27 minute read
Singing groups
arts
Singing groups consider innovative rehearsal methods
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Mitav Nayak ’22
Every winter and spring, students, faculty, family, and friends gather in Centennial Hall to listen to and support a collection of the school’s finest musicians. The two major singing groups, the Notables and Glee Club, anchor those events. Last year, these groups—like countless others—had their spring preparations cut short. While Mr. Mark Hightower digitally combined various Notables voices into an impressive song for the graduation video, both groups were unable to perform in front of the school in the spring. This year, they will utilize creative techniques to meet the school’s new policies. “What we are currently planning,” Mr. Hightower said, “is to have [four boys] come in and separate into four corners of a large room and spread out as far away as they possibly can with masks on.”
MR. MARK HIGHTOWER
While these quartets are going to be very different from the Notables’ rehearsals last year, Mr. Hightower is optimistic. “It actually works really well because we typically rehearse in sectionals that are basically quartets, with four guys singing the same part,” Mr. Hightower said. “Then, we put everyone together and we rehearse as a full group. [The new method] requires more musical independence, confidence, and tal
Kaufman
I’m Thinking of Ending Things, written and directed by Charlie Kaufman and reBen Fosnocht ’21 records his portion of the opening assembly on Tuesday, September 1, 2020
ent to be the only person singing your part in a mixed quartet, but I see it potentially working assuming we stay in school and everything goes well.” Fifth Former and Notables member Damian Ferraro had similar views. “It’s basically going to be [two tenors], one bass, and one baritone in the mixed quartet. Then, if we wanted to record something, we could have each quartet sing and combine those audios together,” Ferraro said. Additional innovative solutions have arisen from the difficulties associated with wearing traditional masks to sing. Ferraro said, “[Mr. Hightower] recommended this singing mask which is like a regular mask, but it’s got a bit more space. We’ve also considered going outside to rehearse and sing.” leased on Netflix on September 4, is many things, but it is one thing especially—a step into the abyss. The movie is ostensibly about a young woman who visits her boyfriend’s parents in rural Oklahoma during the dead of winter, yet, throughout the film, I wasn’t sure what was happening. There are strange noises, sudden shifts and contradictions in the lives of the characters, and a disregard for chronology or even the very idea of time itself within the movie. We see things that don’t make sense, and there’s no catch, no “it was all a dream!” It doesn’t make sense, yet on a certain level, it doesn’t have to. The film is shot beautifully, and it feels as though meticulous effort went into each shot, line of dialogue, and plot point. However, the movie is startling; it doesn’t follow any formula or convention found in most films. There is no inciting incident, no climax, and no resolution. There are simply people—people who struggle, people who grow—but at their core, just people, not pawns in a story arc. The actors in the movie are, in short, terrific. I almost didn’t notice the actors’ performances at all. Why? Because they Sixth Form Notables member Decker Patterson said, “With the standard masks, you get it right in front of your face so you don’t get that much air-flow. With the singing masks, you get a lot of air-flow, but the difference is that it is hot.” Mr. Hightower plans to experiment with his various rehearsal methods for the Notables and adjust as needed. For the Glee Club, which has approximately 76 students enrolled this year, he is working on another plan. “I’m considering offering virtual alternative programming and doing a sort of deep dive into an interesting piece of music,” Mr. Hightower said. “We were thinking about the musical Hamilton . . . we could offer a music class where we could study themes, rhythm, and harmony of Hamilton.” didn’t feel like performances; they felt like life. This is much easier said than done. I’m sure many movies strive for authentic-feeling characters, yet few actors ever feel that way on screen. Toni Collette and David Thewlis, who play the parents in the film, portray strange characters themselves, yet they never feel overly dramatic or forced. Also, Guy Boyd, who plays the janitor, has a smaller role in the movie, yet he delivers a surprisingly emotional performance that strangely ties the film together.
“Say who you are.
