Polygon: April Issue

POLY PREP’S Student Newspaper VOL. CVIII ISSUE VI APRIL 2024 Issue

the

POLYGON

polygonnews.org polygonnews.org

4.8-Magnitude Earthquake Shakes Poly Prep JORDAN MILLAR EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

T

hough it is relatively “rare to feel earthquakes in the Geological Survey, 40 other earthquakes of magnitude 3 U.S. Northeast ‘’ according to the Scientific Amer- and larger have occurred within 250 km of the April 5 ican, a 4.8 magnitude earthquake was felt on April 5 earthquake, which in that time range is the largest. While within the New York City metropolitan area and across tremors were felt for more than 30 seconds and there were areas such as Philadelphia, Maryland, and Boston. New Yorkers and Poly students in particular, who typically do not experience significant seismic events or activity, raised questions and concerns.

“I thought it was Middle Schoolers running around upstairs,” said senior Ava Rosario.

“I was in string ensemble on the second floor practicing for the concert. We thought it was middle schoolers running in the hallway so we kept playing. Afterwards, our teacher told us it was an earthquake and we were very surprised,” said senior Jasmine Grant-Phillips.

The earthquake did have a preliminary magnitude of 4.0 and was located near Gladstone, N.J., according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), an agency of the United States government whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. Seismologists refer to the largest earthquake event in an area as a mainshock, which was recorded at 4.8 magnitude.

Head of Operations Matt Stelluto and Director of Security Sal Bonaventura sent out an email to families and students notifying them of the magnitude 4.8 earthquake in Tewksbury, NJ that was subsequently felt throughout the tri-state area. “Please know that our students are safe. At this time there is no need to evacuate buildings. If there is an emergency, we will communicate with families by text and email,” the email read, assuring the community that School Operations and Safety and Security had been monitoring the situation closely throughout the remainder of the day.VIA U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY According to the New York Times, “The U.S.G.S. has logged 188 earthquakes with a magnitude of 2.5 or no immediate reports of injuries or damage, the earthgreater within a 250-mile radius of New York City since quake did in fact trigger “numerous delays and tempo1957. In that timeframe, only seven have had a magni- rary closures of transportation infrastructure in the area.” tude at or above 4.5.” The earthquake on the 5th presentEarthquakes occur as a result of the movement of ed the third-highest recorded magnitude “around the New parts of the Earth’s crust, particularly the outermost layYork metropolitan region in nearly 75 years” according er. As explained by the USGS, when the Earth’s tectonic to CNBC News. Since 1950, as per the United States plates slide past and bump into each other, the rough edg-

es of the plates (known as plate boundaries) can get stuck while the rest of the plate keeps moving. “Finally, when the plate has moved far enough, the edges unstick on one of the faults and there is an earthquake,” the USGS notes.

The earthquake that occurred across the East Coast on April 5, according to the USGS, occurred as a result of “oblique reverse and strike-slip faulting at shallow depths in the crust” ; though the earthquake did not occur near a plate boundary, intraplate earthquakes (which occur in the interior of a tectonic plate), are possible.

“While this earthquake is relatively small globally, earthquakes of this magnitude are commonly widely felt in the eastern United States because of efficient seismic wave propagation in the region,” states the USGS. The April 5 earthquake did occur in a region where faults have been previously identified and may be reactivated at any time, and its epicenter was near Whitehouse Station, N.J., about 40 miles west of New York City. The depth of the bedrock rupture was estimated to be at 2.9 miles.

Despite not presenting significant damage, the earthquake did impact some air and train travel according to CNN. “Buildings are also older in the Northeast and may not be designed to the latest earthquake code”, as stated by the USGS. “This is particularly a concern for shorter buildings like houses.

Earthquakes tend to shake in a faster backand-forth motion in the East compared to the West, which puts smaller buildings more at risk for damage, the USGS noted.

Aftershocks of the earthquake and physical effects in East Coast residents were also documented by the USGS. In addition to the physical tremors, according to the New York Times, “People can experience anxiety, sleep problems and other health issues in the hours and days after a quake.”

Chasing Shadows: Poly Experiences Solar Eclipse ELLA SCHOENBURG CONTRIBUTING WRITER

T

he April 2024 solar eclipse was the first total eclipse visible from the United States since August 2017. Poly students were able to take time out of class to view the eclipse after listening to a presentation in the Chapel by Physics Teacher Joseph Fallica about the importance and significance of the solar eclipse.

On average, a total solar eclipse occurs every few years, visibility varying depending on the viewer’s location. A solar eclipse occurs when the moon blocks the sun from the Earth’s view, causing it to go dark for a few minutes. But, in order for a total eclipse to happen, there are many factors that come into play.

There are two planes that need to align for a total eclipse: the plane on which the Earth orbits the sun and the plane on which the moon orbits the Earth. On the Earth-moon plane, which is slightly inclined compared to the Earth-sun plane, there are two points opposite each other where the planes intersect, called nodes. During a solar eclipse, the moon must be at one of the two nodes.

When the moon is aligned with one of the two nodes and in front of the sun, the sun will cast a shadow onto Earth, allowing viewers to see what is known to be the solar eclipse. There are two types of eclipses possible at that point — total, which is what Poly students saw

on April 8, and annular, which last occurred on October 13, 2023, though it was not visible from New York. The difference between the two is how close the moon is to the Earth. During the annular eclipse, the moon is at its furthest point from the Earth, causing the sun to not be fully covered, while during a total eclipse, the moon is at its closest point to Earth, fully covering the sun.

When asked about his personal experience and opinions on the eclipse, Fallica said that, although the eclipse was exactly as he expected, he wishes to have had “better emphasized what 90 percent coverage would look like to the group prior to going outside.” Fallica stated that he believes students expected to see complete darkness, explaining that “ten percent of the sun is still going to provide daylight, and so without the glasses, you won’t notice the eclipse happening”.

The next total solar eclipse will be on August 12, 2026, though it will only be visible from Russia, Greenland, Spain, and Iceland. The next to be visible from the United States will be on August 23, 2044. Although current students won’t be at Poly when it happens, hopefully they may still be able to enjoy it safely from wherever they are.

VIA TJ IANNELLI

NEWS

2

APRIL 2024

The History and Reality of Poly Prep Grading Policies LUCIA ZAREMBA ONLINE MANAGING EDITOR AND SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

I

magine it is 1916, around 3:35 p.m., and a young boy embarks on a long walk home from a day of learning in order to be able to work on his family farm. There are cows to milk and crops to tend to, and this responsibility rested squarely on this 7th grader’s shoulders. The curriculum included agriculture, textile skills, and the economics of the “developing” world economy we could never recognize.

Now, move to today. It is 2024, and around 3:35, a Poly Prep student just arrived back from his bus ride home.

His mom knows he is home because of the tracker on his iPhone, and he orders a snack with Uber Eats before using his Chromebook to edit his writing assignment. The world has clearly changed, but the American education system still adheres to standards set for the boy on the farm.

Like many schools, Poly Prep adhered to this outdated system for many years. However, things are changing with the help of Michal Hershkovitz, who stepped into her role as the assistant head of school, academics in 2019. Hershkovitz has since been working within the Poly administration to reimagine Poly grading policies and systems. She introduced Poly to equitable grading: a new, modernized approach to grading pioneered by Joe Feldman, author of “Grading for Equity.”

Since 2019, Poly has experienced major change in its grading policies, as the school made a unified effort towards adopting equitable practices. While Poly is committed to updating their grading policies, two major questions remain. First, how exactly have the Poly Prep grading policies changed over time? And second, are the new Poly Prep grading policies sustainable?

Equitable Grading Joe Feldman is, by many accounts, the United States’ leading expert on equitable grading. When asked about his intentions behind writing and publishing “Grading for Equity” in 2018, Feldman explained, “We continue to use the same grading practices that we’ve used for the past 100 years…and our continued use of those now actually undermines effective teaching and learning.” Feldman hopes to reimagine grading in the United States so that it aligns with a modernizing world.

Feldman describes equitable grading as “grading in ways that are more accurate,” as well as, “bias-resistant.”

Feldman establishes the three pillars of equitable grading as: accuracy, bias-resistance, and motivation. “Grading for Equity” explores exactly how to achieve equitable grading, including a shift to rubric-based grading, the exclusion of homework from a grade, late work policies, and

the extermination of extra-credit. Hershkovitz had found a text that supported her vision of equitable grading at Poly.

Reflecting on the need for equitable grading, Hershkovitz said, “Grades need to be motivational. They need to be bias-resistant…It exposes that what we’ve been doing for a long time might not actually serve our students.”

In 2019, teachers and administrators at Poly were given a simple task: to read “Grading for Equity.” However, what does an effort at “equitable grading” look like at Poly?

How Grading at Poly Has Changed Hershkovitz was previously the history department chair. “She really started conversations with the department chairs about our grading practices,” explained Head of Upper School Sarah Bates. “[Hershkovitz] questioned: What is extra credit for? What is the late policy for? What exactly are we evaluating?”

Hershkovitz’s time in her new role was interrupted in March of 2020 by the pandemic. Covid brought unprecedented challenges to the education system: generational challenges that were never faced before.

Schools reacted in different ways. A large majority of universities across the United States adopted “flexible grading.” According to the National Library for Medicine, “Flexible grading included giving the students the option to maintain their earned letter grades in the course, opt for a pass/no-pass course grade, or withdraw from the course.”

Poly’s primary solution, however, was to instill a floor grade. “Wherever anyone was on March 10 when Covid hit and we shut down, you couldn’t get below that grade for the year,” explained Bates, “It was because we recognized that so many students were experiencing Covid in really, really different ways.”

While Covid brought unprecedented challenges, it also sped along the conversations surrounding grading that were already happening within Poly administration. “Since we could literally and figuratively see into one another’s homes, it brought forth this idea of equity in different practices that we have,” said Bates.

For example, extra credit was eliminated during this time. “What it neglects to see, and what Feldman’s work helped us see, was that if a student doesn’t fulfill an extra credit assignment, it might be because she has other responsibilities,” explained Hershkovitz. In “Grading for Equity,” Feldman writes, “Extra credit tells students that learning is a ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ game where you select how to get the points you need to get the grade you want.”

Also as a result of Covid, the grading system changed

VIA SOPHIA CHAMORRO

from a semester grade to a rolling grade, which doesn’t lock until the end of the school year. Hershkovitz and administration also decided that homework would no longer be graded, just assigned. Instead, students would be graded according to a summative assessment at the end of the unit.

During this time, Poly administration also eliminated the late work penalty. According to previous reporting from senior Lilly Belford in the 2021-2022 school year, Bates said “the Poly Administration, department chairs, and teachers are no longer deducting late points, but ‘they are accounting for it in other ways.’”

A 2021-2022 Grade nine history course description states, “Late submissions on assessments will not be penalized. Late submissions and incomplete work will be reported to your dean, any athletic coaches, and guardians.”

Here, handing in assignments on time is an expectation, yet no “late points” are deducted when not handed in on time.

Bates believes that not deducting points if a student turns in work late is “the wrong message to send.” She explained, “Students are particularly prone to anxiety or perfectionism or some things that can really mess with your head. Not having a firm deadline was not helping those students at all.”

Peter Nowakoski, who has been chair of the English department since 2018, agreed: “So it was not working.”

He continued, “We found a lot of students falling behind and not being able to get themselves out of that situation.”

Nowakoski also added that it made it hard for teachers to move along and begin new units. “For students who struggle with time management, it was harmful,” said Hershkovitz.

This late work policy was clearly in need of some repair as Poly entered a post-covid world. In 2022, Poly (continued on page 3)

The POLYGON Managing Editor TJ Iannelli News Editors Anjali Budhram Seanna Sankar

Sports Editors Kayvan Dyk Reese Roaman

Photography Editors Sophia Chamorro IZ Nissen

Breaking News Editor Lucas Basham

Online Managing Editor Lucia Zaremba

Opinions Editor William Ling-Regan

Business Manager Petros Dulos

People Editor Elizabeth Perry

Head Layout Editors Danielle Jason Charlotte Roberts

Features Editor Eleanor Brown Lila Daniels Arts Editors Sadie Schoenberger Brianna Sylvain Middle School Editor Charlotte Arzouian

Editors-in-Chief Jess Dosik Jordan Millar

Layout Editors Emma Arden Amber Dosik Chloe Guedes-Smith Nyjáh Harrison Carolina Lisk Dov Weinstein Elul

The Polygon is published at least seven times a year by the students of Poly Prep Country Day School. We welcome both letters to the editor and guest opinions. All Chief of Cartoons and Puzzles submissions should be emailed to polyMichael Gabriel gon@polyprep.org and must include the author’s name. The Polygon reserves the DEIB Reporter right to edit all submissions for spelling, Izzy Leyton grammar, and length. Letters should be no longer than 200 words, and opinion pieces should be no longer than 750 words. You Copy Editors can find the full Polygon editorial policy Maia Kovaleski online at polygonnews.org.

Ziah Adediran Lulu Adefris-Yaxley Faculty Advisor: Rachael Allen Aerin Genatt Gabi Winitzer

The Polygon c/o Poly Prep CDS 9216 7th Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11228

APRIL 2024

3

NEWS

The History and Reality of Poly Prep Grading Policies (cont. from page 2) launched a new initiative: faculty working groups.

These working groups represent a unified effort to have faculty and student representation in policy-making areas.

In 2022, Hershkovitz sent out a Google form to rally teachers interested in joining faculty working groups.

In this form, the possible working groups were listed as: Grading Mission Statement/Philosophy, Student Accountability, Homework: Purpose and Policies, Curricular Visions for Equity and Justice, Social-Emotional Wellness, The Experience of Our Female-Identifying Students, Multidisciplinary Initiatives/Curricula, and Community Events/Assemblies. These working groups met once a month, where Hershkovitz is the head chair.

“It was from those grading working group recommendations that we tweaked the original policy and came up with the grading templates that the departments now have,” said Hershkovitz.

In a tenth grade 2022-2023 history syllabus, ten percent of the student’s grade is credited to “habits of scholarship,” which is a rubric comprising two parts; part one is planning and preparation and part two is engagement and scholarship. Part one includes “timeliness.” The date by which a student submits their work only impacts a rubric grade, instead of having a clear guideline of deducting points. The 2022-2023 History Department’s overall grading policy said that the policy is intended to ensure grades are “accurate, bias-resistant, and motivational,” referencing Feldman’s “three pillars of equitable grading.”

What is the current (2023-2024) Grading Policy The 2023-2024 Poly late work policy is now as follows: “If at the end of the marking period, a student has not submitted all necessary assignments, a teacher may enter an Incomplete (INC) on the report card. Students have one week after the due date of an assignment to turn in outstanding work; if they fail to do so within that time frame, a failing grade will be entered into the gradebook and their grade will be calculated accordingly.”

According to the Poly website, “Individual departments will determine their own grading policies, including re-dos, make-ups, and post-deadline submissions. Faculty will have slightly varied approaches to grading that will be grounded in their department’s policies to maintain equity.”

The department policies are as follows, according to each 2023-2024 department’s syllabus: Math: “Students have one week after the due date to reach out to their teacher to let them know when they will be able to submit their late project. If students fail to communicate with their teacher regarding the late project, they must attend the next scheduled mandatory study hall to complete their work.

After eight days the maximum grade a student can earn drops to a C-. Then, students have up to one more week until the maximum grade drops to 50 percent.”

Sciences: “Students are given one calendar week past the official due date without any grade penalty. After one calendar school week, students will have ten percent of the value of the assignment deducted. After one week beyond the ‘grace period,’ students will receive a 50 percent on the assignment.”

