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Clockwise from top: Avi Attar, David LaFond, Ian Richardson, and Chris Zhu.
Four Seniors Named National Merit Scholars
This spring, the National Merit Scholarship Program announced its selection of 2,500 scholarship winners, chosen from a pool of 15,000 talented high school seniors across the country. These members of the Class of 2020 will each receive $2,500 scholarships toward college next year. Among these outstanding students are four members of Roxbury Latin’s Class of 2020: Avi Attar, David LaFond, Ian Richardson, and Chris Zhu.
The National Merit Scholarship Program selection process began in October 2018, when more than 1.5 million juniors took the PSAT, or the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (NMSQT). This initial screen identified 16,000 Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of the nation’s highest scores. Roxbury Latin had seven semifinalists in a class of 52. Eighteen additional RL boys received commendations, meaning their scores placed them in about the top four percent of all test-takers. All seven of RL’s semifinalists moved on to become finalists, of which there were 15,000 nationally. From there, Avi, David, Ian, and Chris were selected from that group after rigorous review of their RL transcripts, standardized test scores, contributions to and leadership in school and community activities, essays, and recommendation letters.
It is a great honor to have four National Merit Scholarship winners in one senior class, a result we have not seen in recent memory. Our National Merit Scholarship winners, in fact, comprise almost eight percent of this year’s graduating class. Congratulations to all 25 boys who received recognition from the National Merit Scholarship Program this year. //
Latonics Release Newest Album: Lose Yourself Again
On May 21, Roxbury Latin’s Latonics released their eleventh album since 1997—this one titled Lose Yourself Again. The tracks (a total of 12) are available on most digital platforms, including iTunes, Amazon Music, Google Play, Spotify, and Pandora. The recordings feature vocals from members of the Class of 2017 through the Class of 2021. Rob Opdycke, RL’s Director of Music, was the album’s recording engineer, and the tracks were produced—edited and mixed—by Plaid Productions. Erik Zou ’19 created the cover art for the album, the title of which is drawn from a lyric in the second track, “Jump Right In” by Zac Brown Band. Every year, members of the Latonics vote on which songs to include, and about six tracks per year are chosen. Each vocalist records his part one at a time, listening to a MIDI export of the arrangement in his headphones. Backstage-left of the Smith Theater has served as the group’s recording studio for the past decade, since Mr. Opdycke took over recording engineer duties.
Lose Yourself Again is the first Latonics album to be released on all major digital platforms. Past Latonics albums are currently available as CDs only, but the most recent of them will also be available on digital and streaming platforms in the coming months. //
Track List
Animal (Neon Trees) arr. Eric Chung – Nick Chehwan ’20, solo Jump Right In (Zac Brown Band) arr. Jack Golden ’18 – Ben Lawlor ’18, solo Sing to You (John Splithoff) arr. RCO – Nick Chehwan, solo The Real (Busty and the Bass) arr. RCO – Xander Boyd ’17, solo Good Grief (Bastille) arr. RCO – Reis White ’18, solo Brand New (Ben Rector) arr. Jack Golden – Ben Lawlor, solo All on Me (Devin Dawson) arr. Christian Landry ’20 – David Ma ’18, solo Love Me Now (John Legend) arr. Ryan Chipman ’12 – Nick Chehwan, solo Cleopatra (The Lumineers) arr. Ben Lawlor – Ben Lawlor, solo Leave the Night On (Sam Hunt) arr. T.J. Silva ’17 – Xander Boyd, solo Valerie (The Zutons) arr. Similar Jones – Ian Kelly ’17, solo Imagine (John Lennon) arr. Pentatonix – Andrew White ’18, Reis White, Kalyan Palepu ’19, and Nick Chehwan, solos
RL’s Penn Fellows Complete and Share Their Culminating Work
Since 2012, the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education has partnered with independent schools throughout the northeast to allow early career teachers to earn a master’s in education while simultaneously gaining classroom experience. In 2017, Roxbury Latin became one of ten schools in the program’s first day school cohort. Since that time, RL has welcomed two new Penn Fellows to the faculty each year. These Fellows spend their two years with our community filling many roles at school; they are gifted generalists, much like our boys. They are primarily graduate students—taking online courses, attending weekly classes led by on-site administrators, and traveling to four weekend or week-long sessions annually at Penn and other partner schools. But because the Penn program is grounded in both theory and practice, Fellows are simultaneously coaching, advising, and, most important, teaching their own classes at RL.