Really say it in your life and in your work.” CHARLIE KAUFMAN MR. MARK HIGHTOWER The large numbers of students in Glee Club will likely result in a mostly virtual program this year. However, because the Notables have considerably fewer students, they hope they will be able to establish as much normalcy as possible under current circumstances and stay together as a group. “The cool thing about the Notables is that people come from all different facets of the school,” Ferraro said. “But we all have this common goal of making music and entertaining people through our musical talents, and I think that’s something that is special about a group like that.” Patterson said, “We’re already so close-knit and devoted to the Notables, so I think that is what will get us through and keep the No
Netflix’s unusual I’m Thinking of Ending Things
Joey Kauffman ’23 “A screenplay is an exploration. It’s about the thing you don’t know. To step into the abyss.” - Charlie
tables alive this year.” ture, Kaufman talked about why he makes movies. “Say who you are. Really say it in your life and in your work,” Kaufman said. “Give that to the world rather than selling something to the world.” For better or worse, Kaufman says who he is in his work. His movies can be confusing, self-centered, and neurotic, but that’s because he is all of those things, as indeed all of us are. In I’m Thinking of Ending Things, which Kaufman adapted from a novel of the same name by Ian Reid, Kaufman creates a story that is mercilessly tiring but is, in the end, a truly heartwarming and hopeful movie. He uses the cinematic landscape of a film—the camera movement, the music, the lighting— to evoke all that makes us human, creating a truly moving experience for the viewer that reminds us why movies are such a great platform to tell stories. To those who are reluctant to watch a film described as tiring, I say give it a chance. Don’t judge it because it’s confusing. I’m Thinking of Ending Things, when all is said and done, is a beautiful work, and beauty doesn’t need to make sense to be true.
Michael Tallarida ’21
While quarantine and online school offered challenges for many students nationwide, it also provided the opportunity to explore new things. Sixth Former Tyler Zimmer took advantage of this unique time, starting another business of his own, Tyler’s Custom Tables. Zimmer’s new hobby finds him designing foldable tables to his customers’ masked and socially distanced, the theater program looks at a year starkly different from previous semesters. Primarily, the fall play, a popular event among the community, will no longer happen. “Earlier in the pandemic, I was hoping at least to rehearse a full production and film it or stream it live,” Performing Arts Chair Mr. Hengst said. “Then at least an audience at home would have a full play. But now I can’t even bring in a cast to practice.” Forced to change plans, Mr. Hengst is still hopeful a fall “production” is possible.
“What I love to do is tell stories with audiences in the seats” MR. DARREN HENGST “What I’m looking to do now is find scripts or have the students write some things that are monologue-driven. We would then rehearse the scenes virtually, and I could bring one person in at a time, record each part, edit them together, and publish it.” The modifications are better than nothing at all, but it cannot match a live, in-person performance. “What I love to do is tell stories with audiences in the seats,” Mr. Hengst stated. “There’s an energy in the building as the story progresses. Unfortunately, that is something we just can’t do this year.” Regardless, the theater program is hopeful for some normalcy. “The spring production is not canceled. I’m not planning on stopping that until we get closer and it is certain that a musical is not possible,” Mr. Hengst said. Another performance that could potentially remain this year is that of the Theater specifications. “After seeing quite bland, simple party tables go viral on social media platforms like TikTok, I knew I could do better,” Zimmer said. “After getting 600,000 views on my 76ers table and realizing people would pay for them, I started brainstorming a business strategy.” This 76ers table, one of his original de
Detail of a table for a fire fighter
COURTESY OF TYLER ZIMMER ’21
