Junior Issue 3

The Record

Volume 119 Junior Issue 3

Horace Mann’s Weekly Newspaper Since 1903

Naomi Yaeger Staff Writer

ROLES REVERSED Ngala poses for the camera.

Flo Ngala ‘13 becomes first Black woman to photograph inside Met Gala Equipped with a Canon and a Kodak film camera, Flo Ngala ‘13 made history as the first Black woman invited to shoot inside the Met Gala on Monday. Her photos for Vogue captured the attendees in all their “gilded glamour,” as per the night’s dress code — Cardi B dripping in Versace gold chains; Kim Kardashian hand-in-hand with Pete Davidson; Billie Eilish all cool stares and smooth satin.

In the nine years since she graduated from the school, portrait photographer and photojournalist Ngala has built a portfolio with clients like the New York Times, Billboard, Rolling Stone, Nike, and more.

At the end of March, Ngala opened her inbox to an email from Vogue’s Visual Editor Landon Phillips commissioning her to shoot inside the Met Gala, she said. “I was honestly, genuinely, freaking out.” She had previously noticed Phillips looking at her Instagram account, but the invitation still came as a surprise. “It was very surreal to know that people at places like Vogue are tapped into my work,” she said.

The realization that she was the

May 6th, 2022

Pitching Progress: Students propose financial literacy classes for new mothers

Courtesy of Charity Chu

Emily Sun Staff Writer

record.horacemann.org

first Black woman hired to shoot inside the Gala came later, Ngala said. “It was so phenomenal that I needed to understand if I was the first one.” She discovered that the answer was yes — both women and people of color (POC) have had the job in the 74 years since the inaugural event, but never a Black woman.

Representation matters in photography because people project who they are and how they view the world into their photos, Ngala said.

On both technical and metaphorical levels, cameras reflect the outside world into a small box to produce an image. While photos seem like an objective art form, there is no such thing as a pure vision — rather, photographers’ identities shape what they see, she said.

Some perspectives — like the white, male, and heterosexual gaze — have taken precedence over others, so it is imperative to right that imbalance by incorporating more voices into the mix, Ngala said. “It’s really important to make sure that if you’re sharing space from moment to moment, as many kinds of people can be represented as possible.”

Seeing Ngala, a young female

see Flo Ngala on pg. 6

For the first time last Thursday, the New Community Project English class (NewComm) took a trip to Wall Street, where they presented a proposal to a group of business executives, Ajani Green-Watson (12) said. The students proposed a program to teach financial literacy classes to expecting mothers, she said.

Overall, the meeting was very successful, James Thomas (12) said. “[The executives] were gracious enough to give us a lot of impactful feedback,” he said. “They found our project very viable and expressed interest in working with us.”

One of the executives was a new mother herself, so she identified with the proposal, Julian Silverman (12) said.

“She had feedback on what it was like to be a mother, and laid out potential conflicts that she has with managing her work life and her home life,” he said.

NewComm focuses on a different theme every year, this year’s theme being economic inequalities, English teacher and grade dean Chidi Asoluka said. The NewComm class developed their proposal through the course of the year after reading books, watching movies, and listening to songs, he said.

Students used these stories as case studies for real challenges presented in the world and learned from the solutions presented in those stories when creating their proposal, Asoluka said. “I have always thought stories are a wonderful piece of data that can be analyzed and leveraged for something else, instead of just writing an essay.”

The proposal was inspired by the life of Ruth Younger, a character in the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorriane Hansberry, Rachel Fearon (12) said. In the play, Ruth is too preoccupied with her kids to focus on getting a much needed house for her family, she said.

Initially, the class had partnered

with the non-profit Global Thinking Foundation (GLT), but the day before their presentation, the organization ceased all operations in the United States, Asoluka said. Instead of presenting their proposal to GLT as originally planned, the class presented to a panel a few doors down and broadened their proposal so it wouldn’t depend on a particular organization, Asoluka said. “In true entrepreneurship form, we are building an airplane while flying it.”

The class is now working to turn their proposal into a pitch they can show to potential investors, GreenWatson said. This means finalizing the details of the program, such as where the class would take place and what lessons mothers would learn, GreenWatson said. If their pitch is accepted, the students would continue to run the program as interns, she said. “We still have full control of what the program does, what we want to change, and where we want to put it.”

To work towards this goal, the class is in the process of talking with mothers in the Bronx to see what they

need, Silverman said. “We’re further crafting the project while also working to improve it in whatever way possible.”

One of the best parts of the trip was watching his students learn, Asoluka said. “I fundamentally believe that education equates to freedom,” he said.

“It transcended what is typically the status quo of school, which can often feel transactional. The field trip was a counter-cultural moment, and I will never forget that.”

Presenting the pitch after spending months preparing was rewarding, Fearon said. “It was one thing to practice with everyone during class, but being able to present to people and to see their live reactions was really cool because we have worked on this for forever.”

The trip was a memorable moment that will stick with the class, Thomas said. “After 13 years at Horace Mann, this is the most explorative and fun experience I’ve had,” he said. “Mr. Asoluka acts as a father figure to the seven of us, he wants this project to succeed and it shows.”

Courtesy of Chidi Asoluka

ENGLISH ENTREPENEURS NewComm members take Wall Street by storm.

Marathon Softball makes a comeback with Mets legend John Franco Erica Jiang Staff Writer Last Friday, the school saw the return of Marathon Softball, an event created in the 1970s to honor Anthony Friedes, a member of the community who died of Hodgkin’s Disease, a cancer that affects the lymphatic system. The softball games, consisting of only three innings each, took place on Alumni Field from 6:45pm to 10pm, according to a school-wide email coorganizer Logan Dracos (12) sent.

The night featured events such as a game pitting faculty against students

and pitching by Brooklyn native and Mets legend John Franco P ‘22, Dracos said. Pizza and Walter’s hot dogs were served, along with food from a taco truck. Additionally, t-shirts were distributed to those that attended, according to Dracos’ email.

When the event premiered in the 1970s, the structure was similar to a walkathon, as it was structured as a 24-hour event where students raised money for each inning they played, Dracos said. Earlier this year, Bud Sinclair, the school’s Chief Financial Officer, passed away due to cancer.

As a result, Dracos and co-organizer Courtesy of Barry Mason

TOUCHING BASE Community comes together for Marathon Softball.

Lucas Alexander (12) decided to bring the event back without the purpose of fundraising, as Sinclair would have wanted, Dracos said.

The pair first learned about the event at Service Learning Day in 2019. “There was an HM archives portion that featured the history of community service at HM, and we saw a panel of the event and thought it would be an awesome thing to bring back,” Dracos said.

While organizing the event, Dracos and Alexander encountered various challenges, Dracos said. They initially wanted to host the event last school year, but could not execute the event because of COVID-19, Dracos said.

After planning for several months, hosting the event after a year of waiting required equal effort from Dracos and Alexander, but they could not have done it without the help of faculty and administration members, Dracos said. “We worked closely with Sr. Dalo and Dr. Kelly, they provided some key insights for pretty much every aspect of the planning, and generously offered to provide lights and food trucks,” Dracos said. “We couldn’t have done it without them.”

Ashley Coburn (10) watched the event with her friends and enjoyed

the laid-back nature. “It was mainly for fun and for the vibes,” Coburn said.

Upper Division Ceramics teacher Kim Do played in both the faculty vs. student game and batted against Franco when he pitched. “For me, it was like going back to childhood,” Do said. “The idea of playing baseball is associated with childhood and little league in my mind.”

Playing with Franco was a very special moment for Do. “I remember watching John Franco on TV years ago, and he had electric stuff, and his spirit and energy was so inspiring to watch,” he said. “To then meet him in real life was an incredible thrill.”

Do helped him warm up and played catch with him, he said.

Catherine Mignone (12) played in the student vs. student games.

She decided to participate because it would be a fun way to hang out with her friends. “Even though I had never played softball before, the games were very fun and I learned how to hit the ball,” Mignone said.

For Do, the event reignited the feelingof community that the school lacked for the past two years as a result of the pandemic. “Everybody was so happy. It felt like a real normal moment during one of the most abnormal times to live in,” he said.

“I’m so grateful to be part of this

community that can come together just to enjoy themselves and play in a really congenial atmosphere.”

Coburn especially enjoyed seeing the seniors play against the faculty, she said. “It was really nice to see all the seniors hanging out before they graduated and just having a good time together,” she said. “When the coaches were playing against them, they all seemed really happy.”

Mignone’s favorite moment was when her student team won against the Varsity Baseball team, she said. “Playing under the lights was awesome. It was an incredibly memorable event and I hope next year’s seniors continue the tradition,” Mignone said.

Ultimately, Do would characterize the Marathon Softball event as being utopian and idyllic, an extraordinary evening that he’ll never forget. “The next day, I was still riding high just thinking about it,” Do said. “There was a feeling of exuberance, the students just seemed so happy to be out there playing together.”

Dracos hopes that the tradition of Marathon Softball will continue in the future. “It was a very highprofile event for many years, so we hope that it can make a return to the annual HM calendar.”

2

THE RECORD OPINIONS MAY 6TH, 2022

Student body fails to recognize the Community Council’s work

Ariela Shuchman and Eshan Mehere “The Community Council (CC) does nothing.” “The CC is a joke.”

“Abolish the CC.” We have heard these kinds of comments many times throughout the three years we have spent on the CC. For a while, we would simply laugh them off. However, we have begun to make a conscious effort to voice our frustrations with the student body when these statements arise.

It is certainly reasonable for the student body to feel this way. After all, the CC has not yet found a way to convince the administration to build a ShakeShack on campus or reduce the student workload to zero, both of which have been requested by students. But, the CC undertakes plenty of initiatives that are both valuable and important.

The only problem: the student body does not take advantage of them and will comment regardless.

