Founder’s Day Celebrates Boston and John Eliot

Founder’s Day

On November 5, Roxbury Latin celebrated its annual Founder’s Day, honoring the very beginning of the school, founded in 1645 under King Charles I by “the good apostle” John Eliot. In this 375th anniversary year, the school celebrated the history of the City of Boston and Roxbury Latin’s place within it. >>

The day began with an address by Dr. Christopher Hannan ’82, a Massachusetts Maritime Academy Professor. Chris has studied and written extensively about John Eliot. Chris focused particularly on the herculean task of creating a written Algonquin language and using it to translate the Bible, which Eliot undertook in order to convert indigenous people to Christianity.

<< At the conclusion of Hall, all 304 boys and more than 55 faculty and staff members piled onto the MBTA Commuter Rail for a full day in Boston’s Back Bay.

<< Despite a rainy morning, the traditional all-school panorama (see the photo on page 30) was taken on the Senior Grass.

Then it was up to the Skywalk in the Prudential Center, where boys enjoyed panoramic views of the city and interactive exhibits on Boston’s history and neighborhoods. >>

<< Throughout the day, boys got a faculty-guided tour of the Back Bay, meandering past the Boston Public Library and the Arlington Street Church, to the Public Garden and learning about the history of one of their city’s most historic neighborhoods. As they made their way down the Commonwealth Avenue Mall, boys regarded statues of the first published African writer in America, Phillis Wheatley; the abolitionist, William Lloyd Garrison; and the sailor and maritime historian, Samuel Eliot Morrison, among others.

<< Finally, the group gathered in Trinity Church at Copley Square. Welcomed by Trinity Church’s rector and RL parent, Reverend Morgan Allen, boys learned the fascinating historical and architectural facts about the building itself. The British Consul General to New England, Harriet Cross, also spoke, offering her thoughts on the founding of RL and its ties to England.

Matt Weiner (center) plays the upright bass with friends Charlie Beck and Charmaine Slaven of the duo Squirrel Butter.

Matt Weiner ’89 and Squirrel Butter Perform Daland Concert

On December 10, Roxbury Latin’s 375th anniversary “Men of RL” alumni Hall series continued with some music. Talented bassist, guitarist, and pianist Matt Weiner, Class of 1989, performed a number of bluegrass and country songs to the delight of the students and faculty, in the last week of the marking period. Matt, who resides in the Pacific Northwest, has more than two decades of experience as a highly sought-after music teacher. As a bass player he has been known to perform upward of two hundred shows per year. In Hall he was joined by his friends Charlie Beck and Charmaine Slaven, who comprise the duo Squirrel Butter, an old-time variety duet that performs the genres of early bluegrass, country, and Cajun while adding their own unique perspectives.

Matt and Squirrel Butter’s set list included a single by country duo The Louvin Brothers and the 1928 Eddie Anthony song Georgia Crawl. Between songs, Matt shared ruminations on his experience at RL—including a very spectacular leg injury on the soccer field— and encouraged the boys to try out a number of pursuits, passions, and professional paths, remembering that you never truly know if you like something until you try it. Matt is no stranger to the Rousmaniere Hall stage; he last performed there in a Recital Hall on March 2, 1989, with his classmate Jake Shapiro, delivering an original composition “for three synthesizers, drum machine, guitar, and computer.”

This concert Hall was supported, in part, by the generosity of the Andrew Daland ’46 Memorial Concert Fund, established by Andrew’s wife, Pamela Worden, and his family and friends, with the purpose of bringing a musical concert to Roxbury Latin boys each year in Andrew’s memory. We are grateful for the generosity that fuels this musical experience each year. //

Build a Bed Project Kicks Off Season of Giving

Tina Baptista experienced homelessness at 13 years old, when her father had passed away and her mother went to prison. “It was very difficult to get an education, to wake up not knowing where I’d be going to sleep the next night,” she shared in Hall on November 25. “On many days I didn’t even have the opportunity to go to school. I didn’t know if I would have food on the table when I got home. I often didn’t know where home would be the next night, but still I showed up. I went to school. I put my best foot forward, and I made sure that if there was anything that I had, it was an opportunity to better my life through an education.”

Ms. Baptista was RL’s second speaker in the school’s 375th anniversary Hall series focused on homelessness and poverty. Today, Ms. Baptista is the director of A Bed for Every Child, a program of the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless. Studies show that lack of sleep has a negative impact on a student’s concentration, memory, and ability to learn. Children who get more, high-quality sleep do better in math, science, and reading. Children who get little sleep are more likely to have behavioral problems, be prone to general moodiness, and have difficulty living up to their potential. A Bed for Every Child works with public schools and community organizations throughout Massachusetts to provide access to free, new, twin beds for children in need.

“Youth homelessness continues to rise in Massachusetts, and so does childhood poverty. At the Coalition and at A Bed for Every Child, we are putting children at the forefront, because we know these young people are our future educators. Children that are facing adversity—poverty, homelessness— deserve better. School was the stability in my young life; it was my safe haven. When I was given the opportunity to finish high school and go to Salem State University, it turned my life around. I realized the opportunities that education provided for me. I’m the third generation in my family growing up in poverty, and I’m so incredibly fortunate that as a young adult I have ended that cycle within my family, and it looks very good from here on out. We’re hoping to provide that same stability and sanctuary for children living in poverty, the chance to break the cycle, by the simple gift of a bed.”

After Ms. Baptista’s Hall presentation, the entire school went to the gymnasium where boys—in teams of four, across all grades—built 76 beds that would be donated to children in need.

>> “As you’re building these beds,” Ms. Baptista concluded, “I want you to ask yourself: What is tomorrow like for me? What does a good night’s sleep mean for me tonight? and How can I continue to put my best foot forward? This morning you’re giving a child an opportunity to dream big.” To date, A Bed for Every Child has served more than 10,000 children across Massachusetts.

Ms. Baptista graduated from Salem State University with a bachelor’s degree in business management. She has worked with the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless since 2013, first as an advocate and later as a community organizer. Today she raises awareness through partnerships with local non-profits, educational institutions, and places of worship, and helps to support low-income communities through connections with corporations and businesses, big and small. This Hall and service project were the second element in this year’s 375th anniversary focus on homelessness and poverty. Matt Desmond, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the book Evicted, kicked off this series in October, and students have been considering these issues more closely in various ways throughout the fall. In Ms. Dromgoole’s Contemporary Global Issues class, groups of seniors researched different populations of homeless individuals, in Massachusetts and across the country—learning about the ways in which state programs succeed or fail in supporting homeless veterans, families, and youth. Students also participated in a holiday service drive, collecting socks, gloves, hats, and hand warmers for the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, donating nearly 800 items, including 615 pairs of socks. //