Are We Really Inclusive?

By Diana Oh & Vanessa Leung 

What is inclusivity? According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, being inclusive is the act of including everyone, where no one is excluded. One could say that St. Mark’s is a diverse, inclusive school: After all, its student body does come from a variety of lush backgrounds and variegated cultures. However, could we actually claim that our school community is in fact inclusive when students of different races are sitting at different tables, segregating themselves from students of different backgrounds? 

Walking into the dining hall, it is normal for one to see students sitting with their peers and friends. However, upon closer investigation of these groups sitting together, you could clearly see that there isn’t much diversity in the group of students. Students tend to sit together with people of similar race while eating. But this is not just for the dining hall. There are many friend groups in St Mark’s School, and it seems like race plays the most significant role in determining the formation of these cliques. Most students only make friends with people of their same race and culture. 

This isn’t because students aren’t willing to interact with students of different races. Instead, it is more of a societal tendency that people have towards being together with people that are similar to them. St. Marks has a diverse community, which means the student body will be composed of people with different cultural backgrounds. While that means that there would be more cultures and thus more diversity, there is a disadvantage to this. Some cultures may view some things as normal, while others may disapprove of them, and small differences in beliefs and habits like this create differences amongst people. People tend to be around people of the same culture or origin because they share similar beliefs and have similar mindsets. They share the same interests, and are more reluctant to the same topics, so it is easy for them to get along and be around each other. However, if two people share completely different views and beliefs, it is only natural for them to not get along as well. 

Perhaps one solution that is the most plausible is to force the intermingling of different races by assigning students of different races as roommates. This way, students of different backgrounds will have to inevitably communicate with each other, which may lead to more comfort in terms of knowing each other's cultures. 

Another feasible solution is to create an alternate version of seated lunch back in pre-covid times, where students will be seated next to people they usually don’t sit with. That way students have more chances of socializing with students of different backgrounds and races. While the beginning of these interactions may be filled with awkwardness and silence, it is hoped that students will develop better relationships with the people sitting around them, and notice the diverse community that they are in. 

There is clearly nothing wrong with alike people socializing with alike peers. However, is this really inclusivity? If our school is an advocate for social diversity, and social inclusivity, students should feel like they belong, and that they are actually ‘included’. There is a huge difference between being a part of a community, and belonging to a community. And currently, many students feel a tangible racial barrier between them and the ‘intentionally small school’ community, when students should really feel at home. If there is no belonging, the full 500 students and faculty members in our school are not part of the community. If there is no belonging,  there is no diversity. Thus, we should collectively work to break down this barrier, and defeat the exclusivity. 

How the Model Minority Myth Plays the Hinge Separating Blacks and Asian Americans

Steven Zhang ‘24

Stereotypes live with us. We walk forward, and they cling to the back of our legs like a desperate shadow self. Every move we make is followed by our stereotype, waiting for a moment to be noticed and pinned onto us. As an Asian American, it’s quite common to get smacked with an unpleasant word or… “question”: a teacher or student calling you by another Asian name or a random 10 year old in your summer camp asking if you eat dogs (cats too if they feel smart enough), all of it leaves the utmost dryness on my tongue. But rarely, rarely does a stereotype feel nice. Being labeled as an intelligent, studious, and assiduous worker brings a smile to my face. Even being perceived to be smart as I walk into a classroom while forgetting to finish the 50 point assignment is quite a spectacle. 

What is this awesome, oddly terrific stereotype that no one really finds out until it’s actually separating two racial groups and silently causing mass division among students and teachers? Well, to give it to you in its most basic form: the model minority myth. The model minority myth sounds great because it says we are all smart. But the model minority myth actually has detrimental effects on Asian students, especially when it comes to separating them from other minority groups.

The model minority myth loves to put us in small compact two dimensional squares outlined by just a few salient characteristics: shy, meek, studious, complacent, compliant, and you know the rest. Whenever we would like to show other qualities, confidence, athleticism, or something other than “Stem smarts”, we the myth urges, “oh no no no, you need to go back into your corner”-like a parent says to a child who accidentally pulls a lego from his friend’s box. My generation is doing a phenomenal job at expressing our three dimensional personalities and making sure people know we have depth in our character. However, although we have been fighting against how the model minority myth treats us, we must also tackle the problem of how it treats other racial groups.

