Upper School: Grades 9–12

By Caelum van Ispelen, Class of 2023

Saunter past Upper School room A-11 on Wednesdays at lunch and you will hear the rumbling gears of some fascinating minds.

Some days you'll listen to combinatorics; other times it might be hyperbolic trigonometry—or if you're lucky, the venerable Chicken McNugget theorem. But invariably, that classroom holds students exploring the reaches of mathematical knowledge that extend well beyond what is traditionally taught in school.

This is the Math Club: a group of students coming together to connect over mathematics and its enigmas. Led by senior Zachary Klein, with the guidance of seasoned math teacher Adella Croft, its five-year history has seen not only valuable connection and bonding over a shared interest, but also exceptional performances in national and international mathematics competitions.

Compared to the courses offered at school, the Math Club offers a much more varied perspective on mathematics. "We don't have a set agenda; we just do what interests us," said club president Zachary. For many students across all knowledge levels, this flexibility rekindles an appreciation for math's intrinsic beauty. "It's refreshing to think about a broader range of approaches to problems rather than peering through the same lens for the whole year, as would be the case in a class," said club member Caelum van Ispelen.

There's something meaningful in struggling with a problem and not managing to make progress. It's valuable exposure for everyone, and we learn how to deal with things that seem impossible.—Senior Zachary Klein, Math Club president

A primary goal of the club is to enrich people's appreciation for the creativity in math and problem-solving. Asked about the difference between competition and school math, Zachary said, "The main difference is your level of preparedness ... when you take a math test at school, you've already seen the same problems, just with different numbers." In competition math, he argues, none of the questions follow this pattern. "You're never going to see a problem you've seen before. You have the tools to solve them, but you have to figure out how to use those tools in a way that's almost unique to yourself and your identity."

Even students who might not find a use for the range of mathematical concepts covered in the Math Club still walk away with indispensable wisdom: the ability to fail. "There's something meaningful in struggling with a problem and not managing to make progress," said Zachary. "It's valuable exposure for everyone, and we learn how to deal with things that seem impossible."

As students leave for college and brace themselves for the much-increased challenge of its courses, this exposure will certainly come into play. In fact, many Math Club members are already experiencing university-level rigor in the form of the newly introduced Advanced Topics in Mathematics course. Faced with the complexities of percolation and group theory, these students find themselves remembering the Math Club wisdom in their struggle to persevere. "Doing competition math and taking tests where 25 percent is considered a good score definitely sparked my tenacity for challenging material," said Caelum.

Armed with a drive to connect to other math-minded people, the members of the Math Club are helping to spread their burgeoning knowledge to younger students as well. Zachary now leads Mission Math Utah, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating awareness and appreciation for STEM topics across elementary and middle school students. Remarking on the organization's no-questions-asked financial aid policy for tutoring and competitions, Zachary said, "I've heard from people how thankful they are for the easy financial aid, and it lets them discover more math. That's really meaningful to me."

Senior Zachary Klein and juniors Dean Hijjawi, Sophie Zheng, and Isabelle Jiang ranked in the top 5 percent of American Mathematics Contest test takers, qualifying for the American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME). This success marks the second-highest number of AIME-qualifying students from any school in Utah in 2023—as well as the fourth year in a row Rowland Hall students have performed at this level.

Beyond the Math Club's success in spreading creativity, the 2022–2023 school year has been no exception to the students' prowess in nationally renowned competitions. After periods of intense studying, wrestling through heaps of problems and scratch paper, students in the Math Club participated in the American Mathematics Contest (AMC), an immensely competitive exam that demands the most creative and intricate problem-solving skills. In a stellar performance, senior Zachary Klein and juniors Dean Hijjawi, Sophie Zheng, and Isabelle Jiang ranked in the top 5 percent of AMC test takers, qualifying for the American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME). This success marks the second-highest number of AIME-qualifying students from any school in Utah in 2023—as well as the fourth year in a row Rowland Hall students have performed at this level.

On top of this astounding achievement, students from the Math Club participating in the American Regional Mathematics League (ARML) are performing phenomenally as well. With their participation, the Utah team won first place in the ARML Power international competition in 2022. The team was then invited to travel to Boston where they competed in the Harvard-MIT Mathematics Tournament. In the team round, they ranked seventh place in the nation.

Given this legacy of achievement and contributions spread throughout the past five years, the Math Club will continue to thrive. And with Zachary graduating this year, it will be up to the younger generations of students to take the helm—and they are well prepared.

Student Voices

Rowland Hall is a special place.

