data/16.xml at master · HMRecord/data · GitHub

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<issue>
<article>
<section>
Middle School
</section>
<title>
A look into two MD publications - students explore self expresssion through the written word
</title>
<author>
Janvi Kukreja
</author>
<body>
Two Middle Division (MD) publications, the HM Journal and Muse, modeled on Upper Division publications have made an impact on the MD.
The Journal features articles  about current events, and Muse allows students to share their creativity through poetry and prose.
This publication “is completely student-based, just like the high school,” English teacher Morgan Yarosh, HM Journal’s faculty advisor, said. The team of Upper Division student editors, led by Elizabeth Raab (11), edit the MD students’ writing and keep the publication on track. Yarosh only proofreads articles before they go into the magazine and arranges for the funding and the physical publication.
“Sophomores and freshmen edit the articles that are sent in, and the MD students email me if they are interested in writing, and we work together to find a topic they’d like to write about,” said Raab.
On Muse, teachers have a larger involvement in the production of the publication. “There were attempts to have an advisory committee of peer students to handle preparing the work for print, but that was tough to sustain in the Middle Division,” faculty advisor Isaac Brooks said. “In response, we’ve deputized the English Department faculty to act as editors.”
While several students have topics in mind, other students that know they want to be involved have a conversation with Raab to find something they feel comfortable writing about. “It’s actually a very interactive process,” she said.
“Because the students are still new to writing in general, we try to stay relaxed regarding deadlines on when we receive the articles,” Raab said.
There is only one edition of the Journal printed every year, which ensures that the editing process goes smoothly, and the students are able to take their time when writing their pieces. The hope is that this lengthy writing and revising process will benefit students’ quality of writing in their classes, Yarosh said.
As a teacher, Brooks views writing for a publication as an important addition to the usual classwork. “Writing for a larger community is a wonderful challenge and an amazing validation of our students’ communication skills beyond the classroom,” he said.
As a writer of the HM Journal in middle school, Raab sees her participation in the publication as beneficial to her writing. It not only prepared her to write longer articles, but to think about pertinent issues that are happening around the world.
“Especially in the middle school, I think it’s very important for students to know that they can write about things that matter and things that they care about. It also lets them know that they can end up writing very eloquent, interesting articles,” Raab said.
“Because these publications have one issue every year, it’s hard for Middle Division students to maintain their motivation,” Yarosh said. “They usually need immediate responses and gratification.”
“As long as we’re mindful of a balance between artist and audience by making the medium available and beholden to both sides of that equation, we should succeed,” Brooks said.
</body>
</article>

<article>
<section>
Middle School
</section>
<title>
Advocacy group for learning differences holds first meeting
</title>
<author>
Tiffany Liu
</author>
<body>
Students’ Learning Style Advocates &amp; Mentors’ (S.L.A.M.) first meeting last Monday during I period gathered over 30 students. The new club strives to empower students at the school to be advocates for others and themselves by raising awareness for learning differences and mentoring younger students with different learning styles, President Audrey Shapiro (12) said.
During the meeting, Shapiro gave an introductory presentation which included information on the two branches of the club, the mentorship program and the advocacy program.
Shapiro stressed that the club is not just for people with diagnosed learning differences, but also for those who have different learning styles, which is one of the most important aspects of the program, she said.
“I know that I have a different learning style from other people; it’s not that I have a disability, but it’s just that everyone has different styles,” Paul Jang (12), who attended the meeting, said.
On a form that Shapiro handed out to everyone during the meeting, individuals were able to circle what their learning style consists of, including visual, aural, verbal, physical, logical, social, and solitary.
Shapiro was happy that a lot of people showed interest after originally thinking that only six people would show up, she said.
Abigail Salzhauer (9), who has several learning disorders, found that “even in the world of educators, there is 100 percent a stigma still around learning differently,” she said, do she plans on participating in both the mentorship and advocacy programs.
Shapiro started the club due to her personal experience of struggling with ADHD in sixth grade, she said. At first, she did not seek help, dismissing the problem by saying, “You know what, I must just be stupid or something.” It was not until her mother brought her to a specialist, got her diagnosed with ADHD, and started to get her help, that she was really able to start doing well in school, she said. “I would never want someone to feel the same way that I felt in sixth grade.”
Sometimes the way people learn is not conducive to the school’s class structures, “but I think if we start to accept the different ways in which we learn, that’s when success can really come,” Shapiro said.
