The ReMarker | September 2015 by St. Mark's School of Texas

SEPTEMBER 25, 2015 VOLUME 62 ISSUE 1

R R EMARKER

LEARNING LEADERSHIP

Revamping the English 10 curriculum, the department looks to incorporate character education for sophomore students. PAGE 2

‘THE CHANCES

TAKE IT FROM THEM

AS THEY’VE EVER BEEN

From lunch to romance, seniors and other older students give advice to the next generation of Marksmen. PAGE 12

INSIDE

ARE AS

CHARLIE O’BRIEN PHOTO

ST. MARK’S SCHOOL OF TEXAS 10600 PRESTON ROAD DALLAS, TX. 75230

GOOD TO WIN SPC.’ - Senior Parker Dixon PAGE 29

News Malecall Life Perspectives Buzz Commentary Sports Backpage

IMMIGRATION

TRUMP SAID IT.

DO YOU BELIEVE IT? They’ve been slammed by presidential candidates and brought into the mainstream of the political discussion. But immigrants — those seeking a better life in this country — refute

They’re | They’re bringing drugs They’re bringing crime They’re rapists

the notion that they come to this country for all the

wrong reasons.

rugs, crime and rapists. That’s what presidential candidate Donald Trump said “Mexico is sending” to the United states. And to stop illegal immigrants, Trump wants to build “a big, beautiful, powerful wall.” Then he wants to send those immigrants here, millions of people, back to Mexico. People we see every day. People who are now part of our community. •••

Miguel Plasencia ’15 grabbed a sweatshirt from the Lion’s Closet. He wanted to represent his new school, so he threw on the first thing he saw. A white sweatshirt, SMLAX written in yellow letters across the front. The new seventh-grader, in his new gear, headed to lunch, but he was hit with an unex-

pected question. Yo, you play lax? Another seventh-grader at the table asked Plasencia. What do you mean? He’d never heard that word. Lax. You play lax? They repeated. He still didn’t know. You don’t know what lacrosse is? The kids laughed. As a first generation American, Plascencia didn’t know what the sport of lacrosse was. His friends didn’t play it, and his parents certainly didn’t play it. In fact, his parents were both immigrants from Mexico. His mom used a fake visa, with all her real information. His dad hiked over the border. continued, page 9

STORY PHILIP SMART, WILL CLARK PHOTO ILLUSTRATION ALDEN JAMES, WILL CLARK

Morris family optimistic one year after daughter’s disappearance by Aidan Maurstad

hristina Morris went missing from The Shops at Legacy in Plano — Aug. 30, 2014. A year later, however, after efforts from an outpouring of volunteers and the arrest of Enrique Arochi, the chief suspect in Christina’s disappearance, Christina has still not been found. But Christina’s mom, Development Office coordinator Anna Morris, marked the anniversary not with sadness, but hope. “A group of family,” Anna said, “and people that have been really

strong supporters, who have begun calling themselves ‘Team Christina,’ we just all had a picnic at a park close to our house and were just together. We tried to spend the day with loved ones and make it a positive thing.” “Team Christina” also designated the weekend of Aug. 29 and 30 as a time for random acts of kindness in Christina’s honor. “We had what we were calling a ‘Pay-it-Forward Weekend,’” Anna said. “We had some cards printed out and asked everyone to perform some

random act of kindness in Christina’s name. And they did, to tell her story and pass on a card and her information.” The cards also contain a picture of Christina. Anna says that getting Christina’s face out there as much as possible is key to the search efforts. “We wanted people to be able to recognize Christina’s face as well as they could recognize their family member’s, their neighbor’s, their friend’s face,” Anna said. “I hate that it has to be so repetitive, but I have to think that

that repetition is good, because hopefully if someone does see her they’ll connect the two things.” Anna Morris hopes that the people will continue to ‘pay it forward’ in Christina’s name, past just that one weekend. “Hopefully that will continue to go,” Anna said, “and not only spread the word that Christina’s still out there and she’s still missing, but also just to have some positive momentum. Have something good happen because of her.”

2 10 11 16 21 22 25 32

N new s

NEW SCHOOL

Get to know the new faculty members who now roam our halls.

TRUMP CARD ARNO GOETZ PHOTO

On the issue of immigration, see interviews with protesters and supporters at the Trump rally Sept. 14.

10 YEARS LATER

Current and former students share their Katrina stories.

MENTORS FOR MARKSMEN

A look at the new freshman-senior buddy system and the two seniors behind it.

SMALL WORLD

Senior Eric Li speaks about his experience studying nanoparticles over the summer.

page 9

4 5 6 7

PAGE 2 FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2015 I REMARKER

QUICKhits

THE OTHER BLUE SHIRT

• JUNIOR PATRONS SEE SHAKESPEARE The Junior Patrons’ Guild (JPG) available to St. Mark’s, Hockaday, and Cistercian students is offering a variety of events this year, ranging from a visit to the Dallas Museum of Art to a viewing of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. JPG sponsor Claire Strange believes that the chance for students to see such art in person is invaluable. “To be able to stand

in front of a specific painting in person, I think is very special,” Strange said. • SENIOR AUCTION LOOKS FOR PROFIT The senior auction, headed by seniors Chance Cooley, Ashton Hashemipour and Cameron Lam, will be held Oct. 4 at 1 p.m. in Decherd Hall. “The main goal this year is to raise as much money as possible,” Cooley said. “All senior activities are funded through the auction.”

Big ticket items include court-side SMU and Dallas Mavericks tickets, along with more personalized gifts, such as sports and lessons.

as much electronic waste as our community can bring in,” Northcut said. “It helps people get rid of trash, and it helps the environment too.” The annual drive collects an average of two tons of electronic waste every year.

• ELECTRONIC WASTE DRIVE RECYCLES TECH Science instructor Dan Northcut’s electronic waste drive will take place Sept. 29 on the tennis courts from 2-4:30 p.m. Anything that runs on electricity will be accepted, according to Northcut. “My goal is to collect

• 27 NAMED NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARS Twenty-seven seniors are semifinalists for the National Merit Scholarship Program. Seniors include Drew Baxley, Jake Byers, Joshua Choe, Jackson

Cole, Henry Goldberg, Ashton Hashemipour, Alden James and Daniyaal Kamran. Also, seniors Mahir Karim, Kevin Kim, Noah Koecher, Akshay Malhotra, Davis Marsh, Aidan Maurstad, Michael Mosle, Tim O’Meara and Ammar Plumber qualified. Others include seniors Anvit Reddy, Ward Rushton, Alex Sanchez, Mitchel So, Eugene Song, Drew Taylor, Albert Thieu, Abhi Thummala, Brent Weisberg and Kevin Wu.

— Philip Montgomery, Rhett Daugbjerg, Zoheb Kahn and Andre Arsenault

in the

MOMENT events on campus told through photos

COURTESY DAVID CARDEN

he first Friday of the school year brought about one of the greatest controversies since the Great Mini Taco Switcheroo of 2011. It was bigger than when Head of Middle School Warren Foxworth revealed the horrible truth of Santa Claus during a Middle School Chapel. And, yes, bigger than that time your middle school teacher gave you homework on a no homework weekend. The debate of our lifetime: The Class of 2016’s Senior shirts. A brightly checkered Hawaiian shirt spangled with loud floral patterns and bold, blue XVI class logos, it received just as many compliments as it did insults. “Oh whoa, nice shirt!” a first-grader said to me while skipping his way to P.E., in awe of my senior year color coordinating powers. “Man I just love these shirts, guys,” Assistant Head of Upper School John Perryman said to us as soon as a few of us entered campus from the parking lot. I thought we were golden. Forever to go down in history as the AVERY POWELL class with the Best. Shirts. Ever. That day, I rocked those flower petals and sea turtles about as hard as any man could ever rock flower petals and sea turtles. “My kid’s daycare teacher just looked at me disappointed,” a Middle School teacher, who wore the shirt in reluctant support, said in the lunch line, bursting my bubble. “I mean, I look and feel like a piñata,” my English teacher said at the start of class, wasting absolutely no time. “I’m sorry, but these senior shirts are disgusting,” two juniors laughed to each other in the hall. Both clearly not sorry one bit. By lunch time, small arguments and debates among non-seniors were breaking out at least once a period. Seniors defended their Pacific garb like you’d just insulted their religion. “They’ll grow on you! They grow on you, I promise.” Sure, the critics think. I’ll totally come to love blue picnic blankets splattered with sea turtles and sword wielding lions. And while normally I would agree that any clash between majestic amphibians and the most ferocious of carnivores is a bad thing, these senior shirts are a different matter. This shirt has become more than just some wacky (or incredible) design Kent Broom found with the help of Google Images. Although many self proclaimed fashionistas will turn their heads in shame at the sight of an entire Senior Class “making a fool of themselves” every Friday, when a fifth-grader turns to me in the lunch line and asks, “why are you wearing those shirts?” I’ll have an answer.

stories around campus in brief

ROARING Lei-donning seniors, including the Spurs (front row), lead the cheering for the pep rally before varsity football victory over Fort Worth Country Day Sept. 11. Seniors wore their blue, white and gold Hawaiian button downs and handed out leis to show school spirit.

Say what?

the Around corner

what you need to know in the coming week

TODAY What John Wayne Film Festival What State Fair Opening Day When All-day When All-day Where Lorena’s Restorante Where Fair Park

WEEKEND What 5k JDRF Diabetes Walk When Saturday at 9:00 a.m. Where The Lawn at Reunion Tower

What Clam Weekend When All weekend Where Sea Breeze Fish Market and Grill

NEXT WEEK What Butterfly House and Garden final day When Wednesday Where Heard Museum

What Lone Star Coasterthon When Oct. 3rd and 4th Where Six Flags

FRYING GOOD TIME Famous for its fried goods and massive Ferris wheel, the Texas State Fair opens today. The fair lasts for 24 days and the gates open at 7 a.m. and close at 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

comments made by faculty, staff, and students around campus Who’s slappin’ that square root up? Joe is. — Math Department Chair Joe Milliet

Yeah I have no idea where I’m going to college. — Princeton commit Parker Dixon They’re dangerous balls of potential explosion. — English instructor Gaymarie Kurdi on her fear of latex balloons

Do not drink the soy sauce. — Assistant Head of Upper School Dr. John Perryman It’s like a genetic Disneyland! — Marcus Master Teacher Dr. Bruce Westrate on eugenics

He’s Bacon, she’s Bacon, they’re all Bacon! — History Department Head Byron Lawson on American colonization

PAGE 3 SEPTEMBER 25, 2015 REMARKER

NEWS

ENGLISH 10 CURRICULUM CHANGES

Real

character WITH AN EMPHASIS ON ETHICS AND CHARACTER EDUCATION, SOPHOMORE ENGLISH CLASSES HAVE BEEN REVAMPED TO PROVIDE MORE PERSONAL INSIGHT.

ELOQUENCE The new curriculum aims to make Marksmen more fluent in leadership vocabulary, allowing them to discuss deep problems and share opinions.

he pressure was on. After weeks of preparation, the Philosophy Club finally had the floor. With Eugene McDermott Headmaster David Dini hanging to every word, their year would finally culminate in an attempt to change the English curriculum for years to come. “Weeks prior to Mr. Dini’s visit, the Philosophy Club was reading about, speaking about, and adapting Stanford’s Design Your Life course; we delved into logistics and modifications so that we could legitimately pitch our idea to Mr. Dini,” Jake Holder ‘15 said. “It was an incredible experience, and under the leadership of the seniors and Dr. Steg, we presented a compelling and professional pitch.”

Hoping to incorporate much of their character education into the 2015-2016 English 10 curriculum, students from last year’s Philosophy Club provided suggestions on how to adapt the curriculum. “Many of the students had prepared speeches for him, and they pushed for a new curriculum centered around what they had taken away from Philosophy MARTIN STEGEMOELLER Wanted to create a more leadership-oriented class for students

Club,” Philosophy Club sponsor Dr. Martin Stegemoeller said. “When deciding what grade should receive this curriculum they thought that senior year was too late, junior year was too busy, and freshman year was too young, leaving sophomore year which seemed like a natural fit. Then after meeting with the other English teachers a couple times, it clicked as a possibility and we ran with it.” According to English Department Chair Michael Morris, the new curriculum for all English 10 classes will revolve

around character education. “We want to make sure that we take the first trimester of English 10 to ensure that all of the boys are getting the concepts, the vocabulary, the fluency and the thinking we believe is essential to their being able to develop into the good men and leaders that we have long committed ourselves to develop,” Morris said. Even though the new curriculum is heavily centered on character education, Stegemoeller believes that necessary language arts skills will still be taught. “I believe that this new curriculum helps students explore their identity without losing the core English 10 curriculum,” Stegemoeller said. “So I expect there to be no drop for English 11, but maybe even a marginal gain strictly on the language arts, and a significant boost in their ability to deal with ethical situations as well.” Morris explains how he believes the focus on character education will improve an already proficient course. “We certainly think that the English 10 course last year was a great course, but our mindset is to improve what we thought was a good curriculum to make

it even better,” Morris said “At different points in a school’s progression there will be shifts, and we hope shifts for the better and so this is a pilot program we are trying this year. And as the year progresses, we hope that it will have the positive effect that we hope it will.” With the common first trimester curriculum including This Boy’s Life, Emerson’s Compensation and Sherwood Anderson’s Short Stories, there are several large ideas within the books themselves. But in order to introduce character education along with these core texts, Stegemoeller explains a prominent challenge among English teachers will be how the book is used in the classroom. “I think the biggest difference between the new and old curriculum is that instead of exposing the books to the students, we are teaching the students life lessons and using the books as tools to teach,” Stegemoeller said. “This year, instead of leaving the students to interpret the book as they will, we have a curriculum we hope to teach, and we are using the books to help guide students through this curriculum.” For this reason, the common essay topics prepared for the first trimester are designed to help teach the desired curriculum even further. “The papers we have prepared are different in the sense they stray away from the traditional paper,” Morris said. “But they are three main papers that are designed to foster the kind of fluency, wisdom and insight into the self we want the curriculum to develop.” Along with the common core texts and essay topics, vocabulary will also be standardized for the first trimester

with plans for a possible common final examination. “Our hope is that our common first trimester curriculum will lead to a final examination at the end of the year that is also common for all tenth graders,” Morris said. “It being a final examination in which students will discuss how their study of character education has and will continue to affect them.” MICHAEL MORRIS Thinks the new curriculum will benefit students

Attempting to make English 10 more meaningful for the students, teachers have found that by sharing ideas for the course every two weeks they have been brought closer together as well. “We meet as a group every two weeks, and it is really meaningful to get everybody on the same page and smooth out any inconsistencies between us,” Stegemoeller said. “It has had this great collaborative pull on the department, and the sharing of teaching practices and information has been really helpful for everyone.” Looking towards the future of the curriculum, students and teachers have high hopes for the program’s overall outcome. “We’re really excited about this,” Morris said. “We think it has a lot of potential, we think it’s the direction the school is moving, and we’re glad to be able to give character education at least one definite place in the curriculum. We’re hoping it goes well, and we’re going to learn as we proceed.”

STORY JAMES HANCOCK ILLUSTRATION ABHI THUMMALA PHOTOS JAKE VAUG HN

What’s New? English 10 curriculum changes through the words of Dr. Martin Stegemoeller

‘

New books and essays

To provide a well-rounded ethical education, books, such as This Boy’s Life by Tobias Wolfe, Compensation by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Weinsberg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson, Still Life with Oysters and Lemon by Mark Doty and Sophistication by Faye Hammil, have been suggested to teachers, who can pick and choose which ones they think are most impactful.

weeks of set curriculum

NATIONALLY AND GLOBALLY, PEOPLE DON’T REALLY HAVE AN ETHICAL VOCABULARY, AND IF YOU CAN’T TALK ABOUT SOMETHING, IT’S VERY HARD TO THINK ABOUT SOMETHING.

MARTIN STEGEMOELLER ENGLISH INSTRUCTOR

Every sophomore English class will have the same set curriculum that has been decided by the English teacher, in addition to any outside things a teacher wants to go over.

> To further delve into discussions on ethics, students will be prompted with essay questions that aim to expand the student’s understanding of right and wrong and train their minds to analyze decisions from a leadership perspective.

19 Eudaimonia

Character Telos Virtue

new vocabulary words added

The deep, profound happiness that comes from virtuously moving towards your telos throughout your life. One’s effective power to give care. One’s coordinated understanding, responsiveness and skills. What a being could be if it grew into its fullest self. An acquired habitual excellent quality that helps a being to be what it is.

NEWS

PAGE 4 SEPTEMBER 25, 2015 REMARKER NEW FACULTY, STAFF

For receptionist Sherri Sullivan, it really is ‘all in the family’

herri Sullivan was a part of the 10600 Preston Road family long before she took a post in Nearburg Hall as the school receptionist. “Mr. [Mark] Sullivan’s been a part of the school for a long time, so I just felt like I was part of the family,” Sherri said. After a 25-year stint teaching in the Dallas Independent School District (DISD), Sherri decided to join her husband, Athletic Director Mark, landing a position as the school’s receptionist.

they speak Spanish,” Sherri said. “[They] have a bilingual program in the district, but at the sixth grade it stops completely… The district just sees it as a frustration, and the drop out rate of DISD is [high].” That’s a startling 16 percent per year. And that’s not where the differences between the public school system and private schools end. “The teachers here are of a higher echelon,” Sherri said. “They’re allowed to have their own style, to teach how they feel that they should. In DISD,

“This job became available, so I put my name in to see if I could get this job,” Sherri said. “I stopped teaching, so I just wanted to do something different.” Sherri taught English, language arts, reading and physical education for Sidney Lanier Expressive Arts Vanguard and Lenore Kirk Hall Elementary. A glaring challenge she faced during her tenure was the language barrier, as approximately 70 percent of DISD students identify as Hispanic. “The students come in, and

there’s kind of a formula that you have to follow, and you’re graded on it, and your paycheck depends on it.“ Her time in the public system was rewarding . “I gained the culture,” Sherri said. “I was a naïve girl living in North Dallas coming into Oak Cliff, into a culture I had no idea about, learning and growing with it and trying to continually improve it. I got to see the changes and the improvements, to see how far it’s come. I got to see how teachers can really make a difference.”

FAMILY After 25 years in DISD, Sherri Sullivan joins her husband Mark at 10600 Preston Road.

14 new faculty positions represent administration, faculty and staff additions

REV. STEPHEN ARBOGAST School chaplain College — Attended Yale and Harvard; received degrees in ethics and theology from both. Previous Experience — Groton School (Groton, MA); Trinity School (New York City, NY); National Cathedral School (Washington, D.C.). Favorite Genre of Music — Icelandic and Scandinavian music; it’s sort of haunting, and it’s good background music for when you’re thinking.

JOHN ASHTON Associate headmaster Classes taught this year — Tenth grade English. Previous Experience — various public schools, ESD, Hockaday (Head of Upper School), St. Mark’s (director, Wilderness Program; associate head of Upper School).

CAROLINE BOURG Development Office coordinator Hometown — Baton Rouge, LA. Favorite Sports Team — New Orleans Saints. Favorite Ice Cream — Ben and Jerry’s Half Baked.

Favorite Book — Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck.

DANIELLE CLAYTON Middle School humanities Favorite Genre of Music — It’s really wide ranging. I’ve been into folk, and more acoustic, music lately. Favorite TV Shows — Hell on Wheels, Deadwood, Game of Thrones, Downton Abbey. Most Proud of — In my office, there are thank you cards from so many kids, and I’m so blessed to be reaching in their minds and to be there at a critical time in their life.

VALERIE DAVIS Middle School math

KEVIN DILWORTH Strength and conditioning Coach

College — Texas Tech for undergrad and TCU for grad school; received undergrad in business and master’s in education.

Looking Forward to this Year — Success with my athletes and students in general.

Favorite Ice Cream — Honeymoon’s strawberry tarragon. Most Proud of — Finishing a marathon and trying to run a half marathon every year.

Most Proud of — Only person within my household that has graduated college. Favorite TV Show — Law & Order SVU.

CHRISTI FINEGAN Administrative assistant to the associate headmaster Favorite Sports Team — My 12-year-old son’s Middle School football team. It’s his first year, and we’re [my husband and I] very proud of him. Favorite Ice Cream — Blue Bell’s Mint Chocolate Chip. Something You Want People to Know About You — I’m so excited to be here. It’s my fifth day, and I’ve just received such a warm welcome.

WIDELY TRAVELED AND WITH INTERESTS RANGING FROM BEN AND JERRY’S TO SMU FOOTBALL AND RAP AND OLD ROCK MUSIC, NEW FACULTY AND STAFF ARE ANYTHING BUT

HEATHER FRANKLIN Development Office alumni coordinator Moved from — College Station, TX. Favorite Book — Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. Favorite TV Show — The Gilmore Girls.

KAREN HOLLY Assistant Bookstore manager Favorite Ice Cream — Pinkberry Froyo. Most Proud of — I’d say my “claim to fame” is I dated [ventriloquist] Jeff Dunham for three years and was engaged to him. I ended up breaking it off.

KENDALL MURPHY Computer Science instructor College — TCU; majored in psychology and minored in business. Favorite Ice Cream — Pralines and cream. Favorite Book — Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand.

PREDICTABLE.

SHANNON SCHNAIBLE Lower School drama

MICHELE SANTOSUOSSO Upper School history College — SMU; bachelor’s degree in History and master’s degree in Education. Favorite Music Genre — I like to work out to a mix of rap and old rock. Favorite TV Shows — Modern Family, Friends and Top Chef.

Previous Experience — Substitute at St. Mark’s in 2014, worked at the Dallas Children’s Theater, outreach programs and summer camps. Favorite Ice Cream — Rocky road. Favorite TV Show — Alias. Watching it again on Netflix.

LEEANN SLOANE Administrative assistant to the director of Counseling Previous Experience — Previously worked at SMU in a similar position. Favorite Sports Team — Anything Mustangs; Pony up! Something You Want People to Know About You — I love to travel, and I love other world cultures.

