The Benedict News Spring 2021 Edition
Newsmagazine published by student journalists at St. Benedict's Preparatory School in Newark, N.J.
Newsmagazine published by student journalists at St. Benedict's Preparatory School in Newark, N.J.
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The
Benedict
News
Spring 2021
Benedict News Editorial Board Spring 2021
Publisher
Father Edwin Leahy ‘63, O.S.B.
Editors-in-Chief
Reuben Kadushin Sam Pineda
News Editor
Isabel Garcia
Copy Editor
John Mollozzi
Online Editor
Geovanni Lopez
Op-ed Editor
Yohangil Nolasco
Features Editor
Ethan Brady
Design Editors
Israel Small Anthony Mosquera
Staff Writers: Terrence Allavo,
Luke Amoakah, Alex Benanti,
Sovereign Brown, Emilio Calle,
Andy Chuquirima, Francisco Correia,
David Decker, Jorge Izurieta, Joseph Jumbo,
Kevin Ortega, Kiana Perez, William Register,
Guitze Rodriguez, Kolby Samuels,
Simarpal Singh.
Guest Writer
Fr. Albert Holtz’60, O.S.B.
Photographers: Erick Garcia,
Jorge Izurieta, Justin James, Shelley Torres
Designers: Gary Hunter, Luis Suriel
Guest Artist: Mr. Richard Gallerani
Artist: Jerson Morantus
Photo Editor
Krithik Rajasegar
Cartoon Editor
Grant Parker
Social Media Editor
Davion Cottrell-Miller
Sports Editor
Adrian Vasquez
St. Benedict’s Preparatory School
520 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard
Newark, N.J. 07102
www.benedictnewsonline.org
Follow us on IG: @graybeepublications
Faculty Adviser
Ms. Kitta MacPherson, MFA
Assistant Faculty Advisers
Br. Bruno Mello, n-O.S.B Ms. Elizabeth Lodato, MFA
Issue 2 Volume 3 Spring 2021
Keeping the Hive Humming: How the Gray Bees Fought the Pandemic
Editors’ Note for Benedict News Second Edition
Dear Community:
In this Second Edition, “Keeping the Hive Humming: How the Gray Bees
Fought the Pandemic,” the staff of The Benedict News portrays the still-vital life of
the Hive, partially post-Matrix and lived, while precautionary and socially
distanced, seemingly in defiance of the physical threat of COVID-19. Our
reporting shows that Gray Bees are unwilling to allow this pandemic to “get us
down.”
Our First Edition, “The Gray Bees Enter the Matrix,” featured stories about
our first steps into the virtual world. We had just been getting used to our new
normal of fully remote learning and the odd sensibility of nearly 100 percent
virtual interaction.
Keeping the Hive Humming: How the Gray Bees Fought the Pandemic
Table of Contents
In this Second Edition, we catalogue how Benedict’s is fighting back,
whether it is through an aggressive COVID testing policy, a determination to
keep The Last the Good community Day connected through a daily virtual Convo, a push to expand 6
the Conversio: Hive’s noted Giving Counseling Kids a Chance program, to Connect or even a coordinated effort to offer an 10
on-property Medical Experts learning of Color program Tell Benedict’s: for some. And COVID we Vaccine also are Safe telling individual 12
stories Normal of Again? students who have risen above amazing obstacles, caring for families 15
with Q&A COVID, with Dr. or Cassidy: reinventing “Benedict’s themselves Finest as Hour” COVID removed their dream activities 16
from SBP Survey: them. “Yes” to Vaccinate, “No” to Mandating Shots 25
The Convo Makers 26
Staying As Together: this edition A Photo goes to Essay press, there are student leaders who have returned 28 to
the COVID property, & Me forming groups in cohorts in classrooms where they attend classes 30
virtually. Benedict’s Vaccination Turns Pandemic rates are on high, its Head but -- the Through world is Acts still of facing Love the challenge of 31
COVID A Silver variants. Lining Hope is evident: Students are looking forward to the prospect 34
of Why an Vaccinate? in-person Commencement and the resumption of in-person classes for the 36
2021-22 Students academic Survive COVID-19 year.
37
Health Disparities Among Communities of Color: A Crisis 39
When We the hope Abnormal you enjoy Becomes this edition. the Norm: Counselors Find Ways to Help 42
When COVID Strikes a Family: A Survival Story 44
When This is Over Sincerely, 46
Chalk Talk Reuben Kadushin SY and Samuel Pineda SY 49
Editors-in-Chief
benedictnewsonline.org
Keeping the Hive Humming: How the Gray Bees Fought the Pandemic
Table of Contents
The Last Good Day 6
Conversio: Giving Kids a Chance to Connect 10
Medical Experts of Color Tell Benedict’s: COVID Vaccine Safe 12
Normal Again? 15
Q&A Keeping with Dr. the Cassidy: Hive Humming: “Benedict’s How Finest the Hour” Gray Bees Fought the Pandemic 16
SBP Table Survey: of Contents “Yes” to Vaccinate, “No” to Mandating Shots 25
The Convo Makers 26
Staying The Last Together: Good Day A Photo Essay 286
COVID Conversio: & Me Giving Kids a Chance to Connect 30 10
Benedict’s Medical Experts Turns Pandemic of Color Tell on Benedict’s: its Head -- Through COVID Vaccine Acts of Safe Love 31 12
A Normal Silver Again? Lining 34 15
Why Q&A Vaccinate? with Dr. Cassidy: “Benedict’s Finest Hour” 36 16
Students SBP Survey: Survive “Yes” COVID-19 to Vaccinate, “No” to Mandating Shots 37 25
Health The Convo Disparities Makers Among Communities of Color: A Crisis 39 26
When Staying the Together: Abnormal A Photo Becomes Essay the Norm: Counselors Find Ways to Help 42 28
When COVID COVID & Me Strikes a Family: A Survival Story 44 30
When Benedict’s This Turns is Over Pandemic on its Head -- Through Acts of Love 46 31
Chalk A Silver Talk Lining 49 34
Why Vaccinate? 36
Students Survive COVID-19 37
Health Disparities Among Communities of Color: A Crisis 39
When the Abnormal Becomes the Norm: Counselors Find Ways to Help 42
When COVID Strikes a Family: A Survival Story 44
When This is Over 46
Chalk Talk 49
Issue 2 Volume 3 Spring 2021
Photo by
Jorge
Izurieta
Sunil Das
SY, Senior
Group
Leader
The
“Last Good Day”
By Andy
Chuquirima and
Jorge Izurieta
On March 14, 2020, St. Benedict's Prep was on a normal running schedule. No one seemed to think
much of a deadly disease quickly spreading throughout the world, and killing thousands of people by
the day. Although the day was set up for normal classes, the buzz of the disease, COVID-19 filled the
halls. Students were worried, some were scared for their lives, many thought it was a joke. A year later,
many are still at home learning virtually through our laptops awaiting the day that we can be fully
mask-free and be together again. To commemorate this one-year anniversary of the Hive going virtual,
we have interviewed student leaders and faculty from St. Benedict’s to capture their remembrance of
their “last good day.”
Sunil Das, Senior Group Leader
Sunil Das SY plays on the Varsity soccer team and the St. Benedict’s CrossFit team. Sunil
recalls being in the HAB gym in Convocation doing the regular routine last year on March
13. “You know the usual: prayer, attendance, announcements, and usually Fred’s
daily speeches.” Sunil would soon receive the news that, to protect St. Benedict’s students
and staff from infection due to rising COVID-19 cases in the Greater Newark region, the
school would shift to virtual learning for two weeks. Initially, the announcement filled
Sunil with joy.
benedictnewsonline.org
6
“I thought it would just be for two weeks and I would essentially be getting a break,” he
said.
What Sunil thought of as a rest period turned out to be much more extensive -- more than
a year of remote learning, with most high school students learning from home and
teachers moving between occasional lockdowns and longer periods of running virtual
classrooms from the property.. Although COVID-19 hasn't fully disappeared, students are
slowly, with proper precautions, being cleared (after testing negative for COVID-19) to
return to the property to attend classes and participate in their activity requirement. This
opportunity has given the chance for Sunil to enjoy the school environment again, regain a
piece of his Senior year, and make as many memories with friends and teachers as
possible.
“Oh man, it feels good to be back, I missed this place,” he said. “Walking up those stairs
and opening the 520 door on my first day back, holds a special place in my heart. I'm going
to miss this place, man.”
Mr. Stephen Adubato,
Religion Teacher
Mr. Stephen Adubato, a religion
teacher and moderator of the
Gray Bee Ministry, remembers
his last day being in school -
Friday, March 13, 2021 --
attending a faculty meeting,
where most teachers appeared
alarmed and worried with the
outbreak of disease.
“I remember during the faculty
meeting I just started scribbling
down notes for how I was going
to do virtual class, I was just
thinking on the spot,” he said.
Photo by
Jorge Izurieta
Mr. Stephen
Adubato,
Religion
Teacher
The meeting focused on
discussing current events and
planning for the future. Mr.
Adubato recalled being in
Convocation in the HAB, where
Headmaster Fr. Edwin Leahy ‘63
O.S.B. explained what the next
few weeks were going to look
like according to plan. After
7 Issue 2 Volume 3 Spring 2021
Convocation, Mr. Adubato had his First Block class having to explain a situation that he
was totally unfamiliar with, and all he was able to do was pray for everyone's health and
wellbeing. Like many faculty, Mr. Adubato has been teaching from his classroom,
reaching students virtually. Recently, however, at the encouragement of Fr. Ed, Mr.
Adubato has hosted a few student leaders in his classroom who “attend” their classes from
there.
“With students here, I am very content,” he said. “It's just weird to be a year without
students but it's like, wow, I miss this!” Looking ahead, Mr. Adubato anticipates some
challenges in re-adjusting to managing a classroom filled with teenage students. Doing so,
he said, should “be troublesome but hopefully fun at the same time.”
Samuel Pineda,
Blue Section Leader
Samuel Pineda SY keeps a busy
schedule as he is Blue Section
Leader, Editor-in-Chief of The
Benedict News, and vice
president of tutoring for the
National Honor Society.
Samuel was in his third block
class with the chemistry teacher
at The Hive. “I was with Dr.
Lansang, and he was the one
explaining how everything
would go down,” he said. Like
many others, Samuel thought
that the virus would not be as big
and dangerous as the world now
knows it to be.
“I thought it would just be for
the first two weeks,” Samuel said.
“I was pretty confused on how
things would work virtually with
having to wear our uniforms and
all that.”
What he has missed most over
the past year is the
camaraderie with buddies.
“Eating with friends,’ he said.
“When I was home, that was the
one thing that was missing.”
benedictnewsonline.org
8
Mr. Joshua Aune,
Benedictine Volunteer
In August, St. Benedict’s
welcomed three
Benedictine Volunteers
from St. John’s University
in Minnesota, part of a long-standing
tradition. By that time, the Hive was
in full virtual gear.
Going back to last spring, however, matters were not as smooth for at least one of the
volunteers. Mr. Joshua Aune, who is presently teaching Microbiology to remote students
from a classroom on the property, experienced an unsettling last “regular” day of college.
He was sitting in his physics class, speaking with his lab partner, preparing to run an
experiment. He recalled feeling that he and the other student were the only “sane ones, ''as
everyone around them buried their faces in news sites and blogs.” His physics professor
though, did not seem to be bothered. “As the professor walked into the room, he states that
he has heard the rumors of online school,” Mr. Aune said. “But he is just going to teach his
lesson as usual.”
Moments later,, an announcement by university leaders that the school was moving
immediately to a virtual format because of COVID-19 hit the internet.
