechtman opted to grow olive two times per year. trees—or as Cesare, Their daughter-inShannon Nadalini’s father-in- law, Shannon Nadalini, who law, put it, “the most forgiving began teaching physical educaof crops.” With olive trees, the tion at Hockaday nearly four Nadalinis are required to har- years ago until she moved into vest olives only twice a year— the Lower School Department once as fall transitions into this year, has brought this busiwinter and once more as win- ness to our school. ter transitions into spring.

Through posting the olive “It’s a good reason to be oil on Hockaday’s ‘trading post,’ outside and working,” Cesare Shannon Nadalini has helped to Nadalini said, describing the expand Tutta Toscana’s clientele. experience with enthusiasm.

“Extra virgin olive oil is the There’s not much money look- best type of fat you could eat,” Nading at the profits,” he admitted, alini said. “It has all of the essential loving the Nadalini business fats you need, and it’s unsaturated.”

THE REAL OLIVE GARDEN Larry Sall, Ugo Ferrari and Marina Ferrari from Tutta Tuscana rake the olives from the trees and collect them in the nets underneath.

THE HOCKADAY SCHOOL

PhOtOESSAY

THE FOURCAST 11

DECEMBER 17 , 2014

PhOtOESSAY

1 Light Up the Town HOCKADAY SENIOR GRACE ZACARIAS AND SOPHOMORE NICOLE KLEIN CAPTURED DALLAS’S HOLIDAY SPIRIT AS THE HOLIDAYS DRAW CLOSER. 1. Christmas lights hanging in Santa’s Village taken by Zacarias.

2. A light-up reindeer in Santa’s Village by Zacarias.

3. Klein took this close-up shot of a snowflake Christmas light.

4. A close-up image of the reindeer in Santa’s Village by Zacarias.

5. A picture of Santa’s sleigh, with Texas Longhorns instead of reindeer, taken by Klein.

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To check out more of Zacarias’ and Klein’s photos, scan this QR code with your smartphone.

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last basketball game of the 2013 seventh grade season.

Eighth grader Charlsie Doan dribbles down the court with a few minutes left in the game.

The crowd holds its breath as Doan releases her final shot into the air. Cheers erupt throughout the gymnasium as Doan ends the game, scoring her 71st two-pointer of the season and breaking the Hockaday seventh grade basketball scoring record.

She accomplished it all with the use of only one full arm. Doan was born with her right arm ending at the wrist.

Forced to learn the proper one-handed shooting technique at a young age, Doan uses her right wrist to stabilize the ball as she shoots with her left. As Doan practiced the proper technique, other kids her age continued to shoot two-handed.

“Everyone already has their own game, so mine doesn’t have to be any less than anyone else’s. It just has to be different,” Doan said.

What people thought would hold her back, didn’t hinder her at all. Doan also plays field hockey and is a violinist in the Middle School Orchestra.

“This is how I am,” Doan said. “And I don’t want a hand.”

And, despite these obstacles, Doan has managed to stay positive and has developed numerous strategies to deal with her adversity.“I remember all the things that I can do, which far outnumbers the things that I can’t do,” Doan said.

According to psychologist Dr. Steven Schandler of Chapman University in California, the human brain is naturally pessimistic. “One of the main problems, we remember the bad things much better than we remember the good things, so right off the bat we tend to be more pessimistic,” Schandler said.

However, according to a Gallup World Poll gathered in 2013, 89 percent of over 150,000 people believe their next five years will be as good or better than their past five years. Similarly, 75 percent of Hockaday girls that took a poll believe that rejections or problems can lead to positive outcomes, while 22 percent of the girls believe obstacles always lead to a positive outcome.

At times, our life can resemble a pinball machine in which we are pushed in numerous directions, bouncing through the course in an effort to find a clear path.

According to Schandler, positive thoughts or experiences don’t trigger the same immediate neurological responses that negative feelings do. Positive events trigger feelings of security, while negative thoughts cause feelings of stress, which are more memorable than those that bring comfort. The human brain remembers negative experiences more clearly than positive ones.

“We need to congratulate people more or give them more recognition in order to produce the right happy response,” Schandler said.

“That is the whole idea behind positive psychology.”

A Massachusetts Institute of Technology young adult development project reported that the human brain does not reach full maturity until at least the mid-20s. And, according to Schandler, “adolescents are unable to seek out the positives because they haven’t developed the frontal area of the brain yet, so adolescents act out much more by emotions rather than logic.”

Lifestyle coach and registered nurse Kathleen Fischer, founder of Kids At Heart Consulting in Dallas, believes that people within a specific community have a large influence on each other’s attitudes.

“Finding the people that make us feel good is vital,” Fischer said.

Doan, who has been at Hockaday since Pre-Kindergarten, feels accepted in the community. nd or phine “I do not get stared at the way I do in public,” Doan said. However, Doan has found ways of e l ev a p h p f e i o nes to manage the frustration of being judged by her handicap. “I just remember that if they s ase

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Triumph of Positivity After being fitted with a prosthetic arm designed to hold her bow while she played violin, Doan found herself lacking the control to successfully play spiccato, a bouncing of the bow on the strings. Doan discussed this frustration with her orthotic specialist. She said his response was harsh, “You will never be as good as a two-handed violinist.”

Despite this negative view, Doan has since learned to play staccato. These obstacles, while disheartening, are necessary for growth. One way to balance the negative thoughts is to associate them with positive outcomes. This practice is the basis of the psychological theory of behavior modification.

“Behavior modification looks at the balance of pessimism and optimism. For example, if a person is afraid to take the test, then you pay them to take the test,” Schandler said. “The first time, they don’t want to take the test but they want the money. It creates a positive outcome associated with the negative circumstance.”

Wargo has seen numerous positive benefits come from the change in her path. “Sometimes it is in going through the hard stuff that you learn,” Wargo says, “but I also think that there has to be room for recognizing that sometimes opportunities can spring up out of unexpected moments, and you have to be free to embrace those unexpected moments.” People get into the habit of negativity or the habit of positivity, and one way to encourage positivity is through practicing gratitude.

BY AUSTRIA ARNOLD & CLAIRE FLETCHER “Each day say things you are grateful for,” Fischer said.

“As we begin to express our gratitude, we begin to see the positives in our lives.”

A Different Right Path Eugene McDermott Headmistress Kim Wargo looks back on tough situations in the past with a positive outlook. In graduate school , Wargo was on a Ph.D. program with aspirations to become a professor. After a frustrating oral exam that left her questioning a career in academia, she began to reconsider her future.

“It was out of that negative experience that I took another path, and I do not think that I would have gone down that path if my exams had gone exactly the way that I had planned for them to go,” Wargo said. “I just opened my mind to what is it that I really care about and I realized that I really cared about student-teacher relationships.”

According to Schandler, in order to control pessimistic attitudes, individuals need to learn how to balance the negative thoughts with positive ones. “Pessimism is a balance,” Schandler said. “It keeps us in perspective, but teenagers need to learn how to understand the negatives and find the positives in order to control that pessimism.”

Wargo experienced some negative feedback from those around her after making the decision to not complete her Ph.D. dissertation. “I don’t think our culture is set up to be a culture that celebrates a path that diverged from its original direction,” Wargo said. “I think that often we get caught up in this idea that if you start one avenue, you have to reach the final completion point.”

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Control Over an Uncontrollable Situation Happiness is associated with genes, events and values, according to a 2013 New York Times article. While individuals do not have control over their genes and many events in their lives, they do have control over their values.

According to Fischer, obstacles arise in different measures of importance, which vary depending on the individual. “I like to tell people there are three types of lumps, there are lumps in your oatmeal, lumps in the road, or lumps in your breast. You need to decide which ones you can deal with or which ones you can change,” Fischer said.

Hockaday Lower School computer teacher Kathy Townsend experienced this firsthand, when she and her husband planned on traveling to Romania to complete their adoption process in 1993. Midway through the process, the adoption laws and regulations in Romania changed.

Instead of giving up, Townsend and her husband looked into other options. Set on an international adoption, the Townsends looked into adoption agencies in countries in South America, Europe and Asia. After investigating all the international options and finding no solution, the Townsends looked towards a domestic adoption.

“You just don’t give up. Look for opportunities out there. I always feel like whatever happens to you in life, you can find a positive. When one door closes, another will open up,” Townsend said.

Their decision to try a domestic adoption led to the addition of Kaitlyn to the Townsend family. “We had a great relationship with her birth mom for the first few years. I got to be there for her birth, which was really important to us,” Townsend said.

When attending Hockaday computer classes, Doan worked with Townsend to find a typing program to accommodate her one-handedness.

She knew that Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, the standard program used to teach typing at Hockaday, would not be supportive of Doan’s needs. Townsend was able to research and find a one handed typing program. She acquired this program from Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Doan and helped her learn to type at a speed of over 60 words per minute.

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judge me by the fact that I’m missing a hand, then they aren’t really a person I want to be around much anyway.”

Getting a different perspective helps balance the negatives and positives. According to Fischer, putting something into perspective can reveal a solution.

“Asking yourself, what are my options now or what makes sense now. I like to list the options to figure out what to do, sometimes it just feels good to think of options for the future,” Fischer said.

THE HOCKADAY SCHOOL THE FOURCAST 13 DECEMBER 17, 2014

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THE HOCKADAY SCHOOL DECEMBER 17, 2014

ARTs & EntERtaInMEnT Embracing Passions

The Devil Wears Polish

While Hockaday students value their academics, many of them still pursue their artistic passions.

Manisha Ratkakonda Graphics Editor

PHOTO BY SABAH SHAMS

SEASONAL NAILS Shams paints nails with a candy-cane twist.

PHOTO BY LEXIE CHU

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ophomore Sabah Shams has an Instagram account that she posts on weekly.

