Academic Update, Spring/Summer 2025

BRUNSWICK SCHOOL

Academic Update

SPRIN G/SUM M ER 2025

As Brunswick strives for the fullest intellectual development of every young man, our academic programs seek to instill in each student a desire to learn, to challenge each boy to fulfill his unique potential, to foster critical-thinking skills, and to develop the creative and independent qualities of mind necessary to reach intellectual maturity and increased self-confidence.

Brunsw ick School and Greenw ich Aca demy

This e-newsletter, published twice yearly, offers parents a top-line view of the latest happenings and curricular initiatives in selected academic departments. For greater detail, please refer to the Course Catalogue.

Course Cata

logue 2025 – 2026

Modern Language & Classics Department P H I LO S O P H Y & G O A L S

Language acquisition and cultural literacy have traditionally been the two primary purposes of the Brunswick Modern Language Department. Consequently, the overall goal of the language program is to lead students to a level of proficiency that enables them to interact effectively with native speakers, with linguistic and cultural accuracy, in one (or more than one) language. Thus, language instruction emphasizes what we call “Brunswick’s Three Cs”: Communication (with an emphasis on speaking); Cultures (with an emphasis on the contemporary world and cultural comparisons); and Curiosity (striving to make our students lifelong learners).

Similarly, the Classics Department’s principal objective is to teach the languages and literature of the Greeks and the Romans; and, by doing so, to develop a deep and genuine appreciation among our student body for the literary, cultural, and historical achievements of the two classical civilizations.

▶ FOUR UPPER SCHOOL Modern Language

teachers presented on AI in education at the Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages in Manhattan.

AI-Powered Language Learning for Global Change explored how artificial intelligence can revolutionize language education, making it more relevant, authentic, and impactful. Brunswick presenters included Spanish teacher Alina Hoyos, Italian teacher Lucia Sardi,

French teacher Mikel Berrier, and Arabic teacher Mimi Melkonian. The presentation was billed as an effort to “showcase AI-powered resources and methodologies that provide students with the linguistic and cultural knowledge necessary to become global changemakers.”

▶ JAIME GONZÁLEZ-OCAÑA PH.D., Upper

School Spanish teacher, presented a paper on Julius Caesar’s Bellum Gallicum at the War in the Ancient World International Conference at the University of Minnesota-Duluth in May. The title of the paper was Crossing Rivers and Bodies of Water in Bellum Gallicum’s Narrative of Imperial Exploration and Conquest.

The WAWIC gathering is billed as an effort to “bring together scholars on ancient warfare from around the world to share research and ideas.” The 2025 conference continued on page 2

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Modern Language & Classics Department continued from page 1

was a hybrid event that took place in Duluth, Minn., and Münster, Germany.

González-Ocaña has participated in WAWIC for the past five years in a continuation of his Ph.D. research on war and literature in the classical world. His presentations have led to several published papers, including in a 2023 volume published by De Gruyter in Germany. That paper was on Greek historian Herodotus and focused on terrorism and violence through the ages.

▶ UPPER SCHOOL ARABIC TEACHER Mimi Melkonian has become an authority on teaching Arabic with AI and has fielded national and international conference requests. She has presented at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris as well as with teaching associations like ACTFL, NECTFL, and TOEFL. She is also teaching at Columbia University. ▶ SPANISH AND ARABIC STUDENTS embarked

on another successful and exciting language program trip to Spain. They visited the historic city of Segovia, where they saw the Alcázar Fortress, famous for its rich history with Spanish kings, and also admired the Roman Aqueduct, a marvel of ancient engineering.

Students also visited Toledo, a UNESCO World Heritage

Site, where they learned about the city’s fascinating layers of history — spanning Visigothic, Roman, Arab, and Spanish influences, including the reign of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand. A highlight of the visit was exploring the old Jewish Quarter. Students enjoyed a beautiful six-hour bus ride to Seville — the artistic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain — and also visited Cordoba and Granada. continued on page 3

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“Our guides were great,” Berrier said. “We learned a lot of history, from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance and beyond.”

▶ MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS continue to show

their expertise in Spanish. Results from the National Spanish Exam show another year of high achievement:

• Eighth Grade: Eight perfect scores, 15 gold medals, eight silver medals • Seventh Grade: Five perfect scores, 10 gold medals, six silver medals

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Spain was one of several school trips this year, with Italian students visiting Italy and six senior boys travelling to France. French teacher Mikel Berrier said one highlight of Paris was Notre Dame. The group also enjoyed free time and loved using their French in reallife situations. Berrier said he especially enjoyed the Musée Rodin.

The NSE, run by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese, seeks “to recognize student achievement and to promote language proficiency in the studies of Spanish & Portuguese.” All seventh and eighth grade students are required to take the exam, which Spanish teacher Ana Paternina said has undergone significant improvements in recent years. A new system now controls the exam time, and it also offers exercises to practice and provides feedback on progress.

