Record The Horace Mann
FEBRUARY 28TH, 2020 || VOLUME 117, ISSUE 22
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HORACE MANN’S WEEKLY NEWSPAPER SINCE 1903
Cancer Awareness Club hosts first ever School implements Cycle For Survival at a High School coronavirus policy Izzy Abbott and Maya Nornberg Staff & Contributing Writers Students and faculty cycled, danced, and cheered on their peers in the Lower Gym Monday afternoon to raise around $48,000 in donations for the school’s first ever Cycle for Survival event. Physical education teacher and certified spinning instructor Meredith Cullen led energetic 20-person spinning sessions. Cancer Awareness Club (CAC) co-Presidents Luke Weber (12) and Sam Keimweiss (12) gave their speeches and attendees played games such as ping-pong and cornhole amidst the music and cheers for bikers. Given that Cycle for Survival requires that participants be at least 18 years old for safety reasons and that it costs at least $1,000 to ride in an event, it took many months of planning to make this the first time the organization allowed it as a high school event, Weber said. Keimweiss and Weber began planning this event last March when they met with a representative from the organization at a Cycle event in Bryant Park, Weber said. Weber, who began speaking at Cycle events across the country after his last treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), wanted to bring together his bond with the organization and the school, as both places have supported him throughout his treatment, he said. “I wanted to make sure this could be lasting like Relay for Life and there is no better place than Horace Mann to be the model for future high school Cycle events,” Weber said. Cycle for Survival is a non-profit run by MSKCC that began 10 years ago. The organization is dedicated to raising money for rare cancer research. Although rare cancers comprise 50% of all cancers, there are not many treatment options for cancer patients, which is where Cycle comes in, he said. CAC has raised over $45,000 in donations from Cycle for Survival so far, $40,000 of which are flat donations, CAC Vice President Becca Rosenzweig (11) said. At its core, Cycle is also deeply committed to bringing people together in the fight against cancer, Rosenzweig said. To orchestrate fund-raising and community engagement for the event, students and faculty signed up in teams of five and pledged certain donation amounts per-mile biked, or made flat donations not dependent on the mileage. Students under 18 had their parents sign a waiver when they began fundraising. One representative from each team biked at a time and members switched places in 20-minute increments. By sending out colorful, bold-lettered emails and making enthusiastic announcements at assemblies since winter break, they got the student body thinking about their teams and donations to rally as much support for the event as possible. Teams signed up according to club affiliations, extracurriculars, sports teams, and more, with groups ranging from the Model UN (MUN) team to Horace Mann Dance
Gabby Fischberg/Art Director
Jackson Feigin/Staff Photographer
FIGHTING CANCER ONE BIKE AT A TIME Students and faculty at Cycle for Survival. Company (HMDC). Some teams comprised of just students or teachers, but others, like the Counseling and Guidance team, had both faculty and student participants. “It was a great experience, and I was very proud to support and represent the MUN team in this event,” Charlie Shapiro (11) said. It was a unique opportunity for teams to work together and collaborate towards an important cause, he said. Some participants expressed feelings of strength and unity in engaging in this event, whether they were riding or cheering on their friends and teachers. The event was open to the entire high school, and over 75 students and faculty signed up in teams. “I think that the event went really well, there were so many people who showed up to cycle and many people to just support others. It was really nice to see both my teachers and my friends at the event and I definitely felt that our community was united and working together,” Sarah Taub (10) said. Students were empowered by seeing each other come to support the cause, CAC Cancer Projects Coordinator Deven Shah (12) said. “It was especially nice because there was so much school spirit before and during the event.” Teachers were also elated to be participating among students as one cohesive community dedicated to a single cause. “It reminded me that we are part of something bigger than ourselves,” Dr. Ian Pervil of Counseling and Guidance said. As words of motivation from Weber, Cullen, and other CAC members boomed over the speakers, encouraging students to push through the physical challenge and sharing their connection to the cause, students found common ground in all areas of the event– talking between riding sessions and dancing with orange-colored pom-poms on the sidelines. “People who didn’t know each other too
