College Visiting

Jasmine Liu ‘25

Photo from the St. Mark’s School website: College Counseling.

The start of September marked the beginning of the new school year with new student orientation week, convocation, Fall sports, and the start of classes. However, for current Vth and VIth Form students, this month also signaled the beginning of that infamously daunting task: the college application process.

Ever since its founding in 1865, St. Mark’s School has been focused on preparing students of grades 9-12 for the leap into college life. The Episcopal boarding school carries out this mission through numerous programs such as the Advanced course curriculum, college counseling (for Vth and VIth Form students), mandatory afternoon sports/extracurriculars, and most recently, college visits.

Thanks to the St. Mark’s college counseling department, admission officers from numerous colleges and universities from around the US will be visiting the school throughout this fall. College visits allow Vth and VIth formers the opportunity to discover and learn about various colleges and universities through the lens of an admissions officer. These information sessions give St. Markers the opportunity to hear about the college, ask questions, and get to know someone from the admissions office before applying.

Since September 14th, colleges have begun visiting St. Mark’s campus. These visits typically happen in the evenings before study hall, although a college would sometimes pop in during a community block. Although the counseling office did send out an organized list of the times and meeting places for the different information sessions, the office will still keep students updated each week on the upcoming college visits. Typically, these information sessions occur in the Forbes Presentation Room, Admissions Conference Room, and College Office, but always check the list to stay updated on each location. 

If you are a Vth or VIth Form student and have not gone to any of the college visits yet, then do not worry. There are many more colleges to come, including institutions like Oberlin College (10/2/23), Washington University in St. Louis (10/2/23), Colby College (10/3/23), Boston College (10/5/23), University of Chicago (10/10/23), and Emory University (10/10/23). However, even if you do not recognize a college’s name, the counseling office thoughtfully included a list of similar colleges for each institution to help students gain a better preview of the visiting college. The whole point of these meetings is to encourage students to learn about different colleges and consider where their interests lie.

In general, St. Mark’s upper formers are rather satisfied with the college visits and information sessions. “I think it’s a great way for us to learn about the different colleges to gain a better sense of where to apply,” One VIth Form student remarked. Yet, another Vth Form student mentioned that she wished she “knew about this opportunity as an IVth Form student as well.” However, overall, college visits are a great opportunity for students to discover more colleges, build up their potential application list, and better prepare for the years ahead.

Inter-Dorm/House Visitation

by vanessa Leung ‘25 and Hannah Cha 25’

As Ms. Caron announced at Wednesday's school meeting, inter-dorm/house sleepovers for the 2023-2024 school year will start this Saturday!

Inter-dorm sleepovers are open to both boarding and day students. Students can sleep in their friend’s dormitory or a day student’s home on non-community weekend Saturdays. These sleepovers are a fun way for boarding students to experience the different places home to various St. Markers. It also allows day and boarding students to experience what the opposite side feels like! Students can freely enjoy a weekend night of hanging out with their friends.

According to school policies, the sleepover Orah pass -with a neon pink badge - must be filled in by Thursday noon by the visiting student. A maximum of one guest is allowed per house, and space availability is first come, first served. Late submissions or passes with wrong information will not be accepted, so be sure to carefully fill out the pass once you decide to have or host a sleepover. Once the pass is approved, students are free to go to the host day student’s home. For sleepovers in school, house faculty will get a list of student guests and check them in for the night. 

So get your sleeping bags reading and let the inter-house sleepovers begin!

Students Take Over Socials

by Jonathan Hernández

Have you seen those snazzy new Instagram posts highlighting the Soccer team’s upcoming match with Brooks or the post of Field Hockey Girls celebrating their win? Would you be surprised if you found out that many of these stunning graphics and great photos were from St. Mark’s students?

As part of a new push to revitalize the St. Mark’s School Athletics Varsity Team Instagrams, various players and managers from each team have the honor to help standardize the social media. The synthesis of pages and profiles improves their overall aesthetic and adds a more professional look. When seven teams post about their upcoming game using the same colors, fonts, and logos, they look put-together and clean-cut rather than seven different fonts and shades of blue that may clash. The training for student players and managers included learning which fonts should be used, which school logos are best, how often they should be posted, and how to make visually appealing materials. 

Classics Teacher Mr. Davey spearheaded the organization of these student social media stewards as he trained and collaborated with the students to create amazing content and enhance their social media pages. 

