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Volume 72, Issue 8
A Student Publication of Belmont Hill
Karan Thakur Delivers Inspiring Chapel By Alex Laidlaw ’25 Panel Staff On February 16th, Dr. Karan Thakur stepped up onto the Chapel stage. Smiling, he opened with one simple word: “Namaste.” Using this traditional Indian greeting, Dr. Thakur made it clear that the goal of his speech was not only to teach the audience about his professional career but also to offer insight into his personal life. As this year’s Kageyama-Hunt Global Speaker, Dr. Thakur focused his speech on how he has led a life of activism and service in the healthcare field, calling on the audience to take agency in their own lives. Born and raised in India, Dr. Thakur started his career as a physician. However, as he watched air and water pollution infect his homeland, he began to question if he was doing enough to help his patients. Looking at the Hippocratic Oath, which states that doctors should “do no harm”, he realized that treating individual patients with the unsustainable healthcare practices of today might actually be harming others. Conversely, pushing for change in the way the world conducts healthcare from an administrative level could bring about good. Moreover, Dr. Thakur looked to the Ashoka Chakra for advice. The Chakra, which many recognize as the symbol on the Indian flag, represents the harmony between one’s beliefs and actions. In the middle lay one’s core beliefs and virtues. The spokes that branch out from the middle are one’s actions. Finally, the periphery of the Chakra represents how one’s actions are perceived by the rest of the world. Dr. Thakur used this sym-
Karan Thakur Giving Chapel Talk bol to analyze if he was on the right path. Were his core beliefs and principles in line with his actions? And were his actions having the proper effect? Thinking about the Hippocratic Oath and Ashoka Chakra, Dr. Thakur decided to pivot his career towards a life of activism for sustainability in the healthcare sector. He sought to help the Apollo Group Hospital reduce its carbon footprint across its operation. With Gandhi and the Boston Medical Center as his inspiration, he launched the Apollo Sustainability Action Plan (ASAP), which initiated projects to reduce energy and water consumption and waste emissions. Starting in eight hospitals, ASAP has quickly grown to involve 43 hospitals, over 5,000 phar-
BH Communiciations
macies, 23 clinics, and 700 telehealth centers. Then, in 2022, Dr. Thakur was chosen as the Eisenhower Fellowships Global Fellow, enabling him to study how the American healthcare system is combatting climate change. Having outlined his life story, Dr. Thakur brought his talk back to the Ashoka Chakra, issuing a call to action to the audience in the process. First, he asked the crowd to explore their core beliefs in principles as he did when thinking about the Chakra. Then, he implored the group to think about how their actions reflect these principles. He encouraged everyone to ensure that their beliefs and actions were in harmony and that they were achieving their desired result. He emphasized that you
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should never be afraid to return to square one and that you must continue to re-evaluate your choices and actions throughout your life. Finally, he closed his address with a quote from Henry David Thoreau: “If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” Thakur’s talk was the center of conversation for most of the day. One Form V student, Connor Emmert ’25, remarked that the Chapel “opened his eyes to the problems facing the healthcare sector”. Meanwhile, when asked about his thoughts on the speech, Mr. Harvey stated that “Thakur offered an insightful view of the challenges not only India but our global community faces that offered an important message for students to hear.” With the speech being so relevant to issues tackled in classes across campus, teachers such as Mr. Harvey took time out of their classes to further discuss Thakur’s remarks. Overall, the speech was an incredibly informative and valuable experience, and The Panel would like to thank Dr. Thakur for speaking to the school, and Bill Hunt and Yuko Kageyama for making this opportunity possible. ☐