In May, RL’s two second-year Fellows, Visaury Moreta and Chris Brown, concluded their degree program in a very unusual way. Like the rest of us, Visaury and Chris finished the school year virtually, presenting for their Penn program in recorded videos and teaching their RL courses—Spanish 1 and 2 for Visaury, and AP Economics and History 7 for Chris—via Zoom. Chris’s lacrosse season was canceled, and Visaury’s debaters missed their final competitions of the year. Despite these challenging circumstances, however, Visaury and Chris were able to complete the Penn program’s culminating experience—the in-depth capstone inquiry project—which they presented to both their Penn cohort and the RL faculty.
Visaury’s inquiry project sought to answer the question: How can I build feedback and assessment practices that support students in understanding Spanish grammar? In her first years as a teacher, Visaury found that her go-to assessment practice— traditional “red marks” on assignments large and small—left students so overwhelmed with feedback that they actually missed her key points. Through observations, journaling, surveys, and compositions, Visaury established a better practice for her students using what education researchers call the “draft-plus” method, or the “Feedback Loop.” Visaury would not grade students on their first draft of work. Instead, she would use the opportunity for feedback and allow students to ask questions about that feedback in class before redoing the assignment. That final assignment received a grade. Visaury’s research saw incredible results, particularly in how her students felt about feedback. At the beginning of the year, the majority of her students associated the word “feedback” with negative emotions like nervousness or anxiety. By the end of the year, their attitudes had completely transformed; most students were using words like hopeful, determined, or relieved to describe how they felt about feedback.
In his own inquiry project, Chris explored how humor might be a powerful catalyst for an effective learning environment. In his Class I AP Economics course, Chris built humor into his daily lesson plans and assignments, made an effort to engage in unplanned humor, and deliberately encouraged student humor on a daily basis. Through journaling, focus groups, surveys, and student work, Chris found that humor made many concepts easier for his students to retain, and it relieved stress in a class that students found challenging. He also found that his humor made students feel as though they could relate to Chris on a personal level, allowing him to be more effective in his work with them. Chris concluded that while each class and teacher is different, there is no one in our community who cannot employ humor to help students achieve their goals.
And now Visaury and Chris are looking forward to next year. Visaury will be joining the Spanish faculty at St. Mark’s School in Southborough. At Roxbury Latin we are thrilled that Chris will be staying on in the fall, as AP economics and IPS teacher, coach, and member of the history and science departments. //
Senior Chris Zhu Earns First Place in American Prize for Piano Solo
This spring, Chris Zhu ’20 was named the first-prize recipient in the nonprofit American Prize competition in the performing arts, at the high school level, for his piano solo submission. Chris began studying piano at age five and entered his first competition at age eight. He has performed at various high-profile venues—including Carnegie Hall and Steinway Hall in New York, and Symphony Hall in Boston—and has received numerous awards for his piano performances, including a second place in the Bradshaw and Buono International Piano Competition; four first-prize awards in the Massachusetts Music Teachers Association Bay State Contest; two prizes at the Steinway Society of Massachusetts Piano Competition; one first-prize award in the senior division of the University of Rhode Island piano extravaganza; and a second-place award in the intermediate group of American Protege International Piano and String Competition. An accomplished violinist, Chris has also received the top prize from the Roman Totenberg Young Strings Competition and has played First Violin for orchestras at the New England Conservatory Prep School and the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra.
