The Horace Mann Record, Issue 15

The Horace Mann Record HORACE MANN’S WEEKLY NEWSPAPER SINCE 1903

JANUARY 26TH, 2018 || VOLUME 115, ISSUE 15

Abi Kraus/Photo Editor

RECORD.HORACEMANN.ORG

School plans switch to wind powered energy Abigail Salzhauer Staff Writer

POPPING THE BUBBLE Julian Zelizer (left) and Margaret Hoover (right) discuss the various stages of conservatism

Conservative commentator speaks at assembly Betsey Bennett Staff Writer Conservative political commentator Margaret Hoover and Princeton Professor of History and Public Affairs Julian Zelizer conversed on the Gross Theater stage concerning the past, present, and future of conservatism in the United States. Tuesday’s assembly led to mixed reactions from students and faculty.

“Based on the discussions that I had in my classes, I thought that the assembly did have the desired effect in the sense that it sparked more discussion around political ideas,” History Department Chair Dr. Daniel Link said.

Director of Student Activities Caroline Bartels organized the assembly with the intention to address concerns of conservative students who felt unrepresented, she said.

Specifically, this assembly was partly a response to last year’s assembly on the 2016 presidential race, which Zelizer and New York Times Op-Ed columnist David Leonhardt spoke at, Bartels said.

“Leonhardt tried really hard to avoid an explicit endorsement of Hillary, but it was of course really liberal,” Richard He (11) said.

For some students, the assembly this Tuesday was enlightening and helped them understand conservatism.

“The Republicans portrayed in the media represent extreme

conservatism,” Amrita Acharya (12) said. “Hoover’s presence made it clear that there is actually a spectrum of conservatism, in addition to the fact that someone can have mixed socially liberal and fiscally conservative views on politics.”

“It was good to bring in a conservative,” Hannah Long (11), a Democrat, said. “It’s not helpful to always hear from people who agree with you because it just reaffirms your beliefs without challenging you to see new ones.”

Jack Sendek (9) shared a similar perspective.

“However unaccepting the HM community can be, everyone must realize that just because you don’t agree with an opinion does not mean it’s flawed, and you still must respect and include it,” Sendek said.

Many other students and teachers, though, took issue with the way that Hoover answered questions and how she described the conservative party.

Deveraux Mackey (11), appreciated the effort to open up dialogue to incorporate both sides of the political spectrum. However, she did not feel that Hoover answered students’ questions effectively.

“She kind of evaded the questions and used a lot of historical references, but the questions were focused on the present and how we can use the past to influence the present,” Mackey said.

“I feel like she just focused on what

happened in the past.”

English Department Chair Vernon Wilson felt that although some of the information that Hoover provided was enlightening, the overall trajectory of conservatism that she provided was over simplified.

“The conservative that she sees herself as is one who is pro-choice and espouses views that are supportive of LGBTQ rights, and I think it’s great that we were able to see someone who has those views and still calls herself conservative, because they shouldn’t be mutually exclusive,” Wilson said.

“However, so often in the public discourse, they are, and the history that she provided didn’t clarify those contradictions; it kind of left them untouched.”

Josh Doolan (12) was disappointed that Hoover did not provide any solutions for people with her viewpoint to express their nuanced perspectives.

“As a student, it can often be encouraging to hear ways that we can get involved and make a difference, and I don’t feel like this assembly necessarily provided that,” Doolan said Some students, such as He, found the historical content of the assembly to be somewhat inaccessible.

Starting next December, the school will be making the switch to wind powered energy.

“Over the course of the past decade, we spent quite a bit of time looking at how best to move our physical plant needs toward a greener footprint. The possibility of wind power has been on our list for quite some time,” Head of the School Dr. Tom Kelly said.

The school’s facilities manager Gordon Jensen said that switching to wind power is something that he has wanted to do since he started at the school in 2014. Due to the contract with Constellation Energy, he could not immediately switch.

“I had to wait for that to finish because the [contract] as I say was pricey. This time around it only costs a few thousand dollars more and in the grand scheme of things I mean it’s the right thing to do for the environment,” Jensen said. While the school is paying a small amount more for green energy, it actually saves the school money due to the fact that the new contract costs less than the fossil fuel contract from before, Jensen said.

The school created a new contract with Constellation Energy, which has wind mills in the South and will supply the school with energy.

The school has also incorporated

solar panels into the new construction. This was not initially a part of the project, but it is an initiative that the school is committed to down the road, Jensen said.

When making the choice to buy the renewable energy credits, which are proof that one megawatt hour of energy was produced from a renewable source, for next December already, Jensen took the low prices into account which motivated him to buy them now.

Jensen previously worked at The Spence School in Manhattan and also implemented renewable energy there.

All of the facilities directors from the schools in that area meet monthly in a group that Jensen played a role in starting twenty years ago.

While we are not currently on the list, after implementing these changes, the school will place fifth on the EPA Green Power Partnership’s Top K-12 Schools. This list is published once every quarter states that it “represents the largest green power users among K-12 school partners within the Green Power Partnership.”

Some other schools in the area listed on the EPA’s list include Dwight-Englewood, Brearly, Grace Church, and Nightingale.

The switch to green energy will be easy, and the environmental impacts outweigh the cost Jensen said.

Continued on page 6 Ariella Greenberg/Art Director

Reflecting on Unity Week speakers and workshops

Griffin Smith & Malek Shafei Staff Writer & Contributing Writer

inside

Members of the school community learned about the concept of covering and discussed issues like race, sexuality, and religion through student and faculty run workshops and guest speakers in the 2018 Unity Week.

The week, which took place from January 16-January 19, kicked off with a assembly with guest speaker Kenji Yoshino, who spoke about covering and how it is present in our everyday.

Yoshino detailed specific examples of covering and offered a variety of statistics to support his claims.

Faijul Rhyhan (11) believes “it was crucial to explain this concept to the HM students,” Ryhan said. “Many people actively cover, and I believe that it was important to bring that to light.”

English Department Chair Vernon Wilson was fascinated by Yoshino’s presentation and the concept of covering, Wilson said. “I liked his distinction between covering and passing.

He was a very thoughtful speaker, and I was glad he kicked off our discussions,” Wilson said.

Unity Week comprised different workshops, where students or teachers presented topics and opened discussions with the participants.

Presentations that ranged from racism and stereotypes to gender and sexuality took place.

Govind Menon (12), who attended workshops on stereotype, racial biases, and religion, felt that the discussions were informative, but he also recognized the “safety” of the discussions, Menon said.

“At our workshop on stereotypes, we didn’t really discuss true stereotypes; we only talked about suburban versus urban people, which doesn’t really teach anyone or create a good debate,” Menon said. “The conversations were almost watered down,” Menon said.

While there was an option to go to workshops on your own, some students felt pressure to not ask their teachers to go. Daniel Wolf (10) wanted to go to certain workshops, but they conflicted with classes he had. “At times, I wanted to go to a specific workshop,

Unpacking body image

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An evaluation of body image, and how students manage societal pressure.

but I felt that it was more important to stay in class due to upcoming tests and assignments I had.” Wolf said.

Jack Crovitz (9) attended workshops on Hawaiian resistance music, feminism, gendernorms, and Tai Chi. The workshops introduced Crovitz to new topics, and also developed his views on topics he had already been aware of, he said.

The week was well organized, but the workshops could be improved by “making workshops more accessible for students to be more of an active participant, rather than just be a receiver of the knowledge,” Crovitz said.