During our freshman year, we decided to run for CC because we had ideas to make a positive impact on the community. We did not expect to execute a grand overhaul of school policy or make extreme promises that we knew were impossible. We ran because we had fun and doable ideas that we thought the student body would enjoy.

During our time on the CC, we discovered that the student body limits what we can do, even more so than the administration.

Any elected group is inherently empowered by those that elect them. Consequently, if the student body does not want to engage with the CC and our initiatives, then there is a limit to what we can do for the community in return.

The most stark example of the disconnect between the CC and the student body was the Alumni Series event, which took place in February and featured Founder and President of Students 4 Carbon Dividends Alex Posner ‘13. Posner spoke to three history and science classes during the school day, in addition to giving a presentation open to all students during I period. This event did not materialize with the click of a button. It was the result of a long process that required a great deal of patience and engagement on our end. We had to juggle over 20 emails between ourselves, school faculty, and Posner. The bottom line: this event required effort and sacrifice on our part, which we were

willing to put in for the benefit of the community.

From what we see on Instagram and hear in class discussions, climate change is ostensibly an important issue to the HM community. So, from our perspective, Posner seemed like the perfect fit and exactly who the student body would want to hear from. In other words, we provided the community with the opportunity to “put their money where their mouth was” when it came to climate change advocacy.

That is why it was so disheartening to see seven people show up to the event, four of which were members of the CC and one who was the Record photographer assigned to the event. This occurred despite us sending multiple emails to the student body and tirelessly marketing the event to our peers.

We understand that students are busy; however, the excuse of “I have a lot of tests” is not the most effective considering we all do, including the CC members who put the event together.

We know that you did not miss the event because you were waiting in a long sandwich line!

For what seems like decades, the HM community has complained about the length of the sandwich line. With support from Michael Dalo, Brenda Cohn, and FLIK, the CC created a Google Form that allows students to order customized sandwiches to be ready at the click of a button. We assumed this would be a great solution for students who

do not have lunch periods and put an end to the moaning that ensues when high schoolers are forced to cut middle schoolers to secure a Tendy-Tuesday wrap. And yet, only two students consistently use the form, one of them being Steve Yang, the CC member who made it.

We also know that you do not skip our events because of frostbite, as we provided the entire Class of 2023 with cozy sweatpants! It is the peak of irony when members of our class berate us for being “useless” while wearing the sweatpants we ordered.

Furthermore, when we distributed these sweatpants during break, only 60 percent of the class came to pick them up. As a result, the CC spent multiple hours organizing and manually distributing them to the rest of the grade. This was sad to see given that these sweatpants were created by Spectrum Designs, a company that employs people with autism. It is ironic how a student body that claims to care about uplifting underrepresented voices does not feel the need to support a company doing exactly that. In fact, many of us are so privileged that free clothing is not enough of a reason to make that difficult trek up Mount Olshan.

The relationship between the CC and the student body is codependent. The less we do for the student body, the more distrust grows between us, causing our initiatives to have a weaker impact.

The less that all of you engage with what we plan, the less motivated we

will be to put in the immense effort required to plan our initiatives. This cycle of neglecting our events will most likely continue until the fun initiatives the CC organizes, such as Spikeball and Project X, cease to exist.

The goal of this piece is not to shame you for a few missed emails or opportunities. Trust us, there are plenty of amazing events that other clubs and organizations have brought to school that the two of us have missed. However, the CC is the only one of these clubs and organizations that carries the narrative of “being useless,” despite doing just as much —or more. If you have attended or heard about CC events and remain uninterested in our initiatives, we would love to hear some of your ideas. In the past, we created feedback forms asking for ways in which we can improve as student leaders, and for initiatives that the CC can implement. However, each of these forms typically received around six legitimate responses, indicating that despite how much complaining the student body likes to do about the CC, the majority of students do not have real ways to back up their sentiments. If you do not have any ideas of your own or have never checked a CC email, then we encourage you to think about the role you play in that disconnect before making those baseless and hurtful comments about the CC.

proliferation of misinformation on its platform. Even though Twitter is often used as a public entity and Musk claims that it is a “digital town square,” it is ultimately a privately-owned business that controls what information is allowed on its platform. These private companies have agency over the information that circulates online, so it is imperative that they remove misleading information, especially information regarding COVID-19.

During Donald Trump’s presidency, he often spread misinformation on Twitter about COVID-19, such as in October of 2020 when he wrote that he “can’t get it (immune), and can’t give it.” This obviously false tweet was flagged by Twitter because it “violated the Twitter Rules about spreading misleading and potentially harmful information related to COVID-19.”

Under Musk’s new policy, it’s clear that he will not take such actions to combat misinformation.

Private social media companies have a duty to remove misinformation on their platforms.

Many conservative politicians claim that they are censored more harshly and frequently than their liberal counterparts. In a study by MIT and Yale, researchers followed the online habits of 9,000 Twitter users, composed equally of Democrats and Republicans, for six months after the 2020 election to track which group was censored more often. They found that 35.6 percent of the Republican users in the trial were suspended, compared to only 7.7 percent of the Democrats. The study found that the

Republicans “shared substantially were rightfully banned because they more news from misinformation.” both shared misleading information Despite what conservatives claim that could have put thousands of to be a biased censorship policy, people in danger. In these cases, Republicans have been found to Twitter had a duty to consider public spread more conspiracy theories and safety and protect its users. Because false information. According to the of instances like these, Twitter should company’s website, Twitter’s current not become a platform where anyone policy against misinformation can post whatever they want. is unbiased; it does not censor Giving politicians the freedom to information for ideological reasons, post dangerous information, such but rather for content-based ones. as when Trump incited a massive Republicans such as former uprising against the President Donald Trump a n d Capitol building Representative Marjorie primarily Taylor Greene (R-GA), through social were banned from media, would Twitter for spreading potentially also be misinformation. Musk’s allowed under Musk’s “free speech” plan would new policy. Trump allow these politicians to was notoriously known post false, hateful, or for his tweets that often Artist Sophia Liu/Staff otherwise harmful spread misinformation; information.

For in December of 2020 he said, instance, Senator Ted Cruz “Statistically impossible to have lost wrote “Government propaganda… the 2020 Election. Big protest in for your five year old!” in November DC on January 6th. Be there, will 2021 after Big Bird from Sesame Street be wild!” Through his social media, posted that he got vaccinated. His Trump encouraged his supporters to rhetoric impacts how his followers take part in an insurrection. and supporters view vaccines, and By inciting his supporters, the makes them hold a negative view riots resulted in the assault of 140 about the government’s intentions for police officers by a mob of over 2,000 requiring vaccination. supporters. Multiple social media After the riots on January 6th, platforms including Twitter, banned Twitter suspended numerous rioters his account for inciting violence; because they used their accounts to however, this would not have spread violence. Musk’s plan would occurred under Musk’s leadership. allow for these users to continue According to his plan, it is likely to share misinformation, even that Musk would permit anyone unknowingly, and present it as fact. I to post whatever they wish, so if believe Greene and the Capitol rioters Trump was allowed back on Twitter,

he could continue to spread similar false information. In November of 2020 Trump said “there was a large number of secretly dumped ballots as has been widely reported!” referring to an error in Michigan where the data counter accidentally spiked in votes for Biden. His tweets often perpetrated false information which should not be allowed on such an influential platform.

Many of my peers consume news by scrolling through social media applications including Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and Instagram. As more people begin to rely on social media for their news, companies will become responsible for the content they choose to disseminate.

If my peers and I rely primarily on social media for our news, and that information is false or misleading, it gives these companies the power to control what information an entire group of people are exposed to and could potentially sway how some people view important issues such as COVID-19.

Twitter must remove any false or potentially dangerous information because it has a duty to protect its users, no matter the political ideology of the user. If Musk moves forward with his plan to make Twitter an unregulated platform, it could potentially have detrimental impacts.

Twitter is a platform where censorship has been practiced to keep its users safe, and should continue to do so even under Musk’s new leadership.

Musk’s dangerous decision to eliminate Twitter censorship

Isabella Ciriello “Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” Elon Musk tweeted after striking a deal to purchase Twitter for 44 billion dollars. The tweet refers to Musk’s plan to make Twitter an uncensored platform. His statement left many Twitter users, including myself, confused about his intentions for the site. It was unclear to me if he plans to discontinue Twitter’s current censorship policies, such as deleting misinformation. Musk clarified that he believes censorship is contrary to the peoples’ interests. However, by allowing Twitter to be uncensored, misinformation will flourish, placing its users in a potentially dangerous situation.

While I believe everyone should be able to express their opinions freely, private companies such as Twitter have a responsibility to combat the

Junior Issue 3 Editorial Board Head of Design Alara Yilmaz

Editor in Chief Zachary Kurtz

Managing Editor Vidhatrie Keetha

Features Audrey Carbonell Emily Sun

News Sean Lee Ayesha Sen

Opinions Hannah Katzke Allison Markman

A&E Celine Kiriscioglu Audrey Moussazadeh

Middle Division Emily Salzhauer Max Chasin

Lions’ Den Alex Lautin Rachel Baez

Art Directors Addy Steinberg Amira Dossani

Design Editors Avani Khorana

Photo Directors Jorge Orvañanos Ari Palla

Online Editor Lucas Glickman

Faculty Advisor David Berenson

Staff

Staff Writers Ariella Frommer, Aryan Palla, Athena Rem, Ava Lipsky, Ben Rafal, Clara Stevanovic, Ella Shaham, Erica Jiang, Etta Singer, Hanzhang Swen, Heidi Li, Isabella Ciriello, Joshua Shuster, Kate Beckler, Lucy Peck, Madison Kim, Maeve Goldman, Mira Bansal, Naomi Yaeger, Neeva Patel, Nia Huff, Rani Ogden, Samantha Matays, Sophia Paley, Sophie Rukin, Audrey O’Mary, Emily Wang, James Zaidman, Leah Marquardt, Malachai Abbott, Oliver Konopko Staff Photographers Aanya Gupta, Allyson Wright, Amelia Hirsch, Anna Miller, Ben Rafal, Catherine Mong, David Aaron, Dylan Greenberg, Harper Rosenberg, Jiwan Kim, Madlyn Yoon, Matthew Jacobson, Nicole Au, Oliver Konopko, Trisha Tran Staff Artists Aashna Hari, Aimee Yang, Christian Conner, Dani Brooks, Dylan Leftt, Elena Zhu, Felix Brener, Isabelle Kim, Ishaan Iyengar, Karla Moreira, Kayden Hansong, Kristy Xie, Lauren B. Kim, Sam Gordon, Samantha Strasser, Serena Bai, Sophia Liu, Sophie Li

Editorial Policy

About Founded in 1903, The Record is Horace Mann School’s award-winning weekly student newspaper. We publish approximately 30 times during the academic year, offering news, features, opinions, arts, Middle Division and sports coverage relevant to the school community. The Record serves as a public forum to provide the community with information, entertainment, and an outlet for various viewpoints. 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. Horace Mann School is not responsible for the accuracy and contents of The Record and is not liable for any claims based on the contents or views expressed therein.

