The Horace Mann Record, Unity Week Issue

The Horace Mann Record JANUARY 25TH, 2019 || VOLUME 116, ISSUE 15

RECORD.HORACEMANN.ORG

HORACE MANN’S WEEKLY NEWSPAPER SINCE 1903

Cover art by Juli Moreira

U N I T Y W E E K 2

STUDENT EXPERIENCES WITH POLICE

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EVOLUTION OF THE ICIE AND DIVERSITY AT HM

4 KIM MEMORIALIZES 5 COMFORT WOMEN

GRAPPLING WITH INEQUALITY IN HISTORY

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STUDENT AND FACULTY ACTIVISTS

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EXPLORING STUDENTS’ CULTURAL HERITAGE

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INDEPENDENT STUDIES ON SOCIAL JUSTICE

THE RECORD UNITY WEEK JANUARY 25TH, 2019

STUDENT EXPERIENCES WITH POLICE PROFILING

Being pulled over doesn’t make me nervous. I know this statement may be shocking. As a Black woman in America, I should be wary of the possibility that a run-in with the police could lead to something terrible.

However, I have never personally had a negative encounter with the police and do not feel scared because of a lack of experience. To many, though, even the thought is terrifying. Countless stories permeate the media about innocent kids in cars being shot for no reason. I feel like I should be scared of it, and I often question why I’m not.

However, my parents have had many traumatizing experiences with the police. Even though I do not get scared when facing the police, listening to my parents’ stories and understanding my proximity to them does make me feel uneasy.

In 2007, my dad was pinned up against a wall as he was walking to his car after work. Apparently, somebody in the area had been robbed and described the robber as “a man that fit the description of my dad.” In the midst of the officer’s assault of my father, the man who had been robbed came to identify him. Above the deafening rustle of his body on the wall, my father heard the man who had been robbed say “What are you doing?

I said he was wearing a hoodie and

QUICK TAKES ON THE POLICE

Nshera Tutu From first grade until fifth grade, every morning on my way to school, I walked past a parked police car. My young self always made sure I presented myself well, making my posture perpendicular to the ground my eyes focused on. My own internalized fear of police existed before I knew of its name or existence. I knew how shaky and unsettled I felt when my family would see a police car behind us on the highway, but I did not understand why.

No one ever told me those feelings weren’t normal. In fact, the media, my teachers, and a lot of people I knew told me the police were good people.

As a result, I also felt that way. The world I grew up in, a sheltered Bronx neighborhood with few disturbances and even less violence, gave me no reason to fear police officers. There were definitely police officers I could trust. My friend’s dad is a police officer.

There’s a police precinct four blocks away from my house, and they are incredibly nice people. However, I just could not manage to shake the feelings I felt.

Things began to change when I was nine. Suddenly, I had reason for my fear. In early February 2012, a police officer at our local precinct chased an unarmed black teen named Ramarley Graham into his house, where the

How would you characterize your experiences with the police?

5.8%

anonymous comments taken from The Record’s poll “My (black) son experienced stop and frisk and police brutality as a teenager.”

25.5%

“My dad doesn’t like the police. They’ve been abusive towards him before. My mother and father both tell me to never talk to the police. They’ll twist your words, they tell me.”

Faculty Adviser David Berenson

Issues Editor Sadie Schwartz

Art Directors Juli Moreira Jackson Roberts

Middle Division Sandhya Shyam

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Photography Jake Shapiro Abigail Kraus Ahaan Palla

29.2

Lions’ Den Natasha Stange Brody McGuinn William Han

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“I was robbed while in elementary school and a cop, who was a few feet away from the incident, refused to help me because he was on his break. We’ve also had incidents where the cops needed to be called after my father was attacked near home, but they did not want to help because he didn’t speak English.”

Volume 116 Editorial Board

Opinions Rebecca Siegel Abigail Goldberg-Zelizer

27.0%

%

.9 29

Based on an anonymous Record survey of the Upper Division. 137 students and faculty responded.

“Much the same as with any profession.

Sometimes they are helpful, and sometimes they are not. But I have never been afraid to involve police officers for fear of my own safety around them.”

News Katie Goldenberg Surya Gowda

3%

26.

3

12

5

KEY 1: negative 5: positive

“The police are both excellent and essential to our democracy.”

Features Abby Kanter Megha Nelivigi

fear for his life, the police officer shot the man, and the police officer faced no significant repercussions.

That event only amplified the effects that later notable cases of interactions with police had on me; whether they occurred in my own personal life or on the national scale.

Twenty-four days after Graham was shot, Trayvon Martin was shot. For the next few weeks, the thought of my brothers, uncles, cousins, friends, anyone that I loved being subjected to police violence haunted me. When I looked at them, I saw the amazing people that I cared about who could not possibly be a threat. But I knew when the world saw them, whether it was the officer “carrying” out the law or the media plastering negative images of them, they would only be viewed as the unnamed Black man who threatened authority.

As of now, I have not had many interactions, neither good nor bad, with the police. I still respect them and their authority and am appreciative of the good work that they do. However, I’m still scared that someday, I’ll be in this situation and they won’t see me for who I am. Neither my age, nor my gender, nor my associations negate the color of my skin, and that is something that I have to live with everyday.

It’s scary to think that your existence could be subjected to the whims and values of another human being, but that is what Black people in America often face when interacting with the police. In the unjust eyes of some, there is no redemptive quality great enough to outweigh one’s blackness.

How would you characterize your family’s experiences with the police?

% 30.7

4

“My two brothers were ‘mischievous’ as youngsters and were mistreated by the police on several occasions.”

Editor in Chief Lynne Sipprelle

1 2

5

“I love the police.”

Managing Editor Betsey Bennett

officer shot and killed him. I did not know what had happened until a few weeks later on a cold Saturday morning a few weeks later. I was standing across from the precinct, waiting for my school bus to pick me up for a program.

A man riding a bicycle came and stood outside the precinct and begun to scream “murderers!” Confused, I turned to my mother and asked what was happening, why that man was calling these people, who I had been raised to see as good, such a bad thing.

My mother thought for a moment, then flashed an uncomfortable smile and tried to reassure me. “Don’t worry,” she said, “we’ll talk about it at home.”

The entire day, I felt discomfort and unease. I was nervous about what my mom was going to tell me.

When I came home, she sat my older brothers and me down in the living room. Since my older brothers and I were the ages twenty-two, thirteen and nine respectively, she tried to frame it in a way that would not startle us.

“Recently, an unarmed black boy in our neighborhood was chased into his house and shot in the bathroom by a police officer. I don’t want you guys to be scared, but I also want you to stay aware.” No matter how hard I tried, it was impossible not to be scared. The thought of someone marching into my house, looking one of my brothers in the eyes and pulling the trigger horrified me. However, as I grew older, the specifics of the story began to blur.

It was not distinct from the stories we hear on the news now. The police officer thought that the unknown black man was armed, the police officer claimed to

3.6% 10.2%

Ragan Henderson

a hat.” My father was wearing a suit.

After his mistake, the officer even went further to accuse my father that his car wasn’t his. He had absolutely no reason to believe that his car wasn’t his, other than the fact that he was a Black man with a nice car.

A similar event happened to my mother and my step-father as they were driving home from an event. On an empty road, an undercover cop car circled and stopped in front of their car to trap them. Two cops then swung their doors open and in a flash pointed guns in my mom and step dad’s faces.

As soon as the cops saw saw them, however, they looked confused. The cops began cursing out of frustration when they realized they had stopped the wrong people. They said that my step-father and his car matched the description of somebody who had stolen a car. It’s destabilizing to think about what could have happened if they were wearing sweatpants instead of the suit and dress that they were wearing.

