@SPS Newsletter Winter 2021-22

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Winter 2021-22

BEN FLANDERS

BEN FLANDERS

ANOTHER NEW NORMAL

PHOTOGRPAHY BY MICHAEL SEAMANS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.

The Fall Term play, “Blue Stockings,” took a timeless look at a particularly timely subject for St. Paul’s School: coeducation. In classrooms in the Schoolhouse and Lindsay, students enjoyed robust class discussions, stretched their perspectives with guest presenters, and got their hands on lab tools, laptops, and much more. From regular Chapel gatherings to full fall sports schedules and in-person arts performances, and from welcoming parents, siblings, and grandparents for the first on-grounds Family Weekend since 2019 to resuming a modified version of Seated Meal, SPS students enjoyed a Fall Term and a beginning of Winter Term that felt more like the School Fifth and Sixth Formers remembered from their earlier years in Millville. For Third and Fourth Formers, the first four months of the 2021-22 academic year were a whirlwind of new friendships, new experiences, and plenty of smiles.

CHASING HER DREAM

Tri-sport Standout Kristina Allard ’22 Kristina Allard ’22 laces up her skates and steps onto the ice at the SPS Hockey Center, pushing off with fluid, powerful strides. As her blades carve wide, regular arcs in the pristine surface, it’s easy to imagine her crossing the St. Paul’s School soccer pitch with equal speed or rounding the final turn on the School’s outdoor track with the same dynamic grace.

Hockey was, in fact, what brought Allard to SPS. She spent one year at Kingston’s Sanborn Regional High School, where she made a name for herself in soccer and track.

It was her prowess on the ice, however, that attracted SPS girls hockey coach Heather Farrell, who encouraged her to repeat her freshman year at the School. Though she lived less than an hour from campus, Allard had never been to the SPS grounds until she and her father made a visit at Farrell’s suggestion.

“I came here and I was like, this is the wrong turn, Dad — we turned onto a college campus,” she recalls with a laugh.

“There’s no way that this place is for real.”

Indeed, the Sixth Former from Kingston, New Hampshire, is a three-sport, four-year standout for SPS. But Allard says she’s long known she’s a hockey player at heart. “My first ever skate was when I was six, and that’s kind of unusual, because a lot of us who end up as hockey players start as early as two,” she says. Relatively belated though her start may have been, Allard quickly excelled — and homed in on a hockey-related goal for her future. “I literally have the Olympic rings on the wall in my room at home, and the American flag,” she says. “That’s the motivation for me to keep going — to play on that team. It’s been a dream ever since I was a little kid, from the first time I stepped onto the ice at six years old.”

Allard says it’s hard to say what she loves most about hockey, because she loves “everything” — the skill, the teamwork, the physicality. “I guess if I had to pinpoint one thing, I’d say it’s the people it’s brought into my life and the life lessons I’ve learned from it,” she says. “I could not be more grateful for having hockey in my life.”

As a new Third Former, Allard’s impact was immediate in her three sports. The same year, she also made a verbal commitment to Northeastern University to join its topranked women’s ice hockey team. It’s unusual to commit so early — most college-bound student-athletes receive offers junior or senior year — and Allard is quick to describe her path as “lucky,” sharing credit with her teammates, coaches, and teachers for much of her success.

“I’m so beyond grateful for my teammates,” she says.

“We’ve built up this program to be ‘we’ over ‘me,’ and that’s something that all the girls really buy into. I’m going to be best friends with all these girls for the rest of my life and I can’t thank them enough, or my teachers or my coaches, for that matter. They’ve shaped me into who I am today, and I couldn’t be more lucky to have those people in my life.”

Allard, who closed out her final SPS soccer season with All-NEPSAC honors, has her eye on NEPSAC and Lakes Region titles for the hockey team. At Northeastern, she plans to complete a five-year degree in finance and to compete in both soccer and track after her four years of ice hockey eligibility are up.

And after that? Allard will graduate from college in 2027, giving her a few years to tune up for a shot at the U.S. women’s Olympic ice hockey team.

— Kristin Duisberg

LIVES OF PURPOSE

SPS alumnae event series helps mark the 50th anniversary of coeducation Lisa Hughes ’78, P’17,’19, Maria Agui Carter ’81, and Sabrina Fung ’89, P’24,’24 spoke about their personal and professional trajectories and tackled the question of what it means to build a life of purpose. Johanna Boynton ’84, Alie Rusher ’14, and Cecilia Marrinan ’20 reflected on their identities as high-performing athletes and the roles that sports and competition play in their lives. Alma Graham ’74, Addie Burns Redd ’75, and Hilda Cupeles-Nieves ’75 shared candid thoughts about what it was like to be three of the first girls of color at St. Paul’s School.