Faculty AOTI: Ms. Allen Letter From the Editor By TZ Snail ’26 Panel Staff Ms. Rylee Allen, a new addition to the Belmont Hill faculty this year, has had an immediate impact on the Belmont Hill music community. Teaching Digital Music Production and Music Composition, conducting the upper and lower school Jazz Bands, the orchestra, rock bands, and much more, Ms. Allen has showcased her deep passion for connection with aspiring musicians at Belmont Hill. Growing up, music played a large role in Ms. Allen’s childhood and was a tradition in her family. Inspired by her grandparents who loved genres from “classical rock to jazz to classical,” and her father who “would play a lot of 90s alt-rock and hip-hop,” Ms. Allen’s music taste branched in all sorts of directions. Due in part to her fascination with music, and also to the variety of genres she was exposed to, Ms. Allen’s skill with instruments growing up broadened from her main instruments, the piano and flute. When she grew into elementary and later high school, her main musical outlets were in school bands, playing the piano and flute, and later learning percussion instruments in high school. It was there that she made many lifelong friendships. Her music teachers also played a large part in her early musical ca-
reer, serving as a place to go for advice and second opinions. Ms. Allen would soon graduate high school, and study at Berklee, winning several awards, most notably the “Promising Music Educator Award.” At Berklee, Ms. Allen’s immense musical background would serve her well, as she received her Music Education degree while learning to play the alto saxophone, clarinet, trumpet, french horn, viola, cello, guitar, drums, and electric bass. As Ms. Allen moved from college and into teaching, she realized the true importance and significance of music. She says, “music is like [a] language, always changing. I think when people get caught up in music “changing” they fail to realize that new generations will create new things. The arts are a direct reflection of a society’s wants and needs.” Music speaks where words fail, and functions as an accompaniment to important life celebrations. No matter where she is – a wedding, funeral, graduation – or how she is feeling, Ms. Allen emphasizes that “there is one thing I can always do, and that’s play music, listen to music, or write music.” What drove her to pursue teaching was that she “found [her] wants and needs being heard and met in musical spaces.” She wanted to provide the same support she received from her music teachers and family growing up to others who shared the same passion for music. cont. on page 8
By Kevin Weldon ’24 Panel Staff As always, March has been an eventful month at Belmont Hill, and it has likewise been a busy month in the world. This issue has all the classic month articles: Athlete of the Issue examines Andrew Bittner ’24 and his aims for the team this upcoming Crew season, Jack Ramanathan ’26 and Griffin Vail ’26 sing the praises of St. Louis ribs in March’s Meal of the Month. In addition to the issue regulars, this issue features previews of the Spring season, a new Faculty Artist of the Issue featuring Ms. Allen, and a review on the highly controversial border crisis developing in the Southern US. March has been an exciting month in what will undoubtedly be an incredibly decisive year politically, athletically, and in ways we cannot yet imagine. However, this March is also the final issue of Volume 72. Reflecting on the year, we experienced a fascinating Fall where we celebrated the centennial date of Belmont Hill, debated policy
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changes, and investigated the current relationship between the school and Belmont as the school builds a new parking lot. Throughout the winter and early spring, we had impressive chapels from acclaimed authors Jennifer De Leon and Jerry Craft, while learning from environmentalist and hospital administrator Karan Thakur. Simultaneously, our athletic teams performed exceptionally well, with the football team turning the ISL upside down and taking the league title, while soccer and cross country also both performed exceptionally well. In the Winter, squash won the New England Championship, while wrestling continued their winning ways in the ISL, and was joined by alpine and nordic skiing as top three finishers in New England. Hockey was also a top contender and force in the Keller Division. This year has been another incredible year, and the Volume 72 Panel Staff is thankful for the opportunity to report for the Belmont Hill community. Thank you so much for joking, reading, and sharing this year with us! ☐
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Opinions 5 Meals of the Month: March
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AoTI: Andrew Bittner ’24 Brandon Li ’26 writes about Jack Ramanathan ’26 and Griffin the continued pressure faced Vail ’26 discuss some of the best Brady Paquette ’25 writes about by President Biden from meals served by Mr. Maws and the Andrew’s leadership among the constituents worried about rest of the dining team at BH from crew team and his personal and team goals for the 2024 season! electing an octogenarian. the month of March!