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PLANKING SENIOR: By being the first student to plank on our beach-towel, senior Blake Mandell became the subject of this month's "Everyone Has a Story." (Photo/ Lautaro Grinspan)

To make it up to our loyal EHAS fans after neglecting them in the October issue, we wanted this month’s Everyone Has a Story to be impressive. After devising a selection process (and then dismissing it when we considered its possibility of drawing paramedics to the school), we decided to pick our latest story by holding a planking contest.

Minutes before the bell announced the beginning of 8th hour Friday, November 11 (11/11/11!) in the 9000 building’s breezeway, we made sure all was ready for the MASS of students that was about to rush by. Random beach towel on the ground for students to plank on? Check. Giant sign saying “planking contest”? Check. Two tripod-mounted cameras at each end of the towel, to make it all look more legitimate? Check. We two hiding at a distance? Check, check, check, (wouldn’t want to ignore such EHAS tradition). Soon enough, a daring student in the form of senior Blake Mandell planked on the towel and the Post found its subject.

While some might take Mandell’s planking prowess as an indication of an athletic background, his passion lies not with sports, but with music. “My whole entire life revolves around French horn,” said Mandell. “You put your hand in one end and make beautiful sounds out the other, and it’s beautiful.”

Though Mandell had somewhat of a late start (beginning three years ago, whereas most serious players have had at least six years of experience), he hasn’t let this minor setback keep him from musical success. Mandell holds the prestigious first chair in the Broward Symphony Orchestra. The band’s youngest member (in fact, the only minor in the group), Mandell states that his mood depends on the previous day’s French horn practice.

This past summer, Mandell was able to realize one of his music dreams when he was accepted into a summer program at the Interlochen Center for the Arts. “It was the best time of my life,” said Mandell of the 6-hour-day practices to ensure his quality performance as principal chair.

But despite his love for the craft, Mandell asserts he would not pursue music as a career. “I always want it to be a joy,” he said, “never a burden.”

Instead he wants to go into a field that will allow him to help people. As co-founder of a non-profit organization, he’s gotten an early start on humanitarianism.

His sophomore year of high school, along with junior Josh Wang, Mandell created the Nonverbal Learning Disorder, Inc, the only organization in Florida, and one of just two in the nation, centered around this . Devoted to providing education and emotional support for those who have such disorders, the organization held workshops to help elementary school teachers better understand how to effectively assist those with nonverbal learning disorders.

Mandell’s choice of cause goes along with another of his fascinations—the human mind. He feels that even his love of music can be traced back to this. “Music is not only a thing you do, but a way you think, a paradigm. It’s both creative and analytical. When you perform, you need to just let go, and let everything come out. That’s kind of the way life is too.”