Milton Musicians Kick Off Concert Tour in King Theatre

Every two years, members of Milton’s Chamber Orchestra and Chamber Singers pack their bags and their instruments for a whirlwind concert tour overseas. In the past, Milton’s musicians have traveled to the many corners of Europe and Asia, performing in some of the world's most historic venues. On Sunday, March 14, the group departs from Logan Airport to begin their tour of southern Spain.

A tradition that began four years ago, the orchestra and singers kick off the trip with a pre-tour concert event in King Theatre. Dedicated in honor of Margaret Filoon Robertson ’56, this year’s celebratory send-off begins at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 11.

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Tze Chun ’98, Artist and Filmmaker, is the Hong Kong Series Speaker

The twelfth speaker in the Hong Kong Series, Tze Chun graduated from Milton Academy the year in which the Series began, 1998. Tze’s artistic expression is broad, as is his success. He is a writer; a visual artist and painter; and a filmmaker.

Tze’s work in film may be most widely known. His debut feature Children of Invention premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.  The film won excellent reviews and fifteen festival prizes, at film festivals across the country.

Tze’s earlier short film, Windowbreaker was selected to play at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, and also at more than thirty other high-profile international festivals. Windowbreaker is a semi-autobiographical film based in a mixed-race Boston suburb, where paranoia and stereotype-driven suspicions are at play. It won the audience award at the 2006 New York City Short Film Festival and best short film at the 2007 Vietnamese International Film Festival.

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Two Young Alumnae Advance to NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament

This weekend, Milton graduates Amanda Brophy ’06 and Allanah Wynn ’09 will play for their respective college teams as they compete in the NCAA 2010 Division III Women’s Basketball Tournament.

Amanda, with her Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute teammates, will take on Southern Maine in the first round of tournament play this weekend. The Engineers will be making their second appearance in the tournament; their last appearance was during the 2000–2001 season.

In RPI’s recent game against Skidmore, Amanda, at forward, cut the Engineers’ deficit to one point with a lay-up at the 8-minute mark, and then pulled her team into a 12-point advantage at the 3-minute mark with a pair of free throws. The win over Skidmore earned the Engineers the title of Liberty League Tournament Champions.

Allanah and her Babson College teammates will compete against Emmanuel in the first round of the tournament at Colby College. Allanah, a first-year point guard, scored an average of nearly seven points per contest this season and led her team in assists with 72. Babson’s women’s basketball team are the Division III 2010 NEWMAC Champions. This will be the Beavers’ second consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament, their fifth tournament appearance overall.

Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author, Jeffrey Eugenides, is This Spring’s Bingham Visiting Reader

On March 3, students in Classes II and I filled King Theatre to hear Mr. Jeffrey Eugenides read some of his unpublished fiction as this year’s Bingham Visiting Reader.

Mr. Eugenides’s first novel, The Virgin Suicides, was published to wide acclaim in 1993. It has been translated into 34 languages and made into a feature film. In 2003, he received the Pulitzer Prize for his novel Middlesex, which remains one of the best selling contemporary novels of all time and won him a coveted spot in Oprah’s Book Club. His short fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Best American Short Stories, and Granta’s “Best of Young American Novelists.”

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Berklee College Sponsors a Musical Tribute

Bob Sinicrope of the music department, a faculty member at Milton since 1973, was selected by the National Youth Development Council to be honored in a musical tribute this Sunday, March 7. Among the groups and individuals on the program, members of the Milton Jazz Combos will perform at the tribute, as will alumni pianist Jason Yeager '05 and Lori Dow, member of the admission office staff at Milton. Bob Sinicrope was Berklee College's John LaPorta Jazz Educator of the Year in 2007. The event takes place at the Berklee College of Music, Friends Recital Hall from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

A Big Week for the Mustangs

This week, Milton’s Mustangs—from every sport—treated fans to exciting action. A come-from-behind, overtime win over Nobles earned Milton’s boys’ hockey squad a slot in post-season play. The girls’ basketball team beat Thayer in a nail-biter that was decided in the last second of the game, and with 1,358 points in her high school basketball career, Katie Murray (I) surpassed the School’s all-time scoring record. Wrestler Nash Simpson (I) finished among the top 12 in the nation, defeating the number eight seed in the Prep National Tournament. The girls’ 200-freestyle relay set a new Milton record at 1:44.55. The boys’ basketball team beat Nobles on the Bulldogs’ own court; their terrific season qualified them for post-season play as well.

Qualifying as the number six seed, boys’ hockey competes in the Super Eight tournament on March 3 at 5:30 p.m., going blade-to-blade with top rival and number three seed, Nobles, at Nobles. The fifth seeded boys’ basketball squad will travel to Plymouth, New Hampshire, on March 3 to take on the number four seeded Holderness team. Tip-off is 4:30 p.m.

Nick Jacob (I), State Champion, Will Defend the Constitution to Win the National Title

Having won at two earlier regional levels, Nick Jacob (I) delivered his 10-minute speech—without notes—on the Constitution of the United States last weekend. He finished the daylong tournament in first place, brought home the Massachusetts championship and earned a prize of $1,000. Winning this Massachusetts State American Legion Oratorical Contest catapults Nick into national competition.

“It was a really interesting tournament,” said Nick. “In the American Legion competition, we're not allowed to watch other competitors speak, so we have to sit in a ‘prep room’ until it is our turn to speak.”

When it came time for Nick to take the stage, he delivered his speech entitled The Constitution: An Enduring Document. “My speech focuses on how our constitution has contributed to American history,” said Nick. “It actually centers on a metaphor—the notion that our constitution is similar to the Washington Monument, in terms of construction, strength and simplicity. I've always been very passionate about the United States and American history. The American Legion contest has been a great opportunity for me to use that passion.”

