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Every night, as campus begins to quiet down, Deerfield Academy’s Nouri-Shed, the structure specifically commissioned in 2023 for food delivery, remains a hotspot for delivery drivers and hungry students. Most evenings, at least one of the Nouri-Shed’s shelves is filled with orders from restaurants such as McDonalds, Thai Blue Ginger, or Dunkin’ Donuts. Delivery apps like Uber Eats and DoorDash generate extra business for local stores and restaurants. From group-Dashing to proctor feeds, food delivery is something many boarding students only do while living away from home. Photography Editor of the Scroll  Albert Yuk ’26 described the difference between the surplus of restaurants surrounding his home and the isolation of rural Massachusetts. “Sometimes at Deerfield it just feels like the quality of the food [at the Dining Hall] is not there,” Yuk said. Sophie Petronzio ’25 mentioned that she would like more options for students who don’t want to eat in the Dining Hall. “I wish there was more availability for students at Deerfield to get off campus for a meal every once in a while,” she said. “If there was a shuttle on Wednesdays into Greenfield, I think people would order a lot less.” Additionally, students use delivery for convenience. “My food delivery habits came from the winter time when it was really cold and sit-downs weren’t required,” said Aeris Chang ’26. “For me, it was just the long distance from Poc[umtuck] to the Dining Hall that made me want to order and bring the food to my room so I could continue working.” However, delivery services allow local businesses to gain traction from customers who would not normally come in person. Co-Owner and Chief Operating Officer of Wild Roots Eatery Luke Eriksen said, “In the winter months, when the weather is really bad, we can see up to 50% go to delivery, and on average 25%–30% of our business in Greenfield comes from DoorDash orders.” Despite the convenience of delivery, students find issues in financial aspects of the service. Jennifer Luiru ’25 said, “As a proctor I have to order straight out of my own debit card which is why I am not able to tip as much. The problem is that I am getting reimbursed [by the Academy] in cash, and in my day-to-day life I don’t really use cash.” Tipping culture is a huge part of the delivery industry, as tips make up a large portion of delivery drivers’ income. Eriksen explained some of the problems with the current delivery system, saying, “Our team members don’t get any tips from Doordash, only the driver gets tips, and it’s really frustrating for our staff, as tips are such an important facet of the service industry.” Delivery services also take a large percentage of revenue (a Washington Post article found that Doordash takes an average commission of 18%) from businesses, forcing local businesses specifically to increase prices. “We have to be really mindful of prices, so you’ll find that our items are really expensive on Doordash than they are when ordering online or in-store for pickup,” Eriksen said. The ability of chain restaurants such as McDonalds or Dunkin to keep their delivery prices low is one of the reasons they are popular choices for DoorDash orders. Chang believes there is another reason behind this phenomenon, saying, “I think people tend to order from mainstream restaurants and chains because there is more credibility.” Chang also challenged Deerfield students to stop ordering from mainstream chains. She said, “I don’t think it would be as bad as people think it would be. Number one, it would support local businesses, and number two, the local food around here is genuinely really good.” Yuk, a large proponent of group-Dashing, a process in which friends put in large group orders to avoid high delivery fees, explained how he perceives the effects delivery services have on the Deerfield community. He said, “I think it strengthens small bubbles among friends, but not being at the Dining Hall takes away from the broader Deerfield community that the school strives for.” Eriksen explained the effect of delivery services on the Pioneer Valley community, saying, “I think communities evolve and shape into different forms as civilization moves forward. Certainly, the hanging out at the coffee shop has maybe dissipated, but I have to say those people still tend to come in the doors.” He added, “I don’t really think that it has broken the community at all. I think, rather, it has shifted the community.”

Following its success this year in qualifiers and states, the 2024-2025 Robotics team has become the first in Deerfield history to qualify for the FIRST Tech Challenge New England Premier Event and the first team to qualify for states since 2019. Although the Robotics team members have found themselves successful in breaking school-records this spring, the process and preparation done beforehand make up a large portion of their effort. Robotics Co-Captain Austin Zhang ’25 (who is also a Scroll Layout Editor) stated, “Preparation starts from the spring term the year prior.” He added, “We do a bunch of inventory or work on projects to put on the robot in the next year. [Co-Captain] Kevin [Yang ’25, who is also the Online Editor of the Scroll] was doing a bunch of coding last spring.” The Fall Term is when new interest and participation are built towards robotics and is also when the team maps out the rest of the year. This fall, “we got a bunch of new people, and we trained them. We basically try to build interest in robotics,” Zhang said. Further steps, consisting of brainstorming, early prototype building, and a preview of competition were also constructed. Additionally, the team collaborated and competed alongside Eaglebrook and other teams in western Massachusetts. This season, the team hosted one scrimmage against Eaglebrook and participated in another in Foxborough, Massachusetts, called Robot in 3 Weeks. The team usually finalizes the robot in early Winter Term and participates in two state qualifiers. Regarding the competitions, Zhang said, “We typically go to the first qualifier, find a lot of problems with our robot, and then we fix those problems.” Zhang noted that the team also prepares a five-minute presentation for the judges at tournaments and an engineering notebook. “We basically have to compile a portfolio of all the work that we’ve done and all the thought processes behind it, the engineering design process and stuff like that.” By the second qualifier this year, Yang described that, “We already improved [the robot] already...to the point where there wasn’t much to do in hardware,” he said. He continued, “We actually mostly improved the software, especially the autonomous stuff.” This year, the team finished in first place during the second qualifying competition, propelling the team into the States. Their performance at States then earned them a place to compete in the New England Premier Event. After the competitions, the team transitioned into the off-season Spring Term. Yang detailed the team’s spring activities, saying, “Most of the team doesn’t do spring robotics... We had to do some extra work during the spring term to clean up our workspace, unpacking our materials.” He added, “We actually don’t disassemble our robot until next year, because that gives new people some experience with unscrewing screws as well... And they can see what we did last year.” Yang cited that much of the team’s success stems from “three-year or four-year seniors that were on the team that had a lot of robotics and engineering experience... and that’s one of the important things of the team.” Addressing newcomers, he said, “We need people... [who are] very passionate and learn a lot on their own.” In light of the Robotics team’s recent successes, there are also identified areas for improvement. “A big problem that we had in prior years is making sure everyone on the team is involved, and that includes new people as well,” Zhang said. “There are some people that have a robotics background but haven’t done robotics at Deerfield. Making sure their voices are heard is like a big part of the early stages of what we do.” Yang elaborated on his own future aspirations of the team, stating, “It’s a good experience, and I hope this [Robotics] can be useful. It’s definitely useful, but unfortunately, it’s not as much of a culture as a sport. I hope that can improve.” He added, “A lot of other schools have robotics programs and classes. If the school wants to build this program further, then that is the next step.”