In the fall, SPS kicked off its yearlong recognition of the 50th anniversary of coeducation with a series of panel events that provided the SPS community with an exclusive look at how the School shaped the experience of a range of alumnae, and the varied ways in which these women have taken that experience out into the world. Students, faculty members, and staff gathered on the grounds to hear from the panelists, joined by alumni, parents, and others who tuned in virtually from locations around the world.

Rector Kathy Giles, who cohosted two of the three panels with current Sixth Form students, noted that the intent was to showcase the breadth of perspective brought by — and impact created by — SPS girls and

women in the world. “As we planned these events, we did want to start with a panel of speakers who exemplify resilience, courage, creativity, engagement, contribution — women whose lives of purpose already have served the greater good,” Giles said.

“Her Purpose: 50 Years of SPS Women in the World” will continue through the end of the academic year with alumnae panel events scheduled for February, April, and May, and a culminating event during Anniversary Weekend, June 10-12.

The next event, a virtual panel taking place on Tuesday, Feb. 22, will focus on the theme of service. Alumnae speakers will include Dana Remus ’93, White House counsel for the Biden administration; Maggie Smith ’98, an active-duty U.S. Army cyber officer; and Rhiya Trivedi ’08, a civil rights attorney.

— Kristin Duisberg

WANT TO CATCH UP ON OUR FALL EVENTS?

Visit sps.edu/herpurpose to view recordings of all three panel discussions. This is also the place to register for our Feb. 22 event, read alumnae profiles, and nominate alumnae and other community members for consideration for future stories.

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

Violinist Sean Jang ’23 turns years of practice into a passion for music In November, Sean Jang ’23 won the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) New Hampshire State Senior String Competition, advancing as a Division Finalist in the Eastern Division Senior Strings. The distinction is one of many accomplishments for the violinist that include winning the 2021 Elite International Music Competition, the 2021 Swiss National Youth Competition, the 2020-2021 Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition, the 2020 American Protege International Concerto Competition at Carnegie Hall, and the 2019 Taiwan International Competition.

Jang says that, musically speaking, he really likes the piece he played for the MTNA New Hampshire and Eastern Division competitions — Jean Sibelius’ “Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47.” “When I sight read it three years ago, I thought it was rather easy,” he says, “but the more I delved into it, the more I realized it may be the most fascinating piece I’ve played.” The Fifth Former describes the biggest challenge of the piece as “uncoordinated teamwork” — two competing rhythms between violinist and accompanist. He submitted his recorded entries for both competitions accompanied by organist and Director of Chapel Music Nicholas White.

becoming a place where I could express myself. If I have a rough day, I practice my instrument, and after an hour and a half, I’m much happier.”

The son of a professional musician and a U.N. diplomat, Jang was born in California and raised in Switzerland as the oldest of three siblings. His mother chose the violin as the instrument that best suited his personality when he was four. It wasn’t until he came to SPS, however, that Jang started to enjoy playing. In fact, he says, his younger self would be astonished by how much music has come to mean to him. At age eight or nine, he recalls, hours of practicing scales would bring him to tears. At the time, he didn’t understand that mastering those scales meant he was developing intonation. And intonation, he says now, is everything when it comes to making music.

“From playing the violin under pressure, I have learned to compose myself,” he says. “That’s what I’ve really learned as a violinist: when you play a note, you are actually thinking about playing the next note and the way you want it to sound, and that preparation helps with your intonation. And that’s what I do with soccer. I just think about the next step.”

“For most people, it’s really hard to make music. It’s hard to give your own ideas, your own interpretations, when you’re so young,” Jang says. “I didn’t realize that it was a process that took a lot of time. But as I “WHEN I CAME TO grew older, I started ST. PAUL’S, MUSIC connecting with STARTED BECOMING making music. I A PLACE WHERE I thought more about the sound. When I COULD EXPRESS MYSELF. came to St. Paul’s, IF I HAVE A ROUGH music started

DAY, I PRACTICE MY INSTRUMENT, AND AFTER AN HOUR AND A HALF, I’M MUCH HAPPIER.”

Jang’s mother chose his instrument in part, he thinks, because violinists are active leaders — the concertmaster, or first violinist, serves as the primary intermediary between the conductor and the orchestra. For Jang, that trait extends to the SPS soccer field, where he plays goalkeeper, the most specialized position on the pitch.

