Milton Magazine, Fall 2008

Milton Magazine

Fall 2008

Milton Academy in 2008 The classroom experience deďŹ nes a Milton education.

What endures over times of rapid change, and why?

Contents

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Features: Milton Academy in 2008 Front Cover: Photograph by Michael Dwyer

2 Academics at Milton in 2008 The classroom experience defines a Milton education. What endures over times of rapid change, and why?

David Ball ’88

5 Active Learning In and Out of the Classroom Sarah Wehle, interim principal of the Upper School, and Bridget Johnson, dean of students, respond to today’s questions: How would you describe Milton Academy’s culture? What are the major social challenges?

Cathleen Everett

10 Chapel at Milton in 2008 Milton’s chapel program embraces a broad vision of spirituality, one that respects the plurality of faiths and explores the unique elements among them.

Suzanne DeBuhr

13 Twelve Graduates Working at Milton Weigh in about the School Today Their student years at Milton span five decades (late 1940s through 1990s) and the differences among their individual experiences, social and academic, are many. To a great extent, these differences reflect the Milton of their days, along with political and cultural realities over time.

Cathleen Everett

18 Learning Photography: Lessons in the Language of Visual Literacy Learning photography at Milton has shifted from the realm of film and darkroom to the technology of the charged couple device and digital software. The medium has changed, but the message to the students has not.

Bryan Cheney

24 Milton Academy: A Photographic Portrait A profile of the School today

32 A Day in the Life of the Schwarz Student Center What happens in the hub? Life in the Schwarz Student Center begins well before classes and extends well beyond.

Erin Hoodlet

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Departments 36 Milton’s Lower Grades Are Now K–8 After 18 months of concentrated research and discussion, Milton Academy decided on a new organizational structure. The Academy formally launched one K–8 division this fall.

Cathleen Everett

40 The Pritzker Science Center Milton’s new science building is eagerly anticipated: It has been well planned. It has inspired excitement and new levels of philanthropy. It will begin to take shape on November 8, 2008, and students will file through the doors in December 2010.

45 Commencement and Prizes, 2008 49 Graduates’ Weekend, 2008

53 Faculty Perspective The Ruth King Theatre in Kellner: Forever grateful for the shared enterprise of exposing our common humanity David Peck

56 Post Script Excerpts from Looking Back by Fritz Kempner ’40 and You Must Remember This: A Reporter’s Odyssey from Camelot to Glasnost by Lansing Lamont ’48

58 Sports Jasmine Reid ’09 is Milton’s fastest Mustang Greg White

60 In•Sight 62 On Centre News and notes from the campus and beyond

83 Class Notes

Editor Cathleen Everett Associate Editor Erin Hoodlet Photography Michael Dwyer, Ruth Fremson, Erin Hoodlet, Nicki Pardo, JD Sloan, Karen Smul, Alexander Stephens ’83, Martha Stewart, Greg White Design Moore & Associates Milton Magazine is published twice a year

by Milton Academy. Editorial and business offices are located at Milton Academy where change-of-address notifications should be sent.

As an institution committed to diversity, Milton Academy welcomes the opportunity to admit academically qualified students of any gender, race, color, handicapped status, sexual orientation, religion, national or ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally available to its students. It does not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, handicapped status, sexual orientation, religion, national or ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, admission policies, scholarship programs, and athletic or other school-administered activities.

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Academics at Milton in 2008

The classroom experience defines a Milton education.

What endures over times of rapid change, and why?

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“Those of us who teach Milton students must still distinguish the fundamentals from the fads, the transcendent from the trendy.

Making those decisions seems simple at times, daunting at others… students must leave this place able to explore enthusiastically, reason critically, and communicate clearly.”

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recently stumbled across a battered old cardboard box lying in the corner of a garage. Curiosity got the best of me, and in it I discovered the remnants of my Class II year at Milton. Humidity had taken its toll on the English essays that had spewed forth from an old dot matrix printer, and the rust on the binder rings made it hard to flip through the scrawled notes on the Civil War and Reconstruction, limits and derivatives. For two decades, the physical remains of that year had been rotting away. But something from that year rests secure in my mind, shaping the ways in which I think and read and speak. So what is it about my Milton Academy education that has resisted time’s ravages? What is it about the classroom experience at Milton, the defining experience at Milton, that endures?

Such questions are not for the nostalgic alone. Those of us who teach Milton students must still distinguish the fundamentals from the fads, the transcendent from the trendy. Making those decisions seems simple at times, daunting at others, but whenever the task seems overwhelming, I return to principles that extend across the curriculum, penetrating every academic discipline—students must leave this place able to explore enthusiastically, reason critically, and communicate clearly. Only a rigorous, dynamic program ensures that they will.

By necessity, that program must begin with language, broadly understood.

Generations of Milton’s English teachers have insisted that their students master

the principles of grammar, and despite the culture’s current embrace of imprecision and informality, Milton’s teachers resolutely, often joyfully, continue to teach those principles. They are not soldiers in some cultural battle, ferociously defending past practice against innovation. Rather, they recognize that learning grammar, like learning vocabulary, liberates students.

Understanding how words fit together to create meaning allows one to read with sensitivity, appreciate nuance, and recognize multiple meanings. The complicated language that once obscured knowledge and beauty instead introduces a reader to new dimensions of the human experience.

The world on the page comes alive. Thus, English Workshop remains a staple of the Class IV English curriculum, essential preparation for subsequent deep readings of Milton, Melville, and Morrison.

In other disciplines, too, language matters. We still require Class IV students to explore a wide range of the arts—visual arts, performing arts, and music—because we recognize that a student who, for example, begins to understand the language of music, its structure, its texture, its complexity, can discover once-hidden truths about love, or hope, or suffering. In the math classroom, signs and symbols can make mysterious phenomena seem simple and rational—but only when students understand the way in which those signs work together, the grammar, if you will, of math. In the Chinese or French classroom, of course, the teaching of language may appear to be a teacher’s sole focus. Yet the study of another language does more than provide an alternative form of communication. Rather, learning new languages

provides the basis for understanding other cultures. In a world of constant, complex cultural exchange, studying language thus becomes increasingly important, not because English will lose its global reach, but because foreign languages provide the entry for deeper understanding.

As they discover new knowledge, Milton students enjoy many small epiphanies, but those moments, no matter how powerful, are not sufficient signs that Milton has completed its work. After those flashes of insight, Milton students must still remain hungry, eager to learn more; they must make intellectual exploration habitual. We in turn must encourage that habit, following the lead of the science department, which puts exploration at the heart of every one of its core courses. All students in those classes must complete a “DYO,” a “design-your-own” experiment requiring students to define and then test ways to explore scientific phenomena. Before they can explore, those students must pose questions worthy of study; they must have a sense of what they seek. Some students, mucking about in hopes that they will stumble on a subject worthy of investigation, ask many, many questions. At the moment, such incessant questioning can seem frustrating, but that questioning fosters a pioneer spirit, the very kind of intellectual approach that endures.

A similar search for answers defines another rite of passage, the United States History research paper. This assignment, often the stuff of legend, demands that students define their own path for explor-

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“To make exploration productive and to make discoveries meaningful, students must learn to reason critically. Encouraging students to ask ill-conceived questions and rewarding them for sincere but incoherent answers serves no one well.”

ing the past. They cannot rely on a single source; they cannot assume a single, simple answer. Some students flounder, at least temporarily, while others flourish. In the broadest sense, though, no student can fail, regardless of the quality of the final paper, if that student has scoured sources, tested and rejected hypotheses, and generated an even longer list of questions.

To make exploration productive and to make discoveries meaningful, students must learn to reason critically.

Encouraging students to ask ill-conceived questions and rewarding them for sincere but incoherent answers serves no one well.

Instead, students must learn to distinguish hasty assertions from careful arguments, and just as we give students practice exploring, we must give them practice reasoning. We do not wish to train wellinstructed parrots, students who merely restate another’s wisdom with unusual eloquence, nor do we wish to foster a culture of intellectually empty but fiery debate. So how do we avoid these traps?

First, the context for learning must inspire constant exchange. The persistent but shallow critic should face, literally, a room full of skeptics who will push that sloppy thinker to revise and expand his thinking.

The classrooms in the new science building will reflect this necessity. Those spaces will integrate labs, places where students explore, with areas in which students can gather around a table, asking one another questions, helping one another find answers and refine conclusions. Indeed, most every Milton classroom is designed to be a space for constructive exchange, one that allows students to admit uncer-

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tainty and requires students to defend conclusions. Gently but vigorously, we push one another away from weak reasoning.

The tasks that we ask students to complete also develop reasoning skills. Class IV students, for example, must write, among other papers, a critical essay and a personal narrative. Though different in many respects, both assignments require students to use evidence—a text in one case, experience in the other—to convey a message that a reader, even the most critical one, will find compelling. Moreover, in every core history course, Milton students must write a research paper, as we insist that each student demonstrate the ability to define an original argument and defend that argument with evidence. Lab reports serve a comparable function, and in arts courses, students must also experiment, constantly making choices. Two years ago, I had the opportunity to work with a colleague in the performing arts department on an oral history project. This teacher asked each student both to contribute to the construction of the script and to provide suggestions for the staging of the final performance. As he led the class through the exercise, he insistently but patiently asked students to defend their choices, to explain why successful elements worked, and to explore why less successful elements failed. The building of that performance, like the construction of an essay, required constant, careful reflection.

The very tools that so often promote clear thinking also encourage effective communication. Every teacher discovers that teaching an idea forces one to develop a deeper understanding of that idea. The underlying principle here—clear commu-

nication requires the precise definition of one’s thoughts—operates for students, too.

Thus, our insistence that students explain their thinking in class and on paper stems in part from a belief that practicing communication, written and oral, provides practice in reasoning. Yet we encourage effective writing and speaking for another reason. We recognize that knowledge locked away from our students does them no good. We also recognize that knowledge and innovations locked in one student’s head deprives everyone access to that student’s inspiration and insight. So when we ask students to articulate their own ideas, we do so both because we have great faith in their capacity as individual thinkers, and because we all suffer when we do not share our thoughts with one another.

If we build our curriculum around exploration, reasoning, and communication, we can avoid many tiresome debates. Are we traditional or progressive? Choose either label—a student who explores the world eagerly will embrace the study of Vergil with the same verve with which she studies contemporary politics in our new climate change course. She will look forward and backward with equal excitement, and if she can reason critically, she will draw meaningful conclusions from both exercises. Twenty years from now, whether she is a banker, a professor, or a painter—or all three—she will still pursue new knowledge ceaselessly, and she will share her discoveries with the world enthusiastically.

Like so many of us, she will have learned enduring lessons at Milton.

David Ball ’88, Academic Dean

Active Learning In and Out of the Classroom

Today’s questions: How would you describe Milton Academy’s culture?

What are the major social challenges?

And the answers, from: Sarah Wehle, faculty member for 31 years: interim principal of the Upper School Bridget Johnson, administrator with fresh eyes on Milton: dean of students since 2007

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• Faculty care enormously about individuals. They reach out to make Milton work for each student.

• They are very interested in what school life is like for students, not just inside their classrooms. Students then look to faculty as one of the main connections between them and the School.

• Faculty are eager to work outside of class to help anyone experiencing difficulty or confusion.

• Living in one house for all your Milton years, with a surrogate “family” that you know very well, helps you learn about affection, respect and responsibility.

• You experience your house as home base. You can’t walk away from your mistakes—you learn from them—and your support net surrounds you.

• We communicate in many ways what it means to be a leader, helping the older students (who usually do a very good job) understand how to lead the younger by example.

• We work hard at making sure the environment is continually positive in building attributes and skills.

Then and now, at Milton the culture feeds on an expectation of energy, passion and involvement. The students we enroll, the faculty we hire—they don’t sit and watch the grass grow.

Discipline practices at Milton are deliberate and thoughtful. They reinforce ideas about how a person lives in a community, and they show how much we value each teaching moment.

We focus on defining community here.

That means students’ experience often runs counter to the self-centeredness of today’s culture.

• We see discipline as a responsibility that is difficult for all parents, and is core training for adulthood.

On the Milton culture, Bridget and Sarah say: Then and now, the Milton experience is essentially built on relationships.

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• Because discipline at Milton is a process, it allows teenagers to be reflective, to consider what led them to make an incorrect choice, to review other options they might have had, and to consider the impact of a mistake—on themselves and on others.

• Because it’s a process, it has a beginning, a middle and an end. Teenagers learn that a mistake is a mistake: they “pay their dues” and resume a role in the community, wiser and better prepared for their future.

Positive risk-taking has always been a key element of a Milton education.

• Opportunities to try activities are almost endless.

• You know you’ll have support if you try something for the first time; both students and faculty urge people to try things that are new to them.

Other cultural critics weigh in Milton’s house heads speak.* The assets Adults are always accessible. “My advisor meetings are never short. Students are in my home frequently.”

Students see us as people. “We’re teachers and we live with them as well. Many teenagers have never interacted with adults in this way; they learn to know us well and to trust us.”

The brotherhood and sisterhood bonds are so strong. “This week [graduation week], they were both so excited and so saddened to leave the dorm. They can’t really describe the experience and their feelings about it.”

Bonds between our students are much stronger because they stay in one dorm for all their Milton years. “The consistency, and having older and younger students living with them, makes this experience different from other schools.”

Students know that the adults in the dorms are choosing to live there, year after year, with teenagers. “That’s a strong commentary on how we feel about what we’re doing. There’s such a consistency that students are likely to interact with the same adults for four years.”

Milton students love the traditions of the houses. “I’m always amazed at how they actively participate in creating and sustaining traditions and rituals.”

Intensity of the college process: it’s more competitive than ever. “Society asks students to juggle so much. Everything is denser and faster. We work hard on keeping that fast pace at bay, and helping students find a balance between the stress that causes anxiety and the stress that stimulates your creativity and keeps you on your toes.”

Upperclassmen help lowerclassmen.

“The cross-class connection is huge, and it works. The opportunities in this setting to learn about official and unofficial leadership are unparalleled.”

Among the dorms, there is consistency about standards. “A ‘no’ is a ‘no’ across the board. Perhaps this is easier than parenting, in that this consistency is possible here.”

The social challenges Technology: video games absorb boys more than girls; social networking involves girls somewhat more than boys. “Adults are excluded from these activities.”

Cell phones: at first glance, they’re a great way for parents to keep in touch.

“Connecting with parents three and four times a day ironically leads to much less independence and ownership of daily decisions.”

This is a four-year conversation—an education, really—about what a community is. “It’s a process. It’s a learning curve.

They ultimately develop an understanding of what a community is, how to take responsibility, and what will happen when they don’t.”

Digital communications: emails and texts often put a spin on a situation that isn’t right. “Students have to untangle something they never intended. Keeping face-to-face communications alive takes lots of time, but it can thrive in a house, and we work to sustain it.”

Contemporary culture and mores: the messages seem to be getting steadily worse. “For girls, regarding body image in particular, the onslaught is relentless.”

Parents: coaching parents is a big part of our work. “Parents are trying to navigate new frontiers in raising their teenagers, many without helpful experience. We earn their trust in this process, ultimately, and many express tremendous appreciation for what they’ve learned.”

* House heads in the conversation: Brad Moriarty (Millet House, formerly Centre House), Chris and Michele Hales (Forbes House), Ned Bean (Goodwin House), Heather Sugrue (Hallowell House), Lisa Baker and Tarim Chung (Hathaway House), Karin Roethke-Kahn (Hathaway’s new house head in 2008), Steve Darling (Norris House), Ricky and John Banderob (Robbins House), Wells Hansen (Wolcott House)

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“Rather than making assumptions about what families have or have not communicated to their children, we need to define our behavioral standards and expectations for everybody. We’ve learned that we need to be explicit about everything we’re trying to teach teenagers today.”

• The multifaceted student is a common character at Milton: someone who runs for elected office, plays football and dances in the dance concert; a squash player who acts and plays in the Chamber Orchestra; a runner who edits the arts and literature magazine and raises funds for children with AIDS. Milton’s boarder and day mix creates a whole that is greater than the sum of the parts.

• Students at Milton, from across the country and around the world, generate a rare vitality, in and out of the classroom. Their geographical diversity alone energizes the conversations around the Harkness tables or in the Student Center.

• Boston families welcome their children’s friends from far away, extending an inclusive warmth and sense of connection.

• Metropolitan parents share their diverse and interesting professions with us: speaking on campus, inviting students into their labs or studios, introducing us to renowned figures and groups, or arranging internships, for instance.

Bridget Johnson, Dean of Students

• Activities at Milton continue day and night, weekend and weekday; all students, boarding and day, can count on plenty of friends and plenty to do.

Naming and meeting challenges: Bridget and Sarah name works in progress We are always exploring and testing new ways to foster leadership—in the SelfGoverning Association, in dormitories, as heads of the many student organizations, and simply as seniors in the School.

Character education is a positive force in the School.

• It’s a four-year, integrated and required program that involves meeting weekly with one faculty member and one group of classmates.

• It introduces and explores values.

• It raises and explores with students issues such as racism, classism and gender.

• It serves as a ready-made and safe discussion group to respond to the teaching opportunities that arise during the year.

• Community relations assemblies, speakers on campus, and Monday morning assemblies strengthen the messages.

• As students come into contact with information and discussion about ideas, they get the message that we believe it’s important to raise, think and talk about these life matters.

• In the continual effort to improve this program, we’re working now on making sure that each year builds well on the last.

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• We’re identifying age-appropriate themes to weave through each week of the year.

More about Sarah and Bridget: Sarah Wehle joined Milton’s Classics Department in 1977, is the department head, and holds the Sarah Storer Goodwin Chair in Teaching. Educated at Radcliffe College and Harvard University, Sarah earned both the Classical Association of New England’s Matthew I. Weincke Teaching Award and Milton Academy’s Talbot Baker Award. She has long been a faculty parent in Forbes House.

Each family is unique. Rather than making assumptions about what families have or have not communicated to their children, we need to define our behavioral standards and expectations for everybody. We’ve learned that we need to be explicit about everything we’re trying to teach teenagers today. For instance, we spend time articulating and demonstrating the concept of integrity—personal and academic. As another example, we find ourselves teaching students about maintaining decorum and courtesy as they listen, speak and write electronically, the modalities of their time.

Helping students (and families) find appropriate balance between the positive stress of challenge and the negative stress of overload has become a central challenge as they negotiate a ramped-up, ambitious, highly competitive set of cultural expectations.

Sarah Wehle, Interim Upper School Principal

Before coming to Milton, Bridget Johnson worked for eight years at the Episcopal High School of Alexandria, Virginia.

A graduate of Georgetown University, Bridget has been active with the National Association of Independent Schools, serving as part of a delegation for diversity to both India and South Africa, participating in the Equity and Justice Call to Action Committee, and presenting at the People of Color Conference.

Cathleen Everett

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Chapel at Milton in 2008 A point of view about relevance

M

y two years’ experience with the chapel program at Milton Academy has included thoughtful analysis of its status and its potential direction. Given Milton’s nondenominational status, and the diversity of its students, the chapel program must embrace a broad vision of spirituality, one that respects the plurality of faiths and explores the unique elements among them. My goals for the future of the chapel program focus on three separate, yet interrelated themes.

First, chapel is about education. Current events have dictated that the average individual have more than a passing knowledge of various faith traditions. Education about different religions involves investigation into each religion’s particular history, its relationship to similar faiths, its belief structures, and its current role in the world. In addition, I hope that the chapel program can engage critically with particular religions, acknowledging both the successes and the ills that emerge from religious faith. A second part of this education, in some cases, may also include a re-education. For those who see religion as limiting or irrelevant, the chapel program offers an opportunity to examine the differing ways of believing that are not as constrained as one may assume.

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Second, the chapel program is about personal and spiritual exploration. Students or adults in the community can share with their peers a reflection of their own, based on an idea, their spiritual experiences, or an observation about some reading. As chaplain, I would like the chapel program at Milton to mirror the work that is accomplished in the classroom—an engaged, critical, personal questioning of what we read, study and experience. Spirituality is the process of figuring out what gives each individual a sense of meaning and purpose. This practice is not limited to the following of one religion, but rather may extend to all parts of our lives.

Third, the chapel program is about community. Sunday evening is the only time that the boarding community gathers as one group (or two groups, as the case may be). Chapel gives us a chance to share a space that is focused on reflection and togetherness. While each individual may get something different out of the experience, there is meaning and power in simply dedicating a separate time to community and being in each other’s presence for the sake of exploring what gives us, as individuals and a community, meaning in our lives.

Suzanne DeBuhr Interfaith Chaplain

Four Excerpts Chapel talks by Suzanne DeBuhr, 2007–2008

On the search for personal spirituality, the role of inquiry I directed my energies to questioning in an attempt to find answers. Since I was in college, it seemed natural to accomplish this through academic study—through reading philosophy, reading holy texts, studying Buddhism and learning the history of Christian theology. I wanted to figure out the truth—truth with a capital “T.” In a way, academic study became my spiritual path. I believed that through a commitment to learning in the pursuit of my questions, I would eventually discover the answer. Although every class I took and every book I read certainly helped to increase my knowledge base, overall, they frequently upset my purpose. Not only was I no closer to the answers, I felt farther and farther away instead, being consumed by more and more questions. Every question seemed to lead to another question.

Now what, you may ask, makes questioning a spiritual endeavor? I think it is a combination of the intent of the questions and the motivation for inquiry.

Questioning is spiritual when it involves the elements of wonder and mystery, when the questions seek to discover something that is beyond the objective world. We

ask spiritual questions when the answers are not evident through observation or experimentation. In addition, I think we must ask yet another question: Why am I seeking these particular questions relating to wonder and mystery? For me, the motivation is personal. I want to discover what gives me meaning and purpose. I want to be aware of how I perceive the world and how best I can be effective within it.

On the search for personal spirituality, the role of experience Darkness is a common theme in spiritual writings, as well as among the spiritual paths of various religions. Indeed, religions often offer a solution to the suffering that seems innate to human nature. As a spiritual metaphor, darkness is associated with negative feelings; it can mean evil, danger or suffering. It is often correlated with the unknown. Darkness seems to make us feel closed in, while light opens us up. Darkness makes it difficult to know where we are going, but light allows us to clearly see the path we are following.

Paradoxically, we often need the dark moments to decipher what our paths need to be. Suffering tends to force us to figure out how to endure difficult times and, in the process, discover what gives us strength and provides meaning in the most uncertain moments.

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On considering the interests of others Whether we like it or not, we have all been born on this earth as part of one great human family. Rich or poor, educated or uneducated, belonging to one nation or another, to one religion or another, adhering to this ideology or that, ultimately each of us is just a human being like everyone else: we all desire happiness and do not want suffering. Furthermore, each of us has an equal right to pursue these goals.

Today’s world requires that we accept the oneness of humanity. In the past, isolated communities could afford to think of one another as fundamentally separate and even existing in total isolation.

Nowadays, however, events in one part of the world eventually affect the entire planet. Therefore we have to treat each major local problem as a global concern from the moment it begins. We can no longer invoke the national, racial or ideological barriers that separate us without destructive repercussion. In the context of our new interdependence, considering the interests of others is clearly the best form of self-interest.

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I view this fact as a source of hope.

The necessity for cooperation can only strengthen humankind, because it helps us recognize that the most secure foundation for the new world order is not simply broader political and economic alliances, but rather each individual’s genuine practice of love and compassion. For a better, happier, more stable and civilized future, each of us must develop a sincere, warmhearted feeling of brother- and sisterhood.

On seeking fullness of vision and understanding The example of the tree translates to the level of humanity as well. We recognize and identify our friends, acquaintances and family by their appearances, by what they look like. You know me as Ms. DeBuhr perhaps because of my short, blond hair or glasses, or short stature, by the shape of my face, or by the kind of clothing I wear. But I am, as we all are, more than our appearances. We are defined by our mothers, fathers and siblings. We are defined by the geographical location in which we grow up, the religion or nonreligion with which we were raised, the books we read, the friends we make, the food we eat, the land that produces the food, the buildings in which we live, the contractors and builders who constructed them, the experiences we endure and the ones in which we rejoice. As Zen Buddhism states, our identities are empty,

empty of an independent existence. Our lives are defined by interdependence, the interweaving of other individuals, the earth, and our own experiences.

Seeking more deeply the nature of reality means seeing things as they are and recognizing their emptiness and interdependence with the universe. Ultimately, we are all connected.

Elaine Apthorp ’75: since 1999—9 years David Ball ’88: since 1999—9 years Jane Brewer ’62: from 1981 to 2008—27 years Meg Foley Burke ’91: since 2003—5 years Sally Dey ’69: since 1981—27 years Suzie Greenup ’75: since 2000—8 years Andre Heard ’93: since 2000—8 years Patrice Jean-Baptiste ’88: since 1999—9 years Anne Kaufman ’79: since 2002—6 years Brad Richardson ’48: since 2005—3 years Caroline Sabin ’86: from 1993–98 and 2006–08—7 years Rod Skinner ’72: since 1999—9 years

Twelve graduates working at Milton weigh in about the School today What is the same?

“The teachers,” Elaine Apthorp ’75 says.

“Literally.”

Elaine is right. From their first Milton Academy faculty meeting, most of the 12 graduates were starkly aware that their own revered mentors and teaching legends were now officially peers.

This transition was one of many that each of them made in coming back to Milton, to work. None had planned to return; they were generally surprised, in different degrees, to find themselves on the Milton roster. They came from the nonprofit world, from the corporate world, from counseling, and from other schools—primary school through higher education.

Their student years at Milton span five decades (late 1940s through 1990s) and the differences among their individual experiences, social and academic, are many. To a great extent, these differences reflect the Milton of their days, along with political and cultural realities over time.

For everyone in the group, life outside of class was powerfully influential—sports, The Milton Paper, drama, the Speech Team, senior projects. Across the board, however,

they agree that two strong themes define Milton. The first is the quality and challenge of the intellectual experience; the second is the powerful role of connections between faculty and students.