“The students love it because they can do it all online, and they enjoy using the computer,” Paternina said.

“It also helps them learn new vocabulary that’s different from what they learn in class, so the boys are motivated. They also receive medals at the end of the year, which they love as it recognizes their efforts. It encourages students to learn Spanish, and the Middle School boys enjoy it that way. We have been doing it for years, and I’ve met people from other parts of the country who recognize the school’s name and my name because they have seen the results of the NSE.”

▶ FIRST GRADE SPANISH STUDENTS culminated their

exploration of Mi Cuerpo (My Body) by using the words they learned to create a Monster Museum that occupied an entire bulletin board in the Lower School hallway in May. Spanish teacher Chiara Wilson said boys learned to identify 10 body parts, describe feelings, identify when something hurts, and state needs before creating their continued on page 4

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very own monsters to share some of the information they learned. Some of the monsters had three eyes!

▶ THIRD GRADERS

completed autobiographical booklets in Spanish, using a character in This Is How We Do It by Matt Lamothe to frame stories about their own lives. The books were displayed at Arts Night.

“The books are beautiful!” teacher Denise Shepard said. “The boys were very thoughtful; they practiced self-reflection and gratitude as they wrote their miniautobiographies all year long. What a treat to do this work with them in Spanish!”

Boys included two additional features in their books. One was a “Dedicatoria” page on which they dedicated their book to someone special, and the other was a chapter entitled “Así Ayudo” — “this is

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how I help” — in which they wrote about how they focus on others and help at home.

Masks created in the style of Lucha Libre, a type of freestyle-wrestling popular in Mexico, were on display at Arts Night thanks to the creativity of fourth-grade Spanish students. Boys made posters incorporating the mask, including a write-up of their wrestler and personal statement finishing the prompt “Yo Lucho Por…” “The verb ‘Luchar’ means to wrestle, but it almost means to fight for something — to fiercely stand up for something,” Shepard said. “I asked boys: ‘What do you care about that you would fight for?’ We generated ideas, also borrowing from the Lower School Character Continuum.”

Lower School boys also enjoyed some Paddington in Peru Bingo after Shepard created Bingo cards reflecting facts about Peru for fourth-grade boys. Students were prompted to “visit South America” by seeing the film Paddington in Peru, which came out in February, and the Bingo cards reinforced the lesson.

“The movie gets a lot of Peruvian aesthetic details right and there are many parts that were filmed on site,” she said. “I was born in Peru, my family still lives there, and I’ve visited Machu Picchu three times, so this movie was personally exciting to watch!”

Math Department P H I LO S O P H Y & G O A L S

The aim of the Brunswick Mathematics Department is to develop in its students strong understanding and skills in the areas of quantitative thinking and mathematics. An understanding of numbers is established at the start of the student’s time at the school, and this is developed continually through the years that follow. The goal of the department is to develop in every student a firm grounding in the basic facts and skills, to extend these skills to advanced topics, and to encourage the initiative required for the solution of mathematical problems. A wide range of courses is offered in order to accommodate all students, including those who need the challenge of high-level content.

The department aims to produce students who fulfill their potential in math, having knowledge at their fingertips and the courage and ability to solve problems.

▶ THE MIDDLE SCHOOL MATH TEAM finished first in

the statewide Connecticut MATHCOUNTS competition, held at Yale University in March.

Brunswick came out on top in a field of 24 public and private schools from across the state. This is the second state title for Middle School mathletes — the first was in 2019. About 200 students from across Connecticut qualified for the statewide contest, competing individually and in teams.

“For us to beat the favorite and incredibly talented continued on page 5

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History & Social Science Department continued from page 4

team from Eastern Middle School is such an amazing performance from our group, top to bottom,” Head Coach Kevin Landesman said. “I could not be any prouder of this team. They were determined to do whatever it took to make this happen. They earned this title as a team.”

In addition, Brunswick seventh grader Alex Svoronos ’30 finished first overall individually, earning one of four spots on Team Connecticut at the upcoming national competition in Washington, D.C. And, as a result of the team victory, Landesman earned the right to coach the Connecticut team at the MathCounts national competition.

“To have the opportunity to coach Team Connecticut for a second time will be one the biggest honors of my professional career,” Landesman said.

Competing for Brunswick were team captain Luca Tichio ’29, along with Svoronos, Becka Kvirikadze ’29, and Ethan Rabin ’29. Also competing were Danny Follansbee ’30, Toluwa Tobun ’30, Bradey Sherman ’29, and Boti Vadkerti ’29.

▶ THE UPPER SCHOOL MATH TEAM, meanwhile,

captured its third consecutive New England Small School Championship — winning the county, state, and regional competitions and beating many of the large schools along the way.

