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GMS’s ‘ROCK STARS’ Middle Ts hit the road for the holidays
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Max Verheyen, B&G Staff
PIMLICO - To kick off the holiday spirit at the end of 2014, the GMS community again worked together to make the annual Thanksgiving Food Drive a huge success. On November 25, GMS Student Council Representatives went to Brown’s Memorial Baptist Church after classes ended to drop off all of the food that had been donated by classmates and teachers over the span of two weeks. All nineteen boys, Mr. Downs, Mr. Jones, Mrs. Nelson, Mrs. Martin, and her husband arrived at the church and were met once again by Ms. Barbara Cole, the head of the church’s Our Place Soup Kitchen.
Graham O’Brien, B&G Staff
the Blue & the Gr ay Staff Finn Arthur Mr. Don Abrams, Mr. David Anderson, Mr. William Bolin Joe Adams, Mr. Owen Daly, Mr. Bryn Holmes, Evan Gilbert Mr. Andre Jones, Dr. Peter Kwiterovich, Jonathan Haywood Mrs. Dina Lansinger, Mrs. Liz Sesler-Beckman, Nathan Hedgecock APImages Cole Iampieri Photography Contributors Ben Levinson Varun Maheshwari Mr. Don Abrams & Mr. Cesare Ciccanti Graham O’Brien Technology Support Max Verheyen Contributors: Alex Lawson Thomas Muhly Calvin Watkins Mr. N.W. Gabbey, Faculty Advisor
Above, Ms. barbar a Cole is on hand to meet the GMS Student Council reps; below, eighth gr aders James Schloeder (front) and Keyshon Jones sort hundreds of cans and boxes.
photo courtesy of AJones
photo courtesy of ESesler-Beckman
ROLAND PARK & OWINGS MILLS - Once the girls there. the holiday season was upon us, GMS’s Mrs. Sesler-Beckman smiled and choral group hit the road for its annual said that the boys felt like “rock stars” slate of off-campus performances. on the stage. She added that everyone In an especially busy December, enjoyed himself and that it was a the Middle T Singers performed two worthwhile experience, one she hopes shows on Saturday, December 6. That will become an annual invite for GMS’s morning, they sang at the Pickersgill choral group. Retirement Community and then Luke Sabracos (’19), a first-year headed back to member of the Roland Park to Middle Ts, said perform at Roland that they added Park Country Christmas hats School’s Holiday to their usual Fair. black pants, white After their b ut t o n e d - d ow n second concert shirts, and bow of the day, the ties. Middle Ts were At these given tickets to holiday shows, spend on games, the Middle Ts activities, or lunch sang “Deep in at the annual fair. the Meadow,” On the “Like the Beat of evening of a Drum,” “Awake T h u r s d a y, and Arise!,” December 12, the “Silver Bells,” Middle T Singers “Troika,” and performed at the “Touch the Sky.” 4th Annual Civil Mrs. SeslerWar Dinner at The Middle Ts sit at the Fourth Beckman feels Garrison Forest Annual Civil War Dinner at Garrison that this year’s School, the second Forest School on December 12. group is strong straight year they have attended that as a whole and that all of the singers event. bring unique musical and personal Mrs. Sesler-Beckman said that the characteristics to the table, highlighting Civil War performance was great. The the choir’s strong chemistry. boys certainly seemed to gain confidence All in all, the Middle T Singers due to the support - and cheers! - from were right on key this holiday season.
Eighth grader James Schloeder said, “It felt really good to help people who weren’t as fortunate as us.” After arriving at the church, the GMS reps started bringing box after box of food into the church that has been the recipient of GMS’s Thanksgiving Food Drive for more than twenty years now. Tyler Witherspoon (’19) said, “It felt really good, and it was pretty funny that we had so much food that the table broke.” In addition to all of the cans and boxes and jars of traditional Thanksgiving foodstuffs, GMS students were asked to bring in $2.00 each, the total being used to purchase chickens to accompany the meals put together by Our Place for families in need. After all the GMS donations were sorted, the boys headed back to GMS, knowing that they had helped to make Thanksgiving special for so many families. Thanks to GMS students and faculty for your generosity and for living in the spirit of Thanksgiving.
photo courtesy of AJones
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Holiday concert putting the (continued from page 1) ‘giving’ in the ensemble, and Mr. Lander was thanksgiving with excited to work with some students who do not take Band with him. The Sixth Grade Band played two songs, “Manhattan Beach March” and the well-known “Can Can.” Mr. Lander was especially proud of the boys because “Manhattan Beach March” is and advanced song for younger bands. photo courtesy of DAbrams
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While the stage was being prepped for the the next band, Tem Koleosho (’21) gave the first of three holiday readings. Between other later acts, Avery Merlo (’19) and Saijai Kaushal (’20) read two other holiday passages. The Faculty Singers took to the risers to sing “Masters in the Hall” and then reprised “Mozart’s Fa-La-La,” the song they had sung at the 2013 concert. Mr. Burke, one GMS’s new teachers, sang bass with the Faculty Singers and said that he really enjoyed the experience. photo courtesy of DAbrams
the SMY TH report
photo courtesy of AJones
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issue 3, november-december 2014
Mr. Lander returned to the stage for a third time, leading the Seventh and Eighth Grade Band in “Florish for Wind Band” and “Cumberland Cross,” in which John McGowan (’19) played a solo on the flute. The Middle T Singers and Mrs. Sesler-Beckman came back to the risers to sing “Deep in the Meadow,” which featured solos by the seventh grade trio of Aidan Collins, Ethan Forrester, and Owen Kleis. The chorus then sang the beloved “Linus and Lucy.” To finish off the show, Mr. Lander directed the Jazz Band as it played Duke Ellington’s “It Don’t Mean a Thing,” in which every member had his own solo. If you did not notice while it was happening, Mr. Lander had a busy day. After the concert, he admitted that he had not been as stressed as he usually is before this concert; however, the Thursday night show was still a bit chaotic. After all, he conducted four different groups. Mr. Lander expressed how proud he was of the boys and truly believes that the performers put forth their best effort. Congratulations to all of the performers and to all of the musical directors for their hard work - and thanks to everyone who shared his talent at this special time of year! Top, K awann McPherson (left) and Colby Wasson (center) play trumpet with the Sixth Gr ade Band; bottom, Lucas Yim (front left), Robert Fuchs (standing), and the String Ensemble perform three songs.