When we are the only racial group treated and stereotyped as “smart and meek,” what characteristics does that leave for other racial groups like Blacks, Latinos, Natives, and other minority groups? The fact that the model minority myth gives us this kind of upper hand has led many Asian people to become complacent and to stop fighting for equality for all. This reasoning is deeply rooted in the history of the model minority myth. The model minority myth originates from the early 1970’s, and has a deep history in immigration and the Japanese internment camps. Because many don’t actually know about Japanese internment camps or the rules and laws that benefited only rich/educated Asians to immigrate, people automatically assume we have purposefully become the way we are now. During and after the Japanese incarceration period, Japanese Americans had to take on the role of “whiteness” so as to not be labeled as an “enemy.” When whites observed  Asian workers conforming, they believed that we were always like that. So, they stamped us with a bunch of characteristics and packed us in a box. We have worked hard to fit in and earn our spot in the U.S., so why go back down to the other minority groups when we have this seat here at the dinner table? Well sadly in reality, we are sitting on a child’s toy chair. This model minority myth makes Asians feel good about themselves, but it is harming how we view other minority groups and especially harming the connection between us. We are fighting a war alone when there are clearly other people willing to fight with us. This war is one on racism, and we just so happen to be fighting against each other.

So what’s the point of me saying this? Well, it’s quite simple. I just want to raise awareness about this harmful stereotype and reveal something to the public’s eyes. Obviously this is such a complex topic that can be debated and talked about for more than our lifespans (though I hope this is not true). Then again, don’t come after me with a stick saying you never do any of this. And yes, you might be right, our generation is indeed making a huge difference when it comes to the model minority myth, but it doesn’t mean that everybody is just like you. If you're stepping over that invisible line, great, tell other people to do it too. And no matter how cheesy this is, a war can never be won if it’s fought alone.

We Are Erased By The World

Hannah Cha’25

As  a Korean-American, I’ve always felt that parts of myself were getting erased and restricted by the biases of the world. Forced to be better at math, going through harsh education to match my parents’ expectations, and always trying my best to be the “perfect student” that people want me to be. I always needed to be successful in school, without actually acknowledging that the expectations towards me were abnormally high as a normal high school student. I soon realized that my whole life was covered up with the biases and contorted thoughts of the people towards me, and to go further, my race. It didn’t take me long to find out the concept of “Modern Minority Myth” which explained all the things I have gone through. 

What is Model Minority Myth?

For some of the readers who might have never heard of this concept, the myth of the model minority is based on the stereotypes that are created by society. In America it has been used to characterize Asians and Asian-Americans as very successful by the common preconceptions that people have.  It might not sound that realistic when it comes to definitions, but racism based on modern minority myth happens pretty frequently in real life. Some examples of it are standardized roles that Asians act on TV shows or movies, Asians always being treated smart and getting high grades, and being expected to be better on STEM. Model minority myth is an implicit racism, and also a huge bias that is deeply ingrained in people’s minds. Even many Asians themselves implicitly have these kinds of thoughts, generating biases towards each other. It may not seem that severe compared to other kinds of racism that people get to face in the world, but the model minority myth contains some of its own problems.

What is the Problem With It?

First, the model minority myth erases diversity among individuals. Similar to other racial biases that categorize all people with the same race as the same, the stereotypes of the model minority myth end up creating an image of a “typical” person of one race, which is quite absurd to say. It forces people to match the same expectations, act identically, and do something in the same way also. The preconceptions spread through the whole society snatches away an individual’s characteristics slowly, but forcefully.

Second, life as a “model minority” student is a great pressure for all Asians. Even though there are also some people who oppose the idea of the model minority myth, a majority of Asians choose to just live with all the biases. Various students endure all the harsh education and pressure towards them only to become an actual model minority. High expectations towards the students suppress them to always seek for better accomplishments, and push them towards their limit. The large amount of academic pressure of the Asian students generate higher suicidal rates of students due to academics. 

