Roxbury Latin Newsletter: Fall 2021

FALL 2021 THE NEWSLETTER

The Roxbury Latin School 101 St. Theresa Avenue West Roxbury, MA 02132

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the newsletter

associate headmaster

Send notes and correspondence to alumni@roxburylatin.org

Gretchen Ertl, Marcus Miller, Mike Pojman, Adam Richins, Evan Scales

Michael T. Pojman

The Roxbury Latin School publishes The Newsletter quarterly for alumni, current and former parents, and friends of the school.

editorial & design

Photo by Evan Scales

©2021 The Trustees of The Roxbury Latin School

headmaster

Kerry P. Brennan

photography

Erin E. Berg

director of external relations

Erin E. Berg, Marcus C. Miller

assistant headmaster for advancement

Thomas R. Guden ’96

contact information

The Newsletter FALL 2021 | VOLUME 95 | NUMBER 1 8Features

overdue 2020 and 2021 reunions, which were postponed

26

18

(And

the

Homecoming, Reunion, and the Dedication of O’Keeffe Field

4 RL News & Hall Highlights 14 New Faculty & Staff 16 New Trustees 55 Fall Varsity Teams 56 Class Notes 64 In Memoriam 67 Arts DepartmentsCalendar

rainbow

52 The

Photo by Gretchen Ertl

The Beaverbrook Tradition Continues for RL’s Youngest Students 18th Annual Jarvis Lecture | Dr. Javier Corrales, on the Importance of International Curiosity

36 Summer

by

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over campus as alumni gather to celebrate their

A appears longdue to Covid-19 pandemic.

A Case Against Instant Gratification | Kerry Brennan Delivers the Opening of Fall Term Address Reading |What books did Roxbury Latin’s faculty and staff read—for pleasure!—over the summer? why should you read them, too?) How Did Students Spend Their Summer? | Supported by the O’Connell Fellowships, the Range of Pursuits was Great Boys of Fall | Getting to Know RL’s Fall Head Coaches—One, Two, and Three Years In Erin E. Berg

12 The

“At Roxbury Latin, as you know, we care not only about helping you develop your intellectual passions and pursuits, but also about helping you develop the tools to lead physically, mentally, and emotionally healthy lives,” began Headmaster Brennan in Hall on September 14. “Three years ago we launched a new program aimed at addressing—in formats like this—topics related to health and wellness. We have welcomed speakers on topics related to addiction, mental health, nutrition, social media, gender identity, and healthy sleep. This year we will bring to campus a range of individuals who will focus on various facets of masculinity: what it means, how we experience it, and how it manifests itself within us and in society at large.”

Who do you want to be? was the essential question that Mr. Weber posed. “Who are some men you admire? Dwayne Johnson? Abraham Lincoln? Will Smith? Your grandfather? Your teacher? Your coach? What do you admire about them? There are no rules for what it means to be a man—there are only suggestions, maybe some best practices. You get to choose and be anything you want. Study what you like about

“Despite these accomplishments,” said Mr. Brennan, “Mr. Weber knows what it feels like to experience setbacks, selfdoubt, pressures, uncertainty, and failure. And he now knows what it takes to overcome them.”

Bringing great energy to the room, Mr. Weber began by pointing out the difference between have to—“I have to do my homework,” or “I have to run sprints at practice”—and get to. “It is a great privilege for you to attend this remarkable school, so remember this: You don’t have to do anything. You don’t have to finish that project, or head out to the practice field at the end of a long day. The choice is all yours. However, if your goals are to get into that college, or to beat that rival team, then these are decisions you get to make. What are you going to put into life to reach your goals? No one can decide that for you.”

Alex Weber On Choosing A Life of Integrity

4 Fall 2021

In the Smith Theater, Roxbury Latin welcomed its first speaker in this year-long series, Mr. Alex Weber. Mr. Weber is an internationally known speaker, award-winning entertainer, and an elite American Ninja Warrior athlete. A college lacrosse player at the University of Pennsylvania, Mr. Weber has been awarded the U.S. Lacrosse Coach of the Year distinction, for his role as head varsity coach at HarvardWestlake School in Los Angeles. He also competed in the lacrosse World Championships, finishing as a top scorer.

“If you give the game the best you have—and remember, the game is whatever you choose it to be—then the best will come back to you. We are at our best when other people need us. Be there for one another, be floats for the people in your lives, and choose to surround yourself with floats, as well.”

Mr. Weber—through personal stories of triumph and tribulation, struggle and success—underscored that we all are the product of what we do most often; none of us are perfect, and at times we will choose something we regret, but what we choose to do most often will be who we are, and how we are known. He suggested that boys adopt the three-step strategy of Define, Decide, Do. He urged boys to build, rather than bail. “Remember that this life has no rules. It’s a choose your own adventure. I urge you to be open, choose positively, and surround yourself each day with people, choices, and habits that are ‘floats,’ which build you up, rather than ‘anchors,’ which weigh you down.”

One student shared directly with Mr. Weber after his presentation: “I just wanted to thank you for the great words you said in the Hall this morning. It made me think more about how everything really is in my hands, about how hard I want to work to succeed in my dreams. I appreciate it, and I hope you come back to RL soon.” //

“It is a great privilege for you to attend this remarkable school, so remember this: You don’t have to do anything. You don’t have to finish that project, or head out to the practice field at the end of a long day. The choice is all yours. However, if your goals are to get into that college, or to beat that rival team, then these are decisions you get to make. What are you going to put into life to reach your goals? No one can decide that for you.”

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men you admire, what you respect, and then try it out. Acquire from those you admire.”

Ms. Kayyem explained how in 2004, when Facebook was founded, the dynamics of how we communicated changed. Terrorist groups began to capitalize on the ability to use social media’s reach to radicalize people. “Around that same time, in

“It used to be the case that terrorists wanted a lot of people watching, but not a lot of people dead, because killing a lot of people makes others less sympathetic to your cause,” Ms. Kayyem began. She explained how terrorism out of the Middle East began to rise in the mid-90s, though the political motives were vague. “In 1995, there was a real ratcheting up of terrorist violence, specifically with the first World Trade Center bombing. With the rise of Bin Laden and Al Qaeda—who began specifically targeting American civilians—the terrorist agenda had changed: they wanted lots of people dead and lots of people watching.”

Kayyem said. “I will acknowledge that one person’s terrorist is another person’s freedom fighter. That’s a debate you can have in your classes.”

6 Fall 2021

She continued by offering a concise master class on the evolution of terrorist threats in America over 20 years, chronicling the events and inventions that have caused people in her area of work to shift focus as the terrain of threats changes.

Ms. Kayyem is the Robert and Renee Belfer Senior Lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, where she is faculty director of the Homeland Security Project and the Security and Global Health Project. She served as President Obama’s Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security—a department created in the wake of 9/11—and has been a national leader in America’s homeland security and emergency management for nearly 25 years.

Juliette Kayyem on 9/11 Anniversary, and Threats to the U.S. Today

Ms. Kayyem began her Hall talk by defining terrorism as violence, or the threat of violence, used against civilians for political purpose. “This is the definition we operate with,” Ms.

“Earlier this month, across the United States, citizens paused to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the events of September 11, 2001, commonly known as 9/11,” Headmaster Brennan began in Hall on September 21. “Regardless of one’s personal connection to the attacks of that day, all of us were affected by them, and all of us continue to be affected by the concerns about security and terrorism that have resulted from it… Twenty years ago we would probably not have known of someone identified as an expert on homeland security and terrorism. But today we have the pleasure of welcoming to RL one of the foremost thinkers on these issues, Juliette Kayyem.”

During the Q&A session that followed, one student asked: What is the most important thing we can do to keep our country safe? Ms. Kayyem’s response was that we are safer, as a country, when we help people coming to the U.S. from outside our country buy into the American experience, buy into being American, buy into being proud of living in America and the best of what we represent as a country.

“In 2016, when Donald Trump was elected and perpetuated a narrative of America first—us versus them, pointing to Mexican immigrants, instituting a ban on Muslims entering the U.S.—another key factor came into existence: The year 2016 was the first time in American history when the birth of non-caucasian babies outnumbered the birth of caucasian babies. This ‘great replacement,’ as it’s referred to, marks a resurgence in the white supremacy movement, perpetuated by social media.”

Ms. Kayyem described how this domestic terror threat, as well as threats posed by climate crises and the COVID-19 pandemic, are in her opinion the most pressing threats in the United States today. Homeland security professionals and counter-terrorist efforts also have a keen focus on what they call “over the horizon” threats, posed by technology and “Remember,”cyber-terrorism.she

2005, there was a significant shift in U.S. security efforts; that’s when Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. We realized that we had to expand our focus beyond counterterrorism efforts— on keeping guys off planes—to all hazards and threats. When Katrina hit, we weren’t able to protect an American city from this environmental crisis.” Threats that she and her colleagues began to focus on at that time persist today: climate change and climate disaster, but also pandemics and cyber-terrorism.

Prior to her work in the Obama administration, Ms. Kayyem was Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick’s homeland security advisor. She has served as a member of the National Commission on Terrorism; a legal advisor to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno; and a trial attorney and counselor in the Civil Rights Division at the Justice Department. Ms. Kayyem is also the CEO and co-founder of Grip Mobility, a technology company looking to provide transparency in the rideshare industry. She is an award-winning author, journalist and commentator, and is featured regularly as a national security analyst on CNN and WGBH, Boston’s Local NPR station. //

concluded, “people are certainly allowed to have any political beliefs and opinions they wish—that’s not what we’re talking about here. We’re talking about combining these political beliefs with violence—use of violence, threat of violence. That’s terrorism, whether it’s coming from outside of the U.S. or from within.”

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“In 2008, when President Obama was elected, we saw a rise in white supremacy and domestic terrorism in America,” Ms. Kayyem continued. “By 2016, this domestic terrorism was a more present threat than the Middle East or Al Qaeda. From 2008 through 2016, we saw more of what we call ‘lone wolf’ attacks, like that at Pulse Nightclub, which are more distributed and less existential. ‘Lone wolf’ is a misnomer, actually, since these individual terrorists were actually together online, where groups like ISIS were enlisting social media with intent to lure and radicalize individuals around the world.”

“People are certainly allowed to have any political beliefs and opinions they wish...We’re talking about combining these political beliefs with violence—use of violence, threat of violence. That’s terrorism, whether it’s coming from outside of the U.S. or from within.”

Upon arriving, Class VI boys were immediately met with their first challenge: a test of their knowledge of “the oldest school in continuous existence in North America.” Charged with successfully separating Roxbury Latin fact from fiction and producing the most correct answers in the questionnaire, Sixies face an uphill battle: Those well-versed seniors and teachers may purposefully throw them off track with bogus answers, allowing for the single time all year when our watchwords “honesty is expected in all dealings'' go out the window. >>

8 Fall 2021

The Beaverbrook Tradition Continues for RL’s Youngest Students

On September 10, 43 new Sixies—along with intrepid Class I leaders and faculty chaperones— trekked to Beaverbrook in Hollis, New Hampshire, for a tradition that dates back nearly 60 years. >>

>> Because of lingering concerns about COVID, this year’s adventure was not an overnight event. Rather Class VI gathered the day before, during special programming, to watch together the 1957 film Twelve Angry Men, with small group discussions afterward. (These were animated but decidedly more civil than the ones depicted on screen.) As they packed up and boarded the bus home that Friday evening, the Class of 2027 joined a brotherhood of RL men and boys who have sat around the campfire at Beaverbrook, singing about Roundheads and eating s’mores. It is a brotherhood that spans generations.

The day, organized by Class VI Dean Elizabeth Carroll, continued with team building activities (a low ropes course; the famously frustrating helium hula hoop game; an orienteering challenge that required a crash course in terrain maps and compasses). Before dinner, each Sixie addressed a letter to himself, to be opened at his senior retreat five years from now. The evening ended around the campfire, where Mr. Opdycke taught new boys The Founder’s Song, and Penn Fellow Jack Parker led an enthusiastic game of the math-lovers’ favorite “Flip Flop,” before it was time for s’mores. >>

"

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10 Fall 2021

Afghani Author Qais Akbar Omar Shares His Story

Mr. Omar’s early life in Kabul included the traditional kite flying competitions, popularized in the West by Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner. Life as Mr. Omar knew it at that time was changed forever with the emergence of the Mujahideen, the American-supported rebels who rid Afghanistan of its pro-Soviet government. They brought to Afghanistan and its people a decade-long civil war, displacing thousands of families and, in its savagery, leaving many more casualties. When it became too dangerous to continue to live in his grandfather’s home, the family traveled to a home owned by his father’s carpet-business partner, an 18th-century fort called the Qala-e-Noborja, or the “Fort of the Nine Towers.”

“Especially as headlines have been dominated by the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan after 20 years; the return of the Taliban to power; and the ensuing uncertainty in that country, we are glad to welcome to Roxbury Latin an eyewitness to contemporary history,” said Headmaster Brennan, in introducing Mr. Omar.

On October 7, Qais Akbar Omar—author of the highly praised coming-of-age memoir A Fort of Nine Towers—shared his story with students in the Smith Theater. With photograph slides illustrating his account, Mr. Omar walked the audience through his experiences of living in Kabul, Afghanistan, during its decade-long civil war, under the rule of the Taliban, and post-9/11, after the arrival of American troops. He showed photographs of the culturally rich, modern, and sophisticated Afghanistan that predated the country’s turmoil of these last three decades.

Throughout these years, Mr. Omar and his family were forced to endure unspeakable atrocities, and were saved from almost certain death by the coincidences of life: a former boxing student of his father’s, and then the kite-flying partner of Qais himself, became saviors rather than oppressors based on their prior relationships with Qais and his family. The family traveled

Mr. Omar’s memoir begins when he was eight years old, living an idyllic childhood in Kabul, surrounded by his large, colorful, and prosperous family. Mr. Omar, his siblings, his parents, and six uncles and their families all lived together in his grandfather’s spacious home. His grandfather was a carpet

dealer, as was his father, who was also a champion boxer and physics teacher at Habibia High School, alma mater of Afghanistan’s former President, Hamid Karzai.

During his presentation he shared photographs of his family; talked about the unconventional methods of fishing he enjoyed, introduced by Soviet troops; recounted the months he spent living in artfully adorned caves in the Afghan countryside and with a nomadic tribe; and about the losses he endured, including that of his family’s prosperous carpetmaking business.

Mr. Omar earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Kabul University and an MFA in Creative Writing from Boston University. A Fort of Nine Towers has been published in more than twenty languages. Mr. Omar has written for The New York Times, The Atlantic, and many other reputable publications. In 2014-2015, he was a Scholars at Risk Fellow at Harvard University.

When the Taliban were forced out of Kabul, Mr. Omar and his family reclaimed part of their lives and their home. Mr. Omar helped to rebuild his family’s carpet business. He became an interpreter for the U.S military and worked for the United Nations. He developed a Dari-language production of Love’s Labour’s Lost and then co-wrote, with West Roxbury resident,

Mr. Omar writes in the conclusion to his memoir: “I have long carried this load of griefs in the cage of my heart. Now I have given them to you. I hope you are strong enough to hold them.” After presenting to students and faculty in Hall, Mr. Omar joined several upper-level English and history classes, where he answered students’ questions about his life, his family, his country—then and now, and the craft of non-fiction writing. //

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through Afghanistan in hopes of being smuggled out of their beloved country, but then the tragedy of September 11, 2001 intervened and the family was subjected to the United States’ strikes on the Taliban.

journalist and playwright, Stephen Landrigan, an account of the experience in their book Shakespeare in Kabul.