“The morale was low, and people were crying,” Mr. Aune said.
While others rushed to get home, he stayed in class with his microbiology professor and
his friend, the physics partner, and talked for hours.
Mr. Aune regrets the impact the pandemic had on the closing days of his Senior year and
on his 2020 college graduation ceremony. “One thing I wish I could have done before
going virtual,” Mr. Aune said, “would be to finish out the year with my classmates and
experience all of the perks that come with the last days of being a Senior in college.”
He is sad he missed saying goodbye to all the people he met in college that made it such
an unforgettable experience. He added, “It was one of those days where I will never forget
where I was when it happened for the rest of my life.”
9 Issue 2 Volume 3 Spring 2021
Conversio:
Giving Students
a Chance to
Connect
By Ethan Brady and David Decker
At St. Benedict’s Preparatory
School during the pandemic,
“Conversio” is a program that was
developed to give students struggling
with the remote learning format an
opportunity to improve their academic
performance by returning to the
property. In Latin, it means “conversion
to a new way of life.”
Photo by A Gray Bee
Dean of Students John Rowe enjoys a light
moment, with Phoebe on his shoulder. Mr. Rowe led
the development of Conversio at Benedict’s for students
who were not adapting well to remote
learning.
benedictnewsonline.org
10
Given St. Benedict’s emphasis on the value
of community, Conversio puts the principle
into practice by giving students a chance to
connect with each other again.
“The value of Conversio, I think, goes far
beyond just the academic component,” said
Mr. John Rowe, SBP’s Dean of Students.
“We all feel that sense of isolation and
that lack of community. And it’s difficult.
As much as we tried to recreate it through
(virtual) Convocation and through classes
online, there’s still that piece I think we all
admit is missing.”
Students come to the property to avoid
distractions and to improve better academically.
“It’s not a tutoring program,” said
Ms. Charlsey Sheib, a school psychologist.
“It’s basically to provide a safe, structured
environment so they can just focus on their
academics. We tried to give them that environment
so they can succeed but, just like
anything else, it’s up to the individual
whether they want to succeed.”
Students are reacting well to the program,
faculty said.
“Conversio has helped me with my life and
helped me concentrate more in my classes
rather than being distracted at home,” said
Erick Gonzalez UD1.
Participating students are improving their
academic performance.
“Overall, grades are getting better and positive
results are coming from teachers,” said
Mr. Sylvers Owusu, one of the teachers who
has been actively working with Conversio
students. “This shows that we are gaining
back motivation and community that we
once had before the pandemic and it feels
like we are slowly getting it back.”
School officials started Conversio at the beginning
of Fall Term.
Students from the Boys Division “attend”
their classes virtually, via laptops, from the
cafeteria, while members of the Girls Division
do the same from the library.
The biggest challenge in starting the program
was convincing parents to overcome
their fear of COVID-19 and trust school officials
to have safeguards in place. “Parents
and students are rightfully anxious,” Mr.
Rowe said. “You just have to watch the news
to know that this is a very real health threat
and parents are cautious about their kids
coming back to school.”
Fears abated once students started to attend
regularly. “I think that the students see the
value in it and continue to come regularly,”
Mr. Rowe said.
In the morning during school days, Conversio
students attend online classes until
1 p.m., eat lunch, and then participate in a
structured study hall.
“During that time we help them with any
work for academics and make time for them
to have after-school sessions with their
teachers,” Mr. Owusu said. “Some kids are
improving. Some need more motivation
and, to help them improve, we need to pay
more attention to them.”
Conversio students are required to undergo
COVID-19 testing every other week at the
school’s test center in the HAB gym.
There have also been some unintended benefits
from Conversio.
“A lot of the freshmen didn’t have the
Overnight,” said Ms. Sheib, noting the
cancellation of the Overnight and some
other in-person freshmen experiences due
to the pandemic. “They missed having
much of the stuff that normally takes place
and so they couldn’t really form or build
those relationships and bonds with each
other, which is you know super important at
Benedict’s.”
Conversio, Ms. Sheib said, has given some
students an unexpected opportunity to form
friendships.
The program has also given administrators
insight on how to manage the eventual transition
back for the entire student body.
“I think it gave us the opportunity to test the
waters to bring guys back in a safe, effective
way kind of incrementally,” Mr. Rowe said.
“The students took to that immediately as if
they never left.”
Conversio has also brought together students
who may normally not be in the same
class.
“Guys who might ordinarily participate in
the life of the community in different ways
-- guys on different teams who may not normally
cross paths with each other -- have the
opportunity to interact during Conversio,”
Mr. Rowe said. “I think at the end of the day
it strengthens community.”
Photo by Erick Garcia
In Conversio, students come to the property to avoid
distractions and to improve academically.
11 Issue 2 Volume 3 Spring 2021
Medical Experts of Color Tell Benedict’s Community:
COVID Vaccine Safe
By Alexander Benanti and Adrian Vasquez
Staff Photo
Medical experts and top SBP administrative leaders provided a live streamed forum on COVID-19 and
vaccine safety in December. Pictured, from left, (top row) Associate Headmaster of Community and
Leadership Dr. Glenn Cassidy, Dr. Harold Guadalupe ’86, Emergency Medicine Physician, Dr. James Cleary
’91, Medical Oncologist, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, (middle row) SBP Headmaster Fr. Edwin Leahy ‘63
O.S.B., Dean of the Girls Division Analisa Branco, Dean of College Guidance Didier Jean-Baptiste, Esq.,’86
and Dr. Joseph Mosquera ’72, Internal Medicine Specialist, (bottom row) Dr. Jamal Gwathney, Senior
Advisor, U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps., Dr. Nii Darko ’96, Host, Docs Outside the Box
Podcast, Foreign Language Department Chair David Rodriguez’86.)))
“Right now we're in a really dark period where COVID is really resurging and we're
seeing hospitals fill up,” said Dr. James Cleary ’91, a Medical Oncologist at the
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Massachusetts.
This was Dr. Cleary’s insight on the current position America is in right now, as the
country tries to navigate through this pandemic. Dr. Cleary said he has never dealt with a
disease like COVID-19 before. He gave his insight on where America stands in terms of
fighting off the virus during one of two live streamed discussion panels on COVID vaccine
safety hosted by St. Benedict’s.
The events were conceived by St. Benedict’s leaders to inform community members clearly
and concisely about a decidedly complex and controversial topic.
“In a conversation in early December with Fr. Ed, we were talking about the vaccine and
whether or not people would get it and what it would take,” said Associate Headmaster
of Community and Leadership Dr. Glenn Cassidy. “I think people are tired of hearing the
talking heads on TV and people that they can't relate to. And quite frankly maybe it would
help people from our community, especially African Americans, Latinos, others that maybe
come from poor neighborhoods if they heard from doctors that came from the same
neighborhoods, came from the same school as them, who looked like them and could
speak the same languages as they did.”
benedictnewsonline.org
12
Dr. Cassidy organized the panel, composed
of St. Benedict’s alumni who are
physicians and infectious disease specialists
and other medical leaders. Dr. Cassidy said
he didn’t screen the panel but left the
question of each panelist’s stance on the
virus unknown. He said he wanted the St.
Benedict’s community to hear the panelist’s
raw thoughts and ideas.
School administrators and teachers also
participated on the panels to assist during
separate sessions held in other languages
including Creole, French, Spanish, and
Portuguese.
One panelist, Dr. Harold Guadalupe ’86, an
Emergency Medicine Physician, bemoaned
the fact that in his hometown of Dayton,
Ohio, minority families with low incomes
that are living in multigenerational
households are being infected with
COVID-19 more rapidly than others.
Dr. Chris Pernell, Chief Strategic
Integration & Health Equity Officer at
University Hospital in Newark, shared that
she lost 11 members of her team due to their
daily exposure to patients with COVID-19.
Dr. Jamal Gwathney, a Senior Advisor with
the U.S. Public Health Service
Commissioned Corps assigned to oversee
prisons in San Diego, Ca., expressed his
concern for prisoners due to how close the
prisoners are to each other every day and
how the virus is able to spread more
efficiently throughout prisons.
After introducing the participants and their
backgrounds, Dr. Cassidy questioned the
panel and opened up the event to questions
from the viewing audience.
The looming question of the evening was
whether the vaccines currently available
from Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson &
Johnson are safe and effective. All panel
members agreed on the safety and
effectiveness of the vaccines and
advocated that everyone be vaccinated
against the virus.
As the population of students attending St.
Benedict’s are mainly African American and
Hispanic, their views, and their family’s
views on the vaccine are crucial to fighting
the pandemic, panel members said. There is
distrust between the minority communities
and medical products endorsed by the U.S.
government, according to several panel
members. The skepticism is legitimate,
according to Dr. Pernell, tied to past medical
ethical atrocities such as the Tuskegee
Institute experiment where young black
men died in medical experiments. There is
also extensive misinformation circulating on
social media about vaccines, panel members
said. And many people have safety
concerns, due to how quickly the vaccines
were produced. Dr. Cassidy, in a separate
interview with the Benedict News, said he
had been initially leery but was convinced
by panelists’ statements about how the
COVID vaccines are based on decades of
research on antiviral products, including an
earlier vaccine for Ebola.
On the issue, Dr. Mosquera went on a brief
rundown on how vaccines work and what
vaccines have accomplished in recent years.
“Smallpox used to be killing 100,000 a year
and we haven’t seen it in decades,” he said.
“The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are only
different in how they can be stored, but they
are essentially the same.”
The doctors then went on to talk about the
effectiveness of the vaccine. Most, if not all,
of the doctors marveled at the
bioengineering breakthrough of this
vaccine. This is mainly due to the fact of the
short time period that the vaccine was made.
The panel members pointed out that there
are viruses that we have and still face that
have no vaccines, but the COVID-19
vaccine was fortunately able to be made in
one to two years. The vaccine itself is 95
percent effective in defending its host
13 Issue 2 Volume 3 Spring 2021
against COVID-19. Dr. Cleary stressed the importance of this figure and how even though
people who live in the modern world are so used to things being 99 percent effective that
95 percent is also outstanding.
“In college I wish I saw 95 percent effectiveness,” Dr. Cleary said. “We celebrate 15 percent
effectiveness, so this vaccine is created from the world’s best and brightest minds.”
Panel members talked about how the virus has hit the country and the entire world hard.
It is a dark time in human history, with hundreds of thousands in the United States alone
dead. Many people like Dr. Pernell have lost loved ones and co-workers to the virus. At
times it seemed to some that the virus was growing too powerful. However, now, the
panelists said, we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel thanks to the vaccine. With
millions of people starting to get vaccinated, there are hopeful signs that we may soon
return to normalcy, that we will be able to achieve herd immunity and defeat or contain
the virus, and finally put an end to the pandemic. However no matter how much progress
doctors make towards defeating the virus, some said, it will be for nothing if people don't
do their part and get tested and vaccinated.
“You should trust that if there are people who are still skeptical out there, please don't
make a decision based on what you're seeing on social media whether its by WhatsApp,
Instagram, Facebook, or sometimes even on TV,” said Dr. Nii Darko ’96, a panelist who
hosts the podcast “Docs Outside the Box,” speaking about the importance of being
vaccinated. “Please make sure that you talk with your doctor before you make a decision
and if you don't have access to get to a doctor, you can go to local urgent care.”