III* class. “I’m hopeful we can make something from Theater III*. It starts in March, in the spring, and it’s in the fourth quarter, so I just hope that we get a chance to return to normal by then.” Regardless, classes like Theater II are left to take a more technology-focused approach compared to previous years. “We can’t do normal class activities, so I have found two software programs for scenic design and lighting design, and we’re going to do a lot of virtual collaborative work,” Mr. Hengst said. signs, proved to be the turning point for his small business. Once his TikTok went viral, Zimmer started receiving requests from clients nationwide. However, he took a different route in his business path. “Unlike a normal business that attempts to scale up, I actually went a different direction. After shipping tables to Seattle, Dallas, and El Paso, I realized shipping tables across the country cost me a good chunk of profit. Therefore, I decided to scale down, only taking business locally,” Zimmer said. Despite the joy he finds in the business, it was not easy for Zimmer to get things going with his busy schedule. “It’s very time consuming, and the most work I could do in a week was two tables,” Zimmer said. “This limited how many customers I could take on at a given time. Rather than seeing it as work, I enjoyed making the tables because it’s just art to me.” Art has been an integral part of Zimmer’s high school journey thus far. He credits much of his artistic ability to the teachers he encountered during his upper school years. “Mr. Fox had a huge influence on the startup. He told me during quarantine to stay busy with art even if it didn’t follow his usual curriculum. He wanted me to stay active during a time where it’s really easy to get lazy, so I focused myself on combining my The limitations, however, may also benefit future curriculum and improve the class. “Because the pandemic hit in March, a lot of companies developed and created a lot of really useful tools and programs that I will use, not only for this year, which will be especially tough, but forever as they are so helpful,” Mr. Hengst claimed. The department continues to look on the bright side of things, and Mr. Hengst hopes to maintain high involvement levels from students. “I’m trying to come up with a way to
COURTESY OF TYLER ZIMMER ’21 A satisfied customer
design skill and business mindset. Moving forward, Zimmer looks to continue his table business while also maintaining a healthy balance of everyday life. Zimmer said, “I’m excited to see where this takes me. Right now I’m just enjoying it as a hobby, but who knows what it will end
Theater department adapts ahead of altered year
Austin Zhuang ’22
As students return to school up being one day.” get the numbers we’ve had in recent years. I think we had some 40 students last year in The Three Musketeers, and so I’m trying to give as many boys as possible opportunities to be involved.” Even if interest dwindles, Mr. Hengst is confident the performing arts at Haverford will find ways to create productions and works that the community can enjoy. “Actors and artists are the most flexible people I know,” Mr. Hengst said, “and I am confident everyone involved will come up with programs that we can be proud of and
the school can enjoy.”
Connor Pinsk ’23
If I were to describe Project Power in one word, it would be “eh.” This movie has been topping Netflix’s movie charts for quite some time. It centers around a pill that gives you five minutes of superpowers. The film follows a young student dealing with the drug, a cop who is tracking it down, and an ex-military man looking for his daughter. The plot is not realistic, but that is not what annoyed me about this film. The everyday interactions had nothing to do with the pill and were incredibly fake and unrealistic. In one scene, the student’s teacher is yelling at her in class, showing everyone her grades, and telling her she will never be anything. Something that many screenwriters seem to enjoy doing, for whatever reason, is creating a teacher who does not believe in the main character. And in Project Power, especially, it seemed to be fraudulent. The screenwriter also seemed to enjoy focusing on the fact that this young girl raps, something that adds little to the storyline and just
Pt. 2: The Cost
All these precautions to create the safest environment possible come with their inevitable costs. Student and staff safety as the school’s top priority and the CDC, CHOP, and governor guidelines, however, leave no room for anything less. “We can’t cut corners when it comes to health and safety. You always have to be within the guidelines of what the CDC is saying, and what CHOP guidelines are for children, and what the governor is saying. We always stay within those rules; we don’t do less for sure.” Mr. Gold continued, “If we are providing an educational service, and it costs money and we’re committing to that service, we have to spend the money on what it takes to pull off that service.”
“It’s an unusual year.