Mr. Omar and his family were forced to endure unspeakable atrocities, and were saved from almost certain death by the coincidences of life: a former boxing student of his father’s, and then the kite-flying partner of Qais himself, became saviors rather than oppressors based on their prior relationships with Qais and his family.

On October 12, Dr. Javier Corrales—Dwight W. Morrow 1895 Professor of Political Science at Amherst College—visited campus as this year’s Jarvis International Fund Lecturer. This year marks the eighteenth annual Jarvis Lecture, named for the Reverend Tony Jarvis, who for thirty years led Roxbury Latin as its 10th Headmaster.

“It is a commonly accepted belief that Latin American countries have had a hard time achieving democracy, and that in many ways is true,” Dr. Corrales began. “Some Latin American

Dr. Corrales’s research and teaching focuses on varied, but connected, topics: democratization, presidential powers, and ruling parties; economy, energy, and foreign policy; populism and democratic backsliding; and sexuality. Specifically, Dr. Corrales has published extensively on Latin America and the Caribbean.

A regular contributor to The New York Times, he has published recent opinion pieces there on what the oil spill in Venezuela tells us about their politics; why former Latin American presidents have far too much power; and how the widespread solidarity in

Dr. Javier Corrales, on the Importance of International Curiosity, is RL’s 18th Jarvis International Lecturer

“A person who knows only one country knows no countries,” began Dr. Corrales, citing a quotation from sociologist Seymour Martin Lipset. “I am here to speak with you today about the importance of being internationally curious.” Dr. Corrales insisted that those who don’t seek the perspective of other countries, people, cultures, and languages are prone to exaggerating the pros and cons of their own home nation—in other words “a comparative perspective is critical for an informed analysis.”

Dr. Corrales went on to talk about Latin American countries—in the face of their struggles for democracy—having developed measures such as inviting impartial, international arbiters to ensure that elections are fair and just; introducing presidential term limits, to keep at bay presidents who stay in office too long and become dictators; and introducing quotas to achieve a 40-50% female representation in democratic ruling bodies.

countries have made great strides toward democracy, but those countries are typically vulnerable and unstable, given their histories. I would argue, however, that this reality has helped to spur great innovations toward protecting that democracy.”

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Dr. Corrales is the author of several books including Fixing Democracy, on Latin America’s penchant for constituent assemblies and the impact on presidential powers; and Autocracy Rising, about the recent Venezuelan transition to authoritarianism. His book Dragon in the Tropics, about the legacy of Hugo Chavez, was chosen in 2019 by both The Financial Times and The Guardian as essential titles to understand the crisis in Venezuela.

2004

Peter Bell Former President of CARE 2015

2005

John Brennan U.S. Homeland Security Advisor to President Obama

Dr. Corrales has taught courses all over the world, including in Amsterdam, Netherlands; Bogotá, Colombia; and Salamanca, Spain. In 2000, he became one of the youngest scholars ever selected as a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center in Washington, D.C. He has been a consultant for the World Bank, the United Nations, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has been a Fulbright Scholar twice, in 2005 in Caracas and in 2016 in Bogotá. He earned his bachelor’s degree in foreign service from Georgetown and his Ph.D. in political science from Harvard. Currently, Dr. Corrales is at work on two timely projects—one on populism and polarization, and the other on populism, religion, and LGBT rights.

Since 2004, Jack and Margarita Hennessy’s Jarvis International Fund has allowed the school to welcome some of the world’s brightest minds in politics, economics, history, and education to Roxbury Latin.

The Jarvis International Fund

2013

Linda Fasulo U.N. Correspondent for NBC 2008

Bill Richardson

Andrew Bacevich Professor of International Relations and History, Boston University

2007

Richard Murphy ’47 U.S. Ambassador, Diplomat

Fmr. Vice FederalChairman,Reserve

this summer’s protests in Cuba may hint at a long-awaited shift in its ruling Communist regime.

Gen. Anthony Zinni U.S. Marine Corps, Ret. Fmr. Governor of New Mexico

“A lesson for the United States and other democracies is that it is critically important to both reinforce and reinvent the pillars of your democracy,” concluded Dr. Corrales. “There will always be both foes and champions of an equitable and just democracy, and those who care about preserving it have to be creative and fight to uphold it.”

Harriet Elam-Thomas Dr. Javier Corrales Fmr. U.S. Ambassador to Senegal Professor of Political Science, Amherst College

Sir Eric Anderson Fmr. Headmaster, Eton College 2012

2019

Dr. Stanley Fischer 2009

2016

Dr. William Taubman 2010

Richard Haass U.S. Ambassador; President, Council on Foreign Relations

2014

Professor of Political Science, Emeritus, Amherst College

Mark Storella ’77

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Established in 2004, the F. Washington Jarvis International Fund Lecture has brought to campus several distinguished public servants and thinkers on foreign affairs—including economist Paul Volcker; Roxbury Latin alumni Ambassadors Richard Murphy and Mark Storella; Robert Gates, former Secretary of Defense; Lisa Monaco, homeland security advisor to President Obama; John Brennan, former Director of the CIA; Professor Bill Taubman, who spoke about Russian and U.S. relations over many decades; and, last year, Ambassador Harriet Elam-Thomas, who reminded us of the critical role of diverse perspectives in the work of foreign affairs.The fund is a generous benefaction of Jack Hennessy, Class of ’54, and his wife, Margarita. The Hennessys have, throughout their lives, represented an unusual engagement with other nations and cultures. Throughout their lives, too, they have generously provided the philanthropic wherewithal in order that others might come to know and appreciate our broader world. Through their generosity, hundreds of Roxbury Latin boys and teachers have been afforded the opportunity to travel to foreign countries over the years, developing new perspectives on many political, economic, historical, and cultural issues.

2006

Fmr. Director of the CIA

2018

20212020

Lisa Monaco Fmr. U.S. Ambassador

2017

R. Nicholas Burns Professor, Practice of Diplomacy and International Politics, Harvard Kennedy School 2011

Paul Volcker Fmr. Chair, Federal Reserve

Robert Gates Fmr. U.S. Secretary of Defense

Jackie Salas originally left her native Guam to come to Massachusetts when she arrived as a first-year student at Regis College. She made the most of this opportunity by excelling in her dual major—chemistry and international relations—earning magna cum laude honors at graduation. Drawn to Regis by its commitment to service, Ms. Salas was impressively involved in all sorts of service initiatives. She followed her Regis experience by earning a master’s degree in science education at the University of Notre Dame. A versatile science teacher with training in STEM approaches, Ms. Salas has brought her talent and passion to a range of educational settings, from working on social justice curricula in Minnesota, to teaching middle school math and science at a Georgia parochial school, to serving on the clinical faculty of her graduate program. Finally, she joined the faculty of Xaverian Brothers in Westwood. There she taught chemistry, physical science, robotics, and earth science to a range of age groups. Her supervisor there was Roxbury Latin’s own Dr. Bryan Dunn, whom she succeeded as science department chair. In that role she was involved with curriculum design, professional development, and advocating for programs concerning diversity, equity, and inclusion. At RL, Ms. Salas will teach Honors Chemistry, IPS for Class V boys, and

math. She will also serve as Assistant Director of Community and Culture and assist with the coaching of VEX robotics.

Matt McDonald ’85

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Jackie Salas

Matt McDonald returns to RL as Director of Admission. A respected and well-liked member of the Class of 1985, Mr. McDonald enjoyed a noteworthy six-year career complementing his academic achievements with participation as captain of the varsity soccer team (elected to the state All-Star team his senior year); as his class’s representative on the Disciplinary Committee; as business manager of the Yearbook; and as a singer in and officer of the Glee Club. Mr. McDonald went on to Dartmouth College where he earned a degree in government and participated as a member of the soccer program. After stints as a paralegal, sales rep, and marketing executive, he heard the siren call of schools and was appointed to the faculty and administration of Buckingham, Browne and Nichols in Cambridge. During his eleven years there, he served as Associate Director of Admission and Assistant Director of Financial Aid with responsibilities for charting strategic objectives, designing programs, and assessing and enrolling candidates. Mr. McDonald also taught world history to freshmen, served as assistant boys’ varsity soccer coach, and advised

New Faculty and Staff

each of his four years there, he was named All-American in track and field: one as an individual, the other three as a relay member for the 4×400. At Williams, Mr. Fitzgerald also participated on the step team, started a hip-hop group, and interned at a local farm. Since graduating, he has had various jobs, but principally has worked for Comella’s Restaurants, learning every feature of their operations and rising to management responsibility. He also served as a coach at his Alma Mater. Two of his teachers and coaches at Xaverian were Mr. Chris Heaton and Dr. Bryan Dunn. In part, thanks to their model and urging, he applied for the Fellows Program and we are delighted that, in addition to his teaching, Mr. Fitzgerald will be assisting with varsity football, freshman basketball, and track and field.

Taylor Fitzgerald, a member of this year’s Penn Fellows class, will teach in the History Department and be mentored by Mr. Tim Kelly. Mr. Fitzgerald is a decorated scholar athlete.

Brian Purnell

students. In 2015, he was recruited to Choate Rosemary Hall School, a distinguished Connecticut boarding school of 870 students. There he served as Director of Financial Aid ($13.5 million budget allocated to 33 percent of the school’s students), and Associate Director of Admission. He was instrumental in designing new data systems, developed a new assessment program, trained scores of faculty interviewers and file readers, and himself interviewed 125 students per year. At Choate, Mr. McDonald also served as assistant coach of the varsity soccer team. At RL, he played first for Chuck Farrington and then Bill Blood and Paul Sugg. He returned after college to serve as Mr. Sugg’s assistant for two years. He will now lead the whole soccer program, serving as head varsity coach.

Michael Beam ’10 Michael Beam joins us as one of this year’s Penn Fellows teaching in the English Department (Classes VI and V) with Mr. Josh Cervas as his mentor. A graduate of the RL Class of 2010, Mr. Beam made lasting, positive impressions on many of us during his schoolboy days and for the breadth of his stellar contributions. He was a celebrated performer in a range of Smith Theater productions, but also a standout in the Latonics, and even a prize-winning orator in Greek on Exelauno Day. An especially versatile writer, Mr. Beam served on the Tripod staff, and earned plaudits for his debating and public speaking. He was selected as the Hennessy Scholar at Eton during his gap year and he earned the friendships of countless teachers and scholars there, as well. Finally, Mr. Beam landed at California’s Pomona College where he majored in Classics, sang in various choral groups—formal and a cappella—and earned his election to Phi Beta Kappa. Since his Pomona graduation, Mr. Beam has enjoyed a variety of experiences, including as an author’s research assistant, a film script developer, wine salesman, and tutor extraordinaire. He has also helped lead campers at his own camp, Camp Timanous in Raymond, Maine, for eight years as a head counselor. Blessedly, Mr. Beam was available last August when Roxbury Latin needed teaching assistants to help lead and monitor classes throughout various hybrid learning phases. This year Mr. Beam takes on the stimulating, challenging duties associated with the Fellows Program in which, along with his teaching, he will serve as learning skills coach for those students who need it, and assistant faculty advisor of the Tripod. //

Brian Purnell joins Roxbury Latin second semester as this year’s Smith Scholar in Residence and to teach a first-time elective “The History of the Civil Rights Movement.” Dr. Purnell is the Geoffrey Canada Professor of Africana Studies and History at Bowdoin College at which he has been teaching for the past eleven years. A native New Yorker, Dr. Purnell attended Xavier High School, a Jesuit boys’ school, followed by his undergraduate years at Fordham and then his doctoral work at NYU. Just to stay within the boroughs, Dr. Purnell’s first teaching job was on the faculty at Fordham. Last year, Dr. Purnell gave a fascinating Hall presentation to RL students and faculty. He is considered a giant in the field of race and civil rights history, and we are fortunate, indeed, to have him teach this elective and our boys.

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Taylor Fitzgerald

Like a handful of our boys, he spent his elementary school years at St. John’s in Wellesley, and then he matriculated at Xaverian Brothers High School in Westwood, where he dazzled as a three-sport athlete—football, basketball, and track and field. Mr. Fitzgerald went on to Williams College at which he majored in political science and anthropology. During

Trained as an art historian and curator, Paul has more than 25 years’ experience in museums, business, and nonprofits. Prior to his appointment at Art Bridges, he founded Provost & Associates, an arts-assets consulting firm for high net worth individuals and foundations. Prior to that,

Matthew serves on the Board of Directors of the Consigli Foundation, the company’s charitable organization established to directly impact the health, education, and well-being of disadvantaged children in our communities. He is chair of the Leadership Board and serves on the Trustee Advisory Board for Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, the Board of Advisors for the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the Advisory Board at Babson College. Matthew holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Northeastern University; an A.S. in Construction

Paul Provost is the Chief Executive Officer of Art Bridges Foundation, responsible for advancing the foundation’s mission by designing, structuring, and implementing initiatives and programs. Art Bridges is a foundation with more than $1.5 billion in assets and a mission to expand access to American art across the nation. Working closely with the board of directors and board chair philanthropist Alice Walton, Paul provides strategic, financial, and operational leadership for the foundation.

Matthew Consigli P’24

Matthew Consigli is the President of Consigli Construction Company, Inc., together with his brother representing the fourth generation of his family to lead the organization. Consigli Construction is one of the largest construction management firms in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, providing construction management for corporate, academic, health care, institutional, life sciences, and government clients, and consistently honored with “Best Places to Work” awards in several states.

Paul Provost ’83

16 Fall 2021

New Trustees

Management from the University of New Hampshire; and an M.B.A. from Babson College. He lives in Wellesley with his wife, Kathleen, and their children Nick (Class III), Ella, and Julia.

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he served for more than two decades in various executive and management roles at Christie’s, including as Deputy

First Row: Stewart Thomsen, John Lieb, Andy Chappell, Brian Buckley, Mo Randall, Kerry Brennan, Mike Pojman, Paul Sugg, Ousmane Diop, Hunter White, Tony Teixeira, Rob Opdycke. Second Row: Jim Ryan, Billy Quirk, Tom Guden, Rary Delaney, Tom Walsh, Josh Cervas, Peter Hyde, Ken Hiatt, Ernesto Guerra, Nate Piper, Darian Reid. Third Row: Sean Spellman, Arturo Solís, Sue McCrory, Jamie Morris-Kliment, Chris Heaton, Derek Nelson, Daniel Bettendorf, Elizabeth Carroll, George Matthews, Tim Kelly, Nick Poles, Greg Sokol. Fourth Row: Matt McDonald, Michael Beam, Justin Muchnick, Arthur Beauregard, Michael Tomaino, Sarah Demers, Chris Brown, Alessandro Ferzoco, Andrés Amitai Wilson, Bryan Dunn, Jack Parker, Jackie Salas, Taylor Fitzgerald (missing: Erin Dromgoole). //

Faculty

PaulChairman.started

his career as curator at the New-York Historical Society. He earned his B.A. from Middlebury College; his M.A. from Williams College and the Clark Art Institute; and his doctorate from Princeton University.