Staff Photo
St. Benedict’s live streamed a second night of discussion on the COVID-19 vaccine with some returning and some
new participants. (Top row: from left) Dr. Glenn Cassidy, Dr. Chris Pernell of University Hospital, Newark,
(Middle row:) Dr. Jamal Gwathney, SBP Headmaster Fr. Edwin Leahy ‘63 O.S.B., and Dr. Frantz Pierre-Louis,
Infectious Disease Specialist, (Bottom row) History Teacher Mr. Louis Laine, and Dean of College Guidance Mr.
Didier Jean-Baptiste.)))
benedictnewsonline.org
14
Will our lives ever be normal again ?
By Terrence Allavo
COVID-19. It’s the most talked about subject on the surface of the earth at the moment.
As of right now, it has even taken on the severity of the devil on the list of enemies of Humans.
It is definitely the most unexpected disaster that fell upon us in 2020.
COVID- 19 is a new virus identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. It is part of a
large family of viruses common in people and many different species of animals. Even
though the flu had its own casualties, the Coronavirus is powerful and deadly.
Its emergence represented a huge turn of events because people had great expectations for
2020. Most of those expectations were based on the fact that it was 2020, the year that had
the same number twice.
This generation will never experience that again before we die. It can definitely be qualified
as unexpected and deadly. It took the lives of many of our family members and
friends, locked us in our own houses, and bestowed major fear upon us.
The lockdown contributed greatly to that fear. We all became scared to go out even for simple
walks outside. We became hostile to company and contact with other people. Due to
that our lives changed. Our norm has been redefined. We have been confined to living our
lives through our screens. Work, school and events such as marriages and birthdays have
all been celebrated online.
Now even our faces have a required piece of cloth. Masks are part of our way of dressing.
We now fear each other due to the almost undetectable presence of the virus. It’s needless
to say that our new normal is a lot different than what we were used to.
But now I believe we are all asking ourselves the same questions: Will our lives ever be
normal again? When will this nightmare be over?
But there is a little glimpse of hope that keeps us going. The hope that things will get better.
Not normal but better.
It will not become normal because of the rate at which the virus keeps mutating and we
still do not know which other variant will appear. We are just going to have to create another
new Normal.
15 Issue 2 Volume 3 Spring 2021
Benedict’s “Finest Hour”:
Dr. Cass Talks Strategy
in School’s Battle Against COVID
When Quitting Isn’t an Option
Photo by Krithik Rajasegar
Taking a COVID test in the HAB
gym has become a rite of
Wednesday afternoons.
By Francisco Correira
On Jan. 28, 2021, Francisco Correira SY interviewed Dr. Glenn Cassidy, Associate Headmaster of
Community and Leadership, about St. Benedict Prep’s efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic to
protect the community’s health and maintain operations. In a wide-ranging conversation, Dr. Cassidy
talked about St. Benedict’s approach to the crisis, how he came to grow more confident about vaccine
safety, how SBP’s COVID testing center started, and what to expect in the coming weeks and months.
This interview has been edited for brevity.
Q) Francisco Correira: How is Benedict's serving as a model to other schools when it comes
to dealing with the pandemic in an educational setting?
A) Dr. Glenn Cassidy: I have said from the beginning and I would continue to say that,
when it comes to what schools are doing through this pandemic, I think that Benedict’s is
on the upper end of the curve. I really and truly do. And by curve I mean if you just think
about schools that are really going out of their way to schools that are doing basically
nothing. I think we are definitely on the upper end of the curve. And I have said in other
interviews of this nature that I really believe a lot of what has happened over the last year
really demonstrates Benedict’s in our finest hour. We have done lots of great things over
the years but I think what we have done through COVID might be some of the best work
we have ever done.
15 The Benedict News Vol. 3 Issue 2 Spring 2021
benedictnewsonline.org
16
Q) FC: Has your experience as a Benedict’s
man helped you at all in dealing with all the
stress and responsibility that came with the
pandemic and how we as a community are
dealing with it?
A. GC: I’m sure it did. If you think about it,
first of all, Benedict’s hates a quitter.
Quitting isn't an option right now. We have
got to push through, we have got to do it.
And that’s something we were all taught as
freshmen and there is no doubt that is
ingrained. It’s just not in my mantra to quit.
The second thing I would say is that the
whole concept of community -- brotherhood
and sisterhood -- really makes a difference
as well. People have been able to rely on
one another and pull on one another and as
result of that we have been able to
accomplish great things. So the whole
attitude of Benedict’s has played perfectly
into this situation.
Q. (FC) When were you assigned duties to
manage the pandemic in the school and why
were you chosen for this role ?
A. (GC) Assigned is an interesting word. So
we, like all schools, have crisis plans. And
part of that is that you should have a
designated individual who is considered the
Incident Commander, so that if something
happens like a fire alarm, a security
incident, anything, there is one person who
is responsible for that response and for that
whole situation. It’s probably no surprise to
you that that is my role in the school. When
there is a fire alarm I'm the guy that's
responsible, when there is a security thing
I’m the guy that’s responsible. When
COVID-19 came to a head in March (2020)
we had a bit of a conversation. It was very
quick. Should we treat this as a crisis or
should we treat this as something else and
we decided to treat it as a crisis. And I use
the term “crisis” in the sense of being an
emergency. And since I’m the person
responsible for emergency management, I
took the lead on what was happening. So we
did that early in March (2020) and it took off
from there.
Q. FC: What was your understanding of
COVID-19 when you were chosen to deal
with the pandemic at Benedict’s?
A. GC: There was a big learning curve for
everyone in a very short period of time. So
the quick story is that when COVID went
from being just something that was
happening overseas and maybe a couple
of West Coast cases to something that was
more of a concern was towards the end of
February (2020). We had gone to Holland (as
part of the school’s exchange program with
a high school in Castricum in the
Netherlands). While we were on that trip,
the numbers started to grow both here and
there. Before we even got back, I started to
get some emails and questions from people
if I knew how I could help and offer any
guidance. I did not know much other than
some pretty simple things that I was
reading. But, while we were away, I did
receive an invitation to a webinar to
understand more about COVID, which was
offered by a physician and an attorney, both
familiar with school situations. I attended
that webinar the day we got back where
I learned a lot more information about
COVID and how the virus works. From
there, it was literally just reading, reading,
reading, going to different websites and
staying on top of different reports. And the
biggest thing was over the summer where I
took a course from John Hopkins
University on contact tracing and that course
was all about the virus and how it spreads
and how to talk to people that may have
gotten COVID as well as how to talk to
people who may have been exposed, what to
tell people to look for, and how to tell them
to watch their symptoms, what the isolation
period means, what the quarantine period
means.
benedictnewsonline.org 16
17 Issue 2 Volume 3 Spring 2021
Q. FC: What was the school's view on the
virus?
A. GC: So we got back from Holland a week
and a half before we went to remote
learning. We came back around March 5 and
then on March 13 we had our last day of
school in person. So when we first got back,
the feeling that week was still ‘Why are
people making such a big deal of this?’ Even
my own attitude was, ‘People seem to be
going crazy about this thing.’ If you
remember, by that time there were only a
couple dozen cases in the whole U.S. And
we’re saying, why are we making such a
big deal out of something when it has only
affected so many people? And then the
numbers kept growing exponentially. So
that by the beginning of the second week
we were starting to have daily conversations
about what we might need to do and how
we would do it. And it felt like everyday
that week things started to explode. There
was more information coming out, there
were more places shutting down, and, as
much as we were trying to maintain a sense
of normalcy, we quickly realized that we
were not going to be able to just keep doing
what we had been doing. And, by the end
of that week, there were growing concerns
from parents, faculty, and students. We had
a couple of elementary students who started
to come in with masks and gloves. This was
before people were even told to wear masks
and then by the end of that week when we
had already started to really consider that
we might need to go virtual, some other big
organizations announced that they were
going to start being all remote. We decided
to do the same the following week. And the
week after we did it (the Newark Public
School system) did it and other places as
well.
Q. FC: How hard was the shift to virtual
learning and can you speak on how the idea
came about?
A. GC: So that is an area in which I was
much more of a spectator than a leader. That
effort was led by (Associate Headmaster for
Academics) Ms. Michelle Tuorto,
(Director of Technology) Mr. Dexter
Lopina, and members of the curriculum
committee, which is made up of all the
department chairpeople. In that second
week of March, we started to speculate
whether or not remote learning would be
necessary. Mr. Lopina had already sent out
a survey to students to find out what their
home capabilities were in terms of internet
and computer access. Soon after that there
was a meeting with the curriculum
committee to talk about what remote
learning would look like if we did it. The
committee came up with all the standards
like being in uniform and being on camera
the whole time and what the day-to-day
would look like. If you remember, we went
to that three-day-a-week schedule. They
came up with all of that in literally one
meeting, maybe two. And then within a
couple of days Mr. Lopina had put together
a whole workshop for the faculty about how
to use Google Meet and Google Classroom.
A lot of teachers at that time were not using
Google Classroom. So Mr. Lopina put some
stuff together and we had a workshop with
the faculty on how to do that. So there was
a lot of work that happened in that week
to get ready for the possibility of having to
go virtual. And then when we got to that
Thursday afternoon (March 12, 2020) we
made the decision that we needed to go
virtual. We were able to make the
announcement to everybody on Friday
(March 13, 2020) and that's why we were
able to transition so quickly to online
learning on Monday (March 14, 2020.) This
was only possible because of the hard work
that had gone in from a lot of people to have
everything ready the week before.
Q. FC: What were some of the challenges
in the beginning and what are some of the
continuing challenges?
17 The Benedict News Vol. 3 Issue 2 Spring 2021
18
benedictnewsonline.org
Dr. Glenn Cassidy, Associate Headmaster of
Community and Leadership, has been the
Photo by Krithik Rajasegar
architect of SBP’s battle against COVID. One of
his many duties has been to manage the COVID
test site on Wednesdays on the property.
A. GC: There were a bunch of families that struggled early on, I don’t think it’s as much
now, who did not have reliable internet access at home. Some had no internet at all
because they just relied on their phones. Some didn't have enough devices. So maybe
you have four people in the house but only one or two laptops. Well now all four people
are trying to work on the laptop at the same time. If people did have Wifi maybe it wasn't
strong enough to handle multiple devices to do all this type of work at once. Space became
an issue for a lot of families. If I’m in class and my brothers are in class right next to me,
we can’t hear because we’re both talking and listening and there's too many things and the
parents are trying to work and they’re on the other side of the table. So those types of
issues came up. A lot has been resolved by now. Again, Ms. Tuorto, Mr. Lopina, and
Associate Headmaster Dr. Ivan Lamourt did a lot of work on getting hot spots in people’s
hands if they didn’t have the internet at home and ordering a lot more Chromebooks
that we were able to lend to people who didn't have enough devices at home. And then
certainly by September (2020), we started the whole Conversio program where students
benedictnewsonline.org 18
19 Issue 2 Volume 3 Spring 2021
could come and take their classes here. Even
though they were still remote, they didn't
have to rely on their home internet and deal
with distractions at home. So those are some
of the challenges that came up technically.
Emotionally, this whole format is really
tough on a lot of us and it has taken a toll on
a lot of people. Motivation gets really hard.
And I think the biggest challenge for us at
St. Benedict’s is the community challenge.
We have done so much over the years to
focus on bringing everyone together and
being a community and it’s so hard to do
that in this format. So therefore we have
done what we can with (virtual) Convo and
Group time, trying to have a lot more online
activities. All of those things have been real
efforts to maintain community. But nothing
replaces what happens in Shanley Gym.
Nothing replaced what happens in the
hallways. Nothing replaces what happens
on the field. So that has been the biggest
struggle and a lot of us are talking about
what we need to do or keep doing over these
next few months to make sure the
community does not disintegrate. That we
are able to maintain the community aspect.
