The Berkeley Carroll Blotter is proud to present its 3rd weekly newsletter of the 2025-2026 school year! In this issue, Rory O’Connor (‘26) presents the weekly “5 in news” column and Genevieve Eisner (‘26) writes an opinion piece about the quality of chocolate chip cookies in NYC. Later, Cleo Logan (‘26) reports on BC’s first club fair in years and Zofie Mclune (‘27) writes a spotlight on the head of the new kitchen staff, Mark Mosher. As always, we thank you for interacting with the Blotter.
Happy reading!
Genevieve Eisner and Cleo Logan, co-editors
5 in News
Rory O’Connor ‘26
In the first weeks of September, GenZ activists from Nepal engaged in a week-long protest in response to a draconian ban on social media, in addition to wealth, corruption, and inequality in Nepal in general. The protest culminated in the burning of the Supreme Court building in Nepal – photos of the fire circulated around the internet for days. During the protests, 72 activists were killed by the police. Following the chaos, on September 12th, Sushilla Karki was sworn in as the country’s new prime minister; she plans to rectify the situation and “work with the Gen Z mindset”.
After Charlie Kirk’s death, pictures of the assassin, Tyler Robinson, were posted online. Robinson’s mother immediately recognized her son, and his father recognized the rifle he was carrying. Robinson’s parents revealed his identity to law enforcement officials. Robinson is expected to receive the death penalty.
In an attempt to “take control of Gaza’s largest urban area,” Israeli military forces recently attacked Gaza City. Palestinians were warned of the planned attack, allowing 300,000 people to flee the city before the event. Hospitals in Gaza are full, and the death toll continues to rise.
Because Buckingham Palace is undergoing renovations, for his second state visit to the U.K., President Trump visited Windsor Castle, a 950-year-old establishment in Berkshire, England. The president and his wife dined with 160 people at the castle, which boasted shows involving American military jets, music, and the Royal Air Force aerobatics display team.
The Trump Administration announced recently that they helped negotiate an agreement with Xi Jinping, China’s leader, over the sale of Tiktok. The agreement would delay the ban on TikTok to at least December 16th. This is the fourth time that Trump has extended the deadline
If you Give a Girl a Cookie
Genevieve Eisner ‘26
Chocolate chip cookies. Everyone knows them, and most people love them (unless you’re crazy). But it’s not as easy to find a great chocolate chip cookie as one might think. After all, we live in New York City, home to some of the most diverse and delicious food in the world. You would think there would be a good chocolate chip cookie around every corner. Well, think again.
I’ll bring you back to the day my brother left for his semester abroad. His favorite dessert is chocolate chip cookies. My mom and I hadn’t been able to avoid The Infatuation’s NYC Chocolate Chip Cookie Power Ranking on our social media feeds, so we knew we had to test this list out. After all, we had the chocolate chip cookie connoisseur in our very own home.
Side note: I love to bake. I bake all the time. In fact, I have been trying to perfect the best chocolate chip cookie for some time now. So of course, this trip was educational for me. The delicious cookies I intended to indulge in were a plus.
It was a long journey. A lot of gallons of gas were used, and let’s just say it wasn’t the cheapest activity in New York City. After a few hours, we returned home, excited for what was to come. We set it up perfectly. We cut up the cookies in the exact same sizes so no one would suspect a thing. I was the only person who knew where everything was from. I threw one of my homemade cookies in the mix, just for fun.
After a tasting of each cookie and a lot of “hms and interestings,” we were left with disappointment and the leftover bites of some cookie pieces that weren’t even worth finishing. Read that again. WEREN’T EVEN WORTH FINISHING. Although I would not buy most of the cookies again, I will say that Bánh By Lauren, Funny Face Bakery, and The Pastry Box are decent.
But why does every place in the city feel the need to add some sort of weird spice or flavor to a chocolate chip cookie? The best ones are the most simple. Why would you ever ruin the integrity of a chocolate chip cookie by making it a raspberry pistachio walnut turmeric cookie? It might as well be a different cookie entirely.
Oh, and by the way, my homemade cookie won. Now, I’m not saying that my homemade cookie is the best one you’ll ever try, but that should say something.
Although I was very disappointed in these cookies, I would like this piece to be educational for you wonderful readers. Here are NYC cookies that are worth buying (even again): 51st Street Bakery in Long Island City, Prospect Butcher Co. (just a few minutes from BC!), and Saint Street Cakes in Fort Greene.
In general, NYC is growing to be a better place. We get new restaurants around every corner, the streets are more accessible to bikers and pedestrians, and some old trains are being replaced with newer ones. But cookies? Let’s return to the old days, when a chocolate chip cookie was just a chocolate chip cookie.
An Inside Look Into BC’s Revived Club Fair
Cleo Logan ‘26
On September 12th, BC hosted its first ever Co-Curricular and affinity group fair. Co-curriculars and affinity groups, while not meeting as frequently as some may like, are an integral part of the BC Upper School experience. The 31 Co-Curriculars that meet regularly include the Berkeley Carrollers, an acapella group, Yearbook, the Wildlife Conservation and Climate Action Team, the Photo Club, and, of course, The Blotter! Affinity groups include Girls to Women, Daughters of the Diaspora, the BSU, and the Jewish Culture Club, among others. In past years, students have had to rely on confusing spreadsheets and google docs to choose what clubs to be a part of and have often just gone to whichever room their friends go to; the fair aimed to change this.