What if my mom did something as simple as moved her hand too quickly and the cops opened fire? Would their lives be taken in an instant?

We hear so many cautionary tales in the news about police brutality and police stoppings gone wrong, but it feels more real when it happens to somebody close to you. It’s a lot more common than we think. As a community, we need to consciously address this fact. We should keep in mind the everyday struggle of a person of color with the threat of unwarranted police brutality, and make sure that our community can function as a safe haven from the hate in the world.

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A&E Peri Brooks Jeren Wei Design Editors Allison DeRose Caroline Kaplan

Online Editor Henry Wildermuth

Staff Writers Malhaar Agrawal, Laura Bae, Andrew Cassino, Mayanka Dhingra, Victor Dimitrov, Amelia Feiner, Mark Fernandez, Nelson Gaillard, Leonora Gogos, Jude Herwitz, Edwin Jin, Spencer Kahn, Samuel Keimweiss, Gabrielle Kepnes, Suraj Khakee Madison Li, Noah Phillips, Eliza Poster, Julia Robbins, Kiara Royer, Abigail Salzhauer, Ranya Sareen, Nishtha Sharma, Griffin Smith, Benjamin Wang, Robbie Werdiger, Simon Yang, Isabella Zhang, Bradley Bennett, Sogona Cisse, Jack Crovitz, Jackson Feigin, Adam Frommer, Andie Goldmacher, Marina Kazarian, John Mauro, Henry Owens, Emily Shi, Samuel Singer, Sasha Snyder, Vivien Sweet, Natalie Sweet, Joshua Underberg, Talia Winiarsky Staff Photographers Eva Fortunato, Iliana Dezelic, Griffin Smith, Harrison Haft, Andrew Cassino, Julia Isko, Julia Robbins, Daniel Lee, Ava Merker Staff Artists Elizabeth Fortunato, Alexandra Crotty, Gabrielle Fischberg, Annabelle Chan, Julia Roth

Editorial Policy ABOUT The Record is published weekly by the students of Horace Mann School to provide the community with information and entertainment, as well as various viewpoints in the forms of editorials and opinion columns. All editorial decisions regarding content, grammar and layout are made by the editorial board. The Record maintains membership in the Columbia Scholastic Press Association and National Scholastic Press Association.

EDITORIALS & OPINIONS Unsigned editorials represent the opinion of the majority of the senior editorial board. Opinion columns are the sole opinion of the author and not of The Record or the editorial board.

NOTE As a student publication, the contents of The Record are the views and work of the students and do not necessarily represent those of the faculty or administration of the Horace Mann School. The Horace Mann School is not responsible for the accuracy and content of The Record, and is not liable for any claims based on the contents or views expressed therein.

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HORACE MANN UNITY WEEK JANUARY 25TH, 2018

Jude Herwitz Staff Writer

t h f e e i r f o I b CIE h y i s tor A

In 1992, the Committee on Valuing Difference (CVD) held its first meeting on how to increase inclusivity at the school. Since then, diversity initiatives have found a new home at the Office of Identity, Culture and Institutional Equity (ICIE), and discussions of identity permeate many classes at school.

During the 1970’s and 1980’s, the student body was around 98% white, and the school started realizing that its lack of diversity was a “fatal flaw,” Head of School Dr. Tom Kelly said during his State of the School address earlier this month. The CVD had about 20 members from across departments and discussed how to increase inclusivity both in individual classes and in the school as a whole.

For English teacher Rebecca Bahr, who became part of the committee after joining the faculty in 1998, it also served as a support group for people who understood the importance of diversity.

“It was nice to talk to people who had similar takes on diversity,” she said.

The CVD advocated for and was instrumental in the creation of the now-defunct Director of Diversity in 1998, which was the first position that dealt with inclusion at the school, said co-Director of the ICIE Patricia Zuroski.

The first Director of Diversity, Cheryl ScottMouzon, collaborated with Head of School Dr. Eileen Mullady and the admissions office to develop a strategy for increasing diversity and making sure that the school was attractive for students and families of color, Zuroski said.

Scott-Mouzon also worked with coordinators in the Nursery, Lower, and Middle Divisions to include diverse material in curriculums, such as a study of Harriet Tubman in the Lower Division.

Since 2003, the number of self-reported students of color enrolled at the school has increased from 419 in the 2003-04 school year to 708 last year. In addition, the percentage of admitted students who identified as of color rose from 30% of students admitted for 2005 to 45% for 2018.

Markell Parker, the Diversity Coordinator for the Nursery Division beginning in 2000, was tasked with finding ways to increase inclusion and diversity.

By 2009, the need for a dedicated space to support inclusion efforts and students of color became clear, Parker said. Even though there were many families and faculty at the school who identified as members of minority groups, they reported that they did not feel like they were part of the community but instead just guests, he said.

“As the population of families of color in the school grew, it became clear that when you do this kind of work, you’re not just looking at admissions to get them to come to Horace Mann, because then there’s this question of how you get them to stay and how

Sam Keimweiss Staff Writer

1886: Horace Mann Barnard School founded with multiple women already part of the faculty.

you get students to succeed,” Zuroski said.

Other independent schools across the nation also started recognizing the importance of diversity positions in the 1990’s, but the school was one of the first to establish an independent department, CoDirector of the ICIE John Gentile said.

Zuroski, Head of the Nursery Division at the time, and Parker, were recruited by Kelly to start the Office of Diversity in the 2009-2010 school year with the goal of providing constant support to students, families and faculty of color, she said.

Parker split his time between the Office of Diversity and working as an Assistant Director of Admissions.

“It was increasingly clear to me that the individual or individuals charged with carrying out [diversity work] needed doing the work to be their primary responsibility,” Kelly said.

Much of the initial job of the Office of Diversity was figuring out how the office would work, Zuroski said. While they knew it would operate as an independent administrative office with the advancement of inclusion, diversity and social justice as its sole goal, they spent some of the first year figuring out how to integrate their work with the primary fields of students and academics.

“One of our initial goals was to understand how this work was going to fit into the academic work of the school,” Zuroski said.

Though there were supporters, at first, most of the students and faculty saw the diversity work of the

“We were building the language and the data to make the case that the school had a big problem, a big hole in its education that it was reluctant to address.”

- Markell Parker Office as irrelevant to them, Parker said.“We were building the language and the data, both statistical and anecdotal, to make the case that the school had a big problem, a big hole in its education that it was reluctant to address,” he said.

Elliot Weinstein ’12 started working with the Office of Diversity during his junior year at the school. He tried primarily to raise awareness about the issues which affected “diverse groups,” he said, such as offensive language. His senior year brought with it an interactive activity at the Poetry Assembly, in which students on stage read unscreened prompts submitted anonymously by other students, including derogatory slurs.

Afterwards, the Office of Diversity and the Union co-hosted a discussion about the event, which packed the Recital Hall, he said.“That was a defining

mass” to make the most positive change, Gentile said.

Last year, the ICIE introduced the course Seminar on Identity (SOI), mandatory for all juniors, which gives students practice in thinking about who they are and the place they occupy in society, Gentile said.

“We thought this was a curricular moment to pull teachers in to an interdisciplinary framework that allowed us to have this time with juniors because juniors are starting to think about their time beyond

“They used to ask us, ‘So what should we talk about, what should we think about,’ and I think, more and more, students come in and say ‘I’m thinking about [something].’ That’s progress to me.”

-Patricia Zuroski Horace Mann,” he said.

The curriculum has been tweaked from this year to last year, partially in response to student feedback, such as complaints about the length of work in preparation for watching the film Class Divide.

“There was a spectrum of feedback from ‘I want this class to meet all the time’ to ‘I don’t know why I’m here,’” Gentile said.

