Do you ever wonder what teachers do in their free time? During winter break, when you are on a nice vacation, away from the New York cold, or spending time with friends and family, so are your teachers. Read to learn about Assistant Head of School Michal Hershkovitz, Math Faculty Stephen Bates, and Science Faculty Madeline Carsello’s break:
Did you travel anywhere during winter break? Where to? Who did you spend the break with?
Hershovitz: My winter break was very quiet and uneventful. My children were both home from their respective graduate programs, and that was pure joy.
Bates: I traveled to Virginia Beach with my wife to visit my brother and his now fiancé. We spent some time hanging out, checking out local eateries, and playing with their new puppy.
Carsello: Over winter break, I flew back to my hometown in Illinois to visit all of my family for the holidays. I spent most of my time with my sister and parents, along with some hometown friends I don’t get to see often. For Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, I got to see all my cousins and extended family. On December 27, I also took a 12-hour trip to Las Vegas to see Anyma (American DJ) perform at The Sphere. I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to see them for ages and it was 1000 percent worth all the travel.
Carter: My family traveled to Washington, D.C., to visit my mom and family for a few days, and then we went to visit my wife’s family in Charlotte, NC.
Did you celebrate any holidays during the break? What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Hershovitz: We all celebrated the first night of Hanukkah with our dear friends, who had invited us to join their Christmas dinner; it was such a lovely confluence of faith and gratitude–for the gifts of friendship, food, and safety in a chaotic and often cruel world.
Bates: My family and I celebrated Christmas over the break. My favorite tradition is with my side of the family. Over the past few years, my family has gotten bigger and bigger with my cousins getting married and having kids, so it’s often hard to get people together. However, a few years ago, when I bought my house, my wife and I started hosting Bates Family Christmas a few days after Christmas, where all 50 of us come together and celebrate the holiday. (If you can imagine a zoo where all the animals are set free to traverse the grounds, you can imagine what my house looked like after they all left.)
Carsello: I spent Christmas Day at my sister’s house with some relatives on my mom’s side of the family. My mom, sister, and I usually do a holiday-themed craft every year together. A tradition my sister and I have is we make some sort of PowerPoint-based game for my mom. This year, we made a slideshow of a bunch of images, and my mom had to guess if they were AI-generated or not (as a twist, in the end, we revealed they were all AI-generated). I celebrated Christmas Eve with my dad’s side of the family. Every year, we all meet up at my grandmother’s house for a huge Italian dinner. My grandmother is Sicilian so we do the feast of the seven fishes, amongst other things. The real Carsello family tradition is after dessert my grandmother makes a bunch of pizzas and bignolati (Sicilian sausage bread) completely from scratch for everyone to have right before their long drives home. Another tradition we’ve upheld every year is all the cousins pile onto my grandma’s very small, old staircase with the oldest at the top down to the youngest at the bottom for a picture. It was easy when we were little, but now we’re approaching the point where we’re concerned about the structural integrity of the stairs.
Carter: We celebrate Christmas and New Year’s. Our favorite tradition is simply being together—it is a blessing to be together at Christmas. We have a large family dinner, and I also appreciate cooking for them. It feeds their souls and mine.
What did you do for New Year’s? Do you have any resolutions?
Hershovitz: One of my dearest friends usually hosts a large party on New Year’s, but this year, she decided to have only eight of us around her gorgeous table for a potluck dinner. We each brought a favorite dish (mine was a potato gratin from one of my beloved cookbooks, Bistro Cooking). The meal ended with a long and heartfelt conversation about the year ahead and our aspirations (and concerns) about it. Even though we have known each other for decades, it was a revelatory, heartfelt conversation that left us all thinking deeply about our lives, our country, our ambitions, and ourselves. I don’t think I will ever forget that evening, which was equally about looking ahead and looking backward in the spirit of continuing to understand ourselves and our journeys to this point and beyond.
Bates: I was supposed to be in Virginia Beach for New Year’s Eve but ended up testing positive for COVID that morning, so we packed our bags and started the drive home a day early. Resolutions? Don’t get COVID on vacation again!
Carsello: My New Year’s resolution is to keep my schedule organized and planned out in advance. I’ve found that if I don’t plan out my days the night before, I tend to waste a lot of time sitting around figuring out what to do with my free time or scrolling on my phone. My main priority is to focus on the arts, so I make sure to schedule myself a strict time block to get all my day-to-day chores done after work so I know I’ll have time for art stuff afterward. I’m teaching myself how to oil paint, so I try my best to set aside time each day to either work on my current painting, go to a museum to study other paintings, or, at minimum, watch some instructional videos.
Carter: For New Year’s, we do not do much other than watch the ball drop on television. My mom will also make black-eyed peas, eaten on New Year’s Day, as a symbol of good fortune, survival, and resilience of African American communities. My New Year’s resolution is broad but important — I need to start to center myself more. I cannot be the best person to my family, friends, and students if I don’t care for myself. I am trying to do so in a much more direct way in 2025 — wish me luck!