“I thought school was fun,” David Ball ’88 says. “The idea of a research paper? Bring it on. My teachers thought that attitude was normal. My friends thought it was normal, too. My teaching in other schools was not particularly personally rewarding, because that enthusiasm for learning isn’t the model in lots of other schools.” “‘Good is the worst enemy of excellent,’ we used to hear batted about by faculty when we were here,” says Brad Richardson ’48.

“There has always been a great sense of what excellence is here.”

“I loved my teachers in the Girls’ School,” says Sally Dey ’62. “I feel like a different person, now; Milton changed me,” Meg Foley Burke ’91 says. “I was shy and quiet in the classroom as a student here, and now I’m an overtly outspoken person. It turns out that Milton’s Harkness tables, which I found intimidating then, were really effective in helping me find my voice. While at Milton, I don’t think I really appreciated the emphasis placed on writing the ‘Milton Way.’ At times, I lovingly

reflect on the process as ‘writing boot camp,’ but that is what I took away and value the most in my profession today, just as I did in my undergraduate and graduate programs beyond Milton—the ability to put my voice into words on paper.”

Having come to Milton from a large public high school in Los Angeles, Elaine Apthorp found that “At Milton I wasn’t the smartest student in every class, and I really enjoyed that. If someone was talented, others wanted to bring that out. I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.”

“Other than the much more healthy comfort level now between boys and girls in being genuine friends with one another,” says Caroline Sabin ’86, “Milton is the same place it was then, and that’s why I like it. I have 12–15 teenagers around the Harkness table every day who have done the reading. They’re not trying to get away from challenge, and they are truly excited about our discussion. They ask great questions. They love language. They stuck with me and tackled Beloved by Toni Morrison, and even the least confident student decided that The Kite Runner was not a great book: ‘The writing was flat; the cliché cliffhanger was uninspiring,’ they told me.

At Milton you become a critical judge. It’s Milton Magazine

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“I thought school was fun. The idea of a research paper? Bring it on. My teachers thought that attitude was normal. My friends thought it was normal, too. My teaching in other schools was not particularly personally rewarding, because that enthusiasm for learning isn’t the model in lots of other schools.”

always been that way, and that’s one of the things I loved. We have serious discussions about words, and how to use words powerfully. Every minute, every class period is packed, unlike in college. One difference: my students now say ‘thank you’ at the end of class. I don’t remember doing that.”

“I’m not only connecting with students in the classroom,” says Patrice Jean-Baptiste ’88, who teaches in the performing arts department, coaches Speech Team and has been a dorm parent in Hathaway. “I’m connecting in the dorm, and in performance, but I really work at a whole other level with students as a Speech Team coach. I have to find out exactly who every person on my team is to help them choose material that will allow them to express themselves best in competition. And we travel together—weekend after weekend we spend in a close-knit group traveling to competitions.”

“Connections with teachers are central at Milton,” says Rod Skinner ’72 (director of college counseling), “but the irony is that my classmates talk about faculty not ‘get-

ting’ them, probably because of the political dissent and the general challenging of authority that was happening on many campuses. That was peculiar to my time band at Milton; ground rules were shifting in significant ways. But there was never any hierarchical barrier between us and teachers. People like Chuck Duncan, Paul Monette, A.O. Smith, Ethan Bisbee and the Schorrs ended up being very special to me.”

Whatever the era, you can’t escape being a teenager when you’re in high school; the social perils of negotiating those years are a chapter in personal histories. Milton could be a kind place to spend those years, however. “You had the opportunity to move freely between roles and reinvent yourself,” Rod says. “You could be an actor, a musician, an athlete and a student.”

André Heard ’93 says, “My class had a term called social side-stepping. That meant that while there were circles of friends, you could, and did, move in and out of the circles, but you were no cooler, or less cool, for whatever group you hung with at a given time.”

Back row (L to R): André Heard, Rod Skinner, David Ball. Middle row (L to R): Elaine Apthorp, Sally Dey, Meg Foley Burke, Anne Kaufman, Patrice Jean-Baptiste.

Seated (L to R): Suzie Greenup, Brad Richardson. Missing from photo: Caroline Sabin, Jane Brewer.

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“I was impressed when I came that at Milton, everybody was special,” Elaine says. “And we still have so many wonderfully quirky students who aren’t ostracized for being unique but celebrated for what they contribute to the mix. There are artists and jocks and techno geeks and Speechies, and they blend. In my dorm [Goodwin] a couple years back, it was the football player who led the cheer to congratulate the chess player’s big win. Any musician is instantly accorded a certain respect. Coolness at Milton can be acquired in lots of ways.”

Caroline feels that people who are verbal, as in “not afraid of healthy debate” and “comfortable with expressing themselves,” thrive at Milton. “We seem to breed social activists,” says Suzie Greenup ’75, “students who question everything.” All agree that a sense of humor persists here: Miltonians are serious students who don’t take themselves overly seriously.

The mix of boarding, day and Boston is still, also, the recipe for a unique School culture. Milton is urban, and students unfailingly mention Boston’s proximity

as a plus. Day families still embrace their children’s boarding friends. Perhaps more than ever, day parents bring their diverse professions in metro Boston to campus, guaranteeing Milton’s connection with the world. On the other hand, with a vigorous dorm culture, students from all over the world, and a very active campus, Milton is the place where you meet incredible friends, and you can count on being with them, having fun, after class and on weekends.

Students “Dare to be true.”

“Sometimes we think that ‘Dare to be true’ means be true to yourself and who you are, do what feels good to you and resist anything that challenges you to do things differently,” Elaine says, “but to me, it means to live with integrity: dare not only to speak the truth, but to reflect on and accept the consequences of your beliefs and your actions.”

What’s different?

“When I came for my interview to work at Milton, I was struck by a tall, black male walking confidently and easily across the

quad, hanging out with three or four students of different ethnicities,” says Patrice.

“Students of color today feel free to be who they are, and we found it hard to do the same in the ’80s.” Not only are “the demographics different,” as Elaine says, but Milton is truly involved on all issues of differences among people.

“I think the mix at Milton today is terrific,” says Brad. “We weren’t the diverse school—we weren’t the national school— that we are today. We weren’t different racially, or in terms of religion, or socioeconomically. I think of it as something I really missed out on.”

“For me to come back, the demographics had to be different,” says Rod. “Before, not many students even had experience living outside of New England. Students today have a much broader awareness of and tolerance for difference.” Milton tries hard to ask the questions, explore the values, and hold the discussions that will prepare students well for their world. “Milton makes you feel uncomfortable in a good way,” says Jane Brewer ’62. “That is, you can never be complacent.”

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With tuitions for schools and colleges high enough to preclude most families, financial aid is no longer simply an instrument of socioeconomic diversity; it is a crucial tool to maintain quality. “We want the classroom to be a place of excellence,” says David. “Having vigor in the classroom requires that we attract the top 10 percent of students. For the overwhelming majority of that top 10 percent, Milton is financially out of reach. Having financial aid as a resource is the insurance we need to keep Milton the place we’ve known it to be in the past.”

As the digital culture marches forward, its ramifications are inescapable. Email, texting, cell phones, cameras, and infinite internet options are enticing and demanding. In the “old days” speaking with someone was the main way of connecting. Today, the quality of relationships at Milton is as strong as ever, but “it takes a whole lot more time, effort and focus to build those relationships, because people reflexively use electronics and there are so many electronic distractions,” Patrice says.

Not only does the internet age bring its own pressures, all the alumni faculty 16

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believe that adolescents today wrestle with stresses that are completely unlike those in the past. Societal and parental pressure to “succeed” is overwhelming. In the past, doing well at academics and perhaps one other solid skill (a sport, acting, playing an instrument) were plenty to assure matriculating at the most competitive colleges.

Today students’ list of responsibilities and commitments goes on and on. Getting into college is a different experience, and the levels of competition are so high that students have to decide what to do well, and then do all the other things also. “You have to be incredibly energetic and organized; I don’t know how students who aren’t make it,” Caroline says.

“Right, and time management is the key skill they all have to work on,” André says.

“But they need private time, play time, rest time, downtime. We have to schedule fun time, and when we provide opportunities for simple, old-fashioned fun, they’re really welcome.”

Why do you stay?

When we ask students why they chose Milton they invariably say that it seems to them a friendly, happy place. It seems

like a place where really motivated, smart people are studying and having fun. Why do the adults in the community choose Milton, and why do they stay?

“The place feels absolutely alive to me.

There’s so much going on. That made it appealing to come back,” says Sally. “And I love being in my department [history]. We talk together constantly, share reading and ideas. It feels collaborative, even though we don’t teach together. We inspire one another.”

“I really enjoy other faculty,” Caroline says.

“They’re smart, interesting and funny.

They talk about and care about real things.

They’re passionately involved people. You don’t see shirkers.”

Meg believes in the importance of representing the School, as an alumna, to potential students across the country, as well as helping make the decisions that build Milton’s classes and figuring out how to apply the financial aid resources. “There’s real value in talking about this place from a firsthand point of view. The admission team all represent different interests; we read and evaluate files with points of view

shaped by living with students, coaching them and advising them, even though we don’t teach.”

Suzie sees her work with Milton’s development office as extending her family tradition. “Because it was his family, Milton was important to my father, and my father is important to me,” she says. “I received an incredible education here, and I believe in furthering the mission of excellence.

I want to give back.”

“Witnessing what you’ll gain from taking risks is one of Milton’s compelling features,” Patrice comments. “I’m here because of the creative opportunities to make ideas come to life. That requires resources and support, but as a teacher I know that it can happen here. Along with my family, I’m surrounded by music and performance artists who could make that their way of living. The community values the arts, and as an athlete, I’m glad that we value sports as well.”

“I feel like I’m a tree on this campus,” Elaine says. “I’m part of it. I have no objectivity about this place. Being part of family continuity that began way back

“You have an active intellectual life here, and because we dig into complex issues, you have an active philosophical and emotional life, too.

Typically, there’s at least one moment in every day when I find some part of my thinking challenged.” with Headmaster Apthorp, and my grandmother Esther Williams Apthorp—who taught English, geography and coached (maybe even started) field hockey—is a profound gift. When I drove with my dad cross-country to take this job, Stoky [ for-

mer athletic director] came into the head of school’s office and told us a story about my dad, back in the 1930s, stealing first base to Cap Hall’s dismay. I love teaching at Milton and I love living with those Goodwin boys. I want to keep teaching the people who are going to make changes in this world.”

“I am never bored; every day has something interesting in it,” says Rod. “You never feel as though you are running in place. Instead you’re doing something meaningful for somebody, or helping get to an idea. It’s a constant state of percolation. It’s hard to imagine a more interesting group of students; the students are really fun. You have an active intellectual life here, and because we dig into complex issues, you have an active philosophical and emotional life, too. Typically, there’s at least one moment in every day when I find some part of my thinking challenged.

There’s also always at least one good laugh every day. With all the sophisticated minds around, there’s true wit, and that nuanced humor is so satisfying. Milton is an environment where you feel very much alive.”

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Learning Photography: Lessons in the Language of Visual Literacy Bryan Cheney’s enduring challenges take a new form in 2008.

Jessica Serventi-Gleeson ’10

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earning photography at Milton has shifted from the realm of film and darkroom to the technology of the charged couple device and digital software.

The medium has changed, but the message to the students has not: rediscover the experience of seeing, gain fluency in the language of the visual image, and learn the craft of writing with the pencil of light.

A project that has always been essential in my teaching of photography is that of making a composite or manipulated image, referencing the exceptional work of photographers such as Jerry Uelsmann, as well as such surrealist painters as Salvador Dalí and René Magritte. Working in the darkroom with sandwiching negatives; exposing images in sequence; masking, blending, or painting developer, students confront a whole new set of technical and conceptual challenges. In the process, and

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the processes, they learn just how “plastic,” and thereby how truly creative, a medium photography can be.

of “making” an image. This traps us in the comparable realms of prose nonfiction and observational realism.

Whether created with the digital tools of Adobe Photoshop or the traditional wet darkroom techniques, composite images require a creative process much like the composition of a poem: the collection and rearrangement of normally separate elements into a new order as a vehicle of expression—original, unique, and potentially free of the necessity to represent experienced reality directly. Imagination gains an outlet, finds a voice, can be made visible on a page.

To write a poem or paint from imagination, we must draw upon resources of the mind and spirit that challenge our powers of perception as well as the control of the language—verbal or visual. This challenge becomes the artist’s opportunity to grow, to discover new horizons of self and world. That same opportunity has always been inherently available in the medium of photography—indeed it has actually created great tension between photographers and traditional artists throughout the history of photography. The advent of digital image technology has facilitated the chance to rearrange and reshape the elements of a picture, to build rather than simply capture, to express rather than simply communicate.

In learning to write, we learn to distinguish between fiction and nonfiction, prose and poetry. In learning to paint and draw, we learn to distinguish between observation and imagination, realism and abstraction. In photography, the instantaneous creation of an image, the “taking” of a picture, often leads to the narrowing of the otherwise potentially creative process

Scott Sewall ’10

The tools of digital software such as Adobe Photoshop provide the interested and inspired artist—and student—with the flexibility of creative choice that a writer takes for granted in arranging words and phrases, or that a visual artist in traditional media assumes in exercising “artistic license” about what and how to paint or sculpt.

Assembling a composite image in Photoshop requires a perception of the world in far greater detail and sophistication than seems, at first, necessary in straight photography. The artist must see the object not only for what it is, or represents, but also for the quality of light, the direction of shadow, the scale in juxtaposition, the quality of focus and edge. To make a new—imagined—reality that is both convincing and comprehensible (like any good piece of writing) also requires a fluency in control of the respective lan-

guage of the artist. This requirement is arguably greater than that required for straight, accurate description of observational reality; therefore, the challenge to create a composite image becomes a fantastic teaching tool.

To build a composite image also requires a definition of intent: to what end are the creative choices made? What is the message that the medium must be shaped to serve? This is not only a creative challenge in the nature of the assignment, but it becomes an effective, if not essential, teaching tool for exemplifying the importance of the creative choices, whether intentional or accidental, in the “making” of any straight photograph that is “taken.”

the intent to communicate an observation or an interpretation that matters.

It is, at its best, a process that requires understanding of self, world and language, no matter how simple the goal. The challenge to “make” a composite image, with no limit to the creative choices available, enlarges the range of opportunities for discovery, and thereby the opportunities for the growth of the eye, the mind, and the spirit of the student.

Bryan Cheney Visual Arts Department

To “take a picture” is to choose from the continuum of time and the array of objective three-dimensional reality, to choose a moment, a point of view, and a collection of two-dimensional representations bound by the borders of a fixed frame—all with Milton Magazine

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Dougan Khim ’09

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Ahmed Bakkar ’08

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Dan Reynolds ’09

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Dougan Khim ’09

Mary Lopez ’10

Christine Sanchez ’08

Sacha Perold ’10

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ADM I S S I ON Number of completed applications in 2008: 900 Percentage of applicants accepted: 30% Percentage of boarders/day students: 50/50 Percentage of male/female students: 50/50 Percentage of students of color: 40% Where are our students from?

Milton Academy a p h o t ograp hi c p or t r ait

United States Arizona California Colorado Connecticut District of Columbia Florida Idaho Illinois Kansas Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Montana New Hampshire New Jersey New York Ohio Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina Tennessee Texas Vermont Virginia Countries Albania Bermuda Brazil British Virgin Islands Canada China (P.R.C.) Hong Kong India Jamaica Japan Kazakhstan Korea Malaysia Mexico Saudi Arabia Singapore Sweden Switzerland Taiwan (R.O.C.) Thailand

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AC ADEM I C Average number of students per class: 14 Number of Upper School faculty: 139 Percentage of Upper School faculty with postgraduate degrees: 75% Classes: Tried-and-true favorites: • Craft of Nonfiction • Spanish Film and Social Change • Statistics • Art History • Chamber Orchestra New, innovative and popular: • History of Modern China • Engineering for Failure • Issues in Environmental Science: Climate Change • Multivariable Calculus • Advanced Drama: Improvisation Recent Class IV Talk topics: • The Complexities of Abortion • Reality TV: Its Hypnotic Powers and Illusions • Spiritual Inspiration Found in Christian Summer Camp • The Healing Power of Laughter • Disney Films and Their Racism • The Pros and Cons of Being Short Sample of Ethan Wyatt Bisbee Prize history papers: • The Loftiest Crusade: The Role of the Catholic Church in Transforming the Spanish Civil War • Depression’s Beauty: The Farm Security Administration’s Use of Documented Imagery • Blacks and Jews in America: Jewish Impact on the Civil Rights Movement • Rail Retaliation: Laissez-Faire Backlash Through Passenger Rail Reform • The Dawes Act and American Identity

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HI S TOR Y / F I NANCIALS The year Milton was chartered as a coeducational land-grant school: 1798 The year Milton separated into girls’ school and boys’ school: 1901 The year coeducation returned to classes at Milton: 1970 Number of living Milton Academy alumni: 8,705 Market value of Milton’s endowment: $190 million (as of June 2008) Annual fund gifts 2007–2008: nearly $3.6 million Operating budget: $48 million Financial aid budget: $6.1 million Percentage of students on financial aid: 32%

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S TUDENT L I F E Number of students in the Upper School: 680 Number of boarding students: 340 Number of houses on campus: 8 Smallest house: 31 students Largest house: 48 students How students describe themselves and each other: Hard working Motivated Interesting Talented Energetic Unique Active Dedicated Adventurous Creative Traditions: • Halloween pumpkin carving • Dorm bowling • “Wills” on graduation eve • Milton/Nobles Day • Dorm softball in the spring • Decorating and caroling around the holidays • Dinners in Boston • “The Wall” (near student mailboxes where they hang their college rejection letters upside down) • Dorm dodgeball • 1212 Plays • Poems on Jim Connolly’s wall • Class IV Talks • Senior Spring Projects • Orange & Blue Competitions • Class IV book signing • Dorm “open houses” • Alumni as graduation speakers

Sample of active clubs on campus: • AIDS Board • Hip-Hop Club • LORAX (environmental organization) • Speech and Debate Team • Jewish Student Union • World Health Organization (WHO) • ONYX (African-American culture) • Young Republicans • Improv Club • SIMA (Students Interested in Middle Eastern Affairs) • French Club • Community Service Board • Asian Society Student publications: • The Milton Paper (weekly newspaper) • Milton Measure (biweekly newspaper) • The Milton Academy Yearbook • Magus-Mabus (literary magazine) • Mille-Tonnes (French newspaper) • La Voz (Spanish newspaper) • The Asian (cultural periodical) • M3 (Milton Music Magazine) • Helix (science magazine) • The Issue (current events online publication) • Aché (celebrating diverse cultures)

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A RTS

C OM M UNI TY SERV ICE

Number of productions mounted each year: 10

Number of service sites Milton works with: 29 sites in Greater Boston

Sample of plays presented in recent years: • Broadway’s A Chorus Line • Hecuba by Euripides • To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee • Shakespeare’s The Tempest • No Mother to Guide Her by Anthony Forsythe • Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov • Broadway’s Seussical the Musical • Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard Number of students in orchestra: 110 Singing groups on campus: • Glee Club • Chamber Singers • Chapel Choir • Gospel Choir • The Miltones (all-male a capella) • Octet (all-female a capella) • Epic (all-female a capella) • Three for Each of Us (coed a capella)

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Number of students involved: 250 students volunteer weekly or monthly Number of Special Olympics tournaments hosted on campus each year: 3 (soccer, basketball, track and field) Sample of community service sites: • Greater Boston Food Bank • Mujeres Unidas (ESL tutoring for women) • Boston Partners (tutoring in Boston public elementary schools) • Massachusetts Hospital School (for mentally and physically disabled youth) • Rosie’s Place (shelter for women and children) • working with Sidewalk Sam (a mural artist focused on city beautification) • Boston Home (residence for adults with multiple sclerosis)

ATH L E T IC S Sports offered: • Fall—Cross Country, Field Hockey, Football, Soccer • Winter—Alpine Skiing, Basketball, Ice Hockey, Squash, Swimming & Diving, Volleyball, Wrestling • Spring—Baseball, Golf, Lacrosse, Sailing, Softball, Tennis, Track • Intramural—Outdoor Program, Pilates, Soccer, Squash, Strength & Conditioning, Tennis, Ultimate Frisbee, Yoga Number of athletic buildings: 4 Number of fields: 12 Number of tennis courts: 13 outdoor, 4 indoor ISL Member Schools: Belmont Hill Brooks Buckingham Brown & Nichols Governor’s Academy Groton Lawrence Academy Middlesex Noble & Greenough Rivers Roxbury Latin Saint George’s Saint Mark’s Saint Paul’s Saint Sebastian’s Thayer Recent championships: In recent years, Milton teams have achieved 28 undefeated seasons, won 13 New England championships, 21 league championships, and one national championship.

Recent championship teams include boys’ and girls’ skiing, volleyball, field hockey, girls’ soccer, baseball, boys’ and girls’ tennis, and coed sailing.

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COLLEG E M AT R IC U L AT I O N S 2 0 0 6 – 2 0 0 8 ( 4 o r m ore) Amherst Babson Bates Boston College Boston University Bowdoin Brown Carnegie Mellon Chicago, University of Claremont McKenna Colby Columbia Cornell Duke George Washington Georgetown Grinnell Hampshire Harvard Johns Hopkins McGill Middlebury

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7 6 5 10 9 11 22 5 8 5 13 11 14 7 16 12 4 4 34 4 6 8

MIT Northwestern NYU Oberlin Occidental Penn Princeton Skidmore Trinity Tufts Tulane Vanderbilt Vermont, University of Wellesley Wesleyan Williams Wisconsin, University of Yale

4 4 8 4 4 18 10 5 11 14 5 10 4 4 16 5 6 16

C L AS S OF 2008 SAT I: Middle 50% • Critical Reading: 630–730 • Math: 640–740 • Writing: 650–750 ACT: Middle 50% • 25–31 National Merit Recognition • National Merit Letters of Commendation: 39 • National Merit Semi-finalists: 11 • National Achievement Semi-finalists: 3

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A Day in the Life of the Schwarz Student Center What Happens in the Hub?

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ife in the Schwarz Student Center begins well before classes and extends well beyond. Early morning finds clusters of students gathered at high-top tables on the main floor, huddled over books or notes, sometimes calculators in hand, discussing a question or working on a problem set. At the midmorning break between classes—recess—students from every corner of campus pour in, seeking out friends, classmates, teammates, for “business” or a few moments of pure socialization among backpacks, bulletin boards and lacrosse sticks. You can count on seeing Academic Dean David Ball standing midstream in the happy maelstrom, coffee cup in hand, bantering with students who have plenty of ideas and opinions to share. At lunchtime, students on the lower level, at the door leading out toward Forbes dining hall, man tables that shout their wares: tickets for the upcoming dance concert; pizza fund raisers for

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AIDS initiatives; student-made jewelry to support orphans in Tibet. Students at the Centre Street level check email at the various kiosks, connecting with teachers and checking on the status of assignments.

Throughout the day, during “frees,” students play foosball, grab bagels around tables, and confer at clusters of chairs that overlook the quad. The atmosphere quiets down in the late afternoon; students move through on their way to team practices, play tryouts, concert rehearsals and athletic competitions, stopping for instant energy in the form of granola bars and smoothies, and yes, French fries, from the snack bar.

Guitar strummers and their fans locate near the front windows, overlooking Centre Street. Meanwhile, on the level one floor above, editorial boards hunker down in The Milton Measure office, or in the den of the Magus-Mabus, brainstorming ideas and making assignments. The Student Activities Office “lives” right in the middle of the Student Centre. Hope Rupley, student activities director, mixes with students—especially the crew who work

with her (Student Activities Association) to put together small and large events on the weekends, from watching the Patriots games on the big-screen TV with pizza to staging a winter carnival or a casino night.

Banners advertising the upcoming Onyx dance and “Senior Showcase” circle the wall above and around the windows. At the center, cascading from the peak of the three-story ceiling to just above students on the lowest level, is the amazing sculpture by Sarah Sze ’89, “The Edge of One of Many Circles,” a gift of Lisa and Richard Perry ’73 with Tracy Pun Palandjian ’89.

Dedicated to Rae and Marshall Schwarz ’54, the beloved Student Center gathers people together and provides the locus and the opportunity for shared projects, both serious and frivolous. Students have shaped the building to fit the needs of a busy community. The Schwarz Student Center is both literally and figuratively at the center of Milton student life.

Erin E. Hoodlet

“The Student Center is a place where we all meet up to go do other things. It’s the gathering place, the center of everything. It’s where everything starts.

I was in ‘The Box’ [Class IV common room] earlier today, and that’s where people always want to meet up first. The Student Center is the ‘hot spot’ on campus.”

—Hannah Smith ’11 Millet House (formerly Centre House); Millboro, Virginia

“[The Student Center] is a place where we all come together. You strike up conversations you never thought you’d have—maybe not major, intellectual conversations, but the down-to-earth, fun, balancing conversations you have with friends and new people.”

—Jake Jolis ’09 Forbes House; Bromma, Sweden

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Hope Rupley Director of Student Activities

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ope Rupley affects every student’s Milton experience. “I just want to make students’ experiences here positive, to help them make connections that last, to serve the greatest number of people possible, in different ways.”

Most students know that Hope is the agent behind the social activities of all kinds—large and small, spectacular and simple—that liven their lives outside of class. From her lookout, a glassed office perched in the center of the nonstop Schwarz Student Center, she says, “You can tell plenty by observing, and we’re so available to students right here. It’s easy for them to be in and out and for us to get to them.”

Week in and week out, Hope and her team of Student Activities Association (SAA) members design and run gatherings—vans to movies or shopping, Boston ventures, showcase campus

Hope’s office is in the middle of the Student Center.

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events, parties, or simple snacks and big-screen TV viewing, some bound to appeal to students.