Third, the idea of the modern minority myth also reinforces the idea that Asian-Americans are perennial foreigners. Have you ever had a closer observation on what roles an Asian character plays in an American TV show or a movie? You would be able to realize that they are mostly one of those smart, nerdy characters. Racism even occurs in the smallest situations that you might not even realize. Even though stereotypes in the media have improved a lot throughout the past years, It is not easy to change a stereotype that was stuck in people's minds once. The idea that all of these stereotypes point out is only one thing: it is that Asian-Americans are not viewed the same as all of the other Americans. The Asian American stereotype always makes them viewed as foreigners and perpetual outsiders of this country.

So, what should we do about this?

The way you should deal with this is actually quite simple. Just be aware of it. Try thinking about the attitudes, and words of yourself one more. Check your stereotypes and presumptions you hold. If you are made aware that some of your words towards others were biased, that’s great, since now you know what to do to be on the right track. I honestly believe that there is no better way to dismantle the myth of model minorities than raising awareness by ourselves. If we start with each making a small change in our own lives, soon the world would also begin to change slowly with all the small efforts of people in daily life.

Changing The Culture of Involution

Ingrid Yeung ‘23

Nowadays, stress seems to be an experience shared by everyone, no matter your role in society, whether working or still in school. Competition is everywhere, and often stress becomes unhealthy as people begin to compete just for competing. Involution is a term not commonly used in the English language, but it describes the internal friction in our society, which leads to a harmful and stressful environment. Anthropologist Clifford Geertz originally uses involution to depict the stagnant phenomenon in agriculture when the amount of labor dedicated does not yield proportional economic return. Later, anthropologist Alexander Goldenwiese refers to culture to experience involution when it “cannot (or does not) adapt and or expand its economy, but continues to develop only in the direction of internal complexity and inefficiency” (Hui, 2009). This term has gotten extremely popular in China, especially among younger generations, to describe the stress and anxiety in competition and how people focus on defeating others rather than self-improving. The helplessness people feel when facing competition is an exact embodiment of Involution. So, how do we change this culture of Involution? Do we simply take ourselves out of every competition? 

In order to change the culture of Involution, it is necessary to understand why it happens. Often, involution results from the unhealthy competition: a competition that occurs at the expense of one’s well being. It can also result from “involuntary competition” when people are forced to participate in a contest they didn’t sign up for. This is much like school, where people are placed in a basket, evaluated only based on their performances. When we are stuck in a competition cycle, no one gains from working harder, but rather wasting energy and time on one task. For example, Student A and Student B are studying for the same test. Student A studies for one hour and B for thirty minutes. In the end, B receives one less point than A. In the next test, B strives to study more than A to make up that one point, so he reviews for three hours, but A sees him and proceeds to review even more. In the end, A still gets one more point than B, but none of them see significant improvement from their last test. This scenario illustrates how involution applies in real life, putting an overly large amount of effort into a competition but gaining no concrete returns. The idea of diminishing marginal returns from Economics can also explain this situation. There is an optimum input effort that can yield the most significant output. As more input is added, the marginal returns will eventually decrease, resulting in people feeling unaccomplished from all the hard work they put in. 

There are several ways to combat the culture of involution other than simply quitting the competition. One of which I see the most important is determining what is the most important to you. Is your math mid-term more critical? Or is it your small-stake project from another class? Prioritizing tasks can pull you out of many involuntary competitions as you divide up your time accordingly, avoiding over-investment in assignments that might not yield as much return. Another key to combat unhealthy competition is to accept imperfections. People often place themselves in the endless competition cycle by spending significant amounts of time perfecting a straightforward task. When you make a simple problem way more complicated than it should be, it signifies involution taking up your academic life. Realizing that perfecting every task is not what makes you learn the most. Instead of producing perfect works, accept potential flaws and create scholarly and thoughtful pieces. Another aspect of fighting involution is to deal with the anxiety such competition makes. A simple resolution is to focus on the “now” and focus on your health. Often, anxiety happens when people anticipate the future and the outcome, and having the present mindset, focusing on your effort now, will significantly reduce the stress. Remember that physical health contributes significantly to mental health. Maintaining a regular exercise routine and a healthy diet also helps increase stress tolerance. 

As a junior in St. Mark’s, I feel the pressure of academic, athletic, and social anxiety that mounts in living in a highly competitive and intellectually challenging boarding school. However, it is up to us to either accept it and live with the anxiety or find ways to fight against it. Utilize the resources offered on campus; school counselors, advisors, and academic support are all great companions in your fight against the culture of involution. So don’t give up; instead of quitting the challenge entirely and becoming a couch potato, try to focus on the present and your wellbeing while achieving academic goals. 