“Celebrating diversity in our community includes embracing the different ways our minds work, think, and learn. It’s time for the HM community to start thinking about these things, understanding these things, and celebrating them,” school psychologist Dr. Liz Westphal said.
Over the years, Westphal has floated the idea with colleagues and other students, but “it’s not going to be a meaningful experience if it’s not student-driven and student-run,” she said.
Even though she is laying the foundation for it right now, “it’s really up to Horace Mann students to see where this goes,” she said. “Luckily, we have a bunch of really engaged juniors.”
As of right now, SLAM is still finding mentors for the mentorship program, and the advocacy branch is planning a workshop for Wellness Week, Shapiro said. In the future, they hope to hold assemblies about personal experiences with learning differences and accommodations and hold forums for questions regarding learning styles and differences, she said.
</body>
</article>

<article>
<section>
Middle School
</section>
<title>
A Loss In Our Community
</title>
<author>
Eve Kazarian
</author>
<body>
On Jan. 14, 2017, former Board of Trustees Member Neil Underberg passed away.
Underberg graduated from Syracuse University and Cornell Law School to become a prominent real estate attorney in New York. When not at work, Underberg enjoyed boating.
At the school, Underberg served as a legal advisor and made donations to various causes. He was elected to the Board of Trustees in 1977, served as an Emeritus Trustee from 1998 to 2013, and did pro bono real estate tax work for the school until his passing.
“While Mr. Underberg wasn’t keen about taking a bow, we have generations of HMers who had new soccer uniforms, calculators, textbooks, bus money and the like without ever knowing that it came from Mr. and Mrs. Underberg,” Head of School Dr. Tom Kelly said.
Underberg was always passionate about the school and doing what was right.
“He brought about the best in others and never hesitated to speak his mind or speak truth to power. He read The Record cover to cover, and he was forever proud of the students’ accomplishments from year to year,” Kelly said.
In his household, Underberg perpetuated the message of “always doing the right thing,
even though it was not the easiest path to take, his son Dr. James Underberg ’79 said.
This mentality carried over to Underberg’s relationships with clients and has become something Underberg passes on to his children, Dr. Underberg said.
The Underbergs remain connected to the school; two generations have attended the school: James ’78, his children Joshua ’21 and Samantha ’25, and Amy (Underberg) Applebaum ’82 and her children Carolyn ’16 and Julia ’21.
“We’ll miss seeing him on campus,” Kelly said.
</body>
</article>

<article>
<section>
Opinion
</section>
<title>
Extending our voices, post-protest
</title>
<author>
Editorial Board
</author>
<body>
There is no way to change the results of this election, but that does not mean those of us who disagree with the president’s policies and values are powerless.
Voting is only part of what gives the people power in the United States. We get the rest of our power from our right to free speech, our right to assemble, our ability to express what we think should happen in this nation. We are afforded the luxury of having a voice. We should use it.
How can we make our voices heard?
Primarily, we need to stay informed. Pay attention to where your news comes from. Be aware that everyone is biased. Try to counter this. We need to avoid falling prey to hate-mongering or falsehoods. Go to Feminist Students Association, Gender-Sexuality Alliance, and Union meetings and listen as hard as you can. Take others’ opinions and experiences seriously.
Armed with your knowledge, defend your peers. Do not let the United States revert to a place where marginalization of women, people of color, and religious minorities is commonplace or acceptable.
If you want to march, the next peaceful protest is taking place in many cities on April 15. If you have the funds, donate to public media. National Public Radio and Public Broadcasting Service are losing funds. Do what you can to help them. If you don’t have the funds but you do have the time, organizations like Planned Parenthood are in need of volunteers now more than ever.
When you’ve done what you can within your own community, reach out. Call or write to your senator and house representative (scan the QR code to find their address and number). The website womensmarch.support even has postcards that you can print and send. Midterm elections are in two years, and many members of our community will be able to vote- make sure you participate.
As President Barack Obama said, “If you’re disappointed by your elected officials, grab a clipboard, get some signatures, and run for office yourself. Show up. Dive in. Persevere.”
Don’t give up hope.
</body>
</article>

<article>
<section>
Opinion
</section>
<title>
Middle Division Mentoring Begins Tutoring Initiative
</title>
<author>
Bestey Bennet
</author>
<body>
The Middle Division Mentoring Program began a new tutoring initiative after winter break to assist MD students with schoolwork during I period every Monday.