Q) FC: What resources do you use to keep
up with all the new information regarding
the pandemic? State laws? Health concerns?
A) GC: I signed up for alerts from the CDC
(U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention in Atlanta.) I signed up for alerts
from New Jersey’s COVID dashboard page
as well as NJ.com’s COVID alerts. So those
are my first three sources of information
because I get text message alerts when there
are changes to things regarding COVID. So
I look for that. And then I just keep my ear
to the ground, I don’t watch a lot of news
just because news can get overwhelming. I
do get headlines on my phone from a few
different sources so I will scan headlines
and what happens is if I see a headline
that is indicating that there is some sort of
change then I go and read the story and go
and look for more information. Typically
that means going to the CDC website or
going to the N.J. Department of Health
website and trying to get more details about
something that maybe I missed. We also
have a couple of doctors that we work with
who have been great sources of
information for us and I’ve been able to call
up a few people and ask ‘Hey, I’ve been
hearing about this, what do you think?’ or
‘How does this affect us?’ So that has been
really helpful as well. We also do get
information from the New Jersey
Association of Independent Schools, the
Office of Nonpublic Schools, and the
Archdiocese of Newark. There are times
where it gets overwhelming and you have to
close it for a while and then look at it later.
Q) FC: How did the community react when
the school started last summer to bring
different groups of students to the property?
A) GC: We had a good response. There
were a lot of students who did come and it
seemed like those people were generally
comfortable with it. There were some
families that because of medical conditions
or age of others in the home didn't want
their kids to come in but by and large the
overwhelming majority of the freshman
came in. There were really no issues with
counselors. Those families were willing to
send their kids in. But the big difference
was that it was outdoors and we knew by
late summer that outdoor transmission was
nowhere near as dangerous as indoor
transmission. I also think that since then we
have done a lot more to really reinforce
precautions and to really provide
information to families. I send out
Honeywell alerts that say ‘Hey, we have
someone with COVID’ and I have heard
from a lot of teachers and parents that those
messages really make them feel more
comfortable because we are telling them
what is happening and we are not just
19 The Benedict News Vol. 3 Issue 2 Spring 2021 20
benedictnewsonline.org
hiding it. Some people get a little concerned
about those messages. I understand, but,
in general, people say that they have been
happy to get those messages because at least
they know we’re telling them things. I think
that’s a big deal.
Q) FC: When and how did the idea of
testing regularly at the school come about?
A) GC: So a couple weeks before
Thanksgiving, Dr. Lamourt, Ms. Tuorto,
and I were having a meeting and we were
talking about the concern about surges in
COVID cases after Thanksgiving and again
after Christmas. And so in those
conversations we said ‘Wouldn’t it be great
if there was a way to get everybody tested?’
So Dr. Lamourt reached out to contacts and
we ended up working with Dr. Kamran
Tasharofi, medical director of the Union
County Healthcare Associates in Rahway.
Dr. Lamourt called him and asked him if
we would be able to set up a testing date for
early December to be able to test students
and teachers after Thanksgiving and he
agreed. So Dr. Lamourt connected me with
Dr. T. So we then connected the next day
and I said, ‘Well I’d love to do something
every week’ and he said, ‘I thought we were
doing this one time.’ But he said we could
do it weekly. And that's how it developed.
He told me it would not cost anything and
not be a burden on families. He was very
clear about that up front. I was very clear
that that was part of what we had to do. He
and his staff have been amazingly
responsive to us. Just about anything we
have asked they have done. They give
results back to us very quickly. Almost
always results from tests taken Wednesdays
are back on Fridays. There was virtually no
objection from administrators to the idea
that we wanted everybody working on site
-- faculty, staff, and students -- tested at least
every other week and athletes to be tested
every week. This was because of athletes’
close interactions with each other and
especially without masks on. And that's
how we got to where we are now.
Q) FC: Did you have any doubts,
personally, about getting vaccinated? Did
you have thoughts? Fears? Questions?
A) GC: As an EMT, my first vaccine was the
last week of December and the day after I
got the vaccine my arm did hurt quite a bit.
Other than that no. Now people have been
joking with me that I should prepare for a
rough weekend if I’m getting my second
shot tomorrow. Some people have had more
severe reactions to the second dose. In some
cases those reactions have mimicked symptoms
of COVID. Some people have shown
no reaction. It's important to note that just
because people have those symptoms, it
doesn't mean that they have gotten COVID.
Your body reacts to the vaccine itself. Any
time you put something in your body, your
body reacts to it and the first reaction is to
protect yourself from it. So it's not
uncommon for those things to happen.
Photo by Krithik Rajasegar
As part of a requirement of returning
to the property for classes or
activities, students and staff have to
be regularly tested.
21 benedictnewsonline.org Issue 2 Volume 3 Spring 202021
time that there was to evaluate the vaccine.
Nevertheless, despite my hesitancy, I also
recognized that if it's the only way out of
this whole damn mess that we are in, then I
guess I'm going to have to get vaccinated.
It’s that simple.
Photo By
Krithik Rajasegar
SBP School
Administrators
established a COVID
testing center, right
in the HAB gym, on
the property as a
way of safeguarding
health.
In a conversation in early December with Fr.
Ed we were talking about the vaccine and
whether or not people would get it and what
it would take. As we talked we said ‘You
know, I think people are tired of hearing the
talking heads on TV and people that they
can't relate to. And quite frankly maybe it
would help people from our community,
especially African Americans, Latinos,
others that maybe come from poor
neighborhoods if they heard from doctors
that came from the same neighborhoods,
came from the same school as them, who
looked like them and could speak the same
languages as they did.’
Q) FC: Which vaccine did you receive?
A. GC: Moderna. Initially, I was very
concerned about the speed with which the
vaccine was developed. One thing that I
always trusted about it was to say that I
think we are in a time in history where the
heads of the drug companies would have
been very foolish to allow a vaccine to be
released without properly vetting it. They
know that ultimately it would wind up as a
class action lawsuit and it could really cost
them a lot. So I was always kind of
confident that the testing of the vaccines was
going well. I was just concerned about the
benedictnewsonline.org
21 The Benedict News Vol. 3 Issue 2 Spring 2021 22
So we put together expert panels for
livestreamed presentations in late December
made up of some of our alumni and some
other connections that we have. And we
were able to get seven physicians from
different backgrounds, many of whom went
to St. Benedict’s and many of whom came
from the Greater Newark area, to do a panel
and to tell us their thoughts. Going in we
didn't ask them what they thought of the
vaccine. We didn't ask if they wanted or
didn't want people to get the vaccine. We
wanted people to hear their raw thoughts.
That's exactly what happened.
If you watch those videos online you will
hear those doctors talking and the
information that convinced me. Well there
were a lot of things that involved me. But
the first thing that convinced me was Dr.
Guadalupe, who I went to (Benedict’s) with,
by the way. Dr. Guadalupe was speaking
and he said what I think is really important
for people to realize about these vaccines
is that the research into these vaccines is
not new. It's been going on for thirty years.
What’s happened is COVID has given us
the reason to bring that research into reality.
To turn the research into actual vaccine
doses. So that was one of the things that
really changed my mind about the vaccine.
They did not start in March and say let's
come up with a vaccine. They’ve been doing
this for thirty years. So this was just
applying the previous research to the
current situation.
The second thing that really spoke to me
was when they said that they are not
injecting you with viral cells. Most
vaccines, if you know how they work,
actually (inject you with) the dead cells of a
virus. They can't harm you because they're
dead. But what they do is they tell your
body to develop antibodies to their
appearance so that your body is ready to
fight off anything that looks like that. Well
this is not what this vaccine does. This
vaccine is made up of what they call
messenger RNA. And what that does is it’s
just a message to your body to look for a
particular protein that's on the outside of a
viral cell and to effectively nullify that
protein. If you think about a car and all its
pieces, there are some pieces that you can
take off that really matter, but there are
some pieces that if you remove them the car
won't run. Well what this vaccine does -- it
takes out one of those major pieces. Like
taking the transmission from a car. Those
two things were what really sold me on
taking the vaccine.
Q) FC: Is the vaccine safe to take?
A) GC: Everything that I have read and
everything that I have heard absolutely says
the vaccine is safe. I am inclined to believe
that at this point. Do I believe that there
may not be some side effects we learn about
later? No, there may be, but I believe that in
general, it is safe.
Q) FC: What has this experience been like
for you personally having to be the lead
administrator in regards to the pandemic at
Benedict’s? Mentally? Physically?
Emotionally?
I’ll go back to what I said about this
being our finest hour. I don’t think I would
want to do this anywhere but Benedict’s.
I think it would be even that much more
stressful. We have gotten very talented and
very committed people here and when you
think about people like (Dean of the
Middle Division) Mr. James Duffy,
(Associate Headmaster for Academics) Ms.
Tuorto, (Associate Headmaster for Student
Life) Dr. Lamourt, (Dean of Counseling) Dr.
Sinclair Davis, (Dean of Students) Mr. John
Rowe, (Director of Admissions) Mr. Mario
Gallo, (Dean of Administration) Mr. Mike
Scanlan, and (Director of Facilities) Mr. Luis
Ramos. We have people who have really put
forth a lot of effort and a lot of knowledge to
be able to get us to where we are today. Yes,
I have worked very hard over these last
several months, and yes, I feel it. I am
drained but by no means do I feel like I am
the only person who has done that. I feel
like this would have been impossible to do
were it not for everybody else doing what
they do. So my job is just to steer the ship a
little bit. Fr. Ed ultimately sets the direction,
with me saying, ‘I think we should go right’
and him saying, ‘Okay, go right.’ But other
than that there have been a lot of people. I
didn't even mention (Director of Freshman
Formation) Mr. Craig White and (Freshman
Leader) Akhir Crenshaw SY and the
freshman faculty team, and all the work
they all did for the freshmen. It has just
been incredible to watch people just take
part of their own subset of what's going on
here and say ‘All right, we gotta make this
work’ and run with it.
benedictnewsonline.org 22
23 Issue 2 Volume 3 Spring 2021
Q) FC: Do you have any final comments?
A) GC: First and foremost I would want to thank one, all of the people I referenced earlier.
I also want to thank everyone who has been involved: every faculty member, every
administrator, every student, everybody that’s been involved because it has been
incredible to be a part of this. I also want to encourage us all that, sadly, this situation is
not going to go anywhere anytime soon. We are still going to be dealing with COVID for
a while. I firmly believe we will be able to start bringing more people together. We will
be able to start putting people back in classrooms. I firmly believe that will be happening
by the summer. But I don’t know that we are actually going to be able to put everyone in
Shanley gym or the HAB gym and have a Convocation. I don't think that we are going to
be able to do that anytime soon.
So I encourage us to do a few things. One, to be patient. Two, to not lose faith and to not
lose hope, and to not lose sight of what St. Benedict’s is and has been. And then three, that
all of us need to work hard on how to maintain the St. Benedict’s community throughout
whatever the length of the pandemic is and beyond. So when we have the opportunity, and
there will be a day when we will be able to put everybody back in the gym, we will need
Convocation to feel just like it did in March of 2020, and that is going to be a real challenge
because we haven't done that for a year and it might be a lot longer before we can actually
do that. And a lot of the students by next year, will have never attended a Convocation like
that. The freshmen have never done it. Next year's freshmen wont have done it. So if we’re
not able to do that early next summer, you're going to get to the point where more than half
of the Prep Division has never done a Convocation in person. So recreating that feel is
going to be really tough. So I encourage all of us to be thinking about how we hold on to
that and how we recreate it when the time comes to be able to do that.