STORY AND COMPILATION ANDRE ARSENAULT, NAFTAL MAUTIA PHOTOS ARNO GOETZ

VISITING SCHOLARS PROGRAM

Newbery Medal winner to visit campus Oct. 28-29 by Reece Rabin noted illustrator and children’s book author along with a neuroscientist and New York Times best-selling writer have been named as the school’s visiting scholars for the 2015-2016 school year, according to Marjorie Curry, director of the program. First to visit will be Eugene Yelchin, the Robert E. Dennard Visiting Scholar, who will visit with students Oct. 28-29. Yelchin, whose work has received the Newbery Medal for children’s literature, will tell stories of his life. After an upbringing in Communist Russia, then at war with the United States, he

defected to America in 1983 and left his home behind. While he is best known as a children’s book writer, Yelchin also portrays a more mature and sophisticated side in many of his books. “He writes children’s books,” Curry said. “But a writer’s personal life can be interwoven into a story even if it is a fictional story.” Along with writing, Yelchin has ventured into several different artistic fields, as well. “One thing that is really great about Mr. Yelchin is that he fits so many departments,” Curry said. After beginning as a set designer in Russia, he became an advertisement director after

graduating from the University of Southern California’s film program. This sparked a career that included creating original storyboards for the popular Coca Cola Polar Bear campaign. Yelchin is best known for his work in illustration and writing. His novel Breaking Stalin’s Nose, read by fourth grade students, won the 2012 Newbery Medal. “I think it will be exciting for people that are in the creative arts to have access to a professional who is at the top of his field,” Curry said. “And also for younger boys to have access to the person whose book they just read.” Eagleman will have just as

many ideas to offer. A winner of the McGovern Award for Excellence in biomedical communication, Eagleman will bring ideas and inspiration to math-and-science-inclined students, hitting home with an older audience than Yelchin’s. An internationally bestselling writer, he is also now the author and presenter of new PBS series The Brain, airing next month. “The spirit of the program is thinking of opportunities for an ‘in-house field trip,’” Curry said. “Opportunities that enhance what students are doing in the classroom and taking it above and beyond.”

TO VISIT The winner of the 2012 Newbery Award, noted children’s author-illustrator Eugene Yelchin, will visit the school Oct. 28-29 as the first 2015-2016 Visiting Scholar.

PAGE 5 SEPTEMBER 25, 2015 REMARKER

NEWS

KATRINA 10 YEARS LATER

Riding out the storm Ten years after the most costly natural disaster in U.S. history, the impacts of Hurricane Katrina are still apparent — even from 500 miles away.

“

e didn’t even think it would be that bad.” For many residents of New Orleans, it was just a routine. It was almost second nature – evacuate on short notice, then return once the storm settled. For Mark Senter ’13, this seemed like just another storm. But as anyone who witnessed the power of the hurricane ten years ago knows, it was anything but a regular storm. “The thing about hurricanes is it’s such a routine thing that you’re just kind of used to evacuating on a few days notice and going to some cheap hotel or something like that, then just moving back,” Senter said. “So I think that it was kind of such a routine thing that I never thought that, looking at it from the hurricane perspective, it would be anything more than a quick evacuation turnaround.” It was much more than that. Claiming almost 2,000 lives and causing $100 billion in damage, Hurricane Katrina was much worse than anyone had expected. “The day Katrina hit, we were just playing golf that morning, that’s how routine it was,” Senter said. “We were playing golf when Katrina was making landfall thinking that it wasn’t a big deal. That night, my dad’s friend called him who had tried to ride out the storm a house down from [ours]. Water was still coming in and the levees weren’t working.” MARK SENTER Moved to Dallas permanently after Katrina

After moving to Dallas soon after the hurricane, the family sold their house in New Orleans after Thanksgiving, and

formally moved after Christmas. The one thing that Senter said he missed the most was his family. “My mom, her brothers, and my grandparents all lived within 15 minutes of each other,” Senter said. “Post-Katrina, my mom’s side of the family is in Austin, my dad’s side is scattered throughout the South. So I think that’s, before and after, how close I was proximity-wise to my family.” In addition to leaving family members behind, others had to leave friends as well. This was the case for senior Jalen Lynch, whose family moved before the hurricane hit. “I lost a lot of friendships through moving, and since, at that time, I didn’t have a phone, I couldn’t keep in contact with any of my friends,” Lynch said. “And that was probably the biggest change when I moved.” For Lynch, moving was nothing new. His father was an NBA player, so he had moved before. Because his family owned a home in Dallas and he had family here, the move was much easier for him. “Before then, I had lived in many other places like Philadelphia, and we even had a house in Dallas because that’s where my mom’s family was,” Lynch said. “We had a summer house there, so we kept going back to Dallas.” For Senter, however, whose family had not decided to move here permanently, the adjustment was harder, simply because of the uncertainty of the situation. “I think for a while, even probably for my first two or three months in Dallas, the extent of how long we were going to be there whether it was for a few months, it was kind of unknown and I think a lot of that is because really there wasn’t a clear-

cut answer,” Senter said. Once moving here, Senter says that the hardest thing was the academic rigor of classes, especially after arriving after classes had already begun. JALEN LYNCH Lost contact with many friends after the hurricane

“I think the academic rigor at St. Mark’s [was an adjustment],” Senter said. “Back in school in New Orleans, I was pretty academically focused, but jumping into fifth grade, which is a historically hard year at St. Mark’s, was kind of something to start with. And the duplicity with that was the new kids had already been the new kids for a while, and they started finding their friends, so coming in later, it was like being the super new kid.” For Lynch, his favorite memory of

pre-Katrina New Orleans was of the float at Mardi Gras with his father’s basketball team. “It was a very vibrant city, what I remember most was probably Mardi Gras, just riding on the floats with the basketball team,” Lynch said. “That was pretty cool and they usually did it during the daytime so it wasn’t as crazy, but that was probably one of the best memories I have.” Since the storm, Senter has returned to New Orleans to visit, and while the city has rebuilt, he feels that the it has forever lost some of the culture it once had. “Frankly, it’s kind of awkward, to talk about how ‘back’ the city is but if you’ve really lived in New Orleans, the city is just different,” Senter said. “I think that’s just one thing about it, I think while the city is revamped and you can see that the city has changed a lot, the people who had been there before for generations, they’ve moved out.”

Katrina at a glance

1,836 fatalities $108 BILLION

in damage

80%

of New Orleans underwater

175 mph

winds at maximum strength

costliest natural disaster

STORY CORDAY CRUZ GRAPHIC WILL CLARK, ABHI THUMMALA PHOTOS COURTESY JALEN LYNCH, MARK SENTER

AP U.S. history courses shift focus as AP exam changes by Zoheb Khan

s the school year begins, the Advanced Placement U.S. history course will be changed. These changes, which do not alter the course on a fundamental level, help students better prepare for the course’s AP exam. “The content has not changed much, if at all,” History Department Chair Byron Lawson said. “The amount of writing hasn’t changed, if at all. But to help students prepare for the AP exam, we changed the way we ask some of the questions.” The old AP U.S. history exam was focused around multiple-choice questions

that were content-heavy. However, the College Board, which produces the tests, has cut down on the number of these multiple-choice questions. “And now all of those questions are prompted by some type of visual,” AP U.S. history instructor John Hunter said, “so a speech, a primary source, an excerpt, a graph, a chart, a map, et cetera. So [the AP exam] involves more than just rote memorization of facts and figures.” The changes to the curriculum will ensure that students are prepared to perform well on the AP exam, which asks questions in a different way than traditional historians do.

“We feel as a group, that the only way to properly address the uniqueness of the exam,” Lawson said, “is to continue to deliver our content in a way the students can manage, but organize the questions such that students are not surprised when they take the exam.” In order to help students become familiar with the questions that will appear on the AP exam, Hunter is including some progressively in his tests throughout the year. “I move in AP-type questions from the very first test to throughout the year,” Hunter said, “so at least my students are at least aware of what they look like.”

The fundamentals of the course, however, have not changed. “We are still a content and skill-heavy course,” Lawson said. “We do a lot of writing, and the AP exam isn’t so concerned with the volume of the writing.” Furthermore, the goal of the course has not been changed. “We still want to teach a good American history course that is collegiate-level at any college in the U.S.,” Lawson said. “We want our kids writing at a college-level by the time they complete their U.S. history course. And we want them to understand the fundamental tools that historians use to analyze and organize data.”

NEWS

PAGE 6 SEPTEMBER 25, 2015 REMARKER

SENIOR-FRESHMAN BUDDIES

Bridging the gap Seniors Drew Baxley and Alden James spearhead a new senior-freshman buddy program, helping ease the transition from the Middle School to the Upper School for the class of 2019.

ike most things, it started with an idea. An idea to help ease the transition into high school for the incoming freshmen, and to give seniors the opportunity to become mentors for their underclassmen. An idea that could make the school a better place for everyone. The new senior-freshman buddy program, a concept introduced by seniors Alden James and Drew Baxley, was inspired by Baxley’s relationship with his older brother, Cameron Baxley ’14, who graduated two years ago. “It was actually Drew’s idea,” James, co-head of the Leadership and Ethics Council (LEC) said. “He really enjoyed having his older brother as a mentor, so he brought the idea to me and Dr. Perryman. I thought it would be cool, freshman having an older guy who’s been through it all to talk to.”

‘

WHAT REALLY SURPRISED ME IN A GREAT WAY WAS HOW MANY SENIORS JUMPED AT THE OPPORTUNITY TO MENTOR.

DREW BAXLEY

“I had the idea at the end of last year, in the Upper School LEC meeting. We were trying to think of ways to get the upperclassmen to interact more with the younger guys,” Baxley said. “That reminded me of how much my brother meant to me. I wanted to make sure those seniors get that same chance to impact the freshmen.” Baxley, noting that many fresh-

men are almost entirely uninvolved with school affairs, sees the program as an opportunity to get younger students more involved in the community. “As a freshman, I was like a lot of the other guys — not that involved, just trying to get my feet planted,” Baxley said. “My brother was a junior, already super involved, and he kind of pulled me into what he was doing.” Baxley agrees that freshmen would benefit from having an upperclassman to give them advice and says that his older brother was the main reason he got more involved with the school and its activities. “He was in a Chapel Committee meeting. He literally just grabbed me by the shirt and pulled me in,” Baxley said. “It seemed harsh at first, it was actually kind of fun. I ended up being able to jump in that much sooner.” The program, which began Sept. 24 with breakfast from Torchy’s Tacos, pairs each senior with a freshman for a series of six meetings during the year. The vast majority of the Senior Class, 62 out of 88 students, will be participating, along with 99 freshmen. This means that some seniors will be mentoring two students. “One thing that we wanted to stress was that every senior in the program signed up for it willingly,” Baxley said. “We wanted to show that the seniors really wanted to help and that they’re not just there because we made them come. They want to make

the St. Mark’s experience that much better.” In addition to the senior-freshman buddy program, the LEC plans to begin several new initiatives to promote a more united school community. These include additional club and sports presentations for the Middle Dchool, as well as more informal interactions with the Lower School. The LEC is also planning a program to give freshmen and sophomores more of a voice in the Upper School community. “The LEC is a new program. We’re trying to find a purpose for it in the community,” James said. “It’s designed to be a way for anyone to get involved in the community, provided they don’t mind a little work.”

A NEW TRADITION Senior Drew Baxley (right), a co-founder of the new freshman-senior buddy program, walks with freshman Carter Langbert (left) and shows him the ropes.

Will Diamond and freshman Duncan The buddy system Senior Kirstein talk about their futures as buddies

WILL DIAMOND Looks forward to mentoring freshman buddy

“I’m excited to get to work with all the freshman because not only is it a chance to get to know a bunch of the new faces in Upper School, but also it allows me the opportunity to share what I have learned over the past three years. “Hopefully I’ll impart information that can help these guys succeed in their high school careers.”

DUNCAN KIRSTEIN Thinks a senior buddy will give good advice

“I think it’s cool to be able to connect and make friends with someone from a grade that has already gone through basically anything and everything that could worry a freshman. “They know what to expect and what the teachers want from us and how we can do stuff this year that they regretted not doing.”

STORY AUSTIN MONTGOMERY PHOTOS ARNO GOETZ

Decline in carpooling here part of a larger national trend by Anvit Reddy and Davis Bailey Since first grade, five Lower Schoolers had heard Frank Jordan call carpool D every day as a mom pulled in to pick them up. But as they grew older, carpooling became ineffective as the five students played different sports and got on different schedules. Student Council Vice-President John Landry, one of the members of carpool D, explains why the group dissolved as the members grew older. “For fifth and sixth grade, we only carpooled after school ended,” Landry said. “In fifth grade, we started having different interests, whether it was clubs or wanting to do homework in the morning, so it became difficult to coordinate a carpool in the morning.” But as the students progressed into Upper School, carpooling becomes even more difficult. “The main difficulty of carpooling in upper school is scheduling,” Landry said. “There are so many different clubs, sports and productions that meet at different times before school and after sports. It’s difficult to find someone who is doing the same set of activities as you are,which

makes carpooling hard.” The experience of carpool D follows a two decade-long decline in carpooling, according to Planetizen. com, which has polled thousands, revealing a stark decline in carpooling since the 90s. Known around campus for his knowledge and passion for everything environmentally friendly, Director of Environmental Studies Dan Northcut ‘81 is a strong advocate for the benefits of carpooling: both to save money and to save the planet. “It’s a really simple conclusion,” Northcut said. “When you have two people coming to school, if they live near each other and they carpool, you essentially halve everything from car fuel to pollution. It’s kind of one of those no-brainers.” Given the clear benefits of carpooling, Northcut hopes that spreading the word about the effectiveness of the practice and its immense effect on the environment can make carpooling more widespread throughout the campus. “Publicizing is a big thing,” Northcut said. “If the message gets spread, I’m sure that carpooling will start to pick up.”

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PAGE 7 SEPTEMBER 25, 2015 REMARKER

NEWS

SUMMER RESEARCH

Trading summer for science Heading to the University of Texas at Dallas, senior Eric Li spent his summer working with microparticles in a laboratory.

NANO EXPERT Eric Li spent the summer working with nanoparticles at the University of Texas at Dallas’ laboratories and presented his research at a symposium open to the public audience.

hile most high school students were relaxing by the pool or sleeping in, senior Eric Li was hard at work, undertaking an investigation in an exclusive research program. Li performed scientific research over the summer in a University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) laboratory as a part of the George A. Jeffrey NanoExplorers Program, a laboratory research opportunity for high school students in the Dallas area. Li aimed to observe the interaction between gold atoms and amino acid ligands, which are molecules of amino acids attached to metals through the process of coordinate bonding. “By studying the various properties of the different gold nanoparticles and the amino acid ligands we attached onto them,” Li said, “we can see if they’re viable for various therapeutic or imaging capabilities.” As high school students, the NanoExplorers took part in graduate school-level research. Li and his partner

were under the supervision of Dr. Jie Zhang, an assistant professor with a background in nanotechnology-related sciences. “Although we did many of the experiments that the graduate students do, the overall direction of our research is determined by our hosting professor,” Li said. After weeks of arduous work, Li and his fellow researchers in the NanoExplorers program presented their experiments at a symposium open to the public.

‘

SUMMER RESEARCH WAS AN INCREDIBLE EXPERIENCE THAT EXPOSED ME TO WHAT LABORATORY WORK ENTAILS AT THE UNDERGRADUATE LEVEL.

ERIC LI

Li’s presentation covered the procedure and results of his research with gold and amino acid while also exploring the possibility of future research in the area. “At the nanotech symposium I gave a ten-minute presentation [about] what I

did, the general procedures and some of the data and results that we found, as well as whether our nanoparticles have potential for future studies” Li said. Among the attendees of the symposium was chemistry instructor Jon Valasek, who noted Li’s professional attitude. “I think Eric did a great job,” Valasek said. “As Marksmen, we’re prepared to do presentations like this. He presented himself well, dressed well, and knew exactly what he had to do. It was a delight to see him there and to be able to see his presentation.” Valasek has also attended the NanoExplorers’ symposiums in years past and can see the program’s potential benefits for a high school student. “Just by working with them and seeing how they operate,” Valasek said, “[Li] gets a good idea of how to proceed in a scientific investigation.” Valasek recognizes that in addition to its academic benefits, the program has ad-

vantages that extend outside of the classroom and into the real world. “All our guys who do the UTD research just gain invaluable experience because they get to do real research that’s going toward some goal – to solve some problem of some kind,” Valasek said. Li worked on weekdays from nine to four throughout the summer, sacrificing his free time to pursue new avenues of medical research and familiarize himself with the scientific process. The rewards of his studies, however, far outweighed the sacrifices — his laboratory research proved a useful learning lesson for future endeavors in the field of science, which Li is thinking about pursuimg professionally. “I definitely benefited from this research because it gave me a glimpse of what undergrad research will be like,” Li said. “I had the priviledge of working with a research team that is at the forefront of nanotechnology and nanomedicine.

STORY AIDEN BLINN, CORDAY CRUZ PHOTOS CAM LAM, COURTESY ERIC LI

Technology department uses summer to upgrade equipment by Blake Daugherty

he campus has seen a lot of new updates since classes ended last May. Director of Media Services Rick Cerovsky and his team spent the majority of the summer implementing changes. The first area on campus to see these changes was the chapel, which received a new audio system. “Over the course of the spring and the first part of the summer, we sampled different systems,” Cerovsky said. “Out of everything that we listened to we felt like the Bose system was going to benefit us the most.” This new system will allow for the

speaker to be better understood throughout the chapel. “We set them up on a delay to get a nice and even sound in there so that the spoken word was intelligible,” Cerovsky said. “That way everyone could understand what was going on. So far it seems like everyone has been pleased with it as far as being able to hear everything that’s said.” Also, during the summer, new 4K TVs replaced the conventional HD TV in meeting rooms throughout campus. “Starting with the headmaster conference room, which was converted into Mr. Ashton’s office,” Cerovsky said, “we

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pulled out an old plasma TV, and I found some Samsung 4K TVs that we put in.” The 4K technology also brings more opportunities for faculty meetings. “The smart TV has internet access,” Cerovsky said. “It has the capability of Skype on it. All you need is a TV Skype camera. A lot of the things that we do nowadays have to do with FaceTime and Skype. Instead of just talking with somebody, now you have a visual also. It makes it more personable that way.” With an Apple TV connected to the smart TV, presenters can also connect to the TV wirelessly. “I hooked up Apple TV to it to where

if you have a MacBook or an iPad you will be able to mirror whatever is on that device onto the TV wirelessly,” Cerovsky said. “In this way, you won’t have cables running between everything like we used to.” Similar to this wireless control of a smart TV, the last upgrade to the school came in the form of new smart projectors added in the library wings, allowing for a teacher to control his or her computer wirelessly from the smart board. “The teacher can have his or her laptop sitting off to the side with whatever application they want the students to look at or learn,” Cerovsky said.

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NEWS

PAGE 8 SEPTEMBER 25, 2015 REMARKER

HOMECOMING

A NIGHT IN SPACE With an ‘Interstellar’ Homecoming theme, Student Council hopes to make the dance one that is out of this world.

night,” Landry said. “It is an event at the dance which is going to feature a faculty member and a student going head-to-head in one of the best performances the St. Mark’s student body has ever seen.” Council members also changed the invitation format. To save money and make the RSVP process more organized, the council is sending out electronic invitations, with payments possible via credit cards. Logistically, this will make the invitation process cleaner, says Gendason. “One of the Homecoming moms suggested that we look into online registration to make the process for registering easier,” Gendason said. “[The system] offers a credit card option, since many people like to pay for significant purchases via credit card, and allows you to create a user-friendly database of who has RSVPed and which items they’re purchasing. The amount of tedious paperwork and spreadsheet creation is minimized when you use an online system that accepts credit cards.” In addition to the new additions and the theme, President JT Graass cites the venue itself as one of the key factors to the success of the dance. “I think it’ll be the coolest venue we’ve had in a long time,” Graass said. “We had House of Blues about

four years ago, but it was the downstairs. So this is an entirely new [area], we’ve never been there before, so I think that’s going to be really, really cool.” Landry also feels that the House of Blues, through the reputation it has as a concert venue, will be even better suited for Homecoming. “House of Blues is a perfect venue for a concert, but it’s an even better venue for a high school dance because it has all of the decorations already set up, it has the culture, it has the background,” Landry said. “So what we really wanted to focus on was the music, and the extra things. Having that venue already set up and furnished with so much history in it, I think it’s going to be a great environment.” Umer Nadir ‘15 will return as the DJ for the event. Landry feels that DJ Umer’s popularity at the school will create a more familiar atmosphere for students. “Umer is one of the top DJ’s in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, and having him come back to his alma mater is truly special,” Landry said. “I know a lot of students look forward to seeing him and interacting with him, and I can guarantee that he is going to put on quite the show for students.”

CREATIVE COMMONS

esterday, Student Council President JT Graass announced the theme for Homecoming ‘15 will be “Interstellar,” and the event will be held at the House of Blues Oct. 24. Along with the traditional ideas for Homecoming, Student Council members hope to incorporate new events throughout the night to attract more students to the dance. Student Council sponsor Casey Gendason is excited that this Homecoming will incorporate the newer ideas into traditional format. “I feel like Homecoming 2015 is a mix of the St. Mark’s tradition with the recognition that using the same model every year creates a ‘been there, done that’ feeling, and we are trying to minimize that feeling,” Gendason said. “So I’m excited that we are able to keep the traditions, but I’m also excited to bring in an idea that will hopefully keep people at the dance for the entire night.” To entice students to stay at the dance, the council has decided to add a lip sync battle. Student Council Vice President John Landry believes this duel between a faculty member and student will be a great way to keep students interested at the dance. “This year we’re bringing something brand new to homecoming

NEW FRONTIER Spangled in stars, the logos above on the left and right will appear on the front and back, respectively, of the T-shirts given out at the dance.

LIGHT UP THE NIGHT Located in downtown Dallas, the House of Blues is the venue for the dance.

THE WEEKEND’S BREAKDOWN Friday, Oct. 23 • All school Pep rally @ 10:30 a.m. in Hicks Gym. •Varsity football game vs Greenhill at 7 p.m. in the Lamar Hunt Stadium. •Spirit Party at the home of freshman parents Robin & Paul Martin at 4777 Harry’s Lane starts at the conclusion of the game. Saturday, Oct. 24 •Freshman bus leaves at 6:30 p.m. from parking lot in front of Nearburg. •Dance starts at 8 p.m. at The House of Blues. •Lockout at 9 p.m.

STORY CORDAY CRUZ ILLUSTRATION ABHI THUMMALA PHOTOS USED WITH PERMISSION FROM NOMINEES

HOMECOMING KING NOMINEES

The King’s speech...

“It feels awesome. Looks like my 12 year nomination campaign was successful.”