History: “Students will receive a one-week grace period after a graded summative assignment is due with no repercussions. After the grace period has passed, if an assessment has not been completed and submitted appropriately

(as determined by the teacher), the student will receive a one percent grade penalty on the assessment per calendar day.”

English: “After seven calendar days, the grade will stand as a ‘Not Turned In’ and the student will not receive credit for the assignment. For major assignments whose grades make up the majority of a student’s final grade, after seven days, late work will be penalized at the rate of a full grade per day after the deadline. Grades on such assignments may not drop below 50 percent of the total possible value.”

Computer Science: “Computer science has a ‘late policy progression.’ When the assignment is one minute late, deans and parents are notified and the student is assigned to mandatory study hall; One week late: point loss begins, two percent per calendar day; two weeks

VIA SOPHIA CHAMORRO

late: dean and parents are notified; three weeks late: final grade of 50 entered (assignment must still be submitted).”

Language: “If a student hands in a graded assignment within one week of the deadline, no grade penalty will be applied, but an email will be sent to the student’s dean shortly after the deadline. On the eighth day past the deadline, the grade will be capped at a C-. If work is not handed in before two weeks past the deadline, the student will receive a 50 percent. Additionally, oral presentations and graded speaking activities must be done on the day that they are assigned.

Should a student cut class for a presentation, as with a cut test or quiz, their grade will be an automatic 50.”

Another effort towards developing equitable grading practices is the use of rubrics. While this is a concept that is definitely still in the works, it remains at the forefront of Hershkovitz’s efforts to make Poly grading more equitable. “I hope you see more and more rubrics as part of your assessments. I do. That is an outgrowth of this movement,” said Hershkovitz. In “Grading for Equity,” Feldman simi-

larly claims that “rubrics and proficiency scales create more transparency about what a grade requires of a student.”

Hershkovitz described the process of changing policies as a collaborative experience. “We solicit and invite a lot of voices before we make changes,” she explained.

Response to change Junior Drew Waldman, who is on the Poly Prep varsity girls lacrosse team while also heavily involved in Poly musical programs, explained, “[The new grading policies] allow me the extra time I need to be able to excel in two things that I love, lacrosse and theater, while also being able to maintain my grades. It is the perfect medium.”

Leila Ross, a sophomore transfer from Dalton, agrees.

Ross has no issue with the late work policy and finds that it does not have a large impact on her work schedule.

Ross, however, explained, “At Dalton, what I like better is that they post the grades to our online student portal.”

When asked about her insight regarding student response to the new grading/late work policies, Upper School Dean Perri Meeks explained, “I think most [students] have responded by turning their assignments in closer to when they’re actually due, which I think is helpful.”

Celia Camara, a ninth grader at Poly Prep, commented on her experience transitioning from Poly Middle School to Poly Upper School in terms of this policy: “The one-week grace period is a perfect amount of time.” She continued, “We’re all in high school so I don’t see why freshmen would have a different policy.”

Emily Gardiner, Poly Prep upper school dean department chair, said that her students have expressed little to no controversy about this week’s late period. Instead, she said that, as the Poly community turned to a post-pandemic era, she heard more feedback from family friends and faculty about how the previous month’s late work policy created “a very mushy understanding of time management.” Regarding the new, late work policy, Gardiner commented, “This new, less enormous lateness grace period, I think, feels welcome in our community.”

Going Forward Poly grading policies have undergone very significant changes over the years, from the unprecedented impacts of Covid to the new approach to equitable grading. As student feedback rolls in, how will these policies continue to evolve?

When asked about his prediction for the future of this policy, Nowakoski explained, “We learned over the course of a couple of years that [the late work policy] needed to be changed. I think the same thing will happen.” Nowakoski described the current late work policy as a “compromise” and predicts further conversation among department heads that could provoke change.

However, Bates noted, “I think [the current grading/late work policies] will be maintained now, going forward.”

If history has shown us anything, it is that the future of Poly Prep grading policies is unpredictable. Covid pushed Poly into a time where it was forced to consider how the pandemic affected learning and students. If Poly administration holds strong to its commitment to equitable grading, policies will continue to change along a changing world. Equity, in this way, is the adjustment of imbalance.

“The goal of our grading policy is to give you the best feedback in the most appropriate amount of time. And we’re still, like with everything else, making our way there,” Hershkovitz said.

Encouraging Excellence: The Current Purpose of MS Homework Policies SASHA LONDONER STAFF WRITER

S

tudents are constantly faced with an abundance of work that often accompanies strict expectations, rubrics, time constraints, and policies. Due dates are set, grades are firm, and many of these standards are implemented for students the instant they enter middle school.

While at a first glance, these policies may seem overly burdensome for people just beginning their academic career, they’re made for the benefit of the student.

From encouraging excellence to teaching students about the importance of productivity, these rules aim to allow middle schoolers to discover how to advocate for themselves, prepare for the future, and strive for improvement.

“Poly Prep’s [work] policy has evolved over the years, and, as it should, because all policy should evolve,” Michal Hershkovitz shared in an interview with The Poly-

gon. As the assistant head of school, academics at Poly, she collaborates with department chairs, Interim Head of School John Rankin, and the Academic Programming Committee to discuss and establish new grading, homework, and late policies that apply to all grades. According to Hershkovitz, academic policies “particularly changed during Covid,” to adapt for virtual schooling. Dan Doughty, the head of middle school, stated that one of these Covid altered policies for middle school was “a free reading requirement, which we had before Covid and was taken away.” After being reinstated, this requirement was changed to accommodate for the different grade levels.

“We added back that [seventh and eighth grade] kids are expected to do 20 minutes of free reading, and fifth and six, 15. We really want them to be getting into the habit of

reading, and reading things that they like,” added Doughty.

Additionally, the “20-minute rule” for middle schoolers has been altered to adapt for the student’s age. From 2019-2023, the “20-minute rule” meant that students had to work on homework assignments for no longer than the mandatory 20 minutes. After this was completed, a student could then present their teacher with what work was completed and receive full credit, as long as a parent confirmed their efforts with a signature. However, from the 2021 school year onwards, teachers began to be more expectant, and this policy wasn’t necessarily recognized or strictly adhered to. Now, the official middle school policy reads that “students can expect to have 20 minutes of homework per class when in fifth and sixth grade, and 30 when in seventh and eighth.” (continued on page 4)

4

NEWS

APRIL 2024

Encouraging Excellence: The Current Purpose of Homework Policies (cont. from page 3) Doughty shared that this change was made to encourage students to understand that 20 or 30 minutes of time should be what they’re spending per class. If the work is taking shorter or longer than this, he continued, students should then utilize this knowledge to advocate for themselves and “plan ahead, because sometimes there’s a bigger project or test coming up, so they [should] spread out their time over a few days.”

These policies don’t aim to benefit students only during their time in middle school.

The work habits internalized by homework policies ideally allow students to smoothly transition into higher, more challenging grade levels. Preparation for high school, Doughty said, was “why we increased the amount of [homework time] in seventh and eighth grade.”

Hershkovitz shared that the necessity of rubrics on graded assignments was to encourage students to develop their academic skill sets. She stated that grades alone share nothing

about what a student should improve on and can often “promote this kind of instrumental approach to grades.” She continued, “that’s why we also instituted rubrics. Rubrics were a very important piece of the policies we enacted in the last four years so that grading is transparent.” Grades can serve as a “snapshot of what you have accomplished in this course right now.” Identifying a student’s growing area inspires further conversations to be: “where do you want to go from here,” instead of: “why am I stuck here?” explained Hershkovitz.

Doughty and Hershkovitz agree that adhering to standards isn’t just for the benefit of the teacher, a good grade, or to maintain academic integrity. The purpose of these policies is to better the student’s work ethic and understanding of self so that they can blossom into an environment in which they can thrive and succeed.

Tango Across Borders: Poly’s Old Argentina Exchange Program LUCAS BASHAM BREAKING NEWS EDITOR

O

n September 11, 2001, at 8 o’clock in the morning, twenty Argentine students and Poly Spanish teachers José Oliveras and Graziella Sidoli piled into a yellow school bus to leave Poly for a field trip to the World Trade Center. Attendance was taken, and everything felt ready to go. But something was missing. Upon boarding the bus, Oliveras realized that the Commons staff had forgotten to prepare and pack their to-go lunch.

While Sidoli went to sort the situation, the students sang and joked until she returned: “Chicos, bajen porque parece que una avioneta o un helicóptero chocó contra una de las torres; Guys, get off because it seems like a small plane or a helicopter crashed into one of the towers.”

“That was our luck,” said Oliveras in an interview.

“Obviously, we never left.”

The fall of 2001 was the seventh edition of an exchange program Poly ran in partnership with the trilingual school Academia Argüello in Córdoba, Argentina. During Spring Break each year, a group of mostly juniors and the occasional sophomore or freshman would travel to Argentina with the program’s coordinator and another chaperone, attend some classes at the school in Córdoba, and live with host families. The following September, those same Poly students would host their Argentine “siblings” in New York.

In a world with an increasing need for global citizens to solve international problems, opportunities for intercultural understanding are more important than ever. Recently, Poly introduced the first initiative since the Argentina program that’ll give students a similar level of cultural immersion. But to bring twenty students to another continent and host another twenty students in students’ homes every year requires hours of coordination, communication, and hard work. While the program inspired Poly students to pursue language, travel, and see the world in a brand new way, as time passed, only one teacher was allotted to be in charge at once. The teacher was to organize everything — while still teaching full-time.

In 1994, Poly alumnus Larry Levine, who at the time was corporate counsel for Aerolineas Argentinas — Argentina’s primary airline — offered a travel grant to a Poly teacher to create a connection between Poly and a local school in Córdoba, according to a Poly press release from 1996. Then-Spanish teacher Lori Langer de Ramirez’s proposal to establish an exchange program with a school in Argentina won the grant, and she traveled to Argentina in the summer of 1994.

“My charge was to set up those connections,” Langer said. After first going to Buenos Aires, she went to Córdoba, where Levine, who lived there, had a prior connection to Academia Arguello. Langer recalls the people at Academia Arguello, including Head of English Susana Cabido, “were incredible, warm, and welcoming. They were eager to make connections.” Cabido could not be reached for an interview.

Just as Poly students would later experience, Langer was cared for, fed, and brought around town. “I remember exploring the town and also looking for things that kids could do when they’re not in school because it’s not just about the school, it’s about the environment,” she said. With both sides eager to make the connection, after plenty of discussion of logistics — when students would come, where they’d stay, what they’d do — it was set for the program to begin with the Poly students going to Argentina in the Spring of 1995.

After an overnight trip from JFK airport to Buenos Aires, Poly students spent a few days in the capital before traveling to Córdoba, where they met and lived with their host families, went to school with their host siblings, and explored the city. At the school, Poly students shadowed the Argentine students, who took classes in Spanish in the morning and classes in English in the afternoon.

On that first trip, Langer recalls a Poly student approaching her after “hanging out with Argentinian kids … and talking about who knows what,” she said. “And he came over and he said, ‘oh my God, there’s a whole dif-

ferent way of being,’ and I thought, ‘oh my God, this is the most profound thing I’ve ever heard from a young adult in my life.’ What he was saying is that these kids had a different perspective on life. They lived their lives differently.”

That first year was Langer’s only year leading the trip. (In 1997, she left Poly to finish her doctorate. She’s now the Head of Languages at The Dalton School in Manhattan.) Sidoli and Oliveras took over leadership of the program as co-coordinators.

Prior to the program in Argentina, Poly had a program in Spain run by one teacher, according to Sidoli. “One of the things I was saying to myself was ‘I’d never do that’ because I saw how much [the teacher] worked,” said Sidoli in an interview. When Langer came to her with the proposition of leading the Argentina program, Sidoli said, “no, of course, not me, I’m too busy.” But on second thought, Sidoli was drawn to the idea of returning to Argentina, where she had lived until age 14. “So I said okay, and it was very interesting.”

One afternoon in Córdoba on Sidoli’s first trip in 1996, one of the host families — who happened to be the wealthiest family in the city — invited the Poly students to their hacienda (large, rural estate) outside the city.

Upon arrival, the bus packed with curious Americans was

VIA LORI LANGER DE RAMIREZ

escorted through the gates by two gauchos (cowboys).

After a horse ride, singing, and dancing “came the big gift,” recalled Sidoli. “The big present was that they butchered a cow for us … that included the cow growing inside the womb.” But next, some students went to see where the cattle had their horns shaved off, were branded, and, lastly, had their testicles cut off. “But that wasn’t enough,” said Sidoli. “Then [the Argentines] roasted them and ate them.” Only one student ate the cow testicles.

Back at the school, the Americans got a lot of attention, but communication barriers rarely proved a problem, according to Andrew McNally, a Poly student who was on the 1996 trip. “The level of English proficiency that our hosts had certainly dwarfed my level of Spanish proficiency,” he said. Similarly, the Argentines received a lot of attention at Poly, recalled McNally.

Through all this, Sidoli remembers working what felt like twenty-four hours a day. “All sorts of things would happen, anything from something stupid like that the student wouldn’t drink anything else except orange juice and wouldn’t eat anything.” While in Córdoba, Sidoli stayed with Cabido, the leader of the program for Academia Argüello, and vice versa in New York.

Sidoli’s work extended throughout the school year, as she made sure students were prepared for the trip far before they touched down in Latin America so that they would apply themselves and not just be in Argentina on vacation. Furthermore, she had to decide which students would get to participate in

the program and match those students with host students. “It was so intense but I did it again and again, even though each time I would say, I’m not going to do this anymore. This is the last year,” said Sidoli. “And Susana [Cabido] would say the same. And both of us knew that that was not the case.”

When Sidoli left Poly in 2002, Oliveras took over the program single-handedly. He said he focused on emphasizing the cultural components of the program, like going to museums and “having some cultural exposure to the amazing cultural life that Córdoba offers.” He put on a play done by the Argentine students and Poly students while abroad, forcing the students to learn to act in another language. “The [Argentine students] were so graceful with our students in terms of supporting them in trying to act in Spanish,” he recalled.

One night, after going to a Tango show in Buenos Aires, Oliveras and the students were walking through one of the historic neighborhoods when he noticed one of the students was sobbing.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. “Todo bien?”

“No, this city is just so beautiful,” she said.

Oliveras was taken aback by the visible impact the trip had already had on the student. “I thought, ‘wow, that someone that age has already developed that sensibility to get to that point of crying in front of the beauty of a city is incredible,’” he recalled. He said he keeps that memory in his heart.

But like Sidoli, he found the work intense and overwhelming at times, emphasizing the coordination of the traveling. On the trip to Argentina, they did not use any travel agency or tour company where they got a package with all their stops included. “We had to coordinate everything. We had to.” Simply organizing the matching of the students to the families took “an incredible amount of time.” At the Academia Argüello, one teacher was wholly dedicated to organizing their side of the program.

“Let me tell you,” he said as he leaned forward. “That was a lot of work on the part of whoever the coordinator was.

An amazing amount of work.” But the memories, experiences, and smooth relationship between every Poly coordinator and Cabido through the years kept the program intact.

When Oliveras finally moved on from the program in 2005, he passed it to a teacher named Rebecca Matthews, who a year later passed it to Ron Sarcos, a Spanish teacher still at Poly who started at the school in 2005. While in charge, Sarcos made two significant changes to the program.

The first was adding a trip to El Calafate, Patagonia, in the south of Argentina, to the itinerary. “I thought it would be better to get to know more areas in more places,” he said.

“So we spent three or four days in Buenos Aires, and then two days in El Calafate, and then we would go to Córdoba.”

Hesitantly, he admitted the second change: “The trip used to be known as a party trip, so you had the students that were interested in that sign up for it,” he said. “Privately, I made it more of a nerdy trip.” He created the Spanish Exchange Program Club, which assured that students would be fully committed and academically engaged ahead of and during the trip.