And last is, continue to keep yourselves safe. Follow the precautions, do what you can.
When restrictions are eased up a little bit, allow yourself to enjoy life to the extent that you
can but do it safely. Don’t allow yourself to get sucked into bad situations where you're
indoors with a lot of people, and you're not wearing masks. That is just not the way to go.
So adhere to the precautions and allow yourself to live. And, as restrictions are lifted, you
can allow yourself to live more but be safe about it.
23 The Benedict News Vol. 3 Issue 2 Spring 2021
benedictnewsonline.org
24
‘Yes’ to Vaccinate, ‘No’ to Making it Mandatory, Survey Says
By Adrian Vasquez
Photo by Neal E. Johnson of Unsplash
It has been almost a year since coronavirus began to ravage the world and change life as we
know it. Hundreds of thousands of lives, in the United States alone, are now gone due to
the virus. The virus has caused multiple problems. With the creation of multiple
coronavirus vaccines, however, the country may be starting to see the end of the
pandemic. The advent of the vaccines may be raising new issues: Will people take the
vaccine? Should they be forced to?It takes years to make a vaccine but the coronavirus
vaccine was made in under a year. Many have praised the speed of creating the vaccine but
others are skeptical on whether or not it’s safe. There is a lot of distrust for the vaccine due
to misinformation, dark medical history such as the Tuskegee incident, and other factors.
According to Pew Research, 60 percent of Americans say they definitely or probably will
get the vaccine. Meanwhile 39 percent say they probably will or definitely not get the
vaccine.
In a poll conducted by The Benedict News at St. Benedict’s Prep, 42 out of 67 survey
participants (62.7%) said they have trust in the vaccine and 25 out of 67 (37.3%) of
participants said they do not trust the vaccine.
At the time of the writing of this article, 19.3% of Americans have been vaccinated.
However, that is still far behind the 70-90% of Americans who have to be vaccinated in
order to achieve herd immunity. Another question is then raised, should the vaccine be
mandatory, when available, to be able to achieve herd immunity and for us to be
completely safe.
It is perfectly legal to be able to mandate the vaccine. In Jacobson vs. Massachusetts, the
U.S. Supreme Court said it is legal for states to enforce vaccine laws and mandates. Dr.
Anthony Fauci, the chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden, however, told Newsweek,
"I'm not sure it's going to be mandatory from a central government standpoint, like federal
government mandates. But there are going to be individual institutions that I'm sure are
going to mandate it.”
Rutgers University recently became one of the first universities in the country to announce
it will require proof of vaccination from any student entering in the fall.
Dr. Fauci said he believes that in the future, company officials and even some governments
might require the vaccine to ensure safety of employees and the general population. There
are already talks about the creation of a COVID-19 passport in order to travel.
As for schools, Dr. Fauci in the interview with Newsweek said that it is ultimately up to
city and school districts to decide upon whether or not to mandate vaccinations.
However vaccine mandates are highly controversial and do not have much support. In the
survey conducted with members at St. Benedict’s Prep, 61.2 percent of participants
opposed mandatory COVID-19 vaccination in order to come back to school and 38.8
percent supported it.
However, right now, government officials, like New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, are saying
the main task is to get as many people vaccinated as possible before making any
requirements.
25 Issue 2 Volume 3 Spring 2021
The Convomakers:
What Virtual Convo Means to Them
By Luke Amoakoh
Virtual convocation is a means for the St.
Benedict’s Prep community to feel
connected. But how do the people running
it feel about its effects? Asking the people
who are in virtual Convocation every day, I
got some insight into this.
When interviewing Transfer Leader Reuben
Kadushin of the senior class, he explained
to me how virtual Convocation was formed
from a student’s point of view. He
briefly talked about how Agnes Aghanwa
and Sunil Das (the senior group leaders of
the Girls’ and Boys’ Prep Divisions,
respectively) would send out a list of names
for the roles of Convo. He stated that it was
based on group rotation, so that
representatives of every group in the school
can participate. He shed light on how the
addition of the girls contributed to fair
representation. He, along with the others
I have talked to, established how it only
made sense to add the girls to convocation
and that their addition was smooth. When I
asked him about how connected he thinks
that people are to virtual convocation, he
touched on the effort that group leaders
made for students to watch Convocation.
According to him, how attentive students
are to Convo is the responsibility of the
group leaders. When asked about how
impactful he thinks virtual Convocation is,
he highlighted that it is repetitive compared
to in-person Convo: “The problem with
virtual Convo, right, it’s kind of the same
people on it ...and there’s no real way to get
the entire community involved. Whereas in
[in-person] Convocation, you literally have
the entire community involved…
Convocation in person is a lot more, kind of,
intense, right, there’s a lot more
back-and-forth between the students and
benedictnewsonline.org
26
the leaders. And just that general interaction
was completely severed off when we went
online, where it’s only leaders. There’s no
“Get quiet” time, there’s no yelling, there’s
no afterschool Convo, there’s just no
disruption because both parties aren’t even
in the room.” He touched on how virtual
Convo requires different skills and how the
alumni coming there was a bonus. He stated
there is nothing quite like in-person Convo.
My last question for him was whether he
thought that in-person Convo was
repetitive. He explained that he thought it
was at times, but both in-person and virtual
Convocation brought people together
nonetheless.
Agnes Aghanwa is the next person I got into
contact with, and she provided information
about virtual Convocation, her viewpoint of
being another student and from her
position as Senior Group Leader of the
Girls Division. She explained to me that
the order of virtual Convocation was based
on in-person Convocation and that certain
elements like the affirmation, were modified
to better accommodate the platform. Student
leaders contribute to how virtual Convo is
set in stone, members of each group show
up to run prayer, and it’s a cycle. Agnes
stated that the Girls’ Division came into
Convo the same way as the BoysDivision
did, with the Girls Division running Convo
on Tuesdays and Thursdays and the Boys
Division running Convo on Mondays and
Fridays. When I asked about how connected
she thinks people are to virtual Convo, she
responded: “I think that the entire community
is connected to Convocation. It is one
of the things that sets our school apart from
most other Catholic schools. We meet as a
community every day and alumni are able
to participate and play an active role in it.”
She elaborated that it’s a part of the school’s
identity to be connected to Convo,
highlighting the Middle Division as well.
When I asked her how impactful she
thought virtual Convo was compared to
in-person Convo, she said: “Although I
have never been to in-person Convocation at
school, I know for a fact that Convo
virtually does not touch as many people
as it does in-person. I have heard multiple
stories about students singing and rocking
each other back and forth to regular
Convocation songs, and unfortunately, that
factor of togetherness isn't as strong as in
regular Convocation, in person.” She
focused on the positive effects of virtual
Convocation.
Finally, I questioned two members of the
faculty, Chemistry Teacher Dr. Dennis
Lansang and Director of Technology Mr.
Dexter Lopina, on what they had to say
about how virtual Convocation started
and its impact. Dr. Lansang explained how
prayer was made to be first in virtual
Convo so that Group Leaders could have
time to check attendance. He also explained
that the members of the Girls Division just
had to do their group draft and become part
of the Convo rotation, which was as easy as
the Middle Division being added to Convo.
Mr. Lopina said: “... before [the] girls were
drafted into groups, leaders from the Girls
Division were present daily for attendance
and another leader was usually assigned
one of the other roles -- Prayer Leader,
Psalms, Prayer of the Faithful,
Announcements.” When asked about how
connected he thinks people are to virtual
convo, Dr. Lansang responded: “The
alumni are very involved in responding (on
the live chat via YouTube) and Mr. Lopina,
Dr. (Glenn)Cassidy, and I monitor the live
chat during the broadcast. (Headmaster) Fr.
Edwin can also see what is being typed into
the live chat and he frequently comments
about what is typed in the chat. It's almost
like he is having a conversation with the
online audience.” He also touched on how
others are lively in the live chat -- a number
of people who are frequently active on it.
Dr. Lansang and Mr. Lopina agreed that
students are not as connected to virtual
Convo as they were to in-person Convo. Dr.
Lansang also made the point that people
were disconnected from Convocation even
when in person, bringing up how certain
students didn’t pay attention, were sleeping,
or were texting during it. He said it was up
to the individual to decide how involved
she/he will be in Convo, but he also made it
clear that Convocation is meant to nurture
the community of Benedict’s. He proceeded
to say that the impact of virtual Convocation
is present but not as strong as in-person
Convocation. He said in-person Convo can
never be beat, but the virtual version is still
good for bringing the community together.
He concluded: “Virtual Convocation has
become such an important part of the
alumni interaction that the administration,
and Mr. Lopina, and Dr. Cassidy, and I have
promised to keep the broadcasts going on
YouTube even once we come back to live
[in-person] Convocation. We need to
involve more students to run these
broadcasts/live streams in the future
because this is a student-run school.”
Photo by Krithik Rajasegar.
There is no replacement for in-person
Convo, according to those who created
virtual Convo to unite the community
during the pandemic. But virtual
Convo has other benefits, giving a way for
others, like alumni, who would otherwise
not have the chance, to participate, those
organizing virtual Convo say.
27 Issue 2 Volume 3 Spring 2021
“Staying Together”
A Photo Essay
By Krithik Rajasegar
With photos by Krithik Rajasegar, Sovereign Brown, Jorge Izurieta, and Justin James
Over the past year and especially recently, members of the St. Benedict’s
community found ways to keep Benedict’s culture alive. Whether it was by running
Group meetings virtually, holding sports events off the property, staging a Drama
Guild production outdoors, having student leaders coming to the property in small
groups, or streaming a celebration of the Benedict News’ First Edition, students
improvised.
Jorge Izurieta, Group Leader for Fr. John
Doyle (lower left), and Andy
Chuquirima, Group Leader for Fr.
Cornelius, have been attending classes
virtually while stationed in the
classroom of English Teacher Mr. Brian
Delaney. The student leaders, who tested
negative for COVID-19 and maintain
social distancing protocols, returned to
the property at the request of
Headmaster Fr. Edwin Leahy ‘63, O.S.B,
who wants to slowly, safely return
students to the property.
The SBP Swim Team resumed attending
meets this season, exciting many
students. In a recent meet against
Bloomfield High School (shown), the
Gray Bees triumphed.
benedictnewsonline.org
28
After holding a live streamed production
last fall, the SBP Drama Guild staged a
live outdoor production this spring,
producing two one-act plays, Anton
Chekhov’s “The Marriage Proposal” and
Edmond Rostond’s “The Romancers.”
Longstanding Groups from the Boys Division and newly formed Groups from the
Girls Division gathered daily virtually for Pre-Convo and twice-weekly for Group
Meets by virtue of Google Meets. Above, Group Leader Kyron Parker and Assistant
Group Leader Josue Reyes catch up with other members of Fr. Thomas Long.
Print copies of the Benedict News are
usually distributed at Convo in the
Shanley Gymnasium. With COVID
precautions making it impossible to
meet, editors and staff of The Benedict
News live streamed a celebration
publicizing the electronic publication of
their First Edition, thanks to the effort of
Director of Technology Mr. Dexter
Lopina.
29 Issue 2 Volume 3 Spring 2021
COVID and Me
Have you ever loved something even before
you deeply get into it?
That’s how it was. My plan was to come to
the U.S. to finish my studies and play
soccer. Before 2020 started, I promised
myself that this was going to be the year
of my life. Unfortunately, my expectations
were shut down.
The prospect of getting into a new school
and coming to the United States was
something my family and I prepared
ourselves for throughout the year, mentally
and physically, praying to God as we sent
all the documents needed to apply to St.