Forty-five schools took part in the New England Championships in Canton, Mass. — split into Large, Medium, and Small Divisions — having qualified through exemplary performance in their local and/or state competitions.

Brunswick’s team — Sohan Javeri ’28, Jeremy Lee ’25, Arjun Leih ’28, Vikram Sarkar ’26, Ashwin Siva ’28, and Jack Whitney-Epstein ’26 — placed first in the Small School Division with 112 points. Additionally, Sarkar and Whitney-Epstein earned perfect scores of 18 in the match.

For more detailed results, please see here. (Large schools have eight students, as compared to six for medium and small schools, so their scores are potentially higher.)

▶ A NEW ADVANCED MATH CLASS was added to the Course Catalogue in response to the needs of Brunswick’s most exceptional math students.

Taught by Michael Allwood, Honors Math: Complex Analysis is essentially an extension of calculus to complex numbers. It is an undergraduate-level course that might be taken by math majors in their third or fourth years of college, and the caliber of this year’s cohort of students was so high that Allwood had to extend the level of work above what was presented in the textbook. continued on page 6

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Academic Update Math Department continued from page 5

“It was an enormous privilege to work with three such gifted students,” Allwood said. “We all put a lot of work into the course, and they had to think and work quite hard to get to grips with the ideas, so it was really good for them.”

▶ THE MATH DEPARTMENT has hired a new teacher

with a broad array of talents and skills. Owen Roegge is a 2023 graduate of Williams College who went to Walt Whitman High in Bethesda, Md., and did a post graduate year at Taft School. He was an Economics and English major at Williams, and captain of the lacrosse team.

At Brunswick he taught Algebra II this year and coached D-2 lacrosse, varsity football, and freshman basketball.

Math Department chairman Richard Dobbins said it’s a testament to Roegge that he was hired full time after just one year as a teaching fellow.

“That’s really a vote of confidence,” Dobbins said.

“He’s a real natural in the classroom. He relates so well to the boys. He’s patient. He’s got a sense of humor.

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Teachers all attended a follow-up meeting to debrief and brainstorm how Brunswick can implement problem solving initiatives in our schools.

SCOTT FLANSBURG, “The Fastest Human Calculator”

as judged by the Guiness Book of World Records, visited for special assemblies at the Lower and Middle Schools, inspiring boys with his unique way of thinking about math.

“Boys were impressed with Mr. Flansburg’s ability to solve addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, as well as higher-level calculations, faster than and with the same accuracy as an actual calculator,” Trager said. “They were amazed to learn about the hidden patterns Mr. Flansburg discovered behind numbers!”

A few lucky teachers and fourth graders had the opportunity to participate in a mock “Counting Bee,” a fast-paced competition created by Mr. Flansburg to find the fastest human counters. Boys and teachers were given random starting numbers and told to count by a fixed number. The winner was the person who computed the most answers in 15 seconds.

“We’ve hit a homerun,” Dobbins said.

▶ MIDDLE AND LOWER SCHOOL math teachers

attended a professional development workshop on problem solving conducted by the Art of Problem Solving (AoP) group. Middle School teachers Judy Gallagher, Rachel Rones, and Laurie Thompson attended, as did one teacher from each Lower School grade and specialist Sarah Trager.

The workshops were designed to share information about AoP’s “Beast Academy,” a Lower School math curriculum, and also AoP’s problem solving strategies and programs for Middle School.

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The Arts P H I LO S O P H Y & G O A L S

The visual and performing arts program at Brunswick is an integral part of the curriculum, with the guiding objective of providing fundamental artistic literacy for every student.

It is extremely important to involve the boys in different art forms, not only to develop their talents, but also to encourage appreciation of the aesthetic dimension of the world. Often, our boys display a penchant for music, theater, or the visual arts; others simply enjoy the experience of learning something new about themselves by taking creative risks and experimenting in new media.

At the Upper School level, students have the option to specialize in the visual arts (including computer graphics), instrumental music, vocal music, and/or theater. In addition to pursuing these fields as academic disciplines, students can participate in numerous musical ensembles, theater groups, performances, and clubs. Those with talent, interest, and ambition are given numerous opportunities to achieve excellence.

▶ THE UPPER SCHOOL PRODUCTION of H.M.S.

Pinafore featured a cast and crew of over 70 students, demonstrating impressive collaboration and creativity. In Middle School, two plays were performed in Baker Theater — Something Rotten!

JR with Greenwich Academy and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, a collaborative effort with Sacred Heart. Audiences continue to top 6,000 people attending performances during the course of the year.

▶ THE UPPER SCHOOL SHOWCASED 58 submitted AP portfolios at the annual Art Show, highlighting the depth, dedication, and individuality of our most advanced student artists. Student artwork from all divisions has been displayed in engaging and carefully curated presentations. These showcases highlight a wide range of media — from drawing and painting to sculpture and ceramics — and reflect both the technical skill and creative exploration happening across our visual arts program.