When Sarcos ultimately gave up the program in 2013, a teacher named Jennifer Olson-Walker (now known as Jennifer Olson) took up the job. With tensions rising, Olson and the teacher chaperone, former history teacher Louise Forsythe, noticed other problems on their trip in 2014. For example, the Argentine host families were primarily affluent, white, English-speaking upper-class families, and Poly students therefore did not see the whole picture. Second, “it felt a little imbalanced because we would go there where they had lots of space, really big houses for us to stay in and to accommodate us,” said Olson in an interview. “Whereas in New York City a lot of people have smaller apartments.”

Moreover, the era of real liability had begun to roll in.

“You need to make sure that the programs have documents written up by lawyers and people have signed off their ability to sue in case something goes wrong,” said Mansfield.

“I remember [Olson] coming back, and it was like … (continued on page 5)

APRIL 2024

5

NEWS

Bon Voyage! Poly Students Embark on Curricular Travel CAROLINA LISK LAYOUT EDITOR

T

his spring break, Poly Prep gave students in 10th, 11th, or 12th grade the opportunity to participate in a curricular travel trip to either Mexico or Italy. Priority was given to students currently studying Spanish for the Mexico trip and Italian, Latin, or Art History for the Italy trip to allow students to put their studies to the test and practice the language in real time. The Mexico trip took place during the first week of spring break from March 14 - 21.

Similarly, the trip to Italy took place from March 14 - 23.

Each trip had two teachers who chaperoned and guided the students through the new culture. Spanish Teachers Maité Iracheta and Amy Richards led the trip to Mexico, and World Languages Department Chair Elisabeth Mansfield and English Teacher Carmelo Larose led the Italy trip.

The first stop on the Mexico trip was Mexico City, where students studied the historical aspects of the city and the Aztec Empire. Students spent four days exploring the beautiful city and numerous landmarks, such as the Coyoacán market and Frida Kalo’s house, Casa Azul.

“I really loved walking around the market in a little town outside of Mexico City,” said Lulu McDonald ’24, a student on the trip to Mexico. In Mexico City, the group also went to see Palacio de Bellas Artes, which is an art museum that some students actually studied in their classes. After experiencing Mexico City, the group began their drive to the second and final destination, Oaxaca City, which is further south of Mexico City. In Oaxaca, the students attended workshops where they participated in activities that ranged from learning how to cook traditional dishes to making alebrijes (wooden structures that are painted with bright colors and represent different animals).

“Studying something is nothing like living it…but living it, being able to take what you learned and take it somewhere where you can actually make it super meaningful, is just a game changer.”

- Elisabeth Mansfield The historical background of Mexico also played a huge role in this trip. In Oaxaca, students had the opportunity to visit historical ruins, such as the pyramids in Teotihuacán. “We did a lot of activities, and it is very hard to say which one was my favorite because each had its very own meaning, but I want to mention wherever there was an opportunity for us as a group or as a little traveling family, to have conversations and sing for example [was really special],” said Iracheta.

McDonald is currently in Jose Oliveras’ Advanced Topics in Spanish Literature class. “Our teachers had us speak to them in Spanish the whole time, and obviously…with our tour guides and people who were there, we spoke Spanish with them, so it was really good to practice

my Spanish and get comfortable with speaking a lot. It was also really cool to connect a lot of the things we were seeing with things we already learned in class,” said McDonald.

This immersive trip helped the students form a deeper connection with the Spanish language while learning how to properly utilize their studies in the real world. Students also came away from the trip with a different outlook on the world, being able to experience a new culture for all that it has to offer. “I definitely came away from [the trip] realizing that you can only go so far to learn a language in an academic setting; at some point, you have to actually go into the world and speak the language. You’re gonna make a lot of mistakes, but when you’re learning in real time, that’s when it really starts to stick,’’ said McDonald.

The curricular travel trip to Italy also offered many opportunities and experiences to students who participated.

The trip lasted nine days, beginning with two days in the city of Rome. In Rome, students had the opportunity to see the pieces of architecture that they had been studying in their Latin or Art History classes, which was the highlight of the trip for many students. After those two days, the group made their way to Sorrento where they took an hour-long ferry ride to Capri. In Capri, the students had the opportunity to experience its crystal clear waters and beautiful beaches. After Capri, the group then traveled to Palermo where they went to Naples. In Napels they saw Herculaneum, which is a nearby smaller town. They also visited the Archeological Museum in Naples, where they saw gorgeous artworks, such as mosaics and paintings.

The group then took an overnight boat from Naples to Agrigento Sicily. Mansfield said this was one of the most memorable experiences for her, given she got to watch her Italian students use the language in context. “The seniors who went on that trip, they met these kids on the boat and they were speaking Italian. It was organic and it was natural and it wasn’t forced … and that was awesome for me because…this was a completely unplanned situation … and this is what language is all about because they wanted to use their Italian. They were learning things and making new friends,” said Mansfield. After Agrigento the group traveled to Taormina where they spent 2 nights there. Lastly the group explored the Aeolian Islands before returning to Rome for a night to catch their flight home.

Sophomore Ava Barbiere had the opportunity to travel to Italy. “It’s really hard to pick, but my favorite part was going to the Aeolian islands, specifically Vulcano.

We went on a tour around the island, which was pretty much empty since it wasn’t tourist season yet. We went on a drive up the volcano, stopping every once in a while to look over the island. We saw a bunch of cows and goats too, which was really just adorable. Afterwards, we went to a beach for a while,” said Barbiere. The group of students was very much split with some seniors learning Italian and some students studying Latin and/or Art History.

Barbiere is currently studying Latin and had the opportunity to hear Italian for the first time on the trip. “I tried to

learn a little [Italian] before I went, but I [also] learned a bit from just being in Italy and hearing people speak Italian,” added Barbiere. This experience gave Ava and many other Poly students a new outlook on life, being able to actually live the things they were studying in their classes.

These trips were not only memorable experiences for the students, but also the teachers who saw them learn outside

COURTESY OF ELISABETH MANSFIELD

of the classroom and take their studies into the real world.

Mansfield currently teaches the senior Italian class and reflected on her students’ improvement: “Four of them came and their Italian got so much better…it was just exciting.”

Iracheta recalled an experience that she had with a tour guide in Teotihuacán. “Sometimes he would start drifting to English, and my students would be like ‘no, ask him to go back to Spanish’…so I had to ask him twice… that was amazing to see that they were craving and they would get into conversations with people, so they were engaged and that was amazing,” said Iracheta.

“Studying something is nothing like living it… but living it, being able to take what you learned and take it somewhere where you can actually make it super meaningful, is just a game changer,” Mansfield said.

Iracheta also added that, “in all the spectrum of humanity, all these possibilities are…here in our planet, so imagine just having the opportunity to go and see what it is, to put [on] the shoes of someone else and…live in a different culture, and breathe in it and then exhale in it, and that not only gives the student a new vision of life… but also an understanding of the self,” said Iracheta.

These opportunities also brought new friendships.

“There’s something weird about it…it’s not just about being immersed in the culture and the language…it’s the comradery, it’s the making new friendships…you share something very special…you just learn so much and it’s just so exciting and so fun,” Mansfield said.

Tango Across Borders: Poly’s Old Argentina Exchange Program (cont. from page 4)

‘Oh, no. She doesn’t want to do it anymore. What are we going to do?’” said Sarcos. Mansfield and Maité Iracheta, another Poly Spanish teacher, also both recalled Olson coming back frustrated. Olson tried hard to convince Sarcos to pick it back up, but he refused, and nobody else in the department wanted to do it, according to Sarcos.

“I think the administration at the time,” said Sarcos, picking his words carefully. “I think the administration at the time could have done a better job at demonstrating — ultimately, I don’t know if they appreciated it — but demonstrating the appreciation for [the Argentines’] visit.”

Finally, with no new teacher to heft the coordinator role onto, the breakup commenced. Mansfield and Sarcos got on a Skype call with Camio, the program director on the Academia Argüello side, and others. The Poly side broke the news and gave their reasons, and the Argentines were more devastated than the Americans. And just like that, it was over.

In December of 2023, Mansfield announced the Global Studies Language Scholars Program, an opportunity for four top language 12th-grade students to travel and live fully funded with a host family for 2-3 weeks in France, Spain, Costa Rica, or Singapore. The program is fully coordinated through Education First, a language company with programs worldwide. Poly students will go to an Education First Language Abroad campus in May, where they’ll take

four hours of language classes daily, among other non-native speakers. They’ll also complete their Senior Capstone project while abroad, and present it at Poly in their target language. While it is not an exchange program specific to Poly, it helps to fill the gap left by the Argentina program.

Sarah Bates, head of Upper School since 2019, agreed that the Argentina Program — and now the Language Scholars program — perfectly align with Poly’s values. “[These programs] are literally expanding your frame of reference,” she said. “And I think that’s really central to what we want to be able to do for Poly students.”

Poly also runs trips to Mexico and France, among other places, for Spanish and French students to participate in during school breaks, but students stay in hotels and trips are organized through travel companies. “We need to offer more of [these experiences] at Poly,” concluded Bates.

“I feel like we could do something like [the Argentina program] again under the right conditions with somebody whose job it is to find families, to draft up the legal documents, etc.” said Mansfield. (History teacher Timothy Shea, newly Poly’s official Travel Coordinator, receives extra compensation for this work.) With a new Head of School set to take over Poly in 2025, Mansfield pointed out that possibilities are wider than ever.

Meanwhile, Academia Argüello recently found a new

VIA LORI LANGER DE RAMIREZ

match with The Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn Heights. The Argentine students came to New York for the first time in September 2023, and the Packer students traveled to Argentina in March 2024, following the same timeline as the program with Poly.

To Philip Sheers, the Poly student who did the program in its last year, the exchange was “a chance to really get outside my comfort zone and see a really different part of the world,” he said. “I think the language piece often gets undersold as like, ‘Oh yeah, it’s good to speak another language, it’ll help you with your SATs and it will get you into college.’ That may be true, but it is not anywhere close to the lasting value that knowing a second language and having that experience has had on my life.”

6

OPINIONS

In Defense of Student Coffee Consumption BRIANNA SYLVAIN ARTS EDITOR

VIA CREATIVE COMMONS

A

s I made my way to the coffee station in Commons, I was immediately met with disapproving glares from several teachers and faculty members, all judging my choice to imbibe in a morning cup of coffee. Suddenly, my ordinary morning ritual felt like a heinous crime.

This wasn’t the first time that my coffee-drinking habits were met with scorn from the adults in my life and I knew it wouldn’t be the last. But why is there such a stigma around students drinking coffee?

And if student coffee consumption is so harmful, shouldn’t adults, our fellow coffee drinkers, be focused on educating us about the dangers of coffee rather than shaming us for modeling their behavior?

Coffee is a beverage with both benefits and flaws. The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health shared in a study that “moderate coffee intake — about 2–5 cups a day — is linked to a lower likelihood of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, liver and endometrial cancers, Parkinson’s disease, and depression.” Johns Hopkins Medicine performed a similar study and found that “coffee also contains antioxidants and other active substances that may reduce internal inflammation and protect against disease.” However, this

information does negate the fact that coffee contains both high sugar and caffeine content. Tons of sweeteners and artificial flavorings ranging from aspartame to sucralose are added to coffee, all of which have negative effects such as damaged kidney and livers, shifted glucose and insulin levels, and migraines. Additionally, caffeine, the larger culprit, is a stimulant that may provide temporary boosts of energy but also induces headaches, insomnia, anxiety, and has been linked to high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

However, it’s not the coffee itself that’s harmful, it’s the artificial sugars and caffeine. So why don’t we limit the consumption and availability of all foods and drinks with these substances, including but not limited to coffee? One prime example is energy drinks, which were readily available for Poly’s student-athletes. Most recently, Celsius energy drinks were being sold in Novogratz’s vending machines (they are no longer available there). One can of Celsius contains 200 milligrams (mg) of caffeine, while the Mayo Clinic reports that the average cup of coffee contains 96 mg.

What makes energy drinks more acceptable than coffee? From the Oreos that are sold in Commons to the Gatorade protein shakes that are available for free in the weight room, there are so many foods and drinks available at Poly besides coffee that contain exceedingly large amounts of caffeine and sugar. I am by no means arguing that coffee consumption should be deemed okay just because there are worse foods available. Instead, I am arguing that coffee should be one of the many foods and beverages that we should attempt to eliminate from our everyday diets.

APRIL 2024

The Next Generation of Voters: Are They Ready?

LILA DANIELS FEATURES EDITOR

2

024 is a pivotal year for politics, and the impressionable new adults who can vote for the first time could be a deciding factor in the fate of the election. High schools around the country are fostering the next generation of voters, and some of the senior class is about to step up to the ballot on November 3. It is vital to give the utmost preparation and guidance to the senior class to prepare them to enter the convoluted world of politics, especially this year, given the strain the election has placed upon the country. This importance led me to wonder if Poly is doing enough to prepare students to vote. Do they know enough about each candidate to cast a vote? Do they know enough about the election process to feel comfortable voting?

I recently conducted a survey of Poly’s upper school, and with about 60 respondents, I was shocked by the results. 87.9 percent of the students voted between 1 and 3 on a 1-10 scale of whether Poly has done a sufficient job educating students about this year’s presidential candidates, 1 being “No, not at all” and 10 being “Yes, I have a good understanding on both candidates.” 82.4 percent of the students voted between 1 and 4 on a 1-10 scale for the question, “Do you think Poly has done a sufficient job educating students about the election process in general?” (1 being “No, I have no knowledge about the election process,” and 10 being “Yes, I feel very confident with the election process.”) Senior Lucas Basham, who recently voted for the first time, said, “I didn’t know what to expect of what the ballot would look like and what the setup would look like inside [to vote].” 30 percent of Upper School students who participated in the survey are eligible to vote in the general election, but only 64.9 percent of those students plan on casting a ballot. These results led me to wonder if Poly had made any efforts to educate the student body about the election. If less than two-thirds of eligible

seniors plan to vote on election day, has Poly done a good enough job of emphasizing the importance of our democracy and the weight that this election has? This information made me ponder whether Poly is doing enough to make students, especially seniors, understand their importance in the upcoming election.

After discussing these questions with Sarah Bates, head of Upper School, and Virginia Dillion, chair of the History Department, I learned more about Poly’s strides in familiarizing students with the pressing political matters. For the 2024-2025 school year, the History Department is instituting a new, required, one-semester course for juniors that is a “civics and democracy course,” Bates said. The course will cover everything from human rights to the Supreme Court to religious rights in America, but it will also take on more of a democratic standpoint and teach students about the election process in general. “Where do you register to vote? What does that mean for you? Who are your district, your county, and your city leaders? How do you sort through the noise of social media and all of the political ads to figure out what does this candidate truly believes in, what policies are they gonna enact, and how does that line up with my own values and what I want for me, my family and my country?” Bates explained. This new course will hopefully alleviate some of the confusion that students are feeling surrounding the election process and foster a student body that feels more confident to go out and vote. Of course, the implementation of this class next year does not include the current seniors, who “absolutely we want them to vote in November,” Bates said.

The History Department is configuring a compilation of lessons and History Talks in an attempt to educate the student body about the upcoming election. “We are starting to do some educational programming (continued on page 7)

Skincare & Beauty: Helpful or Harmful for a Younger Audience?

Is the result of Social Media popularizing skincare harmful or beneficial to young girls in the long- and short-term?

ELIANA FRIEDMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

S

kincare branding on social media is successful in luring young girls into the sticky web of insecurity. As years and months progress, the age of skincare use becomes younger and younger. There is an ongoing silent competition of girls to look “better,” or more “perfect” than someone else. But the word “perfect” is incomprehensible in the world of human appearance.