Infamous for the tradition of innocent and not-so-innocent pranks, April Fools’ Day is the one day when the opened doors of Deerfield are shut and locked. Celebrated yearly at the Academy, many have remarked that the pranks have become more creative and sophisticated through the years, but also more damaging and disruptive. This year has been an especially chaotic year as described by students and teachers alike. According to David Pierce ‘25, pranks in previous years were “stuff that’s harmless and you can undo... and also the little, littler pranks that don’t involve fart bombs,” he said. Bronson Branch ’25 recalled, “The worst prank anyone has pulled on me was stealing my shoes. It was a little annoying at the moment, but kind of funny,” he said. These pranks had the potential to bring the community closer. Branch shared that the severity of the pranks were different this year, sharing that they “kind of crescendoed to a whole new level.” Since last year, Branch began noticing more damaging pranks, including fart bombs, occurring across different community areas. He shared more damaging pranks in addition to fart bombing, such as stealing and misplacing belongings, wasting food, and destroying property also took longer to clean up. Robert Wickenden ’28 said, “People have to completely move rooms or they lose their wallets and things. I think that’s a bit too much.” Wickenden was not the only one who shared this view on the day’s events. History Teacher John Leistler said, “Whenever you damage people’s property or make someone feel less than, I don’t find it funny. I don’t think it’s a prank... people have to live with the consequences. Someone has to clean up the damage... often not the perpetrators.” The cause for the extremity of this year is hard to pinpoint. Various interpretations from students include the makeup of the community, too much creativity, the introduction of destructive items (e.g. fart spray), and an unusually strong snowball effect of people finding amusement in damaging pranks causing the jokes to get more damaging. In an attempt to clean up the aftermath of the day’s events, the Student Life Office enforced an early curfew for all students and implemented new rules prohibiting fart bombs. About the reaction to April Fool’s Day from the administration, Peirce said, “I don’t think we’ve ever had to go to curfew early before.” The school’s response is unclear to some people. Mr. Leistler said, “I don’t know how the school handled it...Faculty wasn’t told.” Similarly, Wickenden said, “[The school] hasn’t done a lot.” The ultimate question when reflecting upon the events on April 1, 2025, coupled with the Academy’s response, is “what is the path forward?” Some suggestions brought forth by students include talks before April describing the boundaries for pranks, restrictions on the possession of damaging items like fart bombs, and harsher repercussions for negative actions.

Dear Reader, It occurred to me the other day that I have no idea who you are. I think of you often, constructing drafts of my letters to you in my mind as I drink my coffee and imagine what you would write back. Unlike all other forms of writing I do, I have no idea who my audience will be. You could be a student or a parent or a prospective applicant reading this on the Scroll’s website; I have no idea. I have not assigned you a name or a face in my mind’s eye. I only know one thing about you: whoever you are, I am eternally indebted to you. I started writing for the Scroll in my freshman year, freshly 14 and shy. I found my voice as an opinion writer as a sophomore. I spent my evenings sprinting back to John-Louis at 9:53 p.m., explaining to my proctors that I knew I was late, and it wouldn’t happen again (it would). I published my favorite OpEds as a junior, alongside my turbulent first letter to you. And now, as I reach the end of my senior year, I write to you my last. Recently, I looked through a Google Drive folder I had titled “scroll.” It was a collection of every article I had written, collated in the event of future usefulness. I reread every one, and with each successive document, I was thrown to a different part of my life. I was fourteen again, receiving an angry email from my Page Editor demanding I write 200 more words for my News article. I was fifteen again, waking up bleary-eyed to a ringing phone, pretending that I had been awake for a few hours as I went over edits on my second OpEd. I was sixteen again, sitting in the Kendall auditorium and watching All the President’s Men , a Christmas cookie in one hand and a preliminary copy of the Arts page in another. I was still sixteen, writing the first email I would ever send to the Scroll mailing list, quadruple-checking that I hadn’t made any typos. And it was then that I realized that the Scroll had given me so much more than a love of writing and more than a few amazing friends. I had documented my entire high school experience in the margins of this newspaper. I have had the incredible honor of growing up in these pages, becoming a young woman with confidence and resilience and determination. I can reread this journey, squinting between the lines to see the remnants of a past self I have left on every page. She is there and memorialized in every word I’ve ever typed, full of fear and hope and joy. Because of your readership, the readership that makes the Scroll a newspaper, not just a journalism club, I have learned how to share my own opinion with the world and talk with people who disagree with me. I’ve been able to interview people I would have never otherwise talked to and learned their stories, entering their lives for a fraction of an hour. I’ve begun to understand that what I say matters, for better or worse, and that any platform, even one as small as a boarding school newspaper, is one that should be handled with respect and responsibility. I’ve had the opportunity to process some difficult emotions about this wonderful, complicated school and then slip them under your door. So, thank you. Thank you for bearing with me through the unsteady first two years when my articles were marred with typos and logical fallacies. Thank you for taking the time to understand my opinions even if you disagreed with them. Thank you for letting me vent in a socially acceptable fashion, for finding me in the library to tell me you really liked my last piece, or for texting me a day after distribution with a picture of a sentence you hated. Thank you for extending an open invitation to that small, fourteen-year-old girl who was so afraid of this brave new world that has such people in it. Thank you for telling her to write. As always, thank you so much for reading. Yours faithfully, Anna Jo Guerrini