Ahaan Palla (10) thought the assembly was a great way to start off the week to bring awareness to something that is relevant to almost everyone, Palla said. He also enjoyed the Rosetta Lee workshop that focused on gender and sexual identities, Palla said.

Wilson took all of his classes to student run workshops on female sexuality, gender, and health disparities. “All of the workshops were very thoughtful. On the whole, the students found the workshops to be very interesting.

The phantom cartoonist

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Math classes obsess over Alexis’s Gilioli’s daily cartoons in 138T.

The workshops created discussion topics for the next classes,” Wilson said.

Edward Ahn (11) valued his experience this year much more than last year because of the number of workshops he was able to attend, he said. His teachers brought him to several, and he was able to participate in the Q&A session with Yoshino, Ahn said.

“The school is helping students know what they’re supposed to know to be more aware and develop a sense of empathy,” Chemistry teacher Dr. Rachel Mohammed said. “Now that you have been made aware, it’s up to you to practice these values, it’s no longer an excuse to say that you’re not informed,” Mohammed said.

Damali O’Keefe/Staff Artist

Reflecting on Unity Week

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Read about students and faculty reactions to activities during Unity Week.

@hm.record @thehoracemannrecord Horace Mann School 231 W 246th St, Bronx, NY 10471

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THE RECORD OPINIONS JANUARY 26TH, 2018

The danger of blind pessimism among teenagers

Vivien Sweet (9) A couple of days ago, my younger sister’s friend, Abby, who has a sister in ninth grade at Stuyvesant, came over for a play-date. Although I’m terrible at talking to giggling 11 year-olds, I managed to catch Abby’s attention by asking her, “How is Hannah (Abby’s older sister) doing?”

“Oh. She wants to kill herself,” Abby said matter-of-factly, and returned to her Monopoly game without batting an eye.

Two years ago, I’ve would’ve been shocked and horrified by such a nonchalant reply. I would’ve run upstairs, told my mother to call Hannah’s mother concerning this suicidal comment, and then called Hannah myself to make sure everything was alright.

However, I’m embarrassed to say that I did nothing of the sort. Instead, I mumbled something along the lines of “I hope she feels better,” and dashed back upstairs to the comfort of my room, where I half-heartedly texted

Hannah, “What’s up?” just to be sure that something wasn’t seriously wrong.

She responded, “I’m doing great actually, I just have a lot of homework tonight haha.”

I was a little concerned about Hannah’s actual mental health, but in this day and age, the widely-used phrase “I want to kill myself ” has become synonymous with “I am unhappy with my current situation.” As horrible as it sounds to any reasonable adult, responses like this one have become a common coping mechanism for sarcastic teenagers. I admit that I know Hannah’s personality quite well, and I have talked to her previously about the harms of using phrases with suicidal tendencies such as “I want to kill myself.” Clearly, our talks have little impact, as Abby seems to have adopted her sister’s pessimistic mannerisms.

I obviously don’t believe that having a lot of homework ever justifies such a strong declaration, so why did Hannah say that? Is some part of her considering self-harm? Or has that just become her automatic response to stress?

This recent trend is confusing: where do we draw the blurry line between “edgy” jokes and repressed cries for help? Statements relating to suicide as a joke aren’t to be taken lightly, and I personally suggest that you confront whoever casually says, “I want to kill myself,” and ask them why. Although these phrases have become increasingly common in our culture today, that

doesn’t justify the behavior. Because of this, I strongly suggest that you take the time to explain to your peers who make these jokes why it is so problematic. These offhand remarks are also extremely harmful to the developing, emotional teenage brain, and I’m not even talking about the damaging impacts these “jokes” have on the communities actually affected by depression and other mental illnesses.

“

“Where do we draw the blurry line between “edgy” jokes and repressed cries for help?”

So where does this infectious negativity come from? When we hear about tragic news stories (shark attacks, forest fires, rampage shootings, etc.) our first reaction is always, “What harm does this pose to my life?” Evolution has programmed us to hone in on threats; it’s human nature to constantly be on the lookout for potential danger.

No one wants to read about how fewer buildings burned down this year than the last. But we will watch a report of a house fire and worry about the chance of that happening to our homes.

In this technological era in which we have more access to information

Caption Contest

than ever, we are constantly processing negative news with little good news to balance it out. When the only stories making headlines are about death, violence, and destruction, it’s no wonder that so many teenagers are becoming pessimistic and casually joke about suicide. Yet we’re told it’s up to our generation to fix this doomsdaylike world.

It’s extremely hard for us to believe that the world is getting better. But if you look at the raw statistics, the awful events of the past year that the media dwells on are relatively minor compared to the positive upward trend in society. According to Bill Gates in an article for Time, in 1990, over a third of the global population lived in extreme poverty; today, only about a tenth do.

The number of children who die before they turn five years old has been cut in half since 1990; 122 million children have been saved in the last 28 years. In 2016, Time found that 89% of the global population was covered by eight key vaccines; an all time high, saving two to three million lives every year. Only 9% of people live below the poverty line, due to rapid economic growth in developing countries and an influx of resources available to the lower and middle classes. And more than 90% of all children attend elementary school.

Although the media rarely shows us these incredible numbers that steadily increase every year, if we zoom out our scope to a wider time frame, and put the recent bad events in context, we can see that our world is indeed improving.

Slowly, but surely.

This should not minimize the tragedies of the past year. Our hearts weep for those killed in devastating mass shootings, bloody civil wars in Syria and Yemen, victims of hurricanes

in the Caribbean to name a few.

With devastating news flooding our newspapers and social media feeds, it’s easy for our generation to immediately assume that the world is awful, so why bother trying to change it?

However, if we base our judgement of the world not just on bleeding headlines and gory images but also on uplifting stories and pure statistics of human prosperity, maybe our generation will snap out of its pessimistic state long enough to create positive change. It’s happened before, and I believe it can happen again.

“

“With devastating news flooding our newspapers and social media feeds, it’s easy for our generation to immediately assume that the world is awful, so why bother trying to change it?

I’m all for staying woke, believe me. But awareness is double sided; we must be well-informed of the world’s injustices and cruelties, and simultaneously the motivational movements and optimists. When our generation finds that happy medium of receiving good and bad news, then, as a society, we truly can be “woke.”

As Martin Luther King Jr. said, “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” Although our situation may seem bad now, it will get better. Just look at the statistics for proof. So my hope for our school community is that we don’t become blind pessimists, but aware activists to inspire generations to come.

Editorial

Correcting the Conversation Surrounding Body Image Although spring break may seem distant, many seniors, especially girls, have already started their “piet” to attain the ideal “beach body” for the Paradise Island trip. This sentiment is not exclusive to warmer months or the senior class. Students are constantly pressured to look a specific way; photos on social media, advertisements, and magazines all perpetuate an unrealistic body image. While commenting “so skinny!” or “eat a burger!” on someone’s post may seem like a compliment, it further promotes how society equates thinness with beauty.

Ariella Greenberg/Art Director

Winner: “When the desk next to you is too close, so you have to crawl under to get a tissue.”

Max Migdon (9) Honorable Mentions: “When your teacher folds your test before handing it back to you.”

Ari Salsberg (9)

“That moment when everyone is saying their answers in class, your turn is almost up, and you realized you didn’t do the homework because you spent you’re entire night trying to figure out what ‘HQ’ in HQ trivia means.”

