Issue 19

Volume 119 Issue 19

The Record

record.horacemann.org

Horace Mann’s Weekly Newspaper Since 1903

February 18th, 2022

Music Week showcases students’ and faculty’s musical talents Nicole Au/Staff Photographer

OH, BROTHER! Bahr, Bauld, Bomwell, and Epsteins jam out in Olshan Lobby.

Jorge Orvananos Staff Writer The Music Department hosted the annual Music Week inperson for the first time since 2020, Music Instructor Dr. Amir K h o s row p o u r said. Music Week has been a tradition at the school for several years, he said. The week showcases musicians from the school community and outside it, and features performances throughout the day. Last year, the week was shifted to a virtual format due to COVID restrictions.“We’re very excited to bring back Music Week because it’s a great time to celebrate music and spread the warmth and love that music brings back to the school,” he said.

While all members of the Music Department contributed to bringing Music Week to life, Khosrowpour organized the schedule for performances and coordinated the week’s events, Music Department Chair and N-12 Music Program Coordinator, Timothy Ho said.

Unlike last year, this year’s Music Week brought performances back live and on campus, Khosrowpour said. With the help of the Music Department, Khosrowpour organized a “light

Music Week” where only members of the school community could perform, he said.

Ari Palla (10) thought it was unfortunate that outside musicians would not be able to come on campus to perform, but enjoyed a greater return to normalcy without virtual performances, he said.

Science Teacher George Epstein led four “Physics of Music” lectures on Monday, in which he explored the relationship between the physics of sound waves and music, he said. He began the performance by demonstrating the sound wave created by low frequency and mundane humming noises, which create recognizable patterns when viewed on an oscilloscope, a device that graphs the waves created by those sounds, he said.

Epstein enjoys involving spectators in his lectures, and invited volunteers up onto the stage during the performance to play instruments and sing while having the remainder of the audience view the irregular oscilloscope patterns created by the volunteer’s music, he said.

While Epstein does get nervous before performing, he enjoys revealing the physics behind music and looks forward to next year’s events, he said. Epstein additionally performed “The Elements Song” at the UD Music Week Assembly on Tuesday with his father, Music Teacher Doug

Epstein.

A wide variety of other workshops were offered throughout the week, including Theatre Teacher Benjamin Posner’s Musical Theater Performance Open Class, where community members were invited to watch the rehearsal process during one of his Musical Theater Performance classes. The class is an advanced arts course for students with a passion for music and theatrical performance, Posner said.

Posner began the workshop with a stretching routine, which allowed the four class members who were about to perform to relax. Following the stretch, Khosrowpour, who accompanies the singers on the piano, offered a vocal warm up, which filled Recital Hall with harmonious music.

Then, the four class members each performed solo songs while acting the part of their character, every time received with strong applause from the crowd, Daniel Pustilnik (10) said. He greatly enjoyed both the performances and the balance

brought Music Week to a halt last year, she said.

She was also excited to see the wide variety of other performances offered this week, and brought some of her classes to see performances, she said.

William Bramwell (11), who offered a piano performance on We d ne s d ay, wanted to perform after having not been able to last year due to COVID. “When I saw the opportunity which Music Week presented, I immediately leapt at the chance,” he said.

Palla believes Khosrowpour and the Music Department did a great job organizing Music Week this year since there was such a wide range of different types of music, he said. Palla also performed piano on Wednesday in Olshan Lobby, offering a rendition of the theme from Interstellar and Clair de Lune, he said.

Palla was convinced to play after many of

“While I was nervous before I performed, after I started playing I began to relax. Many of my friends have been trying to convince me to play for Music Week, and now after the experience is over, I’m very glad I did.”

- Ari Palla (10)

between acting and singing by each of the four class members, he said.

Natalia Hecker (11) appreciated how both faculty members and students were able to perform, and also enjoyed the wide variety of different types of performances offered throughout the week, she said.

English Teacher Rebecca Bahr was excited to share music with other members of the school community during her jazz duo production with English Teacher Harry Bauld at Tuesday’s assembly, she said.

Bahr was delighted to be able to perform again, after COVID had

his friends suggested it, he said. “Now, after the experience is over, I’m very glad I performed.” He was nervous when he began playing, but was able to relax after the performance began, he said.

Palla hopes that Music Week next year will also display musicians from outside of the school community, but nevertheless he enjoyed performing this year and viewing performances from others within the school, he said.

“I think the week is important to showcase music and the community, and the talent that we as a school community have,” George Epstein said.

Samuel Stern/Staff Artist

School shows love through Valentine’s Day celebrations Ayesha Sen Staff Writer

sit and create in-between tests or just to appreciate your friends every once in a while.”

Throughout February, the school Ashleigh Conner (11) enjoyed celebrated Valentine’s day through writing notes at the Palentine’s table official and unofficial events, because it gave her an opportunity president of the Happiness Club to reflect in a creative way, she said.

(HC) Catherine Mignone (12) said.

“It was a lot of fun because I could “We have Valentine’s and pinkjust tell my friends I love them in themed celebrations to bring a an artsy way,” Conner said. “Even whole month of love to HM.” though I had a stressful week ahead, The HC aimed to make Valentine’s taking a minute to appreciate my Day and the month of February friends can always brighten my day.” especially memorable this year, Mignone also helped organize Director of Upper Division Student the HM Shares Love Board on the Activities Caroline Bartels said. second floor Tillinghast hallway for “We brought in chocolate-covered all of February, where people wrote strawberries and kept keeping out small appreciations on heart-shaped tattoos and stickers and putting up paper and put it on the board, decorations just to create a strong Mignone said. positive vibe in the community,” she Along with events leading up said. “We set it up really well and to the holiday, the school also hopefully the students have enjoyed held celebrations on Valentine’s Addy Steinberg/Staff Artist it.”

Day itself. At break, HC members The HC brought chocolatehanded out heart-shaped cookies covered strawberries on Monday, that students decorated with chocolate on Tuesday, healthy vanilla frosting, pink sprinkles, and snacks with the Wellness Initiative candies, Mignone said.

Club on Wednesday, chocolate During I period, the HC pretzels on Thursday, and cake collaborated with HM Chefs pops with the Community Council United for the Culture to host a for February birthdays on Friday, cupcake decorating event. “I went along with hot chocolate and coffee, with some friends and we all had Mignone said. a lot of fun,” Riya Daga (11) said.

The HC also organized the “[After decorating], we could eat Palentine’s table, where students our cupcakes and chat with friends, created cards for their friends with which was a really nice way to relax craft materials provided by the after an exhausting day of school.” library, Bartels said. “The cards table While planning events, Mignone was actually very popular, I mean, thought about what the community we just had to keep restocking it would appreciate and focused on over and over again,” she said. “Kids little ways to brighten everyone’s just see it as a soothing thing to just day, she said. “The ‘Palentine’s’

table was a product of these [club] discussions, as were the chocolatecovered strawberries.”

The HC aimed for Valentine’s Day events that benefited the entire student body, Daga said. “Our overall mission is just to make everyone’s day just the tiniest bit better,” she said.

Bartels noticed that the overall community atmosphere improved with various Valentine’s Day initiatives, she said. “There was a whole group of 11th-grade girls, they’re sitting here giggling and enjoying and making cards together, just for whoever walks by,” Bartels said. “It was so heartwarming because I could just feel the happy Valentine’s Day spirit in the air.”

In addition to the formal Valentine’s Day initiatives that the HC planned, the school found ways to celebrate the holiday in more personal ways. Michelle Kim (11) stuck heart-shaped stickers on her friends’ clothes without them realizing, she said. “As someone who does not celebrate Valentine’s, it was a nice way of showing gratitude and love to my friends.”