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Doubt filled Wigglesworth Hall this Weekend

When there are no witnesses, and there is no evidence, how sure can you be?

This weekend, Milton’s 1212 players brought John Patrick Shanley’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Doubt: A Parable to life in Wigglesworth Hall. Doubt is a story of morality and distrust, rigid assumptions and questionable truths inside a Catholic school in Bronx, New York, in the fall of 1964.

Sister Aloysius is an unflinchingly conservative nun who demands of her students and fellow clergy adherence to strict policies and vigilant moral conduct. Father Flynn is a popular, well-respected, progressive new leader of the parish whom—because of his very nature—Sister Aloysius mistrusts. When she openly questions Father Flynn’s relationship with one of the young students, she brings to bear a firestorm of accusations, discord and hurt inside the small parochial school.

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Upper School Principal will be David Ball

Tuesday morning at 8 a.m., Upper School students and faculty responded with universal cheers and a standing ovation to exciting news from Head of School Todd Bland. Mr. Bland announced that he had accepted the recommendation from the Upper School Principal Search Committee to offer the position to Mr. David Ball, and that Mr. Ball had enthusiastically accepted. David will start his new role on July 1.

David Ball, Milton Academy Class of 1988, has served as Milton’s academic dean since 2005. David began teaching in 1992 at Montgomery Academy in Montgomery, Alabama, as a member of the history department. In 1996, David became the head of the department and held that position for three years. David returned to Milton in 1999, joining the history department, serving as the debate team coach, and participating in various committees during his tenure as both teacher and administrator. David holds an A.B. in History from Princeton University and an A.M. in History from Duke University.

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Milton’s Ski Team Takes Home the Silver

On February 10, the girls’ ski team traveled to Mount Snow in Vermont to compete in the annual NEPSAC Championship event and ski against the best in the East. Under tough weather conditions and poor visibility, the Mustangs skied strong and placed second overall in the NEPSAC Class B division. Pictured here are Amy Chappel (2nd in slalom and 6th in giant slalom); co-captains Liza Dingle (10th in slalom and 29th in giant slalom) and Kate Elkind (9th in both giant slalom and slalom); Merrit Levitan (17th in slalom and 24th in giant slalom); Ellyn Golden (12th in giant slalom); and Julia McKown (20th in slalom). The team hits the slopes again on Wednesday, February 24 for the ISL championships.

Far from an Ordinary Day

Parents’ Association Hosts Faculty Staff Appreciation

Smoked salmon and capers on fresh bagels between first and second periods. Sticky buns too sumptuous to turn down. After fourth period—beef bourguignon, chicken Provencal and pork tenderloin carved and embellished with mustard tarragon sauce by Class II Dad, Cotty Peabody. “Where are we?” you might ask.  We’re at Milton, on a prototypical February day. After they transform Straus Library into a verdant retreat rivaling the New England Flower Show, Upper School parent volunteers, working with committee chair, Wendy Ballinger (III), roll out the carpet for faculty and staff, hosting the Parents’ Association’s now-traditional, highly anticipated expression of thanks.

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Black History Month

Choose your own adventure at Milton

We’re listening, questioning, dancing, eating, singing and laughing. Black History Month is full and fun at Milton. The award-winning historical play Show Me the Franklins opened the month in King Theatre on February 4. The play dramatizes how our ancestors might have experienced American slavery and American freedom. Dis-n-Dat Reggae band played last weekend, and everyone at the concert was treated to Dominican food.

Onyx meetings continue all month, and offer plenty to think and talk about. This week’s meeting highlighted Cape Verdean, African American and Nigerian cultures. Next week’s meeting addresses the question, “Are we living in a post-racial society?” The Onyx assembly—a popular and highly anticipated event every year—will showcase some of the many talents of Milton’s Onyx members in music, dance and poetry.

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Eleven Students Qualify for National Speech Tournament

Over the weekend, Milton “speechies” went head-to-head with some of the best high school speech teams in the country at the Catholic National Qualifying Tournament. Eleven Milton team members finished within the top six for their events and qualified to move on to the national stage at the Catholic National Tournament in Omaha, Nebraska over Memorial Day weekend. Students set to compete at the national level include Brennan Robbins (I), Nick Jacob (I) and Martin Page (III) in congress; Cam Parsons (I), Mary Lopez (I), Amelia Whalen (I), Will Oliver (I), Dylan Williams (I) and Louis McWilliams (III) in duo interpretation; Quinn Solfisburg (I) in prose and poetry; and Natasha Bhasin (III) in original oratory.

Milton Celebrates Personal Mythology

This week, Milton’s Nesto Gallery opens its doors to Personal Mythology, an exhibit featuring the ceramic sculptures of Boston-based artist Esta Carnahan.

“Esta Carnahan’s ceramic sculptures evoke an ancient, pagan and mythical world,” says Milton’s visual arts department chair, Gordon Chase. “Her face forms enclosed within other face forms challenge the viewer to dig deeply into a Jungian psyche that is both personal and collective. This artist makes forms that link the old and the new in the expression of what is ‘original.’ She makes forms that look alive and that defy rationality.”

Personal Mythology runs from February 9 to March 9 in the Nesto Gallery. An opening reception to kick off the show is scheduled for Tuesday, February 9, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Located in the lower level of the Old Science Building, the Gallery is open weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. To learn more about Esta Carnahan, visit www.estacarnahan.com.