Each Monday, MD mentors, led by Tutoring Coordinators Sophia Fikke (11) and Lily Kessler (12), provide extra help with subject-specific material, study skills, and organization.
“High school mentors are perfect to provide this service, because they have an established relationship with the students in their homeroom and they have been through middle school recently,” Fikke said. “We also know that sometimes it is difficult to give up free periods, so the after-school time slot is ideal.”
The mentors are stationed in rooms in Rose Hall to assist students during the I period program. They also stop into the Academic Center to provide help for those who have unanticipated trouble with homework or do not know about the tutoring services.
Emily Salzhauer (6) recently met with a MD tutor during the I period program. “My friend and I went right before we had a Spanish test that we didn’t understand the material for,” Salzhauer said. “I liked that when we showed up, we asked who of the mentors could help us in Spanish and we went in a room and started working and understanding the material within the next 5 minutes.”
“I feel that many middle schoolers want or need help on studying for tests, homework, and many other aspects of HM life, but their parents cannot really help with some of the stuff because they haven’t learned it the way that we do at HM, for every school is different,” Lara Jones (7) said. “I think that it is good to have fellow HM students who understand the struggles that some of the kids go through.”
According to Bella Colacino (7), high schoolers offer a non-intimidating tutoring presence. “I think that having a tutor from the high school would be easier to connect with, and therefore you would feel more comfortable,” Colacino said.
In addition, UD mentors can be an especially useful resource for those who would like extra help but do not have a tutor outside of school, Emma Colacino (7) said.
“I also think it is really good for the high schoolers to have the opportunity to work with a younger student,” Maria Weaver Watson P ‘19 ‘21 said. “That is just another form of volunteering and giving back.”
There is no dedicated tutoring office in the MD like there is in the Upper Division.
“The UD tutoring office seems like an amazing place to go if you are struggling with anything,” Madison Wu (7) said. “In the MD there is the Academic Center, which is not that similar. I have only seen students get help if they are really struggling, otherwise people just go there for a quiet place to do homework or study.”
The Middle Division Mentoring Program, along with Director of Middle Division Guidance Wendy Reiter and Administrative Assistant Claudia Gomez, have worked to provide a large network of academic support for students, Fikke said.
In the past, Fikke and Kessler have worked with Reiter and Gomez to pair MD students who would like to be tutored with mentors in one-on-one sessions. This new I period initiative will allow for students to receive help in a group setting, which may be more inviting, Fikke said.
“I think it is a really great initiative because I period is a convenient time for both middle schoolers and high schoolers to get together,” MD Mentor Hannah Long (10) said. “It is a solid forty-five minute period dedicated just for mentors to help tutor middle schoolers with anything from test preparation to organization, and there is a four o’clock bus to take you home afterwards.”
One potential problem that Jones foresees with the program is that it may conflict with some other clubs and activities in the MD.
“I have HM Lead on Monday afternoons, and therefore am not able to attend the high-school mentor program,” Jones said. “However, I think it would be great if I could.”
“I am really excited about the new Monday tutoring option, as it is a great chance for mentees to see and connect with their mentors, and benefit from the older students’ advice and experience,” MD Mentor Katie Goldenberg (10) said. “I am planning to encourage all of my mentees to attend if they need any help, and to take advantage of the amazing services the program provides.”
“We think the idea of an in-school program is terrific,” Michael Salzhauer P ‘18 ‘20 ‘23. “It is a particularly great spot for help understanding specific topics, and that this help comes from folks that might have experienced the same courses and teachers. Students helping students is good community-building path for the school.”
Recently, MD Mentor William Golub (10) created a tutoring survey for every MD student to complete and distributed it to homeroom advisors. “We wanted students to think about their academic performance and where they needed support,” Golub said. “We also wanted to remind them that after school tutoring is available, and that we are able to help with almost all academic issues that arise.”
Tutoring options in the MD are still being explored. “We plan to keep promoting and expanding our I period tutoring initiative and the tutoring program as a whole as we see fit based on the needs of the Middle Division students,” Fikke said.
</body>
</article>

<article>
<section>
Opinion
</section>
<title>
Service Learning Team celebrates its 10th year in seventh annual dinner
</title>
<author>
Katie Goldenberg
</author>
<body>
Students, faculty, and alumni gathered in the Cohen Dining Commons Tuesday to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Service Learning team at its seventh annual dinner. With parents, partner organizations, and broader members of the Community Values and Action (CCVA) also in attendance, the team discussed and celebrated its initiatives, collaborating sites, and support from the community.