Conner celebrated the holiday at school by handing out candy to her friends and exchanging Valentine’s Day themed gifts in the library, she said. “I got my friend flowers, a teddy bear, and a box of chocolates just to get into the Valentine’s Day spirit,” Conner said. “Even though the exchange was during passing time — so not very long — it was such a great and memorable experience.”

Valentine’s Day celebrations at

school emphasized other meanings of the holiday, Bartels said. “The most obvious meaning is the romantic aspect to the holiday, but there’s also other meanings,” she said. “It really is just about a way of showing love in general, like I saw so many kids making notes for teachers and for people in the cafeteria and stuff and I just thought that that was super sweet.”

Celebrating the holiday at school can also put a positive spin on the day even for those who may be feeling down, Niki Pande (9) said. “A lot of people don’t like Valentine’s Day especially if they’re single because it’s another reminder that they don’t have a significant other,” she said. “At school in particular, the emphasis was not on romantic relationships, it was more an appreciation of friendship and familial relationships, so I think

even people who kind of resent Valentine’s Day could enjoy it at HM.” School initiatives have also emphasized the positivity of the holiday, Daga said. “Some people are not very fond of Valentine’s Day, but I like the concept of a day dedicated to love and how we’re placing emphasis on it,” she said.

Overall, Kim especially enjoyed the school’s Valentine’s Day initiatives this year and hopes to see more in the future, she said.

“Celebrating Valentine’s Day at school is important because it is another chance to think about the people we love even further,” she said. “This year, the school community showed me that we can express that love and gratitude through cards, chocolates, and gifts but also through simple messages and words.”

Samuel Siegel/Photo Director

BE MINE? Palentines decorate cupcakes in the cafeteria.

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THE RECORD FEATURES AND MIDDLE DIVISION FEBRUARY 18TH, 2022

Valentine’s Day Crossword Courtesy of Maddie Yoon (11) and Head of Design AJ Walker Across 1. Sweet items sent to “special someones” on Valentine’s Day 9. A popular Valentine’s Day color 10. What loving is, according to Rex Orange County 11. A popular Valentine’s Day flower 14. A romantic meeting between two people 16. What life is like?

19. Opposite of mine, casually 20. Greek god of love 22. Symbol of love 24. What you should stop and do to 11 across 27. Not to be confused with 26 down 28. Where “you put my love on,” according to Beyoncé 30. “Yes, I will marry you,” say 31. One whose identity is usually secret 35. Opens the heart?

38. One who spends money on Valentine’s Day 39. An assortment of flowers 40. “You’re the ___ that I want” 41. Like Shakespeare’s titular couple 42. One half of the pair

Down 1. Counterpart to 20 across 2. Negative response to “Will you be mine?”

3. To request 4. Candy with a message 5. Affirmative response to “Will you be mine?”

6. Saint for whom this crossword’s theme is aptly named 7. Shot with love 8. Stuffed on Valentine’s Day 12. The month in which Valentine’s Day occurs 13. Angels’ headwear 15. “V” is very, very _____ ordinary 17. The day on which Valentine’s Day falls, numerically 18. A pair on Valentine’s Day 21. Lacking in the phrase “You take my breath away”?

22. Largest manufacturer of greeting cards in the United States 23. “I love you,” but not in that way 25. Valentine’s Day (this year)?

26. Deep affection 29. One half of the pair 32. Wishy-washy responses 33. Birthplace of 1 down 34. Season of love?

36. Begins with Kay? 37. Latter “L” in LOML

Middle schoolers take charge in leadership club Sophie Q. Li and Max Chasin Staff Writers HM Lead is a Middle Division (MD) after school program that is designed to help students develop leadership skills and put them to use, Faculty Advisor Caitlin Hickerson said.

“HM Lead is a leadership program where you take roles of leadership around the community and help coordinate events that involve the middle division,” Sarina Shah (8) said.

The program’s primary values include motivating oneself and others, making informed decisions, public speaking, and building connections with others, Hickerson said. She and her colleagues focus deeply on leadership development, not just putting students in a position of leadership, she said. “Instead of saying, ‘ok now you’re going to lead’, it was about ‘how does one lead?’”

HM lead was created many years ago by a former colleague of Hickersons, she said. The program was a transition away from student government elections to create a more inclusive atmosphere, she said. “Anyone can develop the skills of leadership and there are many.”

The club meets after school on Monday each week in the atrium. HM Lead’s meetings start with a leadership question or 15 minute group activity every week. “We may be introducing ourselves to

each other, mingling, and finding someone we haven’t spoken to.”

A memorable group activity was one in which the students checked off skills that they thought they had, on a sheet, Lilia Scola (8) said.

“It leveled out to four different columns, north, south, east, or west. North was more of a leader, south was a listener and supporter, and east and west were creative and analytical. Especially in our committees, there were some trends. HMBN seemed to mostly have analytical people,” she said.

It was interesting to see what everyone’s strengths were, she said.

After the initial activity, students divide into their committee rooms to plan and execute their ongoing projects, Hickerson said. During this stage, a faculty advisor facilitates the students’ progress by asking them what steps they are taking and whether they are working. Finally, the group reconvenes in the last few minutes to debrief and state what they accomplished this meeting.

Since HM Lead is open to the entire MD, Scola has formed strong bonds to people of different grades, she said. As an eighth grader, she has naturally taken a leadership role in her committee with two other sixth graders. She is able to express everybody’s ideas and make everyone heard, she said.

The program is divided into four committees: Student Representatives, Student Activities,

Volume 119 Editorial Board Head of Design AJ Walker

Editor in Chief Hanna Hornfeld

Managing Editor Liliana Greyf

Features Mia Calzolaio Emma Colacino

News Claire Goldberg Katya Tolunsky

Opinions Devin Allard-Neptune Yin Fei

A&E Purvi Jonnalagadda Arushi Talwar

Middle Division Jade Ciriello

Lions’ Den Lauren Ho

Art Directors Vivian Coraci Lauren Kim Riva Vig

Design Editors Avani Khorana Arin Rosen

Photography Sean Lee Sam Siegel

Online Editor Lucas Glickman

Faculty Adviser David Berenson

Horace Mann Broadcasting Network (HMBN), and Special Events. Student Representatives ensures students have the resources they need to thrive, Scola said.

Currently, Student Representatives is sending out a questionnaire to see what MD students like about their community, such as the academic center and school food. Once the feedback is received, they plan to go to the adults of each location and discuss how they can implement some changes, Scola said. Next, Student Activities organizes events for the community.

HMBN covers school-related events in videos that are aired at MD assemblies, Hickerson said.

Nakul Sethi (6) chose to join HMBN because he likes to edit videos and be creative, he said.

Special Events puts on assemblies for MD. Their service learning theme this year is “A Climate Healthy Future For All.” Last semester, Special Events put on an assembly, where the school invited a climate change lawyer to speak, Hickerson said. The students interviewed him in front of the MD, asking him about the work he does, she said.

Currently, Special Events is planning a climate changed themed carnival, Shah said.

Due to COVID, some events that normally take place, such as the movie night, couldn’t happen this year, Hickerson said. “We couldn’t do that this year,” she said. Despite this, everyone is hoping that as opportunities arise for them to come Staff

Staff Writers Alex Lautin, Alexandra Yao, Allison Markman, Audrey Carbonell, Audrey Moussazadeh, Ayesha Sen, Cecilia Coughlin, Celine Kiriscioglu, Divya Ponda, Emily Salzhauer, Emily Sun, Hannah Katzke, Jillian Lee, Jiya Chatterjee, Max Chasin, Rachael Baez, Sean Lee, Vidhatrie Keetha, Zack Kurtz, Ariella Frommer, Athena Rem, Ben Rafal, Ella Shaham, Erica Jiang, Etta Singer, Heidi Li, Kate Beckler, Lucy Peck, Maeve Goldman, Naomi Yaeger, Neeva Patel, Nia Huff, Rani Ogden, Samantha Matays, Sophie Rukin Staff Photographers Aanya Gupta, Allyson Wright, Amelia Hirsch, Anna Miller, Aryan Palla, Ben Rafal, Catherine Mong, David Aaron, Dylan Greenberg, Harper Rosenberg, Jiwan Kim, Lynn Egan, Madlyn Yoon, Matthew Jacobson, Nicole Au, Oliver Konopko, Trisha Tran Staff Artists Aashna Hari, Addy Steinberg, Aimee Yang, Amira Dossani, 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, Samuel Stern, Serena Bai, Sophia Liu, Sophie Li

together, they’ll get to do things they haven’t done in a while, she said.