What is the Difference Between Being Anti Racist and "Not Racist"?

By Jonathan Hernandez ‘24

When discussing the ways in which an institution such as St. Mark’s is becoming an antiracist school, I  have had some conversations where I have often heard my peers question the school’s Anti Racist Strategic Plan as a whole.  “Why,” they ask, “do we need to be antiracist if we are already not racist?” I recognize how we as members of the St. Mark’s community can sometimes easily  confuse being “not racist” and antiracist. We often consider both being “not racist” and antiracist as the opposite of being racist and both being sufficient for fighting racism, but this is not the case. 

By definition, when someone is antiracist, they are acting in ways that oppose racism and promote racial tolerance. Being antiracist involves actively working towards dismantling systems of racism, and promoting racial tolerance and racial equity. However, when someone is simply “not racist,” they are not actively contributing to nor dismantling systems of racism. Someone who is “not racist” is simply labeling themselves; it is a passive stance and can often be used as an excuse to ignore racist practices and systems rather than working to actively dismantle and remove them. 

Differentiating between being antiracist and “not racist” is essential in fighting racism because when one recognizes that being active in dismantling systems of racism, they are able to make more meaningful changes than if they simply are not actively buttressing those systems. Being antiracist, not simply “not racist,” is what the members of the St. Mark’s community should strive to be, where we as a school community are recognizing that being antiracist helps fight racism. With that, there is the question of “how can St. Mark’s Students be anti racist in their school community?”

Students themselves are able to be antiracist and be actively promoting racial tolerance in numerous ways. For example, students can do so by attending a variety of affinity group meetings, examining their own biases and preconceptions of other groups of people, and by challenging the different institutions and their systems of oppressions that they interact with on a daily basis. In attending a variety of affinity group meetings, students are able to learn about the different experiences of different students who belong to different groups and how systems of oppression affect them. Students are then able to gain empathy and understanding and learn how they can help break down and reform racist systems. Further, by examining their own biases and preconceptions, we can become  more aware of how we contribute to and affect systems of oppression that affect everyone and thuis able to become more aware of how to dismantle such systems. Additionally, in challenging such institutions and systems of oppression, students can become more aware of patterns and cycles of oppression and break those cycles and essentially reform such systems and oppression. 

As St. Marks moves forward and continues to work towards becoming an Antiracist Institution, we as the members of the school community must recognize that we are responsible for ensuring that we are more than simply “not racist” and must strive to become actively antiracist. This requires all members of the school community (the administration, students, and faculty) to work towards fighting racist systems of oppression, examining our own biases and creating an inclusive environment for everyone at St. Mark’s.

Freshmen Speak About Third Form Core Course

BY KARRY KIM ‘25

For every third form student, after school meetings on Saturday mornings, it was a weekly routine to head to their Third Form Core classes. To give a short introduction to what the third form core classes are: each class, made up of one teacher and about ten students in each class, ran seven classes from September 18th until November 13th. The major themes of the Third Form Core classes were mindfulness and identity. Most of the classes were held in classrooms, with the structure of journaling prompts with the general theme of identity and having discussions later on in the class. As a long term project, all Third Form Core classes participated in creating a community garden, where classes rotated from week to week with the role of raking and spading the gardening area. Towards the end of the course and as a final assessment, students also created drawings and videos showing their identity. These activities and classes listed above were held with the initiative of “[being] introduced to the tools that are essential for you(Third Formers) to thrive at St. Mark's and beyond” (Course Description). However, despite this ideal goal of getting ready to ‘thrive’ at St. Mark’s, many freshmen students expressed negative opinions about the class. 