Editorials All editorial decisions regarding content, grammar, and layout are made by the senior editorial board. The unsigned editorial represents the opinion of the majority of the board.

Opinions Opinion columns represent the viewpoint of the author and not of The Record or the school. We encourage students, alumni, faculty, staff, and parents to submit opinions by emailing record@horacemann.org.

Letters Letters to the editor often respond to editorials, articles, and opinions pieces, allowing The Record to uphold its commitment to open discourse within the school community. They too represent the opinion of the author and not of The Record or the school. To be considered for publication in the next issue, letters should be submitted by mail (The Record, 231 West 246th Street, Bronx, NY 10471) or email (record@horacemann. org) before 6 p.m. on Wednesday evening. All submissions must be signed.

Contact For all tips, comments, queries, story suggestions, complaints and corrections, please contact us by email at record@horacemann.org.

3

THE RECORD NEWS MAY 6TH, 2022

Public Forum debaters wrap up season at State Championships Mira Bansal Staff Writer

From last Friday to Sunday, members of the school’s Public Forum (PF) Debate team competed virtually in The New York State Forensics League Championship, the last tournament of the year for many members of the team. At the tournament, teams debated the topic, “Resolved: Japan should revise Article 9 of its Constitution to develop offensive military capabilities,” Hanzhang Swen (10) said.

Several members of the team advanced to elimination rounds; in the Varsity division, Naomi Gelfer (10) and Daniel Pustilnik (10) made it to the quarterfinals, and Sean Lee (11) and Giselle Paulson (11) made it to the top 16, Swen said. In the novice division, James Kapadia (9) and Jaiveer Gupta (9) made it to the top 16, and Gillian Ho (9) and Carson Eisner (9) reached the top 32, she said.

Unlike other tournaments where members of the team can simply sign up to compete, debaters had to qualify for this tournament, Joann Yu (10) said. The tournament began with six preliminary rounds—two on Friday night and four throughout the day on Saturday—which were followed by four additional elimination rounds on Saturday night and Sunday, she said. In order to advance to the elimination rounds, debaters were required to have secured at least four wins in the preliminary rounds, Yu said.

The debaters studied Article 9 of the Japanese constitution, which states that Japan cannot have any official offensive military, Gelfer said.

The article was put in place by the United States after World War II and has recently come into

speculation due to the recent invasion of Ukraine

by Russia and threats of reunification from China, she said. If Japan or its neighbors were to be invaded, it would not be prepared to fight offensively or engage in foreign wars threatening its own security, she said.

The topics at debate tournaments always relate to current events, Kapadia said. “My knowledge of what’s going on in the world is greatly enhanced by debate,” he said.

In order to prepare for this tournament, the team often met during I-period to discuss various strategies, Gelfer said. Juniors created spreadsheets with possible arguments opponents could make and assigned freshmen to write counterarguments, which helped them fully understand both sides of the debate, she said. “We have to anticipate things that the opponent might say—it’s kind of like fortune telling.”

The freshmen on the team typically prepare separately from the upperclassmen since they debate in the Novice division as opposed to the Varsity division, Paulson said. However, this year, the juniors worked closely with the freshmen, developing close relationships, she said. “We are very much one team.”

This tournament also differed from most as the judges did not release their decisions until after all of the preliminary rounds had ended, which kept the teams on edge, Paulson said. “It felt like the debate version of college decisions,” she said.

On the other hand, waiting for their results gave the team a chance to debrief and bond over their shared anticipation, Swen said. “We all jumped on Zoom and saw our results at the same time.”

Team bonding at tournaments has been a experience an authentic form of debate. “You challenge this year, as tournaments have been don’t have the same thrill of going in strictly virtual due to COVID, Emma Chang (9) person,” she said. said.

Some freshmen had already Being unable to sit in the same room as experienced in person tournaments his partner and opponents from the school’s Middle for other online Division (MD) tournaments Debate team, made debate including feel more A k b a r . impersonal, High school Kapadia said. debaters For the state are more tournament, focused on Kapadia and his improvement, partner, Gupta, whereas debate were able to sit in the MD was more in the same room centered around together while they having fun, she said. debated, making the Debaters in the UD experience more also have more ambition enjoyable, he said. to succeed, Chang said.

There are both p r o s “In high school the team and cons to debating online; has a really strong sense of one pro is not having to directly commitment,” she said. face opponents or judges while Although not all members debating, a factor that can cause of the team did as well as anxiety among debaters, Kapadia they had hoped, the team said. “On Zoom, there’s almost was able to keep up a high Aimee Yang/Staff Artist a sort of safety element because sense of morale and end on you’re not actually in the same room a nice note at the State Championships, as these people,” Kapadia said.

Chang said. “The motivation that we all share While on one hand, the virtual format allowed collectively helps drive us forward in every debaters to look at their notes or get in some competition.” extra prep time, Emily Akbar (9) could not fully

Nurturing nature: Environmental Science class goes to Dorr

Courtesy of Barry Mason

Lucy Peck Staff Writer

DRUMMING IT OUT Students showcase Taiko drum skills for Japan Day.

Students host Japan Day celebrations Katie Beckler and Emily Wang Staff Writers Last Friday, Upper Division (UD) Japanese classes gathered in the Recital Hall for Japan Day. “Japan Day is a day for all the Japanese classes to put on various performances and showcase their skills to the HM community,” Rhea Patel (12), one of the heads of the Japan Day committee, said.

Patel worked alongside the Language department in order to facilitate the event.

Once a year, students enrolled in Japanese language classes gather to embrace Japanese culture by engaging in activities such as playing taiko drums, singing Country Roads in Japanese, and practicing karate.

Japan Day was started by a now-retired faculty member, Mami Fujisaki, over fifteen years ago, Japanese teacher Reiko Kawahara said. Fujisaki developed Japan Day in order to provide an interactive learning experience for all students in Japanese classes, she said. The event serves as a summary of what the students have learned so far.

The most important aspect of the day is embracing and celebrating Japanese culture with the community, Japanese teacher Atsuko Matsuyama said. “Going back to Japanese culture, going back to celebrate Japan and Japanese culture: that is Japan Day.” Many Japanese students enjoyed preparing for Japan Day, Sofia Filardo (10) said. “I really enjoyed learning about the different writing styles in particular such as Katakana, Hiragana, and Kanji,” she said. Filardo enjoyed learning the language in a fun and playful way, instead of in a classroom setting, and believes that the school should host more events like Japan Day to celebrate all Asian cultures.

Students began preparing for Japan Day several months before the event, Emma Chang (9) said.

“In the months leading up to Japan day, we prepared a bunch of skits, we prepared the Soran Bushi dance,,” she said. “We were able to not only apply what we learned in class, but learn more about Japanese culture generally and have it all come together in a final performance.”

“Doing the dance with everyone in person was definitely a lot of fun and nerve wracking,”

Nusaiba Ashraf (10) said. Since everything was online last year, this year’s in-person Japan Day felt more important, Ashraf said.

Japan Day not only has an influence on students who are in Japanese classes, but other students as well, Patel said. “It might make more people want to learn Japanese and it’s a great bonding experience for the Japanese classes,” she said.

The performances inspired Bethany Jarrett (10), even though she was not on stage, she said. “It was great to see other students get involved with the culture, not just speak in a classroom,” Jarrett said. The positive energy in the room was really encouraging, she said.

Like Jarrett, Rizaa Fazal (10) also participated in this event by watching the performances, Fazal said. “I especially enjoyed listening to the drum performance put on; it was so engaging to listen to the music live,” she said.

Similar to many of the school’s activities, Japan Day was affected by the pandemic, which resulted in certain changes from previous years, Patel said.

“This year we did not have as much in the rotunda such as tea ceremony and origami and mochi tasting, but it remained very exciting nonetheless.”

The preparation for the okonomiyaki, a Japanese savory pancake, took about a month, Nusaiba Ashraf (10) said. “Our teacher went to the grocery store. She filmed it and we did a voiceover, and then we cooked it in the cafeteria,” she said. “It was a lot of fun.”

Although students contributed to the scheduling of Japan Day, the Japanese teachers were crucial to the planning process as well, Patel said. “The Japanese teachers helped us a lot with planning and we couldn’t have done it without them.”

Although this year’s Japan Day was unlike past ones, it was still a worthwhile and exciting experience for many students, Patel said. “It was very fun for me because I have seen many Japan days in the past and we knew exactly how I wanted the day to run,” Patel said.

“The most important thing is for our students to enjoy Japan Day,” Matsuyama said. “And it seems it was very successful, because they enjoyed it.”

This Tuesday, students in the two Upper Division (UD) Environmental science classes waded through the stream at the John Dorr Nature Laboratory to get hands-on experiences in the field, UD science teacher Camilla Nivison said.