Milton Artists Recognized for their Work by the Mass Cultural Council

Sheila Gallagher ’84 and faculty member Anne Neely have been recognized as finalists for 2010 by the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC), as part of the organization’s Artist Fellowship Program. Sheila is a drawing finalist; Anne is a painting finalist. MCC’s Artist Fellowships recognize the unique contribution made by artists to the cultural vitality of the Commonwealth. These fellowships provide direct financial assistance to Massachusetts artists to recognize excellence and creative ability, and to support further development of their talents. The MCC named 30 Massachusetts artists for the quality of their work, in the disciplines of drawing, painting and traditional arts. The Artist Fellowship Program awards 15 artists as fellows, and distinguishes 15 others as finalists.

Award-Winning Play Opens Black History Month at Milton

Milton hosted the award-winning historical play Show Me the Franklins! Remembering the Ancestors, Slavery and Benjamin Franklin on February 4 in King Theatre. Milton was one of three Boston schools that presented the play, as well as residency activities with the author and actors from Theatre for Transformation, to celebrate Black History Month.

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School-wide Brainstorming Ideas See Action

All Together for Haiti

A faculty-student hoops contest and fundraiser for Haiti relief is a highlight among many ideas generated by students, faculty and staff at Milton. The basketball game on Wednesday, January 20 in the Athletic and Convocation Center drew a crowd during the exam prep week, and it raised close to $4,000 from both players and spectators.

Click here to view a video montage of the event courtesy of Nancy Bland.

Everyone on campus will be able to participate in numerous other efforts to provide funds for medical and food aid in Haiti.

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Kate Ballinger (III) Selected to Perform in District Festival

Each year, the Massachusetts Music Educators Association (MMEA) hosts a district music festival, featuring the best high school musicians from around the Bay State. Students are invited to audition for the chance to be a part of the two-day concert event and perform with the band, orchestra, chorus or jazz ensembles. Milton’s Kate Ballinger (III) was selected by the MMEA to participate in this year’s Eastern District festivities. Under the direction of New England Conservatory Wind Ensemble Director Charles Peltz, Kate rehearsed and performed on stage with the Concert Band at Boston Latin School on Friday, January 8 and Saturday, January 9.

The annual festival is one of the many ways the MMEA fulfills its mission to “encourage music activities among the schools of the Commonwealth by means of festivals, clinics and other related events.”

An artist and an activist, Derrick Ashong is this year’s Martin Luther King Speaker

On January 13, the Milton community honored the memory and the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.—a learned, intensely thoughtful and thought-provoking man—by hearing from a man who leads his life with a vision that is just as compelling for our time. Mr. Derrick Ashong is an activist, an artist, an intellectual, and his exhortation to students on Wednesday was that they listen to each others’ stories, discover the truth behind their own, and—in light of that understanding—give to those in need, an act beneficial for all.

Mr. Ashong is truly a global citizen. Born in Ghana, he lived as a child in Brooklyn; then in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar; and then found himself as a 16-year old in a New Jersey high school. His experiences taught him how important it was to be aware of where he was, and equally aware of who he was. He came to enjoy stepping outside his comfort zone and living in the space between different cultures. “This globalizing world,” Derrick said, “is increasingly becoming more representative of how I grew up than how some of my friends grew up.”

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Professor Tatar explores fiction for children over the centuries

Childhood stories draw hundreds to her course at Harvard

“Why do we tell stories?” asked Maria Tatar, Professor of Germanic Languages and Literatures and chair of the Program in Folklore and Mythology at Harvard University. Professor Tatar was the 2010 Margaret Johnson lecturer.

As many revered writers have hypothesized in numerous ways over centuries, stories help us make sense of what goes on in the world. Professor Tatar’s research interests include children’s literature, and with students she explored the development of story telling from the 17th century through the 21st—the progression from oral stories around the hearth to the format familiar to us: an adult reading to children, or a child with a storybook. Children’s stories, fairy tales, are cultural expressions, global expressions, mythic expressions Dr. Tatar explained. They confront elemental questions such as mortality, violence and sexuality.

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Faculty Talent Helps Fund Community Service Trip to Appalachia

Milton students will spend their spring break repairing homes in Appalachia. To raise money for building supplies, and plenty of enthusiasm, the community service program hosted a faculty talent show in Pieh Commons of the Kellner Performing Arts Center on Friday, January 8. The event featured the musical talents of admission staff member Lori Dow and faculty members Mark GwinnLandry, Mark Hilgendorf, Michael Kassatly, Barbara Kennard and Ted Whalen. The audience was also treated to a special rendition of Hamlet, performed by faculty members of Milton’s English department. The night featured an exciting raffle, as well. Proceeds, which totaled $1,400, will pay for building supplies and materials needed for the community where the group will work.

Milton Wins Back-to-Back Tabor Tournaments

For the second straight year, Milton’s varsity hockey squad won the Tabor Tournament. On Saturday, January 2, Milton went head-to-head with Governor’s and Tilton in the tournament’s preliminary rounds, winning 6-3 and 4-1, respectively.

In the first round match-up against Governor’s, senior captain Chase Davis (two goals and one assist), senior assistant captain Jonathan Mleczko (one goal and one assist) and junior George Pantazopolous (one goal and one assist) led the attack while Sean Dougherty (II) saved 24 in Milton’s net to secure the win. Jonathan Mleczko shined once again on offense in the second round victory over Tilton with a goal and two assists while junior Dan Bowen turned back 20 shots in net.  Milton’s win over Tilton clinched a spot in Sunday’s finals where the Mustangs faced a strong St. Sebastian’s team.   

Milton came out strong in the championship game with three straight second period goals by Sean Okita (II), Woody Hudson (II) and Jonathan Mleczko, and added an empty-netter by Pat McNally (II) with 18 seconds to go in the final period. Milton’s defensive corps—comprised of Jake Turrin (II), Aaron Deutsch (II), Michael Megnia (I), Pat McNally and CJ Ganss (II)—held St. Seb’s to two goals, and the Mustangs skated away with a 4-2 victory and the coveted title of Tabor Tournament Champions.