The students progress quicker when they are in person, Hickerson said. “They can make those signs, they can have access to materials,” she said. To adapt to these challenges, HM Lead had to be flexible and creative, she said. However, COVID has also strengthened connections and encouraged everyone to check in with each other about how they’re feeling, Hickerson said.

Looking forward, HM Lead’s goal is to continue their projects, Hickerson said. Towards the end of the year, they might do some debriefing and thinking about how we want to set up for success for next year, she said.

Hickerson is extremely proud of the work HM Lead is doing. “I’m really motivated by their enthusiasm and it is always really wonderful to have students feel empowered,” she said.

The students have learned valuable lessons about themselves and the surrounding community.

“Horace Mann is a very community based school, and we always talk about our community and everybody fitting in, and HM lead helps us embody those characteristics,” Shah said. “[HM Lead] really taught me how to not just advocate for myself, but advocate for the community around me. It’s a life skill,” Scola said.

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.

THE RECORD OPINIONS AND NEWS FEBRUARY 18TH, 2022

Misnamed: When microagressions invalidate students of color’s identities

Isha Krishnamurthy I never thought that I would feel so uncomfortable in an environment that I practically grew up in. For a school that paints itself as both extremely progressive and open-minded, I often find myself in situations with teachers and students where I experience lazy, racially-biased behavior. Since the beginning of my junior year, three of my teachers have misidentified me, calling me by the names of other Indian females in my classes.

Frankly, I do not look similar to any other Indian students whose names I’ve been called, though that shouldn’t be a detail that even needs to be mentioned. However, even if I did look similar to another Indian female that I sit next to or

spend a lot of time with, that does not excuse someone who constantly mixes up our names.

It is particularly frustrating because we are more than halfway into the school year. What’s more is that I have even had some of these teachers in the past, and I had begun to think that we had established personal connections.

At the back-to-school assembly in September, Dr. Levenstein stressed the importance of students getting teachers’ names correct, and vice versa. I would now like to echo this sentiment and urge that we, as a community, continue to try and uphold it. You should know my name; you should know me.

People mistaking my name for another brown person can only stem from a lack of care and attention to detail which is not fair to any of the students on the receiving end.

These incidents can occur anywhere from multiple times a day to a few times a week, but for some teachers, it has been a recurring issue. It is infuriating, hurtful, embarrassing, and, in many cases, the most I have received upon realization is a rushed “Oh my gosh I am so sorry” afterward. At times, teachers also neglect to acknowledge the fact that they have made a mistake and fail to issue an apology of any sort.

The general lack of accountability always leaves me confused and frustrated, with millions of thoughts running through my head: did they realize they just called me

the wrong name? Do they know my real name? Do they even care that they just offended me deeply? Most of all, I wonder if these teachers even respect or care about me as a person.

Calling someone the wrong name may seem rather innocent, but in reality, it is an extremely upsetting microaggression. My peers and friends often mention such offenses affecting other students of color, but I never hear white students facing the same situations. This discrepancy again brings me back to my original point of the school portraying itself as a utopia for all people of different races, origins, and ethnicities when the bottom line is, certain groups in particular experience said “utopia” a bit more than others.

While many face such microaggressions on a daily basis, I have noticed a trend of discomfort in my friends and peers who are hesitant to speak out or confide in others about their experiences.

This reluctance mostly stems from different hierarchies in the school environment.

The dynamic between a teacher and a student doesn’t allow for a student to feel comfortable sharing how they truly feel. Moreover, some of the teachers that called me the wrong name were ones that I would have gone to in the first place — a reality which has prevented me from speaking up.

The only reason I now feel obligated to draw attention to such instances is because I have noticed them occurring more throughout the past few months. When these microaggressions first happened I didn’t view them as a big deal, but, as they became more frequent, my anger and disappointment grew: I was on the verge of crying in class.

Up until this point, I would always hide these reactions — smiling through my mask if my teacher did a quick in-class apology or ignoring it as a whole if my teacher didn’t even recognize their mistake. But, I am finally at a point where the impact of these actions have begun to take their toll on me.

Not only did I feel like I lost

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respect for several of my most trusted teachers, I also felt as though who I was as a person did not matter to them.

These types of incidents have surfaced all throughout my life, albeit far less frequent and at an age when I was too young to understand that they were microaggressions rather than just small mistakes that happened to people who “looked” like me. If Horace Mann as an institution wants to uphold its image and mantra of being an all inclusive environment, we need to do a better job preventing such instances that I believe constitute casual racism.

The school should conduct more discussions on how to deal with these situations, and— similar to what Dr. Levenstein did at the start of the year— we must constantly underscore the need to address people correctly. If a teacher calls you the wrong name, they should confront the issue properly. Rather than just suppress it, students, when comfortable, may also approach their teachers and foster meaningful conversation. Because, if by chance they do happen, it is important to acknowledge these mistakes by giving heartfelt, sincere apologies and ensuring change.

Vivian Coraci/Art Director

Musical performances kicks off return to in-person assemblies Sophia Paley Staff Writer Students and faculty members showcased a variety of musical performances in honor of Music Week on Tuesday, for the UD’s first assembly since December.

Upper Division (UD) Dean of Students Senor Dalo announced in his weekly email to students on February 13 that assemblies have been reinstated. “We feel confident that our community being double-vaxxed and boosted with good ventilation and mask compliance is safe enough to assemble in the assembly space,” Head of UD Jessica Levenstein said.

When the Omicron surge began, students and faculty became anxious about their safety, Levenstein said. The school decided to suspend anything that felt like an optional group gathering, including assemblies, gradewide meetings, and some adult meetings and make them virtual, she said.

Tuesday was the first Music Week assembly since before COVID, UD Director of Student Activities Caroline Bartels said. The school

working on it alot,” Music teacher Michael Bomwell said.

UD English teachers Harry Bauld and Rebecca Bahr performed the song “Summertime” by George Gershwin and Dubose Heyward. Bauld played the piano while Bahr sang. “I’ve been singing since I was a child. I sang in choirs, then acapella in college, then bands (blues and then jazz) as an adult,” Bahr said. Bauld learned to play piano after college, he said.

Administrative Assistant to the Grade Deans Ennis Smith sang a rendition of Bob Dylan’s “To Make You Feel My Love.” “[The song’s] implied subtext says that, despite the difficulties of the past years, we’re very much here for each other,” Smith said. He has been performing since grade school and was in the cast of “Sophisticated Ladies” a few years ago, he said.

Smith was excited but also nervous to be performing back in Gross, he said. “An opportunity to share the stage with other amazing talents was too good to pass up. Such collaborations are the best reward,” he said.

“An opportunity to share the stage with other amazing talents was too good to pass up. Such collaborations are the best reward.”

- Ennis Smith wanted to wait before inviting guests to perform at school, so the assembly only featured members of the school community, including teachers and students, she said.

Music teacher Alan Bates led the first underclassmen steel drums class, who played “Baby I Love Your Way” by Peter Frampton.

The second group of mostly 11th and 12th graders played “Umbrella” by Rihanna.