In an article for the New York Times titled “Why Does Gen Z Believe It’s ‘Aging Like Milk’?” Renee Engeln, a psychology professor and director of the Body and Media Lab at Northwestern University, named social media as a cause of Gen Z’s obsession with skincare products. “There is a sense in which young people have forgotten what faces look like,” Engeln wrote. She added, “Gen Z grew up endlessly scrolling through idealized versions of their own faces and the faces of others.”

I remember one morning, walking into the house of the cousins I have grown up with a few days following the birthday of my middle cousin. As soon as I stepped into the house, the oldest cousin came running up to me whisper-yelling, “you won’t believe what her friends got her as presents for her birthday!” My confusion at this statement turned into internal shock as I later found what is considered a “routine amount” of skincare and makeup piled in the bin of a just-turned 10-year-old girl.

As a teen girl myself, I can definitely relate to this ongoing skincare phenomenon. I think every female –

including myself – eventually lives through the phase where the lure of beauty and looking ‘better’ is essential to life. In an article published by Margie Nanninga from Mintel, she states, “42 percent of US teens aged 12-14 who use beauty and personal care products

VIA IZ NISSEN

do so because it makes them feel more confident, rising to well over half (56 percent) of those aged 15-17.”

Although self-care in the form of product application brings me a sense of confidence in the moment, when I think about it later, or when I take off the skincare and make-up “mask,” I feel more self-conscious. No matter how well the cover is disguised to the eyes of the general public, I will never look the same as my natural self.

On the other hand puberty brings skin conditions

such as acne, which are important to consider. In a dermatology journal published by eScholarship, Lauren K Dunn, Jenna L O’Neill, and Steven R Feldman’s accumulated research shares that, “acne can negatively impact mood, self-esteem, and interpersonal relationships and may lead to depression and suicidal ideation.”

As a teen myself, I understand how acne affects self-confidence. However, using skincare to “cure” the imperfections, is in most cases ineffective and influences skincare’s hyper-addictive properties. In an article in NBC Washington, Dr. Asha Patton-Smith of healthcare company Kaiser Permanente says, “starting early with caring for yourself, being concerned with your skin, doing all the things that you need to do to maintain a healthy body, mind and spirit are all very positive… The challenge is how much time is being spent on this, what the goal is, and when it doesn’t seem to be working well or seems to be obsessive or excessive.”

If you think through the skincare products used by children from the ages of 10-18, which ones are just a fun way to let time slip away and which ones are unintentionally — or intentionally — increasing insecurity among them? I encourage teens, including myself, to understand an aspect of self-depreciation that can subconsciously drive the desire to buy a never-ending supply of products, most of which have no effect. Ask yourself, is my skincare coming from a place of self-care or self-judgment?

APRIL 2024

Winston Spits it out (Again): The Goal of Ed-chew-cation JARED WINSTON DIRECTOR OF STUDENT LIFE

VIA CREATIVE COMMONS

A

s we returned to campus in the immediate wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, enforcing the ban on gum felt hyper-particular. You were coping with historic disconnect. You were dealing with thoughts of despair. You were managing feelings of fear. Focusing our efforts on continuing to ban gum would have felt like misplaced energy as we worked tirelessly to integrate you back into your education.

Today, we have moved into a new era. We no longer require students to wear masks, to distance themselves from others, to test their temperature upon entering school, or to take classes outside. The changes we have made, though, go beyond your physical health.

We now enforce deadlines and have less flexible grace periods for missed assignments. We believe that meeting deadlines matters.

We no longer offer virtual models of learning. We believe that being present in the community strengthens our bonds.

We no longer have wellness days planned into the school year. We believe that learning to manage healthy levels of stress builds our sense of self-efficacy.

School as we know it has returned slowly over the past few years. That is a good thing.

Those of us charged with helping you grow into this world are not monsters for reinstating long held school policies. We care deeply about you on a human level, and we think carefully about the lessons you learn here at school.

We hope you understand that we come from a place of constant consideration as we map out your path through Poly.

Just as we did during the COVID-19 pandemic, we reflect regularly on how to meet your individual needs in hopes of building a healthy school community.

We do not hate gum; we believe it can be helpful. Gum, though, is too of-

ten used in ways that diminish the value of our campus and our community.

Take the time out of your day to look under the tables and desks of this school. You will find gum.

Look at the pathways that connect our school. You will find gum.

This was not always the case. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, gum was banned across campus. This policy was enforced regularly. It kept our community clean and taught students the importance of valuing our shared physical space. This is a lesson for school, of course, but also for society. As you advance beyond Poly, you will join a shared community that depends each and every day on individual choices.

These halls and this campus are mostly spotless and well-kept. Thanks to our amazing facilities, maintenance, and housekeeping teams, you learn in a pristine physical environment. The work these teams do for our community is immense and immeasurable.

Beyond their regular duties, they are often distracted and maligned by having to clean up excess student waste in shared spaces like Commons, the Trophy Room, and the Student Center.

Gum is part of this problem, posing greater difficulty to clean than the average article of student waste. When and where you don’t clean up, they do.

A community is more than just one person, and yet a community depends foundationally on the actions and behaviors of individuals. Of course, not everyone who chews gum on campus spits it out on the front steps. Not everyone who chews gum on campus sticks it on tables and desks. Our shared space, though, depends on none of us doing that. We do not have laws and policies because everybody is doing the wrong thing. We have laws and policies to limit the wrong thing from happening and to assert our shared values.

Should you need to chew gum in line with recommendations by a clinician in support of an individualized learning plan, we will never get in your way. We will always work to ensure students in need of accommodations receive the support they need to succeed in their education.

Gum is otherwise prohibited on campus. How about a mint?

7

OPINIONS

What Is Your Starbucks Order?

ELLA KLINGENSMITH CONTRIBUTING WRITER

A

long with hundreds of other middle schoolers, my eighth-grade self took great pleasure in the after-school ritual of meeting friends at Starbucks. It was always a scene, kids of all ages gathering to enjoy the same drinks. I remember scrolling through TikTok trying to find the “best” drink combination. I wrongfully trusted my “For You” page to guide me in the right direction. However, I was only attracted to the look of the drink but did not know its contents.

People worry about the effects of social media and cell phones on children of Generation Z and Generation Alpha. However, what they should feel threatened by is their daily Starbucks habit. Over the past decade, influenced tremendously by social media, Starbucks has attracted a younger audience. Pre-teens and teenagers, in particular, are clueless about the excessive amounts of sugar and caffeine they are consuming and its impact on their bodies.

While the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no more than twenty-five grams of sugar intake per day for anyone over the age of two, just one of these drinks can exceed that number. According to Fred, a barista at Starbucks on Smith Street in Brooklyn, New York, “about 75 kids per day order a grande or venti of one of the following popular drinks: Strawberry Acai Refresher with Lemonade, Mocha Frappuccino, or Pink Drink.” If you are ordering one of these drinks in person or seeing it online, you might not look at the precise ingredients. Unlike your “For You” page, I will inform you of the truth behind a grande of each drink: Strawberry Acai Refresher with Lemonade — thirty-two grams of sugar, Mocha Frappuccino — fifty-five grams of sugar, and Pink Drink — twenty-five grams of sugar.

While excessive sugar intake does not directly cause type two diabetes, it can lead to “obesity, cardiovascular disease, and other health problems that are linked to diabetes,” according to Medical News Today. Though the longterm effects of sugar may not be on the minds of most kids, what might be relatable is the burst of energy that comes with the consumption of one of these drinks. Often the sugar rush is followed by a sudden crash making one feel even worse than they did before the drink.

Recently at school, I had a terrible headache and my heart was racing. I was scared because I did not understand what was happening to my body. When I went to the nurse, I was informed that it was likely due to the

caffeine in my Starbucks Strawberry Acai Refresher from earlier that morning. This was shocking information because I have been getting this same drink for many years now and did not know I was consuming caffeine.

According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, “too much caffeine can cause issues such as increased anxiety, increased heart rate and blood pressure, acid reflux and sleep disturbance.”

To better understand teenagers’ knowledge of what goes into their drinks, I asked ten of my friends whether or not the Strawberry Acai Refresher (a favorite among teens) had caffeine in it. I found that 80 percent of them assumed that there was no caffeine present in the drink.

One even argued that there was no way that there could be caffeine in a drink other than coffee. To further investigate, I asked my participants what time of day they usually consumed these drinks. Seven out of the ten said that they go to Starbucks regularly as an after-school activity. It occurred to me that there was likely a connection between many of my sleepless nights filled with anxious thoughts and those after-school Starbucks outings.

Even those with knowledge about the sugar and caffeine content in Starbucks drinks still overlook these unhealthy habits in favor of the superficial benefits of the franchise. As a brand, Starbucks has worked hard to create a fun, social environment with baristas that encourage customization and individualism. The drinks are colorful and have catchy names.

The overall aesthetic might be called “Insta worthy.” In addition, you can get Starbucks almost anywhere you go. It is reliable and easy, with the same menu at every location. The app, created in 2009, even allows you to pre-order your drinks and collect points to redeem benefits like free or reduced pricing. However, all of these pleasers distract customers from focusing on the science and statistics behind the drinks. Have you ever thought about where that pretty pink color comes from?

This does not mean I am suggesting that people should never go to Starbucks ever again.

In fact, I am a Starbucks lover and will definitely not be ending my relationship with the Seattle-based coffee chain. However, I believe that teens, and everyone else, should be educated about what they are frequently putting into their bodies and use that information to determine the amount and time of day of their consumption. Size matters. Time of day matters.

Social media does not always have your back.

The Next Generation of Voters: Are They Ready? (cont. from page 6) around the election. The History teachers are gonna be doing a lesson for both Middle Schoolers and Upper Schools in the spring,” said Dillon. “We’ll also have some lessons in the fall — a lot of those lessons that are gonna be more about the process of voting, about what elections are like, why they’re important, what they mean.” Dillon also recognizes that the elections “can be moments of lots of anger and pain and divisiveness, and there can be moments when our community doesn’t feel like a community.” When talking about politics and the election process, she noted that Poly faculty must foster a peaceful and accepting environment, even when things get heated and controversial. Some of these History Talks will take place in the spring, while the follow-up History Talks and assemblies will occur this fall.

I believe that the History Talks discussions haven’t been enough of an effort to reach students and that some students still don’t understand their role in the election.

With students juggling hours of homework, sports, and extracurriculars, the History Talks don’t seem to be taking precedence in the busy schedule of a high-school student.

The importance of the information given in these History Talks hasn’t been emphasized enough by the faculty, so students don’t have a great enough incentive to attend.

“I don’t think Poly’s education on the election reaches enough students. In my journalism class, and I’m sure in certain history classes, the election comes up in conversation, but if a student doesn’t have one of those classes it’s unfortunate that those discussions don’t reach them,” Basham said. It’s unclear to me if Poly seniors are retaining enough information from Poly to have sufficient knowledge about politics and the upcoming election when they take the next step into their college towns.

Poly is taking a neutral approach to teaching students about the candidates in general. Instead of trying to sway students one way, it is important to give students the path to accurate information and allow them to make their own decisions. “I’m not instituting any sort of personal biases that I have in trying to convince groups of students to vote one way or another. Like what’s really important to me is that you all have accurate information and you know where to find accurate information,” Bates said.

Another critical aspect of this year’s election is disinformation, especially given the rise of AI. In my survey, over half of the respondents voted between 7-10 on a 10-point scale of whether Poly has taught students to be skeptical of the media and flag disinformation, with 1 being “no, not at all” and 10 being “yes, I feel very com-

fortable with these skills.” I think that these higher results for this category compared to the other categories are due to Poly’s curriculum. “I’ve received the most guidance and information in terms of the presidential election in my seventh and eighth-grade history classes, in my tenth-grade history class, U.S. News, Networks, and Democracy, and in my journalism class,” Basham said. Respondents mentioned Chair of the Computer Science Department Jean Belford’s Disinformation and Democracy class and Director of Forensics and Debate Eddie Fitzgerald’s Debate class, as well as an assembly focusing on biases and disinformation in the media. Next year’s new civics and democracy course, as well as numerous History Talks about the election, will hopefully make students feel more comfortable with the election process and this year’s presidential candidates.

Hopefully, the seniors who are going to vote this November feel that they have enough knowledge to vote, although it may have just been better for these advancements in the History and Civics curriculum to have come slightly earlier. In all, I anticipate only positive growth in political and civics education in Poly’s curriculum, and hopefully, by 2028, the student body will feel more confident before casting their votes.

8

APRIL 2024

FEATURES

Leaving the Gray Sweatpants in Winter: Spring Styles CAROLINA LISK LAYOUT EDITOR With the weather finally starting to warm up, the question of spring style trends starts to come into play. Students will soon begin to shift their style to align with the warm weather that is hopefully coming our way. With this transition the question of “what clothes are you going to be pulling out from the backs of your closet,” rises amongst the students.

Madeline Gross ’26 acknowledges her excitement about not having to worry about lugging around a huge coat anymore. “I hated the layers of coats and jackets and thicker pants that I had during the winter, at some points I felt like I shouldn’t even be going to school if I had to take off so many layers once I got there. It’s felt like this entire school year has been winter and I’m ready for spring to be here,” said Gross. Dillon Rapp ’26 is looking forward to inching our way towards summer as well, and beginning to wear “cute summer tops.” “It really puts me in the summer mood,” said Rapp. It seems as though for many students it is important that their spring style has a little hint of summer in it, in order to speed up and execute that natural transition into summer.

For many students, summer means expanding their color pallet to fit the brighter tones that are complemented by the sun. Maggie Cochran ’26 addresses this new addition to her classmates’ style. “I think that when spring comes around it brings everyone’s

“It’s felt like this entire school year has been winter and I’m ready for spring to be here.”

-Madeline Gross

moods up and all the lighter colors come out [in everyone’s outfits] …you can tell that everyone is so much brighter inside and out… It’s such a fun atmosphere because everyone shows their style so much more than they would in the winter,” said Cochran.

With all this talk about the new spring fashion trends, the dress code is a factor that comes into play. According to Poly Prep’s website, students are not permitted to expose

their torsos at school. When the warm weather starts to come around, some students like to limit the amount of long layers they wear, and many of them also find joy in finally being able to wear tank tops and crop tops without a jacket or a sweater. Cochran touched on the topic of crop tops. “I think that a lot of students in Poly have struggled with this policy because it can be difficult to understand. However, I do think there is a line between

“I do think there is a line between showing a little stomach and wearing a shirt that is three inches long.”

-Maggie Cochran showing a little stomach and wearing a shirt that is three inches long,” said Cochran.

Gross loves being able to expose more skin during the warm weather without having to worry about a jacket, and feels as though it is one of the main perks of springtime.

“Personally, I really love wearing day dresses and skirts during the spring, it’s my way of welcoming summer. If any of my skin on display is a problem, it’s not mine,” said Gross.

Unfortunately, the brutal March weather did not allow for much of a transition into spring, pushing back the beginning of these style trends. During the winter season most students stick to the casual grey sweatpants and a sweatshirt outfit, as most people just want to be as comfortable as possible when facing the cold weather, and it feels as though we haven’t quite moved on from that yet. Sylvie Dorsch ’26 feels as though, “As soon as it hits 75 degrees I’m going to start wearing shorts to school and skirts on the weekends because I can’t wait for summer.” Until then it seems as though herself and many other students will be sticking to their winter attire.

STEM in the World: NASA Is Going Back to the Moon!

TJ IANNELLI MANAGING EDITOR

F

ifty-five years ago, NASA’s Apollo missions successfully landed the first people on the Moon. For the next three years, NASA’s astronauts made frequent trips to and from the Moon.