W.H.O. Cares

Over the last few years, Milton Academy’s World Health Organization (W.H.O.) has organized activities and fund raising campaigns to raise money and awareness for refugees affected by humanitarian crisis. At the end of 2009, co-chairs Nia Patton (I) and Samantha Noh (II) presented a check totaling $6,000 to Mapendo International, a non-profit organization protecting and caring for at-risk and forgotten refugees in Africa.

In a letter to Nia and Samantha, Mapendo’s founder and executive director, Sasha Chanoff, stated that the organization plans to use the donation for a rescue operation aimed at reuniting five children from the Congo with their family here in the United States.

“Jean Jacques and his wife, Rose, were separated from their seven children during violence and persecution in the Congo,” wrote Mr. Chanoff. “They ended up in Vermont and began searching for their children. Last year, we brought two of the youngest children to the US (photo above is of that reunion), but violence and threats forced the other five to flee into the interior of the country. Now we are helping those five children to escape from the Congo.”

Founded in 2005 by Christy Hong ’08, Milton’s W.H.O. shares the same objectives as the World Health Organization of the United Nations.

They’ve discovered a planet.

Milton astronomy students first in the country to describe this planet

Using Internet-based telescopes and cameras, Milton astronomy students have been able to define and describe a new planet. They “watched” a star’s brightness dim and return, over time, indicating an eclipse of the star by one of its planets. Analyzing images of a star taken over a single night, they tracked a constant brightness that dimmed and then returned to its previous level. The star is known to professional astronomers as HAT-P-10. Students’ calculations, based in the percentage of light loss to the star over that time period, enabled them to determine numerous characteristics of the orbiting planet. John Brophy, Lily Halpern, Sabrina Katz, and John Mleczko (Class I) and Shan Lin (Class II) note that their planet is a jovian planet (like Jupiter): large, and gaseous rather than primarily rock.

Astronomers have detected more than 300 extrasolar planets, but these planets are too distant and too dim to be seen directly. One of the ways to find these planets is by securing evidence of transit and eclipses—locating planets orbiting other stars by observing the small dip in a star’s brightness during the planet’s orbit.

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Alumnus Paul Sabin ’88 Gives this Year’s Henry R. Heyburn Lecture in History

On December 16, Paul Sabin, Class of 1988 and the sixth Henry R. Heyburn Lecturer, talked with students in Classes II and I about climate change, energy politics and history. A professor of history at Yale University and director of the school’s undergraduate environmental studies program, he explained how historical analysis can—and should—influence our approach to climate crisis and energy policy.

Focusing his career on both environmental action and academia, Professor Sabin says that “the tension between ideals and pragmatic action has always been central to [his] life and work.” Political activism and academic life can seem at odds with one another, but they intersect dynamically when the goal is to affect climate change. Paul claims that our actions now, directed toward the future, must reflect fundamental historical truths. A greater appreciation of history prepares us for making informed and constructive policy choices and better guides proposals for further action.

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Music Kicks off the Holiday Season

On Friday, December 11, the Chamber Singers and full orchestra performed in the first of two Winter Concert events. The Chamber Singers began with three pieces from the English and Spanish Renaissance and two modern day spirituals. The orchestra then performed five selections, including a quirky Polka, from "The Age of Gold" by Soviet composer Dimitri Shostakovich. As a finale, Kevin Huang (I) conducted the strings of the orchestra in the Palladio by Karl Jenkins.

The second Winter Concert, on Sunday, December 13, opened with two Vivaldi concerti. The first for four violins featured Class I students Uma Venkatraman, Lily Choi, Arya Palakurthi and Andrew Park. The second concerto for two flutes featured Class I students Kate Murray and Corina Ramirez. The Chamber Orchestra concluded the first half of the concert with works by French masters Eric Satie and Georges Bizet. Closing the performance was the Academy's Glee Club singing music from Mozart, Salieri, Haydn, Diemer, and one piece by the School’s former choral director Scott Tucker.  

A silent auction also took place during both performances to raise money for the Chamber Orchestra and Chamber Singers’ spring break concert tour to Spain.

Nesto Gallery Exhibits Black, White, Color and Shape

Milton’s Nesto Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition on the idea of art in design. Called Black, White, Color, Shape, the show features five artists who work with various media defining and redefining essential forms and patterns in nature. The results are oftentimes abstract, giving viewers a chance to imagine beyond the simple forms before their eyes or simply appreciate the lyrical beauty of what they see. A mix of illusion, math and geometry appears in the visual effects of some of these artworks.  

Black, White, Color, Shape includes the work of artists John Guthrie, Ellen Rich, Matthew Rich, Heidi Whitman and Kevin Wixted. Each of these artists will exhibit new works and new configurations of their ideas.

The show opened on Tuesday, December 8 with a reception from 5:30–7 p.m. in the Gallery, located on the lower level of the Old Science Building. On Wednesday, December 9, Matthew Rich talked with students and faculty in Greeley Auditorium about discovering art in a presentation entitled “When You Could Do Anything.”
Click here to enlarge image.

American Mezzo Soprano and Milton Parent, Fredrika Brillembourg, Performs in Straus

Fredrika Brillembourg P’10, acclaimed for her luminous, rich voice as well as her charismatic portrayals of leading mezzo roles, performed at Milton on Sunday, December 6 in Straus Library. As a member of the ensemble at the Bremen Theater from 1995 to 2001, Ms. Brillembourg sang Carmen, Charlotte, Octavian, Cherubino, Orphée, Marguerite and the Composer and was the only singer in the history of the Theater to win both the Kurt Huebner Prize and the Bremen Volksbuehne Prize.  Most recently, she made her debut at the Washington National Opera in concert performances at the Kennedy Center of Wagner’s Götterdämmerung singing the First Norn and Flosshilde.

