THE September 2, 2015 by
Brian Nelson
The start of a new school year brings the return of old faces and old friends. Over the summer, the campus was updated. Such updates include the new traffic lights, a renovated Science Building, a complete revamp of the athletic fields, changes to the Auditorium, and other, smaller enhancements. When asked about the field overhaul, Athletic Director, Mr. Timothy Holley (‘77), remarked, “This is the first time we have done a comprehensive upgrade of all of our outdoor fields . . . to make sure that they meet the needs of our school in a more modern way.” Specifically this means that the football field, Brown Field, will become a multi-sport artificial surface for soccer, football, and lacrosse. The baseball field, Barrett Field, is the first sodded, irrigated field in the history of Gilman. Due to the construction that these new fields require, intramurals will be pressed for space. Because of this problem, Mr. Holley commented, “for the first time ever, we are offering, this fall because of the construction, that every Upper School boy can take the season off.” This will allow students more time to do as they please after 3:35. The Science Building was also updated over the summer. Director of Finance and Administration, Mr. Sean Furlong, stated, “Within the Science Building, we changed the classrooms to be multifunc-
Gilman School
A aron Slutkin
Towards the end of the last school year, it was announced that Mr. Brian Ledyard, who originally taught at Gilman from 2002-2010, would return to the school as a f ull-time teacher and administrator. Mr. Ledyard will resume his career at Gilman after a five-year hiatus at the Drew School in San Francisco. The search for a better professional fit brings Mr. Ledyard back to Gilman, “an institution [he] felt better aligned with from a mission/philosophy perspective.” Specifically, he highlighted Mrs. Carey’s focus on education in mind, body and spirit. Though his match as an educator was perfect at Gilman, personal reasons also influenced his return to Baltimore. In addition to having friends in Baltimore, most of Mr. Ledyard’s family lives in or around Maryland. Also a father to a three-year old and a ten-month old, Mr. Ledyard yearned to return to “a place [he’d] be super-proud to send [his] kids.” While Mr. Ledyard, who holds degrees from Tufts University and Johns Hopkins, will surely make an impact teach-
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New Year, New Campus tional to a combination of teaching and lab space which will increase flexibility and will allow teachers to have different lesson plans that can incorporate lab work.” A robotics space was also added
that still need to be discussed. The goal is to have this done come the 2016-2017 school year. Finally, the most apparent change one may notice even before entering campus
photo by Luke Wulff and the bathrooms received an upgrade. The lobby of the Alumni Auditorium has also received a full redesign featuring higher ceilings, improved lighting, and new paint. One additional upgrade that can be noticed on campus is the new keypads and locks on many of the doors to Carey Hall. These changes are part of a larger scale project to better control access to buildings on campus. While this is the hope, there are many logistical aspects
Gilman Welcomes Back Mr. Ledyard by
NEWS
ing sophomore English and coaching JV Lacrosse, his most significant role at Gilman will be as the Assistant Head of the Upper School. In this new position, Mr. Ledyard has many goals and objectives in the interest of improving the student body’s experience and the quality of education at Gilman. For the former, Mr. Ledyard will be leading the “student support team,” with the agenda of establishing better communication between the administration, the faculty, and the students. He will also focus in on the buffer between second period and lunch by better structuring the timing and dismissals to assembly, advisory, and form meetings, as well as improving the discussion during the advisory meetings by adding “mindfulness” to what is going on around Gilman. In regard to the latter, he will “support Mr. Heubeck in his responsibility in implementing the school’s definition of excellence in teaching through the faculty evaluation system.” As he takes on these key roles, we wish Mr. Ledyard the best of luck and warmly welcome him back to Gilman.
is the new traffic light on Northern Parkway. This light will make coming to and going from campus much easier for parents and students. A new left-turn lane has also been added on Roland Avenue to make morning drop off run more smoothly. All of these traffic upgrades were made in conjunction with the City of Baltimore.
Volume CXV No. 1
A New Year With The News Welcome back! This year we have many exciting things to look forward to. A newly updated Science Building and fields (page 1), eleven new faculty members (pages 2-4), and new additions to the school’s administration (page 1), all add to the exciting prospect that is a new year. We are proud to announce a new feature of the News. In an effort to increase engagement on a daily basis with the Gilman community, we have created a Twitter feed. Through this channel, we hope to create, comment, and share material and encourage open conversation among the student body and greater Gilman community. You can find us at www.twitter.com/ TheGilmanNews Much discussion in newsrooms all over America is on consumer engagement, and most prominently, harnessing the power of the Internet to drive engagement. Through this Twitter channel, we hope to engage the community in an open, genuine, and frank discussion about those good and bad things around Gilman. In addition, we will disseminate see “Welcome,” page 2
Mr. Griffith Joins The Administration Basil A postolo Mr. Bartley Griffith joins Gilman this dedicated to faculty development and year from the Westminster School in enrichment for a school of its size, a trait Atlanta Georgia as our new Assistant that drew him to Gilman. Mr. Griffith will chair the school’s acaHead of School. At the Westminster School, where he taught for fifteen demic council, a K-12 group including all years, Mr. Griffith held many posi- the school’s division heads, and a range of lower, middle, and upper tions including Upper and school faculty. The council Middle School English is dedicated to the K-12 teacher, Upper School curriculum, and “how we Dean, school-wide English support [the curriculum] Department Chair, and in a way that honors the coach of football, basketschool’s mission of mind, ball, and lacrosse. Joining body, and spirit, in a time Mr. Griffith in a move from of disorienting change.” the Westminster School to He says that one of the Gilman is Mr. Hudson, a council’s chief charges is new Upper School History to sustain both the timeteacher, and Baltimore less traditions that have native (see Mr. Hudson’s always mattered and will profile on page 2). always matter [to Gilman], At Gilman, Mr. Griffith will work on the recruitphoto by Basil Apostolo but also make [these traditions] relevant in a rapidly ment , r e tent ion , a nd development of our faculty. One of his changing society.” Mr. Griffith will also teach an Upper goals is to foster development of the “whole teacher.” In a recent interview, School English course, and coach Middle Mr. Griffith explained, “we talk a lot in School football. Although Mr. Griffith grew up in schools about the ‘whole child,’ but we don’t talk in the same way about the Pittsburgh, he has been in and out of Bal‘whole teacher.’” He hopes to bring such timore as his parents relocated to Anne a conversation to Gilman in order to help Arundel County ten years ago. His wife sustain the faculty in “mind, body, and and two young kids all made the move to spirit because teaching is an extraordi- Baltimore this summer. This year, Mr. Griffith is excited about narily inspiring but also very difficult career to sustain.” He noted that Gilman getting to know people, and learning what has a robust set of grants and funds it means to “be Gilman.” by