How does it feel to be nominated? “I never expected to be nominated. JT (Graass) is a real prankster so I thought he was joking when he told me. Turns out he wasn’t. As king I plan to take the entire school to Medieval Times, where I’ve arranged for Joe Milliet to joust Geoffrey Stanbury.” WILL CLARK

HOMECOMING QUEEN NOMINEES

“It’s like thinking you have a box of normal adult Cheerios, and then on the first bite, you realize that they’re actually Honey Nut Cheerios.”

BRIANNA BUFORD

FRANCES BURTON

ELLIE BUSH

SLOANE CASTLEMAN

GREYSON GALLAGHER

GRAHAM KIRSTEIN

AVERY POWELL “This one time I got an email from my grandma saying how cool she thought I was. So it feels very similar to that, you know, like you’ve made it.” DREW TAYLOR

“I mean, I figured Stuco would need to keep the nominees diverse and interesting. So nominating me as a devilishly handsome half-Chinese halfCali boy twin who studies Japanese and rows for a sport was almost expected. Also, this is the first of many steps to my campaign for the US Presidency in 2024.”

HEATHER XIAO

All Homecoming Queen nominees are seniors at the Hockaday School.

PAGE 9 SEPTEMBER 25, 2015 REMARKER IMMIGRATION

A BORDER ISSUE

NEWS

COMING TO TOWN Speaking to a crowd of more than 20,000, presidential candidate Donald Trump (left) rallies supporters in the American Airlines Center Sept. 14. Protesters outside the arena (below) show off their opinion on Trump.

A NATION DIVIDED, AMERICANS DEBATE OVER THE ISSUE OF IMMIGRATION — AND WHERE TO DRAW THE LINE.

lascencia’s parents came to America to provide for their family. And Placencia thinks that many Mexicans, the ones who own houses, live here and go to work here, come to America for similar reasons. “Mexico is known for being a country for having a lot of drug-dealing and trafficking, but the people that come here to the United States . . . they are there because they have a job to do,” Plascencia said. “And that job is to advance their culture. To advance the people they love. To make people better, to make people smarter, to make their kids have a better future.” Another first generation American, Hilario Vargas ’15 says his parents moved to the United States to find better opportunities. Opportunities that his parents didn’t have in Mexico. His dad walked for hours to cross the border. His mom did the same, meeting her uncle on a nearby interstate. “Being a first generation American and coming from a Mexican background, I believe, had already put me in a disadvantage to those people who were born here,” Vargas said. “However, it’s all about opportunity, that’s what really helped me and is still helping me. The opportunity to join an institution like St. Mark’s and then a higher education beyond that.” MIGUEL PLASCENCIA Thinks immigrants come to America for opportunity

Plascencia and Vargas both came from similar situations, and when their paths crossed in the Great Hall, listening to former Headmaster Arnie Holtberg deliver a speech to new students, the two instantly identified with each other. They hailed from Oak Cliff, which really helped out when Plascencia needed a ride home from a spirit party and no one else in the grade could give it to him. They both went to public school before, mainly hispanic. But now the two had an experience as first generation Americans that many others at school hadn’t had. “[Being first generation] pushed me to be like them, so my kids could be like you guys were,” Plascencia said. “So that my second generation Americans can live comfortably and live well. That’s what I strived for. When I saw a lot of [other] guys and saw I was first generation, it made me want to go prove everyone wrong.” As an immigrant, Student Services Supervisor Miguel Mesta has found a life at the school. He even learned English from the students here. “They used to send me 10-15 boys a day, and I was taking them out to clean tables back in rooms and other little things,” Mesta said. “But when I was saying something wrong, it was always one

student who would said ‘Mr. Mesta, you say it like this.’ That’s how I learned a lot from the students at the school.” Immigrants, and descendants of immigrants, like these community members have always fueled the growth of this country. But there are still questions remaining regarding the issue of immigration. Important questions, ones that Trump brought to the forefront of the national headlines still stand: “Who do we let into our country?” Local immigration lawyer Harry Joe addresses this issue. “[Trump] says America’s need for these people is a magnet for them to come into the States,” Joe says, “and he’s right about that. This country has a very long history of needing and relying on immigrant behavior.” The immigrant who wants to work is not the issue, according to Wes Butler of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency. “From a law enforcement standpoint,” Butler said, “we want to stop the bad stuff, the bad people. Our big concern is not someone coming over here to work illegally. I don’t think somebody who’s going to be supporting their family working two minimum wage jobs is really going to start wrecking the economy.” But even so, Butler has to enforce immigration laws universally, even when it is tough. ike when Butler encountered an immigrated woman who had been living in the U.S. for ten years. She had two kids who were born in the United States. She had no criminal record. She was completely innocent of any crime, but he had to deport her, and consequently, her children went with her.

HARRY JOE Critical of Trump’s views

“That’s the thing. It’s black and white,” Butler said. “There’s no gray in there. You can’t just sit there and let something slide. The law is the law. She came over here illegally, she overstayed illegally, that’s it. You can’t just all the sudden choose what you want to enforce. You have to enforce it all.” Many politicians have proposed solutions to this issue. Trump’s solution: mass deportation and building a wall. But Butler, who works on the front lines of the immigration issue, knows the reality of the problem.

“There’s always a Trump out there or somebody with the same ideas that Trump has,” Butler said. “He doesn’t understand how impossible doing all that would be.” Vargas has similar feelings about Trump’s plan. “I don’t know why anyone in their right state of mind would vote for a man who is as ignorant as he is,” Vargas said. “I don’t know how easy it seems to him to be able to deport 11 million people but it would be impossible to do that. His plans for the United States are improbable and unrealistic.” Joe doesn’t deny that there are bad people who come over to the U.S. illegally, but the idea of removing them all seems too difficult to pull off. “And then those that are bad, those that want to cheat and steal, no country should take them, and the United States is no exception,” Joe said. “ But do we really want to kick them all out as Donald Trump is saying? Are we willing to pay the price for it?” Joe says the the only way for Trump’s plan to work is to criminalize the hiring of illegal immigrants. “Make it a crime for people to employ an undocumented worker,” Joe says. “You make it a crime to employ people who mow your lawns that are here illegally. Now, is this what you really want to do?” As an immigrant himself, Mesta knows what it takes to immigrate to the U.S. and find a new job, a new life. “But most of the people, I can say, they cross the border to get a better job, to live a better life,” Mesta said. “I put myself as an example. I grew up helping my mother raise a family. Moving into the United States, our idea was to work and send money to them to survive.” •••

Plascencia was curious. He knew his parents came from Mexico, but now their home was in America. “If, somehow, Mexico and the United States went to war, who would you fight for?” “I love my country of Mexico, but the United States has provided me with a life,” they both say. “And for that, I’d lay down my own life for the United States.” And for Plascencia, that’s what being an American is. “It doesn’t matter the color of your skin, where you come from, but it’s an ideal,” Plascencia says. “A sense of being. A sense of something greater than yourself.”

at the Rally Opinions were strong — on both sides of the immigration issue — at Trump’s Sept. 14 Dallas rally. STEVEN OTTO Clarifies that Trump is for legal immigration Here’s what a big confusion is with the whole immigration thing. Many people think that [Trump] is completely against immigration. He’s against illegal immigration. Americans are on the backburner right now. The illegals, the Mexicans, the Puerto Ricans, they’re all frontrunners. They don’t have birthrights here, and they’re being given everything. That’s where [Trump] is trying to make it where it’s Americans first. VICTOR STRUM Tired of Republican party

I like what [Trump] has said so far. I really don’t like the party brand of Republican, so that’s why I label myself as a conservative. I’m real tired of the way the party has been run for the past 20 something years in general, and I’m looking for someone who’s willing to do what they say.

JAMES JOHNSON Likes Trump’s political approach

Some of [the illegal immigrants] are criminals. The problem is, when a person like Mr. Trump makes a comment, the media takes it and blows it up. And he’s the kind of gentleman that speaks from his heart. That’s why I’m here. He tells things as they are, and they can very easily be misunderstood or misconstrued. DEBORAH MARMON Wants more secure borders

We have so many of the illegals that are coming in and mingling with the American people that are committing crimes. I’m from a Latino family. These illegals coming over here are a danger to our country, they’re a danger to our economy. This is the United States of America, not the United States of Mexico. And it has nothing to do with racism, it has to do with our borders.

TAYLOR KOREN Curious about Trump’s policies

[Trump] has just said he wants to deport everybody, but he hasn’t said how he’s going to do it. So I’m open to hearing how he could possibly deport all of the illegals.

BROAD SPECTRUM Diverse politcal beliefs were represented at the Trump Rally at the American Airlines Center and the protest at the Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe. STORY PHILIP SMART, WILL CLARK PHOTOS ARNO GOETZ, ALDEN JAMES

NEWS

MALECALL

SEPTEMBER 25, 2015 REMARKER

THIS ISSUE STAYING IN SHAPE WITH TIM SKAPEK HOW TO TIE A TIE (FINALLY) ON YOUR OWN

Taking you back to the basic fundamentals of all things manly.

Muscles in a minute

TYING THE KNOT

Now that school is in session, you may not have time to hit the gym twice a day like you did over the summer. Senior Tim Skapek has some quick exercises to help you stay in shape.

Homecoming is a month from tomorrow. Whether you are a freshman or a senior, you should definitely know how to tie your own tie.

SETS OF

STEP 1

30 REPS

STEP 2

ushups with weights in hand: You are holding a light weight (maybe five or 10 pounds) and do twenty of those, doing ten on each arm. Quality over quantity is most important—don’t sacrifice form for reps. Just keep working your way up weight wise.

ips aren’t supposed to be terribly difficult, so I do a little more volume here. Three sets of 30 reps is ideal with short rest in between to maximize results. As with most exercises, the more you do, you’re just going to get better at doing it each day.

Cross the thin end of the tie over the wide end, ensuring the thin end remains straight along the chest while the wide is at an angle.

PLANKS

AIR SQUATS

STEP 3

SETS

30-50 REPS

MINUTES

do three sets of 30-50 reps. Typically I’ll do a set of maybe 50 air squats and then I will rest for 15 seconds, and then do a wall squat. I switch between those two like a super set. Rest is important, but you still want to push yourself.

old the plank for two minutes if you can. That is a good goal. If you can’t, just work your way up. Maybe start with 30 seconds and increase the time the stronger you get.

While keeping the thin end straight, take the wide end with your right hand and cross it over the thin end at the bottom of the neck.

Bwana Tales: Dragonfly English instructor Curtis Smith is known for his brief yet insightful stories. Sophomore Blake Daughtery sat down with him to discuss the 30th anniversy of his memora ble trip to Australia.

STEP 4

I STEP 5

Take the wide end and wrap it one and a half times around the thin end

STEP 6

Tighten the tie by pulling down on the wide end, creating a tight knot. And voilá. You’re ready to be the life of the party.

20REPS P

UNTIL FAILURE

THREE SETS TRICEP DIPS

Place tie around neck with the wide end over the left shoulder. Make sure that the tie is uneven with the wide end lower than the thin end.

Take the wide end of the tie and pull it underneath and through the portion of the tie wrapped around the neck.

PUSH-UPS 3 SETS

PULL-UPS

n June, 1985 I was traveling around by myself in Australia and I decided to go up to Cairns, which is the northeastern part of the grand island of Australia. It is where the Great Barrier Reef is. The Great Barrier Reef is one of the largest growing organisms in the world. It is more than 1500 miles long. I was still on the mainland and hadn’t traveled out there. I was with these guys in a youth hostel. One guy was a kiwi from New Zealand, another was from Australia, and then another was from Japan. The four of us got up early one morning and rented a little dune buggy. It was like an open convertible, fast-moving go-kart. We just decided to ride up in the country early one morning. We were up on the northeastern part near the Great Barrier Reef. After about an hour of driving we stopped at a stream. There was a forest around the stream where

we got out. There were a bunch of dragonflies flying around. We were just sitting there chilling, and the Japanese guy was off a ways, looking at the dragonflies. He was about twenty feet away from a dragonfly. He started taking his outstretched arm and hand and started making these big circles in the air. CURTIS SMITH Reflecting on trip to Australia.

He was looking right at the dragonfly, and you could see the dragonflies’ eyes and head were watching this Japanese man’s hand as he was making this circular motion. He got closer and closer. He was doing it very patiently and slowly. Then he got within about ten feet, and you could see the dragonfly was watching with not only his eyes but his head was following the circular motion of this man’s

hand. He got within five feet, three feet, two feet and one foot away. Then he came down and pinned the wings of the dragonfly on the ground and he picked up the dragonfly. In other words, he in a sense hypnotized the dragonfly and got him mesmerized by the motion enough so that he can come in and capture it merely by using his hand. What a different way to think. Who would have ever thought that you could capture a dragonfly like that? Westerners would have gone to Elliot’s hardware and gotten a big net, camouflage, anti-human stink. This was a simple, effective, radical way to think. It illustrates the incredible way that people do think. There are so many ways to skin a cat and as this story taught me, there are so many ways to capture a dragonfly.

— Curtis Smith, as told to Blake Daugherty

Spotify mixes for any occasion A survival guide for keeping the good times going when you find yourself in possession of the all-powerful aux cord. Rolling Stones COURTESY CREATIVE COMMONS

PAGE 10

The Weeknd

Jimmy Buffett

1. Riding Shotgun The moment has finally arrived. Your friend’s phone has died, and you’ve been passed the long awaited AUX cable. Don’t you dare let him down.

Outkast Drake Big K.R.I.T J Roddy Walston and The Business Alt-J

2. Dad’s in the next room You’re friends are over, but Dad’s within earshot. These bands will keep you, your pals and your pops smiling the whole time.

3. Party Time WARNING: Defend your playlist from those guests who will stop everything to play “their song,” always forgetting to take it off.

Jim Croce Jimmy Buffet Rolling Stones The Who Creedence Clearwater Revival

Keep that party rockin’ Rae Sremmurd The Weeknd Kanye West Fetty Wap Calvin Harris

12 14 15 19

NEW DISCOVERY

ADVICE

First graders, seniors and everyone in between share their words of wisdom.

Master Teacher John Mead tells the story of the exploration of Rising Star.

ADVENTURE

Senior Joshua Choe recalls the details of his eventful summer.

VIDEO GAMES

Teachers and students discuss the educational benefits of video games.

UNICEF

Senior Henry Goldberg talks about his involvement with the international charity.

li fe

page 13 PHOTO TUCKER RIBMAN

PAGE 11 FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2015 I REMARKER

QUICKhits

HANGING OUT WITH

stories around campus in brief

• TEACHERS VISIT CULTURAL CENTER English instructors will attend The Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture today and tomorrow. Before hearing from author Dr. William Deresiewicz, they will discuss Dr. Donald’s Cowan’s chapter called “The Spirit of Liberal Learning” from his book Unbinding Prometheus: Education for the Coming Age. “The benefit of the English Department’s going to this education forum is that it will give us a chance to engage with other educators

and with each other with focus on literature, philosophy and even the poetic imagination,” English Department Chair Michael Morris said. • SCHOOL HOSTS FAIR The annual Independent Schools Admission Association of Dallas was held on campus Sept. 13. More than 100 schools from around the country came for the Private School Preview. School exhibits were open from 1–3 p.m. Afterwards, a moderated panel discussion concerning their admis-

sion processes was held. “It went very well overall,” said Lion and Sword President Jackson Cole. “It was a college fair but for private high schools in the Dallas Area. The St. Mark’s guys working the fair received multiple compliments on how they represented the school. It was a huge event and a huge success.” • SPIRIT NIGHT DEBUTS The home football game against ESD was kicked off by the first Spirit Night of the school year Sept. 4 in the Perot Quadrangle.

Organized by the Parents’ Association, festivities included face painting and music. Dinner was available for purchase, including ice cream and burgers from an In-N-Out Burger cookout trailer. For first grader Grant Kennington, this was the first Spirit Night of his St. Mark’s career. “It’s awesome to be together at my favorite school in the world,” Kennington said. “This is my favorite night in history.” • FALL PLAY OPENS For the fall play Oct.

30-Nov. 1 the school’s drama program will present The Physicists, a production that explores the nature of knowledge, science and reality through a plot that follows three patients in a mental asylum. “The script is delightfully rich and exciting,” drama instructor Marion Glorioso said. “If we commit ourselves to working outside of our comfort zone and truly delve into the psyche of these characters, the audience will be in for a real treat!”

LAWRENCE GARDNER The third grader has definite opinions on Lions, superheroes and being asked out by...girls?

— Mohit Singhal, Waseem Nabulsi and Davis Bailey

MOMENT events on campus told through photos PHOTO ARNO GOETZ

in the

PHOTO ALDEN JAMES

Tell me a little bit about yourself. I love to play sports. My favorite sport is football. I also love to write. And that’s pretty much it.

SPIN TO WIN Sept. 11’s Upper School Assembly featured a series of ping-pong games. Junior Eddie Yang (left, above) serves to eighth-grader Tianming Xie (right), the ultimate winner, in the finals of a tournament that featured participants from each of the Upper School classes.

the Around corner

Trending

the buzz on campus

what you need to know in the coming week

TODAY What Ry Cooder, Sharon White and Ricky Skaggs When 8 p.m. Where Granada Theater, 3524 Greenville Avenue

What Comedy Get Down Show When 8 p.m. Where American Airlines Center, 2500 Victory Avenue

What Dallas Ambient Music Nights When 8 p.m. Saturday Where Texas Theater, 231 W. Jefferson Boulevard

What Autumn at the Arboretum When All day Where Dallas Arboretum, 8525 Garland Road

What John Wayne Music Festival When All weekend Where Lorena’s Restaurant, 5409 Belt Line Road

NEXT WEEK What Rescreening of The Iron Giant When 7 p.m. Wednesday Where NorthPark Center, 8687 North Central Expressway

What Neon Indian Concert When 7 p.m. Thursday Where The Bomb Factory, 2713 Canton Street

As school gets in to full swing be sure to catch seniors walking through campus with their new and stylish floral print senior shirts and too much swagger. Coming to the Commons near you!

New Apple products

SM Snapchat geofilter

WEEKEND What King Lear When 7 p.m. Saturday Where Samuel Grand Ampitheater, 6200 E. Grand Avenue

Senior Hawaiian shirts

With its new 12mp camera and new multi-touch features, the new iPhone 6s looks… almost identical to the 6. Of course, that won’t stop us from waiting in six hour lines just so we can get it.

Next time you take a selfie on Snapchat, be sure to swipe to the left and check out our very own geo-filter, which features a brown and gray animated Centennial Hall over a blue banner which proudly displays St. Mark’s School of Texas. But follow the acceptable use policy, of course.

Would you rather ride in the Batmobile with Batman or have Superman take you on a flight? Oh, that’s hard. Well, I can ride in a car anytime, but I can’t fly, so I would rather fly with Superman. My favorite superhero is Superman because he can shoot lasers and fly. And I also like the Flash because he has super speed. So like if I had super speed I would barely have to run the mile. I would just be like ‘zip, zip zip,’ and be done. Would you rather be a person trapped in a lion’s costume, or a lion in a person’s costume? Ok...I probably would look really silly walking to school in a lion costume, so I would rather be a lion acting like a person so I could be like ‘Roar!’ and scare my friends. What would you do if a Hockaday girl walked in right now and asked you out on a date because this is the 21st century and that is socially acceptable? Huh? I would say, “Why are you in an all boy’s school? I don’t know you.” What if you knew this girl and she asked you out on a date? I would say, “Heck to the no.” That was a weird question. If you were locked in a room without any windows or doors, but just an empty pizza box, what would you do? I would cry. Because the pizza is gone. Maybe I would put glue on the pizza box? Oh gosh, I don’t know. Oh, I know! Before I go into the room, I will make sure I have a hammer in my pocket, and then go to the wall and go ‘bang, bang, bang’ and knock it down.

L LIFE

PAGE 12 SEPTEMBER 25, 2015 REMARKER

Wisdom ADVICE

ords of

“The best part about being a role model is it keeps you accountable. It forces you to be the best you can be at all times. When you’re the best you can be, that's when you’re happiest.” - Senior Drew Baxley

GUIDANCE First graders Tobias Pulido and Laughlin Newton, fourth graders Lucas Blumenthal and Raja Mehendale, fifth grader Jacob Weinstein, freshman Shane Ndeda and senior Drew Baxley talk about giving advice to the rest of the community.

s school kicks into gear, students are constantly bombarded with their teachers’ advice. In a conversation with The ReMarker, these students share what they’ve learned.

On work habits How do you stay organized? Lucas Blumenthal (4): Get a binder. The thing that I like about St. Mark’s is that your life is inside your binder and all your junk goes in your locker. I’m a backpack person, I like to carry my stuff on my back. What kind of advice would you give to a fourth grader? Jacob Weinstein (5): In fifth grade, you should stay organized a lot. Fourth grade is when my mom always told me you are being prepared for fifth grade. That’s why you have to write all your stuff down in assignment books. Also, when people give me advice, if it’s important then I really like it. My dad keeps on giving me advice, and at first I don’t think it’s that good, but then I realize it’s really good. How do you deal with a strict teacher? Shane Ndeda (9): If I have a strict teacher that I feel like is giving a lot of homework or is short tempered, I’ll talk to my parents about it first and ask them what they think I should do. If I should just let it go by, or maybe I should talk to him outside of class and see how he feels and maybe why he does the things he does. That’s personally how I’ve coped with difficult teachers in the past few years.

When you finish your homework, how do you spend the time after your homework? Ndeda: My parents put me on a strict schedule, so Monday through Thursday are no play days. I get home, I’ll take a shower, I’ll rest, have a snack just to nurture my system. By the time I finish my homework it’s probably 11 p.m., so there is nothing else to do. After that, in my personal free time I like to hang out with friends. I feel like that’s more productive than just sitting around the house watching TV. I think the best thing to do is hang out with your friends and enjoy life. Is stress a good thing? Drew Baxley (12): If you are not somewhat stressed, you aren’t getting everything out of it that you can. Because, I realize, I’m always thinking, “Oh I am so stressed. I can’t wait until I have nothing going on.” And then you get to the summer or you get to that trimester where you aren’t playing a sport and you are just sitting at home: “What am I going to do?’” What do your parents say about your work? Laughlin Newton (1): [My parent] says, “Do your homework, Laughlin, or I’ll steal all your precious LEGOs!”

On sleep How much sleep should first graders get? Tobias Pulido (1): We should get about six minutes of sleep. When do you draw the line? Shane Ndeda (9): If it’s midnight, I’m just going to bed. I’m going to have to deal with it in the morning. If you are going into wee hours like 2 a.m., you haven’t done any good work.