Ms. Brillembourg sang the music of Shumann, Chausson, Saint-Saens, Ravel, Rossini, Obradors, Bernstein, Rodgers and Bolcom. Following the concert event, Milton hosted a short reception for those in attendence.

Milton’s Community Service Board Raises Hunger Awareness and Funds for Oxfam

As part of Milton's Hunger Awareness Week, the Community Service Board hosted the annual Oxfam Hunger Banquet in Forbes Dining Hall on Tuesday, November 17. Once each year, students and faculty members draw lottery tickets at lunch that indicate whether they will eat a regular meal, rice and gravy, or just a bowl of rice. The goal of the event is not only to raise awareness of world hunger, but also, in donating the money saved by the dining hall, raise funds for the humanitarian Oxfam organization. As a result of this year’s banquet, Milton donated $1,830.

In addition, 120 students, administrators and faculty members pledged to “eat mindfully,” eating lunches of only rice for the duration of the week. “In learning the value of a bowl of plain rice, participants hoped to gain an appreciation for the diversity of their normal diets,” said Community Service Board Co-Head Evan McManamy (I). “The pledge encouraged the Milton community to eat mindfully, considering what we eat, where our food comes from, and the effects of our dietary choices.”

Leaders of the Pack: Henry Russell (II) and the Boys’ Cross Country Team Have Much to Celebrate This Season

When Henry Russell (II) finished his first season on Milton’s cross country team two years ago, he couldn’t imagine a season that would top it. This year he co-captained, with Dylan Watson (I), a team that exceeded his high expectations: Milton’s varsity boys’ cross country team placed third in the Independent School League and then went on to finish third in the New England Championship race. Competing on the 5K course, Henry placed first in New England with a time of 18:05. One week before, competing in the ISL race, he set a personal record of 16:29.

From a family of athletes, Henry has been into running for a long time. “It’s an honest sport,” he says. “While other sports have tryouts, and sometimes ability is subjective, in running if you’re the fastest, you’re the fastest. Sprinting is often more about natural talent, but long distance running is about grit—a person’s desire and commitment to put in the work. The Blue Hills, where we run, are beautiful. The more time you spend out there pounding the hills the better you get, and in the meantime you’re taking in all the nature around you. It’s a win-win.”

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Class IV Students Present Lady Dracula

The Class IV Play is a long-standing Milton tradition, a momentous and memorable class event. This year’s production seems to have been inspired by the recent rash of vampires in books and on screen. Lady Dracula, written by Tim Kelly, introduces a next chapter in the tale of the famous bloodthirsty Count. 


We meet the lovely but wicked Mina Alucard, one of Count Dracula’s many victims, living near a newly formed boarding school outside of New York City. The school’s property is haunted land situated next to an old graveyard. Miss Alucard, living across from the graveyard, keeps to herself until her terrifying thirst forces her to seek victims in the residents of the nearby school. A student’s research project uncovers a world that lurks beneath the cloak of night, leading to an unexpected ending for Lady Dracula—one that you won’t want to miss.

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The Mustangs Wrap Up the Season on a High Note

A week of costumes and spirit events led to the most anticipated weekend of the sports season: Milton Nobles Day. The rain that made the fields soggy didn’t dampen the excitement or the fierce competition. Milton teams tied or won against the Nobles contenders in nine of the eleven contests.

Milton varsity girls’ soccer team finished their regular season play with a 3–2 win over Nobles. Facing a point deficit of 2–0 in the first half of Friday’s game, Coach Peter Kahn said the girls “found renewed energy and kept fighting.” The team came back with goal-scoring shots from Jackie Hannigan (I), Shannon Reilly (III) and Isabel Lester (II) and strong assists from Megan Kim (III) and captain Beverly Leon (I). The combined team effort rounded their season record to a respectable 12–3. Coach Kahn presented flowers to each of his players, thanking them for their dedication, hard work and positivity throughout the season.

This win advances the team to the New England Championship Tournament. The girls will face Greenwich Academy at Pomfret School at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, November 18.

Milton’s other varsity teams also put up strong efforts against the competition this weekend. Mustang football beat Nobles 28–8. Click here to view a video of Charlie Storey (II) rushing for Milton’s first touchdown of the day. Both the field hockey and boys’ soccer teams tied their games, 1–1 and 3–3 respectively.

Lieutenant Jonas Peter Akins ’97 is this year’s Veterans’ Day Speaker

Each November, Milton students hear from alumni for whom military service has personal meaning. Students learn first-hand about experiences of graduates who have faced challenging circumstances in defending our country. On November 11, Lieutenant J. Peter Akins ’97 returned to campus to speak with students in Classes IV through I as part of the School’s annual Veterans’ Day commemoration ceremony.

Ultimately, Peter implored students to find a purpose, an area of the world that would benefit from their strengths and talents; to forge meaningful relationships with those around them; to work with others toward a greater goal, making life better for others. After his speech he welcomed questions from the audience citing that he’s “never known Milton students to be shy.” The students in the stands didn’t disappoint, and Peter answered insightful and often difficult questions about his specific work, his choices and the war itself. Peter left the podium at the end of the period to a standing ovation from students, faculty and staff.

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Spirit Week at Milton

Costumes All Day Every Day

Last Friday we had a preview of what we could expect, but "Space Day" costumes today topped all the expectations. With silver helmets or iridescent tights, aliens, robots and techno-gadgets roamed the hallways.  Head monitors Assel Tuleubayeva and Nicholas Jacob launched Spirit Week at Monday morning assembly with a fashion show; appropriately dressed seniors demonstrated hip gear for the days to come: Twins Day, Pattern Day, Pajama Day and finally Spirit Day when only orange and blue will do. We can expect a parade highlighting the day's costumes every morning at recess; classes with the best representations of weirdly attired students will earn prizes. The most lacklustre class will earn it's own title, day by day, as well. Judging from day one, Milton students seem to like the chance to access their creative side, and the challenge of going beyond class wear.