Eliza Bender (11) enjoys SOI, and unlike other juniors, does not find the free period she would otherwise have to be wasted, she said.

“Obviously the conversations that we are having are difficult, and sometimes I question the productivity of having them in randomized groups, but I do feel that it is an important class,” she said.

“I have an older sister who had a previous version called Quest, and in conversations with her I feel like SOI is definitely a more structured program.”

Next year the ICIE plans on dedicating effort to assessing what their impact has been so far, and strategizing their overall goals and possible initiatives for the next 10 years, Gentile said.

From the birth of the Office of Diversity to the creation of the ICIE today, the culture of the school has shifted towards acceptance of discussions about diversity and a greater inclusion of those discussions in every day life, Gentile said.

“They used to come to us for ideas,” Zuroski said.

“They used to ask us, ‘So what should we talk about, what should we think about,’ and I think, more and more, students come in and say ‘I’m thinking about [something].’ That’s progress to me.”

Faculty “firsts”

1946: Juan C. Garcia, a Puerto Rican Spanish Teacher, joins the staff as the first faculty of color.

1885

1991: Joan Bowan becomes first female head of Upper Division.

1981: First non-subjective pay scale introduced, ensuring pay will not be based on gender or race.

1965

1893: Eugénie Menut becomes first foreign-born Faculty member

moment of my senior year, where I began thinking that our community is starting to really understand the importance of these conversations and being open with each other and really trying to support all members of the community,” Weinstein said.

“Students today are much more confident in discussing these issues and faculty are more interested in leading discussions in their classrooms,” Weinstein said. Last year, Weinstein worked at the school as a fellow with the ICIE, he said.

In 2017, the Office of Diversity changed its name to the Office of Identity, Culture and Institutional Equity, or ICIE. That name change came about from a sense that “the word ‘diversity’ sort of felt like it was not everybody’s work,” Gentile said. The current title is more inclusive so that everyone in the community can feel part of the Office, he said.

Now the school is at the forefront of diversity work at independent schools as shown by the two presentations given by students and faculty at the recent Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC) and People of Color Conference (PoCC), Kelly said.

The two, together known as SDLC-PoCC, are national conferences organized by the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) dedicated to advancing diversity and equity in independent schools.

At PoCC, Deveraux Mackey (12) delivered a presentation on the pioneering Striving toward Engagement and Peaceful Solutions (STEPS) mentoring program, which connects students of color in the Middle Division with Upper Division mentors who are also students of color, Charles Simmons (11) said.

In addition, English teacher Chidi Asoluka spoke about the New Community Project, a 12th grade English course which brings together the action of studying literature about service learning and creating projects which help the community, Simmons said. “[The conference] was a lot about finding how to connect with people on a personal level and being more true to yourself,” Adam Frommer (10) said.

Simmons, who came back from SDLC with an increased passion for addressing issues of diversity at the school, said that ICIE has been incredible in advancing efforts for equity, such as through the Affirmative Action forum, which took place in the fall.

“It is only in the last five or six years that social justice and equity have become part of the HM lexicon,” Parker said. “I largely credit the students that attended the Student Diversity Leadership Conference over the years and came back to school changed.”

The members of the office, including Zuroski, Gentile, and ICIE Associates Sharina Gordon and Candice Powell-Caldwell, now make up a “critical

1975: Art History teacher Don Yates joins staff, comes out in 1990s, making him the first Openly LGBTQ+ Teacher.

2000

1990 1980

1999: Computer Science Teacher Glenda Guerrero becomes first person of color to be a department chair.

1995 1990: Dean system developed, including Pilar Enwright, a woman of color, as a dean.

1994: Eileen Mullady hired the following year to become first official female head of school.

2016: School Introduces NewNet hiring and trains faculty on hiring practices as part of a new initiative aimed at expanding diversity in hiring processes and eliminating assumptions.

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THE RECORD UNITY WEEK JANUARY 25TH, 2018

Tackling religion and race in the classroom

Eighth grade history gets religious UD History grapples with tough topics Benjamin Wang Staff Writer

“Out of all the history classes at HM, eighth grade history was my favorite because I was able to study different religions, not just the Abrahamic faiths, like Asian religions,” Brian Wu (11) said.

The history curriculum in eighth grade is broken down into four units, each of which explores the religious belief systems that characterize a particular geographical region. Students study Hinduism and Buddhism in the India unit, Confucianism and Taoism in the China unit, Abrahamic faiths in the Middle East unit, and Greek philosophy in the Greece unit.

Emily Yu (12) also enjoyed the class, she said. During eighth grade history, Yu felt that she was able to impart her own experiences in class, she said.

“I was able to speak a lot about Christianity because I grew up as a part of the Lutheran Church, and I could also speak about Buddhism and elements of Confucianism in Chinese religions,” she said.

Middle Division history teacher Isaac Brooks also incorporates his own experiences of living in China for a month into the curriculum. However, in the past, people were offended because they thought he was being dismissive or reductive of their culture, he said.

“But really what I’m talking about is my impression as a white man in China and how certain things were different, not necessarily worse or better, just different,” Brooks said.

Olivia Kester (12) believes that many teachers, including Brooks, handled these sensitive topics really well, she said. “I can’t remember any awkwardness.”

Co-chair of the MD History Department Eva Abbamonte believes that it is crucial to develop cultural competence in today’s world.

“We need to understand our place in a wider spectrum,” MD history teacher Eric Cadena said.

There isn’t a better way to see the legacy of different cultures than to experience them, Abbamonte said. For that there are the Living Color Projects.

The Living Color Projects give students opportunities to experience these religions and cultures firsthand.

Eighth graders can choose to go to restaurants, watch movies, read books, attend religious services, or participate in something more active like kung fu or yoga. Then, they write a reflection on how their experience connects to what they have learned in the classroom.

The goal for Living Color is to have students go beyond texts and experience the belief systems firsthand, Brooks said. “Then, the students would report back on what they’ve learned in class and how it’s implemented in real life.”

Also, Living Color helps students see the relevance of the ancient world and how they still have an effect on modern society, Abbamonte said.

15 years ago, Abbamonte and 7th Grade Dean Dr. Della Brooks “attended a workshop that used New York City as a living laboratory to immerse in belief systems as they’re articulated in New York City for current inhabitants,” Isaac Brooks said. Living Color was added to the already existing study on culture and religions.

“Even in a city like New York, you can be stuck in your own bubble,” co-Chair of the MD History Department John McNally said. Living Color compels students to look outside their everyday world and some are really surprised by what they see, he said.

Many students and teachers alike had positive learning experiences through Living Color. McNally was first introduced to dim sum, a style of Chinese cuisine, through his wife’s family, but he never really understood it’s history and significance, McNally said.

When Kyra Mo (11) visited the Ganesh Temple for the India unit, she “was really amazed by the beautiful colors, sounds, music, and chanting,” she said. Before coming to the school, Mo attended international schools in China and Taiwan, without many opportunities for her to learn about different people and their cultures, she said.

“When you’re in a country like China or Taiwan, where there isn’t as much diversity, you can start believing in a lot of stereotypes,” she said.

But, experiences like Living Color foster “empathy across religions and practices, which is crucial in today’s world,” Mo said.

“Living Color allowed me to see connections between real life and religions we learned about, even to the Eastern religions, ones that that I’m not as exposed to,” Jacob Silverstein (8) said.

Although many people see countless benefits of Living Color and the eighth grade history curriculum, there are students like Max Chung (11) who believe there are negatives to them as well.

“When I had spoken with colleagues who had different teachers, many would give me different interpretations that their classes had regarding not only the Ramayana, but also Indian/Hindu culture in general,” he said.