But her account is unique. Since the summer of 2012, Shams has amassed over 4,000 followers, who are all interested in one thing: her nail designs.

Before that summer, Shams didn’t know what nail art was, but after surfing the web, she was amazed by what she found: tiny designs done on nails. She decided to try it out, tested out a few of the designs and documented them on an account to see what would happen. “I didn’t expect for it to be so big now,” Shams said. Over that summer, numerous nail accounts mentioned her and she managed to gain around 2,000 followers.

“My mom never let me paint my nails during the school year and so, over the summer, I decided I should kind of make the best of it, so I looked up different designs and I kind of tried to do stuff,” Shams said.

Recently, Shams has been sponsored by the company “Born Pretty,” which sends her products to review on the account. Shams plans to post the reviews in the near future.

Shams is now allowed to paint her nails during the school year.

After Shams’ mother, Amina Shams, saw what she was doing and how well her designs were being received, she was quick to support her daughter’s hobby and allowed her to continue the designs through the school year.

“It is a very nice outlet for her artistic talents,” Amina Shams said.

“I get fascinated by all the creative and unique designs that people come up with on their nails.”

Sabah Shams’ designs are often seasonal, but they aren’t as effortless as they look — each one can take anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours to complete. The tiny, detailed designs “are pretty difficult, but that’s what makes it fun,” Sabah Shams said.

“Each time I do a design, it’s my favorite out of them all!” Sabah Shams said. She hopes to continue to see the growth of not only her account, but her talent as well. F

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he most wonderful time of our age deal with, especially girls the year is finally here and at Hockaday because I feel like Dallas is celebrating this everyone goes through troubles holiday season with mov- in friendship and the idea of peries, musicals, plays and perfor- fection,” Atluri said. mances. Everyone is hard at work; Lidji and Atluri finished the directors are envisioning, dancers screenplay in October and immeare pirouetting, singers are carol- diately began shooting the film ing and actors are performing. But in November over a span of three if you look closely, you might no- weekends. Junior Lexie Chu was tice that some of these fine arts afi- asked to produce the film since cionados are our very own Hocka- both Lidji and Chu are taking Adday students. vanced Film Studies at Hockaday.

This summer, juniors Sadie “I like writing and I’m also in Lidji and Rajya Alturi began craft- yearbook so it’s really fun to do difing a screenplay for a short film ferent kinds of writing for differentitled “Something Not Unlike ent kinds of fine arts,” Atluri said.

Myself.” Through this The team devotfilm, Atluri was able to ed a large amount combine her love for of time outside of writing with another school to acting in, passion of hers—acting. directing, shooting “One aspect of acting and editing the film. that I love is that it teachAccording to Atluri, es you a lot about how to the girls wanted to relate to others. In order really “stay true to The number of hours to play a character it’s im[their] vision of the Lidiji’s team spent portant to feel what that story and be able producing, filming and person feels and think to convey that in editing “Something Not how she thinks, and in [their] film.”

Unlike Myself.” order to do that you need The girls plan to understand that peron submitting son on some level,” Atluri said. “It also “Something Not Unlike Myself” teaches you a lot about yourself.” to various competitions such as Atluri and junior Julia Pasqui- South By Southwest and Dallas Innelli starred in the film as main ternational Film Festival. characters, while junior Evan MillAtluri would like to continue er also had a supporting role. The acting in the future; however, she five-minute film was released to is aware that the business is tough. the public on Dec. 12, illustrating “For right now, I’m just workthemes such as friendship, perfec- ing on my craft and taking it day tion, the idea of image, and jealou- by day,” she said. “I’m also intersy between friends. ested in other fields so I think “We thought we could really there’s a lot of possibilities for reflect a lot of issues that girls what I’ll pursue in college.”

SETTING THE STAGE Lidji (left) preps the set of “Something Not Unlike Myself” with Atluri (right) as Pasquinelli gets into character (center)

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Christmas Pops

Over the summer, when the holiday season was months away, Hockaday dance teacher Christie Sullivan ‘95 was asked to choreograph the dance portion of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s (DSO) “Christmas Pops,” which takes place from Dec. 5 to 21 at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center.

The entire production, which has not included a dance element for about eight years, features the DSO, the Dallas Symphony Chorus, the Children’s Chorus of Greater Dallas and the Christmas Celebration Dancers. Sullivan invited sophomore Allyson Guba, who dances with the Dallas Conservatory, and junior Lily Sumrow, who is currently in Dance Lab at Hockaday, to join her cast due to their “work ethic and dedication to dance.”

Sullivan also cast Hockaday alumna Alex Karigan Farrior ’03.

According to her, “the multigenerational daisy” aspect is a major benefit for Hockaday and she believes that “the Hockaday Fine Arts Department fosters the love of the arts, even if student don’t pursue it as a career.”

The “Christmas Pops” show will perform 15 times in three weeks. Both Sumrow and Guba, as well as Sullivan, have spent countless hours rehearsing in order to make each show a success.

Although Sumrow was unable to participate in Hockaday’s musical, “The Sound of Music,” she is extremely grateful for the chance to dance at the Meyerson.

Arts continued p17

pOpCharT A Charlie Brown Christmas

Released in 1965, A Charlie Brown Christmas, a timeless classic, turns 50 this Holiday Season.

The song “Christmas Time is Here” was written specifically for the TV special.

However, what makes it a classic is the seemling blase story that truly embodies the meaning of Christmas.

Toy Story: That Time Forgot All of us were raised on the magic of Pixar’s Toy Story.

However, besides the joy of seeing our favorite talking toys, the animated series brought the magic of Christmas to the small screens on Dec. 2 on ABC.

Pretty Little Liars: How the ‘A’ Stole Christmas

For all you guilty Pretty Little Liars’ fans, this Holidaythemed episode shows the cast conspiring at a Christmas themed-ball, the Ice Ball.

A&E: 12 Things to do Over Christmas/ Page 16 •

Grimm Christmas Special Grimm is a scifi cop drama that incorporate fairytales. Their NBC Christmas special, which aired Dec. 5, involved all those on Santa’s Naughty list getting turned in Gremlin-like creatures, seeking to ruin Christmas. However, they were cured by dreaded fruitcake.

SOURCE: CBS, ABC, ABC Family, NBC

Interstellar Review/ Page 17

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DECEMBER 17, 2014

ILLUSTRATION PROVIDED BY GOOD FULTON AND FARRELL

Closing the Curtains on the Fine Arts Building

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ver the summer, the boxes stacked along the walls of the portables, filled with lab equipment, were moved to the new Science Center building, home to the Lyda Hill STEAM Institute. However, the portables will soon house new tenants: the Fine Arts Department.

On Dec. 3, Eugene McDermott Headmistress Kim Wargo announced to the Hockaday community that Nancy Nasher ’72 and David Haemisegger had made a $6 million commitment to Hockaday toward the development of a new arts building – Phase II of the Centennial Center. And with this announcement, the Fine Arts department will start the packing and moving process into the Nucleus--as the portable village was named--and be fully installed in their temporary housing by the beginning of March.

The Nasher-Haemisegger Family Center for the Arts will be home to both the visual and performing arts at Hockaday and will house an art gallery with moveable walls in order to accommodate and customize exhibitions, an outdoor amphitheater, a new Black Box Theater and new orchestra and choir spaces. In addition, according to Chief Financial Officer JT Coats, the new auditorium in the Nasher-Haemisegger Family Center for the Arts will be unrecognizable.

“It’s going to be a lovely the-

ater, and you are not going to even know that it has the bones of Hoblitzelle underneath it, which is kind of the exciting thing,” Coats said.

The new auditorium will not only enhance theater teaching, but it will also enhance the audience’s experience with its comfortable environment.

Although the stage will be bigger, the seating will not be compromised, as the interior will extend to enclose the area where the columns in front of Hoblitzelle stand today. When completed, the new auditorium will house 650 seats and a 100 to 120-seat balcony. The seating has been designed to create the best possible line of sight for the whole audience. With wider spaces between rows and wider chairs, it will have a new level of comfort. There is also the option of having side seating around the perimeter with removable chairs, and without them the sides can serve as ramps leading on and off the stage.

According to Coats,the current performance space was built as an auditorium and not a theater. Our new space will be a theater that will serve as an auditorium. To achieve this, it will have a full stage, wing spaces to the sides and a full fly, which will be used to raise sets in and out. The control rooms will move downstairs, student-safe cat walks will hover over the audience and the set shop will have better access to the stage.

In order to begin construct-

ing these spaces, the tenants of the current Fine Arts building will need to move to the portables, a task that comes with many challenges because the 2014-2015 school year has long been in session.

During Holiday Break, the Fine Arts Department, specifically the orchestras’ and ceramics’ equipment, will start moving into the portables. The portables have been arranged according to input from fine arts teachers so that classes are accommodated in the best possible manner.

Along with the sacrifice of classrooms for portables, the auditorium will officially close its curtains for the last time on Feb. 9.

Most of this year’s events will be held in Hoblitzelle Auditorium, but some productions and ceremonies will need to be relocated or rescheduled.

Although Coats acknowledges that beginning the construction process in the middle of the year will be difficult, she realizes it is essential for the completion of the project by June 2016.

“That little piece from March to June really helps us to be able to finish and not have to try to finish right when fall starts in 2016,” Coats said.

The Fine Arts faculty has been working closely with the architects and the administration in the design of the new building and will continue giving input throughout

IN WITH THE NEW A tenative computer generated image of what the auditorium will look like the process.

“We have been in the [design] process for years, actually, and we are very blessed that the school acknowledges that the people who use the facilities know best about what should go in them, along with, of course, the professional architects,” Performing Arts Chair and dance instructor Beth Wortley said.

The new building will not only enhance theater experience, but many aspects of the Fine Arts program as well.

