Academic Update, Spring/Summer 2023 --

As Brunswick strives for the fullest intellectual development of every young man, our academic programs seek to instill in each student a desire to learn, to challenge each boy to his fulfill his unique potential, to foster critical-thinking skills, and to develop the creative and independent qualities of mind necessary to reach intellectual maturity and increased self-confidence.

This e-newsletter, published twice yearly, offers parents a top-line view of the latest happenings and curricular initiatives in selected academic departments. For greater detail, please refer to the Course Catalog.

Modern Languages & Classics Department

PHILOSOPHY & GOALS

Language acquisition and cultural literacy have traditionally been the two primary purposes of the Brunswick Modern Language Department. Consequently, the overall goal of the language program is to lead students to a level of proficiency that enables them to interact effectively with native speakers, with linguistic and cultural accuracy, in one (or more than one) language. Thus, language instruction emphasizes what we call “Brunswick’s Three Cs”: Communication (with an emphasis on speaking); Cultures (with an emphasis on the contemporary world and cultural comparisons); and Curiosity (striving to make our students lifelong learners).

Similarly, the Classics Department’s principal objective is to teach the languages and literature of the Greeks and the Romans; and, by doing so, to develop a deep and genuine appreciation among our student body for the literary, cultural, and historical achievements of the two classical civilizations.

▶ UPPER SCHOOL STUDENTS flew to Qatar in January for a three-day fact-finding mission aimed at gleaning information about sustainable development practices and financial literacy.

Four sophomores and two freshmen were joined by Arabic teacher Mimi Melkonian and Biology teacher

Oliver Bierman-Lytle for the trip to Doha just after exams ended.

Among the sites visited by the group were the National

Museum of Qatar, the Museum of Islamic Art, Education City, and Lusail Stadium and other sites built for the FIFA World Cup.

Students Leo Gazal ’25 and Sayah

Trahanas ’25 summed up their reflections in a letter to Head of School Tom Philip.

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“The National Museum, located on the Doha Corniche, is surrounded by a reflecting pool and the Arabian Gulf, with views of the downtown filling the rest of the skyline,” they wrote.

“The museum’s brilliantly illuminated facilities displayed Qatar’s rich history, extending from its nomadic past to its sustainable future, showcasing countless artifacts and innovations. Here, we learned about the financial workings of Qatar’s economy, as well as Qatar’s plans to sustainably regulate and diversify the future of its thriving energy sector.

“The Education City mosque is designed to show the people of Qatar that the country can develop and become more sustainable while preserving its centuryold traditions.

“Overall, our first-ever excursion to the Middle East was a success, as we discovered the new virtues of sustainability and financial literacy through the unique lens of the Arab World,” they wrote.

“There was more to the trip than visiting their plans for a more sustainable future. Instead, it allowed us to recognize that the Middle East is revolutionizing itself from an empty desert into a land of both financial and educational opportunity.

“We were inspired by the variety of technologies enabled by the unique Qatari spirit of innovation in the mind of sustainability.”

Aside from Trahanas and Gazal, students making the trek to Qatar included Grayson O’Hara ’25, Griffin Green ’25, Anthony Sayegh ’26, and John Pavelski ’26.

▶ THREE BRUNSWICK STUDENTS traveled to Utah in early February for the U.S. Schools Arabic Debating Championship — the boys made it to the semifinals as they quickly came up to speed on a new and intense way of acquiring language and debate skills.

The contest was organized by QatarDebate, a member of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science, and Community Development, in collaboration with the Middle East Center of the University of Utah as well as Arabic and English debating clubs.

The trip took place just a few short days after midterm exams and the trip to Qatar. With limited time to prepare, students made the most of it, hosting Zoom meetings and even staging a practice session at John F. Kennedy Airport as they waited for their flight to Salt Lake City.

James Lynch ’25 said the novice Brunswick team “gained incalculable language experience” in a series of three matches that began with a spirited contest against last year’s champions.

“We learned some valuable tricks that helped us in our subsequent debates,” he said. “Overall, the experience

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of debating in Arabic was incredible. It helped improve our vocabulary and pronunciation while teaching us how to debate. Moreover, we experienced the true test of language fluency — debating with peers from across the country on some of the most pressing issues of our time.”