How much sleep should a middle schooler get? Jacob Weinstein (5): If you can you should probably get seven to eight hours for an eighth grader. For a fifth grader, maybe eight and a half hours. That’s going to be a good amount. If you want to do well, you probably want to go to bed at about 10:30 on a good night for 8th graders. I probably want to go to bed at nine each night if I do my homework well.

On friendship Do you have a lot of friends? Laughlin Newton (1): I have about 80. Tobias Pulido (1): I am friends with third graders, fourth graders, fifth graders and sixth graders. How do you make new friends? Raja Mehendale (4): I just go up to them and say, “Raja Mehendale” and shake their hand. In fifth grade you get a lot of new kids in your grade, so what’s it like having all those kids there? Jacob Weinstein (5): I always ask if they need help. At orientation, I’ll say, “Hi, my name is Jacob,” and I say, “If you ever need help around school just ask me for help.” It’s hard getting used to everyone’s names. I still probably only know half of the people’s names. I was a new kid last year. They were nice to me at the be-

ginning, and then they got more used to me. What does it mean to be a friend? Mehendale: It means that you are devoted to your friend. You have his back, and help him if he isn’t being treated nicely. Lucas Blumenthal (4): I’m just going to say what my grandma says: “A friend is someone who helps you up when you fall down.” Drew Baxley (12): I think loyalty is huge. Simply, thinking about their needs before your own. Say I have a friend who is going through a rough time, or who I know is injured in football practice. I can think, “Oh, this is another hot football practice, and I just want to get through this,” or I can say, “Hey, I can help pick up the slack for this guy.” Because I know if I do, then his experience will be better.

On girls Do you like girls? Laughlin Newton (1): Yeah. They’re nice, but I probably spend too much time on my LEGOs.

What’s the best way to ask a girl out to homecoming? Lucas Blumenthal (1): This one is yours, Raja.

Tobias Pulido (1): I don’t know. I just think they’re gross.

Raja Mehendale (1): Don’t.

Jacob Weinstein (5): Probably not. I want to live solo. Do any of your friends like any girls? Newton: Yeah. I have around ten friends who like girls.

Drew Baxley (12): The placement of puns is paramount. I think that to ask a date to homecoming the best way to do it is to be sincere, not to take yourself seriously like I said earlier. And you have to have the perfect pun. Shane Ndeda (9): It’s a little cliche, but you kind of just do what you think is right for you. I feel it should be done in person.

On community What is the most important part of your life? Drew Baxley (12): This is my last chance to make a lasting impact on my classmates and my community, so I really want to squeeze every ounce out of this year that I can by affecting the community in all the ways I know how to. And that comes from selflessness, from empathy and from seeing where problems are and making ways to fix them. Or offering opportunities that I wish I had when I was a freshman or when I was a fifth grader. Beyond that, I try to make it part of my character. What’s most important to me is that I don’t waste an opportunity to further this school. Laughlin Newton (1): I have two things: LEGOs

STORY GOPAL RAMAN, KOBE ROSEMAN PHOTO FRANK THOMAS

and my family. And Stripey [my turtle]. Well, I guess he’s part of my family. How much value does having a first grader look up to you add to your life? Baxley: As someone who is kind of at the end of one stage of life, I feel like I’ve learned a lot going from Lower School to Middle School to Upper School. I think that any chance that I get to maybe help someone figure something sooner than they might have on their own is extremely gratifying. Because — for me — any chance that someone did that for me, it helped me reach a higher level of existence in the community sooner. And what I mean by higher level of existence is just understanding where I fit in the community better.

PAGE 13 SEPTEMBER 25, 2015 REMARKER

HOMO NALEDI

L LIFE

Rising star After a compulsory period of secrecy, Master Teacher John Mead can finally discuss his role in a ground-breaking scientific discovery.

OPEN CLASSROOM Eugene McDermott Master Teacher John Mead welcomes any student to come into his classroom to hear him teach about the discovery of Homo naledi Sept. 10.

e crossed his office doorway with a peppy smile that lit up the gloomy morning hallway. “Have you heard the news?” he asked a passing student. Looking at his blank expression, the teacher could tell that he had not. “Rising Star got announced today,” Eugene McDermott Master Teacher John Mead said, pointing to his navy blue baseball cap. The gold-embroidered letters spelled his excitement across the face of his cap. It read ‘Rising Star: Dinaledi.’ Mead’s hat referred to the Rising Star cave system in South Africa and a place within the cave called the Dinaledi Chamber. Here, a team of scientists lead by paleoanthropologist Dr. Lee Berger, who will visit the school Sept. 30, discovered a new species of early humans called Homo naledi. The announcement of Homo naledi on Sept. 10 shook the globe, receiving extensive coverage by The New York Times, CNN and National Geographic. But Mead had known about it months

before. Because of his relationship with Berger, which Mead’s had since 2012, Mead was invited to spend part of his summer in South Africa with the Rising Star team – watching history be made. Mead was the only educator with access to Berger’s work to such an extent, but Berger’s unusual open-access approach to the project welcomes any reputable scientist to come and see the team’s work. “Here I was, a high school teacher coming into a bunch of PhDs and advanced researchers,” Mead said. “I could be seen as the outsider, but it was totally not that at all. It was a feeling of ‘You are one of the family,’ and that was amazing.” While staying with Berger, Mead launched a project of his own. He filmed interviews with many of the people who helped make the Rising Star project a success and then posted them on his blog for his students and the world to see. He released them one at a time in anticipation of the announcement of Berger’s discovery. When it came, he released a

30-minute interview with Berger discussing Homo naledi and its significance. “The science of human origins is one that does not get a whole lot of play in most science curriculum,” Mead said. “So the more stuff that is out there for people to be able to see what the reality of this sort of research is I think is really important.” People from around the globe are now visiting Mead’s blog to watch his interviews. In fact, many universities and museums have visited the site. “Experts in the field are seeing these interviews,” Mead said. “A biology teacher in Texas is not going to normally be informing experts in the field.” Mead has been following paleoan-

‘

IT’S NOT THE ONLY EXAMPLE OF MR. MEAD GOING ABOVE AND BEYOND AND FORGING A NEW RELATIONSHIP OR COMING UP WITH A NEW ACTIVITY FOR CLASS. THAT’S HOW HE OPERATES.

FLETCHER CARRON Stephen M. Seay ‘68 Science Department Chair

thropology since he was ten years old, so the feeling that he is involved in a major contribution is very special to him. “I just assumed I’d always be reading about it and happily teaching about it,” Mead said, “and now here I am, a part of a team that I am able to be on the front lines of being able to get that information out to people.” However, Mead couldn’t tell anyone about the discovery until the official announcement, and that feeling of embargo was painful for him. “I feel like kind of a jerk,” Mead said. “It’s my nature as a teacher to share information and not keep it all bottled up.” Mead was thrilled to finally talk with people and answer their questions when the announcement came. Seeing the students’ reactions, positive or negative, was something that Mead had longed for. And now he could share with them his full experience. “I got to see [the reactions of] our students,” Mead said. “And being in a place that’s been so close to my heart for so long makes all the difference in the world to then be able to share it here.”

Homo naledi The specimen (near right) discovered in a similar African cave (middle) by paleoanthropologist Dr. Lee Berger is making waves in the scientific community, posing questions on what makes us human. National Geographic’s October issue (far right) will feature the find and the questions it poses. TO THE ROOTS Mead explored the terrain of Africa with Berger this past summer. Their relationship was integral to this scientific find. STORY KOBE ROSEMAN PHOTOS CREATIVE COMMONS, COURTESY JOHN MEAD AND DAVID CARDEN

Senior Dominguez volunteers in teenage outreach drama program by John Gunnin

ver the summer, senior Matthew Dominguez volunteered with the TeenAge Communication Theater (TACT), a program that informs teenagers about important issues and how to deal with them through various skits. TACT is a group of around 40 high school students. In their skits, they cover issues like rape, alcohol, depression and bullying. They perform at a variety of locations, including schools, churches, drug rehab centers and juvenile detention centers. Dominguez officially received 79

hours for volunteering with TACT this summer, but he thinks he’s put in many more. “Throughout the summer I got 79 hours, which was the second most, but there was also the time I would put into memorizing the skits and that doesn’t even begin to account for the time I’ve spent talking with my friends about [TACT],” Dominguez said. After memorizing these skits and becoming more aware of teen issues, Dominguez has started actively speaking up about things he believes in. “Before TACT, I was a bystander to

most things that I’m not to right now. When people say ‘gay,’ I’ll speak up and say, ‘no, you mean stupid,’ or whatever word they meant besides gay,” Dominguez said. Another issue that Dominguez speaks up about is the Black Lives Matter movement. “Telling people why Black Lives Matter is a movement,” Dominguez said, “and saying all people matter is not a proper response.” Upon joining TACT, Dominguez discovered that there was an organization five minutes away from his house that he

could help at. “I didn’t realize that there was a place to help people that was so close to my house,” Dominguez said. “Now I’ll stop by and see if they need any help with anything.” TACT has made Dominguez love community service, and he recommends it to anyone who has the opportunity to join the group. “It’s just such a great experience,” Dominguez said. “ I’ve learned so much and I’ve become really involved in all of these things that I never thought I would be.”

L LIFE

PAGE 14 SEPTEMBER 25, 2015 REMARKER ADVENTURE

A SUMMER FOR THE BOOKS Senior Joshua Choe had an eventful summer of researching cancer treatment, climbing waterfalls in Jamaica — and building guns. SCIENCE RESEARCH Let’s start at the beginning of your summer. Right after school, where’d you go? I started researching at the Cancer Research Lab [at UTD]. I worked there basically the entire summer. And at the end of the summer, I actually went on a medical mission trip to Jamaica. How’d you get involved with the research? I talked to the professor and he let me in. And so last year I was learning all of the basics

JAMAICA TRIP Did you go anywhere? In August, I went for little more than a week on the medical mission trip to Jamaica. Were you just volunteering? Yeah, I was actually there to establish an electronic health records [EHR] system. We coded and modified a preexisting open source EHR system. When you went to Jamaica, when did you guys end up going to the waterfall? On Saturday, we went to Ocho Rios, another town in Jamaica, and they have a place called the Dunn River Falls. One part of the route actually entails going straight up into the waterfall, so you have to hold your breath and free-climb it. You can’t see, and you can’t breathe. It’s also 15 feet up.

WORKSHOP BAIT GUN What do you do in your workshop? I enjoy making stuff. I’ve made a lot of stuff for projects and for fun. I’m not in Wood and Metal, but I have my own workshop at home. It’s in my garage. I made it about two or three years ago. SHREDDING PAPER A large part of Choe’s work in Jamaica involved transferring the paper files into an electronic system.

Did you make anything this summer? A cool thing that I made this summer was a bait cannon because I love fishing as well.

of how the lab runs. This year, I was on the research team, and we’ll be publishing soon. We’re submitting to a journal. It’s about trying to find a certain biomarker to differentiate squamous-cell carcinoma of the lung and adenocarcinoma. We’re also trying to figure out how to find better treatment and diagnosis. When you were working in the lab, was the biomarker found pretty quickly or was it something that you guys had to work toward? It was definitely a process because it wasn’t like one experiment would give us our results. So we’re looking in vitro, which is growing

human cancer cells, and we’re looking at their metabolic processes. We’re also looking at how many times a certain gene is expressed to determine whether we can use that to diagnose or even treat. When do you guys think the paper will be published? We’re hoping to submit it for review in the next couple of months, but hopefully it will be published within a year. It takes a while for publications to be reviewed and cleared. A panel of experts actually comes in and looks over the paper.

If you fall, that’s basically it for you because there’s a good chance that you’ll land on your head. What happened on the waterfall? There was another difficult part of the waterfall where there were a lot of boulders. We decided, being adventurous, to go straight up. The girl who was with us on the trip went first, and I went behind her. We were looking at the people next to us, and then she slipped and fell down the boulder. I was right below her so I sort of accidentally caught her. I caught her by her torso. What was the conversation like after that? I didn’t really think about the catch once I did it, but after a while I thought, I really saved her life. If she fell, she would have fallen 15 or 20 feet down to the rocks. After, she thanked me for essentially saving her life.

I made a cannon that shoots frozen blocks of bait to about two to three hundred yards. We freeze [the bait] with a puree of squid and shrimp, so when it melts it releases all of that stuff, and it attracts the fish. I actually included a trigger too. I caught a hammerhead shark using it, but it was about two to three feet. The bait is attached to a fishing rod, so you include the hook when you put down the bait. A lot of people have actually tried to buy it.

CLIMBIN’ UP Taking the treacherous middle path, Choe scales the slippery slopes of the Dunn River Falls in Ocho Rios, Jamaica.

Is it legal? Technically, it’s legal in Texas [laughs]. Have your parents ever used it? Yeah, my dad also loves fishing, so he’s used it a lot. From a young age, my dad and I always built stuff together. When I was three years old, I didn’t really understand the concept of zero, so my dad bought me an abacus. So I learned math at five years old because of that.

STORY GOPAL RAMAN, ZACHARY GILSTRAP PHOTOS TIM O’MEARA, COURTESY JOSHUA CHOE

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PAGE 15 SEPTEMBER 25, 2015 REMARKER

LIFE

VIDEO GAMES

To game or not to game? The drawbacks of virtual gaming are well known to the public. But with the rapidly improving nature of video games, could there be potential advantages to being a gamer?

sk adults what they think about video games. Apart from the answers of avid adult gamers themselves, there should be a fairly visible pattern among the answers: video games have no foreseeable benefits. As far as parents are concerned, video games are just another distraction – just like watching television shows or spending time on social media. Nothing constructive can be gained from spending time clicking away on a remote, a keypad or a mouse to control a virtual object on a screen. To the casual observer, the parents’ reasoning when dealing with their children and video games can seem justified. Given some of the types of games that exist, the objective of video games, above all, is to provide entertainment. But the virtual gaming world is constantly growing in complexity and popularity, and this growth is often overlooked. This fact alone merits taking a closer look at video games to examine them from a more educational and beneficial lens. As an avid video gamer and owner of his own YouTube gaming channel, Christian Cortes ’15 is more than familiar with the growing community that surrounds video games and the potential benefits that arise from playing them. “[Video games are] going be one of the biggest entertainment industries in the next twenty years,” Cortes said. “I really like that it’s an emerging field that a lot of people don’t have any experience in, so if you jump in. You can make so many connections.” While other teenagers may casually

PLAYING THE GAME Focusing on game design, English instructor Geoffrey Stanbury brings a new method of teaching Shakespeare to his ninth grade classes, demonstrating how video games can have potential benefits.

play video games in their free time, Cortes has essentially turned his hobby into a career. With his YouTube channel and experience with the online community, Cortes has ample experience with the world of gaming and can easily speak to the positive aspects of the pastime. “Video games have helped improve my communication skills,” Cortes said. “I can carry on sentences with people for hours and hours on end. I know how to just flow with my ideas [in a way] that I would probably never have been able to do without the public speaking experience that gaming has brought me.” Along with the communication skills Cortes has learned through his experiences CHRISTIAN CORTES Believes video games can be beneficial

with video games, he has taken advantage of the potential benefits they can have in the classroom by using games as a learning and teaching tool in college. “My professor put polymer chemistry and advanced chemistry into a game meant for eleven-year-olds and twelve-year-olds,” he said. “It forces these students to get these really cool objects that they implemented into the game and actually go through all these really cool processes that they would have actually needed to do in real life.” The fact that video games are now being used in colleges begs the question: what’s the role of video games at 10600 Preston Road? Some individuals in the community

more involved in the project. have recognized the benefits. For English “I think the fact that they were doing instructor Geoffrey Stanbury, incorporatsomething different and unconventional ing video games into the classroom has definitely got a good number students been an interesting change of pace. jazzed up, particularly the students that “[Students] were each assigned to dedon’t generally get jazzed up about sign and build a game that was somehow things,” he said. “They had to do it more inspired and somehow representative of on their own. And they had a motivation the play Julius Caesar,” Stanbury said. “So the way that video games were incorporat- that went above and beyond their teacher making them do it.” ed into the classroom was more through Regardless of their apparent benethe problem solving of game design, and fits, video games can still be distracting how to use video games as a medium by because of their foremost purpose – to which to illustrate aspects of the play.” entertain the masses. According to Stanbury, there were Stanbury believes that there exists a clear benefits to his unconventional use of middle ground between entertainment video games within the classroom. and education, and finding this zone is “They had to incorporate some of essential to moving forward with video Shakespeare’s language into the game and games in the classroom. they had to faithfully represent some of “[The usefulness of video games] is the characters from the play,” he said. “So totally dependent on the subject matter.,” they spent time looking through the play Stanbury said. “And it matters what again, revisiting parts of it, trying to figure the objective is and what is meant to be out how they could translate elements learned. And there are sometimes when of the play into the game that they were video games are irrelevant, but there is already working on.” usually a middle ground.” Besides just helping students with their interpretations of Shakespeare, the project’s nature created challenges that the students had to navigate in their groups Video Games by relying on each other to succeed. Here are the best “Other learning that occurred was selling console games teamwork and collaboration in group,” of 2015 Stanbury said. “[Students also learned] 1. Mortal Kombat X how to use their resources when their 2. Grand Theft Auto V game wasn’t working out how they want3. Battlefield Hardline ed it to and when I literally wouldn’t have 4. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare been able to give them advice. They had 5. Minecraft to turn to other resources to figure out the design flaws within the game.” SOURCE: WWW.FORTUNE.COM Because Stanbury used a medium that was appealing to his students, they were

STORY ANVIT REDDY, DAVIS BAILEY, MOHIT SINGHAL ILLUSTRATION ABHI THUMMALA

by Davis Bailey

he path toward his music career all started with a Christmas gift in December 2007. Beyond just singing, beyond just playing, this was different… … and he loved it. After his parents gave him studio time as a gift his senior year, Conner Youngblood ’08 fell in love with recording. For Youngblood, recording fueled an entirely different passion, marking the point where he really fell in love with music. “I just realized how much I love recording,” Youngblood said. “Besides the writing and playing instruments, recording just became this whole other world and that’s when I really began to enjoy it.” Now, Youngblood has one

complete album and two shorter collections out on iTunes. He will release his newest collection, The Generation of Lift, on iTunes and Spotify this October. It will include five songs that have been in development for more than a year. “I’d, say these five songs, I’ve been more patient on the details and the production,” Youngblood said, “[I finished] them when I thought they were ready instead of trying to rush and get them out.” After pouring hundreds of hours and many live performances into perfecting the songs, he finally produced the recordings. Sticking to his alternative style and harkening back to his older songs with the subject matter, Youngblood

claims to have produced some of his best work. “This one called ‘The Birds of Finland’ is probably my favorite song I’ve ever made, and it’s the most adventurous I’ve been,” Youngblood said. “This one in particular is probably the hardest I’ve ever worked on a song.” That adventurousness is what Youngblood says is most important in pursuing a career in music. “Don’t be afraid to try anything that you think might work,” he said. “It doesn’t really matter if you think it’s atypical or not something you’d hear on the radio. Don’t be afraid to experiment if you have something in your head that you want to get out, don’t be afraid to just make it.”

NEW RELEASE After hundreds of hours and live shows, Youngblood will release his new album The Generation of Lift The cover was hand-drawn by Youngblood.

COURTESY CONNOR YOUNGBLOOD

Alumnus Connor Youngblood ’08 set to release second album

PERSPECTIVES

PAGE 16-17 SEPTEMBER 25, 2015 REMARKER

HOCKADAY AND

OUR BROKEN

BOND S

he used to know them all by name. Eleven years ago, she greeted them as they walked by Graduation Terrace to French class and shook their hands after each show in Hobitzelle Auditorium. Now, as headmistress once again, she’s left wondering. Wondering why she never sees them eating lunch in her cafeteria. Why the buses stopped running from school to school. Why the gray shorts and green skirts now keep their distance. It all leaves Liza Lee with one question: “What happened to all the St. Mark’s boys?”

n 1913, The Hockaday School on Haskill and The Terrill School — now St. Mark’s School of Texas — on Swiss Avenue were separated by a single fence. The schools have since moved two and a half miles apart, but building off the decades old relationship that began when Menter B. Terrill urged Ela Hockaday open the Hockaday School for Girls in 1913, Hockaday Headmistress Liza Lee and former St. Mark’s Headmaster David Hicks created a new program for both institutions. “We decided the coordinate program would make perfect sense,” Lee said, “and we each went to our boards, who agreed.” The coordinate program allowed for various elective classes to be taken at either school, such as French for Marskmen or psychology for Hockaday girls. “When I first came to St. Mark’s in 1996, St. Mark’s and Hockaday were operating on the same daily schedule,” said Associate Headmaster John Ashton, who has experience working within the administrations of both schools. “We mirrored one another. And at that time, we had a thriving coordinate program. I believe we had 60 students going back and forth between each campus every day.” During this period of constant interaction, Lee and former headmaster Arnie Holtberg worked to develop several joint programs, particularly in the community service and drama departments. “The [theater] program historically was always a coordinate program,” drama instructor Marion Glorioso said, “so I think it developed because of the need for a drama

teacher at both schools, and Mr. Blaydes did that.“ According to Headmaster David Dini, major schedule differences at the schools also contributed to the downfall of the academic portion of the coordinate program. “There certainly have been some changes in the last ten to 15 years with the separation of the daily schedule,” Dini said, “and that created an environment that made it challenging for us to have coordinate classes.”

Only a few years after the Community Service program stationed a separate faculty member at each school, the combined drama program is now two distinct but “parallel” programs, following former drama instructor Rod Blaydes retirement after 37 years as a director. “The two directors are not working together, so there’s two separate seasons this year,” Glorioso said. “So in that way it’s not a coordinate program anymore. Since they have a full-time person over there now, and since we have a full-time person, we will be running parallel seasons with the ability of kids to kind of pick and choose and be a part of one or the other.” While some students and faculty believe the lack of close communication between the new drama programs may weaken the relationship between THE LION & THE UNICORN the two schools, HockaWhile rarely used in the last day fine arts director Beth years of coordinate theater, the joint crest showed the close Wortley recognizes an relationship of the two schools. opportunity for change. “Each school will be looking to build a strong classroom program as well as extra-curricular opportunities,” Wortley said. “We have treasured each and every young man who has worked with us in our theater program over

the years, and we would hope we would continue to have many more join us for our future theater productions.” The creation of two distinct plays per season may bring about more roles, but as the Hockaday program begins to invite the participation of other boys’ schools, Lee worries it may be evidence of St. Mark’s and Hockaday decreasing commitment to each other. “Oh dear, I am very sad, because it seems to me we had the perfect situation so we could have boys and [St. Mark’s] could have girls in your plays,” Lee said. “And the plays that we had were for both schools. Well, I feel sad about it and wish there were a way to get the two schools together again.” In addition to fewer combined student programs, Student Council President J.T. Graass also noticed the absence of coordination between the student governments of the two schools. “We don’t really coordinate with their Student Council very much — really at all — about anything,” Graass said. “I mean, I texted [Hockaday Student Council president] Frances [Burton] once, but that was really the only time we’ve interacted.”

