This year, Tabor Academy has refocused attention on gender equality and providing equal opportunity for both female and male students.

Two years ago, Headmaster John Quirk implemented a system of co-heads of school so that one boy and one girl are selected from the senior class to lead the school each year. Subsequently, Student Council was reorganized so that each of the three positions has one girl and one boy. After achieving gender parity in the school legislature, the administration began inviting speakers to start conversations on the important issue of gender equality.

Tabor started by bringing in Michael Kimmel, a professor of Sociology at Stony Brook University, who has written extensively on the topic of toxic masculinity and the necessity of men standing up for women’s rights.

Kimmel came to Tabor to discuss the process by which boys become men, and how competition to be the “alpha male” causes men to engage in harmful social behavior, undermining the struggle for gender equality. He focused on how being a feminist is actually beneficial to men as well as women, and how men should stand up for women’s issues.

“Even though it was geared to guys, I thought everyone could take something from it,” said senior Claire Brito. “I liked that it made gender equality everyone’s issue.”

Senior Lulu Ward agreed, saying that she appreciated “how statistical Michael Kimmel was.” She noted “it was hard to argue with him because he had a lot of science in his corner.”

After the speech, Tabor students broke out into small groups to discuss the talk and how they think it applied to Tabor’s community as a whole.

“He did a good job of making it Tabor-specific. He talked a lot about boarding school mentality and school culture,” said Brito. “For a long time, I think feminism was something no one wanted to talk about or be associated with. I’m really happy that we’re working to make Tabor’s culture more inclusive.”

Brito is the leader of a female empowerment club on campus and has long tried to start a dialogue about women’s rights.

“It’s very heartening to know the administration is taking a stand,” said Brito.

After Kimmel, Alexis Jones, speaker and author of I Am That Girl, came to campus to discuss her personal story and to highlight inequalities in the lives of men and women, especially in their adolescence.

Jones addressed the females and males separately, focusing primarily on body image and self-esteem with the girls, and standing up and protecting girls for the boys.

“I really liked the intersection of both speakers,” said senior Theo Warren. “They both changed the way I think about feminism. I used to think it didn’t apply to me, or really anyone my age, but now I understand how important gender equality is.”

While for a long time, Tabor students stayed away from identifying as “feminists” or publicly discussing these social issues, this year the administration refused to keep the conversation quiet. These incredibly interesting and knowledgeable speakers were just starting points for the dialogue that has been happening between both students and teachers about the importance of gender equality in our community.

By Madeleine Gregory

Last week, the decorated halls of Old Rochester Regional High School buzzed with excitement. Homecoming was upon the ORR community, and one could practically feel the elation of both students and faculty, which would eventually lead up to Friday’s pep rally and Saturday’s dance.

Pajama Day was, and always has been, a hit at Old Rochester. The constant pressure of making sure your clothes look nice was replaced with the comforts of onesies and sweatpants. From slippers to flannel pants, both students and staff practically oozed with the comfort pajamas bring on a Monday morning.

Tuesday was Ninja Day, when black shirts and pants were the outfit of choice. Although not quite as popular as Pajama Day, some ninjas went all out with belts and other accessories to spruce up their outfits. Some even went as far as purchasing a costume for the occasion.

Next came Twin Day, and students made sure to dress up with their friends – sometimes more than one. Some students even twinned with their teachers, just to add to the comical confusion. Twins, triplets, and even quadruplets could be seen wandering the halls on Wednesday. To all you book buffs out there, it felt as though Bokanovsky Groups from Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World surrounded us.

Thursday was America Day, or ‘Murica Day as the ceiling-length signs hanging in the cafeteria advertised. Old Rochester was speckled with shades of red, white, and blue. Some students took it even further with displays of patriotism that included temporary hair dyes and entire American flags used as capes.

And finally it was Friday, the day the school had been preparing for the entire week. Friday is most definitely a student favorite in terms of spirit days. Why? As junior Maxx Wolski said, “You get to see everybody’s costumes and see how the skits turned out.” On top of the pep rally that cuts classes short, there was the homecoming football game against Seekonk that evening, which the Bulldogs won in a 46-45 victory.

Pep rally festivities began with the National Anthem sung by senior Holly Frink, with faculty member and Drama Club Director Paul Sardinha accompanying on the piano, which ended in a raucous round of applause for Frink and Sardinha. Then, the skits ensued.

What are the skits at Old Rochester? For weeks before homecoming, each of the four classes pick a theme and create a skit based on that theme, which is then judged by a panel of teachers at Friday’s pep rally. The guidelines? Each skit must be no more than ten minutes long, and it must include the Bulldog mascot. Seekonk, the rival school commonly portrayed as the villain in the skits, is defeated and Old Rochester prevails, no matter what the theme.

This year, the freshmen based their skit on the hit 2004 movie Mean Girls. The sophomores chose Despicable Me as their skit, which featured minions donning yellow hats, goggles, and overalls. Winning first place this year in the competition, the junior class chose the Disney classic Peter Pan, which ended in a dance battle between the Seekonk “pirates” and the creatures of Neverland. The seniors selected a mashup of Disney movies as their skit, which included snippets of The Lion King, Hercules, The Little Mermaid, Frozen, and others.

Interspersed between skits were performances by student-created band Skinny Moth and the Prospect. After the skits were finished, the school day ended and students went home, many of which came back to watch the football game later that night.

This year, there was a new component added to the skit competition: hallway decorations.

Each class was in charge of decorating their own hallway based on their skits. The freshman class had pink streamers and a “Burn Book” decoration like the “Burn Book” from the movie. The sophomores colored and taped minions on their lockers, and they also hung yellow and blue streamers with illustrations of the characters from Despicable Me hanging at the end of their hallway. The juniors hung green streamers and balloons, put up quotes from Peter Pan on their lockers, and created silhouettes of the main characters to hang up. The seniors had different decorations to represent their different movies, from hanging snowflakes for Frozen to fish decorations for The Little Mermaid.

And then came the homecoming dance on Saturday night. The theme was Starry Night, and the decorations were spectacular. The hallway was lined with lights and, at the entrance of the dance, puffy clouds glowed invitingly. Inside the dance, the freshman class sold refreshments to jumpstart their fundraising. A photo booth was set up, and the photo strips that were printed had the personalized saying “Starry Night 2015. ORRHS Homecoming” at the bottom.

And thus, homecoming week came to a close. Old Rochester Regional will soon be back in its normal day-to-day rut, but not without fond memories of Spirit Week 2015.

By Sienna Wurl

Photos by Jean Perry