Bingham Visiting Writer Series Presents Sally Bliumis-Dunn ’77

Poet and creative writing teacher Sally Bliumis-Dunn ’77 returned to Milton on November 4 as one of the year’s Bingham Visiting Writers, a series that brings notable authors to campus to read their work, meet with students, and teach creative writing workshops. Sally read to students in Classes I and II from her recently published collection of poetry titled Talking Underwater.

Lisa Baker from the English department introduced Sally, saying her “poems collect the very ordinary images around us… and, then, without agenda or lofty scope, acknowledge the significance found there, as if significance just quietly, even tenderly entered—perhaps as a few yellow leaves ‘caught suddenly in an updraft’ might appear before a window. Amidst such appearances, we remember to see more than we do, to stay still longer, and to note beauty and its counterpart pain—not when they blind us but rather when they steal upon us ‘like an atmosphere changing.’”

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An Unlikely Pair Makes for a Likely Hit

Milton Presents Archy and Mehitabel

Archy is a sensitive cockroach who spends his evenings writing poetry; Mehitabel, a street-savvy alley cat who claims to have been Cleopatra in a past life. They are a pair of unlikely friends facing the grit and temptations of city living. Darlene Anastas, performing arts faculty member and director of this year’s musical, describes their story as “charming. The story is about friendship, through the good and the bad, which is how friendships go.”

Written by Joe Darion and Mel Brooks, Archy and Mehitabel is based on a series of stories penned by New York Evening Sun writer Don Marquis in the 1910s and ’20s. Originally staged in the 1950s as Shinbone Alley, the play is “rarely done,” Dar says. “I’ve wanted to produce this play for a very long time. The department has wanted to experiment with both large and small musicals. (I don’t think there is such a thing as a small musical, but that’s my opinion.) With Archy and Mehitabel we have a more modest-sized cast, smaller dance numbers, simpler music.”

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Great White Sharks Among Us

Dr. Greg Skomal, marine biologist and world-renown shark expert, delivers this year’s science lecture

Great white sharks have been in the local news since Labor Day weekend, when large populations of gray seals drew them to Massachusetts waters, just off the beaches of Chatham. Dr. Greg Skomal, aquatic biologist and the area’s leading shark expert, spoke with students as this year’s science lecturer addressing the truth about white sharks, why they get a bad reputation, and how we can learn more about them.

One of Dr. Skomal’s professional goals as a marine biologist is to help maintain populations of aquatic life—fish and sharks—in a way that’s sustainable, protecting them from over-fishing or illegal killings. Dr. Skomal began his presentation, titled Jaws Revisited: The White Shark in New England, by trying to debunk common myths about sharks. The connotation associated with great white sharks is one of danger, perhaps instigated by the movie Jaws in the 1970s and perpetuated by today’s media. In his presentation, Dr. Skomal showed a collection of television news clips that aired this year surrounding the white shark sightings off of the Cape and islands; “This is a media frenzy,” he said, “which is different from a shark frenzy, and—I would argue—more dangerous.”

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Artist Kathleen Cammarata Featured in Nesto Gallery

On October 27, Milton hosted an opening reception to launch this year’s second exhibit in Milton’s Nesto Gallery, Other Realities by Kathleen Cammarata.

“Each drawing is a dramatic leap into the unknown—a space puzzle that you try to figure out,” says visual arts faculty member Anne Neely. “Her work is the marriage of science fiction and surrealism.”

A native of Lowell, Massachusetts, Kathleen teaches painting and printmaking at the DeCordova Museum, the Worcester Art Museum, the University of Massachusetts in Lowell, and in her own X/O Studio.

Other Realities will run until November 23 in the Gallery, located in the lower level of Milton Academy's Old Science Building.

Pianist Louis Lortie Performs at Gratwick Concert

For 79 years, the annual Gratwick Concert has brought some of the world’s most renowned classical musicians to Milton’s campus. On Tuesday night, October 27, the tradition continued as the Gratwick series presented Canadian pianist Louis Lortie.

According to his Web site, Lortie has been praised for the fresh perspective and individuality he brings to a deliberately broad spectrum of the keyboard canon. He studied in Montréal with Yvonne Hubert (a pupil of French pianist, Alfred Cortot), in Vienna with Beethoven specialist Dieter Weber, and subsequently with Schnabel disciple Leon Fleisher, among others.

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Making Sense of Modern Art

Web Class by Larry Pollans draws a crowd

In a colorful Web cast originating here at Milton, Larry Pollans guided his virtual class through the challenging world of the contemporary art. He suggested strategies for considering the art that reflects and transforms the culture of our day. Three big ideas, Larry says, can frame an approach to what we’re seeing. The first is how to contend with the cultural filters we all carry with us. A second issue is  the multicultural phenomenon—getting past an exclusive parochial past. Finally, commodification affects its direction: the forces of the marketplace and the need to sell, sell, sell.

Establishing art values, Larry says, is always a hot topic, in art galleries, in the political world, in our cultural conversation. What are we looking at and what does it say about our culture?

Want to watch and listen? Click here to view the Web cast. Note: Once the Web cast is buffered, the lecture itself begins at minute 13.

Do You Know The Answer?

Says You! Comes to Milton, Courtesy of Zach Moore ’08
Says You!, the popular public radio quiz show, will be taped before a live studio audience in Milton’s Ruth King Theatre on October 24 and 25. The show’s associate producer, Milton alumnus and technical production whiz Zach Moore, Class of 2008, helped to make this happen.

