January 2014
Volume 44, Issue 2
Manlius Pebble Hill School
Exclusive
THEIR csoalled
AMERICAN LI
V
MPH’s 24 international students come from China, South
Korea, and Finland to experience a different culture, learn
English, and pursue a strong academic experience that values
independent thinking. But homesickness, American names,
public transportation, and ovens present unexpected challenges. Story and Photo by Jinhong Lee
T
he bulletin board in front of
Musical. (It turns out movies offer poor
the desk suggests her other insights into a culture.) My fellow interlife. It holds pictures of family national students come from China (17),
members and friends and postcards they Korea (7), and Finland (1).
sent. Many of the photos show her and
The school’s International Student
her best friend in their high-school uni- Program began in 2006 with 13 students.
forms on her last day of school in Korea. “The program provides international stuA queen-size bed covered with brown dents with a rich academic and cultural
sheets, a wooden desk with a chair, and experience that will prepare them for
pink walls complete the room. A guitar study at an American college or univerrests against one side of her bed. In- sity,” says Director of Admissions Nicole
fluenced by her musician host dad, she Cicoria. MPH has hosted students from
once attempted to learn to play. When Korea, Africa, Finland, Hungary, Italy,
she finishes her homework for Spanish Spain, China, Chile, and India. Most inclass, her host mom, wearing a green ternational students count the exceptionsweater she gave as a Christmas present, al educational program and a different
knocks on her door. “Dinner’s ready,” environment as reasons for their enrollthe host mom says. Tonight’s menu fea- ment in MPH. “We have smaller classes
tures mac and cheese. The first time she
here, and I think that students and teachate the noodle dish she considered it too ers have closer relationships than I could
oily and too cheesy. Now she counts it ever have back home,” says Tyler (Sungas one of her favorite American foods. woo) Oh, a junior from South Korea. “I
She remembers her mother saying in didn’t get many chances to talk to teachKorean, “Bread is not a meal,” and forc- ers before I came to the States.”
ing her to eat a whole new meal after she
For the parents of international
finished a loaf of bread by herself. (Her students, learning English is an impormother didn’t like flour-based food.) At tant goal for sending their children to
the dining table, her host parents and an- the United States to study. “The most
other Korean student sit. A photo of her important tool to communicate in this
and her host family at Universal Studios global society is language, and I want my
in Florida hangs on the wall. “How was children to learn English,” says Kyung
your day?” asks her host mom, and that Myung Oh, the father of two internabegins the familiar dinner conversation.
tional students including junior Kaylee
I am that Korean girl, one of MPH’S (pictured above). “Also, American
24 international students. I began liv- schools give more opportunities and ining in the United States three years ago dependence in studying.” Students enjoy
when I moved from Seoul to a private that independence too. “We have more
school in Wisconsin before coming to
freedom in terms of how we make deciMPH two years ago. I expected to enjoy sions,” says Philip (Donghwan) Kim, a
experiences like the ones I saw in Ameri- junior from South Korea. Finally, they
can teen movies such as High School also like the perspective an American
ES
education provides. “I wanted to have a Reid, international student coordinator,
different experience,” says Nancy (Sijia)
helps students find the right family. “I
Zhang, a junior from China.
try to make sure their stay here is good,”
Although most students have similar says Mr. Reid. He interviews host famireasons for studying in the U.S., how
lies and manages the process. French
they arrived here varies. “There are teacher Albertine Cadin hosts two interagencies in my country that introduce national this year and has been hosting
schools in the States,” says Philip. “They international students for eight years.
gave me a list of bunch of high schools “My role is to be a second mother,” she
in the United States, and I picked one.” says. She does their laundry, cleans their
Others arrive here thanks to established
bathroom, and makes dinner just as a
exchange programs. “I came here mother would do for her children.
through the Rotary Youth Exchange. I
The students enjoy being part of an
chose to come to the United States and American family. “They treat me like a
the organization assigned me to MPH,” family member,” says Tyler. “I get to exsays Anni Sahlberg, a junior from Fin- perience what it is like to live in American
land. Arthur (Yu Xuan) Zhang, a senior culture and American family,” says Arstudent from China, and Nancy say thur, who has lived with the McQueeny
their friends recommended MPH. “Mrs. family for three years. Philip enjoys playGao is my parents’ friend, and she per- ing games with his host family. “My host
suaded my parents to send me to MPH,” dad always wins in ping pong, and I win
says Arthur. Others find out about the when we play pool,” he says.
school from MPH alumni.
However, not all students find the
ut not all students found MPH right hosts. MPH implements a threefirst. Some students came to week waiting period before considering
the school after a long journey requests for housing changes. Students
of searching for the right school. “I first count disharmony, lack of transportastayed in L.A. and then moved to Chi- tion, and a request for additional comcago,” says Tyler. “My family’s friend pensation as things that have prompted
invited us to Florida but my sister and them to request a change in host family.
I didn’t like school there so we ended up
To study at MPH, international stuin Syracuse.” As for me, I chose MPH dents must take the English Language
because I foolishly thought it was in Learner class if their first language is not
New York – the city.
English. “I didn’t like English, despite the
When international students are
fact I took three years of English class in
accepted through the MPH admission China,” says Arthur. “It took some time
process, they must find a host family to
for me to be able to distinguish ‘word’
live with for at least 10 months. Hosts and ‘world,’” says Tyler. “It is difficult
are usually families who have students at to pronounce the ‘woo’ sound. When
MPH. Students pay a $9,000 hosting fee, I said ‘wool’ or ‘wood,’ I had to spell it
which goes to the hosting family. Dana
B
Continued on page 7
2 Commentary
Don’t Mock Those Crocs
Fashionistas may cringe, but for the right person, the right activity,
and youngsters, they do serve a purpose. By Caroline Blanck
Photo by Maddy Rieks
I
love Crocs. They are indestructible, rable boat shoe). Based on that, I suggest
provide tons of ventilation, and one could wear Crocs during the month
offer loads of cushy walking. But of June, but that’s the only month I’ll
don’t get me wrong: It is imperative that concede, and while boating, gardening,
they are worn in the appropriate scenar- or grocery shopping at Wegmans. But
ios. If you wear Crocs with a nice, cute not when you’re going out to dinner. Esoutfit or in an inappropriate climate, I pecially, when that dinner is a first date.
will judge you. Not based on some so- However, if you’re under the age of 10,
cio-economic hierarchy of fashion, but you can wear Crocs in public — anytime.
because wearing a “closed-cell resin maMost are not so kind to the beloved
terial” in the shape of a clog with invit- footwear. Google the shoe, and you will
ing colors like headlight-blinding yellow find numerous “I Hate Crocs” clubs,
and Hello Kitty pink is just not suitable websites, Tumblr and Facebook pages.
for a non-child to wear in the arctic-like The mission statement of the “I Hate
weather of a Syracuse winter. Many dis- Crocs” blog is: “Dedicated to the elimiagree. At Destiny’s Croc store, salesper- nation of Crocs and those who think
son Jackie Bietz said the store sells about that their excuses for wearing them are
400 pairs of the shoe a week, and the viable.” Tumblr posts include snarky
most popular seller is the classic Croc comments such as: “‘Wow, that’s a nice
with the fuzzy lining. Ugh. I believe one
lookin’ pair of Crocs.’ Said no one ever,”
should be true to the shoe’s history (the “Crocs! Uggs for summertime, utilizing
first pair debuted at the Ft. Lauderdale the latest breakthrough in hole technolboat show in 2012 and began as a du- ogy,” and “Crocs: They are to your eyes
what second-hand smoke is to your
lungs.” There’s also a T-shirt featuring
scissors hacking at a pair of the shoes. I
Editor
Alexus Martin
consider this Crocs cyber bullying.