The UD Jazz Combo played “Everybody Wants to Rule the World’’ by Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley, and Chris Hughes. “We usually don’t play more modern pop tunes, but this one works really well for a jazz group and can work in a number of different styles. We may play it again in the future since we liked

For the assembly’s final performance, Matthew Aponte (12), Hanna Hornfeld (12), Ernesto Marks (12), and Jacob Shaw (12) sang Billy Joel’s “The Longest Time.” “We practiced for about a week before the performance. It would be during breaks or a couple common free periods but a lot of it was on our own and learning or fixing our parts individually,” Aponte said.

Visual Arts teacher and Curator of Student Art Kim Do thought that UD English teacher Jeniffer Little’s singing was outstanding. “We sang together with the faculty band years and years ago during a concert for Urban Aid where we’d raise money for the homeless,” Do

Aanya Gupta/Staff Photographer

BAND TOGETHER A jazzy rendition of “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.” said. He also thought Smith’s performance was outstanding and very moving, he said.

Audrey Goldberg (10) was really touched

by Jhanae Ottey’s (12) senior reflection, she said. “I love writing poetry and I related to her in a sense that poetry is a way to express feelings,” Goldberg said.

It was amazing to see people sing on a stage without a mask on, it gave me a sense of normalcy, Molly Goldsmith (10) said. “As someone who is involved in music in school and outside of school, I was thrilled that the music week assembly was back,” she said.

The circumstances needed to reinstate assemblies had to do with the number of students affected by the Omicron surge and how that would play out on campus, Dalo said.

“Dr. Kelly made the decision that we were going to minimize having a large number of people in one space when we had the surge,” Dalo said. The idea was to suspend having large numbers of people in one place for the first month back from winter break, he said.

While assemblies were suspended entirely for the UD, the Middle Division (MD) moved their assemblies to virtual. However for the UD, the administration would rather have inperson assemblies or none at all, Levenstein said. Now that the numbers of students contracting and transmitting Omicron has fallen, reinstating in person assemblies for

both the MD and the UD is a viable option, she said.

Assemblies being reinstated is a positive sign regarding the number covid cases at the school, and there will be more positive signs to come, Levenstein said. “Things are happening and I think we are really moving into a much more normal school year,” she said.

Bartels has planned for many guests to come and speak at the school in the coming months, she said. “Hoping nothing changes, this is going to feel like a rather guest-heavy spring and there will be a showcase later in May for students who want to perform,” she said. Among the guests planned for the spring are theoretical physicist Bryan Green and Angela Saini, author of Superior: The Return of Race Science which some UD students have read, Bartels said.

“I think all signs for the past few weeks have been positive and definitely indicative of the fact that we are moving in the right direction. We’ve been able to take down the plastic dividers on the tables in the cafeteria, we moved to reinstate assemblies and grade meetings, and bake sales are coming back so I definitely think we are moving in the right direction,” Dalo said.

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THE RECORD FEATURES FEBRUARY 18TH, 2022

love letters to our behind-the-scenes board members Dear layout editors,

Dear art editors,

To put up with Indesign for even a few minutes is an impressive feat in itself; to do so for hours every week with a smile on your face is truly astounding. Your job is fundamental to The Record’s very existence, and you make it look easy. Thank you for working tirelessly so that our physical paper can arrive in Olshan Lobby in all its glory every Friday. Thank you for answering the same silly questions we ask over and over every Thursday night.

AJ: press night comes alive when you show up. You have a special talent for bringing a smile to everyone’s face even when entire layouts or articles have to be restructured at the last minute. In a very real way, we are forever grateful to you for staying at press night until the very end — whether that be 8:30 or 11PM. Avani and Arin: Thank you for editing our rough Indesign drafts into beautiful spreads every week, for kindly correcting our mistakes, and for rearranging entire layouts in record (get it?) time. Your eagerness and creativity make the paper shine.

Lauren, Riva, and Vivian: We love and admire you so much. Nobody but you could pull together such beautiful drawings in such a short time frame every week.

The Record would be sad and bland and so very dense without you. You bring the paper to life. Your hard work and patience does not go unnoticed.

When a surprise article comes in late on Wednesday night, you are always ready to step up and create stunning visuals for it. You carefully work with artists to make layouts look cohesive and put-together. You go above and beyond to manage every staff artist in an organized and timely manner on top of making your own (fantastic) art. Your job involves so much and you deserve endless appreciation.

Dear photo editors, Sean and Sam: You joined our board late in the year, yet we cannot imagine what we would do without you. You are always working at 110% to come up with assignments, oversee photographers, edit and take photos yourselves. Thank you for running back and forth between the StuPub and Tillinghast for extra photos on Thursday nights — your energy never falters.

And, above all, thank you for ensuring that photojournalism — which is a fundamental piece of any newspaper — is consistently strong in The Record. You are real troopers, and you do phenomenal work!

Dear Mr. Berenson, We know you’re not a big believer in mushy thank-you notes, but you’re getting one anyway because we appreciate you too!

Surprise, kinda.

You put up with our madness, Thursday nights and always. We could not do without your whiteboard doodles, ill-timed late-night rants, or honest (yet consistently supportive) constructive criticism.

You are an incredible editor and an even better Spotify curator. Thank you for all that you do.

Art by Purvi Jonnalagadda/ A&E Section Editor Layout NOT by layout editors! Because this was a surprise.

Love is in the air: Friends on Valentines day Photo Essay by Nicole Au

Courtesy of The Happiness Club

THE RECORD FEATURES FEBRUARY 18TH, 2022

Writings on love from the student body marigold Louise Kim

you offer me a marigold blossom and silently declare it your love for me. the sky is ablaze between the setting sun and the rippling Hudson. watch us dance around our feelings and stare at our stationary feet. is this fragile moment fleeting or forever? no speech can capture the mortality and beauty of our syncopated breath. you with breathy eyes and soft smile. loving me is your loss. what do you even know about losing? is accepting this flower a seal on our fates? a pigeon glides by, cooing, as if to say yes. as if, say yes. long gone is the sun. long gone is our hesitance. we flow, we river into the darkness together. ever-loving. everrunning.

Korean Street Food Jennifer Feng By laptop light you are untouched and unreal. I am craving hollow and desire for the possibility of a taste in a language I do not know and meet only in embarrassing clashes of similarities.

I will come to you, led by the hand one day For now, wait

The Letter An Excerpt Anonymous As the cabin’s wooden door gently clattered shut, an old man stepped out into the Sunday morning. A trenchcoat smothered his shoulder blades from the winds of early November, his wrinkled skin tightly snuggled against a thousand brown pellets. Ocean blue jeans hung over the tips of his sneakers, wisps of crystal hair clung to the buckles of his belt. A golden hoop adorned the ringfinger of his right hand, gleaming in the sun as it had on the first day of a fifty year marriage.

Whether created from his haste or deliberated by his intention, the man had left a white envelope to sleep beside his wife. A red scribble addressed to her its contents, a long, hand-written letter composed in the waking hours of dawn.

“My dearest Astra,” the red words read. “I hope the clatter of the door didn’t wake you. Even the softest footsteps echo through these thin walls, and many nights I have heard the faint shuffles of rats as they scurried across the hardwood floor.”

Churchells rang in the distance. The woman slowly stirred from her slumber, her eyes still closed as she turned toward a plumped up pillow.

“It was on such a night, startled awake by the paters of a small, invisible rodent, that I gazed at a star far beyond our cabin’s wooden ceiling. It presided over a world not unlike our own, bathing every planet, every asteroid, every moon in the warm embrace of vibrancy.”

Astra rubbed her eyes, the orbs of exhaustion dripping like tears from the corners of her lower lashes. She stretched her arms, her fingers gently brushing against the envelope’s rough seal.