Benedict’s Preparatory School.
I remember it as if it were yesterday, still
speechless and so grateful. One Saturday
morning I was deep in sleep; my mom
suddenly woke me up, crying and smiling
at the same time. Right away I started
praying for the dead!
Instead, the application results had arrived.
I had gotten into St. Benedict’s. It was a
relief. It was exciting. I had always gone
to the same school since I was a child, and
going to a different school in a different
country was amazing. So I just had to wait
for the current year to conclude to travel to
New Jersey.
My expectations met reality. I loved the
beginning of 2020. It was a whole new vibe
and, like everyone else, I thought I was
going to kill it this year. However, like
everyone else, I began to think differently
on March 12, the day the Coronavirus
pandemic started in the Dominican
Republic.
By Guitze Rodriguez
I thought it was a joke at first. Then a
one-week quarantine turned into two, then
three, then four weeks, then months:
Everything suddenly stopped. The U.S.
Embassy in DR closed its doors. I was stuck
and anxious, unable to travel because I
could not get the exact type of visa I needed
to come to the school. Everything now was
uncertain.
A virtual school year ensued, good for some,
terrible for others. The school year started
off completely virtual, and as you may
think, I was completely lost at the
beginning. The pandemic forced me to
avoid interacting with new people, which is
heaps easier if done physically. I was still in
DR taking classes, plus, I could not attend
soccer tryouts.
Finally, I was able to participate in tryouts,
and I was able to make my way to St.
Benedict’s. And, to make this year even
more ridiculous, when I got here, I found
out that, due to the intensity of the
pandemic in New Jersey, the soccer season
had been cancelled.
I never imagined a first day of school that
could be virtual. At first, I was quiet and
uninvolved during my first classes. Under
normal circumstances, I would have liked to
pass through the famous corridors of St.
Benedict’s, walk from classroom to
classroom, and joke around with my
classmates. It felt kind of boring but
amusing. I was sitting for five hours on the
same chair listening to someone talking. It
did not seem appealing at all.
I spent every day after school in my normal
benedictnewsonline.org
30
not-spectacular bedroom. It literally became
a workshop. But still, I took advantage of as
many opportunities as possible. I worked
out in my room with the fitness club, joined
different meetings, did a bunch of
homework, kicked my soccer ball around,
and carried out many other activities,
including acting in the Drama Guild’s
spring production and writing for this
publication.
I cannot imagine how many pounds I have
gained during this pandemic, but there’s
always something great to learn from
experiences in life. I believe that everything
happens for a reason. Maybe the world
needed a break, as well as we did, from all
the stress and work we used to deal with
before COVID-19. There was much loss,
pain, and tragedy. But the water in Venice
cleared out, demand for green energy jobs
increased, and several more positive
developments took place during this year.
But most importantly, this year changed
our way of thinking. Sometimes people put
aside the main aspects of life and let
secondary things dominate them. Let's
reflect and just love everyone around us
and try to see and overcome obstacles in life
with a positive and confident mindset, and
as they say “Let go and let God.”
Illustration by Grant Parker
31 Issue 2 Volume 3 Spring 2021
Benedict’s Turns the Pandemic on Its Head -- Through Acts of Love
By Fr. Albert Holtz’60, O.S.B.
I like to picture the St. Benedict’s Prep
Community as a set of concentric circles,
each fitting inside the next larger circle, like
a bullseye target. In the center is the
monastic community that has been here
longer than the school, and of course
founded and still acts as the spiritual hub
of St. Benedict’s. Moving outward you
have the academic community of students,
teachers, staff, and parents. Then there’s the
larger circle of thousands of alumni, friends
and supporters. Somewhere inside these
circles you have to locate the members of St.
Mary’s Church and the NeoCatechumenal
community sponsored by the monks. And
the neighbors who come to the Food Pantry,
and others who I’m leaving out.
In the center of the bullseye is the monastic
community, which has been the least
affected by the COVID pandemic. The
monks’ routine of daily prayer and Mass has
continued unchanged, although we do wear
masks and sit six feet apart as we pray. The
monastic schedule of meals, recreation, and
meetings has continued as well. St. Benedict
says somewhere in the Rule that “It is by no
means good for monks to go about outside
of the monastery.” So he would be proud of
us Downtown Monks over the past year.
Every time I’m in church praying with my
brother monks, I sense ripples of grace and
blessings and God’s love spreading outward
through all those circles to every member of
the wider “community,” from
Kindergarteners to the oldest alumni.
A few years ago, PBS aired a 90-minute
documentary about the Abbey and school,
entitled “The Rule.” Two different friends
of mine who saw it made the same remark
to me about the school: “What I sensed all
during the movie was a lot of love.” These
were people who had never visited us, but
they caught the spirit of the place, thanks to
the Bongiornos who did the documentary.
When visitors step into our bustling
buildings, many of them feel it right away
-- that spirit of love that we all have for one
another, expressed in so many ways, such as
student leaders caring for younger students,
group members building bonds with their
brothers in their group, or the way teachers
and counselors give themselves selflessly to
the students.
You would imagine, then, that the pandemic
restrictions and the emptying of the Prep
and Middle Division buildings would have
put an end to all that love as we switched to
virtual everything. However, I, at least, got
a pleasant surprise when just the opposite
happened to our community.
Over a year ago, on the first day of virtual
learning, the SBP community kept right on
praying together at Monday morning
benedictnewsonline.org
32
Convocation with all the students and
faculty in attendance. We never missed a
day of Scripture readings, Psalms and songs.
Then before long, something very special
began to happen. Members from the wider
circles of our community began attending
Convo with us: Alumni of St. Benedict’s and
of Benedictine Academy, elders, and friends
of all ages. Friends and alumni started to
join us from countries around the world
including Israel, the Netherlands, Brazil,
and Mongolia. Many of these visitors,
especially alumni, have been participating
in Convo via the “chat” that streams
alongside the video, emphasizing even more
the feeling of shared community.
Did you ever ask yourself what draws these
people back every morning at 8:00 a.m.? I
would say that it is the same thing that my
two friends saw in the documentary, or that
visitors feel when they enter our buildings:
Love. The love shows itself at Convo in the
praying and singing, in the chatter and the
chat, in the corny jokes, and the sense of
family. The members of our extended
community know that SBP Convo will be
there every day at 8 a.m., reflecting, I
suppose, the monks’ vow of Stability of
Place. Interestingly, none of these people
would ever have known about our daily
Convocation had it not been for COVID-19.
They would not have this special little boost
to get them started on their day.
So, “In the Midst of It All,” as Rev.
Winstead’s song puts it so appropriately,
our St. Benedict's community, with the
special addition of the new Girls’ Prep
Division, has turned the pandemic
experience on its head. While others are
feeling alienated and separated, the
pandemic restrictions have prompted us to
create new ways of creating bonds, and of
extending those bonds of love until they
embrace the entire globe.
In the midst of the pandemic, the Lord’s
grace keeps reaching out through all those
circles of community with the message
of the Gospel carried in the words of our
songs, “You Gotta Love People. You can’t
choose who to love!” and, “Stay Up! Don’t
let nothin’ get you down!” and of course,
our informal pandemic motto, “In the midst
of it all.”
______________
Fr. Al is the author of six books of
spiritual reflections, including “Pilgrim
Road: A Benedictine Journey Through
Lent,” and is currently Novice Master and
Director of Formation to new monks in
Newark Abbey. He made his final vows as
a monk in 1967 and was ordained a priest in
1969. With his master’s degree from
Columbia University’s Teachers’ College, he
helped design the “new” St. Benedict’s in
1972.
Photo by Neal E. Johnson for Unsplash
“Every time I’m in church praying with my brother
monks, I sense ripples of grace and blessings and
God’s love spreading outward…to every member of the
wider “community,” Fr. Al writes.
33 Issue 2 Volume 3 Spring 2021
Finding a Silver Lining in
Quarantine
By Kiana Perez
The morning of March 13, 2020, was like
any other day we had had that fateful
year. I had awoken at 7:30 a.m., my usual,
and got ready for school. With everything ready,
I headed downstairs to meet my best friend for
what would become, unbeknownst to anyone,
our last day of normality.
The COVID-19 pandemic stormed into all of
our lives with guns blazing and with it, came
its sidekick: Quarantine. Quarantine at first
was only supposed to last two weeks, but that
short amount of time quickly transformed into
months -- without interaction with the outside
world.
While drawing was not a new hobby for me,
I enjoyed the feeling of nostalgia I had that
brought me back to the days when I was
younger.
It allowed me to find peace in my day while
also being proactive at the same time. Drawing
also helped me spark the creativity inside of me
that had gone untouched for quite some time.
Cases spiked and people were forced to remain
isolated at home. Being cramped at home for
such a long time became a chore for many and
people became desperate for something to ease
their boredom. Desperation led many to take up
activities they fell in love with such as painting,
sewing, cooking, baking, and various other
creative outlets.
I, for one, decided to pursue more drawing
during the quarantine period. I took stills from
popular shows, animations, or movies and drew
them to the best of my ability. The satisfaction
that came with the finished product encouraged
me to keep doing more until pages of
notebooks were filled with sketches.
Photo by Mounzer Awad from Unsplash
benedictnewsonline.org
34
Another interest I developed over the course of the pandemic was baking.
I joined the Baking Club in the fall of 2020 and it gave me something to
look forward to at the end of a long week. I had never baked or cooked , so
it was exciting to work hands-on with recipes and appliances I would never
have worked with otherwise. Through baking, I found myself getting
closer to my grandma as she is the baker of the household. She helped me
figure out how to use the oven and mixers, though warily at first, and I am
pleased to say
that it has gone
well so far.
Quarantine gave
me the
opportunity to
branch off into
different new and
exciting
activities that I
otherwise would
not have tried
until I was
older. The
creative side of
me that I lost as
school got more
stressful was
reignited and
now I can carry
new skills
proudly on my
shoulders.
Photo by Calum Lewis from Unsplash
Another interest I developed over the course of the pandemic was baking.
I joined the Baking Club in the fall of 2020 and it gave me something to
look forward to at the end of a long week. I had never baked or cooked ,
so it was exciting to work hands-on with recipes and appliances I would
nev-er have worked with otherwise. Through baking, I found myself
getting closer to my grandma as she is the baker of the household. She
helped me figure out how to use the oven and mixers, though warily at
first, and I am pleased to say
that it has gone
well so far.
Quarantine gave
me the
opportunity to
branch off into
different new and
exciting
activities that I
otherwise would
not have tried
until I was
older. Th
e creative side of
me that I lost as
school got more
stressful was
reignited and
now I can carry
new skills
proudly on my
shoulders.
35 Issue 2 Volume 3 Spring 2021
Photo by Calum Lewis from Unsplash
benedictn
Why
Vaccinate?
By Emilio Calle
COVID-19 has affected everyone's lives
in the world, whether you're an adult
or child. The pandemic started with 16
COVID-19 cases on March 16, 2020 and
has grown to more than 100 million cases at
present.
It has been more than a year since the
first case COVID-19 case appeared in
the U.S. I knew that we were going to
be in this pandemic for a while due
to history, most notably the Spanish
Flu pandemic which lasted two years.
But I really thought we would have
been able to return to normalcy by
this past December.
At this point, the U.S. has
had more than 30.4 million
cases of COVID-19, and
more than 550,000
deaths from
COVID,
according to
the New
York
Times.
Photo by Hakan Nural for Unsplash
I blame the scale of this destruction on
neglect in addressing the pandemic by
previous U.S. President Donald Trump.
Instead of the President taking on the
situation, he shifted the work to state
governments.
