When John Szijjarto ’21 opened an email from College Board on Aug. 29, he was disappointed to find out that his SAT exam had been canceled for the fifth time. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, test centers across the country have canceled standardized tests multiple times since March. “It is painful to have my SAT […]
Illustration by Alexa Druyanoff ’22
Members of the school community reflect on their experiences with toxic masculinity in male athletics.
As Jack Shane ’19 frantically ran into baseball practice, he felt the judgmental gazes of his teammates upon him. Late from dropping off his girlfriend, he rushed to apologize, only to be met with taunts from his friends “That’s gay,” they said. For Shane, these words represented the normalization of homophobic slurs and the negative […]
Beyond the backyard of the Anschell family’s house, there’s a steep dirt hill. Most kids would avoid this area, maybe explore it a bit, but largely keep out. Not Jonah Anschell ’23. When he first looked at the plot of land, he said he saw an opportunity to build. Now, a small house stands there, […]
For Shoshie Bernstein ’22, the reality that she was donor-conceived (DC) has been a known part of her identity for her entire life. Donor conception is the process by which intended parents may obtain the gametes necessary to produce a child. In Bernstein’s case, her two mothers used sperm from the same donor to have […]
When an unfamiliar vehicle pulled into his driveway, Jake Schroeder ’20 hurried to the window to watch as his father, a pulmonologist, stepped out onto the pavement, donning a hazmat suit. Schroeder’s father tossed a coronavirus test to the individual in the car, one of his patients, and called out a series of instructions. The […]
As news of President Rick Commons’ email regarding the school closure spread March 11, Caleb*, who had been in the middle of coding a Java program in class, began discussing his plans for the upcoming weeks with his peers. From inside the classroom, Caleb could already hear strains of bass-heavy music and shouting emanating from […]
To learn about the latest developments of the coronavirus and Harvard-Westlake’s response, click here. Glancing outside her window at the nearly empty streets, Catherine Zhu, a student at Harvard-Westlake’s sister school WLSA Shanghai Academy, could think only of how badly she wanted to go outside. But Zhu was stuck, one of the millions across China […]
Compassionate, bright and devoted to students’ wellbeing, Rabbi Emily Feigenson touched the entire Harvard-Westlake community during her 14 years at the school. On Jan. 23, Feigenson passed away after a two-year battle with brain cancer, surrounded by her husband Dennis Perluss and her children Netanya ’15, Talia ’18 and Gabriel. Students, faculty, parents and members […]
When Makeda Neavill ’21 was in middle school, she associated straight hair with professionalism and maturity. With the texture of her hair suppressed, she believed that she would be treated more favorably by the individuals whose opinions mattered, she said. Though she stopped straightening her hair in ninth grade to prevent further heat damage, her […]