The fair was originally proposed by Isabelle Cryan, a senior who remembers how confusing Co-Curriculars and affinity groups were to navigate as a freshman. She said that “I proposed the co-curricular and affinity group fair because last year students could only rely on a google doc of options to pick where they wanted to go for community time. They didn’t get the full explanation of what each club did and why they ran, and this made it possible for them”. Co-Curriculars and affinity groups are already seeing increased interest; according to Mikaela Gerstenhaber, one of the leaders of Girls to Women, the group had the highest turnout in years during their first meeting.
On the day of the fair, the leaders of BC’s Co-Curriculars and affinity groups spread out across the school into different rooms to advertise their clubs. According to Mr. Berlin, “I thought it was useful in the sense that it gave people a chance to see a bunch of different perspectives. It was a little bit chaotic because everything was spread out in the school”. Although the fair was definitely chaotic, with students pulling out their computers (no phones!) to check what rooms different groups were in, the end result was a more streamlined Co-Curricular and affinity group selection process. After the fair was over, students filled out a form, choosing their top 3 clubs; leaders were then able to send out targeted emails to those who expressed interest. This further reduced confusion as people weren’t getting dozens of emails everyday from different Co-Curricular leaders.
The fair was mainly targeted towards the ninth graders; according to Henry Mennella, a freshman, “I think the fair was very informative to show the ninth graders what options we have. I learned I can be a member or a leader of a co-curricular”. In addition to putting all of BC’s clubs on display, the fair was useful because club leaders got the chance to speak to new students about leadership opportunities within Co-Curriculars. At a small school like BC, clubs are often stranded after its senior leaders graduate. The fair was a great way to build up interest among younger students over eventually becoming the leader of one (or multiple) clubs.
The fair was one example of how this year’s senior class is stepping up to improve the Upper School experience for younger students. Hopefully, clubs and affinity groups will continue to see increased participation and become even more active in the BC community this year.
The New Chefs of BC: Meet Mark Mosher
Zofie Mclune ‘27
This year, Berkeley Carroll welcomed a brand new kitchen staff. At the head of it all is Mark Mosher, a chef with over two decades of experience.
Chef Mosher first trained at the Institute of Culinary Education back in 2000, when it was still called Peter Kump. He graduated in 2002 and has worked in restaurants and schools ever since. In 2013, he joined Flik Independent School Dining and has been working in schools across New York ever since—including Horace Mann and the Lycée Français de New York—before arriving at BC this August.
So far, he says the transition has been positive: “Students and staff are friendly, very open and inviting. Everyone is so polite, nice, and helpful. It’s refreshing.”
But that doesn’t mean this transition has been without challenges. “The flow of students at lunch was a little bit of a mess at the beginning,” Chef Mosher admitted. “But it’s a learning process: figuring out what kids like, what times they come, and how to adjust.” Most students have been welcoming, though he notices some are still shy, he told me. “I hope the more they come in, the more comfortable they’ll feel.”
When he’s not in the kitchen, Chef Mosher enjoys a quieter life. Born in New York City but now living in East Orange, New Jersey, he spends his free time gardening, hiking, camping, and even making Victorian-style stained glass windows. He’s been married for 25 years to his husband, a carpenter, and together they care for a household of pit bulls and cats.
And, of course, I had to ask him my go-to question: if he could be any food, what would he be?
“No one’s ever asked me that,” he laughed. “Maybe a food no one eats, like liver. Or for a more commercial answer, something healthy so everyone’s nutritionally balanced. But honestly, probably something tasty—because I’m happiest when I see people enjoy what I make.”
Chef Mosher arrives at school by 6 a.m. and leaves around 5 p.m. Although he works long days, Mosher is excited for the year ahead: “It’s a learning process, but I enjoy it here. I look forward to making menus and seeing what people enjoy eating.”
And we look forward to seeing how Chef Mosher continues to provide us with delicious food and promote community at BC.
Community Time 9/29 - 10/3:
Monday: Advising
Tuesday: Affinity Groups
Wednesday: G Block Classes
Thursday: Off for Yom Kippur
Friday: Senior Speakers or Advising
Senior Speakers 10/3:
Jack Mottram
Lara DiPietro
Milo Barrett
Orson Doggart
Lion’s Den: Upcoming Games for the Week of 9/29 - 10/3
Monday 9/29:
Volleyball Girls and NB (Varsity) vs. Dwight (Home)
4:30 PM, Athletic Center BREAST CANCER AWARENESS GAME
Tennis Girls and NB (Varsity) vs. Leman (Home)
4:15 PM, College of Staten Island
Cross Country (Varsity) vs. ACIS (Away)
4:45 PM, Van Cortlandt Park - Broadway
Soccer Girls and NB (Varsity) vs. Dwight (Home)
4:30 PM, Parade Grounds #8
Soccer Boys and NB (Varsity) vs. Dwight (Away)
4:00 PM, TBD
Soccer Boys and NB (JV) vs. Dwight (Away)
4:00 PM, TBD
Volleyball Girls and NB (JV) vs. Dwight (Away)
4:30 PM, Dwight Athletic Center
Friday 10/3:
Volleyball Girls and NB (Varsity) vs. Dalton (Away)
4:30 PM, Dalton
Volleyball Girls and NB (JV) vs. Bay Ridge Prep (Home)
4:00 PM, Athletic Center