Junior Mercer Malakoff, a Drama Extension student, sees how the remodel, especially the revamping of the Black Box Theater, will aid the drama curriculum and entice more people to join.

“The Black Box being expanded will help alot with drama and the people in it,” she said. “Everyone [will] be like ‘Oh, I want to try that!”

Wortley also feels that the new facilities will bring innovations and new opportunities.

“We can involve more students, in more ways. We can use modern technology that we have never been able to use,” Wortley said. “The Black Box itself is going to allow us to do some new and innovative productions that we haven’t ever been able to do, and with a theater space that has so many more possibilities -- its bigger, its arranged in an interesting way, -- [we will have] a lot of new ways to do theater and dance and everything.”

To meet the June 2016 deadline, the department must be packed and moved out of the building by Feb. 17, 2015. The Fine Arts Department is expected to hold classes in the NasherHaemisegger Family Center for the Arts in fall of 2016. F Megan Philips Features editor

Science Classes Utilize Videos in Classroom Science teachers use educational videos to introduce ideas, explain concepts and enrich the classroom experience

I

n science teacher Dr. Beverly Lawson’s chemistry classroom, the lights dim and a video plays on the board.

The students in the class attentively watch the videos, and Lawson periodically stops the video to discuss the content with her students. This is one of many instances of science teachers who are incorporating educational videos into the lesson with the goal of enriching students’ learning.

While other academic departments do take advantage of the vast amounts of technology at Hockaday, the Science Department has a unique take on utilizing technology in the classroom.

Lawson uses videos from the “World of Chemistry” series, which “[the chemistry teachers] like a lot,” she said. “They’re actually very good. The graphics are excellent, give very clear explanations and really good examples. They have really good applications to real world problems, which, of course, is what we want to emphasize.”

Science Department Chair Dr. Marshall Bartlett uses PBS videos, and AP Biology teacher Brandi Finazzo’s students watch Bozeman Science videos from YouTube.

Finazzo’s classroom is a flipped model classroom, where her students watch the webcasts and take notes for homework and then come to class to solidify and expand the knowledge they have learned.

However, Lawson’s students do not use the videos for homework. Instead, they are introduced to a concept during class with a lab or some other activity, and then they use the videos as a learning supplement to the concepts taught in class.

While Bartlett notes that they do not stream videos for homework because it is “technically difficult on the limited network bandwidth,” he too uses videos as a supplement for class ideas.

For Lawson, the videos have provided a valued addition to the class, as evidenced by the fact that they have been used for so long. “In fact, we use them so extensively, we had used

them for so many years that [the cassettes for VHS] were really not in great shape, so we just replaced them, and we got DVDs instead,” she said.

Not only have the students in her classes responded well to the videos, but Lawson is able to use the videos to develop external projects and activities.

“We have used the questions that students [have from these videos] to develop a project on gases that we think has been very successful. Really, almost everything in that project came out of the questions that the girls were able to raise after seeing the video. So, I think if used properly, the videos can enhance a course,” Lawson said.

In Finazzo’s class, the flipped model method has great advantages as well.

“I really like it because it frees me up to do more work with the girls in the class. There are so many more interesting group activities, more demos and more lab activities,” Finazzo said. The flipped method also allows her to cover more material, which is important for an AP course.

However, Finazzo was “concerned that [the students] don’t have the spontaneity of questions,” opposed to a lecture, where students can freely ask questions and receive immediate feedback. To combat this issue, Finazzo has developed a “discussion board,” a page on Haiku where her students can post questions that may arise while watching the videos.

Then, Finazzo will discuss the questions during class.

In contrast, videos have both benefits and drawbacks, according to Bartlett. While the video “provides a rich, multimedia experience for students,” he sees the video-watching as a passive form of learning, meaning that the content of the videos will not “stick” in the students’ heads for long.

“It doesn’t often leave much [of an] impact on the student— they walk away from the video happy and impressed, but if you asked them 2 or 3 days later what they watched the video about, they would have a hard

time telling you,” Bartlett said.

Because of this, videos are not typically used to teach, but to enhance the material already learned.

“They are doing more active, engaged things, and then we use the video somewhere in there as sort of a ‘frosting on top’—it’s this rich, multimedia experi-

ence that can help supplement all of the other active things they’ve done,” Bartlett said. “Videos will always end up being a limited portion of the learning experience for a student.”

Despite these potential drawbacks, Finazzo plans to keep the videos for good. “It took some getting used to, but now I

can’t even think of going back,” she said. “I think of all the time that we would waste and all the activities that we wouldn’t be able to do.” F Sunila Steephen Castoff Editor

16

THE HOCKADAY SCHOOL

HOCKADAYFOURCAST.ORG

ARTs & EntERtaInMEnT

DECEMBER 17, 2014

4 Tree/Ice Skating at the Galleria

Group’s website, blueman.com, for $85.

Dec. 31 - Jan. 4, 2015 Winspear Opera House 2403 Flora St, Dallas

7 Heart of Dallas Bowl

Go see the most famous Christmas tree in Dallas at the Galleria Mall! It also happens to be at the center of a fabulous ice-rink - a perfect holiday activity for the whole family. Ice skating is always at the GalleriaTree comes down Jan. 4 $10 admission, $3 rental for skates Galleria Mall 13350 Dallas Parkway, Dallas Monday-Saturday: 10 a.m.-9 p.m.

Sunday: 12 p.m.-6 p.m.

1 A Christmas Carol

3 Days of Christmas 12

Directed by Dallas Theater Center’s Lee Trull and choreographed by Jeremy Dumont of Park Cities Dance, everyone’s favorite Christmas story is taking Dallas by storm at the Wyly Theater. Hurry and buy your tickets now on the Dallas Theater Center’s website: dallastheatercenter. org for $52 - $105.

Nov. 25 - Dec. 27, 2014 Wyly Theater, 2400 Flora St, Dallas

2 BIG D NYE 2015 Now in its eighth year running, Big D NYE is the largest New Year’s Eve celebration in the Central Time Zone. This free and fun family event takes place in Victory Park on - you guessed it - New Year’s Eve. Go see one of the largest firework displays in the nation and send off 2014 with a bang!

Dec. 31, 2014 7 p.m. - 12:30 a.m.

Victory Park

Arts continued from p14

Nov. 16 - Jan. 4 Dallas Arboretum 8525 Garland Rd, Dallas

Dec. 26, 2014 12:00 p.m.

Fair Park 1121 1st Ave, Dallas

8

PROVOCATIONS: The Architecture and Design of Heatherwick Studio

Christmas Pops

Dec. 5 - Dec. 21, 2:30 p.m. or 7:30 p.m.

Myerson Symphony Orchestra 2301 Flora St, Dallas

Blue Man Group at the 6 Winspear Opera House Do you like music? Do you like comedy? If you answered yes to both questions, you’re in luck! The Blue Man Group, America’s favorite blue phenomenon, is coming to Dallas! Tickets are available online at the Blue Man

10 The Trains at NorthPark All aboard! Celebrating its 16th year, the Trains at Northpark have taken off on their annual journey, and you’re invited!

Tickets are available at the exhibit for $7.00.

Nov. 22 - Jan. 4, 2015 Monday-Saturday: 10 a.m.-9 p.m.

Sunday, 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Northpark Mall 8687 N Central Expy, Dallas

11 ICE!

5 Dallas Symphony Orchestra The Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s beloved Christmas time tradition continues hand-in-hand with the Dallas Children’s Chorus of Greater Dallas. Every day up until Dec. 21, the children’s chorus will be singing your favorite Christmas songs! You may purchase tickets online at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s website: mydso.com for $60 $200.

Nov. 17- Jan. 4, 2015 Monday-Saturday: 10a.m.-7p.m.

Sunday: 12 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Perot Museum of Nature and Science 2201 N. Field St, Dallas

If you like art, spend a day at the Nasher Sculpture Center this holiday break. Their new exhibition in collaboration with esteemed architect Thomas Heatherwick (hailed a “genius” by the New Yorker) is not something you want to miss. Tickets are $5 for students and $10 for adults and are available online at the Nasher’s website: nashersculpturecenter.org Now - Jan. 4, 2015 11 p.m.-5 p.m.

Nasher Sculpture Center 2001 Flora St, Dallas

9 Winter Wonderland Feed your sense of wonder this holiday season by visiting the Perot Museum of Nature and Science and find a fact-filled

Just because we live in Texas doesn’t mean we don’t see ICE! If you’re willing to make the drive up to Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine, chances are you’ll be frozen with awe at the 20-foot ice slides and everyone’s favorite holiday character, Frosty the Snowman, as he is brought to life and carved entirely from two million pounds of ice.

Tickets are available online at gaylordtexantickets.com- $21.99 Nov. 13 - Jan 3, 2015 Gaylord Texan Resort 1501 Gaylord Trail, Grapevine

12 Santa’s Village Warm your heart this winter by giving back to your community. Get four hours of community service in per shift by working at Santa’s Village with the St. Mark’s School of Texas Sign up on x2Vol and you will meet at St. Mark’s at whatever time you sign up.

Dec. 6-7, Dec. 11-14, Dec. 18-21 5:30 p.m. - 9 p.m.

411 W. Arapaho Rd. Richardson

PHOTOS BY AMANDA KIM, THE NASHER SCULPTURE GALLERY, DALLAS ARBORETUM

“It was just an opportunity that kind of fell into my lap and I decided it’s not something I would get to do everyday,” Sumrow said.

The combination of the various arts in this show is especially unique. Specifically, dancing in front of a live orchestra is a brand-new experience for both Guba and Sumrow.

“Symphony and dance- that connection together in the arts community is just a blessing because we need to help each other out and have as many collaborations as we can,” Sullivan said.

Through these performances, Guba and Sumrow gain experience by training with professional dancers. Sumrow said she is “gaining a lot of insight on what goes into a professional performance.”