We all know they’re not the most flattering shoes, but honestly, they receive
much more flack than they deserve —
especially from those in the fashion industry. Clinton Kelly, the What Not To
Wear fashion guru, asserted with disgust:
“They’re the ugliest shoe ever made.” I
could think of some pretty worse shoes
though. (Those running shoes that look
like actual feet and feature individual toe
holes.) At least Crocs are comfortable.
An attribute even Tim Gunn, the host of
Project Runway, acknowledged in an interview for Time magazine. But he didn’t
leave it at that when the magazine asked
him what was the worst fashion trend
he’d ever seen. “Generally speaking, it’s
footwear trends,” he said. “I mean, today, the era of the Croc — it looks like
a plastic hoof. How can you take that
seriously? I know it’s comfortable; I understand that. But if you want to dress to
feel as though you never got out of bed,
don’t get out of bed.” He even chastised
First Lady Michelle Obama for wearing
Crocs and demanded she stop wearing
them, saying that if she doesn’t stop
wearing them he will have a “fashion
intervention.” And, may I point out, she
wasn’t even wearing the clog kind!
Michelle Obama isn’t the only public
figure willing to face the criticism and
rock some Crocs. Food Network star
and celebrity chef Mario Batali is famous for his devotion to an orange pair,
which he wears in the kitchen and on the
red carpet. The company even worked
The Big Picture
with Batali to design a “bistro” edition
named after him. Recently, the company decided to discontinue the Batali’s
beloved orange shade of the shoe, and
Batali bought all the remaining 200 pairs
of the shoe. “It was just about comfort,”
Batali has said of the shoe. “It wasn’t
about fashion.”
understand his devotion. I was
blessed to receive my first pair of
Crocs in 2003 when I was 6 years
old. They were deep purple with light
blue straps, and I acquired them by trading my purple ones with my best friend’s,
Eva Mysnyk. In my younger and more
vulnerable years, these Crocs served as a
staple in my Old Navy and Gap-based
wardrobe. But as the years passed I
matured, developed an individual taste
in fashion, and a general cynicism that
prevented me from rockin’ Crocs on a
daily basis. Much like Buzz Lightyear or
Cowboy Woody from the Toy Story, the
Crocs had become an unused toy collecting dust on my shelf.
Fast-forward to last May. I was doing
some spring cleaning of my closet and
something behind a pair of old Nikes
caught my attention — the purple-andblue pair of monsters. I took them down
and began wearing them around the
house. Their comfort was undeniable,
and before long, I began wearing them
around the neighborhood and eventually brought them to camp. But by the end
of camp, the straps fell off and the shoes
died. Next year, I intend to buy a new
pair for camp: hot pink.
I
The Not-So-Strict Land
By Dan Byrnes
Art Director
Maddy Rieks
Sports Editor
Sam Woodward
Staff Writers
Julia Lendy
Caroline Blanck
Dan Byrnes
Jinhong Lee
Julie Ryerson
Melanie Paciorek
Kaylee Oh
Graphic Artist
Jinhong Lee
Design Mentor
Miriam Taylor
Advisor
Melissa Chessher
The Rolling Stone
Manlius Pebble Hill School
5300 Jamesville Road
Dewitt, New York, 13214
Photo By Julie Ryerson
After upper-school lunch, many students seek out a
comfortable place to hangout and talk as an alternative
to the hot, packed student lounge. This year the office of
Joy Strickland,
MPH’s
new director of counseling, bePhoto
by Caroline
Blanck
came the place to be. Formerly the dean of students, Ms.
Strickland wanted her new office to reflect her new job.
“I feel like in this new position I have really found my
niche,” Ms. Strickland says. “This position allows me to
be a student advocate.” So that her office would mirror
her new role, she added comfortable seating, soft, warm
lighting (including a lava lamp), and images of clouds
on the ceiling that cover the fluorescent lights and leave
only scattered lamps to brighten the room. The room is
almost always open unless she is meeting with a student
or teacher. The snacks attract students too. Her supply of
pretzels and lollipops is often depleted. But a post-lunch
snack is rarely the reason students enter her office. Most
just want to sit and relax in a quiet and inviting environment. “I enjoy hanging out in Ms. Strickland’s office
because it is a relaxing space where students can vent
about the stresses of the day,” says senior Elaina Bruno.
Correction
The cover story for the November 2013 issue, “Mr.
What Not to Wear,” a profile of Alexandre Leclercq,
the new dean of students, included several errors. We
misspelled his name (it’s Leclercq, not Leclerq) and misidentified his dog’s breed (it’s a Samoyed Huskey, not
a Golden Retriever) and the artwork in his office (they
are English engravings created by William Hogarth,
not French prints). Lastly, we misstated the number of
emails Dean Leclercq sends each day regarding dress
code. He sends around 30 emails a day; however, the
majority of those do not pertain to dress code.
Students 3
Putting the Brakes on Pushy Friends
Q:
Dear Queen:
I always get asked
to drive my friends
around. To be
honest, I really
don’t like being
the taxi driver.
But I don’t know
to tell them. Can
you help?
Jinhong Lee
By Alexus Martin
naturally to everyone. But Ms.
Hartman Brenzier says that
it is an important skill —
especially for
girls. “Girls are
taught to be
nice at all costs.
Girls are not
raised with the
idea that it is
okay to get angry or be assertive, whereas boys are,” she says. “Girls need
to learn that it is not only acceptable to be assertive and say ‘no,’
but it is essential to be able to do so. There will be many situations with which the teenaged girl will be confronted. So this is a
good time to ‘practice’ assertiveness before she leaves the home
through graduation, attends college and needs to discern dangerous situations from safe ones.”
Beyond the “no!,” both Ms. Hartman Brenzier and Ms. Strickland suggest having a serious conversation with your friends and
making rules that outline your expectations — offering gas money or taking turns with driving, for example. Saying no can be
hard, but if the person is a friend, he/she will not stay angry
about something so minor. If he/she holds a grudge because you
asked him/her to stop sucking the life out of you, that probably
wasn’t the best friend for you. Good riddance to bad news, I say.
Illustrations by
Questions for
the Queen
Dear Taxi Driver:
It sounds to me like your friends are taking advantage of
you. If you all have your licenses, there’s really no reason that
you should be expected to drive the majority of the time. Sometimes when we’re nice, people mistake our kindness for weakness
and begin to take advantage of us. And it can be difficult to say
“no” — especially to our close friends. Saying “no” is especially
difficult for teens. “Teens are trying so hard to ‘be liked,’ to fit in,
to be accepted by their peers,” says Susan Hartman Brenzier, a
local marriage and family therapist. “They are gradually distancing a bit from their parents. So, the peer group, or friends from
school take on a heightened importance.”