“Because we are based in a city, it is hard to go out and do fieldwork so I’m glad Dorr has allowed us to learn these field techniques.” These techniques included collecting data outside, sampling macroinvertebrates, and using dichotomous keys and water test kits, Nivison said.

This was the Environmental Science class’ first trip to Dorr, Nivison said. She has been hoping to take this field trip for a few years, but was not able to as a result of the pandemic, she said. “It is a great way for students to get back to a place they love.”

The class learned about sustainability at Dorr, Nivison said. The lodge is constructed out of LEED certified platinum, she said. The building is equipped with photovoltaic solar panels which generate electricity and a solar water heating system which heats water by running it through pipes on the roof which are exposed to the sun’s rays, she said. Dorr’s toilets also use gray water — rainwater collected on the roof for flushing — as opposed to fresh water.

Leonardo Hess (12) liked seeing how Dorr uses sustainable practices, he said. “It was cool to see how problems like water drainage or pollution can be solved,” he said. “It was nice to see that HM cares about these things and implements solutions.”

In the afternoon, the class conducted a lab about macroinvertebrates to determine the water quality of Dorr’s streams, Nivison said.

“These organisms are macro so they are big enough to see without a microscope, and they are invertebrates so they don’t have bones — mostly insects with aquatic larval stages.” The class was able to determine the stream’s water quality and the extent of its pollution based on the types of macroinvertebrates they discovered, she said.

Tomoko Hida (12) is not fond of insects and was apprehensive about the lab, she said. “We used big nets to scoop out the bottom of the pond and examine the organisms.” The group mainly found small organisms like dragonfly nymphs, she said.

The lab relates to what the students have been discussing in class, Hida said. “We have talked about water pollution with regards to the way people are impacted by it,” she said. “We’ve also discussed how fertilizer and runoff can impact water quality by increasing nitrogen levels, decreasing dissolved oxygen and creating a dead environment for organisms.”

The lab was a good learning experience, Hess said. “The lab opened my eyes to what was living in the pond,” he said. “We’ve talked a lot about ecosystems and the way the organisms within an ecosystem act and react towards one another and how external factors impact the ecosystem,” Hess said. “By seeing what’s in the pond, I saw all the different parts involved in sustaining the ecosystem.”

The class has yet to come to a conclusion about the quality of the streams, Hida said. “We are currently examining the dissolved oxygen levels and the types of organisms we encountered.”

Nivison loved seeing the students participate in a field activity, she said. “They’re so happy when they really get into it and stop caring about getting dirty.” In fact, Nivison hopes that more UD classes will take advantage of Dorr as a resource for field trips and extensions of classroom learning, she said.

Hess also found the lab to be more interactive than taking notes in the classroom, he said.

“The experience helped ground what we’ve been learning about in class,” he said. “It’s always enjoyable to go out on a fieldtrip and try something new.”

Nivison anticipates that this field trip will continue to occur annually, she said. “There is a lot of upfront work when you plan something brand new, but now that we have a bit more of a plan in place, it will be much smoother getting a field trip like this off the ground again.”

If the class were to do this lab annually, they could begin collecting longitudinal data, Nivison said. “If we keep track of all of our data from year to year, we can track if there are any changes in the system over time.”

Courtesy of Tomoko Hida

LENDING A HAND Students help clean river.

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THE RECORD FEATURES MAY 6TH, 2022

April showers bring smiles and stress to students Sophie Rukin Staff Writer “If you look at a tree and it no longer looks like a skeleton, but rather a full tree with nice bright leaves, then at least for me, you know it’s spring,” Leonardo Giorgini (12) said. The weather is warmer, the sun is up for longer, and spring has finally begun, he said.

Weather, specifically sunlight, affects individuals’ mental health, especially those with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), Upper Division Director of Counseling and Guidance Dr. Daniel Rothstein said. Individuals with SAD often experience depression caused by shorter days, less sunlight, and colder temperatures, he said. When sunlight increases in the spring, it can help ease the symptoms of SAD. “Spring is a time of renewal, and I think people do feel some boost in their moods,” Rothstein said.

Even for students without SAD, increased sunlight can positively affect their well-being, psychologist Dr. Liz Westphal said. “Sunlight is important, and weather affects most people’s mood to some degree.”

The extra sunlight motivates Jeffery Dai (10) to do his work and be active, he said. In winter, the early nights and lack of sunlight negatively impacted his mood, he said. “I was participating in the One Act Play Festival at school, and when I got home at seven or eight it would be nighttime, and I just sort of felt unmotivated to do work.”

The sunlight also helps Elise Kang (10) wake up earlier and find time to prioritize herself, she said. “I’m not waking up just to go to school, which means my life is not only about school.” Kang will often go on walks or spend time in nature, which would not be possible during winter, she said.

Sunlight decreases Skylar Fraser’s (9) stress, she said. “As the weather gets warmer and I don’t have to wear layers of clothes to go outside, everything just feels better.”

She also loves to look at all the trees on campus, like the cherry blossoms by Pforzheimer Hall, she said.

The nice weather makes Julia Eizenstat’s (9) increased workload in the spring more manageable, she said.

“It’s a lot nicer to be able to study on the field or to even sit with your friends on the field to help de-stress before a test.”

Unlike Eizenstat, Fraser’s assignments make it harder for her to enjoy the spring weather, she said. “I want to try to spend more time outside during my frees and lunch, but I currently feel like I’m packed,” she said. “Any chance I have with a free period or with free time to do work, I’m in the library.”

Beyond the extra hours of sunlight, time spent outside can be beneficial to students and faculty, Rothstein said. “Just the ability to be outside and be comfortable creates a feeling of excitement and freedom.”

The warmer weather feels more welcoming to Eizenstat as well; she likes how students can cross the field now that the borders are down, she said. “I really enjoy being able to walk across the field and see everyone I know, who I maybe wouldn’t see otherwise.”

Being outdoors benefits Jennifer Feng’s (12) wellbeing, she said. “[During winter], it’s always dark and dreary so you can’t do much outside — you have to spend so much time inside, next to the heater, and just stare out into the darkness,” she said.

The darkness is replaced by flourishing nature in the spring and Feng spends much more time outside, which helps block out her stress and worry.

The changing weather also opens up options for how people express themselves through clothing, Eizenstat said. She especially likes to put on vibrant colors in the spring, she said.

“Wearing a brighter color makes me happier because I can look down and say, ‘yay, I’m wearing pink, or yellow, or green,’” she said. “Just by wearing a brighter color, you are embodying something brighter and it instantly raises your mood.”

Dai enjoys being able to experiment more with his clothing in the spring, he said. “If you

wear an outfit that you really like, it can boost your confidence and sort of make you walk differently,” he said. “You get that little jump in your step.”

In addition to more fashion choices, the warm weather also lets teachers choose to conduct their classes outside. “A few weeks ago, my English class went out on the grass near Spence Cottage,” Fraser said. “It had a nice warm breeze, it was peaceful, and it was just a much better experience being outside than in class, although some of us got distracted.”

Classes outside are a fun and different way to teach, math teacher Chris Jones said. While he has not done so yet, he plans to bring his ninth grade class out soon for some outdoors geometry, he said. However, although small group work may be convenient outside, normal class is a bit challenging, Jones said.

“Actually trying to deliver a lesson outside, unless the lesson is about the outside, is a losing proposition.”

While outdoor classes can be a good thing, they are not always the most productive use of class time, English Department Chair Vernon Wilson said. “I am a bit wary of outdoor classes because I remember myself as a student, and when I went outside for classes, I never wanted to be in class,” he said. “I always wanted to socialize and chill and not necessarily think critically.”

W h e n

a result of that.”

Over the years, many students have attempted to change McIntyre’s mind, she said. “Students do some of their best compositional work in my class in an effort to try to get us out of doors,” she said. “But I try not to succumb to these acts of persuasion, because as I say, the moment you go outside all work stops.”

Since junior year, Feng began to prioritize being outside because it helped lower her stress that spring, she said. “You get to focus on nature and not the fact that you have three missing assignments that each count for a quarter of your grade,” she said. “I spent a lot of time just sitting on the chairs outside of Tillinghast talking with my friend [about] the problems we had to deal with — such as schoolwork and more schoolwork.”

Myths of the stress and hardships of junior spring have been everywhere since Ana Aguilar (11) first came to the school, she said. “It’s something that is talked about a lot, especially if you have people in older grades in your classes.”

As an underclassman, hearing about junior spring used to make her nervous, but it also prepared her mentally, she said.

When Kang thinks of grades and workload in spring, the first thing that comes to mind is junior spring, she said. Kang first heard about junior spring when a junior was complaining in her band class, she said.

While she knows t h a t

Wilson is deciding whether or not to go outside, he evaluates if it is a good i d e a for that specific day based on his lesson plans and the weather, he said.

Due to a variety of factors, outdoor classes are rarely, if ever, beneficial, English teacher Sarah McIntyre said. For this reason, she i s

adamant against taking her students outside for classes. “Socialization is too powerful to get a good class focus, at least in my experience,” she said. “I seldom say yes [to outdoor class], though my class hates my guts as

junior spring will be stressful, she is not nervous about it yet. “I’m more of a live in the moment type person, but I think it is something that I definitely want to prepare for,” she said.

The myths about junior spring have circulated through Rose Korff ’s (9) house since her brother s t a r t e d

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highschool, she said. From then on, she has b e e n nervous about her future workload and the idea of tons of future assessments.

While Dai is already stressed in sophomore year, he is much more nervous for junior spring due to rumors he has heard from peers, he said.

“I first heard about [junior spring] through the HM Affirmation Instagram page and I didn’t know what it was,” he said, referring to a post that read, “junior spring is not that bad.”

The stress of junior spring has been hard for Aguilar, she said. “Subconsciously thinking that [junior spring] is stressful makes it even more stressful.” Since everyone is told from a young age that they are supposed to be stressed during junior spring, it can cause students to feel pressure they may not have felt otherwise, she said.