Sullivan appreciates the “invaluable” relationships between the professional dancers and her Hockaday dance students.

“To work with professionals, to see how they are in rehearsal and that personal responsibility that comes with profession-

CArtOon

Go visit the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden’s newest one-of-a-kind centerpiece exhibit made up of charming characters and fantastical animals from the beloved Christmas song. You can buy tickets for either the daytime activities or the nighttime showing at dallasarboretum. org/visit/seasonal-festivalsevents/the-12-days-ofchristmas for $20 per person.

Everyone’s favorite three F’s: Friday, football, and fun. You can find all of these at the Heart of Dallas Bowl in Fair Park.

Tickets are available on the Heart of Dallas Bowl’s website: theheartofdallasbowl.com and are priced from $25 - $125.

Winter Wonderland. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year - to expand your mind! You can buy tickets online at the Perot’s website: perotmuseum. org for $15 as an adult or for $12 as a 12-17 year old.

alism- I think they have been able to soak that in and really move forward with their work,” Sullivan said.

Hockaday’s involvement in this show displays the student’s appreciation of the fine arts program.

“I think that just whenever Hockaday girls go and do performances or competitions, it’s just a representation of how farreaching the girls are and how hockaday girls can encompass many different types of talents,” Sumrow said.

Both Guba and Sumrow hope to maintain a connection with the arts in the future; Guba would like to pursue musical theater while Sumrow hopes to cultivate her passion for dance in college.

“Christmas Pops” features eight different songs and is split into two acts. Act I involves traditional and formal Christmas music, while Act II consists of popular holiday songs that are filled with Christmas spirit. Although the first show was on Dec. 5, there are still 4 shows left.

From Arabia to Neverland

Junior Heather Xiao, who also played the role of Wendy in Hockaday’s dance performance of Peter Pan on Nov. 17, has been dancing since she was 4 years old.

Growing up, she mainly learned Chinese dance, but is also skilled in ballet, jazz and lyrical dance.

Xiao has been dancing with the Royale Ballet Dance Academy for about six years, and on Dec. 6 and 7, she participated in her fourth performance of “The Nutcracker,” which the studio where she dances produces annually. This holiday season, Xiao played the role of Arabian Princess. Members of the Royale Ballet Dance Academy auditioned over the summer and began rehearsing in August, around the same time school began. Since August, Xiao dedicated 15-20 hours every week to prepare for The Nutcracker, yet her passion for dance has never stopped growing.

“Dance gives me a form of expression,” Xiao said. “It’s a destresser, but I also enjoy being in a big production because of all

Hope for the Holidays Sarah Chan

the adrenaline and being able to dance with all my friends.”

Xiao also said that she appreciates that she has the opportunity to “do what [she] loves with the people [she] loves.”

Xiao hopes to either minor in dance or teach dance classes on the side while she pursues other academic interests.

Say Hello to the Hey Heys

In July, freshman Quinn Brodsky was asked to be the vocalist for a band called The Hey Heys after the band’s previous vocalist left. The band includes four other boys, Justus Winkler, Carter Elliott, CJ Miller and Anton Cariffe, who all attend schools in the Dallas area. The Hey Heys hold two to three concerts per month and have previously performed at The Boiler Room and Trees, both in Dallas. Brodsky and her other band members produce a wide variety of music from rock to jazz to blues, and if you get a chance to attend one of their concerts, you’ll probably hear

covers of current music as well as originals. Although she joined the band about six months ago, Brodsky’s journey with music began as soon as she could speak.

“I feel like [singing] is the most physical way that you can express yourself,” Brodsky said.

“You can really put yourself into what you’re doing.”

The Hey Heys practice twice a week, which often takes away from Brodsky’s academic life. However, the performance experience she gains makes it all worthwhile.

“I wouldn’t know how to hold myself without a band with me,” she said. “I think it’s made me more outgoing.”

This winter, the Hey Heys will be performing at Rick Fairless’ Strokers Dallas on Dec. 23 and again on Dec. 30. On both dates, their performance will begin at 9 p.m. F Inaara Padani Copy Editor

THE HOCKADAY SCHOOL

THE FOURCAST 17

ARTs & EntERtaInMEnT

DECEMBER 17, 2014

REVIEWS: Interstellar • Cupcakes • Selena Gomez

Gomez Grows Up PHOTO PROVIDED BY HOLLYWOOD RECORDS

PHOTO PROVIDED BY PARAMOUNT PICTURES

Interstellar is Stellar

For You Selena Gomez

L Interstellar Christopher Nolan

M

atthew McConaughey didn’t deserve an Oscar last year.

As NASA engineer and pilot Cooper, he helms Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar” and carries the emotional weight of the film, making me mutter in the theater, “best actor this year.”

As NASA engineer and pilot Cooper, the main character, he helms Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar” and carries the emotional weight of the film, making me throughly convinced he deserves the Academy Award for Best Actor again this year.

While Alfonso Cuaron’s “Gravity” created this revival of space-themed films last year, I only had a pounding heart from Cuaron’s thriller. Interstellar has “upped” the game with a cocktail of an incredible story, meaningful quotes and a bucket of emotions. A true story about adventure, the film tells of a group of explorers searching for a new home planet, as the Earth is slowly rendered uninhabitable.

Despite its nearly three-hour run time, the movie leaves viewers wanting more, ending, as many Nolan movies do, on a melancholy note. Wrought with death, the film establishes a purpose for

4020 Villanova St.

The Cupcakery

2222 McKinney Ave, #230

The Cupcakery’s most popular cupcake is the Southern Belle Cupcake (aka the red velvet.) Its appearance is more modest than that of Gigi’s or Sprinkles, but manages to look delicious all the same. The cupcake itself is moist enough but almost tasteless, but fortunately the sugary icing helps mask that. The icing leans more towards a vanilla flavor than the advertised cream-cheese, yet overall, it’s a good cupcake.

Stein’s Bakery

When I first walked into Gigi’s Cupcakes, there was a tiny Yorkie dog running around looking super adorable, so that’s an automatic win. The very friendly lady at the counter told me the most popular cupcake was the Wedding Cake cupcake, which looked very fancy and almost too wellmade. The icing was pretty much the height of the cupcake bread, which was immediately a problem for me.

How am I supposed to bite a five-inch cupcake? Also, the icing would’ve been very good if there hadn’t been so much of it. Instead, it ended up tasting like diabetes. The cupcake alone was perfect, however. It’s indescribable how good it was.

Overall, an awesome cupcake.

Just scrape off the top half of the icing and you’re good.

Stein’s most popular cupcake is their White on White cupcake, which happens to be a fancy name for vanilla.

(What is the name for their chocolate cupcake? Brown on brown? That sounds extraordinarily unappealing.) In fact, the White on White is so popular that when I came, it was sold out. The baker had to go to the back and get me one/make me one, which might be why what he gave me looked like a bake sale cupcake. It looked sloppy and homemade, but it’s the taste that matters, and the taste wasn’t nearly as bad as the appearance. The cupcake bread was nice and moist, the way a cupcake should be, but was virtually tasteless, and the icing was way too sweet, even with the little amount I was given.

In total, a mediocre cupcake.

Sorry, Stein. F Amanda Kim Staff Writer

Eshani Kishore Staff Writer

each one, but still gives viewers enough time to cry over its characters’ passing.

But, the strongest emotions felt during the movie aren’t because of death at all.

One of the most important themes in Interstellar is family. The movie’s first tears involve McConaughey driving away as his 14-year-old daughter, Murph, (Mackenzie Foy) begs him to stay. While Murph and Cooper spent probably 20 minutes together in total and Dr. Brand (Michael Caine) and Amelia Brand (Anne Hathaway) spent even less, the love between father and daughter is technically the whole reason why humanity is saved. Without her father’s desire to save at least her, Amelia Brand would have never left the galaxy to found a new colony. Without her father’s determination to see her one last time, adult Murph (Jessica Chastain) would have never solved the equation necessary to save the Earth’s remaining population.

But I can never forget Chastain’s deliverance of the line “Daddy, I need to know...

Did you leave me here to die?”

While originally labeled as a sci-fi movie, Interstellar embodies a new era of adventure films depicting a not-toodistant apocalyptic future. Set in the 2070’s, the “remaining” population of the Earth suffers from Dust Bowl-like conditions caused by increased nitrogen and therefore decreased oxygen in the atmosphere.

Many signs point to this apocalypse beginning and ending in our own home state, such as the rolling hills and the flat plains where Cooper travels, one of NASA’s headquarter being located in Houston,

Cupcakes Sprinkles Cupcakes Collide For this month’s issue I decided to postpone my diet another week and visit the most popular cupcake bakeries in the Dallas area to see which one was the best. Here’s what I found.

Gigi’s Cupcakes

istening to Selena Gomez’s new album, “For You,” took me on a trip down memory lane. The album, a collection of her career-encompassing greatest hits, is a perfect testament to the singer’s evolvution from a baby-faced teen starlet to the stunning 22-year-old who took our breath away with her performance at the American Music Awards on Nov. 23rd.

Gomez’s hit single, “The Heart Wants What it Wants,” is the main feature of the album.

The song is memorable and perfectly catchy, but Gomez also manages to weave in tangibly painful, raw emotion into the song. Though the popstar is famous for upbeat songs, “The Heart Wants What it Wants” offers a glimpse of the dark emotion that lies in Gomez’s heart.

“There’s a million reasons why I should give you up, but the heart wants what it wants,” she sings passionately and presumably, about her rocky relationship with her on-and-off boyfriend, Justin Bieber.

Bieber’s influence on Gomez’s music continues with “My Dilemma 2.0,” a song from her 2011 album “When the Sun Goes Down.” The lyrics are engaging and genuine, but the lighthearted and quick beat that the song was set to seemed slightly out of place, especially when addressing the topic of an unhealthy relationship.