The dinner commenced with a speech by Dr. Jeremy Leeds, Director of the CCVA, regarding the history, mission, and development of the team. Following Leeds, a group of students on the team spoke about their experiences with service learning and personal connections to the program.
“The original idea was to speak to parents of team members about the work their kids were doing, and to recognize what we do as a part of a larger family,” Leeds said. “Over time, we started to invite more members, the agencies that we work with, and the parties that we connect with all year, so it’s a much larger group with the same feeling.”
“The original idea was to speak to parents of team members about the work their kids were doing, and to recognize what we do as a part of a larger family,” Leeds said. “Over time, we started to invite more members, the agencies that we work with, and the parties that we connect with all year, so it’s a much larger group with the same feeling.”
Major contributors to the CCVA’s endowment, representatives from partner sites, including the Riverdale Neighborhood House, Kingsbridge Heights Community Center, and Riverdale Senior Services, visited to partake in the gathering.
“We work with our partners each week at Service Learning,” Tyler Jonas (10), one of several student presenters at the dinner, said. “We have groups of students who visit the sites and teach different classes; this year we’ve added even more subjects, like Literacy and Computer Science, and we’re still expanding.”
“We have an awesome group of students of team, many of whom joined as freshman this year,” Service Learning Fellow Josh Goodstein ‘11 said. “One beautiful thing about the team is that the upperclassmen take the underclassmen under their wing and set a wonderful example.”
In addition to its recent progress, the team still looks to grow and improve. “We want to accommodate all the students we’re working with since we’ve expanded,” Administrative Assistant for the CCVA Walter Koshel said.
Sadie Lye (12), a member of the Service Learning Team’s leadership, originally joined to fulfill her community service requirement, but “fell in love with working with the kids,” she said. “It’s amazing to go back week after week and have them know your name and be excited about what you’re doing; they’ve taught me so much about myself and what I value.”
</body>
</article>

<article>
<section>
Opinion
</section>
<title>
Show Edition - Dancers present student-choreographed concert
</title>
<author>
Natasha Poster
</author>
<body>
Imagine being transported from Chicago to Salem to a place within your own mind all while sitting in your seat. In pastel leotards, metallic wrap tops, and jeans, dancers in the student-choreographed dance concert on Thursday carried audience members to places all around the world and beyond.
The concert featured a wide variety of styles, such as modern, ballet, and tap, that conveyed the essence of a place the choreographer had in mind. Horace Mann Dance Company (HMDC) Co-Presidents Lauren Smith (11) and Karen Jiang (12) came up with the theme of places because they thought it was a unique concept, Smith said.
“Dances can really change where you are in a moment, and they can make you feel different things and put you in different places in a sense,” Smith said. “This way, choreographers do not have to form a dance around a certain idea, they can choreograph and showcase their own individual place.”
The show began in Atlanta, Georgia with HM Stomp, the school’s step team, performing a song in camouflage shirts. They made their own beat by clapping and stomping and added spoken lyrics from Beyoncé’s song “Formation.”
Aided by lighting that shifted from magenta to white to blue, dancers in themed costumes twirled, jumped and ran around the dance studio to communicate the feeling of being in New York, in Orlando, and in Washington Square Park.
It was a good theme because everyone got to do something that meant something to them, dancer Arriana Serrano (11) said.
Smith played a witch in a production of “Macbeth” over the summer, an experience that inspired her to choreograph a dance based on the Salem witch trials, she said. The dance involved three witches casting a curse before they fell to their deaths, she said.
Cara Hernandez (12) had a great experience choreographing her dance, especially because her dancers had previous experience, she said. Her dance was  an energetic tap number performed by a group of girls channeling dancers at the Cotton Club in glittery flapper-esque dresses and headbands.
As presidents, Smith and Jiang each choreographed and performed her own dance solo.
Smith performed a song taking place in Neverland, while Jiang performed one that evoked home, each incorporating graceful contemporary and ballet moves and telling a story through motion.
Jiang also choreographed a dance taking place in a supernova, in which dancers dressed in black robes and eventually took them off to reveal colorful leotards and skirts as they performed graceful kicks and elegant twirls.
Cameron Chavers (11) choreographed a dance taking place in purgatory, where she and two other dancers were angels judging the other dancers at the gates to heaven, she said.
