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Arts
Evergreen Ever the
Montage adapts to a virtual world
Emily Hu
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ontage, Greenhill’s student literary magazine, has experienced drastic changes during the COVID-19 pandemic. The lack of in-person interactions has created many challenges with student engagement. The magazine features writing and art from Upper School students. After starting as a club at the beginning of each year, Montage transitions into a class during the second semester. During the class, staff members are assigned specific spreads that pair artwork and written pieces. Students are free to write about whatever they want in these spreads, said Montage faculty sponsor and Upper School Fine Arts teacher Lesley Rucker. There is no criteria for subject matter, and students can write in various forms, including poetry, prose and screenplay. “There is writing that has to do with personal growth and reflection or dealing with challenges of oneself,” said Rucker. “The writing that students are capable of doing in high school is incredible and I’m overwhelmed each year by the strength of student writing and how personal it is.” To adapt to remote learning, students learned the basics of Adobe InDesign and Photoshop on their personal laptops to create the magazine remotely. “Assigning spreads, being able to give feedback, and all of that is slowed down because we have to do it through email or Teams,” said senior Sheena Kwon, the Montage editor-in-chief. “Learning the specifics of how to work programs was much more challenging.” Additionally, the lack of conventional communication methods meant there were fewer submissions to Montage. In the past, posters and Community Time announcements were effective reminders for students to submit pieces. Email
reminders have now become the only way of spreading awareness this school year. “March is our usual deadline so we can get the book produced,” said Rucker. “While we would normally have 20 to 25 submissions [by then], this year we had nine.” Due to the lack of submissions, the deadline was extended to April 1.
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There is writing that has to do with personal growth and reflection or dealing with challenges of oneself. The writing that students are capable of doing in high school is incredible, and I’m overwhelmed each year by the strength of student writing and how personal it is.”
The staff also organized a haiku competition in March. Although Montage has held competitions in the past, they were previously all judged within the staff. This time, the staff voted on teachers in the English Department to judge the competition. English Department Chair Joel Garza was eventually chosen. English teachers across Upper School were also contacted to encourage their students to participate in the competition. Many included haiku in their lesson plans to help students prepare and practice for the competition. “The contest was so successful that I’m intent on building out this haiku activity into a fuller unit on ancient poetry with strict forms,” said Garza. “Based on the student feedback I got, it was an accessible and enjoyable activity.” The Montage staff discussed rules and prizes before Garza anonymously chose the top 10 haiku of the
Photo courtesy of Sheena Kwon
VIRTUALLY PICTURESQUE: The 2020-2021 Montage issue’s front and back covers embrace the theme of possibility.
competition. In order, the top three haiku were written by juniors Aarian Dhanani, Hallie Sternblitz and Saara Bidiwala. “I think the competition was ultimately successful because it brought awareness,” said Rucker. “We received more submissions in poetry and in prose after the [haiku] competition was announced as it kind of reminded people to submit to Montage.” Despite the unusual circumstances of this past year, the Montage staff notes that some adaptations made because of the pandemic can be used in the future as well. “In previous years all, the work was stored in the computers at school,” said Kwon. “After COVID, we could continue to work on our own laptops, which will allow more time for people to work on the magazine outside of school.”
“Varsity Blues:” Inside the college admissions scandal Eliza Lamster
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olleges admit students through one of three doors: the front door, which is by application only and at no additional expense; the back door, which would be through massive donations that allow colleges to erect new buildings; or the side door, which consists of obtaining fraudulent admission spots by lying about participation in niche sports like sailing or crew. The new Netflix documentary “Operation Varsity Blues” follows the pay-for-play operation of independent college counselor William “Rick” Singer, who chaperones students through the side door. Singer is one of 53 people charged in the federal investigation codenamed Operation Varsity Blues; more than 40 people, including Singer, have pleaded guilty to various federal charges and nearly 10 are still awaiting trial. Singer approached athletic coaches and directors with a heavy say in college admissions to get his clients into specific colleges. He targeted smaller sports such as water polo and rowing. He ultimately pleaded guilty to all charges brought against him: racketeering conspiracy; money laundering conspiracy; conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruction of justice. Colleges involved in this scandal included prestigious schools like Yale, Georgetown, Stanford, USC and the University of Texas at Austin. The list of criminal convictions in the case includes a mix of famous and wealthy individuals, including Hollywood stars Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman. The Evergreen interviewed students and faculty members who have watched the documentary. Here is a snapshot of their views:
“I thought it was just, frankly, baffling that something like that could happen and that people would go to those lengths to be able to get their kids into a specific college.” —Jack Quinn, senior
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“I’m glad that there was a documentary made about [the scandal] to expose and to make it well known, because I would not be surprised that this stuff has been going on for a lot longer, and still is, probably…Overall it was a well-done documentary, and I think it’s important content for people to be aware of.” —Kaleb Mathieu, Upper School science teacher
“The one thing that struck me was the way some people just assumed it was all okay as opposed to really asking those questions like, ‘Wait a minute, you’re saying if I pay you this amount of money, this person here is going to get my kid in and that’s perfectly legal and/or ethical?’” —Trevor Worcester, Head of Upper School !"#$% 6*% )*+% $".28% 1$+6'2$1% #26% $'#7"'(1% 1"*+-6% $#8'% #&#)%3(*/%$".15 “At some point, it’s out of the student’s hands, it’s out of the school’s hands, and it’s in the hands of the college that’s looking at it. And if what they did on that documentary is what has to happen, then it’s just really, really bad.” —Trevor Worcester, Head of Upper School 9*&% 6.6% &#$7".2:% ;<#(1.$)% =-+'1>% #?'7$% $"'% &#)% )*+% $".28% #@*+$%7*--':'%#6/.11.*215 “It made me really aware of my privilege in being a student that goes to a college prep school. I feel as though if I don’t do incredibly well, even though I started out with so many advantages and so many privileges, then I’m doing something wrong.” —Shruti Siva, junior
Graphic by Emma Nguyen
!"#$%0#($%*3%$"'%6*7+/'2$#()%1$**6%*+$%$*%)*+5 “[Rick Singer] turned so easily on his own demographic. He wired himself, and he was willing to do it right away, which shows that he cared so little about everything he was doing that he could just throw everybody else under the bus.” —Abeera Amer, freshman
“I think there’s just so much more stress and stuff than there needs to be for this whole process. You see this in the way your students’ mental health just tanks and declines so much, and it’s honestly kind of sad to see how it has affected people so negatively when it should be a happy, enjoyable process. I think it’s been made to be much worse than it should be.” —Kaleb Mathieu, Upper School Science teacher