Communication Office
The communication office develops, implements, and evaluates communication plans and programs that support the mission of the School. The office facilitates Milton Academy’s efforts to promote awareness and good will among its various constituencies and external public; to recruit students and faculty; and to raise financial and volunteer support.
Communication Staff
Sarah Abrams
Editor, Milton Magazine
sarah_abrams@milton.edu
Marisa Donelan
Associate Director of Communication
marisa_donelan@milton.edu
Eileen Newman
Chief Communication Officer
eileen_newman@milton.edu
Esten Perez
Director of Communication and Media Relations
esten_perez@milton.edu
Emily Sedgwick
Social Media Manager / Video Content Producer
Emily_Sedgwick@milton.edu
Greg White
Director, Web Development and Academy Graphic Design
gregory_white@milton.edu
Media Contact
If you are a member of the media in need of information or press materials, please contact Esten Perez at 617-898-2395 or esten_perez@milton.edu
Campus News
Milton Team Wins ISL Virtual Hackathon
Three Milton teams competed in a virtual Independent School League hackathon hosted by Middlesex School. Teams had six hours to collaborate and then develop a working prototype focused on the theme of “creating something that will be beneficial to others.” They presented their projects over Zoom. The winning team was Ben Botvinick ’21, Zack Ankner ’20 and Blake Ankner ’23, who built a fully functional website called Hobbyist https://hobbyist.fun.
“It’s a simple website, where anyone suffering from quarantine boredom can go to find a hobby,” says Botvinick. “Users fill out a quick form about their goals, interests, and inclinations. Then we give them a suggestion for how to spend their time and some video courses to get them started.”
Dancing From Home For Advanced Dance Choreography
Performing Arts Department Chair Kelli Edwards has found creative ways for her Advanced Dance Choreography students to continue to learn and grow as dancers from the confines of their homes. For a recent assignment, students had a choice between creating a tight-space dance or creating a ritual dance.
Alli Reilly ’20 chose the first option, for which the instructions read: Embrace even more your lack of space and make a movement study based on a very tiny amount of space. No more than 3 feet by 3 feet. Your movement must include level change and traveling! And some sort of “big” movement that you would never think could fit in that space.
Asian Society Students Support Boston Relief Efforts
The student Asian Society (AS) turned missed opportunities into philanthropy this spring, donating all the funds they raised for club programming to COVID-19 relief efforts in Boston.
“It feels empowering to have made a tangible difference, and it’s comforting to know that Asians and Asian-Americans in Boston are receiving aid,” said Tony Wang ’20. “We hope Boston’s many communities will support each other in weathering COVID-19 as well as its economic impacts.”
Performing Arts Students Virtually Visit with Actor and Playwright John Cariani
Rural, tucked-away places contain rich stories, but they’re not often found on stage in modern theater, playwright and Tony Award-nominated actor John Cariani told Milton performing arts students this week.
Cariani wrote Almost, Maine, a play told through nine stories about love and loss in a remote, fictional Maine town. Milton students performed the show in February; Cariani joined members of the cast and crew—along with others who had planned to put on Milton’s spring musical, Urinetown—via Zoom to talk about the play and his career in theater and television.
Small-town life hasn’t always been ignored—plays from the middle of the 20th Century depicted nuanced suburban and rural lives—but political divisions seem to have created an “us vs. them” rift in American culture, with rural people often depicted unfairly as simple or ignorant in current media.
Staying Engaged with Important Community Work
Making meaningful differences is the mission of Milton’s Community Engagement Programs and Partnerships (CEPP). And this important work continues despite the pandemic, as students and their families, faculty, and staff have found ways to help others. CEPP has updated a list of ways to help local and national organizations. Even the simple act of students writing letters to residents in local nursing homes and assisted living facilities has continued community engagement connections.
Victoria Fawcett ’22, Ellie Mraz ’21, and Sofie Mraz ’23, made masks for residents at the Village of Duxbury, a senior living facility in Duxbury, Massachusetts. Fawcett first reached out to see what the residents needed and then used social media to ask for helping hands for their project. They said they received great support and collected enough material to sew over 250 fabric face masks.