Paul serves on the boards of the Historic House Trust of New York City and the Preservation League of New York State. He is a member of the visiting and executive committees for the Williams College Museum of Art and the Middlebury College Museum of Art. Paul and his partner, Pepe Lopez, divide their time among Bentonville, Arkansas; New York City; and Litchfield County, Connecticut. //

Homecoming, Reunion, and the Dedication of O’Keeffe Field

On Saturday, September 25, hundreds of Roxbury Latin fans—students, alumni, faculty, families, and friends—gathered on campus for a long-awaited Homecoming/Fall Family Day and Reunion, the first athletic and social event of its kind on campus since October 2019. >>

The day brought athletic competitions across campus, including varsity matches in cross country, soccer, and football. Cross country topped Rivers 16–47; football beat Middlesex in a nail-biter match by a score of 16–13; and soccer put up a valiant effort against Brooks, but ultimately fell 2–1. Before kick-off, Headmaster Brennan—along with members of the O’Keeffe family and trustees—gathered at the 50-yard line to officially dedicate the turf football/lacrosse field as O’Keeffe Field, in honor of the late trustee and loyal alumnus, Bill O’Keeffe ’57. >>

18 Fall 2021

>> “The O’Keeffes, through various acts of kindness to their school, have honored our fondest hopes and offered their leadership, service, and generosity on behalf of this old school and our mission,” said Headmaster Brennan. “Though a dozen or so O’Keeffes have attended the school, today we focus especially on Bill O’Keeffe, from the Class of 1957. Bill’s father, Bernard, was a member of the Class of 1924, and attended the old school on Kearsarge Avenue in Roxbury. Bill’s two sons, Ian, Class of 1986, and Tim, Class of 1989, made their own mark on the school during their time as students and subsequently as especially devoted alumni. In fact, Ian just completed a term as a member of the Board of Trustees. Ian’s son, Ben, is currently a member of Class III. But today I want especially to honor Bill O’Keeffe who for 25 years served faithfully on the Board of Trustees and as secretary and vice president. He was known for his deep devotion to the school, his hard work, and his ever-present wit.”

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20 Fall 2021

“[Bill O‘Keeffe] could be counted on to leaven any discussion with both wisdom and humor,“ said Headmaster Brennan. “One of those epochal Board discussions occurred in 2013 when the Board of Trustees were considering taking on the process of renovating and building the athletic facilities we all enjoy. After a lot of understandable hand wringing, it was Bill who brought the meeting to a conclusion and a resolution when he said simply ‘How can we not do this?’ So, here today on the field on which Bill’s grandson plays, on the field on which both Ian and Tim played, on the field on which Bill himself played, we honor Bill who on his deathbed ensured the benefaction that led to our realizing this special, improved, all-turf facility. With us today is Bill’s son, Tim, and Bill's wife, Paula. To all of the O'Keeffes, who together have not just made this gift possible but who have been faithful stewards of our school, I offer my deepest gratitude.”

>>

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>> Following the dedication, and just prior to the game, the Latonics performed the National Anthem from the steps of the Indoor Athletic Facility. At halftime, on the football field, Sixies and Fifthies battled it out in the annual tug-of-war. (Class V emerged victorious, continuing a years-long championship.)

22 Fall 2021

"

The weekend-long celebration was also in honor of those classes whose Reunions had been disrupted by the pandemic. Alumni from classes ending in 0, 1, 5, and 6 were on campus for a variety of celebratory events, beginning Friday evening— with the 25th Reunion BBQ for the Class of 1995 and the Class of 1996 and their families—and concluding with the Reunion Dinner on Saturday evening, which included more than 300 alumni and their guests, representing the Class of 1951 through the Class of 2016! >>

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24 Fall 2021 "

Reunited alumni also enjoyed a series of events throughout Saturday morning, including a 50th Reunion breakfast held in the Kelsey Faculty Room, and classes taught by faculty members Mike Pojman (Chemistry), Mo Randall (English), Sue McCrory (Art History), and John Lieb (STEM). Headmaster Brennan then offered welcoming remarks and an update on the school today, and a panel of five members of Class I spoke to alumni about their experiences at RL over the years, answering questions on an array of lively topics. >>

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Kerry Brennan Delivers the Opening of Fall Term Address

26 Fall 2021

A InstantAgainstCase Gratification

Several

years ago a younger boy complained to me that he was having a hard time excelling in Latin. In fact, he had typically been scoring quizzes and tests in the 70s. While I was not the one to come to for tutoring about the content, I volunteered to help him assess his strategies and see if there were some adjustments in approach that might help him learn the material better. We discussed what to most of you would seem obvious. The boy explained to me that he had no regular, quiet, private place in which to study, and that he was often distracted by younger siblings. I suggested that he work with his parents to declare a sovereign place in his house that would give him optimal opportunity for concentration. I looked at his backpack. It was overflowing with random papers; many were wrinkled beyond recognition, and nothing was easily retrievable or even identifiable. We discussed a system for organizing his materials with binders and tabs and a commitment to maintain an ordered set of papers requiring daily attention. I looked at his textbook. There were no underlinings or helpful margin comments. I suggested he make an effort to use his book, imagining that it could be helpful not just initially but on subsequent occasions when he would benefit from notes that would have highlighted the most important features. And then we talked about how he prepared for assessments. He said he just read over and over the pages of the book that covered the tested material. He failed to look over his homework assignments from that unit, or—when it came time for tests—he failed to study the quizzes whose material would constitute the same material. Frankly, I would be surprised if he could find the quizzes. I asked if he worked together with other boys in order to study for assessments. He said he did not. He said he wasn’t sure that was allowed and Wouldn’t that be cheating? Finally, I asked if he had seen his teacher for feedback, for suggestions about how he might improve. Despite the fact that I knew his teacher to be among the most generous with time outside of class, the boy complained that he thought he would be bothering the teacher, and no one else was doing that. You all know that one of the great virtues of our school is that we celebrate the acknowledgement that someone needs help and are glad when a boy seeks it out—from his classmates or from his teachers.

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There was so much about this boy’s approach that was concerning. It was as if he had failed to hear any of the advice that had been given him since he arrived at the school.

“I got a 76. Sorry to say it, but I don’t think any of your methods work.”

“I remember my grandmother trying the instant coffee—doctored with the obligatory sugar and cream—and my grandmother saying, “This isn’t coffee” before she ran to the sink to spit it out.”

Nonetheless, I thought there was an opportunity (given the boy’s will to improve) to impress upon him some suggestions for an altered approach to his studying. All of you in hearing this horrifying tale can perhaps identify with parts of it. (I hope very few of you identify with all of it!) There was so much that needed to change. And yet because there was so much that needed to change, I thought there was a possibility that an altered approach could lead to satisfying improvement. More important, I wanted the boy to develop skills of assessment and self-criticism so he could monitor himself and improve. And I wanted him to look around at others (not during a test mind you!) in order to learn of their approaches. Finally, I wanted him to see his teachers as helpful allies, members of the same team, eager to offer the time and advice that would lead to his improvement and greater satisfaction.

“Did you get the test back?”

I saw him the next day, after he had taken the test, and asked him how he thought he had done. “Oh, I’m sure I aced it—after all, I am working differently.” I appreciated his optimism and told him I wanted to hear back from him when he got his test back. Two days later I ran into him outside my office:

28 Fall 2021

On practically a daily basis, the boy would let me know how the new plan was going. He seemed committed to it but still unclear about some of the elements, and not very effective at keeping himself on track. One day, he told me that he had a test the next day. I reminded him of approaches we had discussed and hoped they would help him feel more confident going into the test.

I was amazed by his cheekiness, but also troubled by his conclusion. I decided that we needed to talk a bit more, as soon as possible. He had a free period later that day. I found him shooting baskets in the gym (another possible impediment to his giving his studies his all...) and asked him to come see me. I said that I was concerned about his conclusions and thought we should explore how he had prepared for the test. “The night

“How“Yes.” did you do?”

As someone who has lived a long time, I can say safely that the appetite for instant gratification has only increased over the years, because technology has made it possible for more and more to be accomplished more and more quickly. I remember a conversation between my grandmother born in Slovakia in 1894 and my mother born in Schenectady in 1924. My mother was trying to convince my Old World grandmother that instant coffee was the way to go. My mother had grown up with her mother’s coffee making ritual that took a bit of time and dirtied a pot that needed to be cleaned out. I remember my grandmother trying the instant coffee—doctored with the obligatory sugar and cream—and my grandmother saying, “This isn’t coffee” before she ran to the sink to spit it out. Instant coffee. Instant gratification.

I want immediate rewards from what I consider to be an appropriate amount of work. We are victims of this expectation. In virtually every part of our lives we can press a button, flick a switch, record a prompt, and all sorts of wonderful things occur. Our technology has been designed to be faster and “more powerful” (a euphemism for being able to access all sorts of data instantaneously). The quest continues with no endgame in sight. Computer companies, phone manufacturers, game designers are

You can imagine that I was disappointed and a bit angry. I had mistaken this boy’s desire to get better grades for the will to do what he needed to do in order to learn more and then, also, to get better grades. Frankly, he was a disciple of the school of instant gratification. Instant gratification. He expected a brief encounter with a helpful technique, with hard work, to dramatically alter the outcome. Frankly, we are all trained to be disciples of the school of instant gratification.

before the test, I locked the door to my room so my brother and sister couldn’t pester me, and I put on headphones so I couldn’t hear the TV blasting downstairs, and I studied. I studied harder than I ever have; in fact I didn’t go to bed until 10.” “What about the other nights?” I asked. “What do you mean?” he responded. “Did you create that same cocoon other nights or was this the only one?” “I couldn’t do it other nights. The kids were in and out and I couldn’t find the headphones.” I ran down the list of the other items. I checked his bag, and I discovered he had not done any of the other things. He had not studied with his classmates. He had not seen his teacher. He had done just one of the things I had suggested…and just for one night. He thought we had ended this meeting when he said, “See I don’t think your techniques are modern enough and, just sayin’, they don’t work.”

A similar impatience was demonstrated around the other most important machine in the building: the copying machine in the faculty workroom. Another colleague had sent the machine a signal from the quiet confines of the teacher’s office instructing it to copy two-sided and stapled, making 25 copies and committing it to memory for subsequent printing needs. I came upon the machine already magically, with no one seemingly present, coughing up the copies that were part of my colleague’s order. I noticed the copies reflected a particular discipline in the school and, sure enough, within seconds arrived one of that department’s foremost practitioners. “Wow,” the teacher said, “is the machine still making those copies? I thought by the time I got down here they would be done. What’s the matter with this thing? It seems to get slower and slower. Come on. Come on. Come on.” I was no help. And frankly frightened by both the teacher’s expectation and impatience. Instant gratification.

Ohio youth. But, I digress.) A colleague of mine was standing at the machine having dialed up his beverage order—probably requiring all kinds of internal processing variations—when I heard him say after about 10 seconds, “God, will this thing work? I’ve been standing here forever.” Hmm. Not instant enough.

To continue on the coffee theme: I remember a time last year in our own faculty dining room in which there was installed a fancy machine that not only dispensed coffee but also various variations including cappuccino, latte, and espresso. (Mr. Pojman was partial to the pumpkin latte fantasia so reminiscent of his

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Sometimes we are fooled by adjustments to our behavior that yield results we want. Sometimes I exercise for 20 minutes and am encouraged that the scale declares me one pound lighter. Sometimes we cram for a test and the result is better than it would have been if we had not crammed. Did I learn the material? Will I retain it? Why am I learning this anyway? Last year I remember walking through the weight room and seeing various boys challenging their capacities. One boy (who was not very big or, frankly, developed) was lifting one set of weights and every 20 seconds examining his biceps. We’ve all done it. But virtually no discernible difference had occurred in this boy’s frustratingly modest physique! Instant gratification.

From Instant Coffee to Delayed Gratification

Quarters, Jell-O, and Maple Syrup

For my family, eager to pursue the American Dream as we conjured it, saving money was a big deal. I never remember anyone in my family—my grandparents or my parents—having a loan. We bought things when we could afford them, and the way to afford them was to scrimp and save. One way in which my grandmother taught me about this was with a folder issued by the bank with maybe 80 slots in which you could put quarters. I saw my grandmother a couple times each week, and every time I saw her she would give me a quarter to put in the folder. You know the

all striving to give it to us with the greatest ease and in the shortest amount of time. The desire to be faster and broader is no crime. Our culture has created an expectation for more and more and more. And we have been trained to demand the same ourselves. We are rarely faced with having to wait for something. We are rarely required to be patient. To be persistent. To return repeatedly to a problem. To consider the steps and stages and time it takes to accomplish a complex task. Our VEX aficionados experience problem solving in real time, but even in that realm there is a premium on arriving at a conclusion, a Legos crushing crane, as quickly as possible. Throughout our evolution from an agrarian to an industrial to a technological economy, we have repeatedly heard that the companion of better is always faster, or, to put it more agreeably, more efficient. I submit that our task on behalf of the advancement of the culture is not simply to find ways to do things more efficiently, but quite the opposite: We, in fact, have to learn how to wait for results, how to commit to a longer process, how to anticipate that time and energy appropriately applied will yield a result that is satisfying and useful and perhaps even a pleasure. It is this, delayed gratification, that I want to consider a bit today.

and energy to a single proposition. Yet I’m sure you would agree that a few of our best musicians and some of our best athletes have done that very thing.

10,000 Hours

Malcolm Gladwell, a well known commentator on the human condition, and a critic of contemporary mores, made a startling observation in his best-selling book, Outliers. I mentioned this a couple years ago, when we had a Hall featuring various people in our community who had committed to something in order to achieve near perfection. You remember Mr. Ryan with his painting, and James Henshon with his foul shooting, and Dr. Kokotailo with his fly fishing. The overall lesson was that practice does not make perfect, but it gets us closer to being competent at something. Perfection shouldn’t be the goal. I mentioned Gladwell’s theory then. He claims that in order for someone to get really good at something, the person needs to spend at least 10,000 hours doing it. In our school in which the generalist is king, it would be hard to dedicate that great a portion of one’s time

I did not know Gladwell when I was an eight-year-old starting to learn how to play the piano. I don’t know if others of you were like me. I played the piano a lot. I played at the piano. I played pieces I liked, popular songs mostly. Sometimes these were old songs my parents favored; sometimes they were Beatles’ tunes; sometimes I made stuff up. What I rarely practiced were the Classical pieces assigned by my piano teacher. Or the dreaded scales and arpeggios. Usually, the day before my weekly lesson, I would go to town on those pieces in the hope that I would at least make a reasonable showing for my teacher. I remember another mother asking my mother once if she had any trouble getting me to practice. She said, “Kerry practices too much. It’s just that he plays the stuff he wants to play and not what was assigned.” Somewhere early on, in all the years I took piano and organ lessons, I asked my mother why a certain piece eluded me. I suggested it just wasn’t worth it. She said, “It isn’t about this piece. You’ll get it eventually. But what you have to learn is if you do the hard work now, it will pay off later.” If you do the hard work now it will pay off later. Delayed gratification. And all that piano playing has resulted in lifelong competence in that realm, as well as great joy.