In the past, SAA members were all elected. Hope has built lots of responsibility into their roles, so while the heads are still elected each year, she set up an alternative to election several years ago for building her working group. Anyone can apply; candidates go through an interview process; and then Hope and the senior leaders choose the new members. You need to want to do the job to get it. SAA members run weekly meetings; they delegate tasks and follow up; they attend most events; and—a major responsibility—they bring ideas to the group. Members’ “homework,” as Hope puts it, is to ferret out ideas from conversations on the fields, in the hallways, in the common rooms, or over lunch.

What’s new and well reviewed in the weekend world at Milton? Oktoberfest,

with live bands, booths and food got top billing, as did a holiday party with extremely popular cider muffins and glass mugs to paint and take home; a trip to Boston’s Improv Asylum with faculty member Peter Parisi; and the Jewish Student Union’s (JSU) Bar Mitzvah dance. Old favorites continue to build prestige and appeal, too: A Capella Night (college groups that include Milton alums); the hypnotist’s visit; and the well-loved Beatnik Café, a student-led open-mike night with a laid-back, coffeehouse feel.

Hope has learned that simple things really work: TV and snacks; free movie passes or free dinners off campus; a van to the Ice Cream Smith in Milton Lower Mills; film and discussion groups (with snacks, of course). “Students learn,” Hope says, “that if an idea is reasonable, we give it a shot, and most requests are reasonable.”

“You can walk through the Student Center and hear all kinds of conversations going on. Some are less serious, but a lot of times you hear students talking about political or social issues between classes. We get to ‘nerd out’ like that. We have incredible conversations offering so many different perspectives.”

—Cam Nevin ’10 Forbes House; Moretown, Vermont

“In the Student Center it’s sort of like every grade has their own special spot: Class IV students hang out near the foosball table; Class III is always in the TV room; Class I and II hang out upstairs near the computers. It’s a meeting place for everyone. If you want to meet up with someone in your grade, you never even need to say where—you just know that’s where you can find them. You can even get your Vitamin Water fix at the snack bar.”

—Rachel Black ’11 Needham, Massachusetts

“A lot of people’s real personalities come out in the Student Center. I’ve never been to a school where you can sit down for five minutes between classes and have such an incredible conversation about everything and nothing.”

—Yael Acker-Krzywicki ’11 Millet House (formerly Centre House); Glen Spy, New York

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Milton’s Lower Grades Are Now K–8 Some things new; some things tried and true

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he Academy has always educated young learners. Few people realize, however, how fluid the constructs were, over the years, that put faculty and students together. Factors from economics to trends in pedagogy affected decisionmaking. Students as young as ten were among the 23 girls and boys in the original Academy. Children in grades 4, 5 and 6 were among the 40 students in the Academy when it reopened after reincorporation in 1885 (Visions and Revisions, A Pictorial History of Milton Academy). The early history included a number of mergers and acquisitions. In the 1930s, Milton’s Lower School took over control of the Milton Preparatory School, and it merged with the Brush Hill School. For a period, three facilities served young children in three separate locations. At one time, three distinct seventh- and eighth-grade programs existed simultaneously on campus.

After 18 months of concentrated research and discussion—led by faculty and administration, and including parents—Milton Academy decided on a new organizational structure. The Academy formally launched one K–8 division this fall.

A K–8 Committee of faculty and administration began work on the K–8 idea in January 2007. They researched best practices, visited other K–8 schools, and developed their recommendations. These were accepted by the board in January 2008.

The plan integrates the nine grades under a single leadership structure. What will the children, educators and parents gain?

The most important answer is curriculum continuity. Faculty and parents agree that providing excellent preparation for the Upper School and smooth, carefully developed transitions from grade to grade is a priority. When the structure itself helps the administration and the faculty focus on the continuum from K–8, the optimal level of collective oversight on that issue, year in and year out, is more likely.

Equally important to a well-articulated curriculum is the context for teaching and learning. Faculty and administration believe that a K–8 structure will strengthen faculty awareness of and support for the growth of each child, because it implements a nine-year continuum of faculty-

past year, seventh-grade science students have worked with third graders, planting bulbs, and with second graders, who study the ocean all year, on a marine biology project. The new K–8 structure will foster even more cross-age connections.

Organizing as a K–8 entity can help Milton, now and in the future, achieve maximum efficiency and effectiveness from the resources focused on our younger learners. For instance, with unity of purpose and a consensus on themes we’d like to explore, we can extend the impact of a professional development fund. In addition, we can be more effective in identifying and achieving important development opportunities.

child relationships. In every grade, the Milton Academy experience is rooted in rich relationships between faculty and students.

Organizing children’s experiences in developmentally appropriate groupings is logical, and provides settings for children to do their best learning. In the day-today world of K–8, faculty meet, formally and informally, with colleagues closest to their work. Operationally, Milton students and parents still have Lower School and Middle School experiences. An overarching K–8 structure, however, helps ensure that a full range of opportunities is available to respond to “diverse developmental needs,” while at the same time “preserving the experience of childhood,” as the K–8 Committee findings state. Children need not and should not grow up any faster than is healthy, but options for challenge and inspiration should be within reach, at all grade levels.

Recruiting a first-rate administrative team to lead the division was a top priority. During the late spring, Rick Hardy, interim head of school, happily made three successive announcements—results of concurrent searches—that introduced three outstanding professionals to the School community. (Faculty and many parents had already met the candidates and provided their feedback.)

Marshall W. Carter assumed the role of K–8 principal this past July. He came from the Rashi School in Newton, Massachusetts, where he was the middle school director, managing the 6–8 grade division within a K–8 setting. Mr. Carter helped make Rashi’s middle school

Milton has always honored traditions that provide leadership experiences for children. A K–8 structure only enhances the options, making both serving and leading other children part of growing up. Crossgrade collaboration becomes easier as well.

Right now fifth graders work with their kindergarten buddies once each week, and sixth graders read with “literacy buddies” in the first and second grades. Over the

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program a vibrant, stable and thriving academic, social and emotional culture.

He chaired the technology committee and taught seventh-grade language arts and eighth-grade social studies classes.

“I am thrilled to be joining the Milton community,” Mr. Carter said. “It was apparent to me throughout the hiring process that among Milton’s faculty and families is uncommon strength, commitment and dedication. As an educator, I have long been committed to the K–8 model, and this is the leadership role that I have been working toward for many years.

I look forward to connecting with students, faculty, fellow administrators and parents, listening to their ideas and hopes, and leading a collaborative vision for the new K–8 division.”

Mr. Carter’s teaching experience spans more than 15 years. Before the Rashi School, he was a faculty member at Shady Hill School in Cambridge for seven years. He taught fifth- and eighth-grade classes, and served as assistant director of

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Shady Hill’s well-known Teacher Training Course, working closely with apprentice teachers as they honed their craft. Prior to that, Mr. Carter taught at Campbell Hall Episcopal in North Hollywood, California, and at Kent Denver School in Englewood, Colorado. Marshall Carter has led wilderness education programs, coached boys’ and girls’ soccer, directed and produced student theater productions, and advised student newspapers.

Following on Marshall Carter’s appointment, Rick Hardy introduced Rosalie Tashjian, K–8 assistant principal, to faculty, students and parents. Mrs. Tashjian came to Milton from the Francis J. Muraco School, a K–5 school with 380 students in the Winchester Public School system where she served as principal since 1993.

“Mrs. T,” as she has been known by children and parents, has had 20 years’ experience in regular and special education, in both independent and public schools, in all grades K–6, including a bilingual independent school, a bilingual-centered public school, and special-education classrooms.

“Mrs. T” was the Massachusetts Outstanding Principal of the Year in 2007; was named National Distinguished Principal in October 2007; and is a National Principal Mentor. “Coming to Milton,” Mrs. Tashjian said, “will allow me to return to my first love, working closely with teachers and children on teaching and learning, on a day-to-day basis.”

Among other activities, Mrs. Tashjian chaired the full-day kindergarten study for the Winchester Public Schools, and was a member of the Compass Schools Panel Review Team, Exemplary Schools Program (Massachusetts Department of Education).

She chaired the Math Committee for the Winchester elementary schools for six years, and was a member of the Steering Committee for Systemic Change in the Teaching of Math and Science (Massachusetts Department of Education).

Joining these two to form the administrative team is curriculum coordinator Gretchen Larkin. Ms. Larkin comes to

Milton from the Fay School, where she has been since 2006. Prior to that, she worked as the educational coordinator at Dedham Country Day School and as the K–6 learning specialist at the Advent School.

“Since May we have met regularly,” Marshall Carter says, “and I am thrilled at the synergy we have already developed.

Because of the range and depth of our very diverse professional backgrounds, our discussion is rich and varied. Our common vision for children, however, is clear and unified. We’ve all been so impressed and invigorated as we discover, each day, aspects of the curriculum, program and teaching that have made Milton’s K–8 experience so excellent.”

Planning for more than a full year to integrate these two strong programs has allowed the two faculties to connect, discuss shared reading, reflect, and set priorities. Many of the outstanding features that distinguish the 6–8 program were devel-

oped by faculty and former principal Mark Stanek over the last five years. During that period, Milton devoted time and energy to shaping an academic and social experience truly focused on preadolescent children.

Key features of the 6–8 grade life include “focus days” on major contemporary issues, a carefully attuned life skills curriculum, an emphasis on experiential learning, and opportunities for students to experience finding their own voices and their leadership styles. Likewise, the Lower School faculty can point to valuable highlights of young children’s school experience that have been refined over many years. These include individual attention to students and their best learning modes, writing across the curriculum, cultivating a love of reading, and teaching skills through the window of major subject areas.

These distinctive elements of a developmentally sensitive program continue. The faculty have already set to work, figuring out how the proximity of other grades and the wealth of interesting ideas can evolve

into new traditions, new projects, and opportunities for innovations that would not have been possible before. Vision is not in short supply.

“Nevertheless,” as Mr. Carter points out, “on the ground, in the classrooms, Milton is Milton. A K–12 school is able to shape, over time, so much of a young person’s intellect, ethical depth, cocurricular strengths and sense of identity. We believe in certain things at Milton Academy, and we teach in certain ways. When enlivened, these central values may look different at different ages, but each manifestation is distinctly Milton, appropriate to the age of the child. Whether in a kindergarten science exploration, a sixth-grade literature study, or Class I and II multivariable calculus, the hallmarks are clear: critical and original thinking, a collaborative spirit of inquiry, and individual responsibility.”

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the pritzker science center The Groundbreaking Is November 8, 2008

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ilton’s new science building is eagerly anticipated: It has been well planned. It has inspired excitement and new levels of philanthropy.

It will begin to take shape on November 8, 2008, and students will file through the doors in December 2010.

J.B. Pritzker, Class of 1982, has made it possible for Milton to fully realize a promising plan for taking a leadership role in science teaching and learning. J.B.’s loyalty and generous commitment to Milton has come to fruition in a gift that does more than recognize the critical importance of science. In making the Pritzker Science Center a reality, J.B. explicitly affirms Milton’s long tradition of cultivating a passion for learning—of educating young people to question, to explore, and to think critically and broadly. When the shovel goes into the ground on November 8, Milton will begin to build a center where the key elements of a Milton education will thrive.

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Powerful themes drive the building design Centrality: Science is a critical force in our lives Visibility: Seeing science at work entices the curious and converts the indifferent Transparency: Exploring together and collaborating demystifies science William Rawn and Associates have led this building design, an evolution away from the earlier design for science. Why a “new” iteration of science now? The board sought maximum effectiveness—spaces that enabled the most advanced science learning—coupled with efficiency. The trustees opted to restudy how we might achieve our most energetic goals, secure control of costs, rely on sustainable features, and enhance the campus.

The design that won the day telegraphs the importance of science across the campus and to the world. It takes direction from the teaching and learning in inquiry-based science that has flourished in Milton’s

interim science classrooms. All the program needs are fulfilled, costs are under control, and sustainability is the watchword, in a new building, on a new site.

All eyes on Science The Pritzker Science Center is a presence on the Milton campus. Connected both to major academic buildings and green space, it defines a new quad, bordered by Cox Library on the east and the Kellner Performing Arts Center on the south.

Science is visible across green sitelines from key locations across Centre Street.

Science, the building and the activity inside, is visible from the street itself.

Science Center

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Centre Street Wigglesworth Straus

Milton Campus Green

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Science is visible across green sitelines from key locations across Centre Street.

The Pritzker Science Center is connected both to major academic buildings and green space; it defines a new quad, bordered by Cox Library on the east and the Kellner Performing Arts Center on the south.

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The most practical classroom building design is the double-loaded corridor, classrooms off both sides of a long hallway. The Pritzker Science Center takes advantage of its location: the double-loaded corridor bends to fit the site shape.

The bend in the building provides the perfect location for an entry point and a central gathering place, inviting students and faculty to relax, take a break from a project, enjoy their connections with science.

Balconies, and stairs with multiple landings, unite the floors and maximize interaction.

Materials reinforce the themes of transparency and accessibility: interior glazing makes the classroom activity visible from the hallways.

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A scaled entry Brick, glass and copper resonate with other campus buildings Science buildings tend to be the bulky, oversized buildings on campus. Making sure that the new building related well to the scale of Milton’s buildings—Straus, Wigg, Kellner and the Student Center— was a challenge met by developing an entry element with a narrower proportion than the width of the building. The Pritzker Science Center is two stories tall, graduated across the front, and stepped from the ground floor to the roof.

Brick and glass are the envelope materials on the side of the building facing Kellner and Centre Street. The east side walls, and part of the Centre Street front, use copper, which provides interest on the long side of the building and also salutes the materiality of science.

An efficient building plan The most practical classroom building design is the double-loaded corridor, classrooms off both sides of a long hallway. The Pritzker Science Center takes advantage of its location: the double-loaded corridor bends to fit the site shape. That bend opens up the inside, where balconies, and stairs with multiple landings, unite the floors and maximize interaction. Materials reinforce the themes of transparency and accessibility: interior glazing makes the classroom activity visible from the hallways. Clear glass spans the lab table areas; translucent glass protects the concentration that the conversations around the Harkness table need.

The bend in the building provides the perfect location for an entry point and a central gathering place, inviting students and faculty to relax, take a break from a project, enjoy their connections with science. Still exploiting the bend in the building, the faculty room is located directly across from the central gathering space.

Learning spaces Exploration, collaboration and discussion are integrated in inquiry-based science.

Generating questions, hands-on work pursuing answers, probing issues together around the table—it all goes on in 14 class labs, one for each faculty member and his or her discipline.

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Making sure that the new building related well to the scale of Milton’s buildings—Straus, Wigg, Kellner and the Student Center—was a challenge met by developing an entry element with a narrower proportion than the width of the building. The Pritzker Science Center is two stories tall, graduated across the front and stepped from the ground floor to the roof.

Exploration, collaboration and discussion are integrated in inquiry-based science. Generating questions, hands-on work pursuing answers, probing issues together around the table—it all goes on in 14 class labs, one for each faculty member and his or her discipline.

Scientific inquiry that is specialized, or independent, or that needs to continue for longer periods of time, takes place in four inquiry labs. Larger than the classroom labs, the inquiry labs are on the first floor, open and beckoning to all who pass. The Pritzker Science Center locates the “cool stuff,” the excitement of pursuing an idea, in the center of activity.

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Scientific inquiry that is specialized, or independent, or that needs to continue for longer periods of time, takes place in four inquiry labs. Larger than the classroom labs, the inquiry labs are on the first floor, open and beckoning to all who pass. The Pritzker Science Center locates the “cool stuff,” the excitement of pursuing an idea, in the center of activity.

To provide ultimate flexibility and prepare for potential new teaching strategies, several of the inquiry labs and the classroom labs are separated from one another by “garage door” type partitions. Those laboratories can double in size, allowing for variable uses of the space.

Solid strategies for sustainability Designed to meet silver LEED specifications • The Pritzker Science Center uses natural light extensively; sensors as well as manual controls regulate light for peak efficiency.

• Continuous filtration of roof water gathers, recharges and disperses rainwater to irrigate landscaping; a dry-grass swale is a major landscape design element framing the entrance and lining the building’s east side.

• The roof has two sections: a green roof on the overhang of the stepped, west side of the building at the base of the second floor. The top of the building uses highly reflective TPO shingles; TPO is a chemical alloy made with recycled materials, and the shingles are 100% chemically recyclable.

• Demonstration solar hot water and photovoltaic panels produce energy for the building; their number and capacity can increase if the technology proves itself effective and efficient in this building.

Multiple workshops with faculty yielded many gains for the design. Faculty were sure that they wanted the classroom work clearly visible through the glass walls to any or all in the building. A central faculty room, large enough for conversation and collaboration among all the science faculty, has always been a crucial element for them. Locating the faculty room across from the gathering space addresses the faculty’s supervisory role as well.

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• The building’s “Dashboard” demonstrates real-time energy use and savings simultaneously.

• Use of recycled and renewable materials is maximized throughout, and use of local materials is extensive.

• Green landscape design makes use of a dry-grass swale and subgrade storm water retention tank. The grasses and other native plantings in the swale survive with this recycled rainwater, give year-round color, and require minimal maintenance. Reused bluestone pavers will be featured at the front entryway and east side gathering space; New Hampshire granite will be used for curbs and benches. The landscape design features native plantings and preserves many existing trees. An existing stone wall will be reused along the west face of the building.

A building “Dashboard” demonstrates real-time energy use and savings simultaneously.

Commencement 2008 Commencement Speaker

Milton Academy 2008 Awards and Prizes

Jehane Noujaim, Class of ’92, is not only a provocative, successful, young documentary producer and filmmaker; she is an international activist who believes passionately in the power of film to help move people toward global acceptance of diversity.

Cum Laude

Jehane started making movies at Harvard College, from which she graduated magna cum laude in 1996 with a degree in visual arts and philosophy.

After college, her professional life began in the MTV news documentary division, where she was a producer for the series Unfiltered. She was both a producer and director for the award-winning documentary Startup.com, and in 2003, she made the documentary film Control Room about Al Jazeera, the U.S. military’s Central Command, and their contrasting ways of reporting the United States invasion of Iraq.

After the 2004 release of Control Room, Jehane was awarded a 2006 TED prize.

TED began in 1984 as a conference devoted to the converging fields of technology, entertainment and design. Each year the conference gathers 1,000 of the world’s leading thinkers and doers; offers them four days of rapid-fire stimulation; and facilitates the implementation of their ideas.

Jehane Noujaim ’92 was Milton’s 2008 commencement speaker.

The TED Prize takes three great ideas each year and seeks to achieve goals of global impact. The three exceptional individuals who win the TED Prize each receive $100,000 and, much more important, the granting of “One Wish to Change the World.” Jehane’s wish for a world-uniting international celebration was to bring together millions of people from all over the world in a unique shared experience; use the power of film to create a better understanding of one another; and form a global community striving for a better future. That celebration, called Pangea Day, was a live videoconference—featuring films, speakers and music—that took place in New York City, Rio de Janeiro, London, Dharamsala, Cairo, Jerusalem, and Kigali on May 10, 2008.

Class I Alyssa Marie Blaize Elizabeth Claire Bloom Mary Elizabeth Bruynell Corina Louise Chase Angelica Joan Cristello Ella Kaille Cohen Dershowitz William Edward English Rebecca Bartlett Evans Michelle Qianye Fang Spencer Kames Gaffney Catherine Prentice Gibbons Matthew Ross Gottesdiener Hyo Jung Hong Andrew Michael Hresko Allan Claude Jean-Baptiste Prutsdom Jiarathanakul Lillian Dawson Kaiser Ho Chan Lee Sabrina Gharib Lee Irene Shiang Li Elaine Lin Chelsey Jayne Locarno Nathaniel Pender Morris Olamide Elizabeth Oladipo Katherine Elizabeth Perzan Brooke Alicia Rice Emily Ann Rider-Longmaid David Anthony Samuelson Gordon Watters Sayre Mariya Borisovna Shapiro Joo Young Song Elizabeth Regard Stark* Sophia Pelerossi Topulos Vinay Chetan Trivedi-Parmar Tomas Lothian Mangabeira Unger Olivia Montine Freeman Woollam Jessica Rachel Yanovsky Class II Lee Hamilton Rodman Jordan Herbert Windmueller *Elected to Cum Laude in 2007

The Head of School Award The Head of School Award is presented each year to honor and celebrate certain members of Class I for their demonstrated spirit of self-sacrifice, community concern, leadership, integrity, fairness, kindliness, and respect for others.

Ahmed Bashir Bakkar Elizabeth Claire Bloom Irene Shiang Li Zachary Pulitzer Moore Zachary Mansfield Pierce Cynthia Situ Massimo Christian Soriano Jonathan Ryan Tsang

The James S. Willis Memorial Award To the Headmonitors.

Sabrina Gharib Lee Henry Edwards Litman

William Bacon Lovering Award To a boy and a girl, chosen by their classmates, who have helped most by their sense of duty to perpetuate the memory of a gallant gentleman and officer.

Elizabeth Claire Bloom Stephen Jungmin Suh

The Louis Andrews Memorial Scholarship Award To a student in Class II who has best fulfilled his or her potential in the areas of intelligence, self-discipline, physical ability, concern for others and integrity.

Kelsey Michaela Creegan

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The Leo Maza Award Awarded to a student or students in Classes I–IV who, in working within one of the culture or identity groups at the School, has made an outstanding contribution to the community by promoting the appreciation of that group throughout the rest of the School.

Irene Shiang Li

The H. Adams Carter Prize Awarded to the student or students who, in their years at Milton, have shown a dedication to the pursuit of outdoor skills, demonstrated strong leadership, and reached high levels of personal achievement in one or more outdoor activities.

Sydney Smith Catherine Amara Warren

The A. Howard Abell Prize Established by Dr. and Mrs. Eric Oldberg for students deemed exceptionally proficient or talented in instrumental or vocal music or in composition.

Elizabeth Claire Bloom Allan Claude Jean-Baptiste William Edward English

Harrison Otis Apthorp Music Prize Awarded in recognition of helpful activity in furthering in the School an interest and joy in music.

Alexandra Rasmi Sophea Norodom Stephen Jungmin Suh

The George Sloan Oldberg Memorial Prize Awarded in memory of George Oldberg ’54, to members of the School who have been a unique influence in the field of music.

Sarah Frances Hetzler McBrian Stephen Kaapuni Wagner

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Elected by their classmates to be the Class of 2008 valedictorian speakers, Liz Bloom and Sam Panarese

The Science Prize Awarded to students who have demonstrated genuine enthusiasm, as well as outstanding scientific ability in physics, chemistry and biology.

The Markham and Pierpont Stackpole Prize Awarded in honor of two English teachers, father and son, to authors of unusual talent in creative writing.

Prutsdom Jiarathanakul Brooke Alicia Rice Sophia Pelerossi Topulos

Corina Louise Chase Tomas Lothian Mangabeira Unger

The Wales Prize

The Dorothy J. Sullivan Award

Awarded in honor of Donald Wales, who taught Class IV science for more than 36 years.

It recognizes students in Class IV who have consistently demonstrated interest and excitement in science.

Nikita Bhasin Katherine Claire Caine Naveen Mohan Jasty Jaclyn Duker Porfilio Daniel Aaron Schwartz

The Robert Saltonstall Medal For pre-eminence in physical efficiency and observance of the code of the true sportsman.

Stephen Richard Aborn Jr.

The A. O. Smith Prize Awarded by the English department to students who display unusual talent in expository writing.

To senior girls who have demonstrated good sportsmanship, leadership, dedication and commitment to athletics at Milton.

Through their spirit, selflessness and concern for the team, they served as an incentive and a model for others.

Marguerite Ann Bouscaren

The Performing Arts Award Presented by the performing arts department for outstanding contributions in production work, acting, speech, audiovisuals, and dance throughout his or her Milton career.

Kathryn Danielle Dwight Kyle Louise Kankonde Rachel Sloane Kay Henry Edwards Litman Zachary Pulitzer Moore Gordon Watters Sayre

Bingham DeVault Bryant Michelle Heyon Kim Tomas Lothian Mangabeira Unger Milton Magazine

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The Kiki Rice-Gray Prize Awarded for outstanding contributions to Milton Performing Arts throughout his or her career in both performance and production.

Alison Schuster Brace Zachary Pulitzer Moore

The Priscilla Bailey Award To a senior girl who has been a most valuable asset to Milton Academy athletics and to the Milton Academy Community— an athlete who has demonstrated exceptional individual skills and teamwork, as well as true sportsmanship.

The Gorham Palfrey Faucon Prize Established in 1911 and awarded to members of Class I for demonstrated interest and outstanding achievement in history and social science.

Matthew Ross Gottesdiener Ian Lawrence Mahmud Nathaniel Pender Morris Olamide Elizabeth Oladipo

The Benjamin Fosdick Harding Latin Prizes Awarded on the basis of a separate test at each prize level.

Chelsey Jayne Locarno

Level 5: Charles Codman Cabot Level 4: Timothy James Barry-Heffernan Level 3: Elias Ibrahim Dagher

The Henry Warder Carey Prize

The Modern Languages Prizes

To members of the First Class, who, in Public Speaking and Oral Interpretation, have shown consistent effort, thoroughness of preparation, and concern for others.

Awarded to those students who, in the opinion of the department, most exhibit the qualities of academic excellence, enthusiastic participation, and support of fellow students, both in and out of class.

Lillian Dawson Kaiser

The Robert L. Daley Prize Created by his students of 1984 in his memory and honor, this prize in Classics is awarded to the student from Latin 4 or beyond who best exemplifies Mr. Daley’s love of languages.

Sarah Elizabeth Loucks

The Richard Lawrence Derby Memorial Award To an outstanding student of the Second Class in Mathematics, Astronomy, or Physics.

Alexander Robinson Harris Inji Jung

The Alfred Elliott Memorial Trophy For self-sacrifice and devotion to the best interests of his teams, regardless of skill.

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Angelica Joan Cristello Lillian Dawson Kaiser William Edward English Cynthia Situ

The Milton Academy Art Prizes Awarded for imagination and technical excellence in his or her art and for independent and creative spirit of endeavor.

