By Lauren Nehorai ’20

Happiness is defined as a state of good fortune, contentment and bliss. It can be considered a key to success or a spell that possesses the power to transform someone’s state of mind for the better. In addition to its emotional advantages, happiness is a valuable tool that can benefit people in other aspects of their lives.

Ensuring students’ happiness is a key motive of the school. It is a prominent theme in the mission statement aiming to be “a diverse and inclusive community united by the joyful pursuit of educational excellence.” Students said they believe this goal has been attained, describing school as a welcoming environment in which happiness is close within reach.

“School is a generally happy place, and people here are always smiling. All of the fun activities and we incorporate into each day at school make it even more enjoyable,” Laina Bolton ‘21 said.

For some, school can also be thought of as a stressful place. Between all of the activities students are involved in as well as the deadlines, tests and events that come along with them, finding time to relax can be difficult. Happiness can play an instrumental role in helping students perform well under stressful conditions and guide them through overwhelming times.

Methods of relaxation can serve as a short term solution to stress, but happiness does much more. It can be harder to achieve, but its effects are be life-changing.

Students can achieve happiness in a number of different ways. A popular way students alleviate stress and increase contentment is by spending time with their friends and family. Middle School Psychologist Kelly Decker said she believes that good relationships are essential to maintaining a happy life.

“The closer you are with the people you love, over time sustains feelings of joy, euphoria and happiness,” Decker said.

Many students also look to sports or other types of athletic activity for enjoyment. Decker explained that studies have proven that the more people move, the happier they tend to be because of the endorphins the body releases.

“Playing basketball makes me happy. Working together with my teammates and playing well in a game is an indescribable feeling,” Ryan Zoller ’22 said.

Another popular method of acquiring happiness is through artistic activities. Students look to performing and visual arts as an outlet to escape from the pressure of everyday life and take time for themselves.

“Choir is something I am really passionate about and is a class I look forward to every day. I think music is a great way to make people happy, especially during school hours,” Jake Schroeder ’20 said.

Random acts of kindness are also a quick and easy way of obtaining happiness and increasing that of others. Picking up trash, pushing in chairs, holding the door open or even greeting new people are all simple ways by which one can brighten others’ day and spread happiness throughout the school community. Happiness is something that all humans are capable of acquiring, but it is in the hands of the individual to let themselves accept it.

By Lauren Nehorai ’20 and Alexandra Mork ’20

When people think of winter, the first things that come to mind are often cold weather, hot chocolate, holidays, family and gifts. But with the second semester approaching, the week leading up to winter break is often filled with assessments. Although some degree of testing is seemingly inevitable, some students prefer the majority of assessments to be before winter break, while others would rather have an extra two weeks to study.

In an online survey sent to middle school students, 89 percent of the 347 respondents preferred to have their tests prior to winter break. Many students feel that winter break is a time for celebration and family, and that the stress of studying would disrupt their plans and time designated for relaxation.

“I’m happy the [majority of our tests] are before [winter break] because the whole point of winter break is to have a break [from school], and I don’t think people would want to study,” Jonah Dickson ’20 said.

In addition to potentially ruining their break, two weeks without school risks students forgetting the information they are tested on.

“It is good to have tests before winter break because you remember the material better than after two weeks of not having class,” Izzy Welsh ’22 said.

Of the students surveyed, 11 percent of the respondents preferred to have tests after the break. Some of these students wished to use the weeks prior to winter break to enjoy themselves and get into the holiday spirit instead of dealing with assessments. Also, the majority of these students would like several extra weeks to study for their exams at leisure.

“The week before [break] we are all focused on the holidays and checked out because we are excited to go on the break. Having tests the week after would enhance the focus level because we have fewer distractions,” India Altchul ’20 said.

By Leila Dall’Olmo ’20 and Georgia Gerber ’20

Daniel Novikov ’21: Breakdancer

Leila Dall’Olmo ‘20

Novikov displays a number of dance moves he has learned over the years in front of the Horns Commons.

All Photos by Leila Dall’Olmo ’20/ SPECTRUM

Daniel Novikov ‘21 believes breakdancing is a great way to express yourself, and he tries to incorporate dancing into his life as much as he can.

“I like to dance everywhere in my everyday life. I dance at parties. I dance at weddings. I dance anywhere I want to, with anyone I want to,” Novikov said.

Starting at a young age, Novikov joined a dance team and competed at events all across the city. He said he enjoyed the sense of freedom dancing gave him.

“I started dancing when I was three because I really liked it, and I liked to move my body. Dancing lets me express myself and feel alive,” Novikov said.

In competitive dance, there are rivalries between teams, even at such a young age. Novikov’s team had always come in first before another team came along.

“My team always used to win first, until Kida the Great, this dancer with one million followers on Instagram, started dancing for the other team. That’s when we started getting second place,” Novikov explained.