Picture this: a campus is filled with chanting students holding around posters with bolded words that denounce the school administration’s policies. Students pitch out in tents outside and seize entire academic buildings; lectures stop, and the school practically shuts down. The local police force gets called in to suppress the situation. Many would find it hard to believe such disturbances could occur in world-famous colleges, but this exact scenario regularly occurs on the campus of Columbia University for the past few years in response to the Israel-Palestine conflicts. Last summer, the Student Life Office added the new Section 2.8 to the Student Handbook. Section 2.8 is titled “Student Advocacy, Action, and Protest” and is split into two subsections: “Off Campus” and “On Campus.” “Off Campus” discourages students from participating in public political advocacies, and “On Campus” forbids students from disruptive protests at Deerfield. Furthermore, both sections affirm Deerfield’s “institutional commitment to nonpartisanship, open inquiry, and freedom of expression.” Section 2.8 is integral to the Student Handbook because it establishes a framework that guides students to express their opinions through safer and more civil channels, such as Deerfield Forums, Open Tables, and the Scroll. As a student, I would say that protest culture in American education is counterproductive to educational missions. Educational environments should be havens for curiosity and inquiry, not flashpoints of conflicts. Section 2.8 nonetheless encourages students to exercise freedom of expression in ways that adhere to the school’s mission. I agree that protesting is essential to the health of a democracy, as it represents the voices of the people. However, physical protests are an unpredictable form of expression that does not fit in the context of educational settings. Student protest is like a flammable gas that can erupt into a fiery explosion when unchecked. As a high school that prepares young adults for the real world, Deerfield should teach students how to express their opinions in a way that generates productive responses. Raucous protests won’t bring change, but civil dialogues will. Deerfield does an excellent job at this by offering countless seminar-based classes and communities for students, and Section 2.8.2 further bolsters the well-established school practice. In such a divided era like today, I am confident that this framework will encourage discussions rather than futile fights. Furthermore, as a school that prioritizes the safety of students, Deerfield assures the inclusivity and safety of students on campus with the implementation of Section 2.8. Personally, I find the Scroll a perfect place to express my own opinions. Even if my opinions may be controversial to some, I feel comfortable sharing them through writing OpEds. Even while writing this article, I met multiple students who held opposing viewpoints on this topic, yet we were able to openly discuss ideas without tearing each other down. I aspire for a school community where students can talk freely about recent political events in common rooms, the Dining Hall, or the Greer, without being overly conscious of possible tensions. Deerfield, I ask that we make a community where talking about politics or controversial issues doesn’t divide us but unifies our common understanding.

The Scroll, for many of those involved, is more than just a club. It is a seemingly limitless dedication towards the singular goal of producing a coherent, interesting, and thoughtful issue. It is the textbook definition of a labor of love. Board members spend their time collaborating with staff writers to strengthen their articles, laying out issues on ancient computers in the Kendall basement, conducting interviews, and close reading every article in every issue to make sure no wayward commas make their way into the final print. Below are the reflections of all the editors who have given their time, their labor, and most importantly, their love to the Scroll over the course of their Deerfield careers. ANNA GUERRINI Editor-In-Chief Over the past four years I have spent untold hours in the Scroll room, many in wonderful company, a few particularly stressful ones alone trying to finalize PDFs before sending them off to print. I have spent golden spring afternoons with a red pen in hand, watching afternoons turn into evenings into nights from the high windows of the Kendall basement. I have poured far too much sweat and too many tears into this newspaper, cared too much for this extracurricular that means so little to so many. I care because it matters. I care because all the monotony creates a final product that someone will read, that at least one person will care about, even if that only person is the freshman staff writer who got her first article published on the front page. As I say goodbye to the Scroll, I say goodbye to much more than a source of heinous late-night quotes and free Thai Blue Ginger. I say goodbye to a newspaper, a student newspaper, yes, but a newspaper nonetheless. Democracies don’t die in darkness, they die in silence. Now is the time to find your voice, and to learn how to make it loud without making it so loud you begin to speak over others. Thank you, Scroll, for teaching me that. Thank you to everyone who came before me. Thank you to those who will continue the legacy I’ve had a small part in creating. And to John Liu, I could not be more honored to pass my title onto you. I look forward to finding out what your sign off will be. Stay loud. BILLY TANG Co-Managing Editor Surprisingly, the greatest human fear is not the fear of death, but rather the fear of publicly expressing ourselves whether in speech or writing. To commit to a stance in public is to make a record of your beliefs, something that people can go back and examine in scrutinizing detail as they try and pick apart every single little leap in logic and premise misuse in your freshman year op-ed. Even if there is no opinion, to be the conveyer of information and act as its authority requires a special kind of bravery—and self-accountability to report the truth and only the whole truth. To me, that’s what the Scroll has been: a forum of truth-seeking that invites the most creative and intellectual minds of our community to come together and create a product that expresses those innermost thoughts. For me, the Scroll was the place that taught me how to be brave and commit to my opinions, to learn how to handle disagreement and the fierce conversations that come with expressing your beliefs. Because that’s the purpose of a school newspaper—to be a forum where students can come to train their skills in discourse and communication, to overcome discomfort and gain the ability to handle nuance. For the future leadership in the Scroll, I ask you to be brave. I ask you to be willing to embrace the vulnerability of being in the public eye, to feel grateful for criticism and excited for conversation. The only way to assert the right to speak is to speak, because while no single article is guaranteed to change your worldview, any one of them can. YOONSA LEE Co-Managing Editor It took Mr. Romick at least three attempts on separate days to convince my reluctant sophomore self to write for the Scroll. He did not succeed alone, however—it also helped a great