St. Mark’s Girls Volleyball Hits the Court

By Annabel Zaterka’27

Bump-set-spike! Volleyball has arrived at St. Mark’s! After many years of waiting, St. Mark’s is excited to add a volleyball team to the athletic program this year. For several years, St. Mark’s was the only school in the ISL without a volleyball team. After weeks of training, varsity volleyball is optimistic about its very first season and promising future. 

In the past five years, the St. Mark’s Admissions Office logged over 400 applicants who showed interest in volleyball. It was clear that having a team would not only generate more interest in the school; it would also offer students more athletic options in the fall. While the new team is officially part of the ISL, they are not playing a full league schedule until the 2024 season. Coached by Lauren Kelly and Lina Long, the 16 players are focused on building a strong volleyball foundation this year and a program that can compete against other ISL varsity teams. This season, they will match up against a mixture of ISL and non-ISL teams to experience various skill levels. Next year, the team will play a full ISL schedule, and Athletic Director Lauren Ames is hoping to add a JV team “because interest is high.”

Although the program has had a slow start due to unforeseen issues with the court installation, the team is ready to compete in their first match on October 4th! Ms. Ames is grateful for everyone who contributed to the team’s inaugural season. “Huge kudos to Coach Kelly for her wisdom, knowledge, experience, and patience in getting the program going!” She also points to instrumental support from Mr. Warren, Mr. Kuklewicz, and other members of the St. Mark’s faculty and staff. The team hopes to see the stands packed for their first home match in the MFAC on Saturday, October 14, and again on November 11 for a rousing game against Groton. Go, St. Mark’s!

Convocation: The Official Start

By Hannah Cha & Vanessa Leung’25

It is a St. Mark’s tradition to begin the academic year with Convocation, where the whole school body gathers for the first time. Convocation welcomes new students and faculty, celebrates achievements, and sets the tone for the year.

This year’s Convocation took place on September 8, from the Class of ‘45 Hall in Putnam Family Arts Center. First, Crystal Hui ‘24 welcomed all St. Markers with her splendid piano performance, and St. Mark’s Head of School John C. Warren ’74 officially commenced Convocation with his inaugural speech.

As a reflection of the year, Mr. Warren delivered a speech about “Maintaining Hope About the Future of Our Planet.” Mr. Warren discussed the conservation steps he has taken to preserve the ecosystems around the cabin his family owns. By stating his actions toward sustainability, Mr. Warren shared his belief in remaining optimistic about our planet. He says that “the habits we develop and practice every day make a positive difference to the world we inhabit now and the world that we will inhabit in the future.”

After the speech, the school recognized several faculty members for reaching their teaching milestones at St. Mark’s. The whole St. Mark’s community celebrated faculty members in their fifth, 10th, 15th, and 20th years of service. Certificates were also given to the three faculty members, Caitlin Kosow, Rob Kuklewicz, and E.J. Valitutto, to celebrate their installation as honorary alumni of the school.

Recognitions to faculties each in their 5th, 10th, 15th, and 20th in St. Mark’s

The school also prized the rising VI formers who performed outstanding qualities as a St. Marker. This day, the Walter Clair ‘73 Prize, Alice Hung ‘86 Prize, the Peter Saccio ‘58 Prize, the Dorothy Anderson Prize, the Peter M. Schuh ‘92 Award, and the Sheridan Prize were each presented to a student who most well demonstrated the qualities of the prizes. Commemorating the achievements of the past alumni of St. Mark’s while also celebrating the future of new students of the school, the Convocation is a meaningful yearly tradition.     

As the first formal event of the school year came to an end, this signifies the official start to the 2023-2024 school year, welcoming inspired students to start the year strong.

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.

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.

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!

St. Mark’s gets in the Holiday Season

By Jonathan Hernandez

As the calendar year ends, St. Mark’s has begun to celebrate the Holiday season with various traditions and activities. With songs, performances, and weekend activities, spirits are lifted all throughout the campus. 