Mary Elizabeth Bruynell Irene Shiang Li David Anthony Samuelson Samuel Dodge Panarese Mariya Borisovna Shapiro Miranda McKnight Wheeler

Graduates’ Weekend 2008

1. Didi Belash ’78 and John Belash ’48

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2. Gorham Brigham ’33 3. Bird’s-eye view of the festivities in the Schwarz Student Center on Friday night 4. Chloe Waters-Wallace ’03 and Chris Kwok ’03 5. Charlotte Bacon, Lisa Donohue, Cindy Powell, Louisa Winthrop and Gwenna Williamson enjoying their 25th Reunion 6. Friendly competition on Nash Field 7. Muffy Handy Nichols ’38

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1. John Luce ’68 and Peter Whittemore ’68

6. There’s nothing better than ice cream on a hot day

2. Enjoying a grassy seat on the Quad—some things never change

7. Peter Gleason ’63 and Ric Faulkner ’63 doing science in 2008

3. Interim Head of School Rick Hardy with members of the Class of ’58

8. Gerald McClanahan ’83

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4. Mom’s lap is always the perfect seat 5. Members of the Class of ’83 try to determine whether they’re better looking now than back in their Milton days

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1. Melissa Chase ’83 and friends

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2. Feels like coming home 3. Mike Descoteaux ’98, Mike Stanton ’98 and performing arts chair Peter Parisi 4. Star Martin Hopkins, Joy Emerson Howard and Joan Corbett Dine at the Class of 1958 symposium 5. Ed Lincoln and Ed Gorman—both Class of ’43—capture the moment 6. Ken Tokusei ’88 and Adam Towvim ’88 7. Lindsey Schwoeri ’03 and Edith Eustis ’03

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1. Bob Cunha ’83 and Lisa Donohue ’83 were elected to the Board of Trustees in September

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2. Caroline Aiello ’98 and Harrison Blum ’98 3. Milton “Speechie” Amelia Whalen ’10 performs for grads’ weekend celebrants 4. Lans Lamont ’48 at the keyboard 5. Chris Kwok, Andy O’Connor, Patrick Pettiti and Dennis Reardon—all Class of 2003 6. Class of ’83 hamming it up for the camera: Sarah Andrikidis, Liz Dunn and Pamela Parizek

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Faculty Perspective The Ruth King Theatre in Kellner Forever grateful for the shared enterprise of exposing our common humanity

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wenty years ago an acre of lawn stretched between Milton’s health center and the library. Those of us who came to the campus to interview for the position of theatre teacher and director that year saw blueprints for the new performing arts facility which was to rise from that empty plot. It was to be an impressive building with two theatres, a large scene shop, a beautiful dance studio and ample room for orchestra, chorus, jazz and the speech program. That empty expanse of grass fairly danced with potential.

It is, of course, reasonable and sensible to think of buildings as mere aggregations of brick and glass and mortar. For the better part of a year, as we watched Kellner rise from the earth, it was fascinating to see those pieces come together. From the very beginning it was clear that the building had an inner sanctum, a space at the center which was set apart. I think we did not know at that time what the theatre would be called, but Ruth King’s namesake space was taking its distinctive form in brick and steel day by day before our eyes, shaped by its purpose. A concrete platform. A large, open space set deep into the foundation and surrounded by walls rising to the top of the building. Even the most casual observer could not fail to recognize the form as either a theatre or a place of worship.

semicircle of the seats at the Theatre of Dionysus, the tiered balconies of the opera house and the intimate galleries of the Globe all direct the eye downward to the stage—the compelling focal point for an entire audience caught up together in laughter or tears or a single, shared gasp of recognition. And now at Milton the galleries were rising around a performance space. Though it was still only bricks, mortar and steel, it would soon be much more.

In the meantime, in Wigg Hall and Room 1212 and the boys gymnasium we acted and made music and built scenery and danced, but we knew that soon the seats would be in place and the curtains would be hung and the new theatre would come to life.

Some buildings do remain aggregations of brick and glass and mortar, but anyone who has walked onto an empty stage that has been in use for more than a few years knows that theatres are made of much more. Ruth King Theatre, 17 years after it opened, is a rich concoction of memory, old paint, echoes, sweat and the first subtle intimations of next year’s musical. In a very real way it is now a creation of all of those who have played upon its stage, brought up a light on cue, or risen from one of those red upholstered chairs in spontaneous applause. Costumes that have been worn in a dozen different productions form unseen connections between actors or dancers of different eras who have never met one another. Layer upon layer of color on the stage floor forms

Theatres and temples are, after all, not really very different. In most of the great cultures of the world the theatre was born and nurtured in places of worship. But while sacred architecture customarily soars in spires, cupolas, steeples or minarets, theatres more often sweep downward to the performance space. The majestic

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the archaeological strata upon which our seniors will walk and dance and sing and play their baccalaureate moments. The wear and tear and glory and inspiration of years of use have given Ruth King a rich patina that is uniquely hers and ours.

It is no strange thing that the idea of the theatre ghost is such a common one. What we put on stage, when we are most successful, is life. Life at its most intense and profound. Life wearing its most ridiculous countenance and life caught in its most vulnerable moments of humanity. With our music and dance and words and light and scenery, we unite performers and audience in a celebration of that life, which may be painful, funny or ecstatic. That life persists. It seeps into the cracks and crannies and soaks into the velour and hemp.

It vibrates in the walls and clings to the motes of dust suspended in the light from the spots. You cannot enter the theatre, our theatre, without touching it, hearing it and breathing it.

For the last seventeen years I have been privileged to share Kellner and Ruth King theatre with thousands of artists and audiences. Together we have changed Kellner and the work done in the building has changed us. Great performances and the preparation that leads up to them bring into ever sharper focus the potential of the human spirit for either glory or ignominy.

In performance we open ourselves for all to see, and in doing so we tear away the veil that often obscures our common humanity. This is profound work and its effects are very powerful, though they are not always recognized immediately. As a result of having shared this enterprise with my fellows in Kellner, student and adult alike, parts of me will remain there for decades after I walk out its doors for the last time, traces in the rich mixture of the place. I will take with me much more than I have left behind and be forever grateful for it.

David Peck Performing Arts faculty 1988–2008 Reprinted with permission from The Milton Paper; first published May 23, 2008.

“The most memorable Milton concert in recent times.”

Dr. Don Dregalla on Dame Evelyn Glennie’s Gratwick Performance

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nternationally renowned percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie performed the 2008 Gratwick Concert in Kellner Performing Arts Center on February 5, 2008.

Throughout her career, Evelyn Glennie has commissioned 143 new works for solo percussion, composed and recorded music for film and television, and she gives more than 100 performances a year worldwide. Her diverse collaborations have included performances with artists such as Naná Vasconcelos, Kodo, Béla Fleck, Björk, Bobby McFerrin, Emanuel Ax, Sting, King’s Singers, Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Fred Frith. Her first album, a recording of Bartok’s Sonata for two pianos and percussion, won a Grammy in 1988.

According to the Drummergirl.com Web site, “Much media attention has been given to the fact that Evelyn is a deaf musician. Evelyn is profoundly deaf, and she doesn’t feel the need to make a big deal about it. After she lost her hearing when she was young, Evelyn spent time with her percussion teacher, Ron Forbes, refining her ability to detect vibration.

She can distinguish the rough pitch of notes by associating where on her body she feels the sound. Truth be told, Evelyn’s hearing is something that bothers other people far more than it bothers her. Since she is one of the world’s top international musicians, it must not make much of a difference to the orchestras, conductors or venues.”

For Dr. Don Dregalla, music department chair and also a percussionist, Dame Evelyn Glennie’s performance

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was particularly electric. His own reflections include those of students who filled King Theatre to listen and watch with astonishment: “Judging by the response from all those who attended (about 350 people), this was the most memorable Milton concert in recent times. Students were fascinated

by Evelyn’s playing and captivated by her vital energy and persona. Great excitement was in the air all evening. More than a few in the audience called the concert the ‘best of the Gratwick series.’

“Evelyn Glennie began her campus visit with an hourlong master class, working with percussionist Liz Bloom ’08.

Liz played three pieces, one each for snare, timpani and mallets. The rapport between Evelyn and Liz was terrific. At least 60 people witnessed the master class in the orchestra room, and it was videotaped for an upcoming documentary about Dame Glennie.

“Dame Evelyn was a very encouraging teacher, but also very challenging. Her comments were always positive. She was demanding of Liz, however, asking that Liz do a few things that were quite difficult—especially in front of a crowd— such as switching around the dynamics of a piece and the place on the drum where Liz played those dynamics. I can tell you, as a percussionist, that this is quite hard to do, but Liz did it very well.

“Witnessing some of Evelyn Glennie’s rehearsal was a treat for me—like getting a chance to hear a private recital, and in some cases, a private lesson. She worked over and over on a piece, getting it just right. It was riveting.

Dame Glennie began her campus visit with a master class, working with percussionist Liz Bloom ’08.

“Then of course came the concert in the evening. King Theatre was a perfect venue for this concert. The stage set created an intimacy quite different from other theatre events. The concert featured music from the 20th century; except for one piece, all was composed for Dame Glennie. The first piece by Rzewski, based on a seventh-century poem, was written for voice and for flowerpots. The next two pieces were for solo marimba.

Following that was a piece for maracas and prerecorded tape by the Mexican composer Javier Alvarez. The first half concluded with another multipercussion marimba piece called Barracuda. That piece was my favorite. It was very difficult and included not only marimba, but also other percussion instruments. It also

was extremely rhythmic, and coordinating the marimba and other instruments was very hard.

“The second half featured four pieces, probably highlighted by a piece for solo snare drum called Prim by Askell Masson. Students mentioned this piece, which required incredible concentration, as a favorite. The piece ended with a long roll on the snare drum, perhaps four minutes long.

Dame Glennie started it very slowly and then sped it up gradually. It got louder and louder, then softer and softer, creating harmonics on the drum itself. It then ended not only with this roll, but also with a few extra soft notes, and finally, a loud bang. Everyone in the theatre was held spellbound.”

The Gratwick Concert is always eagerly anticipated and long remembered. Dr. Mitchell Gratwick, a former Academy faculty member, established this series as a gift to the School in memory of his wife, Katharine Perkins Gratwick, Girls’ School Class of 1924 and a cellist. The concert series has continued as an unbroken tradition for 78 years. Designed primarily to give students the rare opportunity to hear world-class artists in an intimate setting, the concert is usually held in Straus and half of the room is reserved for students.

This year, due to the nature of the performance and requirements of space, lighting and sound, the concert was held in King Theatre.

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Post Script Post Script is a department that opens windows into the lives and experiences of your fellow Milton alumni. Graduates may author the pieces, or they may react to our interview questions.

Opinions, memories, explorations, reactions to political or educational issues are all fair game.

We believe you will find your Milton peers informative, provocative and entertaining. Please email us with your reactions and your ideas at cathy_everett@milton.edu.

Looking Back by Fritz Kempner ’40 Excerpts from Chapter 21: Back to Milton

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he atmosphere that I enjoyed so much as a student in 1939, I felt duplicated as a member of the faculty. “Halo effect?” Perhaps. I now know that my years as teacher of Latin and Greek and coach of soccer and basketball at Milton gave me a running start into a life of teaching.

It must have been “real love,” since my living conditions were not exactly luxurious.

I lived in Robbins House, a dormitory of 50 boys. My third-floor bedroom/study was connected by one door to an area of seven ninth graders, themselves called “alcoves” after their habitation, and by another to a stairway leading to the quarters of four eighth graders on the fourth floor. The 12 of us shared a common bathroom. Could I entertain friends? I don’t think the thought ever occurred to me. I accepted everything as a given, happy to have a job at a topnotch school.

In addition to being responsible for these 11 boys in the dormitory, it was my duty to preside over a table of ten boys at mealtime, three times a day. After supper I enjoyed a period of “rest and relaxation” during which my immediate superior served coffee in his quarters, which were palatial compared to mine. He was Jim Carter, also my boss in Latin and, at the time, a bachelor. As a commander in the Navy he had been nicknamed “Smiling

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Jim,” because he never smiled. He was as predictable as a well-functioning alarm clock, with set times for coffee as well as stock remarks. He was easy to work for provided you accepted his routine, which I did. This very predictability made life easy, but it came at a price: the price of restricting myself to a certain behavioral rut.

During six years of doing the same job out of the same room, though with different boys, I gradually became aware of this as a trap and was ready for a change. My Uncle Fritz, frequent giver of sage advice, wrote me: “…routine is the worst enemy of true growth since it counterfeits a security that is not based on inner growth. It cannot only fool others, but also yourself.”

The siblings: Martha and Max on my right, Fran on my left, at the 1999 family reunion in Austria.

Behind us a genealogical display.

Fortunately, I had some provocative friends on the faculty who prevented my succumbing to a deadening routine. One was Ted Holmes, teacher of English, fresh out of Princeton’s avant-garde English department, where he had been a protégé of R.P. Blackmur, one of the leaders of the New Criticism movement. What got us going was a discussion about Robert Frost’s “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening.”

Ted convinced me that this poem was about much more than a sleigh stopping by woods in winter—that in fact it deals with the whole human condition. He suggested that to arrive at the meaning of any poem, it was not necessary to know anything about the author’s life, but that whatever meaning a poem had was contained in the words of the poem itself. The poet may have intended this or that, but if the meaning was not contained in the words of the poem, if it required knowledge not contained in the poem itself, it was—for that very reason—a poorer poem. We discussed this issue at length, and in the end I had become his disciple.

My closest friends on the faculty were Toby Smith, Air Force major in World War II, teacher of English, with a strong conviction in favor of teaching the canon; and his wife, Audrey, vivacious and innovative teacher of Spanish and chef extraordinaire.

Teach Moby-Dick or Malcolm X? John Keats or Wilfred Owen? Our conversations were ongoing.

While Milton took academics seriously, it did not neglect the spiritual. There were two compulsory Chapel services: one on Sunday evenings, with a sermon by a minister, and one on Wednesday mornings, with a talk by a faculty member.

When it came my turn for a Wednesday morning talk, I used the opportunity to describe my view on religion, as revealed in Lessing’s 1779 play Nathan The Wise. I know it well, having recited it in a family setting as a teenager. Here it is, in brief: Once upon a time in the Orient there lived a man who owned a ring of great worth that had the special power to make the wearer beloved in the eyes of God and men. This ring passed from father to favored son until it came to a father of three sons, all equally deserving. What to do? The father had two identical copies made and gave each son a ring; he then died. Each son believed that his ring was the true one. They argued fiercely. Unable to agree, they sought out a judge to decide the issue. Said the judge, “Since it is impossible to prove which ring is the genuine one, I suggest this: Let each of you demonstrate his belief in the power of his ring by conducting his life in such a manner that he fully merits the love of God and men. The outcome of your lives will be a reflection of the power of the ring.”

The three “Religions of the Book”— Judaism, Christianity and Islam—each rely on a written tradition handed down over many centuries. Setting aside conversions, believers base their faith on what they have read or what they have been brought up to believe. Which faith is the most valid? I cannot consider one tradition superior to the other two. To me, what’s most important in our lives is not our faith, but how we act. Or, to use the parable of the three rings: It is up to the owner of each ring to prove his or her ring genuine. The real test will be the quality of life that a person has led. As Matthew 7:16 puts it, “You will know them by their fruits.”

You Must Remember This: A Reporter’s Odyssey from Camelot to Glasnost by Lansing Lamont ’48 Excerpts from Chapter 5: A.O., Sally Rand and the Athenian Effect

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y mother was convinced I needed stricter supervision at a more genteel correctional facility than the one my father and brothers had attended. So to Father’s dismay, I was air mailed not to Exeter but to Milton Academy, an ivied cloister of Yankee rectitude situated just south of Boston.

Milton was a brief trolley ride from downtown Boston. The school authorities spent as much time protecting us from the sins of Scollay Square’s burlesque and movie houses as they did promoting the virtues of Horace and Cicero. Mostly our sinning was confined to the occasional hike to the village ice-cream parlor.

Life as a lowly boarder was predictably monastic: bone-chilling New England nights, cramped dormitory cubicles, bullying upperclassmen, an endless diet of chipped beef on toast. Chapel and Sunday church were mandatory; we dosed out on God. Our housemaster, a genial former pro baseball player, urged us to persevere and “keep rounding the bases.” His deputy, a dead ringer for Sidney Greenstreet, took to calling me “fer-de-lance” (a pit viper), which, in my ignorance, I took as a compliment.

The Academy’s headmaster, a dapper chap with a clipped mustache, was adept at cajoling checks from the Brookline and Back Bay mothers whose young charges he supervised. The Academy also harbored a separate girls’ school down the road, a

very good one, which was run by a formidable dreadnaught named Miss Faulkner; Milton wasn’t yet coed, a term that vaguely offended Brahmin sensibilities. The boys’ school principal was a tweedy beanpole named Arthur Perry, who came from a distinguished line of educators and whose eyes perpetually twinkled behind a pair of rimless glasses. Mr. Perry’s annual reading at assembly of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol was as eagerly anticipated as the Great Tree Frog Dissection conducted each spring in Mr. LeSourd’s science class.

Milton’s motto was “Dare to Be True,” proclaimed in plain English with none of the fancy Latin varnish favored by other schools. The teachers were a sturdy lot, disciplined, demanding, occasionally fired with passion. If they were more sage than inspired, it may have been because most were seriously aging, their younger colleagues still finishing off the war. All that changed for me with the arrival in 1946 of Albert O. Smith, our new English teacher.

A.O. was lately discharged from the Air Force and eager to get on with his career.

He was unmarried and unconforming, a lanky character with smoke-stained teeth and a quizzical smile. Most days he wore a frayed button-down shirt and a tired sports coat that dropped to his knees. He was rumored to knock down a bourbon or two and some mornings appeared in class a little worse for wear. His classroom style was Socratic-casual, something we were

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Sports Jasmine Reid ’09, Milton’s Fastest Mustang

Lansing Lamont ’48 when he served as foreign correspondent in Time’s London bureau, 1971.

unused to. Shortly, he became the most subversive, liberating influence in our academic life.

A.O. prodded us to avoid the banal, to think critically and argue succinctly. He pumped us up with the intellectual oxygen we needed, and did so with infectious humor. He seemed free of pedantry, a blithe spirit thumbing his nose at churchschool formalities. He became my friend and mentor.

A classmate and I put out a mimeographed four-page newspaper for the lower classmen, my initial foray into journalism.

But the writer in me wouldn’t crystallize for a while. My first short-story effort was returned with the comment that it lacked a plot. I began polishing my letters home, describing the terrors of boarding life.

That would prove a more useful run-up to the trade I eventually chose.

I wrote for the lit magazine and took up smoking. The ads and movies suggested cigarettes lent spice to life, Bacall languidly blowing smoke into Bogart’s eyes, Bogie single-handedly turning the cigarette into his personal swagger stick. Cigarette-wise, my father was the essence of cool. At the breakfast table he inhaled the nicotine through a silver-and-black cigarette holder he’d bought under the illusion it was a filter. He’d blow a ring or two, then rest the holder in the ashtray, letting tendrils of blue smoke from it curl alluringly across the table’s mahogany surface. So I went out and bought my first pack of Camels.

Nice girls didn’t smoke, at least not the ones in cashmere sweaters who strolled down Milton’s Centre Street. But then we 58

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weren’t interested in nice girls, we told ourselves. We figured that with the right date, a smooth line, and a few suave Camel exhalations, we could turn nice into bad. It didn’t work out that way, but I fantasized about it along with the rest of my hormonally active little pals, especially when spring prom rolled around.

There in the gymnasium, strung with crepe paper decorations, dimmed colored lights and a revolving sphere that sprayed flecks of blue and tangerine gleams across the dance floor, we lost ourselves in a bower of gardenias and romance.

All those girls in red velveteen dresses or off-the-shoulder tulle gowns, me and my panting pals in our scruffy black shoes and crooked bow ties—shuffling cheek to cheek through the perfumed air. For a couple of hours we foxtrotted through a darkened world full of ridiculously imagined promise.

I’d made good friends at Milton, some with stars in their futures. One would become a Harvard dean, another a classical dancer; one or two would become spies. Flender would become my banker; Richardson would marry my first cousin.

Stevenson, son of a soon-to-be presidential nominee, would become a U.S. senator.

One classmate would confide years later how thoroughly he abominated his years at Milton. Another would commit suicide.

The boys in the class above us would go off to Korea to die and win posthumous medals for gallantry. We clung to our own little Zeitgeist. Our senior class voted “Li’l Abner” its favorite comic strip and, wonder of wonders, Harvard decided I was an acceptable risk.

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voice echoes across the track and field calling runners to assemble for the next event. The top 100meter hurdlers in New England collect at the starting line. Among them, Milton’s Jasmine Reid ’09 sets in lane four. For a moment, Jasmine studies the runners lining up against her. A girl she had beaten by only a fraction of a second in the qualifying heat earlier that day stretches in lane three. Beside her is another threat, a hurdler whom she has not yet run against, but forewarnings by teammates have attested that she is fast and hungry to win.

Milton’s coach, Richard Buckner—a man Jasmine describes as “a grandfather figure and a sort of life coach”—shouts from the distance, “Don’t worry about them! You got this!” She focuses on her lane. The gun fires and her body races ahead of her mind. She only gains a clear perspective of where she is at the final hurdle of the race.

Jasmine crosses the finish line neck and neck with the girl in lane three. Too close to call with the naked eye, the runners wait for the official results to be announced over the loud speaker. Ten long minutes pass. As the times are read, Jasmine turns to see her life coach pump his arm in excitement. “Yes!” he shouts. She catches a quick glimpse of her mom jumping up and down in the metal stands just before her teammates lift her up into the air. Jasmine Reid at 16.03 seconds Fully Automatic Timing (FAT) is the 100-meter hurdle NEPSTA champion—the best in New England.

The 100-meter high hurdle wasn’t the only title Jasmine took home at this year’s New Englands on May 17, 2008. Breaking

Jasmine knows that mental preparation is as important as physical preparation.

See, practices can be fun. Pictured from left to right: Shavonne Hart ’08, Kelsey Creegan ’09, Beverly Leon ’10, Liz Bloom ’08, Jasmine, Sam Barkowski ’09.

the all-time Milton record at 47.22 seconds FAT, Jasmine was also named the 300-meter intermediate hurdle NEPSTA champion.

“Jasmine developed as a result of the program at Milton,” says Coach Heard.

“Coach Buckner saw her talent early on and has been working with her over the years. Jasmine understands how her race should be run and she trains for it. She knows that the 300-meter hurdles is not a 300-meter race. It’s longer than that, so she trains like a quarter-miler.

Apart from these record-breaking accomplishments in the postseason, Jasmine also stood out on a weekly basis in meets and practices leading up to the New Englands.

Why? Simply put, “Because she wins,” jokes head coach André Heard. “It’s easy to stand out when you’re in front.”

Jasmine consistently took first place in her individual heats and, when a formidable opponent could not be found, she would race against herself—beating her own records in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles and the 100-meter high hurdles.

She was also a part of Milton’s successful 400-meter relay team with Samantha Barkowski ’09, Shavonne Hart ’08 and Elizabeth Bloom ’08—a team that broke the third all-time record with a time of 50.50 seconds FAT.

“The track season is so short that every time a runner steps on the track should be an opportunity to prepare for the ISL’s and a chance to work out issues to better their time. With Jasmine, that plays out. Every time she steps on the track, she addresses something, whether to work on her race or help out the team. There aren’t many young runners who understand that they need to maximize the time they have on the track. Jasmine gets it.”

When asked about how she prepares for a race, Jasmine admits using visualization— a technique used by many athletes that is described by About.com as “creating a mental image or intention of what you want to happen.”

“I use visualization mainly to overcome pre-race jitters,” says Jasmine. “Thinking about how I’m going to run the race over and over again calms me down and helps me prepare.”

Jasmine also prepares herself by expecting the pain that comes from a good race.

“In order to win, you have to fight for it.

There’s not a race in track when you won’t feel pain, and a great runner will know how to fight through the pain.”

Next year looks even brighter for Jasmine and the entire talented pool of runners on the girls’ track team. “The girls’ team has been teetering on the edge of a championship for a number of years,” says Coach Heard. “Next year, we have a lot of young girls coming of age that will be contributors on the team, and we will have strong leadership from the senior runners, including Jasmine.”

Greg White

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In•Sight Strutting their stuff: Milton’s youngest members share creative costumes with the rest of the community on October 31, 2007, during the annual Halloween Parade.

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OnCentre A Powerful Mentoring Bond Yuleissy Ramirez, Class IV, triumphs at the Frank Millet Invitational

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her season with an incredible third-place finish at the number seven position at New England’s.

echnically, Mr. Millet coaches only the boys’ squash team; he began the boys’ program in 1964 and remains at the helm of the team. His presence, personality and values, however, inform all-things-squash at Milton.

Milton teams are perennially among the best in New England, and this past year both the girls’ and boys’ teams finished in the top 10 at the High School National Championships.

As the coach of the girls’ team this year, I had the pleasure of sharing the successes of the team with Mr. Millet while also relying upon him as sounding board and mentor. He took a keen interest in the success of the girls’ team, attending all of our matches at High School Nationals and coaching the girls whenever he had a chance.

Needless to say, the girls on the team were honored and pleased by this attention.

One player who especially benefited from his coaching and support was the lone Class IV girl on the varsity team, Yuleissy Ramirez. From the James P. Timilty School, an inner-city Boston public school, and the wonderful urban squash program—Squashbusters— Yuleissy is a talented studentathlete who was highly ranked in Massachusetts squash before coming to Milton. Upon her arrival, she and Mr. Millet developed a friendship, bonding over their love of the game and of Milton. Dealing with the rigors of Milton academics as a varsity athlete is never easy, especially for a ninth grader.

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Mr. Frank Millet and Yuleissy Ramirez ’11 pause between matches during the Frank Millet Invitational Tournament, January 2008.