Then, in 1972, NASA’s lunar visits stopped completely. With the space race against the USSR considered over, these trips, now with no other political purpose, were deemed too costly to continue. Since then, humans have yet to step foot on the Moon’s surface. Yet, the dream of striding along the lunar surface is far from over. NASA has already begun its mission to return to the moon with similar motivations to Apollo.

NASA’s Artemis campaign aims to establish a long-term presence on the Moon, including a lunar space station similar to the International Space Station (ISS) that orbits Earth, and a lunar railroad. The Artemis missions are already well underway, with the uncrewed Artemis I traveling 1.4 million miles around the Moon before splashing down on Earth on December 11, 2022. This first mission proved that the Orion spacecraft could successfully launch via NASA’s $23 billion Space Launch System (SLS) rocket to the Moon and back. According to NASA, each launch from Earth will cost $4.1 billion.

If everything goes according to plan, Artemis II will launch no earlier than September 2025, orbiting the Moon with a crewed capsule. This is in preparation for the planned launch of Artemis III no earlier than September 2026, which will

ry, with Saltzman saying, “The Space Force must harness the benefits of technological innovation and emerging capabilities if we are going to be able to outcompete our competitors - or the Space Force will lose… the Joint Force will lose… and the U.S. will lose!” The Artemis campaign seems to have strong geopolitical motives behind it, but what happens after this new-age space race is finished?

A critical difference between Apollo and Artemis is that Apollo was never intended to establish any permanent presence on the Moon. According to Farrar, where Artemis

“Every billionaire seems to want to go to space. It holds a lot of wonder and excitement for people.”

-Ben Farrar differs is that the lunar space station, or lunar gateway is intended to be a permanent structure akin to the ISS. “It remains to be seen whether or not the lunar gateway can make itself important in that same way [as the ISS]. If demand exists for a structure that orbits the moon, then I can see [the lunar gateway] either being upgraded or replaced,” said Farrar.

As for a long-term motivation for a lunar presence, Farrar believes that mining resources

“If demand exists for a structure that orbits the moon, then I can see [the lunar gateway] either being upgraded or replaced.”

-Ben Farrar bring humans back to the lunar surface for the first time since the Apollo missions.

The mission still faces several risks, though, with William Russel, director of contracting and national security acquisitions at the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), said at the recent House Science Committee’s space subcommittee meeting that Artemis must overcome multiple challenges, which include “the Artemis schedule, a lack of transparency into the Artemis mission, and program costs.”

However, Rep. Frank Lucas, who chairs the Science, Space and Technology Committee, said at the subcommittee meeting that, “I remind my colleagues that we are not the only country interested in sending humans to the moon… The Chinese Communist Party is actively soliciting international partners for a lunar mission, a lunar research station, and has stated its ambition to have… human astronauts on the surface by 2030.”

Once again, international competition seems to be the driving force in a space mission.

Ben Farrar, computer science and engineering teacher at Poly Prep, remarked on the similar reasoning behind the Apollo and Artemis missions. Farrar said how, in the 1960s, the purpose of the Apollo mission was campaigned as space exploration and prosperity for the entire world, but in reality, “it was a proxy for military tech, and demonstrating that our military technology was superior to that of the USSR.” He continued, “My belief as to why we are doing this now, 50 years later, randomly, is China has said that they’re going to the moon. We have to demonstrate that our military technology is superior to that of China.”

Farrar believes that Chief of Space Operations U.S. Space Force General Chance Saltzman’s recent address at the 2024 Space Symposium reinforces this theo-

VIA CREATIVE COMMONS

from the Moon that are rare on Earth will be a primary economic driver for the United States and even private companies. “I would expect not only SpaceX, but also some more freelancers that maybe don’t even exist yet, to start up and [look for resources on the moon… every billionaire seems to want to go to space. It holds a lot of wonder and excitement for people.”

APRIL 2024

Easter Eats: Your Teachers’ Favorite Easter Recipes CAROLINA LISK AND CHLOE GUEDES-SMITH LAYOUT EDITORS

T

eachers Sabina Laricchia, Teresa Calvo-Martinez, and François Monroc each have a special recipe that they make every springtime to celebrate Easter and the cold winter months (finally) coming to a close and making way for warm weather. First, we will hear a delicious recipe from Laricchia who cooks portabella mushroom and focaccia bread for her family, then Calvo-Martinez, and lastly, Monroc.

Ms. Laricchia’s Portabella Mushroom This recipe is a family favorite and is cooked by Sabina Laricchia’s mother every Easter as a way of celebrating the holiday as a family.

Ingredients: 6 oz Portabella Mushrooms Salt White Pepper Olive Oil Lime Juice Garlic Clove Shallot Parsley Instructions: Season the mushrooms with salt/white pepper and olive oil to taste.

Grill over high heat for 4 minutes until soft.

Let them cool and then marinate for at least one hour in the mixture.

Marinate in 3 oz olive oil, 1 lime, 1 garlic clove minced, 1 small shallot chopped, 1 teaspoon of fresh parsley chopped.

Chill before serving.

Dr. Calvo-Martinez’s Gazpacho Every spring, Calvo-Martinez enjoys Gazpacho with her family. Calvo-Martinez particularly enjoys this recipe from the website “Spain on a Fork.” Gazpacho is a delicious cold and refreshing soup that can be enjoyed any hour of the day.

Ingredients: 10 Roma tomatoes 1 small green bell pepper 1 small cucumber 1 large clove of garlic 1 tsp sherry vinegar ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil ¾ cup cold water Pinch of sea salt EXTRAS: Finely diced green bell peppers Finely diced onions Extra virgin olive oil Instructions: Begin by washing and patting dry the tomatoes, bell pepper, and cucumber Cut each tomato into eight evenly sliced pieces and add into a blender.

Cut the green pepper into large chunks and add to the blender with the tomatoes.

Peel the cucumber, cut it into 1-inch thick pieces and add to the blender with the rest of the ingredients.

Also add in one large clove of garlic that has been cut into four pieces.

9

FEATURES

Using a large wooden spoon, push down all the ingredients and compact them together, this will make it easier on the blender to bring all the ingredients together.

Add in a generous teaspoon of sherry vinegar, a ¼ cup of extra virgin olive oil, a generous ¾ cup of extra cold water and a generous pinch of fine sea salt.

Run the blender on a low speed for about 5 minutes.

Transfer the gazpacho into a glass pitcher, cover with saran wrap and add to the fridge for at least two hours.

To serve the gazpacho, make sure you mix it in the pitcher before you serve it, pour into bowls and garnish with diced green bell peppers, diced onions and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, enjoy!

Mr. Monroc’s Lamb Mr. Monroc and his family often eat this dish for Easter, as it is a popular dish in France because of its symbolic value in Christianity. This specific recipe is by “Curious Cuisinière” and is similar to what most people would eat for Easter.

Ingredients 5-6 lb leg of lamb, bone-in 5-7 garlic cloves, cut into slivers 2 large fresh rosemary sprigs Salt Pepper Olive oil The Night Before The night before you want to roast your lamb, cut 1-inch slits in the leg of the lamb. Stuff the slits with garlic slices and rosemary sprigs. Place the lamb in a roasting pan with a roasting rack. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight to infuse with flavor.

Roasting the Lamb Remove the lamb from the refrigerator 2-3 hours before you want to start cooking to let it come to room temperature.

Preheat your oven to 450F. Drizzle the lamb with olive oil and sprinkle it with salt and pepper. If you have an in-oven probe thermometer, insert it into the center of the meatiest part of the leg.

Roast the lamb at 450F for 15 minutes.

Reduce your oven temperature to 300F. Open the oven door slightly to help drop the heat more quickly.

Continue to roast the lamb at 300F for 20-25 minutes per pound for medium rare (or 25-30 minutes a pound for medium).

(For a 5-6 lb leg of lamb, this means you will be roasting 1.5-2.5 hours for medium rare or 2-3 hours for medium.)

Remove the lamb from the oven when it has reached 135F internal temperature for medium rare (or 150F for medium).

Rest the lamb on the counter for 10-15 minutes, tented loosely with aluminum foil. As it rests, it will continue to cook.

Your ending temperature for medium rare should be 145F (or 160F for medium).

Carve the leg (as instructed in our article) and serve with green beans and gratin potatoes!

Each of these teachers has a unique way of enjoying and celebrating the beginning of springtime with their loved ones. These dishes are significant in their lives as they are tied to their family, culture, and identity.

Devil’s Advocate

WILLIAM LING-REGAN AND ELEANOR BROWN OPINIONS EDITOR AND FEATURES EDITOR

D

ear Devil’s Advocate,

You have been so helpful these past two years as I’ve ventured through high school. Because of you, I am now on track to run Mahjong Club next year, I know where to go for cheap eats, and my mom loves the slippers you recommended I give over the holidays. What are your final words of wisdom as you depart senior year?

Sincerely, Desperate Devil Dear Desperate Devil, We wrote our very first columns to Secretive Senior in the chaos of the Blue Devil Deli (RIP) as stressed, naive juniors. Now, two years of high school and many columns later, we’re signing off. But don’t worry, we’re not leaving you without advice. Instead, we have some words for each grade as you prepare to move up into the next section of Chapel and the next stage of your high school careers.

Future Freshmen: This is your time to experiment. You have four years ahead of you, so now is the time to see what will interest you for the rest of high school. Whether it’s taking classes in subjects you’ve never explored, joining clubs you’ve always been interested in, or talking to the new kid on your bus, reach outside of your comfort zone. We promise it’ll be worth it. This year is your foundation for the rest of high school, so make it count.

Future Sophomores: Begin to hone in on a couple of interests. Take the foundation you built during freshman year and decide what you’re really passionate about. Don’t just choose what you think will look best on a college application. If you’re worried about the college process (which you should not be at this point), know that passion will be the most compelling element of a robust application, much more than what you think you “should” be doing.

As freshmen, you shaped your skeleton, so now begin to fill in some gaps,

deepen your commitment to your studies, friendships, and hobbies, and begin to figure out what is meaningful to you.

Future Juniors: We’re aware that everyone says this is the most important year of high school, and they may be right. Your classes will be more demanding than ever, and you’ll have to juggle them with a full day of extracurriculars, not to mention the beginnings of the college process. But don’t let the overwhelming feeling of junior year turn you against your peers. When we’re stressed out, it can be easy to start to resent our classmates or even to compete with them. We’ve learned, though, that the only way to survive junior year is to collaborate, not compete. Help each other out with problem sets, read over each other’s essays, and study for assessments side by side. Most importantly, put the work aside for a while and connect as people, whether that’s talking about your weekends or taking a break in the quad. Junior year isn’t only the “most important” year because of academics; it’s also a time when you can make memories with your friends that will last a lifetime.

Future Seniors: Your time has come.

Enjoy it.

We’ll miss writing our monthly columns (almost as much as we’re sure you’ll miss reading them). But you definitely won’t be at a loss for good advice next year. Your deans, teachers, and friends are always ready to advise you, with the added benefit of knowing exactly who you are and what you’re facing instead of talking to you through a pseudonym. And every writer of the Polygon is always ready to talk to you about the issues you face and write stories that will bring them to the community’s attention. We know next year will feel like hell without our advice, but reach out to your community, and they’ll make your high school experience feel like heaven.

Signing off, The Devil’s Advocate

10

FEATURES

APRIL 2024

Deib Column: Women’s Affinity IZZY LEYTON DEIB REPORTER

W

omen’s Affinity led an assembly about coeducation at Poly on March 12. The assembly included an interview with a Poly alum from the first coeducational graduating class in 1979, Beth Bonina. Bonina, a successful New York City judge, shared that she believes transferring to Poly from an all-girls school changed her life for the better.

During the assembly, the affinity group strayed away from a traditional slideshow presentation, showing the interview over Zoom in the Chapel after a brief history lesson on the process of Poly becoming co-ed and the controversy surrounding the decision. After the video, the affinity group continued their annual tradition of concluding the assembly with trivia. The leaders split up roles, where each person was in charge of a different task. The assembly required lots of brainstorming and planning, starting in January, including reading through archives, coming up with questions to ask Bonina, contacting her, interviewing her, editing the video, and organizing the trivia.

When debating what topic the Women’s Affinity wanted to present, the student leaders said options included women in sports, women in the music industry, and coeducation at Poly. Student co-leader of Women’s Affinity, Elena Piquet ’24, said they decided “to do something more relevant to the school and less general pop culture.” Also, Women’s Affinity had already spent lots of the year discussing the other two topics. For example, they spent an entire DEIB block discussing “Battle of the Sexes” and other periods discussing the Grammys, Oscars, and Taylor Swift. The group also spent time talking about the “Barbie” movie.

Once the topic was chosen, the leaders found archives from before and during Poly’s transition to becoming a co-ed school, including yearbooks and newspapers.

The leaders presented these archives to all of Women’s Affinity, and they researched in their groups, compiling information to add to the slideshow presentation. Another student leader of Women’s Affinity, Zoë Campbell ’25, shared an interesting fact that she learned from the archives:“Before girls were at the school they actually had activism groups that talked about abortion rights for women.” Campbell was surprised and impressed that men at Poly were coming together to speak about women’s rights.

The process to plan the interview with Bonina was more complicated than one might think. Piquet said the Polygon inspired Women’s Affinity to contact an alumni for their presentation after reading senior Jess Dosik’s article from last year called “A Look Back on When Poly Became Co-Ed.” Dosik contacted and interviewed Bonina for her article.

Piquet was responsible for contacting Bonina since she is a Gray Key Ambassador, a student volunteer position that works with alumni. All six of the Women’s Affinity student

VIA POLYGLOT STAFF

leaders came up with the questions for the interview together, but Piquet conducted the interview. Piquet believes editing the video was the most challenging task because she had to decide what parts of the conversation she wanted to include. Campbell added that Bonina was “really willing” to participate in the assembly and was “awesome” to work with.

After completing the assembly, Women’s Affinity returned to their usual discussions, playing games, and watching videos during the DEIB block. Piquet mentioned that they are planning to talk about the recent Roe v. Wade development. Since there are six leaders, two leaders are responsible for developing a topic, lesson, or presentation for the block. For example, earlier in the year, Campbell presented and led a conversation about Native American women.

Both Piquet and Campbell said they love being a part of Women’s Affinity. “The best part is being able to relate to my female peers,” said Campbell. According to Piquet, Women’s Affinity is a space with no judgment, where everyone feels open and comfortable.

NOTHING BUT NET: March Brings Basketball Madness to Poly ELIANA FRIEDMAN STAFF WRITER

C

ollege basketball is a major source of entertainment for basketball lovers across the country. To honor the sport, the joy it brings, and the competitive nature it possesses, people celebrate basketball throughout March.

Basketball has continued to be a sport of growing interest for Americans since 2016, where the sport has overall increased its participants by 33 percent, according to Statistica.

At the college level, this year’s March Madness was unlike any other. Senior stars counting down their final games, records being broken, and big scenes of emotion, the women’s and men’s NCAA tournaments of 2024 were unique as to how they were, and will be, an ongoing basketball inspiration to people across the U.S. The National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) organizes the games and tournaments of women’s and men’s college basketball teams. Before such games, Caitlin Clark, a women’s college basketball player for the Hawkeyes of Iowa State University, gained immense popularity. She entered the spotlight in her 2023-24 year, which was her senior year of college.

Leading into the tournament, Clark “ha[d] spent the entire season at the center of the national spotlight,” said USA Today. “Clark is the face of a sea change in women’s basketball − in women’s sports, really − and the transformation is playing out in real-time.”

The University of Connecticut, also known as the UConn Huskies, was a popular pick for winning the NCAA men’s

VIA CREATIVE COMMONS

championship as a number one seed in the East region. Going into the tournament, the Huskies were the defending national

champions, with Tristen Newton as the leading point guard.