Fortunately for you, I have no problem with saying “no,” and
in addition to Ms. Hartman Brenzier, I’ve enlisted some knowledgeable people to offer suggestions. Joy Strickland, school
counselor and English teacher, remembers when she became the
taxi driver for her friends. “I had my own car in high school,” she
recalls. “So sometimes I would pick a few people up on the way
to school and take them home after. But it became too much,
and I felt like I was being taken advantage of.” She says her solution was to blame her parents. Fellow English teacher Patricia
Bentley-Hoke agrees with this tactic. “My parents always said,
‘Throw me under the bus if you have to’,” says Mrs. Bentley.
Sometimes it’s easier to say “no” to friends if you can back yourself up by saying your parents won’t let you. Your friends are less
likely to become upset with you if they think it’s your parents’
fault.
But blaming parents won’t work all the time. I am a strong
believer in the straightforward approach. This does not come
Selfies
Color Schemes
B
lue-black, black, light
brown, red-black, brown,
dark
brown,
orange,
brownish red, black again, and
now light brown. Volume magic,
straight, lovely perm, baby perm,
digital perm, wave perm, and
hair extensions. My hair has gone
through many changes, and they
started in second grade when I got
my first perm. But soon enough,
the curls started to annoy me. At
8, my friends called me Hagrid, or,
if they were nicer, Hermione. Although Hagrid was one of my favorite Harry Potter characters, I didn’t
consider him a style icon.
When my second-grade teacher
commented on my hair, saying that
I should wash it, I entered the next
classroom only after combing my
hair as neatly as possible, and at
that point, my curly hair became
a trauma. I didn’t realize that my
“fluffy” hair could be considered
“messy.” That temporarily suspended my curly quest. Changing colors
began in middle school. Of course,
according to the school dress code
of my Korean school, a student
could not dye or perm his or her
hair. So, as a good student who respected school rules, I dyed my hair
blue-black so that it turned blue
only when I stepped into the sun.
I credit my desire to be different for all my hairstyles. Asians,
at least, nine out of the 10 Koreans I met, had straight, black hair.
When students in my high school
in Korea gathered for an assembly,
the tops of their heads would form
a sea of blackness. My mother and
my sisters also had straight hair.
But luckily, my aunt was a hair
stylist who loved me very much.
Summer and winter breaks, I
changed my hair. Sometimes I just
wanted a different style. Thanks to
my aunt, I didn’t worry about cost.
Thanks to an adoring aunt and a desire to be different, she spent the last
By Jinhong Lee
10 years changing the color and texture of her hair.
my school, members of the Student Guidance Department and the
dean of the school would stand in
front of the school gate every morning, starting at 7:30 a.m., to catch
students with unnatural hair. The
ten unlocked the classroom door as
the first student.
When I decided to come to the
United States, I considered returning to black to make me stand out
since I anticipated more diverse
hair colors. I dyed my hair a really
dark black, which my little sister
described as “horror movie style.”
I was aiming for a typical Asian
look. However, during the summer break, I got tired of black hair
and wanted a new color, but the
hairdresser at my aunt’s hair salon
said black couldn’t be bleached out
easily. I didn’t believe her. That led
to five attempts to bleach my hair,
which created a lot of damage and
a series of hair changes — reddishorange hair with some black strips,
dark-brown hair to return to MPH,
a short cut to help eliminate the
damage, and then hair extensions
when the short style grew old. But
none of that deterred me from my
new goal of being blonde — despite many refusals from stylists.
One hair stylist said it would take
at least three years for my hair to
recover. She even asked me to sign
a contract when I wanted to dye
my eyebrows.
o, since July, I have stopped
trying different colors or
perming. I use hair serum to help my hair recover from
the damage I have done in past 10
years. I hope the treatments and
my patience pay off. I am definitely
tired of my hair being stuck in one
style for four months. When my
aunt recommended we go khaki
this Christmas break, I was happy
with the lighter color.
S
And whenever a teacher caught me
because my hair was too wavy or
too bright, I insisted that it was my
natural hair.
f course, I wasn’t the
only one who longed
for different hair. Dying
and perming hair was popular. At
O
first class started at 8:10 a.m. The
punishment for the violation of the
school rule was going to hike the
mountain behind the school building with the dean of the school,
and texts would be sent to students’
parents. To avoid getting caught, I
arrived at school at 7 a.m. and of-
4 Culture
The Dish
W
Café Kuballin’
hether you drink it for the
flavor or for the caffeine,
you might be one of those
people who believes you can’t get through
the day without that delicious cup o’ joe.
If so, you’re not alone. About 83 percent
of us drink some form of coffee, and the
United States is the world’s largest coffee market (a $30 billion industry), according to the National Coffee Association. Like many of those coffee drinkers,
when you need to quench that craving,
Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, or McCafé
may serve as your go-to sanctuary. But I
encourage you to consider a venue that’s
a bit less — how shall I say this? —commercialized. That venue is Café Kubal,
a local coffee shop with a hipster vibe,
homemade baked goods (chai muffins,
monkey bread, orange gingerbread, and
macaroons), and a reputation for great
coffee. They roast their own beans and
earn lots of praise for their artistic flourishes (baristas enjoy making things like
cute hearts and wispy feathers out of the
latte foam toppings).
“Café Kubal has great coffee, it’s a
good vibe, and it’s a fun place to hang,”
says Aileen Gallagher, a Syracuse University professor and a devoted Kuballer.
“There’s nothing really fun about hanging out at Dunkin Donuts.”
Since it’s opening in Eastwood in
2007, Café Kubal has expanded to three
additional locations: downtown Syracuse 2011, then to the University Hill
in August 2012, which has an attached
Story by Julia Lendy
thrift shop called 3fifteen, and now to
a new kiosk at Hancock Airport. “We
roast to bring forward the character of
each individual bean, the characteristics
of the region where it was grown, [and]
each individual batch is roasted to maximize the character of the bean,” explains
Sarah Wilson, a barista at the University
Hill café.
In addition to the beans and the savvy
baristas, Café Kubal also earns praise
from coffee lovers for a unique brewing
process called pour-over coffee. “The
pour-over coffee is ground and brewed
to order,” Ms. Wilson says. “So it is very
fresh, and because it is brewed in a cupby-cup basis, you get the best possible flavor. It allows the character of the bean to
come out more in the cup of coffee. It’s
a slower process, but each cup of coffee
is made for the person while they wait.”
That type of attention means the café is
the farthest thing from fast food –– great
quality, slow service. It also means a
pour-over, medium coffee costs $2.50,
and a homemade brownie sets you back
$2.75.
Owner Matt Godard’s devotion to
coffee beans prompted him to create
Café Kubal. He traveled to Guatemala in
2004 and loved the coffee so much, he returned to Syracuse with coffee beans and
began roasting the supply in his parents’
basement, then branched out to selling
the coffee beans to his friends. The small
business now roasts beans from all over
the world, including Guatemala, Bra-
zil, Kenya, and New
Guinea. That attention
to quality beans creates
the robust tastes that
keep customers coming. “Sometimes it can
taste really chocolaty, or
sometimes it can kind
of like cherry, or sometimes it can taste a little
brighter and more citrusy,” explain Gallagher. “The more you drink
it, the more you notice
all this stuff.”
he café also
offers coffee
classes. “It’s a
class about coffee. So it’s
not just making, it’s also
tasting it, the history of
it,” explains Ms. Wilson. There are three classes— brewing,
coffee cupping, and espresso and milk —
and lasts 90 minutes and costs $50.