Mr. Millet immediately recognized Yuleissy’s potential as a student, an athlete, and a leader.

This January, Yuleissy was thrilled to be invited to play in the Frank Millet Invitational along with five other Milton players. In 2006, U.S. Squash named one of its three national junior selection tournaments after Mr. Millet, honoring his long-standing contributions to the game in the United States.

The Frank Millet Invitational— now held annually at the Murr Center at Harvard—is one of the largest junior tournaments in the country and boasts a field of nearly all of the top players in the country in every age group.

Yuleissy had earned a special opportunity to represent Milton, while challenging herself against the best players in the country.

She was able to prove to herself exactly what Mr. Millet had told her from the start: “You are here because you are one of the best players in the country.”

As one of the seven members of the varsity team that was in a playing position, Yuleissy had every right to be nervous at her first National Championships this February. After playing a tight first game, she came off the court where Mr. Millet had been watching her play. After a brief conversation with him about the depth of her service and the pace of her shots, Yuleissy bounded back to the court ready for game two, her confidence bolstered.

Her opponent was not so lucky, and Yuleissy marched to a 3–0 win, securing critical points for her team. With her first win at that level, and her friend and mentor Mr. Millet coaching her along, Yuleissy came into her own at Nationals, winning all three matches that she played, including a thrilling five-game match that secured the match for her team. Her successes continued as she won the clinching match to defeat rival Nobles a few weeks later and capped off

While the success of the squash program certainly pleases him, Mr. Millet is more proud of the leaders he has helped shape and the relationships he has developed with his players. On the squash Web site, he lists the Milton graduates who went on to captain their college teams, but does not list the many individual achievements of those very players. The team is what matters, and being chosen by your peers to lead the team is the greatest honor.

Even more impressive than his record as coach is Mr. Millet’s ability to adapt to the changes in the game, in the nature of youth, and in Milton over 66 years. From wooden rackets, U.S. Courts, and hardball squash to titanium rackets, international courts and softball squash he has adapted to the changing game and helped coach the program to great heights. The world is a different place today, but Mr. Millet has never lost his touch or passion for his role as teacher, coach, mentor, and—most important—friend.

Chris Kane Admission officer and girls’ varsity squash coach

Jake Hooker ’91 Wins 2008 Pulitzer Prize “Toxic Pipeline” grabbed global attention from the New York Times front page

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n the spring of 2003, Jake Hooker ’91 was tending the Appalachian Mountain Club’s Carter Notch Hut, nestled in the White Mountains, near the New Hampshire-Maine border.

It was peaceful up there at 3,228 feet, chopping wood, keeping the place clean for the hikers who passed through to spend the night and share their stories from the wilderness.

“I knew I couldn’t live in the woods forever,” says Jake, in a phone interview from his apartment in Beijing. “So I decided to start looking for jobs in China.”

He soon landed a job with a nonprofit organization doing medical outreach in eastern Tibet.

After four months, he embarked on a writing career, which in 2008 brought him to the heights of the journalism world, winning the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting for a series of stories he wrote with legendary New York Times reporter Walt Bogdanich.

The series, called “Toxic Pipeline,” detailed how counterfeit ingredients made their way from a Chinese factory to an overseas pharmaceutical company that used them in medications that subsequently killed hundreds of people around the world.

In May, he was again on the front page of the Times, reporting on the devastating earthquake that killed more than 50,000 in the Sichuan province.

Photo: Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

He’d ended up in the White Mountains after serving a twoyear stint as a Peace Corps volunteer in Wanxian, China, a remote village along the Yangtze River, teaching English to middleschool students and contemplating what to do with the rest of his life.

Jake Hooker ’91 takes notes for the Times’ Yellow River series in the city of Kaifeng, in Henan Province.

The Pulitzer Prize came just two years after he was hired by the Times bureau in Beijing as a researcher/reporter. He’d already published articles in a number of publications, including the Boston Globe. But his biggest calling card was his fluency in Chinese. While serving as a Peace Corps volunteer, he had spent long hours learning the language. Jake never had a huge love for foreign languages.

At Milton, where he credits his English teachers for developing his writing skills, he learned French well enough to pass the AP exam, exempting him from language study at Dartmouth College.

Once in China, however, he dedicated himself to learning the language, spending four to five painstaking hours a day learning the characters.

“That’s what I did in my spare time for two years—study the characters four or five hours a

day,” he says. “You start with simple pictures, and learn the way Chinese elementary school children learn, by copying a character 100 times in ricepaper notebooks. Pretty soon, you develop motor memory and things begin to make sense.”

His ability to read and write Chinese proved a boon in the Times’ Beijing bureau.

During his yearlong investigation of the Chinese industrial netherworld, he traveled several times to the rural village where the lethal chemicals were manufactured. He’d travel alone, without a translator. That made for less-threatening interviews. It also kept him under the radar of the Chinese security apparatus, which keeps an eye on roving foreign journalists. Instead of staying at hotels, where he’d have to show his passport, Jake stayed at small guesthouses, where he’d fill out the guest form in Chinese.

“It spared me all kinds of trouble,” says Jake. “I didn’t want to leave any tracks. I was speaking to governmental officials, they wanted to tell me the truth, and with one slip, you give up a lot of people.”

Jake’s involvement in the project wasn’t intended to be so deep when Bogdanich contacted him to do some legwork for him in the investigation’s early stages.

Bogdanich figured Jake would help him for a week or two, and then he’d arrive in China to do the heavy interviewing.

But Chinese authorities didn’t want Bogdanich snooping around and refused Bogdanich’s visa request. By then, Jake had filed a slew of 30-page memos that showed his eye for detail and dedication to tracking down the truth.

“The government did me a huge favor because I was able to turn to Jake to handle it all,” Milton Magazine

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Spring’s Endowed Speaker Series Brings notable women to Milton’s campus says Bogdanich. “When doing investigative reporting, you have to work with someone you trust.

You need someone who has checked every fact and [checked that] every sentence has been thought out, the context is there, and the emphasis is right. I quickly came to the conclusion that Jake was somebody I could trust. I was one lucky fellow to work with him.”

Now in his fifth year in China, Jake says he misses his friends as well as the great outdoors he enjoyed growing up in Newton, Massachusetts, and later, in New Hampshire while attending Dartmouth. Jake lives in Beijing, where the air hangs heavy with pollution over the sprawling metropolis. He occasionally drives a couple hours out of town to hike along the Great Wall.

“When I first got here, it was fine, I was in love with the culture and the city itself and didn’t mind the air pollution,” he says.

“Now I’ve been living here five years and it wears on you. It gets harder to go outside and exercise.”

Jake, an art history major at Dartmouth, says his experience in the Peace Corps provided a solid foundation for his current work. Living in a remote village, he met people from all walks of life, and fell in love with the Chinese people.

“Once I got over the loneliness and culture shock, and I worked through the distrust, it was wonderful,” he says. “The amount I could learn in a single day was incredible. I’d meet manual laborers or pensioners and I’d practice my Chinese and learn about their lives, in their own voices. I earned enough to travel on school holidays, and it made me want to write.”

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That urge to write has served him well, and it seems certain to take him on a world of adventures in coming years. Since the uprising in Tibet this spring, Jake has been working on finding a way to travel west to talk to the monks who led the protests.

It can be a treacherous drive over 17,000-foot passes where mudslides can unexpectedly wash out the roads. By May, he’d yet to get there.

“I’d love to go to the towns where protestors were fired upon, but the roads getting in there are blocked,” he says. “I need to go back and visit the monasteries and get closer to the action.”

Whether he’ll write that story for the Times, or in the memoir he is contemplating, remains to be seen. Deep down, Jake says he’s yearning to try his hand at long-form journalism, writing a first-person account of his experiences in China. That would include his experiences teaching English to Chinese teens and working in Tibet. His commentary on Tibet would look beyond the uprising and the repressive policies of the China government.

Samuel S. Talbot Speaker Dr. Cheryl Sandford Jenkins Dr. Cheryl Sandford Jenkins, along with her husband, Dr. Jeff Jenkins, visited Milton on February 13 as the Samuel S. Talbot Speaker. A psychologist specializing in adolescence, Dr. Jenkins has 30 years of experience counseling independent school students in boarding and day schools. Dr. Jenkins has been the principal investigator of the Independent School Gender Project, a project conceived by Ellie Griffin, Milton’s director of health and counseling services.

The project’s goal is to address equity issues for men and women, and boys and girls, in independent schools.

David McKay Wilson

Licensed as a psychologist in New Mexico, Dr. Jenkins became director of counseling at Albuquerque Academy. After 15 years in the Southwest, she returned to New England and served as director of counseling at the Loomis-Chaffee School before taking her present position as director of counseling at St. George’s School in Rhode Island.

Class of 1952 Endowment for Religious Understanding Speaker Dr. Karen L. King

The Pulitzer may just provide the ticket to a book contract.

“I’d be writing in first-person, so the reader would have a trustworthy guide,” says Jake. “I’d be more comfortable writing from my subjective experience, rather than in the authoritative voice of daily journalism. I would be looking for a different level of meaning.”

The Project has gathered survey data from students and faculty in independent schools across the United States and Canada.

During her visit, Dr. Jenkins shared the results of the survey with the Milton community. She has presented these results, over the years, at national conferences such as the National Association of Independent Schools, the Association of Boarding Schools, and the Hotchkiss Conference on Women and Girls.

Dr. Cheryl Sandford Jenkins

According to the Human Development Institute, “the mission of the Independent School Gender Project was established in 1997 to ‘create a framework of research, assessment, and strategies for change through which schools can address gender-based practices and attitudes affecting girls and women in order to promote whole and healthy environments for both females and males in our schools.’”

Dr. Karen L. King, Winn Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Harvard University in the Divinity School, spoke with students on February 27 as the Class of 1952 Endowment for Religious Understanding Speaker. The title of Dr. King’s talk was “What Else Didn’t We Know? Ancient Gospels from the Egyptian Desert,” and it explored how we approach historical texts, in our research and in our interpretation.

In talking with students, Dr. King explained, “History does not just exist; it is interpreted, and often injected with our own preconceived ideas. History is much more complicated than the stories can tell. If we reject this kind of complexity, we lose the

Keyes Seminar Day Stimulating ideas and conversations poetry, including The Seven Ages; Vita Nova, winner of The New Yorker magazine’s Book Award in Poetry; Meadowlands; The Wild Iris, which received the Pulitzer Prize and the Poetry Society of America’s William Carlos Williams Award; Ararat, for which she received the Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry; and The Triumph of Achilles, which received the National Book Critics Circle Award.

Dr. Karen L. King

ability to know a fuller version of history that we can think about, research and consider going forward.”

Dr. King’s research interests within the history of Christianity include women’s studies, orthodoxy and heresy, and the Nag Hammadi texts. She has written books on the Gospel of Mary and the Gospel of Judas (with Elaine Pagels), which are texts within the Gnostic canon. Her current interests focus on the diversity of early Christianity; women and gender in early Christian life; and how violence, martyrdom and suffering shaped Christian theology and practice.

She has also published a collection of essays, Proofs and Theories: Essays on Poetry, which won the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for Nonfiction. Ms. Glück ’s tenth book of poetry, Averno, was nominated for the National Book Award in 2006 and was listed by the New York Times Book Review as one of the 100 Notable Books of the Year. Her honors also include the Bollingen Prize in Poetry, the Lannan Literary Award for Poetry, and fellowships from the Guggenheim and Rockefeller foundations, and from the National Endowment for the Arts. In September 2003, Ms. Glück was appointed United States Poet Laureate by the Librarian of Congress. She is a writer-in-residence at Yale University.

A former student of Dr. King, Milton Chaplain Suzanne DeBuhr describes her as “a brilliant scholar and educator who takes an inquisitive approach, encouraging us to read what is written but also to look for what is not being expressed in a particular text.”

Bingham Visiting Reader Louise Glück Award-winning author Louise Glück was on campus March 12 as part of the Bingham Visiting Writers Series. Louise is the author of numerous books of

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eyes Seminar Day—a lively day of information and discussion—has been one of Milton’s most important traditions since 1977. Recently renamed, it honors its founder, faculty emeritus Peter Keyes, a legendary promoter of student interest in political process as well as public and governmental affairs and service. In the Milton spirit of developing students’ confidence and competence to live by our motto, “Dare to be true,” Seminar Day brings to campus individuals who have made compelling choices. Our guests during Seminar Day are scholars, business people, scientists, educators, writers, political leaders and artists making a difference in the world. More than 20 speakers were on campus on April 30, including many Milton Academy graduates; these men and women are experts and activists on a wide range of publicly debated United States and international issues.

Dr. Graham Allison, author of the book Nuclear Terrorism: The Ultimate Preventable Catastrophe, was this year’s keynote speaker, leading off the day. Dr. Allison directs the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. He has served as special advisor to the secretary of defense under President Reagan and as assistant secretary of defense for policy and plans under President Clinton. Dr. Allison has twice been awarded the Department of Defense’s highest civilian award, the Distinguished Public Service Medal. Nuclear Terrorism: The Ultimate Preventable Catastrophe, published in 2004, is now in its third printing and was selected by the New York Times as one of the “100 most notable books of 2004.”

Dr. Graham Allison, keynote speaker at Keyes Seminar Day, 2008

Other speakers engaged with students throughout the day included health-care policy experts; social entrepreneurs working on issues such as educational reform, sustainable agriculture, or malaria prevention; environmental activists; filmmakers; journalists; political activists and shapers of public policy; and a graduate promoting social change in and through sports, who was a member of the U.S. National Soccer Team and a member of the U.S. Olympic Team in the 1996 and 2004 Paralympic Games.

During each time block students choose from among many presenters. Exchanges that occur on Seminar Day stimulate ideas and conversations over weeks to come. Seminar Day is held every other year and alternates with Community Service Day— another occasion that encourages students to think beyond their immediate community and concern themselves with the complexity and opportunity afforded by the world.

Louise Glück Milton Magazine

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2008 Keyes Seminar Day Presenters Dan Wasserman, P’11 and ’12 Political Cartoons in an Election Year Mr. Wasserman is a political cartoonist for the Boston Globe.

He is syndicated in 40 papers across the world and is the author of two books, We’ve Been Framed and Paper Cuts.

Paula Johnson Does Your Gender Matter? The first woman in the history of Brigham and Women’s Hospital to be chosen as chief medical resident, Dr. Johnson is a women’s health specialist and a pioneer in the treatment and prevention of cardiovascular disease.

She conceived of and developed one of the first facilities in the country to focus on heart disease in women.

John E. McDonough Ten Things Everyone Should Know about Health Care Policy Dr. McDonough is the executive director of Health Care for All, Massachusetts’ leading consumer health advocacy organization, and a teacher at the Harvard School of Public Health.

From 1985 to 1997, he served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives where he cochaired the Joint Committee on Health Care.

Rachad Itani Oil Cube, Ice Cube: CO2 reductions CEO of Balderrie Enterprises, Inc., and executive partner and CEO of Xenel-Balderrie, Mr. Itani’s company was the first private Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in the countries of the Middle East. He has also co-authored a bill for an emissions reduction system based on the Upstream Carbon Offset model, a better alternative to the cap-and-trade system being considered by the U.S. Senate.

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Galt Niederhoffer ’93 Film and Fiction in 2008: Conflicts and Convergence Ms. Niederhoffer is the producer and director of the films Prozac Nation (2001) and Grace Is Gone (2006), and author of the novel A Taxonomy of Barnacles.

Jim Peyser P’10 ’14 Closing the Achievement Gap: America’s Greatest Social and Economic Challenge Mr. Peyser is a partner in NewSchools Venture Fund, which works to transform public education, particularly for lowincome and minority children in historically underserved urban communities.

Jacqueline Bhabha P’02 ’06 Addressing Trafficking in Humans: The Human Rights Dilemma Professor Bhabha is the Jeremiah Smith Jr. Lecturer in Law at Harvard Law School and the executive director of the Harvard University Committee on Human Rights Studies. She was previously a practicing human rights lawyer in London and at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

Her writings on issues of migration and asylum in Europe and the United States include a coauthored book, Women’s Movement: Women Under Immigration, Nationality and Refugee Law. David Stowlow Education Reform and the Rise of Out of School Time Mr. Stowlow is the director of strategic development at Citizen Schools, a leading national education initiative that uniquely mobilizes hundreds of staff and thousands of adult volunteers to help improve student achievement by teaching skill-building apprenticeships after school.

Kerry Healey P’11 ’13 Moving Beyond Rhetoric to Authentic Political Change Mrs. Healey served as lieutenant governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts from 2003 to

2007. She assumed a broad range of responsibilities in the Romney-Healey administration, including leading the administration’s successful efforts to strengthen drunken driving penalties and establish witness protection and gang violence prevention programs. Mrs. Healey also served as a senior advisor for governor Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign.

William Janeway ’81 P’12 Combating Climate Change Mr. Janeway was the recipient of the 2006 Advocate Award from Environmental Advocates of New York. He is the director of government relations for The Nature Conservancy.

Robert Greene Diversity and Racism in Schools Director of admissions at Beacon Academy, Mr. Greene helped begin the school after more than 12 years’ experience in private school education, having taught middle and high school mathematics at The Fessenden School, The Winsor School, and The Steppingstone Foundation.

Dan Rea Politics, Talk Radio and Journalism Mr. Rea is a talk radio host on WBZ 1030 AM. Many of Mr. Rea’s assignments have involved political coverage, including all of the presidential elections from 1976 to 2000.

He has traveled to Europe on ten occasions to cover stories affecting New Englanders, including four trips to West Germany where he covered the return of Americans who were injured or held hostage in the Middle East. Mr. Rea has won a New England Emmy Award and also received the 1987 United Press International Award for outstanding news reporting.

Theo Spencer ’84 The Work of the Natural Resources Defense Council Mr. Spencer is a senior project manager with the Natural Resources Defense Council working on global climate change issues. He has extensive experience as a journalist, working previously as a reporter with Fortune magazine, New York Newsday, the Albuquerque Tribune and the Stamford Advocate. He has written numerous freelance articles for national publications such as the New York Times Magazine, New York Magazine and Art Forum.

Elise Forbes Tripp ’60 Iraq War Soldiers’ Stories Ms. Trippe is a professor at Holyoke Community College and the author of Surviving Iraq: Soldiers’ Stories (2007). She earned her Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and was an international relations counselor for UN affairs at the World Bank.

Nick Morton ’02 Iraq War Soldiers’ Stories Mr. Morton is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, serving as a sergeant in the U.S. Army, and a contributor to Elise Forbes Trippe’s book, Surviving Iraq: Soldiers’ Stories (2007).

Caroline Sabin ’86 Teach for America Program Ms. Sabin was a charter member of Teach for America; she taught English for three years at an urban high school in Pasadena, California.

She now teaches English at Milton Academy.

Jesse Robinson ’94 Teach for America Program Ms. Robinson started her teaching career through Teach for America in a middle school in the Bronx. She later taught in charter schools in San Jose and Boston and is working to become a principal at an urban school.

Elected in April Two new trustees join the board Emma Clippinger ’04 A New Kind of Student Activism: Lessons in Social Entrepreneurship from Rwanda Ms. Clippinger is the founder of Gardens for Health International. GHI is partnered with the Rwandese Network for People Living with HIV/AIDS (RRP+). Established in 2003, the RRP+ coordinates the activities of Rwanda’s nearly 1,000 community groups of HIV+ individuals. GHI works with the RRP+ to mobilize associations of HIV+ individuals around enhanced nutrition through sustainable agriculture training and nutrition education.

Eli Wolff ’95 Disability in Sports Mr. Wolff is the manager of research and advocacy at the Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University and works to support and enhance student and faculty research and advocacy initiatives at local, national and international levels. He has encouraged the application of the scholaractivist methodology with respect to sport and social issues; he was also a member of the U.S. National Soccer Team from 1995 to 2004, and a member of the U.S. Olympic Team in the 1996 and 2004 Paralympic Games.

Ian Cheney ’98 King Corn and The Greening of Southie After graduating from Yale University, Mr. Cheney—along with his best friend from college—moved to the corn fields of Iowa, and with the help of friendly neighbors, genetically modified seeds, and powerful herbicides, planted and grew a bumper crop of America’s most-productive, most-subsidized grain. This experience led to his co-directing the acclaimed documentary King Corn. More recently, he directed The Greening

of Southie, a documentary about the construction of the first “green” residential building, the Macallan, in South Boston.

Robert Radtke ’82 Malaria Prevention at the End of the Road Dr. Radtke is the president of Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD), an organization that responds to human suffering around the world, providing emergency assistance after disasters, rebuilding communities, and helping children and families climb out of poverty.

Arnold Saltzman GP’09 Did We Win or Lose the Cold War? Perspectives from a Former Ambassador Mr. Saltzman served the United States under five presidents in a wide range of policy-level diplomatic and economic assignments in Eastern Europe, Latin America and within the United States. He also served as a naval officer in World War II. He was recently awarded the Order of Honor from the Republic of Georgia and has received a Presidential Commendation for his efforts on the International Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

Patrick Cook-Deegan Burma: What You Can Do? Mr. CookDeegan was an All-American lacrosse player at Brown University and has traveled and cycled through New Zealand, Australia, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. He founded the Cycle for Schools project and is working with a grassroots advocacy organization called the U.S. Campaign for Burma, a group that promotes freedom, democracy, and human rights in the country.

Erika Mobley ’86

V-Nee Yeh ’77

Erika Mobley ’86 was elected as a member of the Board of Trustees in April 2008. Active in global business development at Apple, Inc., Erika recently moved back to California from Australia, having just completed an international assignment as senior product marketing manager, iTunes for Australia and New Zealand. In her work with Apple, RealNetworks, Amazon.com and Palm, Erika has had extensive experience in legal matters, global business strategy and deal-making, international law, global product marketing, strategic branding, anti-piracy and copyright law enforcement in the music industry, from the traditional through the digital era.

V-Nee Yeh ’77, one of the first students to enroll at Milton from Hong Kong, was elected to the Board of Trustees in April 2008. V-Nee is the founder and director of Cheetah Investment Management Limited. Cheetah is a Hong Kong–based investment advisory firm that specializes in absolute return strategies and hedge funds. With extensive experience in corporate finance—including roles with the Lazard Group in London, Hong Kong and New York— V-Nee has held positions on the Listing Committee of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited and on China’s CSRC Listing Committee. According to Cheetah’s Web site, V-Nee is a “pioneer in applying value investing in Asia, having been a co-founder of one of the largest value fund managers in Hong Kong.”

Erika is a graduate of Yale University and Georgetown University Law Center. A member of Milton’s Head of School Council, Erika has also served as a class agent and a reunion committee member, and has faithfully attended many San Francisco Milton events.

She lives with her husband, Andrew Speight, and their children, Colin and Avery, in Brisbane, California.

V-Nee is a graduate of Williams College and Columbia University’s School of Law. He is an active volunteer for Milton’s admissions efforts in Hong Kong and in 2007 established the Yeh Family Scholarship Fund, which assists students from Greater China. He and his wife, Mira, have one daughter, Nadya.

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“Can we question the culture of distraction?”

Maggie Jackson ’78, author and journalist, talks with faculty about reinvigorating the ability to pay attention

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During an interactive workshop, Maggie and the faculty tested ideas for strengthening student’s attention skills in classroombased activities. These included “speaking the language of attention—putting the idea on the table”; waiting for students to think before answering; honoring the skill and habit of listening; and figuring out what the white space is for different kinds of learners.

aggie Jackson ’78 has written about our “distractionplagued, split-focus” culture.

Not only does this culture define adults’ lives, it affects every aspect of child development, including their experience of learning, in and out of the classroom. Milton faculty begin each school year by exploring a timely issue integral to teaching and learning. On September 4, they talked with Maggie about her book, Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age. Distracted was published in June and has been featured on National Public Radio, in the New York Times, BusinessWeek, Vanity Fair, the London Sunday Times, and in publications around the world. It was chosen as a best summer book of 2008 by the Seattle Post Intelligencer.

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After Milton, Maggie graduated from Yale and the London School of Economics. She is an awardwinning author and columnist who writes the “Balancing Acts” column in the Boston Sunday Globe. She now lives in New York, with her husband and her two daughters.

Our connected culture may be undermining our ability to pay sustained attention to anything: work, play, building relationships, raising children. Maggie notes that the erosion of our ability to focus and to think deeply will have a larger impact than we may imagine, for adults and for the children who have never known another cultural modality.

Building the skills related to paying attention are crucial developmental steps leading to personal, academic and ultimately professional fulfillment.

Attention is not a single activity but a complicated network of interdependent activities. According to Maggie, “Researchers are finding that attention is crucial to a host of other, sometimes surprising,

life skills: the ability to sort through conflicting evidence, to connect more deeply with other people, and even to develop a conscience.

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“We do not have to settle for confusion and disconnection,” Maggie convinced the faculty.

She advocated for strategies to “change the climate of distraction,” and techniques to “purposefully strengthen the personal skill of attention.”

A number of corporations that depend upon the production of new ideas have already taken steps to change the climate. They have created “white space”—both a place and uninterrupted time for thinking, brainstorming, testing and learning. Several schools have seen the need to adopt this plan. Families can structure the pockets of white space time and place into family life, as well.

Photo: Karen Smul

Maggie’s argument, bolstered both by recent research as well as philosophical and historical analysis, is that the split-focus, plugged-in, multiprocessing life—where we must “layer the moment” or we don’t feel successful or productive—can be linked to a decline in the ability to focus. The very communication technologies that inform us and connect us all in virtual space also distract us, and fragment our efforts. More than 60 percent of students multitask while doing their homework, not with one but with multiple communication tools. The average “knowledge worker” today switches continually among tasks, every three minutes on average—and it takes 25 minutes to cycle back to what you were doing when you shifted gears. “Scattered and diffused people are not creative people,” Maggie asserts. “We risk becoming a society of black-and-white thinkers, unable to deal with nuance, stuck on the surface of information.”