After 40 weeks I had accumulated $20. I did not spend that money on some special toy, but rather deposited it into a bank account that actually yielded some interest in those days. It was de minimus by our standards, but the lesson was intentional and the discipline was taught. Delayed gratification.

as such a delectable ingredient in the mix, the source of the delicious pesto. Many of us on the faculty and staff at least will likely remember grandparents who made things from scratch. In my childhood people “put up” fruits and vegetables—planting the plants or trees, watering and pruning them over four months, harvesting the fruits and vegetables, peeling and cooking them and storing them in airtight jars so that in the dark of winter “fresh,” delicious food would be available for our otherwise wanting tables. In those days, supermarkets largely stocked fruits and vegetables only in season. People had to plan ahead, do the work, if they wanted to have some enjoyment later.

lesson of the story. Without hardly being aware of it, I was saving.

I remember cooking occasionally with my other grandmother. She was a great cook, and Christmas time was a week-long period of feverish kitchen activity. I remember her making a certain kind of delicious, much appreciated cookie over three days; the dough had to be assembled, the yeast had to make it rise, the dough needed to be rolled out, the prune filling needed to be made and allowed to settle, and on and on until there was a remarkable, satisfying conclusion. All along I sampled what was being prepared—raw dough, too tart filling. It was not only not satisfying but distasteful. Literally. What a dramatic contrast the end result would be to the unformed iterations along the way.

When I think of individuals who were exemplars of delayed gratification, and when I think of magnificent maples that yielded the sap, I think of Elzeard Bouffier, chronicled in the well-known book by the famous French writer Jean Giono. The original title of the book was The Man Who Planted Hope and Grew Happiness. Its modern title is The Man Who Planted Trees. While Bouffier’s work

Does anybody still eat Jell-O? I was a Jell-O fiend. I loved it. Throughout my youth there was always a bowl of Jell-O in the fridge. I learned an important lesson in chemistry, and in patience, when I was 4 or 5 and eager to eat the Jell-O. I tried it and it was soupy. In fact, my mother had just put it in the refrigerator a few minutes before. She said, “You can eat it now— or, should I say, drink it now—if you want, but then there will be no real jiggly Jell-O later. Or you can let it form. Wait. And have some Kool Aid now if you’re really interested in slurping down some too sweet red liquid.” Cooks in our community like Mr. Randall know the time it takes for a meal to be just perfect. For him it starts by planting and growing the basil that serves

100,000 Trees

At Cleveland’s University School, at which I worked for 14 years, there is a longstanding tradition on its exurban, multi-acred campus. It involves harvesting sap to be made into maple syrup. This is a long process that takes place over several weeks. Only participating wholeheartedly in this process once (it is amazingly hard work!), I was amazed by a couple of things: one is how much time it takes to tap the trees, gather the sap, boil it down, and extract the maple syrup. To be efficient and effective the process required planning. And patience. Along with the time it took, I was also amazed by how much sap it took to yield the liquid that was appropriate for the syrup. Almost 40 gallons of sap were boiled down to yield one gallon of syrup.

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plentiful water that flowed in clear streams, and thousands of trees providing shade and sustenance for decades to come. Bouffier exhibited what the author called “tenacity of benevolence” and “unfailing greatness of spirit.” We have much to learn from this character: how a solitary person can make a dramatic difference, how one’s creativity and generosity can solve problems, and especially how one’s persistence, patience, discipline, and industry can, over time, transform the planet and the experience of countless others. He understood delayed gratification and was confident that the hard work he did in the present would yield magnificent results in the future.

Sometimes we are taught to be impressed by the virtues of certain groups of people—ethnic cohorts or people of a particular era. One could extend the example of delayed gratification beyond people’s lifetimes in regard to institutions they established or families they raised. I know personally that while my immigrant European grandparents realized some satisfaction in the lives they bravely forged here in the New World, two generations later they would be pleased by the comfort, meaningfulness, impact, and joy of the lives we,

can be appreciated as an example of environmental stewardship and tireless service, to me it is, even more, an exquisite example of delayed gratification. In the early years of the 20th century, Bouffier set foot across the region he loved between the Alps and Provence. He realized that a way of life that had been taken for granted was diminishing. Streams were drying up and fields were barren. He decided in a primitive, but ultimately sophisticated, way that the health of the ecosystem could be altered by the introduction of trees. Too many trees had been harvested in that region—used for development far away from that spot, and the people of that area were suffering the consequences. Bouffier set out to make a difference. He began by planting one hundred acorns a day. He discovered a precise, easily repeatable technique that included sorting out viable acorns, choosing the best 100, thrusting an iron rod into the earth to make the hole in which he placed an acorn, and then covering up the hole. In three years, he had planted 100,000 trees. He estimated that 20,000 had sprouted, and that 10,000 would survive. Bouffier planted trees for more than thirty years—every single day, the same routine. By the time he died, hundreds of thousands of trees were thriving and had altered the ecosystem so that 10,000 people who came to inhabit that region lived lives of prosperity with burgeoning farms,

“Often as teachers we acknowledge that our work with and for you boys does not vividly yield the rewards of recognition and gratitude in the moment, but over time, we will benefit from unseen harvests.”

We Reap What They Have Sown

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So, too, are institutions the beneficiaries of those who have gone before, establishing a vision and virtues for what was to follow. As we do each year on Founder’s Day, we latter-day descendants of Roxbury Latin’s founders can imagine the delayed gratification they must feel not just in a foundation that has maintained their original modest ambitions, but one that far exceeds them and continues to evolve in its quest to form and affect boys who themselves will lead and serve and positively affect the future. Often as teachers we acknowledge that our work with and for you boys does not vividly yield the rewards of recognition and gratitude in the moment, but over time, others will benefit from our unseen harvests. As we just sang, “We reap not where they labored, we reap what they have sown.”

Discipline, and Marshmallows

One treat now or two treats later. The researcher left the room for 15 minutes. That’s a long time when it comes to marshmallow temptations or to be alone, period. There was a camera in the room.

In my continuing effort to illuminate life’s greatest truths by referencing famous psychological experiments (I didn’t appreciate Tripod’s cynical report of the Trolley Problem), let me offer one more; it’s The Marshmallow Experiment. This involved four- and five-year-olds. Remember those days? The experiment involved bringing an individual child into a room, sitting the child down in a chair, and placing a marshmallow on the table in front of him or her. Then the researcher offered the child a deal.

“We believe that your time at the school will be productive in the here and now, but for my purposes today that your time and work here will—in the future, near and far—result in your being mindful, virtuous, kind, effective, civic minded, contributing, loving people. ”

“I’m going to leave the room. If you do not eat the marshmallow while I am away, I will reward you with a second marshmallow. If you eat the first one, you will receive no second marshmallow.”

their grandchildren, have been privileged to live. The sacrifices they made led to the opportunities we enjoy; indeed, we stand on the shoulders of giants. It paid off. We are reminded of this reality, too, when we acknowledge the delay in justice and human rights for certain groups in our country. Even as we commit to improvement and change, we can be grateful for those who went before and sacrificed in order to get us to where we are today.

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The footage was entertaining. Some kids jumped up and ate the first marshmallow as soon as the researcher closed the door. Others wiggled and bounced and scooted in their chairs as they tried to restrain themselves, but eventually gave in to temptation

In an era that tempts us to seek only instant gratification, therefore, I assure you that you will be better served if you can imagine that hard work and principled engagement is worth it— that, at the least, it will result in something good in the future. Of course our lives can’t just be about delayed gratification. We need to have both instant and midway gratification as well. I like water to pour out of a faucet when I turn it on. I like to conveniently warm my leftover pork lo mein in the microwave. I like to hear the sounds of the Glee Club after a particularly good rehearsal and better yet at a culminating concert. I like to see the football team learn a play on a Thursday and have it lead to a touchdown on Saturday. And, to get a bit spiritual and to talk about the ultimate delayed gratification, I look forward to the feeling that at the end of what I hope to be a long life I can feel as if I made a positive difference, that I treated people well and was kind and generous despite what will have been real, regrettable flaws. And, if such a possibility exists, that my reward will be in heaven.

I expect that result was predictable. The children had been prepared for this experiment by participating in other situations in which crayons or stickers were promised, and then either were delivered or were not. Children developed attitudes about the promise of waiting as a result of experience and previously divergent experiences. This was ultimately about knowledge, discipline, and trust.

Toward Our Best Selves

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I wish that for all of you, as well. In a year that comes on the heels of 17 months of remarkable sacrifice, uncertainty, disruption, and fear, I wish for all of us the gratification that comes reliably from our joining together to do our work, to learn and to teach, and, as always to forge a living community of rigorous pursuit, reliable support, fertile friendship, and love. Stick with it. Have faith. Have hope. Work hard. And, of course, have a great year. //

a few minutes later. And, finally, a few of the children did manage to wait the entire time.

it.” Of course, what I am asserting is that the most delectable fruit will emerge later. When you are undergraduates. When you fall in love. When you immerse yourself in a profession. When you give freely to your community. When you commit to a partner and parent children. When you lose your parents. When you are faced by tough decisions involving truthfulness and integrity.

What does all this have to do with us? Each day we invest in our well being. We engage with activities and challenging thoughts in order to grow and change. Sometimes it is hard to appreciate that a given assignment, a given course, a given set of requirements even will lead to academic epiphanies that are discernible and life changing. Instead, in our designing a school experience for all of you, we are assembling content and skills building and diversity of exposure and team building and joyful collaboration in order to pique appetites, but, also, to form unassailable habits that will serve us well throughout our lives. These are habits of persistence, perseverance, discipline, stickto-itiveness; of hard work, coping with disappointment, making apt choices, acknowledging delight, and knowing satisfaction. But we also know that not all that is good that will come out of these years of your life will be known to you now. You will be frustrated. You will question why you have to do this thing. You will complain that we are piling it on. You will feel exhausted. And frustrated. And even resentful. You’ll wonder if it is “worth

This, however, was not just a one-time experiment. In fact, it was a longitudinal study in which the kids were followed throughout their lives (for 40 years, actually) and some conclusions were drawn subsequently. I know there are cynics in the audience, but bear with me on this. The children who were willing to delay gratification and waited to receive the second marshmallow ended up having higher SAT scores, lower levels of substance abuse, lower likelihood of obesity, better responses to stress, better social skills as reported by their parents, and better scores in a range of other life measures. I did not find evidence of meaningful work, successful romantic relationships, or civic activism, but you catch the drift. If you train yourself to delay gratification, this discipline will be associated with other benefits that are clearly positive.

By practicing situations in which values are important if not essential, we believe that your character will be shaped and revealed. We believe that your time at the school will be productive in the here and now, but for my purposes today that your time and work here will—in the future, near and far—result in your being mindful, virtuous, kind, effective, civic minded, contributing, loving people. You will have formed important habits. In you, then—in the best selves you become—those of us who are imagining a program, and urging hard work that benefits you, will receive our delayed gratification. But so, too, will you.

What books did Roxbury Latin’s faculty and staff read—for pleasure!—over the summer? (And why should you read them, too?)

Summer Reading

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by Sebastian Junger

Interior Chinatown is a novel written much like a screenplay. The protagonist, Willis Wu, is an actor navigating Hollywood and the problematic stereotypes and tropes Hollywood perpetuates as he plays “Generic Asian Man” on a generic procedural cop show. With humor, wit, and soulfulness, Wu brings us into his world just outside of the spotlight as he tries to negotiate his family’s history, their legacy, and his own path forward in modern America.

by Charles Yu

In a succinct, energetic way, Breath takes the reader through a fascinating biological and sociological evolution of how we breathe today, and why, and what it’s doing to our physical and mental health. What it reveals is mind-blowing, funny, scary, and enlightening. It will make you aware of your own breathing practices in ways you’ve never been before. It should be mandatory reading for every breathing human!

Recommended by Keri Maguire, School Nurse

Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art

Interior Chinatown

Recommended by Erin Berg, Director of External Relations

Hollywood Park

Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging

Recommended by Sarah Demers, English Department

by Mikel Jollett

by James Nestor

Recommended by Stewart Thomsen, History Department Chair

If you are looking for an evolutionary perspective on PTSD and a better understanding of the challenges veterans face in transitioning back to civilian life, Sebastian Junger’s Tribe may be the book for you. Why do people long for the human connection they felt with other people during catastrophic events of their past? What is it like for a veteran to feel these intense social bonds in wartime and return home where so many citizens express contempt for their fellow citizens? As Junger puts it, “The beauty and the tragedy of the modern world is that it eliminates many situations that require people to demonstrate a commitment to the collective good.” He believes the antidote for the ills of our time lies in understanding the relationship between sacrifice and belonging, and he believes that earlier human societies have valuable lessons for us in the present.

Both heartbreaking and heartwarming, this beautifully written memoir was hard for me to put down. It is a story of perseverance and redemption, but mostly it’s a story of loving those closest to us for who they are. I hesitate to say more, as learning Mikel’s story through the book was part of the joy for me, but prepare to be moved!

Reading

This is Your Mind on Plants

Not an original observation, but Madeline Miller’s novel Circe is the best book I have read in the last several years (All The Light We Cannot See is in the same category). She re-imagines story lines from mythology and the Odyssey with brilliance and an almost studied nonchalance. She gets the voice and the main character spot-on. It is a work that makes you rethink what you know and, basically, it just makes you think and feel.

Circe

Unquestionably the most important mathematician of the twentieth century, Kurt Gödel did work in logic that struck a blow to mathematical formalism and cast serious doubt on the ability of any computer to reproduce the thinking of the human mind. This new biography puts his accomplishments in their proper historical context, while also covering the personal journey of this brilliant, quirky, Austrian emigré and friend to Albert Einstein. (Einstein did not much care for long walks, unless they were with Gödel.) As a bonus, an appendix succinctly outlines the proof strategy of his mind-blowing Incompleteness Theorem.

Journey to the Edge of Reason: The Life of Kurt Gödel

by Stephen RecommendedBudianskybyDanielBettendorf, Mathematics Department

Recommended by Mo Randall, English and Classics Departments

by Madeline Miller

by Michael RecommendedPollanbySean Spellman ’08, Assistant Athletic Director

In This is Your Mind on Plants, Michael Pollan explores three different plant drugs and the cultural, physical, and psychoactive effects they’ve had on humans—both individually and culturally. The book is an easy read that is at once historical research, scientific analysis, and memoir. I particularly enjoyed his analysis of caffeine, which led me to reevaluate my daily need for a fix of cold brew at El Recreo on Centre Street!

38 Fall 2021

VoicesImportantThree(inThreeBooks)

Hamnet

by Maggie O’Farrell

by Julia Alvarez

If Alvarez’s collection of essays is warmth, Baldwin’s seminal two-essay pairing The Fire Next Time is, as the title makes plain, fire—vital, insistent, and morally fueled. Among many other things, “Letter from a Region in My Mind” is a revelation of many modes—of Baldwin’s crisis of faith and family, of the hardships and humiliations of his circumscribed world, of his growth into consciousness, of the limitlessness of American racism and beauty destroyed, and of an essential route forward: embracing, not avoiding, the fact of human mortality and deciding “to earn one’s death by confronting with passion the conundrum of life,” for the sake of those that come after us. Though less heralded, the collection’s first essay, “My Dungeon Shook,” a letter from Baldwin to his namesake teenage nephew, burns with urgency, too.

by James Baldwin

Set in England during the plague year of 1596, and centered on the illness and passing of Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway’s only son, Hamnet (the book’s name and the boy’s) is a beautiful work of historical fiction—a stirring, richly imagined story about loss and the daily work of enduring. Hathaway, called Agnes (pronounced Ann-yis), rather than Anne, emerges as the center of the book’s teeming, fraught world—wife, mother, healer, seer, a product and prodigy of nature, a figure as recognizably human as she is wholly original. Though Shakespeare goes unnamed throughout, there are plenty of sugar highs for those who love the bard, the final scene— when Agnes, full of grief and accusation, takes to London to find her husband amid his work and life apart—a particular rush. But the novel’s world, beautiful and pock-marked both, is thankfully much broader than that, and it’s all worth reading.

