Tarun '26

Did being on the MD newspaper influence you to be in Fanfare, if so, how? 

Yes, because being a part of the MD Newspaper Club allowed me to gain experience in article writing and journalism in a tamer setting. In Fanfare, you have to write or post something every month, so having these basics down is helping me a lot.

What is one of your favorite memories of writing for MD newspaper club? 

There are so many memories that I have that I can’t pick just one. However, my best memory is how it introduced me to things I wouldn’t have tried without writing an article for it. Back when Sawdust and Scrap was still a new club, I was assigned to write an article about it. When I went to the first meeting, I was fascinated by making art through scraps and sawdust (although I mostly just used scraps). Soon, I became its first member, and made stuff that  my mom could believe I made (I’m not that artsy).

What do you like about writing for FanFare? 

I like how there is a dedicated structure for review and how there are leadership positions. It is mainly student run except for the sponsors as the final editors.

The 8th-grade trip

By Tarun '26

On Wednesday, August 25th, the 8th graders of Berkeley Preparatory School left to go to the Circle F Dude Ranch, a sleep-away camp in Lake Wales. Everyone was excited to see what group they would be in. The eighth-graders were also eagerly anticipating the schedule of activities. 

Once they arrived, the 8th graders played games, did activities, and messed around during their free time which followed every meal. There were evening activities too, like Skit Night and Campfire. Each activity was meant to bond the eighth graders as a grade level.

Activities took up most of the time during the Dude Ranch trip. During activities, groups assigned beforehand would go to certain sections of the Dude Ranch to do activities. Some events included horseback riding and wilderness survival.  Horseback riding was where the 8th graders rode horses on a nature trail. “Horseback riding was my favorite,” said Miller K,  “because Gaines’s horse was young and it was fooling around.” 

Wilderness Survival taught basic survival skills in case of a cataclysmic event. Also, everyone learned how to start a fire, including what materials are harmful and which are helpful. 

The Alpine Tower had two things to do. The swing and the tower. If you wanted to climb the tower, you would get harnessed and start climbing. Halfway up, there were optional harder side paths. These were things like using cargo nets and a ladder where you would have to jump to get to the next rung. Luc H ‘26 says, “I liked the alpine tower because I and my friends raced on it.” Will L  ‘26 and Josh R ‘26 say, “I liked the swingy thingy. It was fun.” 

Rock climbing was just normal rock climbing with a twist. As soon as you got to the top, you would zipline down. This would mean that people that quit in the middle wouldn’t be able to go ziplining. Andrew S ‘26 says, “Probably the zipline. I liked it because it was fun. 

The Oddysey Course was a high ropes course, where you got partnered up in groups of 2 or 4 and went past the challenge. The third and final challenge was interesting as it was a self-imposed challenge. You could walk normally, or you could try not to hold the cables, or walk backward. 

The Waterfront was a swimming activity, where you could play beach volleyball, go swimming, go boating on canoes, or do the blob. William S ‘26 says, “The blob at the waterfront was my favorite activity. It was exciting.”

The cabins were made up of 6-8 people with twelve mattresses total. There was open space on the ground if you wanted to put down a towel and play card games. There was one shower and toilet per cabin with a broom and dustpan for cleaning. There was also a trash can. There were no restrictions on when you went to sleep as long as you got to breakfast on time. However, the teachers taped the doors to see if people snuck out.

The highlight of this trip was free time. People could go to the basketball court, gaga ball pit, soccer field, beach volleyball court, and more. Most people either played beach volleyball or played on the playground. There were also waterfront free periods. The boys had theirs on the Thursday lunch free time, and the girls had theirs on the Friday lunch free time. You could swim with your friends or do the blob.

After the dinner free time, we had evening activities. These were the campfire and skit night. For skit night, each group got a bag filled with props. They had to make a skit using all of the props and the bag. People had lots of fun making and listening to other groups’ skits. The campfire was split into two parts. The first was where you would have to sing a part of a song that had a random word. After there were three groups left, it was a rock paper scissors match to decide the group who won. The second part is where everyone made smores and danced to some songs. All in all, the eighth graders liked getting away from school to do fun activities!