We all know it. It is an institution older than the state of Utah, built on principles of education that promote personal and academic excellence. And at the heart of the school is community; in fact, the school’s first strategic priority is to cultivate a community where each member thrives. That’s because a feeling of belonging is a key component of a good education—it builds positive relationships, increases engagement, promotes diversity and inclusion, and supports student well-being.

A feeling of belonging is a key component of a good education—it builds positive relationships, increases engagement, promotes diversity and inclusion, and supports student well-being.

With a 3PreK-through-12th-grade program, Rowland Hall is one of a handful of schools to encompass such a range of ages and stages of development in a single community—and, in the near future, on a single campus—giving us unique opportunities to build community across grade levels. But even with two campuses, faculty and staff are using cross-divisional connections to benefit students, and an extra-special bond has been nourished between our kindergartners and seniors. For years, each kindergarten class has visited the Upper School as part of their community unit, and would later present the graduating class with a gift, a handmade bookmark, in the spring. This year, though, kindergarten-senior interactions have become more frequent, which is creating even deeper bonds.

“We started with the gratitude project the seniors do every year around Thanksgiving,” said English Department Chair Dr. Carolyn Hickman, who has long worked with college counselors Michelle Rasich and Coral Azarian to provide stress-busting opportunities for seniors during college admission season. This year, said Dr. Hickman, they decided to include kindergartners in that project as a way of building community between the campuses. “The seniors helped kindergartners create gratitude garden posters. It was great seeing them on the floor with their younger partners, helping them write and sound out letters.”

This senior visit to their kindergarten friends helped to emphasize the idea that Rowland Hall, while made up of 15 grades and four divisions, is one large community. And it’s inspired the two grades to look for other opportunities to reconnect, resulting in a second senior visit to the McCarthey Campus, where the older students and kindergartners decorated and raced wooden cars, played in the snow, and cut out snowflake decorations for the Upper School’s winter dance.

“It’s a good reminder that the school is bigger than our little bubble,” said kindergarten lead teacher Mary Grace Ellison, as opportunities to create connections between older and younger students have profound impacts. While the kindergartners get to know more about where they are going, the seniors get to look back on where they have been—and reflect on how it has shaped them as lifelong learners. “To play is to learn, but by the time they are seniors the time and space for playfulness in their lives is limited,” said Dr. Hickman. “So to remember through these interactions that learning is a kind of play, to have a little flashback of that, I think is really valuable.”

“For me, connecting with the kindergartners is an extremely unique opportunity to reflect upon my own personal academic journey at Rowland Hall,” said senior Macy Olivera. “I look forward to the experience because the kindergartners provide an unmatched amount of energy and excitement and remind me of how far I have come as a learner.”

For me connecting with the kindergartners is an extremely unique opportunity to reflect upon my own personal academic journey at Rowland Hall. I look forward to the experience because the kindergartners provide an unmatched amount of energy and excitement and remind me of how far I have come as a learner.—Macy Olivera, class of 2023

The visits to the kindergarten classrooms are completely voluntary on the part of the seniors—after all, they are pretty busy with advanced classes, extracurriculars, college plans, and other commitments. Despite that, every senior has made time to take the trip up the hill, many because of their own memories of being on the McCarthey Campus, as well as how their interactions with older students made them feel more part of the community.

“When I was younger, it made me feel included to have the ‘big kids’ make me feel like they wanted to be with us, not like they had to be,” said senior Eli Borgenicht. “So, I always try my best to look like I want to be there and help them have a good time. Making these kindergartners' days with fun activities brightens my week.”

While the seniors have primarily traveled to the McCarthey Campus this year, the kindergartners did get to visit their older buddies on their turf at the Lincoln Street Campus during their annual visit to the 9th and 9th neighborhood as part of their community studies. The kids stopped by to see where the older students go to class, study, eat, and play. They even got to meet Roary the lion. “From an early childhood standpoint, allowing these children to be really involved in learning about their community is huge for them,” said Mary Grace. “It's important for them to find their place in the world and understand it through a community lens.”

The partnership between the seniors and the kindergartners, as well as the buddy programs in other grades, strengthens the bonds and ensures that supporting a strong community priority is lived every day at the school. It will be exciting to see the opportunities for community growth once all grades are on one campus.

“It’s beautiful to see these connections,” said Mary Grace. “This could be all the time. This could be the new normal very soon.”

Community

Dr. Sophie Janes ’12 remembers when she first realized she could have a career in STEM.

“I was in Mr. Hayes’ ninth-grade biology class and it just clicked for me,” she said. “I realized I really liked science.”