Despite his views on the school’s curriculum, Chung does believe that exposure to different cultures is necessary. “Unless we actually visit a culture and learn straight from there, attempting to learn deeply into a culture through literary works rather than a lifestyle that others participate in will simply lead to more misinterpretations,” he said.

After taking eighth grade history, Olivia Kester (12) wanted to challenge herself by continuing to study religion, she said.

She recalls learning more about herself in her eighth grade history class and believes that it was what piqued her interest in religions, Kester said.

“I have always had a very complicated relationship with religion just because my family is Catholic but I’m gay,” she said.

Many students have chosen to continue their study of religion in the Upper Division through courses like history teacher David Berenson’s Religion in History elective.

Currently, Kester is furthering her knowledge about religions and belief systems by taking Religion in History.

“I wanted to learn about religions, and I think Living Color and the whole [eighth grade] curriculum was the reason I decided to take Religion in History,” she said.

Amelia Feiner Staff Writer

“We live in a world that is so powerfully shaped by the legacy of white supremacy, racism, and patriarchy,” history teacher Dr. Kalil Oldham said. “It is difficult to teach the history of these forces that for many people, including our students, are still so present.”

Oldham is not alone in his struggle to tackle these sensitive subjects in history class. “It’s hard to think of a day in history class when we don’t touch on a sobering topic,” history teacher Dr. Elisa Milkes said.

It’s important to establish empathy for the people in the classroom from the beginning of the year, as teachers don’t know how their students are going to react at different times Milkes said.

To familiarize her freshmen with such personal and emotional learning, Milkes begins her Atlantic World classes with an assignment for students to investigate their own family history, she said. Later in the year, Milkes follows up by asking students to reflect on how their story overlapped, if at all, with the curriculum of the class, she said.

There is no standard departmental approach to dissecting and analyzing difficult topics in class, History Department Chair Dr. Daniel Link said.

Instead, each teacher is given the freedom to develop their own methods.

To teach classes about slavery in the Western world, Link combines primary sources, textbook readings, and current events. “In order for students to understand slavery they need to understand it in the historical context in which it developed. In doing that you can help students to understand how the institution of slavery changed over time,” he said.

In his tenth grade US History class, teacher David Berenson uses as sources Frederick Douglass’ autobiography and March, a graphic novel series about the Civil Rights Movement written by Rep. John Lewis.

Julia Hornstein (12) had particularly positive experiences in her AP US History course last year.

“We were reading [a document] from someone who was enslaved, which I found really powerful,” she said.

However, Taussia Boadi (11) still feels that conversations about race can be uncomfortable, and that certain topics have been avoided in class to prevent offense. “I was the only black person in history class freshman year and there were only two of us in my history class last year. When issues of race came up, I was looked at to talk or say something on the issue, and that shouldn’t be the case. Just because I’m black doesn’t mean that I should be the only one who knows what’s going on,” she said.

Particularly with the topic of slavery, Link has experienced students making false claims about the institution itself or demonstrating problematic understandings of and fundamental misconceptions about slavery, he said.

In fact, in a study conducted by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) in 2017, only eight percent of American high school seniors were able to identify slavery as the central cause of the Civil War. Oldham is frightened by this low figure. “That eight percent is definitely higher here, but is it one hundred?” he said.

To answer this question, the Record sent out a survey identical to the one conducted by SPLC to all Upper Division students. Of the 213 responses, 158 or 74.2% of those polled responded that “to preserve slavery” was the reason for secession.

Of the 55 students who chose alternative answers,

43 chose, “to preserve states’ rights. Oldham believes that this response is dangerous, as it adheres the narrative of the Civil War perpetuated by Southern states during Reconstruction, Oldham said.

A more standardized curriculum for underclassmen attempts to educate students effectively about the history of our country. “The History Department uses textbooks in ninth and tenth grade, and the curriculum emphasizes the history of slavery.

Additionally, through department meetings and other collaborative efforts teachers develop thoughtful and comprehensive lessons,” Link said.

For example, the faculty spent the majority of a meeting in the 2017-2018 school year discussing the alt-right marches in Charlottesville and how to connect the past to the present, Link said. Teachers shared ideas about how to address the topic of race in the classroom, he said.

Shay Soodak (11) believes that the two history electives she is taking this year addresses social justice

“We live in a world that is so powerfully shaped by the legacy of white supremacy, racism, and patriarchy.

It is difficult to teach the history of these forces that for many people, including our students, are still so present.”

- Dr. Kalil Oldham differently than standardized history courses.

Electives allow teachers to adapt the curriculum to spend time talking about issues not directly related to the courses, Soodak said. For example, she spent a full period of her Africa and Asia 1945-Present course discussing global warming and its effects on different cultures along the African coast, she said.

However, Boadi feels that the History Department needs to do more to make the curriculum include more global history and less Western history. “It’s really crazy how at a lot of predominantly white institutions around the country, not just at Horace Mann, the history of minorities is always an elective,” Boadi said. “It makes me feel like my history is not as important as the history of the white man.”

Josh Benson (12) believes that the school needs to place more emphasis on international history as well as political theory to better understand oppression, he said.

Despite their criticisms, both Benson and Boadi said that they have both had overwhelmingly positive experiences in history classes.

This is true for the majority of the Upper Division.

In fact, in a Record poll asking “Do you believe that the high school history curriculum appropriately addresses complex issues about race, slavery, social justice, and societal inequality,”only 13 out of 118 respondents or 11% answered no.

However, the department is still open to change, and teachers are constantly reworking their curriculum and teaching styles. “It has to be an ongoing conversation, and every year I realize I can do better,” Milkes said. “I think it is important for teachers to consistently be reinventing and rethinking.”

What was the reason the South seceded from the Union?

Results from a Record poll with 213 responses.

5

HORACE MANN UNITY WEEK JANUARY 25TH, 2018

EUWAN KIM’S

COMFORT WOMEN MEMORIAL Simon Yang Staff Writer

Courtesy of Euwan Kim

Sokolich and the Fort Lee Council to create the memorial and received unanimous approval from both bodies in December of 2017, Kim said.

After emailing him a proposal, the mayor invited Kim and the council to his office for an official meeting to discuss their plans, she said.

Upon receiving approval, Kim and her peers attended public forums and Fort Lee Council meetings to lobby for the monument, she said. The YCFL was able to raise $40,000 in less than three months through fundraisers and private donors, she said.

“Seeing it all come together during the public reveal ceremony was very rewarding for all of us,” Kim said.

Reactions to the Project

MONUMENTAL Euwan Kim’s monument in Constitution Park.

Besides being a student-athlete and busy junior, Euwan Kim (11) is an activist dedicated to filling gaps in history with hard truths.

Kim and the Youth Council of Fort Lee (YCFL) unveiled The Comfort Women Memorial in Constitution Park, Fort Lee on May 23, 2018, paying respect to the Korean women trafficked by the Japanese Imperial Government in World War II. “The hole in the statue represents a gap in history for the Comfort Women,” Kim, who designed the memorial, said. “I wanted to convey that such a gap needs to be filled, and that people should learn more about the stories of the victims,” she said.

Motivation for the Monument

The installation of the Comfort Women Memorial marked a milestone in the YCFL’s mission to raise awareness for the comfort women victims. During Spring break of 2016, Kim and her Fort Lee peers first decided to honor the memory of these figures, she said.

“My friends and I watched a South Korean film called ‘Spirit’s Homecoming,’ which portrayed the experiences of two young Korean girls in 1943 during the Japanese occupation of the Korean peninsula,” Kim said.