The dancers wore light and airy dresses and moved gracefully and effortlessly across the floor.
Choreography of the dances began in November, and there were showcases throughout the year to check on the progress that the choreographers and dancers were making, Smith said.
Because the show was entirely student-run, dancers were able to express exactly what they wanted without being influenced by anyone else, Serrano said.
Manager of Theater Department Jonathan Nye and Theater, Dance & Film Studies Department Chair and HMDC faculty advisor Alison Kolinski were always available to help if needed, but they never inserted themselves, Grace Hill (11) said.
The students found time on their own to rehearse and worked through a few difficulties to make sure the show ran smoothly. Chavers held rehearsals for her dance during frees and after school and showed her dancers the steps she choreographed by demonstrating them herself first, she said. Because there were nine people in her dance, she had many one-on-one practices to ensure that everyone was on the same page with the choreography, she said.
Due to her dancers’ different levels of experience, Chavers had to spend more time teaching the dance than she would have expected, which made it more difficult to learn other peoples’ dances due to scheduling, she said.
“This was my first time choreographing, so finding the courage and the creativity to put together a piece was my biggest challenge,” Stephanie Carrero (12) said.
It was hard to organize everything so that everybody learned a certain amount at the right time, but the end result was amazing, Smith said.
“I’ve become friends with a lot of people and become close with a lot of people that I hadn’t known before,” Hill said.
“Dancing in and of itself is always great, and dancing with your friends and doing something together is even more fun,” Chavers said.
</body>
</article>

<article>
<section>
Opinion
</section>
<title>
Students and faculty celebrate Japanese culture through food, performances, workshops on Japan Day
</title>
<author>
Gabby Kepnes
</author>
<body>
l occur with different performances, plays, and speeches, followed by food and workshops all arranged by teachers and students studying Japanese.
The students in Japanese classes have been preparing for the day for the past month and a half, Charlie Wallach (11) said.
“We often go down to the Recital Hall and use the stage; we’ve also had help from many different outside-of-school and in-school mentors, such as a Japanese actor from the Japan society in New York, as well as Mr. Timko, who has come to give us critiques on our play,” Gabi Rahmin (11) said.
From B to mid-C period, students will put on Japanese plays, followed by a Japanese drum presentation from the Advanced Placement and honors classes.
Later in the day, special lunches, workshops, and food tastings will take place in Fisher Hall, including free mochi, yakisoba, “and the other stuff for the younger kids like yo-yo fishing.” Japanese teacher Mami Fujisaki said.
“Every year it’s a little bit different based on what the group of students bring to the day and the different energy levels and the different attitudes that each student brings from him or herself.” Rahmin said.
“Ms. Fujisaki shakes up the plays every year and as you get older, you get more freedom in the plays and you get more freedom with what you want to do with it; like the characters that you do, sometimes she lets you write your own play,” Wallach said.
While hoping every student leaves Japan Day with more thoughts and questions, Fujisaki also wants students, parents, and teachers to know that “the more languages you know, the more experiences you will enjoy, the more people you will meet, and the more food you can try,” she said,
“When I started taking Japanese and then experienced Japan Day, I’ve noticed that it really takes you into a glimpse of what Japanese culture is and how broad it is because it has something for everyone,” Wallach said. From a Japanese tea ceremony to Japanese calligraphy, you really get a cool perspective, he said.
This day is not just for people who have studied Japanese or who think they want to study Japanese, Rahmin said. “Japan Day really teaches everyone about all different aspects of Japanese culture and aside from all the different learning opportunities available throughout the day, it’s just purely fun,” she said.
To any students, teachers, and parents who are thinking of coming and participating in the different activities involved in Japan Day, “the world is yours, so explore the world,” Fujisaki said.
</body>
</article>

<article>
<section>
Opinion
</section>
<title>
Students and faculty react to inauguration at protests in Washington, New York
</title>
<author>
Mahika Hari
</author>
<body>
Last Saturday, students and faculty members took part in the Women’s Marches, both in Washington D.C. and New York City.
Photography teacher Karen Johnson attended the March in D.C. with other school faculty. “I knew the March would include a broad coalition, but the diversity of participants still exceeded my expectations,” she said.
“We were in human gridlock,” theatre arts teacher Alexis Dahl, who also marched in D.C., said. The marchers could barely move because the entire route they were supposed to walk was packed with people, she said.
