NEWS + N OT ES
N EWS F RO M CA M PUS
All-School Read
Never Let Me Go This year’s All-School Read is “Never Let Me Go,” the 2005 novel by Kazuo Ishiguro. The plot focuses on a group of students and alumni of a fictional elite boarding school in the British countryside, and explores themes of loss, the passage of time, the power of memory and the dignity of human life. The All-School Read program asks every Brooks student and faculty member to read the same book over the summer. The English department selected this year’s book. When school opens, English faculty and other faculty will integrate the book into lessons. The department also plans a speaker series on topics connected to the novel, along with other campus and community activities. Staff, alumni, parents and friends are encouraged to read along. The English department chose “Never Let Me Go,” chair Dean Charpentier says, because it challenges the Brooks community to think deeply about the world while also being an entertaining work. “The benefit of an all-school experience like this is not necessarily in dissecting the piece itself, though there is value in that,” he says. “What kind of conversations does this novel generate? How does it make us think about our lives, both individually and collectively? The book is about memory and telling our stories, and about being human. Discussing those things both formally and informally can only make us a better and stronger community.”
CU M L AU D E CEREMONY On April 19, the Brooks chapter of the Cum Laude Society welcomed 22 new members in an Ashburn Chapel ceremony. The Cum Laude Society, founded in 1906, is dedicated to honoring scholastic achievement in secondary schools. The founders of the society modeled Cum Laude after Phi Beta Kappa. In the years since its founding, Cum Laude has grown to 382 chapters across the United States and internationally. Some 4,000 new student members are inducted annually. Elected as Sixth-Formers: Els Caulo; Eunice Chung; Bridget Cifuni; Duncan Davies; Elsa Grant; Jennifer Jin; Ritika Kommareddi; Austin Morris; Nicole Rivera; and Priyanka Thakuria. Elected as Fifth-Formers: Jordyn Arakelian; Max Charlamb; Brian Choi; Jackie Desautels; Jason Gold; Henry Goodman; Olivia Jarvis; Lucy Lannan; Diane Lee; Bella O’Shea; Kate Packard; and Tim Zhao. The group of new inductees joined the following sixth-formers, who were inducted as fifth-formers in 2016: Nikko Dominaitis; Lee
A New Direction for Gardner
Goodman; Allie Iamonaco; Joon Lee; Grace Lindsey; Tess Martin; Kelly Raymond; Coco Sun; Johnny Trotto; Sam Wakelin; and Jack Yang.
When third-form boarding girls arrive on campus this fall, they’ll have a new opportunity to connect with each other. Gardner Dormitory, which previously housed female boarding students from all forms, has been repurposed into a dormitory exclusively for third-form girls. Associate Head for Student Affairs Andrea Heinze hopes that the change will provide a “transformative experience” for Brooks’s new students. She cites the opportunity to build class cohesion, and the opportunity to develop residential skills, social skills and emotional skills that are essential to success in high school. She also notes that the model provides leadership development and mentorship for older students: Seven rising sixth-form girls eagerly accepted the opportunity
N E W W E BS I T E Brooks debuted a new school website in May. You can view it at www.brooksschool.org. The new site — which is mobile-friendly — showcases the Brooks campus and community with stunning video and photography, and includes updated content that focuses on Brooks’s mission, values and unique programs. We hope you enjoy it!
to live in Gardner and be prefects in the dorm.
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B RO O KS BU L L E T I N