The American Prize was founded in 2009 and is awarded annually. Unique in scope and structure, the prize is designed to evaluate, recognize, and reward the best performers, ensembles, and composers in the United States based on submitted recordings. The American Prize has attracted thousands of qualified contestants from all fifty states since its founding; has awarded nearly $100,000 in prizes in all categories since 2010; and is presented in many areas of the performing arts. The competitions of the American Prize are open to all U.S. citizens, whether living in this country or abroad, and to others currently living, working, or studying in the U.S. It is the nation’s most comprehensive series of contests in the classical arts. The contest is administered by Hat City Music Theater, Inc., a nonprofit organization based in Danbury, Connecticut. //
Jonathan Weiss Wins ASCAP Young Composers Award
This spring, Jonathan Weiss ’20 was awarded the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) Young Composers award. This annual competition is open to composers of original, classical concert music, encouraging developing music creators to get their work out into the world.
Jonathan was seven when he was given a toy keyboard for Christmas and picked out “Ode to Joy” by ear. He has been composing ever since. Now, his music is rooted in literature, art, and history. For the last five years, Jonathan has been submitting work to the ASCAP Young Composers competition at the encouragement of his composition teacher at the New England Conservatory, Rodney Lister; his Roxbury Latin composition teacher, Howard Frazin; and Roxbury Latin’s Director of Music, Rob Opdycke. Jonathan has been named a finalist a number of times, but this marks the first year he has been named among ASCAP’s 20 winning composers between the ages of 10 and 30. Jonathan’s winning piece, titled “The Strongest Tree Bends in the Wind,” was written last year in collaboration with the musical duo David Leach (RL Class of 2009) and Julia Connor, who together make up Room to Spare. Originally, Jonathan wrote the piece for a Hall presentation delivered from the Rousmaniere stage. Collaborating with other composers was new for Jonathan, and he had a great time working with Julia, a classical violinist, and David, a jazz musician and composer. All of their feedback on Jonathan’s piece, he said, “was perfect.”
Next year, Jonathan is heading off to Yale, where his dream is to be in touch with Martin Bresnick, faculty composer at Yale School of Music, to study composition. He promises to continue to “pump out pieces” to send to ASCAP. For now, he feels honored to have received this award, which will allow him to become a member of ASCAP and publish his work. //
Scot Landry Presents a Memorable, Virtual Holy Week Hall
As people around the world stayed in their homes in April to slow the spread of COVID-19, it was perhaps fitting that Christians were observing Lent—a time when it is commonplace to “give something up,” to sacrifice, and to prioritize reflection.
Roxbury Latin’s (virtual!) Hall speaker—to share his reflections on Lent, Holy Week, and Easter—was Scot Landry. Mr. Landry serves as co-leader for the Dynamic Parish Initiative at Dynamic Catholic, an organization providing resources to the Catholic Church in America. He has served in a number of leadership and consulting positions for Catholic organizations, including the Archdiocese of Boston, where he was Cabinet Secretary for Catholic Media and Cabinet Secretary for Institutional Advancement. He has committed his time and talents at St. Paul’s Choir School, Our Sunday Visitor, Catholic Voices USA, and as a strategy consultant and executive search professional for Catholic ministries. He is also the father of two RL boys—Christian ’20 and Dominic ’24. Central to RL’s mission and tradition is tending to the spiritual growth of our boys, and we hear frequently from speakers throughout the year about topics of faith, spirituality, and living with purpose. In these challenging times, these topics seem all the more vital and pressing. Mr. Landry explained to the students that, growing up, he went through “the religious motions,” as he called them. He practiced through attending church with his family and observing holidays, but he always had one question looming in the back of his young mind: “Isn’t faith boring?” In college, however, his faith began to deepen—he moved from going through the motions to “awe and wonder”—and he learned to embrace and even lean into his doubts about his Catholic faith. His life of spiritual exploration, in other words, began to take shape. As Mr. Landry spoke to the RL community about the meaning and traditions of Holy Week, he described the many massive claims that Christianity makes, from immaculate conception to walking on water to resurrection. “Bold claims,” he said, “are never boring.”