“I knew the star’s embrace existed somewhere, drowning in the endless expanse of a cold, incomprehensible universe. Maybe enough energy can create me some company, the ball of plasma thought to itself. Soulless matter zoomed at unfathomable speeds, the interactions of nearby atoms releasing flashes of light, waves of sound, pockets of heat— fleeting signs of infinite promise to a lonely, desperate, wishful star.

The woman’s eyes blinked open. She sat up under the covers, tearing the envelope’s seal and unveiling the letter inside.

“So the ball of plasma decided to grow larger. It swelled into a red orb of light, projecting flaming arrows from its spherical body like waterfalls. Surely my larger size will contribute something, asserted the star. Heavier elements like silicon and iron fused into existence; great booms echoed, canopies of heat sizzled, particles of matter vanished. The star was still alone.”

Dance of the Stars Dylan Montbach The bright crescent moon and the endless dark captivating void, Stars gleaming radiantly, forever blazing like an illusion The beaming light, I feel overjoyed, One star in exclusion, Then blink Senses left to the shambles as the sky is pulverized, In the harmonious center of this raging storm Is this peculiar feeling, I’m hypnotized, This feeling so warm, That flash I can’t resist this magical force that’s edging me on, Earthly chains that once held me now consumed Towards the light that’s wished upon, Its place now assumed Those two Lost in this endless void, the blazing light still there, Now in the orbit, this dance of death But I know, I am aware I feel its breath Forever entwined

Stoic/Lost Love Naomi Gelfer I shiver as your fingers might trace upon my skin illuminating paths where no one else has been.

Now, my shivers ripple only with rain these tears might wash the sin from these rhymes ringing in my ears: I yearn to feel where you’ve never been.

The stars, they drip with silver your eyes drown mine in glow our grip is dipped in fleeting truths and words would drench with gold.

This eternity searching constellations stoic: chasing for your heart we merely both composed of stone carved together / cursed apart.

And, grant me abandoned to all a hopeless cause never to be stranded except between your arms.

I seek for your eyes they seem to twinkle bright but your fingertips are shadows that dance across the night.

And if this is to end one day and the world might let us die crush us back to sand and dust please paint us in the sky.

Sunrise to Sunset Anonymous Your skin glowing like the sunset, Your eyes bright like Pluto, Your laugh as loud as an asteroid, My heart soft like a cloud As short as Mercury’s orbit, My love for you makes me forfeit I look over my shoulder to see if you are still there, Every step of the way, I am glad you are part of my day Our trips to Greece, Your alarm blazing my peace, But I get distracted by you near, We watch the sunrise, I wait for you to get ready, So then we can go eat some spaghetti We head down to the beach, Your body as sweet as a peach, We go see to the waves, It’s like we could be here for days

All art by Karla Moreira/Staff Artist

5

You dry your skin with a towel, Going to wash your hair, You put on your La Mer, We go watch the sunset, You rest your head on my shoulders, And I feel like the luckiest girl on a boulder We go up to our room, I can still smell your perfume, Your sandals come off, We order room service to top our day off, I see you stuff some bread down your head, I guess that’s why there are crumbs on our bed, Your smile hides the mess, And though I prefer a clean sheet, Your smile has my defeat

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THE RECORD FEATURES FEBRUARY 18TH, 2022

High fashion, high pressure: wealth culture proliferates in students’ wardrobes Maeve Goldman and Kate Beckler Staff Writers When Christine Tao (10) was in sixth grade, she overheard a conversation between two friends in which one accused the other of wearing a fake Cartier bracelet, she said. “It was shocking that anyone, much less a twelve year old, would be expected to own a $6,000 item,” Tao said.

The popularity of luxury fashion items on campus is hard to ignore, Maisy* (10), who is anonymous because she does not want to receive backlash from her friends, said. “Since my first day at Horace Mann, it has been very apparent that students wear expensive shoes and expensive jewelry,” she said.

Golden Goose, Moncler, Gucci, and OffWhite are a few of the many luxury brands present on campus, Alex Nagin (12) said.

have experienced peer pressure when it comes to clothing back when I was more insecure and really just wanted to fit in with the people around me,” she said.

Bai remembers buying crop tops and Lululemon leggings in order to blend in with the girls at the school, she said. “When certain types of clothing are normalized, people then want to ‘fit in with the trend’ which, in a sense, creates a scenario where students are somewhat pressured into conformity.”

Although some students genuinely enjoy luxury goods, other students purchase them due to pressure from their peers, Ellie Romero (9) said.

When students are younger they have less confidence and security in their identity they may feel pressured to wear the same clothing their classmates own, she said. When Romero was in the Middle Division (MD), she felt there was a need to wear brands such as Aviator Nation in order to fit in. “Now that I’m in high school, I feel more comfortable expressing my own fashion and people tend to wear less of the same brands.”

Despite attending the Lower Division, Li felt an increased need to fit in with her clothing choices

“When I arrived at Horace Mann in sixth grade I was never explicitly told which kids were wealthy or not. However, their clothing was a clear indicator.”

- Christine Tao (10) In 2021, the average upper-class student in America spent $1,100 dollars on clothing each year, though a single article of designer-labeled clothing on the school’s campus can exceed this amount, according to an article published on the website Renolon in January of 2022.

Although not all students come from the same level of financial privilege, the large population of wealthy students who wear similar types of clothing shapes fashion trends at the school, Heidi Li (10) said. Young people who are still exploring their styles are often influenced by the shopping choices and specific clothing items of their peers, she said. “There is this unspoken rule where, when everyone has something, you feel the need to have it yourself.”

Wealth culture is defined by an environment in which students purchase items in order to outwardly display their wealth, Maisy said. “The most common luxury items are a puffer jacket or a logoed sweatshirt which are centered around brand name and reputation, not a specific design element,” she said. “If you’re buying something solely for the logo, I would say that’s flaunting. It feels as if people are just trying to prove that they have money.”

As fashion trends at the school become more expensive, students who want to stay in style face constantly increasing stress, Maisy said. “Seeing high-end fashion every day puts increased pressure to constantly buy new things and keep up with trends,” she said. Owning these types of clothing sometimes feels essential to fitting in, she said.

“At a school like Horace Mann, there can be this expectation on all students to spend lots of money on clothes or to have lots of money to spend on clothes,” Kira Lewis (9) said.

Similarly, Serena Bai (9) feels the pressure of the fashion trends at the school. “I definitely

when she entered the MD, she said. “During middle school everyone was wearing the same things and the same trends, for example, Golden Goose shoes.” Although she knew Golden Goose sneakers, which cost about $500 a pair, did not align with her style, Li still felt she needed to buy a pair, she said. Even though she didn’t end up purchasing the shoes, the pressure to buy them “just didn’t feel right,” she said.

Despite the existence of wealth culture, certain students buy from luxury brands such as Lululemon and Aritzia not because of the label, but because they like the clothing the brand sells, Romero said. Many people wear brands like Aritzia for its trendy yet elevated styles and Lululemon leggings for their quality and comfort, she said.

Both Aritzia and Lulelemon — whose black yoga pants sell for $68 and $98 a pair, respectively — have become staples for many femaleidentifying students at the school, she said.

Even though the pressure drops in high school for most kids, Bai struggled at the beginning of ninth grade before developing her own style. “After a while, I realized that clothes really didn’t change the way I felt about myself, nor did it change the way other people saw me,” she said.

Luxury items often have a special design and quality that people genuinely enjoy, Li said. People who are passionate about fashion appreciate the design elements certain brands are famous for, she said. “For example, I really like Alexander McQueen shoes because, although simple, they have intricate design elements at the heel which make them more unique than other shoes,” she said.