The myths have held true for Jared Contant (11) — junior spring has been just as challenging as people said it would be, he said. “I feel like my grades are slipping, and all I can think about every time I take a test is how it’s going to impact my report card and whether or not people at colleges are thinking less of me because of a grade that I got.”

When students come to Jones with stress, he tries to divert their focus from their grade, he said. “All I care about is that you are learning and that you’re trying, and then when you make mistakes you learn how to correct them,” he said. “While the grade may be important to you, the learning is important to me, and I try to put an emphasis on that. If you feel like you’re learning, then you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing.”

Compared to previous years, the academic workload and overall spring stress decreased after the school got rid of finals and APs, Jones said. “As a teacher, I feel as if it’s a more mellow ending than it was in the past,” he said. “But students can’t really compare what they experience now to what it used to be.”

Even though students can be more stressed in the spring than in the winter, the workload for seniors tends to be lighter, while juniors might find themselves feeling more stress about the college process.

The most stressful part about junior spring is not the workload, but rather everything that comes on top of the typical workload, Miller Harris (11) said. “I don’t know if [the workload picking up] is particularly because of junior spring or if it is because I have to think about other things such as my extracurriculars.”

Everything feels so important during junior spring that nothing is ever easy or stress-free, he said.

Looking back on that time as a senior brings both reflection and relief, Giorgini said. “Junior spring was the hardest I had ever worked in my life, turning last spring into not a very fun one.”

He is thankful that he no longer worries about colleges, he said. “I feel like I can take more risks because if a college doesn’t want me, they need a reason to rescind me,” he said. “They can’t just say my grades aren’t good enough.”

Stress is not something that is unique to the spring, Wilson said. “At Horace Mann, I don’t think that students are more stressed in spring time than they are in the winter time,” he said. “Stress just manifests differently depending on the season, grade level, and other factors.”

Many students, especially those who suffer from SAD, are actually more stressed in the winter as they try to handle their workload on top of the cold and dark weather, he said. “At least in springtime it’s close to the end of the year, so you can take a walk, or just be outside.”

One of the nicest parts about spring is that students associate it with the end of the year, Westphal said. “Even though the year isn’t quite ending, feeling the warm spring weather that you associate with the end of the school year and summer can absolutely boost people’s moods,” she said. It is also motivating to see an end in sight, she said. “When a student can realize that they may be having a horrible week, but that they only have one test left in physics, or one more English paper to do, it can bring stress levels down.”

The knowledge that the end of the year is near helps Fraser stay motivated to do her work and push past tough weeks, she said. “Because I have something to look forward to and the spring weather to enjoy, I think I will be able to get through the stress of spring at Horace Mann.”

THE RECORD FEATURES MAY 6TH, 2022

A year’s worth of words for English and history

5

Junior Research Paper Neeva Patel Staff Writer “I can’t imagine spending so much time on my JRP if I don’t like the topic, so I am very glad I chose a topic that I was genuinely interested in,” Amelia Resnick (11) said. “One of the goals of this paper is to look into a topic you are interested in and find out what it’s like to write an actual research paper that you are proud of.”

According to the Program of Studies, every English 11 student writes a Junior Research Paper (JRP) that synthesizes the skills of “close reading, building from evidence to argument, comparative analysis, and independent critical thinking.” The paper follows different formats and timelines depending on the class and teacher, ranging from comparative literary-critical analysis to individual author studies, to New Yorker-style profile pieces.

The JRP is the perfect paper to write in eleventh grade because students are working at their highest caliber, Upper Division (UD) English teacher Dr. Andrew Fippinger said.

“The point of the JRP is to introduce research to students so that they are better equipped in college for it,” he said. “Seniors are distracted by the college process, so eleventh grade is the time when students are best able to handle this type of project.”

For her JRP in UD English teacher Dr. Jonathan Kotchian’s class, Resnick analyzed the gender barriers in fashion by researching the public response to Harry Styles wearing a dress on his Vogue cover, she said. Resnick chose this topic because it was controversial and not clear-cut, she said. She evaluated many unconventional and opinionated sources about the cover,

many of which she had to take with a grain of salt, she said. “It’s not all very scholarly research, but I still think it was worth it in the end since I am deeply interested in the topic.”

students suggestions, Steiner said.

“The person can be someone students know well or someone they are interested in learning more about, but regardless, everyone has a story that

“We are used to writing five-page papers about a book in a week’s time at school, and this was very different — you could basically write about anyone.”

- Maya Westra (11) Similar to Resnick’s class, Fippinger gave his class more creative freedom, he said. Students could write about whatever artwork or cultural object they wanted but with an added constraint, he said. “In the past, when students wrote contemporary JRPs, they had to rely a lot on reviews and journalism, but it was hard for students to do meaningful research on the topic because there hasn’t been scholarly research on it yet,” he said.

Because of this challenge, Fippinger now requires that his students write about something prior to 2005, he said.

Unlike Kotchian and Fippinger, students in UD English teacher Dr. Wendy Steiner’s class all wrote New Yorker-style profiles, Maya Westra (11) said. She found it difficult to pick a person who had a hook, or something interesting to talk about, and eventually decided on a family friend who worked in the Peace Corps, she said. “We are used to writing five-page papers about a book in a week’s time at school, and this was very different — you could basically write about anyone.”

Throughout the process, Steiner acted as a soundboard and gave

would work well in a profile.” One challenge students face when writing these New Yorker-Style profiles is finding a balance between their own take on the person and their interviewee’s quotes, she said. When grading the JRPs, Steiner looks for a lively and focused narrative, she said.

“The paper is a worthwhile project because it invites students to write a longer narrative, so they can build a story over a number of pages,” she said.

Having a set style for the JRP allowed Westra to avoid heavy research, she said. Since Westra wrote a history year-long paper alongside the JRP, she appreciated that her final paper was due earlier than most, in mid-April, she said. “I spent a lot of my weekends on the first draft which was due in February, and the second draft I did over Spring Break,” she said. “During one Sunday, I spent from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. just finalizing my whole paper.”

In hindsight, spending time over break on the paper was very helpful, Westra said. “I could have written the paper without thinking of it over spring break, but I am happy that I saved myself time over the year.”

History Department Chair Dr. Daniel Link assigns a year-long to his 300-level class because it helps students build on skills they acquired in ninth and tenth grade, he said.

“Students can learn far more about a topic through a research paper than they would from reading a few pages in a textbook.”

Similarly, History Teacher Dr. Elisa Milkes said the paper allows students to go beyond the course materials. “We can only touch on a certain number of themes or periods and most students are actually writing about topics we haven’t yet covered,” she said. Milkes has often observed that students will write about topics they have had a longtime interest in, she said.

Because Gabriela Peralta (12) wrote a year-long paper last year, she knew what to expect for this year’s writing process, she said. She takes Comparative Race and Ethnicity

taught by history teacher Dr. Emily Straus, and her paper explores how enslaved and indigenous people were converted to Catholicism during the Brazilian colonial period, she said. She wanted to choose a topic that relates to her identity as someone who is both Latina and Catholic, she said.

History year-long research paper Neeva Patel Staff Writer “A lot of history writing at our school revolves around the fact that you are given sources by your teachers, you are given a specific prompt to answer, and that you exist in a bubble,” Justin Gurvitch (12) said.

His year-long paper taught him how to develop an argument and evaluate sources that were not simply handed to him, he said.

According to the Program of Studies, every 400-level history elective requires students to write a year-long research paper on a topic related to their course. While most students assume year-longs are only a part of 400-level course curriculums, 300-level classes like the Global Cold War and Contemporary U.S. History also assigned year-long papers this year.

Christian Conner/Staff Artist

While some students like Westra have already handed in their JRPs, others have just been introduced to it — like Maddie Yoon (11), whose first assignment for the paper was due this Wednesday, she said. “Due to the fact that we [started] the project this late into the year, I’m assuming it won’t go as in-depth as other classes have,” she said. At first, her class was not planning to write the JRP, which at first disappointed Yoon, she said. “We always write essays in English class, but this paper is more heavily based on research and it’s kind of a junior tradition.”

In contrast, Kotchian’s approach to the paper was more spread out throughout the year. “We had to hand in an idea proposal, an annotated bibliography, and a few drafts to get feedback o n ,

b u t i t was definitely still a very long assignment,” Resnick said. Because she had so many deadlines before the final draft, Resnick consistently worked on her paper instead of procrastinating, she said. “However, I definitely found that at the last minute there were a few minor details

they are assigned the paper. We work closely with the library and do skills building in class to help prepare them.”

At the beginning of the year, Link noticed how juniors found the paper intimidating because they had never written an essay longer than five pages, he said. “By the end of the year, they

“I had my question, I collected evidence on my own, which was very hard to do because it was censored by the government or in a different language, but these are things you have to deal with when you research.”

- Justin Gurvitch (12) “The religion is one that was violently forced onto Indigenous people and Black enslaved people, but my family continues to practice it, so this paper is a good way to investigate why that is.”

For his paper, Gurvitch immediately knew that he wanted to write about shifts in Chinese policy over generations of leadership, since he never had the opportunity to research it in-depth, he said. He wanted to write about the city of Shenzhen as a whole over the past 40 years, but because it was too broad of a topic, Link helped him narrow his focus to the philosophical change of the city of Shenzhen reflected in the evolving city, he said. “There are a lot of students who don’t have a super clear idea of what they want to write about going into the assignment, but your teacher works with you to refine your idea.”

The History Department prepares students for the research paper through various assessments in the ninth and tenth grade, Link said. “We don’t just throw students in when

have aced it, so the paper also teaches them how to have confidence in themselves as researchers and writers.”

Having assigned both semester-long papers and year-long papers, Link said year-longs give students the advantage to develop their ideas more, over the course of a year.