well like faculty and students across grades came together and bonded over this experience and in this fight,” Weber said. Some students and faculty were especially excited to participate because of personal connections to the cause. Cullen, who had never participated in a Cycle event before, was intrigued by the event because she has family members who were treated at Sloan Kettering, she said. “I Jackson Feigin/Staff Photographer
GEAR UP Co-president Luke Weber (12) strikes a pose at the event. hope we can get the feeling of taking time out of our days to do something nice for other people and do something lasting.” Other CAC members were drawn to a new club-sponsored event that could have as lasting effect as Relay for Life, an all-school event that also raises money for cancer awareness and occurs in late spring. “I only joined the club this year but I think the event really brought people together and I hope more people get involved in the future” CAC team member Eli Scher (11) said. The legacy of the event rests on younger CAC members who will continue to unite the student body in facing cancer, Weber said. “I want this to become more than just an event, but I think it already has been that,” he said. “I hope the school continues to come together over more causes like this one that we are all passionate about.” The commitment of not just the CAC but the greater school community to coalesce for Cycle for Survival is striking, and the club members hope that the spirit brought to the event persists for others like it for the rest of the school year, Rosenzweig said. “The fight against cancer is bigger than one person, it’s about the whole community coming together in the face of something we all connect to in some way,” Weber said.
Julia Goldberg Staff Writer In response to the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) update on the state of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), which has now spread to the United States, Head of School Dr. Tom Kelly sent out an email blast to parents, guardians, and faculty in which he stated that the school is as prepared as possible for an outbreak, should one occur in New York City. Jake Federman (11) said that he’s extremely worried about the coronavirus, in part because living in a major city significantly increases his risk of exposure. Nevertheless, Federman believes that Kelly is handling the situation properly. “The CDC told schools to prepare for the coronavirus, and within a day, Dr. Kelly had a plan that was ready to go and be sent out,” he said. “I’m impressed by the speed.” “I was happy that there seemed to be a pretty clear plan in place, or at least a plan to have a plan,” English teacher Dr. Andrew Fippinger said. However, the email did not come as a shock to Fippinger; on Thursday, Head of the Upper Division Dr. Jessica Levenstein told faculty that the school was beginning to make contingency plans. Moreover, Fippinger had seen an email from the head of Fieldston earlier in the day, so he assumed all NYC independent schools were undergoing a similar process, he said. The emailed outlined one policy which differs from the approach taken to the flu and other contagious diseases: families that travel to areas identified by the CDC as significantly impacted by the outbreak of coronavirus— which as of yesterday included China, Iran, Italy, Japan, and South Korea—must self-quarantine for 14 days and must be cleared by a doctor before engaging with members of the school’s community. The mandate incorporates two of the school’s core values, Mutual Respect and A Secure and Healthful Environment, the email said. English teacher Dr. Deborah Kassel said that she hadn’t thought about the potential impact of travel during spring break for the school community until she read the email, she said. “I realized that it could lead to more potential exposure to the virus,” she said. “You realize how easy it is for something like this to spread.” Carmel Pe’er (11) had a mixed reaction to the protocol. “If you miss 15 days of school in any one class, you can’t pass, so missing 14 days is essentially not an option for any student,” she said. At the same time, Pe’er said that the aggressiveness of the policy made sense when factoring in the severity of the situation. The email then provided a list of useful resources, including three links about the state of the virus itself and one which explained the methods by which parents could begin to discuss the virus with their children. Furthermore, Kelly wrote that the school is enhancing its sanitation protocols and spending time discussing how to continue teaching students in the case that it must be closed for a certain period of time. Fippinger expects the virus to spread to New York City, but doesn’t expect it to become a crisis, he said. “My impression, which is no more informed than anyone else’s, is that we’re not quite in a place where we should be panicking,” Fippinger said. “There’s a decent chance schools might shut down for a little while, but that sounds more likely to be a preventative measure than a full-blown emergency.” The article concluded by listing numerous methods to prevent the spread of sickness. “Together, we’re going to continue to make our children’s intellectual home—our school—as safe and healthful as possible,” Kelly wrote.