He has discovered that lessons learned on the stage help strengthen his athletic performances, too.

As for Jang’s next steps after SPS, he has options. That might mean being a concert violinist, or a professional soccer player. It might mean following his fascination with the brain to become a neurosurgeon. Or, like learning a new piece of music and diving into its depths and nuances, he could discover a whole new world to explore.

“I don’t know what the future holds, but I know for a fact that I will continue playing violin for the rest of my life,” Jang says. “Music will always be an important part of my life.”

— Kate Dunlop

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The 2021-22 school year marks the 10th anniversary of the opening of St. Paul’s School’s 78,000-square-foot LINDSAY CENTER FOR MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE. Be sure to check out the fall Alumni Horae for an in-depth look at the many ways in which the building has delivered on its promise to elevate teaching and learning in math and science, with programs in engineering, robotics, botany, and astronomy, as well as in the more traditional pursuits.

St. Paul’s School (New Hampshire) St. Paul’s School Alumni

stpaulsschoolnh spsathletic

​​During WINTER TERM CONVOCATION on Dec. 1, Rector Kathy

Giles spoke about light — its meaning and its importance as we move through not only winter’s darkness but also the darkness of uncertain and challenging times. Giles’ message to the students and faculty was one of hope and unity as she urged everyone “to turn toward the light in our lives ... we have to choose to look for it ... to see it, even if it is sometimes faint or flickering ... we have to choose to be in the light, to push back the darkness, and to let our own lights shine in turn for those around us.”

@StPaulsSchoolNH @spsathletic

Read Rector Giles’ full Winter Term Convocation remarks.

THE CHAPEL AS STAGE

Nick White debuts new opera For many people, the term “sabbatical” conjures up images of exotic locations and extended travel. Nick White, on the other hand, spent much of his Spring Term 2021 sabbatical in the very space that serves as his office, classroom, and rehearsal space at St. Paul’s School: The Chapel of St. Peter and St. Paul. The School’s director of chapel music and organist since 2011, White spent his leave composing “The Fire and the Rose”: an opera inspired by two of T.S. Eliot’s best-known poem cycles, “The Waste Land,” written in 1922, and 1942’s “Four Quartets.”

Written specifically for performance in the Chapel, White’s work is a journey from the chaos and tumult of “What the Thunder Said” — the final and perhaps best-known section of “The Waste Land” and a reflection of Eliot’s personal crisis of faith — to the harmony and resolution of “Little Gidding” from “Four Quartets” — a poem that, not coincidentally, focuses on a chapel: St. John’s Church in Little Gidding, England.

“In terms of the nuts and bolts of the whole project, I knew that I wanted to do it in the Chapel,” White explains, noting that it’s not unusual to write a work for a specific venue. “There were limitations to what I could do, and there were also tremendous enhancements the Chapel could provide to a piece like this.”

Those limitations include the physical space — while the Chapel can seat more than 700 people, it’s a long, narrow structure. “That means we really can’t lay out much of an orchestra beyond a few instruments,” White says. At the same time, the Chapel’s soaring, vaulted ceilings provide outstanding acoustics for the pipe organ, and White wanted to maximize the use of that instrument in the opera, which also features piano, cello, horn, and percussion.

In addition to professional musicians and vocalists, White’s opera highlights the talents of the SPS Chapel Choir as well as the SPS Ballet Company (SPSBC). As choir director, he wanted the choir to play a significant role. Incorporating ballet came about as White considered the audience experience and the desire to create something that not only sounded beautiful but also was visually engaging.

“Because I play piano for ballet classes throughout

the year, my mind went immediately to the dance department,” he adds. “The Fire and The Rose” features six members of the SPSBC. White finds joy and inspiration from working within a complicated set of parameters — which, for “The Fire and The Rose,” include not just the Chapel space, but also the complexity of Eliot’s poems and limited opportunities for his performers to prepare and rehearse. SPS, he says, has provided an exceptional canvas for his creative talents. A Grammy-nominated conductor and composer and the Form of 1954 Henry Crocker Kittredge Chair in the Arts, White joined the faculty in 2011 following a long career as a church musician. Initially drawn to SPS by the “magnificent” Chapel and its organ (“a phenomenally good instrument”), he swiftly embraced the experience of working with talented high school musicians.