Compared to underclassmen, older students are more suited for lengthy research papers, Milkes said.

“Upperclassmen know they can write a paper, but the difference is having the confidence in doing research where you don’t know what the end result will be until months later.”

Gurvitch likes how his teacher creates assignments throughout the year to make the year-long paper more manageable, he said. He turned in a draft thesis, an annotated bibliography, and more recently, the first ten pages of the paper. “This is not work you can do in one night and the class has been very thoughtfully structured around that.”

Matthew Peeler (12), who is taking two 300-level history classes this year,

that I hadn’t even thought about, so I had to go back and add those.”

Kotchian expected the paper to be between 2,000 and 4,000 words, Resnick said. With this wide range, it was difficult to not lose herself in the length and complexity of the paper, she said. “My teacher was very genuine in saying that longer does not necessarily mean better, so I wasn’t super focused on the length but more so on the actual content.”

Resnick’s final draft, due last Friday, was 12 pages or 3,500 words, she said.

The JRP was a rewarding assignment for Resnick, she said.

“Even though my topic was something I thought I knew a lot about, I was able to find more aspects of it which surprised me,” she said.

“I improved my skills as a writer and researcher, and I know t h e s e skills will come in handy in my life.”

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did not know he would have to write two year-long papers when signing up for the courses, he said. “I didn’t hear my teacher announce that, but I don’t mind writing two papers since they are on completely different topics,” he said. “I do research when I have time, I write when I have time, and everything eventually gets done.”

The first draft of Peralta’s paper was nine pages long, so she estimates that her final essay will be around 12 pages, she said. Peralta did not feel pressure to lengthen her paper just because people in her class had longer ones, she said.“Hopefully, other people are writing really long papers because they really want to or feel that it is necessary, but I am not going to force myself to make mine longer because it’s not going to do me any good.”

Out of all the history assignments Gurvitch has had during his time at the school, the year-long paper is most in line with real academic work because students go into it without knowing the answer, Gurvitch said. “I had my question, I collected evidence on my own, which was very hard to do because it was censored by the government or in a different language, but these are things you have to deal with when you research.”

Link finds the process of writing a year-long paper liberating for students because they are not confined to certain sources or specific prompts, he said. “It’s exciting for teachers to see students engaged with a topic that really fascinates them or connects to a family history they have.”

Gurvitch is excited to share his research with others, he said. “My friends and I will frequently exchange papers because they are excited about their topic and I’m not immune to that [excitement].”

6

THE RECORD ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT MAY 6TH, 2022

from Flo Ngala page 1 photographer of African-descent, is a game changer, photography teacher Aaron Taylor said. “When I was growing up, we had very few female photographers to look up to and very few, if any, of color,” she said. “She is proud of her culture — as she should be — and it’s great to see her be unashamed.”

Ngala wove pride for her heritage into her Met Gala outfit. For the event, she donned a short and functional green gown with black tulle and a bow, created by Mark Ingram Atelier using custom fabric from Sheila Bridges’ Harlem Toile line. According to Bridges’ website, the fabric depicts scenes from Harlem in the style of 18th-century French pastoral toiles, and, in doing so, “lampoons some of the stereotypes deeply woven into the African American experience.” “It’s got different scenes of Black people doing casual things like getting your hair braided, playing basketball, typical but culturally important representations of the community,” Ngala said.

Along with her origin as a Harlem native,

Ngala’s family also found their way into her attire. On the knuckles of her shutter-clicking hand, she wore two custom rings by Johnny Nelson Jewelry in the shape of her parents’ faces. The rings were cast based on their passport photos circa 1992, the year they immigrated to the US. “I wanted them to be part of this in a certain way,” she said. “I have these certain creative ideas that are a result of the spirit in me that they helped nurture.”

As Ngala glammed up for the Gala, photo students Charity Chu (12) and Sunshine Quinones (12) captured the process. It was a family affair: Ngala got ready in her childhood home as her sister applied her makeup and her mother braided her hair, Quinones said.

Being surrounded by other women of color felt empowering, she said. “I was just really grateful to be a part of that experience, with women and women of color being in spaces that they usually aren’t, and moving through a world that isn’t always welcoming to them.”

It meant a lot that Flo made a choice to Courtesy of Charity Chu

GALA GLAM Ngala prepares to don her dress for the evening.

only have POC photographers there with her family, Chu said. “I’d never thought I’d ever get anywhere near the Met Gala,” she said. “Flo is using her career to share opportunities with POC who usually don’t get them.”

That afternoon, Ngala entered the Met with an all-access pass and a mission: document the night, the museum’s Gala setup, and the celebrities, she said. She roamed around searching for photo ops; some were staged, but most were spur-of-the-moment fly-onthe-wall takes.

One of Ngala’s favorite shots that she took featured Jacob Elordi, Euphoria’s Nate Jacobs, mid-step and mid-smile, Stormzy with a white cigarette tucked behind his ear to match his all-white suit, and Damson Idris holding a hand towards the camera, she said.

It’s a “personality photo,” Ngala said. “It’s not just someone smiling and posing, it’s them showing a bit more energy.”

It was fun to see and interact with so many celebrities in person, Ngala said. She fangirled over some, like Gwen Stefani before snapping a picture of the singer in her neon green gown, and Janelle Monae — who had one of the best outfits of the night, Ngala said — with her rhinestone dress and crystal headpiece.

No Met Gala would be complete without the iconic bathroom selfie; Ngala got to catch a sepia-toned, star-studded shot with Kendall Jenner, Hailey Bieber, Billie Eilish, Emma Chamberlain, and Winnie Harlow, she said.

The Gala also brought together Ngala and Jordan Roth ’93, who graduated 20 years apart. “It was cool that another HM alum was there,” she said.

Before the end of the night, Ngala visited the Costume Institute’s new show, “In America: An Anthology of Fashion.” Set in the Met’s American Wing, the exhibition highlights overlooked figures in the history of American

Courtesy of Charity Chu

CANDID CONTOUR Ngala in hair and makeup. fashion. One of Ngala’s favorite rooms was designed by filmmaker Radha Blank and spotlights a mannequin with seven-foot-long, white box braids, she said. “It represents Black America to me because of what the braids symbolize.”

Written across those braids in red text reads: “We good, thx!” According to Vogue, Blank’s room centers “Black Women, often uncredited as cultural weavers of the fabric of this country,” and creates space for them to “speak through our OWN quilt.” Ngala swapped a quilt for a camera as her tool of empowerment at the Gala. “I want to show, ‘this is what it can also look like when you allow someone to do what they want to do,’” she said.

And show it she did. In Ngala’s mother’s words, “how was she not gonna go to Met Gala when Gala is her name? It was meant to be.”

From clay to papier mâché: UD students exhibit sculpted styles at 3D art show Nia Huff and Gillian Ho Staff and Contributing Writers Pots, sculptures, and clay sculptures, placed on white displays around the Fisher Art gallery, are a few of the many pieces displayed in the new 3D Art Show. Curated by visual arts studio manager Emily Lombardo, visual arts teacher Keith Renner, and visual arts teacher Mirrie Choi, the exhibit features various projects made by students in sculpture and ceramics classes who selected pieces to feature in the show. The ceramics and sculpture 3D art show will run for two weeks until May 13th.

Throughout the year, Choi and Renner put aside students’ artwork to curate the gallery piece by piece, Lombardo said. Collecting work for the show was an extensive process. It took time to put the exhibit together and hang everything where it was supposed to be, Lombardo said. “[The pieces in the gallery are] a bit of a snapshot of what was finished at this moment,” Renner said. The recent firing of several ceramics pieces allowed students to present their finished artwork to the school, offering the school insight into what is happening in the ceramics courses in the UD, Renner said.

To create their pieces, Sculpture 1 students experimented with size and scale for one project, as well as combined different animal skulls using plasticine clay for another. Students used media ranging from clay, papier mâché, and wire to create their projects.

“As the sculpture classes get more advanced, they are able to take

different techniques and different materials from projects they have already done to create their own sculptures, we increasingly use more mixed media as we go,” Choi said.

After creating a sculpture that depicted a mix of a chimpanzee and rabbit skull in Choi’s Sculpture 1 class, Sam Gordon (9) decided to submit his piece to the gallery, he said. They spent time working on their sculptures in class.

“We started with base sketches and some research photos and then moved onto making wire structures and the base frame of the [projects], and then we started to carve the piece out of clay.”

Sculpture 3 student Trish Tran (11) chose to submit two pieces: one from their sophomore year and one from their junior year. One of their submissions to the gallery included a mask, which featured different expressions on each half, Tran said. “One half was gorey, and the other half is more animated and more emoji-like,” they said. “It basically represents seeing yourself in different prospects.”

Neither piece was inspired by anything in particular, Tran said.

“It’s more so what my art style is and what I interpreted the process to be.”

Both pieces required more time and dedication than predicted, with the projects having been assigned in the beginning of the year, Tran said. “These projects ended up becoming much bigger than I anticipated, and it ended up taking me a full year to finish completely to the way I wanted it to look.”

For Gordon, one of the most memorable moments of his artistic process was accidentally breaking

the piece, he said.“[I remember] when I dropped the jaw on the floor and it shattered so I had to make a new one.”

Tran valued their class’s feedback to their work during the creation process of their pieces, they said. “They were hyping me up about [my piece] or giving me constructive criticism.” In some classes, students went around and gave each other feedback, which helped Tran improve their pieces, they said.

One of Choi’s favorite pieces displayed in the gallery was made

by Aman Desai (10), she said.

Desai’s piece featured a casting of a hand holding a phone with wires coming out of his fingertips, Choi said. “He really took the idea of using any medium and combined [the project] seamlessly to convey his concept.”

The 3D Art Show is an incredible opportunity to showcase artwork for all students to see, Tran said.

“A lot of students who don’t take studio arts classes don’t really get to see a lot of the sculptures or ceramics that are made, and I think kids seeing this art show will entice them to take an art class.”