Sayah Trahanas ’25 and Leonardo Gazal’ 25 were the other two students on the trip; the three students were advised by Arabic teacher Mimi Melkonian.

Seven schools from five states participated in the tournament. Students also toured the university campus, focusing on its collection of ancient Arabic literature and scriptures.

▶ ELEVEN STUDENTS from the Class of 2024 were inducted into the Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica based on their success in Spanish Honors classes, their teachers’ recommendations, and their curiosity about the Hispanic world.

Honored last fall were Luke Brown, Ben Wu, Luke Hublitz, Thomas Whidden, Bo MacNaughton, Bennett Klein, Jack Morningstar, Luke Dougherty, Sebi DeAngelis, Spencer Segura, and Casey Quinson — all of them now rising seniors.

Eight more students from the Class of 2025 will be inducted this coming September, including rising juniors Subir Garg, Leo Gazal, Jack Sieg, Tyler Lugo, Sebastian Medina, Ryan Ahn, Theo Perkins, and Henry Johnson.

The Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica, also known as the Hispanic Honorary Society, is an international association of more than 3,500 schools dedicated to recognizing high school achievement in Spanish and Portuguese.

“We decided to start the HHS at Brunswick in 2022 in order to recognize the success of students of Spanish and give them a space to continue their exploration of the language and Hispanic culture outside of the classroom,” said Teddy Romeyn, Upper School Spanish teacher. “We also hope that the Society will motivate

students to continue studying modern languages not only in high school but also at the university level.”

In addition, two students won first place for their submissions to the 2023 winter edition of Albricias, the biannual student publication of the Honorary Hispanic Society and the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese.

DeAngelis won first prize in poetry for his poem, “Freixo,” in which he remembers his grandparents’ house in the coastal region of Galicia, Spain.

Segura won first prize in prose for his composition, “Los dos Darienes,” in which he compares his hometown of Darien to the perilous rainforests of the Darién in Panamá, and the experience of the immigrants who must cross it in their journey northwards.

In addition to celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month and submitting creative student work to Albricias, Spanish students made a trip to the Whitney Museum to see “no existe un mundo poshurucán,” an exhibit on contemporary Puerto Rican art following the devastation of Hurricane María.

▶ FOR THE FIRST TIME in five years, Brunswick’s Orient Express cultural magazine won silver in the Columbia Scholastic Press Association’s Crown Awards, a nationwide competition.

The magazine won for its 2022 edition, and it was the only Brunswick publication to receive this prestigious award. It was led by Sayah Trahanas ’25 — editor, design head, and president of the magazine — with Arabic teacher Mimi Melkonian serving as advisor.

“We couldn’t have done this without the excellent contributions from both brilliant writers and creative AP Visual Art students from both Brunswick and

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Greenwich Academy,” said Melkonian. “The reason for The Orient Express’ success is due to a variety of factors — intelligence, holistic design, and a devoted editorial team.

“But ultimately, what makes the magazine work is the diversity of student perspectives — everyone has a unique story to share, and these come together in The Orient Express,” she said.

For 2023, the working theme of the magazine is “Unity through Identity,” which aims to celebrate the diversity of student backgrounds and the “cultural crossroads” the magazine represents.

▶ COMMENCEMENT saw two members of the Class of 2023 receive Classics Diplomas; five rising seniors are slated to earn the recognition next spring.

This year, recipients of the Classics Diploma were William Ewald ’23 and Jurgis Schmedlen ’23.

Recipients in the Class of 2024 will include Gabriel Lopez, Andrew Rodriguez, Andrew Tu, Field Sickles, and Alex Ohls.

Will Newman ’25 is also on track to receive a Classics Diploma.

Awarded at graduation for scholars of Brunswick’s abundant offers in Latin and Greek, this prestigious

diploma helps deepen the understanding of the cultural and historical roots of Western civilization. It is awarded to students of AP Latin who take at least two years of Classical Greek in the Upper School.

Study of the classics is thriving at Brunswick. Between 16 and 18 students annually enroll in Classical Greek, and over 50 enroll in Latin. Students in AP Latin, mostly juniors, study Caesar’s Bellum Gallicum and Virgil’s Aeneid. Students continue their studies as seniors in the Latin Honors Seminar, reading complex authors such as Sallust and Tacitus.