As the NCAA championships began, 64 teams were divided into four regions. The tournament is organized through a ranking system. NBC Sports Chicago explained how “The 16 teams in each region are then categorized by their seed, ranging from No. 1 to No. 16. The higher seed plays the lower seed (e.g. No. 1 vs. No. 16) as the tournament progresses.”

Throughout March Madness 2024, there were many “upsets,” “defined… as when the winning team in an NCAA tournament game was seeded at least five seed lines worse than the losing team,” according to the NCAA. These “upsets” were prevalent in both the women’s and men’s tournaments this year, but especially the men’s tournament. Games such as the eleventh-seed North Carolina State (NCST) beating number-six-seed Texas Tech University (TTU) – with a final score of 80 - 67 — were a major upset in the southern region.

In addition, it is highly uncommon for the number sixteen seeds to beat the number one seed, which has only happened twice in the history of the men’s NCAA College Basketball Tournament. “Top seeds own a 154-2 all-time record against 16 seeds. FDU vs. Purdue in 2023 was only the second time the upset has happened. That means 16 seeds have a 1.28 winning percentage against 1seed in the NCAA tournament,” according to the NCAA. As losing teams slowly were eliminated from the NCAA Tournament, and winners of games progressed further into the competition, it became the Sweet Sixteen, then the Elite Eight, and then the Final Four. In the women’s tournament, it narrowed down to a game with South Carolina (a number one seed) vs. NC (North Carolina) State (a number three seed) and Iowa (a number one seed) vs. UConn (a number three seed). South Carolina won their game 78 to 59 and Iowa won 71 to 69, according to Fox Sports.

The final men’s and women’s games of the NCAA tournaments were suspenseful, but more or less expected by the college basketball audiences. The men’s championship teams were the Purdue Boilermakers and the UConn Huskies, and the women’s national championship teams were the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Many streamed the championship games on their TVs, but this year was unique when comparing the amount of views of the women’s tournament compared to the men’s.

“The final game, between South Carolina’s Gamecocks and the University of Iowa’s Hawkeyes, averaged about 18.7 million viewers and peaked at a whopping 24 million combined on ESPN and ABC, making it the first time in

VIA CREATIVE COMMONS

history that a women’s final has drawn a larger TV audience than the men’s, according to ESPN,” wrote NPR. Through many hard-fought games, the UConn Huskies won the National title for the men’s tournament, and the South Carolina Gamecocks were victorious over Iowa, ultimately having South Carolina end the 2023-24 season with zero losses. Both the Huskies and Gamecocks experienced back-to-back victories.

During the aftermath of the tournament, “Caitlin Clark got a final chance to say goodbye to Iowa fans… and of course, there was a big crowd waiting,” wrote Fox Sports. The article continued: “Clark received a standing ovation when Iowa athletics director Beth Goetz announced that Clark’s No. 22 jersey will be retired, the third number to be retired in program history.”

The influence players such as Clark and Newton give to the rising youth is most visible in the NCAA tournaments, as they draw attention from everyone across the country. As the college basketball season has come to an end, many have gathered their thoughts and opinions for the upcoming 2024-25 College Basketball season.

11

APRIL 2024

PEOPLE

Cherkira Lashley Returns to Poly as an Upper School Dean Chekira Lashley left Poly, went off to college, and held numerous teaching jobs, all to find out she would return to her high school.

Now, she has taken on a new role: Upper School Dean and Assistant Girls’ Varsity Basketball Coach.

ELLIE WARWICK CONTRIBUTING WRITER

I

n Brooklyn, at 8:45 on a typical Monday morning, Cherkira Lashley works in her spacious white office decorated with vibrant social justice posters. She sits back in her black rolly chair working on the mass amounts of tasks she has gained. The work varies from personal student work and organization, creating basketball plays, helping the Christian Affinity group, and so much more. Working at her alma mater Poly Prep, she has now obtained the role as a dean, as well as varsity girls basketball coach.

Everyday, students flood into her office from hour to hour. Whether it’s doing homework or just catching up with her, they come in to just absorb her company. Lashley has adapted to Poly, which came easy to her by already knowing and being comfortable with the environment.

She has created many student relationships and continues to do so daily. These dynamics “make me satisfied as a faculty member at Poly,” Lashley said. Poly is very different from when she attended the school. Lashley wishes “I could have had these opportunities back then, particularly having strong student-dean relationships to build comfortability around the school and college process.”

She wonders to herself what would have happened if she had never chosen to work at Poly. As a former student, she explained “I was surprised especially when picturing myself as a role model and conductor for exceeding in school and following the rules.” As she was attending Poly, she said she didn’t make much of an effort in her schoolwork and instead focused on sports. While she still focuses on sports, she is shocked to find how much she enjoys being a dean and involving herself in college admissions.

Lashley was not always in a high level authority position with many opportunities. When Lashley attended the school as a student, she was known as a class clown and rarely followed the rules. “I was not serious at all, and instead was very playful surrounding work and school.

Back when Poly had a dress code, I rarely abided by it.”

Although Lashley has always conducted herself in the teaching district, she has many other passions. As written in the faculty directory, following her high school experience at Poly, she decided to go to college at Wesleyan University. While attending Wesleyan, she received a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in English and African American studies.

She is also a key member of the women’s basketball team and slam poetry team. She previously worked at Friends Academy, where she taught English, coached varsity girls basketball, and served as a junior class dean. Her strong passion to educate and coach spread beyond Friends as she also became the director of the Brooklyn Youth Sports Club summer program designed to provide fitness, per-

sonal development, leadership training, mindfulness, and college guidance to young women who dream of playing college basketball. Before working at Friends and BKYSC, Lashley was an English teacher at Advanced Math and Science III, while earning a Master of Arts in Adolescent Education at Relay Graduate School for Education.

Lashley had considered returning to Poly because “I was interested in my desire to come back to a place that was so familiar to me.” She loved attending Poly as a student. However, some bumps in the road she encountered contributed to her impulse to fix them. For example, she said “I didn’t have a personal relationship with my dean

VIA POLY PREP ALUMNI INSTAGRAM

as a student. It was so fraught that I felt like there was some restoration that I could encounter by coming back.”

“Poly made me who I am today and created lifelong memories for me. My personality was built here,” said Lashley. Many aspiring figures at Poly contributed to shaping her life today, such as Michael Junsch, the girls varsity basketball coach, and Bud Cox, a former head of Poly Prep. These upstanding role models for Lashley taught her “how to lead with warmth and firmness” and “created a lifelong passion for basketball.”

As said in a Polygon article, “Lashley was no ordinary candidate” in the Poly community.” In the article, Emily Gardiner, Upper School Deans department chair and director of college guidance, said, “I remember very clearly the way [the admissions team] all ran down the hall and said, ‘This is a very special person, this is a very special person.’”

It all started when, following her prior thoughts of

wanting to return back to Poly, Junsch called her. He stated how he “noticed her coaching at Friends Academy” and he was “ready to retire.” He wanted her to coach with him to later take over in his place. He stated how he “didn’t want to just give it to anybody:” she was his former player and he saw a lot in her. She said, “I felt honored that he would think of me as an aspiring coach and I was always grateful and excited about the opportunity to learn under him because he was my favorite coach that I’ve ever had.”

Lashley points out how her teaching at Poly was so much different from all the other teaching jobs she faced.

Being a dean at Poly, she is way more involved in communicating with families. “There are more opportunities to just talk to kids about who they are or what they’re interested in. It’s not a part of my job, versus like when I was doing it as an English teacher, it was like in addition to my job. I am building more meaningful relationships with kids in ways I didn’t before, and now doing so in informal spaces versus the formal spaces I usually did in classrooms.” She has more authority as a dean and can make decisions on a higher level that she didn’t have access to in her role as a teacher. “I feel grateful that I am the person that is making the decisions.”

Although she didn’t take school very seriously, she still made many key connections with teachers that last to this day. Maité Iracheta, a Spanish teacher at Poly Prep, thinks of Lashley in a very high manner. “Lashley was a very memorable student and she set a tone or a mood in the class by comparisons, participation, and just her company in the classroom as a student that would come with joy and be ready for whatever would happen in the class. Her demeanor was always very welcoming, which made her and others around her happier.”

Lashley looks forward to continuing to make vital student-dean connections, expanding her contribution in affinity groups such as the Christian Affinity Group, and “trying to change the culture around the obsession with grades.” Her goal is to make students have a “healthy relationship with failure because the harsh idea of getting perfect grades robs kids of the beautiful aspects of learning and having a space of curiosity in what they learn.

This change could be very powerful and beneficial to the Poly community to make kids more content with grades.”

Lashley has many new ideas for the future, but she can’t help to think everyday about how her personality lies in Poly from when she was known as “little Cherkira.” It’s surreal to her “feeling like that kid again” while also having an “ambitious and powerful role [as a] model in the Poly community.”

Mrs. Russo’s Sunday Routine ALEX GERLING CONTRIBUTING WRITER

“

My [routine] is not always the same, but it always starts with getting up and having a cup of coffee,” explained Math Teacher Linda Russo. Joining the Poly Prep community in 2007, Russo gave insight into her life outside the classroom. With over 30 years of experience as a math teacher, Russo explained that she has her weekend routine down and organizes it to reset and relax. “If I do grading, I do it on Saturdays… I try hard not to grade on a Sunday,” said Russo. Following her essential cup of coffee, she explained that she “walks the dog and we [as a family] all go to church.” Russo puts effort into her Sundays to put aside her work life and enjoys hobbies such as bird watching, canoeing, and cooking.

Last weekend, Russo took up another field of interest: chemistry and winemaking. “We checked our wine; I was doing a lot of chemistry,” Russo explained. Another field of interest for Russo during her Sundays is hiking. “We went up to the Catskills.”

Russo stated, “My favorite thing about weekends is spending time with my family and dog, Ace.” Along with taking adventures, Russo explained that “cooking and eat-

ing meals together” are a big part of their quality time. Recently, Russo was able to try new recipes, such as stuffed mushrooms and homemade pizza. “I enjoy it when my son and husband make homemade sausage,” Russo said. In the upcoming week, Russo and her family plan on having a barbeque with baby back ribs and pork shoulder. She said she looks forward to “spending all day in the backyard.”

In addition to doing many activities and going on adventures, Russo and her family love spending quality time togethers watching sports. Russo said, “Depending on if there are sports, [we] might be watching football on TV, or baseball on TV, or NASCAR.” Russo enjoys watching both professional baseball and supporting the Poly Prep baseball team.

To end the weekend, Russo said, “I check Veracross and ask myself what day is tomorrow?” Russo gets to spend the whole weekend relaxing, and then, on Sunday night, she takes the time to prepare for the week.“Fingers crossed, I hope it’s not Day 1!” Russo sharing her Sunday rituals helps students get a glimpse of who Linda Russo is and not just who Mrs. Russo is.

VIA LINDA RUSSO

12

APRIL 2024

ARTS

Another Year “On Pointe”: Inside the Spring Dance Concert TESSA COOPER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

T

he Spring Dance Concert, a showcase of Poly’s Upper and Middle School Dance Program, was held on April 12 and 13. Students who participate in Dance at Poly perform an array of pieces, each dance showing off the dancers and representing them as skilled performers. Sam Turner, the Upper School Dance Teacher, choreographed all of the Upper School dances in the show. Turner shared that his initial vision for his choreography was “to create movement phrases and then make those phrases into bigger, cut pieces of composition.” More specifically, Turner came up with the idea to create a threeact composition titled “Dreamscape,” encompassing three different dreams in three contemporary pieces. The first dream, he describes, “is being lulled to sleep,” and the second, “a foggy dream on the ocean with sunsets and clouds.” His vision was to make the piece “a soothing sense of sleep before you enter your realm stage,” which is the third dream.

The third dream is “a little bit more color and a little bit more jazzy,” the kind of dream where once you wake up, “you knew you had a really awesome dream but you really can’t remember all the details, but you do remember what it felt like.” For the other class pieces, Turner used old pieces of repertoire that he had previously choreographed, creating a portfolio where the students can reflect on the established skills that they have learned.

In addition to choreography and music, costumes capture the essence and mood of each dance. After going through the fitting and alteration process, Turner ensured that each costume “fit the piece as well as the whole three-act selection to make it cohesive.” Costumes ranged from blue two-piece sets that flowed, fitting the ocean theme of their dance, to sequin pants to match the upbeat jazz piece. Turner wished to highlight the dancers in multiple ways, pushing them to “accentuate their line” and heighten “the movement that they are doing.”

Turner also made specific music selections to accompany each dance. He connected with

VIA POLY PREP ARTS INSTAGRAM

several songs he had been listening to during the summer. When he saw the movement to these pieces of music, he “paired each class with those pieces, and it transcended all from that.” The music created a mood that could then evolve during the choreographing process.

The senior dance was created in only two weeks and was the last piece to be created out of the entire show. Turner shares that because we have many seniors in the advanced dance program, he “wanted to do something special for them so they had a piece just featuring them.” He was inspired by a dance he had choreographed ten years ago, as well as concepts from two documentaries by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and Ohad Naharan that had seated positions with movement. In addition, he had inspiration from a choreographer in Israel who had the dancers in a semicircle in chairs. Turner shares that “with those three concepts,” he built a piece to “show [the students] off with their capabilities and their skill set.” The meaning behind the dance is that we are all human beings which he describes as “flesh and blood and bones with these minds that drive us forward,” connecting to how

APRIL PLAYLIST the seniors are leaving Poly and entering the world. For costumes, he chose a skeletal shirt with a sequin heart on its chest, il“Alley Rose” lustrating said idea of universal humanity.

Conan Gray Turner explains the many highlights of creating the concert. What he particularly “so american enjoys is when pieces that were rehearsed Olivia Rodrigo” by classes separately come together. For example, “Neverland Is Home” is a two“Virgina Beach” class piece. Turner found it “very interestDrake ing” how, when we came together on stage during a tech rehearsal, his expectation of disaster was proved otherwise. He saw “Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going “everyone keep their relative spacing while To Be A Long Long Time)” Elton John keeping their movement qualities together.” Additionally, by show time, everyone has a common mindset that “we all need “Ivy” to sync up right before we go on stage,” Taylor Swift and those successful moments are prominent highlights in the creating process.

“Margaret” There are many hopes for what Lana del Rey (feat. Bleachers) the Poly community takes away from the Spring Dance Concert. Many of the students in the dance program are also ath“II MOST WANTED” Beyoncé & Miley Cyrus letes, actors, singers, and more. Turner emphasizes that “sometimes the dance program or the arts program gets a little “Oklahoma Smokeshow” lost behind some of the other strengths the Zach Bryan school has.” He wishes to show the people coming to the performance that the “Can I Call You Rose?” students who are sports players “come Thee Sacred Souls on stage and are just as strong in dance as they are and those other things that they do at Poly.” It is a hope that dance can Compiled by Brianna Sylvain be supported and represented in both an athletic dynamic and an artistic mindset.

From a student perspective, Eve Harris ‘26 shares her experience being in the Spring Dance Concert and being in three different dances. She shares that being in three dances was “definitely a little stressful” as “it’s a lot of responsibility to learn a lot of different dances in a really short amount of time,” however, “overall it’s fun with the environment that is very supportive.” In addition, she mentions the highlights of being in the performance. Both Turner and Harris communicated how rewarding the sense of accomplishment is when you are done and when everything comes together. What she hopes the Poly community takes away from the show is that “we are talented and we try really hard while working together to make something beautiful for the Poly community.”

The Spring Dance concert, although not discussed heavily among the school community, is an important moment for the representation of dance at Poly.

