The official student newspaper of The Hockaday School

The Fourcast

The official student newspaper of The Hockaday School

The Fourcast

The official student newspaper of The Hockaday School

The Fourcast

Fragments of beauty
In Focus
Fragments of beauty
Larkin Clouston and Elle Myers February 29, 2024

Opinion
February Staff Standoff: Valentine's Day
Alexa Muñoz and Danya Risam-Chandi February 27, 2024

Let Cupid Live - by Alexa Muñoz I have Valentine’s Day plans this year. And this is not the beginning of another malicious anti-Valentine’s...

Junior Jordan Lacsamana utilizes one of MBLs confocal lens microscopes as she observes squid embryos after staining them.
Features
Mastering marine biology
February 27, 2024

From dissections to monitoring fish tanks, the juniors and seniors who spent seven days at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woodshole,...

The DEI Divide
The DEI Divide
February 27, 2024
Lipstick and Ledgers
January 25, 2024

What “Seeds” of Hockaday Would We Preserve?

On a small, isolated Norwegian island between the North Pole and Norway lies Svalbard, a global seed vault. Svalbard stores a few seeds of nearly every single genetic crop in the world, saving them for future natural disasters like floods and famines that could decrease potential crop diversity. Right now, the vault contains 860 thousand samples, coming from nearly every established country in the world. While there are other seed banks, none are as ideal as Svalbard it’s relatively isolated, yet accessible, so it’s in less danger of being overtaken in war. It’s stable geographically and far above sea level, so the vault can’t be destroyed by floods or earthquakes. And at 18 degrees Celsius (or 0.4 degrees Fahrenheit) coupled with low humidity, the vault is the ideal place to keep perishable seeds for hundreds even thousands of years. So that got The Fourcast staff thinking what would we put in a Hockaday vault? What do we want to keep for hundreds of years and for future generations? Here’s what we came up with:

A recipe for chicken parm, Hockapunch and chess pie (the perfect Hockaday lunch)

Illustrations by Wendy Ho
Illustrations by Wendy Ho/The Fourcast

We should always be prepared for the worst. What happens if we have some kind of natural disaster and we lose the recipes?

 

 

 

 

 

The jade plant

2 MaryIt’s an iconic piece of Hockaday history, so we must protect it at all costs. Bonus: Because the jade plant is a succulent, it draws its water from the air; we could store it in the vault without fear of needing to water it!

 

 

 

FourcastCopies of The Fourcast, Vibrato and Cornerstones

Recordings of our history are the best way to preserve the past. And see the talent of the publications department too!

 

 

 

 

CornerstoneActual cornerstones

The (literal) foundations of this school.

 

 

 

 

Homo NalediThe Homo naledi bones

The man, the myth, the legend…Homo naledi.

 

 

 

 

Various uniform items: skirts, blazers, pants and a commencement dress and hat from years’ past

Uniform1We’ve seen the evolution of the uniform throughout the years. The best way to capture the current moment? Through our clothes (although all must be within four inches of the knee)

 

 

 

JRP1A JRP

All the blood, sweat and tears of Upper School in one document.

 

 

 

 

Toshiba (in memoriam)

Toshiba2Innovation at its peak. Let us not forget the complexity of this treasured piece of technology: a portable fan, a noise machine, a heating pad and last but not least, a computer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Luckily for Hockaday, because we aren’t storing any perishables, our vault items wouldn’t have to travel to Norway to be safe just somewhere secure, dry and with low humidity. We’re feeling the bomb shelter what about you?

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