Tran plans to take a full credit sculpture class in their senior year, hoping to skip a level of the class to take Directed Study, they said.

Tran does not plan to focus on an overarching theme, but rather to continue to explore several mediums in sculpture, they said.

Unlike other galleries, the 3D Art Show features work from students in both the Middle and Upper Divisions, Lombardo said.

“It reflects the Horace Mann community,” they said. “We are all showing the process of the students.”

Courtesy of Zachary Kurtz

CREATIVE CRAFT Students display art in Fisher gallery.

THE RECORD MIDDLE DIVISION MAY 6TH, 2022

Middle Divison students work and learn in centers Ariella Frommer Staff Writer

Academic Center

Writing Center

David Aaron/Staff Photographer

YOUNG SCHOLARS AT WORK Aurelia helps students in the Academic Center. “[The Academic Center] is a great resource that is always available if I am looking to catch up on any work, and I know that if there is anything that I need, from extra sheets of paper to printing out my projects, it will be [there],” Penelope Hayes (7) said.

After moving locations following the remodeling of Pforzheimer Hall in the fall of 2019, the Academic Center remains a place for students to do their homework during the school day and after school. Academic Center Coordinator Temi Aurelia was hired to run the center ten years ago, Aurelia said. The Center is open from Monday through Thursday, at the start of the school day to 5:45 pm and until 3:15 pm on Friday, Aurelia said.

Whether students come from the school’s Lower Division or another school, students have to start working differently in the MD, Aurelia said. “This is a tough age, and students are learning how to be a student at Horace Mann, and we are here to help support them.”

To improve their study skills or organization, Aurelia shows students a variety of options to better organize their schoolwork and structure their time, she said. “For some of them, really figuring out, ‘How long is it going to take me to do this assignment? Which assignment should I start first?’ is the hardest part of adjusting to middle school.”

In addition to nightly homework, Aurelia helps students with long-term projects, she said.

“This is the first time they are getting long-term projects, but this does not mean that you should start it the night before it’s due if the teacher gave you two weeks to do it.”

Students can make appointments or drop in if they want homework help from Aurelia or Academic Support Service teacher Louise Parms, Aurelia said. Occasionally, the

Math Center

“I usually go to the Math Center soon before a quiz to really understand the given topics, and they’re really helpful,” Aaron Soroken (8) said.

Former MD Math teacher and Dean Lynne Hirschhorn created the Math Center in the 2018-2019 school year as a space for students to receive help in math, MD Department Chair Quentin Brooks said. Since Hirschhorn retired after the 2020-2021 school year, there has been no formal leader of the Math Center, so the MD math and science teachers take turns running it during D and E periods.

“The Math Center is a place where students can go to meet with either their teacher or another math teacher in the Middle Division for extra help outside of their math classes,” Brooks said.

While students can go to the center for math enrichment, most students go for extra support, Brooks said. “Majority of the time, students come into the Math Center to review for an [upcoming] assessment or go over [a previous] assessment.”

For the most part, the Math Center is a “question and answer session,” Brooks said.

“But, if you’re meeting with your math teacher, they might have extra practice problems to give to you to work on.”

Jack Rosenberg (7) goes to the Math Center a few times per month, he said. He usually goes to prepare for assessments or to review past assessments, he said. “When I was doing

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support Aurelia provides to students includes her collaborating with their teachers, and staying after school to work with students in groups or one-on-one, she said.

Furthermore, the Academic Center provides supplies that are useful for projects or homework, Bishop Ibrahim (8) said. “There are all the necessary materials such as computers, paper, staplers, and pencil sharpeners, which I can’t exactly access at many other places at any given time.”

Julia Lourenco (8) feels that she is most productive when she works in the Academic Center, she said. “If I’m studying outside of the center in the Atrium, it’s harder for me to concentrate because there are people passing by and talking.”

Students can collaborate in the center as long as they are not disturbing anyone, Ibrahim said.

Because of this, he does work with and helps out his friends, he said.

Hayes is also more efficient in getting her work done with access to the Academic Center, she said. “If I know that I am busy after school, and it would be easier if I did my homework there, I go there.” Hayes goes to the center during most of her free periods and at the end of lunch, she said.

Seeing students’ confidence in themselves when doing homework when they previously didn’t understand their assignment is Aurelia’s favorite part of her job, she said. “I try to explain to students that their understanding goes beyond the grade. No matter what I do, you are not always going to get the top grade, but you can feel good that you understand what you are doing.”

Addy St ein berg/Staff

Artist

cor rec tions after a test, they helped me understand what I should have done.”

Having the Math Center allows students to get the support they need in a more casual environment than a one-on-one meeting with their teacher, Brooks said. “Math has always been one of those subjects where people either love it or hate it,” he said, “So having the Math Center encourages students to seek extra help without having the fear of feeling like they are the only ones that do not understand a concept or problem.” In addition, each teacher has their own teaching style, so students might understand a concept more when they hear it being explained in another way by different teachers, Brooks said.

The Math Center is a useful tool for MD students to enhance their math skills, Rosenberg said. “My favorite part of going there is the teachers that help me a lot.”

Brooks’ favorite memory in the center is when a group of eighth graders were interested in learning math at a more rapid pace, so he met with them to teach them new ideas, Brooks said. “The fact that they came to see me to enhance their math skills on their own without prodding was nothing short of impressive.”

“[The Writing Center] provides a space to learn to the MD publication, The HM Post. It usually how to be creative with your writing in addition releases an issue semi-annually and students can to just a space to work,” Anna Kim (8) said. Since write about anything they want, Kim said. While Middle Division (MD) English teacher Morgan Kim occasionally does homework in the writing Yarosh established the MD Writing Center in center, she mostly goes there to work on HM Post the fall of 2019, it has been a place for students articles, she said. to work on writing assignments and enrichment.

The reasons why students come to the center “One leg is supporting writing in school, and vary, Yarosh said. When students are writing the enrichment leg includes the HM Post and papers for their history or science classes, Yarosh contests kids want to enter,” she said. works with those teachers to learn about the As the MD was transitioning from one Head of project and gets materials from them about what MD to another, Yarosh saw a need for the Center they are looking for with the assignment, she said. and proposed it to Head of School Dr. Tom Kelly, Seeing students improve is the most rewarding who was working as a temporary Head of MD at part of running the Center, Yarosh said. “A lot that time, she said. “I started it because I saw a of times, it seems like writing is very big and need for kids to have help writing, and Dr. Kelly mysterious, and it is, but it can also be broken was really supportive of it.” down,” she said. “I can break down the writing The Writing Center is an essential space in processes to help kids understand where things the MD for students to experiment with writing, go and why they go there, and how to say what Yarosh said. “To have kids have a space to come in they want to say in their own voice.” and tap into this desire, or talent, or inclination, is Yarosh became the Chair of the MD English something we should be offering.”

Department in January while running the Center, Students can also do homework in the Center, but the department is still in the process of figuring Yarosh said. “Because students are allowed to out what the Writing Center will look like in the talk quietly and there are laptops in the center, near future, Yarosh said. “I hope the Writing it’s become a place where people come to either Center becomes a more central place for students work on group projects or just do homework, but in the Middle Division and that it continues to of course people also come in to work specifically o f f e r opportunities for both on writing.” academic and The Writing Center allows for more n on - a c a d e m i c collaboration than other centers in the MD, enrichment.”

Kim said. “You can brainstorm ideas with other students and Ms. Yarosh or ask for help.”

Similarly, when Julia Lourenco (8) was in sixth grade, she went to the Center twice a week, she said. “Ms. Yarosh would help me through every step of my papers, but Sophie Li/Staff Artist even now, she’s always really helpful with narrowing down ideas and editing my work.”

Additionally, the Writing Center is home

Reading Room

Books, friends, and productivity come from the Middle Division (MD) Reading Room, Lilia Scola (8) said. “People are always willing to talk about books with you or share book recommendations, which is a really nice thing.”

The Reading Room is in the Middle Division (MD) Library. MD students are still allowed to use Katz Library, but the Reading Room is specifically designed for them, MD Library Department Chair Rachel Ricker said. “Our nonfiction collection is geared towards the research projects that take place in the middle school, and we also have laptops, iPads, and textbooks for middle school students.”

The Katz Library used to serve both Middle and Upper Divisions, but when the school decided that the MD needed their own space in 2012, Ricker created the Reading Room and has led it ever since, Ricker said. “It was clear that there was a need for the Reading Room because we rarely saw middle school students [in the Katz Library] because the space was really built for high school students.”

In the fall of 2019, the Reading Room moved from 220 Tillinghast to Pforzheimer, and more students go there now, Ricker said. “Because we are more centrally located, kids can more easily just stop by before school, in between classes, or during lunch,” she said. As a result, students check out and read more books, she said. “If you bring books to students, they will read. If you were to take a look at our circulation numbers, it becomes clear that there is a real need for a

library where students are located.”

Ricker’s job is to develop the book collection of the Reading Room, order new books, and help with student research, she said. She also helps students with research projects learn how to search the databases and use Noodletools, she said. The Reading Room is also home to the Reader’s Forum, the MD’s book club.

Ricker’s favorite part of running the Reading Room is helping students find their next book, she said. “I do this by reading a lot [myself], reading journals filled with book reviews, and I’m always listening to what kids are reading about,” she said.

Scola enjoys getting book suggestions from Ricker, she said. “Ms. Ricker always has new book recommendations for me to try,” she said. Scola also likes how welcoming the Center is. “It has a very cozy and chill vibe,” she said.

When Scola first came to the Reading Room, Ricker introduced her to her current favorite book series, Scola said. “I was a bit nervous because I was in sixth grade, but Ms. Ricker gave me this book series, ‘Keeper of the Lost Cities,’ that I ended up loving.” Two years later, Scola developed a friendship with a sixth grader by introducing the same series to them, she said.