Gabby Kepnes (10)

Volume 115 Editorial Board Managing Editor Eve Kazarian

Editor in Chief Gustie Owens

Issues Editor Mahika Hari

Features Tiffany Liu Natasha Poster

News Sam Heller Yeeqin New

Opinions Seiji Murakami Rebecca Salzhauer

A&E Jonathan Katz Joanne Wang

Lions’ Den Peter Borini Ricardo Pinnock

Photography Amrita Acharya Freya Lindvall Abigail Kraus

Middle Division Ella Feiner Sarah Shin

Design Editors Evan Megibow Nikki Sheybani Lisa Shi

Art Director Ariella Greenberg

Faculty Adviser David Berenson

Columnists Lutie Brown Amir Moazami

Online Editor Michael Truell

The Editorial Board encourages discussion of this issue, as opening doors to conversation may alleviate unnecessary stress by providing allies and an outlet. We urge students to stop and call out criticism of peers’ eating habits, weight, and fitness plans, and instead encourage healthy behavior and thinking. While we’re not dissuading peers from pursuing healthier lifestyles, it’s important not to sacrifice one’s physical and mental well-being.

Additionally, The Body Project implemented by Joanna Kuang ‘17 and Marissa Parks ‘17 last year has drastically improved the school’s dialogue on body image, but more can be done. We urge the school to bring back the Body Project, regardless of the timing of the implementation of the male program.

Staff Writers Malhaar Agrawal, Betsey Bennett, Peri Brooks, Amelia Feiner, Elizabeth Fortunato, Leonora Gogos, Caroline Goldenberg, Katie Goldenberg, Surya Gowda, Will Han, Jude Herwitz, Edwin Jin, Solomon Katz, Janvi Kukreja, Madison Li, Connor Morris, Megha Nelivigi, Noah Phillips, Eliza Poster, Julia Robbins, Abigail Salzhauer, Nishtha Sharma, Sadie Schwartz, Tenzin Sherpa, Sandhya, Shyam, Becca Siegel, Charlie Silberstein, Lynne Sipprelle, Griffin Smith, Georgi Verdelis, Ben Wang, Jeren Wei, Robbie Werdiger, Simon Yang Staff Photographers Iliana Dezelic, Eva Fortunato, Miyu Imai, Abigail Kraus, Daniel Lee, Mimi Morris, Benjamin Parker, Tatiana Pavletich Staff Artists Elizabeth Fortunato, Sofia Gonzalez, Surya Gowda, Damali O’Keefe, Spyridoula Potamopoulou, Jackson Roberts, Zoe Vogelsang

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.

LETTERS To be considered for publication in the next issue, letters to the editor should be submitted by mail (The Record, 231 West 246th Street, Bronx, NY 10471) or e-mail (record@horacemann.org) before 6 p.m. on Wednesday evening. All submissions must be signed and should refer to a Record article. Letters may be edited for grammar, style, length and clarity.

CONTACT For all comments, queries, story suggestions, complaints or corrections, or for information about subscribing, please contact us by email at record@horacemann.org.

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HORACE MANN FEATURES JANUARY 26TH, 2018

Exploring

Following last week’s article on male body image, this piece completes the series, focusing on the female experience.

Katie Goldenberg Staff Writer

Social Event Stress From parties to pictures on vacation, many students face the pressure to change their eating or exercise habits to fit an appearance ideal at social gatherings.

“Everyone wants to fit in and be liked,” Upper Division Director of Counseling and Guidance Dr. Daniel Rothstein said. “It becomes unhealthy when it becomes your primary focus, and most of who you are becomes about how you look.”

Mahika Hari (12), who completed her Science Research project on how social factors like friendships influence body image, designed an anonymous survey of the student body to initially determine what aspect of body image she wanted to focus on, she said.

The survey included questions regarding eating habits, social events, and the Rosenberg scale of self-esteem, a questionnaire consisting of a series of statements designed to measure self-worth Based on the survey responses, Hari identified a relationship between body image and the stability of a student’s friend group. The results found that a greater percentage of students who identified having unstable friend groups exercised for the purpose of impressing others.

Hari designed her survey questions regarding social gatherings with events like the Paradise Island (PI) trip, that many seniors take part in, and the Halloween Homecoming party in mind, she said.

According to two of the survey questions, 49.5% of polled students changed their exercise habits due to upcoming social occasions, and 51.5% altered their diets.

“I tried to change my diet for Homecoming and basically any social event where I feel like I would be taking a lot of pictures,” Gibby Thomas (11) said. For such occasions, Thomas and her friends will try to eat low carb foods or more salads at lunch, “but really nothing drastic, and we end up breaking it within the first couple of days,” she said.

“Sometimes I do feel stress surrounding these events, not just to look skinnier but to look good in general,” Thomas said.

“For things like PI, there’s motivation to get in shape,” Anya Swift (12) said. “I think it’s just the fact that you’re going to be in a bathing suit all day, there are going to be pictures, and you want to look your best.”

For the PI trip, many students begin a “Piet” in which they alter their diets and workout routines to lose weight, Swift said.

Josephine* has changed her workout schedule and notices other girls attending more workout classes with PI as an implicit motivation, she said.

“Sometimes I hear people comparing the calories of different foods when we go out to eat,” Josephine* said. “It shocks me because it’s a lot more extreme than how I usually talk about eating.”

“I would say I don’t know a single girl who hasn’t been through a period of using MyFitnessPal or generalized dysmorphia,” she said. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, Body Dysmorphic Disorder is characterized by obsessive and obtrusive behavior surrounding an imagined or slight defect in one’s appearance.

Sofia Gonzalez (12) will not attend PI but becomes more conscious of her habits when social events approach, using calorie counters and trying to get more exercise, she said.

“A lot of the time it can be difficult, because we don’t have a generally diverse community and that kind of contributes to this idea that girls at Horace Mann all have similar b o d y t y p e s ,” Gonzalez said. “As someone who doesn’t fit that norm, it definitely m a k e s me extra conscious at social events.

C h l o e Bown (12) maintains her regular habits despite social events but notices the “stress in the air” when such events are approaching, she said.

“It’s definitely case by case, but we’ve been in the age of social media, so since we were freshmen we saw pictures of seniors in PI or upperclassmen at Homecoming.

I think that image definitely contributes to what everyone is trying to live up to by changing their habits,” she said.

According to the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), American adolescents between the ages of eight and 18 engage with some form of media for about seven and a half hours per day, and studies show that such exposure in media to the thin ideal is linked to negative body image, internalization of the thin ideal, and eating disorders amongst women.

“You can see that through all the comments on Instagram - when someone posts a picture, people comment, ‘so skinny,’” Hari said.

“I think that there’s a lot on skinny rather than fit or healthy; I feel like it doesn’t matter how you get there, it’s the end result people are after, and I don’t think that we have enough education on how to get there the healthy way.”

The images portrayed in media and advertising often set

unrealistic standards for beauty and attractiveness that impact both men and women, Rothstein said.

“It’s not just that they’re choosing people who have a certain perfect look, but the actual photographs are airbrushed and distorted,” he said. “I think it causes people a lot of real distress.”

Documenting Nutrition For many students, tracking food intake and nutrition is a component of understanding their diet and overall health.

“You have to be aware of eating healthfully and different food groups and a general idea of how many calories you need in a day, but tracking very precisely can become obsessional,” Rothstein said.

“If you feel the need to know w i t h s u c h

because of the mindset to conform.”