From student accounts, the individuals working on social media really enjoy this new initiative. VI Former Maddie Bazineit, one of the Managers for Varsity Field Hockey describes her delight in creating content; “It has been an amazing experience getting to capture these connections and share them with the rest of the St. Mark’s community... Now that we are able to upload posts and messages, we have a creative outlet to express the ways in which this team interacts with one another.” She continues to describe how she hopes to continue creating posts highlighting her team's outstanding energy before a game and after a win so that, hopefully, all players can eventually see themselves featured on the Instagram page. Over at Girls Varsity Soccer, VI Former Mia Overbye, a player for the team, also steps up her team’s social media presence with stunning game day posts reminding their followers to drop by their games. As someone who enjoys communications and sports media, Mia highlights her appreciation for participating by playing and serving as a social media guru. With her team’s page, she looks forward to posting mic ’d-up practice videos highlighting members of the team and some regular practices. 

Whether the student social media managers are team Managers or Players, students are excited to continue working on St. Mark’s Athletic Teams Social Media Pages. Everyone can’t wait to see that next post!

Umoja!

Jackie Huang ’24

On January 23rd, the St. Marks community gathered together in the PFAC to end off C&E day with Umoja!

Umoja, which means ‘unity’ in Swahili, is a talent show with a focus on taking pride in and celebrating different and shared identities. Numerous affinity groups on campus put together 16 amazing performances. 

The event featured poem readings by SWIRL (Students with Inter-Racial Lives), Men’s Group and SASS (South Asian Students Society), a prayer reading by CFG (Christian Fellowship group), a video by Los Leones (Latina/o/e/x Students), a dance by BLU (Black Lives Union), and instrumental, vocal, and a K-POP dance performance by ASEA (Association of South-East Asians). Finally, following the performance of “Imagine” by Louis Armstrong, the Pathway Prefects (Louise He ‘23, Anglican Hiraldo ‘23, Jonathan Hernandez ‘24, and Diane Kwon ‘24), performed a dance compilation celebrating the diverse cultures among the prefects, an annual tradition

Being fully organized by the Pathways Prefects, putting together Umoja was no easy feat. One of four Pathways Prefects Diane Kwon ‘24 says, “With such rush and short amount of time, it wasn't easy to put together 15 acts, especially when students may be hesitant to share their talents and passion with the entire school. It was a stressful period of time to make sure these acts are practiced to the best of in order to share a glimpse of each and everyone's true culture! Thankfully, pathways had two amazing tech supports and each other to pull through an unforgettable experience.”

Such an event, by offering an opportunity for the community to be exposed to a wide array of cultures, allows everyone to learn something new in such an engaging way. The dance moves, words, and songs often remain echoing around campus even till the end of the week.

“Umoja truly has been my favorite part of being one of St. Mark’s Pathways Prefects,” says Diane, “something I will do again in a heartbeat”.

The magic of Umoja isn’t simply the performances themselves, but more so the cultural passion and new knowledge that can be carried on for a lifetime.

C&E: A Day of Fearlessness

by gina yang ‘24

Community and Equity (C&E) Day is an annual event that brings together the entire St. Mark’s community to engage in workshops and activities that promote understanding, compassion, and respect for diversity. This event is a critical component of the school’s commitment to creating a more inclusive and equitable campus culture. This year’s C&E Day held on Monday, January 23, was no exception. 

The event commenced with Darryl Bellamy Jr.’s inspiring keynote speech, which focused on the theme of fearlessness in face of adversity. Mr. Bellamy’s speech was in line with one of the featured programs of this year’s C&E Day: The Fearless Moments Program, an interactive workshop where members of the community were invited to share personal stories of courage and resilience in the face of adversity. The program’s goal was to encourage students to embrace vulnerability and have the courage to speak up against injustice and oppression, particularly in relation to race.

Fearlessness, as Bellamy Jr. explained, is not the absence of fear, but rather the ability to act in spite of it. This idea is particularly important when it comes to issues of race and equity, as systemic racism and oppression can often be a source of fear and intimidation for individuals. By encouraging students to embrace fearlessness and speak up against racial injustice, the Fearless Moments Program is promoting antiracism and working to create a more equitable and just community at St. Mark’s. 

Following the keynote speech, students gathered in small groups in their houses to engage in discussions and share their own “Fearless Moments” with each other. While these conversations can be challenging and uncomfortable, they are essential to promoting antiracism and creating a more inclusive community. By providing a platform for students and faculty to engage in discussions about issues related to identity, C&E Day encourages the St. Mark’s community to confront systemic racism and other forms of inequality that persist in society. The Fearless Moments Program fits perfectly with this theme by encouraging students to engage in difficult conversations about race and equity, and by providing them with the tools and knowledge to become effective agents of change. 

In the afternoon, the annual Umoja celebration took place, featuring performances led by numerous student affinity groups. Umoja, which means “unity” in Swahili, was a show largely focused on celebrating the diversity within the St. Mark’s Community. Through dance, singing, and poem recitals, the different affinity groups came up with creative ways to showcase their identities and talents. 