The students who may be viewed as athletes, musicians, singers, etc. get the opportunity to present themselves as dancers, expanding their range of capability.

With the choreography, lighting, costumes, and more, the performing arts community at Poly worked extremely hard to put together a fantastic performance.

Priscilla: An Alternate Side to a Well-Known Story

Although it lacked intrigue, Priscilla offers insight into the misconceptions surrounding the skewed image of Priscilla Presley, in an attempt to break the fairytale-like facade surrounding her life.

ROSE FILIPPAZZO CONTRIBUTING WRITER

T

he “King of Rock n’ Roll” is most referred to as Elvis Presley, a significant musician in the 20th century who reached audiences across the world. There are a multitude of movies depicting Elvis from his perspective, most recently the Austin Butler version, which tells the story of his legendary career while undermining the problematic aspects of his life. However, a movie has never been written from the perspective of those he affected the most. “Priscilla”, released in 2023, and written

by Sofia Coppola, offers an in-depth biopic of Elvis from Priscilla Presley’s perspective during the fourteen years they were in a relationship. As a film, many moments of tension seemed rushed and failed to entice the audience. Further, the abrupt ending left you searching for the missing piece to the story. However, despite these shortcomings, this movie ultimately exposed the audience to a valuable new perspective.

Coppola is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and fashion designer. According to Britannica, she was the first American woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director in 2004. Coppola wrote this film to tell the story of Elvis’s life from a side that is often overlooked, Priscilla’s perspective.

IndieWire, an independent film review website, states when watching Elvis starring Butler, Priscilla was not a prominent character. The review acknowledged how the movie conveyed Priscilla stating, “One bit of Priscilla’s dialogue continues to stay with me for how succinctly it crystallized the film’s conception of her. ‘I am your wife!’ She yells at Elvis.” Priscilla’s simplistic depiction as Elvis’s wife has caused society to disregard her side of the story and the hardships she endured.

Beyond being Elvis’s wife, this movie reclaims Priscilla’s individuality by sharing her experiences. Collider, an online entertainment publication, recognizes this

in an article. “Priscilla is less of a biopic about the wife of a famous artist, and more of a coming-of-age story about a woman realizing her potential.” In an NPR interview, Coppola emphasizes how she wanted to depict Priscilla as a relatable teenager during a difficult yet common time of transformation. Coppola believes that she has inspired a new generation of women through her work. “There’s girls and women that feel seen, and a lot of them are telling me they want to be filmmakers.”

Some may question the accuracy of “Priscilla” since it differs from other depictions and the idealistic life society believed surrounded their marriage. However, Coppola ensured its accuracy by basing it on Priscilla’s 1985 memoir, “Elvis and Me.” Coppola also made Priscilla executive director which she addressed in an interview with NPR which stated, “And then [Priscilla] came on as an executive producer, so she was available to me to answer questions and went through the script. And it was really important for me that she felt good about the film, that she felt like it represented her story.” Coppola was dedicated to accurately sharing a different side that is rarely acknowledged by the public.

Still, many disagree with the movie’s message, specifically Elvis and Priscilla’s daughter, Lisa Marie Presley. In Variety magazine’s exclusive with Lisa Marie, she wrote an email about her reaction to the movie. She stated, “My father only comes across as a predator and manipulative. As his daughter, I don’t read this and see any of my father in this character. I don’t read this and see my mother’s perspective of my father.” Lisa Marie described the script as “shockingly vengeful and contemptuous.” However, Priscilla stated in an interview with People magazine that the accuracy was “right on” and that she was so in agreement with Coppola’s depiction of her life that she “would never support another movie from anyone else doing it.”

ARTS

APRIL 2024

13

“This Ain’t a Country Album. This is a Beyoncé album” : An Ode to Family, Heritage, and the South DANIELLE JASON HEAD LAYOUT EDITOR

O

n March 29, 2024, 32-time Grammy winner Beyoncé Knowles released her eighth album, “Cowboy Carter”, the second installation of her trilogy project. This album comes as a follow-up to the trilogy’s first act, “Renaissance”, a pop album inspired by house music and ballroom culture of the 1980s and 90s. In the album notes of “Renaissance”, Beyoncé stated that “this three-act project was recorded over three years during the pandemic.” She found it to be “a time to be still, but also a time [she] found to be the most creative.” In an Instagram post signifying ten days before the album’s release, Beyoncé stated that Cow-

VIA CREATIVE COMMONS

boy Carter had been “over five years in the making… born out of an experience that [she] had years ago where she did not feel welcomed and it was very clear that [she] wasn’t.”

Many fans have assumed that this post was in reference to her 2016 performance at the Country Music Association Awards, where she performed her song “Daddy Lessons” off her 2016 album “Lemonade” alongside the Chicks (formerly known as the Dixie Chicks). The negative reaction online led her to do a deep dive into the rich history and origins of country music, exploring what it means to be a Black woman in a predominantly white genre.

In the creation of this album, Beyoncé collaborated with famous country artists from various decades, including Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, and Linda Martell, who was the first commercially successful Black female country artist in the United States and the first Black country artist to perform at the Grand Ole Opry. Martell released one studio album before leaving the industry in 1974. Beyoncé also collaborated with younger, smaller artists spanning genres, including Black female country artists Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy, and Reyna Roberts, all of

whom are featured on the album’s second track “BLACKBIIRD,” a cover of the song first performed by the Beatles. Nigerian-American singer Shaboozey is also featured and has songwriting credits on two songs on the album.

Continuing to draw inspiration from those around her, Beyoncé also turned to film during the songwriting process. During a press release, it was stated that Beyoncé was heavily influenced by films across genres, including blaxploitation films, spaghetti westerns, and fantasy films, going as far as pairing certain movies with specific songs on the album. The specific films on her watchlist for the creation of this album include “Five Fingers For Marseilles,” “Urban Cowboy,” “The Hateful Eight,” “Space Cowboys,” “The Harder They Fall” and “Killers of the Flower Moon.”

Two singles were released in the months leading up to the album’s release. Following a commercial in collaboration with Verizon at the Super Bowl, Beyoncé surprise-released “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages” as co-lead singles for “Cowboy Carter”. In the week following their releases, “Texas Hold ‘Em” debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot Country Songs charts, making Beyoncé the first Black woman to debut at number one on the country chart. The song also led to a TikTok trend, where dancers created and performed line dances to the song’s chorus.

On the album’s second song, “BLACKBIIRD,” Beyoncé covers the popular track off the Beatles’ 1968 self-titled album. Paul McCartney, one of the songwriters, cites the reasoning behind his writing of the song came from seeing footage of the Little Rock Nine, a group of nine Black teenagers who were the first to integrate Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas in September 1957. In an episode of iHeartPodcasts’ “McCartney: A Life in Lyrics” released November 29, 2023, McCartney stated that the song “wasn’t an ornithological piece; it was now to do with politics and to do with freedom.” The message behind the original version of “Blackbird” ties in seamlessly with the exploration being done to find a place for Black women not only in country music but also in the ever-changing music industry as a whole through the entirety of the album.

One of the album’s highlights comes in the form of a three-and-a-half minute duet featuring Miley Cyrus, on the track “II MOST WANTED,” which became the album’s third single on April 2. Beyoncé was said to be inspired by the film “Thelma and Louise”, a critically acclaimed 1991 film about two friends who embark on a road trip together that ends up with unexpected consequences. The song features an interpolation of “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac, seen in the chord progression used within the song. The pair sing back and forth through the song’s entirety. With lyrics

such as, “I’ll be your shotgun rider / ‘Til the day I die,” fans online have connected the song to the most important relationships in their lives – both platonic and romantic ones. The song also touches on the theme of youth and the acknowledgment that life doesn’t last forever, through the lyrics “Know we’re jumping the gun, but we’re both still young / One day we won’t be” featured in the first verse and the bridge of the song. The ‘ride-or-die’ nature of the song pairs well with the source material of “Thelma and Louise”.

Across the album, Beyoncé questions and toys with the idea of what it means to be a country artist or make a country album. On the album’s twelfth and twentieth songs, “SPAGEHTTII” and “YA YA,” Beyoncé blends country, trap, rock, and blues to create a sound authentic to her. The song “SPAGHETTII” opens with a spoken introduction from Linda Martell, where she states genres are a funny concept that theoretically is simple to understand, but can leave artists feeling confined and forced to fit in a box. This is a problem seen throughout the music industry, where consumers and critics alike often force Black women into the R&B category, even if their work doesn’t align with the genre. This ties in well with “YA YA,” which blends themes of cultural identity and personal empowerment into an almost five-minute song. The song references economic hardships faced by Black people throughout American history, with lyrics such as “aren’t you tired workin’ time and a half for half the pay” and “insurance ain’t gon’ pay no Fannie Mae,” which refers to the Federal National Mortgage Association, a government-sponsored enterprise that was founded during the Great Depression as a way to help Americans to be able to afford and buy homes. The song interpolates “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys and samples Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’” while simultaneously referencing dance trends from the 1950s and 1960s including the swim and the jerk. Finally, the song also mentions the “Chitlin’ Circuit,” which refers to a collection of venues across the U.S. where Black artists were able to perform after being turned away from predominantly white venues, providing a place for Black culture to be celebrated and acknowledged from the 1920s to 1960s.

The listener of “Cowboy Carter” is taken on an auditory journey throughout history, exploring what it means to be a Black singer in the music industry across decades. The album’s 27 tracks can be seen as snippets into Beyoncé’s experience reclaiming country music for herself and her community as well as defining what it means to be a multifaceted artist in the 21st century.

Tiktok Introduces A New Age of Marketing TALIA BARRO-PARSOFF AND LULIT ADEFRIS-YAXLEY CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

C

urrently, TikTok has a powerful hold on culture, and the film industry is no exception. There’s no denying that TikTok has grabbed the attention of young audiences, but how has that made the platform more attractive to Hollywood? Audiences are visiting the box office and streaming services based on how the platform’s creators are reacting to film content. By making viral edits and engaging with scenes, movies — new and old — are increasing in popularity. According to TikTok for Business, “TikTok has become the ultimate ally for entertainment marketers who want to connect with new audiences and convert them into fans,” which makes us wonder: Is TikTok the reason for these movie’s significant success at the box office?

“Anyone But You”, the viral rom-com starring Glen Powell (Ben) and Sydney Sweeney (Bea), has become a victory for Sony Entertainment. Despite its mediocre reviews, its popularity has impressed Hollywood immensely as it gains admiration nationwide.

The film had a weak opening on Christmas Weekend, grossing only $8 million; however, business soon after boomed as a result of a proliferation of Tik Tok fans re-enacting scenes and singing the now viral “Unwritten” from the soundtrack. As the film began trending, even the actors joined in on TikTok to re-enact scenes, making it even more popular. By the second weekend, after viral videos had reached everyone’s feeds, sales spiked up by 45.6 percent. By the third weekend, it became the first movie in history released on Christmas Weekend to become the most successful on its third weekend. TikTok’s ability for people to share their experiences led to the unexpected success of “Anyone But You”, but also showcased rom-coms as an enjoyable communal experience.

Producer Will Gluck told the Hollywood Reporter, “I feel the most important thing that’s been missing these last few years is sharing rom-coms with other people.” He seems to imply that its popularity stemmed from people’s entertainment in experiencing love together, not purely TikTok. However, TikTok was the jumpstart to “Anyone But You’s” success and proved to be a more efficient form of word of mouth, spreading ideas in seconds. For example, a stunt by the two stars, Sweeney and Powell, whispering to each other received more views than the trailer itself. At a screening at L.A.’s AMC Grove Theatre on January 14, two USC students said, “We heard about it all from

TikTok. All of our friends wanted to see it,” according to the Hollywood Reporter. It is undeniable that the rom-com sprouted from TikTok, and obvious that the producers embraced the marketing capabilities of Tik Tok and how it can reach young audiences quickly. They harnessed the energy of TikTok by simply taking a movie that had the potential to interest a large audience and placing it into everyone’s direct viewing.

Many know (and adore) the original 2004 American teen comedy film “Mean Girls”, starring Lindsay Lohan (Cady Heron) and Rachel McAdams (Regina George), and this year, an adaptation came out. Starring Reneé Rapp (Regina George) and Angourie Rice (Cady Heron), this adaptation is a film version of the Broadway musical.

Grossing around $104.4 million worldwide, Paramount’s aggressive digital marketing strategies were highly successful. In an effort to modernize the film, the directors used a heavy hand when it came to social media and TikTok references. Influencers like Chris Olsen, Alan Chikin Chow, Nia Sioux, and The Merrell Twins (Veronica and Vanessa Merrell) appeared during dance breaks and TikTok snapshots. Heavily influencing the TikTok FYP, the “Mean Girls” account racked up 600K followers! Critics were quick to judge the digitized aspect of the movie, Rolling Stone’s David Fear writing that the social media trope began to feel like a “crutch” and the musical numbers “would have benefited from a bit more visual breathing room.” In a stark contrast to the role social media played in “Anyone But You”, the TikTok-ification of “Mean Girls”, while increased publicity and revenue for the movie, ultimately led to tons of hate, making viewers ask the question: was there a need to modernize the cult classic?

TikTok, with over one billion users, has proved to be a successful marketing tool in the film industry. Both “Anyone But You” and “Mean Girls” gained enormous publicity from TikTok, despite facing some negative reviews from critics. A superpower of TikTok is to harness and launch trends into the mainstream. “Anyone But You’s” serenity song and “Mean Girls’” implication of trends are perfect examples. As we approach these next few years, it seems TikTok will become the primary source of movie success. Do you think these movies deserved the fame they received, or were they merely outcomes of TikTok’s impressive marketing capabilities?

14

ARTS

APRIL 2024

Poly’s Visual Art & Music Concerts Strike a Chord!

CHLOE GUEDES SMITH LAYOUT EDITOR

P

oly’s Spring Visual Arts Festival and Instrumental Concert as well as the Vocal Concert occurred in late April. With the new performing arts center the Poly Arts Department was thrilled to host their annual spring performances and showcases that brought Poly’s Middle and Upper School dancers, musicians, vocalists, and artists to the forefront.

The Spring Vocal Concert was even more specialized than the Winter Music Festival that was held in December. The main difference was that Poly’s instrumentalists and singers each get their own concert. In preparation, the vocal performers perfected their performances since Winter Break. In terms of organizing the show, Vincent Iannelli, the choral director and music programs coordinator, said that, “Choosing the programming is one of the most important things of any type of show.” All the songs and performances have to be coherent while also having their own personalities. Despite this, Iannelli added that, “People can expect a really nice varying repertoire from classical music to pop music to jazz music.”

The arts showcase was the first showcase in the new building. Everybody’s artwork was placed in the showcase, giving all of Poly’s artists the opportunity to share their art. Laura Coppola, the head of the visual arts, said she had to consider, “How does [the department] want to juxtaposed and make a conversation by 9th graders in a Foundations class and if they speak to works in the photography class,” as well as, “what kinds of visual conversations can we also think about instigating.”

In addition to displaying the works of students in art classes, there were displays for those

who won Scholastic awards. Multiple Poly students applied and won silver, gold, and bronze keys for their incredible work and this showcase was a time to present them to the community.

Additionally, there was artwork created by alumni because of the Special Reunion, which took place on April 20, five days before the regular showcase. These pieces were part of a spotlight exhibition that opened on April 25. Coppola and Michael Robinson, the head of the arts department, as well as those who work with alumni, have been reaching out and collecting pieces. Coppola said their goal was to, “get a handful of [alumni] works on campus so we can exhibit them in a part of the gallery.” In addition to these works there was also current student work. “Mr. Robinson and I will select the best of the best artworks created in 9th grade and 12th grade,” said Coppola.