On Dec. 11, 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration issued the first
emergency use authorization for a
vaccine against COVID-19. This allowed
the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to
be distributed in the U.S.. The
FDA authorized the vaccine to
be used in citizens 16 and older.
The COVID-19 vaccine is given
by injection to the muscle. The
vaccine is administered in a
two-dose series given three
weeks apart.
Many Americans find
themselves asking
whether they should
vaccinate. I believe
that the vaccine
helps Americans
protect themselves and
their loved ones
and friends that
are vulnerable
to the virus.
If you decide
to take the
vaccine, we
could return
to normal life
more quickly.
According to
studies so far,
benedictnewsonline.org
36
immunity conferred by the vaccine lasts at least three months.
Some may consider the vaccine to be a risk due to the many unknowns about the new
vaccine. However, if you do vaccinate, you will lower your chances of contracting the virus.
“You get up to 95% immunity against the virus which can protect you from getting the
infection and/or serious effects,” said Dr. Enoc Fernandez, who works at University
Hospital in Newark. “I believe that 95% is better than nothing and for now it's our best
hope from protecting ourselves and everyone else around us. Many stray from the vaccine
but they should do the exact opposite.”
The lesson for us should be this: Instead of avoiding the one thing that can possibly save
us from this deadly virus, confront it. Be the heroes, America needs. Be the brave souls that
help stop this virus.
do the exact opposite. Instead of avoiding the one thing that can possibly save us from this
deadly virus, confront it. Be the heros, America needs. Be the brave souls that helped stop
this virus.
Students Survive COVID-19
Written by Sovereign Brown
As COVID-19 continues to be an issue in
today’s world, many people are still falling
ill with COVID-19 or know someone who
has been afflicted. Within the St. Benedict’s
Prep community, many people are exposed
to COVID-19 on a daily basis and even
some students have been sickened by
coronavirus infections, despite precautions
and frequent testing.
An individual’s COVID-19 test results are
not always obvious. Although a person
may appear healthy and not experience any
symptoms, they can still be COVID-19
positive.
Alex Guerrero SY noted that when he had
COVID-19, he did not experience any
physical symptoms: “I consider myself
pretty lucky to not have experienced those
symptoms. A lot of people are unfortunate,
and I think I was able to overcome this
virus.”
On the other hand, others experienced the
symptoms at a heightened level. “My throat
would be sore sometimes,” said Maria
Correia, FY. “I would wake up in the middle
of the night with my head hurting. But I did
get a temperature in the 100s.”
Among the experiences of community
members with coronavirus, some said that
COVID-19 took a toll on them mentally and
emotionally, as much as physically. “I was
always the type of person who thought my
relatives were going to be with me forever,”
Cristine Alvarez, UDII said. “I knew death
was coming, but it never really hit me that
it can be around the block, anyone can die
tomorrow.”
37 Issue 2 Volume 3 Spring 2021
In these uncertain times, staying well
mentally is just as important as physical
health. “The experience changed my mind
mentally on how to live everyday as if it was
your last, because you never know when
someone is going to pass,” Alex added.
During these trying times, finding
emotional support is crucial to young
people’s well-being, whether they have
been directly or indirectly affected by
COVID-19. Maria found support from her
family members and especially through her
relationship with God: “I prayed to Him,
and He was always next to me by my side,
helping my family carry on through difficult
times.”
benedictnewsonline.org
Most people who fall ill with COVID-19
eventually recuperate. When one emerges
from the sickness, there is a breakthrough
moment where one feels their physical
condition and mental state improving.
“You felt like you were one of those lucky
people who made it because I thought only
old people are dying, and I’m safe,” said
Cristine. “But you hear about babies and
teenagers dying through COVID-19. So
when I overcame it, it felt good because I
was lucky.”
38
Illustration by Grant Parker
Health Disparities
Among Communities of Color:
A Continuing Crisis
By William Register
and Kolby Samuels
Photo by elCarito for Unsplash
39 Issue 2 Volume 3 Spring 2021
The medical history of the United States
has not been fair for many, and these issues
have become both ignited and illuminated
by the COVID-19 pandemic. The disparity,
mistreatment, and neglect of Black and
Brown Americans plague the healthcare
system of the United States, according to
many studies, and this has led to a
significant racial disparity in terms of which
communities have been harmed the most by
this virus.
In other words, people of color are dying at
a significantly higher rate than White
Americans in the United States -- and this is
no coincidence: These current racial
disparities signify a history of trauma and
neglect in communities of color.
In the past, there have been many
instances in which Black people were
treated as test subjects for experiments,
according to a leading physician, Dr.
Michael Straker. He said people such as
James Marion Sims, who is regarded as the
“Father of Modern Gynecology,”
experimented on Black women without any
form of anesthesia -- and of the many who
were tortured during these experiments,
many were killed.
“Those in power never viewed us as equal,
they never viewed us as human,” said Dr.
Straker, an African American gynecologist
and obstetrician with a practice in New
Jersey. “They did not believe we deserved
the same amount of respect or care.”
Dr. Straker, a graduate of Johns Hopkins
University and the Mt. Sinai School of
Medicine, points to a warped belief
underlying these lethal practices -- a false
notion that Black people feel less pain than
their White counterparts. This belief, he
said, continues to inform medical practices
today.
He cited a June 2019 study published in the
American Journal of Emergency Medicine.
benedictnewsonline.org
40
In the study, researchers examined data
from 14 previously published studies of
pain management in American emergency
rooms that altogether included 7,070 White
patients, 1,538 Hispanic patients, and 3,125
Black patients. Compared to White patients
in the study, Black patients were 40% less
likely to receive medication to ease acute
pain and Hispanic patients were 25% less
likely, the analysis found.
Physicians in the study may have been
choosing which patients get pain relief
based on conscious, unconscious, and
implicit bias as well as negative stereotypes
based upon race, ethnicity, and class, Dr.
Carmen Green, a professor of
anesthesiology at the University of
Michigan schools of medicine and public
health in Ann Arbor, told Physician's
Weekly.
“We tend to be more sympathetic to those
who look like us,” Green said. “Overall,
racial and ethnic minorities tend to receive
lesser quality of care, have lesser quality
health insurance, have decreased access to
care, and experience diminished outcomes
that lead to disparities.”
Consequently, something like visiting a
doctor for a checkup may not be so
straightforward for members of the
African American community, Dr.
Straker said. There is a seed of deep
mistrust of healthcare that was planted
during slavery in the United States, and
this trust has yet to be earned back, which
means, he said, the tree from that seed is
still growing today.
A more recent example is the Tuskegee
Syphilis Study, an experiment that involved
600 African American men being injected
with syphilis, which was incurable at the
time. These men were recruited under the
false promise that they were receiving free
medical care and treatment for whatever
CDC photo
This historic photograph, created sometime around 1932, shows participants in the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. In
this particular view, an African-American man was being x-rayed, while in the standing position.
occurred following the experiment. The results were horrifying. The doctors watched as
people suffered from the effects of the illness: some went blind, others passed it onto their
relatives, and died from either syphilis or the complications that stemmed from the
disease.
According to Dr. Straker, these are far from being the only instances in which Black people
were the subjects of a medical experiment, and these repeated occurrences have created
generational trauma and a mistrust of healthcare services in the African American
community.
There are problems, he said, that need to be addressed in relation to public health. During
the height of the pandemic, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, Black people were nearly two times as likely to die from COVID-19 than their
White counterparts. Moreover, Black people disportionately suffer from diseases such as
diabetes and heart disease. A growing body of evidence indicates these serious disparities
can directly be traced back to systemic racism in America.
41 Issue 2 Volume 3 Spring 2021
When the Abnormal becomes the Norm:
Counselors Find Ways to Help Students
Adapt
By Simarpal Singh
Photos by Krithik Rajasegar
St. Benedict’s Counseling Department has expanded its services during
the pandemic to include more family sessions, and online meetings.
Here, Dr. Sinclair Davis, Dean of Counseling, advises a Benedict’s
student during the pandemic.
Over the course of the pandemic, many teachers have noted frustration at the challenging
task of managing classrooms remotely, citing higher than normal incidents of student misbehavior
that have included a near-total lack of engagement in class, repeated tardiness,
being off-camera, and failure to be in uniform.
According to one of St. Benedict’s top psychologists, such student behavior, while presenting
difficulties, is a normal response to an abnormal situation.
“One of the major problems that affected students during the lockdown was bad habits,
sleeping late, staying up on their phones, waking up late, being late to class, not turning
on cameras,” said Dr. Sinclair Davis, the Dean of Counseling at St. Benedict’s Prep.
“However, it’s
not entirely
students’ fault
because it was
how they’ve responded
to the
system.”
Teachers and
counselors
shouldn’t be
terribly taken aback when witnessing such behavior, Dr. Davis said. These actions represent
a natural response to being locked in every day for an extended period. “You can’t
possibly be mad at a student who’s been locked in (his) house, not being able to be at (his)
peak,” Dr. Davis said. “Students need to go outside to get some fresh air and hang around
with their friends.”
The lockdown was the biggest obstacle that prevented students from going about their
daily routines, he said. This has been a major problem as students lost their motivation,
consistent routines, and concentration, which in turn affected their education negatively.
“Athletes, for example, were forced to lock down and it was very difficult for them to
adapt,” said Dr. Davis.
Beyond the feelings of repression caused by the pandemic lockdown, students also suffered
from the anxiety natural to anyone fearing the loss of a loved one. When one consid-
benedictnewsonline.org
42
ers how communities of color have suffered the effects of the pandemic disproportionately,
Dr. Davis said, students have had solid reasons to be fearful. Some students lost family
members, a grave challenge to anyone’s psyche, he said.
“It wasn’t only the students, actually this affected the whole Benedict’s community,” Dr.
Davis said. It was very hard, he noted, for everyone to stay optimistic during a time when
cities like Newark at times led the region in cases and rates of infection.
Many students,
Dr. Davis said,
have experienced
bouts of
depression and
anxiety during
this prolonged
period of stress,
which in turn
adversely impacted
their performance in school. Acknowledging the severity of the pandemic and its
outsized impact on students’ mental health, St. Benedict’s Counseling Department, led by
Dr. Davis, devised a strategy to improve matters.
First, members of the Counseling Department made themselves accessible and available
by sharing their emails and phone numbers with the community. “Being available to everyone
helped a lot,” Dr. Davis said.
In addition, the Counseling Department offered family counseling for those who requested
it. There was a great need for it, Dr. Davis said, and many requests. Being available for
not just students but the whole St. Benedict’s community helped many, Dr. Davis said.
The third major initiative the Counseling Department had to undergo was to move from
counseling members of the community in-person to an online format.
Counselors also had to find a way to serve the community while maintaining safety procedures.
“In-person counseling was better because you would see the student and the
student would be open to everything he or she wanted to say,” Dr. Davis said. “ In other
words, there was no one to judge what the student was saying because they were in a room
with me.”
In contrast, with online counseling, students may not have the kind of privacy necessary to
speak openly. “They may feel uncomfortable talking about certain topics,” Dr. Davis said.
Despite those challenges, the Counseling Department found a way to move forward and
hold online sessions. “Counselors stopped worrying about matters they couldn’t control,”
Dr. Davis said. Students realized instead, Dr. Davis said, that, most of all, “their health
matters more to us.”
“Helping each other out during this time was the most beautiful thing we ever experienced,”
Dr. Davis said.
43 Issue 2 Volume 3 Spring 2021
When COVID Strikes: A Survival Story
By Joseph Jumbo and Geovanni Lopez
“Once I had to handle the house flood alone,
I realized how hard the Coronavirus had
affected my life,” said Benedict News Online
Editor Geovanni Lopez UD2.