On Friday, December 2nd, St. Mark’s held its annual Holiday Song Fest. Students choreographed various dances and presented Holiday songs such as Jingle Bell Rock, All I Want For Christmas is You, and Feliz Navidad. Students performed in festive holiday attire and astounded the audience with stylish dance skills. After the Song Fest, students and faculty proceeded to the Sixth-Form Quad. There, the community counted down together for the tree to be lit up. The tree was dazzling and lit up the quad beautifully. The lighting of the tree signaled the beginning of the Holiday Season at St. Mark’s. 

The following weekend, St. Mark’s held a variety of holiday-themed weekend activities. Students could experience a variety of activities such as watching classic holiday movies, constructing gingerbread houses, and decorating festive cookies. Some students even helped write holiday letters for hospitalized children. Even more, students played games such as Spin the Dreidel and Winter Bingo. There were plenty of activities to help get students in the holiday spirit. 

The spread of merriment is perfect for the upcoming St. Mark’s traditions. Students and Faculty will attend Lessons and Carols on December 6th and 8th. The annual celebration includes nine lessons from scripture and many Christmas hymns. There would be wonderful performances displayed by the St. Mark’s Choir and Orchestra. This is a wonderful opportunity for St. Markers and St. Mark’s Families to enjoy the holiday festivities together. 

Even more, on Friday, December 9th, students can decorate holiday ornaments at Choate house. The tradition is a great community-building activity and a festive way to celebrate the winter holidays.

Groton Night!

By Lori Cui ‘25

Groton Night set up in MFAC gym

St. Mark’s School and Groton School have one of the longest-standing athletic rivalries in the country, lasting for over 135 years. On the night of November 11th, 2022, both schools had pep rallies to heighten school spirits. The next day, both schools faced off in all fall sports: Field Hockey, Football, Soccer, and Cross Country. The rivalry between the schools emphasizes the participation of all students and teams, from Varsity to Thirds. 

Bonfire on Lawrence field

Groton night started off with Varsity team videos and respective team cheers. Following the high adrenaline and cheering, the monitors also released special videos following a storyline of stealing the coat from Groton. They also performed a dance and finally revealed the stolen coat! This year’s Groton Night also featured a St. Mark’s tradition, a bonfire at the end of Lawrence field. With safety precautions in mind, students exited from the MFAC door near the day student parking lot and ran over to Lawrence field. It was a rainy night, but everyone ran with enthusiasm to the awaiting fire. The seniors then carried out the paper mache zebra made earlier, as a symbol of Groton’s mascot animal. After the burning of the zebra, various seniors gave motivating speeches and cheers for the last final hype. Groton night will always be a memorable night for all students at St. Mark’s, regardless of form or team. 

Paper mache zebra in the dining hall

Holiday Songfest and Tree Lighting

By Karry Kim ‘25

On Friday evening, December 2nd, St. Mark’s hosted the annual Holiday Songfest and Tree Lighting celebration. Holiday Songfest is a significant tradition that adds to St. Mark’s school spirit. The whole school comes together and competes by dorm, singing and dancing to various Christmas songs. Each dorm’s performance is (strictly) judged by three judges selected from faculty, and the winning dorm is announced at the end of the celebration. The winning team is granted a dorm pizza party.

This year, Songfest was held in the Center. Sawyer started off this event with a festive carol and choreography, and the Center was soon filled with laughter and voices of the audience singing along. Other dorms followed along with their carols and choreographies, which they have come together to practice for the past week. The event ended with the performance of Gaccon. After a quick moment of discussion for the winners, this year’s winners were announced: Thayer and Scully 2, breaking the long held legacy of Pine Oak’s wins. Congratulations to Thayer and Scully 2! 

After the Holiday Songfest, the Tree Lighting Celebration was held in the 6th form quad. After the lighting of the Christmas tree, all St. Markers enjoyed taking pictures with friends in front of the tree while enjoying hot chocolate and cookies that were served in the small dining hall. The tree was clearly a great photo spot, as everyone’s Instagram posts the next day were filled with pictures taken with friends in front of its bright, colorful lights. 

The Holiday Songfest and Tree Lighting Celebration was a perfect way to bring a holiday spirit to St. Mark’s.