Community Garden in progress

One of the most dominant reasons why the course was not enjoyable was because the class was not informative. “I feel like I haven’t learned much from the classes. Learning about ourselves and our identity was very redundant from what we have done in TGS, and although it was nice going outside to garden, I did not understand the purpose of building a community garden. The class materials were also all over the place, jumping from our identity to study skills, gardening, and college application” (Rory Hutchins 25’). Students also suggest that the discussion prompts that heavily focused on abstract concepts such as identity and mindfulness made the discussions itself very challenging while not being practically helpful. “I think I do not have enough experiences yet to determine my identity. However, the course was constantly asking who I was and expecting me to be a unique person, which stressed me out. A lot of other people felt the same way too, which made the discussions upon these topics non informative and very redundant. Discussions on identity basically turned into telling classmates where they were born and raised and listing the activities(athletics) that people were doing at school” (Anonymous). “The questions and discussions that seemed like they were meant to target mindfulness, such as ‘Define Mindfulness’ or ‘Write down all the things you see around you’ also weren't helpful with mindfulness” (Anonymous).

Another prevalent reason was that feedback was not taken in actively. “I tried to tell my Saturday class teacher about why the activities were not helpful, but my teacher simply told me to talk to Ms. Nicks and Ms. Killeen, since they were the ones who were planning the course. This clearly did not work for me because I knew neither of those teachers and I couldn’t just randomly go and talk to them” (Anonymous). 

Students also say that class discussions were not productive, since people were reluctant to participate. “I sometimes felt awkward sharing my personal stories because the people in class were not close to each other. Everyone was just very quiet and not engaging with the discussions held in class. It seemed like everyone was sleepy and bored, even my teacher” (Anonymous). Many students suggest that the schedule contributed to making everyone so tired and bored. “The class running for two hours and thirty minutes straight made me very tired, along with the fact that it was Saturday mornings when classes were held. It felt as though the class was everlasting. Although there were breaks, the break times were given at very irregular and unplanned times, making the class seem like an array of never-ending activities instead of a well planned course” (Anonymous). 

Although students generally expressed negative opinions about the Third Form Core course, some activities gained positive feedback. “I enjoyed the Drop Everything and Read activity, where my class went to the library to read any book they like for 30 minutes. It’s been a long time since I sat down and read a book that isn’t for school” (Rachel Goldberg 25’). “While talking about meditation, I learned an effective meditation method from one of my classmates” (Anonymous).

While freshmen were struggling to make their way in the Third From Core class, the teachers were also struggling to make the course a pleasant experience for the students. According to Ms. Killeen, who planned the course along with Ms. Nicks, there was a desire to target mindfulness, community and equity, identity, adding on to TGS lessons, learning study skills, skills that build up to the Lion Term project in the Third Form Core classes. The challenge was to fit all these values into seven 2.5 hour classes. The community garden was made with the purpose of spending time outside, creating something that lasts for the community and contributes to St. Mark’s, and learning to appreciate our school faculties by experiencing the hard work that the faculty do for our school every day. 

There were some challenges in planning the course. She added that the transition from last year’s Saturday classes, which was reduced to about an hour each week, made the difficulty in scheduling and making the class effective. Another challenge was that not any feedback was given to her while the course was running, and since people’s experiences in mindfulness and identity largely differ according to different groups of people involved. She had no idea what people thought about the course. “Usually, I ask my students in my classes, ‘Did that work, or not?’ after a lesson and that is how I get an idea of how my classes are going, (but because for most of the classes were run by other teachers,) I did not have a chance to ask my students for feedback” (Ms. Killeen).

According to the interviews of third-form students who participated in the Third Form Core course and Ms. Killeen, who planned the course, each group had their own struggles in navigating throughout the class. The two groups’ common difficulty with honest feedback creates a guideline for what future Third Form Core classes should look like, and what we should avoid as teachers and students as a whole. 

Weekend Activities Bring much needed Break

By Vanessa Leung ‘25

Every Friday, an email sent out containing a Google Slides document provides a preview of the following weekend's activities. Documents will be open for sign-ups to trips outside of school usually after lunch. Once students sign up they will convene at the front circle where transportation is provided to the designated location. A time period of 45 minutes to an hour and a half will be allotted for the students to spend. After that students will be transported back. For weekend activities happening at school students simply have to show up at the specified place and time to participate. 

Weekend trips usually contain trips to Target, Natick mall, and to festivals or places slightly farther away where students have the opportunity to experience the culture and environment around them. On campus activities also include fun choices such as painting, decorating donuts, making pies, karaoke and so on.