For nearly two frightening months earlier this
year, Geovanni’s family grappled directly
with the COVID-19 virus. The ordeal started
on Jan. 11, of this year, when Geovanni
received what he would ultimately find
out was a false-positive result for the virus.
A week later, his father tested positive for
COVID-19.
Geovanni’s father provided the main income
for the family, so his illness and inability to
work full-time meant the family would face
severe economic hardship. “He was not being
paid as much as usual,” said Geovanni.
On top of causing financial worries, the
disease brought discomfort to the household
by forcing the rearranging of what was usual.
To avoid infecting the rest of the family,
Geovanni’s father isolated himself in an attic
bedroom -- Geovanni’s bedroom. Geovanni,
having lost his room, was forced to find
another place to sleep and study. But the
highly infectious disease made that difficult.
Within days of Geovanni’s father contracting
the illness, Geovanni’s mother came down
with COVID. This also meant that Geovanni’s
grandmother, who lived with them, had to
Photo by Onder Ortel for Unsplash
take precautions, too, especially since the
disease affects the elderly so harshly.
“I had nowhere to go… I thought of sleeping
on the floor,” said Geovanni.
Geovanni is grateful to his godfather,
who gave him an inflatable bed to sleep
on. For the next few weeks, Geovanni took
full responsibility for the house. He found
himself doing tasks his mother and father
would usually perform, such as cooking,
cleaning, or washing clothes. His parents had
also taken the bathroom with the only shower
in the house, meaning that Geovanni had to
go to his godfather's house to bathe.
Geovanni cared for his parents and kept
the house in order while keeping up with
schoolwork. Just when his parents began
feeling better, recovering from the virus,
Geovanni learned that his sister, who lives
nearby, contracted the Coronavirus. She
had just given birth to a daughter. Having
COVID-19, Geovanni’s sister did not want to
put the newborn at risk.
After two weeks of recovery, Geovanni’s
parents took charge of the baby since
they now had built immunity to the virus.
However, Geovanni’s parents were not
in good shape to take care of the baby.
“They were extremely fatigued and weak,”
Geovanni said. “I was worried for them.”
benedictnewsonline.org
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When COVID Strikes: A Survival Story
By Joseph Jumbo and Geovanni Lopez
His parents stayed at his sister's house for a
few weeks until his sister could get cleared by
her doctor to return.
For those weeks, Geovanni was home with
his grandmother. Once again, he took
full responsibility for the house, all while
maintaining his school work.
And, just when Geovanni thought matters
couldn’t get any worse, they did. His house
flooded.
“The pipe broke, water was running… my
dad usually takes care of these things,” he
said.
Geovanni had to take care of the flooding.
Fortunately, he reached the landlord who put
a stop to the flooding.
Then, right after the plumbing problem came
the snowstorms. During Geovanni’s time
alone with his grandmother, two consecutive
snowstorms hit New Jersey. He became very
adept at shoveling.
It took almost two months for Geo to get a
sigh of relief. “I felt privileged, I was glad my
parents were back,” he said. “I missed them.
I’m glad we got through it, but this was an
experience I will never forget.”
Like Geovanni’s family, many low-income
families have been disproportionately
affected by COVID-19 both in terms of high
rates of illness and economic hardship.
In the United States, the COVID-19 pandemic
has taken over half a million lives. The
pandemic has been highly damaging to the
workforce, leaving many Black and Hispanic
household members jobless. In fact, in a
survey conducted by the Washington, D.C.-
based Urban Institute, in which institute
staff queried more than 9,000 adults, the
institute concluded: “Roughly 43% of parents
living with children report they or a family
member has lost a job or work hours due to
the pandemic. That includes 62% of Hispanic
families, 50% of black families, and 36.5% of
white families. Just over half of low-income
families and one-third of higher-income
families reported job losses.”
Job losses or losses of time on the job during
the pandemic have made it difficult for lowincome
families -- on a national and local
scale -- to pay for necessities such as housing,
food, medical care, and other underlying
bills.
45 Issue 2 Volume 3 Spring 2021
When This is Over…
By Zemi Rodriguez
Having to stay home for over a year now
and not being able to do what you want has
everyone waiting for the day when we can
all go outside and do everything we wish.
Students at St. Benedict’s have been eager
to get out and have fun with friends and
family. They want to do the things they
took for granted before the virus forced us
to stay home. Virtual learning has a lot of
people wishing they were in school with
friends. No one expected to be away from
doing what they used to do, such as going
to school, going out with friends, playing
their sport, etc. for over a year. At this point
everyone just wants things to go back to the
way they were and wants to enjoy every day.
When this is over, what are you going to do?
If you get asked that question, you may find
some answers are so random, but sometimes
it's a normal answer that surprises you.
Everyone's plan after the pandemic is so
different and interesting, as some students
from the News Production class talk about
here:
Luke Amoakoh SY:
I’d make plans to go to hang out with my
friends in public places. I would make plans
to see any movies in theaters that I’m
interested in at that time. I’d take more
walks breathing outside without a mask. I
would do these things because if the
pandemic was all of a sudden over, it would
be liberating. It gives room to do more fun
activities without the fear of catching a
virus.
of bringing COVID back to my household.
However, when it's all over I plan on
hanging out with my friends by going to
waterparks and just having fun in general.
Also, I’ll start bringing my dog to dog parks
more often so that he can socialize with
other dogs and get rid of his playful energy.
I would like to enjoy my last year as a teen
before turning 18.
Ethan Brady SY:
When this annoying pandemic ends I will
go into another building without a mask,
go see some family members that I haven’t
seen in a while, and hug and shake hands
with friends. This time has been very
annoying for me and doing these things will
make me feel way more better than today.
Going into another building without a mask
will be great because it will bring back all
the great memories to when I used to do that
before without thinking about it. Seeing
family and more friends would also make
me feel way more happy. Also shaking
hands and hugging with them would be
great because that will show that we all
missed each other.
David Decker SY:
What I plan to do when the pandemic is
over and why….
It is very simple -- to go into a store without
a mask on and buy a bunch of stuff that I
would normally buy now for my late night
drives. The day when the mask mandate is
gone is going to be great. I can't wait to walk
into a 7-Eleven or a QuickChek or a Wawa
and buy food without the need to wear a
mask. I truly can't wait and hope that day
comes sooner rather than later. I truly
cannot stand wearing these damn masks
anymore.
Alex Benanti UD2:
This past year I was very diligent in not
going to meet other people out of the fear
45 The Benedict News Vol. 3 Issue 2 Spring 2021
benedictnewsonline.org
46
Krithik Rajasegar UD1:
I plan to do many things when the
pandemic is over, like everyone else. But,
mainly, I have a few in mind. I would like
to go to a packed concert of one of my
favorite artists. The reason why is that
music has been really helping me kill time
and to entertain myself when I’m alone or
doing something with friends. Music is
most definitely there, from going to the gym
or going to the park, or just during doing
homework. And it’s just been too long since
I’ve been to a concert. Way too long. I was
planning on going to concerts and festivals
during 2020 but COVID happened and
ruined everything. So that would be my
main thing I want to do once this is all over.
Simarpal Singh UD2:
What I plan when the pandemic is over is
to go out and play soccer with my friends.
During the pandemic, the only people I
have played soccer with were the St.
Benedict’s team and I was unable to play
with my friends because my mom didn’t
feel comfortable about it. So I couldn’t play
with my friends and have fun. However,
playing alongside Benedict’s was really fun
also, because it’s really competitive and
I love competition. We would have four
teams and the team who beats everyone
gets to go home, while the losing teams
run. Whenever this pandemic is over, I plan
to play with my friends and show off my
growth as a soccer player.
Adrian Vasquez UD2:
When the pandemic is over I am still going
to be a little precautious (washing hands
constantly and using hand sanitizer).
However, I am going to go out and spend
time with my family and throw a party. It
will be a big party, and it will go on until
5 in the morning. Then after the party, I
would see if I could go on vacation to
Colombia or Miami. There I would just
have a great time and visit places. The
pandemic has taught me to not take even
little things such as family gatherings for
granted. You have to go out, have fun, and
live your life; because you only live once. So
go out and live your life to the fullest.
Jorge Izurieta SY:
What I plan to do when the pandemic is
over and why…..
What I plan to do when the pandemic is
over is have a big reunion with my
family, WITHOUT the worry of getting
sick. I would also like to hang out with my
friends and just hang out like old times. I
think I would also like to go to places like
the supermarket, without a mask just to be
able to feel normal again. The thing I would
be most excited about is going to a concert
and seeing my favorite artist along with
many other people in a crowd, no matter
how bunched up we would be.
Bryan Lala SY:
What I plan to do when the pandemic is
over is travel to Ecuador and visit my family
because I was usually going every year and I
haven’t gone last year due to it. I would love
to take the mask out forever because masks
are just so annoying. I would start going out
with friends and more to the park. I would
want to take my parents out somewhere and
have fun with them as well.
Photo by Adi Goldstein of Unsplash
47 Issue 2 Volume 3 Spring 2021
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49 Issue 2 Volume 3 Spring 2021
The Benedict News Magazine is published during the academic year by the
students of St. Benedict’s Preparatory School in Newark, N.J. Our mission is to
provide a voice for the students and provide news of concern to them in a balanced
and fair manner. The Benedict News Magazine and www.benedictnewsonline.org
abide by the Code of Ethics of the Society of Professional Journalists. The editorials
reflect the views and opinions of the The Benedict News Editorial Board only.
The Benedict News Magazine and www.benedictnewsonline.org belong to the
Columbia Scholastic Press Association, Quill and Scroll, the Garden State
Scholastic Press Association, Quill and Scroll, the Garden State Scholastic Press
Association and the Journalism Education Association.
Keeping the Hive Humming: How the Gray Bees Fought the Pandemic
We thank our patrons for their support, including: Joseph Bakes;
Table Carol of Contents Ann Campbell; Noreen Connolly; Robert DiQuallo; Jorge Estrella;
Henry and Agnes T. Hooper-Gottlieb; Jill D. Hall; Adrian Kachmar;
The Thomas Last Good J. Kilkenny; Day the Lucas Family; Olaniyi Q. Solebo; and Diane Curcio Walsh. 6
Conversio: Giving Kids a Chance to Connect 10
If Medical you would Experts like to of be Color a patron Tell of Benedict’s: The Benedict COVID News, Vaccine please Safe contact Editors-in-Chief 12
Normal Reuben Again? Kadushin and Sam Pineda at benedictnews@sbp.org. Thank you to the 15
Q&A with Dr. Cassidy: entire “Benedict’s SBP community Finest Hour” for your support.
SBP Survey: “Yes” to Vaccinate, “No” to Mandating Shots
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25
The Convo Makers MISSION STATEMENT
26
Staying Together: A Photo Essay 28
Keeping COVID & in Me mind the values of integrity, brotherhood, and community stressed 30 at
St. Benedict’s, Turns the Pandemic mission of on The its Head Benedict -- Through News is Acts to represent, of Love in truth, context, 31
and A Silver fairness, Lining the news which it covers. It also aims to give students a chance 34 to
Why have Vaccinate? a voice not only within their community but also in the world beyond. 36
Students Survive COVID-19 37
Health Disparities Among Communities of Color: A Crisis 39
When the Abnormal Follow Becomes us on the Instagram! Norm: Counselors @graybeepublications Find Ways to Help 42
When COVID Strikes a Family: A Survival Story 44
When This is Over 46
Chalk Talk 49
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