deal that my friends happened to be in the process of applying for the position of an associate editor. Together, they pushed me to write my first article: one of the most terrifying decisions of my life. Although I originally joined the Scroll to improve my writing, my greatest takeaways do not surround how to better structure my writing or how to add more flair. I have grown to be a better colleague, leader, and person. I suppose this is what Ms. Delwiche has alluded to in my advisor reports for the past four years. The Scroll has taught me to forge and reforge bonds with people on campus I wouldn’t have met otherwise. I have learned that work and fun can coexist while I harmonize to the energetic melodies of Chappell Roan songs, gulp down forkfuls of pad thai, or engage in the most chaotic yet intellectual conversations with my coworkers an d friends. As th e Scroll reaches its centennial volume, I urge you all to continue upholding these values. Write the article you’re afraid to write because you’re scared. Show up, even on the days where life twists you in unexpected directions. Learn from each other—you all have so much to contribute. And never forget to have faith: your writing matters. Your time with the Scroll matters. Every article has the potential to strike a chord with someo ne else on campus. To the 100th Board, good luck! I can’t wait to see your visions come to life. ALICE WU Features Editor Three years ago at 10:37 PM, I got a text from an unknown number: “Hey Alice, this is Jerry from the Scroll. Can you write about Mr. Abreu’s art exhibition this Sunday?” Not only was this my first Scroll article, but he also gave me only one day to write it. But I said yes. Panicked, I texted, “What exactly do I write about?” He replied, “Can you call for a sec”—and then called me until midnight, coaching through every detail of the article while I spiraled into a first-article freakout. My final text that night? “AHHH IM ACTUALLY SO SCARED.” “Haha you got this. I’ll help you along the way,” he replied. And that he did. From the “I don’t know what to do”s to “I’m really confused!”s, Jerry truly helped me with it all. The next day, my first ever Scroll article was published!... and almost entirely rewritten by editors. Classic Scroll. Crushed and convinced I’d peaked as a one-time Staff Writer, I kept writing anyway. Fast forward nine articles, and somehow, I became the Jerry I once feared—a Page Editor. Yes, the interviews, revisions, and late-night spirals—they made me a better writer. But most importantly, they helped me find a passion for writing. To my writers, watching you grow has been the most rewarding part of all. I’m beyond proud of all the stories you’ve told, and I’m glad to have been your Jerry. To my Board and Associates, thank you for all your great work and amity these past years. Our times together will always be something I cherish and look back on. And to freshman Alice who once feared Page Editors (or just Jerry)—guess what? You Scroll so hard you become one! CHLOE XUE Opinion and Editorial Editor There is a poem that I like by Maggie Smith, titled “Good Bones.” She writes:“This place could be beautiful, right? You could make this place beautiful.” The lingering uncertainty. The line break—a beat—just before “right?” The self-assured faith. The speaker of the poem reminds me of every Op-Ed writer, piously insistent on the betterment of our community and world, and yet, at times, inevitably dipping into disillusionment. Op-Ed, keep writing the hard things. You are a mirror, a snapshot, but most importantly a catalyst. You could make this place beautiful. In this way, I am so grateful for the Scroll—thank you for showing me that change can begin at the tips of our fingers and tongues, with our words. Keep your hearts open to the conversations that your writing will birth. Lend your time to discourse that challenges you. Thank you to the people with whom I have shared the Scroll room for four years. Never underestimate the power of mentorship. Lead with love. Johns, take us to the stars. THEO SCHULHOF Arts Editor The Deerfield Scroll. I remember being a newly admitted student surfing the Scroll website, eager to gain a deeper understanding of the community I would soon join. “Interviewing A Boogie,” “Rating the Dorms, Best to Worst,” or “60 seconds with Mr. Kelly,” gave me an instant lens into the happenings, ideas, conflicts, and joy waiting to be discovered at Deerfield. A lens into DA, that’s the Deerfield Scroll at its best. Picking up a new issue, and seeing a mirror of the latest campus trend, controversy, or news, knowing this snapshot of our community is memorialized into the archives of time. To future generations of the Scroll, don’t get bogged down in arguments and controversy that have very little application to Deerfield campus. The Deerfield Scroll is not a proper forum for highly charged global issues or personal vendettas. The Scroll bears Deerfield’s namesake; it represents DA. Because the Scroll and its articles exist because of and under the administration, the Scroll can never function as a normal newspaper. That is okay; it makes the Scroll special. Focus on creating a newspaper that reflects Deerfield, in all aspects, so that thousands of future and current students can read the magic of Deerfield, cover to cover. That is what the Scroll does best. Thank you to The Deerfield Scroll for teaching me how to become an objective observer and competent writer. It’s been a ton of fun. AVERY ZAKOWICH News Editor Dear Reader,I hate sap. I also am aware that the Scroll is currently about as popular as me: not. Thus, instead of some sappy goodbye, I am going to write about why I have hated the Scroll (note to self: stop saying thus, it makes you sound like a dork)! First, the Scroll single-handedly fueled my DoorDash addiction. Seriously, all of those nights of group DoorDash orders from Thai Blue Ginger, Kobe, and Namaste got me hooked on DoorDashing on the weekends with my friends. Also, with all of the table laughing and my friends Billy Tang, John Woo, John Liu, and more chirping, I did more yapping than writing and was Castell unproductive and permanently tomato-faced from cracking up for two hours (saved a lot of money on blush though). I also was forced to do what my socially awkward and introverted self hates most: talking to new people. I learned how to conduct interviews, ask good questions, and connect with all sorts of people, which really ruined my introvertedness and made me start knowing and talking to like everyone on campus. I also was turned into someone who loves to write and do journalism, which really messed up my parents' plans of me being an engineer. So, to sum up this list, the Scroll has provided me with some of my best memories, friends, DoorDash, pushed me to be a better and more confident student, and connected me with countless students and faculty at Deerfield. Wait, that doesn’t sound so bad after all. Do I actually love the Scroll? Eh maybe just a little, but don’t start telling people that or