may 17, 2017 volume 52, issue 6
the Everything Greenhill
evergreengreenhill.org
Happy trails, Ross family Head of Upper School Laura Ross to leave Greenhill to become Head of Upper School at Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles see story on page 5
Photo by Lili Stern
Beyond the coverings: a conversation Views about religious customs
Staff editorial on making a clearer health policy for students of the Upper School p. 2
News
Samar Ahmad Arts Editor
Stephen Crotty Staff Writer
Senior Josh Rudner is well aware that people are pointing at him and looking at him when he enters a public space, wondering what he is wearing on his head. Those questioners do not know that the colorful piece of fabric covering Josh’s head is a kippah worn to respect his Jewish faith. The kippah is a skullcap traditionally worn by Jewish men as a sign of devoutness and pride in their identity. Josh started wearing his kippah regularly in public while attending Jewish day school at Ann & Nate Levine Academy. “When I was in third or fourth or fifth grade, [my brother] Zach and I would go to school, wear kippahs, then come home and take them off and do our homework or play. But then I realized that I wasn’t less Jewish when I left my school and that if this is what Jewish men are supposed to do, then there’s no reason for me not to do it at home,” said Josh. Josh is not the only student at Greenhill who wears a headdress regularly. Seniors Jed Golman, Jordan Sternblitz, and Hayes Barton all wear kippot (plural of kippah). Senior Simra Abedi wears hijab to practice her Islamic faith. Hijab is a head scarf
Serving Greenhill since 1966
Sally Rosenberg to retire after 23 years at Greenhill as Director of Service Learning and Community service p. 3
Feat. Graphics by Michelle Liang
traditionally worn by Muslim women as a symbol of modesty and connection to one’s faith. For Simra, what is meant to be a symbol of religious devotion often carries a stigma. “People generally lack an incentive to learn about the hijab and what it means, which creates a negative opinion that is projected without fear,” said Simra. Students at Greenhill wear religious headdresses for multiple reasons. They may wear it because of a growing spiritual identity or because of a personal belief that religious devotion should not be confined to the home. Simra began to wear hijab in October of her junior year. She was compelled to wear it after realizing that the strong, brave
Muslim role models all chose to wear it. According to Simra, she could no longer ignore what is considered to be a large part of her religion by only wearing hijab at Sunday religious school. “Islam places a lot of importance on women, and in order to follow the example of these strong women, I had to wear hijab,” said Simra. According to Simra, the response to her hijab was positive at Greenhill. She was asked many questions on the subject of whether her decision would be permanent as well as her reasoning behind why she chose to wear it. That being said, Simra did face some backlash from her own family regarding her decision.
cont’d on page 6
The Evergreen continues its Student Spotlight series with sophomore James Brown p. 5
Arts
Students use social media as a platform to share their artwork with fellow classmates p.11
Sports See where 11 Greenhill athletes are headed to continue their athletic careers p. 13
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