Kim was horrified by the content in the film, but after doing more research about the victims she was even more shocked to learn that the Japanese government had yet to formally apologize for its war crimes, she said.

Although Kim and the members of the YCFL do not have a familial connection with any of the Comfort Women, they believed it was their responsibility as Koreans to raise awareness for the women, Kim said.

“We want to bring attention to Comfort Women and honor the memory of those who passed away before receiving a genuine and formal apology from Japan,” Vice President of the YCFL Gemma Hong said.

According to an article in the Washington Post, approximately 200,000 Korean Women were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese Army and three quarters died during the war.

Gaining Traction

Kim and the YCFL coordinated with the Fort Lee Mayor Mark

The YCFL has also garnered public and international support.

Kim and Hong were contacted and interviewed by the media company NowThis, an American media website that specializes in making video news content on social media. The video of the interview was posted on Facebook, calling attention to the YCFL’s achievements, Kim said.

“I was very happy when I first got the email from NowThis,” Hong said. “I had seen their videos on social media before and knew that their videos got hundreds of views, and the idea of being able to use their reach to spread awareness for our initiative was surreal,” she said.

In addition to NowThis, Kim has been contacted by other major outlets, including ABC News, New York Times, and Korean Broadcasting System. The council has even

“The hole in the statue

represents a gap in history for the Comfort Women. I wanted to convey that such a gap needs to be filled, and that people should learn more about the stories of the victims.”

-Euwan Kim received word of support from the South Korean Ambassador, she said.

“The response has been great so far. I went to LA this past summer, and someone recognized me immediately because she had watched the NowThis video,” Kim said. “It reassures me knowing that our efforts are not simply localized, and have the potential to make national changes,” she said.

Hong read comments on the video saying that viewers were startled by the issue, she said. “I was glad to see that people were tagging their friends in the video. The goal is to raise awareness, after all.”

“Prior to hearing about Euwan’s initiative, I didn’t know much about the comfort women victims,” Daniel Lee (11) said.

“I’m sure there are many Korean Americans like me that do not know much about this issue, so I’m really happy that Euwan is raising awareness for it,” he said.

Yet not all public responses to the YCFL’s mission have been positive. Kim has received pieces of hate mail, which accuse Kim and the YCFL of spreading false knowledge and ruining

the Japanese reputation, she said.

Kim and the YCFL remain undeterred and aim to continue their quest to educate the public on the historical tragedy, she said.

Stephen Park P ’19 believes that with more people like Kim and the members of the YCFL, awareness around the issue will spread. “It’s reassuring to see that the younger generation is very aware of this cultural tragedy and is willing to make a difference,” he said.

KAAGNY Parade

The YCFL’s installation of the memorial is only one of the group’s many achievements. The council also had the opportunity to march in the annual Korean Festival and Parade hosted by the Korean American Association of Greater New York (KAAGNY).

KAAGNY has hosted the event in New York for more than 30 years to increase awareness about the growing Korean American population in the tristate area, Kim said.

In KAAGNY’s 2018 parade, the YCFL marched with their float, which was one of the original comfort women statues called the “Statue of Peace,” Kim said.

The bronze statue depicted a young girl dressed in traditional Korean attire sitting beside an empty chair. The empty chair next to the girl symbolized the comfort women’s solitude in their struggles, Kim said.

“To march alongside other Korean Americans embracing their culture was an eye-opening experience. We were protecting not only our history but also the descendants of the very people who perservered through the chaos,” Kim said.

“We shouldn’t overlook such a horrific event in history, and that’s why what Euwan is doing is so great,” Max Chung (11) said.

Courtesy of NowThis

NOWTHIS Euwan Kim & Gemma Hong speak in NowThis video.

Future Projects

In the coming years, the YCFL aims to reach even further and widen its platform to raise awareness, Kim said.

The council is currently working with the Fort Lee Board of Education to implement the comfort women victims’ legacies in the history curriculum in Fort Lee schools, she said. The YCFL also plans to present at the United Nations, she said.

CULTURAL PRIDE Euwan Kim and her peers march in the annual Korean Festival and Parade with the “Statue of Peace” to raise awareness for the Korean Comfort Women.

Courtesy of Euwan Kim

6

THE RECORD UNITY WEEK JANUARY 25TH, 2018

ACTIVISM IN THE COMMUNITY

Student activists paving the way

Eliza Poster Staff Writer

Student activists join forces with organizations, youth groups, and each other to amplify the voice of their generation and fight for their beliefs.

Zarina Iman ’18, emboldened by the protests in Ferguson, Missouri and repeated incidents of the police killing unarmed black men, decided to join The Union, a club dedicated to issues of race and social justice, commencing her involvement in activism.

“It was going to marches, it was helping shape discussions that were happening in The Union and in school,” she said, “And from there it progressed outwards.”

Iman is currently active in several different causes, ranging from religious equality to criminal justice reform. However, racial justice Courtesy of Zarina Iman

TAKING A STAND Iman speaks at a protest.

is her main focus because it’s a common thread throughout many social justice issues, she said. “[Racial justice] permeates a lot of different types of activism because it really affects conversations about women’s equality, it affects conversations about criminal justice reform, it affects conversations about violence and anti-gun violence,” Iman said.

Iman, who is a student at the University of Pennsylvania, currently works with the Women’s March, as well as the Justice League NYC, and Youth Over Guns, an organization that she helped form, which is also partnered with the New Yorkers Against Gun Violence organization, she said.

Joining The Union also helped Eric Ohakam (12) realize the importance of activism through his conversations about issues such as the wage gap and toxic masculinity with other students in the club, he said.

“The conversations are the first part, they help lead into the rally, the actual physical stuff you’re going to do,” he said. Conversations inform the public about topics and make sure that the people involved know enough to participate and not be afraid that they’re going to say something incorrect or offensive, he said.

Sofia Del Gatto (11) agrees that conversation is an essential element of activism, as it allows people to develop independent opinions about equality, as well as foster empathy and compassion among young people, she said.

“If we grow up ignoring the problems our society faces, we grow up ignoring part of our world. That obviously gives us a limited mind because we can only see part of the world and we refuse to accept anything that’s outside of what we already knew,” she said.

Outside of school, Del Gatto is most active in working to combat fascism and the Trump Presidency, she said. These topics permeate discussions she has with her friends and with the Feminist Students Association (FSA), a club

which she leads, she said.

Del Gatto believes that attending protests and rallies is the most effective component of her activism. However, she thinks that one must be consistent in their pursuits in order to make change, she said. “Even if you’re a small group of people, if you’re loud and there, people are going to pay attention to you,” she said.

Natalie Sweet (10) believes that protests are useful vehicles for organizations to share their messages, but people must maintain their energy after marches for organizations to succeed in their goals, she said.

“Activism [where people only go to marches] is something that our generation is getting really caught up in, but I think it’s really important to recognize the broader impacts that these kinds of movements —if you keep pushing them forward— can have,” Sweet said.

Sweet integrates her environmental activism into the school through the Take Back the Tap initiative, a movement which aims to decrease usage of disposable plastic water bottles.

She is also the public relations director for Zero Hour NYC, a chapter of the nationwide studentrun organization which works to combat climate change. Sweet is helping Zero Hour NYC to plan a festival this summer which will promote several environmental protection and social justice organizations, she said.

“I think this is a generation that’s a lot more comfortable with radical change,” Jamie Berg (12) said. “Whereas previous generations could still kind of convince themselves of the illusion of the American Dream, it’s kind of crumbling around us, so we have to do something.”

Berg is a leader of Green HM, the school’s environmental activism club, which has recently been working to minimize the school’s carbon emissions in the cafeteria and new student cafe.

He has always been interested in fighting for the well-being of the earth, but was motivated by the results of the 2016 presidential election, he said.