In “Do It,” Gomez manages to sneak in a few words on lovemaking and sets it to an R&B beat. “Más” is a Spanish track from Gomez’s 2008 album “Kiss and Tell” and also a testament to her Mexican heritage. Continuing with the theme of Latin American songs, Selena salutes her namesake--the best selling Latin artist Selena Quintillana-in “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom.” As a fan of Spanish culture and both Selenas, I was excited to see that Gomez was able to create something truly beautiful and moving to honor the late Quintillana.

Some of the other older songs on Gomez’s album are “Falling Down” and “Love You Like a Love Song.” Both songs are flawless milestones in the early era of Gomez’s career. Although the album leaves these songs untouched, Gomez’s choice to create dance remixes of “Naturally” and “Forget Forever” was a true mistake.

“For You” is purchase-worthy, and Gomez justifies the purchase of her new album by including singles that give fans a summation of how much she has grown as an artist. If Gomez’s lead single, “The Heart Wants What It Wants” is any indication of her future growth as a singer, then I have high hopes for her future albums.

However, instead of buying the album on iTunes, I would much rather listen to the album on Spotify for free. I daresay you would, too. F

Oh, Sprinkles: an obvious contender and probably the most popular cupcake store in Dallas. Their most bought cupcake is the red velvet, which seems to be a universal favorite in the world of cupcakes. Unfortunately, Sprinkles did not live up the hype. The cupcake bread itself was on the dry side with a somewhat bitter taste. The icing, however, was spot-on with its cream cheese taste. Overall an okay cupcake, but I was disappointed by the way people talk it up all the time. (Also, what is that circle thing that they put on top? It’s cute, but what am I supposed to do with it? I feel bad throwing it away…)

If you’re going to Sprinkles, get their red velvet ice cream instead. That stuff is bomb.

(PSA: Don’t try to eat the cute circle thing they put on top.

Does not taste good. I repeat: Does not taste good.)

The film has already generated serious Oscar buzz, with its incrediable cast, phenominal director, and scientifically accurate set and plot.

the familiar crops that suffer from this futuristic Dust Bowl and Nolan’s excitement to cast “Texas native” McConaughey.

Nolan’s “sci-fi” is more “science” than “fiction.” In early pre-production, Nolan and Executive Producer Dr. Kip Thorne, a theoretical physicist whose work with the film was based on, agreed that nothing in the film would violate physical laws (the science part) and that all wild speculations would stem from scientific theory (the fiction). Something oddly lacking in “Interstellar,” as compared to other sci-fi films, is aliens. By never showing alien threats to the astronauts, “Interstellar” instead focuses on how mankind’s fears can become their greatest enemy.

McConaughey speaks not just to the movie’s theme but speaks to our generation in “We’ve always defined ourselves by the ability to overcome the impossible. And we count these moments.

These moments when we dare to aim higher, to break barriers, to reach for the stars, to make the unknown known.

We count these moments as our proudest achievements. But we lost all that. Or perhaps we’ve just forgotten that we are still pioneers. And we’ve barely begun.

And that our greatest accomplishments cannot be behind us, because our destiny lies above us.” F

5450 W Lovers Ln #130

Kate Clement A&E Editor

12829 Preston Rd #417

18

HOCKADAYFOURCAST.ORG

THE HOCKADAY SCHOOL DECEMBER 17, 2014

spOrts Alternative P.E. provides student athletes with the opportunity to grow.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY YEARBOOK

7

Examining the Alternatives to Physical Education

Number of freshmen on varsity soccer this winter season. These girls join the 14 other returning upperclassmen to form a team of 21 players.

44 Number of points that varsity basketball scored in their season opener against Nevada Community High School on Dec. 2 at Hockaday

3-3

Score of JV soccer’s game against John Paul II High School on Dec. 4 at Hockaday. The team pulled a tie in this first game of the winter season.

32 Number of swimmers, divers and managers that compose varsity swimming and diving this winter season

Bang for Your (Star)bucks Sports Editorial

I

ntegral to several Hockaday sonal practice with other extraathletes who participate in curriculars such as community competitive sports outside of service, club meetings and her school is the Alternative Physi- normal school workload. cal Education program, which alIn order to participate in the lows these athletes to focus on a Alternative Physical Education sport they are passionate about, program, a student must complete in lieu of participating in physi- an application form and turn in a cal education class. However, the hard copy to Upper School Head program has its own set of com- John Ashton at the start of each seplexities and requirements that mester. This form needs to be apprevents some athletes from ben- proved Ashton and by the Director efiting from this opportunity. of Health and Physical Education, While the initial purpose of Jennifer Johnson, who supervises the program was to allow students the program. to participate in a sport that is not Requirements include being offered at school, part of an outside commany students who petitive sport. Modeled take advantage of after the Hockaday aththis program particletics program, Alternaipate in an outside tive Physical Education sport that Hockaday requires the student to does offer. practice her sport for a Tennis player minimum of 10 hours Caroline Bhupathi per week, not including is a part of the Altravel time to practices Hours required per ternative Physical and other events. The week, practicing with Education program the coach and the team, hours should solely conand plays Hockaday to fulfill the Alternative sist of practicing with tennis during the the coach and the team.

P.E. credit spring. She partici“Alternative Physipates in several tourcal Education isn’t naments and is part of the Glenea- meant for developmental players gles Country Club tennis team. to receive private lessons and mix “Not only does Alternative P.E. that with some personal traingive me more time to play and im- ing for the 10-hour requirement,” prove in my sport, but it lets me Johnson said. do the sport I enjoy most all year Reasons for applications to be rather than just for one season,” rejected include a focus on perBhupathi said. sonalized training, not being a Alternative P.E. allows Bhu- part of a team or not meeting the pathi to balance her hours of per- 10-hour requirement. At the end of

PRACTICES MAKES PERFECT Sophomore Natalia Henry plays tennis with Hockaday in the spring. In her off season, she participates in Alternative P.E. and competes with her own club team.

10

T

he atmosphere of the Starbucks on Inwood Road north of Forest Lane lends itself to the first line of the hundred billion dollar company’s mission statement, which focuses on “creating a culture of warmth and belonging, where everyone is welcome.” A low hum of conversation permeates throughout, even at 7:15 on a Friday morning, where the line inside is as long as the drive-through that wraps around the small building.

Though there are a few high school-age girls by themselves, there are just as many mother-daughter pairs catch-

ing up on the week’s events before the final and long school day. Two Hockaday skirts, a skirt from Good Shepherd and a Withers High School sweatshirt make up the line in front of the pastries.

The Inwood Starbucks is a mere 1.3 miles away from Hockaday, making it the number one spot to get a hot drink and surreptitiously check out the Jesuit Preparatory School guys.

For Hockaday seniors with off-campus privileges, a Starbucks in the middle of the day can be just the right remedy for a post-all-nighter. Even for underclassmen,

SPORTS: Finding the Perfect Fit / Page 19 •

the semester, the student is also required to write a reflective piece as a follow-up to what their season was like, which includes their goals, successes, progress, as well as any timemanagement issues encountered along the way.

“The P.E. department does its best to accommodate every athlete’s needs, while also trying to maintain consistency in reviewing all of the different applications,” Johnson said.

In addition to tennis, other athletes in Alternative P.E. participate in horseback riding, dance, tennis, swimming, volleyball and several other sports.

Currently, the program is under revision. Additionally, the newly changed program might find a way to get current athletes into participating in physical education classes.

“We really feel that dancers and athletes are missing out on some of the useful things taught in the P.E. class,” Johnson said.

Physical education has been restructured in the past years to focus more on fitness and learning “how muscles and machines work and how to build a workout plan on your own,” Johnson said.

“We realize that changes need to be made and we are working on a plan,” Johnson said.

As a result, the program is undergoing several changes. F

there’s something comforting about bringing in their very own steaming Starbucks on a morning when the temperature dips into the teens.

Both teachers and students alike love grabbing a quick drink once in a while or not.

“I would say at least six to eight times,” sophomore Ellie Pfeiffer said, explaining how many times a week she fuels her Starbucks addiction.

“Sometimes, the Starbucks people see me more than once in a day,” Pfeiffer said. “That’s a little embarrassing.”

Pfeiffer’s claim to Starbucks infamy simply comes

Don’t Let the Frost Bite / Page 20

Noor Adatia Assistant A&E Editor

down to indecision, like a problem she had this past Halloween. “I couldn’t decide if I wanted my regular coffee, or if I wanted my tea or if I wanted hot chocolate, so I got all three,” Pfeiffer said. “I had to get a drink carrier for myself.”

However, she has a system to make sure she monitors her Starbucks intake. “If there are times when I get more than one Starbucks drink, I leave off for the next few days.”

Starbucks continued p20

THE HOCKADAY SCHOOL

THE FOURCAST 19

spOrts

DECEMBER 17, 2014

Finding the Perfect Fit Physical education classes at Hockaday cater to a range of fitness levels and types of workouts. “Fit” is defined as being in good physical shape or health. According to Harvard’s School of Public Health, being fit increases lifespan, boosts endorphins, and surprisingly, increases academic performance and promotes weight loss.

The Fourcast’s A&E Editor Kate Clement visited different studios in a quest to find the perfect workout. Spanning yoga, barre, cycling and boxing, each facility offers unique, fulfilling workouts, and in their hour-long classes, one can burn up to 700-1000 calories.

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PHOTOS BY KATE CLEMENT

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1 The Bar Method The Bar Method has been in Dallas since 2010. The first location opened in Inwood Village and later a studio opened in Plano. The classes vary in difficulty levels, but each follows the same scripted format. The “burn” of the class occurs mostly at the ballet bar that members use to stretch and perform small, concise movements that target specific muscles. In addition, these classes have both arm weight exercises and a tough core section at the end, which were possibly the hardest of any class attended. You don’t have to be a dancer to get a great workout at The Bar Method.