In the end, there is a business underneath, and you have to run the business smartly.” MR. GOLD In a typical year, the budget is balanced with tuition and fundraising, as the school is non-profit. The cancellation of trips and activities and lack of transportation costs this year help to offset the financial impact presented by the new precautions, but the school will still be operating at a loss. Mr. Gold said, “It’s an unusual year. In the end, there is a business underneath, and you have to run the business smartly, and it’s got a balance itself. If we had to do this year after year after year like this, I don’t think we could do it because of all these extra costs.” The spending funnels down into three main categories: people, technology, and facilities. In terms of people, the school has hired more teachers because students are in smaller class sizes. Additionally, the cleaning staff and custodial staff has increased to ensure the campus is disinfected at a frequent rate. “So normally, like in the past years, you go to school and at night they clean the buildings and then you come back in and the buildings are clean and we usually have makes you want to turn off the film. The movie also takes the idea of the Men in Black characters and tries to tie them in, it just doesn’t work. The plot (aside from my early statements) is pretty good. Let me rephrase: it has potential, and might have worked out in a better film. The fight scenes were done well and many of the anticipation moments were strong. There were other
good things about this movie, but I couldn’t bring myself to enjoy it. The film doesn’t grab you and make you want to keep watching. The characters as a whole are not bad, but the character development is abysmal. a one-day porter that goes around and you know cleans some of the bathrooms. But now we added two additional people for the day to clean high traffic areas,” Mr. Gold said. The school has also invested in new machines for the custodial staff that have the ability to disinfect rooms faster and more thoroughly than a human would. We invested in these clorox ionizers, I think they are like Foggers,” Mr. Gold said. “They come in and they can do a room in five minutes. And then, the room is sanitized.” Similarly, new technology has been implemented around the classroom. In order to provide flexibility, cameras have been added to record all classrooms and the school’s licenses for online education tools—from Zoom, to Canvas, to Big Blue Button, and even Google Meet and Google Classroom— have been upgraded to enterprise versions that provide more capability, but cost significantly more. The goal with all of these investments is to provide both students and faculty continued education, regardless of the situation. “In theory we can be flexible.” Mr. Gold continued, “If students are out sick they can watch the class live for that two weeks if they’re quarantining. Or, if a teacher has to stay home, they can teach from home to that class or, if they have to split a class up, [they can continue teaching] because you have the cameras. We’ve always had the ability to go out to the internet, but they couldn’t see into the classroom. So that’s what those cameras allow: it gives us flexibility, and that’s a big investment.” Another program that the school has purchased is the Magnus phone app. The symptom-based self-check in each morning will hopefully mitigate the risk of transmission by students who possibly show infection of the coronavirus. Mr. Gold said, “Every day you have to check that in and if you haven’t done that you’re not going to be allowed into school. So hopefully everyone’s going to get that into their routine, and it’s really a self check to make sure you’re not showing symptoms of it.” The final aspect of the spending centered around facilities—upgrading the HVAC system; stocking hand sanitizer, face masks, and disinfectant wipes; plexiglass dividers and signage; et cetera. If you look up Project Power’s run time, it will tell you that it is one hour and fifty-four minutes. If it had been longer and the writers took their time with some scenes, I can see this movie being better. If you compare a movie like this to The Irishman, which was another Netflix original that stood at the top of their charts for a long time, then it is an awful film. The Irishman took its time with its scenes. There were real conversations, real character arcs. The Irishman doesn’t fly by, but you don’t want it to. Project Power does fly by, and I was glad. So, why it is so popular? It’s in the top ten, so it can’t be bad, right? Wrong. Netflix forces its original TV shows, movies, and documentaries down viewers’ throats. They make them the only things that you see when you open the app. This does not mean that they are all bad, which they obviously are not (see The Irishman), but the company should get better at picking and choosing what they want to put out. Honestly, out of ten, I would probably give it a three and tell
VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS Project Power poster
A closer look into the reopening strategy, cont. from p. 3
you to watch something else.
Pt. 3: The Risk and The Payoff
The financial implications and even, as some would argue, the risk of reopening campus pale in comparison to the value of an education in person. Safety is inarguably the top priority, but the school’s mission of educating and preparing boys for life remains at the institution’s core. “Even with the money, we do have a balanced budget. We don’t do a budget where you know, we’re creating this super fund. It’s all about providing the service to meet the mission. We think it’s [the cost of reopening campus is] worth it.” In regards to safety, Mr. Gold continued, “If after putting all these things in place and we thought it was too risky, I don’t think we would do it. But, we think we can do it and we believe it’s safe.” With an in-person education, the administration and multiple faculty report to believe, relationships are able to be built more effectively than virtually. The ability to establish new connections in person has rallied excitement among the faculty for reopening campus. “They [the faculty] all think learning happens better and relationships build better in person. As wonderful as Zoom is, it