Perhaps the only point of frustration that many students share is the way that signups are held. Giving students access to edit the Google Slides is an efficient way of allowing students to sign up by simply adding their names on the list, but this also means the possibility of students deleting other students' names to make space for themselves. While this action is really unfair towards the students who signed up early, there is no solution to this and the person that modified the list of names can not be easily found. The only way is for people to trust each other and to respect the ones who already entered their names. Online sign ups might not be the most effective way of signing up, but it is the best for now. 

Another suggestion is for the slides to include an esitmate how much time the trip might take, because oftentimes students might underestimate the time period the trip takes and lose time they planned on doing something else. 

All of these activities and trips outside of school have been really fun and enjoyable. Trips are a great opportunity for students to hang out with their friends in different settings rather than only school, and school activities are a great way of showing that our school is not just for academics. The balance between locations that sell necessities and places that provide entertainment in weekend trips are great. 

Ongoing Debate on Semester vs. Trimester System

Andrea Xu ‘24

After a year and half of remote learning, the comeback to normal school in September feels unprecedented and fresh. In retrospect, I still gasp at how much the world and our social behaviors have changed. In previous articles, the staff writers discussed the pros and cons of online learning. On the positive side, remote learning opened us to explore new hobbies and interests. On the other hand, it divested us of social interactions, and, is however unfavorable to our wellness. Understandably, adapting in normal school could be overwhelming. Time inches steadily toward the afar. In the blink of an eye, eight weeks passed. In this page, I want to consider the academic prospect of in-person learning. 

The end of Window One is November 5th. Arguably, the date induces widespread discontent. Seniors had to meet the college application deadline in early November, and teachers had to write insane amounts of recommendations while grading final assessments or projects. In addition, under-formers felt stressed from piled-on work in the following week. Some teachers alleviated the stress for freshmen by giving them delayed due dates.

Faculty interpreted this situation from their unique perspectives. Mr. Palmer, the Science Department Head, shared that Window Two feels the shortest, “first of all, Window Two is broken up into breaks- the Thanksgiving and Christmas. And from the end of Window One to Christmas, people want to accomplish something.”

Ms. Killeen, a History and Social Science faculty, expressed that the transition to St. Mark’s takes time, “I see Window One as a warmup, especially for freshmen. Figuring out St. Mark’s is a lot, sometimes too much.” Furthermore, she unfolded her outlook for Window Two: “Another thing is the winter practice schedule. In the fall, all the athletic teams have their own fields, whereas in the winter, there are not enough facilities to accommodate all the teams all at once.” As a result, the athletic department made decisions to stagger the practice times. Interestingly, some Junior Varsity and Thirds teams even have practice that runs into study hall and beyond. Occasionally, some days are harnessed under special schedules for events like evening chapel. Ms. Killeen opined that this lack of rhythm was chaotic. 

Biologically speaking, dullness sweeps through the winter because we have less exposure to sunlight. In our bodies, higher quantities of melatonins are activated, resulting in lethargy and symptoms of depression. 

Ms. Matthews, who teaches Writing Workshop and Literature on Trial, a senior English elective, metaphorically set out her teaching during the pandemic as a “beautiful censorship.” Jokingly stated, she had her first Thanksgiving in fourteen years without grading papers. “It was difficult,” she remarked. “I understand that kids missed a year and half of school. I only got to see them twice a week for 45 minutes!” Also, she gave varied weights to different windows, “I weigh Window One lower because everyone is learning how to become a student at St. Mark’s. The workload in Window One is low stakes. My students have a haphazard span of knowledge on grammar. I gave them diagnostics to do.” 

She continued, “I weigh Window Two higher. Everything is real work. High expectations. This feels like a heavy lift to freshmen.” 

While it seems, some propose a shift to a trimester schedule so that the first grading period ends on the start of the Thanksgiving break. 

Dr. Harwood, the head of the Classics Department, believed learning is a natural procedure,  “the learning process is organic. The student’s learning doesn’t necessarily fit into arbitrary units of time. If we want to create a holistic education, we should adopt the trimester system. For example, language learning takes place over a period of years, and it doesn't always fit into smaller time frames.”

During my interview with Dr. Harwood, she digressed from the trimester system to the assessment week. The assessment week is also known as the midterm. It happens in the last week before Christmas. Dr. Harwood highlighted that students need time to rest in order to synthesize and integrate information. “Deeper learning happens this way,” she added. This made me think about my own learning differently. Should I only seek results or make a report that displays my solidification for everything I have learned so far? 