‘

IN UPPER SCHOOL I THOUGHT WE WOULD BE TOGETHER MORE. I FEEL LIKE BOTH SCHOOLS HAVE GONE THEIR SEPARATE DIRECTIONS.

FRANCES BURTON

Burton also sees a disconnect between the elected representatives of both schools, who are in charge of planning many non-academic events. “If we could have an event where we were working together with the St. Mark’s Student Council behind it and the Hockaday Student Council behind it, it would be a winwin for both schools,” Burton said. Decreased cooperation also poses another issue: in schools whose missions involve “educating the whole boy” or “developing resilient, confident women,” how well-rounded can students be without enough intellectual interactions with the opposite sex? “I feel like it also kind of relates to the ‘whole boy, whole girl’ kind of thing,” Burton said. “You want a person who is very multi-faceted and has a lot of ability to see all of the different perspectives in the world. When we aren’t really interacting with half the population, we are losing a lot of opportunities to grow ourselves.” Last year, administrators worked to bridge the gap by introducing the speaker-seminar series, which brought

STORY AVERY POWELL, CAMERON CLARK, NOAH KOECHER PHOTOS ARNO GOETZ, CO

D ST. MARK’S

A different era. What we had then Psychology—anthropology Law in American society Identity and democracy Physics Astronomy Geology Film and photography Orchestra—band German II Creative writing Sociology I History of minority groups History of art and music Mixed choir Government French Typing Electronic music group Community Service faculty, until 2013 Coordinate theater program, until 2015

For over a century, the parallel single sex institutions each worked to foster the “whole boy” and “whole girl.“ Now, with both St. Mark’s and Hockaday more independent than ever, that seemingly unbreakable bond is tested.

together students from both schools to hear presentations and discuss issues. “We wanted to find ways of getting the boys and girls together in an intellectual, academic and social settings,” Ashton said, “because both girls and boys have wonderful and curious minds and really come at things in thoughtful ways.” And though Graass agrees with the success of the seminars, he noticed how uneasy students became in an academic setting with girls and boys their own age, which to Graass is evidence that there is progress to be made. “[Former Head of Upper School Wortie Ferrell] tried to make boys sit with girls and the boys were like ‘No! Please! I’ll do anything!’” Graass said. “And we had to go into discussion groups, and it was the same thing over again. We talk about the education of the whole boy, and I think that socializing with girls is a very crucial part of that that’s often overlooked.” Burton feels if day-to-day interactions are neglected, more tension between the student bodies develops as students begin to stereotype their counterparts. “Both schools have focused more and less on that we are brother-sister schools,” she said. “We like to complain about each other. Even though we have so many friends at St. Mark’s and don’t really mean it, I feel like we stereotype the institutions. I’m guessing it’s the same way at St. Mark’s.” She believes the key to preventing harmful stereotypes is actually getting to know the other student body on a personal, intellectual level. “Especially if you’re not hanging out with St. Mark’s guys or Hockaday girls, all you hear in school are ‘St. Mark’s guys or Hockaday girls are the worst.’ I don’t actually think that, but that’s the general thought. If there were ways we could do more in-school stuff, if we could actually get to know each other more than just the names ‘St. Mark’s boy’ or ‘Hockaday girl’ and if you actually have faces so you say ‘Oh, he’s my friend,’ then you wouldn’t want to just complain.” Although the student bodies have their differences, many administrators believe the long-standing history will help to reignite a relationship of active communication and discussion.

—From the 1974-1975 Hockaday Course Catalog

What we have now Fun Day & Adventure Day Senior Leadership Dinner Cheerleaders Bi-Annual speaker forums Improv Troupe Junior Patron’s Guild

“I think our challenge right now, for both schools,” Ashton said, “is that both schools must believe in the strong relationship, and they both must honor the long history.” While the administrations work to honor that long history, Ashton, like Student Council Presidents Graass and Burton, stresses the importance of the student role in developing the relationship. “There is value in saying, ‘Hey once or twice a year the student body executives of each year come together to talk about what we’re doing,’” Ashton said. “I think when adults make assumptions without student input, we may not always get it right. There’s value in students finding a way to go forward.” For Lee, that century-old relationship between the former neighbors still has time to improve. “The nice thing is that it’s not that we have an antagonistic relationship,” Lee said. “It’s just not as close as one might wish it to be, given the fact that there is a boys school and a girls school within a few miles of each other.” But for both schools, she knows it has a long way to go. “We don’t get a chance to have much interchange because the two schools are so separate in a funny way. As I said, I just don’t see any St. Mark’s boys, so I think the relationship is friendly now, but not close. That’s what I would say — really friendly and warm, but not close.”

UNSUSTAINED While students from both schools used to occupy the campuses together in bus-loads a day, attending classes and eating lunch, scheduling changes and retiring faculty have left the coordinate program in ruins.

THIS IS FILLER TEXT TO STOP THE GAP

One who’s seen it all

ED LONG The man behind the coordinate program

Dean of Upper School Ed Long, now in his 45th year working at The Hockaday School, helped to design and initiate the coordinate program in 1974 that lasted for more than three decades.

Then “1970’s were really the peak of the coordination program. There was a real energy in both schools behind having coordinate classes. I don’t see that energy at the moment, but there was then.

Now “Then, of course, the schools changed schedules, which pretty well made it impossible. [But] there was some activity, as St. Mark’s kids took French classes at Hockaday when it was discontinued at St. Mark’s.

“Once we figured out how [St. Mark’s students] could eat at Hockaday, the program became much more attractive, and, at this peak, we actually had 400 kids in coordinate classes.

“[It’s] too bad that in that formal way or in a classroom setting or in at least an academic setting, two schools don’t get to talk to each other.

“Both heads of school at that time were very interested in it. They may even have had some level of board interest, and certainly there was a lot of student interest. So, they actually got some committees from both schools together to try to put this package together.”

OURTESY AVERY BAKER, ILANA PERKINS ADDITIONAL REPORTING JIMMY RODRIGUEZ

“There must be some [interest], but real passion behind it I don’t see, because both schools seem to really benefit from being a single gender institution, and they like what that gives them. I think they would enjoy those experiences if they had them, but it’s now just hard to get.”

L LIFE

PAGE 18 SEPTEMBER 25, 2015 REMARKER GRADUATE HALL

Names not forgotten A PROUD MOMENT A father’s pride is evidenced in Jose Muratalla’s smile as he points to his son Alberto’s name on the new Graduate Hall walls.

B WITH MORE THAN 5,000 NAMES, GRADUATE HALL IS NOW THE ULTIMATE REMINDER OF STUDENTS JUST DEPARTED AND LONG PAST — OFFERING A FIRST HAND GLANCE AT THOSE WHO HAVE COME BEFORE

lack ink scrawls up and down the walls. The names of hundreds, thousands, of a century’s worth of Marksmen, each with his own story, bring an unspoken life to the formerly barren study hall setting. Now, modernized in design and title, Graduate Hall has acquired a new aura: one of quiet respect and memory for those who have come before. “Sometimes we forget certain individuals in a class, but when we go in there and look, we go, ‘oh my god,’ I wonder how he is doing,” Provost and Dean of Campus Scott Gonzalez said. “And there is some kind of story that wells up inside us that knits us together in the fabric of the school.” To many, there will be one particular name that stands out, one that brings back memories of the years on 10600 Preston Road, one that for them is a direct tie into the past. For staff member Jose Muratalla, that name is Alberto. Alberto Muratalla: the first in the family to graduate from high school. The first to go to college (Texas Tech). And the representative of the Muratallas on the wall. When asked about his son, the elder Muratalla, now in his late 50’s, immediately sits up straight and puffs his chest out. “When the guys finished, I waited, I waited…” Muratalla said. “I wanted to see my boy’s name.” Then the eyes light up, and a grin, chalk-full of pride and memory and childlike happiness jumps onto his face. “[When they finished] I walked in and looked…” he said.

A deeper level of Muratalla’s emotions awaken. “…I was just happy, really happy, to see my boy.” Twenty-five: the number of years the elder Muratalla has worked on campus. Just before that, Muratalla and his wife, Maria, emigrated together from Mexico to the United States without even a fragment of English in their vernaculars. “When I came here, I spoke no English. Not a word,” Muratalla said. “I remember it well. I couldn’t say a thing.” But even so, Muratalla found a home on campus. And began saving. Saving for his future. For wife’s future. For his son’s future. So Alberto, Jose’s oldest child, could break, JUST THE

facts

of names on the walls of Graduate Hall 5486 Number

109

Number of classes represented

Number of students in first graduating class

Number of graduates in Senior Class of 2015

shatter, the educational barriers his father never could. ••• Graduate Hall was built to remember. To remember those who came from historically educated and financially stable families with the means to thrive and send their children to one of the top institutions in the state. But, just as importantly, to remember those whose families gave every second of their time and every penny of their life’s savings to allow their sons another day, another month, another year, at a school ranked first in Texas but, according to Private School Review, with a tuition about 300 percent larger than the average among the state’s private schools. “There’s not money to visit my son at college,” Muratalla said. “No hay dinero. But we speak every day. Every day.” All that sacrifice, that fatherly desire to finally give one of his kin a chance to truly live the “American Dream” coalesced into one name on a wall: Alberto Muratalla. Class of 2011. “There is a statement in the Bible that says, ‘what you do to the least you do to me,’” Gonzalez said. “And I think that when you put someone’s name like Alberto Muratalla up there, that says so much about who we are as a community.” And for Jose Muratalla, every time he walks in Graduate Hall and looks up, he will feel that same sense of pride, that beaming smile, and know that for years to come, Marksmen of generations far beyond his will gaze over his son’s name as they look up and down the walls of Graduate Hall.

NAMES ON THE WALL Renovated in the summer of 2015, Graduate Hall features names of all the graduates from the school’s last 109 years. ONE OF MANY Next to his classmates, Alberto Muratalla’s name is part of the hall’s history.

STORY REECE RABIN PHOTOS ARNO GOETZ

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS The classes of 1906 and 1907 totaled seven graduates, while the class of 2015 had 91.

PAGE 19 SEPTEMBER 25, 2015 REMARKER

L LIFE

UNICEF

A global

CITIZEN Taking his talents to Berlin, New York City and Washington D.C., senior Henry Goldberg traveled as part of the national UNICEF Council.

GLOBAL LEADER Goldberg collaborates with the other council members at the J7 summit (left) and leads a UNICEF club meeting (below left).

e sits in his designated seat around the circular table with his placard proudly displaying his name and the United States flag. He puts in his ear-piece and waits in complete silence with the other delegates. Waiting for her to come through the door. Listening to the translators clicking and clacking on their keyboards. Twenty minutes have passed when the door opens. All eyes dart towards her as she strides to her chair. In her elegant purple jacket and lengthy black pants, Angela Merkel, the chancellor of Germany—arguably the most powerful woman in the world— sits just ten feet away. When senior Henry Goldberg received the email asking him to attend the President of the Fund for UNICEF Caryl Stern’s speech at Hockaday, he had no idea how it would change his life. Hardly knowing what UNICEF was, Goldberg decided to go based off personal connections. “I had no idea what UNICEF did and didn’t really know anything about them at all,” Goldberg said. “But, I know a friend whose mother is on the North Texas UNICEF board, and so basically it was this sort of thing where I was already connected to it even though I really didn’t know

what they did so I just said I’ll go. And it changed my life.” Before the speech started, Goldberg had no idea what he was getting himself into, but by the time the speech was over, he felt the need to do something. He decided to apply for the establishment of a UNICEF-chartered club at his school. Thirty sign-ups the first day. However, the purpose of the club remained unclear until a private screening of a film titled Not My Life by John Terlesky was shown on campus. The film focuses on the horrors of child-trafficking and modern-day slavery. By the time the screen faded to black, not a single person made a sound. Sitting in the front row, Goldberg looked around to find mouths wide open and glazed over looks of contemplation. “Everyone was still staring at the projector like, ‘What just happened?’” Goldberg said. “And seriously, you could hear a pin drop.” Despite the movie’s 30 minute runtime, it was clear the movie served its purpose as everyone remained nearly silent for the next ten minutes. UNICEF fellow Hannah Wright opened discussion to the blank faces staring at the ground yet not a single student could mutter a response.

“I was very impressed by the Not My Life video and the dialogue it provoked,” former UNICEF club sponsor Emmett Gilles said. “The turnout was very strong from Hockaday, and decent from St. Mark’s. Kids from both aisles seemed very involved and wanted to know how to make an impact.” Content with his contribution to the UNICEF organization, Goldberg was approached by Wright about applying for a spot on a national council of high school students for UNICEF. The only problem: There were a mere six spots for the United States Council. “In the back of my head I was like, ‘there’s only 6 people in the country, the odds are not exactly in my favor,’” Goldberg said. “But I was still passionate about UNICEF so I applied.” Even with the odds stacked against him, Goldberg applied. He completed the initial part of the interview and sent it in. Then, he waited to be called back for the second stage of the application. A few weeks later, Goldberg received an email giving him the good news; he got the position. From there, his career with UNICEF only expanded further. “I was invited to attend the J7 summit in Berlin in May, and because of that we

had a required training for the J7 summit in Washington DC,” Goldberg said. “That was in April, and then we had a training for our job position in August. That was a couple of weeks ago in New York City.” In May, when Goldberg found himself at that fabled round table next to someone he had only read about in the news, he knew his work had paid off. “UNICEF goes into the places that are the hardest to reach, the places where no one even bothers to go and that’s where they do their work,” Goldberg said. “Which is pretty awesome.”

what is UNICEF? UNICEF was created with a distinct purpose in mind: to work with others to overcome the obstacles that poverty, violence, disease and discrimination place in a child’s path. It advocates for measures to give children the best start in life because proper care at the youngest age forms the strongest foundation for a person’s future.

club MEETINGS Tuesdays at 3:10 p.m. Centennial Hall, Room 227

STORY DANIEL COPE, WASEEM NABULSI PHOTOS WESLEY HIBBS, USED WITH PERMISSION SANG-JIN KIM

by Daniel Cope

onnor Castilla ’15 checked his phone to find it had a few bars for the first time in ten days. As the bus bounced along the dirt road, returning from the annual Pecos Wilderness trip, he glanced down to find a red number one appear by his Facebook app. His mind lit up with excitement as he read and reread the text over and over again, almost unsure of whether it was real or not. It was, in fact, real. His film would debut in the American High School Film Festival. It began as just another film project like all the others. The Honors film studies students were given the freedom to write a screenplay and produce a film with few limitations, but Castilla and his classmate, Timothy Simenc ’15, challenged themselves with producing a horror film titled “The Session.”

“It’s not easy to pull off a horror film and have it be suspenseful and scary,” film studies instructor Jennifer Gilbert said. “But they did a really good job with it. I think it all came down to the amazing lighting effects and Connor’s acting.” “The Session” refers to the protagonist’s visit to a psychiatrist and centers CONNOR CASTILLA ‘15 Created “The Session,” a horror film focused on a stalker

on his recounts of a tall, mysterious man stalking him. The idea sprang from a interesting story Castilla heard from a close friend. “He told me it was something personal that actually happened to him,” Castilla said. “I don’t know if I really believe that, but I thought it was really interesting and

showed it to the rest of the people in our group and they liked it.” This is only the second year a film from St. Mark’s has been nominated for the American High School Film Festival. Castilla plans to fly to New York City the weekend of Oct. 9 to view it along with the other nominated films and potentially come home with a trophy. “I’d be honestly very surprised if I won,” Castilla said. “I think my film is good but I’m sure there are plenty of young talented students out there but if I won I’d be pretty psyched.” Although he hasn’t made another film since his time at St. Mark’s, Castilla plans to pursue screenwriting further in college and even after. “If I can’t take film-making as a class, I definitely want to pursue it as a hobby,” Castilla said. “It’s something I really enjoy doing and it’s a great use of my time.”

COURTESY CONNOR CASTILLA

Alumnus’s work featured in national festival

ON THE SET A peek onto the set of “The Session,” which will play alongside and compete with other nominated films at the American High School Film Festival

L LIFE

PAGE 20 SEPTEMBER 25, 2015 REMARKER TERABYTE

Coding for

SUCCESS

Senior Jake Galant founded the Terabyte outreach computer program, teaching underprivileged children how to produce their own video games.

TYPING AWAY Galant (left) teaches underprivileged Dallas students how to design and create basic video games along with simple coding in languages like Java.

he children’s eyes lit up as the figures danced across the screen. The quiet whir of the machines filled the room, which was the only activity on the otherwide empty campus. The rest of the school was abandoned for the summer. While many kids were off on vacations, senior Jake Galant was bringing in underprivileged students and teaching them how to code. “Twelve years ago my brother [Zach Galant] started the for-profit Terabyte video game camp at our house,” Galant said. “And four years ago I started the outreach program, which was an extension of the original camp. And I then took over both camps when he went to college.” The camp started in a Greenhill computer lab, but they soon were running the camp for five weeks during the Summer and purchasing more computers to teach even more kids. “When we started out it was pretty small,” Jake said. “We started out at Greenhill where we had a computer lab, and then we bought computers for our garage.” For the first year, Jake attended the camp with the other campers in order to learn the necessary knowledge so he could

one day help teach. The brothers ran the company together for six years before Zach left to attend Stanford. Upon his brother’s departure, Jake was able to take over and run all aspects of the company. Jake soon saw an opportunity not just to teach, but to help kids throughout Dallas and beyond. “I saw that there was a real need for underprivileged kids to have access to the kind of enrichment that I was offering,” Jake said, “I also sought to create an interest in computers, computer science and learning in general.” To fulfill this need, Jake founded the nonprofit Terabyte Outreach Program. Jake had to find away to make the camp free because the focus of the program was to offer underprivileged kids opportunities they otherwise wouldn’t have been able to afford. He began calling up local Dallas schools, hoping that one of them would allowing him to use its computer lab over the summer. “First and foremost, it’s getting schools to agree,” Jake said. “That requires a lot of emails back and forth, phone calls, visiting the schools to get them to say yes

when we want the program and also getting enough volunteers to staff it so that it runs smoothly.” The addition of the Terabyte Outreach Program required Galant to look for help running the camp. He asked the community for help, and seven students stepped up to assist: seniors Michael Mosle, Jake Byers, Avery Powell, Eugene Song, Reid Gaskill and Ashton Hashemipour; and junior Ivan Day. “I couldn’t do it without all the volunteers, especially the St. Mark’s students,” Jake said. Jake and his volunteers ran the camp in the computer labs of Dallas schools. Day attended the for-profit camp when he was younger and helped the kids one-on-one. His favorite moments included seeing kids not only succeed but also show an avid interest. “My favorite moment was this past summer when a kid was so excited about his game that he made sure to burn a copy on some discs,” Day said. “He gave out copies to all the counselors so we could play.”

Jake’s outreach program has taken him from schools in Dallas to schools in foreign countries like China and Israel. “I taught Terabyte in China for some migrant workers kids there 2 years ago.” Galant said. “And this past year I taught for one week in Israel.” After four years, Jake’s hard work has paid off. On August 24, 2015, he received the Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Award, given to 15 influential Jewish teens whose leadership and engagement in service projects have made the world a better place. “I was proud of my work,” Galant said, “but also happy that this foundation was recognizing and encouraging teen social entrepreneurship which I believe is important for everyone to learn and participate in.”

IVAN DAY Volunteer at Terabyte Outreach

Jake has always found the first day of every session to be the most exciting because it showed the enthusiasm of some of the campers. “The best is on the first day. when you first start, you’re teaching them and their eyes light up and you know they have an idea for a game that they’re going to be able to create during the week. It’s a subconscious idea,” Jake said, “one that has been tucked away and they’ve always thought, ‘Wow, this could be so cool if I could do this.’ And now they can.”

EXPLORING Terabyte students work together on their videogame coding projects.

STORY CRAWFORD MCCRARY, JOHN GUNNIN PHOTOS USED WITH PERMISSION JAKE GALANT, CRAWFORD MCCRARY

Junior Ethan Shah climbs tallest mountain in Africa over the summer by Zachary Gilstrap

SUMMIT Continuing a family tradition, junior Ethan Shah and his father stand after summiting Africa’s highest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro.

hile other students were walking on sandy beaches and tanning in the sun, junior Ethan Shah was having a much more adventurous summer. Along with his parents, he took part in a grueling 19,341 ft. climb up the tallest mountain in Africa: Mount Kilimanjaro. “My dad grew up in Nairobi, Kenya,” Shah said, “so he grew up climbing Mount Kenya. He also climbed Kilimanjaro a couple of times. The first time he climbed [Kilimanjaro] was in 1976 when he was 16, so he thought that when I turned 16, it would be cool for me to climb it as well.” In addition to the altitude, the scenery was one of the high points of the climb. “We went up about five hours of hiking on the first day, and the scenery was gorgeous,” Shah said. “It was

beautiful. The weather was perfect. It didn’t rain once. However, we were up at about 6,000 ft. and the peak is at 19,341 ft. We were standing there thinking, ‘How are we gonna get up there?!’” Just before making the final push toward the snow-capped summit, Shah and his family endured the hardest part of the climb. “The hardest point was summit day,” Shah said. “You go to bed the night before, and wake up you start climbing. We reached the peak at about 7:40 a.m. We were basically climbing in pitch black. Near the top it was at least negative 10 degrees. I had about five layers on, and I was still freezing.” Fighting off cold, exhaustion and altitude sickness, Shah and his family finally reached the peak. Shah will never forget that shining moment of triumph. “It was probably one of the best

experiences of my life,” Shah said. “The best word for it is exhilarating. You’re at the highest point in all of Africa, and you can just see everything.” In order to endure the long hike, Shah also took some life lessons he learned with him to the mountain. “One of the other biggest achievements in my life was getting my black belt in Ishinnryu karate,” Shah said. “One thing I learned from that is no matter how many times you fall down, you have to get back up and keep going. I took that with me to the top of the mountain.” Shah has no intention of ending this special tradition he and his father first shared. “I would do it again when I have a son or daughter that turns 16,” Shah said. “It was one of the best experiences of my life, and I hope to enjoy it with my family someday.”