students will start to join! This is Avery Zakowich signing off - thanks, Scroll. MCKENZIE GOLTERMANN Sports Editor The Scroll. I am going to be honest. This place never really seemed like my scene and yet here I am, officially signing off as the Sports editor of the Scroll. For the past three years, the Sports Editor has been a dynamic and fun senior girl. Caroline Weller and Emi Takegami paved the path for a new chill, entertaining, and female-empowering sports page. If you have written for me in the past, you may have found the articles not necessarily groundbreaking or trying to solve world peace, but rather a space that genuinely reflects Deerfield students’ athletic experiences. From balancing each male and female “Athlete of the Issue” to writers reflecting student opinions about transgender inclusion in women’s sports, my page really has done it all. I have learned a lot from each level of the Scroll’s competitive hierarchy. When I joined as a Staff Writer my sophomore year, I became obsessed with the idea of editing articles and being named an Associate. I worked hard, attending each Thursday night meeting with focus. I interviewed dining hall staff, random upperclassmen in the library, and even workers in the physical plant, all to write what I deemed as an entertaining article. I continued this work ethic last year and realized that the step up from Staff Writer to Associate was no small task. Future Associates, I can assure you that this will be your worst year yet. During my junior year, I probably clocked in five hours per week in that dusty, old, Scroll room. So , when I applied for a board position, I felt relief when I received the Sports Page, even if it was my third choice. Thank you Scroll for making me a superior writer, compassionate and curious person, and finally, a great time manager. Good luck Evelyn Kunde, the next dynamic and fun Sports Page editor, the time goes by before you know it. KAYLEEN TANG Graphics Editor I had always wanted to join the Scroll, but freshman year-me found the Scroll - like many other things at the time - intimidating. It also didn’t help that I wasn’t exactly an English buff. It wasn’t until the end of my freshman year that I finally conquered this minuscule fear and applied to be a graphics artist for the Scroll. Since then, I have produced over 35 different graphics for the Scroll, and I have grown immensely as an artist and person during this time. I am grateful that the Scroll provides space for artists like me to contribute creatively, and I am proud to be part of such an amazing board of people. Thank you to the Scroll for the wonderful experience! NICO PFEIFLER Buzz Editor It may appear a waste to some to dedicate four years of your life to the least serious section of the Scroll. To that I say, those people have never experienced the true treasure that is Buzz. Every writer’s meeting trying to eke out funny anecdotes from the banal November weeks. Late nights in layout munching on Thai Blue Ginger and listening to Anna’s country music. Frenzied emails coaxing writers to put down even a couple of sentences in their Google docs. Maybe it wasn’t the most serious journalism on campus, but Buzz taught me not only how to create a compelling story out of seemingly everyday occurrences but also to collaborate with, manage, and mentor students on their writing journeys. And as I love to state, Buzz is the most read section (we all saw the reaction to the cow-turf article written by my successor, John Comite). Yet as a two-year page editor, I have also seen the Scroll as a whole transform and evolve. For journalists all across the US, these last few years have been tumultuous, and what to publish and even the goal of newspapers themselves has been up for debate. Nevertheless, with its hundredth year completed and its next generation already manning the printing presses, I have no doubt that the Scroll will brave the storms that will inevitably assail its course. Good luck to the class of ’26, I know our paper is in good hands.

The annual game of Gotcha set off right after Sunday sit-down on April 6th, in which students were suddenly wary of everyone around them while simultaneously trying to search up their targets on DAinfo. That evening, I got two of my targets out and called it a day, knowing that if I was cautious for the remainder of the week, I’d survive the first round. However, on the next day at 6:30am, I met my fate right outside Johnson—a swift end to Gotcha for me. Gotcha is a school-wide game that the Communications Office and two students, usually those who won the game last year, organize. Each student is assigned a target, and they must whisper “Gotcha” to their targets to get them out. However, if anyone else hears the person say “Gotcha,” then the target is safe. To stay in the game, players need to get their target out before the week ends, after which a new set of targets is assigned. Fortunately or unfortunately, there is no limit to the number of targets you can get in a week. This may lead to unnecessary outs, but it is all for the sake of the game, right? After all, if everyone stopped hunting after they secured their first target, Gotcha would be as stagnant as a pond. Melinda Aznar-Klein ’25, who won second place last year after a first-place tie between two seniors, shares some advice that led her to victory. Whenever she would leave a safe zone, she would always be with people so that they could hear any potential “Gotchas.” She said that her favorite strategy was to “go up to people and talk to them and make them think that I don’t have them.” This tactic gave her targets a false sense of security the next day, and once her target felt safe, that’s when she would strike. Another strategy is to confidently walk up to your target like nothing is going on, and discreetly whisper into their ear as you walk past them. Don’t even look back as you get them out—you’ll know if you got them out. However, if you and your target have a noticeable height difference, good luck. The secrecy surrounding who has who as their target can encourage some students to stay in dorms (safe zones) longer than usual because you never know when a surprise attack can hit, which is why Aznar-Klein says that “being on defense is really important.” It can be daunting, being assigned a target who you might have never seen before, but she advises that “if you get an opportunity, (you always will because you’re always in this tight-knit community) get your person.” Gotcha helps build bonds between the Deerfield community. Aznar-Klein believes that “the biggest pro of [Gotcha] is meeting new people.” She added, “you get paired with a random person, you have to learn about them, their lifestyle, and where they spend their time.” She said that she connected with so many people through Gotcha and it’s still something they “joke about to this day.” Through betrayal, schemes, and ambushes, Gotcha forms new bonds between people who otherwise might never have crossed paths through these few weeks of target hunting.

