Commutes, coffee, and clubs: A day in the life at Horace Mann

Harper Rosenberg Staff Writer

Adam Resheff Pete Clancy

7:00am: “Waking up is my least favorite part of the day — not because I don’t look forward to the day, I’m just tired,” Resheff said. During the week, he usually wakes up in a hurry. “I just grab everything and run.” On Resheff’s 30 minute drive to school, he listens to his playlist on loop, bopping to Swedish DJ Avicii and electronic dance music, rap, and a little bit of pop.

7:30am: He arrives at school and gets straight to work. “Going over lesson plans and getting coffee are the two things in the morning that are essential,” Resheff said. Teaching his four classes is his favorite part of the 12:00pm: Lunch! “In my first years teaching at HM, I got very used to going to lunch every day with the math department. Now, I’ve branched out a little bit more,” he said. Math is discussed occasionally when Resheff eats with other math teachers; during other lunches, he talks about “whatever” with his colleagues.

1:15pm: Time for some self care: walking to the staff cafeteria for the drip coffee machine. As the staff dining room in Fisher has the best coffee using actual beans, Resheff likes to walk over from Tillinghast to get some fresh air, get some steps in, and re-energize.

3:20pm: Depending on the day, Resheff advises one of three clubs: HM Investors Club, HM Stock Analytics, or Dungeons and Dragons in the Middle Division?. Although he has not participated in a full Dungeons and Dragons game yet, he has learned how to play and finds it “amazing.”

4:00pm: After school, Resheff tutors students in math, goes to the gym, or plays basketball and sees his friends. “During breaks in high school I watched every TV show I could ever want to watch, so now there’s nothing that’s really appealing to me.” Instead, Resheff usually reads the news — either “The Economist” or “The New Yorker.”

5:15am: Wake up, check emails and respond to phone notifications.

“There’s not too much that goes on before my work day. I make my coffee and off I go.”

7:00am: Arrive at school after a 45-minute drive. First item on the agenda: check the green sheet in his email for the daily events. Depending on what is happening that day, Clan cy may have to move public safety officers around to handle traffic con trol, pedestrian crossing, directing people, and checking visitors in.

8:00am: Prepare for the second bus iest time of the day: arrival. and other public safety officers ensure students cross the street properly and parents comply with drop off procedures. The criss-crossing buses, pedestrians, and cars make it a dangerous time. “We have to have everybody in place and everybody’s got to be on their toes.”

8:30am: Adjusts the cameras all over campus for daily observations from the Public Safety Office. The corner of 246th and Tibbett Avenue requires special attention, being “the hub of the whole campus” (also known as the place where students pick up their Starbucks/Dunkin Donuts/Pearl Dynastea orders).

Kate Kerrick

5:30am: Wake up and meditate for a few minutes. If there are no students at Dorr and she does not have breakfast duty, Kerrick does a quick workout. “I always feel both energized and calm starting the day that way.”

6:00am: Breakfast while listening to the news. “I do a few house odds and ends if I have time, [such as] glamorous adult things like emptying the dishwasher.”

8:00am: If students are at Dorr, Kerrick meets them for breakfast. If not, she drives to the Dorr campus, where the faculty meets in their office. The morning is her favorite part of the day. “It’s full of possibilities and my energy is usually higher.”

12:00pm: “Every day is an adventure when you work at Dorr!” Sometimes, that means multiple conferences and discussions throughout the day with an hour-long lunch break. “Days when we don't have students, I will schedule several meetings or calls, but when students are here I try to be present with them.” After meals, she usually listens to music while washing the dishes with students and takes requests from them. When students are at Dorr, there are often no breaks in her schedule until they go to bed.

4:30pm: Without students on campus, Kerrick usually leaves Dorr by the afternoon and heads home. Then, she either goes out to community events or relaxes at home with television. “My partner and I are currently making our way through The English and rewatching 30 Rock.”

10:00am-3:00pm: Daily briefings from the New York Police Department (NYPD) on the happenings in the city, ranging from events to protests to potential threats. “I’m particularly concerned with the Bronx and Manhattan because we have campuses in those locations.” The briefing also touches on larger world events such as a terrorist threat or an international crime problem that he should be aware of. Clancy leaves time for journaling and prayer during his day. The aquariums in the Public Safety Office help him keep calm and relaxed.

Evening: If he has time and there is a game on, Clancy watches football and hockey games, rooting for the New York Giants and the New York Rangers. He also listens to classic rock music from bands such as Pink Floyd and The Who.

11:00pm: Bedtime — Resheff aims for eight hours of sleep per day (a luxury his high school students can only dream of).

10:00pm: Hit the hay for seven hours of sleep.

9:00pm: When there are students at Dorr, Kerrick leaves later at night after students have gone to sleep. At home, she stays on-call in case any emergencies arise.

10:00pm: Close the day with gratitude journaling and a sentence-a-day diary. Kerrick tries to get to bed on time every night. “I value my sleep!”

Naz Yetis (11) Kofi Asante-Abedi (8)

7:00am: Wake up and immediately check the time. “I have to because I’m like, what if it’s already 8:25 and I’m not at school?” Then she checks her notifications, brushes her teeth, and gets dressed. “I used to always be late to school last year because I could never pick out an outfit on time. Now I pick it out the night before.”

8:15am: Arrive in Ol shan Lobby and chat with friends. “Starting my day off socializing and talking to people makes my day a bajil lion times better.”

10:00am: Snack! “I normally just sit in Olshan, eat food, talk to people, and complain about my tests.”

11:05am: During lunch Yetis normally goes to the cafeteria and sits with friends unless she is meeting with a teacher. Yetis has another block free during F period, so she either goes to the cafeteria to hang out with friends or the library to catch up on school work.

3:20pm: During I periods Yetis usually goes to one of the following clubs: Bioethics Club, Hospital Outreach, or Students in Medicine.

4:00pm: Yetis has ski team practice but due to shoulder injuries, she sometimes has to go to physical therapy or the doctor instead. Otherwise, she stays at school to get some work done and talk to friends who are still around.

6:00pm: Yetis leaves campus and goes to her home, which is only ten minutes away. There, the first thing she does is change her clothes. She washes her face, showers, and settles in with a bottle of Yerba Mate for an energy boost, then it’s time to study — almost. “I procrastinate my school work a lot at night, so I might as well do something productive while procrastinating.” That means reorganizing her room, choosing outfits for school, reading books (she’s currently halfway through “Crier’s War” by Nina Varela), and making Spotify playlists.

2:00am: Sleep, at last. She is trying to go to bed earlier, but 2am remains the average for weeknights.

6:45am: No time for breakfasts — Asante-Abedi wakes up, showers, and leaves for the school bus that arrives

At school, he heads to R204 to meet up with friends, where they chat before classes begin.

12:00pm: Lunch time! Asante-Abedi grabs food from the cafeteria with his friends before heading to the second floor of Lutnick to eat and socialize. His goto order: a bowl of pasta and a lemon Snapple.

3:15pm: School ends and Asante-Abedi hops on the bus so he can go back home, watch YouTube videos, make TikTok videos on a soccer fan account he shares with his friends, and eventually start his homework.

6:30pm: To Randall’s Island for a ninety minute soccer practice with the Manhattan Soccer Club.

10:00pm: Bedtime, ensuring a minimum of eight and a half hours of sleep each night.