As its tagline suggests, Says You! is “a game of words and whimsy, bluff and bluster,” consisting of competing teams of panelists set out to correctly answer questions designed to stump. Fans can submit mind-bending questions and suggestions via the show’s Web site, which the host then uses during the game’s live tapings across the country. Rounds consisting of trivia questions, word games, brainteasers and the favorite “bluffing round” ultimately place one team at the top. First broadcasted in 1997, Says You! is the brainchild of the show’s host and executive producer, Richard Sher. Independently produced by Pipit & Finch in Boston, over 120 radio stations across the country air the quiz show.

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Mustangs Beat Exeter in Sixth Shut Out Victory

Milton’s varsity girls’ soccer squad put on another brilliant performance at home this past Saturday to take down Exeter by a score of 3-0 in the team’s sixth shut out victory this season. Head Coach Peter Kahn noted that alongside the “sharp” defense by goalkeeper Grace McDonough, the continuing success of Milton’s offensive attack helped seal the win.

“Samantha Curran '13 made her first varsity start and made the most of the opportunity,” said Coach Kahn. “She needed only five minute to score her first career goal off of a penetrating run through midfield by Josette LaRochelle '11. We were not able to convert any more first half chances, but it only took us five minutes into the second half to get the insurance goal when Megan Kim '12 scored off of a cross from Beverly Leon '10. Beverly also set up the final goal with a fine cross that Tori Cabot '12 knocked home.”

The 6-1 Mustangs will try to add to their three-game winning streak this Saturday at home against BB&N.

President Obama Nominates Jide Zeitlin ’81 to Key Administration Post

The White House has announced President Barack Obama’s intent to nominate several individuals to key administration posts.  Among these nominees is Milton alumnus and trustee, Jide Zeitlin, Class of 1981. Jide has been nominated by the president to be Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations for U.N. Management and Reform, with the rank of Ambassador.

Jide is a private investor who formerly served as an executive at Goldman, Sachs & Company, where he was elected a partner in 1996. He retired in 2005, having held a number of senior management positions in that firm's investment banking division as well as served in its executive office. Since 2005, Jide has founded a company that builds and owns telecommunications infrastructure in India, and he has invested in private biotechnology companies globally.

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Joseph Reynolds (II) Talks About His New Appreciation of Each Nickel and Dime

Principal Sarah Wehle invited students to speak about themselves and their ideas at Monday morning assemblies. Joseph Reynolds, Class II, was quick to take up her offer.  While everyone in the Milton community was reading Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America this summer, Joseph was on the telephone with people who populated the pages of her book.  

Joseph officially responded to complaints by “constituents” about “maladministration.” His unpaid internship positioned him as an ombudsman in the Public Advocate’s Office in New York City.  This Office is influential—it’s “second to the mayor’s office,” Joseph says. “We handle all the complaints that New Yorkers have about city, state or federal agencies.”  The ombudsman categorizes a complaint and then “speaks to the constituent to figure out the heart of the issue.”

Next, he finds the related agency—“Housing Preservation and Development, the Department of Health, the New York Police Department or the Federal Bureau of Investigation, for example,” and completes a communication loop that ends with informing the constituent about the resolution of his or her issue. “Once all of that is done, you have closed a case. This summer I closed 72 cases,” Joseph says, “some more extensive than others.”

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Students chose the book. We read it together.

This summer, students gave the entire Milton community—faculty, staff, administration and fellow students—a reading assignment: Barbara Ehrenreich’s book Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America chronicles the author’s experience of living on a minimum wage salary. Halting her career as a successful journalist, Ehrenreich spent several months waitressing, cleaning homes and hotel rooms, delivering meals to nursing home residents, and working retail as a Walmart associate in various parts of Florida, Maine and Minnesota. The book tells of her personal experiences, the tribulations of her fellow workers, and the daily struggle they all faced financing the barest of living expenses.

As we opened School, mixed groups of 10 to 12, students and adults, gathered to discuss the book and Ms. Ehrenreich’s experience. The community reading project was the brainchild of Sabrina Lee and Henry Litman, co-head monitors of the Class of 2008. Head monitors Assel Tuleubayeva and Nick Jacob chose Nickel and Dimed as this summer’s reading project for its relevance in today’s economic climate—to promote awareness and provoke discussion among the Milton community.

Milton's Jazz Combos Look Back to 1959

"I’ve found you’ve got to look back at the old things and see them in a new light."
- John Coltrane

On October 2, students from Milton’s advanced jazz combos looked back to 1959 and shined their light on classics from the year described by music faculty member Bob Sinicrope as "the single most significant year of major breakthroughs in jazz styles." The concert event, Jazz 1959: The Beginning of Beyond, celebrated jazz innovations from 1959 and featured Milton’s top jazz talent performing selections from legendary artists Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Dave Brubeck and Ornette Coleman (to name a few).

Click here to download event flyer.

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Who's New at Milton?

“Getting to know you and your families has been a privilege,” said Paul Rebuck, dean of admission, to Milton’s new students at the start of the school year. “You have distinguished yourselves as exceptionally capable students and, more importantly, outstanding human beings. You are gifted both in and out of the classroom, and you have a love of learning and an intellectual curiosity that is compelling. We are thrilled that you are joining us and truly believe you will thrive within our community.



“Your former teachers described you with phrases such as ‘he is the most genuinely curious student I have ever taught,’ ‘her enthusiasm and passion for learning is contagious,’ ‘it is a gift not only to teach him but to watch him teach others,’ ‘his humility is awe-inspiring,’ and ‘she is a thoughtful and kind classmate who has the ability to make everyone feel like a friend.’"