There are many activities and privileges to look forward to when students become seniors: walking on senior grass, cutting the line at the Koch cafe, and going to prom. However, perhaps the greatest gift of the Academy for seniors is vacation time. The Academy blesses students with the chance to escape the restrictive campus, heavy workload, co-curricular commitments, and the stress of college applications. For the senior class, long winter weekends and Spring Break are the most anticipated breaks of the year. Perhaps second only to the three months after graduation before college starts for the Academy’s graduates. Let’s start with long winter weekend. The first Thursday of February at 12:00 p.m. sharp, school gets out for the entire student body. While many underclassmen set off for various destinations, many seniors head for Bradley International Airport to board the JetBlue flight to Palm Beach, an 18-mile-long island connected to nearby West Palm Beach in Florida. A brief three-hour flight from Deerfield, the seniors—and many exceptional juniors—leave behind the dreary New England winter for warmth and clear skies. Staying at private residences, The Colony Hotel, or The Breakers, seniors spend their weekend unwinding on the beach, mingling with classmates, forming new connections (and sometimes breaking old ones), and eating food other than chicken. This isn’t just a Deerfield tradition either. Oftentimes, the senior and junior classes from other upper-crust schools such as St. Paul’s and Westminster visit the island as well, giving students the opportunity to meet new friends. A few weeks later it’s Spring Break time. This time, the adventure takes select seniors even further from their dorm rooms. Seniors round up their friends and rent homes on Harbour Island in the Bahamas, spending time bonding as a class before the Spring. Famous for its pink sand beaches and small pigs, seniors look forward to renting golf carts and driving around the small island, frequently running into classmates. One of the final hurrahs before graduation, going to Harbour Island is a Deerfield rite of passage nowadays. Taking pictures with friends, having large meals, getting sunburned, and meeting other boarding school students are all hallmarks of the trip. Giving students time to connect both with their own class and meet future college classmates and potential coworkers.

Rumors have swirled around campus recently that a large number of Deerfield faculty are preparing to leave the Academy after the 2024–2025 school year. Versions of this hearsay put the exact number as high as 20. {Acton suggested checking with Andren to get the real # of people leaving.} Students are continuing to swim in a sea of panic and confusion as they wonder about the status of their favorite teachers and ponder how they will move forward without them in the coming year. “There’s a lot of speculation among the students as to why some teachers are leaving,” said Jean Lukas Meza ’26. To him, many of these encompass “not necessarily high-profile teachers but teachers and people that we connect with a lot,” he stated—”people that help guide you during difficult times.” Some teachers cited familial reasons for their departure. English Teacher Alexandra Carter, for instance, stated that hers was “a family decision to head back to Houston (where [her] husband’s job is),” where she will work at a day school. Science Teacher Caleb Corliss echoed Dr. Carter’s sentiment, saying, “I’m moving to northern Vermont to live in the same place as my wife.” For him, the move coincides with “potentially a shift in my career in education, or my career in science more broadly,” he said. Regarding the rumor mill, Mr. Corliss said that while students might see “a single-year change like this... like a really big deal,” the faculty perspective is less dramatic. “We had very little turnover last year,” he described. “So, in some ways, you could think of “If you look at a bigger sample size than the one year, you don’t see a big trend,” he continued. Although faculty like retiring English Teacher Mark Scandling have been at Deerfield for decades, multiple departing teachers are on the younger end. “If anything is happening,” Mr. Corliss said, “it’s not a Deerfield thing. It’s a boarding school thing.” He stated that it seems to him that young people are choosing to forgo the physical isolation of many boarding schools for life closer to cities. He continued, “and... when you are on at a boarding school, there’s not a ton of space in your life for a lot of other things.”

As the ’24–’25 school year draws to a close, course changes are at the forefront of many Deerfield students’ minds. This year, the Academic Affairs Office has added many new courses to the roster, ranging from new science classes to an expanded suite of economics classes. In addition to Honors Economics, Deerfield will offer two new choices for students with an interest in economics in the upcoming school year. Economics: Principles and Perspectives  is a full-year course that will put less emphasis on the quantitative side of economics, while Topics in Behavioral Economics  will be a one-term spring elective focused on the intersection between psychology and economics. History and Social Sciences Department Head Brian Hamilton explained the motive for the change, citing it as an opportune moment since “there’s been long-running interest in economics among Deerfield students.” Despite the strong enthusiasm for economics on campus, Hamilton said, “We’ve also seen students opt not to request the course out of concern that their math capabilities might not support their success in the course.” These new courses will be taught by Pedro Viega de Almeida and Simon Jarcho, who will join the history faculty next year. In response to these changes for the economics courses next year, JT Gally ’26 said, “It can be hard to make a one-size-fit-all [course], and splitting it now allows people to either take econ[omics] at a [more] relaxed pace than they would have otherwise or to even take econ[omics] if they weren’t able to take honors or make the prerequisites.” The History and Social Sciences Department also plans to release two new electives for upperclassmen: Brazilian History and Culture  and Identity and Global Cold War , lasting one and two terms respectively. Interested seniors will also have the opportunity to explore their more niche historical interests in a new 500-level course, Honors Historical Research . Meanwhile, interested sophomores will now have the option to take a third 200-level humanities course: Civics and Government . The Science Department will also undergo significant changes, expanding upperclassmen’s research options. There will be a new level two Environmental Science Research  course, which is analogous to the Chemistry and Biology research courses, and a new Physics 2  course that is not calculus-based. Physics teacher David Hallwood cited student interest in both fields as a major factor behind this decision. “There are a lot of students who are interested in doing more science,” he said. “Physics in particular didn’t offer anything at a lower math