Café Kubal #3 on the Syracuse University campus (720 University Ave.) offers the perfect place to meet with a few
friends. It features large, wood tables,
roughhewn wooden club chairs, and
cozy benches. The brick-colored floor
and walls give it a warm feel, which is
complimented by a warm mug full of hot
chocolate. Large windows cover the front
of the coffee shop, allowing lots of sunlight in (or just light; this is Syracuse, after all), and provide the perfect spot to sit
T
Photo by Maddy Rieks
and watch students and professors shuffle by. The other great thing about the SU
spot is the thrift store that’s connected to
it. Café Kubal prides itself of community
involvement, and they partner with several local charities, including the Rescue
Mission. The shop sells clothes, shoes,
costumes, and even furniture.
Beyond the great vibe, the support
of local businesses, and the outstanding
coffee, Ms. Gallagher loves that there
is no rush at Café Kubal like there is at
Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks. “It’s a just
a nice place to be,” she says.
Madame Movie
Smells Like Teen Cinema
T
eenagers turn to movies to
escape from –– or wallow in
–– the harsh realities of juvenescence. Many of these explorations of
crushes, awkwardness, and not-getting-it
adults emerge as classics and earn the approval of teens as the film that captures
their struggles and their take on the world.
But often those films speak only to the
generation of teens of that film’s time. “As
the audience ages and its tastes quickly
mature and evolve, their attachment to
those films fades. So each generation can
claim it’s own teen classic,” says Peter
Moller, a professor emeritus in the Television, Radio and Film Department at S.I.
Newhouse School of Public Communication at Syracuse University. “What appealed to the teens of the ‘60s made them
fans of the ‘Gidget’ genre. What appeals
to the teens of the ‘80s made them fans of
the ‘Scream’ and horror genre.” The movies of our parents’ generation may not appeal to us, but I say we should give them a
chance. “To be successful (which is different than being a classic) a teen film must
have an appealing star, identifiable themes
and simple one-dimensional story lines,”
says Professor Moller. Celebrate the eternal struggle of teens across time and enjoy
the following list of teen movies from the
last four decades.
AMERICAN GRAFFITI (1973)
Thanks to hot rods, street racing, greasers, diners with waitresses on roller skates,
sock hops, and cruising in Thunderbirds,
this film delivers American nostalgia at its
best. American Graffiti was co-written and
directed by George Lucas, who was a teenager in the late ‘50s to early ‘60s. “I lived
that classic life, and I loved it,” Lucas told
The New York Times. It was this sentiment
that led Lucas to create a film that evoked
the innocence of the time. The year was
1962. JFK hadn’t been shot yet, American
citizens were not yet bombarded with the
horrific images of the Vietnam War from
the television, and “cruising” was not yet
associated with gangs and violence.
THE BREAKFAST CLUB (1985)
Whenever you hear “Don’t You Forget
About Me” by Simple Minds, you immediately think of the ending scene of
The Breakfast Club — no matter what decade you were a teenager. The movie also
prompts everyone to consider if they are
the brain, the athlete, the basket case, the
princess, or the criminal. A John Hughes
film, The Breakfast Club brings together an
unlikely high school crowd on a Saturday
for detention. Mr. Vernon, the sinister
instructor, demands the five kids write a
1,000-word essay about who they think
are. John Bender, a detention-regular
and self-proclaimed criminal, deals with
detention by making snarky comments
and messing with Mr. Vernon. Despite
the eight hours spent in their vacant high
school, the five incompatible students
avoid writing the essay. Through John
Bender’s frank and mocking questions,
the students reveal insecurities they keep
from their cliques. “Everyone praises
John Hughes for illuminating teenage insecurities in The Breakfast Club,” says Matt
Norris of CinemaBlend, a movie review
A stroll through four decades of
muscle cars, misfits, matchmakers,
and mean girls. By Julia Lendy
website.
CLUELESS (1995)
Most girls secretly wish they could play
matchmaker in their high school like Cher
Horowitz, who tries her matchmaking
abilities on the “adorably clueless,” only
to learn that she was as clueless as Tai,
the new-girl stoner, or Miss Geist, the environmental science teacher who always
has lipstick on her teeth. Cher decides to
help lonely teachers, Miss Geist and the
debate teacher, Mr. Hall, find romance.
She succeeds, transforming two stubborn,
dreary teachers into happy, lovesick lovebirds, which in turn prompted the teachers
to cease putting all their negative energy
on the students, and stop assigning homework. The result was a drastic improvement in everyone’s grades, consequently
upping Cher’s high social status. Cher
calls it “using popularity for good.” After
Mr. Hall and Ms. Geist get together, Cher
wants to try her newly discovered matchmaking abilities on the clueless, new girl,
Tai. Some people might be surprised to
discover that Clueless was adapted from
Jane Austen’s 1815 novel Emma. This
goes to show that although times change,
girls’ issues and affairs do not.
MEAN GIRLS (2004)
Okay. Let’s be honest. Mean Girls’ relevancy rivals the Bible. Even after 10 years
since its release, I daily find myself thinking, “I could reference Mean Girls right
now.” How many of you girls (and guys)
have exclaimed, “You can’t sit with us!”
jokingly to a friend when they arrive at
your table in the dining hall? How many
of you say every time it rains, “There’s a
30 percent chance that it’s already raining?” How many of you have been personally victimized by Regina George?
The answer is all of us. At some point
in all of our lives, we’ve been bullied by
the “frenemy.” We’ve accepted the seemingly genuine compliments, we’ve listened
to our “friend” criticize people we actually like as we nod our heads in submissive agreement, and we may have even
stopped wearing hoop earrings because it
was her thing.
This is when screenwriter Tina Fey, for
me, becomes God. She wrote my Bible.
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times
described it as “well-informed,” writing,
“The screenplay by Saturday Night Live’s
Tina Fey is both a comic and a sociological achievement.” The most relatable
theme is the “survival of the fittest” of
the social kingdom of girls, and is compared by Mean Girls narrator Cady Heron
to the animal kingdoms of Africa. Girls
fight for the role as Queen Bee like it’s
the only piece of meat in the lion’s den.
Girls hate the Queen Bees, but they would
do anything to hang out with them, as
Cady, played by Lindsay Lohan, learns.
When girls are invited to become a part
of the Bee Hive, it’s hard not to become
them because we like feeling popular and
therefore powerful. In the end, this movie
mocks how girls do all the wrong things
to get people to genuinely like them. So
thank you Tina Fey, for making something so frustratingly true into something
truly hilarious.
Wonder Wall
Culture 5
The global, public-art movement—the “Before
I Die” wall— arrives in Syracuse and offers
everyone the opportunity to share their dreams
with the world.
By Melanie Paciorek
T
raffic dissects the city of
Syracuse, carrying people
home from work, to a yoga
class, or out for an evening meal.
