The Postscript
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THE January 29, 2020 the parkP schoolOSTSCRIPT of baltimore | 2425 old court road, baltimore, md 21208 Volume 77 Issue No.4 Returning alumni share life stories MALE GROUP by AARON HIRSCHHORN ’21 DISCUSSES On December 20, the last day be- FILM ON TOXIC fore Winter Break, Park alumni came to speak to students about their ca- reers. This was the second consecu- MASCULINITY tive year that this program, Paths by GRIFFIN ANGEL ’21 After Park, occurred. Twenty nine alumni returned, and Male Discussion Group, more five more connected via videolinks. commonly referred to at Park as In an email from the Alumni office, ‘Male Group,’ is a club that arose speakers were asked to “share [their] from the 2019 WOKE Day affinity life experiences with students and group discussions. shed some light on what life after “The discussion we had that day Park may look like.” seemed like something every teen- The idea for Paths After Park age boy should talk about, but al- was originally thought up by Up- most none of us had,” Jack Meyers per School Dean of Students Traci ’20 said. Wright. This year, Meyers, Ben Inglesby Wright discussed the program photos courtesy Communications ’20, and I, along with help from sci- with Alumni Director Pailin Gaith- For a second consecutive year, alumni returned to campus to talk to students about their lives, ence teacher Elliott Huntsman, John er intermittently for several years, discussing careers in business, advocacy, journalism, the law, arts, technology, and more. Kessinger (history), and Co-Director and finally, in 2018, they decided interested them, and the schedule was asked to speak on “everything from nity to speak more generally about of College Counseling Matt Hanni- to launch it. “[Wright] could moti- made with the help of Registrar Dor- what they do in their careers, to how the many different possibilities after bal, started Male Discussion Group vate the Upper School students and I rie Bright. they got there, to how Park contrib- Park.” to allow male-identifying students to could bring all of the resources of the The day started off with introduc- uted to that,” Gaither said. “I hope [the students] were able to look inward and consider their iden- Alumni office,” Gaither said. tions, then a short talk by Dale Beran “We invited them to share their see that there are so many possibili- tity at school, as well as their role in Both Wright and Gaither served ’99. Beran spoke about his work as life experiences with students and ties and directions their lives could the wider community, in new ways. on the planning committee for this a freelance journalist and cartoonist. shed some light on what life after take and they have time to explore Recently, the club watched The year’s event, which was composed of Students split up and went to school may look like.” and figure that out,” Shapiro said. Mask You Live In, a 2015 documenta- both faculty members and students. smaller sessions with the various Leah Shapiro ’12 attended the This was a theme that many ry by director Jennifer Newsom. The The role of the committee was “to alumni. After three sessions, students event. She spoke about her journey alumni spoke to, especially during the film switches back and forth between imagine what categories we wanted returned to the theater for a panel of in media which eventaully landed her panel. It was also one of the goals of adult males sharing personal stories to have sessions for, to brainstorm four alumni: Jamie DeMarco ’11, a her career in the TV industry as a the planning committee. and psychology professionals sharing who the people are in the alumni Kelsey Parks Smith ’13, Phil Porter casting agent. “We want to give [students] the results from studies as well as their community who can fulfill those [cat- ’05, and Lyn Meyerhoff ’09. “I was excited to be a part of this opportunity to see how life can de- own theories. egories], and then to do the outreach “There weren’t many guidelines event because I knew it was some- velop after Park,” Gaither said, “but The leaders of Male Discussion – bring everybody in,” Gaither said. for the speakers,” Selby Eline ’21, thing I would have loved to experi- also to show that, as many alumni Group thought it was important to Once the list was finalized, stu- one of the two students on the plan- ence when I was a student,” Shapiro testified, it’s not a linear path, and host a viewing and discussion, “to dents signed up for the talks that most ning committee, said. Alumni were said. “I felt this was a great opportu- that’s good.” show the wider community that the group is not just a boys’ club and that we are discussing serious topics,” Jazz Collective performs in New Orleans Huntsman said. about 60 people on a corner ... they One scene from the Newsom by JACOB HIRSCHHORN ’21 blew me away