The Fire Next Time

Something to Declare

Recommended by Josh Cervas, English Department Chair

Alvarez’s 2014 collection of personal essays traces her early life in the Dominican Republic and her family’s flight from Trujillo’s dictatorship to New York, where they settle and grow into their new country and culture—a series of scenes that radiate warmth and possibility, while also observing the complex personal challenges of growing up and fitting in. The book’s second half turns to a different kind of arriving—Alvarez’s emergence as a lover of language, teacher, and writer (she eventually lands right here in New England), a thankful outcome given these open-hearted essays alone.

(When you’re head of the English Department, you get three recommendations!)

40 Fall 2021

Shuggie Bain

Ayad Akhtar's Homeland Elegies is an experiment in autofiction that pays tribute to the author's complicated relationship with his Pakistani-born parents—especially to his father, a conservative-leaning medical doctor who achieved some semblance of the American dream. However, the book also offers a poignant meditation on the various interstices of American experience. Eschewing easy answers and subverting generalizations, Akhtar’s book lays bare the burdens and blessings of being the child of Muslim immigrants before and after 9/11. In today’s divisive political climate, I appreciated reading a nuanced, self-aware, and sincere voice of cautious patriotism.

Most reviews of Shuggie Bain used the word “heart-rending”—and it is. The novel starts with the teenage Shuggie, now living on his own in a dingy flat in Glasgow, having accepted that he’s gay and that he can’t save his mother, Agnes, from her demons—drink, drugs, sleeping with anyone and everyone. He’s looking back at his younger years trying to survive with his mother and “Big” Shug, his father, a taxi-driver, a philanderer, and a bully. She’s Catholic; he’s Protestant—they’ve crossed that fault-line. She’s spiraling downwards, clutching at men, and making young Shuggie responsible for her. The book’s full of lyrical passages about the “estates” (tenements) in Glasgow, hardscrabble lives, the brutality of Thatcher’s austerity measures. It’s the beauty of the writing about coming-of-age that lifts it out of just being gritty. It reminded me in places of Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, by Roddy Doyle and Black Swan Green, by Stephen Mitchell. We see the world through Shuggie’s eyes.

by Douglas Stuart

Recommended by Derek Nelson, Director of Dramatics; English Department

Homeland Elegies

by Ayad Akhtar

Recommended by Jim Ryan, Modern Languages and Arts Departments

Recommended by Andrés Wilson, English Department

My father—a professional magician for over 50 years—is a former president of Boston’s chapter of the Society of American Magicians, which was founded by Harry Houdini. Dad always talks about Houdini, so I had long since wanted to read a biography of the man. What stayed with me from this book was Houdini’s pronounced devotion to his family as well as his rich connection to Boston. I was amazed to learn that he worked as an agent of the U.S. Secret Service in Europe around the time of World War I. Houdini also helped to train U.S. soldiers going to Europe on how to escape handcuffs and jail cells in the event that they were caught. Kalush and Sloman present an incredibly engaging, and marvelously researched, chronicle of Houdini’s life. //

by Larry Sloman and William Kalush

The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America’s First Superhero

Newsletter of The Roxbury Latin School 41

" On September 24, students in Dr. Sue McCrory’s AP Art History class were treated to a special visit at the McMullen Museum at Boston College, where they received a private tour of the Mariano exhibit by former RL parent and Professor of Romance Languages and Literature, Elizabeth Goizueta. Mariano was a 20th century Cuban Surrealist painter, and the exhibit at BC is his first retrospective featuring more than 140 paintings.

>>

The summer of 2021 certainly felt more normal than the prior summer, yet many restrictions—and concerns— remained firmly in place, keeping some from their regular summer interests, plans, and travels. However, thanks to the support of Roxbury Latin’s O’Connell Fellowships—generously established by Michael O’Connell ’59 and the Leonetti/O’Connell Family Foundation—many Roxbury Latin boys spent the summer months involved in meaningful jobs and activities, whether at camp and making friends, in internships and learning new skills, or with college cohorts getting a sense of what lies ahead. Below, students whose summer adventures were supported by RL’s O’Connell Fellowships share their adventures and lessons in their own words.

HOW DID STUDENTS SPEND THEIR SUMMER?

42 Fall 2021

Supported by the O’Connell Fellowships, the Range of Pursuits was Great

to address mental health issues and provide people ages 12 through 25 a safe place to communicate thoughts and emotions. Our app included chat rooms monitored by health experts and organized by age range, daily check-ins, meditation exercises, and contact info for other resources. At the end of the program, each group pitched its business ideas and judges would decide the winner. My group won first place for Fisk University, which made us eligible to compete against the first-place winners from the other universities—the winner of which would receive seed investment to make their business a reality. Overall, LEAD gave me a platform to share my ideas and my voice. I felt heard and was able to develop skills for the future. Giving back and supporting others is something that is very important to me, and in the future I plan to use my resources and help out communities and individuals just like me.

José Flores '22

José Flores ’22

The LEAD Program

For a while, my goal has been working in the sports industry— studying management in college and holding a leadership position on an MLS or NBA team. Throughout the LEAD program, a diverse group of guest speakers not only shared their ideas about how to be successful in business, but also about many related social justice issues. These discussions helped me realize that we can all play a role in raising awareness and being part of the solutions. The highlight of the program was when we were split into cohorts of about 18 scholars, each cohort representing one of the partner colleges or universities, mine being Fisk University. The director, Dr. Hamby, set the tone right away. She spoke her mind freely and let us know that we could do the same. In her most impactful Zoom session, she gave us a tour of the university’s museums and its historical artifacts. She showed us very emotionally evocative items like old photos and slave diaries. In teams of six scholars, we were then given two weeks to come up with a business idea and develop all the details: establishing our mission, target audience, marketing strategies, profit projections, and necessary seed investment. Our group created an app called RiseUp, intended

Benji Macharia ’25 Camp Becket

Newsletter of The Roxbury Latin School 43

Micheal Rimas ’26, Khiomany Ortiz ’26, and Benji Macharia'25

This was easily the best summer of my life. It was the first sleepaway camp I’ve ever been to, and it set the standards high. At Camp Becket, I lived in Frontier Village in the same cabin as two other RL boys, Khiomany Ortiz ’26 and Micheal Rimas ’26. We had so

many adventures, from playing hide-and-seek tag in the woods to camping overnight. From trying mushroom soup (which is surprisingly good!), to kayaking in Rudd Pond, I tried things I had never done before. My favorite adventures were archery, fishing, and our overnight camping trip.

I am passionate about working with underserved communities. My goal is to use data analytics and entrepreneurship to help

Gemini Ventures Internship

reduce inequities in healthcare and housing. This summer I was lucky to work with Gemini Ventures, which is dedicated to the real estate industry, and partners with entrepreneurs to develop transformational technology companies. I worked with and was mentored by Jake Ramey ’00. This experience helped further my appreciation for data analytics by giving me an opportunity to apply data and database creation to a variety of projects. During this internship, I learned about a number of different industries, and I gained a multitude of crucial insights that I will keep with me as I move forward in my career. In the future, I hope to be a mentor and provide support and assistance to students like myself.

Krishan Arora ’22

44 Fall 2021

During archery, our counselor, Cam, helped me hone my skills— from hitting the target with only one of five arrows in my first attempt, to hitting the bullseye on my final challenge. (I don’t think I’ve ever changed from a concentrated face to an overjoyed face so fast in my whole life.) That made archery one of the most fun activities at Becket. During fishing—which started on a foggy, cold morning, which we were not excited about—we had the excitement of catching one of the snapping turtles that lives in Rudd Pond. That changed the tone of the morning, and then Khiomany and I had a lot of fun fishing off the pier. Finally, we were lucky to have our overnight the second day at Becket. We went to Rocky Point, the cabin on the other side of the lake, and everyone agreed it was the most beautiful spot. It has a fire pit, giant logs to be used as chairs, and is an open-ended cabin, which means that the cabin is missing an entire wall so you can see the view. We had a campfire and ate pita bread pizzas. I must have had at least seven s’mores. My fellow campers and I talked late into the night. I think I only got an hour of sleep, but I didn’t mind. That night was my second real camping experience, and I had so much fun. The view as the sun was rising is something I will cherish forever.

Rami Hayes-Messenger ’22

The LEAD Program and Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers Internship

The LEAD Institute covered topics relating to business and entrepreneurship—from marketing to law, from commercial real estate to human resources. I was at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Business, where I learned about the experiences of a very diverse group of fellow students, program leaders, and guest speakers. My goal entering the program was to engage in a collegiate and professional field that I’m considering as the next focus of my life. Through the program I became even more grateful for the opinions and views of my peers, for the beautiful wisdom and experiences of the speakers and program directors, and for the opportunity in general. I have learned that business and entrepreneurship might be the path I want to pursue in life. Following that, I took part in an internship with the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers. The organization gave me so much invaluable experience in the

Krishan Arora ’22

Rami Hayes-Messenger ’22

Nolan Walsh ’22 Woo Sox Internship

Newsletter of The Roxbury Latin School 45

workforce. I rotated through different departments in the organization—Government Affairs and Public Policy, Clinical Health Affairs, Health Informatics. From this experience I gained independence and made connections with so many different people.

Alejandro Denis ’22

The LEAD Program; Columbia University Film Course; Agencia ALPHA Internship

At Columbia, I took a one-week course, Introduction to Film Studies, led by Professor Richard Peña, Director Emeritus of the New York Film Festival and Professor of Film and Media Studies. Professor Peña instructed me and 24 others on the history of film and the various advancements in cinema over time. I took an interest in the racial aspects of the medium, and I was both shocked and fascinated by how many of the truly formative films in history were some of the most deeply prejudiced depictions of people of color. We analyzed two films: Alfred Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt and Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing. The former was a master class in building and executing tension successfully. Do the Right

As an avid baseball fan, I could not think of a better way to spend my summer days than at Polar Park in Worcester interning with the Woo Sox. This job required a lot of hard work, sweat, and time, but I am extremely thankful for this experience that opened my eyes to a career path that I had never considered. On my first day I arrived in khakis and dress shoes ready to work inside an office all day. Instead, my boss immediately directed me to the field and said, “Hope you brought sneakers!” There was an enormous tarp covered in water lying on the infield, and my boss directed me to grab one of the handles. I heard an echo from across the field—“3, 2, 1”—and all twenty people holding the tarp sprinted across the diamond in a valiant effort to remove the tarp. As it turns out, I had many responsibilities in addition to the infamous “tarp pulls.” During the day, I spent time in meetings discussing the team’s new regionalization “roadshow” and planning events for game-night. I sold tickets for the daily 50/50 raffle and conducted promotions for various sponsors—bumping colleagues around in the outfield during “Battle Balls,” driving a Chevy around the warning track of the field, or launching t-shirts out of a cannon. Aside from the physical work, my biggest takeaway from the Woo Sox was the relationships I developed with the fellow interns and the opportunity to work with major executives in the Red Sox organization, especially Dan Rea ’05.

My experience with LEAD taught me about business and entrepreneurship, engineering, and innovation. There we heard from various speakers about their experiences in business—their failures and victories, how they had grown, and what they had learned. I was fascinated by a particular lecture about combining business with ethics. Previously the two seemed incongruent to me, but my eyes were opened to areas of industry in which a person can create something for oneself while also serving the larger community. I was assigned to University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering where I learned about graphic design, ecosystem study and observation, and career paths within engineering. My time at LEAD helped me realize that even the smallest innovation can change the world.

Alejandro Denis ’22Nolan Walsh ’22

Thing was a film I had seen, but through this class my eyes were opened to all the things I had missed before. This furthered my interest in an industry that I’ve obsessed over since my youth.

were always made up, no one knew how to play, which meant activities were a good way for cabinmates to bond. There was also free time with your whole village. Rain or shine, during free time you could do anything with anyone. It was the best time to make friends with kids from other cabins. Siesta was a time to write to your family and relax in your cabin. I could read, chill out, and occasionally catch a nap. Dinner was the best meal, by far. The meals were amazing, and we would sing songs, chat, and the whole camp would be together at once. Becket taught me many new character traits I didn’t know I had. The eight mottos for Becket are now something I live by. Most of all, I enjoyed the fact that any kid could fit in with any group. Even though I only spent two weeks at Becket, I feel like it is home and has changed who I am.

I was really nervous about going to Camp Becket. The entire car ride there, all I did was worry. It was my first time away from home. But my feelings changed when we pulled up to the camp and all the aides cheered us on. Dinner that first night, in Becket tradition, is always chicken parm, which is my favorite meal, so day one was a success. Activities during the day included waterfront, canoeing, kayaking, paddleboard, tubing, culinary arts, creative arts, and nature. As fun as the planned activities were, cabin activities were definitely my favorite, because we got to appreciate the hard work the counselors put into creating games for us, and since the games

Finally, I participated in a legal internship at Boston-based Agencia ALPHA, as part of their Dreamers Leadership Project, through which I engaged with the City’s communities through legal clinics and vaccine clinics, all the while learning about immigration law, shadowing legal consultants, and even helping a few clients, translating applications and reviewing files. I learned that I’m at my best when helping others, surrounded by like-minded individuals with the same goal. No matter what I do, that vision of service will stay in my mind.

This summer I interned with Lucas Robertson ’00 at his company, Shake Architecture & Construction. Shake had two active job sites—in Charlestown and in the South End—while I worked for them. What I found to be most meaningful was learning how to build various things, such as a featherboard and shelves. I used miter saws, skill saws, table saws, chisels, hammers, crowbars, nail guns, and drills to help out with small jobs around the site. Of course, I also spent a lot of time with a broom, a vacuum, and my hands. (Mr. Robertson told me, “You can’t just hop into a job like that with no experience; you have to start at the bottom of the totem pole.”) I found it so interesting how much actually went into the construction of

Luke DeVito ’22

Shake Architecture & Construction Internship

Michael Rimas ’26 Camp Becket

Luke DeVito

’22

a single house: the planning, demo, subcontractors (electrical, plumping, masonry, flooring, roofing, painting, etc.), lots of cleaning, and all of the installation work. During my time with Shake I also developed a greater appreciation for those who work manual labor. Working like that all day in all types of weather is a difficult thing to do; it is both physically and mentally draining. I have a newfound respect for this kind of work and am glad to have had the opportunity to try my hand at construction this summer.

Theo Teng ’22

I joined the Chapel Choir and got to sing with other campers. Camp Becket loves songs—almost every day at lunch or dinner we would sing Becket songs. On our last night we had a Candlelight, which was like a Chapel but more interesting. At Candlelight, we all held lit candles while each village

Dom Cuzzi ’22

representative went up and shared a long, personal speech about his life and about hope. It was cool to hear everyone’s story and get to know them better. On the last night counselors brought out a bunch of candy and everyone had a good time together celebrating at the biggest cabin in our village. We stayed up late having conversations and got to bond further. I loved everything about Becket—the spirit, the tradition, and the people. I can’t wait to spend four weeks at Becket next year.