Most of the drivers in those cars
whizz past shop fronts and buildings, bus stops and parking lots without a glance or a thought. But in the
heart of Syracuse, near Fowler High
School, the old, abandoned Gear
Factory, a five-story, chunky, gray
block of a building, stands at the corner of a hectic intersection of Fayette
and Geddes streets and offers passersby an eye catching sight. A bright,
electric-blue robot encircled in a
splash of vibrant yellow invites citizens to participate in the latest addition to the city’s collection of public
art works — the “Before I Die” wall.
Extending out beyond the robot, a
black wall fills the ground level of
the Gear Factory. It features rows
of the white stenciled “Before I die
I want to” statements, challenging
those who pass to pick up a piece of
chalk resting in a bucket on the sidewalk and share with the world that
one thing they want to accomplish
during their lives. Those declarations
showcase an interesting mix of silly
and serious — “go to the NFL,” “see
equality,” “become a ninja,” “finish
my novel,” “go places,” “swim without holding my nose.”
But Syracuse isn’t the first city to
create an art space for citizens to
commit their dreams with chalk in
a public space. “Before I Die” walls
exist across the United States —
Providence, R.I., Waterbury, Mass.,
New York City, and Indianapolis —
and across the globe in countries—
Bulgaria, Iran, and Mexico. There’s
a website (Beforeidie.cc), a book
(released in December 2013 by St.
Martins Press), and 425 walls in 60
countries.
The movement began with one
wall in New Orleans and with Candy Chang, a New Orleans native and
Taiwanese-American artist whose
work explores the relationship between public space, democracy, and
cultural and personal introspection.
She was named a “Live Your Best
Life” Local Hero by Oprah Magazine
and Ad Age’s 100 most influential creative thinkers and doers. The inspiration for the wall began when Ms.
Chang lost a loved one, battled grief
and depression, and decided she
needed a daily reminder to focus on
and remember what really matters.
She rallied some friends, and they
painted the side of an abandoned
building in their neighborhood with
chalkboard paint and then stenciled
the side with a series of sentences
that began “Before I die I want to
_______.” She didn’t expect to have
many people respond to her prompt
on the wall, but by the next day, the
wall was covered with responses
from people’s bucket lists. It didn’t
take long for the idea to go viral.
“Chang’s project takes the guerrilla sensibility of graffiti and blends
it with unexpected community con-
sciousness,” says Dough MacCash,
who wrote about the project for
the New Orlean’s newspaper, The
Times-Picayune. “Installations such
as Candy Chang’s Before I Die wall
has transformed blighted properties
from eyesores to centers for community engagement.”
n Syracuse, this project is the
latest artistic effort by realestate agent Rick DeStitio and
artist Charlie Sam. DeStito says he
saw pictures of the walls on Facebook and decided to bring one to
Syracuse. “It’s such a simple idea,
but it resonated so much with me because there are so many things that I
want to do before I die,” Mr. DeStito
says.
Many applaud his efforts. “The
wall represents part of DeStito’s
continuing mission to make Syracuse a more “walkable” city,” says
Chris Baker, a reporter for syracuse.
com and the Syracuse Post-Standard
who covers art for the newspaper.
“That involves making a walk that is
interesting to look at between neighborhoods, in this case, Tipp Hill and
downtown.”
Mr. DeStito may have a lot he
wants to do, but he’s already done a
lot for the city and its artists. Eight
years ago, he bought the Gear Factory. Mr. DeStito is known for flipping
houses (when a house on the market
isn’t appealing enough to sell, Mr.
DeStito remodels it and then sells
the property for a profit). Initially,
the factory was deteriorating and
seemed dreary and depressing, but a
cluster of artists joined DeStito’s efforts and came to its aid. Sam, who
works with spray paint and stencils
and enjoys making robots and cartoonish characters, has rented studio
space to create his art in the factory
since 2007.
Both Mr. Sam and Mr. DeStito
agreed that the previous graffiti covering the walls of the factory was
I
Photos by Maddy Rieks
“The wall makes
dreams more reachable and makes people
believe in opportunity,”
Mr. Sam says.
vandalism and lacked any artistic
value or appeal. So they decided to
add the vivid dancing robot that now
covers the gray walls of the factory.
That robot helped build the Gear
Factory’s reputation as an artistic
hotspot. Most people now refer to
it as “the building with the robot.”
After workers pulling an all-nighter,
the “Before I Die” wall was added in late October. Entries stay up
about a week before they are erased
to make room for more aspirations.
“Rick [DeStito] has brought the
creative energy of the building into
this century,” Mr. Sam says. He says
that he believes “this generation is
gloomy and constantly faced with
hardships.” He thinks that the wall is
an important piece for the community to connect with each other. “The
wall makes dreams more reachable
and makes people believe in oppor-
tunity,” Mr. Sam says.
eaning against the wall,
pink chalk in hand, a
woman stops on her walk
to Armory Square from her home
a few blocks from the Before I Die
Wall and responded to the prompt
before her. The red-haired woman
simply wrote, “See my son go off to
college.” Her son, a junior at Fowler
High School, is an “incredible football star” and is working toward a
scholarship. She says that her son
isn’t the best student, but she hopes
that he will get into college. “He’s my
pride and joy,” she says, asking that
her name not be used in the article.
“My whole life is dedicated to him,
and I am determined to do anything
I can in order for us to secure his
spot as a college athlete.” The world
may not know her name — but now
they know her dream for her son.
L
6 Features
The World of Z
Technology teacher Ryan Zlomek transforms the physical and intellectual
space of the computer labs, launches the school’s first social-media campaign, and brings an enthusiasm that his students and colleagues applaud.
By Kaylee Oh and Alexus Martin
I
n a computer programming
class in Lab B, a puzzled student raises her hand. “Mr. Z,
can you help me with this program?,”
she asks. “I have all these error messages popping up.” Ryan Zlomek,
MPH technology teacher, slowly
walks toward the student’s computer
in the row of 15, brand-new, touchscreen Dells that line the two walls
of the long, narrow lab. Above the
computers, signed, framed illustrations of Donald Duck, Iron Man,
Spider Man, and a host of other super heroes hang. By his workstation,
an army of small action figures stand
guard. Mr. Z, as students and teachers
like to call him, gazes at the student’s
computer screen. Then he speaks to
her with a stream of technological
jargon that would baffle most people.
But instead of giving her the solution
to the problem, he guides her to discover it on her own.
This year, 27-year-old Mr. Z teaches Video Game Design, Web Design,
Introduction to Programming, Digital Literacy I & II, Computer Graphics, Multimedia Productions, and
Programming Applications. But Mr.
Z goes beyond teaching technology
in these courses and places a high priority on writing well too, assigning a
creative-writing project, for example,
to the web-design class. “He has an
ability to work with kids and to be a
very responsible teacher. For someone as young as he is, I think he’s
done a really good job,” says Liza
Morrison, the chair of computer
and information science department.