C&E Day is a critical component of St. Mark’s dedication to promoting social justice and equity. By providing opportunities for students and faculty to engage with a wider community and learn from one another about issues related to identity and social justice, the school is working to create a more inclusive and equitable campus culture. The ultimate goal is to teach students valuable lessons that they will carry forward as they become leaders in their communities and promote the values of inclusion, compassion, and social justice. 

Fearless Moments 2023 C&E Day Keynote Speech

By Steven Yang ‘23

As part of the annual Community and Equity (C&E) Day activities this year,  St. Mark’s invited  Darryl Bellamy Jr. as our keynote speaker, a motivational speaker who runs Fearless Inside. “Fearlessness” was a central theme in his talk, an emotion he described uniquely. To Bellamy, fears aren’t something that is unhealthy or shouldn’t exist. Instead, by having fearless moments, students can stop being inhibited by their fears.

To connect with the audience, the high-energy talk began with Darryl collecting the fears of the whole St. Mark’s community. From failing to meet lofty expectations to having difficult conversations, students had a variety of fears that were anonymously collected. By reading many of these fears out, Darryl was able to connect on an extremely personal level with individual students and the community as a whole, despite only being here for a short time. Additionally, after promoting fearless moments, he touched on a second facet of creating an inclusive community: grace. He described three levels of people: friends and family, people similar to us, and strangers. According to Darryl, we tend to give the people we know the least the hardest time when they make mistakes—a natural trend he pushes for the St. Mark’s community to reverse to become more cohesive and well-knit.

He concluded the morning speech by reflecting on his own experience overcoming his fears, and his own “fearless” moments. Sharing a meaningful experience about losing his bid for student council president in his freshman year of college, he shared a part of himself that grew after facing difficulty, then overcoming the fears that came with it. Darryl handed out Fearless bracelets—black bands with “fearless” written on the inside, which he’s given to thousands of students all around the world. By wearing these bracelets daily, as many St. Markers have, it serves as a reminder to be fearless, and that no one is alone in the process.

Students were given time to discuss the talk with their dorms shortly after the presentation. Some shared their challenges and aspirations that Bellamy was able to remind them of, and others had a critical discussion about what many of his speech topics meant. 

Throughout C&E Day, students were given many different perspectives on what really creates an open community with a positive culture and sense of belonging for everyone. Keynote speaker Darryl Bellamy Jr.’s talk was an important part of this that many may not have expected to hear in the beginning. You often hear the phrase “to love someone, you have to love yourself,” and Bellamy’s talk takes that into stride. He believes that, only when people can have fearless moments and give one another grace, a community truly reaches its highest potential.

Deep Dive: Non-ethnicity based affinity groups at St. Mark's

by Karry Kim ’25

What’s your first thought when you think of affinity groups at St. Mark’s? The ASEA and their performances in Umoja? The BLU and their dances? Perhaps Los Leones? Even though students at St. Mark’s typically associate affinity groups with ethnicity or race and their cultures, we should acknowledge the importance of affinity groups that celebrate identities connecting people beyond race or ethnicity. I was able to interview several leaders of non-ethnicity-based affinity groups at St. Mark’s. 

GSA, or the Gender Sexuality Alliance, is led by Ava Springsteel '24, Emma Lu ’24, and Brendan Kelly ’24. I interviewed Emma and Brendan about their roles as leaders of this group. The GSA provides a safe space for all queer students at St. Mark’s, whether they are out or not. While the GSA aspires to have safe and comfortable discussions on what it is like to be queer at St. Mark’s, the affinity group also provides a space where students with this shared identity can connect and provide support to each other. During meetings, Emma and Brendan always make sure to let everyone feel included in their community, as the term LGBTQ+ is an umbrella term that includes so many different identities, spanning all kinds of races and ethnicities. They have been having a pretty smooth year, having regular meetings and events. They are preparing for a joint meeting with CFG to discuss the controversies regarding Christianity and the different types of gender and sexuality. However, one thing they have struggled with regarding being a non-ethnicity affinity group is C&E day. Although C&E day stands for community and equity, many of the events are largely focused on the cultures of different ethnicities. This made it hard for the GSA leaders to plan appropriate performances or activities in the Umoja or the cultural fair. Therefore, the GSA did not perform or set up a table during C&E day. However, the leaders expressed regret in this decision. Emma explained that the GSA is looking forward to reciting a poem or verse about the LGBTQ+ community next year, contributing more to the equity part of community and equity day. 

The next non-ethnicity affinity group I interviewed was J-team, led by Rachel Goldberg ’25 and Eli Zahavi ’24. Although being Jewish is an ethnicity, J-team currently focuses more on the religious celebrations and holidays of Judaism, which is why I included the J-team in this category. Like the GSA, J-team is planning on hosting a Pathway pizza event with CFG, and a traditional Jewish food drive for the upcoming holiday, Purim, in March. Rachel explained that due to the lower number of Jewish students who actively celebrate Jewish traditions, the affinity group currently focuses more on introducing Jewish traditions and holidays to non-Jewish students, instead of hosting closed meetings for Jewish students.