If students want to replicate highend fashion trends without purchasing such

expensive clothes, there are many brands that are similar to the luxury-brand styles, Li said. “You don’t need to purchase from the actual brand to participate in the trend,” she said.

Bai has adopted the practice of purchasing more affordable options inspired by luxury goods, she said. If Bai enjoys a specific luxury trend or style such as Chanel, she then incorporates it into her wardrobe by shopping for second-hand items with similar design elements, she said. “I used to read a lot of the luxury fashion magazine Vogue,” she said. “It’s really cool to see items from the runway on real people.”

The trends defined by wealth culture are constantly shifting and increasing, Li said.

Social media has expedited the trend cycle at the school, making it difficult to meet standards of staying in style even more unattainable, she said. On apps such as Instagram and Tik Tok, creators constantly post new outfit ideas and shopping lists that create exponentially more trends that students then follow, she said.

For example, creators on Tik Tok popularized Vivien Westwood necklaces and brown North Face puffer jackets, items that became instant staples on campus, she said.

The fast-paced nature of the trend cycle makes it easier for Li to find inspiration and incorporate new styles into her fashion, Li said.

“After Instagramers kept on posting pictures of outfits with the Vivienne Westwood necklace I decided to purchase a variation of it,” Li said.

As students mature and age throughout high school, the importance of material items dwindles, Li said. In the MD, she was motivated to purchase expensive items simply because they were trendy. “Now I focus more on the quality and style of an item than the price,” she said. “At the end of the day it’s just clothes.”

Even though a large portion of the school does not wear expensive clothing, the pressure in the school’s environment can still affect students such as Tao, she said. “The fact that people cared that much about the price of clothing is something I had never encountered before.”

The pressures of wealth culture transcend student life, extending to parents as well, Tao said. When she was in seventh grade, Tao’s mother purchased a Louis Vuitton bag after attending a parent-teacher conference, though she had never expressed interest in designer bags before. “She saw that the majority of parents had luxury bags and said she didn’t want to embarrass me,” Tao said.

“We had the conversation with her that we didn’t care about the price of the accessories she had,” Tao said. “She feels very silly about it now.”

Similar to Tao, Bai does not mind seeing

designer clothes around campus but thinks that using designer clothes as a symbol of wealth is problematic, she said.

“I don’t mind seeing designer items, but it does bother me when people constantly show designer items as a symbol of wealth or to make other people feel bad for not owning designer,” she said.

In addition, Bai feels that the normalization of expensive clothing over moderately priced clothing can defeat the purpose of a dress code, she said. “The whole purpose of not having a strict dress code in place is for students to have the freedom to choose what they wear and have the freedom to express themselves through fashion.”

Because clothing on campus highlights the physical differences between socioeconomic classes in students’ on campus, it has unintentional consequences on the way students interact with each other on an interpersonal level, Nagin said. “Wealth often defines friend groups.”

Even though students have a wide array of friends, people who wear expensive brands are often in the same core groups, Nagin said.

Clothing is a visual signifier that these people exist at similar

socioeconomic rates and for the most part live in the same neighborhoods where there is easy access to certain brands, he said.

“When I arrived at Horace Mann in sixth grade I was never explicitly told which kids were wealthy or not,” Tao said. “However, their clothing was a clear indicator.” Although she was never instructed not to interact with kids from wealthier backgrounds, she felt an inherent sense that individuals with vastly different wealth quotas had different interests and would not be compatible, Tao said.

Maisy does not believe fashion is a factor in friendships, she said. “If there are similarities in the way friends are dressing it may be just because they have similar interests and therefore styles.”

For students not in upper-class-coded circles, higher-end fashion plays less of a role in everyday life, Lewis said. “A lot of students come from one specific background but there are also a lot of students who don’t come from that background,” she said. Since Lewis’s friends do not purchase expensive clothing items, she doesn’t feel the need to focus on wealth culture, she said. “I couldn’t tell you the difference between a pair of Converse and a pair of Golden Goose shoes.” * Any name with an asterisk represents a student granted anonymity.

All art by Vivian Coraci/Art Director

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THE RECORD ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT FEBRUARY 18TH, 2022

An underwater heist: Komaroff (11) releases new short film Luck Peck Staff Writer A safecracker, a boat driver, and an expert scuba diver must work together to retrieve a hidden safe worth ten million dollars, pressured by a strict time crunch of 48 hours. This is the plot of Jack Komaroff ’s (11) newly-released short film: “Army Of Divers.” The film is an out-of-school production which came out last week and is currently available for viewing on armyofdivers.com.

The heist is set during WWII, when a seasoned army general (Brandon DeSpain) recruits an exNavy scuba diver (Michael-Eoin Stanney), a boat captain (Griffin Glick), and an expert safecracker (Hunter Kohl) to locate and retrieve a safe worth 10 million dollars. However, the safe is buried underwater and the clock is ticking. They will have to attempt this rescue mission, relying on only their wits and a bit of help from the U.S. government.

“It is an action-heist film set in World War II, but the twist is that it is a scuba diving heist,” Komaroff said. His vision was to make the movie fun, energetic, and sleek, he said. “It’s not going to be as overly convoluted or complicated as some other heist movies.” Komaroff ’s goal was to make the film fun but also aesthetically pleasing, he said.

The idea for the film came to Komaroff when he was on a marine-biology trip to the British Virgin Islands last summer, he said. “I got a lot of great footage and I had an idea of what I wanted to do but nothing was finalized,” Komaroff said. “I looked at the footage and thought ‘how can I make a movie around this?’”

After recording a few hours of GoPro footage of scuba diving and shipwrecks, Komaroff proceeded to formulate a script around the footage. He taught himself how to write scripts by using YouTube tutorials as well as videos of different script writers and directors talking about their process for writing screenplays, he said. “The majority of what I learned came from reading other screenplays and watching a wide variety of films and seeing how I could pull aspects that I liked and how I can use

Courtesy of Jack Komaroff

HAIR-RAISING HEIST Komaroff ’s film poster. those elements as an inspiration to develop my own director’s vision.”

Komaroff did not seek actors from the school and instead found actors on a website called backstage.com. “I hired a variety of different actors including actors from NYU working part time and full time actors,” he said. “I shot some people on the trip who looked similar to the actors but only shot the backs of them.” Komaroff then found actors which the audience could associate with the pre-filmed people, similar to stunt-doubles, he said.

Komaroff and the crew shot dialogue scenes together in August, he said. “It was a pretty quick process of shooting due to a lack of time and budget restrictions.”

Komaroff filmed the dialogue scenes in and around NYC as many areas were happy to have filmmakers use their space for free, he said. “I did

all of the camera work myself which was a huge challenge as I was also directing my actors,” he said. “It was a lot of telling my actors directions beforehand, shooting, and then giving notes.”

“It was a very fun process to bond with the actors,” he said. Naturally, they are all very charismatic and they got along very well,” he said.

“I particularly loved our nighttime shoot as we got to really connect as we waited for the perfect sunset. They are all great actors and I would love to work with them again.”

After gathering all the footage, Komaroff was then able to compile it, he said. “For the last couple of months, I have been using editing software to edit the clips [and] have been adding in visual effects and colorwork,” he said. “I learned editing through experience as I’ve been editing for about three years now,” Komaroff said. When he began the editing process, he felt confident enough to take it on himself, he said.

Komaroff did turn to Youtube, however, to learn some new skills, he said. “I learned about sound overlapping, J-Cuts and L-cuts, and generally what transitions are aesthetically pleasing and not too jarring.”

that he could learn a lot throughout the process, he said.

“I’m really proud of the visuals that we achieved,” Komaroff said. “One could look at the film and say ‘this is not just what an iPhone could have caught, this was Jack’s vision.’” Komaroff was able to incorporate his own voice into the film by using certain colorwork and music, he said. “A lot of stuff that I like is reflected in the film,” he said.