“One thing that is unique to what he’s
brought here is an advanced media
course, which is almost like an independent study course.” Ms. Morrison
points out that students who come to
the school with an outside interest —
maybe they’ve developed a program
or created an online comic for a couple of years on their own — can be
furthered in that class. She also applauds the creation of Advanced Media Arts, a class which he designed
after identifying a student need. “He
recognizes that kids don’t just learn
and do technology in class as a part
of school,” she says.
Beyond his classes, Mr. Z also
launched the school’s recent Twitter campaign, enlisting 27 teachers
and administrators to chronicle what
goes on in the school. The campaign
rolled out on Twitter Tuesday (January 17th) and those participating
wore “twitter ninja” T-shirts, which
Mr. Z formatted and distributed, but
sophomore Hyemin Han, a student
in his advanced media design class
created the shirt’s ninja bird. “He
brought to MPH a great deal of enthusiasm to his job, and his efforts
with MPH’s Twitter account are
awesome,” says physics teacher Chad
Gregory. “When presented with a
challenge, his response isn’t ‘This is
too hard,’ but instead is, ‘How can I
make this work?’”
Mr. Z also supervises Film Club,
Computer Building Club, and Minecraft Club, a group created by senior
Morgan Smith for his Senior Thesis
Project. He also supervises two additional STP’s — Michael Burger, who
is building a videogame with micro
java, and TJ Kim, who is making
animated films using 3D modeling.
Because Mr. Z is not familiar with
3D modeling, supervising TJ’s STP
gave him the opportunity to learn
more about it. “I really like being
able to see people who are dedicated
to craft, and it’s really interesting to
work with their knowledge,” Mr. Z
says. His STP students mirror his
enthusiasm. “Mr. Z tries to interact
with me, and he is always willing to
help me,” says senior TJ Kim. “He’s
a cool guy.”
Mr. Z joined the MPH faculty last
year and has taught previously at Elmwood Elementary School, a public
school in Syracuse, and at Washington Academy, a private school in
Maine. He says his years in the public-school system failed to allow him
to fully express his teaching abilities.
“I had seen a lot of stuff that was going on in public school,” he says. “But
the way in which the people teach
and the enthusiasm that I see publicschool teachers throw into their education didn’t really match what I do
or the way that I put classes together.” He knew he wanted to teach in
his own way and that he didn’t want
to be told how and what to teach by
the administration. So he moved to
Maine and taught in an independent school “I liked the idea that the
teachers had a lot of input into the
way which the school functioned,”
he says. “As teachers, it seems like
when we are the ones who are teaching students, we should understand
how the school should work and how
everything should be put together.”
“Mr. Z is knowledgeable
about technology, enthusiastic
about teaching, and, I
think, very relatable for his
students,” says Mr. Gregory.
H
is experience teaching at
an independent school
helped him land the job at
MPH. “There were other people who
had worked in schools teaching technology classes, but I believe he was
the only one who had independent
school experience,” says Ms. Morrison, a member of the search committee that selected Mr. Z. “And independent schools are kind of quirky,
and so we were happy to see that he
had some experience in an independent school.”
That desire to find a school that
suited his approach to teaching reflects a philosophy he developed at a
young age and courtesy a life-threatening disease. At the age of 11, he
was diagnosed with congenital leukemia. “I was an 80-year-old man with
a body of sixth grader,” he says. “It
was no longer just about ‘you know,
I am gonna hang out with my friends
and play video games’ but instead I
started to think about what I wanted
Photo by Julie Ryerson
to do for the rest of my life. If I was
to die tomorrow, would I have a valuable life?” Between sixth and eighth
grades, Mr. Z went through chemotherapy and other treatments to cure
his leukemia. He saw friends who
suffered with similar cancers die, and
he says he was lucky enough to make
it to this present. This experience
transformed him into a new person.
From then, the term “wasting time”
bothered him. He realized every moment is a valuable gift given to him,
and he decided to dedicate himself to
plan out specific goals such as writing a book, building a video game,
and traveling around the world. “For
me, I like to go though and try to
make the most of my time,” he says.
“I think my brain patterns pretty
much functioned like that because of
having an illness — a cancer when
I was really young.” Mr. Z was officially done with treatment in May
2000, and he volunteers at Camp
Good Days, a camp for children with
cancer and blood disorders located in
Branchport, N.Y. He went there as
a camper in 1999, and began volunteering in 2004.
The determination to make the
most of a day transforms his classroom and helps him eliminate the
stereotype that computer people are
anti-social nerds. “I like to smash
stereotypes. I consider myself a very
social person, and I am pretty good
with computer technology, but not
great so when people come up to
me and say I have a problem, I still
have to sit there and figure out how
to solve it,” he says.
olleagues see and welcome
his generous spirit. “Mr.
Z is knowledgeable about
technology, enthusiastic about teaching, and, I think, very relatable for
his students,” says Mr. Gregory. “I
think his students find him very approachable and non-intimidating,
and I think he makes a potentially
tough subject area a lot of fun for
his students.” To make students understand the deeper meaning of technology, Mr. Z teaches them to design
themselves and break the limits of
understanding what technology really is. “I like to think the students I am
teaching are going to understand that
you are so much more that what your
job is and what your interests are,”
he says. “When they go to college,
when they get jobs they are going to
use their personalities and creativity
as much as they use computer skills
in order to do something great.”
C
The ABC’s
of Mr. Z
By Maddy Rieks
1986: Born on August 8th
at Syracuse’s Saint Joseph’s
Hospital.
1991: Received his first pet,
a black, white, and gray cat
named Garfield, who lived
for 22 years.
1991: Attended his first
concert — The Beach Boys
in Scranton, Pa.
1995: Received his first
computer, a HewlettPackard, with 60
megabytes of hard drive, 4
megabytes of RAM, and a
CD drive.
1996: Received his first
computer game, Mega
Race.
2003: Bought his first car,
a dark-green 1995 Honda
Accord EX.
2004: Graduated from
Fayetteville-Manlius High
School, which he hated and
thought wasn’t a good fit .
2004: Attended SUNY
Fredonia and majored in
Criminal Physiology.
2005: Attended
Binghamton University for
Human Development and
Cinema.
2008: Considered ending
media career for cooking.
2010: Grew first mustache.
2012: Started teaching
classes at MPH.
2013: Bought two pinball
machines, but still doesn’t
hold the high score on
either game.
Features 7
Disco Ski
XXL clothing, wolf T-shirts, and mad skills on
the slopes — welcome to the world of steez.
By Julie Ryerson and Caroline Blanck
W
hen asked to define the
word “steezy,” Joe McAllister, an employee at
Dogfunk.com, which describes itself as
the “hook-up for surf, skate, and snowboard gear and apparel,” offered two
words: “disco ski.” In less colorful and
more tangible terms, steezy is a combination of the words “style” and “ease,”
is known for loose, baggy clothes (think
XXL wolf T-shirts), and is typically
worn by young skiers and snowboarders. In the Syracuse area, Toggenburg
Mountain attracts a considerable steezy
crowd. “Toggenburg is the hottest spot
nowadays for shredding. That’s really
it,” says Ben Hawkins, MPH alum and
original steezer. Ben says that if you’re
looking to identify a steezer on the
slopes, look for the most zealous riders
and skiers. “They’ll be horsing around,
doin’ as they please,” he says. “A big
hint is pant size. The real committed
folk will have either skinny-to-the-bone
snow pants or MC Hammer-style baggy ones.”