Jacob Cifuenttes’ 24, a sophomore, alleged a preference over the quarters system. He generally feels stressful turning in assignments on time. Jacob finds frequently overseeing comments and applying them into the next term an effective approach to improve his learning. 

Diana Oh’ 24, another sophomore, agreed with Jacob, “The quarters offer a closer level of my learning progress. As opposed to a half year at the end, I like the conciseness of quarters. For me, trimesters are too long.” On the whole, Diana deemed that people tend to become demotivated from longer periods. Recurring motivations are important. 

Is St. Mark’s Reentering In-Person Learning Too Quickly?

By Ingrid Yeung ‘23

Into the third year of combating COVID-19, wearing a mask and discussing new cases have become the norm of our normal social life. This school year, before winter break, St. Mark’s has effectively contained the virus within the school. Even with the introduction of the intimidating Delta variant, the school, strictly following the health and safety protocol, managed to keep St. Markers safe and suppressed cases from growing. Just as things were going positively, a more transmissive variant Omicron emerged and quickly spread throughout the world in a few weeks. The United States even reported 1.35 million cases per day during the supposedly relaxing holiday season, possibly due to increased traveling and transmission. With Omicron storming the country, several St. Mark’s community members tested positive during the break. However, after serious consideration, the school still decided to maintain the regular return time for students and set a series of protocols and procedures to reenter the fully in-person learning. Then a question arose: Are we coming back too quickly? 

As students returned from winter break, St. Mark’s required all incoming boarding students to take PCR tests and immediately start quarantine within the dormitory before the testing result came out to return to the regular school schedule. During this time, all meals were taken out, students were not allowed to access other parts of campus, and all classes happened online. When PCR test results were released after two days, there were 17 positive cases made up of 11 boarding students, two day students, and four adults. Such results were much higher than we had obtained prior to winter break and concerned many students and parents, even though it only constituted 3.5% of our school’s population. After consultation with EH&E, the school still resumed in-person classes and activities to many’s surprise. 

Several other cases have been detected since the school resumed in person last Saturday, including students who have recently gotten their booster and are fully vaccinated. This pattern clearly shows Omicron’s highly transmissive nature and its ability to multiply within a close community like St. Mark’s. Many students have been stressed about the COVID cases and being close contacts here at school. Parents are even more concerned about their children’s well-being. Looking at the still increasing number of cases, did the school make the correct decision to bring us all back together? Students have started an online petition to call for Hybrid learning for students’ well-being, but such voices do not seem to be heard by the school. The stress level only increases for the students and community members seeing their friends testing positive and becoming close contacts. The Omicron is less severe than other variants, but that is only to say that most people have milder symptoms, and the relative percentage hospitalized is less. However, the total number hospitalized still surpassed last January, creating another record.  

The students and the parents have valid reasons to be concerned about the school’s decision and reports on COVID-19 cases. The school reported seven boarding students and two adults have tested positive in the most recent PCR test. However, according to student sources and our knowledge, there are far more than 7 cases of COVID-19 in our boarding population. Understandably, the school does not provide a complete list of people who contracted COVID, but news of positive cases spread fast among students themselves as a tight-knit community. Whether such information is exaggerated, it already creates enough tension around the school to reconsider in-person learning.  This is not to entirely discredit the validity of the school’s report, but just once more casting doubt on whether we went back to in-person learning too soon and whether or not the school is operating with extra caution right now. School life with constant discussion of contact tracing and positive cases can be very stressful. Potentially contracting COVID-19 and evacuating to quarantine can sound even rougher. After hearing friends test positive, a friendly hug in the morning could become worries at night. Those thoughts and common emotions can influence students’ life and academic participation even more negatively than remote learning. So again, did St. Mark’s resume in-person teaching too quickly? 

Fellow students, there is not much we can do at this challenging time but follow the health and safety protocol. Wearing surgical masks properly and covering your nose can significantly reduce the risk of contracting COVID- 19. When you notice symptoms similar to COVID-19, report to health services for a rapid test as soon as possible. And lastly, wear your mask properly, avoid crowded areas, and stay safe!