“Fundamentally,” Maggie says, “help build a meta-cognitive awareness of your mind. We can question our culture of distraction. Giving attention is honoring what is worthy of a given moment.”

Maggie Jackson ’78

Alumni Authors Recently published works Broken bottles replaced open dialogue, sharp knives from the kitchens trumped face-to-face conversations between white and black colleagues as the civil rights movement was played out in the United States Navy.

Black Sailor, White Navy John Sherwood ’85 Black Power. White Racism.

Confrontation. On our Navy ships. “I want it now.” A sense of urgency. The demand to make the promises of 1776 a reality for all Americans, especially black Americans. The energy of the 1960s and the civil rights movement. All appear on the pages of John Sherwood’s book Black Sailor, White Navy. Substitute Admiral Zumwalt for Bobby Kennedy, Adolf Newmann for Bull Conner, Craig Atkinson for Stokely Carmichael, and you have another chapter of black Americans’ push for equality and freedom in the land of the Declaration of Independence.

However, instead of the streets of Selma and the churches of Montgomery, this struggle for human rights is played out on the decks of the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. A different gesture of respect, the Black Power salute was repeatedly given there, challenging the traditional, Protestant, white naval culture that had existed for decades.

One of the most hierarchical institutions in American life, the U.S. Navy had a history of elitism and paternalism. It was one of the last places in American life comfortable with the language of democracy and shared power. Sherwood writes, “The history of African Americans in the U.S. Navy can be traced all the way back to the nation’s colonial roots. Black seamen often served on Royal Navy ships and privateers well before the onset of the war for Independence...

But African Americans joined the fledgling American cause...

Whatever the case, black sailors fought not only in the Continental Navy but also in the eleven state navies and privateer forces...” (p. 1)

Despite their contributions to the cause of American independence, Negroes and Mulattos were banned from the service in 1798. I am reminded of the writer James Baldwin’s insight that history constantly moves us and ultimately sits there, staring at us in our present lives.

Sherwood’s central argument in his thoroughly researched book reminds the reader of Baldwin’s view of history. He argues that in 1972—almost 200 years after their documented contributions to American freedom—black sailors were still struggling to be recognized as fully developed, thinking human beings.

They could just as easily have quoted Thomas Paine as Martin Luther King when they were speaking to their superior white officers about the dignity and sacred essence of all mankind.

Because using King’s approach was often ignored, Sherwood argues, they began to appeal to the rhetoric of Malcolm X and implement the tactics of Stokely Carmichael as they desperately tried to be heard on several floating ships headed for Vietnam.

Sherwood does not end his book in despair. Thirty years after the well-known and documented incident on Kitty Hawk, Sherwood writes, “thanks to efforts begun by Admiral Zumwalt, institutional racism does not plague the service in the same way it did in 1970.

Minorities and women may still have a less favorable impression of the service than male Caucasians, but these groups no longer feel that the system is aligned against them. A 2005 survey revealed that two-thirds of officers and half of enlisted forces are personally committed to diversity or actively support it. That is a ‘sea change’ of tremendous proportions from the 1970s, when groups of white and black sailors squared off against one another to engage in violence fueled by institutional racism and a climate of fear and despair.” (p. 269) Not a revolution, maybe, but enough change to make one believe that a few courageous men, led by one Admiral Zumwalt, and many black sailors, with fewer titles and less privilege, were able to resist the forces of power and history to make significant progress for freedom. This book will have a central place in my African American history course this fall, and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to expand their understanding and appreciation of the civil rights movement.

Mark Hilgendorf History Department

U.S. vs. Them: How a Half Century of Conservatism Has Undermined America’s Security Peter Scoblic ’92 The post-Iraq invasion debates on the war have made much of the neoconservative movement and its impact on the Bush administration’s decision to go to war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In his new book, U.S. vs.

Them: How a Half Century of Conservatism Has Undermined America’s Security, J. Peter Scoblic, Class of 1992, dismisses this assertion and makes the case that George W. Bush is the descendent of traditional Cold War conservatism.

Peter Scoblic starts by presenting the reader with the “mystery” of the Bush administration post 9/11, “[Why] was the administration inclined toward unilateralism, militarism, and deceit? That was the mystery—a mystery made infinitely more puzzling by the fact that, on more than one occasion, the administration behaved in precisely the opposite fashion.” Peter defines conservatism in foreign policy as “a distinct attitude in which the world is conceived in terms of ‘us versus them’ or ‘good versus evil,’ with the United States assuming the role of ‘a righteous protagonist facing a monolithic enemy.’”

The first half of Peter’s book offers a very concise and detailed analysis of the conservative movement starting in the 1950s and culminating in Ronald Reagan’s election in 1980, which the author argues, is actually the culmination of the 1964 Barry Goldwater election. Peter frames part one of the book with the career of William F. Buckley, Jr. and his National Review magaMilton Magazine

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zine, which the author credits with turning the fanatical anticommunism of the post-WWII conservatives into a national movement that led to the nomination of Barry Goldwater for president by the Republican Party, thus making conservatism part of mainstream political thought.

Peter Scoblic makes a convincing argument that conservatism has undermined the security of the United States. John Lewis Gaddis, in his 1997 book We Now Know: Rethinking Cold War History, analyzes the central paradox faced by then President Eisenhower and the conservatives’ demand for a bigger nuclear arsenal. Upon coming to office, Eisenhower stated to his advisors, “Modern warfare imposes its own limitations.

What do you do with the world after you have won a victory in such a catastrophic nuclear war?”

Yet political pressure demanded that the United States and the USSR engage in a massive arms race for the next four decades.

Gaddis argues that the Cold War should have ended in the beginning of the 1960s, but as Peter Scoblic expertly argues, the fanatical anti-communism of the conservative movement in the United States prevented any movement toward ending the Cold War until Reagan betrayed the conservative movement in the late 1980s and engaged the “evil empire.”

Peter’s analysis of the legacy of a half-century of conservatism has been supported by recent developments in North Korea and the Middle East. George W. Bush came to office in 2000 rejecting the Clinton administration’s policy of negotiation and dialogue with the Kim Jung Il government in Pyongyang over the PDRK’s quest for nuclear weapons. Peter

describes the Bush policy toward North Korea as “Anything but Clinton.” George W. Bush’s foreign policy of strict “moral absolutism” has failed in the realm of nuclear nonproliferation. “[M] idway through Bush’s second term, North Korea was processing plutonium; Iran was enriching uranium; India was eagerly awaiting an infusion of nuclear technology that could spur the proliferation in South Asia; and A.Q. Khan was resting quietly under house arrest far from inconvienent questions. Which is not to say that the Bush administration had no success in halting proliferation.” Peter argues that the Bush administration, like the Reagan administration, has been successful only when it abandons the “moral absolutism” of the conservative ideology and engages in diplomacy and multilateral negotiations.

This year’s keynote speaker to the Milton community on Seminar Day was Graham Allison, a founding dean of Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. In his latest book, Nuclear Terrorism: The Ultimate Preventable Catastrophe, Dr. Allison supports Peter Scoblic’s analysis of the very real threat posed to the United States by the proliferation of nuclear technology and material since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The true danger of conservatism, as Peter presents it in his book, is the fact that “[c]onservatism, unfortunately, is not an ideology of leadership; it is an ideology of dominance or isolation.”

Peter’s analysis of the Cold War and the transformation of conservatism from a disorganized intellectual movement into a mainstream movement in American politics is very strong, although his argument that the present administration and the 2003 invasion of Iraq in

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particular are the results of policies created by “standard-issue conservatives” such as “Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and John Bolton” is problematic.

Scoblic dismisses the arguments put forth by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt in their book The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy and Kevin Phillips’ book American Theocracy: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century. Both books argue that the neoconservative movement, through their think tanks in Washington, D.C. (the American Enterprise Insitute and the Project for the New American Century), have been calling for a reassertion of American military dominance in the Middle East since the beginning of the Clinton administration.

According to Chalmers Johnson (author of Blowback, The Sorrows of Empire and Nemisis), in 1992 Defense Secretary Dick Cheney asked a young Paul Wolfowitz to write a report on how the United States should capitalize on the collapse of the USSR. In a March 8, 1992, New York Times article entitled “U.S. Strategy Plan Calls for Insuring No Rivals Develop,” this plan for a unipolar world dominated by an imperial United States is a radical departure from the rabid anti-communism of the Cold War conservative movement. The events of 9/11 provided the opportunity for the neoconservatives to implement a radical policy of empire building and regime change on a global scale that had previously not been considered by “standardissue conservatives.”

Joshua Emmott History Department

Surviving Iraq: Soldiers’ Stories

The Cure for Grief

Elise Forbes Trippe ’60

The story of Nellie Hermann’s debut novel The Cure For Grief will be familiar to many in the Milton community. In the course of the novel, teenager Ruby Bronstein faces the unthinkable tragedies of the death of her father, and, one year later, her brother—events drawn from Nellie’s own experience of losing her father, Akiba, and a year later, her brother, Ben ’91.

Described by one reviewer as a “stunning debut…a gorgeously readable meditation on mourning and survival,” the book is both tragic and full of hope, the story of a young girl as she struggles with adolescence and works to find an uneasy peace with her father’s Holocaust experience and her own family’s tragic events.

In Surviving Iraq: Soldiers’ Stories, Elise Forbes Trippe ’60 brings to light the realities of war and the specifics of Operation Iraqi Freedom as seen from the front line. Her book is a compilation of 30 stories, firsthand accounts from military veterans of diverse backgrounds, ethnicities, ages, and political persuasions, as told in their own words. We meet Andrew McConnell, a master sergeant in the army, deployed at age 34; Andre M. M. Queiroga, a corporal in the marine corps, deployed at age 20; Tanya M. Karst, a petty officer second class in the navy, deployed at age 22; and Russell W. Anderson, Jr., a first sergeant in the army reserve, deployed at age 53. Each story speaks to locations, emotions, experiences, fears and surprises.

Elise writes, “Oral history has a cadence that is different from written history. When veterans write their stories they are in command of presentation and language and select their topics with some care. Oral history as I recorded it (without an outline) was extemporaneous—veterans created many of their stories as they talked. In their narratives they shifted in mood and style from clever and funny to thoughtful and candid to philosophical and alienated.

They brought up what was most basic: loss, fear, frustration, hope, relief, friendship and family.” The men and women Elise interviewed were from all over the United States—California, Kentucky, New York and the District of Columbia—and others were naturalized citizens from Puerto Rico, Jamaica and Portugal. Because their stories were recorded just as they were

Nellie Hermann ’96

told, the reader can hear the different accents native to each hometown, recognizable through colloquialisms. Elise provides a clear picture of just who is fighting the war in Iraq.

Elise is a graduate of Harvard University and has a Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

While a former international relations counselor for UN affairs at the World Bank, she admits to having a “civilian’s view of the war” and being “unfamiliar with many aspects of the modern U.S. military.” “My lack of military background…had the unintended benefit of having veterans explain to me the paraphernalia of war as they spoke,” she says, “which in turn makes their stories more accessible to the general reader.”

While the details of each soldier’s story is different, the commonality Elise points out becomes evident in learning each man’s and woman’s tale: “Veterans confirmed that no one comes out of war unscathed, unchanged, untouched, unthinking.”

Andrew Carroll, editor of the New York Times bestsellers War Letters and Behind the Lines, says of Surviving Iraq, “[These] extraordinary stories and opinions range from the profound and the patriotic to the humorous and the heartbreaking. Dr. Trippe has done a masterful job of finding a diverse and thoughtful group of individuals and weaving their oral histories together in a way that makes them, individually and collectively, unforgettable.”

Elise returned to Milton on April 30, 2008, as a speaker for Seminar Day. Accompanying her during her presentation was Nick Morton ’02, a former sergeant in the army reserve and a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom—also one of the 30 men and women represented in Surviving Iraq. Elise spoke with students, faculty and staff about her experiences in writing this book, and Nick shared his own experiences of the war in Iraq.

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Released in August, the novel is now attracting national attention, with great reviews in Kirkus and Time. I spoke with Nellie by phone from her mother’s home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on the day Amazon.com began shipping the book.

Will Rizzo: When did you start the book?

Nellie Hermann: Officially, the summer after my first year at Columbia’s MFA writing program. Several parts were originally short stories that I wrote years ago and revised. Without fully realizing it, I began this book a long time before the “official” start. I always knew I was going to write it, but I wasn’t sure what it would look like.

WR: Was it something else first?

NH: It was a group of scenes and preoccupations that recurred frequently. Then a teacher at Columbia, Nathan Englander (The Ministry of Special Cases)

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to Maine and finds that their recently sold summer home has been torn down and replaced by a McMansion. Was writing the novel a reaction to the experience of loss, trying to create something permanent in a changing landscape?

was talking about a short story I wrote and said, “You know, I feel that your stories always have these damaged men on the side.” [laughs] “He’s right,” I thought, “I always write the same thing.”

At that point I realized I couldn’t get around it anymore. I had to write this book.

WR: Did you consider writing the story as a memoir?

NH: That didn’t feel right. I had to tell the story in the third person, to fictionalize it. A writer friend who read the novel in its first form said publishing it and making money would be easier if it were a memoir. But fiction can make something that happened to one person universal. I wanted people to be able to read and interpret and relate to the book however they chose. I wanted it to be larger than a memoir, more than just a story of my family.

WR: Were you worried that fictionalizing this story would change your memory of your father and brother?

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NH: Now that it’s written, I can keep in my mind both the way it really happened to me and how I wrote the story. I can picture Ruby’s experience as well as my own. Putting those memories down, even some of the more painful scenes, has been a big relief. I’ve put the memories in a different place, given them over to other people. That has freed up the place inside me where they were festering. Dealing with the memories in a contained way has made the rest of my life happier. My relationship to the past has changed, but only in a good way. I have actually preserved some of those moments, in a way that won’t disappear.

WR: The book begins and ends with scenes in which landmarks important for the family are either gone or changed beyond recognition. In the beginning, the family goes to the Czechoslovakia concentration camp, where the father was held, but finds it’s an army barracks. The soldiers don’t know the building’s history. Then at the end of the book, Ruby goes

NH: I hadn’t thought about that, but it could be true. One bonus of this writing experience is hearing different interpretations of the story. The Kirkus reviewer wrote that the tragedies were enacted on Ruby so she could understand her father’s experience in the Holocaust. I didn’t intend that, but I think it is another interesting reading of the book. It’s cool that people can point these things out to me.

Writing this book was a project about memory, whether or not remembering things brings them back enough for you to be satisfied. If your landmarks are gone and people are gone, is memory enough? That’s sort of Ruby’s central struggle in the book.

WR: How long did it take to find a publisher?

NH: Once I got an agent—the harder part, which took over a year (although I did revise the book during that period)—I had a publisher in only three months.

WR: Is it weird, now that the book has been published, that these characters—so close to those in your own story—are alive in the world and discussed in places like Time?

NH: Yes! Seeing the book’s summary in reviews, basically the summary of my life, is definitely weird. I’ve talked about the book mostly with people who know my family. Realizing that people whose lives Ben and my dad really affected have read it, and get it, is a beautiful thing.

Last month I got a call from

someone who knew Ben in college. My book brought him to call me and to tell me that Ben had taught him to play guitar and that he thought Ben was a genius. When I first heard that the book had sold, I was ecstatic for about an hour and then dissolved into tears... [laughs] I said to my mom, “This story will become just another book sitting on a shelf and it won’t matter.”

After the call from Ben’s friend, my mom reminded me of our conversation and said, “Look what’s happened already; you’ve brought a tiny piece of Ben back to you.” Even though the act of writing the book doesn’t change the fact that my dad and Ben are gone, there’s something that’s so wonderful about bringing them back in this tiny way.

WR: The title is The Cure For Grief. Was writing this book that for you?

NH: Yes. The story of the title is a pretty good one. My first title was “Robot, Now Fly.” [laughs] My publisher said, “That’s not going to work,” but no one could agree on another. Then my editor did a Google search and found that, in ancient times, rubies were thought to cure grief. The coincidence was amazing. So she suggested The Cure For Grief, which I thought was perfect. Writing this has helped me immeasurably. There really isn’t a cure for grief, but writing of this nature has real value. It brings up topics that people have a hard time talking about with each other, but the need to process what is happening to people is human nature. For some, writing fiction, or even writing privately, is easier than talking, and is the best we can do.

Will Rizzo ’91 is a freelance writer based in Livingston, Montana.

The Majesty of Your Loving Olivia Ames Hoblitzelle ’55 Patience, generosity, discipline, diligence, contemplation, and wisdom: the six perfections in Buddhist teaching are the cornerstones of Olivia Ames Hoblitzelle’s book, and of her life with her husband, Hob, as they lived through the last chapter of his life, and their life together. Reading Olivia’s book, I shared in the sadness, frustration, anger, humor, joy, patience and impatience, and celebration of being the spouse of someone with a life-threatening illness.

Olivia writes about the challenges of Alzheimer’s, but this book speaks honestly and optimistically, to the daily process of caring for and loving a person with a challenging illness.

Faced with a serious illness, most of us wonder how we will cope with the challenges. Will we be strong enough? Can we be courageous enough? Will we be able to face death when it comes?

How will we cope with the weakness and debilitation? How will we help those we love both care for us and let go of us when the time comes, and how will we who remain endure the sadness and loss?

“The psychic toll was the heaviest,” says Olivia. “I needed to be aware—immensely aware—all the time. I lived on the edge of the moment, always awaiting the next step.” Olivia shares the most personal, demanding, sad and triumphant journey of her life with her husband, Hob. Hob was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in his early seventies. Olivia says, “The compelling question is: How do we accept the process of aging, diminishment and loss? In the case of dementia, how do we find meaning amidst what appears to be a ruthless and

meaningless process? Is it possible to find something redeeming while living with a heartbreaking illness? Hob and I lived tenderly with these questions. The Majesty of Your Loving shares some of the ways we found peace with them.”

Olivia and Hob discovered there are only the questions, and few answers. Little by little, we learn that the best place to be is in the present, as our worst fears usually come from living in the uncertainty of the future. For Olivia and Hob, years of training in the Buddhist tradition allowed them to keep coming back to the breath and the blessings in the present moment. “Yes, there was grace even in the midst of this disease.” In the times when it all became too much, Olivia learned that our human need to rail, scream and vent are as holy as our moments of quiet, reflection and generosity. Allowing herself to experience the full range of emotions allowed her to regain the courage she needed to go on.

Each moment has its challenges, and many moments are excruciatingly painful, but the blessing of our brain’s ability to cope with

emotional pain is that it seems to limit the amount of time we are able to experience that emotional pain. And then, we learn patience.

Generosity. Generosity—to ourselves and others—is demanded of us daily: The generosity of time spent, just being with the one who needs us. The generosity of spirit that helps us to be whatever we need to be in that moment. The generosity of forgiveness and understanding, when the one we love is unable to be generous toward us.

“Taking care of him will become a meditation for you, a practice…

It may not be visible to others, but our helping each other is a merit-making process… Maybe hardship will be involved, but then you cultivate patience.”

These were the words of wisdom given to Olivia by a Tibetan Buddhist monk.

Discipline. Getting up each morning and facing the day requires discipline. Some days, the fatigue of caretaking is overwhelming. In finding the discipline to just get up and do

it, a sense of control returns.

Inertia, getting stuck in the feelings, hampers us and keeps us from taking charge of what we can and deciding which things are best let go. In either case, we have a choice, and choice helps us cope. Olivia shares, “I gradually learned coping mechanisms that worked for me; finding time to be alone, taking a walk, working out vigorously, or talking with friends. Finally, there was roaring. Several times I walked out of the house with such a build-up of intensity that my ultimate refuge was the car. There I could release all my volcanic feelings by roaring—repetitive roaring, the roars of a caged wild animal. I roared until the rage was spent and copious tears spilled over. Then there was the other extreme—a totally different response to the same triggers. As I gained insight into the dynamics of my anger, whenever I felt that first flash, I would move in a counterintuitive direction. I could feel the moment of inner shift. There was a split-second pause, with its delicate balance point. I would sink deep into the next breath and choose to expand instead of contract. Choose softness instead of hardness. I would move towards Hob, sometimes in silence, other times saying, ‘I need a hug.’”

Diligence. New hurdles present themselves every day; the problems have to be solved; life has to go on. The mundane chores of daily life—laundry, groceries, cooking, cleaning, working, child-care, errands, appointments—have to be done.

Attending to these details is both challenging and comforting. When everything else in life feels beyond our control, the meditative experience of washing dishes and cleaning the kitchen can bring back a sense of peace and control. We cannot restore the health of our loved one, but Milton Magazine

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we can restore calm and peace to the environment in which we’re living. Fresh flowers on the kitchen counter every week can be a reminder of beauty, and a calming focus amid chaos. Olivia notes, “Sometimes I wondered how it was possible to feel, even in the midst of difficult circumstances, that at some level all was well. The emphasis here is on the word level. The wisdom traditions speak about the relative and absolute levels of reality. Relative reality is the world as we know it—conditioned, governed by duality—whereas absolute reality is unconditioned, beyond duality, free. We can have glimpses of that level even in the presence of death.”

Contemplation. “This situation with Hob is teaching you how to die,” a teacher advised Olivia at a meditation retreat. “Everything’s falling apart. You need to feel it, all of it—your frustration, your anger, your grief, whatever—and experience your full humanness.

Accept that the old securities are collapsing. It’s all going, and it’s showing you the process of death. This is the biggest thing you’ve ever done, so you need to be easier on yourself.” Says Olivia, “Showing me the process of death. Those were illuminating words. I knew that Hob was in the final chapter of his life, but I hadn’t focused on how much I was living in a parallel process. Together we were learning about loss and acceptance, letting go and death. This was hard, but these were the gifts.”

Wisdom. As Hob’s illness progressed, he lost his ability to articulate his thoughts and innermost feelings, and little by little, death was happening by stages. Be happy only. “More than almost any teaching, Hob had embraced this very one about finding happiness in the present

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moment—a statement that is preposterously obvious, deceptively simple, but not always so easily lived out... Those were the last words I heard him speak.

How fitting—words that could be heard as a universal wish for all beings. Everywhere.”

Patience. The full circle comes back to patience, and the journey of life and death continues through the six perfections; patience with ourselves, patience with the other, patience with the process, patience in the living, patience in the waiting, and patience in the moment, which is all one really has.

Thank you, Olivia, for sharing the immense challenges of learning how to live and how to die, for sharing your family’s courageous journey, and for teaching us, once again, that we are all human.

Ellie Griffin Director of Health and Counseling Services

Walkoffs, Last Licks, and Final Outs: Baseball’s Grand (and not-so-grand) Finales Jim Kaplan ’62 and Bill Chuck “Many of baseball’s most memorable moments come from endings, otherwise known as ‘last licks.’ But even the most celebrated last licks have aspects fans are not aware of.” (ACTA Sports) In Jim Kaplan and Bill Chuck’s book, they provide a collection of game-by-game details recounting the little known facts about some of the greatest match-ups in American baseball history. In Jon Miller’s foreword he writes, “In this treasure of a book…you’ll learn the inside story of how Roberts achieved the most important stolen base in Red Sox history.” And while we all remember, “the Iron Man, Cal Ripkin, Jr., breaking Lou Gehrig’s consecutive gamesplayed record in 1995, [this book reveals] the story of the night ‘The Streak’ ended.”

The publisher writes, “Indeed, there is no end to the anecdotes, humor and trivia associated with last licks. Some of the final acts described in this book include: summary and analysis of some of the great postseason finishes; a comprehensive list of every perfect game thrown in Major League History and analysis of the most impressive streaks; great last moments in some of the most famous stadiums in history, including Old Comiskey, Crosley Field and the Polo Grounds; eulogies and career statistics for ballplayers who passed before their time, including Urban Shocker, Roberto Clemente and the recent tragedy of Josh Hancock; heroic, and not-so-heroic endings to Hall of Fame careers. [The book] contains box scores, line scores, career statistics and photos for some of the greatest games and players in MLB history. A musthave for any baseball library.”

Jim Kaplan is a former writer for Sports Illustrated, the author of Lefty Grove: American Original, and coauthor of a book about American baseball player and manager Casey Stengel, The Gospel According to Casey.

Retiring in 2008

Marilyn D’Alessandro Joined the Health and Counseling staff in 1988

George H. Fernald Joined the faculty in 1960

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arilyn D’Alessandro is a consummate professional, an empathic caregiver, and a fun person. A graduate of Curry College, Marilyn first demonstrated her exceptional skills and expertise as a nursing intern at Milton, joining the Health Center staff full-time in 1988.

Since then, Marilyn’s response to nearly everything has been, “Sure, I can do that!” When our nurse practitioner resigned and nurses needed to take the on-call, Marilyn was immediately willing to do it. On many mornings, she had escaped home for only a few hours of sleep before arriving for the next day’s work, having been called in during the night to attend to an ill student. Since the Health Center has staffed the on-call night, and on-duty evening hours, Marilyn has covered a weekend each month of day call, in addition to her full commitment to Milton. Marilyn has strong diagnostic skills, excellent knowledge of medicine and of nursing protocols, and a fervent desire to see that everyone gets the best care possible.

Marilyn is a thoughtful, compassionate, and meticulous nurse for whom crossing every “t” and dotting every “i” is just business as usual. She has kept everyone on his or her toes in the Health Center, and her attention to detail has improved many of our policies and procedures. Who loves to train the new nurses?

Marilyn does it. Who makes sure that the nursing protocols are updated regularly? Marilyn. Who has helped numerous families work through the morass of insurance details to get the benefits that they deserve for their children? Marilyn.

paint needs refreshing, the handicap ramp railing needs replacement, the rugs need cleaning, supplies need ordering, that the health forms need to be processed? Marilyn does that and more. When the budget is limited, Marilyn has shown up with a D’Alessandro cast-off to enhance our furnishings. The many birds outside our windows are due to the diligent feeding of those “lovelies,” who get special praise from their caretaker for bringing their cheer and beauty to our garden. Marilyn talks to the birds and they flock to see her every day.