At MPH, junior Mat Scheibel is an
avid steezer. He works 10 to 20 hours
a week at The Ski Company and says
the best stores to find clothes that define
the steezy look include Saga, Dogfunk,
New Schoolers, and Jibberish. In addition to wearing a lot of steez, Mat also
likes to capture it at Toggenburg Ski
Center through his photography of the
riders at the terrain park. Often one can
find Mat sporting a XXL purple tie-dye
wolf tee. “Steezy people just do everything with a lot of flow and style,” says
Mat.
When talking about steezy style, bigger is always better. While skiing and
snowboarding, the large sizes are critical. Tall sweatshirts are layered with
extra-large coats and snow pants. Steez
also is about showmanship and looking cool while doing tricks. The “wolf
shirt” is an integral part of steez. “It is
super gnarly and makes me feel like I
am living in the woods,” Matt says of
Photos by Mat Scheibel
the wolf shirts. But you can find numerous animal shirts on the mountain.
The most popular animals shirts on the
mountain include wolves, tigers, and
bears. “Animals are a must because of
the respect one must have for the nature
surrounding you,” Ben says. “They’re
darn near irresistible to the steez savant.”
hese T-shirts are not MPH
appropriate; however, true
steezers find their way around
this obstacle by expressing their steez
in dress code. For instance, they add
a collared shirt over that XXL tall tee
or change those baggy jeans for baggy
khakis. Even off campus and away
from the mountain, the XXL look can
be tricky. “When you’re off the mountain, you wear things a little bit bigger,
but not like knee-level like when you
are skiing because they’re not really
easy to walk in,” Mat says. “Plus, it
doesn’t look as nice.”
Since steez is exemplified on the
mountain, clothes are not the only
things needed to show off one’s steez.
Dogfunk’s Mr. Mcallister says that
GoPro cameras (specifically the black
edition) are also key. “That camera is
popular because it offers people the
capability to shoot their own ski videos,” he says. He also says that steezers
love Camelbak packs because they are
versatile and can carry more than just
water, including coffee and hot chocolate. Finally, he recommends Smith I/0
Recon Goggles. “They are for both skiing and snowboarding and are ruggedly
made,” he says.
For Ben, steezy is more than clothing choices. “It’s not about the actual
choice in what you’re wearing,” he
says. “It’s about how the choice relates
to you and what you identify with. If
you’re the kinda dude to go out and
ride the rails all day, you’re probably
going to be rocking the pseudo-thuggypsy look that we’ve been fond of for
the past eight years.”
T
Continued from page 1
out because no one understood what I said.” Most international students say the challenging thing about living in the States is the language barrier. Although many
students learned English before they came to the States,
it is difficult to talk like native speakers. “My biggest
struggle is language,” says Anni.
Mr. Reid understands this challenge. “Research suggests that basic conversation and interaction take three
to five years to get down. And it takes five to seven years
to learn English well enough to do well in classes,” he
says. Mr. Reid teaches the ELL1 (intermediate) and
ELL2 (advanced) classes. ELL students take TOEFL
(Test of English as a Foreign Language) as their final
exam. TOEFL serves as a “gate keeper” that international students must pass to attend a U.S. university.
Because the learning environment at MPH differs from the educational system most international
students experience back home, which Mr. Reid says
emphasizes teachers’ lectures, some students meet challenges in the classroom. “I hadn’t done many debates
or open conversations in the classroom back home. It’s
sometimes difficult to express my opinion outside of
my head,” says Tyler. “The advantage of studying here
INTO THE WILD: “It’s not about the actual choice in what you’re wearing,” says Ben Hawkins, an MPH alum and original steezer. “It’s about
how the choice relates to you and what you identify with.”
is I get opportunities to think outside of the textbook.”
Beyond of the classroom, American culture and customs present obstacles. “It is hard to learn and understand different social manners and different customs,”
says Sijia. “I still don’t understand why Americans use
ovens to cook.” Then, there’s the difficulty of American names. For most Asian students, Americans’ last
names are too long to remember, and they also have
different manners when it comes to addressing people.
One Korean student says it was confusing at first to be
called by only his first name when the person who was
speaking to him was younger. In Korea, the younger
person cannot call an older person by his or her first
name — even if the person is only one year older — because it’s considered rude. Transportation presents problems too. “I have less freedom here in terms of transportation. Since there isn’t much public transportation, I
have to ask my host family to give me a ride as well as a
permission to go any place besides school,” Anni says.
Being an international student also means battling
homesickness and missing friends. “Although we often
text and call, I miss my friends,” Anni says. Most international students use Skype or texting applications to
communicate; however, because of the time differences,
it’s sometimes hard to contact with families and friends
back home. To combat homesickness and to give students opportunities to experience American culture, the
ELL class offers social activities and outings. Students
in ELL class went to Bald Mountain in the Adirondacks last summer, attended Syracuse University football games, and saw A Christmas Carol at Syracuse Stage.
For all they receive, international students also give
much to the MPH community. “Six of 18 students in
11th English class are not native-American born. It
changes the way that the class works,” says English
teacher William Preston. “There are a lot of interesting
comparisons and contrasts made between and among
the cultures. It’s a great thing because you bring this
outsider’s perspective.” Students also believe the international students add much to their MPH experience. “I
think our international students are a critical part of our
student body. I can’t even fathom how difficult it would
be to come into a different country and not only have
to socialize with others but also have to take AP classes
taught in a language you’re learning,” says senior Duncan Morrison. “I take Chinese with Mrs. Gao, and she
encourages me and my classmates to work with the
Chinese students and ask for help with homework. I sit
next to Rex, who is not only a terrific basketball player,
but also a good friend and teacher.”
8 Sports
The Basketball Star
with the NBA DNA
Sure. His dad played for the L.A. Lakers. But senior Dan Byrnes’ hours playing
hoops in his driveway, at the YMCA, and in the hot MPH gym helped make him a
leading scorer, rebounder, and shot blocker and earned him a spot on the Saint Lawrence University basketball team. By Sam Woodward
D
rop step, power dribble, twofoot take-off — buckets. If
teammates dish the basketball into the hands of MPH senior Dan
Byrnes, then opposing teams can expect
one rough night. He scores at will, making teams adjust, and serves as a magnet
when he gets the ball in the post, drawing
two or three bodies that swarm around
his 6’ 6’’, 210-pound frame. But even
with this spotlight of attention centered
on his play, Dan still dominates. He has
played three 30-point games so far this
season and stacked another game with
a triple double of points, rebounds, and
blocks. For two years, he’s earned spots
on the Section III all-league basketball
teams (second team, Onondaga High
School League, Patriot American Division) and was selected to participate in
the Pathfinder Bank Zebra Classic Basketball Tournament.
Averaging 20 points, 11 rebounds, and
4.5 blocks a game, Dan’s clearing the
path for the basketball team’s success. He
leads the CNY basketball leader board,
and is first overall in free throws with
78 and sixth in total points scored this
season with 252. Dan counts his go-to
move as his left-handed layup. “Being left
handed, and having a height advantage is
all I really need in this league,” he says.