Mr. Landry encouraged students, faculty, and staff to ponder the mysteries of faith, to reflect on its key questions, and to spend time cultivating our “soul knowledge.” This is separate from “head” or even “heart” knowledge, he told us; it is the knowledge of faith. This spring seemed the perfect time for this Hall and this call for inner exploration. As we navigated a situation so completely out of our control and were met with newfound time in our homes, nurturing soul knowledge seemed within our capacity and more important than ever. //
Dr. Stephen Berk on AntiSemitism, the Holocaust, and Moving Toward a Hopeful Future
On April 16, Roxbury Latin students, faculty, and staff welcomed Dr. Stephen Berk as one of the spring’s virtual Hall presenters. Dr. Berk is the Henry and Sally Schaffer Professor of Holocaust and Jewish Studies at Union College. He has earned an international reputation for his teaching, writing, and research surrounding Russian and Soviet Jewish History, the American Jewish experience, and anti-Semitism, among other topics. He teaches a variety of history courses at Union; directs the college’s interdepartmental program in Russian and Eastern European Studies; and helps advise the Hillel organization. He is also great uncle to Daniel Berk ’21 and Adam Berk ’19.
In this year, marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau, Dr. Berk spoke about the anti-Jewish sentiment embedded in Western civilization—its origins, its evolution, and the many tragedies it has spurred. “The historiography on the Holocaust is voluminous,” Dr. Berk began. “I begin with causation, but I must caution you that this is not mathematics. This is not physics. You cannot say in history A plus B produces C. You look at the evidence, the data, the memoir literature, and the documentation, and you make informed hypotheses. This is the best that you can do.” His talk brought listeners from the teachings of the early Church of Christianity and the Crusades, through Communism, the Great Depression and the Holocaust, all connected by a thread of anti-Semitism: “When a people is held in contempt for a very long period of time, what develops is a folklore about that people. And the folklore about the Jews is very, very hostile. You see it in the woodcuts, in the paintings of the medieval and the early modern period, the idea that the Jews have tails and horns, that they kill Christian boys and girls at the time of Passover… This is absolute nonsense, but thousands upon thousands of Jews will be killed, and even more Jews will be forced to leave their countries, because of an eruption of anti-Jewish sentiment.”
In his presentation, Dr. Berk aimed to communicate several important messages: First, we must never minimize the role of personality—individual humans and their motivations—as we shape our understanding of historical events. (Dr. Berk cited Hitler’s deep hatred for Jews as well as his unique style of leadership as an example: “No Hitler, no Holocaust,” he said.) His second message spoke to how we choose to move through the world today. He implored all in attendance never to remain silent in the face of discrimination: “Be careful of racism. Be careful of any form of discrimination, whether it is based on race, religion, gender, ethnicity, class. The road to Auschwitz was paved by anti-Semitism, and when anti-Semitic words or acts are left unchecked, their power and danger only grow.” Dr. Berk also reminded students that science and medicine without ethics can lead to catastrophe. “Some of the people who are responsible for the murder of Jews were some of the most sophisticated scientific minds in Germany.”
In closing, Dr. Berk extolled the heroes of World War II: the soldiers who headed knowingly and bravely into German and Japanese fire; the individuals who sheltered Jewish men, women, and children from the Nazis, under penalty of death to them and their families.
“Study the Holocaust well, my friends,” implored Dr. Berk, “and remember that nobody has a monopoly on the truth. I’ve only given you some of the lessons, you can derive other lessons. Study the Holocaust well, and then maybe we can make the 21st century the best century that humanity has ever experienced.” //