The Reading Room is more calm than the other centers in the MD, Julia Lourenco (8) said. “It’s a bit more quiet, so if I want to do some reading, check out a book, or just talk to Ms. Ricker, that is usually where I go.”

Courtesy of Emily Salzhauer

BOOKWORMS Students hard at work in the Reading Room.

Lions’ Den Record Sports

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MAY 6TH, 2022

Girls Varsity Golf Team finishes season strong Sammy Matays and Leila Dossani Staff Writers

Despite the Girls Varsity Golf Team’s loss to the Hackley School on Tuesday, everyone played incredibly and put their all into their matches, Julia Eizenstat (9) said.

“We started on hole three because they wanted us to go ahead since we were going to move faster, and we only ended up playing six holes.” Eisenstat ended up winning her match five holes to one.

The golf team’s match on Tuesday took place at a country club in Tarrytown, Sofia Filardo (10) said. “It was really pretty, one of the nicest clubs we have played at.” Even though they lost, the team was close to winning as they won two matches and were close to winning the third one, Filardo said.

In general, the team needs to win three out of five of the matches to win a game, she said.

Sophie Li (9), another member of the team, had

an extremely close match, in which she lost by just one stroke, she said. The players were tied two holes to two, until her opponent won on the next hole. “I think my short game could’ve been a lot better that day, but I did still hit some nice shots so I’m satisfied,” she said.

One thing the team has done this year is finalize their lineup, which is the ranking of five members on the team, Filardo said. In terms of the competition, players from each team that have the same seed number play against one another.

Players will go up against their opponent and play a minimum of five holes and a maximum of nine holes, depending on who wins five points first, Filardo said. Whichever player wins that match gets a point for their team, she said.

Even though it is Sophie’s first year on the team, the other players have been welcoming, she said.

Sophie enjoys how being on the team gives her the opportunity to play a sport that she loves as

Courtesy of Coach Surhoff

POLOS ON Girls Varsity Golf poses after match.

well as spend time with people from the school community, she said.

Golf is a very time consuming sport, but our team practices give us a lot of time to communicate and get to know one another as we play, Heidi Li (10) said. The team has gotten very close and when they are together, they have a great energy, Heidi said. Many team members will also bring homemade baked goods into school so that the players can eat and bond while they play golf, Heidi wrote.

Coach Caroline Surhoff decides whether the team practices or not by considering the weather conditions, the availability of outdoor spaces to practice, and the schedule of the teams’ matches, she said. The team typically practices three days a week, Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays, but this can easily change, Surhoff said. For example, as the weather gets warmer, facilities tend to be more crowded on Fridays, leading to changes in when and where the team practices, she said.

When the team can not have access to courses, or a driving range they hold practices in the Lower Division (LD) gym, Surhoff said. In the LD gym, players practice by hitting balls off of tees into nets and chipping onto mats. On Tuesdays, the team either has a match or practices on the course at Sunningdale Country Club, she said. Finally, on Fridays, Surhoff takes the team to the Van Cortlandt Park Golf Course to play seven holes.

Dani Brooks (9) prefers practicing on golf courses rather than in the LD gym, since playing indoors does not accurately recreate the feeling of playing the sport outside, she said. Despite the fact that they typically miss the late bus, she enjoys playing on real courses and spending time with the team, Brooks said.

Surhoff makes a point of teaching her players that their mentality is important to their golf game,

she said. “Jack Nicklaus said,‘the game of golf is ninety percent mental and ten percent physical,’” Surhoff said. “There are so many different things to remember before you hit a shot. Each lie is different, weather conditions may vary, and courses have different layouts.”

In addition, Surhoff teaches her team to be in the moment when they are playing, she said.

“Being in the moment will help you play more relaxed, and have the concentration skills that you need to shoot a good game.”

Another large part of practice is teaching the team to play with proper golf etiquette, Surhoff said. “Golf etiquette refers to a set of rules and practices designed to make the game of golf safer and more enjoyable for golfers, and to minimize possible damage to the course.”

Although these rules are not formally set in place, it is important that players be courteous golfers and abide by golf etiquette, she said. “Even though you are playing with your friends, it is important to respect who you are playing with.”

Sophie loves that the team can talk about topics other than golf, such as school, and still have a great time, she said. The team has slowly warmed up to each other as the season has progressed, and she always feels comfortable and relaxed around her team members, she said.

Over the course of the season, Surhoff has watched her players improve their skills and become more confident in themselves. Practice has helped them feel much more prepared and knowledgeable about the game, she said. Some players were nervous in the beginning of the season and had some hesitation while playing, she said. Over the course of the season, players have turned their nervousness into excitement and are able to find much more enjoyment while playing, she said.

in terms of possession.”

The team also practices tactical situations, such as seven versus seven player matchups, Coraci said. “In lacrosse there are four attackers, four defenders, and three midfielders, so on any attacking possession there will be seven people on the offensive team and seven people on the defensive team that are allowed to be on the same side of the field as the ball,” she said. These seven versus seven situations mimic real games, Coraci said. Panarelli often has her players practice three versus two situations, which helps strengthen the team’s offensive and defensive skill set, Coraci said.

During practices, the team also continued working on communication skills in preparation for the game on Wednesday, Kim said. “Having a verbal connection with a teammate during a game allows us to work together well and adjust ourselves to ask for help.”

Like Kim, Goldberg believes that

communication is key in lacrosse. “Our open communication about what we want out of the team has been most helpful,” she said.

While communication aided the team in its victory on Wednesday, it was not the driving factor of the win, Coraci said. “We’ve been working really hard in practice and it paid off.”

Practices and games have brought the team closer together, Goldberg said. “I really love the team and have become close with students that I might not have met before the end of high school,” she said. “I have really loved being a part of GVL this year, the coaches, and all my teammates have made it a memorable part of my junior year.”

Kim also thinks that the practices and games strengthened the bond between the players, she said. “Over the course of the season we truly became a team. In the beginning of the year we were individual lacrosse players, and by the end we have learned to have each other’s backs.”

Girls Varsity Lacrosse claims first win after tough season Josh Shuster and Blake Bennett Staff and Contributing Writers

rtist im/Staff A Isabelle K

This Wednesday, the Girls Varsity Lacrosse (GVL) team won their first game of the season 10-7 against Trinity. Before this win, the team lost all ten games that they played during the season.

Up by one goal with three minutes left, the team worked together to keep the ball in their possession, allowing them to score two more goals, Vivian Coraci (10) said.

“We were all really happy after the game and we were all celebrating together,” she said.

The team fought incredibly hard for all 50 minutes of the game, Girls Varsity Lacrosse Coach Keri Panarelli said. The win was especially exciting because it was on the team’s Senior Day, she said. The Senior Day was the team’s way of honoring the 12th graders who worked hard t h r o u g h o u t their four years on the team, she said. “It is the last time they will play a game on four acres, so it [the win] made it more memorable!”

“Our season has been tough,” t e a m member Scarlett Goldberg (11) said. The game against Riverdale was particularly discouraging, Goldberg said. “We came in determined to win, so the loss hurt even more.” Even so, the team still hustled a n d worked hard until the end, she said.

Lacrosse is a difficult sport that requires a lot of practice, Goldberg said. The team missed the last two spring seasons due to the pandemic, putting it at a disadvantage compared to some other schools, she said.

Unlike many other teams at other schools, the Lions do not have lacrosse practice throughout the entire year, Panarelli said. “We are a team that plays only during the [spring] season, so we are far behind and it makes it difficult to catch up on skills

in a short amount of time.”

The team suffered from a lack of substitute players because many members were absent with COVID, Coraci said. As a result, the GVL team began bringing Girls Junior Varsity Lacrosse (GJVL) players with them to games to cheer from the sidelines and act as substitutes, she said. “I think that having a lot of subs and a full bench cheering us on has really helped the team’s morale,” Coraci said.

Although the GJVL team did not have enough players to participate in games this season, they remained very supportive of the Varsity team, Goldberg said. “Moving forward, I really think the underclassmen will improve even more to carry the team to some wins.”

To practice for upcoming games, the team does a basic warm-up, and then reviews strategies for the game, Panarelli said. “We have worked on the basics and have improved on our individual skills, which in turn, has helped us as a team,” she said.

For the warm-up, Panarelli likes to keep the team on their feet as much as possible with repetitive exercises, she said.

Warm-ups usually begin with a lap around the field and stick skills, Jiwan Kim (9) said. Stick skills involve catching and throwing the ball, as well as ball possession and cradling, she said.

The team primarily focuses on basic skills like catching, throwing, scoring, and ball possession as well as ground ball drills during practice, Panarelli said. Ground ball drills help the players practice for situations when the ball is not in either team’s possession, Panarelli said. Depending on what the team needs to work on most, she gives them different things to practice.

Drills with ground balls are incredibly important, Coraci said. “Whenever the ball is dropped or checked out of someone’s stick it is basically up for grabs and you have to fight for it, so if you win ground balls you have a huge advantage

Courtesy of Girls Varsity Lacrosse Team

WINNING SMILES Girls Varsity Lacrosse celebrates win and seniors.

LIONS’ BOX: Results From This Week’s Games 5/1 - Boys Varsity Tennis San Marco Tournament – vs. Syosset WIN 5-1, vs. Harrison WIN 4-0, vs. Horace Greely WIN 5-1 5/3 - Boys Varsity Golf vs. Trinity – WIN 5-4 5/4 - Varsity Ultimate Frisbee vs. Packer Collegiate – LOSS 9-12 5/4 - Girls Varsity Lacrosse vs. Trinity – WIN 10-7

5/4 - Boys Varsity Baseball vs. Riverdale – LOSS 4-14 5/4 - Girls Varsity Softball vs. Hackley – LOSS 2-6 5/5 - Boys Varsity Golf vs. Hackley – WIN 8-1 5/5 - Boys Varsity Tennis vs. Scarsdale – WIN