“The size advantage makes it so much
easier to make layups.” He accounts for
43 percent of the Trojans’ total offense,
but Dan also plays a key role in defense.
With a 6’ 8’’ wingspan, he hogs the paint,
blocking shots left and right from any opposing player who dares to drive into the
lane. When he’s not swatting the balls
into the stands, he alters every shot that
comes in his direction, making it difficult
for players to score on him.
But more importantly, he plays a key
role in taking the Trojans to a winning
record of 8-4. As the leading scorer, rebounder, and shot blocker, Dan leads the
once-abysmal MPH varsity basketball
team and has transformed it into a serious contender for the first time that anyone can recall. For once, the bleachers
are packed, and support for the Trojans is
visible and audible. Manlius Pebble Hill
Headmaster Scott Wiggins attends every
game and has taken notice of Dan’s ability and the teams spurt into sectionals for
the first time since 2006. “This year was
built on last year. These players have put it
all together now,” Mr. Wiggins says. “It’s
exciting. I’m proud of how the team has
done, and I think Dan is a great leader.”
Beyond dedication and practice, Dan
also counts genetics for his success on the
court thanks to his father Marty Byrnes,
a basketball star at Syracuse University,
and an NBA champion for the Los Angeles Lakers in 1980. Growing up under
his Dad’s legacy weighed on Dan, but
he refused to let his Dad’s stardom overshadow his game. “I didn’t want people
to hold high expectations for me because
my dad was a former NBA player,” explains Dan. “I never got full instruction
from him since I didn’t live with him, so
I relied on myself to improve my game.”
His parents divorced when Dan was
just 12 months old, and his Dad lives in
Wisconsin and sees Dan play only about
twice a year. “I used to get really nervous,
but now I like it cause he watches and critiques my game,” Dan says. “Plus, it’s a
lot better now because we win.” Jeanne
Holstein, Dan’s mom and MPH fine arts
teacher, also played a major part in her
son’s basketball path. “As he got taller, I
thought that I should push him in that direction,” she says. “It made sense since
he’s got his Dad’s genes, and he’s really
tall. So I thought maybe he’s going to be
really good.”
Mr. Byrnes says he’s impressed with
his son’s play. “Dan has developed into a
fine high-school player to this point,” Mr.
Byrnes says. “He has a real strong lowpost game, he helps out on defense and
has real good timing as a shot blocker.”
Beyond that, the father-son duo even
share some similarities in their style of
play. “Fake right, go left,” says Mr. Byrnes. “Dan is a lefty like I am.” Dan says
his father has seen him play about 10
high-school games and recently flew in to
watch his son land 31 points as the Trojans lost 58-53 in a tough battle against
state-ranked Weedsport. But he also got
to watch Dan score 21 points in a victorious 53-27 stomping of Port Byron.
his season’s success demonstrates the growth he’s made
as a player. Before high school,
Dan’s game sputtered. He couldn’t shoot,
wasn’t tall, and struggled to make simple
layups. But by his freshman year of high
school, glimpses of his ability began to
manifest. He dominated JV during his
freshman year, averaging close to 20
points a game. The success and work
didn’t stop there. After the season ended, he trained with Steve Elfenbein, the
Fayetteville-Manlius basketball assistant
coach, for three days a week, two hours
at a time. “When Dan and I first started
working together it was very obvious he
wanted to be good,” Mr. Elfenbein says.
“He was highly motivated and worked
hard to get where he is today. Dan understood the tedious drills that were required, which is something most kids did
not.” Dan’s hard work aided the varsity
team and earned him a spot on the Saint
Lawrence University basketball team in
the fall of 2014. (Per NCAA rules, Saint
Lawrence Head Coach Chris Downs refused to comment on Dan’s basketball
ability.)
Even with Dan’s growth as a player,
his play and the Trojans varsity basketball
team weren’t always on the same path.
During Dan’s sophomore and junior seasons on varsity, the team struggled with
a combined 2-31 record. The Trojans
became the doormat of the entire league
as visiting opponents stomped the team
at every game, despite Dan’s average of
13.5 points and 10 rebounds in those two
seasons. Dan even considered leaving
MPH at the end of his sophomore year
to play for the powerhouse Fayetteville-
T
Manlius
basketball
program.
But
Dan
never put
on the F-M
Hornets’
green and
white, and
he stayed at
the school
Photo by Parker Stone
that
has
been his home since pre-K. Thanks to a
veteran group of seniors supporting Dan
— including the Cerio brothers Jon and
Joey, who also earn attention for their
skills — and second-year coach Jeff Ike,
the Trojans flipped their school’s lackluster script, and currently enjoy an 8-4
record.
oach Ike believes Dan’s improvement is critical to his
team’s success. “As a player
he is much stronger,” he says. “His shot
is more consistent and his moves around
the basket are stronger and more deliberate.” But more than his skill, Coach Ike
credits Dan’s growth as a leader as an
important piece of the team’s success.
“I think he has grown as a leader just as
much as he has grown physically. He has
been more vocal and worked very hard
to work on his game and shown the rest
of the players in the program that work
will pay,” Coach Ike says. “He has made
everybody around him a much better
basketball player.” Dan’s maturity and
leadership also fosters a feud-free locker
room that benefits from team chemistry
and cohesiveness among the players,
things teams in years prior lacked.
With an early acceptance and scholarship from St. Lawrence, Dan admits that
off the court he finds it hard to focus on
high school. In fact, he probably has the
worst case of “senioritis.” He cleverly created a schedule that gives him maximum
time for lengthening his free blocks during school days. “I don’t think he’s been
to one full day of school since the beginning of year,” says senior Simon Bruno.
“But on the other side, he worked hard
academically for three years till now. Senioritis hit him earlier since he got into
college way before everybody else.”
But as his high-school glory days approach their end, a difficult task lies
ahead as he adjusts from the school he
has known since he was a toddler to the
life of a college-level basketball player.
But Dan’s got this. “No matter what division or college level your playing, everybody’s huge,” he says. “I’m going to
have to run and lift a lot more, but I’m
ready for it.” His father believes that Dan
needs to polish his skills moving forward,
but Mr. Byrnes remains optimistic about
his son’s future. “If he picks up on these
while maintaining his skills on the block,
he could have great success at the college
level,” Mr. Byrnes says. “Necessity can
breed success. It will be interesting to see
how the challenge of college level basketball appeals to him next year.”
C
J’s on His Feet
You can see him sporting a
different pair of fresh kicks for
each day of the week. Dan’s love
of sneakers motivated him to
begin collecting them in 2012. If
you follow Dan on Instagram, you
will find a picture of all 15 pairs
on his pool table. He even sells
and trades kicks on eBay. But he
counts these three as his favorites.
Shoe Photos by Maddy Rieks
Air Jordan Retro 13
Price: $300
He bought them this year on the
senior class trip to NYC at Flight
Club and wears them this season
as his game shoes. He specifically
likes the style and fit of the shoe.
Air Jordan Retro 12
Price: $225
He bought them used on eBay
and loves that they were released
in 2004 and therefore a bit rare
(especially in a size 15).
Kobe 8
Price $180
He customized them on Nike ID to
have a “South Beach” color scheme
and got them for running shoes
because high tops hurt his feet.