Malka Krijestorac (11) found the lab to be helpful for students to see which nutrients they lacked in their diet, but believed the trackers were not completely accurate, she said.

“I know I just tweaked a couple things here and there,” she said. “I think people changed things just to seem healthier.”

Julia Roth (11) uses the “Lose It!” application to track her health and calories.

“I try to use it to be conscious about the decisions I make regarding food each day, and to be aware of balancing what I’ve eaten with the exercise I’ve done in that day,” she said. “If you’re watching the numbers, you don’t have to estimate and you can actually make better decisions. It’s not about continually lowering the numbers or trying to eat less, rather, it’s trying to eat better.”

Jolie Nelsen (9) observes negative discussion surrounding food intake within the lunchroom, she said.

“People are always saying they should lose weight or eat h e a l t h i e r, and some people make comments about what other people are eating,” she said.

Body Image Stigma: Opening the Conversation

Jackson Roberts/ Staff Artist

precision how many calories you’re consuming, I think it’s a good idea to consider why it’s so important to control that aspect of your life, because it can quickly take over your thought process, which becomes unhealthy,” psychologist Dr. Liz Westphal said.

In the ninth grade Biology curriculum, students participated in a lab involving the documentation of their diet and nutrient intake.

“The idea behind the lab was to track macronutrients as well as micronutrients, which are important to enzyme function, and to find out in which foods they are contained and whether you are getting enough of these important nutrients by analyzing your diet,” science teacher Dr. Lisa Rosenblum said.

The lab was discontinued when some students brought to the attention of teachers that the process was becoming more of a calorie counting exercise, Rosenblum said.

“Personally, I have a strong emotional reaction when I see people counting calories,” Josephine* said. “I generally think it’s unhealthy as a blanket just because I’ve seen it get so obsessive on other people and on myself

Normalizing conversation involving negative body image often poses an obstacle to proper discussion.

“It’s important to have overall awareness within the community and the perspective that beauty changes over time - it’s not objective.

In the real world, who we find attractive is a very individual thing,” Rothstein said. “Awareness can trickle into individual discussion, which can create a more open topic of conversation.”

Recent initiatives such as the Body Project, implemented by Joanna Kuang ’17 and Marissa Parks ’17 in the 2016 – 2017 school year, aimed to open the dialogue surrounding body image and promote positive body talk, Parks said.

“Before the Body Project, I didn’t think there was much discussion, and if there was it was more diettalk, which tends to be negative,” she said.

“The comments might sound innocuous but they really show the underlying value we place on things like that,” Kuang said. “I would hear people making comments about other people’s bodies, how people dressed, how they presented themselves – it was really prevalent.”

Middle & Upper Division Chair of the Library Department Caroline Bartels, who taught two sections of the Body Project, believes the classes

created valuable conversations and should be continued for both males and females, she said.

“It definitely had people thinking and talking about how females have to inhabit their own bodies,” Bartels said. “I think females are kind of at the point where they’re fed up, and that’s another reason I think it would be great to keep the Body Project going: to capitalize on this moment in time and history where women are saying, ‘we’re done’.”

According to Dean of Student Life Dr. Susan Delanty, the school is in contact with the NEDA, and there are active efforts to continue the Body Project program in the future for both male and female students.

The male curriculum, ‘More than Muscles’ is currently still a pilot program, and the Body Project will be reintroduced when the female as well as the parallel male programs can be implemented, she said.

Concerns surrounding body image extend beyond the high school community to Middle Division students.

Middle School Body Image “Middle school is a time when kids begin to develop their own identities and better understand how they fit in with the world around them,” psychologist Dr. Christina Nichols said.

According to Life Skills teacher Norma Rodriguez, girls cover body image within the Life Skills curriculum starting in eighth grade, “even though I’m rethinking it - I think it should just start in sixth grade, simply because it’s a big transition for the kids,” she said.

“They’re going through puberty and all these changes, and for some of them it’s scary,” Rodriguez said. “Often girls will compare themselves to others when they look around and see people at different stages in development.”

Rodriguez facilitates conversation with articles, discussion surrounding factors that impact body image, and DVDs of real-life stories about the dangers of negative body image, she said.

Riya Daga (7) often notices her peers discussing weight.

“People talk about it constantly,” she said. “I hear people say things like, ‘Oh my god, I’m so fat, I shouldn’t eat this.’”

“When you look at magazines like Glamour, Vogue, Cosmopolitan, it’s always about how to improve ourselves,” Rodriguez said. “In other words, you shouldn’t be happy with yourself.”

“There’s so much we can do to keep reminding girls that you’re totally fine the way you are,” Bartels said. “I want us to get to a space where kids feel really good about themselves and we realize all body types are beautiful.” *This student has been granted anonymity because they felt uncomfortable sharing their names in the context of this article.

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THE RECORD ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT JANUARY 26TH, 2018

SPOTLIGHT: ALEXIA GILIOLI (11) Daily whiteboard comics spark math class debates

Becca Siegel & Mayanka Dhingra Staff & Contributing Writer On November 8, 2017, a legend was born in math teacher Meghan Fergusson’s C period Precalculus BC Honors (PCBCH) when Alexia Gilioli (11) began the beloved 138T cartoon series.

Gilioli muses during tea time every morning in preparation for her creations, taking the occasional suggestion from her peers, Dana Jacoby (11) said.

Every class day, four or five drawings come together to compose a darkly ironic plot, Claire Yoo (11) said.

“She is able to convey a full plot with a simple arrowed diagram, and I find it really impressive,” Fergusson said.

The cartoons draw inspiration from various subject matter and every now and then are topical to the class, Saif Moolji (12) said. For example, when they had a math assessment, the cartoon exhibited the outlaw of tests, he said.

“There is a really distinctive style about her work, but she is always trying out new things to grow as an artist,” Zoe Vogelsang (12) said.

“For the rest of us it’s really exciting to witness what will come next from the mysterious artist.”

“It really unifies us as a group of people,” Yoo said.

What the C period class does not realize is how large of a group Gilioli is actually uniting. What started off as a “fun distraction from the stresses of her junior year,” since she conveniently sits “right next to the whiteboard,” Gilioli said, became a mechanism of pre-lesson catharsis for the other math classes in 138T as well: Fergusson’s E and H period AP Calculus Honors and math teacher Catherine Crowley’s F period PCBCH.

The cartoons have become a tradition, Jacoby and F period PCBCH student Hannah Long (11) said.

“It’s something that I really look forward to in my day,” Long said.

Gilioli was initially unaware that other math classes interpret her work, Gilioli said. Fergusson informed her about her E period’s fascination with the masterpieces a week after she began illustrating them, she said.

Fergusson stands in full support of Gilioli’s work, Fergusson said.

Discussing the cartoons is a great way to connect with her students before doing any math, she said.

The best part is that everyone in her classes sees something unique in the comics and interprets them in a different way, Fergusson said.

“The cartoons send us on a tangent for a good ten minutes of class every day, dissecting what the comic of the day is and what we think it means,” Caroline Kaplan (11), a student in Fergusson’s C-period class, said.

The cartoons became so well known that conflict became inevitable: Fergusson’s C period PCBCH and E period AP Calculus Honors have created competing Instagram accounts that document the daily creations. @138thedailycomic is run by Yoo, whereas the rival account, @138tthedailycomic, is run by Aman Sanger (12).

While Yoo wanted to share the joy that she and her classmates feel at the beginning of each math class, she said, Sanger was compelled to start the competing account in attempt to rectify the other class’ username’s lack of the “T” in “138T,” he said.