The instructors are invested in each student, giving helpful advice and remembering each students’ own personal needs. Don’t let the “simplicity” of the workout fool you. It’s very challenging and it may take several classes, but in time you’ll get over the soreness and pain to see long, lean muscles.

Best Booty Burn Burn: 700 Calories Locations: Inwood Village 5560 West Lovers Lane #243, Dallas Plano 4017 Preston Road #521, Plano Special Deals: Discount for the First Month

2 Corepower

3 Flywheel

According to Carolyn Overbeck, a student at Southern Methodist University and a member at Corepower Yoga, Corepower is a “favorite of girls from my sorority and many other SMU girls.”

The yoga studio at Mockingbird Station made its debut in Dallas in August. Corepower Yoga opened a second Dallas location on Dec. 5 at Henderson and Greenville. Corepower offers many different types of classes, but their unique Sculpt class is a hot vinyasa flow yoga that incorporates weights, push ups, lunges, squats, core work and a calorieburning burst segment of cardio for a complete workout sure to make you sweat. The class is set to cool, current music and is true to the practice of yoga, with each person’s experience being truly their own. While the Dallas studio is still new and learning, their boot camp the day after Thanksgiving was grueling and more similar to past experiences at studios throughout the country. The energy and camaraderie that I feel at any Corepower studio always keeps me going back for more.

Best Sweat Burn: 1,000 Calories Locations: Mockingbird Station 5319 East Mockingbird Lane #205, Dallas Henderson 1907 North Henderson Avenue, Dallas Special Deals: First Week is Free for New Members

4 Title One Boxing

Flywheel, an indoor cycling studio, offers many classes ranging from 45 minutes to an hour, where an instructor directs you through segments of cycling at different speeds with different amounts of resistance. A cool feature is the music themed classes, such as one combining Taylor Swift and Maroon 5 or another with Ke$ha and Britney Spears. Flywheel offers another unique twist: workouts are done in a darkened room, so everyone achieves their own personal best workout without comparing themselves to others around them. Nevertheless, if you want to compete with your friends, Flywheel has the option to put your bike number on a scoreboard above the teacher, displaying your current rank. Although mine was abysmal, it was too fun jamming out to “Blank Space” and “Animals” while my legs ached as I worked out on the bike-- and in P.E. the following day. Flywheel doesn’t forget to workout your arms with a song’s worth of weighted bar exercises. Four pounds never seemed heavier! Thankfully, the weights are usually at the end of class and with only a few songs left to sprint to the finish line. However, as a I walked out of class, I was just excited that I rode a bike again!

Best Legs Burn: 750 Calories Locations: Highland Park 4252 Oak Lawn Avenue, Dallas Plano 5964 West Parker Road, Plano

While there might be boxing gloves and punching bags in the Hockaday Fitness Center, very few girls use them, according to Hockaday trainer Marni Holben. Boxing classes are only offered to Hockaday teachers. Title One Boxing classes are a fun option where girls can unleash their inner Rocky and get an awesome workout.

The classes use the crossfit mentality of no breaks and an almost bare gym space. With only a punching bag, the instructors create a variety of exercises that target the core and work the arm and leg muscles, focusing on making the student stronger in both body and mind. The music is mixed each week by a renowned Las Vegas DJ. They also have a thirty minute class so you can get a quick workout. Outfitted with pink boxing gloves, I felt totally ready for this class, until I actually hit the punching bag and realized that it’s hard. While I was in plenty of pain the following week, I knew I could use the moves in self defense if the need arose.

Best Core and Arms Burn: 900 Calories Locations: Uptown 4140 Lemmon Avenue, Suite 275, Dallas Central and Forest 11613 North Central Expressway, Dallas North Dallas 3909 Frankford Road, Dallas Special Deals: First Class is Free

Special Deals: First Class is Free

Each of these workouts ended up targeting a specific area of the body. None were “perfect,” but all were helpful in getting more fit, feeling stronger, and being more considerate of my dietary choices. By experiencing each, I realized that unlike those “get skinny quick” workout schemes, getting “fit” required variety, discipline and persistence, and there is no one way or shortcut to “fitness.”

WaRd Soccer

Basketball

Swimming and Diving

Jan. 8-11 Varsity Nolan Soccer Tournament in Nolan

Jan. 13 JV and Varsity Basketball vs. FWCD @ Hockaday

Feb. 3 JV and Varsity Soccer vs. Ursuline @ Ursuline

Feb. 6 Varsity and JV Basketball vs. Greenhill @ Greenhill

Jan. 8 Varsity Swim Meet vs. Cistercian and Bishop Lynch @ St. Mark’s

Feb. 12-14 North Zone SPC in Houston

Feb. 12-14 North Zone SPC in Houston

Jan. 13 Varsity Swim Meet vs. Jesuit and Ursuline @ Highland Park Feb. 14 North Zone SPC in Houston

20

THE HOCKADAY SCHOOL

HOCKADAYFOURCAST.ORG

spOrts

DECEMBER 17, 2014

Don’t Let the Frost Bite Studies have shown that sleeping in a colder environment helps one attain a better night’s sleep.

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ILLUSTRATION BY MADELYN BREWER

fter a long school week, treme temperature can disrupt Friday night has final- the body during both REM and ly arrived. Sophomore non-REM sleep cycles, which, Erin Blotcky jumps in turn, can lead to a number into the shower after zipping of health disorders, including her backpack shut. Post-show- heart disease, high blood preser, she puts on her trademark sure and even diabetes. tennis T-shirt and Lululemon Huffington Post writer shorts. Before hitting the lights, and sleep doctor Dr. ChristoBlotcky cranks her ceiling fan pher Winter, who is based in up to high and is ready for a Charlottesville, Va., weighs in solid night of sleep. on the controversial topic of Sophomore Carolina Camp- sleeping temperature. bell goes through the same rouDrawn by the idea of sleep tine--but slightly different. She as a modifiable variable, or an bundles up in her long sleeve aspect of a patient’s life that is pajamas, pulls out an extra com- able to be controlled, Winter forter from the closet, climbs began his undergraduate sleep into her already layered bed and education at the University of hunkers down for a toasty sleep. Virginia; he has been involved Unfortunately, like most in the sleep medicine field since Americans, Blotcky and Camp- then, amounting more than bell are both unaware of the 20 years of experience. Winter consequences caused by sleep- now works with many profesing in extreme temperatures. sional athletes who struggle Blotcky and Campbell both with temperature related issues note that they get a better nights during slumber. sleep when they sleep in their Both Blotcky and Campbell favorable temperchoose to sleep in exature, either hot treme temperatures. or cold.

Winter notes that the “If I sleep in a ideal temperature for hot room,” Blotcky a good nights sleep said. “ I wake up in is around 62 degrees the middle of the Fahrenheit. night and I don’t “Sleeping in hot feel like I had a reenvironments refreshing sleep in duces sleep quality,” Ideal temperature, in the morning.” degrees Fahrenheit, for Winter said.

But for CampCore temperaa good night’s sleep bell, a refreshing ture plays a key role sleep is achieved in having a good differently. nights sleep. Accord“If it’s super ing to a sleep study cold in my bedroom, then I am conducted at Cornell Univermiserable! On the other hand, sity in 1997, titled “Night time if its extremely hot, I’m usually drop in body temperature: a ok because I like to sleep in a physiological trigger for sleep warm room.” onset?,” our bodies will enter According to the American the deepest, most restorative Sleep Association, an organi- state of sleep when our core zation dedicated to improving body temperatures are at the public awareness about sleep lowest they can be. disorders and sleep health, exCore body temperature

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Starbucks continued from p18 It’s good that she has that setup: apparently the drink carrier scenario “happens on a regular basis.” Students aren’t the only ones who appreciate

SLEEPING COLD Sleeping in a colder environment helps one have a more refreshing and deeper sleep.

the possibility of more Starbucks runs than there are days of the week. According to history teacher Kathryn Hodgkinson, eight Starbucks trips a week is about right for her, too. “[Sometimes,] I stop after PHOTO BY AUSTRIA ARNOLD

STARTING REFRESHED Juniors Caroline Bhupathi and Kennedy Duddlesten walk into school before their first class in the morning with their Starbucks drinks.

slowly decreases when people go to sleep because their bodies’ are no longer in motion. Along with temperature, metabolic rates drop as well.

Another study, based at the Psychiatric University Hospital in Basel, Switzerland, suggests a tip: wearing socks to sleep encourages the body into a restful state of sleep. Socks keep the feet warm, promoting blood flow and redistribution of blood in the body. This redistribution of blood puts the body in a more restful state, promoting a

sounder sleep.

Winter recommends the use of a specialty mattress to help the body temperature remain at a steady number during the night.

Lastly, to ensure a good night’s sleep, pay attention to what you wear to bed. Say goodbye to fuzzy pajama pants and onesies this winter.

“Depending on the warmth of the material and how easy it is to manipulate or remove, your clothing can greatly impact sleep, particularly since we do not reg-

ulate temperature well when we sleep. We don’t regulate it at all while we dream,” Winter said.

Getting a better sleep can mean a healthier body, a brightened mood, or even a better grade on a test due to being well-rested. While those fuzzy pajama pants may look tempting in the frigid winter months, wear lighter clothing to ensure a sound sleep and a better self. F

school,” she said. Hodgkinson’s drink of choice is a grande chai latte with seven pumps of chai. After repeating this order with practiced precision, she thought about her favorite things about Starbucks.

“They’re trendy,” she said.

“They’re always really friendly, and they try to remember your order.”

Pfeiffer never drinks the Hockaday coffee, and it’s only once in a great while that Hodgkinson drinks hot chocolate from the teachers’ lounge.

While getting food from off-campus seems to be great, there are also some downsides.