isn’t the same.” Dr. Nagl continued, “We will work hard to keep you guys safe and keep you apart from each other, which is hard for humans because we like to be close to each other—we’re social animals. The anticipation and the excitement I think far overweighs the concern for almost everybody.” Furthermore, Dr. Nagl cited the potential detrimental effect on mental health and learning capabilities when in a virtual setting. All these factors made the decision to reopen campus, at least for the start of the year, more necessary for Dr. Nagl. As he said, “So it was really important to us, particularly as we start the school year as we welcome you boys on the campus, as we welcome new faculty on to campus, that we start in person and go in person as long as we can to establish the norms of the new school year and to build relationships that are going to be essential if some or, God forbid, all of us have to go into virtual Haverford again at some point this year.” Dr. Nagl also emphasized that the inperson experience is critical for the younger boys in especially. “The younger you are, I think the less effective virtual education is. Again, so some of our other schools who don’t necessarily have all the room and all the resources are just having the littlest learners back,” he said. Still, even if confirmed cases were reported in the school, plans are set in place and the precautions taken make it so that only a controlled portion of students and or faculty would be required to learn virtually for a period of time. These protocols were inspired by the research conducted on schools in other countries that have already reopened. “We’ve been watching closely what’s happened in Germany,” Dr. Nagl said. “Germany has had half a section go out because of a suspected COVID case and those six or seven kids learned remotely and all the rest of the kids stayed in class. They had whole sections for a whole classroom go out for two weeks, get cleared, and then come back in. So those are the sort of things that we expect as challenges going forward.” All things considered, the school’s ability to remain open rests on the choices of the students and their families. Dr. Nagl said, “The choices families are making with our boys over Labor Day weekend, in particular, but literally every day, are
DR. JOHN NAGL
going to determine how long we are able to stay open. The faculty are taking social distancing and mask-wearing and all those sorts of things pretty seriously. [Hopefully,] we can stay open as deep into the fall and winter as possible and, with any luck at all, all the way through until a vaccine is created.”
sports
Inter-Ac sports plan earns mixed reactions
Tyler Zimmer ‘21
VI Former and three sport athlete Drew Loughnane playing each of his fall, winter, and spring sports
Reading the Inter-Ac commitseven-week seasons does not allow enough shortened seasons. their sports, even if they have to make sactee’s decision saddened not only time for competition, creates problems with “Athletes will be able to go all out for rifices regarding the number of games and Haverford’s athletes, but the enfacilities, and is unfair to spring sport athseven weeks as opposed to pacing themselves field or gym availability. tire community, as sporting events serve as a foothold for unity and joy amongst all students. Sports are postponed until at least the new year. Yes, this means no EA Day.
While the Inter-Ac committee makes the final decisions regarding athletic play, student opinions hold weight as well. In a petition to reinstate fall and winter sports, thousands of students and parents want student-athletes to compete. Unfortunately for those who stand by the slogan, “fall sports must be played,” the decision to suspend play is concrete. Saving self-pity and moving forward, a second decision remains. The committee proposed a new athletic schedule beginning in the new year, stating, “Should conditions permit, the league intends to hold three 7 week seasons for our student-athletes.” This is not a final decision, meaning student opinions can influence how late-winter and spring sports look. Many students think the proposed plan has major flaws across the board, and this conservative approach that attempts to please all actually takes away the first possibility for athletic normalcy. Having three, letes. Seven weeks is not enough time, they say. The first month of each season consists of preparation and training, leaving a mere three weeks for events. This crammed schedule would not allow time for non-league competition, a vital component of a wellrounded season. Having three, seven-week seasons creates a conflict in facility sharing and does not account for abnormal weather conditions. For example, sports teams have a preseason of formal practices or workouts. How could the baseball team get ready to compete if the soccer team occupies the same field? How could any fall, outdoor sport play in belowfreezing conditions? Some students think there is a moral reason to leave the spring season as is. Sixth Form baseball player Jonny Flieder said, “While I want everyone to play, fall and winter athletes played last year and spring athletes didn’t. Taking even more time away from us doesn’t seem like a fair solution. If we have spring sports as usual, it’s fair because each season will be skipped one time.” Despite the logistical dilemma, plenty of student-athletes are in favor of the three for a long season,” Sixth Form two-sport athlete Quintin Campbell said. Fellow Sixth Form two-sport athlete Michael Bozzi agrees. “It will also be more intense,” Bozzi said, “because we’ll be more energetic going sport to sport in a quick span of time.” “I would rather have a small glimpse of all three sports I play rather than one long one where I miss out on playing with my fall and winter teammates,” Sixth Former Drew Loughnane said. It seems as though multi-sport athletes favor multiple mini-seasons, and they have valid reasoning behind their decision. Sixth Formers especially seek closure to each of GRAPHIC BY TYLER ZIMMER
COLBY KIM ‘21
Despite the handful of reasons why short seasons pose challenges, Sixth Former Colby Kim realized that they paled in comparison to his love for every sport he plays. Kim said, “I want to play football one last time in my life.”