Jackson Roberts/Art Director

“I realized that there’s a lot of hate and desire to regress politically in the United States, and somebody needs to do something. I don’t want to sit idly by while others fight the fight that I have the resources to participate in,” he said.

Ohakam sometimes feels disempowered by politics since, like the majority of high school students, he is too young to vote. However, he uses his role as the co-Vice President of The Union to immerse himself in politics and energize other students to engage in activism, he said.

“People don’t take us seriously sometimes because of how young we are,” he said. “But we just have to fight against it. We should be able to have the freedom to speak our minds.”

Sweet also believes that her age can be a hindrance to her activism, as a common perception is that young people view their activism as insincere, she said.

“I think something really important for the younger generations to remember is that we’re going to be the people, especially with climate change, that are left here to suffer the effects of a world that somebody else created,” she said.

Faculty practicing their own activism Nelson Gaillard Staff Writer

Apart from their responsibilities as faculty members, many teachers are involved in a wide variety of activism both in and out of the classroom in their everyday lives.

As faculty advisor to the Feminist Student Association (FSA), English teacher Dr. Wendy Steiner is also involved in activism within and outside of the school, from discussing pertinent issues with her students to giving to charities that she cares about.

As she has gotten older, Steiner has become more involved in activism, but she has always given to charities like Planned Parenthood and Everytown, she said.

English teacher Sarah McIntyre used to be

involved in many feminist organizations, but once her daughter was born, she dedicated her time to caring for her daughter and became less involved in activism outside of school.

Science teacher Dr. Rachel Mohammed is engaged in activism in the school as advisor to the Union, the school’s diversity club that embraces different cultures and identities and hosts forums to help students take action. Whenever she has the time, Mohammed writes letters to her local representatives about ways to improve her local community, she said.

Having created The New Community Project (New Comm), a class that involves bringing social awareness to the classroom, English teacher Chidi Asoluka considers his teaching a form of activism, he said.

In partnership with Kingsbridge Heights Community Center, students in Asoluka’s New

Gabby Fischberg/Staff Artist

Comm try to solve certain problems rather than simply examining them. “We read books about people in the margins,” he said. “Instead of having a conversation about it, we think about ways how we can create product.”

In the past, Asoluka’s students have created a banner for a school in a gentrifying neighborhood, displaying key information and the school’s core values. In a different project, students offered free classes, from yoga to gardening, to the neighborhood, Asoluka said.

“I went through my high school career pretty oblivious to activism,” McIntyre said. “It wasn’t until college when I could conceive of what youth activism meant.”

Mohammed believes that it is her moral obligation to remain involved in activism, she said.

“I want to use my privilege to help others and help bring them up in terms of equity.”

“I’ve always been someone to support the underdog,” Mohammed said. “Being a queer woman of color, who is also an immigrant, whose last name is also Mohammed, is a really weird position in life,” she said.

McIntyre tries her best to stay involved in activism as often as possible but finds it difficult, especially with a daughter and a job at the school, she said. “As I get older, I have less opportunities to put my body in space as a representative of stuff I believe in,” she said.

According to Steiner, there is a lot more energy around the issues of social justice today, she said.

In the school, Steiner has seen the diversity office (ICIE) change over time, from a group of faculty called the Valuing Differences Committee, to the ICIE today, she said.

Likewise, Mohammed has noticed a change in the way activism is treated over time, she said.

“I experienced really shocking, hurtful, soul crushing experiences as a person of color,” Mohammed said, referring to when she lived in Baltimore, Maryland. Today, Mohammed can be

herself and doesn’t feel the need to hide behind her south Asian identity, she said. “It’s a different world and a lot less is tolerated,” she said.

McIntyre believes in different representation of voices; she and her other English department colleagues talk about how to make their curriculum representative of the world we live in, she said.

Steiner, like McIntyre, enjoys a wide representation of voices and frequent participation within the classroom, she said. She finds that the moral and ethical issues that inevitably arise in literature are important to discuss, she said.

As an educator, Asoluka believes that it is his job to create a safe space in the classroom so that all students feel like “my thoughts are valid here,” he said.

In science classes, there is not much room for discussion, let alone discussion about activism and social justice, but Mohammed blends activism in with her lessons.

For example, while teaching her AP Chemistry students about sulfur, Mohammed showed images of sulfur mines in Indonesia, explaining how excess amounts of sulfur are obtained only if someone pays the price. Those people are the ones working in the mines wearing flip flops and inadequate protection, she said.

Along with being engaged in activism within the classroom, it is important to be involved in activism outside the classroom and to understand how the local events of your life are shaped by forces outside of yourself, McIntyre said.

“The best way that we can influence people is by telling stories about things that have happened,” Steiner said.

As for the future of activism, McIntyre would like to see the evolution continue and for it to become more inclusive and more diverse, she said.

“I definitely think that the younger generation is ‘woke,’ and that they feel more empowered,” Mohammed said. “I have a lot of hope in this generation.”

HORACE MANN UNITY WEEK JANUARY 25TH, 2018

Power of faith, tradition, and religion Julia Robbins Staff Writer Ben Hu (12), a Buddhist, has taken away from religion what he thinks most people have, regardless of their faith: be there for others, try to do the right thing, and emphasize the importance of family, he said.

Similarly to Hu, Nyle Hutchinson (12) believes that religion has taught him the significance of doing the right thing, he said. “The most important thing in Christianity isn’t what the bigots make it seem like in the media, it’s more so just love,” he said.

Another practicing Christian, Karen Jang (12), was raised like Hutchinson to understand the religious importance of love, she said.

She admires people who adhere to the biblical Golden Rule: treat your neighbor as you’d like to be treated.

“Being part of a faith tradition means that you are connected to people who you don’t necessarily know face-to-face,” history teacher Elisa Milkes, who practices Judaism, said. “It gives you a sense of continuity from one generation to the next,” she said.

Abigail Goldberg-Zelizer’s (12) Jewish identity has been formed

Alex Crotty/Staff Artist

through both a study of the religion’s past and its ideology. When thinking about if something is right or wrong, Goldberg-Zelizer knows she can turn to the Torah, her Rabbi, or her inner-spirituality to find answers to her questions, she said.

Connecting with the spiritual side of Islam has encouraged Meryeme Elalouani (11), a practicing Muslim, to be more introspective and act in the best interest of those around her, she said.

Elalouani spent years attending Arabic school, where she learned both Arabic and about the religion of Islam. Last year, she completed her school service learning requirement by teaching younger kids Arabic at her mosque, she said.

Hutchinson, similarly to Elalouani, has given back to his community by participating in service at his house of worship. Once every few Saturdays, he joins his congregation in serving lunch to the hungry.

Apart from the solely internal aspects of religion and spirituality, people’s religious identity can sometimes become visually apparent to other people.

“I’m a visible Muslim, very much so, because when I wear a hijab or a turban, I am very much expressing my faith in front of everyone,” Elalouani said.

As a new student to the school in ninth grade, Elalouani found it awkward to be one of the only members of the community wearing a hijab, she said. “I think it was the anxiety of starting a new school and all that comes with it, mixed with my

fear that I wouldn’t be accepted that left me sort of paranoid,” she said.

But after settling in to life at the school, Elaloani normally feels comfortable wearing a Hijab.

“However, being one of the only people who does wear it places a sort of role on me,” she said. “It’s almost like I’m representing all hijabis and it’s weird to have to continue saying ‘personally’ in front of every sentence so people don’t mistake the things that I do and my actions as part of the general Muslim community as a whole,” she said.

There are certain places where Elaloani takes off her hijab because she doesn’t want to attract unwanted attention, primarily at airport security where Transportation Security Administration (TSA) might treat her differently if they know she is Muslim, she said.