Middle Division English teacher Morgan Yarosh said the March in New York was well organized, especially since they weren’t sure how many people would show up and there were so many that did.
“The energy was infectious – everyone was excited and feeling great,” Yarosh said of her walk from Grand Central to Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, the starting point of the March. “As we walked, I began to feel like I was a part of something big, positive, and effective.”
The most powerful moment for Ethan Matt (11) was when he and Charlie Wallach (11) climbed a traffic pole and joined in with a call and response chant in which hundreds of women would shout “my body, my choice” and hundreds of men would shout back “their body, their choice,” Matt said.
The sheer size of the crowd and breadth of issues represented were shocking, Walker McCarthy (7) said. He carried a sign with a photo of Trump as a marionette being controlled by Putin as the puppet master, referencing the issue of Trump and his cabinet’s relationship with Russia that is concerning to him, he said.
Zarina Iman (11) had been planning to go to D.C. with the school, but made other arrangements easily, she said. She attended the March in New York with her neighbor, and her train from Westchester was packed with women going to the March, she said.
“Seeing so many men at the March reminded me how important it is to fight for equality even if you don’t feel like the specific case directly affects you, because in the end, inequality hurts everyone, not just the oppressed,” Aidan Futterman (12) said.
Nikki Sheybani (11) was involved both as a marcher and volunteer, directing marchers around barricades and helping as needed.
“Being a woman fortunate enough to have grown up under the Obama administration and in the diverse area that is New York City, I feel that it is not just my privilege, but my responsibility to fight for the rights of largely marginalized groups in any way that I can,” she said.
“It was so indescribably empowering to stand in a sea of people, working towards the same goal,” Sheybani said.
Skylar Rosen (12) took a bus to the D.C. March with Planned Parenthood and held a sign with Audrey Shapiro (12) saying “Girls just wanna have fun(damental rights).”
Nicole Warszawski (10) went to a protest right outside the inauguration in D.C. “When standing in the crowd and just looking at the people around me, I felt so in place,” she said. “We may not be swaying the president, but we are getting our voices heard.”
Attending the March allowed Rosen to think seriously about women’s health and inspired her to get more involved with organizations like Planned Parenthood, she said.
“We are not alone. Kindness can prevail,” Johnson said. “Let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work to build the possible future.”
</body>
</article>

<article>
<section>
Opinion
</section>
<title>
Students and faculty showcase talents to raise funds for charity
</title>
<author>
Rebecca Salzhauer
</author>
<body>
Drums crashed and electric guitars wailed, reverberating off the walls of the Cohen Dining Commons, as an audience of over 100 students, parents, and faculty members cheered and clapped, adding to the pulsing, energetic finale.
This past Friday, community members gathered to share their talents and watch each other at the second annual The Show, a talent show featuring a variety of student and faculty performances.
The $2735 raised through the night’s ticket sales, food sales, merchandise sales, and raffle ticket sales were donated to the Joyful Heart Foundation, a charity founded by Law and Order: Special Victims Unit actor Mariska Hargitay to aid victims of domestic violence, child abuse, and sexual assault.
The event was organized by Lauren Simpson (12), Michael Wang (12), and Nikolas Elrifi (12), assisted by volunteers throughout the planning process.
In creating The Show, Simpson wanted to “bring light to unknown talents and create an intimate, fun environment for people to perform and have a good time,” she said.
The performers ranged in style and experience from ninth graders to French teacher Micheal Dale, who has been performing for over 45 years, and from magic to stand-up comedy.
Some performers, like Abigail Kraus (10), were inspired to perform after having seen The Show last year.
“It was my first time performing solo since sixth grade, so it was good experience to start performing again; I’m looking forward to more performances, both in groups and ensembles,” Kraus said.
Others like Ben Rosenbaum (10) had performed at The Show last year and wanted to continue to gain experience and confidence. Rosenbaum began performing in the audience, making his way to the stage with a microphone held close to his face amplifying his explosive beat-box sounds.
“I really like to perform, but I get nervous beat boxing in front of other people, so this was a good opportunity for me to get experience for a good cause,” he said.
The playful and upbeat mood of the evening was set by Elrifi and Wang as the emcees. The two exchanged banter between acts, introducing performers by their “spirit animal” or what ice cream flavor best represents their personalities.