Dr. Janes is now an OB/GYN resident at the University of Utah, and she returned to Rowland Hall’s Lincoln Street Campus on March 17 to talk to current students about how they, too, can find a place in science, tech, engineering, and math—or STEM.

We want students to see themselves reflected in different role models and in different fields. We want them to know they can successfully navigate career pathways they are passionate about.—Dr. Chandani Patel, director of equity and inclusion

Dr. Janes, a representative from the medical field, was one of the speakers who attended the school’s first annual The Future of STEM: A Symposium with Local Innovators event, a program held in honor of Women’s History Month. She was joined by physician Dr. Tricia Petzold (medicine) and mathematics professor Dr. Priyam Patel (math), as well as teachers Ben Smith ’89 (computer science), Dr. Padmashree Rida (biology), and Christian Waters (technology); Great Salt Lake Institute Coordinator Carly Biedul (environmental science) was also scheduled to attend, though she had to cancel due to illness. The event was set up so students could meet with women currently working in STEM, learn about various career paths, and find out how to get started on their own pathways to STEM careers, while also supporting peers along the way. The event’s keynote speaker, tech CEO and incoming Rowland Hall Board Chair Sarah Lehman, advised the group to “get comfortable with the uncomfortable,” to not be afraid to stake their claims in fields that interest them, and, when faced with challenges, to "focus on what is important to you and let other things roll off."

The symposium included a goal of encouraging historically underrepresented individuals to pursue their interests in STEM fields, including seeking out mentors who are doing work that is exciting to them. One of the sessions was on how women can navigate these fields, while another explored how to be an ally and make STEM more inclusive to a variety of people. “We want students to see themselves reflected in different role models and in different fields,” said Dr. Chandani Patel, director of equity and inclusion. “We want them to know they can successfully navigate career pathways they are passionate about.” 

Dr. Patel said the STEM symposium was only the first of what she hopes will be many events aimed at bringing community leaders and professionals to the school to share with students career options and opportunities the students may not have even considered. Events like these underscore the importance of building strong partnerships to create learning opportunities, both in and out of the classroom.

“I am so glad to be able to help show them what’s possible and what steps they need to take,” said Dr. Janes. “I want them to be brave and make  the most of the opportunities available to them.”

STEM

Student loan forgiveness isn’t a topic that only concerns those who are in or who have graduated from college. High schoolers care about it too.

That’s why hundreds of Utah high school students, including Rowland Hall junior Madilyn Mulford, responded to this year’s Westminster Honors College civility essay contest prompt: Millions of Americans may now be eligible to have up to $20,000 of their federal student loans from college forgiven. Write an essay (of 600 words or fewer) that explores whether this new program is beneficial or harmful for our country, making sure to consider both sides of the argument before asserting your own position.

I realized that taking out loans was probably going to be inevitable, so when I saw the prompt I wanted to find out how to better educate myself on student loan debt and why college is so expensive in the first place.—Maddie Mulford, class of 2024

“When I first read the prompt it resonated with me because my parents and I had just begun to talk about how I'm going to pay for college,” said Maddie, who was quickly realizing how expensive tuition is at out-of-state and private colleges and universities. “That's when I realized that taking out loans was probably going to be inevitable, so when I saw the prompt I wanted to find out how to better educate myself on student loan debt and why college is so expensive in the first place.”

Maddie wasn’t alone. This year’s contest saw submissions from 235 students from 43 high schools across the state, all of whom needed to examine the pros and cons of student loan forgiveness to craft the kind of thoughtful essays that the judging panel wanted to see. Though she was mostly in favor of the plan when she started working on her essay, Maddie said, as she researched she found her viewpoint shifting as she began to understand the effect student loan forgiveness could have.

“I wasn't aware of all the other possible consequences that could stem from it,” she said. “The only thing that I had heard was that it was going to worsen inflation, which was later proven to be misleading. It wasn't until I started researching that I found out that there was the possibility that tuition could end up inflating more in consequence to the debt relief, and that's when I decided to challenge my previous positive viewpoint on the policy. I'm still in favor of it, but I'd much rather we find solutions/policies that restrict the inflation of tuition prices.”

Maddie said she felt good about her final essay, which she submitted in early December, but was still surprised to learn that it had been chosen as one of 16 finalists—and then, about a week and a half later, as the first-place winner (an honor that includes a $2,000 cash award). “I remember I screamed so loudly from the excitement that my parents thought something was wrong,” she said. “I was in disbelief then and I still am now. To think my essay was the best out of 235 submissions is baffling to me and it feels like a dream.”