Visual and performing arts continued to showcase our students’ talents throughout the community. From concerts continued on page 8

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and theatrical productions to art exhibitions and interdisciplinary showcases, students had numerous opportunities to share their work with peers and families. Across all divisions, 12 music performances highlighted the depth and range of our music program.

The Latin Carol Service was held in the chapel on the Lake Avenue Campus, providing a traditional and moving celebration.

▶ A SCHEDULING SHIFT created a new Middle

School Arts Block that ensured that each grade had an assigned period when all boys were in an Arts class together. The shift gave teachers the opportunity to attend performances or showings of the grade they teach and eased scheduling burdens overall.

Students had their performing arts classes (band, chorus, theater) twice a week and their alternative arts classes (visual art, computer, design lab, woodshop) twice a week. Friday was used as a flex period for Arts teachers. This allowed for whole ensemble work, as well as the opportunity to make up classes due to school holidays.

The sixth, seventh, and eighth graders also took their alternative arts class on a trimester basis. Fifth and sixth grade art offerings included Band, Chorus, Woodshop, Computer, and Visual Art. Seventh and eighth grade art offerings included Band, Chorus, Theater, Design Lab, Computer, and Visual Art.

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▶ PRE SCHOOLERS enjoyed a puppet show thanks to the efforts of seventh grade theater students, who traveled to Lake Avenue for the second-ever Middle School Puppet Show performance.

For their final project, Middle School theater students learned how to put on a puppet show from inception to post-production. They learned to become dramaturgs and research important data, identifying “what works” for their assigned age group. They then worked in teams to brainstorm concepts and themes and begin to workshop possible storylines. They created a script and learned to use puppets.

▶ MUSIC AND THE ARTS were the subject of several

Let’s Focus on Curiosity Mini Term course offerings at the Lower School. Boys got to flex some creative muscles and explore all sorts of artistic avenues. Here’s a sampling of what was offered: • Let’s Focus on Musical Stories, With a Twist of Silly!

This class saw boys design their own short comic stories, drawing, and writing story elements.

They put their stories to music using sound effects, instruments, or songs using apps such as GarageBand and iMovie.

• Let’s Focus on Spartan Shields! saw boys learn about Sparta, an Ancient Greek state that was known for its strong and powerful army. Boys got to design, cut, and paint a wooden shield inspired by this fascinating culture. continued on page 9

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• Let’s Focus on Designing Your Own PJs! Boys mastered the essentials of sewing design: planning, designing, measuring, and using a pattern, as well as pinning, cutting, sewing, and embellishing their very own comfy pajama pants.

Boys learned the basics of using a sewing machine and a Cricut machine — and also used Canva, the online graphic design tool, to create their own brand identity and clothing tag. And they went home with their very own, personally created PJs.

▶ ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL was the theme of the Lower School spring concert in Burke Field House on Arts Night. A highlight of the concert was fourth graders accompanying “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” on percussion; boys had instruction in African drumming from percussionist Greg Westhoff over the last three months.

After the concert, parents, students and friends visited the Lower School for ’Wick Arts 2025!, an Open House that featured over 850 exhibited pieces representing artists in first through fourth grade. It was an evening to celebrate the arts at Brunswick, and projects filled up space on the walls and tables all around the building.

Throughout the year, boys worked in many different mediums (drawing, painting, ceramics, printmaking, collage) and studied and discussed artists from all over the world.

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▶ WEST AFRICAN DANCE, MUSIC, AND

STORYTELLING were the subjects of a special visit

from a versatile and award-winning Ghanaian artist.

Iddi Saaka, an associate professor of dance at Wesleyan University, offered lively musical and dance performances of Soro Bindi for Pre and Lower School boys. The goal was to introduce and familiarize students with Ghanaian culture and also to mark Martin Luther King, Jr. day through the arts.

▶ LOWER SCHOOL STUDENTS took a turn at playwriting and performed class plays inspired by their own writings. In third grade, students read If I Were a Banana by Alexandra Tylee as inspiration for their stints at playwriting. Students brainstormed an inanimate object to craft their own “If I Was a” story and then chose a Brunswick Trust word the object would have to learn.

Kelly Delane’s class authored a If I Was a Coffee Cup story together, detailing the tale of a coffee cup learning to show “Greetings.” Other classes wrote about a wristwatch learning to be “Truthful,” a pair of glasses learning to show “Teamwork,” a sticky note learning to show “Adaptability,” and ski poles learning to show “Resilience.” Students performed six of these stories on stage.

▶ THIRD GRADERS visited the Bruce Museum and

took in the David Hockney exhibit as well as The Art of Work: Painting Labor in Nineteenth-Century Denmark.

Students practiced interpreting the art. Boys enjoyed practicing museum manners and learning how to “read” art.

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