Editorial Goodbyes
June 5, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
Gustie Owens Editor in Chief Volume 115 Board: I have no doubt that I just spent endless hours brainstorming, trello-ing, crosswording, over-caffeinating, and reporting with future Nobel Prize winners, devoted senators, incredible doctors, and reigning hot dog eating contest champions. And a...
Significance Over Inconvenience
June 5, 2018
Filed under Opinions
As September rolled around, I was not looking forward to my classes. The incoming school year indicated that our summer break was coming to a close. I dreaded the increase in work and the beginning of the college process that accompany junior year. I had two block frees, D & H, and I would use these...
Editorial — Going Places: The College Map
June 5, 2018
Filed under Editorials, Opinions
In Volume 114’s Class Day Issue, Rachel Lee ‘17 wrote an opinions piece about the harmful implications of printing the college map, urging the members of our current editorial board to abstain from running the map. We deliberated over whether to include the feature in our final issue. We are awa...
Reconsidering our biases: a critique on criticism
June 5, 2018
Filed under Opinions
The day after President Trump’s first State of the Union address this year, my Global Cold War class had a discussion about his speech. My classmates spoke about their concern for President Trump’s immigration policies, and we moved throughout the class criticizing the various proposals mentione...
Dismantling the stigma: Creating the necessary toolkit to deal with catcalling
June 5, 2018
Filed under Opinions
A feeling of sheer terror washed over my body, an almost debilitating and numbing feeling impossible to erase from my memory. There is a stigma around the term “catcalling,” a modern term that describes verbal sexual harassment. It’s a problem that the majority of women face at least once i...
Acknowledging ignorance: education is not a free pass
June 5, 2018
Filed under Opinions
It’s finally Spring at Horace Mann - flowers are blooming, ice cream is melting, seniors are graduating - and rap music blasts on the field. Last Thursday, one of those songs drifted through the window of my Comparative Race & Ethnicity classroom while I was presenting “This Is America” by ...
Paying it forward: a thank you from Zhao (9)
January 18, 2018
Filed under Opinions
Along with many teens, this summer I got my first job. I was beyond ecstatic, I truly believed that I was on the road to the rich and famous life. However, I was soon brought back into reality when I realized that my increased income also meant increased responsibilities. By the end of the summer, though...
Recognizing the reality of sexual harassment
January 18, 2018
Filed under Opinions
Just a few days ago, I read yet another case of a woman being sexually assaulted. This time, it was in her sleep by the man sitting next to her on the plane. What astonished and terrified me is the lack of surprise I felt when hearing about this, demonstrating how the culture of sexual harassment no...
How we can improve HMO
December 10, 2017
Filed under Opinions
I recently completed Horace Mann Orientation (HMO), a required first trimester class for ninth graders. One teacher and multiple upperclassmen mentors lead HMO class discussions in a variety of different topics from stress management to interactions with parents to parties. The class was very pr...
Reshaping our outlook on service learning
December 3, 2017
Filed under Opinions
Serving meals at a food pantry, visiting a nursing home to talk with elderly residents, sprucing up a local park, joining Habitat for Humanity to build homes for displaced families--these are a few of the hundreds of volunteer service learning projects that Horace Mann students undertake each year. Right...
Reflecting on a trimester of the athletic attendance policy
December 3, 2017
Filed under Opinions
The new athletic attendance policy, a well-intended attempt to ensuring students’ commitment to their sports teams, is not only difficult to execute but also an arbitrary annoyance to the students. It is difficult to enforce, unfair to devoted athletes, and burdensome for already-stressed student athletes. In...
From the Olympics to Prettyman: a case for varsity ping pong
December 3, 2017
Filed under Opinions
In 2014, the sport of table tennis became an official varsity sport in New York City public schools. Today, 22 public schools throughout the five boroughs all compete against one another during the winter season in the PSAL (Public School Athletic League). The sport does not demand large quantities of...