As for artist Gliloli’s take on the matter, “I think Claire’s account is better,” she said.

- Gilioli Specials, for The Record-

GOING ON A TANGENT Alexia Gilioli (11) draws January 25’s comic. (Right) Two Instagrams compete to document her cartoons: @138thedailycomic vs. @138Tthedailycomic.

Mieu Imai/Staff Photographer

Japan Day Japan Play Presentation plays performed by Japanese class students 9:25-10:50 (periods B & C) Recital Hall

Japanese Festival calligraphy, tea ceremony, OMIKUJI, origami, yoyo catching, food tasting, & more!

11:00-1:30 (periods D-F) Fisher Rotunda

5

HORACE MANN ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT JANUARY 26TH, 2018

Horace Mann Dance Company presents...

Emotion

Motion

Abigail Kraus/ Photo Editor

BEHIND-THE-SCENES: Interview with Dance CoPresidents Lauren Smith (12) and Juli Moreira (11) Dance Co-Presidents Lauren Smith (12) and Juli Moreira (11) organized this year’s student choreographed show, “Emotion in Motion.” Abigail Goldberg (11) and Amiya Mehrota (10) sat down with Smith and Moreira to discuss the show..

The Record: What responsibilities did you have as co-President?

Juli Moreira: We were in charge of making sure that everyone had a dance to be in. We also had to make sure that everyone was staying on top of their choreography, but the dancers this year have really come into their own and they have been doing a really good job staying on top of their choreography.

TR: How do you decide who choreographs the pieces?

Lauren Smith: I think what makes the student choreographed dance concert unique is that anybody who volunteers to choreograph can choreograph, so anybody with any level of skill and experience in and outside the school has an opportunity.

TR: How do you decide who danced in which piece?

LS: We had an audition combo in which we had more of a lyrical jazz style and more of a hip hop style. We observed everyone in the audition and knowing everything that we know from past experience and past years, we are able to see what specialties certain people have in certain areas and then cast accordingly.

TR: How did you decide on the theme?

JM: Well we went through a bunch of ideas. At first we were going to have the theme be fairytales, but we decided that we wanted to go with a broader theme and something that most people would be able to come up with different ideas for. We thought that it would be cool if each dance was a specific emotion, we kind of thought it would be similar to the movie Inside Out, with all the little characters being different emotions, so based off that we thought that each individual dance could be a different emotion. And then we came up with the name,

but I have to give credit to my coPresident Lauren, who came up with the name, Emotion in Motion.

TR: Which dance was the hardest to execute?

LS: I would say one of the difficulties I know one of our choreographers Allison DeRose faced was that she choreographed multiple pieces and a lot of her dancers could only meet at certain times, so she had two pairs of groups and so they only had one or two opportunities to meet together as a group, which is difficult.

TR: What emotion do your dances represent?

JM: In my group dance I am embodying paranoia. I got the idea from a song that I really liked which is Disturbia. It is kind of an old song so I wanted to bring it back. I decided to go with paranoia just because it was an emotion that wasn’t one of the super obvious emotions to do, like happy or sad.

TR: What’s your favorite dance?

LS: Selfishly, I’m going to say my own. I really love my piece because I think that the purpose of Emotion in Motion (the theme for this year) is that we want all of our dancers to have a purpose when telling a story.

Instead of just doing the movements with a deadpan face, we want to be able to express something through physical movement.

I think as a company, we have a wide range of different feelings and emotions, but we have this central theme of wanting to share this common thread of telling stories through emotions. I think that that’s something really special and so I think that through my own dances, it’s really unique to see the story that I want to tell with an emotion.

For example, I have a solo and since it’s my senior year, my motion is nostalgia. I kind of incorporated different elements of nostalgia that no one else will know, but for me there are so many undertones that mean a lot to me.

Abigail Kraus/ Photo Editor

Damali O’Keefe (12), Akida Joseph (11), Arriana Serrano (12), and Alison DeRose (11) perform in “Jealousy.”

Abigail Goldberg & Amiya Mehrota Staff Writer and Contributing Writer

The audience quiets down in suspense of the beginning of the show. As the song “Incomplete” by James Bay plays in the background, five dancers perform a contemporary piece embodying the feeling of imperfection.

The Horace Mann Dance Company (HMDC) has been choreographing, learning, and rehearsing seventeen different dance routines since September in preparation for the Student Choreographed Dance Concert, titled “Emotion in Motion,” which runs from January 25th to 27th.

This year, the HMDC decided to center its show around emotions.

Every number is based off of a different feeling, ranging from sadness to confidence to nostalgia, according to Alison DeRose (11).

Co-Presidents of the HMDC Lauren Smith (12) and Juli Moreira (11) have been preparing for the concert since the beginning of the year, Smith said.

The auditioning process for “Emotion in Motion” began in October, and sign-ups for choreographers and dancers started even earlier than that, Emily Yu (11) said.

Since then, the students in the company have been rehearsing during their frees, after school, and during a dance intensive trip to Dorr.

“The trip to Dorr was especially helpful for solidifying choreography and teaching dances to the group,” Grace Hill (12) said.

DeRose said that one of the amazing things about the Student Choreographed Dance Concert concert is that it was open to the entire Upper Division student body, including freshman and first-time dancers.

“It’s a really great opportunity that it is open to everyone and there are many dances that are different levels of difficulty. I think that this gives people the opportunity to grow a lot,” Yana Gitelman (9) said.

In addition, anyone who wants to choreograph can, De Rose said.

“This was my first year as a choreographer. I was a dancer for freshman and sophomore year. The whole process of creating something is kind of stressful, especially to have other people performing it too,” Yu said.

Hill knew that she wanted to choreograph something for this year’s dance concert since the end of last year’s performance, she said.

She and her friend, Lutie Brown (12), are performing a tap duet that embodies joy, she said.

Akida Joseph (11) found that the most challenging aspect of choreographing was making something that would flow perfectly for a variety of dancers, she said.

Joseph’s biggest struggle during the process was creating a routine that would look good for a lot of different types of dancers with a wide variety of skill level or specific talents, she said.

“I’d say for my piece specifically, getting it to flow was difficult. I had to work really hard on working out how long to hold things and arm and leg placement; and with flow comes figuring out timing, because

different people have different senses of timing,” Yu said.

The HMDC has many contemporary pieces this year, meaning that outfits mainly consist of leotards with skirts and dresses, Yu said.

Joseph’s dance, titled “Jealousy,” is choreographed to a song from the movie Oz. To keep with this theme, the dancers wear green leotards with green overskirts over romantic bell tutus.

The HMDC decided that they would keep the set very simple and just have the back wall and curtains of the dance studio.

In addition, the HMDC will be using the help of their lighting designer, Naomi Kenyatta (10), to help set the tone of the different emotions of the dances.

The experience of working together to prepare for the concert has had a very positive impact on the dancers, DeRose said.

“My experience preparing for the concert has been really great as a freshman and also as someone who is new to the school. Going in I didn’t know a lot of people, so just socially I have been able to become closer with a lot of upperclassman,” Gitelman said.

The team became closer by working together on specific routines, Nisha Sahgal (11) said.

“I think that this year’s concert is going to be really good. Everyone’s just so prepared and I feel like the dances this year have a lot more depth which I think is due to the topic this year, Emotion in Motion, because it really makes everything much more sincere,” Yu said.