Upper School English teacher Kody Partridge, Maddie’s faculty sponsor for the competition, wasn’t surprised, though, and is thrilled to see Maddie’s hard work recognized. She knows Maddie, an aspiring journalist, thinks deeply about the world and contemporary issues and enjoys engaging in meaningful discussions, and Kody could tell from their earliest chats about Maddie’s ideas that the young writer’s chances in the competition were promising.

“I knew that her ability to speak to the topic while also drawing parallels with her own life would resonate with those reading her piece,” said Kody. “She worked hard, wrote with honesty, and earned this recognition.”

Congratulations, Maddie! We’re proud of you.

With Maddie’s permission, we have shared her response to this year’s essay question below.

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Student Debt Relief: A Band-Aid on a Broken Arm

By Madilyn Mulford, Class of 2024

With the current state of the American economy, student debt relief is on the minds of many Americans on both sides of the political spectrum. With inflation at its highest rate in forty years, many middle-class families are penny-pinching as much as possible. The pause on loans has provided some relief, but there cannot be a pause forever. Biden’s plan to forgive billions in student loans has some celebrating, and others feeling uneasy. For those celebrating, debt relief could significantly alleviate financial burdens, opening opportunities to invest, save or buy a home; those who oppose this legislation worry it will create more issues such as more inflation and future burden on taxpayers. The reality is Americans need this relief more than ever due to the unprecedented economic situation the pandemic created, but economists fear this will exacerbate existing issues and inflate taxes for not only those benefiting from debt forgiveness but also future generations of students to come. We need a better solution; a solution that targets the root of the issue.

Despite being only a junior in high school, paying for college has been at the forefront of my mind. As I spoke with prospective colleges, I realized how expensive college is. In-state tuition averages $10,000; out-of-state around $27,000.¹ While talking to some of my more well-off peers, I found that they’re struggling to figure out how to pay for school as well. Although they’re aiming for more expensive colleges such as NYU and the University of Chicago, hearing them worry about how they’re going to pay for tuition illustrates how bad the situation is. If the wealthy are struggling to pay for college, how is the middle class supposed to find the means to? The reality for me and many other soon-to-be college students is that I’m going to have to take out loans, something I desperately don’t want to do.

Not taking out student loans has become increasingly difficult in recent years. In just 35 years, tuition rates have quadrupled. Thirty to 40 percent of today’s undergraduates take out student loans, and 70 percent of them have student debt by the time they graduate.

Not taking out student loans has become increasingly difficult in recent years. In just 35 years, tuition rates have quadrupled.² Thirty to 40 percent of today’s undergraduates take out student loans, and 70 percent of them have student debt by the time they graduate.³ With how widespread student loans are, it would seem appealing to forgive billions of dollars in student debt, but there are consequences. In response to the relief, universities may end up inflating tuition costs more, making college more expensive for future students, students like me.⁴ Student debt forgiveness, although much needed, is not the solution to the underlying problem America is plagued with when it comes to college tuition. If tuition prices inflate even more as a result of debt forgiveness, come five or 10 years from now, we’ll find ourselves having this very conversation all over again.

Recent events have complicated our financial situation. The pandemic set up an abnormal economy, making it difficult for recent college graduates to pay off their debt, so debt relief is somewhat called for. But we cannot continue a cycle of debt forgiveness because sooner or later it will begin to plague taxpayers, the national debt, and young people like myself. In the short term, Biden’s debt forgiveness plan is greatly beneficial for those struggling to get afloat in a fraught economy, but if we continue perpetually forgiving student debt, we will only keep putting band-aids over the issue. To solve expensive student debt, we need to combat rapidly inflating college tuition rates and create protections that prevent students from going into copious amounts of student debt.

1. Liz Knueven, and Ryan Wangman. “The Average College Tuition Has Dipped Slightly, Though That's Just the Start of Total College Costs.” Business Insider. Business Insider, October 18, 2022. https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/average-college-tuition#:~:text=According%20to%20data%20from%20CollegeBoard,out%2Dof%2Dstate%20students. 
2. Paul F. Campos. “The Real Reason College Tuition Costs So Much .” New York Times, April 4, 2015.
3. “Understanding College Affordability.” Understanding College Affordability - Urban Institute. Accessed November 26, 2022. https://collegeaffordability.urban.org/covering-expenses/borrowing/#:~:text=Each%20year%2C%2030%20to%2040,by%20the%20time%20they%20graduate.
4. Jim Tankersley. “Biden's Student Loan Plan Squarely Targets the Middle Class.” The New York Times, August 25, 2022.

Student Voices