Boys’ Basketball: A Historic Season
by Andrew D’Ambrosio ‘19, Sports Section Editor, The Milton Measure
Milton Boys’ Varsity Basketball shined in its NEPSAC playoff run, advancing all the way to the championship game where they ultimately fell in a nail biter to Choate Rosemary Hall. The Mustangs battled ferociously in all three of their postseason games. Coach Lamar Reddicks said, “we had great contributions from all our guys.”
In their first playoff contest against Phillips Exeter, Milton was able to pull away late, winning by a score of 76-62. Although the game was close at times, Milton kept their composure and always maintained the lead. Cormac Ryan (I) lead the charge for Milton on his senior night. He scored double digits along with playing stellar defense. In the closing minutes of the game, Dan Schlakman (II) rattled the rim with a monstrous slam. The crowd erupted after the play and the Stangs never looked back.
Incarceration Practices Drive Inequality, Onyx Speaker Rahsaan D. Hall Tells Students
The United States is home to five percent of the world’s population, but comprises 25 percent of the world’s prison population. And while Massachusetts is often heralded as a haven for progressivism, its ratio of black to white inmates is higher than the national average, said Rahsaan D. Hall, the Racial Justice Program Director for the ACLU of Massachusetts.
Mr. Hall visited campus as the Onyx Assembly speaker in recognition of Black History Month. A former prosecutor, Mr. Hall described policing, courts and the prisons as the “criminal legal system,” as opposed to the criminal justice system.
Malia Chung Wins Poetry Award
Malia Chung (III) was one of two winners of the 12th-annual Helen Creeley Student Poetry Prize. Malia submitted two poems for consideration and a group of semi-finalists were invited to read their poems to judges as part of the selection process. The winners represented “exceptional quality of poetry, along with pitch perfect presentation and ability to command the audience.”
Malia began writing poems seriously in eighth grade. Last year, she won a Scholastic Writing Gold Key Award for poetry. She is taking Mr. Connelly’s Creative Writing class, where she worked on the two submitted poems for the Creeley Prize, “Crabbing in Bethany, Delaware” and “My Great-Grandfather’s Lithuanian Cavalry Stirrups.”
“There is something different about writing for this class; I don’t see it as homework. You can write on your own time and when you are inspired, which I really enjoy,” says Malia.
Reading Delivers the World to Writers, Bingham Visiting Writer Paul Yoon Says
“Books were my first teachers, my best teachers,” writer Paul Yoon told Milton students while on campus as this spring’s Bingham Visiting Writer.
During his reading, followed by a Q&A with students, Mr. Yoon described his evolution from a voracious reader to a writer (“It was like falling in love”) and explained that his inspiration for writing comes from the books that move him. When he reads something special, he writes to “respond” to that work.
Student Directors Prepare for One-Acts
The student-directed one-act plays are a campus tradition that challenge drama students to follow a production from licensing to casting to performance. This year, three students will present one-acts, opening Thursday, February 22.
“I like that the one-acts give students an opportunity to try on the role of director and see the process through fully,” says Peter Parisi, director of performing arts. “They have to understand the audience and select pieces that will appeal to them. There’s a lot that goes into creating a cast.”
Artists Create Artificial Atmospheres in Nesto
On Thursday, February 22, Milton hosts an opening reception in the Nesto Gallery from 5:30 to 7 p.m. for a new exhibit, Artificial Atmospheres, featuring the work of Deb Tod Wheeler and Robert Tod. Using video, sound and light exclusively, the artists spotlight our relationship to the environment.
“Their work is poignant and plaintive,” says Nesto Gallery Director Larry Pollans. “Even though their work focuses on the dangers of a deteriorating environment, the aura is still optimistic. In the Renaissance, artists insisted that beauty in nature was a sign of the sacred. Wheeler and Tod insist that beauty is a sign that we must work to protect the environment and hence our future.”
Milton Students Recognized for Excellence in Writing and Visual Art
More than 40 Milton students received recognition in the 2018 Massachusetts Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. The students earned 78 Gold Key, Silver Key or Honorable Mention accolades in the competition, a “banner year” for the School, says English department faculty member Lisa Baker. The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards began in 1923 and are considered the most prestigious awards for teenagers in the country. Milton’s 21 Gold Key pieces are submitted to the national Scholastic competition, and results for the national contest will be announced in March.
Milton’s Jazz Students Bring Home the Bronze
On Saturday, February 10, Milton Academy jazz musicians took part in the 50th Annual Berklee College of Music High School Jazz Festival at the Hynes Auditorium in Boston. The event is the country’s largest high school jazz festival with over 225 student groups, made up of 3,000 students from 13 states, participating in the day’s activities. The competition included high school ensembles from every corner of the map from California to Washington, D.C., and New England to Puerto Rico. The groups’ performances were judged by a panel of Berklee faculty. Competing in the medium- to large-sized high school combo category, Milton’s senior combo placed third and was awarded scholarship support for two students to attend Berklee College five-week summer music program. Coalter Palmer (I) also received a judge’s award for outstanding musician of his combo.
See Humanity, Not Labels, Dennis Febo Tells Students
The things that separate people from each other are manufactured, but human beings have few fundamental differences, educator and activist Dennis Febo told students. Mr. Febo was on campus as the Latinx Association’s visiting speaker.
Food Should Be Delicious, Just, and Fun, Restaurateur Irene Li ’08 Tells Milton Students
Focusing on two central goals—creating a better place to work, and a better way to source food—Irene Li ’07 shared with students her mission for responsibly operating her popular Boston restaurant.
Irene owns the Mei Mei Street Kitchen and Restaurant, along with her brother and sister. As the primary owner and chef, Irene balances environmentally sound kitchen practices, the use of fresh, local ingredients, and ethical labor practices.
