By Cecelia F. 😜

Let’s learn a little bit about a Lower School teacher at Hackley. I have decided to interview Ms. Everett!  Ms. Everett is a 2nd grade Associate Teacher in 2F and has been at Hackley for 3 years. First, I asked her if she had fun being a teacher and she said, “of course! Because I get to learn with my students.” Next, I asked her if she likes hanging out with her students. “I enjoy spending time with my students because each kid is unique and I love watching how my students grow,” she replied. Then, I asked her what her favorite thing about being a teacher is. “I really like how every day is a little different. I learn to be adaptable because there are always special surprises in store” Ms. Everett stated. So that makes it pretty clear that she enjoys being a teacher.Hopefully readers, you have learned a little bit more about Ms. Everett! 

By Kate F. and Sophie P.

Our focus for this article is a series of images that represent the Art around Hackley. We wanted to highlight the art we feel embodies Hackley and the virtues that we believe in. Below shows all of the photos that we took for you, dear reader.

#1

This photo is a mural that is outside the All purpose room. it was completed by former Lower School students. It is a symbol of the core values of Hackley, which are character, scholarship, accomplishment, unreserved effort, and inclusivity.

# 2 

This photo is of a quilt, that symbolizes the old oak, that formerly stood on the quad. It was a symbol of the strength and resilience of Hackley.

#3

This is a picture of the lower school hallway, which represents Hackley’s art and activism (artivism). It is a protest against an environmentally un-friendly lunch system.

This is a photo of the Hackley lower school. This represents the enormous melting pot of the lower school, a melting pot of cultures and art, of different people of different backgrounds.

This photograph is a photo of the Hackley lower school playground. This is a picture representing the resilience of the LS students, who have throughout the pandemic managed to quickly get used to the new environment and even consider it the new normal.

This picture is of the Akin Common. This is an example of how learning in Hackley had spread everywhere, from Akin Common to the library which had once burned down in August 2007.

Hello, My name is Misha and  in this article we are going to talk about what “To Enter Here and Find a Friend” means. A lot of people have different opinions about it. All of the people fall into three categories: one parent, two students, and three teachers.  Today we will be focusing on students and teachers.

Their answers to this question fall into three groups. All my interviewees has similar responses. They were 1: to be friends 2: to be kinder 3:to make the community better.  Specifically, one person stated that “to me, entering here and finding a friend is accepting everyone for who they are regardless of where they come from or who is being able to accept and celebrate everyone within this community.” This clearly shows that the founders of Hackley made the quote very clear. As you can see some people have different opinions but they’re all in one big category. I hope you also feel that you have come to Hackley and found a friend!

Two Hackley Hornets picture by James B.

by Sid M., Ryuma M, Neil NDS.

Do you know what the four Main Grand Slam tennis tournaments are? They are a series of tournaments designed for tennis around the world. The names of those tournaments are The French Open, Wimbledon, Australian Open, and US Open. These tournaments are open to the public and are streamed all over the world.

First, we will talk about the French Open. This tournament takes place in- well you guessed it- France. Many players and audiences come around the world to play in and watch the tournament. The players must go through rigorous training. It takes hard work and mental strategy to win. Once the players win, they receive $1.69 million! The winner also receives a trophy and the player in second place receives a plate. They both present a speech to the crowd. Rafael Nadal, one of the most famed tennis players, won 13 French Open tournaments. That is the record for the most tennis wins. Chris Everett, one of the female players, won 7 French Open titles!

Next we will talk about the Australian Open. This tournament takes place in -well you guessed it- Australia. Similar to the French Open, many players and audiences come from all over the world. Thanks to COVID-19, Australia is making sure people are vaccinated. Recently, a famous player named Novak Djokovic had entered the Australian Open and was rejected by the Australian Government. Djokovic and many of his fans were extremely angry. This year, Rafael Nadal, one of the most famous tennis players, won the tournament .

The next tournament we will talk about is Wimbledon. Wimbledon is held in London, U.K The prize money is $2,399,520. Roger Federer won 8 titles and the most wins at Wimbledon. For females, Martina Navratilova won 7 titles. Wonder what you would eat at Wimbledon?  It is very popular to eat strawberries and cream but you won’t find strawberries and cream on the Wimbledon trophy. You will see a pineapple on the trophy. If you want to see the men and women this year, to be the champ of the grass court, tune in on June 27 to July 10.