“I leaned into some warmer colors and things that were aesthetically pleasing,” he said. Komaroff also included two songs by the Beatles, he said, as they aligned with his personal taste.

On Thursday, the view count was at 371. “That should be increasing as my actors share the film with their followers on social media,” he said.

Looking towards the future, Komaroff has gained some new skills which he hopes to take with him to upcoming projects. “I now have some experience directing actors,” he said.

Komaroff also wants to spend more time on the storyboard during his next projects, he said.

Komaroff hopes to refine some of his camera angles and cinematography a bit, he said.

Komaroff is currently working on a black and Courtesy of Jack Komaroff

FIGHT OR FLIGHT? Thrilling flight scene.

“Army of Divers” is Komaroff ’s first film and biggest project yet, he said. “I got into filmmaking last year, during 10th grade. I’ve always loved movies and wanted to try my hand in making them.” Originally, Komaroff was scared to take on a project this big, however, he is glad it paid off and

white detective noir film which he will be shooting this summer, he said. “I’m really excited that I will have more time for editing and cinematography and that I can bring the things I learned from this project with me.”

Horace Mann Theater Company (HMTC) takes the stage with One Act Plays Isabella Ciriello and Ellen Wang Contributing Writers “Welcome to my world, darling,” Yasmeen Masoud (10) said from the Black Box theater. She played Mom in “Till Death Does Its Part,” one of the One Act Plays performed by the Horace Mann Theater Company (HMTC) last week. The other plays were “Canceled,” “Cosmic Cleanup Crew,” and “Think Tank.”

One of the most enjoyable parts of performing live is the immediate feedback from the audience, which was emotional and rewarding for the actors after not having a live audience in two years, Bailey Hecht (11) said. “My favorite part was when jokes hit. I loved when I couldn’t say my next line because the audience was too busy laughing.”

As an audience member, Camila Florencio (10) attended the shows because her friends were in it and she wanted to support them, she said.

“I remember thinking ‘it’s crazy how talented people are.’ These plays are something you would expect grown-ups to write, so I felt some sort of Horace Mann pride [knowing that they were student written and directed].”

For both the audience and the cast members, some scenes were very moving. “‘Till Death Does Its Part’ and ‘Cosmic Cleanup Crew’ evoked real emotions and I thought that was very powerful,” Florencio said.

“The scenes with [just me and Yasmeen] were very powerful emotionally,” Dalia Pustilnik (12), who played Ava in “Till Death Does Its Part,” said.

As the Student Assistant Director of “Think Tank” and an upperclassman, Matthew Peeler (12) reassured the cast before they went onstage.

“If you mess up, no one’s gonna know,” he said.

“As long as the scene flows and hits the points that we need it to, just keep moving.”

Live theater is, by nature, unpredictable, so the actors had to adapt and think on the fly, Jah’si Eyre (10) said. During one of the performances, Eyre, who played Rio in “Canceled,” had to quickly change into sneakers after a scene but was having trouble getting them on, so instead of missing a cue, he went on barefoot, he said. He was nervous that the audience would notice, but he stayed in character and pretended it was all part of the plan, he said. “One of the things you

have to really prepare for as an actor is the messups that will happen,” Eyre said. “You have to make sure that even though you know a mistake has been made the audience doesn’t know that.”

In addition to the occasional mishap during the performances, the actors faced an unexpected challenge the week of the show when Malaya Gaboury (12) and Etta Singer (10) had to understudy a role in “Cosmic Cleanup Crew”and “Canceled” respectively because the original actor was not able to perform the roles. On the Monday before the show, they learned that they had to know their staging and lines for opening night on Thursday. “It was a lot to learn — new staging, new blocking, new lines — but it was really fun,” Singer, who understudied Chad in “Canceled,” said.

“Normally, there is only one play so everyone is on the same page, but now there are so many different things happening at once, so it was so interesting for me to see it all come together.”

“We didn’t actually come together until tech week or the week before tech, and that was really fun because we got to watch everyone else’s shows that we had never seen before and had only read the script of,” Singer said.

By the end of the rehearsal process, the cast had grown close with onePhoto Creds another despite not all being in the same plays.

“Seeing the whole cast come together was nice,” Hecht said. “Since it’s four separate shows, we don’t always have the best bonding across the shows, but by the end you could see we came Sophie Li/Staff Artist

For Hecht, a mishap occurred in a performance of “Till Death Does Its Part” when she spilled a cup of tea, she said. “It wasn’t great, but it was really funny.”

Rehearsals for the four plays started in November, beginning with large group rehearsals so that the actors could learn about the plays’ plots and bond with their castmates, Gaboury said. After the initial rehearsals, the casts met Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays after school in the Black Box. The actors started out by reading the script without guidance from their directors, Eyre said.

The goal was to experiment with how it would naturally feel to perform the scene before diving into the technical aspects of it, he said.

There were four different plays with separate rehearsals for each play’s cast, Eyre said.

together as one group.”

“A lot of [directing and acting] is looking at what’s not on the page,” Student Assistant Director of “Till Death Does Its Part” Matthew Aponte (12) said. “There’s a connection to yourself whenever you’re playing a character, so you need to think about how you would feel versus how your character would feel.”

Being on a big stage in front of a large audience was a drastic change that the actors needed to prepare for. “Because there’s a bunch of people in one theater, we really had to enunciate our voices and speak louder,” Amaris Christian (9), who played Andrea Misthell in “Think Tank,” said.

However, acting in front of a live audience is a crucial part of theater and was a blessing during COVID Aponte said. “Hearing their responses to the drama going on on stage was really, really

helpful and sort of brought back my love for theater.”

Unlike other musicals or plays that the HMTC performs, the One Acts are unique because they are put together mainly by students. “Time is always a challenge,” Aponte said. “If we had more time, there were definitely more things we could’ve done, more things we would’ve built for the set, or things we could’ve put into the shows.” However, the performance still topped his expectations and engaged the audience tremendously, he said.

“The performance went beyond my expectations,” Peeler said. “We really hammered it down during the last few weeks of rehearsal, and it all went great.”

After the last show on Saturday, the seniors gave handed the underclassmen gifts related to each of their roles, such as a stuffed animal that resembled a fish for an ensemble member in “Think Tank,” and the juniors gave roses to the seniors as a gesture of appreciation and wellwishes, Gaboury said.

As a senior, Pustilnik was grateful for the opportunity to form friendships with students of all grades as well as perform her peers’ work, she said. “There’s something very special about doing a show that’s written by students, directed by students, fully performed by students, and with students of all four grades,” Pustilnik said.

“It’s amazing knowing that you’re putting on a unique, student-written show.”

Crossword Answers from page 2

Lions’ Den Record Sports

8

FEBRUARY 18TH, 2022

Come support the Lions at the 70th Annual Robert Buzzell Memorial Game tonight!

Girls Tipoff: 6:00pm Boys Tipoff: 8:00pm

Location: Manhattan College Food and drink will be provided!

Sea lions dive into Ivy Prep League Championship Audrey Carbonell Staff Writer he Boys and Girls Varsity Swim teams competed in the Ivy Preparatory League (IPL) Championship on Wednesday, with the girls earning a second place finish, and the boys placing third. Prior to the finals, the boys and girls competed in preliminary meets on Monday and Tuesday, respectively.

The Lions brought strong energy into the preliminaries, Vincent Li (12) said. “One of the things that [Boys Varsity Swim] Coach [Michael] Duffy likes to emphasize is that a good team is one that has a lot of fast swimmers, but a really great team is one that constantly has teammates cheering each other on in addition to having many fast swimmers,” he said. “There were a lot of times in which I felt that the team was being a great team.”

Theodore Ganea (12) also appreciated the team’s spirit, he said. “I remember when I was doing the 100 [yard] breaststroke race, everyone was yelling and cheering,” he said.