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Nesto Gallery Features Paintings by Laurie Kaplowitz

Milton’s Nesto Gallery opened its doors on Tuesday for the first exhibition of the year, The Figure Observed, featuring the work of renowned painter Laurie Kaplowitz. Committed to realism using classical techniques, Laurie addresses issues as old as the human race with context relevant to the twenty-first century.

“The figure has been absolutely central to my work in imagery and narrative,” says Laurie Kaplowitz. “The figures are compressed into an interior space, and they have been deliberately made aware and watchful of actions that are happening beyond this circumscribed zone. In many of these paintings the viewer is placed amid the drama unfolding on the canvas.”

Laurie received her B.F.A. from Boston University and M.F.A. from American University. She is the chancellor professor at the University of Massachusetts in Dartmouth where she teaches painting.

Flags, Awards and Words: Convocation Launches the School Year

Head of School Todd Bland centered the community on three values as he welcomed new students and faculty, and formally kicked off the school year. At Convocation, a traditional ritual at Milton, the head of school and student leaders set the tone for the year ahead. Addressing the community for the first time as Milton's twelfth head of school, Mr. Bland highlighted unity, kindness and trust. He encouraged the community to celebrate all that makes us beautifully diverse and unique, while also championing all that bonds us together. "Kindness," he said, "should permeate all aspects of our lives, and express itself through our motto, 'Dare to be true.'" That means speaking with honesty and conviction, while also addressing every person with fundamental respect. To build trust, he asserted, be who you are and show who you are. "There is no reason to be mysterious," he said. Be true to yourself and known as who you are so that we might build trust and faith in one another; that is essential to reaching our potential as persons and as a community. At the end of classes today, another tradition is enacted. New students sign the book of the Self Governing Association in Apthorp Chapel, formally joining the student community.

First Recipient of the Millet Scholarship is Kevin Collins ’10

A new scholarship honoring Milton Academy's beloved Frank Millet was awarded at Convocation 2009. The definition of the Millet Scholar befits the role that Mr. Millet has played in the Milton community for 67 years. The Millet Scholar will be a student who demonstrates high moral integrity, is supportive of classmates, and has established meaningful relationships with peers and faculty. The Millet Scholar is a student who by virtue of his or her character and deeds is an integral member of his or her Class, and holds great promise as a leader. The Scholarship was awarded to Class I student Kevin Bernard Collins at Convocation, an announcement greeted with rousing applause and a standing ovation from Kevin's classmates.

"Kevin's teachers have remarked on his openness to the world," said Head of School Todd Bland. "Imagining a student who has lived his Milton life with more integrity, heart and gusto than this boy would be difficult. He has made his presence felt in many areas, and has never shied from trying new things—from sports and acting and student government, through singing and co-heading the Spanish Club. While Kevin's list of activities is impressive, we feel the force of his character most strongly in some of his quieter contributions: serving, mentoring, supporting, being a good friend. With great pleasure we award the Millet Scholarship to a student whom one teacher called, 'such a true-to-himself person.'"

Eleza Kort to hold the George C. Lee Family Teaching Chair

Convocation 2009 celebrated the tenth year of the George C. Lee Family Teaching Chair. The Lee Chair supports faculty new to Milton—both excellence in their teaching and comfort in their sense of belonging at the School. The deep commitment of a learned and experienced group of teachers is Milton's great treasure. The Lee Chair provides leadership and financial support for the effort to help new faculty meet one another and their esteemed veteran colleagues, and to get to know the culture of a unique learning environment. It helps faculty during their first years at Milton grow to value this environment where students and faculty are deeply engaged with each other in learning, in and out of the classroom. Head of School Todd Bland named Eleza Kort, performing arts, K–8, to join Michael Kassatly of the mathematics department as co-holder of the Lee Teaching Chair.

Senator Edward Kennedy, Milton Class of 1950

The Milton community expresses its most sincere and heartfelt sympathy to the entire Kennedy family on the loss of Senator Edward Kennedy, Milton Class of 1950. Our community, the Commonwealth and this country have lost an iconic figure, a man who fought hard for the ideals in which he believed. He will be missed.

Progress on the Pritzker Science Center

On time, on budget, and eagerly anticipated, Milton’s new science center will open its doors next September.  

In making the Pritzker Science Center a reality, J. B. Pritzker, Class of 1982, 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.  The design, by William Rawn Associates, takes direction from the inquiry-based teaching and learning in Milton’s science classrooms. 

Click here to view more photos of the Science Center construction site.

Click here to download an article (PDF) about the Pritzker Science Center from the Fall 2008 edition of the Milton Magazine.

Theodorick B. Bland is Milton’s Twelfth Head of School

This July, Milton Academy welcomes Mr. Theodorick (Todd) B. Bland as he begins his tenure as the Academy’s twelfth head of school. Mr. Bland has already been enthusiastically greeted with early welcomes on campus. He visited twice this spring, and joined the events of Reunion Weekend. On June 15, he and his family moved into the head of school’s house next to the Pritzker Science Center. Making his way around campus, stopping into offices to visit faculty and staff busy during the summer, Mr. Bland is thrilled to begin a much-anticipated role at Milton.

Mr. Bland’s career has been devoted to independent education—teaching, coaching and serving in administrative leadership positions—since his graduation from Bowdoin College in 1990. Over the last eight years, he has served at the Seven Hills School, a K–12 school with 1,060 students in Cincinnati, Ohio. Mr. Bland’s parents graduated from Milton and his father is memorialized in the Apthorp Chapel. He attended boarding school himself.

Mr. Bland, his wife Nancy, and their family are settling into the head of school’s house, and the entire Bland family is looking forward to being immersed in the life of the School quickly. Mr. Bland’s son Nick begins Class IV next fall, and his daughters Emily and Maggie join eighth grade in the Middle School. Both Todd and Nancy Bland anticipate engaging actively in all aspects of life at Milton.