Greek II students often continue the study of Greek in the Greek III Seminar, focused on the study of Herodotus, Homer (both The Iliad and The Odyssey) and other authors of the students’ choosing — this year, for example, they examined the tragic playwrights Aeschylus and Sophocles.

▶ CALL THEM “LOS CINCO GRANDES.”

Five fourth-grade muralists installed large-scale works on the glass walls in the Lower School Atrium this spring — a public art project that capped an action-packed year in Lower School Spanish classes.

The Spanish Office Mural Project is a new independent study opportunity offered to fourth graders; the spectacular murals serve as clear evidence of a broadly

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Artists Charlie Pribyl, Lukas Bens, Grant Doyle, Dino Ibrahim, Finn Ritman, and Lucas Castillo assisted with the murals.

Shepard, who is in her first year at Brunswick, is revitalizing language learning at the Pre and Lower School along with Chiara Wilson through engaging instruction, cool projects, and as they both like to say often, “constant connection to cultural awareness.”

Wilson has 22 years of teaching experience and is in her third year of teaching Spanish in Pre-K through second grade; she came to Brunswick in 2020 and rewrote the curriculum.

Wilson said part of her work in classes this year dovetailed with the Lower School theme “To Be,” and boys worked hard to “describe a Brunswick boy” as they acquired Spanish vocabulary.

revitalized Spanish curriculum that prioritizes constant connection to cultural awareness.

The murals — inspired by the landscape, wildlife, and culture of Mexico, Peru, Spain, Nicaragua, and Colombia — were contextualized and celebrated in fourth grade lessons on muralism in Mexico of the 20th century.

“Mexico had ‘Los Tres Grandes’ between the 1920s and 1950s — Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and José Clemente Orozco,” said Spanish teacher Denise Shepard. “These artists crafted epic murals using various art techniques like fresco and mosaic.

“Brunswick has ‘Los Cinco Grandes,’” Shepard continued. “During many early mornings for many months, five students — Kennedy Gallagher, Conor Doyle, Tavo Licon, Owen Potter, and Colin Brilliant — courageously and carefully covered these walls with paint, creating epic murals of their own.”

“Communication, connection, and culture are the foundations of language,” said Wilson. “A main goal is communication. The goal is language they can use: geography, family, food, weather. We do a lot of singing!”

Here are some highlights from the year:

• Señoras Wilson and Shepard piloted a “Camina & Conversa” lesson in which one class of fourth grade Big Brothers and their corresponding first grade Little Brothers walked around the field chatting in conversational Spanish — they followed prompts written and provided by Señora Wilson.

• The third grade had weekly tastetests in the cafeteria, sampling and categorizing foods by color, food group, flavor, texture, and deliciousness. Third graders also staged a cafeteria “takeover” that had boys pick their favorite foods and write menus in Spanish.

• All Lower School boys wrote compliments to Chef Patrick and Chef José after they prepared Peruvian, Argentinian, Cuban, and Mexican food.

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• A partnership with the BPA brought a Flamenco dancer and a Flamenco guitarist to perform for and teach during a schoolwide assembly in the fall. This kicked off the Music/Dance unit for the fourth grade.

• Singing Bruins performed “Character Tango” in Spanish at the spring concert on Arts Night.

• Fourth graders explored sports words through the lens of the FIFA World Cup, receiving lessons that reviewed numbers, colors, sports, and body vocabulary. Lessons expanded to include vocabulary on leadership via Argentina soccer player Leo Messi and on emotions via Ecuadorian player Enner Valencia.

▶ MIDDLE SCHOOL LANGUAGE STUDENTS are standing out in testing and competition across the board.

Here are some highlights.

Five of 19 French students scored at the Intermediate

level in all areas of AAPPL testing — a very high achievement for students in Middle School, as it is anticipated that these students will score in the novice range on these exams.

The AAPPL exam rates students across four skill categories (reading, speaking, listening, writing) at a novice, intermediate, or advanced level.

“We would expect strong students in ninth and tenth grades to score in the intermediate range, and maybe hit some advanced standards, and for those in the AP level to score advanced in most categories,” said Jamie González-Ocaña, chair of Modern Languages & Classics. “Therefore, having Middle School students score intermediate in all skill areas is exceptional.”

In Chinese, four out of five Middle School boys scored at the intermediate level.