In addition to celebrating the talents of the community, the theme of awareness dominated the event. Before the first performance, a video was shown to introduce the Joyful Heart Foundation and the significance of its work, along with its two joint campaigns, End the Backlog, which ensures that manufactured rape kits do not go unused, and the We Say No More social media campaign created to raise awareness about domestic violence and sexual assault.
The crowd was engaged in the performances, waving their hands in time with Dale’s guitar strumming his original song, clapping during Kraus and Craig Murray’s (10) rendition of “Love Song” by Sara Bareillis and laughing during Spencer Kahn’s (9) stand-up comedy routine.
“I loved being backstage and seeing all the performers freak out and then own the stage,” Giramnah Peña-Alcantara, who volunteered at The Show, said.
English teacher Harry Bauld confounded the audience with a magic trick involving “thought-reading.”
He chose two students to read the first sentences of a randomly chosen page of a book he had provided. While the students read the passages silently, Bauld wrote elements of the passage on a white board. When the passages were read out loud and Bauld’s predictions proved to be accurate, there was a collective murmur of bewilderment and amazement among audience members.
The night was concluded with a performance from the band, Spectrum, which consisted of Eunice Bae (10), James Gluck (10), Olivia Kester (10), Allen Park (10), and Niall Hutchinson (10). Bae’s powerful vocals combined with Gluck’s full piano, Kester and Park’s formidable bass and guitar skills, and Hutchinson’s show-stopping drum solo drew loud cheers from the audience.
After Spectrum’s performance, Simpson, Wang, and Elrifi announced the band members as the organizers of next year’s The Show.
“They’re all very interested, passionate, and great musicians; I have no doubt that they will do a great job,” Simpson said.
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Opinion
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The bipartisan system- an impediment to communication
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Jamie Berg
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In the Federalist Papers, when asked why a nation-wide democracy was superior to one centered in the states, James Madison responded with the argument that the larger the democracy, the more democratic it must be. His claim revolved around the assumption that there are more “factions” in a nation, as opposed to a state, that can support or reject movements with great fluidity.
A faction, per Madison, is an association of people bound either by ideological stance or passion, like a political party. This condition would, in turn, allow for the constant development of the democracy and ensure that no one majority group would be able to consistently oppress or silence another.
However, due to the entrenchment of the current bipartisan political system and such widespread obsession with partisan loyalty, our country is limited to only two main “factions,” preventing fluidity and political development. The proceedings of the 2016 Presidential Election have made this fact clear.
Horace Mann students, who, like the rest of the country, largely subscribe to the bipartisan system and operate within it, overwhelmingly identify as “Democrats.” The presence of such a large majority at a school whose true diversity of opinion I’ve seen firsthand perfectly demonstrates the heart of the issue that this rigid bipartisan system creates. This phenomenon ultimately impairs our discussion-focused community from reaching our goal of truly listening to each other and learning about the experiences of the people who surround us.
The Electoral College was created with the goal of balancing elitism and populism in the American democracy; it would limit the ability of unqualified or immoral populist candidates from achieving executive power while simultaneously ensuring that power is not held at too great a distance from the people.
The Electoral College may have functioned in the years following America’s inception, but due to the entrenched nature of two-party politics in the United States, the institution has ceased to perform its envisioned function.
In our current system, people choose to see only Democrats and Republicans and demand that everyone not only associate with, but identify as one of these two dominant factions. The conflation of the terms “liberal” and “democrat” is just one example of how the bipartisan system glosses over the nuance of political opinion.
Regardless of the presence of Libertarian and Green Party candidates in the 2016 election, there is no middle ground in the eyes of most Americans.
Electors’ obsession with partisan loyalty has led to the issues at the core of the failure of the Electoral College. Electors are chosen by political parties in each state, and since modern political parties engage in self-interested and often petty opposition to one another, prioritizing the good of the party over that of the nation, it is impossible for electors to be anything but puppets of their political affiliations.
Although the Electoral College undeniably requires reform, its flaws are a result of a greater system-spanning problem that is certainly prevalent in the HM community too. I have had the opportunity to observe the stigma at Horace Mann against identifying politically as anything other than a “Democrat,” which severely limits the opportunities to engage in meaningful discourse at our school.
The majority of the student body responds to admissions of divergent politics with aggression or derision, and this extends beyond political discussion, since, as a community, we often fail to distinguish between political affiliation and personal identity. The HM community must attempt to overcome our partisan divisions and confront the fact that political associations cannot interfere with our basic morality. Only then will our conversations and understandings of each other flourish.
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