Marilyn has given of herself, her time, and her energy over and over again. Whenever and wherever there is a need, Marilyn volunteers. We all wonder how we’ll ever survive without her.

Thank goodness she lives down the street and has already volunteered to be our substitute nurse whenever we need someone.

We will miss you, Marilyn, and we want to take this opportunity to thank you properly and well for all that you have done for all of us and for our School. You have been incredible, and your legacy will live on in all that you have done for us.

Ellie Griffin Director of Health and Counseling Services

The cellar has flooded, AGAIN, and there’s a foot of water on the floor! Who found it? Marilyn did when she came in to check on something during the summer. Who notices that the

or 48 years, you have given selflessly and generously to Milton Academy—a half century of service to this School and your entire professional life to this community. Your colleagues call you “the ultimate school person,” an apt description. You have been so much to so many: a superb advisor, a dorm parent for 30 years, house head for both Hallowell and Forbes, a coach for 15 years, and the lead man on the Discipline Committee for nearly four decades. These are many roles, but first and foremost, you have always been a teacher. You came to Milton in 1960 without having seen the School, hired through cable communication, while you studied at the University of Paris—and you have remained an educator. Your legacy as a French teacher is assured as you have taught over 2,000 students—that’s a lot of Rhinocéros! The inclusion of the absurd in your classes comes as no surprise; your sense of humor is renowned. You’ve often been described as a master of the pun.

One of your colleagues described your teaching style: “George always knew how to have fun.

‘If you get the students to buy into the fun of the language, you get them to learn it.’” You are famous for your inventive ways of helping students learn. Your puppet theater is a fond memory for countless students, and your shtick as Julia Child to teach elements of French cooking is legendary. Lest anyone think your classes were just fun and games, it’s important to note the seriousness of your teaching of literature. You brought Les jeux sont faits alive for your students in so many imaginative ways; but what truly helped them understand existentialism were the stories of your youthful encounters with

George Fernald

Sartre. You have always believed that reading literature should be an essential part of the language experience for our students.

Your insistence on the value of the classics has secured them a central role in our department’s curriculum.

Students have a special fondness for you, George. Your rapport with them is special and their admiration for you is clear.

One graduate said, “Monsieur Fernald was a compassionate, enthusiastic and engaging teacher who gave me what is undoubtedly one of my favorite academic Milton experiences.”

Another student wrote, “As not only a great teacher, but also a great person, Monsieur Fernald never gave up on any student.”

Another remarked, “Mr. Fernald is a truly unique teacher. I always felt like I came out of the class discussions learning something new, whether it was about French grammar or a viewpoint on the human condition.”

You have been affirmed on numerous occasions as one of Milton’s finest teachers. Twice you were honored with the Talbot Baker Award. Upon learning about your first award in 1974, your first reaction was to spend

Marilyn D’Alessandro Milton Magazine

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Retiring in 2008

Jane H. Brewer Joined the faculty in 1981 a couple of extra hours preparing for the next day’s classes, lest your students question the award’s validity. In 1990 you were named Master Teacher, and this past January your colleagues in the modern languages department honored you and your devotion to Milton by renaming your room on the language floor The George H. Fernald Classroom.

And since you yourself taught Spanish in our department, I know you won’t hold it against us if this room ultimately becomes a Spanish classroom.

Your colleagues, present and former, all note that you have been someone whom the School has called upon, particularly in difficult circumstances. You have been a steady rudder. You always rose to the task requested of you.

That is how you began your work on the Discipline Committee.

Your legacy as secretary of the D.C. is among your most impressive and lasting contributions to this School. For four decades, you have guided young men and women who made mistakes in their young lives, helping them develop sound moral character. With your thoughtful questions and careful listening, you have been a model for both students and faculty serving on the committee.

A Milton Paper article this year quoted your sage advice to new faculty “to find a mentor… someone with whom you have an affinity and somebody that you can trust, confide in.” Many of your colleagues, including myself, found that mentor in

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you. We turned to you countless times for advice; you provided wisdom, perspective, and understanding. In the words of a colleague: George has “seen it all, heard it all, taught it all.

George has persuaded us and taught us, his colleagues, by example mostly, or through kind advice. Just George’s presence, with his profound knowledge of the classics, the history of the School, and of human nature— and his willingness to impart a few words of good sense—has been enormously reassuring and comforting.” We will miss that reassurance, that comfort, but most of all we will miss you, George. Your service and loyalty to Milton are inspiring and stand as a lasting example for all of us.

From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for making so many great memories. We wish you the best as you retire to New Hampshire in the company of your trusty canine, Dickens.

Au revoir et bonne chance!

James Ryan Chair, Modern Languages Department

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ince the day Archer Harman returned from the Pacific to meet his first child, Jane Brewer has never been far away from a campus. Westminster, St. Paul’s, Peck, St. George’s, Milton— schools are so thoroughly in Jane’s blood that full retirement was never a possibility. Instead, Jane will hunker down this winter with a cup of tea and a stack of folders from the Tufts admissions office, happy in the knowledge that she is helping to shape yet another school community.

After several years as a stay-athome mother, Jane began to get restless in a way that signaled the need to get out of the house, so I said to her, “Jane, you should come work in admissions.”

Milton Academy has never been the same since, and it will never be the same now that Jane is leaving—and for two reasons.

First, no one loves life more than Jane. She gets up in the morning, convinced that any number of great things could happen before recess. In the days before answering machines, I always hung up after one ring at Jane’s house because she could pick up that quickly from the shower. She was so afraid she’d miss something fun or exciting.

The greater reason, though, is that Jane has a heart as big as the world, and children have always felt embraced by it. She was Miss Harman, the second-grade teacher, before she married Ned, and, even though she had three children of her own, she needed a bigger audience. She found one at the New England Home for Little Wanderers, where she was a trustee for years, at Dedham Country Day School, where she also served on the board, and most importantly at Milton. For the old-timers on the faculty, Jane’s reappearance was “déjà vu all over again,” as Mr. Berra would have said.

Jane Brewer

In the admissions office, Jane was always the most excited about a student she was interviewing. Charlie Flood, father of Caperton ’95 and Lucy ’97, still tells the story of Jane’s emerging from her office with Lucy in tow and saying, “She’s great—but you knew that.” The first year she went back to coaching, she was wearing an ISL champion’s jacket at the end of the season.

As a class advisor, “Dean Brew,” as I called her, she always had the students’ love and respect, even when she had to take them to task over a disciplinary incident.

They knew she was invested in them for the long haul and in all of them. Jane learned from her parents, who became leading figures in the world of independent education, that schools such as Milton were for everyone, not merely the privileged, and she has made that a cornerstone of her work here.

Usually, someone who has known a person for 30 years says a few words about weathering life’s ups and downs together, but, with Jane, there are never any downs. Like Auntie Mame, who taught her nephew “Life’s a banquet!” or Maude, who told

David A. Peck Joined the faculty in 1988 Harold, “LIVE! Otherwise, you got nothing to talk about in the locker room,” Jane is always on the lookout for the next adventure, the next child who needs help. In the best of all worlds, she would be leaving us and flying off to Myanmar or China to help all the children of the world, even if her first official act might be hiring a life coach to take on Angelina Jolie.

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John Charles Smith English Department

During his 20 years at Milton, David has taught a range of courses from Grade 5 Drama to Advanced Acting, from Grade 7 and Class IV to upperclassmen in Moving Image and Current Events/Public Speaking.

Naturally curious, seeking and absorbing new ideas, David eagerly shares these with students and faculty. His Milton colleagues recognized David’s high expectations, for himself and others, and his careful attention to the needs of individual students, when he received the Talbot Baker Award in 2002:

avid Peck joined the faculty of Milton Academy in 1988 after years of crisscrossing the country teaching at colleges in Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida. It took some convincing to lure him from the world of higher education but, always up for an adventure, David took a leap of faith and joined the performing arts department and the Milton community.

You bring out the best in your actors in class and on stage.

Gently, but with determination, you urge your players to raise the stakes, to take risks.

To gain a window into his passion, look through David’s directing. From first read-through to final curtain call, he painstakingly works with actors to create resonating, honest performances. One graduate remarked: “I remember when David and I were both struggling with getting an overall feel for a character. He found me at some point during the day and there was a glint in his eye as he excitedly told me the phrase he’d come up with to pinpoint the character’s overall objective for the play. ‘To sit at the head of the table!’ he told me—all on fire and excited. To be honest, I thought he was a little crazy until we dove back into rehearsal, and looking at the character through the lens he suggested, things all started to

fall in place. To this day I think of David’s excitement—‘To sit at the head of the table!’—and I look for something to make me feel that excitement and clarity for whatever I’m working on.”

As chair of the performing arts department, David has been a powerful voice representing the department to the broader community. Within the department he leads more quietly—trusting his colleagues to make good choices and supporting their efforts to set and meet high standards. Closing each conversation with “Take care,” he espouses Lao Tzu’s description: “A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.”

David, as you journey on to your next adventure, know that you have had a profound effect on many lives. Our hope is that whether in Beijing, Kentucky, Maine, or wherever your road or your motorcycle may lead, that you continue to raise the stakes, maintain your excitement and clarity, and continue to share your voice in bold and tender ways. As the next act in the magnum opus of your life begins, look back on your time at Milton with happiness and pride knowing that you have truly made a difference. And remember that you will always have a seat at our table.

Your time has come to shine.

All your dreams are on their way.

See how they shine.

If you need a friend I’m sailing right behind.

Take care.

Peter Parisi Performing Arts Department

David Peck and the cast of The Tempest, 2005 Milton Magazine

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Retiring in 2008

Frances A. and Thomas J. Flaherty Joined the faculty in 1982

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hen Tom Flaherty arrived at Milton, he was already a legend at Pentucket High School, in West Newbury, Massachusetts, because of his outstanding record as head varsity football coach. During his 10 years as Milton’s head varsity football coach, five years as head Class IV football coach, and then 11 years working with coach Kevin MacDonald, Tom added to that reputation. Tom’s leadership in teaching generations of football players the importance of competing fearlessly, holding to the highest standards of sportsmanship, and listening to instruction, led to his induction into the New England Private School Athletic Conference Coaches Hall of Fame in 2007. Tom has also served as Milton’s head varsity baseball coach since 1983, teaching his baseball players the same lessons. Tom is known throughout the Independent School League for maximizing the athletic talent of the boys who have been on his teams, whether they were varsity, junior varsity or third-squad players.

Tom and Fran Flaherty joined Milton in the fall of 1982, at the encouragement of their longtime friends Dick and Ellie Griffin, moving right into Wolcott House, where they lived until 2003, having served as house heads for 21 years (1984–2003).

During reunions, graduates from the 1980s on seek out Tom and Fran because of the effects they both had—whether in Wolcott House, in athletics, or in the deans’ office—on students’ lives.

Tom and Fran gave their own life to the tradition of in loco parentis, that concept essential to boarding-school life. Students knew that Tom and Fran represented kindness, wisdom and understanding, and so did their parents.

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Tom and Fran Flaherty

As athletic director for boys between 1984 and 1994, Tom worked tirelessly to cultivate the high standards of competition, sportsmanship, and learning among all Milton teams, at all levels, that he demanded in his own work. Tom injected fun and tradition, as well. We have him to thank, largely, for the adoption of the Mustang as Milton’s mascot, including the Mustang costume—now a staple at rallies and special athletic contests.

Tom believes passionately in the benefit of competitive athletics.

To that end, he worked creatively with fellow athletic directors to develop ISL football season scheduling that ensures fair and educationally sound sets of contests among all 16 schools, a challenging goal, given the range of school sizes and student compositions.

Tom and Fran have helped make Milton a warm and supportive place in so many ways during three decades of the School’s history, touching, since their arrival, virtually every Upper School student. Their work has involved countless interactions, weighty and light, every single day of the academic year.

Many students have discussed

an attendance case with either Tom or Fran over the years, for instance, or negotiated a work program assignment. In this and every other facet of their work with students at Milton, Tom and Fran have ensured that Milton upholds reasonable standards but also recognizes life’s complexities.

Fran Flaherty’s love for young adults has shaped all her many contributions to the School.

Sharing the responsibility of house head with Tom, Fran found not merely a way to integrate her family into the life of Wolcott House, but rather the way to make the Wolcott boys part of her own now very large family. A constant presence at check-in and always available, Fran set a standard for bestowing boundless attention that few could match. With food and a sympathetic ear, she guided and supported the more than 200 young men who came to live in her house. As she patiently explained the reasons behind the rules, all of them understood that she cared deeply about their safety, character and growth.

In addition to her work in Wolcott, Fran helped in various capacities in the Upper School

office. Ever the team player, she pitched in wherever needed.

Recently, her most important role was making sure we knew who was here: patiently but firmly monitoring lists of stragglers and doggedly tracking down those who failed to check in. Many times she went through the dormitories, waking students who were sleeping during an examination or for whom one more unexcused absence would result in dire consequences.

From morning until afternoon, her cheerful smile and warm hello formed a bright spot in the day for both faculty and students. She even made a trip to the deans’ office less foreboding for students summoned to a meeting. Her conviction shone through that, whatever the mistake, the student was “a good kid.”

Laura and I, along with Tom and Fran’s other neighbors, watched from Robbins House as Tom and Fran raised three of their children at Milton. We could not miss the fact that Tom and Fran take huge pleasure in their close family, in parenting (and now grandparenting), and have raised an impressive group of individuals. We are not alone in seeing Tom and Fran as inspirations to our own parenting.

We will miss Fran and Tom— their warmth, decency and ready laughter. Their many lucky grandchildren will be the beneficiaries of our loss. Milton without Tom and Fran is hard to imagine, but we know that their contributions will live on. As the Mustang is here to stay, so is the affection of 26 years’ worth of students, parents and faculty.

John Warren Milton faculty, 1981 to 2006

Mark Stanek Middle School Principal from 2005 to 2008 is appointed Head of School at Ethical Culture Fieldston School

Dottie Pitt Joined the faculty in 1989

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hen Mark Stanek came to Milton five years ago to lead the Middle School, he faced his share of challenges—some expected, some unexpected. He approached them with energy, good humor, and the will to succeed. During those years, in collaboration with enthusiastic and talented faculty, Mark established an innovative Middle School program that engages students in challenging academics, developmentally appropriate learning activities, and a warm, supportive community culture.

In the unexpected category, Mark’s crucial assistant, Janet Gardiner, suffered a brain aneurysm just as Mark was gathering the reins of his new role. Mark cut his vacation short, wiled his way into the hospital’s ICU to visit Janet, and then saw her through the long recovery, managing the flow, somehow, until her return.

Undaunted, Mark began chipping away at a long list of significant changes: identifying a dedicated Middle School faculty; establishing a schedule and program suited to the learning needs of preadolescents as well

as to rigorous preparation for the Upper School; defining the physical spaces for the work of the Middle School; moving parents toward being an enthusiastic and informed community.

Then came the treats, relatively speaking: working on a sense of team among his faculty; offering new activities for students; implementing exciting new focus days on the media, community-building, Earth Day, and the Congress.

Under Mark’s leadership the changes continued. In 2004, in collaboration with Middle School faculty and Grade 6 teachers, Mark led the development of a sixth-grade program at the middle school level that honored tradition and childhood, and at the same time transitioned children to the new opportunities and responsibilities of being middle schoolers.

Mark gets everyone involved at faculty meetings, using charts or games, deftly modeling best practices for teaching middle schoolers, and reminding teachers that having fun is an essential part of learning. One teacher remembers Mark moving every-

one at morning assembly out of their seats to demonstrate how the Iowa caucuses worked. In everything he did, he reminded teachers to put students first, to include everyone, and most important, to listen.

A man of many talents, he was tapped by Robin to lead the Diversity Committee at a crucial time, when a mission statement and strategic plan were the next steps on Milton’s trajectory. He joined the orchestra’s trumpet section on many occasions and even marked one Milton-Nobles Day with a special performance.

He has continued to pursue his favorite pastime—surfing in California—and perhaps that is the linchpin of his success. It’s a bit closer from New York City to San Diego than from Boston.

Mark’s ready sense of humor came to his aid often; he smiles even in difficult situations—perhaps especially then. He models kindness, offering warm support to all, and the willingness to work hard but also have fun.

He’s an expert listener to both students and adults. He always remembers to thank students as well as teachers for whatever they did for the group, whether it was a morning talk, a well-delivered lesson, or for simply being themselves.

Although we will miss him, we wish Mark all the best at Ethical Culture Fieldston School. Mark leaves a legacy of thoughtful leadership, concern for others, and can-do optimism that his students and colleagues will carry with them for years to come.

Rick Hardy Interim Head of School

ottie came to Milton in 1989 to teach third grade after 13 years in the public schools. Since then, she has filled numerous roles in the Lower School. Awarded the Talbot Baker Prize in 1996, Dottie was recognized as a teacher “who thinks clearly, expresses herself articulately, and listens openly.” She is both knowledgeable and spontaneous. Most important, as one colleague put it simply, “Dottie gets kids.”

While her particular interest and training are in language arts, she is skilled in other subjects and is generous about sharing what she knows. One of her fellow teachers recalls when, in 1999, he began exploring the teaching of mathematics to second-grade children and found himself working with Dottie.

After years playing with second graders in after-school programs, he thought he knew plenty of mathematics. “How hard could it be?” he asked himself. He quickly realized he had a lot to learn about how second graders learn—particularly how they learn mathematics—and Dottie was a gracious and wise mentor.

She understood how to pace a lesson to give all students the optimal experience.

Her training in reading and special education, as well as in administering and interpreting standardized tests, has served the Lower School well. Within the past few years, she has taken workshops in “Attuning a Student,” applying this diagnostic lens to develop plans for children with learning challenges, and has served as a member of the Child Study Team since its inception.

Her dedication and resourcefulness are well known among her Lower School colleagues.

Mark Stanek

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Retiring in 2008

William M. Moore Joined the faculty in 1978 Junior Building—as is her ability to “think outside the box” or simply to offer a joke to relieve the tension.

Dottie Pitt

A number of years ago, before word processors and email, she dedicated her summer to writing a spelling curriculum for the Lower School, ferrying the work back and forth from the Vineyard to Kathy Burek in Falmouth —collaboration across the ocean!

For the last six years she has taken on administrative tasks, first as assistant principal of the Lower School and the past two as interim principal. During her tenure as interim principal, she also served on the senior administrative council, fielded parental concerns, acted as liaison to the Lower School Parents Association and the Diversity Committee, and managed hiring and evaluation of faculty.

Dottie includes and recognizes her staff members in the Milton community, sensing needs before they are expressed, offering support or comfort at just the right time, and bringing everyone “into the fold.” Her energy is remarkable—she probably holds the record for fastest time covering the distance between Greenleaf and the

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Outside of her busy life at Milton, Dottie is a committed, fun-loving, and caring individual.

She checks in with faculty and staff colleagues every morning and still has time to plan her daily agenda. An efficient worker, she maintains a full slate of “extracurricular” activities, including singing in the Back Bay Chorale in Boston. A self-reliant adventurer at heart, Dottie, along with her husband, Chris, has climbed many of the peaks and dipped into many of the ponds in the White Mountains of northern New England.

We are thankful for Dottie’s wisdom, humor, and spirit of collaboration over her nearly 20 years at Milton, and we wish her all the best in the years to come.

Rick Hardy Interim Head of School

B

ill Moore cannot be with us this afternoon. He is somewhere between here and Tijuana, tracing the route of a cross-country road trip that his father took as a 21-year-old in 1926. This is a typical Bill Moore project, a combination of meticulous scholarly preparation and high aesthetic pleasure. Working with a vintage road map and his father’s journals, he has pinpointed the site of each of 182 photos in an album from the trip and will, À la recherche du temps perdu, replicate them with his own camera. He asks us to think of him “perched on a high rock in a national park, photographing with a ‘Kodak Junior’ and writing about all I feel and see, happy to be alive.”

Many at Milton Academy, in the 30 years since Bill arrived here, have been happily infected with the joie de vivre that he brought to his work. An academician to the core, he was so much more than an academician that no whiff of chalk dust ever clung to him, and he moved instead through the School day like an artist blotched with the bright drips from his latest canvas or humming a few bars of a new composition. Yes, his classes—whether in French, the subject that he originally came to Milton to teach, or in English, to which we welcomed him enthusiastically during a dip in French enrollment 15 years ago—were about plumbing the structure of language and explicating text. But they were also about inhaling, as deeply as possible, the spirit of an intellectual life. His comments on student papers took the form of cultivated conversation—usually gentle and

appreciative, often in the form of questions rather than answers, sometimes breaking out into sly humor. My son, who relishes a satirical barb even when it is aimed his way, was delighted to receive a note instructing him to push the spell-check button because “correct spelling lends a certain cachet to bombast.”

On behalf of his students, Bill was always working to get literature to stand up from the page and dance. Because Shakespeare meant more on the stage than it ever could in the classroom, he organized a trip whenever there was a production in town. An accomplished cook, he marked the end of To the Lighthouse by reenacting the great dinner party scene, complete with Mrs. Ramsay’s boeuf en daube. Like Mrs. Ramsay, he knew how to make people around a table awaken to each other, a skill equally valuable to hostesses and teachers.

Colleagues, too, enjoyed Bill’s talent for organizing revelry. On the day he was dubbed Master Teacher in an all-School assembly, he laid on a dancing girl to warm up the crowd. Because he found himself temperamentally unsuited to the position of academic dean, his tenure in it was rather brief; what sticks in memory is the panache of the faculty shindig that he organized to lift us out of one winter’s doldrums and christened, impishly, “The Other Dean’s Ball.” On a smaller scale, the delicacies and amenities that he supplied for English department sherry hours lent refinement to what might otherwise have devolved into afternoons of grumpy shop talk.

The word “glamour,” etymologists tell us, derives directly from the word “grammar”: it is the magical aura that plays about deep learning. Bill fused these principles perfectly, often making the glamour so delightful that

the grammar went down without much fuss. Not far beneath them both, however, for most of his recent years with us, was his sorrow in the long illness and death of his beloved Nina. His own loss only deepened his compassion for students; the odd, the troubled, and even the outright refractory will not forget the kindness he showed them.

When the department moved to Warren Hall seven years ago, Bill made his home in the crow’s nest of the Student Center and transformed that lofty classroom into a small art museum, bathed in serene light and set just far enough back from the rumble in the stairwell. There, in a setting that epitomized him, he and his students could stick their heads into the clouds and forget about the turmoil below. I like to think of him leaving us by a kind of apotheosis, as if he came to the head of the stairs but kept right on going, to emerge at last into a world entirely composed of books and music and travel and theater and food and art.

David Smith Chair, English Department

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Gratitude comes in many shapes and sizes Joanie Brewster ’82

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ffering to another student the opportunity that my grandfather gave me—to attend Milton, even though that was not within my own financial capability—is crucial.

While I am not a lawyer or a doctor or even a mother, I have held the Milton motto foremost in my path in life: Dare to Be True. I am more grateful as time goes on for all the ways Milton challenged me, as well as for the incredible people I met there, many of whom are still my friends. Milton required me to stretch myself and be more than I ever thought I could, even if that meant choosing a way of life that might years ago not have seemed “successful.” I learned to question, to reflect and to enjoy learning.

That is why I choose to give to the Annual Fund and also to name Milton in my estate. While my donations are not large, I remind myself that consistent giving is most important, and I hope that what I can contribute will help others have the incredible experience I was given. *** I came to Milton in seventh grade and graduated in 1982. My grandfather valued education highly, and assisted me with tuition for both Milton and Amherst College. I wasn’t conscious, at the time, of what a huge gift that was. For me, not the best or the brightest student by any stretch of the imagination, the challenges of studying, competing in athletics, and managing the commute were enough stress without having to worry about the financial side of things.

I have not chosen what might be considered to be the traditional career path after attending institutions such as Milton and Amherst. The proverbial “one ski season after college” in Breckenridge, Colorado, ultimately turned into a lifetime of service in that community. Plans to move to Chicago or New York and become a famous advertising executive yielded to my sense that I should choose a quieter, more simple life in the mountains of Colorado.

For 25 years, as administrative services coordinator for the Community Development Department at the Town of Breckenridge, I have immensely enjoyed serving co-workers and the public, whatever their needs and requests.

“I am more grateful as time goes on for all the ways Milton challenged me, as well as for the incredible people I met there, many of whom are still my friends.”

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Class Notes 1933 Francis Harrington Brooks passed away on March 15, 2008, at the age of 93. Husband to Pamela; father to Christina, Laura and Holly; and grandfather to Arin and Brenden, Francis was an avid outdoorsman who loved skiing, sailing, playing tennis and hiking. His many adventures included sailing across the Atlantic to the Azores on a friend’s yacht, a trip to the Amazon, bicycling in Ireland, and horseback riding in Spain.

Francis was a tireless storyteller and active in both the Weston Forest and Trail Association and the Weston Housing Committee.

He was a dependable, thoughtful, friendly and dignified man with legendary good looks. He had a twinkle in his eye and loved sharing a good laugh.

1951 Joanna Fischer writes, “I have just published a small book entitled Best Foot Forward. It is the story of Jon and Vivian Williams and the series of cotillions they created first at the Broadmoor Hotel and then eventually in 51 cities across the country. In doing so, they met many famous people, including Ava Gardner, Elizabeth Arden, Claire Booth Luce, the famous Hildegarde, Jack Benny and Edgar Bergen, among others. Small world department: Although Jon and Vivian have passed, their son Jon Williams is based in Denver, Colorado, and conducts a Williams Cotillion at the Milton Hoosic Club!”

Rebecca Faxon Knowles reports, “There are two Faxon siblings remaining: sister Sally, six and a half years my junior, and me. We lost Blue, two years behind us at Milton, to breast cancer, and our baby brother, Bob, to brain

cancer last year. ‘Ma Fax’ held on until the ripe old age of 89 with all her marbles intact. She had been a widow for many years.