“Middle School students usually do not score that high, and especially across the board on all four skills of speaking, writing, listening, and reading,” said Erin Withstandley.

Also:

• There were 25 gold medals on the Spanish National Exam, including two seventh graders: Kiran Behringer and Luke Spada.

• Luca Tichio, a sixth grader, earned a gold medal in an Arabic poetry recitation at the Connecticut COLT poetry recitation competition. Tichio studies Latin in school and does Arabic Club in addition to that.

• A new Brunswick student with no previous Latin experience is a Latin standout in sixth grade. Yorman Veliz did not take Latin in fifth grade, but nonetheless jumped right into class with peers who did. “Even though all of the other students in the class got to learn the basics of Latin the year before, Yorman took no time at all to get up to speed on Latin grammar,” said Tyler Boudreau, Latin teacher. “Using his knowledge of Spanish, he makes great vocabulary connections in class, and he is consistently one of the highest achieving students on assessments.”

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Math Department

PHILOSOPHY & GOALS

The aim of the Brunswick Mathematics Department is to develop in its students strong understanding and skills in the areas of quantitative thinking and mathematics. An understanding of numbers is established at the start of the student’s time at the school, and this is developed continually through the years that follow. The goal of the department is to develop in every student a firm grounding in the basic facts and skills, to extend these skills to advanced topics, and to encourage the initiative required for the solution of mathematical problems. A wide range of courses is offered in order to accommodate all students, including those who need the challenge of high-level content. The department aims to produce students who fulfill their potential in math, having knowledge at their fingertips and the courage and ability to solve problems.

▶ A MATH DEPARTMENT MOTTO that now adorns all Upper and Middle School math classrooms has students considering how to set aside rote memorization in pursuit of a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts.

The motto — There’s a reason, not a rule — had its origins in some good old-fashioned free-association among teachers in the Math Department.

It grew from a discussion that Michael and Anne Allwood, both Upper School math teachers, were having at home about the core of good math learning — with Anne finally suggesting that when it comes to math education, the goal should be having reasons instead of rules.

That discussion made its way to a Math Department professional development event several years ago, when teacher and Grade Five Dean Judy Gallagher polished the idea and coined the phrase into its memorable present incarnation. Posters were made up and appeared in classrooms beginning in September 2021.

“It truly is the essence of good math learning — understanding the reason for what we do,” said Michael Allwood. “The kids really love it — the idea of not memorizing. It’s been great!”

▶ BRUNSWICK’S UPPER SCHOOL MATH TEAM had the most successful year in its history, capturing the New England championship in late April after sweeping both the state and regional competitions earlier in the season.

The team traveled to Shrewsbury High School in Massachusetts to take part in the New England math team competition in late April, emerging victorious in the small-school division.

Twenty-six schools participated, having qualified through highly distinguished performances in their state meets or local math leagues, and schools are categorized by size — large, medium, and small.

“To date, this is the absolute peak of achievement for Brunswick’s Upper School math team, and the six students who represented the school, along with the entire group of 20 students who are involved in the program, are absolutely delighted,” said coach Michael Allwood.

Brunswick’s team — comprised of Ajay Bagaria ’24, Thomas Ewald ’24, William Ewald ’23, Vikram Sarkar ’26, Andrew Tu ’24, and Jack Whitney-Epstein ’26 — earned a score of 73. In second place was Massachusetts Academy, a math-and-science-focused magnet school, with 57 points, and Hopkins placed third with 53.

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Additionally, Brunswick’s Vikram Sarkar earned a perfect 18/18, believed to be the first-ever perfect score from a Brunswick student in the New England meet. The win capped a thrilling year for the Upper School math team; Brunswick finished in first at Connecticut’s State Association of Math Leagues annual match in April, with the Bruins emerging on top among 44 public and private schools. Brunswick’s six-student team placed first in the small-school division.

“And as large-school participants consisted of eight students, a comparison was done among all schools on a per-student basis, which determined Brunswick to be first among all schools in the state,” Allwood said. “Sarkar and Whitney-Epstein earned perfect scores in a very challenging match.”

The Brunswick team also finished first in the Fairfield County Math League after its six-match season of competition.