Abigail Kraus and Noah Phillips / Photo Editor and Contributing Photographer

(Left) Juli Moreira (11) dances in “Restless”; (Top Right) Alison DeRose (11) performs in “Imperfection”; (Bottom Right) Lutie Brown (12) and Grace Hill (12) tap in “Joy.”

6

HORACE MANN NEWS JANUARY 26TH, 2018

Students, faculty advocate for rights at second annual Women’s March Ben Wang Staff Writer

Horace Mann students and faculty protested at the second annual Women’s March on Saturday January 20th, 2017.

English teacher Rebecca Bahr went along with her husband, son, and mother. She wanted “to protest the state of the Union,” Bahr said.

Natalie Sweet (9) went both years. Despite attending the march last year, “I still feel like the attitude towards women in this country, especially by our President, is not how it should be,” Sweet said. “True equality has not been achieved yet.”

“It was a moment of solidarity with people expressing their discontent. A lot of people sit back and don’t vote because they don’t think their vote counts. [It was] a national conversation about women, men, and power, and how we can make a better world, both politically and in daily life,” Bahr said.

Reina McNutt (10) and her mother went to the march this year and last year and hope to make it an annual event. “Trump is not gone yet. We still have to protest, and we still have to be part of the movement. I feel like a part of something larger and for myself, just to know that I can do something. It’s good to reassure myself that I’m not the only one that feels this way,” McNutt said.

“I saw people that were in wheelchairs, people that were

three, people that were 93,” Sweet said. “People in America share the same unifying idea that the country is not unified, nor is our President doing enough to unify it. A lot of people feel that they are still not treated equally.”

This year, fewer people marched than last year. According to the New York Times, more than 200,000 women, men, children, and grandparents marched in New York this year while over 400,000 attended last year.

“Last year was just so much anger and just marching. This year it was more focused on transferring this into action,” Bahr said. Anger pushed a lot of people to march, but it was different this year, she said.

It’s very powerful to see so many upset people representing different

causes, like Immigrant Rights, Dreamers, DACA, and Worker’s Rights, come together, Bahr said.

These marches are important, but “discussions should follow,” she said.

Ben Parker (12) didn’t attend the march this year due to a previous engagement, but he went last year, he said. “[The marches] spike some interest in the young people growing up now by hearing a different perspective,” said Parker.

Bahr, Sweet, McNutt, and Parker all urge people to attend the next Women’s March, to change the country. “If there are people standing up for their ideals, they can make a change,” Sweet said.

MARCHING People participate in Women’s March in NYC.

Courtesy of Zarina Iman

Health advocates Gibson, Sweeney speak on panel about health disparities

Sam Keimweiss Staff Writer

Students and faculty attended the conference held by the Health Disparities Club, where Co-Chair of the Committee on Health Disparities for the Medical Society of New York State Dr. Monica M. Sweeney and Bronx 16th Council District Councilwoman Vanessa Gibson spoke on issues surrounding health and health disparities.

Sweeney and Gibson gave speeches during D period and participated in a panel discussion during E period in the Recital Hall on January 17th.

The two speakers discussed a variety of issues, from disparities in health services to the legalization of marijuana.

In her speech, Sweeney talked about the challenges facing black communities due to white privilege.

“If you have chest pain when you’re a black woman it’s hysteria, it’s anxiety. If you have chest pain when you’re a white male, it’s heart disease,” Sweeney said.

Chemistry teacher Dr. Ndeye Diop-Bove was surprised by the fact that racial discrimination in health care is still happens today, DiopBove said. “I had no idea,” she said.

Gibson, Chair of the Public Safety Committee, has been on the city council since 2013 and works towards bettering the lives of those in minority communities, Gibson said. She looks at gun violence through the lens of health and the subsequent partnership between the city and the Cure Violence antiviolence program, which tries to stop violence through anti-gun violence activists and various organizations, Gibson said.

“Often times you don’t hear about the good things that are happening, but more so the bad things,” she said.

“When I think about inequality or injustice I don’t often think about it through the lens of medicine and health,” English Department Chair Vernon Wilson said. Wilson brought his 12th grade creative writing workshop to the D period speeches, he said.

Amrita Acharya/ Photography Editor

SLUG Agrawal (10) leads panel discussion with guest speakers Dr. Monica M. Sweeney and Vanessa Gibson.

Club Founder and President Malhaar Agrawal (10) led the panel, in which he and the audience asked the visitors questions regarding health disparities, the Affordable Care Act, and drugs.

When a student asked about the legalization of marijuana, Sweeney addressed the history of the drug and the institutional racism behind the laws that govern it. “It was a war on black people that got the whole marijuana thing started,” Sweeney said.

“It benefits us to learn about the stark differences in disparities in all sorts of fields,” Richard He (11), who attended the discussion, said.

Vivien Sweet (9) enjoyed learning about the subject, which she was already interested in. She felt the symposium was more politically focused than she thought it would be.

However, she enjoyed the political aspect. “I thought it was really cool how [Gibson] was fighting for so many people’s rights,” Sweet said.

The event was hosted by the new Health Disparities Club. “The club is a collection of HM students passionate about justice in minority communities who want to bring parity to the health care system,” Club Founder and President Malhaar Agrawal (10) said.

Aneesh Bafna (10) is leading the Health Disparities Club’s next effort, an attempt to add Health Disparities to the 10th grade health course. According to Bafna, the club has already reached out to health teacher Amy Mojica and discussed a potential unit in which health disparities would be introduced and taught to sophomores.

NEWS IN BRIEF

Courtesy of The Wall Street Journal

BUSINESS SPIN Founder of SoulCycle Julie Rice works out on stationary bike.

SoulCycle founder speaks at Women in Business Club

As part of the Women in Business (WIB) speaker series, Julie Rice P’23 shared her entrepreneurial experience and journey creating the fitness phenomenon and multi-million dollar empire, SoulCycle, with the WIB club on Monday.

“Exercise in New York was very different than exercise in Los Angeles,” Rice said. “So much of exercise and my physical life was tied into my social life. I missed these exercise communities that I was a part of… Working out should be a place that can be social, communal, and a place where people root for each other.”

“She took this idea and made it into a business model,” Iliana Dezelic (11) co-President of WIB said. “She found the need and filled it with spinning, and it was a successful business model because of the revenue per square foot, and the fact that everybody needs cardio.”

WIB has hosted a different female entrepreneur monthly to speak to the club about her career during I period meetings. So far, Melissa Fensterstock ‘98 has spoken about her innovations in the biotechnology industry, and Rice has spoken about her experience in creating and expanding SoulCycle. “A really important aspect of the people we are asking to speak as our entrepreneurs or investors of the month is that they have some sort of connection to the school community,” Noah Goldberg, co-President of WIB said.

On the investment side of the club, a main focus is to educate more women about finance to make them more knowledgeable and powerful, Dezelic said.

In order to accomplish this sense of confidence in business, WIB hosts crash courses that teach fundamental principles of investing, banking, and making money by incorporating members of the club, Nicole Warszawski (11), co-President of WIB said.

“We want to make it known that you don’t have to fit a certain standard in order to be successful as a money manager, entrepreneur, or person in investing,” Warszawski said.

- Peri Brooks, Staff Writer

Debate team tackles issue of Catalonian independence at past conferences

Over the past month the school’s debate team participated in competitions in Lexington, Mass. and at Columbia College. Tasked with debating the topic of Catalonian independence the team faired well at each event, Siddarth Tripathi (12) said.

