Armond James—a 2014 congressional candidate for Pennsylvania—shared with students the lessons he’s learned in his life and work. Mr. James’s visit was sponsored by the student club Onyx, in honor of Black History Month.

“I hear a lot about creating safe spaces,” said Mr. James, “but out in the real world, you have to have tough skin. Not everyone is going to like you, but don’t let that dissuade you. Stay true to what you believe in.”

Born and raised in the Mt. Airy section of Philadelphia, Mr. James grew up in what he describes as a hardworking, blue-collar household. He credits his parents for providing him a strong foundation, and teaching him about hard work, respect and the importance of education. Mr. James was the first in his family to attend college; he graduated from Temple University, where he discovered a passion for history and politics.

Twenty-nine Milton students competed in the Boston Invitational Model United Nations Conference (BosMUN) at Boston University last weekend. The conference is a three-day simulation of the United Nations and draws high school delegates from around the world. Mark Heath—history faculty and club sponsor—is proud of all the students’ impressive work; 13 students received awards for the high quality of their research and debates.

Each student represented a specific country or political figure, and the debates centered on topics as contemporary and relevant as climate change, anti-terrorism tactics, Iran’s nuclear deal, and Syrian refugees; as well as historic simulations of such events as the Russo-Japanese War and Simon Bolivar’s Liberation of South America.

Rika Ichinose (I), one of the clubs co-heads, earned a first place award for Best Delegate. She represented Malaysia in the Special Political and Decolonization Committee, where the topic focused on human trafficking.

“I am so proud of our club as a whole,” says Rika. “Especially the student board members, who put so much work into preparing the other students. Their leadership was essential to our success.”

Last spring, Jim Kernohan (science faculty) introduced his students to a new learning tool. Raytheon’s Learning Platform—intelligent tutoring software—provides customized guidance to students in real time, as they master physics concepts at their own pace. After this week’s exams, Class IV physics students will begin studying circuits and electrostatics, and the Learning Platform will be part of the experience.

“I’m always looking for new tools that help teachers introduce a concept,” says Jim. After hearing about the Learning Platform through a physics instructors’ group, he assigned problems through the program as homework.

Raytheon originally developed the Learning Platform for the U.S. Office of Naval Research STEM Grand Challenge, where the goal was to create adaptive, intelligent systems to teach and promote science, technology, engineering and math. The company has since begun donating the software to high school physics departments across the country.

Poet Tracy K. Smith, director of Princeton University’s Creative Writing Program, read from her powerful, sometimes haunting, work during the Martin Luther King Assembly on Wednesday morning. Ms. Smith was the 2016 Bingham Visiting Writer, and English faculty member Lisa Baker introduced her as “one of the significant voices in contemporary literature.”

Some of Ms. Smith’s poems reflect on current events in the United States, addressing topics such as hate crimes, violence and justice. She uses these poems to “exorcise the news stories that constantly run in [her] brain.”

“A poem can be a tool for thinking about who we are as a nation. A poem is a great place to discover something, to push against some of my own opinions, and to figure out the way I, myself, can be implicated in some of the problems we face today,” says Ms. Smith.

Marshall Sloane (II) continues Milton’s long tradition of excellence in speech competition, earning third place in the recent Montgomery Bell Academy Southern Bell Forum. The forum is an invitation-only tournament for the top 16 current events extemporaneous speakers in the country. Marshall—a Milton Speech Team veteran—was invited to the Forum last year and placed 14th.

“This year, it all came together for me,” he says. “The competition was really close at the end; we went into round 10 in a three-way tie, but I felt really good about my performance.”

During extemporaneous speech events, competitors draw three topics from an envelope, choose one, and then have 30 minutes to prepare a seven-minute speech. At the forum, Marshall made five speeches on Saturday and five on Sunday. His topics ranged from how the Syrian civil war has been affected by increased tensions between Russia and Turkey (which Marshall says was one of his most challenging topics) to adopting the role of Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor in the Fisher v. University of Texas, Austin, affirmative action case. Marshall says the latter was his best speech of the tournament.

This year’s Henry R. Heyburn ’39 Speaker, Professor Bonnie Miller spoke with students about how historical images from the 19th century convey and perpetuate the state of race relations in America during that period. Ms. Miller is associate professor of American Studies at University of Massachusetts, Boston. Her research focus is the role of visual and other popular media forms in shaping the politics of gender and race.

“We can gain insight into popular beliefs of the past by studying images from that period,” says Professor Miller. “Images are historical documents, not illustrations. Each image has its own story to tell.”

Professor Miller shared examples of advertisements for minstrel shows from the mid-1800s, in which white actors performed as black characters, depicting African Americans as lazy and unintelligent. Professor Miller says these shows, which were widely popular across the country, “spread a united image of blacks to both rural and urban populations in the North and the South” causing people to “see these perceptions as normal.”

Twenty years ago, Travis Roy became paralyzed from the neck down when he hit the boards 11 seconds into his first college hockey game. With students on Wednesday, Mr. Roy spoke impassionedly about setting goals, meeting challenges, showing respect, and the power of love.

“There are times in life when we choose challenges and set goals, and there are times when challenges choose us. How we handle those challenges defines who we are,” says Mr. Roy.

He spoke about his earliest memories of skating on the frozen ponds around Yarmouth, Maine, where he grew up. Hockey became his passion. One night, during his freshman year of high school, he wrote down three goals: play for a Division I college team, play for the NHL, and play for the U.S.A. Olympic team.

“From that night on, I had a path. I knew where I wanted to go, and I just had to put in the effort,” says Mr. Roy, who spent many nights alone on an ice rink practicing his skating and shooting skills.

These past several weeks, the Community Service Board has been preparing to brighten the holidays for many. This time each year, Milton students and adults raise money and purchase gifts for local children and families in need, through nonprofit organizations and the Department of Children and Families. This year, students, faculty and staff purchased 30 winter coats for children of the Brookview House. Students gave children their gifts at the Brookview House holiday party. At this festive event, children dove into arts and crafts and took in performances by Milton students.

The Community Service Board also partners with the Department of Children and Families to purchase “wish list” gifts for 30 children. Individuals or advisor groups sponsor a child, providing a little extra joy. Finally, students raised over $1,400 to create food baskets for families, providing potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce—all the fixings—along with gift cards for purchasing a turkey or ham. Milton’s elves work tirelessly, in the lead up to winter break, to raise enough money for gifts and supplies in time for the holidays.