Woo Sox Internship

Khiomany Ortiz ’26

Camp Becket

This was my first time going to a sleepaway camp. Our counselor, Zach, helped us settle in and introduce ourselves. Everyone in our pod got along easily and clicked right away. Our second night at camp was an overnight, and the sunset view from our shelter was amazing. We toasted some marshmallows and made s’mores— my first ever! We stayed up late talking to each other and having a good time. A few days later we had paddleboarding as a water activity. I hadn’t done the swim test yet because I was afraid of drowning, but I didn’t want to miss paddleboarding, so I took and passed the swim test. Paddleboarding ended up being my favorite activity of the summer.

As a lifelong athlete, I was ecstatic about the possibility of working for the minor league Red Sox—one of the richest summer experiences I’ve ever had. My role with the organization was working community relations by day and promotions by night: my first big task was creating and budgeting several theme nights to attract young kids to Polar Park. We decided on a Superhero Night and Prince & Princess Night. Despite the challenges of planning a big event, both nights were huge successes. My favorite part, however, was game time. My job was to make sure promotions ran smoothly in between innings. I met new people during every single game, and I enjoyed hearing about their different stories and backgrounds. I believe there is great value in hearing what different people have to say.

One experience that will stay with me is the interaction I had with a blind woman at the park. When you think of the typical ballpark-goer, the visually impaired doesn’t necessarily come to mind, so I was surprised when I was asked to assist a blind

Dom Cuzzi ’22

Theo Teng ’22

Shake Architecture & Construction Internship

48 Fall 2021

woman to her seat along with a group of other visually impaired individuals. This woman and I had a long conversation that night. Toward the end of it, she told me how much she appreciated what the Woo Sox and I were able to do to make it possible for her and her group to enjoy the game. She told me that, while she couldn’t watch the game, she lived for the atmosphere of Polar Park. Going into this internship, I did not expect these heartwarming moments. These moments, however, are what made this experience so special for me.

This summer, I interned at Shake Architecture & Construction, a company founded and run by Tim Pingree ’02 and Lucas Robertson ’00. Building from my lifelong involvement in music as a pianist, I wanted to explore another field in which creativity and the arts could be used to improve people’s lives. I was also drawn to the application of mathematics and engineering. At Shake I was introduced to Revit, the professional software they use to design and model their projects. I also got to explore SketchUp, a simpler 3D modeling software that is more useful for visualizing quick sketches. With the guidance of the two architects at Shake, I began researching the field of architecture. That research included trips to the Newport mansions, JFK Presidential Library, Boston Architectural College, and the Rhode Island School of Design. I got to work on-site three days a week at Shake build sites, where I helped to update online models and schedules, measure dimensions, map out furniture locations, and even assemble simple furniture. I discovered that I’m drawn to public architecture and urban design; I loved reading about projects such as the High Line in New York City, a former elevated railroad that has been transformed into a public park. I’m inspired by these kinds of projects because they bring together so many different kinds of people and improve their lives, something that I hope to do in the future.

Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital Cardiac Center Internship I worked this summer at the Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Center for Outcomes Research in Cardiology at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. The Smith Center is comprised of physicians, researchers, and statisticians who use national data from medical records and clinical studies to explore areas of research in cardiology. In my first few weeks I learned the important basics of research. At first I was intimidated because everyone else had a name tag with some type of degree (MD, MS, BSc). Once I settled in, I took several courses to gain access to private health data—learning about IRB/HIPAA laws, and BIDMC’s policies for workplace conduct. Only once I finished these training sessions was I able to access medical data. However, I didn’t have any skills to analyze it, so I then took several courses to familiarize myself with data analysis. With my credentials in place, I worked with a medical school student from Hawaii on a project about TAVR (transcatheter aortic replacement), the use of a bioprosthetic valve as a replacement for the aortic valve. The only alternative is SAVR (surgical valve replacement), which is more risky, but in which the valve lasts longer. My partner and I had to create a new database from two disparate databases that would be very helpful to future researchers. We trained and tested machine learning models on this data. Our project was one of the most highly anticipated, and on August 11, we presented our results in front of the entire Smith Center.

Ethan Dhadly ’23

Ethan Dhadly ’23

well as together—and how each plays a vital role in keeping homeostasis in the body. With all these systems and their functions in mind, we took part in role playing activities in which a “patient” (actually an intern at the program) shared a list of symptoms he or she was experiencing. In groups we assessed the symptoms and came up with possible diagnoses for the patient’s ailment. In addition to tracking vitals and running various tests, we “doctors” had to calm the patient down and deliver information in a professional way. Something that surprised me was how necessary social skills are in science, especially the ability to continue a calm conversation with someone in distress. In addition to the challenge of excluding several possibilities before landing on the correct ailment, it was also very hard to discuss and deliberate through possible lifethreatening issues while simultaneously keeping our patients calm. With all of these aspects integrated into one program, the program was a truly immersive experience. This course not only taught us many facts about human biology, but it also provided windows into what real doctors do on a daily basis.

Rian Finn ’23

Rian Finn ’23

This summer I worked for Ethan Berman ’79 and his staff at i2 Learning, an organization focused on delivering new and innovative ways of teaching. Through project-based learning, i2 has launched several cool initiatives, the first being Day of AI, which trains middle school students in artificial intelligence. One day, the i2 staff and I went to Coelho Middle School in Attleboro, Massachusetts, to help train the teachers in integrating AI into their curriculums. i2 is also helping launch a program called Unlocked Curiosity, a project-based learning program about electricity. Based on the story The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, Unlocked Curiosity pushes kids to complete a series of challenges that require the resourcefulness of William—the story’s main character. These challenges get progressively harder, building up to a final challenge: powering a cell phone with renewable energy. As I was the only teenager in these meetings and planning sessions, everyone was open to hearing my opinion. Working with i2 this summer has helped me gain so much experience and confidence; having insight into all the work that Ethan puts into i2 has sparked a desire to start my own company in the future. Ethan was an amazing mentor and helped me feel comfortable, made sure I wasn’t feeling overwhelmed with the work, and always checked in about my college plans and summer adventures.

Dovany Estimphile ’24

i2 Learning Internship

Newsletter of The Roxbury Latin School 49

Dovany Estimphile ’24 MedScience Program at Harvard

At Point Counterpoint on Lake Dunmore in Vermont this summer, I met a lot of really talented musicians from all over the country and learned a lot from them. While we spent the mornings in our chamber groups, the afternoon was dedicated to activities—on land and in the water—that helped me build friendships I know will last a lifetime. After our morning

Austin Kee ’22

At the Harvard MedScience program, I learned about many systems of the human body: how the systems work—alone, as

Austin Kee '22

Violin Camp (Point Counterpoint)

This summer I participated in the World Ocean School program, where I lived on a schooner at sea for ten days. I got to learn about sailing, mapping, the ocean, and also meet new people and create new friendships. During the journey I was able to look at the world from a different point of view. We helped with raising sails and steering the boat, and every activity on the schooner was hands-on and fun. We took turns participating in active watch, seamanship, and reading and reflecting. During active watch we had to be aware of wave heights, cloud formations, and the battery levels of the engine and generators. On seamanship watch, we learned about the many crucial parts of the boat, how a boat stays afloat,

Navid Hodjat ’26

routines each day—breakfast, chores, health screenings— we would have chamber group rehearsals. I played in two chamber groups, and we practiced both with a coach and by ourselves, from 9 a.m. until noon. After lunch we had Grand Pause (the musical way of saying time to rest), during which I wrote letters to my family and played games with my cabin mates. In the afternoons we would swim, kayak, and play outside. Then, before dinner, we would have individual practice time. Twice a week, at 6:30 a.m., lake swim was held for those willing to swim across Lake Dunmore and back. I did it three times—it was a workout, but it was an experience I will remember for the rest of my life. Swimming in the warm water of Lake Dunmore, breathing in the cold Vermont air, and watching the sun rise over the surrounding mountains was really sensational. Practicing every day paid off, because of my successful concert at a local church. Not only was I successful in the concert, but I was also successful in creating friendships that I will cherish.

Brayden Gillespie ’26 Space Camp (Boston Leadership Institute)

STEM and its real-world applications have always fascinated me. This summer I was able to further my interest at the Boston Leadership Institute Space Camp. During the week, we explored topics such as rovers, planets, and the solar system. The hands-on experience

50 Fall 2021

Brayden Gillespie ’26

helped to bring our studies to life. My favorite activity was the egg drop challenge, where we used materials like bubble wrap, trash bags, and cardboard to safely land our egg while standing on top of flights of stairs. (Luckily, my egg survived the drop!) During class we learned about exoplanets that exist outside of our solar system. We also learned about rovers named Curiosity and Opportunity that are still operating on Mars. That was my favorite topic, by far. The thought of a robot surviving on a rock hundreds of thousands of miles from Earth is amazing. This camp really deepened my appreciation for STEM and showed me new ways of understanding science and its impact on daily life. I hope to one day create something useful for generations to come.

Navid Hodjat ’26 World Ocean School

Emmanuel Nwodo ’23

I have been interested in cryptocurrencies and traditional equities for a while. During this workshop, I learned about the building blocks and fundamentals of cryptocurrencies and financial technology. I had been familiar with trading cryptocurrencies and traditional market equities for just under a year; when I started trading, I gained a basic understanding of cryptocurrencies. This course, however, helped fortify the basic concepts and taught me how cryptocurrencies are solving real-world problems. Companies like Walmart, VISA, and Pfizer are using blockchain and distributed ledger technology for things like tracking the provenance of foods and produce, business-to-business payment services, and managing digital inventory of pharmaceutical products. The most interesting concept I learned was the fundamental argument for Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency in the world, whose technology allows more projects and applications to be built under it, expanding the space for cryptocurrency and DeFi projects along with the utility of the coin, Ether. //

what the names of the sails are, and which ropes do what. R&R was mostly just a time for us to relax and have some structured free time when we could journal, draw, or nap. Occasionally we would have swim calls, when we would anchor the schooner and be allowed to jump over the side into the ocean. The trip went from Boston to Rockland, Maine, and back by way of Gloucester. When we docked in Boston, I did not realize how much I would miss the schooner—all the experiences, the places we went, and the people I met. This amazing experience—exploring the sea and learning about nautical life—will stay with me forever.

TeachMeWallStreet Course

Emmanuel Nwodo ’23 MedScience Program at Harvard

Jayden Phan '24

At Harvard’s MedScience Program we learned the basics of what doctors do when they first see a patient—learning about the individual, and identifying his or her chief complaint (heavy breathing, stomach pain, fatigue, etc.) We learned to check vitals, make patients more comfortable, and develop possible diagnoses. We ran blood tests, urine tests, MRIs, and X-rays to help us get a clearer picture of what was going on. My favorite case was with a diabetes patient. I applied my personal experiences with a friend who has diabetes to diagnose the patient. It showed me how common sense and using your own life experiences can sometimes help in medicine. Though these cases were fake, they were still unnerving at times. Though I was nervous, I liked the feeling of needing to think on my feet. I have always loved the idea of being a doctor. I’m thankful for doctors who have helped me, and I want to do that for someone else.

Jayden Phan ’24

Newsletter of The Roxbury Latin School 51

Boys of Fall

What is your own history with your sport, both as an athlete and as a coach?

anywhere. I’ve always enjoyed team sports—being part of a group, the games—but I’ve also always enjoyed the training, the practices, the road trips that come along with being a player, those bonding experiences that you have with one another. [Matt was captain of his RL varsity squad, playing mostly midfield.] That enthusiasm carried over for me as a coach. I began coaching with Paul [Sugg] right after college as his assistant, and—though the role was different—those shared moments were still very much a part of my experience. Coming back to independent schools in 2004, I really wanted to get involved in school life and work with students again. I’ve always found coaching to be a terrific way to do that. [Matt served as assistant varsity coach at both BB&N and Choate.]

Matt McDonald '85 Varsity Soccer Bryan Dunn Varsity Cross Country

Mike Tomaino Varsity Football

Bryan Dunn: I started running sophomore year in high school to stay in shape for baseball. I was trying to get an edge, and my dad suggested running. A bunch of my friends were runners, so I trained with them on occasion, and then my dad bought me running shoes and I felt guilty if I didn’t use them! Sophomore year I joined cross country; I was second-to-last in the first race, and I hated it. But over the weeks, I saw that the work I was putting in was making me better. By the end of the season I was

Matt McDonald: I moved around a lot as a kid, but soccer was always a constant for me. I loved the sport and could play it

52 Fall 2021

Getting to Know RL’s Fall Head Coaches—One, Two, and Three Years In Interviews by Erin E. Berg

This fall, Roxbury Latin’s three varsity teams are led by individuals relatively new to their head coaching roles here, but certainly seasoned veterans in their respective sports. In the midst of their first, second, and third seasons respectively at the helm of RL’s soccer, cross country, and football programs are Matt McDonald ’85, Bryan Dunn, and Mike Tomaino. Matt McDonald returned to Roxbury Latin this year as Director of Admission and leads the soccer program. Dr. Bryan Dunn is in his second year as Dean of Faculty and Science Department Chair, and is head of cross country; and Mike Tomaino, head football coach, is in his third year as Director of Summer and Auxiliary Programs with a key role in both the school’s Health and Wellness program and Student Leadership program for Class I. Here all three coaches answer questions about a much-anticipated return to athletics, after a year disrupted by the COVID pandemic.

What do you enjoy most about coaching RL boys?

MM: RL boys want to learn, which makes them really fun to coach. There’s also a humility in the school’s culture—regardless of how accomplished they might be, students still approach things with a mindset of wanting to grow and learn. Not that this isn’t true in other schools, but I find it to be so consistently true at RL.

MT: RL boys are smart—they can grasp information easily. You can throw a lot at them, and a lot of it sticks. Their intuition on the field is an extension of that intelligence. They’re also tough, and physical, and they want to do well. They’re competitive in a way that’s not just all about wins and losses, but rather about being the best that they can be on the field.

What do you see as the benefits to being both a coach and full-time faculty member?

Do you have a coaching philosophy, or an overarching approach you enlist as a coach?

BD: I appreciate that—while the ultimate performance is important—RL students tend to focus more on the notion that it’s going to take work, and they’re not afraid to put in the work. They realize that it’s the same as in the classroom: In order to be successful, you need to do a little bit every day, and try not to compare yourself to others, but rather acknowledge what you need to do to get better. With this specific group this year, they’re great at supporting one another, from the seniors to the Sixies. They

know what each other is going through, what they’re putting in, and they want to be there for one another.

MM: It provides the adult with the opportunity to get to know more than one facet of a student. Knowing students more holistically can be a conduit to helping them in an area where they may be struggling, helping them open up and feel comfortable in their own skin. Helping them develop a comfort level outside of the classroom allows trust to be built, which can then contribute to a student feeling more comfortable and confident in the classroom.

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in the top 10 on our team, and the hooks were in. I just wanted to run. My high school coach was really good—he understood the sport and developed us as individuals, but he also dealt with the mental side of it, teaching us to deal with anxiety and stress. And we had a good team. We were third in the country my junior year. In college [at William & Mary] I had two great coaches, and I continued running after college. What kept me excited all along was individual development: not What can I get out of this right now? or What are other people doing?, but rather How can I be better than I was six months ago? and What do I want out of it? Before coming to RL I was head varsity cross country coach at Xaverian, and I’ve also coached with a group called Emerging Elites during the summer.