Fords believe in Eagles, live or on TV
Jake LaRocca ‘22
Despite most professional sports facing obstacles to finish their seasons, the NFL plans to start its regular season the second week of September, the same time as in years past. The NFL season brings a certain energy within Haverford’s walls. The Philadelphia Eagles open their regular season against Washington on September 13, beginning the journey that most students hope will end with a Lombardi Trophy. During the fall, many students revolve their lives around the Eagles. In fact, some will even do homework at certain times to avoid conflict with game time. Fifth Former Jack Masse has a strict schedule. “I always grind out my homework for the weekend on Fridays and Saturdays so I Michael Tallarida ‘21 tronic Arts, better known as EA, adds to their longstanding Madden franchise. Madden NFL 21, their newest iteration, has received poor reviews from its players so far. Is this feedback warranted? Renowned video game review website IGN gave Madden NFL 21 one of its lowest scores to date, a mere six out of ten. IGN’s David Jagneux said, “Despite the introduction of the surprisingly fun and unique The Yard mode, the list of persistent issues, neglected features, and new annoyances is growing quite long.” Many agree that the only thing holding the game afloat this year is the new game mode called “The Yard.” Rooting from a backyard football game, “The Yard” is a six-on-six competition that allows players to improvise and explore different aspects of the sport, throwing away traditional rules. EA updated other game modes as well, but they are rather insignificant. A fan favorite, Madden Ultimate Team, which allows players to build their own team, feels quite similar to what players experienced in Madden NFL 20. Students also have mixed thoughts about the game. Sixth Former Drew Loughnane,
“I feel the gameplay somehow got worse this year.” am able to watch the Eagles smack around the rest of the NFL on Sunday,” Masse said. “I keep that up the entire fall.” Despite the disappointing Wild Card loss in last year’s playoffs, students remain optimistic in the team’s chances this year. Due to beneficial roster changes, Fifth Former Jake Adler is a firm believer. “I love the team’s chances this year,” Adler said. “The new additions at the wide receiver really help the squad. The receiver corp prevented the team from making it deep into the playoffs.” Despite the lack of fans in Lincoln Financial Field this year, students remain excited for the season to start. In fact, some prefer tuning into games through other platforms. “Honestly, I love just watching the games on TV with my friends. I don’t have a veteran Madden Ultimate Team (MUT) player, stated, “I feel the gameplay this year has been enhanced greatly despite a few bugs. But, I wish EA made a few more additions to MUT, as we usually see the same players and missions year in and year out.” Loughnane, like many other critics, believes that EA is successful in delivering a
GOV. WOLF’S OFFICE VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS Eagles’ mascot Swoop at the Art Museum steps, Super Bowl
The Eagles in a 51-23 win over the Broncos on November 5, 2017 to worry about the weather, transportation, or price of tickets. I do love going to games once in a while, but nothing beats sitting on the couch with my friends,” Adler said. A hobby for some, a career for others, fantasy football will also return. Students spend countless hours preparing a starting lineup for the week. Students talk about strategy all day in the hallways, community spaces, and classrooms. Despite the inability to congregate this year, students do not plan to stop competing. “Pandemic or not, I will still be spending numerous hours a week checking and editing my lineup,” Masse said. “It’s really something I love doing with my friends every year. It’s an interest we all share.” realistic gameplay experience. Sixth former Tyler Zimmer disagrees. “I feel the gameplay somehow got worse this year,” Zimmer said. “The unrealistic animations have returned from years past, along with new in-game glitches I have never seen before.” On top of these poor reviews, EA has
Madden 21 divides fans
As each summer turns to fall, Elec
Dan Curran’s Eagles Podcast is uploaded onto SoundCloud
VI Former Drew Loughnane playing the new Madden ‘21
MATTHEW SCHWARTZ ‘21
SOUNDCLOUD
COURTESY OF DREW LOUGHNANE ‘21
seen a significant drop in sales for Madden NFL 21. Usually the top-selling game during its launch month, the script seems quite different this year, as sales continue to lag.