▶ A NEW MIDDLE SCHOOL

MATH TEACHER brings 20 years of teaching to his new role at Brunswick — as well as six years as a US Marine Corps officer, 15 years in investment banking, and a lifetime in sailing capped by recent stints leading summer sailing programs in Connecticut and Maine.

Geoff McCuskey grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, earned a degree in political science and international relations from the University of Cincinnati, and joined the US Marines in 1982. He served in Quantico, Pensacola, Hawaii, Scotland, and Japan.

After the Marines, McCuskey earned an MBA in investment banking at Pennsylvania State University and went on to a 15-year career in mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance in New York.

Marriage and two children, now ages 22 and 23, led him

to shift careers once again, this time to teaching, serving most recently at the Middlebrook Middle School in Wilton, where he taught eighth grade math for the past six years.

McCuskey said he jumped at the chance to come to Brunswick.

“It’s a totally different environment teaching at Brunswick,” he said. “There are so many things that make Brunswick distinctive — character development, excellence in academics, excellence in sports.

“It’s been a wonderful first year,” he said. “This is an incredibly supportive environment to teach in. I’ve enjoyed getting to know the boys and all the teachers.”

McCuskey is also serving as an assistant coach of the Upper School sailing team, which emerged as New England champion in a May regatta at MIT, winning the President’s Trophy for the first time in program history. Two weeks later, the team took ninth at the Baker High School National Championship in Minnesota.

At the Middle School, McCuskey teaches seventh grade algebra and eighth grade honors geometry. He also coaches Middle School hockey and serves as a seventh grade advisor.

▶ THIS YEAR’S RECIPIENT of the Thomas A. Shields Award went to a student who tackled high level college math as he also helped lead the Upper School math team to its most successful year ever.

William Ewald ’23 was honored as this year’s most outstanding senior mathematics student after pursuing an advanced curriculum throughout high school. He took Linear Algebra as a freshman, four years ahead of schedule. Various encounters with

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calculus followed, first with one variable and then with two or three.

“Any obstacles were met with the same sharp mind, steely determination, and scholarly habits,” said Richard Dobbins, Math Department chair.

Finally, as a senior, Ewald took on the intellectual challenge of Real Analysis, a second- or third-year course for college math majors that consists entirely of mathematical proofs.

“His teacher hailed his commitment and celebrated the progress he made this year, while also praising the collaborative manner in which approached the work,” Dobbins said.

▶ PROBLEM SOLVING has come into sharper focus at the Lower School thanks to a program developed several years ago by Lower & Pre School Math Specialist Jean Dobbs.

Known by its acronym CORE — Collaborate, Organize, Review, and Evaluate — the program was developed in response to the need for more problem solving using logical reasoning and divergent thinking.

“The problems are designed to focus on the process, rather than the answer,” said Dobbs.

CORE is scaffolded by grade level, with first graders kicking off the program with the letter C — Collaboration.

“The boys observe teachers share ideas and practice talking about and modifying strategies to work together to set up a problem,” said Dobbs.

In second grade, boys continue to practice collaboration and are introduced to the second letter, O — Organization.

“We talk about how to organize the steps in their problem using labels and a definite format (charts, pictures, computations, etc.) so that someone could understand the problem just by looking at their work and process, without necessarily having read the problem.”

Third grade sees boys add R — Reviewing their work — to their problem-solving tool kit. Students are encouraged to review each step to see if they have followed a logical scope and sequence.

Finally, in fourth grade, boys conclude by Evaluating their work.

“They try to determine if the strategy/format they used was productive, if there might have been a better way to set up the problem, and if they would choose another plan if they were to complete a similar problem in the future,” Dobbs said.

“I consider the problem a success if the boys are engaged and the end results yield a variety of different ways to set up the problem.”

Dobbs said the problems in CORE are less structured than the more formulaic computations that they learn on a daily basis, and for the most part the boys enjoy them.

“It’s hard to explain how much thinking, collaborating, planning, and organizing go into solving these problems without observing the boys in action!”

▶ IN PRE-K, most math lessons revolve around the letter-of-the-week program, and J week brings the arrival of jelly beans — making it among the favorites!

“During J week, we put our counting, sorting, number writing, and graphing skills together with yummy jelly beans,” said Deb Schwartz, Pre-K teacher. “The boys each get a cup of jelly beans. Their first task is to count how many jelly beans they have. Next, they sort them by color and then graph how many of each color jelly bean they have. Then, the boys write the corresponding number and answer graphing questions — such as which jelly bean was the most/least common.