level [and] people are wanting a second year of environmental science.” The Science Department will also change the Honors Biology 2: Research  course, a change led by Chemistry and Biology teacher Jenn Pousont. The course will shift away from evolutionary biology and towards molecular biology while integrating some aspects of chemistry such as organic chemistry. Dr. Pousont mentioned a mixture of personal expertise and student interest as factors for the change and said, “we’ve had a lot of interest in molecular sciences” and “my graduate and postdoctoral studies were in structural biology, so that’s the area where I can go deepest with students.” She will replace Chemistry and Biology teacher Caleb Corliss as the teacher for Honors Biology 2 , now named Honors Biology 2: Biochemistry . Despite general excitement for molecular biology and other non-evolutionary biological fields, some students are lamenting the removal of evolutionary biology from the curriculum. Justin Wang ’27 explained the importance of evolutionary biology conceptually and practically. “The course encapsulates how life got on Earth [and] how diversity becomes the essence of nature... to be able to teach that [to] high schoolers, it gives them perspective that there’s a reason for us to exist [and] that we [should] be happy and amazed,” he said. “It opens up other opportunities in the future, such as pre-med. In fact, we use evolutionary biology to study the history of viruses and to develop vaccines.” However, Gally looks at how the Science Department has integrated the course, saying, “it more reflects the type of biology that’s done in [Biology] 1H and feels like a natural extension of that.” Sophomore English will also undergo major changes next year, a change spearheaded by all tenth-grade English teachers after reassessing the goals of the current sophomore English course, Defining Literary Traditions . English teacher Hadley Westman mentioned that the English Department brainstormed ideas for the new course with the aim of allowing students to leave their sophomore year with confidence in their abilities. The new course will focus more on English reading and writing in general, shifting away from British literature. As such, the English Department has renamed the course to The Reading and Writing Workshop . Ms. Westman underscored the importance of this change, saying it was a “rare opportunity to work together [and] rebuild one of those courses [and] to learn from the great work that other teachers are doing.” With a variety of new courses for students of all grades to choose from, the Academy is trying to increase accessibility and depth in its classes. The changes are intended to address not only the desires of the student body but also changes that teachers themselves want to see made.

Dr. Bruder has shared the Academy’s plans for a two-day faculty workshop with an AI professional in June, aimed at refining the Academy’s policies regarding AI. She hopes the workshop will help faculty become more comfortable with AI technologies. Math Teacher Sam Leitermann-Long voiced similar observations on how the entire department hasn’t had the opportunity to “take a breath” and brainstorm “proactive ways of approaching AI,” he said. He believes that AI can level the playing field by acting as a tutor, and he expects to see its integration into Deerfield’s learning environment in the near future. Jack Brennan ’25 predicted that AI will likely become an inevitable part of academic life, although he worries about the use of AI to “get and generate ideas.” The discussion about integrating AI into an academic environment has grown with the release of ChatGPT in 2022. Some compare the AI dilemma to the rise of the calculator in the 1970s to argue for its inclusion in the academic setting. Calculators are now used by most students, yet a 1975 poll by the Mathematics Teacher  magazine revealed that 72% of teachers opposed giving every seventh-grade student a calculator. However, Dr. Bruder disagrees with this comparison, saying, “Disciplines are really different. The analogy falls flat with me when you extend AI to other disciplines. The calculator didn’t undermine math inquiry, but I see AI as potentially undermining the entire inquiry apparatus.” Mr. Leitermann-Long echoed Dr. Bruder’s evaluation. “Similar to the calculator, AI can make certain tasks that you’ve already learned easier... so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time,” he said. “But it can also do things you don’t know how to do.” Referring to the upcoming AI workshop in June, Dr. Bruder said her goal is “to get to a shared understanding of when they [AI tools] can be useful to learning and when we really don’t want them as part of learning.” In a 2024 Forbes  study of 500 educators, 55% responded that AI has “improved educational outcomes” in classrooms, although 65% also said that “plagiarism in essays/works” is one of their main concerns. “I think what’s needed right now is a dramatic increase in student and faculty AI literacy,” Dr. Bruder said. Language Department Chair and Classics Teacher Dan Houston observed that AI is a double-edged sword. He explained how AI “resembles an existential threat” and is “tremendously exciting” at the same time. He also offered examples of teachers using AI tools to generate graded readers for students. A recent joint study by Carnegie Mellon University and Microsoft discovered that reliance on AI to do tasks can lead to a decrease in participants’ critical thinking skills. Dr. Bruder echoed this study in her school meeting announcement, inviting students to think about such consequences. She used the analogy of a treasure house to describe the human mind. She said, “You have the opportunity to build that mind to your perfect specifications... and see that those are the screws and the nails and the sparkling pieces of gold that you’re putting in that house. And when you’re 30 or 80, they’re going to be pretty important.” In response to Dr. Bruder’s speech, Kabir Sheth ’25 said, “I liked her message, but the way she was able to connect... by talking about finance and offering that anecdote about the interviewees... She appealed to an audience that might’ve not been as engaged.” Declan Kelley ’25 shared a similar sentiment. “If you cheat yourself, you’re losing out on all your potential,” he said. “You won’t become the type of people others want to be friends with.” Dr. Houston acknowledged that AI has the potential to be detrimental, but he suggested that there are better alternatives to the extensive ban currently in place. “Does AI pose a threat? It does,” he said. “But I would rather think that I can find ways to build my students’ sense of accountability.” Dr. Bruder explained that Deerfield cares about students and the consequences of technology on learning. She said that it is Deerfield’s role “in ensuring you leav[e] here a more interesting person than you arrived.” Although the recent uptick in AI-related academic integrity cases have sounded bells for many, the Academy is exploring possibilities to capitalize upon students’ interactions with AI by integrating it into the classroom.

