The Horace Mann Record JUNIOR ISSUE #3
HORACE MANN’S WEEKLY NEWSPAPER SINCE 1903
MAY 17TH, 2019 || VOLUME 116, ISSUE 27
Ben Hu (12) named Presidential Scholar John Mauro and Adrian Arnaboldi Staff Writer & Contributing Writer
Ben Hu (12) was honored with the Presidential Scholar award along with 161 other students in the United States. This award is given to high school seniors with strong academics, an intriguing application, and top standardized test scores in their state, according to the U.S Department of Education Website. Hu is the first student from the school to win the award since Rachel Ha ‘13, Hu said. He will be traveling to Washington D.C. in June to meet the President, First Lady, and Secretary of Education to receive the award, he said. Out of 3.6 million high school seniors, 6,000 students were nominated by the nomination committee, Hu said. “After the nomination, the government will notify you to send in an application, and then again if you become a semifinalist, or a finalist,” he said. The application was as intricate as Hu’s college application, and it required Kaitlin Howrigan, Hu’s college counselor, to write a lengthy
report about him, he said. The application asked for Hu’s transcript, his standardized test scores, four short answer questions, and one long essay along with a photograph of something of great significance to him, he said. “I included a picture of me with a bunch of fifth graders holding origami cranes,” Hu said. “It was important to me because it combined my interests of origami and education.” Because of the length of the application and the time it would take to complete it, initially, Hu did not want to apply. However, after doing some research about the award, and meeting with his counselor, he realized how amazing the opportunity was and changed his mind, he said. “It was a lot of work and it definitely interfered with my school work.” Hu said. “I eventually finished it, but it was very close to the deadline.” Hu was exhilarated when he won the award, he said. “I was very surprised, because I thought I had no chance at winning.” “I’m very appreciative of the government for giving me this award,” Hu said. “Because the Courtacy of Ben Hu
PRESIDENTIAL SCHOLAR Passing on his passion for origami.
Courtacy of Taussia Boadi
primary basis of my application was about education, it makes me feel extremely validated for my work.” Academics aside, Hu is also a leader, talented origami maker, and good friend, Brigette Kon (11) said. Hu’s involvement in the community, his dedication during the college process, and his thoughtful organization skills have made him an exceptional student in the school community,” Howrigan said. Charles Garcia, who was Hu’s math teacher and pick for Distinguished Teacher, was impressed that Hu was able to write an application while dealing with school work, college applications, and varsity sports, Garcia said. “He has worked tirelessly his whole high school career, while being one of the most sincere people in the whole school,” he said. “As a leader, he’s really approachable,” Euwan Kim (11) said. “He makes everyone around him comfortable because he doesn’t just say what he wants to, he listens, suggests, and builds on my ideas,” she said. Garcia has various underclassmen students that adore and look up to Ben for guidance, Garcia said. “Ben exudes positive and friendly energy,” Lorenzo Hess (12) said. “People look up to him both academically and as a leader on the water polo and swim teams.” “Personally, I don’t think of myself as that big of a leader. I think I’m just someone who’s active in the community, like most people who love their community,” Hu said. Hu is the co-President for the school’s Saturday Morning Tutoring Program, where students at the school tutor young kids from the Bronx. Outside of school, Hu works as a teacher’s assistant at a Chinese school in the area spreading his love of language and culture, Howrigan said. Garcia was speechless when Hu picked him to be Distinguished Teacher, he said. “I know that Ben has had a lot of important influences and amazing teachers, so it meant the world to me when he picked me,” he said. “It’s oane of the best memories I’ll have as a teacher.” “My family and the community around me have been very supportive of me,” Hu said. “I couldn’t have done it without my family and friends,” he said.
DISCUSSION Taussia Boadi (11) engages in thoughtful conversation
Diversity conference inspires students Gabby Kepnes Staff Writter
The Diversity Awareness Initiative for Students Conference (DAIS) was held this past Saturday in an attempt to strengthen the awareness and respect for different cultures among private school students in New York City. Founded in 1999, the DAIS organization has worked with more than 10,000 students to host meetings and conferences with the goal of maintaining a supportive community among students, faculty, parents, and administrators in New York City private schools, according to the DAIS website. The day consisted of rounds of workshops, affinity group meetings, a talent show, and a dance party at the end, Nshera Tutu (10) said. Jayla Thomas (11) signed up for a workshop which discussed the intersectionality between beauty standards, colorism, and the Eurocentric features that are pushed to the front in the media. Tutu tried to sign up for workshops concerning not only things she was interested in but also topics that she didn’t have a lot of information about, she said. “Through the workshops, I hope to introduce myself to a wider variety of things under the topic of diversity, and also to bring my depth of knowledge on colorism and racism to the other students,” she said. Natalia Mason (10) attended the God’s Plan workshop, where she discussed how religion affects different gender roles, she said. Other workshops included liberalism, the United Nations, and discrimination in education.
Elected Community Council Representatives
INSIDE
Zachary Brooks (11) Adam Frommer (10) Emma Colachino (9) Jude Herwitz (11) Leyli Granmayeh (10) Justin Gurvitch (9) Zachary Brooks (11) Jaden Kirshner (10) Rowan Mally (9) Bennett Neuwirth (9) Julia Robbins (11) Natalie Sweet (10) Nshera Tutu (10)
Religious Journey Facebook Memes
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Charles Simmons reflects on his relationship with Christianity.
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A deep dive into four of the most popular meme groups among HM students.
The entire community came together to discuss personal struggles and hear about others’ experiences, Destiney Green (9) said. Taussia Boadi (11) attended informative and interesting workshops and felt that the students who led them were good facilitators, she said. “It was really surprising to see how kids my age could have such great leadership skills,” Mason said. Some of the students from the school had previously gone on the Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SLDC) trip with the school back in November as well. “SDLC was a national conference, and so the stories were a lot more spread out, because you had kids from Arizona and kids from Idaho,” Charles Simmons (11) said. “DAIS is more like a city conference where you’re going to meet a lot more of the independent school community within our own community,” he said. “I feel like going to DAIS and SDLC has deepened my interest for diversity and equity work,” Boadi said. “There’s a common theme that the reason people are against making things more diverse and being more progressive is because they aren’t educated on those topics,” Boadi said. It is important to be educated on the topics that were covered at the conference because the more knowledge you have, the less ignorant you’ll be, Thomas said. “I learned from the conference that first and foremost, we are a community and we can always push forward,” Simmons said. “I was so proud to see people so young doing such great things,” Boadi said.
Elected co-Class Presidents
Class of 2021 Class of 2020 Daniel Lee (11) Yana Gitelman (10) Paul Wang (11) Madhav Menon (10)
Katya Arutyunyan/Art Director
Alum draws laughs
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Rebecca Shaw ‘14 describes comedy career from HM to “The Tonight Show”
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