BD: For me, coaching is similar to my approach in the classroom: Everyone is going to need something different, and you need to understand a person in order to know what he or she needs. I will coach and work with anyone who puts in the effort, regardless of how fast he is. Every kid comes to you with a different background, a different desire, a different set of abilities

MT: Everyone is different in different parts of their life. How I am in school is different from how I am on the field. Similarly, how kids are in the classroom is different from how they are on the field. I think when you see people in different ways—with different challenges and different successes—you can form a closer connection with them. You understand them better. You’re more easily able to see and appreciate their strengths and weaknesses. And so, the relationship that we have on the field or in school— our relationships in general with our student athletes—is stronger because we see them in different ways.

Mike Tomaino: I played for four years at Gloucester High School and was part of a really successful program there. We were 50-2 in my four years and won two state championships. I went on to play at Bates College, where we had some success—we were one of the best classes since 1980 with a record winning percentage. Once I graduated, I coached at various colleges and universities— first at Bates, then at Union, then Bryant, and finally at Wake Forest. While I played receiver as a student, I’ve predominantly coached defense.

BD: It’s so helpful to know the rhythms of the day, to know when things are stressful, on both fronts. As the coach, you obviously know when the big meets are, but then as a teacher, you know when kids are struggling with things during the day, and that you perhaps need to back off a little at practice. If I were a coach from the outside, I might just go straight to warm-ups—I wouldn’t have any context, about individual kids or about what happened at school that day. But here I have the benefit of finding a student between classes, just to check in and say, “Hey, how are you feeling? What did you do today? Do you need to do anything?” That access, and understanding, is invaluable.

and strengths and weaknesses. As a coach, I enjoy figuring out what those are and then matching kids with what they actually need. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach here. We may do similar things, but it’s all calibrated to what a kid actually needs. My ultimate goal is to have students graduate wanting to run beyond RL, and not to feel like the joy of it was beaten out of them. Running is something they can do their whole lives, so I try to give them the tools to eventually be able to train or run on their own.

MM: I believe that, fundamentally, coaching a sport— especially being part of a sport within a school setting— is educational. It’s about learning life lessons and life skills through the context of that pursuit. To me, that is fundamentally what I am doing: teaching boys resiliency, teamwork, how to deal with disappointments, how to win well, how to be empathetic, and how to push through challenging times or challenges in general. I think that’s always been the great part of sports.

standpoint. My big goal this season was to get that back. The captains George [Madison, Class I] and Mark [Henshon, Class I] have been instrumental in fostering that team dynamic and making sure that the whole team is involved in all the right ways.

MT: When you’re coming in as a new coach, and you’re trying to establish a way, the biggest transition is from year one to year two. Then last year—year two, for me—we didn’t have a season. So, if this is our year two, then it’s focused on re-establishing the beliefs and the core values and the culture that we want to have as a team, which are accountability, being players of high character, being consistent with our attitude and effort, and being confident, which goes back to the belief thing. Those are the four things that we stress. I try not to talk too much about wins and losses, because I think success there happens naturally when you have an established, positive, productive culture.

Do you have a pre-game ritual, either personally or for the team?

MT: Before every game, I lead a pre-game stretch, which the boys can count on and use the time to focus on the game ahead of us. I like to keep that consistency for the team. And then for me, I usually try to eat an apple. It’s something I always did as a player. I’m usually too nervous to really eat, and it’s just the right thing. I usually have some candy in my pocket, too, that I can munch on.

MM: I like to have a bit of alone time to gather my thoughts before a game, to think about how I want to approach a pregame conversation with the boys, and also to reflect on what we hope to accomplish. I like to come into school early and just take a little bit of time to myself to collect my thoughts in preparation for the contest.

BD: Before a race I think I get more nervous as a coach than when I ran myself, because I can’t control anything. But, for the team, we have a very detailed warm-up routine, which is the same each week. That helps to provide some structure, especially for the kids who are a little more anxious, so they know what to expect. My favorite part is about five or 10 minutes before the race, when all the boys get together as a big group. The other coaches and I don’t get in on that, but we can hear it. I love listening to what Mark and George are saying to the team. The chant they came up with is, on three they say RL, but on six they say family. I thought that was so interesting, that instead of choosing Let’s win!, or something, they chose family as their defining thing. I love that. //

BD: We always say the hope is to win the ISL, but that’s just on the victory/win-loss side. What I was really afraid of, with last year being my first year in the middle of the pandemic, was losing the team dynamic. We were in cohorts for cross country last year, so I didn’t see all the kids at the same time. I had heard from Chris Heaton and Nick Poles how good the team was together, and I was afraid that would be lost—not just from the running standpoint, but from the community

MT: I try to instill belief in my players as much as possible— the belief that they’re good, and we’re good, because I truly believe it. Because we’re a smaller school, with a strong focus on academics, I think sometimes these boys don’t get the credit they deserve as athletes. So the approach that I’ve tried to take since I arrived at RL is just trying to get them to believe in their own skills, and strength, and success. I know how much the sport matters to the kids, I know how much hard work and time and effort they put in. I want them to believe in themselves as much as I believe in them.

What are your hopes for this season?

54 Fall 2021

MM: My hope this season is the same as in any season that I’ve coached: that we are a significantly better team at the end of the season than we were at the beginning. If we have continued to grow and evolve, then I think it’s been a successful season.

Fall Varsity Teams

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Varsity Cross Country — First Row: Bryan Dunn (Head Coach), Eric Zhu, Kofi Fordjour, Michael Thomas, Mark Henshon (Captain), George Madison (Captain), David Sullivan, Eric Diop, Chris Heaton (Coach); Second Row: Jack McCarthy, Akshay Kumar, Theo Teng, Michael Allen, Jake Popeo, Akhilsai Damera, Jack Tompros, Alex Messier, Matt O'Connor, Heshie Liebowitz, Tommy Reichard, Mathias Why, Kevin Wang.

Varsity Soccer — First Row: Malcom Whitfield, Austin Kee, Will Callewaert, John Fazli, Ben Kelly (Captain), Kieran McCabe (Captain), Adam Kuechler (Captain), George Humphrey, Kayden Miller, Josh Krakauer, José Flores, James De Vito; Second Row: Paul Sugg (Coach), Dovany Estimphile, Nick Frumkin, Arjun Bose, Carter Crowley, Ryan Frigerio, Thomas Connolly, Rami Hayes-Messinger, Oliver van den Bosch, Ethan Dhadly, Aydin Hodjat , Alejandro Rincon, Tyler Duarte, Jed Dougherty, Arturo Solís (Coach), Matt McDonald (Head Coach). (Missing: Andrew Sparks, Manager.)

Varsity Football — First Row (Captains): James Birch, Luke DeVito, Aidan Brooks, Dom Cuzzi; Second Row: John Paul Buckley, Will Silva, Zachary Donovan, Zeb Jacoby, Christopher Weitzel, Armando Walters, Charlie Clough, Colin Herbert, Nolan Walsh, Brodie Lee; Third Row: Tim Ryan, Noah Abdur Rahim, Peter DeVito, Andrew Bingham, Angus Leary, John Thomas, Justin Loo, Aidan Gibbons, Antonio Morales, Harry Lonergan, Ryan Lin; Fourth Row: Logan McLaughlin, Bruno Kim, Riley Stanton, Nick Consigli, Mark McGuire, Ben O'Keeffe, Thomas Pender, Aiden Theodore, Mike Tomaino (Head Coach); Fifth Row: John Lieb (Coach), Caleb Meredith, Sam DiFiore, Ben McVane, Tucker Rose, Ryan Conneely, Michael Strojny, Bryce Ketchen, Reid Spence, Johnny Price; Sixth Row: Taylor Fitzgerald (Coach), Marc Albrechtskirchinger, Matt Hoover, Harry Brennan, Tenzin Ghapontsang, Camden Carr, Krystian Reese, Sam Seaton, Shane Bernazzani, Jack Hynes, Matt Taglieri, Sean Spellman (Coach). (Missing: Parker Collins, Taylor Cotton, Liam Russell, David Sullivan.)

On1969October 24, John Burgess was honored with a 2021 Massachusetts Governor’s Award in the Humanities, which Mass Humanities bestows “with approval from the Governor upon individuals whose public actions have been grounded in an appreciation of the humanities and enhanced civic life in the Commonwealth.” John’s cohort of 2021 award winners also includes acclaimed Jefferson historian and Harvard professor Annette Gordon-Reed; multicultural-education pioneer Sonia Nieto; and renowned historian and creator of the Letters from an American newsletter Heather Cox Richardson. This achievement underscores John’s life and work as

1961

Despite1964 the pandemic, John Curtin was able to play in many tennis tournaments throughout 2020. He was ranked number one in the United States in 70-and-over singles, with 356 men qualifying. He has been ranked in the top 25 for the last few years but has never reached number one until now. Fortunately, his wife is very encouraging of his hobby. (He suspects that he is easier to live with when he is playing!) John has also enjoyed many national father-son tournaments, which, he says, has been great for his relationship with his son, who is a tennis teaching pro.

Class Notes

1967 3 William J. O’Reilly dipped back into the early 20th century for his latest short book about the demise of six day bike racing, titled Killing the International Six Day Bicycle Race: Brutal Predecessor of The Tour de France. The book is available for purchase on Amazon.

Paul Kirshen continues his research and consulting on adaptation to climate

a law professor, philanthropist, and former board chair of Mass Humanities.

2 On August 29, Linda and Phil Ferrara welcomed Joe Doherty ’17 to their home near Annapolis, Maryland, accompanied by one of his U.S. Naval Academy classmates. “After encountering many pandemic delays of the past year, Linda and I finally got to meet Joe over a Sunday brunch featuring French toast with amaretto maple syrup.” Phil graduated from the Naval Academy in 1965. The fellow alumni enjoyed four hours of Roxbury Latin and USNA tales and history.

7 Lou Salamone of Santa Clara Valley Medical Center was awarded the 2021 Stanford Affiliated Faculty Award. Voted

1946

threats in cities, which he began while at the Stockholm Environment Institute and Tufts University in the mid-1990s. Today he is a professor in the School for the Environment at University of Massachusetts Boston and the founding director of the Stone Living Lab (SLL). SLL conducts research, engagement, and education on the socio-economic and biophysical aspects of nature-based approaches to manage coastal flooding and ecosystem restoration. He lives in Concord, Massachusetts, with his wife, Bettina, and has three older sons.

5 Ryan McDonough’s feature film Last Night in Rozzie premiered at the Somerville Theater in Davis Square on September 17, 2021. The film has won more than a dozen awards—official selection, best feature, director’s choice— at independent film festivals across the country. Many Roxbury Latin friends were in attendance at the premier, including Headmaster Kerry Brennan and Steve Popeo.

1995

1 In the “small world” category, one of the guides who worked with RL’s Class III boys at Hale Reservation in September was the son of Herschel Langenthal (pictured at far right).

4 Ted O’Connor met George Jean-Claude ’17 at Trinity College in early October. Both alumni went to Tenacre Country Day in Wellesley, then Roxbury Latin, and then Trinity College. (Furthermore, they were in the same Fraternity, Psi-Upsilon Beta Beta.)

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1998

In1988August 2021, Matthew Axelrod was nominated by President Biden to serve as Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement, Department of Commerce. Matt is a longtime public servant with deep criminal and national security enforcement experience, having spent more than thirteen years at the Department of Justice.

1989

6 Mike Scally and Regan O’Malley were married on July 15, 2021, at the Chatham Bars Inn in Chatham, Massachusetts.

Newsletter of The Roxbury Latin School 57 2 3 4 5 67

Anthony Cataldo graduated from Georgetown University with a BA in economics. He enrolled this fall at New England Law and looks forward to a career in law.

Jack Colavita graduated from Georgetown University with a BA in classics. He works as a Lead SAT Tutor for SoFlo Tutors, a Florida-based education company.

Harrison Callewaert graduated from Duke University with a BA in economics

Hamilton Coiscou graduated from Trinity College with a BA in economics. He is working as a Financial Representative at Fidelity Investments.

Eamon Hanrahan graduated from Davidson College with a BA in classical languages and literature. He is interested in pursuing a career in law, and is employed as a Legal Assistant at Demerie Hoerger LLC.

Class of 2017

Medical School interested in biomedical devices and public health.

58 Fall 2021

Joe Doherty will graduate from the United States Naval Academy with a degree in economics in 2022. Upon graduation, he will serve as a commissioned Officer in the U.S. Navy.

Oliver Booth graduated from Oxford University (Exeter College) with a BA in philosophy, politics, and economics. He is pursuing an MS in energy and sustainability at Northwestern University, and will graduate in 2022. He plans to pursue a career in climate-tech venture capital, or sustainable finance.

Aidan Burke is living in New York City. He graduated from Boston College’s Carroll School of Management, with a BS in finance and accounting for finance and consulting. He works as an Investment Banking Analyst at Barclays.

Siva Emani graduated from Harvard College with an AB in chemistry and physics. He is currently a first-year medical student on the MD track at Harvard

Adam Banks graduated from Bates College with a BA in environmental studies. A lifelong lover of Boston’s green spaces, he is working for the Emerald Necklace Conservancy as an Events and Programs Coordinator.

Jack Burton graduated from Boston College with a BS in finance and business analytics. He is working as a Strategy Consultant at IBM.

Mitchell Garvey graduated from the University of Richmond with a BA in international studies. He was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps. He is currently based at the Basic School at the Marine Corps Base Quantico.

Andys Gonzalez will graduate from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, with a BA in Spanish this December. He looks forward to working with Brooke Charter Schools as a School Culture Aide as he studies for the LSAT exam.

and finance. He lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, and works as an Investment Banker at Deloitte.

Michael Healy is living in New York City. He graduated from Georgetown University with a BA in classics, where he was a Hellenist and studied Ancient Greek. He now works as a Deals Strategy Associate at PwC.

Hari Kothapalli graduated from Harvard College with a AB/SM in Computer Science. He is working at Facebook as a Software Engineer.

Joe Lomuscio graduated from Brown University with an AB in economics. He is a graduate student and a member of the varsity baseball team at Stanford, where he is pursuing a master’s in civil and environmental engineering.

Franny Rose will graduate from Bowdoin College with a BA in economics and Hispanic studies. He plans to pursue a career in sales and has an interest in entrepreneurship.

Jack Ricciuti is living in New York City, having graduated from the University of Michigan with a BA in economics. He is working as an Analyst with BlackRock.

James Hurley graduated from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, with a BA in operations and information management. He is working at KPMG as an Advisory Associate on the Cyber Security Services team.

James McCoy graduated from Boston College with a BA in philosophy and biology. He works at Dana-Farber Institute as a Clinical Research Coordinator.

Nicholas Schiciano earned his BS in biomedical engineering at Duke University. He is pursuing his master’s in biomedical

engineering at Duke and looks forward to a career as an engineer upon his graduation.

Oliver Xu graduated from Emory University with a BA in philosophy. He is living in Atlanta, Georgia, where he works as an elementary school teacher. He plans to join Teach for America.

Henry Lin-David graduated from Wesleyan University with a BA in English. He is interested in writing and journalism and is currently working as Lead Editorial Producer at Lee Enterprises.