PAGE 21 SEPTEMBER 25, 2015 REMARKER

BUZZ

HEADLINERS ‘THE VISIT’

While the Texas summer scorched the landscape around 10600 Preston Road, these songs scorched the soundscape around the world.

‘Where Are Ü Now’ by Jack Ü and Justin Bieber

CREATIVE COMMONS

et’s be honest. “Where Are Ü Now” sounded like it would be a complete train wreck. Jack Ü, also known as Skrillex and Diplo, teamed up with Justin Bieber. Together, these people are arguably the three most polarizing artists of this generation, sand they should have no chance at creating something cohesive or harmonic. And even though they’re on completely different ends of the

spectrum, arbitrary electronic sounds and trite pop lyrics are nowhere to be heard on this surprisingly exceptional summer track. The vocals sound genuine and heartfelt, which is a pleasant surprise and change of pace from the Bieber we all know too well. The track is soothing and exhilarating all at once and arguably the most genuine and respectable hit of the summer.

‘Cheerleader’ by OMI

f you had to name the biggest one-hit wonder this summer, it has to be “Cheerleader” by OMI. Despite being released in 2012, this cheesy yet admirable song about being fixated on one girl over all others climbed the global charts in a matter of days. While its tune is instantly recognizable, it’s nothing more than just another catchy melody. The vocals are rather monotonous, and there’s no complexity to make it more interesting after the first 20 seconds. Despite all this, its relaxed pace will have you swaying your head from side to side and tapping your fingers.

CREATIVE COMMONS

Sizzling summer tracks

‘Cool for the Summer’ by Demi Lovato

emi Lovato’s pop hit “Cool for the Summer” is the exemplar of a summer song. Lovato’s lead single from her upcoming fifth album, Confident, describes an ephemeral summer romance (“Cause you and I, we’re cool for the summer”) fueled by private meetings (“I can keep a secret, can you?”). Unlike this summer’s pop failures – Britney Spears and Iggy Azalea’s “Pretty Girls,” for example – “Cool for the Summer” matches its catchy-yet-shallow lyrics

with an original, addictive hook. This hook distinguishes the song from the humdrum tracks of less successful artists. The single is a slight departure from Lovato’s traditional content, which usually combines personal struggles and life lessons with a radio-friendly beat. Although “Cool for the Summer” works as a glitzy pop tune, Lovato will need to maintain a balance between superficiality and authenticity in order to find a critical and commercial success in Confident.

CREATIVE COMMONS

LIFE

THIS ISSUE SUMMER TRACKS

Reviewing the best of the best — and the worst of the worst.

MUSIC REVIEWS DANIEL COPE, AIDEN BLINN MOVIE REVIEW

UP NEXT

‘The Visit’ surprises in more ways than one

‘The Visit’

Release September 11 Director M. Night Shyamalan Rated PG-13 (brief violence and nudity)

into its main action. The child actors (sure to worry viewers after the colossal failure of Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender) do a surprisingly great job of portraying the necessary emotions throughout the film. Alongside this, Deanna Dunagan and Peter McRobbie do a fine job portraying Nana and Pop Pop, respectively. The two quickly present an

CREATIVE COMMONS

nce an illustrious guarantee for ticket sales, M. Night Shyamalan’s movies now merely send dread into the hearts of moviegoers. Initial successes like The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable (maybe even Signs) pointed to a glorious age of wellmade, interesting films with incredible twists. His later films destroyed any semblance of story structure or logic as a stream of misfires led to his name becoming a joke. The real question heading into The Visit was “How bad is this going to be?” And, honestly, it really isn’t that bad at all. It’s actually shockingly good and entertaining. The film follows Becca (Olivia DeJonge) and Tyler (Ed Oxenbould), siblings sent to stay with their estranged grandparents for a week as their mother (Kathryn Hayn) goes on vacation with her boyfriend. The kids quickly discover that something is very, very wrong with their grandparents and the film kicks

BAKING UP A SCARE Despite poor expectations, M. Night Shymalan’s The Visit passes as a respectable horror film.

extremely uneasy atmosphere as the kids struggle to understand why their mother and grandparents never see one another. The audience quickly discovers, however, that there’s more to the grandparents’ actions than their advanced age. The now infamous marketing for the movie (“Will you get into the oven to clean it?”) showed nothing to reveal an actual plot to the film beyond “crazy old people,” and much of the tension within the movie lies within that. The audience doesn’t know if Nana and Pop Pop just have a few screws loose or if they’re absolutely insane. Furthermore, one can’t decide if there’s a demon or ghost lurking somewhere in the background. Does Nana have a sleep condition, or is she under FILM REVIEW PARKER MCWATTERS

a demon’s control her once the clock hits 9:30? The film, though tension-filled and occasionally truly scary, relies too much on jump scares to find a real, deep basis of horror. Certain moments ratchet up tension only for the scene to result in someone screaming into the camera or for (not so shockingly) one of the grandparents to appear out of nowhere, thus providing a momentary jump in the seat rather than a more immersive experience. Many moments, however, utilize the found-footage technique well, especially with the flashlight of the camera used as the only light in a dark room. Other scenes include more subtle scares and make the audience question whether Shyamalan knew how to properly build tension. When not focused on brief scares, Shyamalan creates a scary, uneasy atmosphere. Ultimately, The Visit isn’t as bad a horror film as many recent entries (Sinister 2, Poltergeist, etc.) but it fails to successfully scare the audience deeply and rather merely gives shock value in random jumps. Instead of lying with Shyamalan’s more recent films like After Earth and The Happening, it just sits between terrible, jump-scare based horror like Annabelle and more tension-filled movies like It Follows. The Visit is far from terrible, but it’s random comedy and unfortunately not scary jump scares destroy its sense of tension, thus leading to it becoming merely an “okay” horror movie to see.

B-

Head iners Concerts Tyler, the Creator & A$AP Rocky October 9 at 7 p.m. South Side Ballroom

Taylor Swift

October 17 at 8 p.m. AT&T Cowboys Stadium

Luke Bryan

October 23 & 24 at 9 p.m. GEXA Energy Pavillion

Albums Toby Keith

35 M.P.H. Town October 9

Selena Gomez

Revival October 9

T.I

The Dime Trap October 10

Demi Lovato

Confident October 26

Movies Legend

October 2

The Martian October 2

Steve Jobs

October 9

Bride of Spies October 16

NEW FOOTBALL FIELD

I WILL NEVER FORGET THE TIME...

CLOSED FACILITIES

HEARD IT HERE FIRST

The new football field offers studentathletes the chance to play on a state of the art surface

commentary commentary

page 24 page 3

Marksmen share things they will always remember

We believe that gyms should be open during the summer. Members of the class of 2027 provide insight on their favorite P.E. games

PAGE 22 FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2015 I REMARKER

THE REMARKER

EDITORIAL

EDITOR IN CHIEF PHILIP SMART MANAGING EDITOR WILL CLARK SENIOR CONTENT EDITOR AVERY POWELL ISSUES EDITOR CAMERON CLARK CREATIVE DIRECTOR ABHI THUMMALA MAGAZINE EDITORS BRADFORD BECK, DAVIS MARSH

DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR ZACH NAIDU

TH U

RESEARCH DIRECTOR NOAH KOECHER

HEAD PHOTOGRAPHER ARNO GOETZ BUSINESS MANAGER ROBY MIZE CAMPUS COORDINATOR MATTHEW PLACIDE COMMENTARY EDITORS WILLIAM CALDWELL, JOHN CRAWFORD NEWS EDITORS CORDAY CRUZ, PHILIP MONTGOMERY NEWS WRITERS ANDRE ARSENAULT, RETT DAUGHBERG, BLAKE DAUGHERTY, JAMES HANCOCK, ZOHEB KHAN, NAFTAL MAUTIA, AUSTIN MONTGOMERY, REECE RABIN LIFE EDITORS GOPAL RAMAN, ANVIT REDDY LIFE WRITERS DAVIS BAILEY, DANIEL COPE, ZACHARY GILSTRAP, JOHN GUNNIN, CRAWFORD MCCRARY, WASEEM NABULSI, KOBE ROSEMAN, MOHIT SINGHAL SPORTS EDITORS RISH BASU, CASE LOWRY SPORTS WRITERS ALEC DEWAR, WILL FORBES, MIKE MAHOWALD, NICK MALVEZZI, JIMMY RODRIGUEZ, SAM SHANE, SAM SUSSMAN REVIEWS SPECIALIST PARKER MCWATTERS ASSISTANT BUSINESS MANAGER CARSON CROCKER COPY EDITORS AIDEN BLINN, AIDAN MAURSTAD CARTOONIST GRAHAM KIRSTEIN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS DREW BAXLEY, MATEO DIAZ, SAM EICHENWALD, WILLIAM HALL, WESLEY HIBBS, ALDEN JAMES, REID JOHANNSEN, GRAHAM KIRSTEIN, CAM LAM, CHARLIE O’BRIEN, TIM O’MEARA, TUCKER RIBMAN, NICO SANCHEZ, RILEY SANDERS, KABEER SINGH, FRANK THOMAS, CORBIN WALP STAFF ARTISTS DANIEL BYEON, DANIEL GARCIA, JOON PARK, BRAYDON WOMACK, ADVISER RAY WESTBROOK ONLINE VIEWING. Each issue of The ReMarker, along with archival copies, can be viewed on the school’s website, www.smtexas. org/remarker. READER INVOLVEMENT. The ReMarker encourages reader input through letters, guest columns and story ideas. Contact the appropriate editor for submissions. Suggestions will be given due consideration for future publication. ADVERTISING. Contact the business staff at 214.346.8145. We reserve the right to refuse any advertisement. Inclusion of an ad in the newspaper’s pages is not an indication of an endorsement by The ReMarker, any of its staff members or faculty or staff members of St. Mark’s School of Texas. DISTRIBUTION. Press run is 3,800 copies. Copies are provided free of charge to students, faculty and staff at various distribution sites on campus. More than 2,600 copies are mailed out to alumni courtesy of the school’s offices of External Affairs, Development and Alumni divisions. MEMBERSHIP. The ReMarker maintains membership in the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, New York City, NY; National Scholastic Press Association, Minneapolis, MN; and the Interscholastic League Press Conference, Austin. St. Mark’s School of Texas 10600 Preston Road Dallas, TX 75230. 214.346.8000 www.smtexas.org

HOCKADAY - ST. MARK’S RELATIONSHIP

Friendly, but no longer close

ver the past few years, the relationship with our sister school, the Hockaday School, has been strained and frankly not as good as it once was and should be. While both schools are still undoubtedly on good terms, the day-to-day, practical and tangible interactions have diminished. With two seemingly completely different cultures, our brother-sister relationship is in trouble, and we students need to work to fix it. While our administrations at both schools still retain positive, open communication, students from both schools at this point are not benefiting practically from cordial conversation alone. Not too long ago, this relationship was strong and there was very little animosity between the two student bodies as there were more interactions between the two schools on a daily basis. However, over the past few years, an increasing amount of hostility between the two student bodies is now apparent, and our lack of interactions has surely contributed to this problem, with students from each school often feuding over trivial matters that should not threaten our historically firm

relationship. In order to solve these issues, we need to set our focus on improving our day-today interactions, both in an intellectual and a social manner. Also, we believe that these changes would help facilitate a new, meaningful relationship that would set both campuses up for success: One possible way to enhance our relationship would be for our student councils to meet with each other. Each school’s student government knows best about what is going on at either campus, and the governments could inform each other about different events so that students would have a better understanding about what is happening in both student bodies. With weekly or even monthly meetings, our respective governments could strengthen the sense of community between the two schools and could foster a safe, strong and lasting relationship. Another way to foster a better relationship would be to increase openness between our campuses. Whether it’s by allowing students from either school to occasionally visit friends at the other

comes to

mind? There are many things that happen to us every day. Here are some examples of the most memorable events.

“I set eyes upon my new car.” — Junior Parker Kirby

“I was asked a time I never forgot. — Sophomore Toussaint Pegues

Here’s a topic that will hopefully provoke real thought and insight.

A third and possibly most effective way to better our relationship would be to form clubs and hold pep rallies with attendance from both schools. With students meeting for interest-driven meetings and events, personal relationships would form, strengthening and solidifying mutual respect for the two student bodies, unequivocally leading to an improved relationship. While we understand that these different changes could cause logistical issues, we believe that making legacies and decades-long traditions are important enough because they dictate whether or not our relationship can be mended. With two schools that together hold so much history and accomplishment, we think that healing this relationship would hold innumerable benefits for the future. • See “Our broken bond?,” Centerspread, pages. 16, 17

I will never forget the time...

what

next month

school during lunch or allowing students to simply enter the other campus with less aggressive suspicion while in uniform and with a student ID, we believe that a sense of unity would also help the student bodies maintain a strong relationship.

“I was almost entombed in the walls of the SLH.” — Junior Andrew Chuka

I really wish St. Mark’s had... email submissions to 17crawfordj@smtexas.org

“My snapchat score hit 4,500.” — Freshman Billy Stadler

“I got hit by a tree.” — Eighth grader Nicholas Tsao

“I realized I forgot my writing conference” — Junior George Dau

PAGE 23 SEPTEMBER 25, 2015 REMARKER

COMMENTARY

Brotherly love: From Mexico all the way to Canada

haven’t seen my brother in 157 days. Not because David’s gone to college. Nothing bad’s happened. No terrible car crash or illness. Well, my dad might consider it somewhat of a mental illness. He’s a bit of a hippie. The days before David leaves for his journey, he stays PHILIP SMART at home for a week or so. Bradley, his trailmate, stays, too. Bradley has Jesus-like hair, but he’s tired of the comparisons. Jesus didn’t have the blackinked snake tattoo that slides over his right shoulder and down his back. My brother wears a headband to pull his brown locks back, and he’s got a pair of flip flops he made out of rubber and a couple of strings. I wish I had my own pair. The journey starts in Mexico. The destination: Canada. Walking the whole way.

But over the summer, the calendar hit June 6. Obviously an important date to lots of people, but it’s important to my family, and to me, for a different reason. It’s the hippie’s birthday. It’s weird not seeing him that day, or knowing exactly where he is, but I have to do something for him. So, on a white college ruled piece of paper, I write him for the first time that summer. I’m not sure how to start. I finally settle on “Walk much?” I squeeze on that one page what I’ve been doing since he left. Tell him I started doing yoga like he had before he left. Tell him I’ve seen Waking Life, the movie he wanted me to see for so long. Tell him I’ve been driving his car a little bit (even though our parents didn’t really want me to). I finish the letter with “From Philip.” I can’t end it with “Miss you” or “Love you.” That’s too embarrassing for a brother to tell another brother. Even though it’s true.

His creature comforts are a little bit more creature than mine are. I wake up, make myself a mound of pancakes. He wakes up, maybe takes some granola from his (smaller) mound of grains. I pull out my phone, check-in on my friends. He pulls out his trail map, checks in on his progress. I watch TV. He watches the night sky. When I was little, David was big. He graduated college right as I started high school, and he showed me movies like Semi-Pro and Pineapple Express while I was in Middle School. Now I’m 5’10”. He’s around 5’7”. When he leaves, he leaves his car, too. A blue C300 Mercedes-Benz. A little better than my little-brother dented Volvo. And just like any good brother would, I’ve been keeping his car warm. I love to throw it in sport mode and race and shred on the highway.

And I mail the letter the next day. A couple weeks later, I find a letter addressed to me. I’m more excited to open that letter than I am to open any text I’ve ever gotten. I can hold it in my hand. I can smell it. I can throw it away, but I don’t. I read it. Excited. He says his trail-name is Stayin’ Alive. That’s good to hear I guess. He says he’ll send me some shoes like the ones he made. I can’t wait to try them on. He says he’s “proud to call me his brother.” That’s big. It’s no secret. He was the first to drive, to play a varsity sport, to go to college. And soon I’ll do the same. His journey’s taken him from one border to the other, and who knows where my journey will take me. No matter what paths I take, I’m proud to call him my brother, too. And I keep his letter folded in my billfold.

editorial

THE

MATRIX

School facilities should be open during summer

Our musings of happenings around campus condensed into single boxes

FUNNY

T Testing out of PE

IMPRESSIVE

Who can sit and reach 50 centimeters?

Convocation

Pep rally

Packing into the Great Hall for opening convocation and combining it with a cookout hopefully marks the beginning of a new tradition.

Getting hyped over complex cheerleading routines and blindfolded sharks chasing snorkelers will never get old. The jokes about fencing never having fans, however, will.

New website features

School pictures

Senior shirts

A means of submitting written assignments and an important link page highlight the website’s convenient new tools.

Snapping pics left and right, Communications Coordinator David Carden has done an excellent job capturing the campus vibe.

The Hawaiian senior shirts make any teacher look ready to retire to Honolulu and any senior look ready to throw a casual luau.

New chaplain

Acceptable use policy assembly

Super fanmen

Father Arbogast had some serious shoes to fill, but he’s done an excellent job of stepping up to the challenge with engaging chapel services.

Thanks to Chief Technology Officer Paul DiVicenzo for condensing the traditionally dreaded affair into a fiveminute presentation.

We are entering a new era of assembly presentations, chants and dubious statistical analysis.

SHORT & TWEET A peek at Marksmen’s tweets

August is just another word for the start of fantasy football season. — Senior Angel Reyes

Why did they call cookies, cookies and bacon, bacon if you bake cookies and cook bacon. — Junior Dhruv Prasad

angel_reyes44

currywiththepot

sammysanchez19

Upper School is nothing like High School Musical led me to believe it was. —Sophomore Sammy Sanchez

joshbando17

ashtonhash

CorbinWalp1997

#growingupwithmyname Teacher on the first day of school: “Josh...uh.... I apologize in advance for butchering this ... uh... Bandopattycake?” — Junior Josh Bandopadhay You can catch a lot of flies with honey, but you can catch a lot more honeys being fly. — Senior Ashton Hashemipour

any1 down for hulu & cool later? —Senior Corbin Walp

hroughout the summer, many students find themselves drawn back to the campus for various reasons after waiting months to escape it. However, this summer, students were turned away from the campus for reasons that we believe were unreasonable. For example, a group of students wishing to play basketball in Spencer Gym were turned away out of fear that they would draw non-St. Mark’s students, leading to a potential brawl. To have a completely objective, non-flexible policy, while effective, is unnecessary and, in some cases, unreasonable. The student body is able to visit the school during the summer for approved meetings with a club or group as long as the faculty sponsor notifies security guards beforehand. Perhaps adapting this system to arrange permitted activities on campus would be beneficial; whether these activities would require faculty supervision should be a case-by-case decision. As responsible students, we believe the student body has earned the trust of the administration, and, by extension, the security team We appreciate the dedication to lockdown security in light of the wave of campus tragedies across the nation; however, we believe that the school should exist as a space for students to interact and enjoy themselves, whether they do so during the school year or in the summer. While it is understandable that students cannot use the weight room and pool during the summer, the gym is a much less dangerous location. If students are able to use the outdoor basketball court, they should be allowed to use the indoor courts also. While the school access is adequate during the summer, there is room for improvement in that the gyms should be available too. To allow students to use equally endangering outdoor facilities but not the air-conditioned gyms in the dead of the summer is contradictory. We believe that gyms should be open during the summer and other holidays for students, just like the other facilities we can currently enjoy during our vacation time.

SEPTEMBER 25, 2015 REMARKER

hot or not?

Starbucks odyssey: coffee, drugs and smooth jazz

On fire | Strength & fitness With coach Kevin Dilworth now officially in charge of the school’s strength and fitness, students have the opportunity to participate in a fantastic strength and conditioning program in after-school P.E.

PHOTO CAMERON CLARK

Heating up | Graduate Hall With the addition of new computers and the inscription of every St. Mark’s graduate on its walls, the recently renovated study hall room now boasts much more resourcefulness and school history.

PHOTO CAMERON CLARK

“ used to work for a drug dealer,” I heard a voice say behind me. I nearly whipped my head around but caught myself. The words sucked the sound out of the small coffee shop. It was one of those moments when the music dies, the conversations stop, and that one thing you didn’t want anyone to hear slips out. I was almost positive the voice would disappear now, blend into the background and slip away. Too bad. I wanted to hear more. “You say those things so loud!” the barista hissed with an uncomfortable laugh as the ambient noise returned. She obviously knew him, but it sounded like she wished she didn’t. My back WILL CLARK was turned to the two, but I was close enough to hear every word. I tried to twist in my swivel stool to get a better look at them. They were talking in a corner of the restaurant, far from everyone except one kid, swiveling. “Yeah, well, that’s just what my life was,” the voice continued. “That’s part of my past. That’s who I was. When that’s your life you have to be used to having guns pulled on you, to security searches. Eventually I got involved with the guy who made the heroin down in Mexico.” My eyes widened. This guy just wouldn’t stop. The music wasn’t masking his voice anymore either. In fact, now he was trying to talk over the music. I quickly glanced over my shoulder and was able to get a good look at him. Black leather jacket, dark jeans, black beanie, huge earrings that stretched out the lobes of his ears. His story checked out. He went on to talk about his trouble with addiction. Pot. Shrooms. Ecstasy. I was frozen, trying to listen without looking like I was listening, cringing every time a new drug popped up. ut it wasn’t even his crazy story that shocked me. It was his exhibition. He was putting on some sort of twisted show, performing his life’s story to Starbucks branch #682. Why did he put himself on display like that? I guess it’s good that he wasn’t hiding anything, but he was so blatantly confessing everything. I didn’t get it. Why was he telling her this? Why was he telling all of us this? He spewed his story on the coffee shop walls. He knew everyone could hear him. He knew everyone could see him. Every aspect of his life was loud. He kept talking, but I was starting to lose interest. I could almost feel him sense that he was losing his audience. He was putting on a show. He was trying so hard to be that guy, to wear those clothes, that jewelry. Live that life. He looked like a bad actor, struggling to play a role. His story unfolded over the soft jazz playing at the coffee shop. The music was complex and interesting. Subtle yet powerful. Natural. But then again, I couldn’t really even hear it. It was drowning under the story of a real-life Jesse Pinkman. It slipped away, but I was left wanting more. Wanting to hear more. Wanting to know how that story ended.

30-word thoughts on some recent events at 10600 Preston Road.

Warm | New football field The new football field has lived up to the hype thus far. Sporting a new logo with a lion and sword, it provides for a beautiful setting during football games.