“We would all gather around the lane where our people were swimming, and it really creates a good sense of community and it motivates you to swim faster and harder.”

Li had some challenges during preliminary races, he said. “The hardest part was trying to push through, especially towards the end of my races when I was very tired,” he said.

However, it was important to put all of his effort into swimming, he said. “In the 100 yard butterfly, I beat someone else by 0.1 seconds, and had I not put in that [extra] amount of effort I might not have won.”

Additionally, the unusually cold water made swimming even more difficult, Ganea said. “The pool was frigidly cold to the point where you got in and your muscles would start

contracting up,” he said.

The preliminaries for the Boys and Girls teams were held on different days this year due to COVID, Duffy said. “It’s the first time we didn’t have boys and girls together, which is a little bit different,’’ he said. “Overall, the boys’ meet did go pretty smoothly and it was very fast, but we trained with the girls, so I would have liked to have the full team together.”

This year, the school hosted the preliminary meet on its campus. As a meet director, Aquatics Director and Girls Varsity Swim Coach Thatcher Woodley found it difficult to enforce a “COVID conscious protocol,” he said.

There was confusion amongst participants on when they were supposed to wear their masks on the pool deck, he said. “We worked hard to keep all participants safe, [by] asking them to stay vigilant with wearing masks,” he said.

The Varsity Swim team had been preparing for this meet from the beginning of the season, Woodley said. “We had this event circled on the calendar on the first day of practice, and it’s very much the culminating event for the season,” he said.

At the preliminaries, the boys team as a whole did their season’s best, Duffy said.

Notably, the seniors stood out to Duffy because of their leadership skills, he said. “There wasn’t one single performance that really jumped out at me, but it was our seniors and our captains that really pulled the team together.”

The teams do not score any points during the preliminaries. However, swimmers can earn between one to sixteen points for each race during the championship, Woodley said.

Therefore, it is important for all swimmers to do their best to earn the maximum amount of points for the team, he said.

The girls team’s strategy was to focus, support and celebrate, Mignone said. “We focus on our individual events or relays and

develop our own strategies with the help of coaches and teammates, we support others while we aren’t in the pool, and then we celebrate our improvements and successes,” she said.

At the championship meet, Mignone saw this strategy executed, she said. “Our last race in the IPL Championship was a 400 freestyle relay, and the entire team was standing up and supporting the relay team — these moments of support were very special,” she said. “At finals, the entire girls team hit personal records and we truly swam our hardest.”

One of the team’s biggest competitors was Trinity School, Emma Chan (11) said. “Trinity was the school we were trying to beat because we were almost evenly matched with them,” she said. “Whenever there was a really close race, everyone from the team was cheering and screaming their lungs out.” At the end of the championships, the girl’s team only lost to Trinity by 10 points.

In the 100 yard backstroke, Madison Wu (12) finished first with a time of 58.24. Heidi Wu (9) finished first in the 200 yard individual

second round of the NYSAIS playoffs,” he said.

“The kids were going crazy; they were cheering for each other, they were playing for each other, and they were really, really enthusiastic.”

Justin Scherer (12) was a standout player throughout his game, especially when he came back to win after being down 8-2, Bramwell said. During a particularly memorable point, Scherer saved a ball from the ground while his opponent thought the point had already ended. “When Justin got up and took the point, it really shocked his opponent.” Additionally, it was also exciting when Bramwell won the deciding match that gave the Lions the win because everything had come down to that moment, Bramwell said.

What stood out the most to Beller was the Lions ability to play as a team, Beller said.

After the team’s top two players were defeated, the bottom half of the roster stepped up and helped the Lions advance to the semifinals, he said. “It was great to see the whole program really come together and rally behind their teammates.”

Despite the girls team’s loss, the team played well overall with many of the players hitting strong serves and continuing rallies, Ria Chowdhry (12) said. Because the team went into the match knowing RCDS had strong

players, it was important to stay positive and not be defeated by the results of the meet.

The team’s less experienced players played great games and worked extremely hard throughout the season, Mira Bansal (10) said.

Additionally, Chowdhry was a standout player, going all out to win her last game, Ashley Scherer (10) said.

The girls team did not feel as much pressure during this match because they had already played RCDS twice, so they felt comfortable on the courts, Scherer said.

The team dynamic was also quite different from the previous years, with a mix of newer and less experienced players and competitive players, Chowdry said. As a result, the team focused on staying consistent with their shots and not making careless mistakes that could cost them their game, she said. It was also important for the team to have fun on the court and give it their all for the last game, Scherer said.

Regardless of the NYSAIS results, Lee feels that the team has already had a successful season. Additionally, not only did they end the season with a winning record, but they became a close knit team during the season, Bramwell said. “When I had heard the squash team was called a family, I didn’t think a sports team

medley with a time of 2:07.24 and the 100 yard breaststroke with a time of 1:08.22. Madison, Heidi, Rose Korff (9), and Kyra Stinebaugh (9) finished first in the 200 yard medley with a time of 1:52.75. Finally, Korff, Jojo Mignone (10), Heidi, and Madison finished first in the 400 yard freestyle with a time of 3:46.16.

Because this is the first IPL Championship in two years, the team had to put in extra work this season, Duffy said. During practices, the team would swim about two and a half miles a day, he said. “Our strategy is always to do our best and have no regrets,” he said. “You swim as hard as you can when you’re up there, and your job out of the pool is to support your teammates.”

The next steps for the swim team will be the NYSAIS, Chan said. During the championship meet, swimmers had to make the NYSAIS time quota to be eligible for the meet, she said.

“The way it works is that only two people from each team can do an event, so the coaches will pick [these] people to represent the school.”

Courtesy of Barry Mason

ON THE FLY Swimmers race through the water.

Boys and Girls Varsity Squash rally together for NYSAIS Ceci Coughlin and Sofia Kim Staff Writers The Boys and Girls Varsity Squash teams competed in the New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS) quarterfinals on Monday. The boys team won against Packer Collegiate Institute with a score of 4-3, and the girls team lost against Rye Country Day School (RCDS) with a score of 6-1 in the quarterfinals. On Wednesday, the boys team went on to play in the semifinals, losing to Hackley with a score of 5-2.

In the quarterfinal match, several players stepped up, which ultimately led to the boys’ victory, Marcus Lee (11) said. Though all of the players lost in their first game, they were able to come back to win the second one, and then use their momentum to win most of the third games, resulting in the 4-3 victory for the team, William Bramwell (11) said.

Additionally, the boys team coach, Ronnie Beller, checked in on the players throughout the meet, offering encouraging advice and support, Lee said.

The quarterfinals were a thriller, Beller said.

“Will Bramwell was very composed and very determined, and he was able to win his [final] match which allowed us to advance to the

LIONS’ BOX: Results from This Week’s games

Courtesy of Squash Team

TEAM HUDDLE BVS before the game starts. could be that close, but I was very happy to be proven wrong,” he said.

Beller also looks forward to the future of the team, he said. “We were a very young team this year but we were able to do really well with a 9-6 record,” Beller said. “We finished top three in the Ivy [Preparatory] League and we finished top four in the NYSAIS,” he said.

Next year, the goal is to eventually win the Ivy Preparatory League, he said.

2/14 - Boys Varsity Squash vs. Packer Collegiate -- WIN 4-3 2/16 - Boys Varsity Basketball vs. Fieldston -- LOSS 45-64 2/14 - Girls Varsity Squash vs. Rye Country Day -- LOSS 1-7 2/16 - Girls Varsity Basketball vs. Fieldston -- WIN 53-29 2/14 - Girls Varsity Basketball vs. Hackley -- LOSS 48-54 2/16 - Boys Varsity Squash vs. Hackley -- LOSS 1-6