“Finally, they get to eat them! What a fun learning experience for our boys!”

The Arts

PHILOSOPHY & GOALS

The visual and performing arts program at Brunswick is an integral part of the curriculum, with the guiding objective of providing fundamental artistic literacy for every student. It is extremely important to involve the boys in different art forms, not only to develop their talents, but also to encourage appreciation of the aesthetic dimension of the world. Often, our boys display a penchant for music, theater, or the visual arts; others simply enjoy the experience and learning something new about themselves by taking creative risks and experimenting in new media. At the Upper School level, students have the option to specialize in the visual arts (including computer graphics), instrumental music, vocal music, and/or theater. In addition to pursuing these fields as academic disciplines, students can participate in numerous musical ensembles, theater groups, performances, and clubs. Those with talent, interest, and ambition are given numerous opportunities to achieve excellence.

▶ OVER 6,000 PEOPLE have attended performances in Baker Theater this year as the pandemic has made its way into the rearview mirror. And, for the first time ever, all Middle School concerts and shows throughout the year were moved up to the “big stage” at Maher Avenue.

The COVID-19 pandemic rendered the beautiful Baker Theater a bit of an empty desert for a time, but all that ended this year as crowds of parents, grandparents, family, and friends flocked to see boys perform in show after show.

“For a couple of years, it’s been a wilderness,” mused Andrew Hall, chair of Visual and Performing Arts, “with Zoom presentations and video releases.”

Baker Theater has provided a boost for Middle Schoolers, who staged their spring play as well as all their instrumental concerts and choral events there after suffering a paucity of performance opportunities due to the pandemic. For younger boys, COVID-19 ended all performances; for some, this year was the first time they had a chance to perform in front of people.

Some parents, in fact, had never set foot inside the Upper School space.

“They were fascinated to see what we were producing at the Upper School,” Hall said.

Opened in 2008, Baker Theater has 410 seats.

▶ EXTRA! EXTRA! Hot off the presses! Read all about it!

Singing, dancing — and even some stage combat — have fully returned to Baker Theater!

A cast and crew of more than 80 thespians from Brunswick and Greenwich Academy took over Baker

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Theater for the winter production of Newsies, the Tony-award winning Broadway musical that underscores the power and wisdom of children in the movement for change.

Based on the historic New York City newsboys’ strike of 1899, the musical united a huge cast of ’Wick and GA thespians from all divisions in an ensemble that “took to the streets” for four performances, rocking each and every sell-out crowd — and encouraging all assembled to “seize the day” with an anthem declaring that “wrongs will be righted/if we’re united/Let us seize the day!”

The musical served as an opportunity to return to the big, collaborative pre-pandemic schoolwide productions that were Oklahoma! and The Music Man — with plenty of roles and live opportunities for boys in every division.

“We’re back in Baker and loving being together,” exclaimed theater teacher Seth Potter. “We embraced the fact that we can once again do a large show. Dancing on tables and bringing the Newsies strike to the stage; we love the connection and energy of a live audience!”

▶ UPPER SCHOOL STUDENTS from Brunswick’s Blue Notes and the Greenwich High School Band jammed with members of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the Preservation Hall Brass Band in a ramblin’ New Orleansstyle parade down Greenwich Avenue in late May.

Hosted by the Greenwich Town Party, the parade ended up at Havemeyer Field for a mouth-watering food truck party and a rockin’ community concert.

’Wick’s Honors Improv Band — including students Jack Rinaldi ’24, Andrew Kiratsous ’23, Jon Sigurdsson ’23, Michael Del Toro ’23, and Riley Gilsenan ’23, along with music teacher Chris Vitarello — were invited to perform at the GTP the next day.

Music teacher Shane Kirsch said the GTP served as an “incredible opportunity” for students to perform on a stage with a professional crew, lights, and backline.

“It really makes them feel like rock stars,” Kirsch said.

Earlier in the spring, the Preservation Hall Brass Band workshopped directly with students in music classrooms throughout the day at the Upper School.

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Over the winter, Hip Hop artist DJ Ace visited the Upper School to talk about the origins of Hip Hop and the importance of vinyl records and the use of turntables as instruments.