One is financial. A Starbucks addiction can cost upwards of $1,000 a year, half as much as someone usually spends on smoking.

Another is an issue of safety. “Girls on the road during school hours, that sometimes makes me nervous especially in bad weather,” Upper School Attendance Coordinator Jessica Kramer said. About half the senior class regularly takes advantage of their senior privilege of eating off-campus.

Also, there is the health issue. Hours of homework, sports and other extracurriculars already limit Hockaday girls’ sleep time, so when there’s finally an opportunity to sleep, students don’t need anything else infringing on that - but coffee does just that.

Consuming one cup of coffee in a day could make you fall asleep two hours later than usual. However, if you drink coffee enough to build up a tolerance, two cups could have the same effect - but drinking more coffee can have negative effects on your health. High blood pressure, indigestion and headaches are just three of the many signs of a caffeine hangover.

Finally, there’s a fourth downside to being so dependent on restaurants, and it isn’t something that affects only Hockaday students. Though some Starbucks alternatives are closed on most major holidays, Starbucks employees aren’t so lucky. “I’m not really happy because they’re going to be open Thanksgiving and Christmas,” Hodgkinson said.

“They said they get time and a half, though...the company shouldn’t be open then.”

As the holiday season approaches and there are more and more assignments to work on (the last tests of the semester! The JRP! College apps!), Starbucks may seem like more and more of a welcome treat. In moderation, it’s

a great pick-me-up, but not overdoing it reaps many benefits: going to Starbucks less will help you save money for presents, keep you safe on the road and on time for class and maybe even more importantly at this time of year, just get some extra sleep.

The last line of the Starbucks mission statement says that they are “performance driven, through the lens of humanity.” Every so often, though, it’s good to wipe the lenses clean of steam and skip a Starbucks run in the morning - you’ll thank yourself for it later. F

Mary Claire Wilson Staff Writer

Maria Katsulos Video Editor

HOCKADAYFOURCAST.ORG

THE HOCKADAY SCHOOL

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DECEMBER 17, 2014

PersPectLves StudentView

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How the Grinch Stole Christmas

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Elf

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It’s a Wonderful Life

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Seniors Elie MacAdams and Sydney Yonack

D

ear Math Clocks, Why are you the way you are? You’re so enigmatic, so hard to read. I feel like we’re just not on the same page. And honestly, I’m getting tired of you.

Scratch that. I’ve been tired of you ever since our first encounter freshman year.

Maybe I’m just expecting too much of you.

I know that by now we’re expected to know the placement of numbers on the common analog clock, but for some reason I can’t wrap my head around you. Instead of seeing normal numbers, I only see equations. Math clocks, what is the point of you? Better yet,

A) Dinner and flowers :’) B) A drive-in movie C) A girls’ night!

D) Skydiving Check your email soon for the survey!

Photos courtesty of Universal Productions, New Line Cinema, RKO Pictures, 20th Century Fox

to me plain and simple. You’re supposed to make my life easier. But in reality, you’ve only

caused more frustration.

You had one job, math clocks. F

THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID “It was supposed to be a short lesson, but we

Home Alone NEXT ISSUE: What’s your idea of the perfect Valentine’s Day date?

what number does 52-x2+x=10 represent? That’s not mental math material. Help.

Recently, whenever I look up in math class, searching for some refuge from these difficult calculus equations, I see you. I don’t want to have to do more math to figure out how much time is left in the period. Yes, the square root of 4 may be easy to solve. But you know what’s even easier? Seeing that it’s 2 o’clock without having to solve a math problem beforehand.

To be quite frank, math clocks, you make me more confused. I reminisce about simpler times, the days of simple numbers, the days when looking at a clock didn’t make me physically uncomfortable.

When I sit in class, staring at your face, I can’t help but grit my teeth in discomfort and attempt to ignore the complex horror that I lay my eyes upon.

Somehow we’ve gone from sundials, to analog clocks, to digital clocks, then to you, math clocks. Not trying to hurt your feelings or anything, but I’d prefer a sundial over you.

Trying to read you is like trying to figure out why juniors are in my BC Calc class. I’ve reached my limit with you.

We all have responsibilities. At Hockaday, there’s a lot expected of us. Your job is to tell me what time it is, to give it

GRAPHIC BY SUNITA HU

The Fourcast asked readers, “What’s your favorite holiday movie?”

Here are the results based on a poll of 225 responses.

A Letter to Math Clocks

went off on a lot of tangents”

Upper School math teacher Jessica Chu makes a pun in her Calculus class, during a math lesson on derivatives.

“Those guys are going to be fraternity brothers” Upper School history teacher Lucio Bendedetto, in reference to the 5% in the Remarker’s recent feminism poll.

“I’m almost 18 and I still don’t really understand commas” Senior Suzanne Schmitz commenting on her lack of understanding of a vital grammatical nuance.

TWITTER

“I told my mom to get a box of Rice Krispies at the store and she came back with a box of crispy rice” Senior Staci Shelby (@plzstayseated) tweeting about a miscommunication.

TWITTER

“I could be writing my doctoral dissertation and I’d still wait until the very last minute. I will never not procrastinate” Senior Phoebe Smith (@phobi_wankenobi) tweets about her propensity for procrastination.

STAFFSTANCE junior year, it persists among some. The belief that big-name schools are the best schools could not be more wrong. How can we be the judge of what are the best schools? Everyone has a school that’s the best for them. A singer can be looking at completely different schools than an aspiring scientific researcher. Harvard may be a very well-known school, but a lesser-known school may have a stronger business program for a business major.

It’s hard to be understanding towards the seniors when ¾ of the school hasn’t even gone through the process yet.

Even so, in the Upper School, we should practice empathy and avoid judgment. Hockaday has a 100 percent college attendance rate. It’s a privilege that we all get accepted into more than one college and have the opportunity to decide what college we want to attend.

The belief that we have to go to the best “big-name” school, not necessarily the best one for us, is almost innate. We learn in an environment where we’re encouraged to do our best. Naturally, by the time we begin applying to colleges, this belief extends into our decision-making.

Although we label universities with our college counselors, a school with the label of “safety” or “target” doesn’t make it a lesser-value school than “reaches.” This may seem simple, but it’s often confused. Depending on where we get in, do we go to a school considered top 10 in the nation for academics or go to the school that may be a “target” but would make us happier?

We choose the latter. Regardless of where we go, as long as we’re happy, we’ll find a way to be successful. We’re Hockaday girls, after all. F

PHOTO BY MARY CLAIRE WILSON

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very year, the College Counseling Department hangs daisies on its window. The name of a school is written in the center of the flower, while each petal bears the name of a student who will attend that school the following year. Underclassmen, not yet knowing the trials and heartbreaks of the application process, stand in front of the window, admiring and sometimes even criticizing the schools. Phrases like “she must be so smart” or “that’s not a very good school” can be heard in front of this college collage.

But what makes a school lesser than another school? Is there a difference between the very best school and the very best school for us?

For some, not recognizing the name of a school indicates a less prestigious university.

And although this usually declines by the time we reach

22

THE HOCKADAY SCHOOL

WE LOVE IT, WE LOVE IT NOT

HOCKADAYFOURCAST.ORG

PersPectLves

DECEMBER 17, 2014

STAFFSTANDOFF

Censorship

HOLIDAY BREAK!

Vs.

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t’s the dreaded Sunday afternoon. Piles of homework sit just feet away on your desk, haunting you, signifying the true end to a weekend. The only comfort in the world? Television. With the remote in your hands, you have access to literally everything in the world: dangerous, gory movies, the classic romcoms, racy HBO dramas, even the good, old-fashioned Disney channel is just a click away. Unfortunately, TV channels and movies alike face a common problem that threatens the movies and shows that we love the most: censorship. It is the unspoken problem that the media will most likely have forever. Censorship, which is the ability to suppress material in TV shows and movies that may not be deemed appropriate, affects nearly every form of media. The guts and glory, which could potentially be censored, are what makes reality TV reality TV. In the past few years, many people have debated over censorship, or the lack of, in the media. America is not called the land of the free for no reason. I think that the media should have the option of censorship, giving them the ability to stream and produce whatever they like.

Parents are the main complainant of the lack of censorship. But, these days, parents have the ability to set parental controls on their television, which filter out the naughty materials that could possibly taint their child’s memory.

Another reason why we don’t exactly need censorship is because we need to experience the “real world.” What would Gone Girl have been like without the gory hookup between Amy and Desi? Sometimes, these moments provide the perfect view to the audience; they get the message across, they complete the plot and they attract viewers.

When you are buying tickets to an R-rated movie, you know very well what you are getting yourself into, right? The media provides you with ample warning signs when they are going to show something inappropriate. These days, even video games are given ratings. TV shows also include a suggested age range in the info box. It is a personal choice to subject yourself to this material. If the media continues to provide these types of warning signs, they should be able to go un-censored.

Do you really want the Kardashians to become G-rated? No censorship in the media allows the audience to experience somewhat raw material and experience a bit of the real world. We all need a little of this in our lives. F

The awesome HOLIDAY DECORATIONS in the senior and freshman hallways!

Thanks Meredith Burke!

THE COMMSERVE GIFT DRIVE VIDEO got us in that charitable holiday spirit!

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ell-rested and suffering from a bad case of bedhead, you head towards the living room on a Saturday morning. Expecting to catch up on your favorite programs, you are startled to find that someone is already occupying your spot on the couch, watching what sounds like quite the thriller. As you draw closer, you are even more shocked to find that your six-year-old brother is watching a Rated R movie.

In today’s media, the proper use of censorship has dwindled significantly; its purpose has been lost in the pursuit of entertainment. A viewer can turn on the TV to a channel such as HBO or ABC and be greeted with a graphic scene that he or she did not want to see.

This proves the importance of enforcing censorship.