Colombia, where Spanish teacher Pilar Valencia grew up, is one of these countries. “I was raised in a completely Catholic environment,” Valencia said. ”To the extent that we don’t realize what part of our culture comes from religion.”

Valencia always appreciated the good food and cultural events that being Catholic exposed her to and recognized how religion served as a glue for her community, she said.

Although many religions teach broad ideas like compassion and community, students of different religious denominations practice many different traditions or rituals.

Many of Ashna Jain’s (12) fundamental beliefs stem from Jainism, such as non-violence,

being open-minded to a multiplicity of viewpoints, and respecting all different kinds of people, she said. “[Jainism] is based off nonviolence, so I was born vegetarian and I’ve been vegetarian my whole life,” Diya Mookim (11) said. Nonviolence, or Ahimsā, is one of the Five Vows of Jainism, and dictates that humans should not cause harm to other living beings.

Another one of the Five Vows that Mookim follows is called Satya, which requires Jain people to always speak the truth and live honestly.

Reina McNutt (11), a Jewish student, also abides by certain religious norms. For instance, she will never get a tattoo because the Torah dictates that people should not make gashes in their flesh (Leviticus 19:28).

Similarly, Goldberg-Zelizer keeps Kosher because she wants to distinguish herself as a Jew in the eyes of God, she said.

Janvi Kukreja (12), who is Hindu, tries to pray every morning before school and stays vegetarian on Mondays, a Hindu custom, she said.

“It sounds silly, but being able to resist the temptation of fried chicken Mondays every single Monday has

7

taught me so much and has truly been able to teach me about mind over matter, willpower, and staying true to my beliefs,” Kukreja said.

In accordance with a prominent Islamic custom, Elalouani frequently attends services during the monthlong holiday of Ramadan. Through attending these services, along with other ones throughout the year, Elalouani has made close friends through her Mosque, she said.

The experience of finding community through one’s house of worship applies to any given religion or faith. “There is something in the way [temples] are built that is peaceful, that is beautiful; it takes you to a reflective moment,” Valencia said. “I find it very humanizing.”

Goldberg-Zelizer attends Synagogue services every Saturday morning with her family and one of her best friends is her Rabbi’s daughter. Through both services and extensive study of Jewish theology and history outside of temple, Goldberg-Zelizer has learned the Jewish tradition of challenging the Torah, she said.

Milkes has been able to use religious texts to connect with people. “There’s a sense of groundedness and rootedness that I think is really helpful there, and I think that a lot of wisdom comes through the engagement with those texts,” she said.

Overall, religion for GoldbergZelizer has taught her how to be virtuous and that her actions matter, she said.

MISUNDERSTO OD: NAMES & ACCENTS

Michael Sun-Huang ‘19 When I was in elementary school, all of my friends called me Mike or Mikey.

There were a few Michaels in the class, so I went by Mike.

We were just a bunch of kids growing up in the suburbs, and we didn’t care about how our last names all sounded different.

When I came to Horace Mann, everyone questioned me about my peculiar hyphenated last name. My grandparents wanted my father’s first-born son to have the last name Huang and for the second-born son to have the last name Sun. When they realized that I would be the only son, they decided to combine the two names and give me both last names.

That story is far too long for a sixth grader to be interested in, so instead, one of my friends took my last name, Sun-Huang, and created Suny out of it. Ever since then, everyone has called me Suny.

Up until tenth grade, I thought it was a cool conversation starter and something interesting about me. After that, though, I began to realize how immature the name sounded and how I didn’t feel a connection to it at

all. When I introduced myself to others, I went by Michael.

Suny was a far cry from how my name is pronounced, and I felt like I wasn’t doing my grandfather justice by leaving Huang out of the picture.

When I hear people call me Suny now, it makes me feel like a kid who doesn’t understand how silly the name sounds.

I remember the first time I told one of my football coaches that I preferred to be called Michael. He said that it would take him time to get used to, and I understood.

During practice, I noticed that every time he called my name, he said “Su..Michael.”

He had to catch himself every single time he said it, and I really appreciated the effort he put into making me feel more comfortable and accepting my name. When people make an effort to say my name correctly, I notice it, and I really appreciate the effort. It makes me feel heard.

To me, Suny is a stupid name that I don’t identify with or feel any connection to. It’s just a sound that’s wrongly associated with me, and I’d like to get rid of it.

Sophie Coste ‘19 I was born and raised in Garches, a small suburb of Paris, and I spent the entirety of my childhood in the French schooling system with French friends and family only speaking French. My family decided to move to New York when I was thirteen, and the sudden transition to an American school in a new country was challenging. While I spoke conversational English, I came to eighth grade at Horace Mann with a distinct accent and limited vocabulary. Initially, I struggled to express myself without feeling frustrated at my inability to find the right words.

Whenever I joined group discussions with friends, I felt that my contributions were clumsy or unnecessary, since I knew little about American culture and had almost nothing in common with people my age here.

Back in France, classes were large and lecture-based.

This was notably different from Horace Mann’s small classes that encouraged indepth conversations between students.

The American schooling system teaches students from a young age to present their ideas clearly in front of an audience and places

WH OA

importance on verbal skills.

This system contrasted from my French education: I had never been taught nor had the confidence to debate and freely express my ideas in front of a class. Moving here, I had to learn these skills for the first time, but now in English.

Since coming to Horace Mann, I have struggled with mispronouncing words and formulating convincing arguments. Although my accent has faded, I still fear public speaking because I think that I will be perceived as less intelligent than my peers. I have also lost the ability to effortlessly speak and write in French, since I only practice it at home. Losing my native language, even just a little, entails the loss of my culture, which makes being an immigrant more difficult for me. Nevertheless, I have never felt significantly alienated from my peers because of my accent, which might also be due to the fact that I am white.

I cherish the opportunities that being culturally ambidextrous has offered me, and I am still discovering the ways in which I can utilize my background and experience to my advantage.

Jihsu Rhyu ‘20 My first name in all its Korean glory is Jih Su, and is pronounced like the phrase “Gee Sue.” According to my mother, the translation of my name is outstanding wisdom.

I remember the warm feeling of pride spreading throughout my chest when she explained the meaning of the name that was all too foreign to my peers, teachers, and myself. As years went by, though, the pride I had once associated with my name began to wear off and I was left with discomfort and boredom, tired of repeating its pronunciation and the outstanding wisdom shtick.

My middle name, Juliana, was given to me by my father simply because he thought it was pretty. When my closer friends, who knew my middle name, asked me why I didn’t use Juliana as my “American” name, I couldn’t articulate my feelings towards it. I never hated it, but I never liked it. It was just another uncomfortable aspect of my identity, but one that I could hide.

But to everyone who knows me now, my name is JJ. Ever since I decided to rebrand myself in the basement classroom of a Writopia summer course before sixth

grade, JJ has been the persona I have identified with. There has been a certain freedom that has come with the name over the years—a sort of opportunity to absolve myself from certain stereotypes that can come with my appearance. JJ is the freedom to be the cool Asian girl, the tough chick, a comedic relief, the relatable one. As much as the nickname allows me to skirt past the sentiments of “But where are you really from?” and “Wow, I’m not going to even try with that one” that I sometimes get with Jih Su, I am still bombarded with questions like “What does that stand for?”

Before I was called JJ, I was never very comfortable at my elementary school. I didn’t have many friends besides the only other Asian girls in my class. Within this group, we were three Koreans and one Chinese. I had failed at being friends with the majority of Italian and Jewish kids who I shared classes with, all who seemed to be the embodiment of the roots of my middle name that I had never been able to fully associate with before.