Icy | 7:30 a.m. meetings This year, early morning meetings are occurring much more frequently, some in place of the busy ninth period slot. A problem arises, however, for those who have long commutes to school.

HEARD

EDITORIAL

School photographer makes impressive debut

IT HERE

s the school has recently turned over a new leaf in many positions including Headmaster, Head of Upper School and Chaplain, a new photographer has also joined the community. Scott Peak has done a fantastic job thus far, efficiently taking high quality photos for students and faculty. He made an excellent first impression during senior photos and during Blue Shirt Day, putting in up to a couple hours of work at the school for each student at special discounted prices. He also enabled families to decide on a purchase during the shooting sessions by putting the photos up on a television screen.

The voices of the first graders, the class of 2027.

WAKE UP CALL 11 12 1 10 2

However, Peak is not the only one providing this great service — his entire team can get the job done well. Even when Peak was out of town during certain photo shoots, one of his partners took the photos in his place and still did an outstanding job. This kind of convenience and quality has been unparalleled in recent years, and we look forward to working with Peak for many years to come.

What is your favorite P.E. game, and why?

CHAPEL CHILL The chapel thermostat sits at a cool 62 degrees, nearly freezing hymnals to hands and causing mass shivering among the unsuspecting students.

“Lion Ball, because you get to catch balls.”

— Collier Day

“Football, because I like to get touchdowns.”

— Braden Scott

“Lion Ball, because I like making diving catches.” — James Hoak

GRAPHIC ABHI THUMMALA

COMMENTARY

PAGE 24

62 F

BAD DREAM | CARTOON GRAHAM KIRSTEIN

You know that dream where you forget to wear your pants to school?

I had it again last night.

S sports

SPC CHANGES

LAND DOWN UNDER

New changes in the conference call for questions about the future.

TUTORIALS

ALDEN JAMES PHOTO

Junior exchange student Dion Stroot takes on his new lifestyle as a studentathlete in a new country.

How beneficial are tutorials for student athletes?

BIG MAN ON CAMPUS

He‘s the new chief in town. Meet Kevin Dilworth.

COOPER JOHNSON

Sophomore takes sports therapy to another level.

page 26

27 28 30 31

PAGE 25 FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2015 I REMARKER

umber eight screams once. Then he is silent. A fifth-grade assistant trainer standing close on the sideline stumbles backwards to the refuge of the bench where he sits covering his eyes and choking back tears. His left toes are pointed down. But his knee points up. Athletic trainers dash out from both sides and form a vigilant border around number eight’s quiet, contorted body. They only break ranks to let two paramedics in with a stretcher. Two parents rush over and join the somber circle surrounding him. The woman tries to hide her tears and wipes them on her shirt, an oversized navy blue jersey with the number eight printed on the back. She clutches his still gloved hand trying to crack a smile and mouths Its going to be alright. It’s not. Number six rips off his helmet and sprints toward the growing perimeter after the fallen running back has stayed down for over five minutes. He takes one look into the middle of the paramedics and reels back, tears flowing out of his eyes. He stumbles into his coach’s arms and cries on his shoulder. It was his brother. Murmurs CASE LOWRY of Penn State and scholarship flurry around me. This kid was going places. But one in particular sticks out. We are definitely gonna win now. I wasn’t shocked because of what I heard. I was shocked because I was thinking it myself. I was disgusted. I witnessed the most emotionally wrenching moment of my life and I was thinking about whether or not this was good for our printed record on paper. Well that’s just football, people are going to get hurt. Number eight was a force before that one awkward tackle that ended his senior season. Just two games before his last, he had 119 yards and five touchdowns. Yes, five. He was the team’s best offensive player, and his injury probably was going to help our chances of winning. But winning didn’t matter. The look on his brother’s face did. On the sideline, the memory of the injury was raw and fresh in everyone’s mind. But eventually we unbuckled our helmets, and the steamy fresh scent of Old Spice washed out the injury and turned our thoughts to focus on celebrating the win. But I couldn’t forget. I didn’t mean to cheapen the win by any means, it was a great victory for us. For the team. I just couldn’t move on. I knelt and watched a devastated mother using all her will to compose herself and stay strong for her son, but what most people will see is a red cross to signify an injury next to the number eight on a stat sheet.

• SADLOWSKI TO PLAY IN COLLEGE

Senior Max Sadlowski has committed to play division three lacrosse at Washington & Lee University. After tearing his ACL, Sadlowski had to have surgery right away, and it seemed like it wasn’t even worth trying to go division one. Plus, Sadlowski wants to go in to medicine. “I had already been interested in medicine after my surgery,” Sadlowski said. “You need good grades, and it might be easier to do

stories around campus in brief that playing division three rather than selling your life to division one.”

• MIDDLE SCHOOL SCORES VICTORIES

Both Middle School volleyball teams defeated Greenhill 2-0 in their matches Sept. 3. “We’ve looked great so far and we’re starting to bond with each other more,” seventh grader Daniel Sanchez said. The seventh grade football team beat ESD Sept. 3 with a score of 14-7. Both seventh and eighth grade football

played Fort Worth Country Day Sept. 10. The seventh grade team lost 12-6 while the eighth grade team won 26-6.

• DIXON COMMITS

Senior volleyball captain Parker Dixon committed earlier this month to continue his career at Princeton next year. But while he is appreciative of the opportunity to continue playing competitive volleyball, the decision was mostly an academic one, and also a deci-

while football clinched a key 15-14 rivalry win against ESD. “We did not play well in the first half, we hustled and tried our best but we couldn’t convert on offense and gave up some big plays on defense,” sophomore William Hall said. “But we picked ourselves up on offense and pulled out a well-earned win.” Junior varsity volleyball continues the season tonight against Casady, while football plays away at The Oakridge School next Thursday.

sion based on positional need. “I chose Princeton mainly for the academics,” Dixon said. “I’m planning on putting my education before athletics in college. They also needed a player at my position so it was kind of lucky how that worked out.”

• JUNIOR VARSITY START STRONG The volleyball and football junior varsity teams have started the fall season, with the volleyball team posting a 2-1 record

— Mike Mahowald, Jimmy Rodriguez, Will Forbes, Nick Malvezzi

in the

MOMENT events on campus told through photos

Michael Jordan plays at homecoming game

MOVING THE CHAINS Trying to score a touchdown in a game vs. ESD on Sept. 4, the Lions offense methodically moves down the field. The varsity team fell to the Eagles 43-27 in the game in the Norma and Lamar Hunt Family Stadium.

the Around corner

what you need to know in the coming week

TODAY What Varsity volleyball vs. Casady When 5:30 p.m. Where Hicks Gym

What Varsity football vs. Casady When 7 p.m. Where Norma and Lamar Hunt Family Stadium

WEEKEND What Lovejoy Cross Country Fall Festival When 7 a.m. Saturday Where Myers Park in McKinney

What Texas Rangers vs. Houston Astros When 12:05 p.m. Saturday Where Minute Maid Park in Houston

NEXT WEEK What Junior varsity volleyball vs. Trinity Valley School When 4:30 p.m. Thursday Where Hicks Gym

What Varsity volleyball vs. Trinity Valley School When 6:30 p.m. Thursday Where Hicks Gym

What Varsity football vs. The Oakridge School When 7 p.m. Friday Where Norma and Lamar Hunt Family Stadium

What Junior varsity football vs. The Oakridge School When 5 p.m. Thursday Where The Oakridge School

The Playmaker Star volleyball libero Jacob Hum started off his volleyball season strong and shows no sign of slowing down.

NUMBER OF CONSECUTIVE SERVES IN HOUSTON CUP

JACOB HUM “Our ultimate goal is to win SPC. To achieve our goal we need to work on keeping a level head and sticking to the basics. Our last few games against Greenhill were pretty intense and in the end, we pulled through. But by the end of the season, we will learn to play more efficiently.”

CHARLIE O’BRIEN PHOTO

QUICKhits

ALDEN JAMES PHOTO

MORE THAN A MEMORY

PAGE 26 SEPTEMBER 25, 2015 REMARKER

SPORTS

DION STROOT

From the beach to the gridiron For Australian exchange student Dion Stroot, coming here meant giving up his beloved beach-related activities for the shoulder pads and helmets of American football.

ion Stroot’s eyes darted back and forth, following the football through the navy blue bars of his glossy helmet. It was uncomfortable and new, but he felt protected. Brilliant white stadium lights illuminated the turf battlefield in front of him where players collided and clashed, straining to get to what he gathered was the Mecca of the offense and the bane of the defense: the end zone. He wasn’t going to play this game, but he knew that. This was something he just could not miss. And an experience he simply could not have back at home.

“I was standing on the sidelines watching the game in front of me with my pads on for the first time and it was incredible,” said Stroot, the junior exchange student from Australia. “That was the first time I really felt like I was part of the team.” Stroot’s decision to play football was made long before stepping on American soil, as the legends of the pigskin have made it across the ocean, but the game itself has not. “I wanted to play football ever since I heard I was coming to Dallas,” Stroot said. “It’s just something you do, a strictly American thing. You need to play football if you are coming over here.” Stroot, who hails from Perth in Western Australia, is not only new to the game of football, but also the to all the hoopla: spirit parties, pep rallies, and team meals. “Sports are not attached to the school in Australia,” Stroot said. “There is a school volleyball team but nobody comes to that game besides the players. There isn’t any sport that everybody rallies

‘

ALL OF MY FOOTBALL EXPERIENCE HAS COME FROM FILMS. REMEMBER THE TITANS, LONGEST YARD, THAT’S WHAT MY EXPERIENCE IN FOOTBALL IS BASED OFF OF.

DION STROOT

behind in the way that we do here for football. And the pep rally, I’ve never seen anything like it.” In Australia, Dion participated in a lifesaving class that entailed beach running, surfing and swimming instead of a team sport as part of the curriculum. He

thinks these skills will help him with the sport. “The fitness aspect of my lifesaving course will definitely translate to football,” Stroot said. “But I’ve never played anything with this many tactics and plays. That will be the toughest part of understanding the sport.” Senior captain Jackson Cole believes Stroot’s greatest challenge isn’t his lack of physicality and athletic skills, but rather adapting to a completely new sport. “Some people think that Australian rugby and American football are similar because the balls have a slightly similar shape,” Cole said. “But nothing could be JACKSON COLE Excited to help Dion take on the sport

further from the truth. Dion is definitely giving his best effort to learn the rules quickly, but learning a new sport takes time.” Head varsity football coach Bart Epperson hopes to instill in Stroot not only the same love for the game that he has developed over the years, but also a love for the team around him. “One goal is for him to enjoy the camaraderie that football offers,” Epperson said. “Everyday enjoying working with your teammates.” Cole hopes that Stroot will learn to appreciate the game he has always loved so much. “For me,” Cole said, “I hope to teach Dion at least the basic rules of how to play the game and give him a respect for the sport I’ve always enjoyed so much. Hope-

cultureshock

PICKING UP THE PIGSKIN As an exchange student, junior Dion Stroot picks up the sport of football for the first time this year. He had never played the sport in Australia.

fully through practice, Dion can learn about what I’m sure he will be hearing a lot about during the fall, and who knows, maybe he will become a fanatic and join a fantasy league.” As far the team around him, Stroot has had no trouble fitting in and finds it easy to make sideline conversation. “Everyone on the team has been really welcoming to me,” Stroot said. “And everyone has been easy to talk to and bond with. Especially over our meals. We’ve had so many meals.” Cole sees Stroot as an open-minded kid who will fit in perfectly with the school community. “He has a willingness to learn new things that may be foreign to him with a smile on his face,” Cole said. “I always see him giving his best effort.” While Stroot has found it easy to adapt to American life amd culture, his involvement in the sport makes the transformation complete in his eyes and those

COURTESY DION STROOT

PADDED UP Joining the second week of the season, Stroot’s first game experience was against rival ESD.

taking a quick look at the American and Australian sports

15% FITNESS FANATIC Stroot admitted to visiting the beach at least twice a week to run, swim or hone his surfing ability.

of his friends and family back home. “When I told some of my friends back home they couldn’t believe it,” Stroot said. “It was like ‘Wow, he’s actually playing football in America.’ It’s such a defining part of American culture that it makes it seem like I’m really here, that I’m actually an American now.”

percentage of Australians that say they surf consistently.

63%

percentage of Americans that watch the NFL consistently.

114.4

20th

40,000

1st

number of people tuned in to watch the Super Bowl in 2015.

people watched the Bells, the biggest surfing event of the year in Australia.

STATISTICS FROM NATIONAL SURFING ASSOCIATION, CNN

STORY CASE LOWRY, ALEC DEWAR PHOTOS ALDEN JAMES, JAKE VAUG HN

international ranking CNN gave the Australian Margaret River Valley for surfing.

international ranking CNN gave Pipeline beach in Oahu, HI.

PAGE 27 SEPTEMBER 25, 2015 REMARKER

SPORTS

SPC REALIGNMENT

GREENHILL

HOCKADAY

EPISCOPAL SCHOOL

BRINGING

BANNERS

DOWN THE

With St. Mary’s Hall and Holland Hall leaving, proposed SPC realignment has potential to alter the league’s competitive balance.

he football team is packed into the inflatable tunnel, swaying and chanting in unison. This game does not affect the official record, but you couldn’t tell. The rousing yells of the captain at the center of the mass are just a little louder, the roaring fans are just a little rowdier, and the rivalry at stake here means more than just a little non-conference game. It’s been hyped for weeks, the matchup every football player circles in their mental calendar. The team charges out of the tunnel. The crowd roars. For the first and probably only time this season, Hunt Family Stadium is filled to the brim. The fans that spill out of the stands crowd around the fences, battling to get a better view of the action. It’s gameday. It’s ESD. And next year, this might not happen. Because some schools are worried about the sizable difference between the large and small schools, and two schools are leaving the conference, SPC Commissioner Bob Windham is considering realigning the conference. This realignment will be organized solely based off of number of students who attend the school. “There would be a 4A division and

a 3A division, and the teams in the 4A division would play for a 4A championship and the teams in the 3A division would play in a 3A championship,” Windham said. “There would be two championships at SPC if we did this; one for each division.” The proposition, which is to be voted on in the coming weeks, is an effort to renew the competitive balance of a conference that has become top heavy in recent years. BOB WINDHAM Is heading a proposal for realignment

“The bigger schools are really big and the smaller schools are really small,” Athletic Director Mark Sullivan said. “That’s been the driving force behind looking at a new football proposal for next fall.” In the current system, which is based on location rather than size, smaller teams have to play larger teams because they are nearby, rather than competing with schools of similar sizes. “[The proposal] would realign football and potentially make it more competitive - for the small schools to have an opportunity to win a championship and the large schools to have an opportunity to win a championship,”

Sullivan said. Additionally, some schools that currently are part of the SPC for sports other than football would be added as members of the 3A division. “There are four schools right now that are SPC schools that aren’t really playing SPC football,” Windham said. “St. Stephen’s and St. Andrew’s in Austin and John Cooper in the Woodlands — they don’t play in the SPC standing. With this new system, they would be playing for an SPC championship.” However, this proposal is based off of creating a fair playing field for the smaller school. As a large school that would be in the 4A division, this would have an impact on the competitiveness of the schedule and the variety of teams team in the confrence might play.

‘

I THINK THERE ARE PEOPLE THAT ARE GOING TO LIKE IT AND A SCHOOL OR TWO THAT ARE NOT GOING TO LIKE IT.

MARK SULLIVAN

“It would have an impact on the competitiveness of our schedule,” Sullivan said. “You are looking at lining up against all of the other big school every season, where right now, with us being in the north, we are lining up against Cistercian and All Saints and Casady

STORY WILL FORBES, CASE LOWRY ILLUSTRATION ABHI THUMMALA

Stacking up If SPC Commissioner Bob Windham’s plan for realignment is approved by the schools, St. Mark’s would move in to a new 4A division. Here’s how the conference is currently arranged and how it’s projected to turn out if the proposal passes.

Current North Zone All Saints Casady ESD Fort Worth Country Day Greenhill Holland Hall Oakridge St. Mark’s Trinity Valley

Current South Zone

50%

Projected 3A All Saints ESD Houston Christian St. Andrew’s Oakridge Casady St. Stephen’s Cistercian

’

Bellaire Episcopal Houston Christian Kinkaid John Cooper St. Mary’s Hall St. Andrew’s St. John’s St. Stephen’s Cistercian

Projected 4A In the Projected 4A division, 50 percent of the teams are currently in the North Zone with St. Mark’s.

Kinkaid Bellaire Episcopal St. Mark’s St. John’s Greenhill Fort Worth Country Day Trinity Valley John Cooper

L L ALHA S H’S YA’ RY A. RM RY ST T. MA .M ST

ST. MARK’S SCHOOL OF TEXAS

and some smaller schools than we are.” With local rivals like Cistercian and ESD falling into the 3A division, some rivalry games might no longer be on the regular season schedule. This sytem allows teams to schedule more conference games that are listed as counter games. So while the proposal may level the playing field in terms of competing for a championship, it might also get rid of some of the most exciting regular season games. Obviously there are upsides and downsides to this new proposal, but if the changes pass, the scope of the league will be changed dramatically next season. And if it is effective, Windham thinks a similar system could be introduced in other sports. “We do have a task force which is being created to study doing something like that for all sports,” Windham said. “We are just concentrating on football for right now. After that, we might start looking at ways that we might want to realign other sports. It’s not yet clear whether the effect on the football program would be positive or negative, but if Windham gets his way, there will be some serious changes happening in the SPC in the coming years. “Next year there may be a different way to look at football,” Windham said.

PAGE 28

SPORTS

SEPTEMBER 25, 2015 REMARKER

TUTORIALS

Trusting the system Because tutorials give athletes more freedom to practice sports outside of school, students often exploit the system for their benefit.

t’s 3:05 p.m., and the athlete heads over to the locker room to prepare for sports practice. But some students, some athletes, head somewhere else to practice. Tutorials are alternative options for the school’s athletes who decide to focus on an activity outside of school while still completing their required physical education credit. Some of these activities are offered by the school and some aren’t, but the amount of freedom given to each athlete is still a controversial question. The popularity of tutorials has steadily increased over the past years, and there seems to be a majority of students choosing to direct their attention on one sport instead of participating in after school activities. But the questions remain. Is the effectiveness of tutorials comparable to after school activities considering the amount of freedom given to students who take tutorials? And how does the athletic department confirm the student’s willingness to practice his activity? Athletic Director Mark Sullivan acknowledges that the tutorial program heavily revolves around students’ honesty. “I hope there’s not a case of students being dishonest,” Sullivan said. “I would say when I look through and look at the request for 99 percent of them, there is no question in my mind that they are going out there and doing everything that they say they are doing. I hope nobody is taking advantage of the system.”

Junior Nick Chaiken, who has participated in a golf tutorial every year since his seventh grade year, believes that tutorials allow an athlete to dedicate time to his passion. NICK CHAIKEN Says tutorials have a positive effect

“I find them [tutorials] more preferable than P.E. but less preferable than playing a sport,” Chaiken said. “Overall, tutorials have benefited me because they have allowed me to allocate more time practicing a sport I have a passion for.”

‘

I USUALLY KNOW WHERE ALL THE GUYS ARE IF THEY ARE ON CAMPUS, BUT I HOPE THE OTHERS AREN’T TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE SYSTEM.

MARK SULLIVAN

Chaiken also believes that tutorials give students more time to organize their academic life but should not be taken advantage of. “Tutorials allow me to organize my time effectively,” Chaiken said. “If I have a lot of work on one night, I may take the day off whereas a student in a regular sport or P.E. does not have this option. Although this is beneficial, this privilege is not a compelling reason to do a tutorial.” As a result, this brings up the question as to whether or not tutorials stack

up with the rigorous after school physical education program. Sullivan believes that an athlete gets more out of playing sports within the boundaries of the school. “When all is said and done, and you walk away from your time at St. Mark’s,” Sullivan said, “the things that you look back on are the experiences that you had with your classmates and your teammates, which go outside the boundaries of being in class. And when you separate yourself out of a group just to do a tutorial, I think you are missing something by doing that.” In order to fix an aspect of the tutorial program, Sullivan hopes to implement a “conditioning piece” to an athlete’s tutorial request. With conditioning added to the requirements of a tutorial, Sullivan and the athletic department hope to move away from athletes trying to make it easier on themselves by taking tutorials. MARK SULLIVAN Suggests it’s better to play for the school

“We have some kids this year who applied for a tutorial for various things,” Sullivan said. “Part of that was a conditioning piece, and we’ve been able to convince them that they can get the conditioning done here where prior to this year, they really couldn’t get that.” Sullivan also suggested that athletes

STORY RISH BASU ILLUSTRATION NAFTAL MAUTIA

IN AMERICAN JUNIOR GOLF ASSOCIATION QUALIFIER

Sub-70 round earns Clayman qualifier win by Sam Sussman am Clayman was doing everything right. It was one of the biggest golf tournaments of the year, and Clayman felt absolutely no pressure. He drove the ball straight, knocked his irons on the green and putted the ball with immense accuracy. Clayman was well on his way to achieving his very first round in the 60’s in a tournament. All that stood between him and his goal was a huge tree that loomed over the green. Clayman took out his pitching wedge, angled his club to put as much loft as he could on the ball and took a powerful swing. Launching up and over the tree, the ball took a hard plop and settled 10 feet from the hole. Clayman knocked down the birdie putt, and the momentum he gained

from that hole propelled him to shoot a 69 and clinch a win at the American Junior Golf Association qualifier tournament in Abilene this July. “Carding that 69 felt pretty good,” Clayman said. “It had been a goal of mine to post a sub 70 tournament round, and I was lucky enough to have that happen this summer.” Clayman’s win at the tournament in Abilene was just one of many successes that he achieved this summer, including one at the Duke University Golf Club in North Carolina, a 6th place finish out of 68 contestants at a Texas Junior Golf Tour event at Glen Eagles Country Club and also an 11th place finish out of 108 golfers in Vermont. Clayman hopes to continue his recent successes and lead the school golf team to an SPC championship. For this to happen, Clayman is expected to be a leader and a mentor

to the younger, more inexperienced players of the team. “More than any other goal I have,” Clayman said, “I want to bring an SPC championship trophy home to St. Mark’s. We have a special group of guys that can get that done. I want to play my part in making it happen.” Although Clayman’s achievements have been great, he will never stop improving his game, thriving to become the best leader and player he can be. “The great thing about golf is it is impossible to perfect your game,” Clayman said. “There are always things to improve on. Besides the mechanics of the swing, I am always trying to improve my frame of mind. I want to be mentally ready to give my very best every time — to leave everything I have on the course. If I do that, I can be content with whatever the result may be.”

who choose to do a tutorial must participate in a physical education period during the school day. “If someone for example gets a lacrosse tutorial, two days a week is not really enough to get the fitness component,” Sullivan said. “Now we can say, look, why don’t we put you in after school P.E., so everybody wins in that regard.” Like Sullivan, Chaiken also trusts that a conditioning aspect to tutorials would improve the overall system and remove any foul play regarding the athletes who do not actively participate in the tutorials. “If there was a conditioning aspect to the program, I would still partake because conditioning is a necessity in any sport.” Chaiken said. “Requiring students to workout in a set time as a part of their tutorial would go further in making sure tutorial athletes are toeing the line and keeping up with their responsibilities.” Ultimately, Sullivan hopes that the tutorial program effectively provides athletic and academic support for every athlete. “The intent of the program is really to help support the kids due to their heavy academic demands, and if they are already putting in an inordinate amount of time outside of school on whatever sport,” Sullivan said. “The overall intent of the program is to give kids the opportunity to partake in programs they are involved in outside of school.”