Although everyone is entitled to freedom of speech, I believe there is a limit--one which has been surpassed.

Censorship is especially essential for younger viewers. Adolescents should not be exposed to sensitive content such as graphic scenes or intense racism at such an innocent age. Parents should be able to decide when their children are introduced to these topics.

Although some rules prevent adolescents from seeing racy films in theatres, there are many other sources for young viewers to access inappropriate content, such as through the TV or the Internet. If censorship is not enforced, these viewers could adopt negative habits or learn about topics that cause them to lose their innocence, which cannot be regained. Delicate issues should be discussed with children at home because they can get incorrect information from inappropriate sources in the media.

In addition, censorship prevents sensitive content about controversial issues such as religion or ethnicity from being discussed or shown to viewers. Members of the audience may be offended by scenes displaying violence, disrespect of foreign cultures or the use of foul language or dangerous substances.The public should be able to avoid seeing any material that will make them uncomfortable or offended.

Although some productions display a warning before a potentially controversial scene is shown, there is often no further censoring. If a viewer turns on the TV after a show or movie has already begun, the threat of being exposed to a sensitive topic is still imminent.

Censorship exists for the betterment of society, not the inhibiting of it. And at the end of the day, is complete freedom really worth having to spend your Saturday wrestling with your little brother for the TV remote? F

Mary Claire Wilson Staff Writer

Heidi Kim Staff Writer

Outside the Christmasphere Saying goodbye to 2014, it’s been a good one! We’ll miss you!

I All the TESTS AND QUIZZES we’ve endured within the past two and a half weeks.

Senior Sydney Yonack

t’s the most wonderful time of the year: streets illuminated by sparkling lights, the warm glow of the ornamented tree through the windows of every house and shrieks of excitement when the calendar quickly nears Dec. 25.

I think if everybody in the school was asked what her favorite time of the year was, the

majority would answer “Christmas.” So once Thanksgiving passes, Christmas is the center of attention. Like the flick of a switch, all of my TV commercials involve ornaments, glowing lights and romantic Christmas mornings shared over a steaming hot cup of Folgers.

Most of this would probably excite me if I could actually have any of it.

Instead, given the cards that the fates have dealt me, I can only admire from afar and walk away from whiteelephant parties clutching a useless Christmas ornament.

It’s not like I have a Hanukkah bush to decorate. When was the last time you saw a house decked out in festive Hanukkah decor?

Being Jewish during Christmastime makes me feel left out. It’s like being the

grape Jolly Rancher at the bottom of the bucket on Mrs. Walder’s desk.

I’m not at all saying that I dislike Hanukkah or that I regret ever being Jewish, but I believe there is a major discrepancy, especially during the holiday times. And I feel like Jewish children are always looking to find Hanukkah as the Jewish counterpart to Christmas when in reality, it is not. Judaism does not look at Hanukkah like Christianity looks at Christmas, but we still try to compensate. And as attempted restitution for lack of a Santa figure, we’ve crafted the unappealing “Hanukkah Harry” character that nobody ever caught onto.

There’s something about the magnitude of Hanukkah in comparison to that of Christmas that makes me feel

so miniscule. Perhaps it’s the fact that there is not a single radio station that plays Hanukkah music (what’s up with that?) or how Joann’s can have aisle upon aisle of Christmas decorations and gift wrap but when it comes to Hanukkah decor, we get two types of paper plates and a packet of stickers.

Despite the disconnect I feel during the holiday time, I have to admit that my favorite part of December is decorating Christmas cookies, listening to 98.7 KLUV with my mom, watching Elf and sitting outside my house, imagining how incredible I could make it look with a few hundred feet of lights. But a girl can dream. F

THE HOCKADAY SCHOOL

THE FOURCAST 23

PersPectLves

DECEMBER 17, 2014

A New Regyme

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Alexis Espinosa

ILLUSTRATION BY ANNE MARIE HWANG

MANAGING EDITOR

Courtney Le

WEB EDITOR

Erin Thomas

BUSINESS MANAGER

Avita Anand

SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR

Sydney Yonack

Senior Hufsa Husain

COPY EDITOR

A

fter a late-night study session followed by an unnervingly long school day, the fact that I can get myself down to the gym is, in itself, a considerable success. Having dedicated a mere hour and a half of the 24 hours in my day to working out, my determination to make today great forces me to abandon all stress and fatigue at the door. A quick stretch and I’m up onto a treadmill, my water bottle filled and a small towel at my side. The machine starts up and I begin to warm up with a jog when —“Excuse me, is that a phone?”

Cue a pang of fear—nope, just annoyance.

“Yeah, but it’s…,” I trail off as she nods understandingly and politely gestures, “go put it on the desk.”

The girl on my right looks over at me and then back at her iTouch, her gratitude unmasked. She and I run sideby-side for the next hour, but I spend nearly 20 minutes of my time listening to advertisements and the remaining 40 minutes on oldies—and not the kind that are fun to run to.

Since when did iPhones become unacceptable? They’re essentially iTouches with little, green “phone” apps—last time I checked, nobody was running in the fitness center while on a phone call. And the argument that a text could pull me away from my run? It would probably motivate me to hit that 60-minute mark instead.

The need to listen to my own music while running on the treadmill should not be so easily dismissed. I don’t want to use my phone to fraternize

Inaara Padani

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Elie MacAdams

while at the gym. In fact, most gym-goers I know only want to use phones for their music capabilities. If our phones had “iTouch” engraved on their backs, the issue might have been more easily resolved.

But since that is evidently not the case, what alternatives are iPhone owners presented with?

Should we waste our money buying iTouches or iPods specifically to listen to music when our iPhones can accomplish the same task?

Even if the fitness center’s playlist were to range from Beyoncé to country music, the existence of the country-hating, Beyoncé-bashing outlier is inevitable (though—Beyoncé?

Really?). Appeasing the musical tastes of everyone in the fitness center is an impossible task; it would make much more sense to allow for the use of our own phones—I know that I person-

ally can’t run to a lighthearted Michael Bublé song or some soft techno music. Working out itself is an endeavour that requires additional motivation.

Trying to exercise to what I perceive as a semi-agreeable song until someone switches the station and I am forced to keep lifting is not only unpleasant, but discouraging. Considering the motivation I need to continue to head over to the fitness center on a daily basis, I can only imagine how intimidating it would be to walk through the doors of the fitness center as a newcomer.

Truth be told, anger with the new rules leads to anger with the girls who brought their treadmills to a halt each time their phones buzzed with a notification. It’s easy to complain about the harsh rules that have been enacted, but we did this to ourselves. If we were to

all use our phones for the sole purpose of listening to music, avoiding any and all potential digital distractions, life would be so much better. We wouldn’t have to run to the predictable Geico advertisements or songs we can’t stand, which would make staying on a treadmill so much easier.

We deserve a second chance—a chance to prove ourselves worthy of the right to listen to our own music on treadmills, if not all gym equipment for safety reasons. Despite the reasoning behind this rule, the mistakes of girls in the past should not hinder the progress of girls today, who are trying to exercise good habits. So, to the fitness directors: create a blacklist of “bad” iPhone users if you will, monitor our phone activity if you must—just please bring the iPhone back to the fitness center. F

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

W

e encourage anyone from the Hockaday community— alumnae, parents, faculty, staff and students—to submit Letters to the Editor. Selected letters will be published each issue in regards to the previous issue. We regret we cannot acknowledge all submitted letters, but we sincerely appreciate them.

Letters to the Editor must be signed.

Please email letters to aespinosa@hockaday.org or mail to The Hockaday School, attention: The Fourcast, 11600 Welch Road, Dallas, Texas 75229. All of the letters must be typed, double-spaced and must not exceed 200 words in length. The Fourcast will not alter the meaning or intention of any letter to the editor, but may edit for grammar, spelling and space.

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24

HOCKADAYFOURCAST.ORG

THE HOCKADAY SCHOOL DECEMBER 17, 2014

CAStOFF ‘Tis the season...for gift giving. Having trouble finding gifts? The Fourcast has you covered. We’ve carefully selected the best subscription boxes for you out there - it’s the gift that keeps on giving.

Yes, your dog needs presents too.

BarkBox makes this easy: select a plan for your dog, and each month, you can recieve at least four gifts for your dog, including bones, toys and treats. One month gift options are available too.

Holiday bonus: BarkBox donates 10% of its profits to “dogs in need.” www.barkbox.com Starting at $19/month.

The simple solution to all those socks without a pair: Foot Cardigan. Each month, they send out a new pair of “delightfully unique socks” (i.e.; totally random).

They offer men’s sizes (7-13) and women’s sizes (7-13). For an additional $2, they can wrap your gift. One month gift options are also available. www.footcardigan.com $9/month

While we can’t guarantee that this gift will stop the early morning Starbucks trips, this gift is definitely worthwhile. Mistobox sources their coffee from over 30 different roasters from all over the United States, and the staff personally matches a roast to you or for whomever you’re giving it to. www.one.mistobox.com Starting at $19/month

It’s like a mini-Sephora in a box: For three months, Birchbox will send a box filled with sample or full-sized makeup, hair, nail and lifestyle goods to whomever you choose. Each item is carefully chosen to match the user’s needs and wants. And never fear - the boxes are filled with highend specialty brands like Nars, Stila and Oribe. www.birchbox.com Starting at $30/3months

Let’s face it: people still want ice cream in the winter. Although pricey, CoolHaus’ ice cream is definitely worth it - these aren’t your local run-of-the-mill flavors, with options like Honeycomb and Pear-Vanilla Sorbet. With the Pint -Of-The-Month selection, CoolHaus will curate a pint of all natural, organic specialty ice cream for your giftee. Afterwards, they can pick up the ice cream from a CoolHaus food truck in the DFW area or have it delivered straight to their doorstep. www.eat.coolhaus.com Starting at $29/3 months