Students in J-team meeting, enjoying apples and honey during Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah

The last non-ethnicity affinity group I interviewed was Openly Secular, led by Yejee Hwang ’25 and Jamie Li ’25. I was able to interview Yejee. Yejee explained that it is important to acknowledge that not believing in a religion is a choice too, and the Openly Secular group provides a space to discuss these choices. She explained that personally, coming from a completely secular background, it felt a little daunting to attend an Episcopal school, which comes with duties like attending chapel, which she had never done before coming to St. Mark’s. Yejee and Jamie aspire to create a fun space for students with similar backgrounds as them and further contribute to the religious diversity of St. Mark’s by recognizing that secularism is an individual’s choice, just like other religions. Openly Secular looks forward to having more regular and joint meetings with other religious groups, such as CFG or J-team. 

Just like the GSA, J-team, and Openly Secular, there are many other non-ethnicity-based affinity groups at St. Mark’s like Men are Not Born; They are Made, which provides a space to discuss what it means to be male at St. Mark’s, Christian Fellowship Group(CFG), celebrating Christianity, or Southborough Society, where female students discuss topics related to their female identities. These affinity groups play a crucial part in bringing our community together, bringing people of different ethnicities together through shared identities. 

Lunar New Year Celebration At St. Mark’s!

by Lori cui

On January 22nd, 2023, people all around the world celebrated one of the biggest holidays for Southeast and East Asians: the Lunar New Year. For St. Marker’s who are international or away from family during the period of time, ASEA (Association of South-East and East Asians) organized various activities for students to enjoy at school with a family-like atmosphere. 

Students gathered in the Patterson-Sculley lobby on the 22nd with local parents and teachers to make delicious dumplings. 

Photo Credits: Suli Wang

Huge shoutout to all the parent volunteers who helped and students that showed up to create a family-like atmosphere in Patterson-Sculley!

The following Sunday, ASEA presented a Lunar New Year Celebration collection of performances, gift cards, and even a special FLiK dinner. Many students contributed performances, some singing Asian pop songs, and some instrumental performances as well. Some of the highlights were: Daniel Song’s ‘25 magic trick, Grace Lee and Andria Bao’s ‘23 Poi Performance, plus Ingrid Yeung’s ‘23 and Tiffany Ahn, ‘24 Insel Lee, ‘23 Hannah Cha, ‘25 and Chloe Kim ‘26 put up two spectacular dance performances. 

Daniel Song ‘25 performing a magic trick for Albert Wu ‘23

All students and faculty that attended were extremely pleased with the event outcome, and everyone had a great time together! A late Happy Lunar New Year to everyone!

Lion Dance: The Epitome of Diversity at St. Marks

By Ian Cho ‘26

The boisterous ‘clangs’ of the cymbals and the thunderous ‘booms’ of the drums filled the Class of ‘45 hall on January 17th, as the Hung Gar Kung Fu and Lion Dance Academy performed their signature lion dance. 

Each lion costume was meticulously controlled by two performers, with four performers in total depicting two lions. The two lions danced across the hall, attracting cheers and applause from all around. Their bold manes shook majestically in the air as they leaped forwards and swung their heads in accordance with the percussion. 

The lion dance, not only is fascinating to watch but also holds great cultural significance in many countries. In China, for example, lions often symbolize power, strength, and superiority. It is believed that the lion dance brings good fortune. Therefore, lion dances are often performed on special occasions, including the Lunar New Year celebration. 

I personally enjoyed both the entertainment and cultural aspect of the performance. It was a truly memorable experience. Similarly, many other students also had positive takeaways from this experience. 

Stephen Hodi, a current third former, thought “the lion dance performance was both fun and exciting to watch.”

Max Wang, another third former, shared that “[he] enjoyed the performance overall. As a multicultural person, [he] liked how it allowed [him] to stop, think, and reconnect with [his] culture through the dance”

The lion dance allowed many to feel at home, as a part of their culture was celebrated and represented. 

Depending on the country or region, there are slightly different variations of the lion dance and its costume. Some places use flamboyant colors, some places have white lion costumes, while other places have a more comic take on the costumes. 

As many of you might know, our school’s mascot is also a lion. But it is fascinating to see how the lions in the lion dance are portrayed so differently. The lions are of different colors, sizes, shapes, and symbols than the St. Mark’s mascot.

I believe the ‘lion’ is the epitome of the diversity at St. Mark’s. Like the different lions, we come from different cultures, we do not look the same, and we can have different backgrounds and understandings. However, St. Mark’s is an inclusive community where we all come together, regardless of race, religion, or gender.

For those who want to revisit the performance, here is a short clip of the dance!