At both Lexington and Columbia, the best performing team was Tripathi and Honor McCarthy (12) who reached the quarterfinals at Lexington and were the second seed going into elimination rounds at Columbia with a 6-0 preliminary record.

“Honor and I were able to successfully translate complex, nuanced arguments into appealing rhetoric that maintained the sophistication of the argumentation” Tripathi said.

Many team members were disappointed with the judging at Lexington.

Each event provides their own set of judges pooled from different competing schools. The judges tended to focus more on how compelling the speakers were rather than considering their more technical elements such as rebutting and argument flow, Ethan Kim (11) said. As a result, according to Kim, he and his partner Sajan Mehotra (11) had a difficult time. However, the pair was still able to reach octofinals.

Richard He (11) and Ben Lee (10) partnered together for the first time at Lexington. They were 6-0 and top seed, and dropped out in early elimination rounds.

“It’s been really fun to lead the team this year because there are a lot of really talented really nice people from all grades,” Debate co-President Elizabeth Raab (12) said.

- Amelia Feiner & Amir Moazami, Staff Writer & Columnist

Courtesy of Honor McCarthy

DEBAES Mehrotra (11) debates opponent in Columbia College debate tournament last weekend.

7

HORACE MANN MIDDLE DIVISION JANUARY 26TH, 2018

Geo Bee contestants advance Noah Phillips & Marina Kazarian Staff & Contributing Writer

On Thursday, C period in Gross Theatre, nine Middle Division students competed with an audience of their peers and faculty in the seventh annual Geography Bee. The nine “Geo Bee” contestants and other hopefuls previously underwent two rounds of testing and assessment to gain entry into this third stage of the competition, English teacher Isaac Brooks said.

“The first round was a general round in which every student could participate through Haiku,” Brooks said.

Roughly 40 students earned sufficient scores in the online portion of the assessment to advance to the semifinals, from which the nine finalists were selected.

Competing students in this finalist stage have the opportunity to obtain points for their respective Middle Mania teams--each of the

five colors are represented in the finals--as well as gain entry into a state contest if they win at the school-level, Brooks said.

“The competition culminates with a finalist from each school, and they are sent to the state capitals of each state, and they can compete there for the State Championship and a spot at the National Championship,” Brooks said.

The 2017 champion of the Horace Mann geography bee, Dylan Rem (7), competed once again this year. Rem had the chance to attend the state contest last year.

“I think geography is one of the lesser emphasized skills in curricula across the nation and for kids at Horace Mann, the competition is filling a gap for kids who are lovers of maps,” Brooks said.

Nate Chiang (6), a finalist, says the tests grew increasingly difficult for him as he moved through the different stages.

As the coordinator of the event, Brooks selected questions that

were an appropriate challenge to students, at his discretion.

A portion of the questions are science-oriented, even quizzing some terminology.

The questions began as exclusively multiple-choice in the preliminary rounds, but in the finals, they included both multiple-choice as well as shortanswer, Brooks said.

To study for the quiz, Brooks sent a link to a Kahoot! self-quiz in an effort to give the finalists a taste of the competition and question difficulty beforehand. “Generally, contestants are looking at maps and atlases and quizzing themselves and each other in preparation,” Brooks said.

“In the first round, I knew I was going to get to the second round, but in the second round, I never thought I would make it to the final round,” Chiang said. “The second round had more USA geography questions and I’m usually better at foreign geography.”

Freya Lindvall/Photo Editor

PUTTING THEM ON THE MAP Students compete in Geo Bee as part of Middle Mania.

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Continued from page 1 She didn’t elaborate on most of the historical terms and events that she mentioned,” He said. “Given that half the student body hasn’t reached that point in US History and that not all of the US History courses actually cover all of those historical events, it left many students, including me, confused as to what specifically she was talking about.”

According to Zelizer, the goal of the assembly was to give students a flavor for the history of conservatism.

“I wanted them to get a feel of how it has evolved, what it used to be, and what it means today,” Zelizer said. “I wanted them at the same time to get a good sense of what conservatism means to Margaret, even in a moment where there is a lot of tension over the ideology.”

During the first thirty minutes of the assembly, Zelizer facilitated a dialogue with Hoover, tracing conservatism in America from its origins in the 1950s up until the present day.

“Today, there are as many definitions of what it means to

be ‘conservative’ as there are people who call themselves ‘conservative’, but at its origins, the movement was a coalition of intellectuals all dissenting against modern liberalism, for various reasons,” Hoover said.

Students had the opportunity to ask questions towards the end of the assembly as well as during a Q&A session during D and E periods in the Recital Hall.

Zelizer and Hoover also visited several classes throughout the day, including two US History classes, a World History class, and Comparative Race and Ethnicity.

“I thought that the presentation part of the assembly was done very well, but afterwards, I was still unsure of what the definition of Conservatism is,” Reina McNutt (10) said. “We discussed that more in my history class where Mr. Zelizer led the class, and we talked more about what it means to be a conservative in today’s society, which I feel was not extensively discussed in the assembly.”

Middle Division Spanish students learn the art of flamenco Julia Robbins Staff Writer

In the first few rows of the Recital Hall during C and D periods last Tuesday, students’ hands were up, motioning along to the movements of flamenco dancers and castanets.

All students taking Spanish Middle School Level 1 attended a flamenco workshop run by outside artists, Foreign Language Department Chair Valerie MatéHunt said.

Of the four artists leading the workshop, one was a dancer, one was a guitarist, one was a singer, and one was a dancer and storyteller, participant Aamri Sareen (6) said.

The leaders of the workshop “broke down the performance sections and explanation sections, always giving [students] examples of what they were explaining,” Maté-Hunt said.

Students learned how to move their hands and feet in the style of flamenco. Flamenco dancers wear shoes with metal on the soles to create sounds that contribute to the music, Ava Westreich (6) said.

We were taught that there are three necessary elements to the art of flamenco, Sophie Rukin (6) said. There is singing, dancing, and

guitar. In flamenco, guitar can only be strummed by the fingernails, she said.

“Flamenco is important to Spanish culture and the students’ cultural education, because it shows them the wide diversity that is found in the history and culture of Spain,” Maté-Hunt said. The flamenco workshop coincides with an MS1 Spanish unit that partially focuses on Spain, Maté-Hunt said.

Participating in the workshop helped show students more about the culture of Spain than what can fit inside of a textbook, Neeva Patal (6) said.

The workshop was “interesting and inspiring,” Sareen said. One of the most powerful historical elements of flamenco is that it started during a time when minorities were persecuted in Spain, Sareen said.

“The roots of this music demonstrate the many cultures that came together during a time of difficulty,” Maté-Hunt said.

In the 15th and 16th centuries, Jews, Muslims, Romany, and Christians were forced into the south of Spain by Spain’s Catholic monarchs, and while migrating and living together, this diverse group came up with flamenco, she said.

Flamenco relates well to Unity Week because many different cultures came together to create Flamenco, and Unity Week is a time to discuss different cultures and identities, Emily Grant (6) said.

“Coincidentally, this aligned with Unity Week and the theme of ‘Practicing the Language of Equity and Justice’”, Maté-Hunt said. Learning about the history of flamenco and the impact of minority groups on the art form gave Spanish classes the chance to discuss the Unity Week topic as well, she said.

“We find as a department that it is very important to connect the language to living expressions of it such as its people, music, films, etc.,” Maté-Hunt said.

Naz Yetis (6) has danced flamenco before, but this was the first time that she really delved into the history of the dance, she said.