The Instrumental Concert was similar to the Vocal Concert, with a range of performers in middle and upper school. Performing Arts Faculty member Carrie Dowell directed the Middle and Upper School string ensembles. Because the high schoolers already had the chance to perform during the Winter Music Festival, she said that they were working on, “extending their musical techniques and musicality.”

On the other hand, the middle schoolers worked on their sight reading as well as learning some fun music. Dowell said the show included, “Bluegrass music, dramatic movie style music, some Spanish music, and then going back in time to Italy for some Vivaldi music.”

National Poetry Month’s Importance: A Conversation With Faculty MIA SIERRA CONTRIBUTING WRITER

A

pril, National Poetry Month, is dedicated to the many beautiful and expressive poets from around the world. Created by the Academy of American Poets in 1996, National Poetry Month was made to raise awareness of the importance of writing in our society.

Many writers worth highlighting can be found on the Poly Prep campus, among staff and students. To get into the spirit,it’s time we recognize a few poets within Poly’s staff, including English teachers Julia Edwards and Paolo Javier, along with Upper School Dean Cherkira Lashley, who can share with us their identities as poets, and how they approach the artform.

Taking after her mother, Ms. Caldwell, another beloved member of the English department, Ms. Edwards began writing poetry as a kid. She’s been a member of Poly for two years, teaching young minds the beauty of literature as an English teacher in the Upper School.

Why do you write poetry and what pushed you to write?

I think I started writing poetry pretty young. I mean, I think two of my influences were my mother, who also works here as a teacher, and she was a poet. I went to readings, and she really instilled a value for poetry in me. The other reason would be music, like lyrics. I love listening to music, now and as a kid. It really resonated with me, listening to the lyrics of songs. So I funneled that into poetry. I also went to the Sarah Lawrence school, which is a pretty writing-centric school. And I was lucky to have a really good mentor there.

What themes do you explore in your poetry?

The essential questions of life; love, death, relationships, the self…things like that. I like to use both humor and more solemn concepts.

How has your writing evolved?

When I was younger I would write things more off the cuff, that mostly responded to my everyday condition. Like if I was on the subway or doing whatever I was doing. Now, I think my work is a little more considerate and thoughtful. I try to think about it. I’ve begun to reflect more on my life, not that I didn’t reflect then, but I think I just have more of an experience to draw from so I try to kind of take the various parts of myself and the world and put them together rather than just responding to kind of like what’s immediately in front of me and then letting my associations take me wherever.

Any advice for aspiring poets?

I think you should be open to the world, be honest with yourself. Those are the main two things. Find a good mentor, someone who believes in you, like the way that you believe in yourself too. I think what’s so great about poetry and writing-that we don’t need anything to do it. You need to buy paints to paint or get recording equipment to make music. The other kinds of the arts require you to buy things, but for poetry, the tool is just you and the world What poetry do you hold close to your heart?

There are so many poems, but the first thing that comes to mind is “What the Living Do” by Marie Howe. I think it’s one of the first poems that I loved.

It’s from a collection that’s also called “What the Living Do” and it really draws from just a lot of personal experiences within her family. The poem itself has an almost spiritual quality, even though it’s not spiritual at all really.

When people talk about poetry, slam poetry does not come up as often as it should. Its expression is told not only through pen and paper but by one’s voice and body. Keeping this art alive is Ms. Lashley, the newest member of Poly’s Upper School deans, explaining her experience in this field of writing and performance.

Why do you write poetry and what pushed you to write?

Poetry, for me, actually started in church. When I was a kid, I wrote a mother’s day poem that our congregation responded positively to. The validation made me think writing was something I was good at. In high school, here at Poly actually, there was a chapel with a special guest who was a SLAM poet. His name was B Yung and he incited my interest in the intersection of poetry and hip-hop. That’s when I really got interested in spoken word.

How does spoken word poetry make you feel?

Spoken word makes me feel like I have a voice and a platform to share it. It makes me feel both intellectually and emotionally present and vulnerable. It makes me feel both cool and nerdy. Which is a balance I needed to avoid being pigeonholed into the identity of “jock” — which is the identity that dominated my social experience as a student at Poly.

What is poetry to you?

In college (at Wesleyan), it became a space for me to share my identity with my school. It also became a space for me to be somewhat of an activist, using my poetry as a tool to create dialogue around issues pertaining to various social injustices.

How has your experience as a poet changed and further impacted your life?

Spoken word has been a tool for me to build community and connect with young people. It has been essential to my efficacy as an educator and my ability to make connections with other creatives.

What is your favorite poem?

VIA CREATIVE COMMONS

My favorite poem is “My Father’s Letters” by Yusef Komunyakaa. It is both simple and complex, literal and abstract. As a person who has had a fraught relationship with my own father, this poem speaks to emotions that I didn’t even have words for. My favorite part is the balance of pain and empathy that the speaker feels for their father.

Mr. Javier is another valued member of the English department whose passion for literature and dedication to learning pushes his students every day. Offering a more identity-based take on poetry, he discusses how he integrates his life as an immigrant from the Philippines who lived and grew around the culture of Queens.

Why do you write poetry and what pushed you to write?

I started writing poetry in middle school, actually, but the first poem I wrote was in the fourth grade. I think I was inspired to write poetry because I fell in love with hip-hop and rap. Listening to Run -DMC’s “Raising Hell”- that was a really formative album for me.

I first heard them when I was in the Philippines. My family moved here when I was 12.

And I live in Queens now. I didn’t really know that you could actually inhabit language that way, and also be playful and have something to say about the world around you.

What themes do you explore in your poetry?

The poetry that I’m writing today…I don’t know. It changes. I’m pretty restless. I’m someone who’s lived all over the world, very lucky to have experienced that. And so I feel like an outsider. I feel like an outsider anywhere I go. That gives me an advantage to not feel like I just have to do one thing. I think I’m interested a lot in my subjectivity. I’m an immigrant, so how my language behaves in my poems will always somehow reflect how my mind moves through different languages. I’m also really concerned with, I guess, being a person of color in this moment.

Right now I’m interested in dreams, writing dream poems, which then automatically makes me think about movies because movies are the closest to a dream in an art form.

How has your writing evolved?

I think I’m a much more knowledgeable poet in 2024. I know more about poetry, the traditions, not just here in the West, but in Asia and the Philippines globally. I’m more aware and understanding of it. I don’t think I was as aware before. You know, I was experimental. I think my poetry is not becoming more simple, but I’m experimenting a lot with more simple vocabulary. But it’s also evolving to include electronics. I have an SP-404 sampler. And so when I write, I’m tinkering with loops and making loops and making beats.

What poetry do you hold close to your heart?

I can just start with what I was reading last night, which was what I had at my desk. Arthur Rimbaud is a poet who I’ve just been returning to. He’s a French poet. You can look him up. He really anticipated the library of poetry that I care about today. He was queer, addressing the feminist themes and very open about his identities, how plural he was early on. He knew tradition but he also challenged it and he experimented with prose, which you see a lot of poets doing now, and I’m finding, you know, I’m experimenting with myself.

Any advice for aspiring poets?

I would say really just read as much about poetry and all poets who you can get your hands on at this stage, you know, here at Poly. The New Yorker is an interesting magazine to get one sense of how poetry should be, but it’s by no means a yardstick. Just read as much, read widely, whatever you hear about another poet from a poet, follow that rabbit hole. Ask your teachers. We’re some poets, you know.

If they see you’re writing poetry, they can guide you to a poet that you might learn from based on the poetry that you’re working on. Read more than write.

Remember to support and recognize your fellow writers the next time you see them.

Happy National Poetry Month!

APRIL 2024

15

MIDDLE SCHOOL CORNER Fantasy Author Adam Gidwitz Pays Middle Schoolers a Visit MADELINE SHIELDS CONTRIBUTING WRITER

F

antasy author Adam Gidwitz visited the Middle Schoolers of Poly Prep on April 11 to talk about his most recent book, “Max In The House Of Spies.” During club block, he shared his inspirations for the fantasy novel and some perspective on the happenings of World War II. He concluded the session by inviting questions from the audience.

“Max in the House of Spies” is the story of a refugee, Max, who had to flee Germany, without his parents, to stay safe from the Nazis. Later on in the book, he becomes a spy. Gidwitz shared facts about this intriguing tale with exciting puzzles and riveting new knowledge about what was happening in Germany at the time.

Gidwitz captivated the audience in a spy-like activity, engaging Middle School students and faculty in a fun Morse code challenge where the students were given numbers and were assigned to crack his code. Once it was broken, eventually the sentence was revealed to state, “Between jus-

tice and my mother I choose,” a quote

by French writer and philosopher Albert Camus. Gidwitz provided more context for the quote: In 1933, Germany had fallen apart. Adolf Hitler gave the citizens the option to choose between what was right —refusing him as president, and finding a better solution — or their motherland, which would mean permitting him to help the economy while killing various groups of people for no just reason. Max, the novel’s main character, had to deal with this choice throughout the book: his loved ones or what’s right.

Overall, the book signing and author meet-and-greet were educational and compelled the audience because they learned a little about being a spy, how books are made, and World War II. Gidwitz eloquently shared his stories and inspired the crowd. This experience wasn’t just fun and relaxing, but also enlightening.

From Teaching to Marathons: Caitlin Hart-Loi Shares Her Passions CHARLOTTE ARZOUIAN MIDDLE SCHOOL EDITOR

“

That’s what I find most fun about teaching. You have to try to explain the same thing in six different ways,” said math teacher Caitlin Hart-Loi. In the classroom, HartLoi is often found exuberantly explaining how to graph linear functions to a befuddled group of middle-schoolers. Hart-Loi tries

VIA POLY PREP PROFILES

her best to help students develop a positive association with math, in conjunction with her teaching philosophy that learning should be an enjoyable experience for all of the students in the class and that we shouldn’t have to take ourselves too seriously in the process.

This year marked Hart-Loi’s third year at Poly. Hart-Loi says that she always knew she wanted to be a teacher. In fact, teaching always came naturally to HartLoi. In high school, she tutored students, which she grew to love in college. She also taught swim lessons and studied education.

Growing up, Hart-Loi was an intense athlete. She was a competitive swimmer from 4th grade through her junior year in college, and a competitive cross country runner her senior year in college. Since graduating college, Hart-Loi furthers her passion for running by being an active par-

ticipant in both marathons and triathlons.

“I enjoy running because I love to be outside, and I find it relaxing,” Hart-Loi explained. She goes on to say that having grown up a pretty intense athlete, she needs her “practice time” in order to feel calm. She loves running outdoors, and uses it as time to listen to a podcast or music, and to explore new areas.

Most recently, Hart-Loi trained for and ran the Boston Marathon. After an injury halted her plans to run the New York City Marathon last fall, Hart-Loi undertook an intense preparation process for the Boston Marathon. “I have this color-coated Excel spreadsheet that’s four, seven-week time

“That’s what I find most fun about teaching. You have to try to explain the same thing in six different ways,” -Caitlin Hart-Loi

spans,” said Hart-Loi, a move that will not surprise her students. She meticulously planned her training, increasing her mileage in a gradual way that felt healthy, eventually leading up to her longest run: 20 miles.

However, the marathon is more than a run to Hart-Loi. Running the Boston Marathon holds special meaning for Hart-Loi, who used it to raise over $17,000 for cancer research at Dana Farber in honor of her mother, who passed away last year from the disease.

In her free time, Hart-Loi also enjoys cooking and baking, two hobbies that she did with her family when she was growing up. She also likes to read, a hobby that she picked up in college, sometimes reading a book in a day in the summer.

16

APRIL 2024

Spring Sports Head South for Spring Break KAYVAN DYK AND CARLO CARSON SPORTS EDITOR AND STAFF WRITER

E

very year during spring break, most of Poly’s spring sports teams take a trip down to Florida to build team chemistry, play new opponents, and enjoy time in the sun. This past break, the girls’ and boys’ lacrosse teams, and the softball team flew to Orlando to train and got to experience the thrills of Universal Studios. The baseball team took a trip to Saint Petersburg, which is west of Orlando and approximately a two-hour drive away.

Last year, girls’ lacrosse went to South Carolina to train: a change from the Orlando environment. However, the team enjoyed their return to Florida. “Collectively, the trip exceeded our expectations. We were worried about playing in the Florida heat but it wasn’t that bad and it was nice to bump into people from other Poly teams at the hotel and amusement parks,” said junior Zoë Campbell. Campbell remarked that as well as having fun, the team also bonded even more. Even though they were already close, after being together every day they formed “new connections, which definitely translated onto the field.” The team played one game while in Florida, against Virginian school WT Woodson. Unfortunately, they lost, but still, “It was a great experience playing a school that we wouldn’t otherwise be able to play in the season and the game provided us opportunities to try out new plays and strategies before the

season kickstarted back in New York,” said Campbell. Overall, it was a successful trip for the team, and they currently sit at a comfortable 2-0 record, beating Dalton and Fieldston.

In Saint Petersburg, Poly Baseball played a few scrimmages in the early week before playing two games that counted toward their record: against North Side Christian and Bayport. The team suffered defeat against a well-rounded North Side Christian team, but bounced back and beat Bayport. The trip didn’t only revolve around the games, but also the team’s chemistry building. “I believe that the Florida trip always brings us closer together. Not just on the level of friendship but family,” said junior and Duke baseball commit Justice DeJong.

DeJong believes the trip marks a new chapter for the team, “My favorite part of Florida is seeing how the team will grow because Florida is the start of the season.” Overall, the trip was a success and helped build a foundation for the rest of the year. The team recently beat rivals Stony Brook 4-3 and are enjoying the competitive schedule they’ve been given this season.

Chasing Victories and Warm Weather: Spring Sports Recap SERGIO ABBOUD CONTRIBUTING WRITER

B

oys’ Tennis The Poly Boys’ Tennis team began their season on Monday, the 8th, with a disappointing loss to Horace Mann. Despite the rocky start, sophomore and second singles player Hutch Karp ’26 believes that “this group of guys are more determined than ever” to claim that desired NYSAIS Championship.

Baseball Despite a 2-4 start to the season, Poly’s baseball team is stronger than ever this year. Sophomore player Kobi Marshall noted that the “splitting of the Varsity A and B teams,” caused a rough start for the season. ”When each team’s chemistry improves we will be back to our winning ways,” Marshall added.

Softball The Softball team is on fire to begin the year. They started their season with a 16-0 win against Horace Mann in their IPL season opener. Softball hopes to repeat last year’s triumphs and return the NYSAIS championship to Dyker Heights.

Outdoor Track Poly’s outdoor track team recently triumphed in Ivy League 2. Junior Kayvan Dyk was “surprised by the outstanding level of some of the newcomers” and is now reassured that the “team will succeed” in the coming NYSAIS championship.

Boys’ Volleyball The Boys’ Volleyball team is off to a rough 0-2 start to the Ivy Prep League seaVIA ALIX CAMPBELL

VIA HAZEL BUDKER

son. Sophomore player Tyler Borg believes this due to is because of the “loss of the seniors, it’s only a matter of time until we bring the pieces together and dominate in the league.”

Boys’ Lacrosse Boys’ Lacrosse is on a roll to start the Ivy Prep League season. They’re currently undefeated in the Ivy Prep League. After a hard-fought 12-13 loss in an out-ofleague game played against Fordham Prep, sophomore Ben Robb said he was amazed by the “determination and fighting mentality” that the team has displayed this season.

Girls’ Lacrosse The Girls’ Lacrosse team has been on a hot streak recently in this year’s Ivy Prep League. They’re coming off of their first win in the league, which was a thrilling 11-10 battle against Dalton. Senior Captain Kaia Scott is hopeful for the rest of the season. “Our team is truly very united, and I know that we have nothing but a successful season ahead of us.”