“With my husband, Bob, we have seven combined children, 16 grandchildren and twin greatgrandsons. We love Naples! We don’t miss ice, snow, slush or any of that dreary, wintery stuff.

After two new hips and one new knee, I am back on the tennis courts three times per week, including play in an inter-club league. You can also find me basking by the pool, walking the beach, enjoying fabulous Naples Philharmonic and teaching ESL to a darling woman originally from Costa Rica.”

Bickley Flower Simpson says, “I am living in South Miami near the University of Miami and its marvelous music school and Fairchild Tropical Garden, where I spend time watching butterflies. I have three granddaughters here and I enjoy babysitting, although that term is hardly accurate. The rest of my days are in the Dependency Court, working with a nonprofit that supports research and reform. Two more grandsons are in New York City where my M.D. daughter is head of the Anxiety Disorders Clinic at Columbia University.

Two adopted siblings are in San Francisco, where my engineering daughter is working for Verigy. They are all nice places to visit, and I get to see them all frequently.”

1952 Emery Bradley Goff writes, “Sorry I missed our 55th—I will try to make the 60th! I have had a difficult spring; I’ve been lame and aching since January, and the consensus is almost in on Lyme disease. Symptoms are atypical, so it’s been a real puzzle. I’m still hoping to be

Francis Harrington Brooks ’33—a family man, outdoorsman and adventurer— passed away on March 15, 2008. As described by his family, “He was a dependable, thoughtful, friendly and dignified man with legendary good looks. He had a twinkle in his eye and loved sharing a good laugh.”

active in the antiques business this summer, and Dorothy Newbegin Davis and I are still trying to get together! Husband, kids and fabulous grandkids are all blooming, and so are my gardens without much help from me. Miss you all.”

1953 Frederick A.O. Schwarz Jr. cowrote Unchecked and Unbalanced: Presidential Power in a Time of Terror.

1954 This past August, David Ehrlich and his wife, Barbara, traveled to western Montana for a family celebration, stopping en route in Salt Lake and Yellowstone.

On the way east, David drove across North Dakota heading for Minneapolis, where he enjoyed three magnificent days with Kit Bingham and his wife, Carolyn.

Kit has just completed the fiveyear process of fully retiring from his Statistics professorship at the University of Minnesota, where he’s been the past 36 years.

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Class of 1943, front row (L to R): Ed Lincoln, Mary Pillsbury, White Smith, Roger Perry; second row (L to R): Tony Ware, Steve Washburn, Ed Gorman, John Goodhue; back row (L to R): Bob Potter, Bill Gannet

Class of 1963, front row (L to R): Katharine Weston Reardon, Judith Musgrave Fairbrother, Lynn Huidekoper; back row (L to R): Peter Forbes, Ric Faulkner, Arthur Chute, Ben Wellington, David Taylor, Jeff Ross

Class of 1948, front row (L to R): Mike North, George Harris, Brad Richardson, Lucius Wilmerding, Robbie White; second row (L to R): Joe Ullian, Libby Meek, Trench More; third row (L to R): Peter Lawson, John Belash; back row (L to R): George Ames, Kim Faulkner, Lansing Lamont, Humphrey Doermann

Class of 1968, front row (L to R): Peter Whittemore, Ann McClellan, Sarah Forbes; back row (L to R): John Mahn, David Cornish, Jay Davis, Kate Baker, John Luce

Class of 1953: Phil Andrews, Cecilia Andrews, Mike Robertson, Sheila Twombly, Bob Twombly

Class of 1973, front row (L to R): Danny Lawrence, Jane McDermott Hoch, Sarah Meeker Jensen, Gordon Means; back row (L to R): Jill Shaw Woolworth, Anne Marie Nesto Filosa, Rich Lamere

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Class of 1958, front row (L to R): Ella Clark, Freddy Gamble, Andrea Forbes Schoenfeld, Jody Emerson Howard, Star Martin Hopkins, Georgia Bradley Zaborowski, Ralph Forbes, Nat Goodhue; second row (L to R): Peter Grote, Moyra Byrne, Eliza Kellogg Klose, Mary Whitehead, Tally Saltonstall Forbes, Kitty VanVoorhis Carlson, Steve Chesebrough, Sam Otis, Sherry Bingham Downes; third row (L to R): Neil Goodwin, Neilson Abeel, Ted Wendell, Joan Corbett Dine, Doug Bingham, Jan DuBois, Elisabeth Morgan Pendleton, Betsy Farnham Blair, George Davidson, John Pruitt; back row (L to R): Philip Stockton, David Gannett, Arthur Holcombe, Tom Yeomans, John Scholz, Randal Whitman

Class of 1978, front row (L to R): Brad Blank, Didi Belash, Jonathan Wells; second row (L to R): Charlie Duffy, Jennifer Trakas-Acerra, Alison Macdonald von Klemperer, De Grice, Carin Ashjian, Matt Hoffman; back row (L to R): Laura Appell Warren, Tim Marr, Steve Heckscher, Susan Woods Spofford, Telly Jorden, Pru Murray Bovee

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retired, effective June 17, 2008.

I look forward to catching up with classmates in New England and between Tempe and the Cape where my dad still has a house and we still gather to sail and watch little children play in the sand and waves.”

1975 William Nixon’s first full-length poetry book, My Late Mother as a Ruffed Grouse, was recently published by FootHills Publishing, a small poetry press.

T. Stephen Jones ’59, Jeffrey Koplan ’62 and Larry Altman ’54 are physicians who worked as epidemiologists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. This photo was taken at a reunion in July 2008 of epidemiologists who participated in the program that eradicated smallpox from the world.

1955 Olivia Ames Hoblitzelle’s book, The Majesty of Your Loving: A Couple’s Journey Through Alzheimer’s, was published in 2007.

1956 Rupert Hitzig reports, “I am having more fun every year. I’m just starting a new movie in Alaska and will be living outdoors with the wolves in a tent city for two months. It’s not exactly the Beverly Hills Hotel. Miss you all, and love the memories of Milton more and more. Come visit, not in Alaska, but if you come to Los Angeles.”

1962 James Kaplan, Bill Chuck, and ACTA Sports recently wrote Walkoffs, Last Licks, and Final Outs: Baseball’s Grand (and not so grand) Finales, which was published in March 2008.

1964 Judith Rivinus Fuller died peacefully at home, in the embrace of family and friends, on April 19, 2008. A nurse by profession, Judith spent her career caring for those in need of medical attention, making a huge impact on those she cared for and worked among. Wife to Henry Weld

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Fuller and mother to Susanna and Michael, Judith was “full of energy and vitality that infected all who knew her.” She was an avid gardener, cyclist, quilter, weaver, and an actor with the St. Ann’s Bay Players. Her husband, Henry, writes that “she was, indeed, larger than life itself, through her pure force of character.”

1967 Gretchen Feero writes, “Many of the women from the Class of 1967 had a spectacular Reunion Weekend in June 2007 at the home of a classmate. It was wonderful in every way. As we approach our 60th birthdays, we find ourselves to be strong, happy, and supportive of each other, and very grateful that we have such amazing connections that have not only weathered but thrived over 40 years.”

1979 Tedd Saunders was presented an award from the Environmental League of Massachusetts for providing extraordinary leadership on behalf of the Massachusetts environment. Co-owner and executive vice president for environmental affairs for the Saunders Hotel Group, Tedd is also the president of Ecological Solutions. He sits on nine environmental boards and is a founding member of the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Conventions (CERC), an organization created to promote environmental best practices for large conventions, starting with the 2004 Democratic and Republican National Conventions. The Saunders Hotel Group is working with CERC, leading the effort to “green” Boston’s entire convention and lodging industry.

Dave Andrews legally married his partner of 15 years, Clyde Yoshida, in a casual and loving ceremony at their San Diego home. Their time together has already been their honeymoon.

Mark Boynton was recently appointed to the firm Kilpatrick Stockton’s Winston-Salem office in North Carolina. Mark completed a term as Litigation Section Chair of the North Carolina Bar Association, and is joining Kilpatrick Stockton as counsel, where he will be a member of the firm’s litigation department. Early in Mark’s career, he practiced at Kilpatrick Stockton as an associate in the litigation department.

Congratulations to Pamela Parizek and her husband, George, who welcomed their son Spencer on May 3, 2005.

1984

David Kunhardt writes, “Sorry I missed our 40th Reunion celebration. I’ve been busy with solar energy finance work and family here in Northern California. I will have to see you at our 50th.”

Lisa Miller reports, “Please extend my spirited appreciation to Mr. David Smith, who welcomed me into Milton Academy as a new Class II student. The first novel we shared in class was

by Mark Twain, reflecting a bit of home for a girl from Missouri.

Please also share with him that I often think of his encouragement and genuine interest in his students.” Lisa is a tenured pro-

Elizabeth Hobson reports, “After 30 years of working in the public schools in Arizona—the last ten in administration—I have

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fessor of psychology at Columbia University Teachers College, where she studies spirituality in children and adolescents. She also co-hosts a television show, somewhat related to her scholarly work, on children with psychic experience on A&E called “Psychic Kids.”

Mark Boynton ’86 was recently appointed counsel as a member of the Litigation Department at the Winston-Salem, North Carolina, office of the firm Kilpatrick Stockton. Prior to this appointment, Mark completed a term as Litigation Section Chair of the North Carolina Bar Association.

Gabriel Tyler Pereira Henrikson, the son of Katharine Henrikson ’88, enjoys some light—and fascinating—reading. Gabriel was born on New Year’s Day, 2008, in Bogotá, Colombia.

1987 Kiersten Blest and her husband, Sean, welcomed their son, Sean Michael Blest, Jr., on May 8, 2008. The family resides in Charlotte, North Carolina.

1988 Congratulations to Katharine Henrikson, who welcomed Gabriel Tyler Pereira Henrikson on New Year’s Day, 2008, in Bogotá, Colombia. He surprised his parents and big brother Abel on their vacation outside of Bogotá by coming three weeks early.

Marlowe Tessmer received her Ph.D. in pathobiology from Brown University. Marlowe is an immunologist and will continue her research at Boston University.

Anna Winger (née Levine)’s first novel, This Must Be the Place, was published by Riverhead Books (Penguin) in August 2008.

1989 Jill Bernheimer was featured in the April 2008 issue of Entrepreneur magazine for launching the start-up Web site Domaine547.com, one of a new breed of sites that combine alcohol sales with online social networking features. According to Entrepreneur, “What sets Domaine547 apart from the

Kathleen Lintz Rein ’92 and Jenna Bertocchi Stapleton ’92 got together in August for Jenna’s baby’s christening. Kathleen is godmother to Jenna’s son, Craig Roberts Stapleton II, and Jenna is godmother to Kathleen’s daughter, Alexandra Louise Rein.

old guard of online liquor and wine retailers is its dedication to social features. The site’s friendly design, blog and forum areas make it attractive to consumers who are eager to learn as well as purchase.” Jill lives in Los Angeles, where she is an independent film producer and a wine entrepreneur.

1991 Congratulations to Denielle Bertarelli-Webb who reports, “My husband, Andrew, and I welcomed our second daughter, Juliet Anderson Webb, on August 16, 2007. Juliet joins big sister Cecelia, who loves her new role. We live in Summit, New Jersey, and I work in marketing and communications for a children’s entertainment company, HIT Entertainment, based in New York City.”

Ned Roberts ’93 and his wife, Michelle, welcomed their first child—a son, Finley Harrison Roberts—into the world on May 20, 2008.

Brendan Everett and his wife, Anna Rutherford, welcomed their son William Kerr Everett on January 4, 2008. Big sister Amelia (3) adores her little brother.

1992 Congratulations to Sophia Koven and her husband, who welcomed their third child, a baby boy, named Charlie. Charlie joins his two older sisters, Lucy (7) and Annabel (4).

Ohene Asare ’96 and Regine JeanCharles ’96 welcomed Bediako Dessalines Jean-Charles Asare into the world on September 6, 2007.

Congratulations to Michael O’Brien ’96 and his wife, Beth, who welcomed Molly Anne on January 27, 2008.

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Class of 1983, first row (L to R): Wyman Davis, Maude Chilton, Charles Ford, Michelle Peirce, Anne Torney, Roanne Kaplan, Margo Johnson, Emily Bingham; second row (L to R): Susan Schorr Rockefeller, Cristina Ashjian, Stephen Smalzel, Debbie Carr, Ann Smith, Gwenna Toncre Williamson, Elisabeth Strekalovsky, Sarah Manchester, Ted Kane, Jim Griffin; third row (L to R): Randall Dunn, Julie White, Alexander Stephens, Cynthia Powell, Sarah Kaufman Andrikidis, Liz Hopkins Dunn, Pamela Parizek, Charlotte Bacon, Meg Cabot, Lisa Donohue, Bob Cunha; back row (L to R): Ned Cabot, Chris Robertson, Austin Keyes, Chase Bradley, Gerald McClanahan, David Wood, Laura Sloan Ongaro, Peter Creighton, Stephen Epstein, Fred Gallagher, David Jacobs Class of 1988, front row (L to R): Mark Friedman, Adam Wolfberg, Jennifer Hershfang, Marc Goodman, Molly de Ramel, Annie Elliott, Cecilia Harris, Jessie Howland Cahill, Jonathan Donner; back row (L to R): Ken Tokusei, Cub Griffin, Damon Bizuka, Matt Katz, Mike Kobb, Amanda Roth, Katherine Ulman Mertens

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Class of 1993, front row (L to R): Jess Yager, Jessica Haynes McDaniel, Andre Heard, Liz Hanify, Al Yu, Caleb Clark, Sadia Shepard, Julia Travers; second row (L to R): Christine GrifďŹ n, Rosie Sargent, Emily Reardon, Greg Hampton, Nancy Lainer, Gigi Saltonstall, Ali Burnes Balster, Simon Tang, Demetrios Efstratiou, Tina Aspiala; back row (L to R): Sheldon Ison, Greg Wislocki, Jen Frank Lustbader, Talia Kohorn Senders, Katie Leeson, Julian Cowart, Graham Goodkin, Leeore Schnairsohn

Class of 1998, front row (L to R): Jennifer Driscoll, Tim Harrington, Erica Keany, Sarah Needham, Rosemary Doherty, Katherine Snead, Harrison Blum, Torrey Androski, Cara McKenney, Paul Bercovitch, Tze Chun, Ian White, Emily Sussman, Ben Weiss, Bill Hilgendorf; second row (L to R): Rachel Nance, Nia Jacobs, Katherine Burrage, Lindsay Haynes, Sarah McGinty, Mike Stanton, Simon Rasin, Dave Sclar, Kay Ch’ien, Reif Larson, Elizabeth Carroll, Andy Kelly-Hayes; back row (L to R): Mark Mallek, Mike Lanzano, Justin Basilico, Alexander Henry, Mayhew Seavey, Nathan Link, Ian Cheney

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Jenna Bertocchi Stapleton and her husband, Walker Stapleton, welcomed their first child, Craig Roberts Stapleton II (Craigie), on February 21, 2008. Craigie was named after his grandfather.

students whose work addresses ethical and religious questions in the humanities and social sciences.

1993

Ohene Asare and Regine JeanCharles welcomed Bediako Dessalines Jean-Charles Asare into the world on September 6, 2007. The family looks forward to moving back to Boston, where Regine will begin an assistant professorship at Boston College and Ohene will continue working as a project manager in the biotech industry.

Edward Roberts reports, “My wife, Michelle, and I are still beaming with joy following the birth of our first child. Our son, future Milton alum Finley Harrison Roberts, was born on May 20. Alas, we weren’t quite ready for travel in early June, and were not able to join in the 15th Reunion festivities. The entire Roberts family sends its best wishes to the Class of 1993, and hopes everyone had a whikid good time!”

Bob Seltzer writes in, “My wife of five years (college sweetheart, Stacey) gave birth to our daughter Adela Rose Seltzer on November 9, 2007. Everyone is happy and healthy. Life as a father has been a fun whirlwind.

When I’m not changing diapers, I’m a principal at Care Capital, a life sciences venture capital firm in Princeton. Since I live in Hoboken, New Jersey, and work in Princeton, I’m being especially vigilant in teaching Adela to root for the Boston sports teams.

So far, Adela’s career as a fan is going well.”

1994 Congratulations to Jessica Manchester and her husband, who celebrated the birth of Alling Kyle Lubitz, on April 8, 2008.

Charlie Everett and his wife, Caty James Everett, celebrated the birth of their daughter Grace Catherine Everett on March 27, 2008.

Nicolas Howe, who is with the Department of Geography at UCLA, was recently awarded the prestigious Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship from the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, which supports the final year of writing for Ph.D.

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Michael O’Brien reports, “My daughter, Molly Anne O’Brien, was born on January 27, 2008, at 11:30 p.m. Molly was eight pounds, 12 ounces, and 20.5 inches. Both Molly and her mother, Beth O’Brien, are doing well.”

Margaret Ridge writes, “I have resigned from my position at Maybelline to take a job at VOICE Charter School in Queens, New York. I am thrilled, as singing is my first love, and it was at Milton where my passion for music was first fostered and inspired. At VOICE, all children will learn to sing, play an instrument of their choice, write, and read music. We will open with kindergarten and first grade and add a new class each year up through middle school. Best regards to all my former Milton teachers and classmates, and may you all find a way to do what you love every day!”

Ivy Bess Silverstein was born on June 7, 2008. She is the daughter of Kim and Michael Silverstein ’97.

Nate Dewart ’97 married Solana Rice in Saint Louis, Missouri, on May 25, 2008, and many Milton grads were there to help them celebrate. Pictured from left to right are Richard Kornbluth ’66, Murray Dewart ’66, Nate Dewart ’97, Solana Rice, Wilder Dewart, Caleb Dewart ’92, Lily Pollans ’97 and Brian Cheigh ’96.

1997 Peter Curran writes, “My wife, Sarah, and I moved to Colorado last year from Switzerland, and I am working as the dean of students at Fountain Valley School. I am enjoying the Rocky Mountain lifestyle and would love to reconnect with any Milton alumni in the Rockies!”

Congratulations to Michael Silverstein and his wife, Kim, who welcomed their first baby, a girl named Ivy Bess Silverstein.

Chris Cheever ’98 and wife Whitney were married on September 15, 2007.

Joining the celebration were (front row, left to right) Rob Higgins ’99, Prentiss Higgins ’57, Roger Cheever ’63, Whitney and Chris Cheever, John Reidy ’56; (back row) Dave Sclar ’98, Nick Hobbs ’98 and Fritz Hobbs ’65.

Andy Mittleman ’04 and Stephanie Shui ’04 celebrated their graduation from Middlebury College in May.

Leif Jacobsen ’08 won this year’s New England PGA Junior Championship, held at Brookline Golf Club in July. The accomplishment earned him a trip to the National PGA Junior Championship held just outside of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Michael writes, “She was born on June 7, 2008, at 2:34 a.m. and weighed nine pounds and two ounces at birth (a chubby monkey!). Mom, Dad and baby are doing great. We live in Los Angeles, where I work for Overbrook Entertainment and Kim works for Planned Parenthood of Los Angeles.

Friends and well-wishers can email me at michaelasilverstein@ gmail.com.”

My parents now have eight grandchildren! I am also starting a new job as a computer studies teacher at the local middle school here in Derry, New Hampshire.”

Nate Dewart married Solana Rice in Saint Louis, Missouri, on May 25, 2008. In August, they moved to Oakland, California, where Nate started his first year in the master’s of public policy program at University of California,

Berkeley, where he will focus on energy and the environment.

Solana is working for a national nonprofit. They welcome any and all (re-)connections from Milton grads and can be contacted at natedewart@gmail.com.

1998 Congratulations to Chris Cheever and Whitney Cheever, who were married on September 15, 2007.

Milton alums celebrating with them included Robert Higgins ’99, Prentiss Higgins ’57, Roger Cheever ’63, John Reidy ’56, David Sclar, Nicholas Hobbs and Franklin Hobbs IV ’65.

1999 Andrew Houston married Katie Alexander in Chicago, Illinois, on June 7, 2008. Other Milton alumni in attendance were Armen Sarkis, James Tracy and Adrian Rossello-Cornier ’02.

Andrew and Katie will continue living in Chicago, where both have careers in the insurance industry.

2000 English faculty member Maria Gerrity visited with two young Milton grads on her recent trip to China, Julian Fu ’07 in Shanghai and Jieming Sun ’07 (pictured here) in Beijing.

Julia MacIntosh and her husband welcomed a baby girl, Jacqueline MacIntosh, on April 7, 2008. Julia reports, “She weighed eight pounds and nine ounces. Nine weeks later, my sister, Sophie Koven ’92, and her husband welcomed their third child, a baby boy named Charlie.

Daniel Weisman is living in Beverly Hills with his dog, Brady, a Hurricane Katrina rescue. He has started his own management, consulting and marketing company, Elitaste, and is managing the D.C.-based hip-hop artist Wale. Daniel connects with fellow Milton grads Brian Foley and Andre Hardaway ’02 weekly in their basketball league.

2002 Caroline Carlson and Zach Pezzementi were married in July in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.

Laura Faulkner, Sara Perkins and Momoko Hirose did double duty as proud Milton representatives and courageous bridesmaids. Caroline and Zach live in Maryland, where Zach is working toward a Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins and Caroline is an editor at an educational publishing company.

2003 Thomas Coleman graduated from Temple University’s School of Communications and Theater with a B.A. in Theater and is headed to Glasgow, Scotland, in September to attend the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama for graduate school.

2004 Peter Colombo has been named a Fulbright Scholar to El Salvador for 2008–2009. After a lengthy civil war, El Salvador went through a series of monumental changes in regard to governance. Peter’s research will focus on the peace process that fundamentally shifted a once military-dominated government to a functional democracy. He will also be working with an NGO in San Salvador that educates Salvadoran people about democratic values and the role of citizens in a democracy.

Albert-Hyukjae Kwon graduated from M.I.T. with a B.S. in Biology. He will continue his studies at Harvard Medical School this coming fall.

2008 Leif Jacobsen won this year’s New England PGA Junior Championship, held at Brookline Golf Club in July. Leif shot rounds of 71 and 74 to finish the two-day tournament at three over par. Tied with another player, he made a two-putt par on the 18th hole to clinch the trophy and a trip to the National PGA Junior Championship.

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Class of 2003, front row (L to R): Chloe Walters-Wallace, Jamal Shipman, Cecil “Jay” Hunt; second row (L to R): Matt Basilico, Marlady Ho, Chris Kwok, Alex Roberts; back row (L to R): Alex Larrieux, Austin Watson, Tod Chubrich

Milton Academy Board of Trustees, 2008–2009

Deaths 1928 1930

Robert Saltonstall Benjamin Beale Henry Saltonstall 1931 Mary Driver Young 1933 Francis H. Brooks Melvin A. Traylor, Jr. 1936 John L. Bremer II 1938 Martha C. Boyajian John W. Straus 1939 William A. Atchley 1940 Gregor A. Gamble Austin G. Olney 1941 Donald I. Perry 1942 A. Irving Forbes Judith P. Handy Philip Maher, Jr. Honor Case Runyon

1943 1944 1948 1949 1950

Foster Darling Fred B. Lund, Jr. Faith Wildes MacArthur Diana Cameron Pierce Marjorie Jackson Bard Janet B. Mann Edward L. Reed 1951 Nonya Stevens Wright 1957 Paul Byard 1964 Judith Rivinus Fuller Friends Drusilla Withington

David Abrams Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts George Alex Cohasset, Massachusetts Julia W. Bennett ’79 Norwell, Massachusetts Bradley Bloom Wellesley, Massachusetts James M. Fitzgibbons ’52 Emeritus Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts

F. Warren McFarlan ’55 Belmont, Massachusetts Carol Smith Miller Boston, Massachusetts Erika Mobley ’86 Brisbane, California Tracy Pun Palandjian ’89 Belmont, Massachusetts

Austan D. Goolsbee ’87 Chicago, Illinois

Richard C. Perry ’73 New York, New York

Catherine Gordan New York, New York

John P. Reardon ’56 Vice President Cohasset, Massachusetts

Margaret Jewett Greer ’47 Emerita Chevy Chase, Maryland Antonia Monroe Grumbach ’61 New York, New York Franklin W. Hobbs IV ’65 President New York, New York Ogden M. Hunnewell ’70 Vice President Brookline, Massachusetts

Milton Magazine

Lisa A. Jones ’84 Newton, Massachusetts

John B. Fitzgibbons ’87 Bronxville, New York

Victoria Hall Graham ’81 New York, New York

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Harold W. Janeway ’54 Emeritus Webster, New Hampshire

H. Marshall Schwarz ’54 Emeritus New York, New York Karan Sheldon ’73 Milton, Massachusetts Frederick G. Sykes ’65 Secretary Rye, New York V-Nee Yeh ’77 Hong Kong Jide J. Zeitlin ’81 Treasurer New York, New York

S AT U R D AY, N O V E M B E R 8

C E L E B R AT E 2 0 0 8 GROUNDBREAKING FOR PRITZKER SCIENCE CENTER D E D I C AT I O N O F M I L L E T H O U S E LL EEA AD DEER R SSH H II PP R R EEC CO OG GN NII TT IIO ON N D D IIN NN N EE R R

A A G GR RA AN ND D TA TA II LL G G AT AT EE T H E M I LT O N - N O B L E S G A M EE

Celebrate 2008 A Time for Milton Saturday, November 8, 2008 Honoring the generosity of Milton donors, marking the beginning of a new era, and building on the Milton tradition: Join us for two historic events and the camaraderie that will follow.

Dedication of Millet House Groundbreaking for Pritzker Science Center Millet House and 127 Centre Street, 10 a.m.

A Grand Tailgate North Tennis Courts, 11:30 a.m.

The Milton-Nobles Game Stokinger Field, 1 p.m.

Leadership Recognition Dinner Fitzgibbons Convocation Center, 6:30 p.m.

To support the Millet tribute, visit the “Alumni” section of www.milton.edu.

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