It was interesting to learn about flamenco because it is so different from other dances, Rukin said. “It was different than anything that I’ve ever done,” she said.

“Now we’re looking forward to the French African Dancing lessons the MS1 French students will have next week,” Maté-Hunt said.

Courtesy of Valerie Maté-Hunt

JUST DANCE Students gather in Recital Hall for flamenco dancing.

Lions’ Den Record Sports

8

JANUARY 26TH, 2018

Star freshman fencers rise to occasion at national tournament

Connor Morris & Andrew Cassino Staff & Contributing Writers

Freshmen twins Celine and William Owens (9), nationally ranked fencers, travel around the country and even the world competing in saber youth fencing tournaments. Celine won the silver medal, and William, out with a wrist injury, coached Celine and their younger brother Harrison at the Southwest National Cadet Super Youth Circuit (SYC) Saber in Salt Lake City, At the SYC, Celine went through a series of about 10 bouts to reach the final round. The preliminary matches began with pools, where every fencer faced each other in a pool of about 5-7 opponents, then with a system based on those results fencers are sorted into a tableau, which are elimination rounds that carry on until one person wins, she said.

Celine made it all the way to the finals, and her silver medal finish was the best result she had received this year, William said.

Harrison, their younger brother, also performed well. He finished in the top five, Celine said.

Even though he was out with a wrist fracture due to overuse, William still made the trip to Utah and contributed to the success. “I provided suggestions at the one-minute breaks, during the bouting and also provided water and other drinks when she was exhausted,” William said.

Both the twins fence saber, the most aggressive of the three styles (saber, epee, foil), according to Celine. “In saber, generally, you want to stick to the attack, that’s the only way you’re going to score touches, you don’t want

to stick to defense, so if your opponent is constantly pushing you back in the box, that means that they’re probably going to win,” Celine said.

Originally, William began playing the sport simply through an interest in Star Wars, and Celine tried it out after not liking ballet.

Now, both twins have fenced for years, with a training schedule of four or more times a week, William since five and Celine since nine.

At Manhattan Fencing Center, where the twins train, practices consist of private lessons and group classes, running through warmups, cutting, footwork exercises, stages, fainting, drills, and other exercises. While the men’s and women’s saber divisions are separated, the twins both agree that fencing has helped them outside the sport.

“I definitely learned how to try to invest inside something and how to work hard on certain movements so that I can perfect them, and I think that’s really helped me in my schoolwork too,” William said,” I guess you can say it helps me on essays and stuff because I’m kind of a perfectionist now.”

“Before [fencing] I used to get really stressed out on tests, and because of that I wouldn’t do very well. Now I’m able to control my emotions and calm myself down, so instead of freaking out, I can focus on the content and try to do well,” Celine said.

Balancing competitive sports and schoolwork is often difficult for devoted athletes, but the benefits from fencing have outweighed the difficulty for the twins. “It’s hard to balance, but it helps with mentality. You start to get perseverant, resilient; sometimes you’ll have tough losses and you’ll have to

STANDING PROUDLY Celine Owens (left) on the podium.

deal with it, just like inside school when you have a bad test, and eventually after several competitions, you’ll develop a mindset, a way of approaching competing, that’s beneficial,” Celine said.

In the future, William hopes to go to the Junior Olympics, which he’ll be preparing for as soon as he returns from his wrist injury.

Celine has her own set of specific goals: “I’m not thinking about going to the Olympics, but

Courtesy of Celine Owens

I do want to get good national results. I have several opponents that are really good fencers and I really want to beat them.”

Aside from those national tournaments, you can look out for Celine competing on the school’s fencing team this season.

Emotions run high in Lions v. Tigers rivalry games Eliza Poster & Nelson Gaillard Staff Writers The rivalry between the school and Trinity has been growing over the last few years, peaking at Trinity’s Homecoming games last Friday and Saturday.

As they made their ways to the basketball courts, the school’s Boys and Girls Varsity Basketball teams were greeted by walls plastered with taunting slogans and a large, belligerent crowd.

The Girls Varsity Basketball team won its

game at Trinity’s Homecoming on Saturday by 30 points. Ella Anthony (10) said it was one of the most gratifying wins of the season because Trinity beat the Lions twice last year. Crowds at the game were particularly boisterous, heckling and shouting at the Lions.

The competition with Trinity was relatively unknown before, but athletes have noticed an increase in enthusiasm among their fans, Varsity Basketball player Jane Frankel (12) said.

“I think this was a bit random, that there is a rivalry between Horace Mann and Trinity,” Frankel said, “Of course, like always, we’re

Spyridoula Potamopoulou/Staff Artist

competitive with the teams in the Ivy League, but nothing was really special until this year.”

The Boys Varsity Basketball Team lost their game on Saturday by 14 points, which the Trinity team was thrilled about, Kelvin Smith (10) said.

Smith is eager to “destroy” them next year when he recovers from his injury, he said.

Girls Varsity Basketball Coach Ray Barile said he was unaware until recently of the rivalry with Trinity. As far as he knew, the school’s main rivals had always been Riverdale, Fieldston, and Dalton.

In addition to the Varsity games, the Trinity spectators were also rowdy during the Junior Varsity Basketball games on Friday. It was similar to Homecoming or Buzzell, Junior Varsity Basketball player Nick Potash (10) said. “They were loud and booing during warm-ups. If you air-balled a shot, they’d tell you.”

The energy was partially due to Trinity’s pep rally on Friday, which excited their community for Homecoming, Trinity student Leyla Giordano (11) said.

“The rivalry has been pretty crazy, especially since it is a new thing because we have never played [Horace Mann] at Homecoming.” she said.

The Trinity Administration discouraged unruliness during the games. However, they have not spoken out about the crowd’s behavior at Homecoming, Giordano said.

Trinity’s High School Senate organized spirit days, where students would come to school dressed according to various themes. One of the themes was “dress like a Horace Mann student.”

Students were prompted to dress like “the wannabe Greenwich inhabitant,” as “excellent sheep,” which meant to dress nerdy, or as, “the

most pathetic version of yourself.” Additionally, on social media, many students were pictured wearing trash bags adorned with the school’s logo, soccer player Evan Buonagurio (11) said.

“It just made me feel kind of sad that that’s the way that another school would see our school,” Jenna Freidus (12) said.

In the past, athletes have had to endure unsportsmanlike behavior not just from Trinity students, but from parents as well, Girls Varsity Soccer Player Sophia Fikke (12) said.

“I’ve always had an issue more with parents on the Trinity side being disrespectful to us while we were playing,” Fikke said. This problem was exemplified last year when a Trinity parent was distracting and yelling at one of the teams’ defenders, she said.

The rivalry between the Boys Soccer teams formed after they played a game against Trinity that kept the Lions out of the playoffs, Buonagurio said. “They were extremely bad sports about winning. That sort of started a feud between us.”

The Trinity Soccer captain used profanity and attempted to get unnecessary fouls called by the referee Buonagurio said. The Lions were upset by his lack of sportsmanship, and the Trinity team didn’t want to be associated with their captain’s disrespectful behavior, he said.

This competitive behavior displayed by Trinity may be due to the prominence the Lions have gained in athletics, Fikke said. Trinity has realized that the school is becoming more competitive in sports thanks to many talented, athletic seniors, Frankel said.

Nonetheless, if the school’s fans are willing to reciprocate the fervor shown by the Trinity teams in the future, the Lions would be a better team.

Potash said.