My name is Jih Su Juliana Ryu, but you can call me JJ.

RE Y OU?

8

Students seeking JUSTICE: THE RECORD UNITY WEEK JANUARY 25TH, 2018

Social justice independent study projects Gabby Kepnes Staff Writer

Solomon Katz: Democracy Solomon Katz (12) gained inspiration for his Independent Study Project, regarding democracy, at a youth movement summer camp. Ever since then, Katz has been looking for ways to effectively enact noticeable change.

Katz organized a group of his friends to attend his first protest: the People’s Climate March of 2014, he said. The protest was an effort to pressure President Obama to ratify the Paris Accords, he said.

“From that experience I felt proud of myself, but as the years progressed and things didn’t change, I realized that I had been fooling myself into believing that I had done something that actually affected change,” he said. “It was something I wanted to believe.”

“I realized that if I looked at the concrete results of what I had done or

what the protest had done as a whole, it wasn’t the kind of input output ratio I had hoped for,” he said.

Katz is focusing his project on specific ways to enact change. “I looked at direct democracy where people can vote on an amendment without having to bypass it by congress, just as long as they get enough signatures,” he said.

Katz also studies the psychology of voters and politicians to analyze the thought processes behind voting, he said. “[Katz’s Study has] evolved over time to be a topic that is not simply about politics but really about the way in which we psychologically have to deal with political systems and ideologies,” Director of Independent Study Avram Schlesinger said.

Katz began his project by exploring how politics and political movements are correlated.

“From the papers I was reading, I realized

that a huge theme was the psychology of democracy,” he said. This led Katz to research more psychology related papers, veering his study more towards political psychology, a less explored field, rather than just politics, he said.

“For the first presentation, I discussed the role of money in politics and talked about how money inhibits change and people want change,” he said. “People of money are the only ones who can affect change.”

During the presentation, he also explained the differences between politics and political movements, he said.

For his next presentation, Katz dove into the psychological aspect as he talked about the concept of psychological phenomena and how it affects politics, he said.

“I took previous radical examples of politics like World War II and the Nazi Party,” he said. “I wanted [my classmates] to know that

psychological principles permeate everything.”

Another student in Katz’s Independent Study, William Golub (12), learned a lot about how change actually happens and the different approaches one can take to enact it, he said.

“I think that a lot of people have the mindset that I had where they go to a protest that advocates this thing, thus they are advocating for that thing,” he said. “That’s not really how it works.”

“These protests are often asking a politician to do the right thing and hoping that they do,” Katz said.

Katz believes that sometimes protests do not always affect change, he said.

“I realized the discrepancy between how people think change is affected and how it’s actually affected,” he said.

Surya Gowda: Incarceration & rehabilitation through art Surya Gowda (12) combined her interest in art and the knowledge she acquired from the school’s history elective Voices of Protest (VOP) to design her independent study on incarceration and rehabilitation through the arts.

In VOP, Gowda wrote an essay about the incarceration of African American men and decided to further research this topic for her independent study project, she said.

Ms. Sheryl Baker, who works in the school’s technology department, suggested that Gowda focus her project on incarcerated men from “Rehabilitation through Art” (RTA), a program Baker is involved in, Gowda said.

“The organization’s motive is to help the inmates rehabilitate through art whether it be writing, drawing, or

painting,” Gowda said. “This gives them the life skills to go back into society and work on improving themselves.”

Gowda divided her project into four segments in order to stay on track throughout the school year. For the first quarter, she focused specifically on incarceration in America, she said.

“I looked at understanding systematic oppression and the source of why we have such high numbers of incarceration in our country compared to other countries,” she said.

In the second half of the first semester, she shifted her research towards rehabilitation of prisoners, she said.

“How are we helping these people who are being incarcerated to return back into society instead of going to prison again?” she said. “In America, recidivism rates are over 60%, which is disturbingly high.”

Gowda’s advisor, English teacher Rebecca Bahr, meets with Gowda on a weekly basis to

help her plan presentations, Bahr said.

“My mom has been involved with a NGO that provides prisoners with pen pals, and my brother teaches a writing workshop for teenage girls in the middle of their sentencing,” Bahr said.

The majority of Gowda’s research entails reading books about her topic, such as “New Jim Crow” by Michelle Alexander, and watching documentaries such as 13th.

For her first presentation, Gowda curated a gallery to showcase paintings made by prisoners, she said.

“The paintings these men have created show how talented they are,” she said. “Even though they’re known as felons, some of whom have murdered people, they’ve created these pieces using their emotions to help them rehabilitate.”

William Golub (12), a student in Gowda’s Independent Study class, thought it was interesting to hear about the organization’s motives and to see some of the work done by

prisoners, he said.

Gowda’s presentations demonstrate how important it is to invest in people who have been convicted of crimes, Bahr said.

Gowda hosted a Unity Week workshop where she introduced Charles Moore, a previously incarcerated man who was a part of the RTA and now works with the organization, she said.

She wants to draw attention to the people who are known as “bad guys,” and for people to realize the amazing things they are capable of creating, she said. Through programs such as RTA, prisoners are able to create art or write stories, which will help them gain fundamental skills to become involved members of society once they are released from prison.

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Nisha Sahgal: Engineering & social justice

Nisha Sahgal (12) received inspiration for her Independent Study on engineering through a humanitarian lens through her participation on the robotics team.

Sahgal was questioning the implications of engineers and their lab work on society, and decided to research this for her project.

Over the summer, Sahgal participated in a program that examined the engineering and ethics of autonomous cars, she said, and began to wonder what happens to the people who are negatively affected by these products, “We almost always assume that advancement is forward,” she said.

“But what about the other direction of advancement?”

First, she researched the history of engineering, and then went on to research people in STEM working on engineering related projects and labs.

“How are these people impacting the

world and how are they doing it differently than any other engineer?” she said.

Most of Sahgal’s work consists of researching her topic, she said. During the first semester, she concentrated on researching the ways in which engineering is serving the world in the way in which it’s supposed to, she said.

Nisha’s Independent Study advisor and Computer Science and Robotics Department Chair, Danah Screen, really tries to enforce the “independent” part while working with Sahgal, Screen said.

“I make Nisha do a run through of her presentations at least twice,” Screen said. “You never know how presentations go until you do it in front of someone, and Nisha is good about planning.”

During the first semester, Sahgal gave one presentation that served mainly as an overview of the implications of engineering with and without social justice, she said.

“To show engineering with a humanitarian

lens, I talked about topics of discoveries that work to give technological solutions in environments with poverty,” she said. “For example, I talked about the Gear Lab at MIT which helps obtain an affordable prosthetic knee for rural countries like India.”

“Nisha did a good job of showing the connect between engineering and social justice when most people don’t usually see the connection between the two,” Faijul Rhyan (12), a student in her Independent Study class, said.

For her research on engineering without a humanitarian lens, Sahgal discussed Amazon Rekognition, a program created by Amazon that is easily able to recognize faces and objects from images and video you provide for it.

“People ended up doing research on this design and realized that it became racist because as the results were impacted based on the color of the subject’s skin,” she said.

Sahgal wanted to get the message across to her classmates that algorithms don’t always help

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or solve what they are supposed to, even though it may sound like a good idea. She wants her classmates to see that engineering plays a larger role in social justice than people might think, she said.

“It doesn’t necessarily mean writing scholarly essays, but STEM has a role in every aspect of our lives,” she said.

“I believe the root of the disconnect is that scientists believe that advancement is always moving forward and as we continue living in an era of rapid tech expansion, we, as engineers and as a society, need to understand the impact and intention of new technology on the world to truly improve people’s lives,” Sahgal said.