What Are You Working On?

In this series, we highlight students as they are deeply engaged in the process of learning, taking responsibility for extending their knowledge and skills, and constructing opportunities for real-world application. In this issue, we highlight students who are taking initiative based on their passions. They are using their knowledge and skills to create meaningful impact in their communities.

Upper School Student Launches “Lunch & Learn," New Speaker Series Opens with Music Festival Producer

Sophomore Lily Breitfelder interviewed Jordan Wolowitz, GCDS Class of ’99, for the inaugural Lunch & Learn Speaker Series on Nov. 14. Mr. Wolowitz is the founder and executive producer of two highly popular local music festivals, Gov Ball and Sound On Sound.

During the event, Jordan explained to students and faculty what a typical day is like for him and shared insights on entrepreneurship, innovation, and the importance of hard work and passion. Mr. Wolowitz has been recognized as a top leader in his field, including being listed on Billboard’s “40 Under 40: Music’s Top Young Power Players” and in Variety magazine’s “New Power of New York.”

“It was so interesting to learn how Jordan used his GCDS education to help reshape his industry. He was incredibly generous with his time and answered a ton of great questions from students and faculty,” said Lily.

“Events like this make us really appreciate our GCDS community. There are so many inspiring leaders connected to our school and it’s incredible how willing they are to visit and share lessons learned with us. We can’t wait for the next one!”

During the event, Jordan explained to students and faculty what a typical day is like for him and shared insights on entrepreneurship, innovation, and the importance of hard work and passion. Mr. Wolowitz has been recognized as a top leader in his field, including being listed on Billboard’s “40 Under 40: Music’s Top Young Power Players” and in Variety magazine’s “New Power of New York.”

“It was so interesting to learn how Jordan used his GCDS education to help reshape his industry. He was incredibly generous with his time and answered a ton of great questions from students and faculty,” said Lily.

“Events like this make us really appreciate our GCDS community. There are so many inspiring leaders connected to our school and it’s incredible how willing they are to visit and share lessons learned with us. We can’t wait for the next one!”

Computer Science Students Create “Tiger Hacks," New Coding Competition Builds Community in Area Schools

Students Imran Iftikar ’25, Abe Milgram ’25, Andy Pauley ’24, and Harrison Servedio ’25 organized the inaugural competition on Nov. 11. Here’s their report of the day:

Culture and community are likely not the first words one thinks of when the topic of computer science is brought up—it probably conjures up preconceived images of solitary engineers hunched over keyboards instead. Yet, culture and community are exactly what we have found as a computer science team. Having been fortunate enough to participate in coding competitions and events both locally and on an international level, we found ourselves interacting with code not in solitude, but as a part of a community. However, we noticed that one thing was sadly missing: local schools and local students. As far as we could tell, there existed no platform for our local schools to engage in computer science as a community. So, we decided to build one ourselves.

The seeds of our Tiger Hacks Coding Competition were thus sown. We envisioned a competition inspired by the ones we had competed in, where a diverse group of students from multiple schools could converge to celebrate innovation, problem-solving, and demonstrate their creativity. Crucially, we wanted our competition to be open to students of all skill levels, fostering a culture where every participant, regardless of skill, felt simultaneously challenged yet welcomed. We built the questions ourselves and decided that the competition would be cooking themed. After much planning, we launched the inaugural Tiger Hacks on Nov. 11, 2023.

Roughly 40 students from 8 schools from the local area excitedly arrived at our Stanwich Campus that morning. After a brief welcome presentation, the teams were off to the races. They were tasked with solving up to eight questions in three hours, ranging from extremely simple addition to more complex optimization questions. At the end of the contest, the Rye Country Day School Team of Jayming Ding, Katia Ohmacht, and Xindi Liu took first place. Brunswick School came second, and Half Hollow High School East placed third.

Regardless of the results, though, the sense of community that everyone experienced throughout the competition was nothing short of amazing. As the competition’s award ceremony concluded, the computer science students from the various attending schools engaged with one another, and our ultimate goal was realized. More than strictly competition, we aimed to promote a culture; more than rivalry, we aimed to foster a community.

In our modest ambitions, we succeeded.

Middle School Students Publish Student-Run Newspaper

Breaking News! The latest edition of Paw Prints, the Middle School newspaper, is making its mark and being read throughout the division. Printed in late November, this issue is brimming with articles covering national and international news, school events, pop culture, and sports.

Ben Gaspar’s passion for news found a home in Middle School when, as a seventh grader last year, he initiated and served as the editor of Paw Prints. When he approached his advisor and the administration with his idea, he was taken seriously. “Everyone listened to me and the community in the Middle School has been so supportive,” he said.

The newspaper has evolved from a club last year with meetings during recess into an elective course this year with Ethan Parsons, MS Health & Wellness Teacher, as a dedicated advisor. Ben now has a co-editor Lyla Rose Sheedy and each section has its own editor. The class is structured as a round table discussion where students plan and discuss article ideas and the production process.

“The outstanding team behind Paw Prints has put tremendous effort into creating yet another exceptional edition, despite the new time constraints,” wrote Lyla in her editor’s letter about the 17-member team. “Each team member has focused on their own areas of interest, infusing their passion and enthusiasm into every article,”

“My main priority as founder and co-editor of Paw Prints is to ensure that there is a space where students can write about a topic that both interests and impacts them,” wrote Ben in his letter. “With each edition that we release, Paw Prints strives to improve the quality of the articles and publications. This year, for example, we are able to print each edition—an idea that at this time last year seemed almost impossible.”

Though the newspaper is student-run, it has supportive faculty advisors, Mr. Parsons and El Gagnon, MS Humanities Teacher, who have guided them from day one. The advisors have been equally grateful and impressed with the students.

“It has been such a pleasure to work with such dedicated and ambitious students on this project. They consistently bring a level of integrity and care into creating a publication that is not only a showcase of our school but a space to voice their thoughts on important social and global issues. All the contributors have been patient and diligent in working on their stories in addition to all their other academic work, and the editing team has been instrumental in the capacity to bring it all together,” says Ethan Parsons, faculty editor to Paw Prints.

With each new edition, Paw Prints encourages new writers and photographers to join the growing team, says Lyla.

“As eighth graders, we are going to work to bring on younger students. We want this to stay an ongoing activity in the Middle School after we leave,” said Ben.