The US Open obviously takes place in the U.S.A., very similar to all the other Main grand slam tournaments. Players need talent and strategy to get a trophy (for 1st place) or a plate (for 2nd place). If you win the US Open, you will win $2,500,000 for singles men and women. Who has the most wins? For males, there is a three way tie between Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras and Roger Federer. For females, there is a two way tie between Chris Evert and Serena Williams.

We hope that you learned a little bit more about the Grade Slam Tournaments!

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 by Madan M. and Leroy G.

Fencing is a sport where you use swords. Fencing is also a sport that teaches you different strategies to use against skill levels and builds up endurance and sportsmanship. You can start fencing at any age at Hackley School. There is an after school program for grades 2 through 4.  The program is taught by Coach Gall. This club is on Fridays, the club is at the Johnson Center. Let me tell you a little bit more about this club. In this club for the first couple weeks we learn the rules, how to hold the sword, and the basics of fencing. There is also a Hackley varsity team for fencing. We wanted to share our experience of the Hackley Fencing program. “The first few weeks of fencing was taught by different Hackley varsity fencers and we both learned the basics of fencing.” After the first couple of weeks, we being practicing all of our fencing skills. It can get a bit repetitive, but this is the way we get better! Later in the curriculum is A LOT of practice and honing our skills to get better! We hope you consider joining the fencing club at Hackley.

by Akash K.

Did you know Hackley has a lot of wildlife? Do you know what wildlife is? Wildlife is anything that is alive other than humans. Wildlife is something you see everyday, like when you come to school or at recess when you step on the grass. The wildlife in this article is mostly about animals we see at Hackley. So, if you like animals you’re going to like this article! At Hackley the animals we have are deer and many types of birds. Hackley can possibly have a bear as well! Wildlife at Hackley is important, if we didn’t have a garden we would not have learned about planting vegetables or if we didn’t have a forest we would not learn about wildlife.  For this article, I interviewed Mrs. DiStefano, our LS Science Teacher. “How many types of animals are there in Hackley?” According to Mrs. DiStefano,”There are many different types of animals at Hackley, including mammals, reptiles, birds, and amphibians.¨ Did you know that Red Back Salamanders are the most numerous vertebrate (animal with a backbone) in the Hackley woods? Or that there can be over 10,000 frog and salamander eggs in Peeper’s Pond in a year? There is a species of salamander at Hackley, the Marbled Salamander, that is threatened (in danger of becoming endangered). The ponds also have Fairy Shrimp and occasionally, a species of clam! The clam larvae come into the ponds on the feet of ducks! Then, I asked her, “Are the animals dangerous?” “Lots of wild animals can be dangerous if they feel threatened by humans, and especially if they feel their young are being threatened. We have coyotes and bobcats at Hackley, but like most wild animals, they tend to be more afraid of people than we are of them and they try to avoid interactions with humans. It’s also possible that we have some poisonous snakes in the woods, but I’ve never personally seen any, only garter snakes” she said. Finally, I asked her which is her favorite animal? She replied, “at Hackley I think the Spotted Salamanders are really cool. Bobcats are also beautiful, but I’ve only seen those on the trail camera footage, not in person.” I hope you enjoyed learning about the wildlife at Hackley!

Hackley’s Wildlife drawing by James B.

Akash K. and Ryuma M.

Do you like sports and mindfulness? Mindfulness is growing in popularity all over the world, from Maine to California, Syria to Japan, Gabon to Kenya, and much more! Do you know what mindfulness is? According to Gale in Context, “Mindfulness is a skill or ability to keep one’s mind focused on the present. A mindful person can pay attention to what is happening in the moment.” Mindfulness is becoming popular in the world and did you know you can also use mindfulness in your classroom?

At Hackley School, students use mindfulness while doing sports. For example, in the middle of a game players can take a water break and that’s a way of showing mindfulness. In football, the players show mindfulness by taking breaks to discuss the next play or in soccer they have halftime to rest their bodies by taking deep breaths. This allows the athlete’s body to calm down and relax. Golf players use mindfulness by taking deep breaths if they miss the hole. In baseball some teams show mindfulness by taking a break and singing the song YMCA by the Village People. 