with their talent.” film shown at a recent discussion January 8 to 11, the Park Jazz The Louisiana trip was a first for portrayed an activity for high school- Collective, a 12 member varsity jazz PJC but not the first trip PJC has aged males. About 10 males took ensemble, went to New Orleans to taken. In 2007, the group went to paper masks, and on the front wrote participate in a conference hosted by perform at a jazz festival at the Uni- the aspects of their personality they the national Jazz Education Network. versity of North Texas. “The trip to openly show while in school, and on Three teachers and three parents Texas was concentrated completely the back, parts they don’t show. also went: Upper School Music Chair on performance, [but] this trip had On the back of almost every mask Adele Dinerstein, Middle School mu- higher quality offerings for work- were emotional terms such as pain, sic teacher Maeve Royce, and K-12 shops and presentations,” Dinerstein anger, and sadness. said. music teacher Chris Peterson; parent photo courtesy Park Jazz Collective The viewing was followed by chaperones were Debbie Greenberg, “We chose this year to go [be- questions about masks people felt The Park Jazz Collective (PJC) members are seniors Michael Foster, Kath- Jason Cohen, and Richard Fuss. erine Shock, and Aaron Sterling; juniors Jonas Cohen, Vivie Eteme, Jesse cause] New Orleans is the origin city they wore at Park. Almost every- At the conference, the faculty Feller-Kopman, Nathan Fuss, Lance Greenberg, Sam Keleman, Luis Quin- of jazz, and has many significant jazz body had an answer, and almost ev- members gave a presentation on the tero, and Darya Zarfeshan; and freshman Rebekah Geller. landmarks,” Greenberg said. eryone had at least one emotion they music department’s process-based another percussionist to make 12.” Greenberg said. The group self-funded the trip. wouldn’t want all of the school or jazz education. “Maeve, Chris, and PJC performed a set of four songs, “At night there were professional “We fundraised at Saturday in the even their friends to see. I ran a workshop about Park’s ap- receiving critiques and suggestions shows from groups such as The Dirty Park, Goldsoundz, and Rivalry day,” Another scene involved intoxica- proach to teaching jazz,” Dinerstein about their playing. Dozen Brass Band, the Preservation Dinerstein said. “Our main fundrais- tion and party culture. The documen- said. At the conference, the group lis- Hall Legacy Band, Victor Wooten er, though, [was] our performance at tary had a lot of statistics about how Originally, only Dinerstein, tened to presentations about jazz and and Steve Bailey.” Germano’s [in Little Italy, Baltimore males start drinking at a younger age Royce, and Peterson were going watched professional jazz musicians After hours, the group explored a week before the trip].” than females typically, and are much to attend the conference. However, perform. the city, travelling through the French The students learned a lot and the more likely to “binge drink.” when they saw that there was an op- “The presentations ranged from Quarter, visiting the Jazz Museum, teacher workshop was also a success. What stood out most were the sup- portunity for the students to perform, topics about jazz in general, soloing and Bourbon Street. “We turned the “New Orleans was a great experience posed reasons for why these destruc- they took it. techniques or stylistic choices, jazz corner onto the street, and an entire to bond with the members of PJC, and tive behaviors occur. “We augmented the group, add- history, more specific instrument brass band started playing,” Cohen, meet professional musicians from see Male Discussion Group pg. 3 ing a trumpet player, a vocalist, and analysis and workshops,” Lance said. “They had drawn a crowd of around the country,” Greenberg said. INSIDE THE POSTSCRIPT COMMENTARY FEATURES ARTS & CULTURE SPORTS Sophomore Eric Smith shares his opinion Read a collection of essays written for col- Film reviews include Queen and Slim by Jacob Peres ’21 selects the best sports mo- on takeaways and next steps from the recent lege application season by seniors Dash Caitlin Joseph ’20, Star Wars by Tyler LaBor- ments of the last ten years, including Player history department town hall discussion. Silberg, Bella Johnson, and Becky Scott. wit ’20, and Cats by Brandon Zayon ’22 of the Decade and Team of the Decade. PAGE 6 PAGE 7 PAGE 10 PAGE 11 2 Editorial// The Postscript january 29, 2020 Four goals for the 2020s LETTER TO THE EDITOR: This is our ‘Decade in Review’ issue. recruit teachers of color. Science teacher Mick Scott replies to the Throughout the process of writing, editing, and Don’t let these suggestions disappear into laying in the paper, we have been reflecting on the ether like so many FACA recommendations December editorial what message we wanted to send.