White counts among his favorite SPS experiences the 2014 and 2017 tours he took to his native England with the Chapel Choir, which performed in Canterbury Cathedral. “We sang a 30-minute lunchtime recital, unaccompanied music, straight off the plane, no rehearsal,” he recalls. “Talk about landing and having to have your feet on the ground! I just remember those moments when the students realized, ‘Oh! This is it. This is what we’re doing.’ It’s a great way to start a tour.”

“The Fire and The Rose,” which White describes as his largest piece yet, is no doubt another highlight in his long career. The 90-minute opera was performed live in the Chapel of St. Peter and St. Paul on Jan. 20, 21, and 22 and recorded to share with the greater SPS community.

— Kristin Duisberg

SAVE THE DATE “The Fire and the Rose” will be screened for SPS community on the following dates: March 1, 7 p.m. EST March 3, 1 p.m. EST March 2, 9 p.m. EST March 4, 7 a.m. EST Registration links will be shared by email in February.

FIVE QUESTIONS WITH

Charly Plaisir ’13 Charles-Alexandre “Charly” Plaisir ’13 joined the St. Paul’s School community in the fall of 2011 as a new Fifth Former. A decade later, he has returned to SPS as a Science Teaching Fellow through the University of Pennsylvania Independent School Teaching Residency program. Prior to joining the SPS faculty this year, Plaisir earned an undergraduate degree in ecology from Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, and a master’s degree from the French-speaking Université de Sherbrooke in Sherbrooke, Quebec. He also competed in both ice and ball hockey in locations around the globe.

Q1

You studied ecology in college. What’s the most unexpected experience that pursuit brought you?

I would have to say capturing kangaroos in southern Australia. I did some fieldwork on dragonflies in Quebec before that, and that was fascinating as well — when you look at them under the microscope, they’re actually beautifully engineered. But I was looking for large mammal population ecology for a master’s research project. Eastern grey kangaroos are big, and they can be aggressive, especially the males. They live in a surprisingly diverse landscape — prairies, beaches, mountains, swamps — and unpredictable climatic conditions, and we spent several months in the field every year, trying to figure out how a mammal of their size could survive in such extremely variable conditions. We’d sedate them, measure them, weigh them, look at their general health. It was a long-term study where we looked at each individual and followed them from one year to the next. My tasks involved observing kangaroos and their interactions, and also performing many captures — you basically take a five-meter-long stick with a syringe of sedative at the end and poke the kangaroos with it while they’re feeding or distracted. They fall asleep about three minutes later. It’s what I was working on right before returning to SPS.

Q2

What brought you back to SPS?

Q3

How is your perspective on the School different after eight years elsewhere?

Q4

What puts a smile on your face in the morning?

Q5

Do you have a best piece of advice that you’ve received?

It’s not something I had planned necessarily. As I was finishing up my master’s degree, one thing that stood out is that I loved science communication initiatives, doing informal education activities for students of any age. And I enjoy working with kids — I’ve coached hockey for the past five, six years. When I saw the opportunity pop up at St. Paul’s, a two-year fellowship seemed like a great way to explore the realm of teaching and also gain valuable experience and competencies in general. I’m happy to be back.

One great thing I notice is that many teachers who were here when I was a student are still here now, which speaks well of the School as a community.

I think the school life is more structured, and there’s much more supervision for students, particularly the number of deans and faculty responsible for student life.

Well, for starters, having my partner [Solange Barrault] here with me at SPS. We met in graduate school, and she’s working remotely for a company in Quebec.

And I’d also say, for myself, having the opportunity to pursue my passions for science and teaching and sharing that knowledge with students. I’d like to do science documentaries at some point — I’m very comfortable in front of the camera and have decent knowledge behind the camera as well. I also really like writing — the creative aspect of storytelling. I’m very passionate about these things. Sometimes passion doesn’t have to be your work. But if I can have some of my passion in my work, that can help me wake up with a smile every morning and be happy about what I’m doing.

Just because a door is closed, it doesn’t mean you can’t open it. That’s so important for the way I lead my life, with the things I have been fortunate enough to do. As a quick example, I got to play hockey and work in documentary production in New Zealand after my undergrad for a few months before starting my master’s degree. When I first contacted the [hockey] coaches in New Zealand, they told me my pedigree wasn’t good enough to take me, but I just decided to go for it and try. And it worked. That approach has worked for me with other opportunities as well — just talking to the right people and showing confidence that you can do the job. Don’t let people tell you “you’re not qualified for this.”

There’s always a way to do things.

— Kristin Duisberg