The Class of 2028 was the first in Deerfield’s history with a cell phone policy that required students to turn in their phones at 10:30pm on school nights. A recent update will extend this policy for the Class of 2028 to their sophomore year. According to an email sent by Associate Head of School for Student Life Amie Creagh, teachers will “collect cell phones on school nights in 10th-grade dorms and store them in lockers until morning,” continuing the current policy in the Village. The Student Life Office (SLO) instituted the cell phone policy during the 2024–25 academic year to further prioritize student well-being. Dean of Students Samuel Bicknell said, “We [the Student Life Office] are always looking at ways students can have time to turn off.” Bicknell described the cornerstone of this policy, which is “having your phone not in the same room makes you sleep better.” Bicknell noted that, “I think that positives outweigh the negatives, what we want is for students to get a good sleep and research would show that especially for ninth grade students it’s really important that they get a good sleep. Putting phones away from their bedside helps facilitate that.” Additionally, the Student Life Office looked at how the phone policy during the academic day has impacted students’ daily life, such as increased face-to-face interactions. However, the members of the Class of 2028 reported a variety of experiences. Cole Bannon ’28 explained that despite “strongly believ[ing] that having my phone less at night would help me be on my phone less than during the day and be more productive at night... this phone policy made me want to be on my phone more in the afternoon so I try to call my friends and my parents after school as much as possible.” Bannon added, “we should definitely be able to have our phones next year.” Jewel Suh ’28 acknowledges the benefits of this policy for freshmen, explaining that “I think [the policy] forced me to get good study habits and it helped my sleep schedule a lot, especially for international students with jetlag.” Contrary to Suh, Tommy Li ’28 described the experience as “utterly preposterous. It’s ridiculous because if you really need your phone, you could just download a movie on your computer and still not sleep.” English Teacher and Johnson resident Piper Higgins corroborates this, explaining that teachers have not accounted for “iPads, smart watches, and computers, given that it seems like the resources students have on their phones are often available on those devices.” He cites “the infinite workload” as the root problem of students’ insufficient sleep and urges the SLO or deans to “please cancel this policy as soon as possible. I call this bullying and we must defend our rights.” As a dorm resident, Ms. Higgins shared her observations on the effects of the policy. “Students have adapted fairly well to using an alarm clock and to not having their phones at night... There isn’t as much of a struggle as I would have expected,” she said. Ms. Higgins elaborates that “students are mostly willing to put their phones in the locker. When I’m on duty... if I have to track a student down who might have forgotten [to turn in their phone], I’ll do that.” Over the course of the year, Ms. Higgins believes that “students understand the benefit of it [the policy]. I think students want to get sleep... and they know that this policy is to help them get sleep.” As students will benefit from increased sleep, she elaborates that “we’re all kind of on the same team in that regard... I don’t know if it’s willingness per se, but I think there’s an understanding.” “As the general grade wide reaction, everyone was (for lack of a better word) upset about it,” said Freshman Student Council Representative Casey Lee ’28. She cites transparency and trust as major factors as “[the freshmen class] was told that at the end of the year people would have their phones and there was that expectation... but then they tell us [the new policy] in the middle of the year.” Many students have expressed concern over the way this phone policy is shaping their relationship with technology, questioning whether the policy achieves its goal of improving students’ wellbeing. Although it may seem counterintuitive, students such as Eloise Forrest ’28 believe that this causes less social interaction after study hall. Forrest noticed this “very frequently. Everyone is on our phones because it’s our only chance, especially right after study hall and no one socialises.” Supplementing the position that students are attached to their phones after study hall, Ethan Pang ’28 said, “I don’t love it, I guess in theory it helps me with my sleep but sometimes I guess me and my friends we want to use our phones more just because they’re taking it away.” This phone policy also has left many students having to work harder to find ways to get their work done. Suh noted that, “once you become a sophomore there’s students in different levels of coursework that require more time and because the wifi goes down at 11 p.m., you can’t do work past then. Even when I’m on my phone last night it’s not for the purpose of scrolling, it’s usually for a hotspot for my computer to do work.” Suh has already found it difficult to get her work done, and to compensate for this, she must “get up early in the morning... I am also someone who goes to open swim so it’s frustrating that I can’t do that because I need to do my work from the night before.” The email from Ms. Creagh stated that after spring break, Mr. Philie will form a Class of 2028 advisory group that will have conversations with the SLO to discuss the nuances between the 2024–2025 and the 2025–2026 cell phone policies. Mr. Bicknell said that “loosening restrictions is a part of the discussions [with the advisory group and that] there are numerous possibilities that will arise.” In the email containing updates about the policies, Ms. Creagh said that these compromises “could include expanded WiFi access in sophomore dorms and a shift toward voluntary phone collection in the spring term,” which Mr. Bicknell explained is a part of “the tiered process getting to junior year.” However, Lee said that she “doesn’t know if they have involved any of the student leaders as far as I’m concerned, or at least in the freshman grade reps...[when] we reached out to Mr. Philie to talk about [the phone policy], he said it’s mainly Dr. Austin’s decision.” She added that “there wasn’t any middle management, such as polling the students or asking the [student] reps to represent how the students are feeling.” According to Lee, the grade representatives are hoping to “have a presentation or proposal to shorten the time [of the policy’s enforcement]... we’re not sure if it’s going to be accepted, but we can at least try.” Further, she says that “[the sophomore policy] doesn’t set you up for success considering the fact that... we don’t have study hall in junior year.” Ms. Higgins supports this point, saying “that it makes sense to give students more freedom with their phones as they get a little older, to give them a responsibility to manage it themselves.” Despite the many complications and concerns that students have brought up, Lee said that “it seems that they’re very set on having it [the policy] in sophomore year.”