Although Novikov no longer competes with a team outside of school, he still takes classes at school and intends to continue next year.

“I take dance at school now, and next year I’ll either be taking Contemporary Dance Workshop II or hopefully, Dance Production,” Novikov said.

A requirement for Dance Production is having to choreograph a solo dance, which he is not worried about.

“I always choreograph my own dances, as I did in this year’s Contemporary Dance Workshop Showcase,” Novikov said.

One of Novikov’s dance teacher at school, Melissa Schade, said she believes Daniel has a positive attitude towards dance and truly enjoys it.

“Daniel is very gung ho about dance. He is a natural mover, and I think as long as it’s in the freestyle range, he goes all out,” Schade said.

No matter where Novikov ends up dancing next year, he is excited to continue his passion and have as much fun as he possibly can along the way.

“[When I dance] I feel free, like a bird let out of it cage spreading its wings, and that’s the best feeling there could ever be,” Novikov said.

Alexa Druyanoff ’22: Illustrator

By Georgia Gerber ’20

Druyanoff’s art represents music visually.

Another piece of Druyanoff’s artwork was also used as a cover.

Druyanoff’s artwork is displayed. The piece was used as an album cover and was uploaded to SoundCloud along with music. Printed with the permission of Alexa Druyanoff ’22

Even at 13 years old, Alexa Druyanoff ‘22 has already turned her passion for art into pieces that are seen by many all over the world. ,mDruyanoff creates cover art for the music of Danny Belgrad ‘13.

“[Belgrad] makes songs and then has ideas, so he sends me photos he wants the art to relate to or to look like. Then, I draw that and he gives me critiques on what to do differently or what to add,” Druyanoff said.

Druyanoff’s love for art came at a young age. She started art classes when she was four, at the studio she still practices in today. At first, art was just a hobby, but it later became a passion.

“When I first started, art was just something I liked to do. Now, it is my passion. I’ve been drawing ever since I can remember, and I started instructional art classes just before I turned four. I’m inspired by artists like Botticelli, Van Gogh, Leonardo Da Vinci, Monet and people like Kenny Scharf and animators,” Druyanoff said.

When creating a piece of art, Druyanoff likes to use creativity to blur the lines of reality and imagination.

“My art style and what I like to draw are sort of whimsical. I find it interesting to combine real nature, rock formations or places with non-living, animated cartoon characters or animals. It’s almost like giving them an alternative life, and it also brings out the fun in art for me. I want to make people intrigued while smiling or finding my work amusing,“ Druyanoff said.

The covers she creates are put onto SoundCloud along with the songs created by Belgrad. Druyanoff describes the music as “indie-rock.”

“For Danny’s art, I have to find a different rhythm. It’s less playful, and I have to connect with what his vision is, his examples and the mood of each song. I really enjoy the idea of connecting art with music, and I now experiment with drawing to the beat of songs. It’s nice to have almost like an internal monologue to each picture,” Druyanoff said.

Belgrad spoke about his experience working with Alexa.

“Alexa has always astounded me. She’s remarkably intuitive and has a rare ability to capture and express emotions with clarity while also being quite visionary within her artwork. She makes the transition from music to artwork so fluid, and I consider myself very very lucky to have her as a creative partner,” Belgrad said.

Druyanoff has been creating art for Section, the name under which Belgrad’s music is released, for almost two years. She hopes to continue doing it in the future.

“My dreams with any aspect of art in them consist of being a set designer, animator or inspirational artist,” Druyanoff said.

By Jeanine Kim ’20

On Nov 8, election night in the United States, the nation became both united and divided within the course of 12 hours. After months of campaigning on both sides, the presidential election finally came to an end on Tuesday as Hillary Clinton faced off against Donald Trump. At the end of the night, although he lost the popular vote, Trump won the election with 278 electoral votes to Clinton’s 232.

Because the 2016 election was very divisive, campus reactions to the results were wide-ranging. In a mock election conducted by the history department, Clinton garnered 73.9 percent of the student body’s vote while 14.1 percent supported Trump. The other 12 percent voted for third party candidates such as Gary Johnson and Jill Stein.

Trump supporters think that his outsider status, along with some other factors make him ideal for the presidency.

“I feel that his personality is key to both maintaining and creating good relationships with other countries such as Russia. Russia is currently on bad terms with the United States, and they like Trump. If Russia is on our side, then we would be able to control the world and help other nations,” Ben Sophy-Voss ’20 said.

Clinton supporters said that the result has left them in fear and suspense.

“Because he has no experience, it’s like having a loose cannon in the White House, which is dangerous and scary,” Walker McGinley ’22 said.

Even the neutrals had a lot to say about the results.

“At the beginning, I wasn’t for either candidate, but when it came down to it, I would have rather had Clinton in office than Trump. When the results came out, I was both shocked and scared,” Michael Conner Corley Jr. ’20 said.