For this article, we interviewed a Mr. Frolo, PE teacher at Hackley. According to Mr. Frolo, ”Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where and what they are doing as they are playing in their games. This helps an athlete to not be overly reactive or to be overwhelmed by what is going on in the game they’re playing. When an athlete is mindful, they are able to reduce stress.“ We asked Mr. Frolo what specific mindfulness techniques do athletes use. He said, “It depends on the athlete. Some will use meditation, while others use yoga. Taking slow, deep breaths can be very relaxing. The important part is to just do it!” We hope you have learned a little more about sports and mindfulness!

   by Cecelia F.😜

 Hackley is an awesome community! But sadly, COVID-19 has had an impact… but Hackley still stayed AWESOME!!! And yes, at some times it might be hard to believe, but our teachers are being hit by this horrible disease. Hackley has done many things to fight against COVID-19. For example, healthy vaccinations, several trusted COVID-19 tests, physical distancing (three feet masks on, 6 feet masks off), good hygiene and cleaning including wiping our spot after eating and a strict visitor policy. When seventh grade and up have a athletic game with another school, we make sure we are staying safe. We also changed our boarding policy to keep our upper school students safe! Lastly, we make sure that if someone is a close contact to a student who could possibly have or had COVID-19, they take a necessary precautions. Now you’re educated on procedures that Hackley School uses to keep EVERYONE safe! Be sure to tune in for next time! (My next post will be awesome!😃)

by Misha P.

#1

Have you ever wondered how many steps there are to the Johnson Center? In this article, we will answer different questions, from is the Bermuda triangle actually cursed? to the geometry of the lower school. Hope you like this “Did You Know” section in the Hackley Times.

Did you know…

…that the lower school from a bird’s eye view is shaped like a nonagon?  A nonagon is a nine sided shape. According to Mrs. Steinberg, the Lower School is in this shape because it symbolizes a horseshoe which symbolizes luck. 

…That the Bermuda triangle isn’t actually cursed? “The Bermuda Triangle just has to happen to be in the middle of the most used air/water interstate. So since there are so many more boats and airplanes than usual there are also more crashes than usual.” ~ You Tuber Mark Rober 

     by Kate F. and Amelia M.

          What is the heart of Hackley to you? We wanted to find out what the heart of Hackley is in Mr. Wirtz’s perspective. So we asked Mr. Wirtz a series of questions. The first question we asked him was, “Why did you join the Hackley community?” Mr. Wirtz explained, “Well, I joined   because I wanted to be Hackely’s head of school, but what attracted me to Hackley was the way that I thought people treated one and other.” The second question we asked Mr. Wirtz was “How did you become the head of school?” He answered, “I went through an very extensive interview process, where I talked with many members of the board of trustees ( A group of people that make big decision to make sure the school runs well) and also some senior administrators there were faculty members on the search committee. So I had a chance to meet a number of people. I had to answer a lot of questions, do some writing, and give them my thoughts on education and leadership, and when I did that, they called me up and said, we’d like you to come to the hilltop.” Third, we asked Mr. Wirtz “Did you teach a class before you became the head of school?” He mentioned that he had taught  for around twenty years, including introductory, AP, and organic Chemistry and forensic science course. We were also curious to know about his love for bow-ties. He confessed that he received a bow tie from his mother-in-law and they make him feel happy! Mr. Wirtz also answered our next question about why he joined a school for a job? He shared that his great experiences with his own teachers prompted him to continue helping others feel the way he felt about learning. Lastly, we asked him what he felt the heart of Hackley is? “The people. Absolutely the people! The people, and I mean every-body, the students and their family and all the work here. People care about Hackley and they care about it very deeply. They work hard while there and they work hard for the school, and it just leaves people feeling really good. I think people are really proud to be aroused with Hackley and I think we should be because it is a remarkable place. Why do you think that is the heart of Hackley? He happily replied are buildings are beautiful, are campus is beautiful and at the end of the day the thing that matters the most is all the humans that are inside. You can have the world’s best looking campus but if the people are not nice to one another and the values are not strong and the culture is not strong it probably won’t much matter.” That is it, the real thing.