PAGE 29 SEPTEMBER 25, 2015 REMARKER

SPORTS

FALL PREVIEWS

Feels like the first time

ALDEN JAMES PHOTO

CHARLIE O’BRIEN PHOTO

As fall sports get back into form, Lion athletes look to capture SPC championships

SWORD PLAY At the Hockaday fencing tournament, junior Kaden Han takes a stab at his opponent. The team is led by three senior captains who hope to lead the younger fencers who are inexperienced in varsity play.

SIX POINTS Reeling in the catch near the endzone, senior William Caldwell scores a touchdown in the third game of the season Sept. 11 against Fort Worth Country Day. Caldwell’s score helped the Lions to a 29-21 win over the Falcons.

ABOVE THE BLOCK Leaping for a spike, senior Will Diamond scores during a match against Greenhill. The Lions, who are seeking their fourth straight SPC title, won 3-1 in the away game Sept. 3, helping them to an undefeated start.

Veteran captains hopeful for youthful fencing team

Key injuries putting damper on football squad’s season

Grueling season ahead for volleyball in quest for 4-peat

by Nick Malvezzi

by Sam Sussman

by Sam Shane

trio of captains will lead what is expected to be one of the deepest fencing squads in years. With senior captains Bill Dannenmaier, Mitchel So and Grant Uebele, this year’s team has the best prospects in recent years. “We have a fair bit of freshmen,” Dannenmaier said. “We have some new guys, some people who haven’t ever fenced, so we’re going to work on training those guys.” That’s where senior leadership comes into play. “It’s becoming to where the students lead a lot,” Dannenmaier said. “So it’s a little bit less of the coaches and more of the students; so that’ll be good.” Of the three different weapons, the team is strongest in saber. “Mitchell is there, I’m there, and four of the six seniors are in saber,” Dannenmaier said, “so that’s really where the student coaching comes in. And our sabers are pretty good, a lot of them go to club” Rather than focusing solely in one area, Dannenmaier hopes to have a more well-rounded team. “Our guys are pretty diverse. They have a lot of skills and all sorts of things,” Dannenmaier said, “so we’re just trying to sort of round them out a bit and make everybody good at everything.” Dannenmaier hopes that intense practices will reward the team in the long run. “You’re wearing like three or four layers, so it’s really hot,” Dannenmaier said. “Going up and down the strip at very fast speeds, and reaction time is very important, so you have to switch directions on a dime, and it can be pretty tough.” Despite the lack of a conference tournament, the team has high expectations for the season. “We have some really good fencers,” Dannenmaier said. “They [Mitchel So and Grant Uebele] are going to be first in their events. We will win competitions, but it’s a matter of how many events we win. If we win 10, that would be good.”

ead varsity football coach Bart Epperson thought one of his toughest opponents would be ESD. Little did he know, ESD was the least of his problems. The Lions have been riddled with injuries thus far, but they hope their replacements can pick up where the starters left off tonight as they host Oklahoma City Casady, here, at 7:00 p.m. The Lions have lost to injury: star wide receiver and captain William Caldwell (broken fibula), starting cornerback Michael Mosle (fracture and blood clots in leg), starting quarterback Matthew Placide (hip) and backup quarterback Hyer Thomas (broken collarbone). But Epperson is not worried. “We just look at our team’s personnel,” Epperson said, “their strengths and weaknesses, and trying to get those guys [replacements] up to speed and game ready experience as soon as possible.” So far the Lions have a 2-2 record, with wins against Cisterican and Fort Worth Country Day and losses to ESD and All Saints. In the loss against ESD, quarterbacks Matthew Placide and Hyer Thomas both suffered injuries, leaving sophomore Canyon Kyle at the helm. Kyle threw two touchdowns. They’re relying on captains William Caldwell, Brannon Rouse, Jackson Cole and Drew Baxley to set an example and lead the team. “The captains were chosen because they are great leaders. They help others out on the team,” Epperson said. Both Rouse and Epperson hope to achieve a lot this season, whether it is winning games, building relationships, or teaching important life lessons. “Obviously I want to win SPC and win every game, but I’m looking forward to establishing good camaraderie,” Rouse said. “A team is a great way to bring people together, and those relationships are something that lasts longer and means more to the team than wins and losses.”

oming off three consecutive SPC-winning seasons, the volleyball team has gotten used to success. They are not relaxing, but rather they are gearing up for another grueling season ahead. Head coach Darren Teicher believes that his team, albeit lacking in experience, has the skill to go for the fourpeat. “Having top level players such as [captains] Parker [Dixon] and Matthew [Lawson] certainly makes us the team to beat,” Teicher said. “Without a doubt, though, our goal is to win SPC.” The seniors that graduated last year left big shoes to fill, and as such, the team is suffering from a lack of experience at the moment. “In practice,” Teicher said, “we’ve been a little inconsistent. Once the team has played together for another month or so, however, our practices will be more efficient and competitive.” Teicher, Dixon and Lawson all agree that one certain underclassman is stepping up and playing a major position on the team. “[Sophomore] Toussaint Pegues for sure,” Lawson said. “He is playing the starting middle position, now that I have moved to the outside, and he is stepping up admirably and playing very well.” They also all agree that one player doesn’t get enough credit for the role he plays. “[Senior] Phil [Smart] is quite an integral part of our team,” Lawson said, “but he gets almost no credit.” Lawson believes that one of their weaknesses is a fundamental of their sport, but it is an easily fixed mistake. “Our service returns, right now, is something that is giving us a lot of trouble,” Lawson said. “But once we’ve played for a while, it’ll get better.” Teicher, Lawson, and Dixon believe that Greenhill is their biggest rival. “Greenhill is our hardest competition, for sure,” Dixon said, “but we beat them in four games recently. I think we have a pretty good shot at winning SPC.”

Cross country looks to start season strong with big numbers by Jimmy Rodriguez T Graass, sweat dripping down his face, finally crosses the finish line in the Marcus I Invitational. He then sees his time for the 6A, 5k race. His 15:56 was enough to put the team in 11th place overall, first place among private schools. The cross country team will rely on 25 runners this year, compared to 14 last year, which will possibly have an impact on the overall success of the team. The team has competed in three meets so far, placing second overall in the Greenhill Relays and fifth in the Southlake Carroll Invitational, where it ran in the 5A division. “I think the season has gone really well so far,” senior captain Graass said. “We’ve got a lot of talented guys.”

COURTESY SUSAN GRAASS

PUSHING THROUGH Finishing a race in the St. Andrews Invitational Sept. 12, junior Daniel Cope records a 16:30 5k, helping the team place third out of SPC teams.

Although coach John Turek believes the team is big for an SPC school, Graass thinks the large number of runners will help build team morale more than a smaller team might be able to. “Having a big team can be really good if you take advantage of it,” JT Graass said. “The more guys we have, the more support we get from each other, which is a crucial thing for cross country.” The only setback that the team has faced so far has been a significant gap between the times of the top two runners, junior Daniel Cope and Graass, and the rest of the team. “Right now, the gap is at 1:36, and if we can get that to under one minute, then it will fare well for us,” Turek said. In cross country, individual runners are awarded points equal to the place that

they finish in – first place gets one point, second gets two. These points are then added together to determine the team’s total score. The team with the lowest score wins. “The key to winning SPC is closing the gap between Daniel, our number-two runner, and the rest of our top five: Seth [Weprin], Scott [Smythe] and Sam [Shane],” Graass said. “The smaller the gap between these people, the less points we get.” However, Turek has high hopes for the season. “I think it will be a really good season,” Turek said. “I think that we obviously have two very, very good runners in JT and Daniel, and I think that we lost a lot of really good runners in the conference last year to graduation, so it makes for a more even playing field.”

SPORTS

PAGE 30 SEPTEMBER 25, 2015 REMARKER KEVIN DILWORTH

BEARING THE WEIGHT HIRED AS A FULL TIME STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING COACH, KEVIN DILWORTH HAS ALREADY STARTED CHANGING THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM — AND THE SCHOOL’S CULTURE.

MAKING PLAYS Training athletes, strength and conditioning coach Kevin Dilworth works for the school full time as of this year.

tudents have seen him on the track nearly every day. He has become a household name among the student-athletes, either dreading his arduous workouts or praising his insane athletic ability. Now, Kevin Dilworth is here to stay as the school’s fulltime strength and conditioning coach. And he couldn’t be happier. The idea of a strength and conditioning coach has been brought up before within the athletic department, but it has never developed as a legitimate possibility until the arrival of Dilworth. The void of a strength and conditioning coach and questions about why our athletic program lacks one are now gone. Working at the school as a coach and mentor for a number of years now at the school, Dilworth finally has the opportunity to make an even bigger effect on campus. Wanting the position for nearly four years, Dilworth was overjoyed when he heard the news. “When I got the call from Mr. Sullivan I was in tears,” Dilworth said. “I was ecstatic that St. Mark’s and the student athletes wanted me to be a part of this community and be a part of this family.” After earning the position, Dilworth immediately impacted the weight room, including ordering new machines and supplying more facilities for the entire room.

In addition, he rearranged items so that student-athletes can maximize the benefits of each workout. “The things I have changed so far basically is the structure of the weight room,” Dilworth said. “I want the weight room to be more of a performance-like gym and not a fitness gym because I believe we are trying to get performances out of athletes and not just improve their fitness level.” To Dilworth, fitness is much more than just pumping iron, but rather having a structure and continuing to build on it. The idea of keeping one’s body in shape motivates him to coach other athletes at the school to do the same.

‘

A STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING COACH IS THE BEST THING ST. MARK’S HAS DONE SINCE GOING ALL BOYS.

JACKSON COLE

“It’s not about the simple fact of weight training being successful but rather having to build something in order for something to stay,” Dilworth said. “If you want your body to stay in great shape you have to continue to build and to work on it in order for it to have stabilization. Dilworth also believes that weight training is necessary to stay motivated and maintain body fitness. “Weight training is a stabiliz-

er, but it is also a reminder to let you know that you have to keep working out,” Dilworth said. “If you ignore it, you will get weary and your structure will crumble, which could result in injury.” With the addition of a strength and conditioning coach, every sports team, including its players and coaches, receive something that has been asked for a number of years: full access to the weight room at any time during the day. Now, students will be able to use their free time throughout the day to include a workout into their schedule without worrying about finding adult supervision from an athletic coach. Senior football captain Jackson Cole believes this will help athletes significantly, especially the football team this fall. “For the student body, a strength and conditioning coach and an open weight room gives innumerable opportunities to better ourselves in our respective sports,” Cole said. “Coach Dilworth always expects the best from us, and the whole athletic department will be reaping the benefits. Games are won in the weight room, and learning how to exercise consistently and effectively is a skill we will need for the future.” Coach Dilworth believes he will not only see an overall improvement of fitness and condition within the school’s student-ath-

letes, but also a huge impact on sports teams that are using the advantages of an open weight room. JACKSON COLE Thinks new addition will make huge impact

“It is going to impact the sports here tremendously because every sport is going to have a weightlifting program, and they will always have someone to come to and to ask questions to rather than having to figure it out themselves,” Dilworth said. “So essentially I’m a resource student athletes can rely on so they can improve and get stronger.” Although Dilworth’s job mainly focuses on improving the weight room, his favorite part is working with the students. Because of Dilworth and his new objective of making the weight room completely accessible and beneficial, he is happy to see much more participation in the weight room than he has seen in year’s past. “‘Honestly, the interaction with the students is the best part of the job,” Dilworth said. “Seeing their faces, seeing them buy into something and seeing their dreams come true is truly special. It gives me goose bumps to see how the weight room is more lively now than what it was in the past.”

STORY RISH BASU, MATTHEW PLACIDE PHOTOS CORBIN WALP

Junior Daniel Cope qualifies and competes for the Junior Olympics by Alec Dewar

unior Daniel Cope’s vision narrowed as the finishing line approached. He thought he had conquered the 95 plus degree heat and qualified in the 3000 meter for the Junior Olympics. And that’s when the blur ripped through his peripheral vision. He had been eliminated from the Junior Olympics by .2 seconds. Collapsing from fruitless exertion, endless heat and bitter

disappointment, Cope was helped off the track. While he fell short in the 3000, Cope qualified in the 1500 and went to the preliminary round in the Junior Olympics. Cope, who has been mentored by senior J.T. Graass, finds that the most rewarding thing about the Junior Olympics was that he trained and succeeded on his own. “I made it my personal project for the summer to get to the

finals,” Cope said. “It really built a sense of confidence in myself as a runner and an athlete.” Cope discovered early on the troubles of training and running by himself. While he qualified in his preliminary meets, by his standards, it didn’t cut it. “I walked up to my coach [Coach Turek] and told him I was seriously considering quitting for the summer,” Cope said. “I decided to stick

with it.” Cope’s perseverance got him into the top 12 in the preliminary races and eleventh overall in the Junior Olympics. While this is an impressive accomplishment, he chose this challenge in order to improve himself and his running abilities. “The Junior Olympics are different in that I’m running with kids whose lives are all about running,” Cope said. “I’m just a normal St. Mark’s student who just

so happens to run, so to be with all these guys with $200 watches and specific diets was pretty intimidating.” Cope looks to this experience to help his future as a runner and athlete, keeping in mind the possibility of nationals. “I had been broken down and needed to build myself back up for the Junior Olympics,” Cope said. “I now plan to build myself up mentally and reach the Footlocker Nationals.”

OLYMPIC STATUS Pushing through to the finish line, Cope competed in the preliminary round of the Junior Olympics.

PAGE 31 SEPTEMBER 25, 2015 REMARKER

SPORTS

COOPER JOHNSON

THAT’S A WRAP With assistant trainer becoming a more popular option for Upper School students, sophomore Cooper Johnson takes it to a whole new level. By attending the sports medicine camp at the University of Texas at Austin, Johnson looks to make a greater impact on the program. TALE OF THE TAPE Johnson tapes an ankle with newly acquired proficiency from his camp at the University of Texas at Austin.

ooper Johnson rummaged through the overflowing training room cabinets, relentlessly searching for a sling that would support the collarbone varsity quarterback Hyer Thomas had fractured just moments ago. Having been involved with the athletic training program for more than four years, Johnson and his partner, Dalton Glenn, know the ins and outs of the trade better than anyone. How to perfectly tape an ankle, how to treat symptoms of a concussion and which cabinet holds the slings.

Johnson knew bringing the sling out to the ailing quarterback wasn’t incredibly vital, but he was eager to do whatever was asked of him. “Being a sixth grade water boy, you can’t really say it started there because I didn’t really do much,” Johnson said. “But I came back the next year and came back in eighth grade and I’ve been doing more and more ever since.” Every day, Johnson comes in at 3 p.m. and works handin-hand with Trainer Matt Hjertstedt in the training room and on the football field. “He’s there to help Doc

and I and Dr. Mize care for the athletes, whether that’s taping somebody up or covering up some blood,” Hjertstedt said. “It gives him the opportunity to watch the orthopedic surgeons and learn what they do and what we do.” In preparation for his biggest year yet, Johnson had a summer full of instruction. In addition to

‘

TRAINERS KNOW WHERE ALL THE EQUIPMENT IS AND HOW TO USE IT. THEY’RE HERE TO SUPPORT WHAT WE DO.

MATT HJERTSTEDT

lifeguard training, he travelled to the University of Texas at Austin for a sports medicine camp. “It was a three day camp where they covered a lot of concussions, a lot of heat illnesses, injury prevention and different emergencies that you could run into during a game,” Johnson said. “Some of it was review, but a lot of it expanded my knowledge, not only in athletic training but just health in general.” Since Johnson chose to enroll in the advanced class, Hjertstedt feels more comfortable than ever with his sophomore trainers. “The role that they fill right now is probably a bigger role than I’ve had almost anybody ever fill,” Hjertstedt said. “So, I would imagine they’re gonna keep growing in their skills and their knowledge and what they’re capable of doing. And I get to trust them more every year. But right now, if for whatever reason I wasn’t here, I know they would do a great job.” With an abundance of students willing to explore

the athletic training field, the program is booming. Hjertstedt has been forced to limit each student to one trimester. This fall that roster includes Johnson, Glenn, freshman Jahaziel Lopez, freshman Duncan Kirstein and eighth grader Judson Dommer. “I think just knowing that those guys are there, trained and ready to assist is comforting to me,” Hjertsedt said. “Knowing that if I’m busy they could handle something and know what to do whether it be from the UT sports camp or what they’ve learned here.” For now, Johnson and his fellow trainers are doing their best to soak in every drop of information they acquire through the day. Because for guys like Cooper Johnson, this isn’t just a hobby. “Not necessarily athletic training,” Johnson said, “but I definitely am interested in getting into the medical field because of all the practice I’ve had in the training room.”

A NUMBERS GAME

a quick look at high school athletic training

78% Only 78 percent of high schools in Texas have an athletic trainer according to the National Athletic Trainers Association.

55% Nationwide, the amount of high schools that have an athletic trainer is 55 percent.

CALLING Johnson can’t see himself doing anything but going into medicine, “All I know is that I want to go to a great medical school.”

STORY MIKE MAHOWALD PHOTOS DREW BAXLEY

ccording to NCAA.org, only .03 percent of all football players ever make it to the big leagues. Given that fact, then the football program here is the exception, not the rule. As of today, St. Mark’s currently has three active NFL players, while other schools three times as big struggle to produce one NFL player. Ty Montgomery ‘11 is a wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers. Sam Acho ‘07 is an outside linebacker for the Chicago Bears. Emmanuel Acho ‘08 is a linebacker who last played for the Philadelphia Eagles. The younger Acho had some insight to share about St. Mark’s, and football in general. “If anything, St. Mark’s taught me to learn,” Emmanuel said. “It taught me how to execute and learn from your mistakes.” While at St. Mark’s, Emmanuel was coached by many coaches, including head football, basketball and track

coaches Bart Epperson, Greg Guiler and John Turek. “All three of my coaches taught me that you can always work hard,” Emmanuel said, “and you can always work harder to beat your opponents.” Although he was not coached by him, head soccer coach Cory Martin also said something that has stuck with Emmanuel Acho and contributed to his work ethic. “[Martin] always told me, fail to prepare, and be prepared to fail,” Emmanuel Acho said. This, combined with something that Epperson teaches, combined to form the man that Emmanuel is today. “One of the acronyms I use,” Epperson said, “is PMA: Positive Mental Attitude. At all times. Even the great players are not going to have the best of practices or the best of games in their mind.” Montgomery was a special talent from the start, making an immediate impact on the

squad in his ninth grade year. “Ty got off of the Pecos trip,” Epperson said, “and I had him come to practice one day. After that, I was like, “You’re our Z receiver!” The three of them all showed immense leadership, however, both on and off of the field. Whether in the third quarter, weight room, or locker room, Epperson always saw Montgomery and the Achos as the leaders. “Sam and Emmanuel were probably more vocal leaders,” Epperson said, “and Ty was more of a quiet leader, who kind of led by example, and all three of them definitely have leadership qualities.” All three of them were such polarizing players that the opponents would plan their strategies around them. “For Sam and Emmanuel,” Epperson said, “it was like they were the ones to block on defense. For Ty, it was like they had to get everyone over to cover him and cut him off from Kirk Hayes.”

CREATIVE COMMONS

by Sam Shane

CREATIVE COMMONS

Packers draft Montgomery ‘11, now three alumni active in NFL

FROM CARDINAL TO PACKER Ty Montgomery catches a pass as a Green Bay Packer (below) and returns a kickoff his senior season at Stanford (above)

R R EMARKER

SCHEMING

During an eigth-grade football game against the Fort Worth Country Day Falcons, the Lions offense gets in a huddle to discuss the next play. The Lions won the game 26-6 on Sept. 10 with the offense scoring two passing touchdowns along with two rushing touchdowns in the contest.

ST. MARK’S SCHOOL OF TEXAS

10600 PRESTON ROAD DALLAS, TX. 75230

THE BACK SPORTS PAGE THE REMARKER FRIDAY, SEPT. 25, 2015 PAGE 32 NEW TURF

BROKEN IN THE NEW TURF

On June 1, Paragon Sports Company began installing the new turf on the Norma and Lamar Hunt Family Stadium. After a three month long project, the final product lived up to the hype.

THE HIGHLIGHTS The best of the best on the new turf.

ENDZONE TOTAL TOUCHDOWNS SCORED IN TWO GAMES

37 YARD-LINE 32 YARD-LINE

20 YARD-LINE ZAK HOUILLION CATCHES A 20 YARD THROW FROM MATTHEW PLACIDE AGAINST FORT WORTH YARD COUNTRY68 DAY

TOUCHDOWN PASS FROM HYER THOMAS TO WILLIAM CALDWELL AGAINST ESD

68 YARD TOUCHDOWN PASS FROM HYER THOMAS TO WILLIAM CALDWELL AGAINST ESD

WILLIAM CALDWELL

INTERCEPTION BY SOPHOMORE FAUSTO REYHER AGAINST ESD

MATTHEW PLACIDE

ZAK HOUILLION

#14 #14

#12

BY THE NUMBERS

107

MILLION PELLETS OF TURF

$ 800

THOUSAND DOLLAR PROJECT

STORY RISH BASU ILLUSTRATION ABHI THUMMALA, WILL CLARK, RISH BASU

DAYS TO COMPLETE