Danny Pennella lives in Washington, DC. He graduated from Georgetown University with a BA in marketing and international business. He works as an administrative assistant for the International Association of Fire Fighters Headquarters.

TJ Silva graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a BA in international economics and political science. He is living in Washington, DC, and works for Deloitte as a Government & Public Services Analyst.

Devin Quinlin is in his final semester at Dartmouth College. He will graduate in December 2021 with a BA in environmental studies and French. He hopes to pursue a career in green energy, sustainability, or research.

Neema Zarrabian graduated from Williams College with a BA in psychology. He is interested in entrepreneurship and is working as a Business Development Representative for Brazen, a virtual career fair and conversational recruiting platform.

Joe Pollard graduated from St. Anselm College with a BA in finance. He is working at Camden National Bank as an Analyst.

Josh Winograd graduated from Northwestern University with a BS in materials science and engineering. He remained in Evanston for a fifth year, and will complete a master’s in materials science and engineering from Northwestern in 2022.

Ryan Lareau graduated from Vanderbilt University with a BA in biology, having served in the NROTC on campus all four years. He is currently serving as an Ensign in the U.S. Navy, with a specialty in naval aviation. He lives in Pensacola, Florida.

Chris Jimenez graduated from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, with a BA in accounting. He remained on campus and will complete his master’s in accounting in December. He looks forward to joining PwC as a Deals Financial Due Diligence Associate in January 2022.

Tim McCarthy will graduate from Amherst College with a BA in English and economics in 2022. He looks forward to exploring career opportunities in education and sports business.

Rylan Tribush is finishing his AB in mathematical data science at Dartmouth College. He will graduate in 2022.

Daniel Shlayen graduated from Georgetown University with a BA in international politics. He is interested in law and entrepreneurship and is currently working as an analyst at Kobre & Kim.

Newsletter of The Roxbury Latin School 59

Ian Kelly graduated from the University of Richmond with a BBA in finance and business analytics. He works for the TJX Companies as a Financial Analyst.

Felix Wang is living in San Francisco, having graduated from Stanford University with a BS in mathematics. He is working as a Software Engineer at Tecton.

On Saturday, October 2, alumni from Roxbury Latin and Belmont Hill laced up their cleats in memory of friend and classmate Terry Iandiorio '89, a former faculty member at Belmont Hill. Twenty-two RL alumni — from classes 1987 through 2020 — turned out and secured a 2-0 victory. >>

60 Fall 2021 "

Newsletter of The Roxbury Latin School 61 reunion 2 02 2 friday & saturday, may 13–14 Save the Date.

62 Fall 2021 89 10 11 12 13 14 15

rl’s boston marathoners 13 JJ O’Brien ’01 ran the Boston Marathon on October 11 to support research that can preserve and bring back vision for those suffering from Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP)—a genetic disease that has affected his family for generations—at Mass Eye and Ear. JJ raised nearly $21,000, eclipsing his goal of $15,000. JJ’s younger brother Mike, Class of 2004, was diagnosed with RP three years ago. Mike and his daughter Brook cheered on “Uncle JJ” as he made his way to the finish line.

8 Zach Kanin and his writing partner Tim Robinson—creators of the hit sketch comedy show I Think You Should Leave— were featured as a New Yorker interview on October 4, 20042021.

9 Dan McGeary and his wife, Megan, welcomed Desmond James on July 5. He weighed in at 7.6 pounds and 20.5 inches.

Aidan Cook, now a sophomore at Amherst College, was awarded The Bassett Physics Prize last year, given each spring to those students who have distinguished themselves by the excellence and maturity of their performance in the class and laboratory work of the first course in physics.

Cherry Brice (Alex Cherenfant) works as a writer and producer in New York and recently curated a Cinema Salon series at NYC’s Anthology Film Archives—three nights of philosophy & community; three nights of art & class politics; three nights of crossstrata debate: The Civic Cinema (October 13), The Radical Bourgeois (October 20), and Simulacra and Simulation (November 3).

2013

11 Matt Driscoll and his wife, Lindley, welcomed their first child, Sophia Gray Driscoll, on August 23, 2021.

Newsletter of The Roxbury Latin School 63

Stuart McNay competed in his fourth Olympic games this summer as part of the United States Sailing Team, adding Tokyo to the list that includes Beijing (2008), London (2012), and Rio (2016).

2005

2021

shot a four-under par 209 to place tied for fourth, leading the Hoyas to a fourth-place finish at the 37th Georgetown Intercollegiate. Max is the first member of the Georgetown team to garner Big East male golfer of the week honors this season.

12 This summer, Ryan Dukeman was sworn in as a foreign policy data scientist at the U.S. State Department, where he will be working mainly on issues related to China. He will take a leave of absence from his doctorate work in international relations at Princeton to do so. Ryan has previously conducted foreign policy work on the Biden and Warren presidential campaigns. He is excited to be back in D.C. and serving in an innovative way on these important 2020issues.

15 Ian Kelly ’17 ran the Boston Marathon as a member of Team Hale, raising nearly $8,000 dollars for Hale Reservation.

2009

Tim Kelly , member of RL’s history faculty since 2014, completed his first running of the Boston Marathon this year, raising more than $14,000 for Mass Eye and Ear. //

2000

2001

10 Mike O’Brien and his wife, Drew, welcomed their second child on June 13, 2021. Charles Matthew O’Brien joins big sister Brooke.

Max Hutter—in his first year at Georgetown—was named Big East male golfer of the week on October 13. With rounds of 73, 67, and 69, Max

upon by Stanford surgical residents, the award is given annually to the top clinical instructor in surgery at affiliated sites. (Lou also received the award in 2017 and 2020.) Lou joined SCVMC in 2014, and during his seven-year tenure, he has focused on advancing the surgical oncology program and minimally invasive operations in particular. He is one of a handful of surgeons in California who offers the robotic Whipple procedure for pancreatic cancer. Lou is board certified in general surgery.

2006

14 Jeff Kirchick ’06 ran this year’s Boston Marathon and raised more than $10,000 for the Boston Police Foundation, a non-profit organization providing funds to support programs which allow Boston Police officers to enhance public safety throughout the city.

John Hugh Rooney Jr. ’49 of Sycamore, Illinois, died on July 21, 2021, at the age of 90. Born on February 18, 1931, in Dedham, he was the son of Eileen Flaherty and John Rooney. During his adolescent years, John lived on Spruce Street and attended the Ames Junior High School in Dedham prior to his admission to Roxbury Latin.

In 1968, the Rooneys moved to DeKalb, Illinois, where John began teaching painting and drawing at Northern Illinois University. He enjoyed traveling and spent one of his sabbaticals painting and teaching in Salzburg, Austria, with his young family. His family noted that he was fluent in German, but he also conversed ably in French, Italian, Greek, and even Latin when the occasion arose. John served on the faculty at Northern Illinois University as a professor of art from 1968 until his retirement in 1996.

John matriculated at Harvard College, where he began his studies as a math concentrator before switching to English. He earned his AB in 1953. At Harvard, John also began his studies in art with Hyman Bloom, who made a significant impression on him. After graduating, John served in the U.S. Army and was stationed in Europe where he performed with the U.S. Army Choir. In 1956, John enrolled

While a student at RL, John participated in a host of activities. He played football,

ran track, and participated on the debate team. He also served on the student council and helped with Tripod. John’s classmates named him “Class Spirit” in the 1949 Yearbook. His peers praised his “fine scholarship and laudable athletic record.” They added that he was “conscientious and full of enormous spirit and vitality” during his time at Roxbury Latin. In his college letter, Headmaster Weed described John as “a good citizen who stands for all the right things, and courageously stands against what he considers wrong… the sum total of his merits make a boy whom we highly recommend, and with real pleasure in doing so.”

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In Memoriam

John continued to paint and draw after his retirement, often with a group of retired colleagues. He was a devoted supporter

at the Akademie der Bildenden Kunste (Academy of Visual Arts) in Munich, Germany. It was at the Akademie that he met Ursula (Ulli) Gruenberg, whom he married in Munich, Germany, in 1957. Ursula earned her final diploma in 1961, and John earned his in 1962. He later earned an MFA from Syracuse University in 1967.

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of his wife’s artistic career and always encouraged his children’s varied interests and pursuits. He was often seen with a sketchbook and colored pens in hand, capturing scenes that caught his interest. Exhibitions of his drawings, paintings, and prints have been displayed and are in collections in galleries and museums in Europe and the U.S.

Dick matriculated at Wesleyan University, where he earned his BA in physics in 1960. He then served in the U.S. Army from 1960 to 1962, where his military service at the Aberdeen Testing Grounds encouraged him to pursue a career as an acoustical engineer. He served as director of the Cedar Knolls Acoustical Laboratories in New Jersey, which tested materials and evaluated designs for buildings and concert halls. Dick also pursued graduate level work at New York University beginning in 1967. He was an honorary fellow of the Acoustical Society of America and received the American Society for Testing Materials Award of Merit for his contributions to acoustical standards.

In addition to his beloved wife of more than sixty years, John is survived by three daughters, two sons, and their families (including seven grandchildren and one great-grandson). He is also survived by his brother, James, Class of 1956, and several nieces and nephews, including Philip Driscoll, Jr., Class of 1973.

Richard Montgomery Guernsey ’55 of Wellfleet, passed away on July 31, 2021, at the age of 84. He was born April 10, 1937, the son of Janet Brown and William Guernsey. Dick grew up in Wellesley along with his four siblings. His mother was a physics professor at Wellesley College and his father was an attorney who later taught history at Boston University. Dick attended Wellesley Junior High School

prior to his admission to Roxbury Latin. As a schoolboy, Dick played football and ran track. He participated in the school dramatics program, first as an usher and later as a member of the stage crew. Headmaster Weed wrote of Dick in his college letter: “Guernsey has shown increasing academic strength and interest since he has been with us. He is a willing worker and serious by nature. His character is excellent… His sincerity and conscientious personality have gained the respect of all and we recommend him strongly.”

Dick had a lifelong love of nature, fostered by summers at Camp Calumet in New Hampshire and the Boy Scouts, having himself achieved the rank of Eagle Scout as a boy. As an adult he led scout troops on backpacking trips to Philmont Camp in New Mexico. Later he was a longtime coordinator for the Friday Hiking Group of the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church of Brewster. Dick also volunteered

for social causes, at his church, and for the Wellfleet Community Forum and Wellfleet Democratic Committee.

Dick met his wife, Marilyn, through the Morristown Unitarian Fellowship in New Jersey, where they were married in 1992. Dick’s beloved wife predeceased him in 2020. He is survived by his stepchildren, their families, and his siblings, David Guernsey, Michael Guernsey, Robert Guernsey, and Madeleine Rudd. Dick’s warmth, curiosity, and generous spirit will be sorely missed by all he left behind.

Paul Robert Kateman ’60 of Wellesley died on May 15, 2020, at the age of 78. He was born February 10, 1942, the son of Jeannette Greenblatt and Dr. Abraham Kateman. Paul grew up in Brookline, where he attended the Edward Devotion School before gaining admission to Roxbury Latin.

At Roxbury Latin, Paul participated on the tennis and soccer teams. He served as a manager of the football team, assisted with Tripod, and contributed to the dramatics program as a member of the stage crew.

One of Dick’s teachers described him as “a boy with a great deal of ambition and considerable intellectual curiosity. He is willing to try something at the risk of being

He also participated in the Junior Red Cross. Paul was captain of the chess team and was responsible for “developing the club into something more than a small afternoon bull session.” He was a good student and maintained a high standard for himself. His classmates noted in Yearbook that Paul was “never seen slouching or slumbering around the classrooms.” Friends and family remember Paul for his warmth, exuberance, storytelling, ready sense of humor, sharp wit, and intelligence.

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Paul matriculated at Columbia University, where he earned his BA in economics in 1964. He attended Harvard Business School subsequently, earning his MBA in 1966. Paul made an early career at the Boston Redevelopment Authority and Bicknell Realty. In 1991, he founded Turbo Dynamix, a company that created new technology for ice cream manufacturing and delivery.

Throughout his life, Dick maintained an interest in music. He played electric bass in a number of bands through the years, with genres ranging from rhythm and blues to rock and roll.

Dick worked for the U.S. government as an intelligence operations manager;

Dick matriculated at Columbia, where he earned his BA in 1971. He subsequently earned a master’s degree at the New School of Social Research in New York City in 1972. Dick later earned his PhD at Kent State University in 1976.

Richard Warren Bloom ’67 of Prescott, Arizona, died on June 1, 2021, at the age of 71. He was born on October 7, 1949, the son of Gloria Apt and Dr. Hyman Bloom. As a young boy, Dick attended the Pierce Elementary School in Milton. He then attended Boston Latin School prior to gaining admission to Roxbury Latin as a member of the Fifth Class.

wrong. He shows constant improvement in poise and manners.” While a student at Roxbury Latin, Dick’s favorite activity was singing in the Glee Club, which he joined promptly as a new arrival in Class V. He also played baseball and football, participated in weightlifting, tutored, and helped in dramatics as a member of the stage crew. Headmaster Mayo-Smith wrote in Dick’s college letter that there was a “thrust” of an “admirable quality” to Dick; even as a boy, he “[expressed] his opinions with energy” and “[sang] in the Glee Club and [danced] at the social affair afterwards all with a distinctive, energetic style.”

Paul was predeceased by his loving wife Judy Bailen Kateman in 1986. He is survived by his three children and their families, as well as a sister and her family.

Dick was an active participant in the Roxbury Latin Alumni Educators Networking Group. During the pandemic, he shared his extensive experience teaching in an online setting with fellow Roxbury Latin educators across the country. He was also a member of the Thomas Bell Society, leaving a provision in his estate planning for Roxbury Latin. Dick created the Dr. Hyman L. Bloom Memorial Phi Kappa Phi Endowed Scholarship for Women at Embry-Riddle’s Prescott Campus, in honor of his late father. The scholarship aims to benefit female students who are the first in their families to attend college and members of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society. Dick is survived by his beloved wife Nancy. //

intelligence analyst; and planner for psychological operations, special plans, and politico-military affairs. He also worked as a military clinical psychologist. He retired from the U.S. Air Force and associated agencies in 1996. He served as president of the American Psychological Association’s military psychology division. Dick then embarked on a second career as an educator for 25 years with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona. He served in a variety of roles, from Associate Professor of Humanities and Social Sciences, to the Department Chair for Humanities and Social Sciences, to Dean of the College of Arts and Science, to Chief Academic Officer, and most recently to Professor of Social Sciences. “We know how much Dr. Bloom enjoyed working with his students, and how much they enjoyed having him as an instructor,” said Anette Karlsson, Chancellor of the Embry-Riddle Prescott Campus. “He will be missed by all of us.”

The exhibit will be available for viewing from January 13 through February 15.

Glee Club Holiday Concerts

Senior Play: Frankenstein

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Friday, November 19, at 7:30 p.m.

Image: pastel by Brian Buckley

Friday, February 25, at 7:30 p.m.

Opening Reception: Thursday, January 13, at 6 p.m. The Great Hall

Musical: Catch Me If You Can

Friday, December 17, at 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Rousmaniere Hall

Saturday, November 20, at 7:30 p.m. Smith Theater

Arts Calendar

Winter Art Exhibit: Brian Buckley, A Retrospective

Saturday, February 26, at 7:30 p.m. Smith Theater

Watercolor by Erik Zou ’19

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