▶ IT WAS WALL-TO-WALL ART for the annual AP Art Exhibition at the Upper School — there were 71 AP Art portfolios on display, filling up every nook and cranny of the upstairs art rooms.

“It was an ocean of art!” exclaimed Andrew Hall, chair of Visual and Performing Arts. “It was everywhere. “This started with six kids in the basement of Maher Avenue 28 years ago,” Hall said. “It snowballed from there!”

Portfolios on display arose in the three popular AP Art classes Brunswick offers: Drawing, 2-D Design, and 3-D Design. Hall said he typically gets 50-70 students enrolled in these classes, and with an Upper School population of about 425, that represents “a big chunk of the school population.”

Hall said his goal has been to make all students welcome in AP Art classes and to make art an integral part of the Upper School experience — “as strong as everything else” at Brunswick.

▶ ARTS NIGHT, a celebration of Lower School arts and music, featured an hour-long concert in Burke Field House followed by an all-school gallery walk, during which over 850 pieces of art — four pieces from each Lower School student — were on display.

“The Lower School was filled with colorful art for the show,” said Kim Amussen, art teacher.

Boys worked in many different mediums — drawing, painting, ceramics, printmaking, collage — and studied and discussed artists from all over the world.

Exhibits featured colorful ceramic turtles, Don Quixote collages, Trojan helmets, porcupine collages, and grumpy monkey paintings — among many others. On top of all that, an all-school bumble bee project was draped throughout the Atrium.

“The boys had an exciting year in the art room, chock full of new artistic experiences and challenges,” Amussen said. “We hope parents enjoyed looking at our art as much as we enjoyed creating it!”

▶ AN ANNUAL DAY IN CLAY event invites fourth grade boys to celebrate culture through pottery.

The single-day, hands-on workshop sees boys get their hands busy with clay as they work to “start a threedimensional conversation with a culture rich in patterns, symbols, and imagery.”

This year, the workshop took place over the winter and featured visiting artist Cliff Mendelson, who

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holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University.

Mendelson, owner of Day in Clay, led ceramic instruction throughout the day in the Lower School art room; boys made pots that were displayed at Arts Night.

▶ EIGHTH GRADERS created their own stop motion animation movies thanks to a New Media Arts program launched this year by Middle School Librarian and Media Specialist Audrey Onsdorff.

Storyboard, script, set design, sound effects, audio editing — the goal was to offer opportunity in the technical side of art forms, partly in preparation for art electives at the Upper School and partly to encourage boys to develop awareness of what they are consuming in social media and online in general.

“These boys are bombarded with images,” Onsdorff said. “These lessons saw students become content creators, instead of just content consumers. That was a goal of mine.

“It was successful all across the board.”

Boys worked to develop their visual eye for images, especially moving images, and an appreciation of cinematography.

A second unit lesson centered on basic digital photography, including lighting techniques, angles, and editing — all of it through the lens of an iPad.

▶ FRIDAYS ARE FOR DRUMMING for fourth graders at the Lower School thanks to visits from musician Greg Westhoff. Drumming has been part of the spring curriculum for about five years.

“It’s not just drumming,” said Anne Wamunyu, music teacher. “It’s all the different percussion instruments. Proper technique is part of that.”

Westhoff is the band leader for a Westchester swing band and taught band in public school for 35 years. He plays percussion instruments in many styles. He has played on The Johnny Carson Show and The Merv Griffin Show, and also played music for Family Guy for 17 years.

Boys learn drumming from January through May. Their lessons culminate with the performance of one song at the spring concert on Arts Night.

This year, boys performed “Encourage One Another.”

“I grew up in Kenya and was introduced to this as I grew up,” said Wamunyu, adding: “Drumming is a natural thing for the boys.”

▶ AN EXTRACURRICULAR LOWER SCHOOL singing group opened a morning of family fun in mid-April, providing a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem to kick off the annual spring “friend-raiser” widely known as ’Wick, Walk, Run.

The Singing Bruins — 33 third and fourth graders who practice throughout the year on Wednesday mornings before school — belted out “The Star Spangled Banner” under cool and windy conditions under the direction of Anne Wamunyu.

“It’s kind of a tradition,” she said. “What I love about the group is the nice community that develops by the end of the school year.”

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